Halloween is the eve of All Saints Day followed by All Souls Day. In some traditions, Halloween is viewed as a “thin space” where souls slip back and forth between this world and beyond.
Listen to these amazing authors Andrew Allen Smith, Craig Brockman, Matthew Hellman, Robert Williams, and ghost author Stacey Rourke on For the Love of Books Podcast with host Emma Palova.
Psychic Liotta from Rourke’s ‘Corpse Queen’ sees the beast in the crystal ball as she leads the way into the darkness.
Copyright (c) 2022. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Summer is finally here and I am getting ready for several road trips. My first event of the year is the Palmer Park Art Fair on June 4 & 5 located at 910 Merrill Plaisance St. in Detroit. I am very excited since I’ve never been to this event. I tried to avoid big-city gigs but because of the nature of Greenwich Meridian Memoir which describes our life in communist Czechoslovakia and our travels across three continents, Detroit with a large Czech community is a must-stop.
Palmer Park Art Fair is a premier event on Lake Frances with an authors’ tent with 13 authors, and 120 other art vendors selling original artworks of various media, including painting, sculpture, music, mixed media, and more. In addition, the event will have a music stage and specialty booths.
The hours are on June 4 from 10 to 7 p.m. and June 5 from 11 to 5 p.m.
Next weekend I will be at GIZZARD FEST, POTTERVILLE, JUNE 10& 11Gizzard Fest is not your ordinary festival. Thousands of people stream into Potterville for this unique event and good old-fashioned fun! The small-town atmosphere, live music, carnival, and great food (including plenty of gizzards) bring people from across the Midwest.
The hours are on June 10 from 9 a.m. to DARK, June 11 from 8 a.m. to DARK
LAKESHORE ART FESTIVAL, MUSKEGON, JUNE 25 & 26
This event is held in downtown Muskegon with more than 20 authors representing all genres. The LAF features a unique blend of fine art, handcrafted goods, music, food, and fun. Experience over 300 juried fine art and specialty craft exhibitors, a Children’s Lane, an artisan food market, street performers, multiple interactive art stations and so much more.
The hours are on June 25 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and June 26 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Detroit Virtual Book Fest July 15-July 17 see the link at the bottom
COMING SOON The Lost Town is a historical fiction novel set in a ghost town. Protagonist Ida is torn between her hometown of Chicago and her new home across Lake Michigan, and between two men. Who will win her heart- her husband or her lover?Shifting Sands is a growing anthology of short stories and a brand new novel Shifting Sands: The Lost Town coming soon. The novel was edited by Carol Briggs of Lowell with the cover designed by graphic artist Jeanne Boss of Rockford. The first book is a collection of 13 stories divided into three circles based on my life experiences: retail, journalism, and immigration. The second book Secrets is a collection of 15 short stories with the main historical fiction story Silk Nora set in Belding, MI. There are other stories as well such as the Chief about a corrupt small-town police chief and 40 Hunks exploring cheap labor from Mexico. FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS PODCAST with host EMMA PALOVA Listen in for a chance to win a signed copy in the podcast book giveaway. http://emmapalova123.podbean.com and major podcasting apps.
June Schedule Jon Stott, Summers at the Lake, June 2 Mark Loeb, special guest at Palmer Park Art Fair, June 3 Kris Gair, The Beautiful Moment, June 3 Nikki Mitchell, Nightshade Forest, June 17 Deborah Frontiera, Superior Tapestry, June 17 Victor Volkman, U.P. Reader, June 24 Sponsored by Doc Chavent, The Lowell Ledger, Modern History Press, Nikki Mitchell Find Out More
Detroit Virtual Book Fair, July 15-17, link to the catalog of my books in my virtual booth coming soon.
Melinda Clark is a licensed veterinary technician by day, fantasy and paranormal romance writer by night. She loves singing, reading, outdoor activities, and relaxing in the hot tub.
About Love and Bloodlust: The Sacred Objects
Avery Langdon is a self-taught demon hunter with a vendetta. Talon is a 300-year-old, blood-bag-drinking vampire with a fascination for her, and clearly death itself, as he persists in following the slayer on every hunt and pestering her with his advances. Despite their differences, and regardless of Avery nearly putting a stake in his heart, the two will find themselves joining forces to try and stop an ancient evil from awakening and wreaking havoc: the first vampire, Cain. Avery is adamant, despite Talon’s pursuit of her, that this collaboration remains geared toward accomplishing the greater good only. But as the two grow closer to each other, will she be able to resist the temptation he presents her with? Will Avery be able to do what’s right in the end, despite her newly developed feelings?
