Type.Tune.Tint.

The title alone is smile-worthy: How Catering Sucked the Life Right Out of Me . And the author, Sudi Karatas (pronounced kara-tosh), brings humor to everything he does. And man, he has done a lot. From humble beginnings in upstate New York and Long Island, Sudi, who also goes by Rick, had dreams of acting, took classes and finally moved to the west coast. Now, 20 years later, his credits fill an e...

Charles Wiedenmann grew up in a neighborhood remarkable for its unremarkableness. Lawndale was a neat, working-class section of northeast Philadelphia during the 1960s and 70s. He spent his youth without video games, the internet or a smartphone. Chaz and his pals played outside with whatever was around yelling "Car!" to get out of the way of a car coming down the street.  They walked to...

Of the 6,000 recorded shipwrecks in the history of the Great Lakes, perhaps none is as unusual as the wreck of the City of Bangor. It carried more than 200 brand new Chryslers, hot off the assembly line and destined for car dealers in Minnesota when it wrecked on a reef on Michigan's Upper Peninsula in a horrendous winter storm that clobbered Lake Superior. The year was 1926. The weather was...

As a little girl with polio, Adele Kenny learned to read at age four, then grew up to teach, write, survive cancer, live with MS and fuss over the cutest dog in New Jersey. Today, Adele has published her 1,000th work and dozens of books and is a cultural icon of the New Jersey town where she is the Poet Laureate. adelekenny.com Exit 13 Magazine Poetry Rap by Jedd Bloom Whadya think of this episode...

Independent authors from around the U.S. gather in Linden, New Jersey in August, 2022 for the 9th annual Independent Authors Book Expo. The event is the brainchild of Renaee Smith, a busy woman with a full-time job and family who somehow has time to write and manage a non-profit that supports independent authors. Today we have a preview of the book expo and some useful advice for first-time author...

Writing and food might just be the most heavenly combination a blogger could concoct. That's exactly what Adam Horvath does in his blog, website and social media pages called Foodigenous (food-IDGE-enous), a culinary adventure to foreign lands like Philadelphia, Elmira, East Hampton and even Newark. With a background in the food industry and a day job as a CFO, Adam's blog is a passion p...

At a time when local newspapers across America are struggling, Fred Rossi has worked for the same central New Jersey newspaper for 23 years. He's a lifelong New Jersey resident and student of its history. So, it's no surprise that his book, Jersey Stories: Stories You May Not Have Heard About People and Places in New Jersey, is rich in the history that helped forge New Jersey and the Ame...

After a 30-year career as a television news reporter and anchor, Kasey Kaufman picked up a paintbrush and discovered her new passion in life. With no formal training, her use of color in her preferred medium of acrylics has resulted in thoughtful and inspiring work. Now, she paints every day in her home studio. Her work is in demand and she has adopted what she calls a creative life. How did she a...

Finding your voice can be a lifelong journey. This is the story of a young woman who found hers in an unusual place in her early 20s, embraced it and is taking it to the next level. Devon Alana is the lead singer, lead composer and guitarist for the New Jersey indie band Fake Pockets . In this episode, she talks about her journey of self-discovery, her inspirations and her songwriting process. Wit...

Writing science fiction requires attention to science while retaining the sense of wonder and imagination that makes it fiction. In writing my new sci-fi novel Moon Rescue: Escape from the Dome , I went to a great source for advice and guidance--engineering students and their teacher at a Philadelphia public high school that nurtures young people's interest in STEM. Teacher John Kamal, with d...

In this episode, I'm announcing the change in our name to Type Tune Tint, a podcast about independent authors, musicians and artists. There's a whole world of people with talent who practice their craft in their basement or with friends, but who deserve a wider audience. This podcast will focus on their inspirations, their personal stories and their paths to creativity. The first episode...

Ruppert Jones was a star player for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and four other teams during his 11-years in Major League Baseball. But his love for shagging fly balls almost cost him his career and his life in 1980 when he crashed into the unpadded center field wall at the Oakland Coliseum. His injured shoulder was the big concern at first, and it took a long time to recover from that....

