Aviatrix Book Review

Send us a textIn this interview with Nicole Glover, author of the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for June 2025, The Improvisers, we talk about how she wove historical themes of aviation, race and civil rights, historically Black communities, music, family, and sisterhood into a magical fantasy fiction mystery set in the 1930s. Buy the Book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/the-improvisers-a-murder-and-magic-novel/Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textFinally, another Literary Aviatrix Classics episode with my guest hosts Dr. Jacque Boyd and Captain Jenny Beatty! This episode is all about Amy Johnson. We started off with her book Sky Roads to the World but, truth in advertising, we did not love this book. It's a great history of aviation exploits of the time with insightful predictions of what aviation would offer in the future, but we gleaned almost nothing about Amy herself. We were able to cobble together our impressions of her, her life, and her aviation exploits from other sources, and Jenny, fabulous book and women's aviation history nerd that she is, gives us a rundown of several additional books and places Amy in the context of other women who were flying in the British Isles around her time. Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this interview with author, lawyer, and pilot Erin Miller, we talk about her journey through the halls of congress to change federal law so she and her family could honor her WASP Grandmother, Elaine Danforth Harmon's wish to be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this Writers' Room conversation with author Susan Tate Ankeny, author of two historical works, we talk about her journey to publish her first book, The Girl and the Bombardier: A True Story of Resistance and Rescue in Nazi Occupied-France about her father's experience in WWII, and how that led to her agent offering her the opportunity to write and publish, American Flygirl, about WWII WASP Hazel Ying Lee. Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this interview with author Susan Tate Ankeny, we talk about her biography of Chinese American WWII Women Air Force Service Pilot, Hazel Ying Lee, American Flygirl, the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for May 2025. Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/american-flygirl/Children's Books about Hazel: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/the-fearless-flights-of-hazel-ying-lee/https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/skyward-the-story-of-female-pilots-in-wwii/The Blurb: One of WWII's most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot's license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women's and WWII history books.In 1932, Hazel Ying Lee, a nineteen-year-old American daughter of Chinese immigrants, sat in on a friend's flight lesson. It changed her life. In less than a year, a girl with a wicked sense of humor, a newfound love of flying, and a tough can-do attitude earned her pilot's license and headed for China to help against invading Japanese forces. In time, Hazel would become the first Asian American to fly with the Women Airforce Service Pilots. As thrilling as it may have been, it wasn't easy.In America, Hazel felt the oppression and discrimination of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In China's field of male-dominated aviation she was dismissed for being a woman, and for being an American. But in service to her country, Hazel refused to be limited by gender, race, and impossible dreams. Frustrated but undeterred she forged ahead, married Clifford Louie, a devoted and unconventional husband who cheered his wife on, and gave her all for the cause achieving more in her short remarkable life than even she imagined possible.American Flygirl is the untold account of a spirited fighter and an indomitable hidden figure in American history. She broke every common belief about women. She challenged every social restriction to endure and to succDid you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this interview with author Becky Aikman we talk about her new book Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger about the women who flew for the Air Transport Auxiliary in Britain. Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/spitfires/The blurb: The heart-pounding true story of the daring American women who piloted the most dangerous aircraft of World War II through the treacherous skies of Britain.They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses-all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone-even Americans, even women-transport warplanes. Thus, twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft.In a faraway land, these “spitfires” lived like women decades ahead of their time. Risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, they ferried new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returned shot-up wrecks for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many ferry pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves. It was exciting, often terrifying work. The pilots broke new ground off duty as well, shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior.With cinematic sweep, Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams.Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this writers' room interview I talk with Heather B. Moore, who has been writing for 20 years and is a USA Today best-selling author with over a hundred books published about her writing journey. She offers her tips on launching a writing career, how to navigate publishing, and shares how she manages her writing life. Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this interview with Amanda Harrison we talk about her memoir, Solo2Darwin: In the Footsteps of Amy Johnson, in which she recounts her attempt to fly solo from England to Australia in her vintage open cockpit Tiger Moth. We also talk about the other themes shared in her book about grieving the loss of her father, her breast cancer journey, and the experience of navigating life with dyslexia. I mention Elizabeth Wein's historical fiction novels written for dyslexic and reluctant readers ages 13+ - The titles are: The Last Hawk, White Eagle, and Firebird.Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this interview with USA Today best-selling author, Heather B. Moore, we talk about her biographical fiction of, Lady Flyer, about Nancy Harkness Love, who led the establishment of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron at the beginning of WWII, and whose efforts were both at odds with and in support of Jackie Cochran's initiative to create the Women Airforce Service Pilots. If you're in Denver for WAI205, be sure to stop by the Authors Connect Booth from 2-3:30 on Friday to have Heather sign a copy of her book for you, and reserve your tickets to join us at the Tatter Cover Aspen Grove location at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, March 26th for a special presentation and book signing with Heather and Katherine Sharp Landdeck, author of The Women with Silver Wings.Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this interview with airline pilot and award-winning voice actress, Pamela Almand, we talk about her aviation career, how she made her way into the voice acting and narration business, and the special experience of narrating two of Amelia Earhart's books: The Fun of It and 20 Hrs. 40 Min.: Our Flight in the Friendship. Pamela is available for book narration! You can find her on social media @thecaptainsvoice and: https://www.thecaptainsvoice.com/https://www.audiobooksbythecaptain.com/Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn the 1930's, pioneering New Zealand pilot Jean Batten set multiple aviation records, including a speed record from London to Sydney, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from East to West in 1935 (which, before reading this I routinely accredited to Beryl Markham), and first person to fly solo from London to New Zealand to prove how aviation could connect her homeland to the rest of the world. “Alone in the Sky” is an apt summation of this pilot's jaw dropping accomplishments. If you love flying and aviation history, you'll love this book and our conversation.  That's just the half of it. Have I mentioned how awesome my co-hosts Dr. Jacque Boyd and Capt. Jenny Beatty are? It is an honor and privilege to talk about our pioneers with these two incredibly accomplished and insightful women, both self-proclaimed aviation and book nerds, whose general aviation flying, aviation education, and airline careers, along with their long history of advocacy for women in aviation, complement my own military experiences, giving us the opportunity to approach our collective history from a variety of perspectives to help us all understand it better.  As we honor the anniversary of Amy Johnson's passing today, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, we celebrate the many adventurers who came after her. Later this year, the Aviatrix Book Club will discuss the memoirs of two women who celebrate this legacy of adventure: Solo 2 Darwin by Amanda Harrison, and Bird by Tracey Curtis-Taylor.  Special shout out to author Maggie Shipstead, whose novel Great Circle was inspired by Jean Batten, and is a story that honors the spirit of our women pioneers.  You don't want to miss the Aviatrix Classics Series. More to come in 2025 . . .  Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textBefore the U.S. entered WWII, the British Royal Air Force sent prospective pilots to the U.S. for training because they didn't have the capacity to train the numbers they needed for the fight, and America's women pilots helped train them. New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling author Lorraine Heath explores this fascinating niche of our history in her novel The Girls of Flight City, the December 2024 Aviatrix Book Club discussion book. Lorraine was inspired by a story she read in 1991 about a woman in Terrell, Texas who tended the British Cemetery, and filed the idea away as she pursued an award-winning writing career spanning the past 30 years, publishing over 60 Romance novels and books for young adults, before returning to this story that not only piqued her curiosity, but tugged at her emotional connections to her British mother who lived through WWII in the UK, and her Texan father who graduated from high school in Terrel. Over 2,000 RAF cadets trained at the Terrell Aviation School, just one of seven British Flying Training Schools in the U.S. at the time. Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this interview with co-author Samantha Arrington Sliney, a USAF Judge Advocate General (JAG) and Women's Initiative Team (DAF WIT) member, we talk about the new picture book she co-authored with fellow DAF WIT member, USAF pilot Megan Biles, All the Things Our Mommy Can Do, and we dive deep into military aviation pregnancy policies. While the focus of our conversation is centered around military aviation, the questions of law and policy impacting women's careers, and the book itself, have much broader relevance and appeal. Special shout out to Jessica Ruttenber who continues to advocate for women's rights, including military aviation policies, and who introduced us.  