Podcasts about Vacationland

Meg Mitchell Moore is the author of Mansion Beach, a page-turner-y multi POV summer saga with everything you could ask for: a beach, a body, rich people behaving badly but also sometimes not behaving badly, parties, drama and just enough gender-swapped Gatsby to think hard about the meaning of the American Dream. I loved it (KJ here) and I also loved this conversation with Meg, who apparently thinks in multiple POVS and is always just as impatient as I am to feel like the book is done and wonderful when sadly it is… not. #AmReadingMeg: Audio: Great Big Beautiful Life, Emily Henry—Julia WhelanAlso mentioned: Julia Whelan's Thank You for ListeningPrint: The Road to Dalton, Shannon Bowringfrom The Book Shop of Beverly FarmsKJ: Mansion BeachWelcome to Glorious Tuga, Francesca SegalFind Meg at @megmitchellmoore on IG, or visit her website at www.megmitchellmoore.comHEY. Did you know Sarina's latest thriller is out NOW? Rowan Gallagher is a devoted single mother and a talented architect with a high-profile commission restoring an historic mansion for the most powerful family in Maine. But inside, she's a mess. She knows that stalking her ex's avatar all over Portland on her phone isn't the healthiest way to heal from their breakup. But she's out of ice cream and she's sick of romcoms. Watching his every move is both fascinating and infuriating. He's dining out while she's wallowing on the couch. The last straw comes when he parks in their favorite spot on the waterfront. In a weak moment, she leashes the dog and sets off to see who else is in his car. Instead of catching her ex in a kiss, Rowan becomes the first witness to his murder—and the primary suspect.Digital books at: Amazon | Nook | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Audible Physical books at: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indigo | More paperback links here!New! Transcripts below!EPISODE 450 - TRANSCRIPTKJ Dell'AntoniaKJ here announcing a new series and a definite plus for paid supporters of Hashtag AmWriting. It's Writing the Book, a conversation between Jenny, who's just finished a blueprint for her next nonfiction book, and me because I've just finished the blueprint for what I hope will be my next novel. Jenny and I are both trying to quote-unquote "play big" with these next go-rounds, which is a meta effort for Jenny as that's exactly what her book is about, and we're basically coaching each other through, trading pages, thoughts and encouragement, as well as some sometimes hard-to-hear honesty about whether we're really going in the right direction. So come all in on team Hashtag AmWriting, and you'll get those Writing the Book episodes right in your pod player along with access to monthly AMAs, the book labs, first pages episodes, and come summer, we shall blueprint once again. So sign yourself up at amwritingpodcast.com.All SpeakingIs it recording? Now it's recording. Yay. Go ahead. This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone. Try to remember what I'm supposed to be doing. Alright. Let's start over. Awkward pause. I'm gonna rustle some papers. Okay. Now one, two, three.KJ Dell'AntoniaHey, I'm KJ Dell'Antonia, and this is Hashtag AmWriting, the weekly podcast about writing all the things. Short things, long things, pitches, proposals, fiction, nonfiction, memoir, other things I'm probably not thinking of. We are the podcast about sitting down and getting your work done. And I am KJ Dell'Antonia, the author of three novels, The Chicken Sisters, In Her Boots and Playing the Witch Card, as well as a nonfiction book, How to Be a Happier Parent, former editor of The New York Times Motherlode. You've heard all this. With me today, more importantly, is Meg Mitchell Moore, who has written a book that I think you're gonna find is your summer go to. It is called Mansion Beach, and I loved it. And we'll talk about it in a second. She is also the author of Summer Stage, Vacationland, can attest to both of those great reads. The Islanders, Two Truths and a Lie, The Admissions, loved that one too. They're all great. So, anyway, lots of lots of novels in the family saga, sometimes touch of romance, beach, summer, deep, but also page turnery read genre, which is not a genre because that was too long. But, anyway, Meg, thanks for coming to chat.Meg Mitchell MooreThank you for having me. I'm so happy to be here. This is gonna be really fun.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo I've read some of your other books, obviously, and I felt like this one Mansion Beach was you sort of moving to a different this. It's a little how to describe it. You've got a lot of points of view, which you always, you often do, and a little bit of of a mystery, which actually, I've seen you do before, and then you've got a podcast going on so that you can have different people show show off what's happening. I guess I was hoping you would talk about the evolution of style, um, actually, over your whole career, sort of from, like, I'm writing a kind of a basic book with a couple of points of view and third person close, or maybe first person to these bigger, bigger stories with so much more to so much more to offer the reader. That's a really big question. Start wherever you want.Meg Mitchell MooreThat's a great question. I I don't know if it has been such an evolution. I have always written multiple points of view to the point where it makes me crazy. And I wish I could. I wish I could do one or two. I really wish I could. I've tried it. I can't do it. I just can't. My brain doesn't work that way. It's I can't do it. So even my very first novel, which I published in 2011 it was called The Arrivals, that was a much smaller story. So yes, I for sure, I've evolved plot wise, but I remember, and this was when I was brand new and did not know what I was doing, and I was just trying to figure out how to write a novel. I had so many points of view. And I remember my now agent. Maybe she was not my agent then and was becoming my agent, or maybe she was already my agent, but I remember her saying, we have to take out at least like five of these points of view. And it's still, it still has a lot. I just that's how I think those are the kind of books I like to read, usually, not always, for one thing, but it just. Must be how I think I'm always in everybody's head, and it's really hard for me to restrain that. So this book, I don't think, has any more points of view than any other. Might have fewer than some. It does have a mystery.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah it might, then some that I've read, I guess I I, I saw it as different, maybe in part because of the the use of the podcast to frame things.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah that's new. And then it's a bigger, you know, it's a bigger idea. It's a, it's not a retelling of The Great Gatsby, because I don't like to use that word, but it is inspired by The Great Gatsby. So it has definitely some bigger I was looking at bigger themes, maybe from the start. A lot of times I back my way into the themes based on what my characters are doing. I don't always start with the themes, but this time i i was looking at some of those big whether, what's the American dream and what does success mean, and how does money equate with happiness, and some of those bigger questions. And I don't always do that. I might do it in reverse, but I don't always do that first. So I do think it has bigger theme wise, it's bigger maybe plot wise, yeah. And some of the elements, some of the elements that move it along, are a little different. I was working with a new editor for the first time for this. This is my first full book with my new editor. So I think that had something to do with it too, because I think she was probably pushing me for some of those elements that don't come naturally to me, which I think ended up being good for the book.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, it's a little more thriller. Isn't exactly the right word, but there's definitely a page turning mystery in there. I know here's, this is like a so there's a page turning mystery in Mansion Beach, and the question all along for the reader, like, you know somebody is going to die. But I at least did not know who, but I had an advance, and it came as a as a digital book, so I didn't have the cover and I didn't have the blurb on the back, if a reader has those things, are they gonna know?Meg Mitchell MooreInteresting.KJ Dell'AntoniaAre they gonna know? Who it is that that dies?Meg Mitchell MooreI don't think so. I don't think so. The people I know who have read it both ways, I think have not known.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's good.Meg Mitchell MooreIt's sort of that white lotus effect, you know, for White Lotus fans out there, where there is a mystery, and you care about the mystery, but you also it matters, but it doesn't matter as much as what's going on with everybody else. So I really like that as a framing device. I like watching it and reading it. And I tried it myself this time. I did it a little bit in two truths and a lie as well. I guess that's my only other one that has a dead body, and a lot of people are mad at me for who the person was who died, which I want. And two truths...KJ Dell'AntoniaDon't give it up.Meg Mitchell MooreNo, I won't. So that was interesting, so I hadn't tried it again, and this time I went in a little nervous, because people had been upset with me, particularly my husband. But I I still, I mean, I had the chance not to do what I did in two truths and a lie, and I still chose to. So I still, for me, it was the right thing, but it was an interesting experience. And I didn't try it again for a couple books. And this time I did also because I was playing with some of the Gatsby themes. I mean, Gatsby has three bodies, so I thought, I mean, I should have at least one, so I won't, yeah, I won't give anything away about…KJ Dell'AntoniaNo, don't.Meg Mitchell MooreWho or what or how, but I did enjoy having that as a device to propel it now that also, I don't think that was in the first draft. I don't think there was a body in the first draft. I mean, there were huge changes in this book, and I think that was one of them. I think we decided we needed the body after one draft.KJ Dell'AntoniaWow. Okay, now I'm deeply fascinated, and of course, I'm trying. So I'm trying to make this interesting and useful for those of you who haven't read the book, although you could also stop, go get the book, and read it, and then listen to this, and then it would be even better.Meg Mitchell MooreThat is true.