Episodes
Friday Jun 03, 2022
Author Kristoffer Gair pens The Beautiful Moment
Friday Jun 03, 2022
Friday Jun 03, 2022
The Beautiful Moment is a paranormal romance inspired by Covid-19 set in the UP.
"I wanted to make it current so people can relate to it," author Kristoffer Gair said.
Gair switched gears from comedy to serious writing during a difficult time in his life. Protagonist Wesley is a bright bubbly guy, but his uncle is making his life miserable.
And then there is Dr. Clark Matsuda.
"I've never met anyone whose name was Clark, so I put it in the story," Gair said.
The decade from hell.
First, Wesley Traylor lost his father and grandmother, then COVID took his mother. His sole remaining family member will stop at nothing to steal his inheritance. In desperation, Wesley escapes to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where no one knows him and he can exist without fear of his uncle’s brutality.
Circumstances force Wesley to the emergency room and face to face with the beguiling Dr. Clark Matsuda. The last thing Wesley needs—between dealing with strange occurrences at his new house and emergency surgery—is a doctor who’s made it his personal mission to get to know Wesley.
Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of The Beautiful Moment.
Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger
Friday Jun 03, 2022
Friday Jun 03, 2022
The Authors' Tent no. 140 at the Palmer Park Art Fair in Detroit will feature 18 authors representing different genres plus poetry this weekend, June 4 & 5.
"Most of the authors will have readings," said Mark Loeb, Integrity Shows director said. "We'll have poets in between."
The Palmer Park Art Fair is a recreation of an event popular in the 70s & 80s.
"We will have a limited edition poster," he said. "It's stunning."
Signs from Woodward Street direct visitors into the huge park, one mile by 0.5 miles, surrounded by upscale historic district neighborhoods and low-income apartments.
"We are a great melting pot," Loeb said. "It's a joy to be there."
The unique event will have 135 to 140 vendors including food vendors such as Southern Heritage of Detroit.
"I expect a lot of people," Loeb said.
Author and podcast host and producer Emma Palova will be inside the Authors' Tent at 140e. Stop by. Emma will be signing her books including Greenwich Meridian Memoir about the Konecny family immigration saga from Czechoslovakia.
Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger
Friday Jun 03, 2022
Author Jon Stott pens Summers at the Lake
Friday Jun 03, 2022
Friday Jun 03, 2022
Summers at the Lake is a delightful collection of essays centered around the author's beloved "Little cabin in the Big Woods" beside Crooked Lake in the Upper Peninsula.
The humorous and meditative essays, that read like prose poetry, track the progression of the seasons. Stott aims to evoke for readers memories of similar incidents and feelings at other lakes and at other times.
Stott, a part-time Yooper, spends extended summers in the solitude of the northern woods where the closest community of Munising is 27 miles away from his cabin.
"I am the old hermit of the woods," he said in the podcast interview speaking directly from the Munising School Public library, 500 feet from Lake Superior.
In chapter 6 "Day Tripper", Stott takes us on a trip to Grand Marais which looks like a New England seaside village with a year-round population of 300.
Stott acts as a knowledgeable and funny tour guide as he writes about "Life in a Pickle Barrel" about the history of the Pickle Barrel House.
Email Stott for a chance to win a signed copy of his new book at jstottuaalberta.ca
Special thanks to the Munising School Public Library.
Sponsored by Doc Chavent, the Lowell Ledger, Modern History Press
Friday May 27, 2022
Author Summer Porter pens A Mouse Tail on Mackinac Island
Friday May 27, 2022
Friday May 27, 2022
Illustrated by Maggie Chambers, this delightful "tail" of the Mouse family honors the magic of Mackinac Island with all its little nooks and crannies. From the famous fudge to the handsome blonde dock porter Robert, the brand new book brings alive the scenes from the island.
Speaking directly from the main location of the story- the Windermere Hotel- Porter and Chambers share their creative synergy in this interview wrapped in love for the island.
