A Tribute to Catherine O’Hara and the Literary World of Romance

Broadcasting live statewide from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Pete Schwabba, your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now, a guy who wears a bathing suit in the shower.

Pete Schwabba.

Not all the

time.

Hey, welcome to Night Light, ladies and gentlemen.

Happy Friday, everybody.

You made it.

The weekend is here.

For most of you probably, not quite for Conrad and me, but it'll be along shortly.

We've got just a few hours here to keep you entertained.

Hopefully help you transition into your weekend after a long, no doubt, hard work day on your behalf.

I hope you all had a great day.

Wherever you're joining us from tonight, across the great state of Wisconsin or parts beyond, it is great to have you.

We have a lot of show.

to get to tonight.

We've got a lot to talk about, great guests, some very sad news from the world of entertainment today, kind of shocking as well.

Catherine O'Hara, 71, has passed away.

And, you know, it wasn't until about 20 years ago that I realized she is absolutely one of my comedic idols.

She is one of the best comedic actors I've ever seen, whether

was sketch or TV or film.

So she is no longer with us.

She passed away, I think today at 71 years old and all they're saying is it was after a brief illness.

So we will discuss that a little bit more.

I've got a very funny clip of Catherine O'Hara's work that I will play and then Rob Thomas will join us in hour number two to discuss her legacy.

So we will celebrate her legacy as a way to offset the sadness.

Catherine O'Hara has passed away at 71 very sad news I'll tell you something else that said Conrad I was driving down here today.

I Got an hour commute both ways.

You know that I was trying to get WGVW 97.9 on your FM dial and Because I just I was in the mood for some oldies usually I'll do like a sports or a showbiz podcast or something like that I just didn't feel like it so I put on 97 9 but I was near O'Connell

And the signal doesn't quite reach that far.

So it's a kind of sketchy.

You could have tried 1590 AM as well.

That sounds worse.

Like it's it comes in a little better, but it sounds like like the station is in a bucket because it's AM, you know, and some AM stations sound great and 1590 doesn't sound bad.

But when you're that far away, it's just it's a taller order.

You know what you could have done?

You

could

have went to

the Civic Media app.

I could, but I don't have wire.

I mean, Ocado has, I don't know what nuclear testing went on there, but I have more calls dropped.

There's 15, it's an hour long commute and 15 minutes of that right in the middle of it.

I can't make phone calls or do anything.

It's like, it's excruciatingly frustrating.

Can you tell I was just trying to plug the Civic Media app in 1590 AM?

It's a wonderful app.

1590 AM is great, but where I am, I can't get anything.

So here's what's strange though.

I was driving on the FM app.

I hear this great Beach Boys tune or something, not the FM app, the FM dial.

I'm on 97.9 and it's kind of sketchy.

But when I go under a tunnel, it comes in perfectly.

On AM radio, sometimes when you're driving, it sounds fine and then you go under a tunnel and then it gets all sketchy.

So I don't know what is going on.

I don't know what alien force is at work in the town of O'Connell.

You know who I think we need to ask?

Who?

Becky?

Chris.

Chris Casper.

Chris Casper?

Yeah, see if he knows why it does that.

I immediately went to our guest from last night,

Becky Herrera.

Yeah, I mean, she could have answered that too.

Yeah, like what the deal with aliens is, and she has inspired, much like Seth Wickersham, inspired the question on Wednesday with quarterback talk.

Our guest last night, author Becky Herrera, not Herrera, Ferrera.

Yes.

We had a, we have a Herrera today.

We had a Herrera yesterday.

Uh, she writes great books about aliens.

We had a great discussion with Becky last night available at civicmedia.us.

If you want to download the app that Conrad just spoke about.

Um, but she inspired tonight's question of the night.

And I think that's where I went.

If I was, if I had a question about aliens, I would go to her, but you're right.

A tech question.

I would definitely go to Casper or Eric or Drew or

Lindsay.

They can

answer that.

I think so.

You think they got any inside alien info?

I

feel like Casper

believes.

That wouldn't surprise me.

Yeah.

He's very level-headed guy, but he's probably a guy with his quirks, where you'd go, hmm, that guy believes in aliens.

I have no idea.

What do you think?

You seen an UFO?

Casper, if you're listening, please text him.

Let us

know.

And a UFO does not necessarily mean an alien spacecraft.

It just means an unidentified flying object.

So anyway, that's my story about driving down here today And then I get here and I find out that you have this bad cough And you I'm not saying I got my illness that I battled for a couple weeks bravely I might add From you, but I got it and then I had it longer than you had it now You've got it again.

So we're passing this back and forth Conrad has already said if I start coughing during the show Just don't take it personally or whatever

If what you have is worse than whatever it was that made me make that sound, you're probably on life support, buddy.

You know, it's just a lot of cough drops and, you know, I'll make it through.

You'll make it through, but I don't appreciate the fact Conrad tried to duck out on the show earlier.

And I captured it on via, you know, camera on my cellular telephone.

I caught him red-handed trying to leave the studio, getting his car.

And I posted that on Facebook.

That is our window fun tonight.

And I wouldn't say it's very fun because Conrad tried to ditch the show and

use his illness.

You outed me?

For the social media world to see.

Well, it's just trying to catch some extra Z's.

What am I

supposed to do here?

If you're not here, I'm just here sitting here to use the internet.

I can't go online or I can't go on the air.

You know, I need you.

You

gotta figure this out.

Listen, you consider yourself a tough guy?

No.

You say that because you're like also humble because you're from Kewaskam a small town But I think you I think you fancy yourself kind of a guy who can get through stuff like this through the sniffles

Well, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean I mean in college I'd take those days off pretty easily but

Hey, it is great to have you here folks tonight Conrad's gonna go through this thing

We've got a lot to get to.

As I mentioned, Catherine O'Hara has passed away.

Rob Thomas, a Madison film critic who joins us quite often on this show, will drop by in the six o'clock hour.

We'll talk a little bit about her legacy.

