Talking Turkey

Nighthawk here with a special guest, The Thanksgiving Turkey.

Thanksgiving not only comes earlier in the year in Canada, it was celebrated in what would become Canada 43 years before the Pilgrims sat down to give thanks near Plymouth Rock when Martin Frobisher threw a thanksgiving dinner in Newfoundland.

Neither Frobisher nor Pilgrim likely had turkey on their menu. If they did, it was nothing like the bird we roast now. Now the turkey is a holiday icon, so much so that Thanksgiving is also known as Turkey Day.

Our guest is that iconic bird. Welcome.

Gobble-gobble.

How do you feel about your role in this holiday?

Gobble-gobble-gobble, gobble-gobble.

Your role as an icon must keep you busy. There's Canadian Thanksgiving in October, the American Thanksgiving in November and you often have a starring role at Christmas too. How do you feel about that?

Gobble, gobble-gobble.

Well. That just about says it all.

To all our Canadian friends, Happy Thanksgiving. To our American friends, Alison and I will be thinking of you.

Sandy Beach from Which Exit Angel

Welcome back to Nighthawk Talks. Tonight we have Reverend Sandy Beach from Chris Redding's Which Exit Angel.


Seriously, Sandy Beach?

My parents were avid surfers so they loved the beach. Having the last name Beach was a bonus. And they had a great sense of humour.


Obviously. What church are you reverend of?

I run a non-denominational church. Everyone is welcome. Sometimes  I preach about God and The Bible. Other times I preach about how to be a good person. Right now, I'm not sure what my faith is.


Why are you questioning your faith?

I'm not sure. I've just seen so much bad in the world. I don't know how there can be a God if he lets this evil happen.

Can you question your faith and accept the existence of angels at the same time? How did you meet the angel?

She's investigating the murder of another angel. It blew my mind for sure. She didn't look like an angel at all.

That does sound like a lot to take in. But there's more, isn't there? You two are trying to stop the Apocalypse.

The forces of good and evil are using the Earth as a battleground. The bad guys are tired of being relegated to Hell so they are going to fight the angels for control of the world.


I guess I better let you get back to work. I'm not in favour of apocalypses and have a great admiration for those who stop them.

For more on Sandy Beach, read Which Exit Angel by Chris Redding who you can also follow on Twitter @chrisredding.

Interviewing the Interviewer

Hi, I'm Alison Bruce. I produce Nighthawk Talks. Before we go off on a run of new releases, I thought it was about time we put our host in the hot seat.

Nighthawk, you are actually raven, isn't that true.

True. My father wanted to call me Quoth but my mother said I already had too many relatives by that name. Mom was a bit of a rebel.

What attracted you to be a radio interviewer?

To be honest, I wanted to be a cop, but I didn't meet the height requirements. I did train to be a PI but people tend to be suspicious of ravens. That put me at a disadvantage.

But aren't all private investigators viewed with suspicion?

Seriously? Real private investigators blend into the background and don't arouse anything. That's why I prefer to interview fictional PI's. They're much more exiting and I like eye-candy as much as the next bird.

So, you became an interviewer to meet hot guys?

Maybe. A little bit. I meet some very interesting women too. We strong women have to look out for each other.

True. Why radio? Why not a video show?

The easy answer is that my producer is too cheap. Seriously, we're talking book characters here. Every reader has their own image of what they are like. It's better that way.

You've been watching Grey's Anatomy reruns again, haven't you?

Seriously?

Exactly.

Stay tuned next week when Nighthawk interviews a character from Rosemary McCracken's BLACK WATER.