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah. Okay, so let me just start by saying I am actually not a person who typically likes a book where your whole like, like, the question is, you know, either who died or who did it. So Lucy Foley, I've enjoyed some of those, but it's not necessarily my favorite go to genre, but the thing that made this book work great for me was exactly what you just said, that there's so much more to it. You I could see that this story would exist before you added that and that. I mean, that's so cool. And then I also, I'm not a Gatsby person, so neither of those would like, neither of those hooks is going to grab me. But what grabbed me, I think, was the different women, different versions of the American dream.Meg Mitchell MooreMm-hmm.KJ Dell'AntoniaIs that where you started?Meg Mitchell MooreI started… Yeah, I think so I would. Really, yes, I wanted to really look at notions of success, particularly for women today. You know, it's contemporary. It takes place that, you know, in the summer that is coming out, or that, if you actually match up the dates, and I think I messed up the tides and the moon in some places, but it's the summer. So yes, I was very interested in those questions. I was I wanted to have a love triangle, because I think that's interesting, and that's part of Gatsby too. So it's funny that you say you're not a Gatsby person. I think my first, another change from my first draft, was very Gatsby heavy. I think I tried to, I think it just was, I was trying too hard to to do the same thing. And…KJ Dell'AntoniaIt's kind of a reverse-gendered Gatsby.Meg Mitchell MooreIt is, yes, it's reverse gendered. But what I was doing was just, I was just trying to, I don't know what I was doing, but it was a mess. I mean, I always knew I wanted to play with Gatsby, but I tried to do it too closely. And I tried a little first person with the narrator, which that's how Gatsby is told, but I can't write him. Can't write successfully in first person. So that was a mess. And I remember that my editor probably looked at this thing and said, This is what are we doing? But what she said to me nicely was, you need to, like, don't worry so much about Gatsby at all, like you need to free yourself from those constraints, and you need to write the story. And that was the best advice, because that's when it started to come together. So it's more that Gatsby was a jumping off point, and some of those themes, I was so interested in how those themes are so relevant 100 years later, and they are, so I think I needed that as a jumping off point, but I didn't need to, you know, retell it scene by scene, or try to have the narrator feel the same, or do anything like that. And I had some missteps along the way before I figured that out.KJ Dell'AntoniaIt interests me that this doesn't seem to have taken any longer than your other books, did it?Meg Mitchell MooreUh, I felt like it took forever. My books have come out either with note with, you know, a year and then the next summer, or with two summers in between. This one has, this one has an empty summer in between. So I did need that extra writing time for this. And I remember, I always start out thinking I could do this in a year. I'll absolutely and I always hit. I'm a deadline hitter. You know, I always hit the deadlineKJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, you give them something.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, I was a journalist for a long time. I just, I'm not late on things. I just always, I'm just, I always hit my deadlines, but it might be awful. And so this was nobody actually. I mean, it was pretty awful when I think back to that first draft, and I think that my editor and Agent thought, okay, we can do this. And I looked at it, and I looked at my schedule and my life and my brain, and I thought, I don't think I can do it very well. So we put it off for a year, which gave me not a year's writing time, but maybe six months that I hadn't had. And that made a big difference. So this one took a little longer. Same thing with vacation land. I had the exact same thing happen where I thought it was going to come out one summer, it came out the next summer, but Summer Stage and then the book coming out, if I finish it next summer, will have no extra time in between. So it kind of, I've gone both ways with it.KJ Dell'AntoniaDo you see any like consistency in why? Or it just sort of either happens that way or it doesn't?Meg Mitchell MooreI think I when I try bigger, when I try bigger books, I need more time, as it should be, but I always think I can do it. You know, I'm patience is not, is not my best quality. Impatience is my worst quality. So I find that I'm usually impatient to get something done or to hit the deadline or to put the book out, and I have to slow myself down when necessary, and vacation land. It was a different editor, same publisher, but different editor. I remember her saying, having that talk with me and saying, it will be a much better book. If we put it out the following year, it will be so much better. And she was right. So we needed that time.KJ Dell'AntoniaI so totally relate to this.Meg Mitchell MooreDo you?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm in the middle of it. Now, if anybody who's listening is also listening to our what the books are writing the books, what the books also like? It's a little mini series where one of my co-hosts is writing nonfiction and I'm writing fiction, and we're trading pages, and we're doing a weekly series of conversations. And this week's realization was, I have always known that I'm writing a story with multiple points of view, but I couldn't start it that way. I had. I had to start it with just this one protagonist. And then I thought, Oh, well, then it'll just be that, and it'll probably be really easy. Look, I've got this all planned out. I'm just gonna write. I'm just gonna, oh, I'll bet I can get, what if I got my agent a draft this summer? Hahaha, it's, you know, it's not good, but I'm so impatient. I want ...Meg Mitchell MooreRight, right. Well, I was listening to one of your to your podcast the other yesterday, and it was the one where you were talking about your story idea starting. How do you, how do you ideate the book?KJ Dell'AntoniaOh, gosh.Meg Mitchell MooreAnd you so you write a book, and then you present it to your agent, and then you sell it, right? So…KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Meg Mitchell MooreThat's your process. So I'm the opposite, where I write, I get the contract first, and then I have to write the book. And I don't know which is harder, because you don't have a built in deadline. You have your own deadlines that you said, but you're writing something that you said. Maybe this will sell, maybe it won't, I don't know, whereas I know it will eventually be published, but I also have that pressure of I have to get things in on time. So what do you think is, what's better? What's worse?KJ Dell'AntoniaI don't know. I envy your... I envy that way. I feel like that would make me feel more secure, more professional. My, my agent, doesn't… she's very against selling a book of mine, at least before I've written it, because she says, I'll, she says I might change it, and then, and then, it won't be what we sold or I won't be happy. So so I don't know if she's I think she's just against it as a general rule, but I know lots of agents that that do it, and I know a lot of of writers that do it. Sometimes I look at this and I'm like, you know, I could do a proposal. Maybe we could sell it. I could get some money. That would be lovely, right? Yeah. But...Meg Mitchell MooreI see, I see your point, and I know a lot of people think that way. I remember a long time ago when I'd either published, I think I'd published no novels. Maybe my book was about to be published, my first novel, and I heard Ann Patchett speak at a conference, and she said, she said that she would never take money for a book she hadn't written.KJ Dell'AntoniaWow.Meg Mitchell MooreAnd I remember thinking, Oh, well, if that's what Ann Patchett says, I guess that's what like, that's how the world is. But I disagree, like I disagree, because for me, first of all, she has a different life situation, but for me to keep income coming in steadily, because this is my only job, I feel like that's the way to do it. And I also feel like other industries, like my husband doesn't only get paid when he goes to the board meeting. He's getting paid every other week for his job that he does for the company that he works for. And so to try to approximate a little bit of a normal salary, I feel like that's the way to do it. But then I also see the other side, and I see why Ann Patchett wouldn't do it, because she's Ann Patchett, you know, so she can take whatever time she needs...KJ Dell'AntoniaSee that's so funny. Because I think, well, you can do this because you're Meg Mitchell Moore, and Meg Mitchell Moore is going to sell and a KJ Dell'Antonia, one of them will, and the others somewhat less, so at least that's my my record at the moment. So I guess we just all see each other differently. My co-host Sarina sells on proposal.Meg Mitchell MooreOkay, so fiction, that's fiction?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, yeah. She sold thrillers and romances that way. Okay, so she has a bigger track record. But also, I've known people, you know, I guess there's just different ways of of of doing it. And I would not say that I chose this. It chose me.Meg Mitchell MooreInteresting, but there was always that chance. I mean, my agent... If I said to my agent, I don't want to sell till I write, she would say, Great, that might be better for both of us. We'll probably sell it for more, because you might write something really good, but I just don't want to take that. I'm too impatient, you know, I'm just Yes, maybe, if, you know, maybe if I had, you know, had some big blockbuster, and then I thought, Okay, now for two years, it doesn't matter what's coming in, because I'm getting money from that book, that would be different. But, um, that's not how it works for most people.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, and maybe I would feel less impatient with getting this done if I weren't like, I want to get to the point where I know if we're going to sell like, I wrote a whole thing last summer, and it never got to the point that we felt like we could sell it, and I I'm sick of it. I can't write it anymore. I'm done with it. I mean, maybe I'll come back to it, but, yeah, right. And like, I've had, you know, a freelance editor at it who's really good. My agent's been at it. I finished it like three times, and apparently it still sucks. So I'm done.Meg Mitchell MooreSo that's interesting, because I always think that I would not be writing good books if I didn't know if my editor gets a very messy draft, and all of my editors have gotten bad dress and really helped me. And without that step, I don't think I would ever write a book that could even be sold. So I feel like I need to know, okay, somebody else who is better at this is going to be helping me really soon. I just need to get through it.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat's that would be amazing. I don't think my editor cares enough about me to do that. So...Meg Mitchell MooreOh, my editor would absolutely prefer a cleaner draft. Like, no question. I mean, she would be delighted if I showed it to five people and got feedback, but I'm always in a rush. So I'm like, here you're the first reader. Here you go. She's like, thank you.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, that's my agent. I'll be like, Look, I'm done it's great! and She's no... it is great, but you know what would be really great? Poor agent. Yeah, okay. So, so we're we're both impatient, but we're doing this in in very different ways. Well, now I want to hear more about that. How do you go from a first draft with no body, to a final draft where the body, it's definitely one of the things that's pushing people to turn the page. It's not the only thing. So maybe that's the good news of not having started with a body. Also, did you know whose body it was?Meg Mitchell MooreUm, we discussed because, yeah, I mean, we discussed a little bit about it. I remember thinking, Could it be this person? And here's why we wouldn't want that person. Could it be this person? So we had some discussion. I didn't write it. I once I knew who it was. I didn't write multiple versions of it. I always had that person. But, and I guess I just think of it as more of a framing device than anything, and a framing device, you can add the frame later.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah.Meg Mitchell MooreSo the middle was mostly what was happening, was happening, and then there was this framing device and and then there are certain things at the end that kind of came together. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this makes it all come together. But I didn't know that in the beginning. And that was so you may be late.KJ Dell'AntoniaDid you not know how the body became a body?Meg Mitchell MooreAh, that changed. There was...KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, I could see that.Meg Mitchell MooreAnd then I thought, oh my gosh, this is kind of what I needed to pull together all those themes. It was those exciting moments that really don't happen very often.KJ Dell'AntoniaOh, I bet and I mean, I can see it from the outside as a reader. It really did. It made it like your ending is one of those endings that changes the whole, your whole reading experience for the better, right? Not that it wasn't a great reading experience the whole time. You know, sometimes somebody doesn't stick the landing, and then you're like, yeah, no, I don't really want to recommend this. I mean, it was fine, right? But, and sometimes it's just great. It's like, solid. You're happy, yay. Okay, that's a good, it's a good. Yours colors the entire like, if I were somebody who would go back and reread it, would color the entire experience differently.Meg Mitchell MooreOh, Thank you!KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, which is cool, yeah, very cool.Meg Mitchell MooreNow, when I wrote Vacationland, I started with a body, and the body came out. So I had the opposite experience, where I thought I was writing a thriller. The whole time. I was like, this is going to be my thriller. There's a body. And I had it all. And to me, it made sense. It all tied up, and my different editor, but my then editor said, I like everything but the body.KJ Dell'AntoniaWow.Meg Mitchell MooreWe had to keep it was first it was a an important body, and then it was a less important body, and then it became the body of a seal, because I had to have just a scene of children looking at something they found in the water in the very beginning. And so it was a body, and then it was a seals body. This time. I got to keep my body at least.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo I love this also, because you haven't been, um, pigeonholed into a genre that involves bodies or doesn't involve bodies. Has that been a thing as you've as you've gone from book to book where people are like, well, I don't know… Meg, people don't really want you to kill people or the, you know, the opposite. Well, I don't know, people are kind of looking for some more thrills from you.Meg Mitchell MooreWell, Vacationland. I remember that editor said they don't, we don't want this from you. We want, we don't want. We want a summer book. We don't want. We're not looking for a thriller. You know, they had other thrillers. You know what? They're doing their own end of the business, too. So they definitely said that this time. I mean, I feel like I'm not pigeonholed, but categorized as beach as a beach book. But I think within beach books you can do all of those things. Yeah. So if I were to write a giant thriller that I said, I think this should come out in the fall, and it's a big book, I that's when they would probably say, I don't know if your audience, if you have the audience, right, pull that off unless the book is amazing, you know? I do feel like I need to come out in the summer to keep my readers.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, I actually love that. That beach book is a You're right. It's a pretty big genre. It encompasses a lot. It encompasses a lot of of things, the only requirement being that it's, you know, entertaining, which, as far as I'm concerned, is a book requirement anyway. But...Meg Mitchell MooreRight, right. It is interesting because my books also happen to usually take place on beaches, but not all beach books do. So it is, it has become a very big category and competitive like you also want to stand out in that category, because there are so many books with the word summer in the title or the word beach in the title, or this. Actually, this cover is a departure for me, which I love, because I feel like I have done the just the oceanscape or the main or the woman looking at the water. I've had those kinds of covers.KJ Dell'AntoniaIt's your first... It's, it's, it's a cartoony cover. I don't, I don't mean that it, you know that sounds Yeah, it's almost a romancy cover. But there's only one person. First. I'm just so you guys should, it'll, it'll be in the show notes. You should, you should take a look, because you're right. It is a departure. I see, yeah, I see what you're saying there. But this one's, it's a hardback, right?Meg Mitchell MooreYes.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah. Have all your books come out first in hardback?Meg Mitchell MooreThey have, yep.KJ Dell'AntoniaNice, cool.Meg Mitchell MooreHave yours?KJ Dell'AntoniaNo, none.Meg Mitchell MooreNone? Okay, now, what do you now…? Do you think that… that, I sometimes I feel like that's a great thing too.KJ Dell'AntoniaI go back and forth on that. My agent is bummed about it. But for me, it's frankly, much easier to, like, go out to everyone and be like, spend $18 versus be like spend $38.Meg Mitchell MooreI agree.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo I haven't minded. Oh, and I was at the Newburyport Book Festival a few years ago, and they accidentally got my second book only in hard book, because it was, it came out in hardback and paperback at the same time, which there was a moment of about six months when publishers were doing that, and then they stopped and they only had the hardback. And I was like, Oh, I don't even want anyone to buy that. Like that, isn't I would be mad if I bought a hardback...Meg Mitchell MooreRight, right.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd then the next day, I was at the store and was like, hey!?Meg Mitchell MooreRight, yeah, it's interesting, because I do actually love… because I bought your book The Chicken Sisters this weekend, in paperback, and I love, I love paperback, yeah, I love it.KJ Dell'AntoniaFor travel…?Meg Mitchell MooreLighter, yeah, and I think it is appealing. It's so interesting. I mean, I remember Emily Henry's first couple, at least, came out paperback, and then now that she can sell so well, they now they come in hardcover, but I still feel like...KJ Dell'AntoniaI look at them and I'm like, I don't want that that way. Now, I'll just buy a digital version, because I don't that's not…Meg Mitchell MooreRight? Right. It's really interesting. And I know I don't understand the sales end of it, the way that the people who are doing the job do, and the profits and the margin and all that. But I kind of feel like, why isn't everything in paperback right away? You know?KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, no, I feel the same way. And and also people's, especially now we're thinking, we're talking about beach books. Some people's beach I mean, if my beach vacation is an airplane beach vacation, I might bring one hardback, maybe...Meg Mitchell MooreRight.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd maybe, probably not, because I'm a fast reader, I could easily eat that on the plane, and then there I would be. So...Meg Mitchell MooreRight.KJ Dell'AntoniaI don't know.Meg Mitchell MooreRight, yeah.KJ Dell'AntoniaI guess that's what e-readers are for.Meg Mitchell MooreThat's true.KJ Dell'AntoniaWell, I mean, gosh, I could probably talk to you about in depth, about the writing of this for about 12 hours. Because, okay, one one last thought. So listeners, Meg writes like we said, in multiple points of view. Talk to me about how you know when to change the point. You know what point of view a scene should be told from?Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, I don't. I'm it's so much. I do so much rewriting, a lot of that. I mean, I'm just thinking, I just turned in a draft yesterday of, hopefully next summer's novel, and I that is also multiple points of view. It's, I think it's mostly three, it's three adult sisters and they each have a point of view. There might be a couple little scattered things, but when I look back, I think I need to probably adjust, even in the draft I just turned in, I think I'm a little heavily weighted toward one over the other, so I don't always know. I just go on gut and instinct, and then I fix it later, which is how I do almost everything. I just go by instinct, and it's usually wrong And I change it later.KJ Dell'AntoniaSo, you'll, you'll be like, you've written a scene, and the point of view of one person, you realize, oh, either it's the other person's turn to have some more time, or I need their inner thoughts, not this person's inner thought...Meg Mitchell MooreRight. Yeah, its not very organized.