But first, coming up after news, sports, and weather in just about 15 minutes is author, Adrienne Herrera.

She writes romance novels.

Conrad, I don't know if you knew this.

Romance is the biggest selling genre in the book world.

Okay.

Yeah.

I didn't know that.

I didn't know that either.

I thought it'd be like fantasy or something like that, you

know.

Yeah.

Well, some romance is probably fantasy.

Yeah.

You know, uh, my cup of tea for books and sports.

Really?

I don't think that's

the top.

Yeah.

Bench pressing 101.

I wrote that book.

I think you could.

She is a very prolific writer though.

She will be here at 535 and we will talk to her about her great Library of books.

She's got entire series and she's only been writing for like 10 years, but she's been atop the New York Times bestseller list as well as USA Today and She very excited to have her on the show tonight then we'll go to Rob Thomas an hour to then another author and a journalist a kick-ass gritty journalist

and a very accomplished author.

One of his stories has been made into a film by Clint Eastwood.

That's kind of cool.

You're familiar with Clint Eastwood, Conrad?

That name sounds familiar.

Yeah.

Jeffrey Stern will join me tonight at 635.

He's the author of 1517 to Paris, and that was made into a film by Clint Eastwood.

And Jeff will join us.

Very excited to talk to him.

He's got some really cool stories, and he's done some great work.

So we'll talk to Jeff at 635.

And then, ladies and gentlemen, it is Friday, and that means it's a bar band Friday night.

Our pal Terry Barr and the Nate that are the segment namesake really will join us at 735 with some really cool tunes and kind of a Grammy theme tonight So I think that'll be fun Terry's always a blast and she's feeling better She

wasn't

here last week so she was sick it's going around Nothing to be worried about Conrad you're gonna get through this And somehow you play my sneeze like you're the one that tried to bail

and you're playing my sneeze.

Yeah.

Um, I think without further ado, we should get to our nightlight.

Question of the night.

Let's talk about the question.

Okay, question.

Question.

Question.

Pregunta.

Question.

Question.

Okay, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Domanda.

Question.

Question.

Questions.

This is inspired by last night's guest, Becky Ferrara.

Who wrote the book first contact and she is an authority on extraterrestrials and alien life form and proof and non proof and all that kind of stuff Such a great interview with her it inspired tonight's question, which is what is the best movie or TV show about aliens?

That's a great one

Let us know what you think folks 8 5 5 7 5 2 4 8 4 2 8 5 5 7 5 civic What is the best movie or TV show about aliens?

You can also text us on the app You hear that you've you've already gotten me sick again.

I think

no you've been sick this whole time.

It's

something going on You can also text us on the app or if you're watching the radio on YouTube Facebook or X go ahead and drop us a stream comment And I'll read it on the radio and let us know

What your favorite TV show or movie about aliens is always more fun when you guys participate in in the conversation so I'll go I'm gonna say some of the predators.

I love that alien It's a great well at least when the first film came out it were great They were great special effects at the time, but the alien look cool.

I like some of the new predators.

I loved prey

I love Predator Badlands when it comes to aliens.

And then the TV show Sugar on Apple TV with Colin Farrell.

That was really cool.

Like they kind of revealed halfway through the show that he was an alien.

Just like kind of, I was like, what?

But I really enjoyed that show too.

It's kind of a noir alien Hollywood show.

Lots of fun.

What about you, Con?

Guardians of the Galaxy.

Okay, go a little comedic flair for your aliens.

Nothing wrong with that.

One, two, and three.

All three of them.

Yep.

No preference.

They're all great.

All right.

Fair enough.

Well, let us know what you guys prefer when it comes to your alien TV shows or movies.

All right.

So as I mentioned last night, we are featuring one Olympian per night from Wisconsin.

We've got several homegrown athletes here that are competing in Italy.

And the Olympics start next Friday night.

So I'm going to tell you who that is after a very short break here.

And we will have our Wisconsin athlete spotlight after the break.

Also, man, I got a lot.

I finally finished Song Song Blue last night.

Yeah.

What do you think?

I liked it.

Overall, I really liked it.

But we'll get to that later in the show because I do have a couple issues that are very minor.

It's a very fun movie.

about two very original Wisconsinites.

That aspect of it, I loved.

Very charming and a very sweet story.

Maybe I'll break that down a little later, but, uh... All right, we talked about this last night.

Do you know what the number one movie streamed was last year, Conrad?

You should know this.

It's one of your idols.

Heavy Gilmore, too?

Yes!

Eight billion minutes, dude.

He said one of my idols, so I was like,

oh, yeah.

Well, you got the rock.

Kevin Hart.

Adam

Sandler.

Mark Wahlberg.

Oh, great.

Fine

actors.

All right, so lots going on, folks.

A great guest list, a fun question, lots of fun topics.

But when we come back, after this very short break, you are going to meet our next spotlighted Wisconsinite who is going to compete in the Olympics next week.

It's coming up next.

This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba.

I'm the Civic Media Radio Network.

Welcome back.

I'm Pete Schwabba.

This is Nightlight.

It is great to have you here, folks.

Alright, so as I mentioned earlier, Catherine O'Hara passed away.

In my little tribute to her, before we get to Rob Thomas in hour number two, who's going to talk about her legacy with us, I have a clip from one of my favorite films of all time.

It's called Waiting for Guffman, and Catherine O'Hara is absolutely hilarious in it as Fred Willard's wife.

They've both been cast in a community show called...

Blaine I think was named after the town but Christopher guest directs it and they are out to dinner in this clip with Eugene Levy and his wife and Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara Catherine O'Hara has had too much to drink and That's all I'll say nobody plays a drunk funnier than Catherine O'Hara here is that clip from waiting for guffman

We had friends Barbara and Bruce remember

who went to China, and I'm sure you're in the travel business

that you've been

there, but they went to Peking where they make the ducks.

And what they say is that the food

over there

is not as good.

You can't get a sauce as thick and sweet over there.

They don't make it like that.

