For the Love of Books Podcast

Michigan Reads connects authors with the world

Michigan Reads is a functional gateway for Michigan independent authors which started out with authors Ingar Rudholm and Andrew Allen Smith. The site was tested and more authors were added.

"The purpose is to centralize Michigan authors in a single place," said Smith. "I will be offering it to all authors in February or March."

Eventually, more features were added such as electronic billboards. In the works are streaming and TV. The proposed cost per author per book is $10, and a requirement to write a review of somebody else's book.

"You can have as many books as you want," Smith said. "It's a place that is easy to remember."

The main innovation is name recognition, according to Smith.

Listen in for more details.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

Author Ingar Rudholm talks about sales & marketing

The author of the Traveling Circus series, Ingar Rudholm, talks about selling and marketing your books in an increasingly complex market flooded with social media algorithms. Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Traveling Circus and the Secret Talent Scroll. The episode was sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger.

Use the following hashtags when distributing.

#fantasybook #mermaid

 

Pages Promotions hosts Indie Author Virtual Book Festival

Author Diana Kathryn Plopa, founder of Pages Promotions talks about the upcoming Virtual Book Festival in February with author Emma Palova, host and producer of For the Love of Books Podcast. Listen in for a chance to win free registration and Plopa's book A Duck Quacks.

In support of Indie and small press author all over the world, Plopa is hosting the Virtual Book Festival on Zoom, from Feb. 1 through Feb. 28. The deadline for authors to apply is January 15.

It's wintertime in Michigan (and other parts of the world), and authors aren't easily able to meet with crowds of readers at book festivals and fairs like we do in the warmer months... so we're hosting a Virtual Book Festival to give you the opportunity to discover new authors and their books... all while staying warm!

Each day, we'll share live interviews with authors, listen to them read some of their work, play games, give away prizes with the Spinny Wheel of Happiness, and generally have a good time with the written word. 

 Writers can sometimes be a wacky group of unpredictable people... after all, we make stuff up for a living.  You never know what kind of literary shenanigans might happen...

​So visit our Facebook page every day to see what's coming next!

Share on social media #virtualbookfestival #mysteryofthemissingmanuscript

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger.

Author Karen Tintori pens Unto the Daughters

In her memoir and historical mystery Unto the Daughters, author & former journalist Karen Tintori unveils a family secret set in turn-of-the-century Detroit. The inciting incident to break the silence was an obliterated passport, and then a wedding photo.

 

"I am Italian, " she said. "My mother's side of the family was from southern Sicily. You don't tell family secrets."

The story of her great-grandaunt Francesca haunted Tintori's inquisitive mind for decades. After 12 years, three novels, and advice from the editor, Tintori re-imagined the haunting truth of an honor killing.

In crafting this family story, Tintori combined her novelist's heart with a journalist's head.

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Unto the Daughters.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger, the hometown newspaper in Lowell, MI

This episode is in memoriam to American journalist Barbara Walters since both guest author Karen Tintori and host Emma Palova are journalists.

 

Author Ann Dallman pens Cady and the Birchbark Box

Ann Dallman has lifelong roots in Michigan’s UP. She started out as a newspaper reporter/photographer and returned to journalism after retiring from teaching. 

In Cady and the Birchbark Box, Cady Whirlwind Thunder solves the mystery behind a weathered journal found inside a very old birchbark box. Why was the box buried behind a deserted garage?

 

This is the question her friend and “crush,” John Ray Chicaug, asks her after the two of them find it. And, what meaning do the notes in the book have? Cady’s grandma and her ever-present companion, a noisy blue jay, encourage her as she puts together the pieces and ultimately restores the reputation of a deceased elder.

Listen in for a chance to win an autographed copy of Cady and the Birchbark Box.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

Author Carol Nickles pens Thumb Fire Desire

This historical fiction novel was inspired by the biggest natural disaster in Michigan-the fire of 1881. Author Carol Nickles kept the idea for the story along with notes in a box for close to 20 years.

Then she decided either she was going to write the story or burn the box, and that's how Thumb Fire Desire was born with the help of a developmental editor.

"I've always wanted to tell this story," she said.

Listen to this inspiring interview for a chance to win an autographed copy of Thumb Fire Desire.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent, The Lowell Ledger, and Modern History Press.

 

Halfway through NaNoWriMo 2022 with Wrimo Experts

NaNoWriMo authors Jean Davis, Vera West, and host of For the Love of Books Podcast Emma Palova take you through the first half of the 50K writing challenge in this special episode. Their combined total log-in was just under 80,000 words.

Find out what they did to reach their writing goals on their journeys to publishing new books in 2023. Keep on writing past the challenge, and make it a daily habit, these experts say.

Watch for their books in 2023.

So listen in and jump on the NaNoWriMo roller coaster, because you can't edit a blank page.

Copyright (c) 2022 Emma Palova

Nikki Mitchell’s Nightshade Forest

In case you missed this summer episode with author Nikki Mitchell about her Nightshade Forest release.

Enjoy.

T.J.London pens prequel ’Man of War’

It was actually fashion that got T.J. London interested in the American Revolutionary War as a young author as simple as it may seem.

"I was getting into my persona," she said. "The look got me interested in that time period. Now it draws attention to my books."

Yes, it was the red coats and tricorne hats that sparked the imagination of a young mind, and later served well as a counseling tool during a period of grief. Rather, than writing a journal, T.J. London went the whole way and wrote 'Man of War.'

T.J. London is an expert at digging out little-known facts in history and asking herself questions. She was referring to battles in upstate New York that T.J. London didn't know about.

"Why don't we learn this stuff," she said.

What fascinated T.J. London were all the changes that were happening at the same time.

"It was this incredible cataclysmic moment in history," she said. "But in fiction where were those stories? I felt like I needed to know more."

And the prequel is not just about the revolution, but also about digging deep into the roots of what was going on T.J. London's life after the loss of her father.

It took her four years to write 'Man of War' backed up by solid research about the Royal Navy.

Come along on a journey with ambitious captain Merrick and revengeful India for a chance to win a signed copy of 'Man of War.'

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger.

How to survive NaNoWriMo 50k word challenge ending up with a rough draft of a novel

That is the million-dollar question that today's panelists authors Jean Davis, Vera West, and Emma Palova will attempt to answer. There is not a one size fits all guideline to win the 50,000-word challenge coming up in November.

At times, the challenge reminds me of final exams in college, when you had to pull it all together in one month, and in four different subjects. As authors, we each have a different approach to getting it done. I like to have some kind of pillars to rely on kind of like a suspended bridge, not necessarily a full-blown outline, but rather a synopsis as Davis suggested.

Davis has been participating in NaNo for 17 years, which has increased her productivity immensely. Out of that, she won 15 times. West enters every year but does not always win. So far, she has won once.

"For me, any progress is better than none," she said.

True, if you enter and get 10,000 words written, that's 10,000 words more than you had before entering.

These experienced NaNoWriMos offered invaluable tips in the special episode: Have two projects in the works in case you get stuck on one, and work hard in the honeymoon phase at the beginning before exhaustion settles in.

Don't go back to fix anything, keep moving forward even if you don't like the way the story is evolving; you might not like it two hours later either.

"There are two ways to go about it," Davis said. "First you can outline that you have to write 1,667 words a day, secondly you can just work on something like I do."

Whichever way you pick, just stick to your commitment.

Find out what to do when you do get stuck. And we all do, indeed.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger