Aviatrix Book Review: Recent Episodes
Literary Aviatrix
Reviews and author interviews on books featuring women in aviation. Looking for inspiring stories about powerful and adventurous women? Check out the Aviatrix Book Review website www.aviatrixbookreview.com to find hundreds of books featuring women in aviation and space, about all types of flying, in all genres, for all ages.
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At age 47, Mary Build took her very first flight lesson. What followed was a remarkable 30-year career in aviation—flying seaplanes, running her own seaplane base in Maine, flying to Alaska, competing in the Air Race Classic, and serving as a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE).
In this interview, Mary shares her powerful journey from overcoming personal challenges to becoming a respected leader in aviation. We talk about her memoir Finding Myself in Aviation, the courage it takes to start something new later in life, and the joy of never saying no to opportunity.
📚 Finding Myself in Aviation was the Aviatrix Book Club pick for August. Order it here: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/finding-myself-in-aviation/
✈️ Topics we cover:
- Mary’s path from young motherhood to seaplane pilot and instructor
- Adventures flying to Alaska (and close calls along the way)
- Competing in and judging the Women’s Air Race Classic
- Lessons learned as a flight instructor and examiner
- Advice for starting—or restarting—your aviation journey at any age
💙 Blue skies and happy reading!
WomenInAviation #Seaplanes #AirRaceClassic #AviationHistory #PilotLife #LiteraryAviatrix
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this episode, I sit down with Captain Tammie Jo Shults — one of the first women to fly Navy tactical jets, longtime Southwest Airlines captain, and author of Nerves of Steel.
Tammie Jo is best known for her extraordinary leadership on Southwest Flight 1380, but as she shares in this conversation, her story is about much more than one day in the cockpit. It’s about the obstacles she faced along the way, the resilience she built, and the way her faith, perseverance, and preparation equipped her for the moment the world was watching.
We talk about:
- 🚫 Being told “girls can’t fly” — and proving them wrong
- ✈️ Breaking barriers in Navy aviation in the 1980s
- 💪 Facing cultural and institutional challenges in both military and airline cockpits
- 📝 Why journaling matters and how it shaped her memoir, Nerves of Steel
- 🧭 How true stories and past experiences shaped her decision-making on Flight 1380
- ❤️ The role of faith, family, and community in sustaining her through adversity
This is a conversation about resilience, truth, and the power of persistence — one that will inspire anyone navigating obstacles in their own path.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
This is my first in-person interview, recorded at Patty Bear’s home in a medieval village in Provence. Her new book, Captain Patty’s Wisdom Hacks, launches September 9 and is available for preorder now.
We bridge the years after her memoir From Plain to Plane—from USAF KC-135 pilot (Desert Shield/Desert Storm) to nearly 30 years at United Airlines, parenting, coaching, and building a life between the U.S. and France.
In this episode:
- Pay Yourself First (money, health, time, energy)
- Like It or Love It? (making aligned choices)
- New Day, New Jet (reset after mistakes)
- The Ground Doesn’t Care (respect reality)
- Mentor Yourself (self-leadership > gurus)
- Anam Kara (soul friends & discussion prompts)
- Leaving Your Neighborhood (life passages & growth)
Preorder: link in show notes
Launch: September 9
Also by Patty: From Plain to Plane and House of the Sun.
AviatrixBookClub #WomenInAviation #Leadership #Resilience #Provence
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
This June, I sat down with bestselling author Tracey Enerson Wood to talk about her newest historical novel, Katharine, the Wright Sister: A Novel (2024). The book shines a spotlight on Katharine Wright, the often-overlooked sister of Wilbur and Orville Wright—whose contributions were vital to the invention and promotion of the airplane.
Tracey and I talk about her path from registered nurse to novelist, her love of writing about “hidden women in history,” and her other works: The Engineer’s Wife, The War Nurse, The President’s Wife, Homefront Cooking, and Life Hacks for Military Spouses.
Since recording this, I’ve begun work on my women in aviation history textbook—and Katharine appears in Chapter One, in a sidebar about the hidden women who shaped early flight.
Listen in for a lively, inspiring conversation about writing, research, and the women who changed history.
Buy the book: Katharine, the Wright Sister
AviationHistory #WomenInAviation #BookClub #Podcast
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
From growing up in a Gandhian school in India, to serving ten years in the Indian Army, to founding a thriving flight school in South Florida, Yogini “Yogi” Modi’s journey in aviation is extraordinary.
In this interview, Yogi shares how her father’s encouragement sparked her passion for flying, how she became one of the Indian Army’s microlight pilots, and how she has dedicated her career to training and mentoring the next generation of aviators — many of them women from India who return home to join the airlines.
We also talk about:
- Her leadership style, shaped by her Army service
- The unique strength of India’s women pilots (15% of the commercial workforce — the highest in the world)
- Her role as chair of the Gold Coast chapter of the Ninety-Nines
- Attending Harvard’s Women in Aviation Leadership Program
- Her vision for expanding her school and scholarships to support future aviators
📖 Listen to the full interview here, or watch on the Literary Aviatrix Website, and check out my feature article about her in the July - September 2025 issue of Aviation for Women Magazine!
Visit Pilot Training Center Homestead: https://www.pilottrainingcenterhomestead.com/
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
Shirley M. Phillips is a pioneering female pilot and author whose new aviation memoir, How Not to Fly an Airplane, captures four decades of pilot life stories and lessons from the cockpit. From her start as a teenage student pilot in New Hampshire to becoming the first pregnant airline pilot at her company, Shirley’s career in aviation is filled with grit, humor, and resilience.
In this pilot interview, Shirley shares what it’s really like to be a flight instructor, including wild stories like regaining control from a student who froze on the controls, instructing state troopers in Cessnas, and discovering a student was on trial for murder. She also talks about her unconventional publishing journey with Apprentice House Press, a small press run by publishing students at Loyola University Maryland — offering valuable insight for memoir writers and indie authors.
📖 Buy the Book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/how-not-to-fly-and-airplane/
✈️ Learn More About Shirley and Check out her Moth recording on her website: ShirleyMPhillips.com: www.ShirleyMPhillips.com
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with author Lucille Ponte, writing under the penname Bridges DelPonte, we talk about the fabulous fourteen women featured in her non-fiction anthology, She Soars: Trailblazing Female Pilots in Florida, and her professional advocacy for women’s equality in the military as an attorney and law professor. The book highlights fun and interesting facts about names we know from our cast of women in aviation history and introduces us to a few remarkable new ladies and their impressive accomplishments and contributions. While the Florida nexus strikes a chord with me personally as a South Florida resident, these stories will resonate with and inspire any reader with an interest in aviation.
Buy the book: She Soars
Here's the blurb:
Florida has a long and unique history of being a testing ground for female pilots who broke new ground in aviation. From the early 1900s when women performed daring stunts in the air to the World War II era when they served as WASP pilots to the modern times when they flew military jets, commercial planes, and Space Shuttles, Florida has been a key place for female aviator history. These stories from Florida will highlight 14 of women who made history with their flying skills; and left their mark in the Sunshine State. The remarkable journeys of these trailblazing female aviators are told in a captivating and informative manner.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview I talk with author Leona Cobham about the latest in her middle grade chapter book series featuringa cast of vintage British aircraft characters, Airplane Adventures Flying Circus: Above and Beyond. I first interviewed Leona in 2023, and we talked briefly about her grandfather, Sir Alan Cobham and his pioneering contributions to air-to-air refueling. We talk a little more about his advocacy for the advancement of aviation in this conversation. Check out the original interview, and a clip of Sir Alan Cobham himself from the 1930s in the links below:
https://literaryaviatrix.com/leona-cobham/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7eu7rYMS8s&list=PLDIDPYt9Z0z6KZF6lDqTNx3iL0FSNRt_Y&index=4
Buy the books:
Book 1: Flying Circus Takes to the Skies
Book 2: Through Thick and Thin
Book 3: Above and Beyond
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with debut author Carolyn Dasher, we talk about her new novel, American Sky, which features two women who join the WASP in WWII and their legacy across three generations.
Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/american-sky/
The blurb:
Three generations of indomitable women navigate life on their terms in an epic and inspiring historical novel about love and war, family secrets, and mothers and daughters finding the freedom to fly.
It’s 1943. The war rages. The newly launched WASP program is recruiting. And barnstormer fan Georgeanne “George” Ector’s dream is to take to the skies. Grit is what she inherited from her mother, an Oklahoma farm girl at the turn of the century who preferred taking apart an engine to stitching linens for a hope chest. She taught her daughter well. George isn’t the only woman about to follow her calling.
Vivian Shaw, so similar to George they’re like sisters, also longs for a career flying the fastest planes in the American arsenal. For a time, George and Vivian triumph. But at war’s end, the adventurous women are grounded by the expectations of others: to get married, have children, and raise a family. Vivian has other plans. So, eventually, do George’s daughters, Ruth and Ivy, who embark on very different paths of their own.
Three generations of women staring down a vast horizon of possibilities are determined to navigate whatever comes their way―from the hardships of war and home to love and loss, and to the fallout of a long-held secret that could change their lives forever.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with Nicole Glover, author of the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for June 2025, The Improvisers, we talk about how she wove historical themes of aviation, race and civil rights, historically Black communities, music, family, and sisterhood into a magical fantasy fiction mystery set in the 1930s.
Buy the Book:
https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/the-improvisers-a-murder-and-magic-novel/
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
Finally, another Literary Aviatrix Classics episode with my guest hosts Dr. Jacque Boyd and Captain Jenny Beatty! This episode is all about Amy Johnson. We started off with her book Sky Roads to the World but, truth in advertising, we did not love this book. It’s a great history of aviation exploits of the time with insightful predictions of what aviation would offer in the future, but we gleaned almost nothing about Amy herself. We were able to cobble together our impressions of her, her life, and her aviation exploits from other sources, and Jenny, fabulous book and women’s aviation history nerd that she is, gives us a rundown of several additional books and places Amy in the context of other women who were flying in the British Isles around her time.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with author, lawyer, and pilot Erin Miller, we talk about her journey through the halls of congress to change federal law so she and her family could honor her WASP Grandmother, Elaine Danforth Harmon's wish to be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this Writers' Room conversation with author Susan Tate Ankeny, author of two historical works, we talk about her journey to publish her first book, The Girl and the Bombardier: A True Story of Resistance and Rescue in Nazi Occupied-France about her father's experience in WWII, and how that led to her agent offering her the opportunity to write and publish, American Flygirl, about WWII WASP Hazel Ying Lee.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with author Susan Tate Ankeny, we talk about her biography of Chinese American WWII Women Air Force Service Pilot, Hazel Ying Lee, American Flygirl, the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for May 2025.
Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/american-flygirl/
Children's Books about Hazel:
https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/the-fearless-flights-of-hazel-ying-lee/
https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/skyward-the-story-of-female-pilots-in-wwii/
The Blurb:
One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.
Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.
In 1932, Hazel Ying Lee, a nineteen-year-old American daughter of Chinese immigrants, sat in on a friend’s flight lesson. It changed her life. In less than a year, a girl with a wicked sense of humor, a newfound love of flying, and a tough can-do attitude earned her pilot’s license and headed for China to help against invading Japanese forces. In time, Hazel would become the first Asian American to fly with the Women Airforce Service Pilots. As thrilling as it may have been, it wasn’t easy.
In America, Hazel felt the oppression and discrimination of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In China’s field of male-dominated aviation she was dismissed for being a woman, and for being an American. But in service to her country, Hazel refused to be limited by gender, race, and impossible dreams. Frustrated but undeterred she forged ahead, married Clifford Louie, a devoted and unconventional husband who cheered his wife on, and gave her all for the cause achieving more in her short remarkable life than even she imagined possible.
American Flygirl is the untold account of a spirited fighter and an indomitable hidden figure in American history. She broke every common belief about women. She challenged every social restriction to endure and to succ
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with author Becky Aikman we talk about her new book Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger about the women who flew for the Air Transport Auxiliary in Britain.
Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/spitfires/
The blurb:
The heart-pounding true story of the daring American women who piloted the most dangerous aircraft of World War II through the treacherous skies of Britain.
They were crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and performers in flying circuses-all of them trained as pilots. Because they were women, they were denied the opportunity to fly for their country when the United States entered the Second World War. But Great Britain, desperately fighting for survival, would let anyone-even Americans, even women-transport warplanes. Thus, twenty-five daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft.
In a faraway land, these “spitfires” lived like women decades ahead of their time. Risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war, they ferried new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and returned shot-up wrecks for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many ferry pilots died in crashes or made spectacular saves. It was exciting, often terrifying work. The pilots broke new ground off duty as well, shocking their hosts with thoroughly modern behavior.
With cinematic sweep, Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the women who served, drawing on unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this writers' room interview I talk with Heather B. Moore, who has been writing for 20 years and is a USA Today best-selling author with over a hundred books published about her writing journey. She offers her tips on launching a writing career, how to navigate publishing, and shares how she manages her writing life.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with Amanda Harrison we talk about her memoir, Solo2Darwin: In the Footsteps of Amy Johnson, in which she recounts her attempt to fly solo from England to Australia in her vintage open cockpit Tiger Moth. We also talk about the other themes shared in her book about grieving the loss of her father, her breast cancer journey, and the experience of navigating life with dyslexia.
I mention Elizabeth Wein's historical fiction novels written for dyslexic and reluctant readers ages 13+ - The titles are: The Last Hawk, White Eagle, and Firebird.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with USA Today best-selling author, Heather B. Moore, we talk about her biographical fiction of, Lady Flyer, about Nancy Harkness Love, who led the establishment of the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron at the beginning of WWII, and whose efforts were both at odds with and in support of Jackie Cochran’s initiative to create the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
If you’re in Denver for WAI205, be sure to stop by the Authors Connect Booth from 2-3:30 on Friday to have Heather sign a copy of her book for you, and reserve your tickets to join us at the Tatter Cover Aspen Grove location at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, March 26th for a special presentation and book signing with Heather and Katherine Sharp Landdeck, author of The Women with Silver Wings.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with airline pilot and award-winning voice actress, Pamela Almand, we talk about her aviation career, how she made her way into the voice acting and narration business, and the special experience of narrating two of Amelia Earhart's books: The Fun of It and 20 Hrs. 40 Min.: Our Flight in the Friendship.
