Heads in the Clouds - Women in the Air

Heart of Excellence!

2010-12-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

Flying Free

won the

2110 Heart of Excellence
Readers Choice Award

in the Strong Romantic Elements Category!

And the Ancient City Romance Authors

(RWA Chapter in St. Augustine, Florida)

sent me this gorgeous trophy.

The only thing better would have been there to pick it up in person.

I think ACRA must have known that when I lived in the Keys

I loved to stay in St. Augustine and walk the old city

and the beach on my way to the North.

Flying Free by Amber Polo

(Treble Heart Books)

Can a meat eating Texas advertising woman find love with a vegetarian Buddhist and get her pilot's license despite interference from her wacky Arizona airpark neighbors?

Reviews

"...profound and high recommendation for general fiction readers searching for a quirky romance." Midwest Book Review

“[Polo] puts puts two complete opposites together and stirs the plot with a healthy dollop of conflict…Her amazing gift of creating vivid images with only a few words such as "When the cake was crumbs ..." is awesome. …a powerful, and sensually written, very heart-warming story that I'm certain will keep you turning the pages to find out the ending.” Long and Short Reviews

“Have you ever read a book that entertained and opened your eyes to new and interesting facts? If not then I suggest you take a look at this one. A nifty, sweet story filled with planes, airpark life and a super sexy vegan Buddhist that anyone would find hard to resist. A heart warming tale about discovering what is really important in life.....sometimes a little later than you had hoped, but finding it just the same. Creative, quirky characters really set this story alive and give it a spark. Good work Ms. Polo a true enjoyment :)” Seriously Reviewed

“Flying Free is a light and pleasant read. Spiritually pure Seth meets and falls for "let's get this job over with and get outta here" Lia. There are villains. There is mystery. And there is love that overcomes all. What I enjoyed about the book is the caring group of folks in the second half of life who live on Airpark Mesa near Sedona. It is there that Lia must learn to fly in order to inherit her late father's estate. The Airpark folks, whose passion is flying, building and maintaining small planes, seem very real. I was surprised to find myself learning interesting bits about the camaraderie of those who eat and sleep flying. There are villains. There is mystery. And there is love that overcomes all.” Story Circle Book Reviews, reviewing books by, for, and about women

Read an except

Purchase in Print
and e-formats.

For more information visit my website!

Logo by Connie Lee Marie

Sandra K. Marshall - from TWA Overhaul to Romance Mystery Writer

2010-02-14T08:14:00.007-07:00

Welcome mystery romance author, Sandra K. Marshall.
SKM: Thank you for having me here, Amber.

AMBER: Sandra, tell me about your relationship to flying and aviation.
SKM: I worked 36 years for Trans World Airlines (TWA) and retired in 1999 to write full time. The first ten years at TWA was spent at the administration building in data entry. In 1973, I was promoted to maintenance coordinating clerk at the Kansas City overhaul base.A few years later, I was promoted to work controller in building II (engine overhaul) where I worked for four years before getting bumped to the building I shops.

I arrived at the overhaul base during a time when women weren’t considered equal to men (still aren’t in my opinion). My first indicator of this was when my boss, while I was a maintenance coordinating clerk, gave me my yearly evaluation and raise. This man treated me like a daughter, and he told me that I was doing a good job even better than some of the guys. Did you hear but? Lol He told me that because the men had families to support he had to give them the bigger raises. Back then I didn’t fight for my rights like I do today.

Over in building II, I worked with a planner who didn’t want a woman work controller. He thought women should be teachers (his wife was a teacher), secretaries or in an office environment. This guy told me if I wasn’t able to pick up a heavy hub by myself that I shouldn’t be a work controller. I did it to prove to him I could. Later, I was shown a notice by one of the lead mechanics telling everyone they weren’t to pick up parts over a certain weight by themselves. They were supposed to have two people lift them.

As a work controller in building I hangar, my supervisor believed women were every bit as capable of higher positions as men (he had several daughters). He became my mentor, and I appreciated the extra jobs he gave me to demonstrate my capabilities. There were a lot of good people at the overhaul base and just a few rotten apples.

In the last positions I held at TWA, I was responsible for keeping track of the paperwork that proved the maintenance on parts and planes were completed per FAA requirements. The paperwork was checked and rechecked by many people before it was put away. TWA always went above the guidelines for maintenance set by the FAA.

AMBER: What kinds of books do you like to read, Sandra?
SKM:The books I like best are mystery romances.

AMBER: What are your favorite flying books?
SKM: For flying related books, I would choose anything about the life of Amelia Earhart. She was a wonderful role model for all young women. Anyone who happens to be visiting the Kansas City area might like to visit the Airline History Museum. Nearby in Atchison, Kansas is the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum

AMBER: Sandra, tell us about your books.
SKM: Amber, I have written so many books over the years that haven’t been published. One day, I’ll go back to the book of my heart that is set at the overhaul base. The first book, I had published was The Catalyst. Carolyn Madison was raped by her husband, and then divorced him. She has to learn to deal with her experience and to take charge of her life including the running of her family’s riverboat casinos. This is a family women’s fiction heavy with mystery and romance.
My latest book is Addiction.the second book in a trilogy and is about Carolyn’s oldest daughter.

Jolene Dubois, a gorgeous woman, who has huge self-esteem issues along with alcohol addiction. Jolene is head of marketing at her family owned riverboat casino. Unknowing to her, she has caught the attention of a serial killer.

The hero is Jake Farrell, a blue-eyed, black-haired Irishman. He has been following a serial killer through several states, but has always been one step behind him. It is Jake’s goal to teach Jolene to love and respect herself while trying to keep her alive.

My next book is a follow up to Addiction and is titled, The Deceived. It’s about Jolene’s sister, Melanie. Mel isn’t happy with what the riverboat casinos are doing to people. She wants to save them from their gambling addiction. She joins a group of protestors that picket in front of the casinos.

AMBER: Thanks so much, Sandra, for visiting Heads in the Clouds.

