Yankeeland

﻿In this episode of Bookable Space, we’re joined by Lacy Fewer.&nbsp;Lacy readds to us from&nbsp;&nbsp;Yankeeland and talks about writing heartache, family history, living out dreams on the page, and connecting with the past. About Yankeeland:Brigid feels hindered by the strict society of her small Irish town in the early 1900’s and dreams of a new life in the land of opportunity they call Yankeeland—America. Brigid’s quest to have a child see’s her mental stability questioned. Caught up in a patriarchal medical establishment she has little power to fight. The new life in America Brigid dreamed about takes a drastic turn. Decades later Brigid’s grandniece discovers a sack full of letters which unravels the story and vows to tell the tale of what really happened to Brigid in Yankeeland.&nbsp;About the author:Lacy Fewer is a native of Dublin, Ireland.&nbsp;A graduate of University College Dublin, she has enjoyed a career in banking and finance. Following her passion for&nbsp;storytelling she has shifted her focus to writing.&nbsp;Yankeeland is her debut novel and was inspired by the discovery of her grandaunt's&nbsp;letter, which haunted her. She lives in Meath with&nbsp;her husband and children.

Bookable Space with Lacy Fewer

Zahara and the Lost Books of Light 

In this episode of Bookable Space we’re joined by Joyce Yarrow. Joyce reads to us from Zahara and the Lost Books of Light. We talk about writing the past, inspiration, and bringing places to life through research and imagination. About the bookJournalist Alienor Crespo discovers a trove of irreplaceable books rescued from the flames of the Spanish Inquisition. Using her gift of second sight, Alienor exploits her knowledge of the past to confront extremists, who are bent on destroying all evidence of harmony between Christians, Muslims, and Jews in Medieval Spain. The future of the underground library of Zahara is at stake as well as the lives of its protectors. Selected as Best Book in Historical Fiction by the PenCraft Award for Literary Excellence, Zahara and the Lost Books of Light will hold you spellbound until the end.

Bookable Space with Joyce Yarrow

Accidental Paradise

In this episode of Bookable Space, we’re joined by Eric Grandy. Eric reads to us from Accidental Paradise and talks about writing books where good people make good decisions. About the authorEric Grandy was born and raised in Baltimore. After graduating from City College and from Essex Community College, he was drafted by the Chicago&nbsp;Cubs and played six years for them. He went on to be a photographer, lab manager, driver for DHL and warehouse manager. Today he writes full time. About the book In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Paradise-Eric-Grandy/dp/B0FKPYYH8S" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Accidental Paradise</a>, natural talent, hard work, and a childhood friend help LaVern Whitaker find her calling as an actress. When her life becomes overwhelming, they discover a small, North Carolina town where her true identity can remain unknown and she can stay out of the spotlight. The more she visits her secret getaway, the more deeply she feels connected to the history, the lifestyle, and the people. Could this place be her home away from home, or become the home she has dreamed of? Or will sinister forces rip it all away?

Bookable Space with Eric Grandy

Shaken Loose

In this episode of Bookable Space, we’re joined by Ilana Debare. Ilana reads to us from Shaken Loose and Shaken Free. It’s an interesting discussion about writing Hell, researching and developing characters, and more. About the authorIlana DeBare is a former newspaper reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee. She’s author of a nonfiction book,&nbsp;Where Girls Come First: The Rise, Fall, and Surprising Revival of Girls’ Schools,&nbsp;as well as two fantasy novels,&nbsp;Shaken Loose&nbsp;and&nbsp;Shaken Free. She lives in Oakland, California. About the bookAnnie Maple, a 29-year-old college dropout, dies and goes to Hell. Trying to escape, she learns Hell is a profoundly unjust place filled both with truly evil people and billions of decent souls who simply didn’t happen to be Christian. Seeking the courage to transcend her past failures, Annie must choose between returning to life and challenging this system of divine injustice. Readers can find Shaken Loose and Shaken Free either online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or&nbsp;<a href="http://bookshop.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bookshop.org</a>, or by ordering from their local independent bookstore. Links to order online are also on my website at&nbsp;<a href="http://ilanadebare.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ilanadebare.com</a>

Bookable Space with Ilana Debare

Never Ready

In this episode of Bookable Space, Lucie Andre reads to us from Never Ready and talks about writing about the Aids crisis, what writing NYC and memory make possible, writing as a time capsule and more.&nbsp; About the Author: Lucie&nbsp;André&nbsp;moved to New York with a BA from UVa and few skills beyond waitressing and reading. Her love of art, people, and art-people led her to fundraising for some of the city’s best organizations. In Atlanta she and her husband renovated a house and raised a daughter, as shebuilt a consulting business and dreamed of being a writer. Now in Baltimore, she is. About the book:Never Ready is a New York coming of age Precocious Henrietta Drake knows it’s weird if your mother is your best friend. When her mom decamps for a Swiss psychiatric hospital, things really unravel.Henri isn’t thrilled about a senior year with only her architecturally obsessed dad and is shocked when he suggests she drop out and head for the West Village.The only catch is she has to live with a half sister she barely knows and work for a dance company she’s never heard of. As the orbit of design and dance around American Genius Mark Carpenter collides with an epidemic, it reveals the tough, tender secrets of dysfunctional art families. Now Henri must confront their contradictions and fragility, not to mention her own.&nbsp;&nbsp; Never Ready&nbsp;features an anxious heroine curating her own life. Art helps her hang on, but is she ready for more goodbyes?

