Hey y'all, Lavar here. It has indeed been a while. And I'm very happy to get back in the

saddle at the podcast. Needless to say, it's been an eventful couple of months here and

pretty intense as well. I must say I really did enjoy doing my live Twitter readings

back at the beginning of all of this. And interestingly enough, because I make my living on the road

and travel so much, being home for this protracted period of time has been a real adjustment for me

and my family. And I kind of like the way I've slowed down. In fact, no, I'm certain that I've liked

the way I've slowed down. And it'll be interesting to see I'm kind of looking forward to when I get back

out there in the world doing it at a different pace. I tend to live my life like someone's chasing me

and I have a feeling that those days may in fact be over. We shall see. In any case, here's what I've

come to tell you. Season seven begins Tuesday, August 11th. And as always, I am excited to share

new stories with you. But this has been kind of a unique opportunity for me because I'm going to

read you some stories from authors that you've heard before like a Mel Elmaktar who wrote the

truth about owls. And as always, I'm scoping out authors that are brand new but coming in hot as the

kids say these days. And while you wait, I wanted to share something else with you. I know that you

know the author James McBride because he wrote the story goat, which definitely blew my mind. And I

heard that a lot of you had a similar experience. Well, James recently published a brand new novel called

Deacon King Kong. And that book this summer has gone straight up the charts and was picked for Oprah's

summer book club. Now, I recently had the opportunity to sit down with James on his virtual book tour for a

conversation. This stop was presented by two local bookstores here in Los Angeles, pages in Manhattan Beach, and S.O.

on books in Lamert Park, a neighborhood here in LA. And I'm very grateful that they brought James and me

together for the conversation you were about to hear. Now, if you don't have your copy of Deacon King Kong just

yet, might I suggest ordering it online from either of these fine booksellers? The novel begins in Brooklyn

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