Emma Palova, born in Czech Republic, is an author, a writer, a screenwriter, a journalist, a photographer, a designer and the founder of Emma Blogs, LLC, based in Lowell, Michigan.
Currently, she is working on her memoir "Greenwich Meridian" which she intends to turn into a screenplay.
Palova started her blog EW Emma's Writings at http://emmaplova.com in support of the publication of her memoir in January, 2013.
The blog has grown into a passion and a company that designs blogs for other people under the umbrella of Emma Blogs.
Palova is a prolific online publisher open to new ideas and to new horizons. A natural innovator, Palova loves to create progressive brands into the future. Check out her inspirational post "Desert epiphany" and the authors page on About_me and on Facebook.
I am looking forward to seeing you around the greater Grand Rapids area and on my blog.
I am seeking an agent or a publisher for the memoir that I intend to publish for my mom Ella's 80 birthday on Aug. 23.
I celebrated my fourth anniversary on the WordPress publishing platform on Jan. 15th, 2017 with more than 1,000 followers and 500 plus posts.
Love always,
Emma
Hot off the presses, the long-awaited To China with Love is out there wherever its author may be at the present moment. That too could be a mystery. Two years in the making due to sabotage efforts, the first book in the Jack Unchained series follows Jack Handler, a retired Chicago homicide detective on his covert mission.
The previous 14 books, all fiction, are divided into a series of seven books each that successfully sustain Jack as the main character, despite the reader’s evolving apprehension of Jack’s accomplishments.
“I have yet to see the nerves that I touch in this book,” Carrier said. “All chains are off. He is who he is. I am having a lot of fun with this series.”
Carrier draws inspiration from his private security contractor career for three decades.
“I write strictly fiction,” he said. “My stories are plausible based on real crime. I don’t intend to write non-fiction about crime.”
His biggest advice to other authors is not to shy away from returning to various events.
“It pays to go back and revisit venues where you didn’t do well,” he said.
Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of Carrier’s To China with Love.
In his UP Colony, Author Phil Bellfy, P.h. D. poses the ultimate question: why has the Upper Peninsula’s vast wealth, nearly unrivaled in the whole of the United States, left the area with poverty nearly unrivaled in the whole of the United States. “Where did the $1.5 billion earned from copper mining, $1 billion from logging, and nearly $4 billion in iron ore go?”
Struck by the contrast between two cities on different sides of the American Canadian border, Bellfy has published an update to his 1980s MA thesis, UP Colony.
It is the story of resource exploitation in Upper Michigan in one of the oldest US cities Sault Sainte Marie. The book was published on its 350th anniversary in 2018.
“Sault Michigan was clearly a city on the decline, while Sault Ontario shared none of the malaise that infected the Michigan half of these “Sister Cities,” Bellfy writes in the new introduction.
Bellfy grew up in the Detroit suburb of Livonia and moved to Sault Sainte Marie in the fall of 1970. “We were urban Indians growing up in Detroit, but Chippewa County is most native populated East of Mississippi,” he said. “I was exposed to the native community.”
“I was also struck by the raw beauty of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and perhaps, even more struck by the raw beauty of the landscape across the St. Marys River,” he wrote.
However, just around the time of his arrival, all the major industries shut down, and Sault Michigan was little more than a “resource colony” or “Internal Colony” without any residuals left from the mining industries.
“My own personal history adds a lot to my perception of the situation up here,” Bellfy said.
Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of UP Colony.
The Czech and Slovak Easter traditions are deeply embedded in the villages of Moravia and Slovakia, and they are not as prevalent in the big cities such as Prague or Bratislava.
Slovak goose eggsEaster egg artist Anna Krocova in VizoviceBakery by Ellen Machackova of VizoviceKlabacka or noisemakerEaster whips
Most families color eggs in dyes or onion skins for the deep brown color and polish the eggs with butter and set them on the Easter table to reward the revelers, along with a bottle of plum brandy, desserts, lamb pound cake, and open-faced sandwiches.
Easter egg artists make “kraslice,” which are decorated empty eggshells after the yolks and whites have been blown out. These pieces of delicate art painted on a fragile shell are the mainstay of Easter sold at markets and gift shops, along with hand-embroidered tablecloths and ceramics.