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd sometimes you drop in like, you know, a kid on a beach or something, is that when you need something to happen that you that your protagonists don't know? Or just, you just feel like?Meg Mitchell MooreI think, I think it's fun. I just think it's fun sometimes to have this person you haven't heard from and you won't hear from again. But a lot I probably did. I probably do that. It probably gets taken out 80% of the time when I do that, because usually it doesn't make sense. But I just wanted to do it. I did it in my book. I just turned in and the first this scene between the a realtor and her husband, the realtor who's selling this house that these people are in. She doesn't matter to the book, but I just really wanted to write the scene of her and her husband, and I even wrote in the draft. I know this doesn't make sense, and my editor said, Yeah, this doesn't make sense. Like, you either need more of them, or they need to go. I don't know what they're...KJ Dell'AntoniaDo you ever give them away for? Like, you know, here's your pre order bonus. Read this extra scene…Meg Mitchell MooreI should do that. Maybe I'll do that. They'll do that. I have never done that, but maybe I will. But I feel like, I think it might be Anne Tyler. I remember reading an interview. Is she the one who does the strings like she has strings with different?KJ Dell'AntoniaMaybe, i don't know.Meg Mitchell MooreEvery character has a different colored string, and then she pulls down the red one because it's the red, you know, that's how she knows who she's writing. And I thought that was really cool, but I've never done it.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat sounds like a lot of work.Meg Mitchell MooreI guess.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd, like, I would need a different…I need a bulletin board. Okay.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, I don't know where you, where I would hang it from, but it's just seems kind of nice to think, then maybe...KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah it does.Meg Mitchell MooreShe knows if she's done the right amount for everybody.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, The Chicken Sisters is alternating points of view. And I just, I just alternated. And then sometimes that was a problem, and I had to figure out, like, how to get somebody's feelings? Yeah? So....Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, it's confusing. I don't know why I do it to myself, because sometimes I'll just read a perfectly, a book that's just perfectly written in first person. I'm trying to think of an example right now, because I don't even always read that much in first person, but like, Yellowface? … Yellowface. Okay, that book was so, like, simple in a way, but I love I loved it. I thought it was brilliant, and it was all just this point of view, and...KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd didn't you occasionally get, like a newspaper article? I think...Meg Mitchell MooreMaybe, maybe.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat must have been what she did when she had something her person couldn't know.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah. I guess, yeah. I guess, technically, it would be harder to do it all from one because you how do they know everything? But I feel like I get lost, like I have trouble. I literally lose the plot, because I'm just this person's off doing something in their day that might have nothing to do with what's going on. I get really caught up in that kind of stuff, and that's what I have to edit out.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, I'm always trying not to do that. I'll sit there while I'm writing, like, No, do not let them move their coffee cup. They can move the coffee cup in a later draft, if the coffee cup is still here, if they're even still in this coffee shop, if this coffee shop even exists. But I can't seem to stop it. My my like, default mode is, you know, he said while taking a sip and burning his lip or whatever, right? Just, I can't seem to not do it.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, but sometimes that's where you get the gold too, because you wrote all that, and maybe that one sentence is the thing that you needed. So it's just the process.KJ Dell'AntoniaYeah, it is. It's just the process, and it's longer than we hope and slower than we hope...Meg Mitchell MooreAlways...Always. Yes.KJ Dell'AntoniaAnd more, and more revising. Well, do you have any, like, genius words about revision for people? Because it sounds like you do a lot of it.Meg Mitchell MooreI do a lot of it. I think just is so important. It's just so for me, it's so important. I just think nobody gets it right. I hope nobody gets it right the first time. Because if they do, I'm really jealous, but I think for the most part, nobody gets it right the first time. So revision is, I mean, I'd say I spent almost as much time on the revision I probably do as I do on the first draft.KJ Dell'AntoniaDo you still lie to yourself in the first draft and let yourself pretend it's going to be right?Meg Mitchell MooreOh yeah. I always think, Oh, this is the time I did it, I nailed it, and then I get my editorial letter, and it's like, great start. Here's the 700 things that you need to do now.KJ Dell'AntoniaWell, thank you. I feel better. I hope everyone else does too.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, it's a long process.KJ Dell'AntoniaIt really is, all right. Well, this was fantastic. I really enjoyed it.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, me too.KJ Dell'AntoniaAs we hit the end of any episode, we always like to ask people what they've been reading. So I hope I'm not springing that on you.Meg Mitchell MooreNo, I just I always have an audio book going and a regular book going on audio I just started the Emily Henry, the new Emily Henry, which I've never listened to her books. I've always read them, and I know that Julia, the famous Julia Whelan, is always her narrator, so and she's phenomenal. So I'm loving the audio version, which is just funny that I've never done it with Emily Henry before.KJ Dell'AntoniaDid you listen to Julia Whelan's book that she wrote herself?Meg Mitchell MooreMhmm.KJ Dell'AntoniaThat was so fascinating, because it really was different, like I actually read it, but I could feel the… yeah. Anyway, okay.Meg Mitchell MooreOh, you should go back and also listen. It's so it's such a good audio book.KJ Dell'AntoniaI bet.Meg Mitchell MooreYeah, it was fantastic. And then I'm reading a novel called The Road to Dalton that my friend Hannah, who owns the Book Shop of Beverly Farms in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts, phenomenal store recommended to me. So I bought it last time I was there, and it is about a bunch of people in a small town in Maine, which is my vibe immediately I was in. But it's very good. So I'm reading that. I can't, I can't remember the author, which is unusual for me, but Shannon something I think [Shannon Bowring].. But it's The Road to DaltonKJ Dell'AntoniaThat's okay. I will find it well. As everyone is gathered, I just finished Mansion Beach. I I really loved it. It was a rare book that I loved even more when I got to the end of it. And, yeah, it was amazing. And also in that, that vibe, that sort of small town Maine and yet, but this is like small island, middle of the Atlantic. Welcome to Glorious Tuga. Have you heard of this one?Meg Mitchell MooreNo. I've never heard of it.KJ Dell'AntoniaOkay, so it's a tiny island settled 300 years ago by a miscellanea of Dutch and British and and African people didn't have any locals. So that's kind of and they have formed the society. It's only open for half the year, because you can't, like, get a boat into it, because storms and currents and whatnot. So this woman has gone thinking that she's going to study the native tortoise population all Darwin, but she gets there and they're like, great. You're a vet. That's what we need. So it's kind of like all creatures great and small meets...I don't even know what it meets yet, I got to come up with that. But it's really a lot of fun. And it's very multi it's multi POV in a really interesting way, because you're with her, and then sort of whenever you kind of get a little interested in someone else, you're like, Oh, why are they doing that? Then maybe you'll switch to their POV. it's really, I really enjoyed it so, so that was fun. So those are my ranks, all right. Well, thank you so much, listeners for joining us, and thank you, Meg for joining me today. Where can people follow you? Where's the best?Meg Mitchell MooreMostly on Instagram @Meg Mitchell Moore, I'm on Facebook, but I don't use it very often and I kinda want to leave it. So…I also just read the Facebook, the Facebook memoir.KJ Dell'AntoniaOh yeah?Meg Mitchell MooreNo, I really want to leave Facebook, but also I know that they own Instagram. So anyway, Instagram is the best place to find me, and I was so happy to be here. Thank you. It was really fun.KJ Dell'AntoniaThis was super. Okay. Thanks everyone for listening, and until next week, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.Sarina BowenThe hashtag am writing podcast is produced by Andrew Perella. Our intro music, aptly titled unemployed Monday was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output, because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Join host Tisha Morris as she talks with Nicholas Weissman, an executive producer and director at Vacationland. With over 15 years of experience in film and video production, Nicholas shares insights on the current state and future of independent filmmaking. They discuss the evolution of distribution platforms, the importance of IP ownership, and effective financing strategies for filmmakers. Nicholas also highlights the new role of film festivals, social media, and brand storytelling in today's industry landscape. This episode is a must-listen for filmmakers eager to learn about the intricacies of the industry and how to navigate its challenges. About Nicholas Weissman: Nicholas is an Executive Producer and Director at Vacationland, a documentary studio and commercial production company, that makes uncommon films on common ground. With over 15 years of experience in film and video production, Weissman has led projects ranging from long-term feature documentaries to time-sensitive feature video pieces for major print and network news outlets. Weissman is passionate about storytelling and collaborating with a community of award-winning filmmakers across the globe. He has worked with commercial clients such as Amex, Land Rover, Cadillac, Volvo, British Airways, Ray Ban, Visit California, Nike, Levi's, Microsoft, and Intel.  His feature, For Ahkeem, premiered at Berlinale Film Festival and won a 2018 Cinema Eye Honors Award. Recent films include We the Power for Patagonia, Havana Libre, A Wonderful Kingdom, and he is currently finishing Row of Life about Ocean Rower Angela Madsen. Visit www.vacationland.film for more information. Follow Nick and Vacationland at @Vacationland ➡️ SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

