Standing Ovation for The Book Cougars

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Gather round, gather round, gather round! If you don’t know Emily and Chris, so thrilled to introduce you!

 

Emily Fine and Chris Wolak—and more details below—are podcasters, also known as the Book Cougars. Their first broadcast was in 2016, and it debuted as

Book Cougars: Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read. 

 Isn’t that the BEST? They are smart, and savvy, and research their shows like mad. They work SO HARD! They are brilliant, and witty, and funny—and serious about their work. 

I was so honored to be interviewed by them—and we all know what a difference it makes to have a conversation with people who really know their stuff. What a treat. So of course I asked them to tell us how it all happened…and their story is amazing. 

 Book Cougars: 

Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read 

 Our friendship was young when we decided to jump into a creative project together. We are both originally from the Midwest (Emily Ohio, Chris Illinois) and moved to Guilford, CT about six months apart. Bookish friends we had in common put us in touch, and we met for the first time in the summer of 2016 at a local coffee shop and hit it off. 

A couple weeks later we met for lunch. Our next meet up was a big jump for a new friendship — we hit the road and drove up to Lenox, MA to Edith Wharton’s house, The Mount, for a Speak Up Storytelling event held in the great author’s former stables. As middle-aged women, we knew our budding friendship in our newly adopted state was something special. 

 On October 29, 2016 we ventured up to the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Vermont to see Ruth Franklin discuss her biography, Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life. Mind you, Northshire is not our local indie bookstore, it is over 6 hours roundtrip from Guilford. 

But for us this was our idea of how to spend a beautiful fall day. Start early in the morning, drive 3+ hours, browse a bookstore, buy some books, listen to a compelling, intelligent author talk about another amazing woman, get back in the car and drive another 3+ hours to arrive home. 

All in the name of literature and friendship.

 Perhaps the best part, though, was our own endless bookish chatter. We hit on so many topics — books we have read and want to read, authors we have met, literary sites we have visited — and our banter was so easy. 

Emily and Chris recording

On that drive home from Northshire, Emily turned to Chris and said, “We should start a literary podcast!”

Did either of us have any experience? Well, Chris worked as a manager for Borders Books back in its heyday and has written a bookish blog since 2010; Emily created websites in the early days of the internet. 

We were both avid readers and enthusiastic listeners of podcasts. Other than that, no. 

 Yet, we persisted, and the idea grew wings. We had our first laughter filled meeting in early November to flesh out lots of how to’s. 

What are the steps to creating a podcast? How does your recording get from your computer onto Apple iTunes so folks can listen from a podcast app on their cellphone? How do we create a website and what content should be posted to it? What social media platforms should we use? What should we talk about? How often should we record? Most importantly, like new parents, what do we name this podcast?! 

Our brainstorming session on what to name our new baby left us with aching sides from all the laughter. We landed on Book Cougars because it made us laugh out loud, but also because it was a way to reclaim the word “cougar” that often has negative connotations for women. 

 On December 6, 2016 we posted our first episode of the Book Cougars: Two Middle-Aged Women on the Hunt for a Good Read. It was recorded on a cell phone. Chris learned how to edit the audio file using Garage Band, which came free with her laptop. Emily did some research on how to upload an audio file online and created a website utilizing Squarespace. 

 The Book Cougars have been going strong ever since. We celebrated our 4th anniversary this December!

 We post episodes every-other-Tuesday. Segments include discussing what we are reading and Biblio Adventures we have been on. Sadly, in the era of COVID-19, there have been no recent trips to Northshire Bookstore, but we do talk about all the fantastic virtual events we are attending. Which we fondly refer to as Couch Biblio Adventures. 

YAY!

We also feature author interviews, called Author Spotlights. On Episode 115 we had the pleasure of hosting one of Jungle Red’s own, Hank Phillippi Ryan. 

 This is a passion project. Neither of us has quit our day job. But what is so fun, really, as middle-aged women, is that we are continuing to learn and grow. 

First, there was the steep learning curve around creating a podcast. 

Early on we figured out that recording on a cell phone was not ideal. We purchased fancy equipment and learned how to use it. From inception, the workload split naturally, along equal lines that matched our separate skill sets. For the most part, Emily manages communications and Chris manages technical aspects and we split social media promotion.

 Over the years, we have hosted live events with authors at bookstores and on stage at the Mohegan Sun and talked off mic with industry folks in the know. We have co-hosted a live virtual author event with Book Club on the Go. We have gained entry to Book Expo, the yearly book industry tradeshow in New York City, proudly donning our media badges. We have also have a YouTube channel to help promote the podcast and authors we interview. 

 Podcasts have really taken off in 2020, with both increased listenership and additional podcast offerings. We continue to enjoy being the creative forces behind the Book Cougars, filling the podcast and our friendship with endless bookish banter.

 HANK: All in the name of literature and friendship. Oh, isn’t this SO great? What a story! Reds and readers, how are you on podcasts? What ones do you listen to? What questions do you have for Emily and Chris?

If Objects Could Talk--Or Maybe They Do!

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: We're watching Bridgerton, are you? And we'll talk about that someday soon here. But in looking at the clothes, and the settings, and the opulent everythings, I realized we have a reading chair that dates to 1811. It's wonderful, and I 'll show you a photo someday. I has an attached swing arm, with a wooden easel that's designed to hold a book at lap level. 

It ever has a little metal page holder so the pages don't turn. And it made me think--someone in Bridgerton could have sat on it. (In a kind of magical realism sort of way.) But that chair certainly has stories of its own to tell. Who sat in in it? And what did they read? So many possibilities.