The prevailing tradition remains the mysterious “whipping” of the women of the household on Easter Monday known as “schmigrust.” Men and boys traditionally braid their own whips from willow branches in all sizes. These whips are called “pomlazka” or “karabac” and they can be up to two meters long braided from 24 willow rods. Some use large special wooden spoons with ribbons or branches of juniper.
“Schmigrust is my favorite part of Easter,” said Ludek Pala, a Moravian native of Stipa, now a resident of Lowell, who still practices the tradition in the USA.
The revelers get up at the crack of dawn and head out into the streets in groups of all ages. Depending on the region they also carry wooden carved noisemakers carved by local wood artists.
When the door opens, the women and girls get a gentle whipping to drive away evil spirits, according to old legends. Originating in ancient pagan fertility rites, the practice is supposed to guarantee beauty and good health for women in the coming year.
Loosely translated as: Give me a colored egg, if you don’t give me a colored one, give me at least a white one, and your hen will lay another.
The plum brandy aka slivovice reward
The plum brandy is made in the stills in Moravia and across the country. People usually bring in their own plum or pear ferment that is distilled.
We decided to bring this tradition to the USA where we live permanently. The fruit is locally sourced from Paulson’s, Hills Brothers, and Mason peaches and apples, with no additives the brandy reflects an age-old tradition of craft stilling started by our forefathers.
Copper still by Kovodel Janca from the Czech Republic.Jakub Pala, Emma Chavent and Ludek Pala.
Moravian Sons Distillery
In return for the whipping, the revelers get a ribbon tied to the whip, a colored egg, a shot of plum brandy and they help themselves to open-faced sandwiches and desserts, such as festive kolache and lamb pound cake.
“By noon you’re tired,” said Pala.
In some regions, if the group arrives after 12 p.m., they get doused with water. However, in Slovakia, the Easter custom is to douse the women and girls with water or perfume in the morning.
According to a 2019 survey, 60% of Czech households follow the tradition of spanking (or watering) someone on Easter Monday.
In the past, young boys would chase young girls in the village streets with the whips, and vintage illustrations by Josef Lada of people in traditional folk costumes show girls running or hiding as if playing tag.
Copyright (c) 2022. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Looking for answers to life’s big questions like what do I want to do with my life? Based on her individual experiences, author Amanda Filkins puts her heart out in her brand new book “Be Still: God’s Grace is Bigger than Worldly Deceit.”
“I wanted to be organic and stay away from preaching,” she said. “This book is from my heart. It’s very pure. I hope a fire is lit inside of the readers’ hearts.”
The book is meant for young women under the age of 30 who may be struggling with life’s purpose. It is divided into 10 chapters with subjects such as sex, status, money, and more.
Filkins focuses heavily on body image and societal pressures.
Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy of her new book.
Sponsored by Doc Chavent, the Lowell Ledger, Modern History Press
According to the Czech calendar, today is my name day. I named our daughter Emma, and coincidentally she was born on April 8. During my podcasts, I found out that Emma is also a popular name for female protagonists.
More on name days coming soon.
Copyright (c) 2022. Emma Blogs, LLC . All rights reserved.
As a little girl, Fust was distracted at church during the long readings, and maybe hungry as well. Many years later this distraction transpired into a delightful tale of a mischievous kitten based on Luke’s Gospel account of the feeding of the 5,000 in the Bible.
“I wondered about other characters,” she said. “I fleshed out a skeleton from the snippets of history.”
Illustrated by Mary MacArthur, the book is set in the town of Bethsaida.
Fust treated the tale of Kit from a historical perspective and did research on the location of the feeding of the 5,000.
“Luke gave a lot of details,” Fust said.
Protagonist Kit is always looking out where his next meal is going to come from when a man visits Bethsaida followed by 12 guys and 5,000 people.
Find out who this stranger was and what it takes to make a miracle in this Easter episode for a chance to win a signed copy of “The Hungry Kitten’s Tale.”
This is an updated episode with author Mikel Classen with sound editing by author Erik Bean aka prof. Bean.
Stay tuned for the upcoming Easter episodes with Christian authors Elizabeth Fust “The Hungry Kitten’s Tale” and Lowell’s author Amanda Filkins “Be Still: God’s Grace is Bigger Than Worldly Deceit.”