The conversation is a great one for anyone in a leadership position where women's physical status might affect their job performance, for any woman considering navigating her own aviation and/or military career while balancing the decision to carry her own children, and the book is perfect for any expecting mother, especially one with older siblings.Buy the Book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/all-the-things-our-mommy-can-do/The blurb: “All The Things Our Mommy Can Do" is told from the perspective of an older sibling watching their mother excel in her career while expecting their younger sibling. It was created to challenge the idea that pregnancy is a limiting condition and to encourage children to believe in their ability to achieve anything, regardless of gender. The book celebrates the dual roles of parenthood and professional success, aiming to inspire children and break down barriers impacting their ability to achieve their dreams.Samantha Arrington Sliney is a mother of three and military spouse. She is a lawyer and serves in the military. She is a champion for gender equality and equity with a focus on enhancing support and resources for women during all phases of womanhood.Megan Biles is a PhD candidate in Philosophy with a background that includes military service, as well as academic and professional expertise in public policy and national security. She is an advocate for empowering all to reach their full potential.Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textMary Jennings Hegar is the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor, the Purple Heart, and five Air Medals for her service as an Air National Guard HH-60 Pave Hawk Combat Search and Rescue Pilot on three deployments in Afghanistan and many domestic civil humanitarian missions. When her aircraft was shot down in Afghanistan, she sustained back injuries that prevented her continued service as a pilot. The existing Ground Combat Exclusion Policy that prohibited women from serving in ground combat roles meant she could not apply for re-designation as a special tactics officer where her skills and experience could best support the mission. In 2012, she was the lead plaintiff against the Secretary of Defense in a case to abolish the Ground Combat Exclusion Policy and enhance military effectiveness. The policy was repealed in 2013.  MJ's journey began in Air Force ROTC with a follow-on Air Force commission. After she was sexually assaulted by her Flight Surgeon during a qualifying flight physical, and witnessed his subsequent impunity, she made the difficult decision to leave active duty and pursue her dream of ‘becoming Han Solo' through the Air National Guard.  In this interview we talk about why she felt it was important to share her story to educate the public, politicians, and policy makers on both the achievements and contributions of women in combat operations, and the challenges they face in navigating military careers from negative individual and institutional biases.  Shoot Like a Girl is the November 2024 Aviatrix Book Club discussion book. There is also a young adult version, Fly Like a Girl, for readers ages 12-16. If you haven't read this book, add it to your TBR list.  https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/shoot-like-a-girl-one-womans-dramatic-fight-in-afghanistan-and-on-the-home-front/ https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/fly-like-a-girl-one-womans-dramatic-fight-in-afghanistan-and-on-the-home-front/Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this Aviatrix Classics conversation with Guest Hosts Dr. Jacque Boyd and Captain Jenny Beatty, we welcome guest Carole Hopson, author of A Pair of Wings, to discuss the remarkable accomplishments of pioneering aviatrix Bessie Coleman. Despite all of the odds against her, Bessie learned to fly and earned her license in France in 1921, then returned to Europe to learn aerobatics before drawing mixed-race audiences to watch her perform in the U.S. Carole learned about Bessie Coleman from Jenny at a Women in Aviation International conference. In this conversation, she and Jenny share that exchange and talk about the impact it had on Carole's pursuit of her own dream to fly, and on her inspiration to write this book. We also talk about how Carole took her book from self-published in 2021 to traditionally published by Holt in 2024. Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/a-pair-of-wings-a-novel/Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textDon't be fooled by the sweet cover of this picture book by U.S. Army AH-64 Apache combat helicopter pilots, Laura Pangallo Fryar (author) and Morgan Samuels (illustrator). In this interview we geek out on helicopter flying, military careers, “delivering justice” for U.S. ground forces, active duty parenthood, and creative pursuits—and also about their inspiring picture book, Be Something Epic. Laura is a career Army Officer who went through ROTC and, by way of Korea, Germany, Human Resources Command, back to Korea as a Brigade S3 where she had her first child, and NORTHCOM, is currently in her final tour of duty as a Professor of Military Science for Auburn University's Army ROTC program with a cadre of over 180 cadets. Morgan's career followed a similar path until, through the natural progression for a commissioned officer, she wasn't flying as she wanted and decided to leave the Army. She flew scenic tours at Mount Rushmore, oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, and eventually transitioned to fixed wing with the help of the veteran non-profit organization RTAG to ultimately become a 737 pilot for a major airline. In Be Something Epic, we imagine growing up to be an astronaut, a teacher, a dentist, a first responder, or a defender of freedom, and we reflect on what character traits and behaviors we can work on now that will prepare us to be something EPIC. Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/be-something-epic/Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this conversation with Kitty Banner Seemann, we talk about her spectacular experiences flying as a bush and glacier pilot in Alaska in planes full of mountain climbers, hunters, and adventurers to remote locations in some of the most challenging flight conditions imaginable, all described in her book Wings of Her Dreams: Alaska Bush and Glacier Pilot Kitty Banner.Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/wings-of-her-dreams-alaska-bush-glacier-pilot-kitty-banner/Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this episode of Literary Aviatrix Classics with guest hosts Dr. Jacque Boyd and Capt. Jenny Beatty, we discuss The Fun of It: Random Records of My Own Flying and of Women in Aviation by Amelia Earhart. This book offers fascinating insights to where aviation was at the time the book was published and how Amelia and her contemporaries imagined aviation would impact the future. We also learn from AE's own words about her pre-aviation life, her selection and participation in the Friendship Flight as a passenger on a transatlantic flight, and ultimately about her own solo flight across the pond. My favorite parts of the book were her summaries of women's accomplishments and potential in aviation. Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/the-fun-of-it/Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this Literary Aviatrix Writers' Room interview with Lola Reid Allin, she talks about her writing journey including courses at Gotham Writers in NYC, overcoming the fear of sharing personal details, hybrid-publishing with She Writes Press, book launch promotion, and her lessons learned on the value of critique. 00:00 Book Release: 'Highway to the Sky'00:25 Finding Your Voice: The Journey of a Writer18:30 Facing your fears in memoir writing24:31 Hybrid Publishing with She Writes Press30:05 Book Promotion41:25 Lessons Learned -  Vulnerability, Critique48:57 Navigating the Evolving Publishing Industry49:32 Respecting Privacy: Balancing Personal Experiences in Memoir Writing50:15 2024 YouTube Close.mp4Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a textIn this interview with Canadian pilot Lola Reid Allin, we talk about her new memoir, launching on September 17th, 2024. 00:00 Introduction and Book Launch01:17 Synopsis and Reading09:28 Lola's Aviation Career11:59 Transitioning Beyond Flying16:01 Inspiring Others: Why did you write the book?17:34 Challenges and Discrimination: Navigating a Male-Dominated Field32:18 Balancing Motherhood and a Flying Career39:55 Exploring the World: Lola's Adventures in Travel49:28 Supporting Women in Aviation: Lola's Involvement with the 99s51:56 The Importance of Self-Reliance and Education59:04 Book Release: 'Highway to the Sky'Here's the blurb: With females making up just 5% of the world's pilots, this memoir crosses genres to combine aviation history, the author's journey from unwanted child to successful pilot, and the feminist experience, and will appeal to multiple aviation communities.“Don't be silly! Girls can't fly,” seven-year-old Lola's father admonishes her as they fly across Canada on a commercial flight in 1962. She is crushed—but decides he must be right. She's only ever seen male pilots, after all.Highway to the Sky begins during the empty zone of women in aviation, a three-decade drought following WWII when men reclaimed the jobs that had been performed by women during the war and forced women back to diapers and dishes, where they “belonged.”Despite Lola's childhood desire to avoid the straitjacket of traditional female roles and become a pilot, her desperate need for unconditional affection after a lonesome childhood sways her determination. At age twenty, she leaps into marriage and motherhood. Four years, one toxic relationship, and one private pilot license later, she leaves her husband, even though she knows she'll be censured by friends, family, and 1970s society at large.Lola's head-on battle with tradition continues as the lone female pilot in her advanced flight training program and on the job as a flight instructor, bush pilot, charter pilot, and commuter airline pilot between 1979 and 1993. Flying is challenging at times, yes—but her true obstacles are the hostility, sabotage, and discrimination she faces in her industry. She perseveres, however. Ultimately, flying is what gives her the courage to regain control of her life—and helpsDid you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a Text Message.In this Picture Book Panel discussion, we hear from five recently published authors who navigated various routes to publication including traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing to get their stories into print. They very generously share those journeys with us here—everything from the decision about which route to go, to the editing process, how they found their illustrators, what their distribution looks like, the percentage return they receive on book sales, special military/aviation-related considerations about depicting specific ‘brand' images, to book promotion and lessons learned along the way. If you're not writing with the specific niche of women in aviation in mind, the information here will still be of tremendous value as you contemplate your options.  00:00 – 02:49 Intro02:50 – 06:58 Author Intros07:00 – 15:08 Manuscript Prep/Edit15:10 – 18:22 Finding an Artist18:23 – 24:47 Why did you choose your pub route/timeline to publication24:48 – 30:33 Distribution 30:34 – 36:04 Promotion and sales36:05 – 43:05 Percent earnings on sales43:06 – 47:24 Activity books47:25 – 53:58 Book Promotion             53:59 – 58:59 Special military and branding image considerations59:00 – 1:00:05 Lessons learned/advice  If you have a great picture book idea to help inspire the next generation of women in aviation, I hope you'll pursue it, and I hope this panel discussion helps you on your journey!  