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).

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:

Alice Hoffman

Diana Gabaldon

Maggie O’Farrell

Susan Orlean

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!)