For the Love of Books Podcast

In her debut novel After the Before-Times, author Jan Leland portrays the story of seven people, who end up together at an inn on a lake in Michigan during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They find friendship, hardship, and ultimately resilience together.

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of After the Before-Times.

 

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

Bring Joy and Love to the Island Fair. There will be no sad faces.

Be a part of history, as this epic fair, run by volunteers only, celebrates 50 fantastic years on the island on July 29, 2023. What better way to make up for the missing Covid year and to enhance this year's celebration than to add 50 new vendors for a total of more than 180 vendors?

"They put a little light into this dark time," said event producer Stephene Lapp.

Twenty Michigan Authors will be located both on the island and at the ballfield. Don't miss out on this opportunity to get a signed book by a live author. And food trucks are back.

Find out more about the island's fascinating history in this action-packed episode with Lapp of Ledge Craft Lane.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

Joan Young is a long-distance hiker and prolific author, blogger, and avid photographer. She has conquered the North Country Trail (NCT) twice which is an unprecedented feat. She finished hiking the NCT on June 18, 2023, at Timber Creek after 18 months and 18 days on the trail averaging 13.2 miles per day.

Here is an excerpt from Joan's adventures on the trail.

 

The heat was brutal. But I was walking along the Garrison Diversion canal at the time and I kept pouring water over my head. On the hottest day, I did 18 miles, but I had to do a shorter day the next day because I was so worn out. Then I started getting up and hiking at the crack of dawn so I was pretty much done before the temp hit 100 around 2 in the afternoon.

 

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger, edited by Douglas Kelly of Evolve Solutions

Canadian-born author S. W. Raine has written The Elemental's Guardian, which is the first book in The Elementals Trilogy, during NaNoWriMo.

 

Everything changed the day he ran into her with his jet thousands of feet in the sky.

 

Freelance pilot Ferenc Janos's life is turned upside down when Olivia Gillies, a woman who can control air and travel through lightning, tells him he's the guardian of the air elemental. Around the same time as her sudden arrival, masked figures have been appearing around the city with the ability to summon and control strange creatures. Their target? The homeless girl who happened to steal his wallet.

 

Listen in for the details of the book giveaway.

 

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

A polygamous author, Jacob Bullen has delved into the romance genre from a fantasy point of view in his newest release Assassinating the Godslayer.

After her plan to assassinate Harker the Dragon Slayer fails, Audra must grow close to him, intimate even, to find his truest weakness. Can she ignore her growing feelings for the man whose saddened gaze mirrors her own? Will she succumb to the embers of passion, or will they both burn in the flames of vengeance?

He is most passionate about his family and often leaves secret references to his wife and daughter in his work. Bullen is currently penning several novels in different genres while working to finish his established series.

Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Assassinating the Godslayer.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger

Lakeshore Art Festival Part 2

Come join us this weekend in downtown Muskegon for the Lakeshore Art Festival (LAF) on June 24 & June 25.

Listen to part 2 of the special episode about Michigan Authors at LAF. More than 20 authors will be participating in this unique event.

 

Lakeshore Art Festival comes to Muskegon Part 1

This is part I of the special episode about the Lakeshore Art Festival (LAF) in Muskegon on June 24 &25 with authors Emma Palova and Jean Davis. For complete info about participating authors go to part 2. Come to Author's Alley on Clay St. & 4th this weekend to meet your next favorite read.

Author Chloe Holiday's Fly Boy is the second book in the All-American Boy series.

"The book had to have a boy in the title, but all the good ones, like Lover Boy, had been taken," Holiday said. "I am a pilot so I wanted to bring a little bit of sky to people."

 

There's conflict in the air...

Tricia Carlisle returns to Texas to settle her beloved grandmother’s estate, only to find that foreclosure looms. Her hopes for an easy solution—selling the family’s crop duster—are dashed when Travis Walker, her high school sweetheart-turned-enemy, claims he had a handshake deal with Nana to buy the plane.

Listen in to the episode for a chance to win a signed copy of one of Holiday's books.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent, The Lowell Ledger, and author Larry Maley

 

Douglas Kelly of Lowell has been a partner at Evolve Solutions since 2002 when the company was founded. Evolve Solutions is an experienced web design and development firm, specializing in website design, marketing strategy, eCommerce application installation, and Internet business development.

 

Currently the principal at Evolve Solutions, he directs web development and consults on everything from social marketing to user interface design. Evolve Solutions has created and collaborated on hundreds of internet and intranet projects for small firms to multi-billion dollar corporations.

Kelly also offers voice acting for audiobooks, as well as tips on marketing strategy for authors.

"I would recommend Clubhouse to authors to talk about their books," Kelly said.

Kelly has acted in a series of old-time radio dramas bound for YouTube. He has recently been featured in a documentary slated for streaming media. Douglas has done a series of comedy improv events hosted on a social media application called Clubhouse.

Sponsored by Doc Chavent, The Lowell Ledger, and author Larry Maley

Just in time for the unofficial opening of summer, U.P. Reader hit the stands with its shining new volume 7 graced by the beautiful cover of a mining shaft at Painesdale on the Keweenaw constructed in 1902.

The hefty annual publication takes you on a road trip across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from the Mackinac Bridge to Menominee with nonfiction and fiction pieces by UP authors who embody the life of a Yooper.

“Yoopers are born, not made,” said publisher Victor Volkman. “That’s why I can never be a Yooper.”

The 60 short works in the issue span the entire Upper Peninsula and include imaginative fiction from young winners of the Dandelion Cottage contest.

The cover is by author Mikel Classen.

Listen in for a chance to win a copy of U.P. Reader, Vol. 7

Sponsored by Doc Chavent and The Lowell Ledger