Pamela is available for book narration! You can find her on social media @thecaptainsvoice and:
https://www.thecaptainsvoice.com/
https://www.audiobooksbythecaptain.com/
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In the 1930’s, pioneering New Zealand pilot Jean Batten set multiple aviation records, including a speed record from London to Sydney, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from East to West in 1935 (which, before reading this I routinely accredited to Beryl Markham), and first person to fly solo from London to New Zealand to prove how aviation could connect her homeland to the rest of the world. “Alone in the Sky” is an apt summation of this pilot’s jaw dropping accomplishments. If you love flying and aviation history, you’ll love this book and our conversation.
That’s just the half of it. Have I mentioned how awesome my co-hosts Dr. Jacque Boyd and Capt. Jenny Beatty are? It is an honor and privilege to talk about our pioneers with these two incredibly accomplished and insightful women, both self-proclaimed aviation and book nerds, whose general aviation flying, aviation education, and airline careers, along with their long history of advocacy for women in aviation, complement my own military experiences, giving us the opportunity to approach our collective history from a variety of perspectives to help us all understand it better.
As we honor the anniversary of Amy Johnson’s passing today, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, we celebrate the many adventurers who came after her. Later this year, the Aviatrix Book Club will discuss the memoirs of two women who celebrate this legacy of adventure: Solo 2 Darwin by Amanda Harrison, and Bird by Tracey Curtis-Taylor.
Special shout out to author Maggie Shipstead, whose novel Great Circle was inspired by Jean Batten, and is a story that honors the spirit of our women pioneers.
You don’t want to miss the Aviatrix Classics Series. More to come in 2025 . . .
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
Before the U.S. entered WWII, the British Royal Air Force sent prospective pilots to the U.S. for training because they didn’t have the capacity to train the numbers they needed for the fight, and America’s women pilots helped train them. New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling author Lorraine Heath explores this fascinating niche of our history in her novel The Girls of Flight City, the December 2024 Aviatrix Book Club discussion book. Lorraine was inspired by a story she read in 1991 about a woman in Terrell, Texas who tended the British Cemetery, and filed the idea away as she pursued an award-winning writing career spanning the past 30 years, publishing over 60 Romance novels and books for young adults, before returning to this story that not only piqued her curiosity, but tugged at her emotional connections to her British mother who lived through WWII in the UK, and her Texan father who graduated from high school in Terrel. Over 2,000 RAF cadets trained at the Terrell Aviation School, just one of seven British Flying Training Schools in the U.S. at the time.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with co-author Samantha Arrington Sliney, a USAF Judge Advocate General (JAG) and Women's Initiative Team (DAF WIT) member, we talk about the new picture book she co-authored with fellow DAF WIT member, USAF pilot Megan Biles, All the Things Our Mommy Can Do, and we dive deep into military aviation pregnancy policies. While the focus of our conversation is centered around military aviation, the questions of law and policy impacting women's careers, and the book itself, have much broader relevance and appeal. Special shout out to Jessica Ruttenber who continues to advocate for women's rights, including military aviation policies, and who introduced us. The conversation is a great one for anyone in a leadership position where women's physical status might affect their job performance, for any woman considering navigating her own aviation and/or military career while balancing the decision to carry her own children, and the book is perfect for any expecting mother, especially one with older siblings.
Buy the Book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/all-the-things-our-mommy-can-do/
The blurb:
“All The Things Our Mommy Can Do" is told from the perspective of an older sibling watching their mother excel in her career while expecting their younger sibling. It was created to challenge the idea that pregnancy is a limiting condition and to encourage children to believe in their ability to achieve anything, regardless of gender. The book celebrates the dual roles of parenthood and professional success, aiming to inspire children and break down barriers impacting their ability to achieve their dreams.
Samantha Arrington Sliney is a mother of three and military spouse. She is a lawyer and serves in the military. She is a champion for gender equality and equity with a focus on enhancing support and resources for women during all phases of womanhood.
Megan Biles is a PhD candidate in Philosophy with a background that includes military service, as well as academic and professional expertise in public policy and national security. She is an advocate for empowering all to reach their full potential.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
Mary Jennings Hegar is the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor, the Purple Heart, and five Air Medals for her service as an Air National Guard HH-60 Pave Hawk Combat Search and Rescue Pilot on three deployments in Afghanistan and many domestic civil humanitarian missions. When her aircraft was shot down in Afghanistan, she sustained back injuries that prevented her continued service as a pilot. The existing Ground Combat Exclusion Policy that prohibited women from serving in ground combat roles meant she could not apply for re-designation as a special tactics officer where her skills and experience could best support the mission. In 2012, she was the lead plaintiff against the Secretary of Defense in a case to abolish the Ground Combat Exclusion Policy and enhance military effectiveness. The policy was repealed in 2013.
MJ’s journey began in Air Force ROTC with a follow-on Air Force commission. After she was sexually assaulted by her Flight Surgeon during a qualifying flight physical, and witnessed his subsequent impunity, she made the difficult decision to leave active duty and pursue her dream of ‘becoming Han Solo’ through the Air National Guard. In this interview we talk about why she felt it was important to share her story to educate the public, politicians, and policy makers on both the achievements and contributions of women in combat operations, and the challenges they face in navigating military careers from negative individual and institutional biases.
Shoot Like a Girl is the November 2024 Aviatrix Book Club discussion book. There is also a young adult version, Fly Like a Girl, for readers ages 12-16. If you haven’t read this book, add it to your TBR list.
https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/shoot-like-a-girl-one-womans-dramatic-fight-in-afghanistan-and-on-the-home-front/
https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/fly-like-a-girl-one-womans-dramatic-fight-in-afghanistan-and-on-the-home-front/
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this Aviatrix Classics conversation with Guest Hosts Dr. Jacque Boyd and Captain Jenny Beatty, we welcome guest Carole Hopson, author of A Pair of Wings, to discuss the remarkable accomplishments of pioneering aviatrix Bessie Coleman. Despite all of the odds against her, Bessie learned to fly and earned her license in France in 1921, then returned to Europe to learn aerobatics before drawing mixed-race audiences to watch her perform in the U.S.
Carole learned about Bessie Coleman from Jenny at a Women in Aviation International conference. In this conversation, she and Jenny share that exchange and talk about the impact it had on Carole’s pursuit of her own dream to fly, and on her inspiration to write this book. We also talk about how Carole took her book from self-published in 2021 to traditionally published by Holt in 2024.
Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/a-pair-of-wings-a-novel/
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
Don’t be fooled by the sweet cover of this picture book by U.S. Army AH-64 Apache combat helicopter pilots, Laura Pangallo Fryar (author) and Morgan Samuels (illustrator). In this interview we geek out on helicopter flying, military careers, “delivering justice” for U.S. ground forces, active duty parenthood, and creative pursuits—and also about their inspiring picture book, Be Something Epic.
Laura is a career Army Officer who went through ROTC and, by way of Korea, Germany, Human Resources Command, back to Korea as a Brigade S3 where she had her first child, and NORTHCOM, is currently in her final tour of duty as a Professor of Military Science for Auburn University’s Army ROTC program with a cadre of over 180 cadets. Morgan’s career followed a similar path until, through the natural progression for a commissioned officer, she wasn’t flying as she wanted and decided to leave the Army. She flew scenic tours at Mount Rushmore, oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, and eventually transitioned to fixed wing with the help of the veteran non-profit organization RTAG to ultimately become a 737 pilot for a major airline.
In Be Something Epic, we imagine growing up to be an astronaut, a teacher, a dentist, a first responder, or a defender of freedom, and we reflect on what character traits and behaviors we can work on now that will prepare us to be something EPIC.
Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/be-something-epic/
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this conversation with Kitty Banner Seemann, we talk about her spectacular experiences flying as a bush and glacier pilot in Alaska in planes full of mountain climbers, hunters, and adventurers to remote locations in some of the most challenging flight conditions imaginable, all described in her book Wings of Her Dreams: Alaska Bush and Glacier Pilot Kitty Banner.
Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/wings-of-her-dreams-alaska-bush-glacier-pilot-kitty-banner/
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this episode of Literary Aviatrix Classics with guest hosts Dr. Jacque Boyd and Capt. Jenny Beatty, we discuss The Fun of It: Random Records of My Own Flying and of Women in Aviation by Amelia Earhart. This book offers fascinating insights to where aviation was at the time the book was published and how Amelia and her contemporaries imagined aviation would impact the future. We also learn from AE’s own words about her pre-aviation life, her selection and participation in the Friendship Flight as a passenger on a transatlantic flight, and ultimately about her own solo flight across the pond. My favorite parts of the book were her summaries of women’s accomplishments and potential in aviation.
Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/the-fun-of-it/
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this Literary Aviatrix Writers' Room interview with Lola Reid Allin, she talks about her writing journey including courses at Gotham Writers in NYC, overcoming the fear of sharing personal details, hybrid-publishing with She Writes Press, book launch promotion, and her lessons learned on the value of critique.
00:00 Book Release: 'Highway to the Sky'
00:25 Finding Your Voice: The Journey of a Writer
18:30 Facing your fears in memoir writing
24:31 Hybrid Publishing with She Writes Press
30:05 Book Promotion
41:25 Lessons Learned - Vulnerability, Critique
48:57 Navigating the Evolving Publishing Industry
49:32 Respecting Privacy: Balancing Personal Experiences in Memoir Writing
50:15 2024 YouTube Close.mp4
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a text
In this interview with Canadian pilot Lola Reid Allin, we talk about her new memoir, launching on September 17th, 2024.
00:00 Introduction and Book Launch
01:17 Synopsis and Reading
09:28 Lola's Aviation Career
11:59 Transitioning Beyond Flying
16:01 Inspiring Others: Why did you write the book?
17:34 Challenges and Discrimination: Navigating a Male-Dominated Field
32:18 Balancing Motherhood and a Flying Career
39:55 Exploring the World: Lola's Adventures in Travel
49:28 Supporting Women in Aviation: Lola's Involvement with the 99s
51:56 The Importance of Self-Reliance and Education
59:04 Book Release: 'Highway to the Sky'
Here's the blurb:
With females making up just 5% of the world’s pilots, this memoir crosses genres to combine aviation history, the author’s journey from unwanted child to successful pilot, and the feminist experience, and will appeal to multiple aviation communities.
“Don’t be silly! Girls can’t fly,” seven-year-old Lola’s father admonishes her as they fly across Canada on a commercial flight in 1962. She is crushed—but decides he must be right. She’s only ever seen male pilots, after all.
Highway to the Sky begins during the empty zone of women in aviation, a three-decade drought following WWII when men reclaimed the jobs that had been performed by women during the war and forced women back to diapers and dishes, where they “belonged.”
Despite Lola’s childhood desire to avoid the straitjacket of traditional female roles and become a pilot, her desperate need for unconditional affection after a lonesome childhood sways her determination. At age twenty, she leaps into marriage and motherhood. Four years, one toxic relationship, and one private pilot license later, she leaves her husband, even though she knows she’ll be censured by friends, family, and 1970s society at large.
Lola’s head-on battle with tradition continues as the lone female pilot in her advanced flight training program and on the job as a flight instructor, bush pilot, charter pilot, and commuter airline pilot between 1979 and 1993. Flying is challenging at times, yes—but her true obstacles are the hostility, sabotage, and discrimination she faces in her industry. She perseveres, however. Ultimately, flying is what gives her the courage to regain control of her life—and helps
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a Text Message.
In this Picture Book Panel discussion, we hear from five recently published authors who navigated various routes to publication including traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing to get their stories into print. They very generously share those journeys with us here—everything from the decision about which route to go, to the editing process, how they found their illustrators, what their distribution looks like, the percentage return they receive on book sales, special military/aviation-related considerations about depicting specific ‘brand’ images, to book promotion and lessons learned along the way. If you’re not writing with the specific niche of women in aviation in mind, the information here will still be of tremendous value as you contemplate your options.
00:00 – 02:49 Intro
02:50 – 06:58 Author Intros
07:00 – 15:08 Manuscript Prep/Edit
15:10 – 18:22 Finding an Artist
18:23 – 24:47 Why did you choose your pub route/timeline to publication
24:48 – 30:33 Distribution
30:34 – 36:04 Promotion and sales
36:05 – 43:05 Percent earnings on sales
43:06 – 47:24 Activity books
47:25 – 53:58 Book Promotion
53:59 – 58:59 Special military and branding image considerations
59:00 – 1:00:05 Lessons learned/advice
If you have a great picture book idea to help inspire the next generation of women in aviation, I hope you’ll pursue it, and I hope this panel discussion helps you on your journey!
A big takeaway from this panel is the importance of community. If you’re writing books featuring women in aviation, I hope you’ll consider the Literary Aviatrix community as yours along your journey, and if you’re not, find your people! The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is an awesome starting point.
Check out my full interviews with several of these authors and many more in the Aviatrix Writers' Room: https://literaryaviatrix.com/writers-room2/
Show some love for the authors: visit their websites, follow them and share their content on social media, buy their books, and drop a review on Amazon and Goodreads.
Kodey Bogart @helogirlsbook – Helo Girls series – https://www.helogirls.com
D
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a Text Message.
