Jacqui Just Chatters: potluck stories for grown-ups

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In a wide-ranging conversation, Jacqui interviews bestselling novelist Rachel Linden about growing up in a conservative, internationally focused homeschooling household without TV. Linden explains how early travel and seeing poverty in Honduras led her to seven years living in Europe doing foreign aid work. She discusses her first book at age six (“Beans!”), her theme-first approach to plotting, and discovering characters through motivation. She explains how The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie became a Hallmark movie and her cameo during filming in Winnipeg. Linden also previews A Sprinkle with Sweet Serendipity and her current work teaching creative writing and drafting two new novels, including one slightly historical.

Bio for Rachel Linden – 

RACHEL LINDEN is the bestselling author of many novels, including The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake and The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie, which is now a Hallmark movie called THE MAGIC OF LEMON DROPS. She loves creating stories about strong women facing big challenges, food, travel, and second chances at love.

Rachel’s taste for adventure and interest in people first led her to a career as an international worker with a faith-based aid organization, and her experiences living and traveling in more than fifty countries around the globe continue to provide excellent grist for her stories. She loves writing novels that combine so many of her favorite things – strong women facing big challenges, food, travel, and second chances at love. Rachel enjoys crafting bittersweet stories of struggles and triumphs infused with a touch of magical realism and with ultimately happy, or at least very hopeful, endings.

Currently Rachel lives with her husband and children on a sweet little island near Seattle. When she’s not dreaming up a new story, she enjoys camping with her family in their pop top campervan, exploring the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, eating sushi, and having grand adventures in far flung places.

Links:

https://www.rachellinden.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/rachellinden_writer/ 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005100049437 

Do you have a story idea or thoughts about the episode? Connect with Jacqui at the following.

www.JacquiLents.com

FB: Jacqui Lents Author

IG: @JacquiLents

Music used for this episode includes –

Ratatouille's Kitchen - Carmen María and Edu Espinalfound

Always – Nesrality

I am the Quiet – Moon Petal Media

Maybe This is Enough – Moon Petal Media

30 Seconds of Bluegrass – Caffeine Creek Band

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Jacqui Lents welcomes listeners to her October 2026 audio newsletter, shares a wardrobe malfunction, and encourages closet cleanouts. She thanks attendees of Holland’s first literary festival. Come visit her in person on October 10 at Moorings bookstore during Charlevoix’s Apple Festival (1–3 PM) and November 7 at Dakota High School’s 30th Annual Holiday Craft Show in Macomb, Michigan (10 AM–4 PM). 

Latest Podcast episodes:

Ep 126:  Kim Gottlieb-Walker on Photography, Working With John Carpenter, and Writing Lenswoman in Love

Ep 127: An Insider’s Look at Roslin, Scotland

If you would like to sign up for her newsletter, go to www.jacquilents.com 

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Host Jacqui Lents visits the village of Roslin, Scotland, to tour Rosslyn Chapel, known for its carvings and the Apprentice’s Pillar legend in which a jealous master mason kills his apprentice. She interviews local resident Colin, who shares local connections including Dolly the sheep, cloned nearby at the Roslin Institute. Jacqui recounts a failed activist plot to kidnap Dolly. Colin also mentions Bovril’s inventor living in Roslin, and a butcher who ended up being a Grinch for Christmas.

Do you have a story idea or thoughts about the episode? Connect with Jacqui at the following.

www.JacquiLents.com

FB: Jacqui Lents Author

IG: @JacquiLents

YouTube: @JacquiLents

Music used for this episode includes –

Ratatouille's Kitchen - Carmen María and Edu Espinalfound

Always – Nesrality

Reference Sites

https://www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalogue/the-story-of-dolly-the-sheep 

https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/24/health/dolly-the-sheep-cloning-anniversary 

https://www.history.com/articles/dolly-the-sheep-cloning 

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/dolly-the-sheep-was-at-centre-of-kidnap-plot-by-green-activists-327889 

https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/dolly-the-sheeps-creators-were-begged-to-clone-lost-loved-ones-3467097 