A big takeaway from this panel is the importance of community. If you're writing books featuring women in aviation, I hope you'll consider the Literary Aviatrix community as yours along your journey, and if you're not, find your people! The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is an awesome starting point.Check out my full interviews with several of these authors and many more in the Aviatrix Writers' Room: https://literaryaviatrix.com/writers-room2/ Show some love for the authors: visit their websites, follow them and share their content on social media, buy their books, and drop a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Kodey Bogart @helogirlsbook – Helo Girls series – https://www.helogirls.comDDid you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a Text Message.Join guest hosts Jacque Boyd, Jenny Beatty, and me as we discuss this out-of-print treasure, Neta Snook Southern's I Taught Amelia to Fly. Through Neta's own aviation journey, we get a very special lens into the experiences of aspiring pilots in the U.S. as they pursued their dreams during and after WWI. Her childhood stories emphasize the importance of exposing our girls to science and mechanics as that exposure imbued her with the skills and confidence to not only hold her own in a male dominate world, but endeared her to her peers. Neta also offers us a new and intimate perspective of iconic Amelia Earhart during her formative years as a pilot in training. Since the book is difficult to find, we take you through all of the wonderful and surprising highlights. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a Text Message.In this interview with author and retired U.S. Coast Guard Captain Martha LaGuardia-Kotite, we talk about her career, which culminated in being recalled to active duty as the Commandant's Press Secretary, then we get into her books - So Others May Live: Saving Lives, Defying Death; Changing the Rules of Engagement: Inspiring Stories of Courage and Leadership from Women in the Military; and My Name is Old Glory: A Celebration of the Star Spangled Banner. The first two books feature stories of incredibly inspiring women in aviation, including the U.S. Coast Guard's first qualified female rescue swimmer, Kelly Mogk Larsen and the first Vice Commandant of any U.S. Military service, Vice Admiral Vivien Crea, along with Nicole Malachowski, the first woman Thunderbird demonstration team pilot, Senator Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Army Blackhawk pilot and combat amputee survivor, and Pam Melroy, one of only two women to command a U.S. Space Shuttle. Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a Text Message.In this Literary Aviatrix Classics discussion with co-hosts Jacque Boyd and Jenny Beatty, we discuss Louise Thaden's memoir, High, Wide, and Frightened, first published in 1938, two years after Thaden won the Bendix in its first co-ed year. This is a quintessential read for every pilot and avgeek, anyone who loves history, and anyone who wants a great story featuring a daring, inspiring woman who is also honest about her fears and mistakes. A  beautifully written memoir, it chronicles Thaden's record-setting flights, including speed, endurance, and altitude, and offers a first-hand account of of the 1929 Women's Transcontinental Air Race and the 1936 Bendix. Remarkably, Louise is unusual for her times in that she continued flying after having children, and she talks about that experience here. Jacque, Jenny, and I take you through each chapter's highlights and discuss the relevance of this story today. I hope you enjoy listening to our discussion as much as we did recording it.Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a Text Message.In this Literary Aviatrix Writers' Room interview with best-selling author Maggie Shipstead we get into the details of her author journey. Maggie is an inspiration for anyone who aspires to be a professional writer. In our conversation, she talks about how a writing course with Zadie Smith during her undergrad at Harvard cemented her path as a writer. She went on to earn an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, followed by a two-year creative writing Stegner Fellowship at Stanford. Her books include the novels Seating Arrangements (2012), Astonish Me (2014), and Great Circle (2021), and a collection of short stories entitled You Have a Friend in 10A (2022). She is the recipient of the Los Angeles Times' Book Prize for First Fiction, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and Great Circle was short-listed for the Booker Prize and the UK's Women's Prize for Fiction. As a travel writer, Maggie has also had articles published in Conde Nast Traveler, The New York Times, and Departures. Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a Text Message.In this interview with author Maggie Shipstead, we discuss her best-selling novel Great Circle. In this sweeping saga, we follow fictional pilot Marion Graves from her feral childhood in Montana where she first encounters a barnstorming pilot team and decides that flying is her life's purpose. She flies as a bootlegger transporting liquor, the flies as a bush pilot in Alaska before joining the Air Transport Auxiliary to fly during the war. Post-war, she decides to fly around the world, North to South, and disappears. The story is intercut with a modern day Hollywood actress set to play Marion in an upcoming bio-pic whose own childhood scars include the loss of her parents in a small airplane crash. Maggie talks about the inspiration for the book and the research that led to this gorgeous novel. Correction from the end of the interview: we will discuss the book Aviatrix, by Mary Bush Shipko, in the Aviatrix Book Club next month, and THEN we'll read The Fabulous Flying Mrs. Miller in July.Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a Text Message.Welcome to the new ‘Literary Aviatrix Classics' series, where I discuss books written by and about our aviatrix pioneers with my venerable co-hosts, Dr. Jacque Boyd and Captain Jenny Beatty. In this interview, we get to know Jacque and Jenny, and we announce the subject of our first ‘Classics' discussion.  