Honoring the Story with Janice Ogurcak
Janice Ogurcak is the Director of Public Programming and Outreach at the World of Little League Museum. This museum is to Little League what the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is to Major League Baseball. It's filled with significant artifacts that range from serious to frivolous. There is a piece torn from
Reading the News with Publisher Kathy Kolb
Kathy Kolb is the (former) publisher of NorthcentralPA.com, a news outlet that’s been online since 2009, which she steadily grew by personally connecting with her readers. I know, this sounds impossible — how do you connect with thousands of people? She accomplished this by building an amazingly loyal Facebook following, which total tops out
Let’s Play Ball with Lance Van Auken
Lance Van Auken is probably the world’s foremost expert on the history of Little League Baseball. There’s only a handful of people who may know more, or as much, as Lance. He earned this honor by being a Little League volunteer, and then an employee, for most of his life. He shares this knowledge as
Get ‘On the Bus’ with Wendy Dean
Wendy Butler Dean is the owner of The Omnibus Publishing, a boutique publishing company that specializes in children’s books, Young Adult novels, and some non-fiction. The Omnibus is a hybrid company, combining a unique blend of older, traditional book publishing and new, digital publishing. She produces ebooks and print on demand paperbacks. Wendy’s a
A Guide to Being Alone
Today I try out a new software platform for recording podcasts, Anchor, and experiment with recording smaller audio clips, and transitions, and putting together a show on the fly. I also discuss an amazing book, "How to Be Alone," by Sara Maitland, a handbook on solitude and why it's important for people, particularly those
Be Larger than Life with Steve Altier
Steve Altier is the author of the books for young people and is best known for his children’s books, the Gabby and Maddox adventure series. Not content with lessons for little ones, he’s written a Young Adult novel, “Lizardville, the Ghost Story,” and he’ll soon release a sequel. Steve grew up in Mill Hall,
A Poem Every Morning with Marjorie Maddox
I tried to imagine an early morning drive with poet Marjorie Maddox, whose creative suitcase is crammed with metaphors. I was enveloped in fog, which occluded my vision, on this particular day. My surroundings became the murky sea, and my auto a submarine. The tall, stark silver maples along the roadway became the kelp
Mary Woods’ Change of Heart
Mary Woods is an artist, a poet, and the author of "The Heart of the Matter,” which guides the reader to becoming wholeheartedly happy. I know Mary through her service work with Beloved Community Council and Heart of Williamsport. We've worked on the HoW project for three years, and it's amazing to see the change
Dave Bellomo’s Passion for Kettlebells
Dave Bellomo is a fitness expert, personal trainer, and author of two fitness manuals on Kettlebells. I met Dave when he worked as a personal trainer and worked with Dave after he opened his own gym, Maximum Fitness, and his manufacturing company, Cardiobells Incorporated, which he owned and operated for eight years.
Nancy Panko’s Guiding Missal
Nancy Panko has achieved amazing success with her book, “Guiding Missal,” an unusual story about a prayer book that is carried in the pocket of three generations of men as they navigate war. As she held the Military Missal in her hands, Nancy thought, “If only this little book could talk.” Her novel gives
Why I Broke up with Smashwords
Why I Broke up with Smashwords Fall In Love with D2D Excuse me, please, but this is a "Rant Post." I've been struggling with the dreaded Meatgrinder at Smashwords for years. In fact, it's been a battle since I self-published my first novel, DISTRACTED. The problem with the Meatgrinder is, it requires you to
Little League Baseball World Series
The Little League Baseball World Series (Robin Van Auken, Arcadia, 2002) This book is a photographic companion book to Play Ball! The Story of Little League Baseball (Penn State University Press 2001). It profiles more than five decades of the World Series. In 1947, when the first Little League Baseball World Series was played,
Historical Mix-Up
Richard and Miriam Mix, experts on regional history as well as America's past, authored a book, “A Bicentennial Postcard History of Williamsport,” which contains colorful postcards and illustrations of pre-World War I Williamsport and the region, and was published by the Lycoming County Genealogical Society just in time for the City of Williamsport's bicentennial in 2006.
When Someone Else Is Right
I have a confession: the title of my upcoming book, "East of Eaton," is not original.No, the bookstore with the cunning name (a play upon John Steinbeck's "East of Eden"), had been "Gateway." My idea was to partition the store with arched gateways leading from one section of the store to another. Gateway also referred
Not Jonathan Winters Again!
I recall that early summer day in Chicago well. I was excited about attending Book Expo America, an annual conference for book publishers and authors to promote directly to book sellers. It was my first book -- a non-fiction title I co-authored. We were standing at a podium in the large arena with a