Grandpa Bill Asks:Ever wanted to explore Portland like a local?

Jim Walters in conversation with David Eastaugh https://www.facebook.com/DasDamenOfficial The band was formed in 1984 by Jim Walters (vocals, guitar), Alex Totino (guitar, vocals), Phil Leopold von Trapp (bass, vocals), and Lyle Hysen (drums). Totino and Hysen were previously in the New York hardcore band The Misguided. Das Damen released their self-titled debut album on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! in 1986. They subsequently signed to SST Records and released Jupiter Eye in 1987, which has been described as "quasi-hardcore that touched on MC5-like garage psychedelia". A third album, Triskaidekaphobe, followed. It featured a guest appearance by ex-MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer.  

On Christmas Eve in 1991, Dana Ireland is found tucked away in a secluded, hard to get to area of the Hawaiian subdivision Vacationland, barely clinging to life. When she finally arrives at a Hilo hospital, the damage is too severe and they declare Dana dead at 12:25am on Christmas morning. In 2023, the audiochuck team set out to tell you the story of what happened to Dana Ireland and how three men were convicted of her murder. Then in 2024, everything changed. In Chapter 1, Amanda Knox takes you through everything that happened on December 24th, 1991 and why this story is very different from the one we were originally going to tell you.  Follow and listen to Season 2 of THREE wherever you get your podcasts! ---Please consider donating to Ian's GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ian-schweitzer-after-wrongful-conviction.  You can visit www.hawaiiinnocenceproject.org and click the donate button to support them, their work and their clients. To buy Amanda Knox's new memoir, Free: My Search for Meaning, click HERE. If you have any information about the abduction and murder of Dana Ireland, we encourage you to contact the Hawai'i Innocence Project at contacthip@hawaiiinnocenceproject.org. You can also contact Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300 and the Hawai'i Police Department at (808) 961-2380 or visit their website Hawaiipolice.gov to submit a tip.

On Christmas Eve in 1991, Dana Ireland is found tucked away in a secluded, hard to get to area of the Hawaiian subdivision, Vacationland barely clinging to life. When she finally arrives at a Hilo hospital, the damage is too severe and they declare Dana dead at 12:25am on Christmas morning. In 2023, the audiochuck team set out to tell you the story of what happened to Dana Ireland and how three men were convicted of her murder. Then in 2024, everything changed. In Chapter 1, Amanda Knox takes you through everything that happened on December 24th, 1991 and why this story is very different from the one we were originally going to tell you.  ---You can view the materials referenced in this episode at https://threepodcast.com/s2-episode-1/Please consider donating to Ian's GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ian-schweitzer-after-wrongful-conviction.  You can visit www.hawaiiinnocenceproject.org and click the donate button to support them, their work and their clients. Amanda Knox's new memoir, Free: My Search for Meaning is available at www.amandaknox.com. If you have any information about the abduction and murder of Dana Ireland, we encourage you to contact the Hawai'i Innocence Project at contacthip@hawaiiinnocenceproject.org. You can also contact Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300 and the Hawai'i Police Department at (808) 961-2380 or visit their website Hawaiipolice.gov to submit a tip.

For over 30 years, the murder of 23-year-old Dana Ireland haunted the island of Hawai‘i, leaving behind a tangled web of suspicion, betrayal, and unanswered questions. Three men were convicted. The case was closed. Justice was served. Or so everyone thought.Hosted by Amanda Knox - an exoneree, journalist, public speaker and best-selling author - this Season of THREE takes you deep into a case that was never as simple as it seemed. Through never-before-heard interviews and unwarranted access, we'll walk you through this notorious crime and how it impacted three families - The Ireland's, The Schweitzer's and The Pauline's all in very different ways. And the shocking discovery that changed everything.Someone got away with murder. Until now. This is THREE Season 2: Murder in Vacationland. Listen starting on 3/13 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Guests are Jr./Sr. Director Savannah Winkler and Board Treasurer, Jessica Gangl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Guests are Jr./Sr. Director Savannah Winkler and Board Treasurer, Jessica Gangl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

During the Jim Crow era, Black tourists to Maine found recreational spaces where they were welcomed, not shunned. by Gillian GrahamPortland Press Herald Megan GrayPortland Press Herald Story: https://www.pressherald.com/2025/02/15/for-generations-black-mainers-made-sure-vacationland-was-open-to-all/ Press Herald News Stories podcasts feed: https://podcasts.apple.com/ru/podcast/portland-press-herald-news-stories/id1734255268?l=en-GB

Grandpa Bill's Grunts & Groans-Grandpa Bill's Grunt's & GroansEver wanted to explore Portland like a local?

This is episode 1 of our "More-imony Tony" series, originally #584 titled “Weirdamony Alimony Tony” airing January 27th, 2019. Humorist John Hodgman (Judge John Hodgman, Vacationland) joins Scott to talk about secret families, what he did to prepare for officiating a wedding, and his career as the character “Monica Geller” on Friends. Then, Alimony Tony stops by to sing some of his parody songs. Later, odds and ends man Rupert Sharp drops by to promote his home services. Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/cbb

The Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of the ocean.  In this episode of In Hot Water, Maine, we learn more about the history of the state's aquaculture sector, kelp farming as a means to diversify income, social license, and the increasing effects of NIMBY or, Not in My Backyard, which is becoming more pervasive across the Vacationland state. There's no quick fix for seafood harvesters in the Gulf, but climate solutions do exist. From encouraging species diversification to actively involving frontline communities, changemakers are leading a new path for seafood in Maine Produced by Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE) and Seaworthy, the “In Hot Water” podcast explores SEAFOOD and CLIMATE JUSTICE in distinct regions.   Episode Guide :00 Intro to In Hot Water, Maine Edition 01:52 Meet Sam Altznauer, director of Canopy Farms, an aquaponics facility located in downtown Brunswick, Maine  03:12 While some lobster harvesters are leaving Maine altogether, some are finding new opportunities to diversify into kelp farming 11:50 Social license to operate. What is it? 13:25 What the fish? White, older lobstermen have social license to operate in Maine's coastal communities, which seems exclusionary. We dive deeper on why this is problematic. 20:58 Meet Jaclyn Robidoux with Maine Sea Grant and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, a university-based program under NOAA that does research extension and education, who also has a program to support lobster harvesters diversify their income  26:23 A brief history of aquaculture in Maine 29:17 Opposition to the growth of aquaculture in Maine 33:50 Overcoming the NIMBY mindset around aquaculture in Maine 38:36 Gentrification of Maine's coastal communities 44:06 Meet Seraphina Erhart, manager of Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, which sells wild-harvested seaweed products. Between NIMBY and gentrification, access to these wild seaweeds is becoming tenuous. Resources Recommend this series to anyone who enjoys seafood and is curious about how climate change is affecting our seafood-producing regions.      

Nick and Aaron recap the Vacationland 75 at Oxford where Brandon Gray won the race and the championship, and Aaron finally got his Tiger out for a race

Nick and Aaron recap Tom Carey III's win at Thompson and look ahead to the Vacationland 75 for the Tigers at Oxford.

Portland Press Herald staff writer Ray Routhier sat down with actor and author John Hodgman for a conversation during a live event at One Longfellow Square on Tuesday, September 17. About John John Hodgman is a writer, comedian, and actor. He is the author of The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, That Is All, and Vacationland. His writing has also appeared in The Paris Review, This American Life, The New Yorker, and Mad Magazine. After an appearance to promote his books on “The Daily Show,” he was invited to return as a contributor, serving as the show's Resident Expert. This led to a career before the camera, becoming the “Personal Computer” in a series of commercials for Apple, and more recently playing recurring roles in FX's Married, HBO's Bored to Death, Cinemax's The Knick. His comedy special Ragnarok premiered in 2013 on Netflix. He is the host of the popular Judge John Hodgman podcast and also contributes a weekly column under the same name for The New York Times Magazine.

Our guests today included Savannah Winkler, Director of the Vacationland Figure Skating Club, and Jessica Gangl, Board Member of the Vacationland Figure Skating Club. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guests today included Savannah Winkler, Director of the Vacationland Figure Skating Club, and Jessica Gangl, Board Member of the Vacationland Figure Skating Club.

This is part 6 of our Totally Todd series. Humorist John Hodgman is this week's guest supreme as he joins Scott and intern Gino Lambardo to talk about John's new book “Vacationland,” Thanksgiving plans, and how buying a boat at an auction became the talk of the town. Then, Scott's nephew Todd stops by to ask for help with his homework on how America started. Plus, former educator Caroline Belinda-Carlisle returns to the show to perform scenes from some of the shows she's auditioned for as an actor.

Bissell Brothers presents the 2024 Vacationland Cup Tournament THIS SATURDAY @ The Colisee in Lewiston! Josh & Randy are back on the pod this week to preview the entire event top to bottom including Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Dirty Dango, Donovan Dijak's Limitless return, Davienne's addition to the field + more! You can snag tickets to the biggest Limitless event yet on thecolisee.com or at the box office!

Catching up a little. Talks of the Olympics, new worries, and Hulk Hogan. Beers include Door County Brewing Co's Vacationland and Around The Horn Brewing Co's Put a Little Beer in My Coconut Water. 

John Hodgman is a writer, actor, and comedian who has forged what seems to be - or at least we hope is - a comfortable niche in the entertainment world. He is the host of the Judge John Hodgman podcast on the Maximum Fun network, the co-creator with David Rees of the animated series, DICKTOWN on FX/Hulu, and the author of the books: “The Areas of my Expertise,” “More Information than you Require,” “That is All”, “Vacationland,” and “Medallion Status.”For every Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA since the second Wilco curated wonder-weekend in 2011, Hodgman has curated the comedy portion of the festival and he joins us with a preview.

