Meet the Author: Marina Antropow Cramer

This week in our ongoing "Meet the Author" series, we spoke with Marina Antropow Cramer, author of Roads (Chicago Review Press), Anna Eva Mimi Adam (RunAmok Books), and the forthcoming Marfa's River (Apprentice House Press).

Marina Antropow Cramer was born in Germany, the child of Russian refugees from the Soviet Union, and emigrated with her family to the United States in 1956. She holds a BA in English from Upsala College. She has been a waitress, fabric store manager, traveling saleswoman, telephone fundraiser, used book dealer, business owner, and bookseller. She lives in New York's Hudson Valley. Her work has appeared in Blackbird, Istanbul Literary Review, Wilderness House Literary Review, Bloom Literary Magazine, and the other side of hope magazine.

Describe your book in 25 words or less.
Roads is the story of a Russian/Ukrainian family who become refugees in postwar Europe after being forced to work in Nazi labor camps. It deals with themes of separation, loss, displacement, and ultimately, hope.

What inspired you to write this book?
The story is based in part on family history, as well as first-hand accounts from other survivors. I felt that this part of the World War II experience - that of ordinary Russians and Ukrainians caught between Stalin and Hitler - had not received much attention in literature. It is another aspect of refugee and immigrant life, a universal theme that is still very much with us today, adding to the relevance of the story.

Tell us a little about the book writing process.
It took years! Though I have lived with some of this material all my life, through family recollections and contact with immigrant communities, I needed to develop the skills to put them into a cohesive narrative. I found I needed to do some serious research to get the history right, as a foundation for the story of what happened to these people and how it affected their lives.

My routine, in the beginning, was frequently interrupted -- the day job (which I left in 2012 to focus on writing), family obligations -- took their toll on my time and mental energy. Generally, the morning hours are best for new writing; rewrites and editing can happen anytime.

What do you do for fun when you're not writing?
Reading, of course, several books at a time, from novels to history, science, essays, and poetry. Listening to music, especially opera. Also cooking and being outdoors (where a good deal of writing/editing happens, in my favorite blue chair under the big pine in my yard). I have enjoyed growing vegetables in the past, but defeated by deer and groundhogs, now confine my efforts to herbs in pots.

What's the next project you're working on?
Marfa's River is the story of a character from Roads, and how her life is affected by the catastrophic death of her child in the earlier book. It takes place eleven years later, in the ‘50s, in Brussels. It's in production now, scheduled for a spring 2023 release.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author?
Just do it. Focus on the work and stay with it, even if seems to stray from your original intention. And hang out with other writers, in person or online, for mutual support and useful critique.

What are you currently reading?
Jim Harrison's Legends of the Fall; Hillary Mantel's The Giant, O'Brien; poetry by A. Molotkov, Future Symptoms; and an audiobook version of Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World, by William Alexander.

Tell us about one of your favorite books or a book that changed your life.
I will always love The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, for its wisdom, humanity, and gentle humor.

Do you have a favorite quote from a book?
"People finally don't have much affection for questions, especially one so leprous as the apparent lack of a fair system of rewards and punishments on earth...And we are not concerned with the grander issues:...we can't seem to go from large to small because everything is the same size. Everyone's skin is so particular and we are so largely unimaginable to one another." — Jim Harrison, Legends of the Fall

Who are some of your favorite authors?
Anton Chekhov, Virginia Woolf, Hillary Mantel, George Saunders, Margaret Atwood

---

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to learn more about Marina Antropow Cramer and her work, you can visit her website at MarinaAntropowCramer.com, or connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.

Roads and Anna Eva Mimi Adam are currently available in store and online.

Meet the Author: Liza Laird

This week in our ongoing "Meet the Author" series, we spoke with Liza Laird, author of Yoga of Yarn.

Liza Laird is a knitter, yogi, mama of three little humans, and a homesteader with alpacas, chickens, and a feisty shiba inu. She teaches knitting and mindfulness classes online and around the world. She trained as a yoga instructor at YogaWorks, and a yoga therapist at Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy. She has a BA in psychology from Lafayette College.

