Wait — WHAT — WOWI is 3 years old?!? Yeah — that’s right — 3 years ago Tom and I sat down and recorded our first Writing On Whidbey Island episode! I remember it fondly … a beach in Coupeville … with waves, and seagulls, and jets. This past Wednesday, Tom and I sat down — this time at a picnic table (we’re moving up!) — meeting for our 3 year anniversary show … with seagulls and near the water of Oak Harbor … with the potential for overhead jets … so, actually, not much has changed.
Oak Harbor’s newly remodeled Windjammer Park served as our backdrop. Our audience was a flock seagulls, while our special effects were ash and smoke that smelled like charming pipe-tobacco emanating from the southern Washington forest fire.
Tom and I discussed how the show has grown over 3 years, where it’s going, what we each have been up to in writing lately (*See Links Below*), and our upcoming From Inspiration To Publication workshop . This 1-day workshop will be co-presented in Coupeville WA October 15th 2022 by Tom and myself — See You There!
Tom has two new books recently published! Check out …
Nature photographer, author, and presenter Amy Gulick kindly took a recent afternoon for a WOWI interview with Tom and myself. Having spent time in Alaska studying the ecology and wildlife, she has made sense of the heavy sciencey-stuff and presents it in her books, such-as “Salmon In The Trees”.
Amy was great to meet with, and clearly is one of the most animated guests I can remember in our nearly three years of podcasting. The passion for her work drove this episode, and was a joy to personally experience. I have no doubt our listeners will be similar thrilled to listen to this WOWI session!
Find out about Amy Gulick and her work everywhere online:
This past Monday I rigged-up my gear and met Tom in a video chat — our intention being to record a 1-off WOWI episode — both to see how using this medium might work and to discuss how how being in quarantine affects writers. Frankly, going into this … I didn’t expect much — and yet, what came out of it was an intriguing show running over an hour long!
“How do the adjustments we are making and disruptions we are dealing with make for opportunities, affect work and art later on, what is yet to come for the world of the day-job worker?”
The “Yellow Jack” or “Lima” signal flag is flown on ships in harbor to indicate that a vessel is under quarantine.
On Wednesday I e-met with Tom again with two purposes in mind. One was to test an improved set-up with my gear — which produced technological success. The other was to further discuss continuing the show from QuarantineVille. Our aim at this point is to try and host 1 to 2 guests each month over video chat — and we each have a few authors in mind to ask.
If you are Whidbey Island writer/author, editor, bookstore owner, graphic artist or illustrator, marketing guru — or whatever as long as your work is part of the publishing industry — and you think you’d be a fit for a WOWI episode … PLEASE CONTACT US!
Tom and I have had a few dates lined up before with Meg for this interview. Unfortunately those went through a series of reschedules because She’s A BUSY Lady! So we were pleased to finally get a date nailed down with Meg earlier this week. Since Kingfisher is closed until 28Feb2020 for renovations* the three of us were able to sit down and talk. Meg shared with us how she engages Whidbey Island authors, being a bookseller in the modern market, the books she enjoys, her experiences taking ownership of the Kingfisher Bookstore, and the new layout for her shop. (*You can hear some of the work going on in the background of the podcast … along with the creaking rocking chair Meg sat in for the session.)
What you see here is someone’s attempt at illustrating where all of Meg’s energy comes from…
I’ve known Meg for the past year — since getting my debut book “Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies“ placed in Kingfisher. During our interview I got to comment on my first impression of her, and I’ve been absolutely pleased not only that she carries Whidbey Island authors’ books but how she relates to our books and us individuals. My impression from day-one is that Meg is enthusiastic about books and high-energy — through our interview I’m updating that to being passionate about books and a DYNAMO!
Kingfisher that was … and will be AGAIN!
Meg spoke about the history of Kingfisher along with her plans for the future — and if you’re a Whidbey Island author, I’m telling you now … you need to get ready! Ready to meet your readers, ready to do readings, ready for EVERYTHING! Kingfisher will be getting stairs into the basement and when it reopens around February 28th the floor space will be expanded — used books in the basement, new books on the ground floor …. and with that much more space for new books, We Are Going To Need To Write MORE BOOKS!
This is another one of those interviews where I think Tom and I could have sat with our guest and talked all day — so this session ran around 50 minutes (Good Stuff!). Reality is that we’re all busy folks, so Tom and I got out of Meg’s hair / way / renovations. I’m excited not only to see the new shop space in another week, I’m also EXCITED to see everything that’s to come in Meg’s future with Kingfisher Bookshop!
Enjoy! ~ Don
UPDATE 27Feb2020 — I stopped in at Kingfisher yesterday, a lot of nice work has gone on there. I was told that there is a good bit of work yet to go, and they are predicting being back in service in time for Musselsfest March 7th/8th. It’s going to be exciting to see the grand re-opening!
The main floor of Kingfisher — the steps to the basement are behind the red velvet rope …
This past Monday afternoon Tom and I previewed the future expanded floor space at Kingerfisher Bookstore. Proprietor and all-around-awesome-lady, Meg, gave us permission to record our first indoor-off-season at-a-business podcast in the basement of her historic building in Coupeville, WA.
The upcoming additional space is going to double the display space for Meg and Kingfisher — and as a fellow book-lover I couldn’t be more EXCITED! Meg also has vision of using this space for author readings. There is a giant door that opens to the cove on the back wall of the basement, and Meg has even imagined these readings to include audience members listening in on the bows of their boats.
So why were Tom and I spending time in the basement? To record the latest podcast, of course!
This past Monday Tom and I returned to our roots — just as with our first two WOWI episodes it was a discussion between Tom and myself. Our focus was around my experiences now being one year into being a self-published author. I’ve learned much — largely based on Tom’s knowledgeable coaching — and this is a topic that could easily supply a number of episodes …. which might explain why this turned out to be our longest recording to date (oops). Maybe it wouldn’t have been as long had I been operating on a full night’s sleep and didn’t keep repeating myself …
Looking further into the future … it appears that Tom and I will be interviewing author and blogger Dan Pedersen. With a new book soon to be released, talking with Dan promises to be interesting indeed! Location TBA, recording on November 20th.
Nature photographer, author, and presenter Amy Gulick kindly took a recent afternoon for a WOWI interview with Tom and myself. Having spent time in Alaska studying the ecology and wildlife, she has made sense of the heavy sciencey-stuff and presents it in her books, such-as “Salmon In The Trees”.
GOODNESS — Tom and I have been BUSY hombres! Late January we interviewed 
Writing On Whidbey Island 