Join guest hosts Jacque Boyd, Jenny Beatty, and me as we discuss this out-of-print treasure, Neta Snook Southern’s I Taught Amelia to Fly. Through Neta’s own aviation journey, we get a very special lens into the experiences of aspiring pilots in the U.S. as they pursued their dreams during and after WWI. Her childhood stories emphasize the importance of exposing our girls to science and mechanics as that exposure imbued her with the skills and confidence to not only hold her own in a male dominate world, but endeared her to her peers. Neta also offers us a new and intimate perspective of iconic Amelia Earhart during her formative years as a pilot in training. Since the book is difficult to find, we take you through all of the wonderful and surprising highlights. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a Text Message.
In this interview with author and retired U.S. Coast Guard Captain Martha LaGuardia-Kotite, we talk about her career, which culminated in being recalled to active duty as the Commandant’s Press Secretary, then we get into her books - So Others May Live: Saving Lives, Defying Death; Changing the Rules of Engagement: Inspiring Stories of Courage and Leadership from Women in the Military; and My Name is Old Glory: A Celebration of the Star Spangled Banner. The first two books feature stories of incredibly inspiring women in aviation, including the U.S. Coast Guard’s first qualified female rescue swimmer, Kelly Mogk Larsen and the first Vice Commandant of any U.S. Military service, Vice Admiral Vivien Crea, along with Nicole Malachowski, the first woman Thunderbird demonstration team pilot, Senator Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Army Blackhawk pilot and combat amputee survivor, and Pam Melroy, one of only two women to command a U.S. Space Shuttle.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a Text Message.
In this Literary Aviatrix Classics discussion with co-hosts Jacque Boyd and Jenny Beatty, we discuss Louise Thaden’s memoir, High, Wide, and Frightened, first published in 1938, two years after Thaden won the Bendix in its first co-ed year. This is a quintessential read for every pilot and avgeek, anyone who loves history, and anyone who wants a great story featuring a daring, inspiring woman who is also honest about her fears and mistakes. A beautifully written memoir, it chronicles Thaden’s record-setting flights, including speed, endurance, and altitude, and offers a first-hand account of of the 1929 Women’s Transcontinental Air Race and the 1936 Bendix. Remarkably, Louise is unusual for her times in that she continued flying after having children, and she talks about that experience here. Jacque, Jenny, and I take you through each chapter’s highlights and discuss the relevance of this story today. I hope you enjoy listening to our discussion as much as we did recording it.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a Text Message.
In this Literary Aviatrix Writers’ Room interview with best-selling author Maggie Shipstead we get into the details of her author journey. Maggie is an inspiration for anyone who aspires to be a professional writer. In our conversation, she talks about how a writing course with Zadie Smith during her undergrad at Harvard cemented her path as a writer. She went on to earn an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, followed by a two-year creative writing Stegner Fellowship at Stanford. Her books include the novels Seating Arrangements (2012), Astonish Me (2014), and Great Circle (2021), and a collection of short stories entitled You Have a Friend in 10A (2022). She is the recipient of the Los Angeles Times’ Book Prize for First Fiction, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and Great Circle was short-listed for the Booker Prize and the UK’s Women’s Prize for Fiction. As a travel writer, Maggie has also had articles published in Conde Nast Traveler, The New York Times, and Departures.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a Text Message.
In this interview with author Maggie Shipstead, we discuss her best-selling novel Great Circle. In this sweeping saga, we follow fictional pilot Marion Graves from her feral childhood in Montana where she first encounters a barnstorming pilot team and decides that flying is her life's purpose. She flies as a bootlegger transporting liquor, the flies as a bush pilot in Alaska before joining the Air Transport Auxiliary to fly during the war. Post-war, she decides to fly around the world, North to South, and disappears. The story is intercut with a modern day Hollywood actress set to play Marion in an upcoming bio-pic whose own childhood scars include the loss of her parents in a small airplane crash. Maggie talks about the inspiration for the book and the research that led to this gorgeous novel.
Correction from the end of the interview: we will discuss the book Aviatrix, by Mary Bush Shipko, in the Aviatrix Book Club next month, and THEN we'll read The Fabulous Flying Mrs. Miller in July.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a Text Message.
Welcome to the new ‘Literary Aviatrix Classics’ series, where I discuss books written by and about our aviatrix pioneers with my venerable co-hosts, Dr. Jacque Boyd and Captain Jenny Beatty. In this interview, we get to know Jacque and Jenny, and we announce the subject of our first ‘Classics’ discussion.
Dr. Jacque Boyd is an educator and a general aviation pilot. She has a B.A. in Education, Psychology, and Special Education. In 1979 she was awarded the Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship from the Ninety-Nines for her M.Ed. in Aerospace Education. She also holds a PhD in Curriculum Development and Supervision. Her dissertation was a study of math and science education.
Jacque's writing expertise covers several magazine columns, including the Current Issues and Tools for Schools column for Aviation for Women. She also writes extensively for The Ninety-Nines Magazine with the latest contribution being book reviews. She currently does book reviews for several publications and has experienced the fun of ghostwriting.
Jacque is a self-admitted book-a-holic with well over 1000 volumes. The majority of the books are aviation-related and most about women's flight. She also has all her grandfather's education books from when he was a teacher in Kentucky in the late 1800s.
Captain Jenny Beatty is a longtime airline pilot, author, and advocate for women and others underrepresented in aviation.
Jenny’s interest in aviation’s early days stems from being in one of the few families to have three generations of women pilots. Both of her maternal grandparents learned to fly in 1930, and their daughter, Jenny’s mother, earned her pilot’s license in 1945. Following them into the air in 1981, Jenny became a flight instructor, airline pilot, check airman, and flight operations manager, and is rated to fly the B737, B747, B777, B787, DC-9, seaplanes, and gliders. In this portrait, Jenny is wearing her grandmother’s flying jacket.
To join the Literary Aviatrix Classics conversation, Jenny draws from her collection of over 350 books and magazines by and about women and other underrepresented pilots all over the world, including rare early first editions. She is a popular writer and public speaker on historical and contemporary pilot career topics.
Read Jenny’s articles and resources at www
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Send us a Text Message.
In this interview with inspiring pilot Polly Vacher, she talks about her memoir Wings Around the World: The Exhilarating Story of One Woman’s Epic Flight from the North Pole to Antarctica. She shares how she prepared for the trip, some of the obstacles that stood in her way and how she navigated them, the very difficult decision she was faced with in trying to achieve the goal she’d prepared for over two years to accomplish, and the highlights of meeting people all across the world, all in the name of charity to raise funds for Flying Scholarships for the Disabled.
Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this fun interview with mystery writer Edith Maxwell, publishing under the pen name 'Maddie Day', we talk about her historical mystery, A Case for the Ladies: A Dot and Amelia Mystery, which launched in March. In it, a young Amelia Earhart, who is living in Boston, taking flying lessons on the weekends, and working at an immigrant settlement house, helps solve the mystery of a series of murders involving immigrant women. Edith, who has published over 30 books, also shares her wisdom and experience as a mystery writer.Typically a traditionally published author, Edith went out on her own to bring this story to life, so let's support her and buy (AND REVIEW) A Case for the Ladies!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with Bloomberg space journalist and author Loren Grush, we talk about her childhood growing up around Johnson Space Center with two NASA Engineers and how that led her to unearth the stories of NASA's first women astronauts.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with self-published historical fiction and mystery/thriller author Penelope Haines, we talk details on going from Na-No-Wri-Mo participant to self-published author.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with New Zealand pilot, flight instructor and author, Penelope Haines, we discuss her mystery/thriller novel Death on D'Urville and talk all things flying and instructing in New Zealand!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with all-star award-winning young adult authors Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth Wein, they discuss their fabulously researched and written young adult non-fiction American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky. They give us a glimpse into this fascinating aviation history and the process that brought it to life in this new book, which is essential reading for any avgeek or aviation history buff!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this Aviatrix Writers’ Room interview with best-selling author Sara Ackerman, she shares how she went from three rejected, unpublished novels to finding an agent and becoming the successful author of six acclaimed historical fiction novels centered on Hawaiian history, including her latest release, The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with best-selling author Sara Ackerman, we talk about her latest historical novel, The Uncharted Flight of Olivia West, set against the backdrop of the Dole Air Race from the Continental U.S. to Hawaii in the late 1920's. In this reimagined story, female competitor Olivia West joins the fray in a race that historically included no female pilots. Acclaimed for her WWII historical romance novels set in Hawaii, we're privileged to have an Aviatrix join Sara's fictional cast of characters in this latest release.
You can find her book, along with hundreds of others featuring women in aviation, on the Literary Aviatrix Website.
https://literaryaviatrix.com/product/the-uncharted-flight-of-olivia-west-a-novel/
Blue Skies, and Happy Reading!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with helicopter pilot and author Kodey Bogart, we talk about her new picture book, Helo Girls: The Firefighting Pilot.
Kodey is a decorated veteran Army Warrant Officer Medevac pilot and recipient of two Air Medals and the Sikorsky Rescue Award. She has extensive experience in a range of aviation operations, training, safety, test flight, air ambulance, and law enforcement. We spend a good portion of our interview geeking out about flying helos.
The Firefighting Pilot is the first of what Kodey plans to turn into a series of picture books featuring various female pilots in diverse aviation missions. The book is available for pre-order now and launches on January 16th!
https://literaryaviatrix.com/product/helo_girls_firefighting_pilot/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Welcome to the new Literary Aviatrix Leadership and Development author interview series.
Loree "Rowdy" Draude was a combat pilot among the first women to deploy on an aircraft carrier. She also navigated a very successful career in the tech sector. Now Loree brings her professional experiences together to help coach and inspire business leaders, and her love of art and creativity to entertain and inspire audiences with her one-woman show, "I Feel the Need."
Her book, She's Just Another Navy Pilot, is Loree's memoir of that first carrier deployment, which began the day LT Kara Hultgreen lost her life in a fatal crash on takeoff. Soar Into Joy brings together the advice Loree finds herself repeating as a coach to her clients.
You can find her books on the Literary Aviatrix website, and you can find Loree at her website https://loreedraude.com and on Instagram and FaceBook @loreedraude
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Announcing the FOURTH Aviatrix Book Club annual reading list! With so many fabulous books it's hard to choose only twelve. I hope you're as excited as I am about the diversity of genre, types of flying, and historical periods reflected in this list. I look forward to seeing you in the discussions.
Happy Reading!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with Leona Cobham, granddaughter of pioneering pilot and aviation advocate, Sir Alan Cobham, we talk about her wonderful middle grade book, Flying Circus Takes to the Skies, which features the adventures of four anthropomorphic vintage aircraft: Spiff, the Spitfire; Vul, the Vulcan; Tom, the Tomcat; and Woody, the Tiger Moth. Leona was inspired to write the book by her experience working with children and her concern over boys becoming ever-more reluctant readers. She created these characters in the hopes that boys would get excited about both reading and aviation history. Her next installment of Airplane Adventures will include a female Nighthawk.
The story is well-complemented by line drawings from aviation artist Timothy O'Brien. https://www.timobrienart.co.uk/
Leona's book is very thoughtfully available in two English versions - one with British spellings, and one with American, so be sure to select the one appropriate for your young reader. Affiliate links for both can be found on the Literary Aviatrix website:
British: https://literaryaviatrix.com/product/aeroplane-adventures-flying-circus-takes-to-the-skies/
American: https://literaryaviatrix.com/product/airplane-adventures-flying-circus-takes-to-the-skies/
Toward the end of our interview, we talk about Frederick Forsyth's The Shepherd, and the Canadian Broadcast Company's annual broadcast of a 1979 reading done by "Fireside Al" Maitland. If you'd like to join us in the Christmas Eve tradition, here's a link: CBC - As it Happens
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with Astronaut Pilot Eileen Collins, she talks about her path, from her childhood in Elmira, New York, through community college and ROTC, to Air Force Flight Training, Instructing, a combat mission in Grenada, Stanford, and Test Pilot School, to becoming the first female, and mother, NASA Space Shuttle pilot and mission commander.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with Coast Guard Aviation Electronics Technician and H65 Dolphin Helicopter Flight Mechanic, Ashlee Leppert, we talk about her memoir The Hurricane Within, which recounts her experiences in the Hurricane Harvey disaster response while she simultaneously endured troubling and mysterious physical symptoms that eventually grounded her from flying. Ashlee talks about her medical journey, how her faith guided her through her PTSD, her transition to civilian life, and how she hopes to pay it forward as an author, speaker, and life coach.
Ashlee earned an air medal for contributions to Harvey recovery efforts and was an honored guest at the State of the Union Address.
Thank you, Ashlee, for showing the world what it looks like to be a Coast Guard helicopter flight mechanic, and for sharing your story for others to benefit.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with Liz McConaghy, we talk about her experiences serving as aircrew on RAF Chinooks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the mental challenges she faced after being medically grounded and leaving the service, which she writes about in her memoir Chinook Crew 'Chick': Highs and Lows of Forces Life from the Longest Serving Female Chinook Force Crewmember
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with USAF Academy graduate, F-16 combat veteran pilot, former no. 3 Thunderbird demonstration team pilot, and boy-mom, Caroline ‘Blaze’ Jensen, we talk about her sweet new picture book, Thundermouse, her career, and how she managed one of the most visible and demanding jobs imaginable as the mother of a toddler. Blaze is the granddaughter of a WWII SPAR (as am I) and a Coast Guard Grandfather, and daughter of a U.S. Marine, but we’ll forgive her for joining the Air Force. She was inspired by Top Gun and guided by the legacy of the WASP and is currently the Board President-Elect of the WASP Museum in Sweetwater, Texas. Her illustrious Air Force career included a stint as a Congressional Liaison, where she met Erin Miller while she was on her crusade to secure WASP rights to interment at Arlington on behalf of her Gammy. Blaze is a motivational speaker for hire and offers mentoring to aspiring and junior military aviators. She will be celebrating the launch of Thundermouse at the WWII Commemorative Air Force Museum Minnesotta Wing this Friday, October 13th, at 6pm.
