ink & peat

Final Episode of ink & peat In this, our final episode of ink & peat , we offer a sampling of guests' recollections of joy when they least expected it. A heartfelt thank you to all our listeners. 

Following the advice of a mentor, Becky Parker Geist took a leap of faith and combined her love for theater, reading aloud, and books. She turned these beloved pastimes into a global business dedicated to publishing audiobooks explicitly for indie authors. Pro Audio Voices is a company that produces audiobooks for authors who want to take their work off the page and turn it into an audio experienc...

In her memoir, Love’s Journey Home, author Gabi Coatsworth tells the story of finding, leaving, and reuniting with the love of her life. Gabi’s candor about how their relationship worked, and then didn’t, and ultimately did, makes for a read that is both romantic and packed with the realities two people must face when confronted with difficult life choices. In episode 47, Gabi shares how she was e...

Cristina Vargas McPherson’s memoir is a deeply moving account of coming to terms with grief – a grief handed down from grandmother to mother to daughter, brought about through unconscionable events of the Spanish Civil War. Told through imagined conversations between her grandparents, real events of Franco’s fascist regime, and vivid mystical encounters with the revered religious icon, La Macarena...

Expert book reviewer and developmental editor ~ Annie Mydla ~ joins us on ink & peat again. This time to share her vast knowledge about what has made each of three North Street Book Prize winning memoirs worthy of the awards they received and why a reader would do well to invest time and soul into these self-published authors and their books.  In ink & peat episode 45, Annie talks about wh...

When Mike Evans graduated from college, he moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland – ostensibly to be a Program Director for a non-profit, coaching basketball to young school kids in a visionary program called Playing for Peace, while keeping his hand in semi-pro basketball on the side. But things didn’t turn out quite as he expected, and Mike soon found himself playing out a vision of his own – coachi...

Enchanted by the rugged beauty of the Apennines in Italy's Abruzzo region, and drawn to the rich history and struggles of its inhabitants, Kimberly Sullivan crafted a novel that tells the stories of two women separated by a century yet connected intimately by place and circumstance. In the Shadow of the Apennines is Kimberly's third self-published novel. In ink and peat episode 43, Kimbe...

ELB Media builds websites for authors. An unbridled love for books and reading inspired ELB Media’s Founder ~ Emma Bates ~ to apply her vast technical know-how and social media expertise to help authors. In ink&peat episode 42, Emma shares her insights on what makes author websites unique, how her life has been impacted by books and authors, and how she helps authors create personalized websit...

Dana Huneke-Stone expresses her poetry in bite-sized morsels. She recently self-published a collection of her poems and accompanying illustrations in a book entitled Amuse Bouche - A Taste of Melancholy.  In ink&peat episode 41 Dana shares how she draws inspiration from living on the Oregon Coast and through taking what she calls prayer walks, how she writes poetry to express her deeply-held b...

Michelle Meyer created The Book of She as a means of celebrating, exploring, and honoring the experience of womanhood. Having lost her mother unexpectedly, Michelle – an only child – felt a deep longing to cultivate relationships with other women. Through a year-long Instagram collaboration with 51 women who interpreted Michelle’s poems and created accompanying artwork inspired by the poems, The B...

Inspired by the teachings of an Indian spiritual master and following a deep desire to find her way in the world, 20-year-old Ceilidh Michelle left home and a fractured family life in Canada for an ashram in Southern California. Accompanied by her acoustic guitar and a few belongings, Ceilidh found herself instead broke, but not broken, living and seeking solace on the streets of Venice Beach. In...

These are Golden Days for Indie writers. With so many options for self-publishing, however, it can be daunting. To help emerging authors and seasoned writers maneuver through the complexities of crafting a quality finished product, Alexa Nazzaro created Aaxel Author Services.  Alexa's commitment to the authors she works with is summed up aptly in their tagline "We won't let you publ...

Author Chancellor K. Jackson shares his story of 14 Days in Beijing – what brought him to China, the significance of 14 days, how he sought and received help from his ancestors to overcome the challenges he faced, and the lessons learned along the way. He realized in talking with family and friends after he returned home that there was a book about his experiences waiting for him to write and shar...

