Today, we are speaking with Catherine Young. Catherine is author of the environmental memoir Black Diamonds: A Childhood Colored by Coal and the eco-poetry collection Geosmin (pronounce: Jee’ ohz-min), the Midwest Book Awards Silver Medal winner. Her writing is published in literary anthologies and journals nationally and internationally and her work was solicited for the University of Wisconsin Press anthology The Driftless Reader.Catherine worked as a national park ranger, farmer, educator, and mother before completing her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. She earned degrees in Environmental Science, Physical Geography, and Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Catherine coaches writing, leads workshops, and records the weekly Landward podcast for WDRT. Rooted in farm life, Catherine lives with her family in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area.Links:Website - http://www.catherineyoungwriter.com/Newsletter - catherineyoungwriter@gmail.com (Request to be added)  Podcast - http://www.catherineyoungwriter.com/podcasts.htmlYouTube presentation on Black Diamonds > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OF2duiIqAUBook group reading guide > https://www.torreyhouse.org/_files/ugd/ecc6a6_859e4c7bb6614b298dceece765a9f172.pdf Ekphrasis definition: a literary description of or commentary on a visual work of art

April is National Poetry Month and today we are interviewing former Wisconsin Poet Laureate Max Garland. Max Garland’s newest book of poems is Into the Good World Again (2023). Other books include The Word We Used for It, winner of the Brittingham Poetry Prize, The Postal Confessions, winner of the Juniper Prize, and Hunger Wide as Heaven, winner of the Cleveland State Poetry Prize. He has received an NEA Poetry Fellowship, Michener Fiction fellowship, Bush Artist Fellowship, inclusion in Best American Short Stories, as well as fellowships in poetry and fiction from the Wisconsin Arts Board. Born and raised in Kentucky, where he worked for many years as a rural letter carrier on the route where he was born, Max is a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, has taught writing at UW-Madison, is Professor Emeritus at UW-Eau Claire, and the former Writer-in-Residence for the City of Eau Claire.

Nicholas is a Thai-American poet from Wisconsin. Educated at the University of Montana (BA), the Iowa Writer’s Workshop (MFA), and the University of Denver (PhD), his work has been published over thirty times in various print and on-line journals. The author of two book-length poems, “North of Order” and “Book of Lake” his work has also received numerous national awards. The recipient of the Grist Pro-Forma Prize, the Black Warrior Review Poetry Prize, the Cutbank prize for Prose Poetry, The Red Hen Press Poetry Award, and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters Poetry Prize, his most recent book, “ORIENT,” received the 2018 CSU Open Book Poetry Award. Since receiving a Fulbright Fellowship in 2010-2011, Gulig’s creative and critical work has focused primarily on binary (mis)constructions of “eastern” and “western” cultural ideals as they occur in both popular and academic mediums. Of his writing, the poet Graham Foust has written that Gulig’s poems are “a record of someone struggling to find the vital combinations for the words with which he’s both struck and stuck, an essaying that succeeds in creating for us—in lines and stanzas and sentences—something akin to a new vocabulary.Currently, he lives in Fort Atkinson, WI with his wife and two daughters and teaches creative writing and poetics at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.Links:WI Poet Laureate > https://wisconsinpoetlaureate.org/

Today, we are interviewing Sharon Woodhouse. Sharon was a traditional indie book publisher of presses she founded for over 25 years: Lake Claremont Press and Everything Goes Media. She currently owns Conspire Creative, a book business agency serving small publishers and aspiring and established, self-published and traditionally-published authors. Conspire Creative provides author business and milestone coaching, author management, project management, and publishing consulting services, including One Hour Calls with Publishing Pros, Pay-by-the-Minute Email Answers and Advice for Authors, online webinars, in-person workshops, and a virtual lunchtime discussion series on book marketing and author business topics. She is an enthusiastic advocate of authors, entrepreneurship, and authors making more money.LinksWebsite for Conspire Creative: https://www.conspirecreative.com/Website for Society of Midland Authors: https://midlandauthors.org/Twitter: @conspirecreativInstagram: @conspirecreativeSubstack: https://conspirecreative.substack.com/Medium: https://medium.com/@slowcharacter