Thundermouse launches tomorrow, Tuesday October 10th. If you order from Blaze’s website, she will sign and personalize a book for you. https://www.diamondechelonllc.com/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with author Mary Carroll Moore, we talk about her new book, A Woman’s Guide to Search and Rescue, which is available for preorder and launches on October 24th, 2023. In a former life, Mary was a syndicated food journalist who wrote many food and cooking-related articles and books. At fifty, she went back to school for her MFA and began not only writing, but also teaching fiction.
Mary’s curiosity about aviation was piqued by her mother, Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Hartz Carroll, who earned her pilot license in 1942 and flew with the Women Airforce Service Pilots during WWII. That curiosity inspired her to create two modern-day aviation characters, one an inland search and rescue pilot, and one an aerobatic pilot, in this new thriller novel that features a false murder accusation, a run from the law, and estranged sisters who reunite.
Mary was also inspired to try flying herself. She recently started taking lessons and is both excited and overwhelmed by all there is to learn. Let’s give her a warm welcome to the community, and support her by buying her new book!
We also talk in-depth about her writing and publishing journey during this conversation. A Woman’s Guide to Search and Rescue is a stand-alone novel but is also the sequel to Mary’s first work of fiction, Qualities of Light. You can find Mary at her website MaryCarrollMoore.com and on LinkedIn @MaryCarrollMoore.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for September 2023, author Nell McShane Wulfhart gives us the previously unsung heroines of both the aviation industry and the women's rights movement: the airline stewardesses whose fight against blatant, unapologetic, institutionalized sexism laid the groundwork for equal rights beyond the airlines. This lynchpin story in our history illuminates the context into which the first generation of female airline pilots entered the workforce and explains the challenges they faced in being taken seriously as professionals and not dismissed as servant/sex objects. Anyone concerned with advancing diversity in aviation should read this book to fully understand from whence we came.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this Writers' Room interview with Nell McShane Wulfhart, author of The Great Stewardess Rebellion, we talk about her journey as a travel writer and the transition from writing short form journalistic pieces to a full length narrative non-fiction history. She also shares the details of submitting a proposal, working through an agent, and the experience of working with a Big Five publisher.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with Erin Mariah Murphy about her picture book Halfway Home, she talks about her early career, learning to fly as a teenager and saving her money to pursue an aviation degree in college, where she also competed in the Air Race Classic.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my Writers Room interview with thriller novelist Sandy Parks about her book Under the Radar. In it she shares how and when she found the time to write the several novels she's published over the years, and talk about her strategy for getting in front of agents in an organic way as a volunteer at writers' conferences.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with author and publisher Connie Reeves, a former Army helicopter pilot, we talk about her fiction thriller novel, The Elimination Game, and the book Military Fly Moms, an anthology of women’s stories compiled by Linda Maloney, published by Connie, and featuring yours truly along with many inspiring women military aviators. The Elimination Game, the August Aviatrix Book Club discussion book, imagines a small group of Army men who sabotage all-female crews to push women out of Army aviation. In Military Fly Moms we have the examples of dozens of women who managed our military careers with family.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with retired USAF Colonel Merryl Tengesdal about her book Shatter the Sky, she talks about the physical challenges and long term physiological effects flying the U-2 had on her and her fellow Dragon Lady pilots.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with Erin Seidemann about her memoir, Postcards from the Sky, she talks about flying as a general aviation pilot to the Bahamas.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my Writers' Room interview with author Kathy Mexted about her book Australian Women Pilots, she talks about learning to trust her voice, put herself into a story, and present a subject in longer form to write this collection of ten biographical sketches of pioneering women pilots throughout the last hundred years of Australian aviation history.
Check out the new Literary Aviatrix Website for books, interviews, news, blogs, and the Writers' Room!
Big thanks to Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group for their help in bringing my vision for this site to life!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with author Lauren Kessler, she does a reading from her book, The Happy Bottom Riding Club, that describes the 1929 Women’s Transcontinental Air Race.
Check out the new Literary Aviatrix Website for books, interviews, news, blogs, and the Writers' Room!
Big thanks to Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group for their help in bringing my vision for this site to life!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my writers’ room interview with Amy Goodpaster Strebe, she talks about publishing her masters thesis, which was a comparative study of the Women Air Force Service Pilots and the Women who flew for Russia, including the Nacht Hexen or Night Witches, entitled Flying for Her Country.
Check out the new Literary Aviatrix Website for books, interviews, news, blogs, and the Writers' Room!
Big thanks to Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group for their help in bringing my vision for this site to life!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with co-authors Raquel Ramsey and Tricia Aurand about the book Taking Flight: The Nadine Ramsey Story, Tricia shares the impact that working on this story and learning about the Women Airforce Service Pilots had on her and her understanding of the importance and continued relevance of WWII.
Check out the new Literary Aviatrix Website for books, interviews, news, blogs, and the Writers' Room!
Big thanks to Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group for their help in bringing my vision for this site to life!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with Kathy Mexted about her book Australian Women Pilots, she talks about two of the women she highlights in the book: WWII ATA pilot Marty Gething and Royal Flying Doctor Service pilot Esther Veldestra.
Check out the new Literary Aviatrix Website for books, interviews, news, blogs, and the Writers' Room!
Big thanks to Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group for their help in bringing my vision for this site to life!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with former US Army and Coast Guard helicopter pilot, Darcy Guyant, we talk about the inspiration behind his new picture book, Into the Storm: The Coast Guard Adventures of Dolph and Gwen. Since retiring, Darcy has found his passion volunteering at a local elementary school where he works with first graders. Encouraged and mentored by the school’s teachers, Darcy wrote this book which is based on a real search and rescue case from his flying career.
Of course, I love that Darcy chose to make the pilot a woman, and to anthropomorphize the ‘Dolphin’ helicopter as ‘Dolph’. Dolph is the narrator of this action-packed story, and Gwen is a capable and confident pilot-in-command, directing her crew, Mike, the Flight Mechanic, and Sam, the Rescue Swimmer. They all work together to rescue the fishermen from their sinking vessel in the storm while facilitating discussions about teamwork, fear, courage, cooperation, and trust.
Check out the new Literary Aviatrix Website for books, interviews, news, blogs, and the Writers' Room!
Big thanks to Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group for their help in bringing my vision for this site to life!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this expert from my Writers’ Room interview with Merryl Tengesdal (which is actually S2E2), she shares her lessons learned from pressing to get her memoir published on a tight timeline driven by her appearance on the reality TV series, Tough as Nails, and she tells all of you out there who are on the fence about writing your memoirs to Just Do It!
Check out the new Literary Aviatrix Website for books, interviews, news, blogs, and the Writers' Room!
Big thanks to Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group for their help in bringing my vision for this site to life!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with author Keith O'Brien about his book Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History, he talks about the most blatant and egregious illustration of the misogyny and sexism of the day in his book, which he reveals with Florence Klingensmith' story.
Check out the new Literary Aviatrix Website for books, interviews, news, blogs, and the Writers' Room!
Big thanks to Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group for their help in bring my vision for this site to life!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with author Clare Mulley about her book The Women Who Flew for Hitler, she talks about her research experience in a glider and being two degrees of separation from Hitler through Hanna Reitsch.
Check out the new Literary Aviatrix Website for books, interviews, news, blogs, and the Writers' Room!
Big thanks to Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group for their help in bring my vision for this site to life!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my Writers’ Room interview with thriller novelist, Sandy Parks, whose books have been both traditionally and self-published, talks about how she developed her craft.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this Writers' Room interview with pilot and author Pat Valdata, she talks about her writing journey and offers advice for other aspiring writers from critique groups, exploring poetry, attending conferences, writing competitions, to dealing with rejection but pressing on.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with glider instructor and author Pat Valdata, we talk about her novel Crosswind, which we paired with the memoir, Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine during the month of June 2023. Pat also shares her newly revised and republished poetry collection Where No Man Can Touch, in which she writes from the perspective of pioneering aviatrices.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with Charles Morgan Evans, historian, founding curator of the Hiller Aviation Museum, and author of two books, War of the Aeronauts: A History of Ballooning in the Civil War and Helicopter Heroine—Valerie Andre: Surgeon, Pioneer Rescue Pilot, and Her Courage Under Fire, we talk about the incredible feats of a woman who flew almost 500 combat missions in Indochina and Algeria in the 1950s-1960, at the same time she was treating traumatic head injuries in battlefield hospitals as a neurosurgeon. Evans shares with us how a photo at Hiller museum piqued his interest in Andre and led him to preserve her story for an English-speaking audience, as well as providing the context and characters who contributed along her journey. Andre went on to be highly decorated for her accomplishments and contributions to aerial combat rescue and combat medicine, and became the first female General in the French Army. She celebrated her 101st birthday in April 2023.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In honor of Pride Month, I’m highlighting this excerpt from my interview with Julie Tizard about her Lesbian romance novel, The Road to Wings. Julie has written three of the ten books I’ve been able to find that feature both women in aviation and LGBTQ+ characters, and soon you’ll be able to sort the books on my new website, www.LitararyAviatrix.com, which will launch in the next few weeks, to find your specific niche or interest.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, Beverly Weintraub, about her book Wings of Gold, we talk about how Rosemary Mariner took on not only men who wanted to restrict women’s roles in the military, but also the very vocal and influential anti-feminism activists Phyllis Schlafly and Elain Donnelly.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Former F16 and USAF Thunderbird Demonstration Team pilot Michelle ‘MACE’ Curran brings us a new picture book, UPSIDE DOWN DREAMS, available for preorder now and release on June 20, 2023, that will motivate and inspire young readers. In this interview, Michelle talks about how being a Thunderbird pilot, reaching countless young women who looked up to her, made her want to continue to inspire girls to pursue their dreams with a book that puts them at the center. We talk about how she brought this book to life, and then dive into her path to aviation and the Thunderbirds, what it was like to be on the team during Covid, and the stress of pulling nine G’s for a living. In her new life, Michelle is a motivational speaker who talks about overcoming self-doubt and taking risks to fulfill your potential. Anyone who listens to this interview will be inspired, and hopefully will both buy the book for their young readers, and schedule Michelle for their next keynote event. You can find Michelle on LinkedIn, Instagram and at her website www.MACECurran.com.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with author and United Airlines Pilot Carole Hopson about her historical novel about the life of Bessie Coleman, A Pair of Wings, she talks about the context in which Bessie’s story is told, then talks about how she learned about Bessie and shares a little about the start of her own aviation journey.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with Sherri L. Smith she talks about the inception of the idea for the character, Ida Mae, who is a fair skinned Black woman living in the South as WWII begins, who passes as white to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Mary Bush Shipko, author of AVIATRIX: First Woman Pilot for Hughes Airwest, and the picture book Daring Mary brings us a young reader's history of the first women commercial pilots for six airlines, including her own story. Accessible for readers as young as 8-10, the book presents an honest account of the trials our pioneering women endured in pursuit of their dreams, which includes age-appropriate references to sexual harassment and pornography. Almost as inspiring as this collection of stories and how these pioneering women opened the flight deck door is the way in which Mary expresses how writing her story and sharing it with the world helped her heal from the traumas and disappointments she experienced along her journey.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this Aviatrix Writers’ Room discussion with literary agent Amy Collins, she outlines the different requirements to query both agents and publishers depending on whether you’re writing fiction, memoir, prescriptive non-fiction, or narrative non-fiction.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt of my interview with children’s author Kristin L. Gray about her middle grade mystery novel The Amelia Six, she talks about how Amelia’s birthplace home inspired the story. The Amelia Six is a fun read for ages 7-11.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Patty Bear about her book From Plain to Plane: My Mennonite Childhood, a National Scandal, and an Unconventional Soar to Freedom, she introduces the book and talks about how her brother’s interest in flying led her to the Air Force Academy.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my Writers’ Room conversation with former Army Kiowa Warrior pilot, Amber Smith, about her memoir Danger Close: My Epic Journey as a Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan, she talks about the impact writing her memoir has had on her life and sets realistic expectations for anyone who is considering writing their memoir about what that process looks like.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with co-authors Racquel Ramsey and Tricia Aurand, Racqui reads a passage from Taking Flight: The Nadine Ramsey Story, in which her sister-in-law and WASP pilot, Nadine, purchases a P38.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with Kate Quinn she introduces her historical novel The Huntress and talks about the trail that led her to create the fierce and fearless character, Nina Markova, who she based on the Russian women combat pilots in WWII, the Nacht Hexen, or Night Witches.
This is a very well-crafted and entertaining book, and the audio book is in my top ten favorites. A great pick for a long car trip.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Author, retired Air Force Colonel, former flight test engineer, and Executive Director of the Air Force Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California, Eileen Bjorkman, talks about her new book, FLY GIRLS REVOLT: THE STORY OF THE WOMEN WHO KICKED OPEN THE DOOR TO FLY IN COMBAT, available May 23rd, 2023. Eileen weaves her own experience as an Air Force flight test engineer in this history that, uniquely among books that follow the history of women in military aviation, bridges the gap between the WASP and the first active duty female aviators in the 1970s with the stories of the women who served in other roles in between. She also includes a detailed account of the Women Military Aviators’ (WMA) spectacular show of solidarity at a DACOWITZ hearing on changes in the Air Force’s flight training policy that threatened to further restrict women’s ability to progress professionally in the ranks. This book brings us new and complementary information on this incredibly important transition for women in military aviation, and features several outstanding and notable pioneers, not the least of whom is currently the Air Force Chief of Safety, Maj. General Jeannie Leavitt.
**I mistakenly say we'll discuss the book in the Aviatrix Book Club in July. It will actually be AUGUST's discussion book. Hope to see you in the discussions!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with publisher Brooke Warner of SheWrites Press and Sparks Press, we do a deep dive into hybrid publishing.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with general aviation enthusiast and pilot Erin Seidemann about her book Postcards from the Sky: Adventures of an Aviatrix, we talk about how being a young woman in her twenties who owned an aircraft made her relatively popular with the fellas, and she writes about some of the fun aspects of that in the book. We also talk about some of the not so pleasant surprises we each discovered in aviation culture.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Myriam Huser about her memoir They Called Me Sky hunter, about how a relationship in her twenties held her back from pursuing her dream to fly. You’ll be happy to know Myriam is thriving as a pilot today, and just headed out for another season of fire-fighting in the Canadian Bush. Her book was recently released in audio format.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this Writers' Room portion of my interview with author and writing professor Lauren Kessler, we talk about how she might approach the question of memory in memoir writing.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In April, the Aviatrix Book Club discussed Three-Eight Charlie: 1st Woman to Fly Solo Around the World – 1964, by Jerrie Mock. I was thrilled by the enthusiasm about the story from our members, and very pleasantly surprised by how well the book was written. It truly has broad appeal and will entertain audiences from avgeeks to young adults to Better Homes and Gardens fans. I am so grateful to publisher Wendy Hollinger for bringing the book back into print, and for championing Jerrie’s story and accomplishments.
Jerrie passed away in 2014, but my three guests in this episode each spent time with her while she was still with us. Wendy, through the course of republishing the book became close with Jerrie, as did author Nancy Roe Pimm, whose book The Jerrie Mock Story is a middle-grade biography about her. Finally, Shaesta Waiz, the previous record holder for youngest woman to fly solo around the world (before Zara Rutherford in 2022), was mentored for her trip by Jerrie.
Stay tuned until the end of our conversation when Wendy has a special surprise for Shaesta.
Thank you to all three of these ladies for the work they do to carry on Jerrie’s legacy to educate and inspire young people through her accomplishments and their own efforts. You can find Jerrie’s plane ‘Charlie’ in a new display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the Mall in D.C.
Here is the blurb from the book:
Three-Eight Charlie is the story of Jerrie Mock’s record-setting flight as the first woman to solo around the world in 1964 in a single-engine Cessna 180. It’s an insightful and well written account that includes intrigue and heroism, and discusses the cultures and geography of the world at the time. This book is a great read for aviation enthusiasts as well as young people, and anyone with big dreams. Three-Eight Charlie was originally published in 1970, but is out of print and difficult to find. Phoenix Graphix Publishing Services was pleased to make a new, color edition available for the 50th anniversary of Jerrie’s flight, and has now created this black and white paperback. It includes maps and weather charts and photos that bring the story to life, and help the reader experience it more fully.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Ann McCallum Staats about her middle-grade biography collection HighFlyers: 15 Inspiring Women Pilots and Astronauts, she introduces the book and does a reading about Army helicopter combat veteran, Purple Heart recipient, and U.S. Senator, Tammy Duckworth. Senator Duckworth was an Army Blackhawk pilot whose aircraft was shot down in Iraq in 2004. The crash resulted in the loss of both of her legs. She tells her story in her memoir, Every Day is a Gift.
I love what Ann did in High Flyers to offer younger readers role models from diverse backgrounds in diverse areas of aviation. While the book is intended for teen readers, these short biographies are also engaging and inspiring for adults.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with Erin Mariah Murphy about her picture book, Halfway Home, she talks about how pilots, volunteers, and donations can support animal air rescue. You can find more info at Erin's website www.erinmurphybooks.com.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my Writers’ Room interview with Julie Tizard about her military lesbian romance novel, The Road to Wings, she starts off talking about developing conflict for her fictional characters and then we transition to talking about where we draw our creative inspiration.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this clip from my interview with Merryl Tengesdal, author of Shatter the Sky: What Going to the Stratosphere Taught Me about Self-Worth, Sacrifice, and Discipline she talks about how her dream of becoming an astronaut led her to join the U.S. Navy where she flew as an H60 helicopter pilot before transitioning to the U.S. Air Force to fly the U-2.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
This excerpt is from my interview with author Myriam Huser about her memoir They Called Me Sky Hunter. Myriam is a Swiss-Canadian pilot who has flown international missions in rugged locations around the Middle East and Africa, and most recently, fighting forest fires in the Canadian bush. In this excerpt, she talks about living in Chad and flying humanitarian service missions with Air Serv.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
We’re jumping ahead in the process in this excerpt from my interview with book publicist Jennifer Coburn. Once you publish your book, you’re probably going to want to sell it. Some publishers will include a budget for book launch promotion, and others won’t. In this clip, Jennifer, who is the author of eight of her own books, worked as Robing Kardon’s publicist for the launch of her Flygirl series. Jenn tells us what that process and timeline look like, and how much it might cost. All things you’ll want to think about when envisioning the full picture of what writing and publishing your book looks like. You can find the full interview in The Aviatrix Writers Room on my website or YouTube Channel from August of 2021.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Kathy Mexted about her book, Australian Women Pilots, she talks about the battle that Deborah Lawrie fought in the Australian courts to be able to fly for Ansett Airlines in 1980.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In honor of the Australian Women Pilots Association conference, and my visit to meet the author this week, here is Kathy Mexted reading about Patricia Toole, who was the inspiration for her book, Australian Women Pilots: Amazing True Stories of Women in the Air.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
As military members, and/or as pilots, we are not accustomed to exposing our emotions, but in order for our stories to resonate with an audience, we need to make an emotional connection. Author Adam Sikes and I commiserate.
Check out Adam's debut espionage thriller novel, Landslide.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with historian and author Amy Shira Teitel, she talks about why she wrote the book Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and their Historic Battle for Female Space Flight.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt of my interview with Clare Mulley, she talks about how she came to write the book The Women Who Flew for Hitler: A True Story of Soaring Ambition and Searing Rivalry, which is a narrative non-fiction dual biography of Hannah Reistch and Melitta Schiller.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my Writers' Room discussion with Erin Seidemann, she talks about her writing journey, shares her thoughts on memoir, and talks about the challenges of getting published traditionally.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Beverly Weintraub about her book Wings of Gold, she talks about the inception of women in Naval Aviation in the early 1970's.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Happy International Women's Day 2023! In this interview with Captain Manisha M. Puri, an accomplished airline pilot and author of the book, From Sarees to Stripes: True Stories of Commercial Pilots in India, we talk about her flying career, the history of women in aviation in India, and celebrate India's place as the world leader with 12% women pilots in commercial aviation.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Amy Goodpaster Strebe, author of Flying for Her Country: The American and Soviet Women Military Pilots of World War II, she talks about the similarities and differences she discovered in her research.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with ward-winning Children and Young Adult author Sherri L. Smith, she talks bout her writing journey to publish the novel Flygirl about a fair-skinned black woman who passes as white to serve in the WASP
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Mary S. Lovell, author of Straight on Till Morning; The Life of Beryl Markham, she talks about the vintage aircraft that she owned with her ex-husband, one of which was featured in the movie Out of Africa, and which led her to Berly Markham, famous as the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo in an aircraft ‘the hard way’ (from East to West), and author of the classic Aviatrix memoir, West with the Night
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with author Keith O'Brien, he introduces his book, Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History, and does a reading featuring Florence Kingensmith, whose story illustrates the very challenging times in which these brave women pursued their passion for aviation.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with ghost writer and editor Marylin Noble, we talk about structural editing versus copy and line editing, and the importance of hiring an editor, particularly if you self-publish.
You can find Marylin at her website https://marilynnoble.com/
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this except from my conversation with Retired Air Forces Colonel Merryl Tengesdal, she talks about taking off in the U2 Reconnaissance aircraft with the assistance of 'pogos' - training wheels for the wings on this bicycle-gear configured aircraft with a 103' wingspan.
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with acclaimed Children’s book author, Kristin L. Gray, she talks about how she incorporated fun details about Amelia Earhart to enhance her story about a girl who gets to spend the night at Amelia Earhart’s birthplace home.
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my Writers’ Room interview with author Patty Bear about her book From Plain to Plane: My Mennonite Childhood, a National Scandal, and an Unconventional Soar to Freedom, she talks about how sharing her truth through writing helped her find her own power and control over the narrative.
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with author and airline pilot, Karlene Petitt, she talks about her book Flight for Control, the first in a 6-book thriller novel series that incorporates real-life scenarios and her own experience of being retaliated against by Delta Airlines for raising safety concerns.
Visit Karlene at her blog: https://karlenepetitt.blogspot.com/
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Erika Armstrong, author of A Chick in the Cockpit: My Life Up in the Air, she talks about how, since publishing the book, she’s been blown away by the number of women who have reached out to her with their own experiences of domestic abuse. If you need help, contact the National Domestic Abuse Hotline 800-799-7233, or to connect with Erika, you can find her everywhere @AChickintheCockpit.
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with author Amy Shira Teitel about her book Fighting for Space: Two Women and Their Epic Battle for Female Spaceflight, we talk about Jerrie Cobb ferrying aircraft to Central and South America, and a forced landing after her prop seal failed leaving her windscreen covered in oil, in Jamaica that was the beginning of a love affair with Jack Ford.
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Mandy Hickson, author of An Officer, Not a Gentleman, talks about why and how she finally decided to write her memoir, and how the common theme of publishers not knowing how to market a book featuring women in aviation. Mandy is doing very well as a self-published author.
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this clip from my interview with Israeli singer/song writer, Maya Johana, I talk about what her songs represent to me as a woman in aviation and a writer, why I am so thrilled to have them as my theme music, and she shares what they mean to her, and the process of writing them.
You can enjoy the full songs on YouTube:
When the Sky
Born to Become
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with pioneering flight attendant, Casey Grant, we talk about the discrimination she and her cohorts dealt with in the pursuit of their careers, the fun and glamour of being cabin crew, and the not-so-glamourous aspects of the job.
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my Writers' Room interview with author Cecilia Aragon, she talks about the choices she made to pursue an MFA and draw on the resources available to make her writing the best it can be so it can reach the broadest audience possible.
Meet me at the Palm Springs Air Museum Gala on February 18th, or at WAI23 in Long Beach, CA from February 23rd - 25th. Buy your tickets for the Authors Connect Reading and Reception on opening night at Bogart & Co. at the Long Beach Convention Center from 7:30-9:30pm. I look forward to meeting you!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with Robin Kardon, writing as R. D. Kardon, we celebrate the upcoming launch of the third book in The Flygirl Trilogy, Flying Home. The book is available for preorder now, and will be out on February 21st, 2023.
If you’re headed to the Women in Aviation International 2023 Conference, or if you live in the Long Beach, CA area, you can see Robin at a special reception I’m hosting in the Long Beach Convention Center where she and 12 other all-star authors will read from their work on Thursday, February 23rd at 7:30pm. Tickets are still available, but will sell out soon! She’ll also be at the Authors Connect booth on the exhibit floor available to sign her books on Friday, February 24th from 10:30am – noon, and on Saturday, February 25th from noon – 1:30pm.
You can find Robin at her website, RDKardonAuthor.com, follow her on Instagram @rdkardonauthor, and on Facebook @R. D. Kardon, Author.
Here’s the blurb from Flying Home:
After the world's darkest day, can Tris Miles fly her way home?
Never forget…
In September 2001, Tris Miles faces difficult choices. As Chief Pilot of Westin Charter Company, she’s mentoring Jannat, a brash young captain with limitless potential and a shocking secret. An offer to summit the peak of the pilot pyramid entices Tris to quit her job, but an old nemesis stands in her way.
Meanwhile, Tris juggles the men in her personal life. A friend-with-benefits pushes for commitment. Her ex-boyfriend returns, still in love with her. Unexpectedly, Tris develops new feelings for someone who is already dear to her.
On September 11th, Tris and her crew depart Edinburgh for the United States. Just feet off the ground, they are mysteriously ordered back to the airport where they learn of a deadly terrorist attack on US soil—using airplanes as bombs.
When Tris discovers that her best friend was a passenger on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, her world is shattered.
With a broken heart and her entire life up in the air, Tris doesn’t know where to turn. Can she find the courage to navigate her way home?
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this clip from my interview with Carole Hopson about her book A Pair of Wings, we talk about the choices she made in her writing to bring Bessie to life for the reader.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
Retired Air Force Colonel and U2 pilot, Merryl Tengesdal, and I compare notes on our tolerance levels for our male peers’ antics during our military careers in this clip from my interview about her memoir, Shatter the Sky.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Kate Quinn about her thriller novel The Huntress, she shares that even with fifteen books published, she still writes crappy first drafts, but a bad page is better than a blank page . . .
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
The pre-Don’t Ask Don’t Tell days in the military were a challenge for members who wanted to serve their country but had to stay closeted. Even during DADT, they couldn’t talk openly about their families, received no dependent benefits for their spouses, and risked their careers if they were found out. In this portion of my interview with author Julie Tizard about her book The Road to Wings, she talks about what that life was like and why it was important to her to memorialize it in her book.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with Postcards from the Sky author, Erin Seidemann, we talk about her aircraft ownership and she shares her advice on whether and when someone should consider buying a plane.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this portion of my interview with Literary Agent Amy Collins, she gives us a primer on publishing options and offers her advice to writers on which direction to consider based on what you’re writing.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt of my interview with Patty Bear, author of From Plain to Plane,: My Mennonite Childhood, A National Scandal, and an Unconventional Soar to Freedom, she talks bout the similarities between her Mennonite childhood and her experience as an Air Force Academy Cadet. She shares why she wrote the book, and talks about how her father's excommunication and shunning from the Mennonite church led her out of that world.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt from my interview with Amber Smith about her book Danger Close: My Epic Journey as a Helicopter Pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan, she talks about assimilating into the male-dominated military culture.