The guest is John Hodgman, there's pizza news, and the pizza topic is: "Is Chicago Thin Prohibition Pizza?"John Hodgman is a writer, actor, and podcast host. John was a contributor for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He famously portrayed PC in the Mac/PC Apple ad campaign. John was the host of the 2009 Correspondents Dinner for President Barack Obama. He is the author of 2005's “The Areas of My Expertise”, 2008's “More Information Than You Require”, 2011's “That Is All”, 2017's “Vacationland”, and 2019's “Medallion Status”. He hosts the Judge John Hodgman podcast with our past guest, Jesse Thorn.John discusses loving Maine gas station pizza, he trolls NYC pizza, and his favorite New Haven spot is a place you don't know. This podcast is brought to you by Ooni Pizza Ovens. Go to Ooni.com for more information.Follow us for more information!Instagram: @pizzapodparty @NYCBestPizza @AlfredSchulz4Twitter: @PizzaPodParty @ArthurBovino @AlfredSchulzTikTok: @thepizzapodpartyThreads: @pizzapodparty @NYCBestPizza @AlfredSchulz4

"This inviting story serves primarily as a celebration of what makes the Pine Tree State so special, but it is also a testament to the power and importance of novel experiences and strong friendships." - Publisher's Weekly Join Blueberry the cat and Jam the mouse in Vacationland as they explore the great state of Maine! Blueberry and Jam love blueberries and leave a trail of blueberry prints wherever they go! This delightful adventure is perfect for children and adults of all ages and is filled with fun, facts, and beautiful illustrations that capture Maine's charm and your imagination. From bustling coastal towns to serene blueberry fields, readers accompany Blueberry the cat and Jam the mouse on a colorful tour of Maine's most iconic landscapes. Their adventures include visiting beaches, lighthouses, and parks, engaging in activities like lobster fishing and hiking. The story is both entertaining and educational, enriched with beautiful illustrations. It captures the essence of Maine's natural and cultural landmarks, making it a captivating read for kids, encouraging exploration and curiosity about new places. Blueberry and Jam - Adventures in Maine promises to be a delightful addition to any bookshelf, offering a taste of Maine's magic and sparking the imagination of readers of all ages! Available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats. Available wherever books are sold.  This book is carried at all Sherman's bookstores in Maine. Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blueberry-Jam-Adventures-Elizabeth-Hamilton-Guarino/dp/B0CQSYRBZ4 Website: BlueberryandJam.com    

This PR Maven Podcast® episode features Nancy's conversation with Kaylin (Kay) Kerina, the Maine Career Exploration program manager in Portland, Maine. Kay shares her journey from a varied career background to youth workforce development, emphasizing the importance of helping young Mainers find meaningful employment opportunities. She discusses her work in social justice, youth advocacy and community outreach, aiming to implement systemic change and support communities through a trust-based approach. The Maine Career Exploration program, part of the Department of Economic and Community Development, aims to connect 6,000 young people to work experiences in various industries, fostering passion and providing mentors. Kay also touches on her personal joy in gardening and how Maine employers and young people can get involved with the career exploration program.    00:00 Welcome to the PR Maven Podcast with Kaylin (Kay) Kerina  00:34 Kay Kerina's Journey: From Social Work to Career Exploration  04:25 The Mission of Maine Career Exploration  06:39 Personal Stories of Career Guidance  09:12 Engaging Young People in Maine's Workforce  11:30 The Importance of Passion in Career Choices  19:35 A Gardening Detour: Kay's Personal Passions  22:15 How Employers and Young People Can Get Involved  25:00 Back to Business: Expanding Career Opportunities in Maine  27:24 Tools for Productivity and Contact Information   Related Episodes  Episode 134: Why Maine is not just Vacationland, with Katie Shorey, director of engagement at Live + Work in Maine  Episode 91: Why living and working in Maine will be valued more after COVID-19, with Edward McKersie, founder and president of ProSearch, Inc. and founder of Live and Work in Maine  Episode 86: How your network can help during hard times, with Martin Grohman, executive director of E2Tech and host of the GrowMaine Show   About Kay  Kaylin (Kay) Kerina is the Maine Career Exploration Program Manager, with a background in social work, human services and alternative education. With over seven years of experience, Kay is dedicated to serving students with barriers to employment and advocating for youth in the community. Her work in Youth Workforce Development focuses on supporting youth to find meaningful work opportunities and implementing systemic change for the communities she supports. 

This week's episode of Parsing Immigration Policy features Steve Robinson, editor-in-chief of the Maine Wire, a digital investigative news outlet, who joins our guest host, Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. The two experts discuss how Chinese criminal organizations have established illegal weed grows using trafficked labor of illegal […]

This week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy features Steve Robinson, editor-in-chief of the Maine Wire, a digital investigative news outlet, who joins our guest host, Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. The two experts discuss how Chinese criminal organizations have established illegal weed grows using trafficked labor of illegal aliens... Source

This week's episode of Parsing Immigration Policy features Steve Robinson, editor-in-chief of the Maine Wire, a digital investigative news outlet, who joins our guest host, Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. The two experts discuss how Chinese criminal organizations have established illegal weed grows using trafficked labor of illegal aliens, and the effect on Maine communities.Robinson has been investigating this problem for months, since the existence of hundreds of rural Maine properties was revealed in a leaked federal law enforcement memo. Robinson reveals what he has learned about the Chinese drug crime operations in Maine — how they have taken advantage of Maine's rural sanctuary environment and how they skirt all manner of laws, ordinances, taxes, and regulations, and even steal electricity, to make a profit.While state lawmakers failed in this year's session to pass a “Little RICO” law or other measures to nip this activity, at least one small town has implemented a tough ordinance that could put some of the illegal operations out of business.But Robinson points out why state and federal authorities must also act: “The marijuana is a means to an end, and the end is funding a criminal organization,” and one that potentially represents a significant threat to our national security. As Robinson and Vaughan discuss, not only could these operations diminish opportunities and destroy the quality of life for some Mainers, they also are linked to large-scale money laundering for the Mexican cartels and to the Chinese government.HostJessica Vaughan is the Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.GuestSteve Robinson is the Editor-in-chief of the Maine Wire.RelatedTriad Weed: A Maine Wire Investigative SeriesSteve Robinson's Twitter AccountSteve Robinson's Author Page at the Maine WireIntro MontageVoices in the opening montage:Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".

Today we're headed to Maine which as you may know has been dubbed Vacationland and for good reason. As that' exactly what our subjects headed there to do during one summer almost 50 years ago. Their story has been called the Allagash Abduction incident and it is perhaps one of the more famous stories of a first hand Alien encounter to ever occur in The United States. 

Our guests today included Savannah Winkler, Director of the Vacationland Figure Skating Club, and Laura Cook, President, Board of Directors, Vacationland Figure Skating Club. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guests today included Savannah Winkler, Director of the Vacationland Figure Skating Club, and Laura Cook, President, Board of Directors, Vacationland Figure Skating Club.

Ryan Flaherty and Erika Stahl are the powerhouse duo out of Maine, Muddy Ruckus. Last year, they released Vacationland, which demonstrates just how expansively two people can make music. We got to chat with Ryan and Erika and really enjoyed their reflections on process and following where the music is leading, as well as their thoughts on how an album has to ebb and flow to be engaging to listeners and satisfying to musicians. Thanks for listening to the podcast–share it with friends who like good music!  You can also revisit Muddy Ruckus on the Old Spruce Sessions–check out their performances of “Sweet Unknown” and “Restless Ryder!”Podcast interview by Ken Templeton

This week we look at Maine's 6 dogs who might just end up on the front lines to save nearly every industry that gives Maine the name, "Vacationland. "Resources: Leeroy Jenkins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLyOj_QD4a4https://bewilderbeastspod.podcastpage.io/episode/ep-67-doom-bloomhttps://ysph.yale.edu/news-article/yale-honors-young-scientist-who-was-subject-of-police-complaint/https://twitter.com/YaleSPH/status/1617630181166047232https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/pests-diseases/hungry-pests/the-threat/spotted-lanternfly/spotted-lanternfly#:~:text=Spotted%20lanternfly%20populations%20are%20currently,%2C%20Virginia%2C%20and%20West%20Virginia.https://www.wlvt.org/blogs/northampton/how-dogs-are-being-trained-to-help-fight-off-spotted-lanternfly/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/inside-the-race-to-kill-the-spotted-lanternfly?loggedin=true&rnd=1705186972691https://www.newthinking.com/sustainability/stomping-the-unstoppable-combatting-the-spotted-lanternflyhttps://centraljersey.com/2021/09/01/bordentown-city-residents-take-part-in-lanternfly-murder-pub-crawl/https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/whats-so-bad-about-the-spotted-lanternfly.htmlhttps://centraljersey.com/2021/09/01/bordentown-city-residents-take-part-in-lanternfly-murder-pub-crawl/https://6abc.com/bobbi-wilson-lanternflies-yale-invasive-species/12773431/Project Citizen Lantern Fly: The video Melissa and her teams watched that introduced them to the SLF project.  Support the showIntro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan LiebowiczInterstitial Music: MK2Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrathWebsite: BewilderBeastsPod.comSupport the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPodYour host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)