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Host Jacqui Lents launches Season 5 of Jacqui Just Chatters with guest Kim Gottlieb-Walker, a UCLA-trained photographer whose career includes stills for John Carpenter’s Halloween and work as a production photographer on Family Ties and Cheers. Kim recalls working with Jamie Lee Curtis and Carpenter. Learn about the unit still photographer’s role as both promotional image-maker and on-set historian. Kim shares stories about photographing Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley. Listen as Kim introduces her debut novel, Lenswoman in Love, a second-chance romance inspired by her life as a photographer in 1960s–70s. 

Info/links from guest or topic:

www.Lenswoman.com 

www.KimGottliebWalker.com 

www.TheRenaissanceWoman.net

https://kimgottliebwalker.substack.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kimgottliebwalker/ 

Do you have a story idea or thoughts about the episode? Connect with Jacqui at the following.

www.JacquiLents.com

FB: Jacqui Lents Author

IG: @JacquiLents

Music used for this episode includes –

Ratatouille's Kitchen - Carmen María and Edu Espinalfound

Always – Nesrality

Glamor Shot -  DT_Moore

Baranggay Malawag - u_tur3t0h0lo

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Jacqui discusses how to have a staycation (a vacation at home), an award for The Daphne Project, upcoming author events, and how submissions are still open for the podcast, Jacqui Just Chatters: potluck stories for grownups. But time is running out; get them in by the end of Sept. or early Oct. for the best chance of getting your story included. On Sept. 15th, the fall season of the podcast kicks off with an interview with photographer and author Kim Gottlieb-Walker (who will share her insight into John Carpenter, Jimi Hendrix, and Andy Warhol.  This month's book recommendation is The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley

Want to send in a story for the Story Share series, head over to the website, read the details, and fill out the form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJbL03dUMRa1amHt3vTPFF9Rxa6X2GZIDublu3op-Oh-rAMQ/viewform 

Here is a previous Story Share episode you can check out:

Episode 119 - Story Share - From Istanbul to Mexico

Link - https://www.jacquilents.com/podcast-eps/story-share-vacation-tales 

Check out upcoming author events.

Holland Literary Festival 

September 12, 2026

11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Holland Town Center

12330 James St

Holland, MI 49424

Apple Festival

October 10, 2026

1:00 - 3:00 pm 

The Moorings

222 Bridge St.

Charlevoix, MI, 49720

Dakota High School’s 30th Annual Holiday Craft Show 

November 7, 2026

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Dakota High School

21051 21 Mile Rd

Macomb, MI 48044

If you want more comfort read suggestions, check my videos on my website.

https://www.jacquilents.com/bookrecs 

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Jacqui Lents shares her August 2026 audio newsletter, including a Scotland travel story where her phone’s audio-to-text gets a foul mouth. Writers are encouraged to take part in the short story submissions for her podcast’s Story Share series, and listen to episode 102. The month's Ridiculous Reads pick is Everything’s Coming Up Rosie by Courtney Walsh, plus a September Bookish Flights book club featuring Walsh. A special thanks is extended to the attendees of the Crooked Nook event at Sherwood Brewery. Also new dresses for upcoming author events are incoming. Here are events: 

August 15, 2026 1:00 - 4:00 pm

Calliope Bookshelf

66870 Van Dyke Rd Washington, MI 48095

Holland Literary Festival, 70+ authors will be there.

September 12, 2026 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Holland Town Center 

12330 James St Holland, MI 49424

Apple Festival 

October 10, 2026 1:00 - 3:00 pm 

The Moorings

222 Bridge St. Charlevoix, MI, 49720

To learn more or sign up for the newsletter, go to www.jacquilents.com

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Jacqui recounts revisiting Orkney Island’s 5,000-year-old Maeshowe tomb, including Viking runic “graffiti,” and describes managing claustrophobia. Hear about an encounter with a surprise patron at the McLean & Eakin bookstore in Petoskey. Jacqui will be appearing at the Holland Literary Festival on September 12, 2026. Jacqui gives a callout to writers to submit their short stories for consideration to be featured on the podcast. Naomi Kutner’s The Retired Assassin’s Guide to Country Gardening is reviewed.

Here are links mentioned in the newsletter:

www.Jacquilents.com 

Story Share Form

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJbL03dUMRa1amHt3vTPFF9Rxa6X2GZIDublu3op-Oh-rAMQ/viewform 

Episode 69 - Story Share - Moving

 https://www.jacquilents.com/podcast-eps/story-share-moving 

If you want more comfort read suggestions, check my videos on my website.

https://www.jacquilents.com/bookrecs 

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This is the audio version of the June 2026 Chatterbox newsletter. Jacqui talks about her trip to Scotland, upcoming author events, what is happening in her Work In Progress (The Betty Project), and gives a comfort read book recommendation.

Here are links to some of the videos mentioned in the newsletter:

Foyers Falls and Store

https://youtube.com/shorts/S0_wvkQLzgg

Highland Games

https://youtube.com/shorts/X2XucRQ8rwY

https://youtube.com/shorts/PxpXtRUpXsw

Bagpipes

https://youtube.com/shorts/7VYF5no5GTY

To sign up for the newsletter go to www.jacquilents.com

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Jacqui shares an impromptu interview from her two-week holiday in Scotland after visiting Foyers Waterfall and warming up in the local cafe. She talks with Olivia Grant, operations manager of Boleskine Community Care, a charity that recently bought the Foyers shop, cafe, and post office. Olivia explains that the community purchased the only shop on a 35-mile stretch to prevent it from becoming an Airbnb and to preserve essential services and social connections in a rural area. They are raising £60,000 in community shares for working capital. Hear about author updates and upcoming events, plans more Scotland episodes in the fall, invites story submissions, and shares a small win of folding laundry.

Info/links:

Foyers Stores & Cafe

https://www.instagram.com/foyers_stores_and_cafe/ 

https://www.facebook.com/foyersfalls/ 

How to Invest

https://www.foyerscommunitystores.com/share-offer 

Do you have a story idea or thoughts about the episode? Connect with Jacqui at the following.

www.JacquiLents.com

FB: Jacqui Lents Author (link)

IG: @JacquiLents

YouTube: @JacquiLents

Music used for this episode includes –

Magnificent Scotland by Geoff Harvey

Ratatouille's Kitchen - Carmen María and Edu Espinalfound

Always – Nesrality

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Warning: This is what happens when the podcast editor (Jacqui) takes off, and we’re left with raw audio.

Jacqui returns after a winter break from podcasting and writing. She recharged in January by reading heavily and shares where listeners can find her book recommendations. She embraces a more “middle of the road” mindset, inspired by Melanie Sanders’ “We Do Not Care Club,” and recounts a funny “bra off” flexibility story with a friend. After a reality check, she ramps up work on The Betty Project (book two in the Cobb Project series) aiming for 10,000 words a week and hitting 30,000 words in three weeks. Find out about the Third Coast Author and Book Festival in Grand Haven on March 21. Jacqui rambles about how love songs can fit friendships, playlists for her books, and her uncertain plan for season five.

Mentioned in the episode:

Melani Sanders - The Official We Do Not Care Club Handbook

Billy Joel - Just the Way You Are

JJ Heller - Better Together

Indie Elliott & Paul Stanborough - Better Together

Do you have a story idea or thoughts about the episode? Connect with Jacqui at the following.

www.JacquiLents.com

FB: Jacqui Lents Author (link)

IG: @JacquiLents

YouTube: @JacquiLents

Music used for this episode includes –

Ratatouille's Kitchen - Carmen María and Edu Espinalfound

Always – Nesrality