Sign up for the Literary Aviatrix newsletter, join Aviatrix Book Club discussions, and become a Literary Aviatrix Patron.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this Writers’ Room interview with author Laura Savino, she talks about the choices she made in both writing and publishing her memoir, Jet Boss, her writing journey, her other published works, and her advice for other writers.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with airline pilot and author of the book Jet Boss: A Female Pilot on Taking Risks and Flying High, Laura Savino talks about her journey from her traditionally gendered childhood to teenage rebellion in general aviation, through Purdue University, and to the airlines. Laura's story is so entertaining and funny, while also filled with important life and aviation lessons--it's a book I consistently highlight in my presentations to teens at the same time that it's an inspiration to adult pilots and general audiences.
You can find Laura on her website https://laurasavino747.com
Stay up to date on aviatrix book news by signing up for the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter, join us in book discussion later this month, and meet Laura in-person at the Women in Aviation International Conference in February 2023: https://linktr.ee/literaryaviatrix
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this author’s note from Season 1 Episode 11, Lauren Kessler talks about how memoir is almost a genre unto itself, asserting that, as humans, relying on our own memories and experiences, it would be impossible for us to tell a completely true story. Memoir, therefore, falls somewhere between fiction and non-fiction.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this clip from my interview with author Raquel Ramsey and co-author Tricia Aurand, we hear what it was like for the women living together during training in the barracks at Avenger Field in Sweetwater Texas from the book they wrote about Nadine’s sister-in-law, WWII Women Air Force Service Pilot Nadine Ramsey.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this interview with Amy Shira Teitel about her book Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and Their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight, Amy talks about whether Jerrie Cobb had a reasonable expectation that she and her cohorts who were tested for the space program by Dr. Lovelace in the 1960’s had a shot at being astronauts. She also highlights how the letters between the 13 participants revealed that not everyone was on the same page in terms of hopes and expectations. If you’re into mid-century space history, Amy is the host of The Vintage Space YouTube channel. Check it out!
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this Author’s Note from my Writers' Room interview with Robin D. Kardon, she shares her writing journey, talks about determining your why as a writer, and offers advice about how to develop your craft through structured programs like San Diego Writers, Ink.
In my intro I mention that Robin hosted a workshop with the Aviatrix Writers entitled What Are You Writing and Why?
She also talks about the first two books in her series, Flygirl and Angel Flight. Book three, Flying Home, will be out in February and is available for pre-order now.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt of my interview with Lauren Kessler about her book, The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes, she explains how she learned about Pancho and her entertainment ranch near Edwards Air Force Base, and what was really going on behind the scenes.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this excerpt of my interview with Kathy Mexted about her book Australian Women Pilots: Amazing True Stories of Women in the Air, she introduces us to Nancy Bird Walton, who will be inducted into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame in February 2023.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
I'm thrilled to begin a new season author interviews and to introduce Literary Aviatrix Waypoints and Aviatrix Author Notes--excerpts from my collection of interviews over the past two years. Links to all things Literary Aviatrix.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this special episode of the Aviatrix Book Review, I talk with Lieutenant Commander Ronaqua Russell about how she found her way into Coast Guard aviation, her participation in hurricane relief efforts as an HC144 pilot (I mistakenly introduce her as an HC130 pilot at the beginning but we clear that up later), the experience of receiving the Coast Guard Air Medal at Moton Field, home of the Tuskegee Airmen, and the role mentorship has played in her success as the fifth Black female pilot in the Coast Guard. Ronnie’s story was highlighted in Ann McCallum Staats’ middle grade biography collection HIGH FLYERS: FIFTEEN INSPIRING WOMEN AVIATORS AND ASTRONAUTS.
You can listen to my interview with Ann in Season 2, Episode 18
Links to everything including the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this conversation with Mandy Hickson, author of An Officer Not a Gentleman, she talks about her experience as a Tornado GR4 combat pilot for the British Royal Air Force and how she has translated that experience to the business world as a motivational speaker. Mandy faced many of the challenges common to women in male-dominated fields with determination and humor. She also talks about how those moments seeded doubt and insecurity she might not have experienced otherwise, and how she overcame those feelings to become a successful pilot and leader. You can find her at her website, www.mandyhickson.com, and on social media @mandyhicksonspeaker.
Thanks so much for listening!
- Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
- Visit the Aviatrix Book Review website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
- Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
- Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.
**Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!
-Liz Booker**
In this Writers' Room interview with journalist Beverly Weintraub, she talks about her writing journey, the experience of writing and publishing a book, and the details of her Pulitzer Prize-winning series on the health impacts that first responders experienced after 9-11.
You can find Bev at her website: https://www.beverlyweintraub.com
Instagram: @wingsofgoldbook
Facebook: Bev Weintraub
Twitter: @BevWeintraub
LinkedIn: Beverly Weintraub
In this interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Beverly Weintraub, we talk about the stories of the first six women Naval Aviators in her book Wings of Gold.
You can find Bev at her website: https://www.beverlyweintraub.com.
In this interview with Naval Aviator Becky Condon, we talk about her experiences as a military pilot and one of the first 6 women airline pilots at her company. Becky is a dedicated Aviatrix Book Club member who helped pave the way for the women who came behind her. I was grateful to both celebrate her achievements and mourn her less-that-pleasant experiences. We all owe a debt to women like Becky who opened the cockpit doors to us and faced hostility and harassment to pursue their career ambition.
You can find Becky at her website: https://beckycondon.com
In this special episode of the Aviatrix Book Review, I talk with Israeli song writer and singer, Maya Johanna, the artist behind the them songs I use on my show. As you will hear in the interview, I couldn’t believe my good fortune to find not one, but two upbeat, empowering songs with a gorgeous female voice and deeply meaningful lyrics to accompany the stories our authors share with us. I think you will love hearing the inspiration behind them, and I hope they resonate with you as much as they do with me. Be sure to listen to the end when she sings for us!
You can find Maya's official videos for these two songs on YouTube, along with some of her other music:
When the Sky
Born to Become
You can also find her at:
Maya Johanna on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3chC1rw
Maya Johanna on Apple music: https://apple.co/3nlK254
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MayaJohannaM...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayajohanna/
Bandcamp: https://mayajohanna.bandcamp.com
Brooke Warner is an author, editor, and publisher with over two decades in the industry. She is the publisher of She Writes Press and SparkPress, President of Warner Coaching Inc., and author of Write On, Sisters!, Green-light Your Book, What's Your Book?, and three books on memoir. She is a TEDx speaker and the former Executive Editor of Seal Press. She currently sits on the boards of the Independent Book Publishers Association, the Bay Area Book Festival, and the National Association of Memoir Writers. She writes a monthly column for Publishers Weekly and co-hosts the podcast Write-Minded with Grant Faulkner of NaNoWriMo. You can find her at www.BrookeWarner.com and www.SheWritesPress.com, and find her TedX talk at https://youtu.be/5a0w4KgWyP8.
Sign up for the Literary Aviatrix newsletter, and find links to everything else here: https://linktr.ee/literaryaviatrix
As a high school drop-out, I enlisted in the Coast Guard when I was 18, and was a mother, a pilot, and an O-4 before I finally decided what I was interested in studying. My experience interdicting Haitian and Cuban Migrants for over a decade made me want to understand the history and politics behind the policies I was enforcing. I finally earned a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Political Science online with American Military University when I was 35 years old. The next year, the Coast Guard sent me to Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to earn a Master’s in Public Administration.
In this episode of the Aviatrix Book Review podcast, I talk about how that experience made me reflect on what I was truly passionate about, my circle of influence, and where I thought I could really effect change, and how all of that led me to the Aviatrix Book Club and ‘Literary Aviatrix’.
I also share my vision for the future and express my deep gratitude to everyone who has brought their positive energy, participation, and encouragement to this project. I am so grateful for your support and friendship, and excited to connect with more of you in the future.
Shouts out to: all of our Aviatrix Writers and Aviatrix Book Club members; Women in Aviation, International; Aviation for Women Magazine editor, Kelly Murphy; A Chick in the Cockpit’s Erika Armstrong; and Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes of the Women Soar Group.
Links to everything: https://linktr.ee/literaryaviatrix
On the evening of September 4th, 1936 (the same year as the Bendix Air Race, highlighted in last month’s Aviatrix Book Club discussion book, Fly Girls, by Keith O’Brien), Beryl Markham took off from Abingdon, England to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo in an aircraft “the hard way” – from West to East.
Equestrienne, sailor, pilot, and best-selling author, Mary Lovell, has published ten books, two of which are about pioneering women pilots. Her biography The Sound of Wings: The Life of Amelia Earhart, was the basis for the 2009 movie, Amelia, starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere. Her book Straight on Till Morning: The Life of Beryl Markham, which is the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for September 2022, spent twelve weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. Beryl Markham’s memoir, West with the Night, is a gorgeously written account of her childhood in Africa as the daughter of a racehorse trainer who roamed the bush barefoot with a spear in her hand and follows her into adulthood when she became a well-respected racehorse trainer in her own right, and a skilled pioneering pilot flying as a safari spotter in the 1930s. It ends with a gripping account of her record-setting flight. She reveals very little in that book about her human relationships, though. Straight on Till Morning fills in the very public and scandalous gaps, along with some of her more private forays, in addition to clearing up controversy over whether Markham, in fact, penned her own book. Hers is a fascinating story of an adventurous free spirit, which is well-told in great detail, with meticulous attribution by the author, who you can find at her website, www.lovellbiographies.com.
In this Aviatrix Writers’ Room discussion with award-winning journalist and NYT best-selling author, Keith O’Brien, he talks about writing and research for both historical biography and contemporary immersive narrative non-fiction, his writing life, and offers advice for aspiring and working writers.
Find Keith at his website www.keithob.com.
Sign up for the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter and stay up to date on Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates and times, book news and author events, and writers' workshops and events.
In this interview with journalist and NYT best-selling author, Keith O’Brien, he shares how he was inspired to follow the trail through history to tell the stories of the women who competed in the 1936 Bendix Air Race. I was fascinated to learn about his treasure hunt to find the personal documents of the women he highlights and about why he told their tale against the backdrop of aviation history.
You can find Keith at his website www.keithob.com.
Sign up for the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter to stay up to date on Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates and times, new releases, and author events.
In this continuation of my interview with children's and young adult non-fiction author, Ann McCallum Staats, we talk more about her writing and publishing journey, and the process and craft of collecting biographical sketches for non-fiction work.
Ann McCallum Staats is a former teacher and the author of nine non-fiction books for young readers, including The Secret Life of Math; Eat Your Science Homework: Recipes for Inquiring Minds; Women Heroes of the US Army: Remarkable Heroes from the American Revolution to Today; Thrill Seekers: 15 Remarkable Women in Extreme Sports; and her most recent book, High Flyers: 15 Inspiring Women Aviators and Astronauts, which launched on July 19th 2022. You can find her at her website www.AnnMcCallumbooks.com, on Instagram and Twitter @annmccallumbooks, and on Facebook @Author Ann McCallum Staats.
Myriam Huser is a Swiss-born bush pilot with her Canadian citizenship who has flown international missions that have taken her to rugged locations all over Africa and the Middle East. Her latest work has her fighting wildfires in Canada. In her memoir, They Called Me Sky Hunter, which is the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for July 2022, she takes us on her incredible journey, with all of its joys and challenges, to pursue her dreams of flying and living her childhood fantasy, partially inspired by the book Out of Africa, by Karen Blixen. You can find her on her website www.mimihuser.com, and on Instagram @myriamhuser where you’ll see her spectacular photos and videos of incredible nature scenes and her current aviation adventures.
Ever wonder what happens in a monthly Aviatrix Book Club Discussion? Join the Los Angeles Ninety-Nines as they host our regular book club members and special guests Elizabeth Wein and Amy Goodpaster Strebe, both of whom have researched and written about the Russian women who flew in combat during WWII. Elizabeth's A THOUSAND SISTERS was paired with Kate Quinn's THE HUNTRESS for June 2022. Join us! www.facebook.com/groups/aviatrixbookclub
In this interview with best-selling author Kate Quinn, we talk about her historical fiction thriller, The Huntress, which is the June 2022 Aviatrix Book Club discussion book alongside the young adult non-fiction A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Women of the Soviet Union in World War II by another best-selling author, Elizabeth Wein. The Huntress is told from three perspectives, one of whom is Nina, a Russian Night Witch who flies combat missions during WWII. Kate also shares her writing journey and advice for aspiring writers. Many thanks to Kate for bringing her passions for history and writing to the story of the Russian women who flew combat during WWII!
In this Writers’ Room interview with pilot and author, Erin Mariah Murphy, she talks about the decision to work with a hybrid publisher for her picture book HALFWAY HOME, the author-artist relationship, the experience of distributing her books to fulfill direct orders, and her advice to other writers on developing their craft and publishing.
In this interview with United Airlines First Officer, dog mom, and animal rescue volunteer, Erin Mariah Murphy, she shares her aviation journey from teenager scrimping and saving her babysitting money for flight lessons all the way to international adventures as an airline pilot. She also talks about how volunteering at a local animal shelter led to adopting her quirky and loveable dog, Zeke, and ultimately inspired her to write HALFWAY HOME, a picture book intended to educate readers of all ages about the world of aviation animal rescue. HALFWAY HOME launches on Tuesday June 14th, 2022. You can order now at her website www.erinmurphybooks.com and a portion of the proceeds will go to support animal rescue organizations.
Happy book launch, Erin, and thanks for sharing your story!
In this Aviatrix Writers' Room interview, I am joined by Dr. Cecilia Aragon, an award-winning author, airshow pilot, TED speaker, and the first Latina to earn the rank of Full Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington in its 100-year history. She’s worked with Nobel Prize winners and has taught astronauts to fly. Her innovative research, and a stint at NASA designing software for Mars missions, led President Obama to call her “one of the top scientists and engineers in the country.” In addition to her love of math and science, she’s passionate about helping others face their own fears and challenges to achieve their goals. She is the author of three books, including her memoir, FLYING FREE: MY VICTORY OVER FEAR TO BECOME THE FIRST LATINA ON THE US AEROBATIC TEAM, which received 2021 Nancy Pearl Award for memoir, and the 2021 International Latino Book Award Gold Medal for Most Inspirational Nonfiction in English, and is the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for May 2022. You can find her at her website, www.Ceciliaaragonauthor.com and on social media at Cecilia Aragon.