The food is like steamed or something.

And that's right.

Yeah.

We got some good packages.

If you

ever want to get down to Miami, Miami Beach, we got a great package a week, two weeks.

Oh, yeah.

You get everything.

You need any kind of food.

You know, you get Chinese here, and

no need to go.

We're talking about Miami now, dear.

Yeah, we'd love to go.

We'd love to go.

Is it a direct flight?

We got a great tax a

week, two weeks.

Like there aren't Chinese people in Miami.

Well, we should.

You know, we've stopped them.

We don't have to go.

Of course there are Chinese people in Miami.

We're talking about China.

We're talking about going to

Miami.

Miami.

We're talking about Miami.

Dear, why

don't you put some food on your stomach before you have any more

wine?

What's that?

What's

that?

I'll talk.

What's it like to be with a circumcised man?

What do you think?

That is interesting.

I'd ask you more about that, but Ron said the whole Jew things.

Because when Ron had his surgery... All right, all right, all right.

When Ron had his surgery, I said, hey, circumcise it while you're at it.

You know, just because I'd never been with anyone else.

Ron's the only man I've been

with.

What

surgery did

he end up in?

I don't

know, minor corrective surgery.

Can we

have some coffee at this table, please?

It's not minor anymore.

Well, maybe you know we should change the subject.

I had what you know most guys would Dream of you know, I and I had to have a penis reduction surgery.

I'm sorry penis reduction Which there aren't many you're gonna say I never heard of that because there have

been many cases as Iran do something

What happened that's No, that was but the funniest part is coming up

We'll move on.

That's Catherine O'Hara, who has passed away today at the age of 71.

Fred Willard talks about his penis enlargement, penis reduction surgery, and she says he told me to get a vagina enlargement.

So one of the greatest hilarious scenes in movie history, Fred Willard and the great, great Catherine O'Hara.

Rob Thomas will be by in hour number two to talk about her legacy, but right now, pardon me,

We are going to pivot here and put our Olympic spotlight on a famous Wisconsinite or someone, hopefully, who is about to be famous.

And Conrad, I'll let you take this because this gentleman is from your hometown.

Yeah.

Yeah, which is pretty cool.

We don't have many famous Olympians from Key Wascom because I mean, it's pretty small anyways.

But yeah, Jordan Stoles, I believe is how you say it.

Jordan Stoles,

yeah.

I

haven't met him personally, but just the stories behind.

him getting to where he's at now, which he's a speed skater, which is, which is cool.

Just a talent, not a lot of people have, you know, but he started out in a pond in his backyard, which I thought is really fascinating.

There was a great video on NBC, I think, out of Milwaukee that showed his family has been really supportive and said that Jordan started watching speed skating at the age of 10 and was a big fan of Apollo Ono at the

probably the 2008 maybe Olympics with short track skating.

So Jordan's dad built a short track skating track in the backyard.

Actually kind of looked like they lived on a farm, but I would imagine right outside of Key Wascom, but he, he's competing, it kind of following in Dan Jansen's footsteps.

Also another great Wisconsin speed skater from the same area around West Bend that Jordan Stoles is from.

But this is exciting.

He is, he won

Let me see if I can find this.

I just had this.

Jordan Stoles won.

I'm getting there, folks.

Bear with me.

The gold medal.

No, at the 2023 World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, Stoles won the 500 meters to become the youngest single distance world champion in history.

That is fantastic.

One of our fellow Wisconsin natives he will be competing in Italy this year the Olympics start next Friday night He also became the first male skater to win three individual gold medals at a single world single distances speed skating championship a feat he repeated in 2024 I would think You know more about sports than me, but would that make him the front runner in the event?

Yeah, I would say he's gotta be right.

Yeah, he's the front runner

Chirinamon.

Chirinamon from Green Bay, but at Hardin, Kiewaskan, you know?

He's a Kiewaskanite.

And I guess he, you know, this is, I think he was in the previous Olympics, but he had some like, there were COVID issues or something like that.

So this is exciting.

He's probably, I love watching this video because I would Google it folks and type in NBC Jordan Stoll's video.

It's just a two minute biography of his life.

But you cannot watch this video and help a cheer for this kid.

So good luck, Jordan Stoles.

Tonight's Wisconsin spotlight on our Olympians here from Wisconsin.

Go get them and bring home the gold, man.

That would be the pride of Kewaskam, right, Conrad?

Yeah, I would say so.

I would say so.

Our question of the night, ladies and gentlemen, is what is your favorite TV or movie, TV show or movie that deals with aliens?

I said sugar and some of the predators.

Conrad said, Guardians of the Galaxy, let us know what you think.

Be part of the show.

News, sports and weather is coming up next.

And then we've got author Adriana Herrera.

Can't wait to talk to her.

Very prolific and very accomplished.

It's going to be a great interview.

I'm Pete Schwabba.

This is Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

All

right.

Welcome back.

This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabbe.

Happy Friday, everybody.

Hope you're having a great day.

This is exciting tonight.

We have two authors, different genres on the same show.

It's happened before, but it's always exciting when we get to talk to people who are...

Smart enough to write books Conrad I would never write a book would you even try?

I have tried in middle school.

Okay, it didn't work out.

All right.

Well, don't don't sell yourself short.

You still got time But it is my pleasure to welcome tonight her books have been on the New York Times bestseller list and the USA Today bestseller lists regularly She is the author of books like just for the holidays and on the hustle and her most recent accomplishment a tropical rebel gets the Duke Adriana

Herrera joins me tonight on Nightlight.

Hello, Adriana.

Hi, thanks for having me.

It's great to have you.

I hope we live up to your expectations.

I'm always intimidated by people who can actually write a novel.

It's very impressive.

Thank you.

It is actually a lot of, it's hard work.

So some people are not, romance gets different reactions.

Some people think that it's super easy to write a romance novel.

So I appreciate the respect.

That just means they don't know what they're talking about though, seriously, because, and we'll get into that.