Digging deep into the past, U.P. author & historian Mikel Classen uncovers hidden stories in his newest release “True Tales- The Forgotten History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.”
Stories of piracy, lost gold mines, the origin of the Copper Boom, profiles of people of note, Starvation on Isle Royale, and one of the darkest periods of Michigan history, are all True Tales of the early days of the Upper Peninsula Frontier.
“Some subjects I’ve researched over the years as a journalist,” Classen said. “It’s been several years in the making.”
The tales are broken up into moments in U.P. history like Chapter 15- “Peter White: The Founding of Marquette” or the story about a native American woman marooned on Isle Royale with her husband facing starvation.
One story, in particular, captured Classen’s inquisitive mind and set him off on a wild chase across the rugged northern peninsula hunting down the truth to rectify myths. During his research, Classen visited the historical societies in 16 towns.
“The local communities and historians sometimes intentionally buried the stories,” Classen said.
In seven towns, he was able to confirm the unimaginable.
“I was shocked,” he said. “Some things you find out can creep you out.”
Find out what it was by listening to this intriguing episode with a true U.P. expert for a chance to win a signed copy of Classen’s “True Tales.”
Sound editing by author Erik Bean.
Copyright (c) 2022. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Digging deep into the past, U.P. author & historian Mikel Classen uncovers hidden stories in his newest release “True Tales- The Forgotten History of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.”
Stories of piracy, lost gold mines, the origin of the Copper Boom, profiles of people of note, Starvation on Isle Royale, and one of the darkest periods of Michigan history, are all True Tales of the early days of the Upper Peninsula Frontier.
“Some subjects I’ve researched over the years as a journalist,” Classen said.
One story, in particular, captured Classen’s inquisitive mind and set him off on a wild chase across the rugged northern peninsula hunting down the truth to rectify myths. During his research, Classen visited the historical societies in 16 towns.
“The local communities and historians sometimes intentionally buried the stories,” Classen said.
In seven towns, he was able to confirm the unimaginable.
“I was shocked,” he said.
Find out what it was by listening to this intriguing episode with a true U.P. expert for a chance to win a signed copy of his “True Tales.”
Visit booth no. 49 in the Gymnazium of the Lowell High School on Saturday, March 26 2022 during the Lowell Community Expo.
“Our visitors to the Expo should stop by our booth to hear of the progress we have made over the last several years,” said Alan Rumbaugh, treasurer for the Fallasburg Historical Society ( FHS).
The FHS has been working on digitizing files and artifacts so anyone can access them in the future.
“We have a major event planned for July 30 and would like to tell everyone about it,” Rumbaugh said.
The 150th anniversary of the Covered Bridge commemorative coins and cookbooks will be available for purchase at the Expo on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Stay tuned for more news in a special spring newsletter coming to your inboxes.
Copyright (c) 2022. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
I’ve just found out from Facebook memories that it’s been one year since the first episode of For the Love of Books Podcast aired on major podcasting apps.
I was honored to have Diana Plopa of Pages Promotions as my first guest author, and a big-time supporter. And the support continued with founding authors Jean Davis, Luba Lesychyn, Ingar Rudholm, Andrew Smith, Joan Young, and countless others.
Our daughter Doc Chavent sponsored the show from the get-go, most recently joined by Modern History Press which supports its fine authors. So new horizons are opening for all of us as spring is in the air after the long winter.
I am pleased to welcome author guests from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Mikel Classen, Phil Bellfy, Robin Marvel, Chris Stark, Deborah Frontiera and Sharon Kennedy, because who doesn’t love U.P. its magic and mysteries. Also in the line-up are Mike Carrier, Elizabeth Fust and Victor Volkman, president of L H Press Inc.
This will be an exciting time as we navigate upcoming big events like the Lakeshore Art Festival (LAF) in Muskegon and different Art in the Park events around the state of Michigan, as well as Expos.
In the special episodes, we offer tips like how to win and survive the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.) Prior to major events, I chat with the show organizers.
Stop by at any of the events to pick up your next favorite read and chat with us. We care about our fans.
Copyright (c) 2022. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
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