This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Maura Jortner, author of Keepers of the Marsh.

About Keepers of the Marsh: Twelve-year-old Lana isn’t looking for trouble when she ventures into the swampy marsh behind her family’s home in Galveston Bay. She’s just sweaty and bored and lonely, sick of sitting around doing nothing.

Her family never goes anywhere. Her mom and her sisters want nothing to do with her, and none of them will talk about their dead dad. With loads of unanswered questions and no other options, Lana decides to seek out the legendary Alligator Witch—if she’s even real.

What Lana doesn’t realize is that the Alligator Witch is very real, and has spent decades plotting her revenge on the town. When the witch swiftly casts a terrifying curse, the only person Lana can ask for help is her unfriendly and generally unwilling twin, Gracie.

Together, the twins embark on a memorable journey to make sense of the Alligator Witch’s dark past, along with the unexpected role their family played in her descent. In spite of their differences, Lana and Gracie must unite to make things right and save their loved ones.

About Maura Jortner: Maura was born in New Hampshire, and loved it there. She still misses living in New England. But she moved to Ohio to go to college and after that, lived in Cincinnati for a few years. Maura worked as a stage manager and a puppeteer. She would have continued on as a puppeteer forever–the job was great and the puppets were amazing–but she couldn’t pay back my student loans, so Maura returned to school and earned an MA in literature at Xavier University, and through that experience, remembered how much she loved school. Maura wanted to keep learning, applied to lots of PhD programs and chose the University of Pittsburgh. Maura studied theater history, focusing on American drama in the 19th century. In 2008, Baylor University hired her to teach in the English department, and Maura moved to Texas. Now, she nerds out with students about American literature, British literature, and creative writing. It’s a great job. In her spare time, she writes novels.

This week’s picks:

• Maura: Moongarden: Plotting the Stars book 1 by Michelle A. Barry
• Tracy: Smitten Kitchen’s Chocolate Stout Cake (Recipe)
• Patrick: For Al Mankind (AppleTV+)

Links:

• Maura Jortner on Instagram
• Tracy Townsend on BluSky
• Patrick Hester on Instagram
• The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2025 Patrick Hester

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