SKM: Once again, thanks for having me, Amber. This brought some good and bad memories back for me.

Sandra K. Marshall belongs to three writing organizations, Romance Writers of America (RWA), Mid-America Romance Authors (MARA) and Wisconsin RWA (WISRWA). She describes her writing career as difficult, long and tedious. After twenty years she has found a home and a fantastic editor.
To learn more about Sandra K Marshall, visit her website
Or her blog

Addiction can be purchased as an ebook from Eirelander Publishing It will be available in print March 1st.

Enter Sandra's Valentine's Day Contest!

Answer two questions

For a chance to win!

Jill Rutan Hoffman - Makes and Writes Aviation History

2010-02-06T10:06:00.001-07:00

Welcome, Jill Rutan Hoffman, aviation author and solo pilot!

AMBER: Tell me about your relationship with flying and the aviation community.
JRH: Growing up in the Rutan family has gave a unique opportunity to see the impossible made possible. I understand the importance of nurturing the Rutan’s spirit of exploration for the next generation of adventurers. I am constantly on the lookout for others with the desire and the knowhow to take that next big step into the unknown.
AMBER: Tell me about your books.
JRH: First Flights In classic “There I was …” style, the pilot-penned tales in First Flights will take you along as the authors vividly describe their most thrilling aviation firsts. First Flights will transport you to space in the Shuttle for the first-ever docking with the Mir Space Station. You’ll journey around the world in the milestone-setting Voyager aircraft and Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon. You’ll jet to the edge of the atmosphere in the X-15 rocket plane. And you’ll hang on the edge of your seat as you relive test flights of homebuilt airplanes. These true stories, and many others, written by the pilots themselves, will have you wondering how they found the courage to accomplish their “first flights,” and are sure to inspire you to pursue your own.

Oshkosh Memories There is a common passion for flying that bonds EAA members and aviation buffs and draws them to the annual gather in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, known as AirVenture Oshkosh. In Oshkosh Memories, you'll share in the experiences of celebrities and devoted attendees of the "Wold's Greatest Fly-In". From the first-timer to the old-timer, airshow performer to homebuilder, the thoroughly entertaining stories will touch all of your emotions as you become a part of the Experimental Aircraft Association's "annual family reunion".

Proceeds from the sales of both books go to sending deserving young adults to space and aviation camps across the country.

AMBER: What kind of books do you like to read?
JRH: I read mostly historical or political books.
AMBER: What's your favorite "flying" book?
JRH: Hard to pick just one ; The Bishop's Boys by Tom D. Crouch, Misty by Major Gen Don Shepperd, USAF (Ret), Voyager by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager with Phil Patton
AMBER: What are you writing now?
JRH: I would love to write about what it was like growing up as a member of the Rutan family but haven't started anything officially yet.
AMBER: I know we would all love to read that book. Thanks for visiting and for your work for aviation and young people.

Jill Rutan Hoffman is the perfect person to author First Flights. As the daughter of world famous pilot, Dick Rutan, and niece of revolutionary aeronautical designer, Burt Rutan, Jill has had the unique opportunity to witness many aviation firsts. From the milestone-setting Voyager flight of 1986 to the X-Prize winning spaceflights of SpaceShipOne, Jill has had a ringside seat to modern civilian aviation history.

Jill has also lived at the leading edge of military aviation with her husband, Colonel Lars Hoffman, a United States Air Force Test Pilot. Jill and Lars along with their two daughters, Noelle and Haley, have traveled the world during their 20+ years in the Air Force. Through donations and mentorship, Jill actively supports organizations that offer opportunities for young adults to experience the world of aviation and space exploration.

Visit Jill Rutan Hoffman's website

Buy Jill's books

and help introduce young people to aviation!

Jull Rutan Hoffman with Dick Rutan.

Kathleen Rodgers, Award-Winning Novelist, Writes About Military Families

2010-01-24T14:00:00.001-07:00

Welcome Kathleen M. Rodgers, award winning novelist of The Final Salute!

Tell me about your relationship with flying and the aviation community.

I'm a writer married to a pilot. We've been married 30 years. Although I am not a pilot, I have always been intrigued by pilots and aviation in general. Tom retired from the Air Force in 1991 and currently flies for American Airlines out of Dallas/Fort Worth airport.

Congratulations on winning the Silver Medal from the Military Writers Society of America, for Historical Fiction Tell me about your book The Final Salute: Together We Live On

In my debut novel, The Final Salute, I write about the aftermath of plane crashes, the tight bond between military pilots, and how crewmembers and military families cope after terrible tragedies. The story is based on the years I spent as a military wife married to an Air Force fighter pilot. I was twenty-one years old when I married into the world of military aviation. A world I thought was full of parties at the Officer s Club, the roar of jet engines, and a place where my husband and the other pilots lived on the edge of the envelope at a speed faster than the rest of us.

Early in my marriage, I learned about the other side of military aviation. The side that nobody likes to talk about when a plane goes down. When a hush goes over a squadron of men like a black pall because earth and sky have collided and one of their brothers isn’t coming home. A young wife is widowed, a child left fatherless, an older couple s hopes for their son destroyed in a fireball. In one year alone, my husband and I lost eleven friends in air mishaps. And this was during peacetime. But the crashes kept coming, and the death toll rose. We toasted the dead and partied on. I learned to accept two things about my husband s career choice: His job could kill him, and he loved every minute of it.

When I started writing The Final Salute sixteen years ago, my goal was to give a voice to the men who perished flying for their country and the women and children they left behind. But my novel is not all doom and gloom. In the story, seasoned fighter pilot Tuck Westerfield, a Vietnam Vet and father of three, must deal with a devious commander, an animal-crazy neighbor whose husband hates pilots, a beautiful but suspicious wife, and a rebellious teenage daughter. The last thing he needs is another war. But when Iraq invades Kuwait in the middle of a muggy Louisiana summer, duty calls.