Grandpa Bill gets a double dose of good vibes, Maine-style! Grandpa Bill takes the mic to read hilarious excerpts from "Portland Undercover: How to Visit New England's Hippest City Without Looking Like a Tourist" by Chris Barry Casco Bay Weekly, published in 2000. Get ready for knee-slappin' gags and side-splitting insights into Vacationland's quirkiest corner – all while we explore how laughter releases natural dopamine for happier, healthier lives. Tune in for Grandpa's wisdom, Bill's banter, and a healthy dose of Maine mirth for your soul! "Portland Undercover" with Grandpa Bill: Humor is the New Lobster Roll! Ahoy, podcast pals! Join The BH Sales Kennel crew as we set sail for a side-splitting journey through Portland, Maine, with none other than Grandpa Bill at the helm (and reading glasses)! He regales us with hilarious excerpts from "Portland Undercover: How to Visit New England's Hippest City Without Looking Like a Tourist" by Chris Barry Casco Bay Weekly. Dive into Grandpa's laugh-out-loud insights into Maine's tourism quirks, paired with Bill's signature banter and a healthy dose of wisdom on the power of humor for inner-wellbeing. It's the perfect audio-tonic for a dose of joy and Maine-tastic mirth! Has humor ever boosted your well-being in unexpected ways? Share your funniest health-related anecdote on the Beachy Hotline and we'll feature the most side-splitting stories on next week's show! Did "Portland Undercover" inspire any creative travel hacks or hilarious memories of your own Maine misadventures? Leave a voicemail on the Kelp Kennel Kelp Holistic Healing Hour Voicemail Message Board. Highlight with your funniest tourist faux pas or hidden gem discoveries in Vacationland! #mainehumor, #porthursday ,#vacationland, #laughtherapy, #grandpawisdom, #holistichealing, #@billholt8792, #bhsalenkennelkelpholistichealinghour, #cascobayweekly, #chrisbarry ,#audiopodcast, #youtubefun, #laughforhealth,#dopamine, * Holistic Health Secrets and Life-Sales Strategies with Grandpa Bill * Nourish Your Soul, Boost Your Business: * The BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Healing Hour Experience * Website: https://www.7kmetals.com/grandpabill * Website:https://www.myctfo.com/index.html * YouTube: Bill Holt@billholt8792 * Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/bill.sales.524 * Social Media:https://www.instagram.com/bradybrodyboy12/ * Voicemail Message Board: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bhsales BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Healing Hour Retired holistic health enthusiast, Grandpa Bill, shares his wisdom and experiences in the realms of health, wealth, and well-being. Join Grandpa Bill on his journey of holistic health and personal growth. With over 45 years of experience in the industry, he has a wealth of knowledge to share on topics ranging from nutrition and supplements, to meditation and spirituality. In his retirement, Grandpa Bill is dedicated to sharing his insights and helping others to achieve their full potential. He is an intuitive thinker, humorist, star seed, poetry fan, with a passion for history and coins. Hosted by Grandpa Bill, 45 year career now retired Disclaimer:This podcast site content is provided for informational purposes only, and does not intend to substitute professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. JOIN US EVERY TUESDAY AT 6PM. EST. https://freedomsnap.org/Seth/ BH Sales Kennel Kelp Holistic Virtual Mall Patriot Supply Link:  ⁠⁠https://mypatriotsupply.com/?rfsn=5615494.137cb6⁠⁠ Health Ranger Link: ⁠⁠https://www.healthrangerstore.com/?⁠⁠rfsn=301296.96452b2&utm_source=HR_Affiliate&utm_campaign=14708&utm_affiliate=301296⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Healer.com⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.HealerCBD.com/?ref=11⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bhsales/message

"I walked up to the front door... and I woke up in the hospital"John Hodgman is a writer, comedian, and actor. He is the author of the acclaimed collections of funny true stories called Vacationland and Medallion Status. He also wrote three books of fake facts and invented trivia, all of them New York Times Bestsellers, and his writing has also appeared in The Paris Review, This American Life, The New Yorker, and Mad Magazine. He is also the host of the popular Judge John Hodgman podcast, where he settles serious disputes between real people, such as “Is a hot dog a sandwich?”Don't forget you can watch these interviews, fully extended, exclusively on Global Player. Download it from the App Store, or head to globalplayer.com. You can get in touch with Dan Schreiber on Twitter and Instagram (@Schreiberland). In his bio, you'll find the link to our Discord channel - a global community of likeminded weirdos!

Our guests today were Savannah Winkler, Director, Vacationland Figure Skating Club, and Jessica Gangl, Board Member, Vacationland Figure Skating Club. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guests today were Savannah Winkler, Director, Vacationland Figure Skating Club, and Jessica Gangl, Board Member, Vacationland Figure Skating Club.

The 2023 Vacationland Cup is HERE! Josh & Randy are back on the pod this week with a full preview of the VLC 23 lineup! Catch it LIVE this Saturday in Yarmouth, ME!

January 29 - February 4, 2000 This week Ken welcomes fantastic fellow New England Comedian Connor McGrath (GET HIS NEW ALBUM! "KIND, BEARDED, WEIRD" OUT NOW!) to the show. Ken and Connor discuss Vacationland, Maine, growing up in Portland, The Fine Arts "Adult Theater"/Rock Club, Chyna, Pro Wrestling, human garbage Triple H, the awful sack of pus that is Vince McMahon,  Wrestlemania, The Dark Ages of American Culture (Nu Metal, Monster Energy Drinks, etc), Mankind, Mick Foley, The Rock, The Decade of Jeers, why Lemmy from Motorhead was a bad guy, celebrities being injured on film, the age of Divorce, Jerry Seinfeld creepily dating a high schooler, Pat Buchanan, Pets dot com, the dot com boom, Super Bowl Ads, Blast from the Past, Marshall Law, Arsenio Hall, Sammo Hung, pandemics, racism, ABC's TV Movie Runaway Virus, cursed objects, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake's cocaine, "Hurricane" Peter McNeeley", sports taunts, Jerry Springer, Baywatch Hawaii, Dave Holmes, Say What! Karaoke, Freaks & Geeks, James Fraco a creep, WCV vs WWF, Highlander: The Series, Homicide Life on the Street, Queen soundtracks, Tom Green Show, feeling sad for Jennifer Love Hewitt, hating Jamie Kennedy, Backbeat, Hey Arnold!, Catdog, pre-Spongebob, Talk Soup, Norm McDonald being fired from SNL, The Odd Couple starring Sherman Helmsley and Pat Morita, Billy Joel's fired band, Who's Line is it Anyway?, short form wrestling improv, Chicago Hope vs ER, AAA Luchadore Marvel tie-in wrestlers, ECW, the strange evolution of The Nashville Network, Behind the Music, E! True Hollywood Story, hanging out in Belfast Maine on PBS for an entire night and DownEast Dickering. 

Recorded on May 8, 2023 Book Talk starts at: 25:30 Our Cables KAL is almost over... May 15th is the last day you can post pictures of your finished cable-y goodness projects.   Prizes will be announced during Episode 268.   Our next KAL will be our annual Mother Bear KAL!  It will officially start on June 1, 2023, but any bears you have knit or crocheted in 2023 are eligible as entries for prizes.  To find out all about this wonderful charity, please go to Mother Bear Project website.  More info to come...     Virtual Knitting Group via Zoom EVENTS Tracie and Barb will be at: Fiber Frolic - Saturday, May 27, 2023, 10 am – 4 pm at Soul Food Farm in Vacaville, CA.  There will be no food vendors, so bring your own lunch and a chair.  The entry fee is $10 per person, and parking will be in a field and not limited. The TKGA Retreat 2023 - November 2-5, 2023 at the Hilton Charlotte University Place Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina   KNITTING   Barb finished 4 Knitted Knockers (12 total for 2023)     Tracie has finished: 13 Knitted Knockers total for 2023 Mother Bears 302 & 303    Fiddly Bits #9 #9 by Jana Pihota Tracie's Donner by Elizabeth Doherty   Tracie's Donner Barb Is working on: Rock It Tee by Tanis Lavalee, using Anzula Breeze in the Fern and Gravity colorways WYS Vanilla Socks, using West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4-ply Self-Striping in the Peacock colorway Razzle Dazzle Scarf in Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stopper Gradient Set in the Razzle Dazzle #22 colorway Barb has cast-on: Twisty Taper Hat by NichKnit Designs using Plymouth Yarn Encore   Tracie is working on: Summer Sorrel by Wood & Pine in Despondent Dyes OMG Glitter! in the Even My Attorney Says “Let It Go” colorway Tracie has frogged: China Top by Ksenia Naidyon in Alchemy Silken Straw     BOOKS   Barb has finished: Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore - 4 stars Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors and Other True Cases (Crime Files #16) by Ann Rule - 4 stars Small Game by Blair Braverman - 3.5 stars     Tracie has finished: Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul's Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life by Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez - 5 stars Blood Betrayal by Sheila Johnson - 2.5 stars Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume - 5 stars Such a Pretty Girl by T. Greenwood - 4 stars   Tracie talked about Universal Standard Clothing Co.

