Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Do It Yourself Reading!


It's the KAXE Do-It-Yourself Fall Fundraiser at KAXE. What's more DIY than reading? And might I add, what's more FANTASTIC than reading?

My answer? almost nothing (okay, maybe my hubby, family, friends, kaxe)

As you may have guessed, I love to read. Since I was a a little kid I've always carried books with me. I came from a fishing-obsessed family and though I wasn't let off the hook from fishing, my dad was always kind enough to let me bring a book for when the fishing got slow. I remember climbing up into the cubby hole in the front of the boat and cracking open my latest Boxcar Children mystery or Beverly Cleary novel.

How would that bespectacled quiet girl have known that she would actually grow up to talk to authors. ON THE RADIO! On KAXE nonetheless! The only thing that could be better would be if I could talk to authors in a boat, on the lake, with my dad driving!

I know there are readers and writers out there who appreciate KAXE and Realgoodwords...appreciate conversations like you'll hear tonight - with Rachel Simon. Rachel's written a great book, a self-help manual really for all the wives out there. As I can attest, getting through a self-help project (like tiling the floors perhaps) and still wanting to speak to your spouse is no easy feat. The book is called "Building a Home With My Husband - A Journey Through the Renovation of Love" and what I like most is that Rachel owns up to what she's NOT good at. And like me, she's not much of a painter.

Also DIY on Realgoodwords this week: cooking and food! Pim Techamuanvivit and "The Foodie Handbook - The Almost Definitive Guide to Gastronomy". Pim has toured the world and can give you advice on how to look good ordering wine to trying something new in a restaurant to making your own food that you and others will love. It's all about reclaiming our relationship to food Pim writes, getting over that quickie food, covert snacking mentality and remembering when a simple taste could take you away. She writes about a food memory,
"Perhaps that summer when you were eight, standing near an ice cream vendor in the park on a hot afternoon, a cone in your hand. Most of the yummy chocolate ice cream had probably melted, dripping halfway down to your elbow, but you hardly cared. Back when your love of food was, simply, pure joy, all your attention was focused on the sweet, creamy, chocolaty deliciousness you were savoring. This was back before you even knew what the word savoring meant, but you savored it anyway."
Support Realgoodwords on KAXE by being a member. It's easy to do...look at works in your budget and support something you believe in. Like reading. And community radio!!!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

this week on Realgoodwords: Names I can't pronounce!

Pim Techamuanvivit and Mireille Guiliano. Help anyone? I live in northern Minnesota and the toughest word we use is PASTY. We're talking about the meat & rutabega pocket made famous by the miners. Nothing twirly there if you get my drift.

What words can't you pronounce?

This week my authors Pim and Mir (as I like to call them) will talk about loving food and the art of work and savoir faire. Stay tuned.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

What I'm reading now


I'm halfway through the latest William Kent Krueger mystery, "Heaven's Keep". At the beginning of this one Cork O'Connor's wife Jo has headed off to Wyoming in a chartered plane.

And I won't tell you anymore than that. I'll keep you hanging. Stay tuned for a conversation with William Kent Krueger in the next month or so.

What are you reading right now?

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Julie Kramer is back on Realgoodwords this week

Julie's latest Riley Spartz mystery, "Missing Mark" is featured on this week's Realgoodwords. Riley is a Minneapolis news reporter whose intrigue in a classified ad leads her right into another mystery.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

20th Annual Sinclair Lewis Writer's Conference Coming Up!

I talked with author Will Weaver this week on Realgoodwords. He's going to be the keynote speaker at the 20th annual Sinclair Lewis Writer's Conference in Sauk Center (where the infamous book Main Street was set). Will is known for his short stories, adult novels and young adult novels as well as the award winning independent film (Sweetland) that was based on Will's short story, "A Gravestone Made of Wheat". Will's keynote address will be about audience.

Minnesota mystery writer William Kent Krueger will also be there, his talk will be about how to use suspense. Krueger has been a guest on Realgoodwords in the past, and I'll be talking to him later this fall about his latest in the series about Cork O'Connor, "Heaven's Keep".

Also speaking is Minnesota author Wang Ping. She will speak about writing short stories. Wang Ping was awarded a 2009 McKnight Artist Fellowship for creative prose from the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.

Milkweed Editions editor Daniel Slager will also be presenting at the conference in Sauk Center. His talk will be about the future of books.

The 20th Annual Sinclair Lewis Writer's Conference is Saturday October 10th from 8:30-5:30. For more information click here.