In this week’s episode, I sit down with someone you might recognize if you’re active in the Substack sphere — Thomas Salerno! This is an excellent episode with a great breadth of topics, and I’m excited to share it with you.
We discuss pop culture and some of the nuances of modern storytelling, what it’s like to write within the children’s narrative non-fiction genre, the themes behind your favorite dinosaur movie franchise, and more! We also dip our toes into some theological topics as well as how Thomas wanted more resources as a young, curious child, to show how reason and faith go hand-in-hand. Now, years later, Thomas’s book Riddle of the Tongue Stones has recently won first place in the “Children’s Books - Young Readers” category by the Association of Catholic Publishers 2026 Excellence in Publishing Awards.
Here is a link to a list of all the winning books: https://www.catholicpublishers.org/2026-acp-publishing-awards-winners
Support Thomas:
Instagram: @thomasjsalernowrites
Substack: thomasjsalerno.substack.com/
His award-winning book: bookstore.wordonfire.org/products/riddle-of-the-tongue-stones
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