I have questions about the genre too, but it's just great to have you here.

And we ask a question of the night every night, Adriana, as we talk about entertainment every night.

So our question tonight is,

Do you have a favorite alien or TV movie or TV show?

Because we had a writer on yesterday that wrote about the extraterrestrial.

Do you have a favorite alien movie or TV movie?

I think probably my favorite alien adjacent TV show would be X-Files.

I'm a Gen Xer.

And so, yeah, Mulder and Scully were probably like my...

one of those things that is ingrained in my brain.

So probably the X-Files.

That's a great answer.

When that show came out, it was so different and creepy and just, it was fantastic.

We've had a lot of people say the X-Files tonight, so you're in great company there.

Thank you for that.

All right, so tell us all about a tropical rebel gets the duke that your new book.

Tropical Rebel gets to Duke.

It's the third and last book in a historical romance series called Las Leonas, which I wrote set during the 1889 World's Fair in Paris.

It's one of the first global events in history where more than 32 million people came to Paris to present their countries, businesses, et cetera, et cetera.

It's also one that Eiffel Tower was inaugurated.

And so it just felt like the setting that could be where anything could happen.

So my books revolve around three Latina heiresses who are best friends.

And the third one, she is a doctor.

Her name is Aurora.

And she is running an underground clinic providing services, health services to women that at the

time.

Some were illegal, some women who didn't have the agency if they were married to be able to like get procedures without their husband's permission.

So she's really kind of doing something that is illegal and clandestine, but it's to help women.

And she meets this man who is newly been titled as a Duke.

And he discovers what she's doing.

And he is like,

very invested in protecting her and her work.

She does not think that's a great idea, but eventually, of course, they fall in love because it's a

romance.

It's great.

It sounds like you have a very progressive character, but also some old-school romance in there too, a little something for everybody, right?

Correct, correct.

I mean, I only write romance, so there's always a happily ever after, but I try as much as I can to

infuse it with modern themes and especially things that are concerning to women.

That felt like a very topical thing to write about in the last few years.

It's funny how people of today, and I'll think of my kids like this, they'll think, oh, dad doesn't know what I'm talking about, or mom doesn't know what I'm talking about, things are different now, but they really aren't.

I mean, the same issues were prevalent back when you said, like you say in the World's Fair,

in 1889, like women trying to get health care and all the same issues, I find that fascinating.

Yeah, I mean, when I started writing that book, Roe v. Wade had been struck down maybe like three months earlier.

And I had already planned on writing a book where I was writing about a woman physician that

took care of women because it is something that still remains an issue all over the world, even in places it is more progressive.

But I'm from the Dominican Republic and I grew up there.

So there are still a lot of issues around agency access to healthcare for women.

And I just wanted to shine a light also in the work that women were doing at the time.

Like we think these things are new or that women are being feminist or whatever.

like in the last 30 or 40 years, but women have been in that struggle for literally hundreds of years.

So I just also wanted to kind of shine a light on that history too.

That's great.

Do you find like, you're so prolific, like you've got all these series, which I find fascinating.

Where do you get ideas for your books?

Do they come from your own relationships or classic themes or other writers you've read when you were growing up?

How do you come up with a premise?

Well, sometimes it's just inspiration.

Like, Las Leonas was something.

I was, like, getting ready to go to a trip to Paris, and I just happened upon this article from a few years earlier where they were saying that the Dominican Republic was going to be at a expo that year, and they just had a little snip there saying that the Dominican Republic...

had been at the World's Fair in 1889 for the first time.

It was the first time that we, as an independent country, not a colony of Spain, were attending a World's Fair.

And to me, that was just like, well, this is fascinating.

I had no idea that the Dominican Republic had exhibited at that World's Fair.

So that kind of opened the door for me to find all this information.

Sometimes it's just a random thing.

that I think that could make a great book.

And with romance too, you know, there's already so much there that you can just sort of like go into like you want to write an amuse to lovers romance.

You want to write a friend to lovers, a workplace romance.

The genre itself has so much in it that you can draw inspiration from.

Like right now I'm writing kind of like a romantic thriller.

It's also kind of based on some history that I didn't know about.

So it depends really.

Romance is such a vast genre that there really is, you can do anything as long as there's a happily ever after.

And there's almost always something or a show that you watch on television.

And it's like, oh, that could make a really great romance if you were to set it, for example.

in like 1850 or something so it really is like life or

just

kind of just reading romance novels myself.

Let's stick with that because you mentioned earlier that romance people think it's this or this but like you're writing about The World's Fair in this in this book A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke.

A lot of research goes into

doing writing these books it's not just fluff I mean talk about that a little bit like how much do you spend how much time do you spend researching each novel I

spent a fairly long time especially with historicals I write contemporary too which is just like base like set and in the present yeah but for the historicals it does require quite a lot of

research, especially because I'm usually writing characters that are Latinas or that are black women or queer characters.

And those characters, there's not as much references in novels.

Like when Las Leones came out, it was the first historical romance series published with Latin women as the lead character.

And so, yeah.

and that was like 2022.

So I didn't have a lot of texts in romance to reference to so I did have to do a lot of research.

There's an institute here in New York City at the City College which is called the Dominican Studies Institute and they have like this huge archive of just Dominican history and that was

one of my biggest sources of references for this.

The librarian there, honestly, without him, I don't think I could have written

this

series.

And I read French, so I was able to access the National Archives in France, which have a ton of information specifically about that World's Fair.

So yeah, I do a lot of research and

I usually do like an extensive author's note in the back just to kind of give the reader a sense of what is real history in the story since it is a novel.

But yeah, it requires a lot.

Part of it to me is also giving people like me who haven't had the opportunity to read a lot of fiction, centering characters from their part of the world.

Some grounding information about like, we were part of this history that exists and we didn't know that before.

My guest is Adriana Herrera.

She is the author of a tropical rebel gets the Duke as well as many other books She's been featured on the today show and NBC Entertainment Weekly Oprah Magazine NPR and the New York Times and Washington Post Let's talk about that.