Annie Mydla knows good writing when she reads it; she is an impassioned advocate for well-written books and stories in what she refers to as the Golden Age of Literacy. Annie applies her keen sense of what makes a great book to help emerging writers craft manuscripts that transport readers. Along with offering mid-draft critiques to aspiring authors, Annie spends her days reading, reviewing, and j...

In 1992, at the age of 28, Martina Clark's life took an unexpected turn: she was diagnosed as HIV positive and told by doctors she had from a few months to a few years to live at best. At the time, Martina knew of no other women who were HIV positive – information and support were scarce. Through her determination, courage, and facing her situation head-on, Martina became an HIV activist, ult...

A career in the fast-paced, cutthroat corporate music industry provided Diane Hatz with the inspiration for her first novel – Rock Gods and Messy Monsters. Diane writes with a masterful blend of satire and absurdism to create fantastical characters in bizarre scenarios that shed light on seamier sides of the star-making music machinery. Diane shares how writing helped her gain perspective on her m...

Author of The Lightworker's Guide to Healing Grief, and seven self-published books on Amazon, Tina Erwin is known as a Ghost Helper. Ghosts, she explains, are just souls that - for any number of reasons - did not make the transition from their earthly life to the realm of the afterlife. In ink & peat episode 29, Tina shares with us her insights and enthusiasm about self-publishing, glimps...

Liza McQuade joins us on ink & peat episode 33 to talk about her book Spontaneous Revolutions – Seeing America One Pedal at a Time, a travel story about biking with her husband cross country on the spur of the moment - out of shape, lacking long haul biking experience and armed with only a basic knowledge of bike mechanics. Instead, they relied on their belief in each other, in the gifts that...

It’s estimated that roughly 80% of us would like to write and publish a book, but most of us don’t know where to begin, or what to do to bring it to fruition. Erin Donley is the motivating force behind the book publishing service, Author Now, where she uses her skills as a ghostwriter, author, editor, and book coach to guide people through the process of self-publishing their non-fiction books. In...

In the depths of the global pandemic, one of her dear friends gave Delila Olsson a milkweed plant to attract Monarch butterflies to her Portland, OR garden. A keen observer, Delila noticed a tiny caterpillar had hitched a ride on the milkweed and realized she’d been given both a physical and metaphorical gift to lift her spirits. She set about creating a safe haven to support, watch and record the...

Poet Caroline Holm, shares in ink & peat episode 30 the sources of inspiration for her newly published book Woodland . A resident of Salem, Oregon, Caroline’s poetry, prose, and illustrations celebrate nature, miracles of being a mother, the dance between joy and suffering, and the richness of being in the present. Caroline offers glimpses into how, through embracing stillness, one is better a...

After a summer hiatus, we are pleased to start a new season of ink & peat with a lively conversation featuring author/teacher/ and podcast host Conor Bredin, whose enthusiasm for writing, reading, storytelling, and teaching runs deep. Conor shares writing tips, and talks about how a 'kick in the arse' from his beloved was the motivation he needed to come to terms with writing as more...

Fond memories of growing up in her family’s three-story home at 11B Lamlash Street in southeast London, provided the inspiration for Jill Phillips’ first memoir. In her book, she recalls the incidents surrounding a pivotal time in her beloved neighborhood when everything changed. Lamlash Street, a pocket within the cockney Elephant and Castle district, was home to Jill’s large and extended family....

In his memoir, Leonard Paris recounts the struggles of growing up a black male in rural Nova Scotia, Canada during the 1950’s and 60’s. Leonard began writing Jim Crow Also Lived Here in response to lying awake nights, replaying childhood memories ~ both good and bad ~ and reflecting on how racism and generational poverty had impacted his life. He felt called to turn his memories into a book in ord...

Rachel Nolan knew as a young girl that being outside is where she feels most free. This has translated for her into a lifetime of adventure ~ cycling, kayaking, climbing, running, and team endurance challenges ~ around the world. She created Rachel’s Irish Adventures in her hometown of Ballina, County Mayo, to share her love of being outside in the wild West of Ireland. Rachel talks with us in ink...