Hi! My name is crystal fletcher and welcome to a special episode of all about books. To celebrate the Dirty Birds Canada Reads World Tour, I’m delighted to have Morgan Murray as a guest.

Did you know...Morgan grew up on a farm near the same backwoods central Alberta village as figure-skating legend Kurt Browning? (I didn't!) He now lives in the backwoods of Cape Breton. His debut novel Dirty Birds was longlisted for CBC Canada Reads (a VERY BIG deal!) It was published by Breakwater Books.

Dirty Birds is a coming-of-age story, set during the 2008 recession. It follows a young man Milton Ontario who decides to leave his hometown Bellybutton, Saskatchewan and move to Montreal to pursue fame & fortune as a poet and to find his beloved idol Leonard Cohen. 

Oh my goodness! what a ride...I giggled and tee-heed my way through this novel. 

To learn more about Morgan

Hi! My name is crystal fletcher and welcome to this week’s episode of all about books. This week, I’m delighted to have Heather Babcock as a guest. Heather is a poet, short fiction writer and we’ll be discussing her debut novel Filthy Sugar which was published by Inanna Publications.

Picture this...Filthy Sugar is set in the mid-1930’s and follows the story of a voluptuous nineteen-year-old red-head named Wanda Whittle. A chance encounter with the mysterious proprietor of the Apple Bottom burlesque theatre thrusts Wanda into a world of glitter and grit. She soon morphs into the Wanda Wiggles—who is “sweeter than a strawberry Sunday and taster than a deep-dish apple pie.”

And I can assure you, Filthy Sugar is just as delicious as it sounds...

If you are interested in 1920's and 30's pop culture, Heather's blog Meet Me at the Soda Fountain is "The Bees Knees." To learn more about Heather

To learn more about this lovely Newfoundlander or to purchase one of Donna's books

Listen to Carol Rose read from The Narrows of Fear (Wapawikoscikanik) It gave me goose bumps!

Hi! My name is crystal fletcher and welcome to this week’s episode of crystal’s all about books. I’m pleased to have writer, editor and activist Dr. Nora Gold with me today. She is the prize-winning author of three books. We’ll be discussing Dr. Gold's most recent novel The Dead Man which was published by Inanna Publications. 

"She's never been obsessed before"...that's the opening line of Dr. Gold's novel. What a fantastic  way to kick off a sensible, intelligent music therapist and composer Eve's haunting tale of loss and love.

To learn more about Dr. Nora Gold

To learn more about Kevin 

If you'd like to go on a murder mystery hike with Sebastian and his son

Today's guest on all about books is Anne Stone. Anne teaches creative writing and literature at Capilano University.  She has written four books and we’ll be discussing her latest Girl Minus X. 

The world is collapsing around fifteen-year-old Danny and her five-year-old sister due to a memory eroding virus. The sisters are on the edge of their own personal apocalypse--separation at the hands of child services. To survive Dany faces a series of devastating choices: Can she make the dangerous attempt to break her aunt out of the prison-hospice? And, just how much is Dany willing to sacrifice to ensure her sister and her friends survive?

You'll have to read it to find out what happens! But in the interim, be sure to watch our interview. 

So fun to chat with Anne. To learn more about her, 

Girl Minus X was published by Wolsak and Wynn.

​On all about books today's guest is a ‘retired oil guy,’ poet, photographer, documentary film maker, and energy and climate change columnist Ross Belot. We discussed his latest poetry collection Moving to Climate Change Hours which was published by Wolsak and Wynn. 

As the title suggests, his collection contemplates the end of the oil industry and the urgency for change. Ross' working man poems knocked me into a stunned silence. You won't want to miss his powerful reading of First Day. It's is a work poem from Gulf Oil Refinery, Clarkson, ON, 1979.

It was a pleasure speaking with Ross. If you'd like to learn more about Ross, I highly recommend visiting his website where you'll find fantastic video poetry readings and the stories behind the poems. 

I was delighted to interview Gerard Collins on all about books. Gerard is an award-winning author, an educator, he’s led writing workshops and retreats in Canada, the US and Europe. We chatted about his 3rd book, The Hush Sisters which I couldn't read fast enough because I was dying to know how it ended! Here's what it's about...

Sissy and Ava Hush are estranged. With both parents dead, they have to decide what to do about the house they've inherited. This proves to be difficult because they can't agree AND. they're dealing with a house full of dark secrets and sinister forces. Do the sisters face these forces together or are they ripped apart forever?

To learn more about Gerard

The Hush Sisters was published by Breakwater Books

How does the fiddle inspire Prairie Métis author Michelle Porter? Let's find out...

On today's episode of all about books I had the pleasure of speaking with Michelle Porter. Michelle is a poet, a journalist and a writer. In her debut novel, Approaching Fire, Michelle embarks on quest to find her great-grandfather, the Métis fiddler and performer, Léon Robert Goulet. It was published by Breakwater Books.

To learn more about Michelle and to purchase  a copy of her novel