"It's a cold and foggy day," said Chambers, "but tomorrow will be sunny."
"I wanted to give a gift to the island," said Porter.
During their two-year-long creative journey, Porter and Chambers perfectly complemented each other's vision for the book.
"Wouldn't it be cute.." said Porter.
"If they slept in fudge boxes," Chambers finished the sentence.
"It just rolled that way," Porter laughed.
If you happen to be on the island this Memorial Day weekend don't miss out on the unique opportunity to meet the creators of "A Mouse on Mackinac Island" on Saturday at the Island Book Store, Sunday at Watercolor Cafe, and on Monday at the main location-the Windermere Hotel with all the characters present.
Listen to this story of love for the island for a chance to win a signed copy of this charming children's book.
Sponsored by Doc Chavent, The Lowell Ledger, Modern History Press
Thursday May 26, 2022
Author Andrew Smith unleashes horror in Another Slice of Fear
Thursday May 26, 2022
Thursday May 26, 2022
In his second book in the Slice of Fear franchise, Andrew Smith explores fear in all its dimensions and takes it down deep into this rabbit hole he had found along the way.
"I believe that fear is at the core of who we are and it makes us alive," he said. "Fear is a lot of fun. I use fear to entertain people."
Another Slice of Fear is an anthology of 16 stories that will stir your imagination.
A man finds the secret to immortality, or does he?
A monster awakens and has to decide who is the monster?
A selfish woman gets eternal servitude, for a price.
A family fortune is saved by unlikely allies.
A scene unfolds from three different perspectives and creates a problem for Kate with exciting results.
A man wins a special vacation for the newly almost divorced.
Early reviews long for the continuation of The Edge carried from the first book into the second one as "The Edges."
Friday May 20, 2022
Indie book collector supports authors in a unique way
Friday May 20, 2022
Friday May 20, 2022
Hauling a cartful of books, you can find Diana Duell at just about any festival in West Michigan, but her favorite one is the Lakeshore Art Festival (LAF) in Muskegon.
"That's where I started my book collection," she said. "I was looking for something new."
Right off the bat, Duell bought 60 to 70 books that the first year when she discovered Indie local authors.
Her collection of Indie authors counts 60 authors, 171 books read, and 350 TBR. She spends approximately $1,000 a year on books.
"It's disposable income," Duell said. "It's my vacation. I fell in love doing this and I collect more books every year."
Now, as an established collector, she knows most Indie authors and writes reviews on Facebook and Goodreads.
"It's all about supporting local businesses and writing a book is a craft," she said.
She has built-in three bookcases with six shelves, all full.
"There has to be a meaning behind a good book," she said. "A great book is one you can escape into. Keep on writing and I will keep on buying. That's a promise."
Depending on her mood, she likes to read anything from a cozy mystery to a short story, and everything in between.
Among her favorite authors are Ingar Rudholm, DA Reed, and Andrew Allen Smith.
"I wouldn't want to be on DA Reed's or Andrew Allen Smith's bad side," she said.
Duell is always on the lookout for new authors and new books.
Watch for Duell at LAF this year on June 25 & 26. Listen in to the interview for a chance to win a signed copy of your next favorite read.
Tuesday May 10, 2022
In Healing Childhood Trauma author Robin Marvel offers tools to heal
Tuesday May 10, 2022
Tuesday May 10, 2022
Author Robin Marvel of Hersey, MI is that girl who has survived mental, domestic, and drug abuse; homelessness, and kidnappings throughout her childhood. Being addicted to alcohol and partying at age 15 resulted in a sexual assault, and later she became a teen mother at age 16.
Since May is mental health awareness month, Marvel opened up to talk about her story captured in her book “Healing Childhood Trauma” from a PTSD standpoint of view.
“I didn’t want to repeat the cycle, and I started working on myself,” she said. “I realized I was in control of what happened to me.”