What kind of "flying" books do you like to read?
Here's a short list of some of my favorite aviation themed books: Stranger To The Ground by Richard Bach, The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth, The Left Seat by Robert J. Serling, The Great Santini by Pat Conroy, and The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe

What are you writing now?
I am currently at work on another novel called "Johnnie Come Lately." This book is a mid-life coming of age about a woman named Johnnie Kitchen. The books deals with such themes as eating disorders, infidelity, loss and hope and healing. This book is very different from The Final Salute, but both deal with family relationships.
http://www.kathleenmrodgers.com/buybook.html

Thanks for visiting and sharing

Native New Mexican Kathleen M. Rodgers followed her husband from base to base in his twenty-year career as an Air Force fighter pilot. Growing up in Clovis, NM, home of Cannon Air Force Base, the author and her two sisters vowed they would never date "those base apes." All three sisters married Air Force service members.

The mother of two grown sons, Thomas and J.P., Kathleen lives in Colleyville, TX, with her husband, Tom, and Chocolate Lab, Bubba. Her work has appeared in Family Circle Magazine, Air Force, Army & Navy Times, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Albuquerque Journal, Clovis News Journal, Daedalus Flyer, and in the poetry anthology "Because I Fly," The Final Salute: Together We Live On won the Silver Medal from the Military Writers Society of America, 2009 for Historical Fiction.

“Rodgers' portrait is loving and frank at the same time… this is a deep book - not a flattering Top Gun biopic…She turns clichés upside down - the big-haired, over-blown lady living next door turns out to be a kind-hearted, animal loving, smart business-woman. The sullen Goth-girl turns out to be a sweet-natured, eager-to-please big sister to her young step-brothers. The status climbing wives' social clubs turn out to be supportive and caring networks that hold everyone together during trying times. … The big and the strong sometimes don't live up to their shiny images, those who struggle to serve two taskmasters sometimes fail and sometimes win -- and sometimes defy the odds. Readable, intimate, tender - highly recommended.” Joyce Faulkner, President of Military Writers Society of America

Visit Kathleen M. Rodgers Website
and watch video interviews about her book

Diana Cosby - From Navy Meteorologist to Writing Hot Medieval Scottish Romance

2010-01-16T19:11:00.001-07:00

Welcome Diana Cosby, author of hot Scottish romances.

Tell me about your relationship with flying and aviation.
I'm not a pilot, but I'm a retired AGC(AW), which means I was a Navy meteorologist/oceanographer. Throughout my career, I briefed numerous naval aircraft, including worked on the flight briefing desk during Operation Desert Storm in Spain. I also was a weather observer for three months at Midway Island. Now, I write Scottish medieval romantic suspense set in the Braveheart era.

How did your first career lead to your second?

Being a Navy Chief Meteorologist/ Oceanographer allowed me to pursue my passion—writing romance novels. With 31 moves behind me and having traveled through many more countries, I was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people I’ve met over the years.

What are you writing now?
I'm working on the 4th book in the MacGruder brothers series. Book Three will be released in November 2010.

My years of living in Europe drew me to write in the medieval time frame. After watching the movie Braveheart and with my passion for writing complex plots, I knew I had to write in this volatile medieval timeframe, hence the MacGruder brothers were born.

"Cosby delivers a medieval battle-of-wills romance designed (for) those who enjoy good repartee, 13th-century backdrop...and sensuality." Romantic Times

Diana's Awards

His Woman is a finalist historical category Maggie Awards for Published Romance Novelists!

Diana on the cover & interviewed as the feature story in the Jul/Aug Texoma Living Mag

Read Isn't It Romantic review/interview - a site out of Italy written in English/Italian here.

His Woman placed 3rd in the historical category of Judge A Book By It's Cover!

His Woman received 4 1/2 hearts from Love Romances & More

His Captive placed 3rd in the 2008 Laurel Wreath Contest!

His Captive placed 3rd in the More Than Magic Contest!

Diana is a proud member of RomVets (military women who've turned the sword into a pen) I have an amazing family and am proud of, my husband who recently retired from the Navy after 24 years, my oldest son who is serving in the Marine Corps, my daughter who is attending college, and our youngest who will begin college in a couple of years.

"I have many passions in life, but one that resonates in my life is that of giving. I firmly believe that each of us can make a positive difference in another person’s life. There are so many charities that I believe in. With each book I sell, I will tithe ten percent of my royalties to a charity of my choice. The first charity I've chosen is The National Trust for Scotland, which acts as guardian of Scotland’s magnificent heritage of architectural, scenic and historic treasures. Without the National Trust for Scotland, many of Scotland’s historical wonders would be lost."

Visit Diana Cosby's Website

Romance Edged with Danger

"Flyabout" Australia with Monika Petrillo's Film

2010-01-04T16:58:00.001-07:00

Welcome Monika Petrillo, pilot and filmmaker who combined her two passions to make the documentary film "Flyabout. Ir tells the story about her journey circumnavigating the continent of Australia in a single-engine plane with her dad. The film premiered in the South By Southwest Film Festival and has been featured at Air Venture in Oshkosh for the past two years.

Monika, tell me about your relationship with flying and the aviation community.
I never planned on being a pilot. Growing up in Germany where flying is a hobby reserved for only the rich, it never occurred to me that I could fly a plane. But when I was 24 years old, I found myself chatting with a guy at a party who turned out to be a flight instructor in Van Nuys. Once I learned that for only $50 I could go up in an airplane, I had to try it. And as soon as I was looking down on the swimming pools of the San Fernando Valley, I was hooked. I remember laying in bed that night thinking “This is crazy. I have no money, and this is going to be very difficult, but you know what? If I can do this, if I can get a pilot’s license despite the fact that it is expensive, difficult and crazy, I have really proven to myself, that I am in charge of my life, and I can do whatever I want.” – Four weeks later I was the proud owner of a pilot’s license.