You're also you're one of the co-creators of the queer romance collective You were talking about Latina characters have

Like, have queer characters been more prevalent in novels in the last 10 years?

I still feel like we don't see that that often.

Um, I mean, in romance, yes.

I would say, I mean, the thing about romance, right, is that especially in the last, like, 10 years, romance has a big part of the, a big...

part of romance publishing is indie and self-published.

A

lot of queer authors, even if they don't have access, for example, to get a publishing deal, they can still publish their books and put them up online.

And that access has brought in, I think, a lot more queer romance than there used to be.

My debut novel was a queer romance.

And there is a lot, I think,

Now, like with shows like Heated Rivalry, I think the larger public is realizing that there is a huge amount of queer romance out there that is really focused on joy.

And that has been fascinating and amazing to see actually how popular Heated Rivalry has been.

Are you a fan of the show?

Do you watch it?

Oh yeah, I'm actually, so the author Rachel Reed and I debuted together with the same publisher in 2019.

We both had MM series and so I've known her for a long time and have been a fan of the book for a very long time.

So it's just been really great.

She's an awesome person and a fantastic romance writer.

But just as a romance lover, as someone who's been reading romance since I was like 12 years old and I'm in like my

my 40s

to

see to see a show like that which I could have never imagined that a show like that could have been embraced as much as it has it's just

It's been amazing.

I don't think anybody anticipated that.

I haven't seen it yet, mostly because I'm not a hockey fan, but as I understand it, I got to check it out now because it's all the rage.

We have to do a break in about a minute, but I want to ask you, the New York Times calls your books sweet, thoughtful, and delightfully filthy too.

What's your take when you hear a compliment like that?

Is that exactly what you're going for?

Yes,

absolutely.

Crushed it.

All right, my guest is Adriana Herrera.

Her books are, she's got a ton of them, folks.

Her most recent is A Tropical Rebel, Gets the Duke, and she's got great book series where there's several books in each series, which also kind of blows me away.

So we will be back in just a moment after a very short break to continue our discussion with this fine young up and coming.

Is that a good term or are you already there, Adriana?

I mean, I've been around for a while,

but

you know, you can always go higher.

Very good.

All right, we're coming right back.

It's Nightlight with Pete Chihuahua on the Civic Media Radio Network.

I'm Pete Schwabba.

This is Nightlight.

You've got the Civic Media radio network.

It's great to have you here tonight, folks.

We're talking writing, the writing process, and with a very successful romance writer here, who is my guest at the moment, Adriana Herrera.

Her book, her newest book, is A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke, and she is a huge fan of heeded rivalry.

Conrad, have you seen it yet?

I have not.

No, me either.

All right, it's on my list though.

Something just becomes a phenomenon and you have to check it out, right?

I mean, this thing is like taking off, so that's kind of cool.

I love, I'm also a writer, Adriana, never books, but I'm fascinated by writer's processes and how they do it.

What is your practice?

Do you write every day?

Do you write when the mood catches you?

Do you have a set time you write, a place?

How do you do that?

When I'm on deadline, I definitely write every day.

Sometimes when you're under contract, you kind of just have to write to the deadline.

So usually I try to have a word count that I have to hit every day.

for the first draft.

So I just kind of try and hit my count because I know there's different software that you can use that you have like I have to write 80,000 words by March 30th and it'll tell you you need to write these amount of words every day to hit your deadline.

So I try to do that in terms of just drafting.

But I usually need a time to percolate a story before I can like really get going.

I can't just

start cold.

I usually need time to think about what I'm writing.

I don't plot.

I'm not a plotter.

I can't give myself specific things that are happening in the book because usually it just makes the revision process.

I tend to rewrite if I start plotting.

So I'm kind of an intuitive writer.

I

let the story kind of build on itself.

But I need time to think about it before I start actually drafting.

That's a great answer.

How long is typically, or let's do this.

What's the longest you've written in one sitting?

Like you pull like a carawayck and just sit there for two days and take drugs and all that kind of stuff and try to write?

Or do you go three to four hours?

How do you do that?

Depends.

I mean, it really does depend on what part of the drafting.

Stage I'm in sometimes, you know, I sit and all that I can get out is like 500 600 words and then once I hit my stride there are days when I can wait 3000 4000 words, but usually when I have a

a day where I've put in a lot of words, the next day my brain is just not working as much.

I have friends who like crash a book in six weeks and they can just get the whole thing done.

I am not that kind of writer.

I need to give myself a couple months, three months, four months to do a first draft.

When did you start?

How old were you when you started writing?

And when you started, was it romance from the get-go or did you kind of dabble around in other genres?

I have never even considered writing something other than romance,

to be

honest.

I really need that, like, the happily ever after carrot to be able to, like, make myself write a whole novel.

I have written my whole life, like fanfake and other things like that, but writing to actually write a novel that I wanted to publish, probably my mid-30s, so

maybe

10, 12 years ago.

Wow.

You've written all these books in like 10-ish years.

Yes.

That's really remarkable.

Romans writers write fast.

We write a lot.

We're very prolific.

It's part of how the genre works.

Boy, that's impressive.

Let's go back to that.

If people haven't read you yet and they want to discover your work, where would you have them start?

You've got all these series.

you know, the Dreamer series, Dating in Dallas, Sobrano Studios, where would you have them start?

If they like historical, they would, they should probably start with Les Leon as the first book in the series is a Caribbean Eris in Paris.

If they are more of contemporary reader, I would probably say Dating, the Dating in Dallas series here to stay as the first book in that series.

And it's a really fun one.

Oh, that's great.

Well, when you're not

At your typewriter I went typewriter because you write romance and it's a very romantic gizmo Although I said this to someone else the other day if I had to use a typewriter I don't even think I'd be a writer like we have all these great software things right now we're making it so easy What are you watching on TV?

Do you are you binge watching anything you could recommend or do you still watch TV even though you're a book writer?