As a motivational speaker, Marvel talks about self-respect and determination. She strives to be a role model for her five daughters. She chose to grow through the trauma she had endured as a child.
“I didn’t have any role models,” she said witnessing how her mother was abused by her father with subsequent kidnappings of her.
“It was always the same,” she said. “He took me to his mother to get supplies and we slept in a car. I grabbed my blanket.”
But facing all these hardships, Marvel found the strength to overcome being a victim of circumstance.
"It doesn't happen at the flip of a switch," she said. "I had to work on myself."
Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Marvel's life-changing book.
Friday Apr 29, 2022
Author Michael Carrier releases To China with Love
Friday Apr 29, 2022
Friday Apr 29, 2022
Hot off the presses, the long-awaited To China with Love is out there wherever its author may be at the present moment. That too could be a mystery. Two years in the making due to sabotage efforts, the first book in the Jack Unchained series follows Jack Handler, a retired Chicago homicide detective on his covert mission.
The previous 14 books, all fiction, are divided into a series of seven books each that successfully sustain Jack as the main character, despite the reader's evolving apprehension of Jack's accomplishments.
"I have yet to see the nerves that I touch in this book," Carrier said. "All chains are off. He is who he is. I am having a lot of fun with this series."
Carrier draws inspiration from his private security contractor career for three decades.
"I write strictly fiction," he said. "My stories are plausible based on real crime. I don't intend to write non-fiction about crime."
His biggest advice to other authors is not to shy away from returning to various events.
"It pays to go back and revisit venues where you didn't do well," he said.
Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Carrier's To China with Love.
Friday Apr 22, 2022
Author Phil Bellfy pens UP Colony struck by contrast between twin cities
Friday Apr 22, 2022
Friday Apr 22, 2022
In his UP Colony, Author Phil Bellfy, P.h. D. poses the ultimate question: why has the Upper Peninsula's vast wealth, nearly unrivaled in the whole of the United States, left the area with poverty nearly unrivaled in the whole of the United States. "Where did the $1.5 billion earned from copper mining, $1 billion from logging, and nearly $4 billion in iron ore go?"
Struck by the contrast between two cities on different sides of the American Canadian border, Bellfy has published an update to his 1980s MA thesis, UP Colony.
It is the story of resource exploitation in Upper Michigan in one of the oldest US cities Sault Sainte Marie. The book was published on its 350th anniversary in 2018.
"Sault Michigan was clearly a city on the decline, while Sault Ontario shared none of the malaise that infected the Michigan half of these "Sister Cities," Bellfy writes in the new introduction.
Bellfy grew up in the Detroit suburb of Livonia and moved to Sault Sainte Marie in the fall of 1970. "We were urban Indians growing up in Detroit, but Chippewa County is most native populated East of Mississippi," he said. "I was exposed to the native community."
"I was also struck by the raw beauty of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and perhaps, even more struck by the raw beauty of the landscape across the St. Marys River," he wrote.
However, just around the time of his arrival, all the major industries shut down, and Sault Michigan was little more than a "resource colony" or "Internal Colony" without any residuals left from the mining industries.
"My own personal history adds a lot to my perception of the situation up here," Bellfy said.
Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of UP Colony.
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Lowell author Amanda Filkins pens debut book ”Be Still”
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Looking for answers to life's big questions like what do I want to do with my life? Based on her individual experiences, author Amanda Filkins puts her heart out in her brand new book "Be Still: God's Grace is Bigger than Worldly Deceit."
"I wanted to be organic and stay away from preaching," she said. "This book is from my heart. It's very pure. I hope a fire is lit inside of the readers' hearts."
The book is meant for young women under the age of 30 who may be struggling with life's purpose. It is divided into 10 chapters with subjects such as sex, status, money, and more.
Filkins focuses heavily on body image and societal pressures.
Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of her new book.
Sponsored by Doc Chavent, the Lowell Ledger, Modern History Press