Bookable Space with Lucie Andre

with Carolyn Korsmeyer 

In this episode of Bookable Space, we’re joined by Carolyn Korsmeyer reading from Riddle of Spirit and Bone. Carolyn talks to us about influences for the book, writing and researching places you know well, what location makes possible, and more. About Riddle of Spirit and Bone The discovery of a skeleton buried beneath a city sidewalk leads a group of student archaeologists to the nineteenth century spiritualist movement and the journey of three women seeking answers from beyond the grave. As the past collides with the present, layers of time peel back to reveal long-buried secrets of loss, love, and murder. Author bio: Carolyn Korsmeyer’s previous two novels include a narrative set in Jane Austen’s England and a mystery set in Krakow at the turn of the millennium. She lives in Buffalo, New York, where half of the dual timeline of Riddle of Spirit and Bone takes place.

Bookable Space Riddle of Spirit and Bone

The Dream Haunters: A Metaphysical Mystery of Magick

<blockquote>In this episode of Bookable Space, we're joined by Megan Mary. Megan reads to us from The Dream Haunters: A Metaphysical Mystery of Magick. Book 1 of the Witches of Maple Hollow Trilogy. We talk about writing spaces, the importance of writing and reflecting on dreams, and more. </blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote><blockquote>About the book:&nbsp;Hannah Skye receives a cryptic letter from her missing Aunt Jewelia. Her experience of a recurring pumpkin patch dream unfolds into a spiritual journey to Maple Hollow, a mysterious island of eternal autumn, where she discovers the mystical Skye Manor and her magickal family legacy.</blockquote><blockquote>About the author:&nbsp;Megan Mary is an international bestselling metaphysical author of the Witches of Maple Hollow trilogy, dreamworker and host of the Women's Dream Enlightenment podcast. She founded Inner Realms Publishing, holds an MA and BA in English Literature and is pursuing her PhD in Metaphysical Sciences.&nbsp;</blockquote>

Bookable Space with Megan Mary

The Ghost Lake

In this episode of Bookable Space, we're joined by Wendy Pratt. Wendy reads from The Ghost Lake and talks about what she learned about herself and the world around us while writing this moving memoir about grief, place, and the natural world. About the author:Wendy Pratt is a poet, author, editor and workshop facilitator living and working on the North Yorkshire coast, where she grew up. She is the author of five collections of poetry. Her latest collection When I Think of My Body as a Horse (Smith|Doorstop Books) won the Poetry Business Book and Pamphlet award in 2021. She is the founder and editor in chief of Spelt Magazine, and runs courses and workshops at York Centre for Lifelong Learning. About the book:A memoir of grief, nature and ancestry in rural Yorkshire.I am setting out on a pilgrimage through an ancient landscape.I will begin at my daughter’s grave.&nbsp; Paleolake Flixton is an extinct lake in North Yorkshire. Human occupation of the site dates back thousands of years to prehistoric times. Over the millennia, the vast lake disappeared, turning to wetland and peaty fields. Today all that is left of it is a watermark.Wendy&nbsp;Pratt&nbsp;brings the reader on a pilgrimage around the ghost lake, to locations that have acted as journey markers in her own life. While traversing forests and fenland, she reflects on the process of finding belonging in nature as a woman who exists in a series of liminal spaces – as a working-class writer, an infertile woman in a fertile world and a bereaved mother in a society focused on children. An early draft of&nbsp;The Ghost Lake&nbsp;was longlisted for the 2021 Nan Shepherd Prize.

Bookable Space with Wendy Pratt

The Mercy Step

In this engaging episode of Bookable Space, host Yvonne Battle-Felton is joined by Marcia Hutchinson reading The Mercy Step. About the Author&nbsp;After attending Oxford University and working as a lawyer in the City&nbsp;Marcia&nbsp;Hutchinson relocated back to Yorkshire where she founded and ran educational publishing company Primary Colours from 1997 - 2014. She was awarded an MBE for services to Cultural Diversity in 2010 and is now a full time writer. About the bookThe Mercy Step follows precocious child Mercy from birth to her relationships with her family in 1960's Bradford. If she had her way it would just be Mercy and her mother but her siblings and her fear-inducing father keep getting in the way. She responds by living in her imagination with her faithfull Dolly. About the hostYvonne Battle-Felton is an award-winning author, academic, editor, podcaster, host, creative producer, and writer.&nbsp;Her debut, Remembered (Dialogue Books, Blackstone Publishing) was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2019) and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize (2020).&nbsp;Yvonne has six titles in Penguin Random House’s&nbsp;The Ladybird series. Yvonne is former Senior Commissioning Editor at Hachette’s John Murray Press and is the Academic Director of Creative Writing at Cambridge University. Winner of The Shirley Jackson Award (novel), Curdle Creek (2024 Dialogue Books, Henry Holt), a gothic horror inspired by Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is her second novel. Yvonne is a podcaster, author, literary event organizer, event host, and lover of stories.&nbsp;

Bookable Space with Marcia Hutchinson

For information about Yvonne's books, events, and more vist <a href="https://www.yvonnebattlefelton.com/ " rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.yvonnebattlefelton.com/ </a>or sign up to Yvonne's Substack <a href="https://yvonnebattlefelton.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://yvonnebattlefelton.substack.com/</a>

Where Writers Read 

Hosted by award-winning author and podcaster, Yvonne Battle-Felton, Bookable Space is a podcast where authors read to us, answer three questions about their books, and tell us where to find them. It's a space for writers to reach readers, for readers to find writers, and for everyone in between. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show and would like to support what I do, please consider <a href="https://buymeacoffee.com/whyiwritebattlefelton" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">buying me a coffee</a>.

Bookable Space: A Space to Launch (and re-launch) Books

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