I read a lot of TV romance and pop culture are very tied linked together.

So yes, I'm in Bridgerton just dropped yesterday.

So I'll probably watch that over the weekend.

And the show that I've been watching right now is the pit.

I'm obsessed with that show and really love it.

I have to go back to that.

I watched the pilot and I don't typically like medical procedurals, but it just won so many awards.

I'm like, all right, I have to watch this now, you know.

It's so great.

Yeah, I love it so

much.

Well, that's fantastic.

So stay warm.

Keep up the great work.

Please come back again.

Keep us posted on your work.

And I'm sure you'll have 10 novels done by the time we talk next at the rate you go.

And maybe next time you're here, I'll be able to discuss heated rivalry with you.

So thank you so much for your time

tonight.

Thank you so much for having me.

All right.

You got it.

That's Adriana Herrera, very prolific romance writer.

Conrad Romance is the genre right now.

Did you know it's like the highest selling genre?

I didn't, but I mean, that's cool.

All right.

Me?

I didn't know it either, but I, you know, I'm definitely going to pay more attention to it now.

And that was really fun.

Adriana Herrera, check out her work, folks.

Her new book is A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke.

And she's got all these other series, very prolific writer and

Sounds like she's on her way or already there.

All right, when we come back folks, we are going to talk to Rob Thomas, our favorite Madison film critic about the life of Catherine O'Hara, coming up at 635, writer Jeff Stern.

He's had one of his films turned into a movie by Clint Eastwood, so that'll be fun.

And then it is a bar band Friday night, which means Terry Barr will be here with new music.

It is great to have you here.

Our question of the night, what is your favorite movie or TV show about aliens?

It's Pete Schwab and Nightlight.

We're coming right back on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Broadcasting live from the Civic Media Studios in Green Bay.

This is Night Light with Pete Chwaba.

Your inside source on everything entertainment from Wisconsin to Hollywood.

And now a man barely six feet tall, but a mountain of muscle, Pete Chwaba.

All right.

Welcome back.

Tonight ladies and gentlemen, we are kicking off act two here on this glorious Friday evening in the state of Wisconsin Hope you have a great weekend planned.

There's lots to watch out there some great movies out some great TV We've been kind of talking about it all week and now you've got some great romance books to read folks or you could read the books of my guest coming up at 635 Jeffrey Stern who has written some award-winning stuff as well lots to do lots of suggestions and

You can also get caught up in the legacy, the catalog, the library of Catherine O'Hara works as well.

We will discuss those in just a couple minutes with our pal Rob Thomas.

If you missed the first hour of the show, I interviewed Adriana Herrera, a romance novelist who is incredibly prolific.

as you just heard.

And if you missed that or any of the other fun we had in hour number one, you can check all of that out at civicmedia.us.

All of the shows are catalogued as podcasts for your listening enjoyment.

Our question of the night.

Con, let's just reintroduce it.

All right, sounds good.

Let's talk about the question.

Okay, question.

Question.

Question.

Pregunta.

Question.

Question.

Okay, I have a question.

Questions.

This question.

Domanda.

Question.

Question.

This was inspired by our guest last night, Becky Ferrera, who wrote the book First Contact about aliens.

And our question of the night is, what is your favorite TV show or movie?

that deals with aliens.

I said sugar and the predators.

And I was gonna put aliens in there too, but I bailed at the last minute thinking all of the listeners, or many of them at least, would pick aliens.

So let us know what your favorite movie or TV show is when it comes to aliens.

855-752-4842-8557.

Civic, you can also text us on the app.

Or if you're watching the radio on the stream at YouTube, Facebook or X, drop us a stream comment and I'll read it on the radio.

Be part of the show.

Coming up in just a minute is my interview with Rob Thomas.

We'll talk about Catherine O'Hara.

Then at 6.35 after news, sports and weather folks, Jeffrey Stern will be here.

This guy has had an incredible career as a writer and a journalist.

He's award-winning.

One of his books was turned into a movie by Clint Eastwood.

Pardon me, and I'm very excited to talk to Jeffrey at 6.35.

And then it is a bar band Friday night.

Terry Barr will be here at 7.35 with some Grammy-inspired music for the segment that is her namesake.

So we will do all that in hour number three, but right now, this.

Yes.

We still got about 20 seconds.

Well, do we have to come in right in the... I thought we... Okay.

20 seconds it is.

I'm going to sit here and talk for 20 seconds until we can play our Rob Thomas second.

So we'll do that.

Catherine O'Hara dead at 71 today.

Terrible news, but hopefully this will help us get through it.

Rob's thoughts on the situation and the two of us discussing some of her great work that you can check out this weekend.

Joining us now here at Nightlight to discuss the legacy of Catherine O'Hara and talk a little bit about her career and her life is our pal, Madison film critic, Rob Thomas.

Hey, Rob.

Hey, Pete.

Kind of a sad day, certainly in the world of comedy with this passing, right?

Yeah, I feel like I feel like we're in this experiment where we're trusting how much bad news the human body can take because she was just so...

Beloved, and this feels really out of left field.

I mean, she was only 71, which feels very young to me, and was still in shows like the studio, and she was on the last season.

The last of us, Schitt's Creek, just ended a few years ago.

I mean, she seems like she was absolutely vital and at the top of her game.

Yeah, for sure.

And I that's a great point.

Like it's not like it's 71.

She's a spring chicken, but way too early for someone like that who really embraced life.

And by all accounts, wasn't didn't live life in the fast lane.

Like it was a shock.

I saw that.

And I was really sad.

Like she's truly one of the funniest people I've ever seen on the big screen.

Yeah, I agree.

And also.

She's been so funny for so long like she's 71, but like I was watching SCTV in the late 70s, so she must have been like 23 or 24 and Yeah, watch all those clips on YouTube and she's so funny right from the start I mean she's probably only like in her mid 30s when she did home alone or something so I mean I mean that's like a 50 year career where you've been Like an MVP in so many movies and TV shows

Yeah, she's like, truly, you know, people use the word kind of loosely, but she's an absolute icon.