Connect with Cecilia: https://linktr.ee/CeciliaAragon
We talk about her writing and publishing journeys.
Special thanks to Women Soar Group, a media company that gives women a platform to express themselves, for their help in producing this interview.
Blue Skies and Happy Reading!
In this Aviatrix Book Club interview for May 2022, I am joined by Dr. Cecilia Aragon, an award-winning author, airshow pilot, TED speaker, and the first Latina to earn the rank of Full Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington in its 100-year history. She’s worked with Nobel Prize winners and has taught astronauts to fly. Her innovative research, and a stint at NASA designing software for Mars missions, led President Obama to call her “one of the top scientists and engineers in the country.” In addition to her love of math and science, she’s passionate about helping others face their own fears and challenges to achieve their goals. She is the author of three books, including her memoir, FLYING FREE: MY VICTORY OVER FEAR TO BECOME THE FIRST LATINA ON THE US AEROBATIC TEAM, which received 2021 Nancy Pearl Award for memoir, and the 2021 International Latino Book Award Gold Medal for Most Inspirational Nonfiction in English, and is the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for May 2022. You can find her at her website, www.Ceciliaaragonauthor.com and on social media at Cecilia Aragon.
Connect with Cecilia: https://linktr.ee/CeciliaAragon
Join us in the Aviatrix Book Club in June when we will discuss two books that feature the Russian Night Witches with the novel THE HUNTRESS by Kate Quinn, and the Young Adult nonfiction A THOUSAND SISTERS, by Elizabeth Wein. This is one of two months this year when we’ll do a book pairing.
Special thanks to Women Soar Group, a media company that gives women a platform to express themselves, for their help in producing this interview.
Blue Skies and Happy Reading!
In this Writers’ Room Interview with author Meghan P. Browne, we talk about her writing and publication journey, to include the impact the The Writing Barn and Vermont College of Fine Arts had on her work, and the post-publication ‘slump’.
In this interview with Author Meghan P. Browne, we talk about her picture book DOROTHY THE BRAVE about WASP Dorothy Lucas, and her other work, INDELIBLE ANN: THE LARGER-THAN-LIFE STORY OF GOVERNOR ANN LUCAS, and THE BEES OF NOTRE DAME, scheduled for release in fall 2023. We also highlight some of the other books for young readers about the WASP, including THE FEARLESS FLIGHTS OF HAZEL YING LEE, by Julie Leung; SKYWARD: THE STORY OF FEMALE PILOTS IN WWII, by Sally Deng; WHAT GRANDMA DID, by Erin Miller; and, of course, the many works by Sarah Byrn Rickman, our most prolific WASP historian. You can find Meghan at her website, www.meghanpbrowne.com.
In this Writers' Room discussion with author Sandy Parks, she shares her journey from traditionally published author to creating her own imprint for self-publishing: True Airspeed Press, and talks about learning to do her own cover designs.
In this interview with author Sandy Parks, we discuss her thriller/suspense novel UNDER THE RADAR: A TAKING RISKS NOVEL. The book features protagonist Joni Bell, who is a helicopter pilot tasked by her South African employer with retrieving critical information from neighboring Zimbabwe. This fast paced read was the April 2022 Aviatrix Book Club discussion book. Sandy is the author of 7 other books. You can find her at her website www.sandyparksauthor.com
If you've already read the book, jump ahead to 10 minutes after she does her reading.
Amy Collins is a Literary Agent with 30 years of experience in the publishing industry. In the introduction to this interview I say that it's focused on traditional publishing, but in the first 30 minutes Amy imparts her wisdom on ALL of the publishing options, so I highly recommend you take a listen if you're considering how to send your baby into the world. In the rest of the interview she shares advice on whether you need an agent, whether you're ready for an agent, and how to find and attract one.
Find Amy on her website: https://amysadvice.com
In this interview with Amy Shira Teitel, author of FIGHTING FOR SPACE, she talks about the research she did to write this dual biography, the proposal process, and the challenges of launching and promoting a book at the start of Covid.
In this interview with historian, author, and host of The Vintage Space YouTube Channel, Amy Shira Teitel, we talk about the fascinating stories of Jerrie Cobb and Jackie Cochran in the context of the early space program, which she writes about in her dual biography, FIGHTING FOR SPACE.
Black history in aviation. In this interview with Casey Grant, one of the first Black women to serve as a flight attendant (stewardess) for Delta, we talk about her successful initiative to designate February 16th as International Black Aviation Day (IBAD), and her books STARS IN THE SKY, STARS AND BEYOND, and its accompanying children's activity book. We also talk about her interview series, The Fly Girl Show on blog talk radio. You can find Casey at www.theflygirl10.net.
In this Writers’ Room conversation with Merryl Tengesdal, the first and only Black woman to fly the U2 reconnaissance aircraft, we talk about what she learned by working with a ghost writer and going the self-publishing route to tell her story. This is a great interview to listen to if you’re someone who has had many people tell you that you should write a book, but you don’t necessarily want to pursue writing as a long-term commitment.
SHATTER THE SKY is the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for January 2022. In this interview with Col. Merryl Tengesdal, USAF (ret.), the first and only Black woman to fly the U2 reconnaissance plane and a contestant on the reality televisions series TOUGH AS NAILS, we talk about growing up in the Bronx, her start in aviation with the Navy, flying H60 helicopters at sea, challenges with supervisors, the difference in Navy and Air Force aviation cultures, the importance of mentoring and how to find mentors, flying the U2 and how to become a U2 pilot, parenting and how it affects career choices, the journey of fostering to adoption, participating in TOUGH AS NAILS, and transition from the military to civilian life.
You can find an article I wrote about her on the Aviatrix Book Review website https://aviatrixbookreview.com/blog/
You can find her at her website https://merryltengesdal.com
Los Angeles 99s Aviatrix Book Club host, Arhynn Descy, and I talk about the 12 books featuring women in aviation we read and discussed this year, and I offer a preview of the 2022 reading list.
In this Writers’ Room interview with Julie Tizard, author of THE ROAD TO WINGS and two other lesbian romance novels, she talks about her writing journey, the incredible support she receives from her publishing company, Bold Strokes, and the ways in which she actively seeks inspiration for her creativity.
In this interview with retired Air Force Colonel and airline pilot, Julie Tizard, we talk about her flying careers and her book, THE ROAD TO WINGS, a lesbian romance novel set in Air Force Flight Training in the early 1990s. This book is the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for December 2021. It incorporates the intensity of military flight training from both the student's and instructor’s perspectives and the high stakes of same-sex relationships in the military at the time.
In this conversation with Kristin L. Gray, author of THE AMELIA SIX and three other children’s books, she talks about her writing and publishing journey, and offers advice for aspiring writers.
In this interview with author Kristin L. Gray, she talks about her middle-grade novel THE AMELIA SIX: AN AMELIA EARHART MYSTERY. Set in Amelia Earhart’s childhood home, this is a fun read for ages 8-12 that incorporates quirky characters, fun facts about Amelia, and the rich history of the Ninety-Nines. It’s also a great book for promoting STEM with young girls and boys (my 9-year-old son loved it.)
The blurb: Amelia Earhart’s famous aviator goggles go missing and eleven-year-old Millie has to find them before the night is over in this girl-powered middle grade mystery.
Eleven-year-old Amelia Ashford—Millie to her friends (if she had any, that is)—doesn’t realize just how much adventure awaits her when she’s given the opportunity of a lifetime: to spend the night in Amelia Earhart’s childhood home with five other girls. Make that five strangers. But Millie’s mom is a pilot like the famous Amelia, and Millie would love to have something to write to her about…if only she had her address.
Once at Amelia’s house in Atchison, Kansas, Millie stumbles upon a display of Amelia’s famous flight goggles. She can’t believe her good luck, since they’re about to be relocated to a fancy museum in Washington, DC. But her luck changes quickly when the goggles disappear, and Millie was the last to see them. Soon, fingers are pointing in all directions, and someone falls strangely ill. Suddenly, a fun night of scavenger hunts and sweets takes a nosedive and the girls aren’t sure who to trust. With a blizzard raging outside and a house full of suspects, the girls have no choice but to band together. It’s up to the Amelia Six to find the culprit and return the goggles to their rightful place. Or the next body to collapse could be one of theirs.
Be sure to check out Kristin’s other books: VELONIA BEEBE TAKES CHARGE (middle-grade fiction), KOALA IS NOT A BEAR (picture book), and ROVER THROWS A PARTY (picture book).
In this continuation of my conversation with author Melody Foreman, we talk more about the co-authoring relationship, her creative process, the business end of publishing, and her advice for writers interested in preserving our aviation history through writing.
In this interview with journalist and author Melody Foreman, we talk about the subject of the Aviatrix Book Club November 2021 discussion book, A SPITFIRE GIRL, Mary Ellis, and her fellow British Air Transport Auxiliary pilots during WWII. Foreman has several other books, either published or forthcoming, featuring WWII topics, including THE WRECK HUNTER: THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN AND THE BLITZ, and her upcoming FROM BATTLE TO THE BIG SCREEN. You can find her at her website, www.melodyforeman.co.uk
In this interview with co-author Adam Sikes, we talk about his journey from U.S. Marine and Intel Analyst to writer, the co-author relationship, book promotion, and other exciting projects he's working on.
In this interview with award winning children's and young adult author, Nancy Roe Pimm, she talks about her writing and publishing journey, working without an agent, and the picture book FLY, GIRL, GLY's success from #PBPitch Wars.
Niloofar Rahmani endured incredible pressures to pursue her dream of flight as the first female fixed wing pilot for the Afghan Air Force. Her co-author, Adam Sikes, did a brilliant job of helping Niloofar tell her story in OPEN SKIES.
While FLY, GIRL, FLY is a beautiful picture book for young readers, this interview is for everyone. Shaesta Waiz, an Afghan refugee, became the youngest woman to fly solo around the world at thirty years old. That mission, with 32 outreach events around the world, was focused on inspiring young people in aviation and STEM and to show them that if you dream it, you can do it. In the interview we talk about Shaesta's childhood, growing up in two worlds as an Afghan refugee in the United States, her solo trip, nineteen year old Zara Rutherford, who is on her voyage to break Shaesta's record, the Aviate with Shaesta podcast, and the current situation in Afghanistan. Nancy Roe Pimm is the author of eight books for young readers, including THE JERRIE MOCK STORY: THE FIRST WOMAN TO FLY SOLO AROUND THE WORLD . . . and there are more to come. We're so grateful to Nancy for her curiosity, enthusiasm, and writing craft to tell the stories of these inspiring women in aviation. And special mention to the artist, Alexandra Bye, whose gorgeous illustrations in this book provide a perfect visual interpretation of the text on the page to spark the imaginations of young readers.
Sherri L. Smith is an award-winning Children’s and Young Adult author who has published ten books. She also writes comics, including Bart Simpson Comics, James Cameron’s Avatar, and most recently, Wonder Woman. Her novel, Flygirl, is the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for September 2021, which imagines a fair-skinned Black girl passing as white to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots in WWII. Her other works that highlight diversity in aviation include Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? –part of the New York Times bestselling Who Was? book series, and The Blossom and the Firefly, about a Japanese Kamikaze pilot in 1945 Japan. You can find her at her website, www.sherrilsmith.com
In this interview with award winning Children's and Young Adult Author, Sherri L. Smith, we talk about her writing journey from short story to novel, the evolution of Flygirl from Master's thesis to published novel, upcoming writing workshops she will facilitate, and her advice for new writers.
You can find her at her website www.sherrilsmith.com
Aviatrix Book Club August 2021 - POSTCARDS FROM THE SKY - Interview with general aviation pilot, author, and Renaissance Woman, Erin Seidemann about her memoir of her flight training and flying escapades, aircraft ownership, and relationships. Find Erin on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ErinSeidemann
In this conversation with Erin Seidemann, author of POSTCARDS FROM THE SKY: ADVENTURES OF AN AVIATRIX, she talks about the editing and publishing process, book promotion, and shares one of her stories that didn’t make it into the book.
In the book portion of my interview with Amber Smith, she talks about how getting outside of her comfort zone to attend graduate school gave her the confidence to write. In this portion, we go more in-depth on what the writing process looked like for her, the editing process, and book promotion.
In this interview with Army combat veteran and Kiowa Warrior helicopter pilot, Amber Smith, we talk about her memoir, DANGER CLOSE: MY EPIC JOURNEY AS A COMBAT HELICOPTER PILOT IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.
I was thrilled to talk with pilot and author Carole Hopson about her gorgeous historical fiction A Pair of Wings about the life of pioneering Aviatrix, Bessie Coleman. Already an Oprah Daily best pick for July 2021, A Pair of Wings is so inspiring and so incredibly well done, it feels as if Carole was hand-picked by the universe to deliver Bessie’s story. As she shares in our interview, she provided the ‘glue’ to hold the biographical facts together with her fictional drawing of Bessie’s interpersonal relationships and emotions, making this feel like a deeply personal memoir. Her exhaustive research is evident throughout the book, to include walking the nine-mile route that Bessie traveled daily, on-foot, to and from her flight school in France to achieve her ambitious dream of flight.
I have been so inspired and fascinated reading about our many women aviation pioneers, but Bessie stands apart with her incredible determination and defiance of every social norm and expectation of her day, not only related to gender, but also race. Carole very skillfully and thoroughly places Bessie in the full context of her times—both within the dawn of aviation and the Great Migration of Blacks from the rural South to the North and West. The characters’ voices ring true and distinct, the descriptions are vivid, and the history cleverly woven through newspapers—"the social media of the time”—and Bessie’s active engagement in the world.
