Robert Crais, author of "The Forgotten Man: An Elvis Cole Novel," talks about what happened when the main character ran away as a young boy and the unlikely father figure he found in his life. The full interview from a 2005 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: robertcrais.co…

Caleb Crain, author of "Necessary Errors," talks about what the main character experienced in a trip to the grocery story as a newcomer to Prague right after the revolution. The full interview from a 2013 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: steamthing.com…

Jim Crace, author of "The Pesthouse," talks about the general concept of the book in which America is on the decline, inspiring the population to travel eastward to Europe for a better life. The full interview from a 2007 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts.…

David Corbett, author of "Done for a Dime," talks about what often does and doesn't happen within a police department that might be surprising. The full interview from a 2004 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: davidcorbett.com…

Amanda Coplin, author of "The Orchardist," reads an excerpt from the novel where the main character named William revisits a young woman who finds herself in jail and thinks back to what he could have done different in the past when he had first met her. The full interview from a 2012 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be h…

Jodi Compton, author of "Hailey's War," talks about how a woman in the US Military Academy quickly finds herself back in her old gang life in Los Angeles to help a friend from high school. The full interview from a 2010 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" can be heard now wherever you get your podcasts. Photo: jodicompton.com…

On this special episode, host and producer Jim Foster speaks with technical producer Robert Costa about how "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" became a long-running program airing on various radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area for several decades, and also speaks about how the book publishing world has changed over the years, whe…

In "The Whole World Over," author Julia Glass writes a novel about all the little accidents in life that come together to determine our choices in love and connections to others in the world. This second discussion about the book took place on a 2007 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. P…

In "Perfidia," author James Ellroy writes a historical novel and the first volume of his second L.A. Quartet series, set in Los Angeles in 1941 that follows the story of several very different people who come together to investigate the murder of a Japanese family as America is at the brink of World War II. This discussion with the author took plac…

In "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," author Sister Helen Prejean talks about her first-hand experiences witnessing the execution of Dobie Gillis Williams in 1999 and Joseph Roger O'Dell in 1997, how poor people are primarily affected by wrongful executions, and why the execution of Michael Morales was postponed…

In "Dorchester Terrace: A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel," the late author Anne Perry writes the next novel in a series in which Thomas Pitt is now the head of Britain's Special Branch, and follows the story of him and his wife trying to get information from two women in order to prevent an international catastrophe. This conversation took place o…

In "Her Wild Oats," the late author Kathi Kamen Goldmark writes a novel about two people at very different points in their lives who develop an unlikely friendship, a thirteen-year-old boy who plays the harmonica, and a young woman who recently discovered her husband was having an affair. In this discussion, the late author's husband Sam Barry talk…

In "And the Dark Sacred Night," author Julia Glass writes a novel about a man's quest to find his biological father and what he discovered along the journey about himself and the world. This discussion took place on a 2014 episode of "Conversations On The Coast with Jim Foster" originating in San Francisco, California. Photo: Robert Costa.…

In this episode, Jim Foster shares his thoughts on the publishing scandal surrounding James Frey's memoir "A Million Little Pieces" and why a memoir by Heather King entitled "Parched" is more meaningful surrounding the subject of alcoholism and addiction, especially considering the fact that many things written as personal experiences in Frey's mem…