Then I told my father (who lives in Germany) about this decision, and he surprised me by admitting that he was in fact “really envious”. I couldn’t believe it! For the first time ever he shared his own dream of flying. And a year later he came to Los Angeles for five weeks and got his pilot’s license, at age 58!

Tell me about how Flyabout came to be filmed.

Once we both had pilot’s licenses, we realized that this would now also allow us to visit Australia, another dream of ours, and see all of the country (as opposed just the East Coast) within a few weeks. As soon as we found a company that organized a flying tour around the continent, we booked it.
Now, completely unrelated to all this, I had been itching to make a movie for years. I make my money working on other people’s films as a script supervisor (sort of an assistant to the director in charge of keeping continuity between the individual scenes, following along in the script, preparing notes for the editor etc.), and I felt that it was time to tell a story of my own. As I was packing for Australia, it suddenly hit me: This story, the one I was about to enter, was the one I had to tell. So I bought a video camera, watched a few other documentaries and simply began filming…

When you make a documentary film the writing, the creating of the story, happens after the filming as you assemble your footage in the editing room. At the time I left for my journey I had a rough idea of what I wanted the movie to be about, but I also quickly learned that when you film real life, things don’t always turn out as you expect.

I returned with 25 hours of video footage and no idea of what the story was I was going to tell. Since I hadn't found what I had set out to find (this elusive spiritual experience), I had to dig deeper and discover what I had learned instead - a process which took seven years.

What's your favorite "flying" book?

I love all of Richard Bach’s books. In fact I had read them all, long before I even had a pilot’s license. “The Bridge Across Forever” is maybe my favorite book. Aside from that, I enjoyed reading Beryl Markham’s “West With The Night” and Rinker Buck’s “Flight of Passage” (more than one person has pointed out the parallels of that book to my movie, including Rinker himself)

What are you writing now?

I’m not sure yet. I would like to write a screenplay next, a fictional story, possibly about a woman pilot. Or maybe a novel… As soon as my two young children demand a tiny bit less of my time, I’ll decide. My goal for this year was to get back in the air after 6 years of not flying, and I’ve achieved that. So I’m happy.

FULL DISCLOSURE!

I purchased a copy of Flyabout and showed it to a few of my airpark neighbors. We all loved the film and appreciated Monika as an honest and brave film maker.

Now that the film is released all over the world, how does your father feel about how you portrayed your relationship?

Maybe you should ask HIM that question :-) Well, I think it is fair to say that the whole experience was a challenging one for both of us. Neither one of us had anticipated these kinds of difficulties. And because we had never had a real argument with each other before, we weren't at all equipped to deal with it. So it was twice as emotional.

I believe my father would say that the film only tells my version of what happened, but he also realizes that's all it can, and should, tell since it is my movie. I believe he would also agree with me that there was no "Hollywood happy end" possible right at the end of the trip; that we both needed to do a lot of thinking first; that it was the many long letters we wrote back and forth in the months following that helped us understand each other and eventually move on.

When the film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, he surprised me by flying in from Germany. I couldn't believe it. It was so great to be able to face my first Q&A audience together with him. And when that audience asked that same question of him, he got a bit emotional, and before you knew it, we both were crying in front of a full theater. It was very powerful, and in a way I felt like those people had all just witnessed the third act of my story. My dad and I had come full circle.

Born in Munich, Germany, Monika Petrillo moved to the United States in 1991 and has established herself as a highly respected and acclaimed script supervisor in the industry. She has worked alongside directors such as Robert Rodriguez, Richard Linklater, Wolfgang Petersen and Tony Bui.

Her personal and professional travels have taken her to far-flung destinations like Namibia, Japan, Costa Rica and Vietnam. A life-long adventurer Monika earned her pilot’s license at age 24 and soon thereafter set out to fulfill a dream of flying around Australia.

Monika lives in South Pasadena, CA with her husband and two small children. Working as writer, director, DP, editor and producer, Flyabout marks her directorial debut. Continuing down the path of a one-woman-production, Monika is self-distributing her DVD.

Read more about Flyabout
watch a trailer,
book a screening
buy the DVD

on Monika's Website

12 Days of an Airpark Christmas

2009-12-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

12 Days of an Airpark Christmas

Twelve runway lights

Eleven perfect landings

Ten guys a-sipping

Nine props a-spinning

Eight tractors mowing

Seven neighbors walking

Six friends a-flying

Five A-ron-ca Champs

Four Piper Cubs

Three pot-lucks

Two water wells

And a Lear jet un-der the tree

Amber Polo in collaboration with

Liz Stark and Heidi Battello

Ready to Fly Off to a Caribbean Island for Christmas?

A Magic Santa brings Caribbean Christmas Joy

Marti Bell is facing the prospect of a very unmerry Christmas. Reluctantly, leaving her married lover she travels toward ice, snow, and judgmental family until a magic Santa sends her to a surprise destination in the warm waters of the Caribbean.

Wherever Island would be a winter paradise except the only place to stay is the beachside cottage of romantic globetrotting photographer Cliff Holmes. Cliff wants to unwind and treat Marti to a little romantic Caribbean Christmas fun but she’s determined to stay in the warm ocean and out of hot water.

Watch the Christmas on Wherever Island book video

*************

“Not only is the setting sensational, the hero will sweep you off your feet…this is one story I can read every Christmas season. …a great happily ever after story.”
A “You Gotta Read” from You Gotta Read Reviews. Reviewed by Roberta

Buy the
Christmas on Wherever Island
ebook

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE OUR AIRPARk CHRISTMAS

2009-12-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Twas the night before Christmas and out on the ramp,
Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ.
The aircraft were tucked in their hangars with care
In hopes that come morning they’d be back in the air.

When the radio lit up with noise and with chatter,
Marv turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice heard clearly over static and snow
Asked for clearance to land at our airpark below.

He barked his transmission so lively and quick,
Marv swore that the call sign must be “St. Nick.”
When he called his position, no room for denial,
“St. Nicholas One turnin’ left onto final.”