Today we are excited to host author Tracey Sheffield, writing under the name TK Sheffield. She writes mysteries and screenplays for readers and viewers who want to laugh and escape. She grew up in Madison, but as a horse-obsessed teen, she bolted to the country as fast as she could. She has degrees from UW-Madison and Mount Mary University, and in addition to writing comic cozy mysteries—whodunnits served with a brandy old-fashioned and a side of cheese curds—she pens romantic comedies and children’s horse stories. She and her semi-retired pilot husband reside in rural Wisconsin, where, ironically, her head is in the clouds, imagining characters and stories, and his feet are firmly planted on the ground.Her debut comic cozy mystery, Model Suspect, released in November ’23 and has received six awards:RWA Honorable Mention for Excellence in MysterySouthwest Writers Best First Chapter awardTop 100 Notable Indie, Shelf Unbound magazinePurple Dragonfly winnerChanticleer Book Awards semi-finalist (finals TBA)Reader Views Bronze Award for Holiday/Seasonal StoriesIts sequel, Model Wave, releases in June ’24.Links:Website - https://tksheffieldwriter.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thebackyardmodel/Frankie's Book Nook Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/frankiesbooknook/Blackbird Writers substack - https://blackbirdwriters.substack.com/Vellum writing software - https://vellum.pub/Atticus writing software - https://www.atticus.io/

We have an industry episode today, featuring Bailey Yeager, Senior Manager at IngramSpark. Bailey started at Ingram in 2014 and quickly transitioned into sales, working with Independent Publishers. She educated and assisted mid-sized publishers on utilizing Ingram's services to maximize revenue. Bailey developed programs and services for Independent publishers and focused on improving communication and interaction with all publishers in her marketing role. As Supervisor, Content Acquisition Sales, she launched a program providing professional services to authors and publishers. Now, as the Sr Manager of Sales and Business Development for IngramSpark, Bailey supports the success of independent authors and publishers through IngramSpark. Bailey has her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.https://www.ingramspark.com/

We have a special episode today, featuring my brilliant co-host himself, novelist Ken Humphrey! Joining me as a guest host is Tracey Sheffield. Tracey writes mysteries set in Wisconsin, and she’s the author of the Backyard Model Series.Ken is the author of a middle grade trilogy The Hunts of Raimy Rylan along with an adult thriller trilogy The Killing Arc. He is also the author of Ghoul, a zombie apocalypse teen novel written for a graduation gift starring his daughter and its sequel Ghouls and Boys, this time featuring his son. There's one child yet to graduate so it's safe to say there will be a third installment of this series.Ken’s ninth novel, The Breakfast Jury, released on February 1, inspired by a real-life murder trial in Kenosha WI, for which he served as jury foreman. It's a blend of The Breakfast Club and a mystery whodunnit.LINKS:kenhumphrey.comTwitter - @KBHUMPHREYInstagram - @KENHUMPHREY.AUTHOR

Today, we are chatting with prize-winning Wisconsin writer, documentary maker, and innovator in the arts, B.J. Hollars. B.J. is the author of several books, including the forthcoming Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary That Launched A President and Changed the Course of History (WI Historical Society Press, March 2024) and Year of Plenty: A Family’s Season of Grief (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, May 2024). He’s also co-directing a documentary on the closing of the Eau Claire tire plant, When Rubber Hit The Road.B.J. is also the founder and executive director of the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild and the founder of the Midwest Artist Academy, as well as an associate professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.Get comfortable, folks. This episode is a little longer than normal due to the sheer volume of BJ's work.Links reference in this episode:http://www.bjhollars.com/https://www.cvwritersguild.org/https://www.midwestartistacademy.org/Year of Plenty: A Family’s Season of Grief > LINK Wisconsin for Kennedy > LINKRebecca Swanson - The Clearing WWA Annual Membership Social, Feb 6, 2024 > LINKWWA Member Survey > LINK

Today we are interviewing legendary Wisconsin writer Lisa Lickel from Hillsborough, WI. A multi-published novelist, she also writes short stories, radio theater, articles and essays, is an avid book reviewer, editor, and book coach. She loves to encourage authors to put their best work forward.Lisa is the Assistant Director for Novel-In-Progress Bookcamp and Writing Retreat, Inc., She’s the current manager of the Wisconsin Writers Association Press and editor of Creative Wisconsin magazine. Lisa and her husband enjoy reading, gardening, travel, and spending time with their family of two grown sons, daughters-in-law, and lots of adorable grandchildren.Material referenced in this episode:Author website - LisaLickel.com WWA PressCreative Wisconsin MagazineJade Ring writing contestWriting for Dummies - Randy IngermansonGrammar Girl - Mignon Fogarty