On top of all of the wonderful things I feel about this story, I have to gush about Carole and her vision for this book contributing to a larger mission. Carole is working to raise funds for her One Hundred Pairs of Wings initiative, which will launch this November with a goal of sending 100 Black women through flight training at the Lieutenant Colonel Luke Weathers Junior Flight Academy by the year 2035. This may sound like a small number, but when you consider that there are fewer than 150 licensed Black female pilots in the US, it feels at once achievable and ambitious. 20% of book sales go to support this project.
I share Carole’s big vision and very high hopes for this book. I think it has the potential to be wildly successful and that, unlike Carole, who, even as an aspiring Aviatrix didn’t learn about Bessie until she was in her thirties, every American will know who Bessie Coleman is as a result—that she will become both as iconic and as widely-taught as Amelia Earhart—and that especially our young Black women will be inspired to consider joining us in aviation.
“It begins with girls believing that they can fly.”
In this discussion with author Robin Kardon, writing as R.D. Kardon, she talks about learning the craft of novel writing though San Diego Writers, Ink, how she manages the workload of writing and promoting her books, and offers advice for women in aviation who are considering using their flying experience in writing.
In this interview with author Robin Kardon, we discuss her aviation experience, how she drew on her experiences as the first woman to work for a corporate aviation company, and the themes in her two books: discrimination in the workplace in FLYGIRL, and women's/mental health in ANGEL FLIGHT.
Captain Judy Rice talks about her flying career, the first in a three-book series, INSPIRING WORDS FOR AIR AND SPACE WOMEN, and the upcoming 101 TRAILBLAZING WOMEN IN AIR AND SPACE, available in September 2021.
Author interview with Clare Mulley.
Clare has written three historical biographies including THE WOMAN WHO SAVED THE CHILDREN: A BIOGRAPHY OF EGLANTYNE JEBB, FOUNDER OF SAVE THE CHILDREN; THE SPY WHO LOVED: THE SECRETS AND LIVES OF CHRISTINE GRANVILLE who was Britain’s first female special agent in WWII; and the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for May 2021, THE WOMEN WHO FLEW FOR HITLER: A TRUE STORY OF SOARING AMBITION AND SEARING RIVALRY. She reviews non-fiction for the UK’s Spectator and Telegraph, and has given talks for TedX, the Houses of Parliament, Royal Albert Hall, the Imperial War Museum, the National Army Museum and British Library, as well as many festivals. She has also been featured on BBC television and radio. I highly recommend you check out her book reviews and blog at her at her website, www.claremulley.com.
In this interview, Clare talks about her path to becoming a biographer, what led her to write about these two incredibly complex and fascinating women: Hannah Reitsch and Melitta Stauffenberg, and the trail she followed to uncover their stories. She also talks about her other two books, both of which sound equally fabulous and fascinating.
I am grateful to all of the authors who have chosen to invest their inspiration and tremendous effort to write about women in aviation. Books like this a treasure. As Clare highlights in the interview, Hannah is a well-known historical figure, but we might never have known about Melitta and her unique role in World War II were it not for Clare’s interest, tenacity, and research and writing skills. Everyone with any interest in history, World War II, or aviation should read this book!
In this continuation of my interview with author, Clare Mulley, she talks in more detail about how she came to write biographies, her process, and gives advice for writers interested in pursuing biography writing. Check our her website at www.claremulley.com
Kathy talks about using her journalism experience to write the stories of ten women aviation pioneers, her publishing journey, and offers advice for writers who want to tell the stories of women in aviation history.
Kathy does some readings from her book about ten Australian women aviation pioneers, and talks about writing this gorgeous book that every aviator should read.
Amy Goodpaster Strebe's published her master's thesis 'on a lark' and it launched her into the world of the WASP and Soviet women pilots. She talks about the research, and publishing through a university press.
Amy Goodpaster Strebe is an accomplished journalist and historian whose book Flying for Her Country: The American and Soviet Women Military Pilots of WWII was the first comparative study on these two groups of women. Written as her master's thesis, this work served as her introduction into the WASP and Russian Women Pilots communities, with and for whom she has participated in many events since, including their Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in 2010.
In this portion of my interview with Raquel Ramsey and Tricia Aurand about the book they cowrote together Taking Flight, The Nadine Ramsey story, we talk about their writing process, their support team, and what it was like to publish through a university press.
The third in a series of interviews for Women's History Month highlighting authors whose work features the women who flew for their countries during WWII, we delve into the individual story of a woman who flew for the WASP in the United States. In this interview, Nadine's sister-in-law, Raqui Ramsey, and screenwriter, Tricia Aurand, talk about how they came together on a documentary about Raqui's late husband, Ed Ramsey, who led the last U.S. Army Cavalry charge in U.S. history in the Phillipines during WWII. Tricia was intrigued by Nadine's story, flying on the home front while Ed was behind enemy lines, and Raqui promised Ed she would tell his sister's story, so the two worked together to write and publish Taking Flight: The Nadine Ramsey Story, which they hope to bring to life in a documentary.
You can find out more at their website: www.nadinebramsey.com
Buy the book: TAKING FLIGHT: THE NADINE RAMSEY STORY
In this interview, author Sarah Byrn Rickman shares the history of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron and the Women Air Service Pilots who flew for the U.S. during World War II. Sarah has immersed herself with the remaining WAFS and WASP for over twenty years through the fortune of her connection with the International Women's Air and Space Museum. She arrived in their midst as an established journalist, and has made it her mission to preserve their stories for posterity. She has published ten books so far featuring these amazing stories. Her knowledge is so vast and so deep that we talked for over two hours. I did my best to edit this to an hour, with one interruption for an editorial note. She's written many smaller pieces about the WAFS and WASP, which you can find in her blog at www.sarahbyrnrickman.com
In this Writers’ Room talk, Julie Holmes shares her writing journey, how she established her author platform through her blog, Facets of a Muse, the benefits she’s experienced having an agent and going the traditional publishing route, and offers advice to aspiring writers who want to develop their craft.
In this interview, Julie Holmes starts us off by reading Chapter One of her aircraft mechanic mystery thriller, Murder in Plane Sight, and ends with a teaser for book two in the Sierra Bauer series, which is still a work in progress. Skip ahead to 12 minutes if you’ve already read the book. If you haven’t, I give you a Spoiler Alert when we get to the Book Club Talk.
You can find Julie at her blog, Facets of a Muse
Welcome to March—Women’s History Month! In this interview, I talk with NYT #1 Best-Seller, Elizabeth Wein, about her flying adventures, her books, and the history of the women who flew their countries during WWII on the European Front, including the British Air Transport Auxiliary, the Russian Night Witches, and the Luftwaffe test pilots. You can find her many books on her website, www.elizabethwein.com and hundreds of books featuring women in aviation history on the Aviatrix Book Review website www.aviatrixbookreview.com.
In addition to the many books written about the Russian Night Witches, for a lively and engaging audio presentation of this history, I highly recommend The Night Witches podcast
Episode 8 of the Women of War Podcast, is also excellent
In this Writer’s Room discussion, Elizabeth Wein shares how her ideas come together within historical context, her agent relationship and the value it has offered her as a writer, writing Code Name Verity and how it became a #1 NYT Best Seller eight years after publication, and offers advice to aspiring and working writers. Find Elizabeth at her website www.elizabethwein.com. Join us in the Aviatrix Writers' group on Facebook, and check out the Aviatrix Book Review Writers' Room.
Lauren Kessler is the author of 15 books, Director of the TransAtlantic Storytelling workshop, and Affiliate Professor, teaching storytelling and social change, at the University of Washington. She particularly enjoys working with groups of people (like us) whose special isn't necessarily writing, but who have an important story to tell. Among her many books, she is the author of the THE WRITE PATH: ESSAYS ON THE ART OF WRITING AND THE JOY OF READING.
*Spoiler Alert**
Lauren is the author of 15 books ranging on topics from Pancho to ballet, prison life to Alzheimer’s. She has immersed herself in these worlds and others to reveal them to us through her writing. Lauren talks about the challenges of researching this legendary, larger-than-life Aviatrix, a character from our rich history that everyone in aviation should get to know.
If you already know Pancho's story, then we don't spoil too much for you in this interview. We do get into her later years, though, which you may want to learn about by reading the book first. I give a warning when we're headed in that direction.
In this interview, Air Force Academy graduate and recently retired airline pilot, Patty Bear, talks about her writing, the craft of memoir, and the details of editing, self-publishing, creating the audio book, and promoting, FROM PLAIN TO PLANE: MY MENNONITE CHILDHOOD, A NATIONAL SCANDAL, AND AN UNCONVENTIONAL SOAR TO FREEDOM.
You can find Patty at her author page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorPattyBear
And at her website: www.theflyingclub.com
For a more in-depth interview with Patty, listen to the Onward Podcast episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/from-plain-to-plane-journey-from-mennonite-childhood/id1465324726?i=1000504259717
In this interview, Air Force Academy graduate and recently retired airline pilot, Patty Bear, talks about her upcoming book, FROM PLAIN TO PLANE: MY MENNONITE CHILDHOOD, A NATIONAL SCANDAL, AND AN UNCONVENTIONAL SOAR TO FREEDOM. The book will be available on February 23rd.
You can find Patty at her author page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorPattyBear
And at her website: www.theflyingclub.com
For a more in-depth interview with Patty, listen to the Onward Podcast episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/from-plain-to-plane-journey-from-mennonite-childhood/id1465324726?i=1000504259717
Meagan Davis @womenrockwings is a Captain in the Air Force Reserve Chaplain Corps and a new private pilot. She comes from Brooklyn, Southern, and Bajan roots (her father was from Barbados—where I spent two years of my Coast Guard career). She is the founder of Women Rock Wings—an initiative to inspire and connect women in aviation, and to virtually connect women-in-training in study groups to capitalize on the collective knowledge and experience of women learning to fly. She’s been on social media recently, connecting several different initiatives, and, in particular, highlighting Black women in aviation who are making their history right now. In this interview, Meagan and I talk about how storytelling in new media compliments the tradition of books as a medium for inspiring the future of aviation. And she’s giving away a headset this month!
Full interview with Sarah Boutte including her flying career, picture books, middle grade novel WILLOW JAMES AND THE QUEEN OF U'I'S CROWN, and her writing and self-publishing journey.
If you're a woman writing in aviation, please join us in the Writers' Room at www.aviatrixbookreview.com and in the Aviatrix Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/aviatrixwriters
Helicopter Pilot Sarah Boutte talks about her flying career, her picture books, and her middle grade fantasy adventure novel, WILLOW JAMES AND THE QUEEN OF U'I'S CROWN.
Check out the Aviatrix Book Review website for more children's books featuring women and girls in aviation: www.aviatrixbookreview.com
A brief excerpt from my interview with Erika about her book A CHICK IN THE COCKPIT. Erika talks about her writing background, what she's writing now, and plans to self-publish her next book.
Captain Linda Pauwels on Beyond Haiku: Pilots Write Poetry, and her upcoming project Women Pilots Write Poetry. She’s requesting submissions! Proceeds will go to support scholarships for women pursuing flying careers.
Captain Linda Pauwels is calling on women pilots from the four corners of the world to submit poetry for her second book Beyond Haiku: Women Pilots Write Poetry.
The themes in this book will be 1) On Strength and Endurance, 2) On Radiance and Beauty, 3) On Love of Flying, and 4) On Finding Balance. Vignettes on Blood Ties will feature poetry from mothers, daughters, and sisters who fly. And of course, a good dose of wry pilot humor is always welcome!
Like the first book, Beyond Haiku: Pilots Write Poetry, this will be a shared creative effort, with all illustrations by children of pilots. Proceeds from the book will go to fund scholarships for young women who dream of a professional career as a pilot.
Please submit a maximum of three original, unpublished haiku or short poems before March 31, 2021. Send them to pilots.haiku@gmail.com in an attached Word document. Include your name, city and country, and current flying assignment.
Captain Linda Pauwels
B787 Check Airman, American Airlines
www.beyondhaiku.com
@beyondhaiku #beyondhaiku @pilotina_official #pilotina @latinasinaviation #latinasinaviation #pilotpoetry @sharon.darrow #vcfawcya #vcfa
Aviatrix Book Club - January 2021 - Author interview with Erika Armstrong, A CHICK IN THE COCKPIT *SPOILER ALERT*
All-around aviation professional, and prolific aviation writer, Erika Armstrong, reads an excerpt from A CHICK IN THE COCKPIT, before we get into the details. In a proper book club talk, we discuss the hard stuff she shared in the book, career and life balance, women pilots and horses, book clubs, the word 'Chick', and end on a high note, offering some encouraging words for pilots and pilots-in-training affected by Covid.
If you haven't read the book, and plan to, consider waiting to listen to the whole interview. You can jump to the time markers below to avoid spoilers.
Intro and Welcome
01:27 - Erika reads an excerpt from the book
08:05 - Spoiler Alert, then we talk about the hard stuff
25:35- Book Club Warriors - the heroes of the story (Spoilers in this portion)
26:41 - Women pilots and horses (Green light- no spoilers here)
28:12 - Why the word "Chick"? (Green light)
29:37 - Where is Erika now, personally and professionally? (Green light)
33:45 - Erika offers encouraging words about the aviation industry's rebound from Covid. Hang in there! (Green light)
Find Erika everywhere @achickinthecockpit achickinthecockpit.com
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Liz Booker transitioned to full-time writer in 2019 after a 28-year career as a Coast Guard helicopter pilot and foreign diplomat. She holds a Master in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She continues to fly recreationally, pursuing an extensive aviation bucket-list—a.k.a. ‘research’.