 Our dear friend of the Reds, Jane Cleland, has made her glorious career writing about stories like that. And we are thrilled to welcome her today! (And look for her generous giveaway at the end!) 

 If Only Antiques Could Talk, the Stories They Would Tell 

           by Jane K. Cleland 

 The Nature of Meaning 

As I ferret out the facts and lore behind each antique I write about in my Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries, I think about the person who designed it, created or crafted it, bought it, sold it, gave it as a gift, left it as a bequest, stole it, coveted it, or cherished it. I want to know the truth, but, of course, the truth is lost in the annals of time and can never be known. 

All I can do is speculate about why a certain object holds value to a specific person—I use facts to write fiction. 

 Meaning Is in the Eye of the Beholder 

As I look around my home, I see so many objects that are significant to me for the memories they inspire, and for the love, respect, or affirmation they represent. Have you ever considered which object in your home is most significant to you? For me, it’s not an easy assessment. For instance, it might be the crown my students gave me to celebrate their semester with “Queen Jane.”

Or perhaps it’s the tile designed by Rex Stout, one of my favorite authors, given to me by his daughter, Barbara Stout, a generation after his death. I had it framed and it sits where I can see it as I write.

I don’t have to choose only one object, of course. Not in real life or in my novels. The most recent entry in my series, Hidden Treasure, weaves together stories about three antiques, each intriguing and mysterious in its own right—a cat sculpture, a steamer trunk, and a gold book.

Hidden Treasures 

In ancient Egypt, the cat was the sacred animal of the goddess Bastet. Statues of elegant cats were often left at temples in her honor. The cats usually wore gold jewelry, earrings or nose rings, and were frequently presented in ornate bronze, silver, and gold boxes ornamented with precious jewels.

 Nineteenth-century wood and tin dome-top steamer trunks were huge, often four feet long and nearly as high. I spent some time speculating on who might need so large a trunk. Someone who traveled with the circus, who had no home? A sailor, shipping out for months or years at a time? A grifter, moving operations from one high-end resort to the next?

The oldest known book was found more than 70 years ago in a tomb uncovered while digging for a canal along the Strouma River in south-western Bulgaria. The book, which includes six gold “pages” held together with golden rings, was produced around 3,000 years ago. It’s illustrated with various soldiers, a mermaid, and a harp. Who commissioned its creation? What do the illustrations symbolize? Who owned it? I want to know the details… I hate half a story!

My Most Significant Object 

 The idea that objects hold meaning beyond their form or function is, to me, captivating. Value, after all, is based on perception—what one person holds dear is likely to be profoundly different from what another person holds dear. Sometimes, though, the meaning is inherent in the object and doesn’t require context or additional explanation. Consider, for example, this wedding photograph, which was rescued from a flood, and is the only picture my darling husband Joe and I were able to salvage. If this photo could talk, it would report on the joy Joe and I felt that day.

It would recall my running to show Joe how beautiful it looked in its fancy frame. It would recount nearly drowning, and drying in the sun, and wishing it wasn’t so washed out. It would be thrilled it was back in its place in the living room, an enduring symbol of love and hope and dreams. 

What object in your home is most significant to you? Why? I’d love to hear the stories your objects would tell, if only they could talk. 

 HANK: And the wonderful Jane is offering a signed copy of Hidden Treasure (U.S. address only). We'll choose a lucky winner from the comments. What object is most significant to me? Impossible. But I will think about it as I read your answers!

Jane K. Cleland writes both fiction and nonfiction, including the long-running and multiple award-winning Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries [St. Martin’s & Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine] and the Agatha Award-winning bestsellers Mastering Suspense, Structure & Plot and Mastering Plot Twists [Writer’s Digest Books], recommended by Dan Brown, Louise Penny, David Baldacci, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Neil Gaiman. Jane is a contributing editor for Writer’s Digest Magazine, and the chair of the Wolfe Pack’s Black Orchid Novella Award (BONA), in partnership with AHMM. She is a frequent workshop leader and guest author at writing conferences and MFA Residencies. Jane offers free monthly workshops on the craft of writing in the “We’re All in It Together,” series. Details can be found at www.janecleland.com

The newest entry in the Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery series, Hidden Treasure, tells the story of dreams, desperation, and second chances.

New Years Wishes--and sign in please!

 HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So what do I write to you today? On this first day of the rest of our lives, where everything is going to change, in every way, at any moment, at every moment, more than ever in our lives?  Where so much is at stake?

That we're grateful to know you, amazed to have been here for THIRTEEN YEARS on Jungle Red, astonished that we've all been through so much, celebrated so much, mourned so much, been through so much?

All yes.

I was looking back over old blogs of ours, and found one from early in 2007 that had this quote from cartoonist Bill Griffith as the opening.

Zippy the Pinhead: You mean we have no idea what will happen next? Or when? Or why?

His pal: That's pretty much it, yeah.

Zippy: Cool.

So--there's a lot ahead of us. And we will face it together. And you know what, Reds and readers?

Yes. We can do it. We're here for you, we're here for each other, and through the next years we'll being you news and jokes and books and authors and chats and recipes and experiments and comparisons and advice and surprises and...a community.

So on his first day--who are you? Where are you? What are you doing?  Readers, introduce yourselves!

And from all of us, Happiest of New Years. May you stay safe, and stay healthy, and may all your wonderful dreams come true.