What it means to be a modern military wife

Alison Buckholtz joins me on Realgoodwords this week - she's married to an active duty Navy pilot who never thought she'd be in the military world. Her new book is called "Standing By - The Making of an Military Family in a Time of World". She says,

"For me it was really about learning how to ask for help- and accept help when it was offered. That wasn't something that came naturally to me... I don't think that I could have survived deployment without that social safety net (other military spouses)"

finding ALTARS everywhere with Barbara Brown Taylor

I had a great conversation with Barbara Brown Taylor about her new book "An Altar in the World - A Geography of Faith". A former minister, she now teaches and has written about looking at everyday, not just Sundays, as an altar of sorts. She begins the book with this poem called CAPABLE FLESH. You can hear it live tonight at 6pm, CST here or Sunday morning at 9am. Or check the Realgoodwords archive.

The tender flesh itself
will be found one day
-quite surprisingly-
to be capable of receiving,
and yes, full
capable of embracing
the searing energies of God.
Go figure. Fear not.
For even at its beginning
the humble clay received
God's art, whereby
one part became the eye,
another the ear, and yet
another this impetuous hand.
Therefore, the flesh
is not to be excluded
from the wisdom and the power
that now and ever animates
all things. His life-giving
agency is made perfect,
we are told, in weakness-
made perfect in the flesh.
-St. Irenaeus (c.125-c.210)
adapted and translated by Scott Cairns

William Kent Krueger this week

Tune in for a discussion of William Kent Krueger's latest, "Red Knife".

William and I talked about the character that he writers about Cork O'Connor. Cork is half Irish-American, have Ojibwe. A former sheriff who is now a private investigator, he's a man that embodies the conflict that we often see in Northern Minnesota. As William said, "a fiction writer is always thinking where is the conflict?"

In "Red Knife" violence and how we deal with and handle it is at the core. Cork O'Connor has been called in to help with a conflict that concerns a man whose daughter has died due to meth addiction and the Ojibwe gang, Red Boyz, that supplied her with the drug.

Publishers Weekly called Red Knife "outstanding... Simply and elegantly told, this sad story of loyalty and honor, corruption and hatred, hauntingly carves utterly convincing characters, both red and white, into the consciousness."

William Kent Krueger is going to be speaking at Ironworld in Chisholm this Saturday

April 18: "For Love or Money: Six Reasons to Write," with "Cork O'Connor" series author William Kent Krueger
An Oregon native and former logger, construction worker and four-time Minnesota Book Award winner, Krueger will discuss both his work and why he chose to become a writer, including the compelling reasons for setting his novels on the Iron Range.

Book events coming up in Northern Minnesota

Coming up this weekend (April 10-11th) in the Brainerd/Nisswa area is the first annual Minnesota Author's weekend at Grandview Lodge featuring Doug Wood, Will Weaver and Mary Casanova. Some of the topics include Doug Wood's "Earth Songs and Earth Stories" and Will Weaver's "Pathways to Publication - But First Comes the Writing" and Mary Casanova's "No Less Than Stars".

Bestselling Minnesota mystery writer William Kent Krueger will be at Ironworld in Chisholm on Saturday April 18th from 2-3pm. Krueger writes mysteries set on the Iron Range featuring Cork O'Connor. The latest is "Red Knife". Publisher's Weekly called Red Knife "outstanding... Simply and elegantly told, this sad story of loyalty and honor, corruption and hatred, hauntingly carves utterly convincing characters, both red and white, into the consciousness."

Coming up Tuesday April 21st at the Grand Rapids Area Library there will be a noontime tribute to author Bill Holm for National Poetry Month. From 12-1:30 area writers and fans of Bill Holm will gather to read excerpts from his work. Later that evening, at 5:30 at Brewed Awakenings coffeehouse in Grand Rapids there will be a celebration of Itasca Community College's publication "Spring Thaw". You are invited to come listen to excerpts from the publication as well as share your own poetry.