Coming soon podcast episode with romance author Virginia Johnson.
Check out the podcast episode with romance author Sylvia Hubbard.
If you would like to purchase the garnets or order desserts click on the images of the cake and garnets.
Copyright (c) 2022. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Tune in for the December holiday special with guests: Lisa Plank of the Lowell Area Historical Museum, Nicole Lintemuth of Bettie’s Pages, authors Melinda Falgoust, Andrew Allen Smith, Theresa Halvorsen and Jules Nelson, wherever you get your podcasts. Click below to listen and to subscribe.
Frankfort, MI – What better way to meet your next favorite read than on the shores of Lake Michigan at a local art festival.
After a succesful Lakeshore Art Festival (LAF) in downtown Muskegon, where even a tornado watch couldn’t stop Michigan Authors from selling their books, we have somewhat dispersed. But if you check the previous post about the Michigan Authors Comeback in 2021, and go to the authors websites, you will be able to catch up with them.
Lakeshore Art Festival in downtown Muskegon.
I will be in Frankfort on July 4th at the Art in the Park craft show at 517 Main Street from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Stop by to pick up a book or two; I will have Shift Sands Short Stories series, book 1 and book 2 and my newest release “Greenwich Meridian Memoir.” I will also have posters of the cover of “Secrets.”
I will be around Lowell during the Riverwalk next weekend.
July 31- Grand Ledge, Island Fest
Aug. 7- Holland, Art in the Park
Aug. 28- Lowell, Hometown Reception on the Showboat
I also have a virtual booth at the Detroit Book Fest. Check it out at:
I am really looking forward to this first event of the book tour season 2020. I still haven’t come up with a name for my book tour.
I am readying the third book “Greenwich Meridian Memoir” for the market. It will be available for pre-order on kindle Amazon. It is going to the editor Carol Briggs this week.Greenwich Meridian Excerpt
The cover was designed by graphic designer Jeanne Boss, editor emeritus of the Lowell Ledger.
Greenwich Meridian Excerpt
Life was a lot like living in a shoebox next to another shoebox, while the shoeboxes were stacked on top of each other with the imminent danger of collapsing in those infamous megacomplexes.
There was not much one could do because of the constant scrutiny by jealous neighbors, bosses, other employees or the police. The police were called public safety for propaganda purposes to protect us.
Jealousy was the ruling emotion or feeling. No one was safe from this monster. It also had many different forms and ugly faces. Like a Medusa, they reared their heads at any given time.
Family members were not immune either from any of this. On the contrary, jealousy was magnified among siblings. Some had more, some had less. It was the communist version of Hemingway’s “The Haves and the Have Nots.”
Resentment over the 1968 Soviet occupation and massive exodus into the Western world never really went away. It still lingered in households. There was animosity between those who left the country during the Soviet occupation and those who stayed. That is the expatriates were despised, and the freedom fighters who stayed, were jailed but honored.
It was like being the only child for a long time, and then a younger sibling is born. One can’t help but be resentful over what was before and after everything had changed.
Greenwich Meridian Memoir cover designed by Jeanne Boss.
Copyright (c) 2020. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Greenwich Meridian: Where East meets West New autobiographical novel on its way to pre-order on Amazon. .
Emma Palova’s author news
With Christmas just around the corner and the shopping frenzy on, I am pleased to announce that I have completed the new autobiographical novel “Greenwich Meridian: Where East meets West during the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.) I have, however, decided to add two more chapters based on a recent conversation at one of my book signing events. Vendor Mary Lacy asked me, if I was ever afraid living in a socialist country. I had to really think hard about the answer to the surprise question. So, it occurred to me that many of my fans will be interested in the same topic. “What was it like living in socialism?” I was born in socialist Czechoslovakia and lived there during the hardline years of communism in the 1970s and 1980s. Living in socialism meant being careful on a daily basis about what you said and to whom. However, only political activists like late president Vaclav Havel faced repercussions and ended up in jail. The system had its way of getting at you by creating “profiles.” If you went to church, your profile would state that, and it went against you when you applied for jobs or to universities. Please email me with your questions about socialism at emmapalova@yahoo.com
Reviews and a book tour
Why write a review?
All authors need reviews, and basically not just authors. But Amazon requests at least 25 reviews for authors to get any ranking, so then Amazon algorithms can start working in the author’s favor.
I haven’t been able to reach that magic number, even though it doesn’t seem high. Prior to publication, I sent out pdfs to reviewers.
And I will do that again with the new book. Just email me for pdfs.
Below is a link to my books from the Shifting Sands Short Stories collections: book 1 and book 2 Secrets. Books make a great Christmas gift.
I am in the process of planning a new book tour for 2020, which I am very excited about.
Why come to a Michigan author event? “Michigan Authors are sweeping the shores of the Great Lakes from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior and Lake Huron in a new wave of renaissance in literature.” - Emma Palova
You’re supporting local authors who write from Michigan with Michigan settings. You will get an autographed book by a live author. You will get insider tips from the publishing industry. You will learn about the writing process; from an idea to a book. You will leave inspired.
Happy holidays to all.
Emma Palova Dec. 9, 2019
Email Emma to subscribe to the E-Newsletter at emmapalova@yahoo.com
Copyright (c) 2019. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Greenwich Meridian: Where East meets West memoir with excerpt
Black Friday Countdown
Shop for book 1 and book 2 from the Shifting Sands Short Stories collections this Friday through Dec. 4. Save up to 60 percent. Click this link: https://www.amazon.com/author/emmapalova
Amazon Review of Secrets
In her own unique style, Palova transports us in “Secrets” Part II of Shifting Sands. She exposes a local scandal in “Chief”. “Faustina” details a relationship lost…or is it? Palova shows us the hard line between fact and rumor in “Secrets in Ink.” My favorite, “Silk Nora”, takes us to small town Belding, Michigan at the height of WWI. A lost love is found again. I could go on with my little snippets from the dozen plus short stories in this book, but I think you’ll want to curl up and read for yourselves.
Shifting Sands Short Stories book 1 and Shfiting Sands Secrets book 2
Translation
I finished translating mom’s memories from her first stay in the U.S. until 1973 this morning. Mom Ella captured three years of her life on 12 pages written in a pretty cursive.
When I compare my account of those years spent in Hawkins, TX as a kid to hers as a disappointed housewife, I begin to understand the mechanism of immigration.
From her lines, I could feel all the emotions:
Excerpt: Bittersweet memories
I planned the return home at the end of the school year in June. In April, Vaclav received a letter from his friend in Toronto, who was also in Sudan, with a newspaper clip from a Czech newspaper published in Toronto. There was a note for me in the letter, advising me not to return back to Czechoslovakia, that the amnesty wasn’t working the way it was supposed to. The newspaper article was about a person who had returned back to Czechoslovakia; at the airport he was taken into an establishment unofficially called “Introduction into citizens’ life.” I read the article at least 10 times and I determined that it was propaganda against Czechoslovakia, and that the press exaggerated everything. Deep inside, I doubted, that it could be true.
At the beginning of May, I asked Vaclav if he could buy us tickets to Czech. He was very unhappy, but he knew that he couldn’t keep me any longer in Texas. Although Vaclav refused to return with us, he bought the tickets – with a heavy heart. My desire to return back home was stronger than my love for him. I also firmly believed that he wouldn’t stay by himself in the U.S.A. and that he would return to us.
The scene from the Prague Airport repeated itself at the airport in Dallas; tears, wailing, remorse; I questioned why I had to go through all this again, why couldn’t we return from Sudan home to Czech. This tearful farewell spoiled the joy of my homecoming, and had yet to find out what was in store for me. Finally, after three years, I was leaving Texas, that I never liked.
Copyright (c) 2019. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Proud to report that I am in the prep phase for the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 2019 at full speed. During the month of October , I logged in 12,195 words. My goal is to complete the Greenwich Meridian: Where East meets West in November and follow up with revisions.
It is a memoir about our family immigration saga from former communist Czechoslovakia to the US.
NaNoWriMo is a great tool for any writing project that you may have. First of all, it gives you daily accountability of writing by logging in daily word count. The challenge is to write 50,000 words in the month of November.
