Duane is great. He works hard, and can do all kinds of jobs on houses and cars. He drives an old truck with sticker on it that says "All Boobs Matter."

Monica Friedman is a writer and artist and cartoonist living in Tucson Arizona, and she is a delightful conversationalist. She knows how to show a gal a good time, and she took me to the Sonoran Desert Museum. We chatted in the car on the way there.

It's always great to talk to Darling Christopher, about anything.

Talking to my husband again--I never get tired of him. Here we talk about how he is holding down the fort while I am gallivanting around, promoting The Waters.

While I was preparing their food, the donkeys he-honked at me for a minute, and here it is.

Christopher and I have survived Christmas, even without a furnace. In this 16 minute podcast we discuss the nature of the holidays, and The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith and Tandem, by Andy Mozina.

Christopher, Dave, my niece Kennedy and I were in the car going to a Thanksgiving Dinner with family in Allegan. We were feeling good, but for some reason Chris was mumbling.

What a pleasure to speak with Brian Powers. He came to my River Shack Writing Studio to photograph me for a magazine article and afterward I interviewed him.

I enjoy talking to my husband about anything, and today after dinner and dishes, we are talking about what we should do for fun. Mostly, though, we talk about home repair.

I met Emmy Kastner last week when I was on a panel with her and author/illustrator David Small. She co-created a really important non-profit organization: Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK). She's filled with energy and fun.

Larry Rabbitt's grandmother wrote an autobiographical novel about growing up in Battle Creek Michigan. He asked me about publishing it, and I suggest that he publish it as a Print-On-Demand book for his family and anybody else. Then we talk about his family and life all around the Midwest. He owns the Rabbitt Hutch second hand store with his wife Shannan in Comstock, Michigan. Unfortunately, the recording device stopped working at several points; sorry about that. It was fun to talk to Larry, and he's got a bunch of new XL, XXL, XXXL, XIVL and XV T-shirts and polo shirts in his store 3/$10.

This weekend, Betsy Bird took a writer's retreat at the River Shack. I debriefed her before she left and found out how very productive she was in two days. Betsy is also a librarian and a book reviewer of picture books. She is very fun.

In this episode,  I talk to my husband Chris  on the deck, and we talk about neighbors, as well as about people in general (Bonnie is pro people, Chris is anti).  We drink some decaf coffee.

On Wednesday, October 18, 2023 I interviewed RS (Raymond) Deeren at Schuler Books in Grand Rapids on the occasion of the publication of his first book of stories, Enough to Lose, published by Wayne State University Press. These stories take place in the Thumb of Michigan, and Raymond is a smart, generous writer. Many of his "Thumb" buddies, transplants from Caro, Michigan, were in the audience. The introduction was from Sadie, of Schuler Books. I apologize for fiddling with the sound control during the recording. I won't do that again, because it caused the sound to go in and out.

Judy Sarkozy has owned and operated Sarkozy Bakery in Kalamazoo for 46 years, and she's learned a lot. She came to H House and shared stories with a group of us on October 8, 2023. She is so wise and so much fun!

Visited Lansing today for the Lansing Book Party as part of the event line-up at Everybody Reads. The event, organized by Scott Harris, owner, and Dawn Burns, neighbor and assistant professor at Michigan State University. I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott for an hour on the podcast, and we talked about books, social issues, cats, veganism, and community spirit. What a pleasure! (10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday Sept. 30 at various bookstores and venues throughout the city,

Talking to my husband Christopher about painting the house, which we are doing now, and all the other work we need to do before the snow flies. Soon we hope to relax a bit more!

Bob is an expert paint guy and color mixer I always look forward to seeing at Douglas and Sons where I buy a lot of paint and stain. He speaks quietly and stays far away from the microphone while we're talking. I refer to my painter friend Brian Stephenson in here, and when it's time to pay, I end the interview by talking to Ryan, who charges me for my order.

Ran across Steve Barrett and his partner Mike Plosick while biking through Comstock. I asked to interview Steve, and he said he would interview me instead, about Donkeys, etc.

Was hanging out with brother Marshall, asking him about what kind of trouble he got into as a youth--I wasn't a part of that. He's been run over by a bulldozer, for starters. This recording starts when we're petting the horses, and it breaks off and then continues when we're talking with our nephews.