Describe your book, Yoga of Yarn.
Yoga of Yarn is a unique new book which explores how yoga can help you see your knitting - and maybe even your life - in a whole new way. Inside you will discover practices, including knitting patterns, yoga movements, meditations and more to help you knit for longer.

What inspired you to write this book?
I was inspired to write this book so people could make yoga and knitting a part of their daily home life. I lead knitting and yoga retreats annually, but we can't all getaway for a long weekend. Yoga of Yarn allows people to live with intention everyday.

Tell us a little about the book writing process.
I typed the first words of this book over ten years ago. I would write at night after a day of teaching. Then, in 2014, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and hit the pause button on the project. I decided to focus on my treatment and really paid attention to what was my priority in life. After treatment I started my family and picked up the book project again with a cleared focus. My writing routine shifted and with children I fit in writing during nap times.

What do you do for fun when you're not writing?
When I'm not writing, I'm knitting, practicing yoga, and baking, along with playing with the kiddos and taking care of our three alpacas, ten chickens, and Cosmo, an energetic dog who looks like a fox.

---

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to learn more about Liza Laird and her work, you can visit her website at www.yogaofyarn.com, or connect with her on Instagram and Tiktok.

Yoga of Yarn is currently available in store.

Nominate us for a Chronogrammie!

The Chronogrammies are back for 2023, and we need your vote!

Chronogram magazine's Readers’ Choice Awards recognize the most outstanding establishments, organizations, and people in the Hudson Valley — chosen by readers like you!

The nomination round is now open! You can nominate us for Best Bookstore ONCE A DAY from now until February 15th. The top 5 businesses with the most nominations will then move on to the voting round. The final winners will be chosen by combining the total number of nominations AND votes, so every nomination counts!

Click here to nominate us, or go to chronogrammies.com and look for us in the Retail category.

Thank you for your support, and always remember to shop local!

Meet the Author: Michael Geraghty

This week in our ongoing "Meet the Author" series, we spoke with Michael Geraghty, author of the Cosantoir Motorcycle Club series and several other romance novels.

Michael Geraghty has been writing since his early teens, when he began crafting short stories. He has a BA from SUNY New Paltz and an MA from Western Connecticut State University, and spent many years working at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point before some life-changing events occurred, changing his outlook forever. Luckily, that included finding his way back to writing and working with Scarlet Lantern Publishing. He released 6 books with them under the pen name Lacy Hart before moving over to books with his own name on them. He is the author of Finn, Preacher, Liam, Demon, For What It's Worth, Sweet Nothings, After Midnight, and Burnt, among others.

Describe your book in 25 words or less.
My last release, Demon, is book 4 in my Cosantoir series. It is a small-town romantic thriller focusing on a member of a motorcycle club. The books all take place in Orange County.

What inspired you to write this book?
The character of Darryl, aka Demon, was a natural fit for the next book in the series. It gave me a chance to explore more about him and his life.

Tell us a little about the book writing process.
This book took me 6 months to complete. I write every day, even if it is just a few words, to keep inspiration going. I very often work at home, but I also go to local coffee shops for a change of pace. I get many great ideas people watching. I did research for this book for several reasons. The tree of Life plays a role in the book, along with the Caribbean island of Montserrat, so I needed to know more about both.

What do you do for fun when you're not writing?
I love to cook (I even have my own cooking blog at onedadskitchen.com), listen to music, do crosswords, watch baseball, and, of course, read!

What's the next project you're working on?
I am working on a new series that will also take place in this area. It is a romantic thriller focusing on a female assassin and her relationships, and it is tentatively titled The Calm in the Storm.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author?
Read and write! The more you read other authors, the more you will understand about the process and what may work for you. I've been keeping journals for many years and I find just doing this type of writing helps to keep me going and gives me great ideas. People watching is another great thing to do and it will inform you in many ways.

What are you currently reading?
Two books right now - Verity by Colleen Hoover (on Mayde's recommendation!) and Fight Write by Carla Hoch, a writing reference book to write better fight scenes.