I had to do a lot of prep work, because I also have author events in November with my new book “Secrets” from the Shifting Sands Short Stories series.
I will be at the Lowell Area Historical Museum during the Christmas through Lowell tour on Nov. 15, 16 & 17 signing my books. So stop by to pick up an autographed book. I will be offering writing and publishing tips, as well.
Locally, my book is available at Springrove Variety in downtown Lowell.
I am extremely excited about this Christmas event. I’ve done it before with my first book “Shifting Sands: Short Stories.” I was at the Red Barn Market with other vendors including my daughter-in-law Maranda, who has “Little Dreamers Sleepovers” party business.
I would still like to get in one more author’s event before the end of this year. And what a year it has been. Watch for my post “Year in Review 2019.”
“Keep your head in the clouds and your hands on the keyboard.” Marissa Meyer
Back to the keyboard
By Emma Palova
Lowell, MI- I am back behind the computer after a summer filled with author’s gigs, book marketing, anniversary parties and granddaughter Ella’s departure for Fixin, France.
The fall solstice weather is also much more conducive to being tied to the chair without any distractions; that includes minimum social media and Internet browsing only for research purposes and logging in daily word count on the NaNoWriMo website at https://www.nanowrimo.org/
Emma’s book signing during Fallasburg Village Bazaar at the one-room schoolhouse.
However, I have one more big author event to go to before I embark on my second National Novel Writing Month 50k challenge starting on Nov. 1 with prep work in October.
Belrockton Dormitory , home of the Belding Museum
107 Hanover St. Belding, Oct. 6, 2019 1 pm – 4 pm
I am especially looking forward to this book signing of “Shifting Sands: Secrets” inside the original dormitory that housed the silk city girls when Belding was known as the” Silk City of the World.”
The making of “Silk Nora”
The long short story “Silk Nora” is the main story in book 2 in the Shifting Sands Short Stories series. By genre, it belongs to the historical fiction/historical romance catefories. So a good way to search for the book online is by using the keywords #historical fiction #historical romance. In physical bookstores, the book can be found in the fiction category.
The story digs deep into the history of the silk city girls’ dormitory “Belrockton” in Belding at the turn-of-the-century.
The Classical Revival-inspired building was erected in 1906 at a cost of $30,000 . It provided accommodations for 100 single female workers and staff. It was better known as the “Bel” and it is the last dormitory left from the three buildings. Much like the Richardson Mill is the last structure left from the three silk mills in Belding.
As a reporter for the Ionia Sentinel-Standard in the early 2000s, I visited the museum on multiple occassions. But, it wasn’t until two years ago, when I spotted a picture of a woman in a hat during the museum’s fashion hat display in the fall of 2017. She was very elegant and beautiful with a nostalgic look on her face.
That woman in a hat served as a model for creating the main character Nora in the historical fiction story “Silk Nora,” which is the main story in the new book “Shifting Sands: Secrets.”
I also explored extensively the interior of the dormitory including the girls’ rooms. There was another picture in an oval frame. This was a photo of Mathilda Adrian, who lived in the dormitory. Right next to the oval photo was her marriage certificate to John Mahar dated April 1917. And a double love story was born.
This discovery inspired the character of Mathilda, who became Nora’s best friend. So, at this point I had the main characters, and then I added Doris, the matron and the men into the story. All the characters are woven into Belding’s history of the silk industry started by the Belding Brothers in 1860 by selling silk from house to house.
Creativity of Belrockton staff
The creativity of the Belrockton Museum staff, Jane Forth, Barb Fagerlin, Jan Mehney along with others inspired my own creativity.
T he creative displays at the museum from Hotel Belding such as the receptionist’s desk helped me recreate the scenes of social life at the hotel.
The displays of girls’ rooms complete with mannequins, the movie theater, grocery store, fueled my imagination.
When I discovered the optical illusion picture of the “Face of Gossip” at the dormitory bathrooms, I was totally flabbergasted by the chain of coincidences that made the individual pieces fit into a complete story.
To be continued
Copyright (c) 2019 Emma Palova. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Shifting Sands is a growing anthology of short stories and a brand new novel Shifting Sands: The Lost Town coming soon. The novel was edited by Carol Briggs of Lowell with the cover designed by graphic artist Jeanne Boss of Rockford.
FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS PODCAST with host EMMA PALOVA
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