When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, bestselling authors Jenna Blum and Caroline Leavitt created A Mighty Blaze, a online literary platform designed to connect writers and readers and to help all literary endeavors pivot to the digital age.
From April 2020 to December 2023, I co-hosted and produced a weekly online show called Authors Love Bookstores to help promote authors and independent bookstores. Along with my co-host Joe Moldover, we featured conversations between bestselling and award-winning authors and the independent bookstores they admire in the US, Canada, and the UK. Our show broadcast on Wednesdays at 4 PM ET on A Mighty Blaze’s Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter channels. You can watch all of our interviews here. Links to the show I’ve hosted can be found below. And check out the Blaze in Publishers Weekly!
On September 6, 2023, with episode 143, we reached our goal of featuring a bookstore in every US state, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico! A list of our episodes by state can be found here.
Also, from time to time, I host other programs for A Mighty Blaze, including: a special presentation on parenting and creativity, a baking show, and the Frontliner Interview (links to those conversations can be found below).
- What is Authors Love Bookstores?
- 50 Episodes: Happy Indie Bookstore Day 2021!
- Holiday Show 2020
- Holiday Show 2021
- Holiday Show 2022
- Holiday Show 2023 & Farewell
Listen to my Authors Love Bookstores interviews on A Mighty Blaze’s podcast: Judy Blume, Jenny Lawson, Maggie O’Farrell, Gin Phillips, Weina Dai Randel, Curtis Sittenfeld, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, and Diana Gabaldon.
Watch my Frontliner Interviews:
Watch my Authors Love Bookstores interviews:
Freda Love Smith and Bookends & Beginnings – December 6, 2023
Lauren J.A. Bear – November 15, 2023
Angela Jackson-Brown and Morgenstern Books – November 8, 2023
Sara DiVello – September 27, 2023
Mike Gayle – September 13, 2023
Ava Chin & Yu and Me Books – September 7, 2023
Rea Frey & Novelette Booksellers – August 16, 2023
Julia Fine & Bookends and Beginnings – July 19, 2023
Stephanie Thornton & The Writer’s Block – June 21, 2023
Katherine Reay – June 7, 2023
Jane Roper & Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shops – May 17, 2023
Joy Castro & Indigo Bridge and Francie & Finch – May 3, 2023
Julie Gerstenblatt & Nantucket Book Partners: Mitchell’s Book Corner + Nantucket Bookworks – April 26, 2023
Kristiana Kahakauwila & da Shop – April 12, 2023
Audrey Burges & Fountain Bookstore – March 8, 2023
Alex Jennings & Tubby and Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop – March 1, 2023
Wendi Aarons & Black Pearl Books – February 8, 2023
Claire Alexander – February 1, 2023
Kimberly Garrett Brown – January 18, 2023
Gretchen Anthony & Warwick’s Books – November 17, 2022
Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, and Susan Meissner – November 2, 2022
Alli Frank and Asha Youmans & Iconoclast Books – October 12, 2022
Susan Coll & Politics and Prose – September 21, 2022
Sally Koslow & Zandbroz Variety – September 7, 2022
Isabella Maldonado & The Poisoned Pen – August 31, 2022
Neema Avashia & Read Spotted Newt – August 17, 2022
Deb Rogers & Third House Books – August 10, 2022
Gin Phillips & Thank You Books – August 3, 2022
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa – July 20, 2022
Katie Gutierrez – June 15, 2022
Katie Runde & Sidekick Coffee and Books – June 1, 2022
Caroline Wright & Book Larder – May 18, 2022
Kimberly Brock & E Shaver Booksellers – May 11, 2022
Rachel Barenbaum & Trident Booksellers – April 13, 2022
Edwin Hill & BookPeople – March 30, 2022
Jessica Strawser & Joseph-Beth Booksellers – March 23, 2022
Heather Webb & Bank Square Books – March 9, 2022
Weina Dai Randel – February 16, 2022
Antoine Wilson & Diesel Bookstore – February 2, 2022
Deesha Philyaw & City Books – January 19, 2022
Sarah McCraw Crow & Gibson’s Bookstore – December 1, 2021
Kate McIntyre & Bedlam Book Cafe – November 17, 2021
Leesa Cross-Smith & Carmichael’s – September 15, 2021
Elizabeth Ames & Harvard Book Store – August 25, 2021
Laura Hankin & East City Bookshop – August 11, 2021
Curtis Sittenfeld & Prairie Lights Books – August 4, 2021
Katie Crouch, Still North Books & Blue Bicycle Books – July 21, 2021
Sarah Smarsh, Danny Caine & Raven Book Store – July 14, 2021
Saumya Dave, Emma Straub & Books Are Magic – July 7, 2021
Donna Freitas & Savoy Bookshop – June 30, 2021
Alex George & Skylark Bookshop – June 16, 2021
Thien-Kim Lam & Love’s Sweet Arrow: A Romance Bookstore – June 9, 2021
Katherine A. Sherbrooke & Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery – May 12, 2021
Gina Frangello & Women and Children First Bookstore – April 7, 2021
Kate Baer & The Midtown Scholar Bookstore – March 24, 2021
Amity Gaige & Odyssey Bookshop – March 17, 2021
Danielle Trussoni & Boswell Book Company – February 10, 2021
Ann Napolitano & Community Bookstore – February 3, 2021
Caroline Leavitt & Harriett’s Bookshop – January 27, 2021
Louise Miller & Buttonwood Books and Toys – January 13, 2021
Chris Bohjalian, Phoenix Books, & The Vermont Bookshop – January 6, 2021
Kathy L. Murphy & Main Street Reads – December 9, 2020
Karen Thompson Walker & Powell’s Books – November 18, 2020
Kate Hope Day & Grass Roots Books and Music – October 21, 2020
Kate Racculia & Reads and Company – October 7, 2020
Sonali Dev & Anderson’s Bookshop – September 30, 2020
Jenny Lawson & Nowhere Bookshop – September 23, 2020
Steph Cha & Chevalier’s Books – September 2, 2020
Lee Smith & Compass Rose Books – August 26, 2020
Margaret Wilkerson Sexton & A Great Good Place for Books – August 12, 2020
Uzma Jalaluddin & The Ripped Bodice – August 5, 2020
Susan Wiggs & Liberty Bay Books – July 29, 2020
Judy Blume & Books and Books at the Studio in Key West – July 15, 2020
Lily King & Print: A Bookstore – July 8, 2020
Rebecca Makkai & Madison Street Books – July 1, 2020
Julia Glass, Three Lives Bookstore, & California Independent Booksellers Alliance – July 1, 2020
Carter Sickels & Downbound Books – June 17, 2020
Marjan Kamali & Belmont Books – June 10, 2020
Jenna Blum & An Unlikely Story – May 27, 2020
Ann Patchett & Parnassus Books – May 27, 2020
Marisa de los Santos & Hockessin BookShelf – May 13, 2020
Janet Fitch & Skylight Books – April 29, 2020 (Our first show!)