Ramadan in 2022 is not only a time of fasting, prayer and reflection. Today's generation of Muslims decorate for Ramadan, put up Ramadan trees and exchange presents. It's a joyous time of family togetherness and celebration. Talha and Rahama Alvi have created a children's book, The Ramadan Tree , that demystifies Ramadan and Islamic culture for kids, with adults along for the ride....

Facebook, the greatest double-edged sword of 21st-century communication, brings people together and divides them all at the same time. For author and comedian Marklyn Johnson, Facebook is a vehicle for honest discussion. But it turns out "real talk" has real consequences. His new book, Facebook Conversations: The Good, The Funny, The Ugly, is a collection of discussions on every current...

Frank Lyman has spent his life teaching children, adults and other teachers. It turns out that many of those lessons can apply to non-teachers. How do our kids learn to read and what's our role as parents in that effort? What parallels are there between teaching children in school and on-boarding a new employee, teaching adults EMT skills or how to navigate a database? Frank's book, 100...

Debby Handrich is known to her fans in Seattle as Coach Debby, radio host, podcaster and life coach specializing in helping aspiring writers bring their passion from their hearts to the written page.  Her story begins as many writers' stories do, with a lonely childhood brought on by a condition over which she had no control, leading her to create her own world by writing stories.  Today, she...

Is it possible to save a life with music? It is not only possible but a medical reality as we hear from Andrew Schulman , a professional musician whose near-death experience and miraculous recovery is the subject of his first book, Waking the Spirit. Hear about his harrowing surgical experience during which his vital signs bottomed out causing clinical death, the frantic resuscitation effort and t...

In the first episode of 2022, Tom Kranz gives a preview of his next book currently underway, a sequel to his successful, five-star sci-fi novel Time Travel Rescue . The new book is called Moon Rescue and should be out in the spring. Tom also recently attended a percussion convention and found some inspiring words about writing from a drummer. How did that happen? Give a listen! Whadya think of thi...

Dr. Tonya Nagle worked hard to get her PhD in Higher Education Administration, then decided it wasn't for her. She preferred teaching, interacting with students and writing creatively. So, that's what she did. Today, the Marine Corps veteran is a curriculum instructor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and uses her weekends to write. She has a lengthy collection of books under...

Steven A. Falco's novel Mickey Mantle's Last Home Run is about the friendship between two boys, TJ who is black and Jonathan who is white, and their common love for baseball which helped bridge their differences during 1968, a year of racial and political polarization.  Baseball fans will be attracted to Steve's affinity for the sport, the stats and the heroes of the game, especiall...

By day, Cassandra Morphy is a business data analyst, working from home in front of her computer. By night, she delves into alternative realities, creating fantasy worlds and writing about them in 25 self-published books. By her own admission, Cassandra grew up escaping the real world into the other realities of books, TV shows, and movies, and now she writes about those worlds. "I have social...

At age 23, Pavlina Osta has accomplished more than many people have accomplished in a lifetime. She got a running start at a career in her early teens when she showed a talent for interviewing people for a local radio station in Daytona Beach, FL. One thing led to another and at age 17, she was asked by an executive at iHeartRadio to do a syndicated interview segment. In the ensuing couple of year...

Robert E. Constant's children's book, Hey Tuskegee! provides a guided tour of one of America's hotbeds of Black History, Tuskegee University and the Alabama city that surrounds it. But here's a secret: it's not just for children. Robert's straightforward narrative, through the eyes of a young brother and sister, provides a clear review of some key chapters in the hist...

Larry Jorgensen follows America's most famous soft drink brand from its first bottling in Mississippi to its growth across America in his two books of memorabilia, anecdotes and photographs. It's not a history of the Coke corporation, but a history of the grass-roots bottlers and communities that were at the heart of the product's growth. Larry has sold 9,000 copies of his books as...

Jim Sweeney is a member of a growing federation of basketball players in their 60's, 70's, even 80's, who travel, compete and continue playing their favorite sport without regard to their age. Maxi Basketball is a worldwide phenomenon with its own organization and a passionate following that Sweeney has tapped into with personal relationships and friendships that span the globe. His...