On November 26, 2022, 41-year old Reina Morales Rojas got into a car in East Boston, MA and was later dropped off in nearby Somerville. That's the last time anyone had seen or heard from the mother of two. Though she was reported missing soon after, the public didn't hear anything about Reina's disappearance for almost two months. If activist Lucy Pineda of Latinos Unidos en Massachusetts hadn't stepped in to help bring attention to her case, Reina's family wonders if her story would've ever made the news. Now four months later, Reina still isn't home and information is scarce. Her children and sister in El Salvador await any sign that she is okay, all while fighting for attention on her case. Hear the full episode on Dark Downeast wherever you get your podcasts and at darkdowneast.com. If you have information regarding the whereabouts of Reina Morales Rojas, please contact A-7 Detectives at (617) 343-4324. Share an anonymous tip by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-(494)-TIPS or by texting the word 'TIP' to CRIME (27463). Dark Downeast is Maine and New England's True Crime Podcast created and hosted by investigative journalist Kylie Low. Each week, Kylie covers decades-old and modern day cases that prickle the history of Vacationland and beyond – the unsolved homicides, undetermined deaths, unexplained disappearances and other dark stories of New England.  View source material and photos for this episode at darkdowneast.com Follow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok To suggest a case, email hello@darkdowneast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dark Downeast digs into the decades-old and modern day cases that prickle the history of Vacationland and beyond – the unsolved homicides, undetermined deaths, unexplained disappearances and other dark stories of New England.Investigative journalist and storyteller Kylie Low gets straight to the story with a mix of narrated episodes and documentary style production featuring interviews with surviving family and friends and insight on the investigations from detectives and sources who know these cases best.This is heart-centered, ethical true crime, bringing light to stories you're not hearing on other podcasts. It is Dark Downeast's mission to honor the legacy of the humans at the heart of each story and bring new attention to the cases still awaiting justice. View source material, photos, and learn more darkdowneast.comFollow @darkdowneast on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTokTo suggest a case, email hello@darkdowneast.comSupport Dark Downeast on Buy Me a CoffeeShop Dark Downeast merch at darkdowneast.com/shop

Dear BBH Listener,  How do you plan to read more books in 2023? Episode 42 brings you ideas for taking more time to read. Listen as we share about reading multiple genres, listening to audio books, digital reading, logging your reading to build habit, and more tried and true ideas to be a BETTER reader!   Mentions: Everyday Reading for great downloadable reading tracker, Goodreads.com to digitally organize reading lists, Gretchen Rubin for great reading tips and a great podcast to add to your list, Mid-Continent Public Library, Libby app, Audible and Kindle Reading Now:  Kelly: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore  |  Kristine: How to Write Nonfiction by Joanna Penn Already Better:  Kelly: hydration  |  Kristine: podcasting Being Better Everyday,  Kelly and Kristine

The king of "Air-cooled, No Chill", Joshy Robots joins the podcast to talk about why shiny paint isn't it, the origins of sportscar vacationland, and why the Porsche 911 is his ultimate weapon for feeling alive. https://www.joshyrobots.com/

It's time to hit the road for summer vacation, Disney style! We'll look at roadside Disney classics from Florida's welcome centers to Walt Disney World's preview center itself. We'll also hitch up our RVs at Disneyland's long-lost Vacationland campground. We revisit the Country Bear Jamboree Vacation Hoedown, and speak to artists Jason Grandt and Scott Tilley about their Little Golden Book about Disney's Orange Bird. History, music, and more - gas up the Airstream and grab all the brochures you can carry, it's the Progress City Radio Hour!

This week we're helping you build your summer reading list with recommendations from some of our favorite bookstagrammers! They each share two books they recommend we read this summer and answer a pressing question: If you could have a meal with any book character at any chain restaurant, which character and restaurant would you choose?   Sarah's Picks:  Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (esp for fans of Nothing To See Here)  The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger (Out July 5) Find Sarah at @sarahsbookshelves   Amber's Picks Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola (Out July 5) Hope and Glory by Jendella Benson Find Amber at @byamberburns and www.byamberburns.com   Pheobe's Picks Every Summer After by Carley Fortune  A Hundred Other Girls by Iman Hariri-Kia (Out July 26) Find Phoebe at @readandwright    Morgan's Picks You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li Find Morgan at @nycbookgirl (and check out our last ep with morgan here!)   Ashley's Picks Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Out July 5) Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore (Out June 14) Find Ashley at @ashleyspivey, @spiveysbookclub   Becca's Picks Book Lovers by Emily Henry Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close   Olivia's Picks Flying Solo by Linda Holmes (out June 14) The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead (Out August 16) (check content warnings for this one!)   Obsessions  Olivia: New Boden dresses Becca: Ten Percent via Amazon Prime   What we read this week! Becca: I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close   Olivia: The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins The It Girl by Ruth Ware (Out July 12) Cover Story by Susan Rigetti   This Month's Book Club Pick: Cover Story by Susan Rigetti   Sponsors: Olive and June: Visit OliveandJune.com/Paper for 20% off your first Mani System. Bad On Paper: get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/badonpaper. ZocDoc: go to Zocdoc.com/BOP to download the Zocdoc app for free and start your search for a top-rated doctor today.   Join our Facebook group for amazing book recs & more!  Like and subscribe to RomComPods. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.    Follow us on Instagram @badonpaperpodcast. Follow Olivia on Instagram @oliviamuenter and Becca @beccamfreeman.

In this episode of From the Front Porch, Annie sits down to chat with her mom Susie about books for more sensitive readers. The books mentioned in this episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf: Think Again by Adam Grant This Boy We Made by Taylor Harris The One You're With by Lauren K. Denton Millennial Nuns by the Daughters of St. Paul No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler Wild Spectacle by Janisse Ray A Woman of Endurance by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa Fly Girl by Ann Hood Back to the Prairie by Melissa Gilbert Bitter & Sweet by Tsh Oxendreider (not available through us, check your local library!) Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.  A full transcript of today's episode can be found here. Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.  This week Annie is reading Book Lovers by Emily Henry. Susie is reading Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore. If you liked what you heard in today's episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you're so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff's weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter and follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. We're so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week. Our Executive Producers are... Donna Hetchler, Angie Erickson, Cammy Tidwell, Chantalle C, Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Laurie johnson and Kate Johnston Tucker. Libro.FM: Libro.fm lets you purchase audiobooks directly from your favorite local bookstore (Like The Bookshelf). You can pick from more than 215,000 audiobooks, and you'll get the same audiobooks at the same price as the largest audiobook company out there (you know the name). But you'll be part of a different story -- one that supports community. All you need is a smart phone and the free Libro.fm app. Right now, if you sign up for a new membership, you will get 2 audiobooks for the price of one. All you have to do is enter FRONTPORCH at checkout or follow this link: https://tidd.ly/3C2zVbb Flodesk: Do you receive a weekly or monthly newsletter from one of your favorite brands? Like maybe From the Front Porch (Or The Bookshelf)... Did you ever wonder, ‘how do they make such gorgeous emails?'  Flodesk is an email marketing service provider that's built for creators, by creators, and it's easy to use. We've been using it for a couple of years now, and I personally love it. And right now you can get 50% off your Flodesk subscription by going to: flodesk.com/c/THEFRONTPORCH

Brendan has never been to Portland, Maine, but that hasn't stopped him wanting to live there. This episode he and Danielle Henderson head to Vacationland to see if it can live up to its nickname. Fueled by lobster rolls and salt air, the two visit lighthouses, bookshops and the world's only known museum of the umbrella cover. And to really get a sense of what it means to be a Mainer, they visit the Vatican for preppies: the headquarters of LL Bean. After conversations with poets, politicians, baristas and business owners in Portland, Brendan is left with one outstanding question: Is Maine too strange?  Not Lost is a co-production of Pushkin Industries, Topic Studios and iHeartMedia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Matty has big news to share! We want to hear your engagement stories — but literally ONLY if they're sent in the form of a review; Noah inquires about the upcoming trip to @JWakeFieldBeer and Wakefest; and as always, the hot line is a-blingin' with a particularly strong batch of mailbaggers.Like an audio Big Gulp®, this sweet treat is available in full, everywhere, and NOW!