And what to Marv’s wondering eyes should appear,
A Rutan-built sleigh with eight Rotax reindeer.
With vectors to final, down the glideslope it came,
As the pilot in charge called each reindeer’s name,

“Now Cessna! Now Sonix! Now RV and Mooney!
On Comet! On Cupid!” Was I getting loony?
He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Marv heard, “St. Nicholas One taxi to parking.”

He exited One Seven and pulled up real slow
And stopped on the ramp with a "Ho ho, ho ho."
He jumped from the sleigh with a bag full of toys,
He passed it to Marv “For all the good girls and boys!”

Red helmet and goggles were covered with frost
And his beard was blackened from reindeer exhaust.
His cheeks were rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a cropduster’s belly.

A grimace, a wink, and a twist of his toes,
Showed clearly he needed to powder his nose.
He came out of Marv’s restroom and sighed with relief,
Then picked up a phone for a Flight Service brief.

He wrote in his log, signed, sealed, and dated.
Marv surmised Rudolph was instrument rated.
Completing his preflight, from front to the rear,
He pulled on his headset and yelled, “Clear!”

He sped down the runway, the ace of the base,
Into the night on his round the world race.
Marv heard him exclaim, as he flew out of sight,
“I’ll see you next year, if you guys all fly right!"

Amber Polo (with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore and acknowledgment to Anon, Dick Baker, and Alan Stebbins for earlier versions for the aeronautical community.)”

Stress Release for Pilots and Others Flying Too High During the Holiday Season

2009-12-06T18:25:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year there's a lot of talk about stress and stress relief. A few weeks ago

Maggie Toussaint writing on my Wordshaping blog for writers offered some suggestions to keep your life in balance.

Now I'll like to offer a few simple exercises to help you relax during the holiday season.
Not something you can do in the cockpit but a few ways to bring you back to earth.

1. Reverse the effects of hunching over a book or keyboard with this back bend.

Roll a towel or small blanket and place under your chest about breastbone height. Experiment for the best location until you feel very good. Try placing the roll along your back bone. Also under the knees can be relaxing. Relax on the floor and breathe, allowing chest to open. Take slow deep breaths. (Very flexible? Use a rolled yoga mat.) This is sometimes called the modified Fish Pose.

2. Rock and Roll the tension out of your back and shoulders.

Lie down on the floor. Use softening protection for your back if needed.
Bring your knees up towards your chest. Breathe slowly in and out through your nose as
you allow your lower back to relax and flatten. Keep your neck and head relaxed.
Continue as long as you like without falling asleep.

Still holding onto your knees, begin to roll from side to side. Gently, not too far in each
direction, massaging the spine. (If you’re not completely comfortable, stop and add
another blanket.) Keep breathing, slowly rocking side to side.

As this becomes easier, use your hands to move your knees in a clockwise circle. Begin
with smaller circles and let the circles become larger. Feel your lower back flattening
and stretching as it relaxes. Reverse the circle and keep breathing.

Continue as long as you like. Then change to a back and forward movement rolling from
head to the base of your spine. Hold your opposite ankles or move your hands under
thighs and rock as long as it feels good, massaging your entire back and spine.

To come to a sitting position, cross your legs, grab your opposite big toes, and rock up,
pulling on your toes. Or roll to one side and get up slowly.

Find some quiet time, lay on the floor, put your feet up the wall or on a chair, and BREATHE.

When I teach yoga it's always clear the hardest part for most students is learning to relax. The progressive relaxation (savasana in Sanskrit) that I taught scientifically teaches your body to relax.

Amber (Amala) Polo, MS, RYT, is an Integral Yoga teacher trained at the
Satchadananda Ashram in Buckingham, Virginia. Amber has studied with
teachers throughout the country, taught in the Florida Keys, and offers classes and workshops in the Verde Valley of Arizona near Sedona.

She is also a published author. Learn more about Flying Free, her aviation romance, and her other stories at her website.

Amber's CD combines gentle words teaching relaxation
with peaceful background music.

Relaxation, One Breath at a Time

The CD and MP3 downloads are available from

CD Baby

MP3 downloads also available from Amazon and iTunes

Leave a comment about stress release for a chance to win a demo disc of

Relaxation, One Breath at a Time.

Soyna Parsons, Historical Romance Writer with Her Head in the Clouds

2009-11-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome Sonya Parsons, historical romance writer and co-chair of the RWA Phoenix Desert Rose Chapter Golden Quill Contest.

Tell me about your relationship with flying and the aviation community.

My husband, Matt, has had his private pilot’s license for many years. I could describe myself as a “safe” person and prefer to decide which areas of my life I become adventurous in. Flying was never one of those areas, but he has such a passion for it I constantly push myself to understand the thrill and fulfillment he experiences while flying. It’s the one area of his life where he is completely organized and in control. I don’t fly, I just trust him completely and give up all control as I sit beside him. You could say I’ve pushed myself far out of my comfort zone to be closer to the man I love. We’ve developed interesting friendships and have visited places on a whim we probably never would have if we didn’t fly.

This summer we took what we like to call our “Southwest Tour.” Phoenix to Las Vegas. Then Catalina Island, San Diego, and back to Phoenix. A different locale every day. In September, we had the incredible experience of attending the Reno Air Races. With front row box seats on the tarmac, I was awestruck by the beauty of the thunderous machines. Jet fuel exhaust are no longer stinky words to me, but a necessary byproduct of a powerful Bearcat or P51 engine as it takes off to speeds exceeding 500mph. Military pilots have a whole new “hero” status with me. I was physically blown off my chair by the erupting sound of six Navy Blue Angel F18s flying at nearly the speed of sound right over my head. They actually fly only 18” apart in formation. And did I mention how incredibly sexy all those military pilots look in their pristine flight suits and dress uniforms?

Tell me about your writing.

I have just completed my first manuscript with the working title "Secret Masterpiece." It’s a historical romance set during the Napoleonic Wars, or the Regency Period, but is not a traditional Regency. It centers around the London art world of the period and the Royal Art Academy in London. I’m revising and rewriting as I submit to agents. I’ve traveled through Europe, am a huge history lover, and have a degree in Interior Architecture (Design). So now I’m putting the images and places I’ve seen and studied into stories.

Tell me about the what you do for the Desert Rose chapter and the benefits to you and your writing?

Currently, I am co-chairperson for their 13th annual Golden Quill contest for romance novels published in 2009.

Do you use any of your flying experiences in your writing?

I haven’t yet. But when I write anything set during the 20th century or now, I will definitely write a pilot as the Hero or Heroine.

What kind of books do you like to read?

I mainly read historical and some contemporary romance fiction.

What's your favorite "flying" book?
My favorite “flying” book is currently the POH –Pilot Operations Handbook for our Bonanza A36. It helps me calculate how many bags I can take with me on our next adventure or shopping expedition.

Sonya Parsons, Aspiring Historical Romance Writer, Co-Chairperson of the Phoenix Desert Rose Chapter of Romance Writers of America, RWA.

For more information about the

Phoenix Desert Rose Chapter of the Romance Writers of America.

Enter the 2010 Desert Rose Golden Quill

Contest for Published Authors

Sherri L. Smith, author of Flygirl,

2009-11-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

Welsone Sherri L. Smith is an award-winning young adult author with four novels to her name. Her latest book, FLYGIRL (Putnan) is an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults Nominee.

Tell me about your relationship with flying and the aviation community.

I must confess I am a passenger, rather than a pilot. For me, one of the joys of being a writer is I get to try on other people’s shoes. It’s amazing how research and imagination can combine on the page to bring a scene to life. My mother made a point of taking me and my brother all over the world when we were children, so I’ve been flying the friendly skies since I was an infant. To date I’ve had the pleasure of sitting with hundreds of other people in jumbo jets, as well as being crammed in the back of a tiny three-seater in Southeast Alaska, not to mention a memorably terrifying flight in a helicopter with no doors at a county fair in the 70s! While I am happy to remain out of the cockpit in real life, my brother and father both caught the aviation bug. My brother studied aeronautical and astronautical engineering in college, and my father trained for his pilot’s license when I was in my teens. When it came to writing FLYGIRL, picking their brains and those of other pilots helped fill in the gaps in my own experience.

Tell me about your book/s.

My latest book, FLYGIRL, is about a light-skinned black girl who passes for white in order to join the Womens Airforce Service Pilots during World War II. At the time women pilots were frowned upon, and it was actually rumored that blacks couldn’t fly at all. Add gasoline rations and a Jim Crow army to the mix, and my heroine, Ida Mae, didn’t have a prayer of flying until the war was over. Fortunately, the army was making a push to “free a man to fight” overseas, so women were coming out of the kitchen and into factories and military quarters all over the country. The Womens Airforce Service Pilots was a fascinating part of this change. The ladies were non-military and had to have better flight records than the men they were replacing. What’s more, if a WASP was killed in the line of duty (and several were), the military would not pay for their funerals. It was an uphill battle and it’s amazing that so many women were up to the challenge. When I learned of the WASP in a Radio Diaries piece on NPR, I knew I had found my next novel. There are so many amazing stories to be told of women in aviation—from Bessie Coleman and Jackie Cochran, to the ladies of the Mercury 13 and beyond. Who knows, maybe there’ll be another book in it for me down the road!

What kind of books do you like to read? What's your favorite "flying" book?

I’m all over the place when it comes to my own reading. As a kid, I was heavily into fantasy, then science fiction. I’ve done my share of horror and mystery reading as well. At the end of the day, I like any book with some adventure and great characters that I’ll enjoy getting to know. My favorite “flying” book is a good question… I came across a number of fascinating books while researching FLYGIRL. One of my favorites is more of a picture book called YANKEE DOODLE GIRLS by Amy Nathan. It’s a simple, beautifully compiled book with fantastic photos and tons of information about the WASP. It will fire the imagination of any aviation fan, young or old, and make you want to learn more. I also need to give a nod to the IMAX movie “To Fly” at the Smithsonian Museum when I was a kid growing up in Washington, D.C. The sense of vertigo when the camera would leap off a cliff was amazing. More than anything, that movie made me want “ To Fly.”

What are you writing now?

My current project is a foray into speculative fiction. It’s a book called ORLEANS, set in a near future in which a series of devastating hurricanes have caused the entire Delta coast to be quarantined from the rest of the country. My mother was from New Orleans and she made it through Katrina, though not unscathed. I love the city, but I’m ashamed to say it’s at risk of being forgotten. There is so much more work to do along the coast to make it whole again. This book came from the stories I heard from my mother and elsewhere during the week she spent there after the storm, before we could get the Coast Guard in to pull her out.
I’m hard at work on it right now. Hopefully it will be on shelves in 2011.

Thanks Sherri for visiting. I hope Flygirl is a great success and encourages many young women to consider taking to the skies.

Sherri L. Smith was born in Chicago, Illinois and spent most of her childhood reading books. She began writing Flygirl as a master's thesis project after hearing about the WASP program on public radio. Sherri’s first book, Lucy the Giant, was an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults in 2003. The Dutch translation, Lucy XXL (Gottmer, 2005), was awarded an Honorable Mention at the 2005 De Gouden Zoen, or Golden Kiss, Awards for Children’s Literature in the Netherlands. Her novel, Sparrow, was chosen as a National Council for the Social Studies/Children’s Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People and is also a 2009 Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award Nominee. She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she has worked in movies, animation, comic books and construction. Flygirl is her fourth novel. She is currently at work on her fifth. You can learn more about Sherri, find links to order her books, or contact her for author visits at www.sherrilsmith.com.

Flygirl captures the indomitable spirit of the WASP. Main characters Ida Mae, Lily and Patsy exhibit the courage mixed with daring and commitment that still inspire WASP admirers. Congratulations, Sherri, on your fine contribution!”

—Marianne Wood, Museum Director, National WASP WWII Museum

“It was hard not to find myself cheering Ida Mae on. Hard not to get an itch to fly after reading this. Sherri Smith is a truly talented writer and Flygirl is a wonderful story.”

—Jacqueline Woodson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Feathers and Show Way

“Gifted novelist Sherri L. Smith has written a passionate and important book about a young woman who heroically risks everything when she discovers her dreams and her identity are, heartbreakingly, at odds. A wonderfully readable story that illuminates a too-little known chapter of American history.”

—Michael M. Cart, Former President, YALSA, and Chair, 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Committee

Ilena Holder, Romance Author and U.S. Navy Vet

2009-11-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

Welsome Ilena Holder, U.S. Navy veteran and romance author.

What did you do in the Navy?
While on active duty (’72- ’76) I was an Aviation Storekeeper stationed in Rota, Spain. I took advantage of my base position in the Mediteranean to travel as much as possible during my enlistment. This included trips to Morocco, Gibraltar, and a two week Eurail trip around every major country in Europe before my discharge in November of 1976.

Tell me about your relationship with flying and the aviation community. Are you a pilot?

No (laughing). However, I love the thrill of commercial flying whenever I can and appreciate the beauty of sleek aircraft design. My rating in the Navy meant that I ordered not only aircraft parts for every plane in the base squadrons, but also pilot survival gear (flight jackets, sunglasses, shark repellant, and parachutes.) When you get to know military airplane supply from the nose mounts on up to ejection seats, you feel more of an affinity with the mechanics, flight crew, pilots, and plane captains.

Did the location or people influence your writing?
My military background gives me many real life experiences I can draw upon in my writing. Military aviation is quite thrilling with an adventure literally every week. Of course, military life is very fast paced. The people I was stationed with had been so many exotic places in their careers- Greece, Antarctica, and the Phillippines to name a few. Besides shore duty, they also had been stationed on aircraft carriers and those were full of innumerable human interest stories.

Military life is so different from civilian life. It is a great place for young people to learn a trade or job skill for later life. Plus the great benefits and free travel are wonderful perks! (do I sound like a recruiter?!)

Tell me about your books.

I have one ebook currently selling on Awe-Struck Press, called Rose Garden. It’s a contemporary romance set in Michigan and California. My next book will come out November 19th with Red Rose Publishing. It is called Color of the Flame and features an ex Navy SEAL and a widow who runs a blueberry farm in Michigan.

What do you like to read?
I am an electic reader. Of course, I push ebooks because that is what I am writing at the present time. Right now I am reading The Royals by Kitty Kelly. A friend in my writing group loaned me The Old Man and The Sea because I had never read that. I’ll probably finish it this weekend.

What's your favorite "flying" book?
My favorite flying book is Yeager: An Autobiography.

What are you writing now?
I am currently about ¼ the way through my next time travel/ IR romance. The setting is in south west Michigan where I grew up. It will take place in the time of Prohibition and the Roaring Twenties. I am also about ¼ of the way through a general fiction book which will center on my civilian career in the nuclear power industry.

Ilena Holder was born and raised in southwestern Michigan. The area is known for fruit production and she worked in different summer jobs picking and packing fruit for shipment as a child and teenager. Like all the children of farm families in the area, she was rounded up for picking when blackberries and strawberries were ripe in the fields. At this time, no mechanical pickers had been invented yet. Grapes were cut from the vines with clippers and peaches, plums, and apples were picked by hand in the orchards. All the farm neighbors and their children worked side by side into the night until the fruit was picked. Ilena also worked at a local riding stable, teaching lessons and working as a stable hand. She learned English balance seat riding from the age of ten and elementary dressage. Reading always helped pass the long cold Michigan winters.

At eighteen, she joined the Navy to see the world. She never dreamed she would be stationed so far from home, in southern Spain. From here she was able to travel to places she only dreamed of as a child. When she finished her four year enlistment, she went to college on the G.I. Bill. Ilena is married for 35 years with one child, and lives in northern Alabama. She is a member of Epic Authors, and also ROMVETS, a group composed of woman veterans of the armed services who write romances

Ilena Holder Books
Rose Garden can be purchased Awe-Struck.Press
Color of the Flame out November 19th from Red Rose Publishing

To find more mililary women who've turned the sword into a pen

visit ROMVETS

Bette Bach Fineman, author of Patterns...Tales of Flying and of Life

2009-11-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome Bette Bach Fineman, pilot, author, editor and another of my talented airpark neighbors!

With so many interests how would you characterize yourself?

I have always sought to be a person before being a wife and mother. This makes me more interesting to both kids and husband. I have always felt it was the right thing to do to maintain one's individuality in order to face losses of one or the other, which I have survived both. I am a pilot of more than fifty years, editor of a few major books and many minor ones, an artist, former performer and now just lover of music, all of which makes me worthy of anyone's time for conversation.

Tell me about your relationship with flying and the aviation community.

Married a USAF pilot as a teenager, flew with him in small planes for 13 years. Raised my 6 children at airports for the next 8 years, married another pilot for thelast 31 years. Owned 14 different airplanes. Unable to give up aviation, to the detriment of my checkbook.

Tell me about your book, Patterns; Tales of flying...and of life.

It started with a few articles I wrote for aviation magazines like Private Pilot, Air Progress and others. I started recounting other airplane adventures until I had enough for a small book, and those who read it encouraged me to put more in the book to explain my personal situation surviving as a single mother, airplane owner and professional editor, moving the family around the country to seek my destiny, which was not found at a big publishing house in Boston, but a small grass airfield in Vermont.

What is the best part of living on an airpark?

Walking out of my kitchen door and getting in the airplane, plus being surrounded by neighbors who understand the fascination with flying.

What kind of books do you like to read? What's your favorite "flying" book?

Mysteries, mostly Agatha Christie (who I never have the urge to rewrite) and classics like Alexander Dumas, Jane Austen, Daniel Defoe. For aviation, Nevil Shute's and St. Exupery's poetic stories.