Tell us about one of your favorite books or a book that changed your life.
Wow, I have lots of favorites and I don't know if I could pick just one. One Hundred Years of Solitude opened up magic realism and an entirely new way of approaching writing for me.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mitch Albom, Stephen King, Joe Hill, TC Boyle, John Gardner, to name a few.

---

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to learn more about Michael Geraghty and his work, you can visit his website at www.mikegeraghtyauthor.com, or connect with him on Facebook and Instagram.

Select titles are currently available in store and online.

Audiobook Appreciation Post

We love audiobooks, and we love our partners at Libro.fm! Today, we're sharing everything you need to know about audiobooks: what they are, how to buy them, and why you should!

If you’re new to audiobooks, we’re not talking about the tapes and CDs you may have listened to in the past. Today, you can buy and listen to digital audiobooks right from your phone, tablet or computer!

Here at Well Worn Books, we’ve teamed up with Libro.fm to bring you over 275,000 titles, including new releases and popular bestsellers!

Libro.fm is a small, socially-driven company that supports local, independent bookstores like ours through audiobook sales. Shopping through Libro.fm keeps money in your local economy and makes a difference in the community.

Getting started

To get started, simply go to Libro.fm and sign up! During the account creation process, you'll be prompted to select your local bookstore — that's us! Just search for Well Worn Books, and choose our store from the list. Once your account is set up, we’ll receive a share of the profits from every purchase you make!

How to buy

Libro.fm offers three different ways to buy audiobooks:

1. Become a member: For just $14.99/month, you can subscribe to a monthly membership and receive one audiobook credit each month. Use your credit to purchase the audiobook of your choice from their catalog of over 275,000 titles! Credits never expire and can be sent as gifts. As a member, you also receive 30% off additional à la carte audiobook purchases. (When you sign up for a new monthly membership, use the code CHOOSEINDIE to receive a FREE bonus audiobook!)

2. Credit bundles: If you don't want to subscribe to a membership, you can buy credit bundles instead. 1 credit = 1 book (for most titles). Buy credits for yourself, or send them as gifts to friends and family anywhere in the world! Credit bundles are a one-time, up-front payment, and you or the recipient will receive all credits in a single batch. Credits can also be used to supplement a membership subscription if you plan to listen to more than one audiobook a month.

3. Shop à la carte: If you just want to listen to a single book without the hassle of credits, you can also buy audiobooks à la carte. Just find the book you’d like to purchase, add it to your cart, and checkout.

How to listen

To listen to your audiobooks, we recommend the Libro.fm app, available for iOS and Android. Just download the app, log into your account, and your books will be right there, ready for you to listen! The app also has some great features like a sleep timer, bookmarking, and the ability to change the speed, all of which you may not find in other players.

However, you don’t need to use the Libro.fm app because all of their audiobooks are DRM-free! That’s right — once you buy the book, you own the actual files and can listen to them any where, any time, on any device! Some of the bigger audiobook retailers (we won’t name names…) will often limit access to the books you’ve already paid for, but not here! This is just another one of the benefits of shopping local and supporting small businesses!

Pro tips

Now that you’ve purchased a few audiobooks and downloaded the app, here are some of our favorite pro tips for making the most of your Libro.fm account:

1. If you're an educator or librarian, you can take advantage of Libro.fm's Audiobook Listening Copy (ALC) program and receive a FREE audiobook each month! Learn more...

2. Make sure you get the books you really want by using Libro.fm's Wish List feature! Fill up your wish list, then share the link with family and friends.

3. When you create your account on Libro.fm, you'll be assigned a unique referral link. Make sure to share this link with your friends and family, and you’ll receive a FREE audiobook when they start a monthly membership!

Every time you shop for audiobooks through Libro.fm, you’re supporting our little independent bookstore. We hope you enjoy your audiobook purchases, and don’t forget to tell us what you’re reading listening to by posting your book and tagging us on Facebook and Instagram!