WP11: The downs, ups, and downs of being Black in Aviation: Pioneering Black flight attendant and author Casey Grant talks about how cab drivers wouldn’t even pick her up to get to her flights, the glamour of meeting celebrities, and the drama of dealing

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Aviatrix Writers’ Room interview with best-selling author Sara Ackerman, she shares how she went from three rejected, unpublished novels to finding an agent and becoming the successful author of six acclaimed historical fiction novels centered on Hawaiian history, including her latest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