I, my favorite, like I remember seeing her like you in SCTV.

And then obviously in Home Alone, she was not real funny, but just sweet and was a good actor.

Right.

As well as in other films too.

But to me, and I've said this, I said this earlier on the show Rob, I don't think anybody has ever played a funnier drunk.

than Catherine O'Hara.

In waiting for Guffman or the mom in Orange County, the movie with Colin Hanks, she's so natural.

And she was like that in everything, the way she acted, but especially as a drunk, because most people have a tendency to overdo that a little bit.

Right.

And yeah, she could meet sort of the tone of every project, whether it was home alone, where she's, you know, it's more

Not overtly comic like waiting for Guffman or Best in Show, but she's still funny like those those scenes with her and John Candy I mean there's so much affection between them on screen together To sort of those big Christopher guest mockumentaries I mean she could just like perfectly calibrate to exactly what what the movie or TV show needed from

her

You're kind of a guy in the know given your reporting abilities and you do a great job at what you do What what any idea what the brief illness?

That's all they're kind of saying is she battled a brief illness.

It must have been

I don't know.

Yes.

Yeah, I don't know and You know part of me is so sad.

I don't even look into that part of it or don't want to speculate But again, I mean she's you know you watched her on the studio or I think she just

Who did she give?

I saw some interview with her a couple months ago.

She talked about seeing Macaulay Culkin.

Yeah.

And I mean, yeah, she seemed completely in great shape.

Apparently Macaulay Culkin to this day or up until her death still called her mom, which I thought was really cute.

Like they stayed in touch all these years and were close and had this great relationship and great bond.

Yeah, he posted this really sweet.

thing on Instagram about the news that she had gone.

Yeah.

Oh, I

kind of love to find

that.

That's funny because they were hardly in the movie together, right?

That's the point of Home Alone.

But yeah, that's funny.

They have that connection.

Yeah.

He really bonded with his absentee mother, you know, which

is

kind of shocking.

She also, Rob, I thought this was cool, did the eulogy for John Candy at his funeral.

I mean, that's 30 years ago, plus now, but, you know, just her bond with those SCTV actors, Andrea Martin and Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy and John Candy.

Well, I think, you know, I wrote about this, but this would, you should revisit that John Candy documentary if people haven't seen it.

Cause, cause yeah, they all came up together in Toronto and she speaks of him with such affection in that movie and it goes beyond just professional, you know, they were just, they were just kids.

They were really just kids.

Yeah.

And so many of them, Catherine O'Hara, Andrea Martin, Martin Short, John Candy, you know, really conquered the world of comedy.

Boy, they sure did.

And she, you know, just to kind of look at some of her work earlier, I love, she played Brook Shield.

Right.

And John Candy is hilarious.

And it's just, I mean, she's a treasure.

And, you know, when, when referring to herself also, she was very humble.

She called herself a good Catholic girl.

She was married to the same guy for a 30 plus year.

They had two kids.

Like it just, there's nothing to dislike about her.

No, she feels very grounded and she's born in Toronto, but feels very Midwestern to me in a way, which is maybe why she's so good at playing both sort of Midwestern types, but also like full of themselves, Hollywood people like Schitt's Creek, like that character, she could really find the humor in those celebrity types, I guess.

Yeah.

We're in terms of let's do this in terms of great comedic actors Where where do you rank her like it?

Not an actual ranking but in the percentile and also in terms of funny women Where do you rank her?

Well in terms of funny comedians I period I rank her at the top or near the top because like I said she was so

funny in so many different things in so many different ways whether she was underplaying it like on the studio she played this Former studio executive who gets kind of ousted and it's it's a little it's dialed back in a really a way that fits the the thing fits the TV show or if she's doing something wild like SCTV or

even Schitt's Creek where she's really allowed to let Lucid really play a capital C character.

And not a lot of actors can do both.

Not a lot of actors can have that kind of range and make you laugh and that made different ways.

I think what I

Why waiting for guffman is my favorite role of hers is just because she it part of it has to do with You know, it's all collaborative and Fred Willard played her husband She played and he played off her but she played off him so well when he says, you know He's thinking about Hollywood and he looks at her and he goes you've got the face for it, babe She just happened to be making this goofy face like her her Interpretate I mean, she's just so honed in and in the moment.

Do you have a favorite movie?

or TV show of hers, Rob?

Well, I always really liked her in Best in Show.

That might be my favorite, Christopher Guest.

Um, and I think she's partnered with Eugene Levy on that one.

And he's sort of, if I remember, he's kind of nerdy, right?

Yeah.

Right.

And she's like this much wilder or wilder person.

She has the

checkered past, right?

With

all the guys.

Exactly.

They're so cheerful and in love together, you know,

And that's such a great partnership.

And I do go back to a lot of those, just because I guess it was formative for me when I was like 10, but like those SETV sketches, when she played Brook Shields or there's a really funny commercial where she plays Catherine O'Hara.

There's this.

You mean Catherine

Hepburn?

Sorry, Katherine Hepburn, right, right.

I guess she disappeared into the role for me.

But also, Joey Heatherton, who was this faded 60s icon, who had a recurring role on that show.

I guess that's when I first think of hers, because I was just a kid.

Actually, I was in Canada, so that was our SCTV.

So those really left an impression.

That's so great.

Lucille Ball, Tammy Faye Baker, she even played Gilda Radner at times, and as you mentioned, Catherine Hepburn and Brooke Shields.

Catherine O'Hara, folks, you have something to go out and do this cold weekend.

If you just want to lose yourself in her career, check out her movies or TV shows or SCTV sketches.

By all accounts, a very good person and a truly iconic, iconic comedian.

I put her right up there at the top with you, Rob.

Thanks so much for joining us tonight.

And you got dinner reservations.

Go out and toast a couple back for Catherine O'Hara.

Absolutely, yeah.

Thanks for having me

on to talk about her.

You got it.