Dr. Jacque Boyd is an educator and a general aviation pilot. She has a B.A. in Education, Psychology, and Special Education. In 1979 she was awarded the Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship from the Ninety-Nines for her M.Ed. in Aerospace Education. She also holds a PhD in Curriculum Development and Supervision. Her dissertation was a study of math and science education.Jacque's writing expertise covers several magazine columns, including the Current Issues and Tools for Schools column for Aviation for Women. She also writes extensively for The Ninety-Nines Magazine with the latest contribution being book reviews. She currently does book reviews for several publications and has experienced the fun of ghostwriting.Jacque is a self-admitted book-a-holic with well over 1000 volumes. The majority of the books are aviation-related and most about women's flight. She also has all her grandfather's education books from when he was a teacher in Kentucky in the late 1800s.  Captain Jenny Beatty is a longtime airline pilot, author, and advocate for women and others underrepresented in aviation.Jenny's interest in aviation's early days stems from being in one of the few families to have three generations of women pilots. Both of her maternal grandparents learned to fly in 1930, and their daughter, Jenny's mother, earned her pilot's license in 1945. Following them into the air in 1981, Jenny became a flight instructor, airline pilot, check airman, and flight operations manager, and is rated to fly the B737, B747, B777, B787, DC-9, seaplanes, and gliders. In this portrait, Jenny is wearing her grandmother's flying jacket. To join the Literary Aviatrix Classics conversation, Jenny draws from her collection of over 350 books and magazines by and about women and other underrepresented pilots all over the world, including rare early first editions. She is a popular writer and public speaker on historical and contemporary pilot career topics. Read Jenny's articles and resources at wwwDid you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Send us a Text Message.In this interview with inspiring pilot Polly Vacher, she talks about her memoir Wings Around the World: The Exhilarating Story of One Woman's Epic Flight from the North Pole to Antarctica. She shares how she prepared for the trip, some of the obstacles that stood in her way and how she navigated them, the very difficult decision she was faced with in trying to achieve the goal she'd prepared for over two years to accomplish, and the highlights of meeting people all across the world, all in the name of charity to raise funds for Flying Scholarships for the Disabled. Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this fun interview with mystery writer Edith Maxwell, publishing under the pen name 'Maddie Day', we talk about her historical mystery, A Case for the Ladies: A Dot and Amelia Mystery, which launched in March. In it, a young Amelia Earhart, who is living in Boston, taking flying lessons on the weekends, and working at an immigrant settlement house, helps solve the mystery of a series of murders involving immigrant women. Edith, who has published over 30 books, also shares her wisdom and experience as a mystery writer.Typically a traditionally published author, Edith went out on her own to bring this story to life, so let's support her and buy (AND REVIEW) A Case for the Ladies!Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with Bloomberg space journalist and author Loren Grush, we talk about her childhood growing up around Johnson Space Center with two NASA Engineers and how that led her to unearth the stories of NASA's first women astronauts.I've you're headed to WAI24 in Orlando, please join us for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception, presented by United Airlines and PASS International on opening night, Thursday night, March 21st at 7:30 pm. This is an opportunity to meet and mingle with acclaimed aviatrix authors and hear them read from their work in a casual, intimate atmosphere. Heavy appetizers and a cash bar will be available.Get your tickets before they sell out! Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with self-published historical fiction and mystery/thriller author Penelope Haines, we talk details on going from Na-No-Wri-Mo participant to self-published author. I've you're headed to WAI24 in Orlando, please join us for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception, presented by United Airlines and PASS International on opening night, Thursday night, March 21st at 7:30 pm. This is an opportunity to meet and mingle with acclaimed aviatrix authors and hear them read from their work in a casual, intimate atmosphere. Heavy appetizers and a cash bar will be available.Get your tickets before they sell out! Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with New Zealand pilot, flight instructor and author, Penelope Haines, we discuss her mystery/thriller novel Death on D'Urville and talk all things flying and instructing in New Zealand!I've you're headed to WAI24 in Orlando, please join us for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception, presented by United Airlines and PASS International on opening night, Thursday night, March 21st at 7:30 pm. This is an opportunity to meet and mingle with acclaimed aviatrix authors and hear them read from their work in a casual, intimate atmosphere. Heavy appetizers and a cash bar will be available.Get your tickets before they sell out! Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with all-star award-winning young adult authors Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth Wein, they discuss their fabulously researched and written young adult non-fiction American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky.  They give us a glimpse into this fascinating aviation history and the process that brought it to life in this new book, which is essential reading for any avgeek or aviation history buff!Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this Aviatrix Writers' Room interview with best-selling author Sara Ackerman, she shares how she went from three rejected, unpublished novels to finding an agent and becoming the successful author of six acclaimed historical fiction novels centered on Hawaiian history, including her latest release, The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West. Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with best-selling author Sara Ackerman, we talk about her latest historical novel, The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West, set against the backdrop of the Dole Air Race from the Continental U.S. to Hawaii in the late 1920's. In this reimagined story, female competitor Olivia West joins the fray in a race that historically included no female pilots. Acclaimed for her WWII historical romance novels set in Hawaii, we're privileged to have an Aviatrix join Sara's fictional cast of characters in this latest release. You can find her book, along with hundreds of others featuring women in aviation, on the Literary Aviatrix Website.https://literaryaviatrix.com/product/the-uncharted-flight-of-olivia-west-a-novel/Blue Skies, and Happy Reading! Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with helicopter pilot and author Kodey Bogart, we talk about her new picture book, Helo Girls: The Firefighting Pilot.Kodey is a decorated veteran Army Warrant Officer Medevac pilot and recipient of two Air Medals and the Sikorsky Rescue Award. She has extensive experience in a range of aviation operations, training, safety, test flight, air ambulance, and law enforcement. We spend a good portion of our interview geeking out about flying helos. The Firefighting Pilot is the first of what Kodey plans to turn into a series of picture books featuring various female pilots in diverse aviation missions. The book is available for pre-order now and launches on January 16th!https://literaryaviatrix.com/product/helo_girls_firefighting_pilot/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Welcome to the new Literary Aviatrix Leadership and Development author interview series. Loree "Rowdy" Draude was a combat pilot among the first women to deploy on an aircraft carrier. She also navigated a very successful career in the tech sector. Now Loree brings her professional experiences together to help coach and inspire business leaders, and her love of art and creativity to entertain and inspire audiences with her one-woman show, "I Feel the Need."Her book, She's Just Another Navy Pilot, is Loree's memoir of that first carrier deployment, which began the day LT Kara Hultgreen lost her life in a fatal crash on takeoff. Soar Into Joy brings together the advice Loree finds herself repeating as a coach to her clients.  You can find her books on the Literary Aviatrix website, and you can find Loree at her website https://loreedraude.com and on Instagram and FaceBook @loreedraudeThanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

Announcing the FOURTH Aviatrix Book Club annual reading list! With so many fabulous books it's hard to choose only twelve. I hope you're as excited as I am about the diversity of genre, types of flying, and historical periods reflected in this list. I look forward to seeing you in the discussions. Happy Reading!Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with Leona Cobham, granddaughter of pioneering pilot and aviation advocate, Sir Alan Cobham, we talk about her wonderful middle grade book, Flying Circus Takes to the Skies, which features the adventures of four anthropomorphic vintage aircraft: Spiff, the Spitfire; Vul, the Vulcan; Tom, the Tomcat; and Woody, the Tiger Moth. Leona was inspired to write the book by her experience working with children and her concern over boys becoming ever-more reluctant readers. She created these characters in the hopes that boys would get excited about both reading and aviation history. Her next installment of Airplane Adventures will include a female Nighthawk.The story is well-complemented by line drawings from aviation artist Timothy O'Brien. https://www.timobrienart.co.uk/Leona's book is very thoughtfully available in two English versions - one with British spellings, and one with American, so be sure to select the one appropriate for your young reader. Affiliate links for both can be found on the Literary Aviatrix website:British: https://literaryaviatrix.com/product/aeroplane-adventures-flying-circus-takes-to-the-skies/American: https://literaryaviatrix.com/product/airplane-adventures-flying-circus-takes-to-the-skies/Toward the end of our interview,  we talk about Frederick Forsyth's The Shepherd, and the Canadian Broadcast Company's annual broadcast of a 1979 reading done by "Fireside Al" Maitland. If you'd like to join us in the Christmas Eve tradition, here's a link: CBC - As it HappensThanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with Astronaut Pilot Eileen Collins, she talks about her path, from her childhood in Elmira, New York, through community college and ROTC, to Air Force Flight Training, Instructing, a combat mission in Grenada, Stanford, and Test Pilot School, to becoming the first female, and mother, NASA Space Shuttle pilot and mission commander. Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with Coast Guard Aviation Electronics Technician and H65 Dolphin Helicopter Flight Mechanic, Ashlee Leppert, we talk about her memoir The Hurricane Within, which recounts her experiences in the Hurricane Harvey disaster response while she simultaneously endured troubling and mysterious physical symptoms that eventually grounded her from flying. Ashlee talks about her medical journey, how her faith guided her through her PTSD, her transition to civilian life, and how she hopes to pay it forward as an author, speaker, and life coach. Ashlee earned an air medal for contributions to Harvey recovery efforts and was an honored guest at the State of the Union Address. Thank you, Ashlee, for showing the world what it looks like to be a Coast Guard helicopter flight mechanic, and for sharing your story for others to benefit.Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with Liz McConaghy, we talk about her experiences serving as aircrew on RAF Chinooks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the mental challenges she faced after being medically grounded and leaving the service, which she writes about in her memoir Chinook Crew 'Chick': Highs and Lows of Forces Life from the Longest Serving Female Chinook Force CrewmemberThanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with USAF Academy graduate, F-16 combat veteran pilot, former no. 3 Thunderbird demonstration team pilot, and boy-mom, Caroline ‘Blaze' Jensen, we talk about her sweet new picture book, Thundermouse, her career, and how she managed one of the most visible and demanding jobs imaginable as the mother of a toddler. Blaze is the granddaughter of a WWII SPAR (as am I) and a Coast Guard Grandfather, and daughter of a U.S. Marine, but we'll forgive her for joining the Air Force. She was inspired by Top Gun and guided by the legacy of the WASP and is currently the Board President-Elect of the WASP Museum in Sweetwater, Texas. Her illustrious Air Force career included a stint as a Congressional Liaison, where she met Erin Miller while she was on her crusade to secure WASP rights to interment at Arlington on behalf of her Gammy. Blaze is a motivational speaker for hire and offers mentoring to aspiring and junior military aviators. She will be celebrating the launch of Thundermouse at the WWII Commemorative Air Force Museum Minnesotta Wing this Friday, October 13th, at 6pm. Thundermouse launches tomorrow, Tuesday October 10th. If you order from Blaze's website, she will sign and personalize a book for you. https://www.diamondechelonllc.com/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with author Mary Carroll Moore, we talk about her new book, A Woman's Guide to Search and Rescue, which is available for preorder and launches on October 24th, 2023. In a former life, Mary was a syndicated food journalist who wrote many food and cooking-related articles and books. At fifty, she went back to school for her MFA and began not only writing, but also teaching fiction.   Mary's curiosity about aviation was piqued by her mother, Elizabeth ‘Betty' Hartz Carroll, who earned her pilot license in 1942 and flew with the Women Airforce Service Pilots during WWII. That curiosity inspired her to create two modern-day aviation characters, one an inland search and rescue pilot, and one an aerobatic pilot, in this new thriller novel that features a false murder accusation, a run from the law, and estranged sisters who reunite.  Mary was also inspired to try flying herself. She recently started taking lessons and is both excited and overwhelmed by all there is to learn. Let's give her a warm welcome to the community, and support her by buying her new book!  We also talk in-depth about her writing and publishing journey during this conversation. A Woman's Guide to Search and Rescue is a stand-alone novel but is also the sequel to Mary's first work of fiction, Qualities of Light. You can find Mary at her website MaryCarrollMoore.com and on LinkedIn @MaryCarrollMoore.  Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this Writers' Room interview with Nell McShane Wulfhart, author of The Great Stewardess Rebellion, we talk about her journey as a travel writer and the transition from writing short form journalistic pieces to a full length narrative non-fiction history. She also shares the details of submitting a proposal, working through an agent, and the experience of working with a Big Five publisher.Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for September 2023, author Nell McShane Wulfhart gives us the previously unsung heroines of both the aviation industry and the women's rights movement: the airline stewardesses whose fight against blatant, unapologetic, institutionalized sexism laid the groundwork for equal rights beyond the airlines. This lynchpin story in our history illuminates the context into which the first generation of female airline pilots entered the workforce and explains the challenges they faced in being taken seriously as professionals and not dismissed as servant/sex objects. Anyone concerned with advancing diversity in aviation should read this book to fully understand from whence we came.Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this portion of my interview with Erin Mariah Murphy about her picture book Halfway Home, she talks about her early career, learning to fly as a teenager and saving her money to pursue an aviation degree in college, where she also competed in the Air Race Classic. Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this excerpt from my  Writers Room interview with thriller novelist Sandy Parks about her book Under the Radar. In it she shares how and when she found the time to write the several novels she's published over the years, and talk about her strategy for getting in front of agents in an organic way as a volunteer at writers' conferences. Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this interview with author and publisher Connie Reeves, a former Army helicopter pilot, we talk about her fiction thriller novel, The Elimination Game, and the book Military Fly Moms, an anthology of women's stories compiled by Linda Maloney, published by Connie, and featuring yours truly along with many inspiring women military aviators. The Elimination Game, the August Aviatrix Book Club discussion book, imagines a small group of Army men who sabotage all-female crews to push women out of Army aviation. In Military Fly Moms we have the examples of dozens of women who managed our military careers with family.Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this portion of my interview with retired USAF Colonel Merryl Tengesdal about her book Shatter the Sky, she talks about the physical challenges and long term physiological effects flying the U-2 had on her and her fellow Dragon Lady pilots. Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In this portion of my interview with Erin Seidemann about her memoir, Postcards from the Sky, she talks about flying as a general aviation pilot to the Bahamas. Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker