Writer's Voices

Katie Ganshert is an Iowa writer who sets her books in small-town Iowa. Join us for this conversation about her newest book, “Wishing on Willows,” and learn how Katie got published!

Watson’s latest book, “Affairs of State” reveals “her story” behind much of Presidential “his story” between 1789 and 1900. From the three women who contributed greatly to making George Washington the self-made man he became under their capable tutelage (and financial support), to the d****** if you do, d****** if you don’t travails of many a First Lady, the stories that the history books leave out are intriguing, entertaining, and informative.

We will also be discussing “Lincoln’s Enduring Legacy”, a collection of essays in honor of Lincoln’s 200th birthday edited by Watson and two colleagues in 2011, and Dr. Watson’s second favorite President (the forgotten one between FDR and Ike).

“River Braids,” is the story of a former Midwesterner (like the author, who spent much of her life in Illinois and Iowa but now calls Santa Barbara home) who returns to his roots along the Mississippi River and uncovers the truth behind the family’s legend of his grandfather Joe rowing in the 1904 Olympics.   “River Braids” weaves back and forth between current time and the St. Louis Worlds’ Fair and Olympics of 1904, just as the current of the river weaves back and forth among the islands, creating and destroying as it flows.

In Marcy’s previous appearance on Writers’ Voices, in 2006, she enlightened us on how to achieve publishing success with short stories in literary magazines. “River Braids” is her first published novel.

Smokler is also the editor of “Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times”  and has been called a “publishing visionary” by the Huffington Post.

Nancy Kennedy , editor of the “Miracles and Moments of Grace” series from Leafwood Publishers, joins Monica and Caroline for a special Mothers’ Day interview.

Learn how Nancy finds the heart-warming and tear-jerking stories that fill the Miracles and Moments of Grace series.  Previous books in the series include  “Inspiring stories from Military Chaplains” and Caroline’s favorite, “ Inspiring Stories from Doctors ”.  Nancy was also editor of a book of weight loss success stories “How We Did It.”

Jacobs is also an editor at large of Esquire Magazine and the author of 3 other books, about three other years in which he devoted himself to a single subject and wrote about it. One year it was perfecting his body (Drop Dead Healthy), another it was his mind (The Know-It All), and in the third year he attempted to improve everything about himself (My Life as an Experiment.)

Join us as we learn how and why Jacobs made the transition from general assignment news reporter, to one of the funniest and most insightful writers of our time.

I love looking at life from a slightly slanted point of view… with nonfiction, you can tell a great story and give people information and useful tips and still make it funny, giving them broccoli and bubblegum at the same time.

The world seldom notices who the teachers are, but civilization depends on what they do and what they say.

Monica Hadley and guest host and community activist Bob Ferguson interview Peter Fusaro ,  noted speaker and author of 16 books including “What Went Wrong at  Enron.”  Fusaro’s passionis Green Energy and his three most recent books have been “Cut Carbon, Grow  Profits,”  “Energy & Emissions: Collision or Convergence” and  “Energy & Environmental Hedge Funds: The New Investment Paradigm.”

Peter is an energy  industry thought leader noted for his keen insights in emerging energy and environmental financial markets. He has been on the forefront of  energy and environmental change for over 30 years focusing on carbon trading, environmental impact of emissions, and renewable energy markets.  Listen to this author interview for a clear explanation and perspective on these highly technical issues.

In the middle of an Iowa winter, poet Paul Stokstad joins Writers’ Voices host Monica Hadley to talk love and tattoos, tennis and marketing, and of course, poetry. Paul’s third book, “Butterfuly Tattoo” is published by 1st World Publishing. It’s a far cry from his previous tomes, “How To Be Your Own Best Tennis Pro”

In Norman’s extraordinary memoir, “That Reminds Me,” he reveals all, or at least all that is relevant. and talks movingly about what brought him back to Iowa. In this interview we explore what led him to write his own memoir after all these years.

For doing research, the internet….becomes like another hand, another eye.

How little we know what’s going on with those around us. If we did, how much more understanding and accepting we would probably be.

Author of the best-selling memoirs “Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time”, “Truck: A Love Story,” and “Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting”, Michael Perry discusses his newest book “Visiting Tom: A Man, A Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace”. He’s written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine,