Praise for Chained Birds

Best Thrillers Magazine calls CHAINED BIRDS "An emotional, eye-popping, personal expose of the American prison system ... ONE OF THE YEAR'S BEST THRILLERS."

Independent Book Review calls CHAINED BIRDS "A captivating true crime story ... and engrossing memoir of a journalist making a difference ... ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS WE READ IN 2024."

Manhattan Book Reviews says CHAINED BIRDS is "Gripping ... from frustration to sadness and even awe at the events that transpired ... DESTINED TO BE A TRUE CRIME CLASSIC."

Carla Conti is the author and narrator of CHAINED BIRDS' audiobook. A recent Audible reviewer said, "She brings a passion in a way an outside reader simply couldn't" to her performance ...

The latest blog posts

Chained Birds wins the Gold/1st Place award in the 2025 Feathered Quill Book Awards Program for the Debut Author category

Chained Birds wins the Feathered Quill Debut Author Award!

To say that book award season has been good to Chained Birds is an understatement! I’m humbled and honored that Chained Birds has been chosen as the 2025 Gold/1st Place winner by the Feathered Quill Book Awards Program for the Debut Author category. At the time of this blog post, the finalists for this award and their other award categories

Carla Conti discusses her award-winning book CHAINED BIRDS on The Artful Periscope podcast with Larry Davidson

The Artful Periscope reveals why Chained Birds had to be memoir mixed with true crime

I had the pleasure of appearing on Larry Davison’s final 2024 episode of his podcast, The Artful Periscope, which just dropped on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other platforms this week. I was the first of Larry’s two interviews for his non-fiction-focused episode and was followed by best-selling author Daniel de Visé, who talked about his latest book, The Blues Brothers:

I'll take an innie for the next four years

Can I get a Lumon innie for the next four years?

We are in the End Times. I am aware. Just because I don’t write, tweet, or engage socially about it doesn’t mean I don’t know or care. I’m just trying to preserve my mental health. To that end, I have submitted my request to Lumon Industries to be severed like Mark, Helly, Irving, and Dylan, the courageous data mining employees on

Chained Birds by Carla Conti is a 2024 Nellie Bly Book Award Finalist

Chained Birds short-listed for CIBA’s 2024 Nellie Bly Book Awards

I am ecstatic to report that Chained Birds has been short-listed for CIBA’s 2024 Nellie Bly Book Awards! So naturally, I’ve done a deep dive into all things Nellie Bly … get ready for a primer. 😁 Sponsored by the Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs), this award recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre

Chained Birds ends 2024 with three book awards and a new cover

Chained Birds ends 2024 with a makeover and some book awards

I’m not sure which is more exciting — getting a trio of book prizes for Chained Birds or my new gorgeous cover with a shiny fresh award sticker … do I have to choose? I’ll tackle my prizes first and say I have a lot of love for BestThrillers.com, Independent Book Review, and Literary Titan. I’ve been honored with book

Reflections on Chained Birds 2024 debut - it took a village to launch and laud my true crime memoir

2024 reflections: the village that launched and lauded CHAINED BIRDS

Like with so many worthwhile things, it really did take a village to publish and promote Chained Birds. It feels more than appropriate, in this last blog post of the year, to reflect upon my 2024 publishing whirlwind and all the folks who helped bring Chained Birds into the world and shout it from the bleachers. It was exactly one

Podcaster Larry Davidson says goodbye to long-time engineer Chris DeCristofaro

Podcaster Larry Davidson says goodbye to long-time engineer Chris DeCristofaro

I had the pleasure of appearing on Larry Davison’s final 2024 episode of his podcast, The Artful Periscope, which was a bittersweet finale as Larry said goodbye to his longtime sound engineer Chris DeChristofaro. For five years, Larry, whose career spans decades in radio, TV, and other podcasts, has recorded The Artful Periscope in a library sound booth on Long

WriteNowPhilly.com profiles author Carla Conti and her true crime memoir Chained Birds

Philadelphia’s Carla Conti dishes to WriteNowPhilly.com about her debut Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’m especially thankful and pleased to share a lovely, hometown interview I had with WriteNowPhilly.com, which posted on its website today. Drexel computer science major Tahsin Ahmed had the assignment of reading my debut, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir, and his deep, introspective interview questions are still serving as a roadmap for my ongoing

Joe Dimino discusses Chained Birds with author Carla Conti on his podcast Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino

Podcaster explores author’s inspiration for journalism and Chained Birds

This was a big week for me in podcasting with three shows recorded, including a really fun, birdseye view talk with Joe Dimino on his YouTube podcast FAMOUS INTERVIEWS WITH JOE DIMINO. We covered a lot of ground outside my book Chained Birds and in particular, what inspired me to become a journalist in the first place. (The interview can

Ed Opperman discusses Chained Birds with author Carla Conti on his podcast THE OPPERMAN REPORT

The OPPERMAN REPORT digs into Chained Birds prison exposé and author risk

This is my second shout-out this week to Ed Opperman and my appearance on his talk radio show the OPPERMAN REPORT, which appeared on a handful of radio stations (KCAA AM/FM- WWPR AM- WWNN AM/FM- WHSP AM- KYAH AM) and now has episode links on Spotify and Patreon. Ed was kind enough to invite me on his show to talk

Burl Barer, grandfather of true crime radio and podcasting, talks all things Chained Birds with Carla Conti

Grandfather of true crime podcasting, Burl Barer, talks all things Chained Birds

It was my pleasure to call into an old-timey radio station and chat it up with the grandfather of true crime radio and podcasting Burl Barer on his show TRUE CRIME UNCENSORED WITH BURL BARER. And when I say old-timey, my instructions were to call in on a landline if I could manage it — sorry, Burl, I haven’t had

"Little Scandinavia," a good experimental prison program at Chester SCI, PA, is featured in the November 2024 issue of Philadelphia Magazine

Shout-out to Philly Mag’s profile of “Little Scandinavia” prison program

This week a friend shared a link to a Philadelphia Magazine story about the “Little Scandinavia” prison program in Chester … and boy, was that alert timely because I then got to mention the article and the program while appearing on THE OPPERMAN REPORT radio show with Ed Opperman. (I’ll link to that episode when it drops.) I’ve recorded half

Carla Conti - True Crime Journalist, Storyteller, Prison Reform Advocate

Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir of Justice, Survival and Redemption Behind Bars, is out now with WildBlue Press.

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