In each episode of Unbound, we hear stories from two different authors on a theme. Today’s episode is about luck. We’d like to think we’re entirely in control of our destinies, but fortune doesn’t smile equally on everyone. In our first story, we hear Patrick Wensink's completely unauthorized, entirely untrue history of Kentucky’s beleaguered, long-lost professional basketball team in “Kernels.” And remember the 114 unlucky colonists of Roanoke, who vanished in the 16th century? Gwenda Bond takes us to modern-day Roanoke, where teenaged Miranda is heir to a centuries-old curse. Is she the unluckiest girl on Roanoke? Find out how the strange story begins in this excerpt of Blackwood. Today's authors: Patrick Wensink is the best-selling author of the novels Broken Piano for President and Black Hole Blues, the story collection Sex Dungeon for Sale!and the essay collection Everything Was Great Until It Sucked. He’s a frequent contributor to the New York Times and Huffington Post, but he also once sold his own line of BBQ sauce. He lives in Louisville with his wife and son. Gwenda Bond is the author of the young adult novels Blackwood(Strange Chemistry), The Woken Gods (Strange Chemistry, Sept. 2013), and Girl on a Wire (Skyscape, summer 2014). Blackwood is currently in development as a TV series by MTV, Grammnet Productions, and Lionsgate TV. She is also a contributing writer for Publishers Weekly, regularly reviews for Locus, and guest-edited a special YA issue of Subterranean Online. She lives in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband, author Christopher Rowe, and their menagerie.The fourth episode of Unbound airs at 7 p.m. Thursday. It features Roxane Gay and Alex Taylor. Join us at 89.3 or stream at WFPL.org. Unbound is made possible in part by the Bachelors and Masters Writing Programs at Spalding University. Read more credits and thanks.