Today we are interviewing Wisconsin writer and wanderer, Laurel Landis. Her first collection of short stories, Gunshots in Grudgeville was published in October 2023. Her work has appeared in Wisconsin People & Ideas, Lost in Thought, Rosebud (Mary Shelley contest), and Waverly Press, and is excerpted in Judy Bridges’ Shut Up and Write. She was a 2023 semifinalist in the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters 2023 fiction contest.Visit https://laureljlandis.com/ to learn more

We get a two-fer today! Kim writes under the pen name E.L. Winters. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband James. They spend their days surrounded by the inhabitants of their imaginations, which they have brought to life through story, pen and ink drawings, and clay. Kim’s debut novel, MythMatched, is the first in a magical realism series. This first volume crafts a world of Witchcraft, Light and Dark Fae Folk, environmentalism, talismans, crystals, spells and herbal concoctions, along with fierce family love and loss, all set in the little fictional town of Autumn Grove, Wisconsin.Sarah writes under the pen name Serra Wildheart. Her experience spanned industries from Tech to Wine until the call to write spoke louder than the rest. Serra loves exploring and credits her travels to Peru, Europe, and throughout the United States for coloring her world. She writes stories from the heart with the hope to touch your soul. Cooking, hiking, painting, and hanging out with her dogs and beloved DogDad fill in the rest. Serra's debut novel, Return to Star Junction releases November 11th.  Books two and three of the Legends of Star Junction series are in the works.Together they have launched a publishing co-op. You're going to want to hear this.https://www.scribehivepublishing.com/

Today we are interviewing Wisconsin writer and artist Debra Raye King from Solon Springs, Wisconsin. Debbi’s memoir, Gravedigger’s Daughter: Growing Up Rural, is a collection of short stories and essays based on actual events in the 1950-1970s in northern west-central Wisconsin. Debbi is a retired college dean and university administrator. She and her husband Tom raise registered Icelandic sheep on the hills overlooking Lake Superior at their Sunny Cove Farm. When not writing, Debbi is knitting, creating unique fiber arts in her Sunny Cove Studio, baking, skiing, or reveling in forest trail and ice hikes with her husband and her Shetland sheepdog, Sunny. https://hallbjorn.com/https://sunnycovefarmandstudios.com/

Today, we are interviewing award-winning writer Kathleen Waldvogel, from Birchwood, Wisconsin. Kathleen is a former teacher who enjoys writing for children and is fascinated with early American history. After retirement, she merged these two interests and researched little-known women of the American Revolution. The result is her middle-grade book, Spies, Soldiers, Couriers, and Saboteurs: Women of the American Revolution.This book is stocked and sold in many museums and historic sites throughout the country, including the Paul Revere House and the Old North Church in Boston. Waldvogel is also the author of two picture books, Three Little Ghosts and Whoo, Whoo, Who’s Out There? For more on Kathleen, visit https://www.kmwaldvogel.com/

Today we are interviewing award-winning writer, Pamela Fullerton, from Athens, Wisconsin. We’ll be reminded that no one rebels like a preacher’s kid rebels, and we’ll learn how Pamela’s story ideas stalk her while she’s walking dogs, riding horses, and sailing. Pamela’s poignant storytelling gives her readers a feast of the triumphs and heartaches, the tragedy and the humor, of rural Wisconsin life.Pamela J.A. Fullerton was born and raised in Wisconsin. She is one of 16 siblings, all Preachers’ Kids. She began college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison at age fifteen and eventually secured her BS and Law degrees. She pursued careers in Human Resources, Educational Administration, and Law. In her first literary competition she won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the Jade Ring Contest. WWA Press recently published her Anthology, Red Road Redemption.  She raises performance Arabian horses and incredible dog companionsShe writes about those things that allow us as human beings the great privilege of dreams, laughter…or tears.Learn more about Pamela's journey at https://www.pjafullerton.com/

Hear our interview with Christy Wopat, author extraordinaire and narrative delight!Christy is a teacher and writer who never wants anyone to feel alone. Her award-winning memoir, Almost a Mother: Love, Loss, and Finding Your People When Your Baby Dies, was published by Orange Hat Publishing in 2018, followed by Always Ours, an illustrated picture book about remembering our loved ones, and After All: Pregnancy After Your Baby Dies, was released in June of 2022.Her personal essays have been featured in Still Standing Magazine and The Educator’s Room, among others. Christy also chairs the Events Committee for the Wisconsin Writers Association and is an active member of SCBWI. For more information about Christy and her writing, visit: https://www.christywopat.com/To learn more about the WWA conference, events, and resources:www.wiwrite.org