Thanks, Rob.

All right, that's Rob Thomas coming in out of the bullpen spur of the moment to talk about Catherine O'Hara.

We are coming right back.

This is Nightlight with Peach Waba on the Civic Media Radio Network.

gonna be some sweet stuff coming down.

This

is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba.

I am Pete Schwabba and it is great to have you with me folks and to be in the air on this Friday night talking about such a really cool topics and so much going on in the world of entertainment.

Got the Olympics all kinds of stuff right around the corner a lot of stuff to be a Lot of stuff to be excited about after new sports and weather at 635.

I'm gonna welcome Jeffrey Stern to the show just really incredible award-winning journalist who is Written award-winning articles and done award-winning investigative work He's also written five books and a couple of movies too one of his books was turned into a movie by Clint Eastwood I'm very excited to have Jeffrey on the show.

He'll be here at 635 and then in act three

It is a bar band Friday night, and Terry Barr, who was under the weather last week, is on the mend.

She will be joining us.

And we always love talking to Terry Barr, the person that we named the entire segment after.

That's how much I like my pal Terry Barr.

Pardon me.

So our question of the night.

was inspired by our guest last night, Becky Ferrera, who wrote the book First Contact about aliens.

And she did all this investigative work and did her due diligence and really found no proof of any extraterrestrial life form.

It was a fascinating conversation available at civicmedia.us in the podcast.

But Becky was great to talk to and it inspired tonight's question of the night, which is, when it comes to aliens, what is your favorite TV show or movie?

I said sugar, and some of the predators.

Conrad said guardians of the galaxy.

And our first guest tonight, Adriana Herrera, said, what did she say?

She said, oh yeah, the X-Files.

Totally spacing out there for a minute.

So Matt Harper, rock, rap artists from here in Green Bay, love Matt, love his work, says Arrival or Independence Day.

Kind of forgot about Independence Day.

Janet on social media says, Aliens.

Bill Paxton Hart.

Love Bill Paxton in that movie.

I was going to say Aliens, but I thought that was too obvious.

Not that there's any problem saying it.

I just thought too many other people would say it because it is a great movie.

I actually liked it better than the first one myself, which is probably sacrilegious to say that, but it's true.

The second one just has kind of more...

Bang for your buck maybe and Bill Paxton is great great text Janet Danny wheels our pal says Star Wars and then he included a picture of the great Bill Murray singing his Nick rails or Nick lounge characters singing Star Wars, which is great If they should bar wars, please let these Star Wars stay.

Thank you, Daniel Wheeler Rich Luccasio wrestling announcer and WRJN personality

He will be on the show next week.

He says real men 1987 I don't know that movie.

You know that movie.

No real men My guess is knowing rich it might have something to do with wrestling Brenda on social media my pal Brenda says war of the worlds 2005 that's interesting because I really like that movie too Tom Cruise was remake of the Orson Welles of the first war of the worlds

And I really liked it, too.

It was very bleak.

But I thought the effects were kind of cool.

For 2005, I actually really liked that move.

And I love the scene between Tom Cruise and Tim Robbins.

Just a great scene.

Several scenes between the two of them, but that last scene was really dark and cool.

Derek Fister on social media says... I don't know what that means.

Conrad, do you know what that means?

Yes.

Aliens.

Is that what that picture

is?

Yeah.

didn't really print up very well.

It's

aliens saying yes.

Okay.

Is that a thing?

Was that a line from the movie that I missed?

I don't know, maybe in the post credits or something.

Either way, Derek is a talented filmmaker and I know he knows this stuff.

So thank you, Derek.

Jay Campbell says V, the visitors, it probably doesn't hold up, but that mini series was all the talk in the 80s when it was aired.

He says, Star Trek, the OG and TNG were my favorites, though.

The next generation I think is what I'm not a Star Trek guy, so I don't get a lot of the Star Trek Kind of slang, but I did figure that out the og the original of course and then TNG meaning the next generation.

Thank you Jay Daniel Wheeler has something to say to Jay He says Jay Campbell when that person was in the vent shaft and through the gate saw the big reveal classic

Just Star Wars or Star Trek fans bonding over our social media page.

Absolutely love that Marissa Bellistrari says ex files Love it.

Love it Marissa.

Great show.

I did say last night to when Becky was here that I thought it was I thought the first few seasons were great and I thought it didn't really go anywhere I really wanted some closure And they didn't even really give it to you in the movie But a great series when it started out.

I was addicted to it

Nancy on social media says, the movie Contact.

And Tim Baker says, Mork and Mindy, that's a great one.

And our pal from WGDBW here, Amanda Nimmer says, Resident Alien, and it's a damn shame they canceled it.

So many people feel that way.

Can we squeeze a call in here, Conrad, before we get to the news?

Who do we have?

Ollie from the Northwoods.

All right, Ollie.

How are

you?

I'm good.

I hope you guys are getting over your cold.

Oh, we're just fine.

We're tougher than we sound, Ollie.

Not

really.

Well, you know you get along pretty well when he sneezes like you.

Those are camera tricks or sound effects, but sure,

yeah.

What's on your mind?

Well, my favorite alien show was Third Rock from the Sun.

Yeah.

And in keeping with your Wisconsin...

Athletes, Kirstie Johnston was from Milwaukee.

Oh, yeah.

I forgot about that.

Yeah.

That's fantastic, Ollie.

Well, thank you for sharing that.

We're celebrating them all the way up until the start of the Olympics next Friday.

And thank you, my friend, as always for the call.

That was great.

Thank you, Ollie.

Okay.

All right, that's Ali from the Northwoods, one of our nightlight besties.

We are coming right back after news, sports and weather to talk to our new pal Jeffrey Stern, a very accomplished writer and journalist.

This is Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

There

you go.

That's some good winding down Friday night music for you folks.

Hey, I'm Pete Schwab.

This is Nightlight and you've got the Civic Media Radio Network.

Great to have you here on this Friday night as we celebrate the things in life that we love.