What are you writing now?

A book for my granddaughter about a little bear who has traveled the world in an airplane, boat and camper.

Born in California, graduated from Wilson High School in Long Beach at age 16. Worked in offices, married a jet pilot, started a family that numbered six...Kristel, Robert, Erica, James, Jonathan and Bethany. Six grandchildren, six step-grandchildren. Owned great numbers of cats, dogs, cows and one horse. Started flying in 1958, but didn't solo until 1968. Has been an airport ramp rat ever since, a good thing, because that is where she met Jonathan Fineman, in 1978. Now living ever after connected to an Arizona hangar.

"I have been scattered in many directions, tried lots of things, am good at a few...achieved success in helping authors see their work in print, happy I put some of my flying tales down for my family and the enjoyment of others. Some of my children take advantage of my mentoring, art direction and editing, some do not. I have never sought the love of my family, just respect. In turn, I have received both." Bette Bach Fineman

Read the first Chapter of

Patterns: Tales of flying... and of life

Other writings can be found at www.friendsofaviation.net

and a new soon to be launched aviation site tentatively titled WhyFly?.

See Bette's website for ordering information.

*Photo of Bette and her Champ by Steve Ayers, Verde Valley News

Joni M. Fisher, Writer & Pilot

2009-10-23T18:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome Joni M. Fisher, writer and instrument-rated pilot.

Tell me about your relationship with flying and the aviation community.

Only 6% of pilots are women, so I consider myself blessed. My relationship with flying is tied to my relationship with my husband, Maury. He took up flying as a hobby and I took a ten-hour course to learn how to land the plane in case he became incapacitated. During those practice landings I fell in love with flying and continued my training to get my private pilot license. After getting stranded in Claxton, Georgia—the self-proclaimed fruitcake capital—I vowed to get my instrument rating, which I did. I share ownership of a Cessna 210.

Though I don’t live in a fly-in community, I often take caravan trips with other pilots to the Bahamas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, the Cayman Islands and once to see the Balloon Festival in Albuquerque.

Tell me about your writing.
My articles on aviation have appeared in AOPA Magazine, Pipers Magazine, WaterFlying Magazine, Flying Physicians, Marriage Partnership (part of Christianity Today) and others.

What kind of books do you like to read?

I like to read suspense, crime, literary and romantic fiction.

What's your favorite "flying" book?

My favorite flying book is probably Crichton’s Airframe, with Jonathan Livingston Seagull a close second. Jonathan Livingston Seagull was written at a nearby seaplane base.

What are you writing now?

I’m in the process of finding an agent for my first novel, a romantic suspense story. The working title is For Evil To Succeed. Rather than languish at the mailbox for the agent’s response, I’m working on the sequel which will involve many of the characters from the first story.

My website has samples of my writing, but the poor website needs updating.

Thanks, Joni, for visiting Heads in the Clouds.

Joni M.Fisher is a freelance writer, private pilot, wife and mother. She earned her first check for writing at age 16 when she won a national poetry contest. Later at Indiana University in Bloomington , Indiana , where she earned a B.A. in Journalism with a minor in Theatre History, she worked on the Indiana Daily Student newspaper. Her favorite assignment as a reporter was interviewing Marcel Marceau. She was awarded membership in Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists.

Bliss Knight - Commercial Pilot

2009-10-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome Bliss Knight, pilot, horsewoman, and author of Air Affair, the story of her life as a commercial pilot.

Tell me about your connection to the world of flying.

I began flying in my heart when I was eight years old. I wanted to possess a skill I thought no one could take from me. I wanted to see big things little and feel bigger inside, and pass up birds all the while, smiling. I wanted to be independent, not chattel like my mother, and make enough money to have horses in numbers.

I was always an avid reader of foreign adventure: Gunga Din, Marco Polo, and Hemingway. Growing up in Alaska before statehood and television, during the long hours of winter darkness, I read and did homework by lantern light in a corner of our log cabin. I wondered about other people and how they lived and I wanted to see the world and all that was in it. I made up my mind to be an international airline pilot.

Tell be about your memoir, Air Affair.

When I took early retirement from international flying on the Lockheed 1011 for Delta Airlines, I determined to follow my airline career with a commentary on the adventure of it all.

Air Affair took eleven years of middle-of-the night work to write while my days were filled with training horses. My notes filled a 4.5 feet long file cabinet drawer. I assembled the details of a plot that thickens. There is romance, the magic of flight, and beauty of the earth below. I filled the pages with the exploration of other countries, flying adventures, and plenty of male harassment. Some say my writing is nearly lyrical, especially when the magnificence of the world is viewed with a poetic eye.

I wanted Air Affair to be a work of cognitive reflection. In the area of philosophy, there are thoughts on the value of the psychological contract – the unwritten (and sometimes, unspoken) contract between employer and employee which assures continuance of the relationship. People leave jobs more often because they feel unfulfilled and too big for the job, rather than for more money, as happens in Air Affair.

Often, it is not the destination but the trip. I had many adventures along the way, from flying air ambulance with gaseous cadavers sitting up to dropping smoke jumpers and slurry on forest fires. I also realized that one of my strong suits is teaching.

Is flying a part of your current life?

I have all the pre-requisite licenses and ratings and continue to fly a Cessna 206 and await delivery of our new Kodiak from the 2,500 foot airstrip on my ranch. Flying has done for me what I wanted it to do. I am independent, have horses in numbers, and have seen a lot of the world.

What do you like to read?

I like books of cognitive reflection. My favorite flying book is West with the Night by Beryl Markham.

What are you writing now?

Currently, I am researching and writing a book with two working titles: Hail to the Chief and A Rosebud Sunrise, about horses and their past and present value, and The Oil Sanction, a treatise on being an independent in the oil business.

Thanks Bliss for visiting and good luck with your new plane and your book.

Bliss Knight flew for Western and Delta for a total of 21 years,
retiring from Delta in 1997.

Air Affair describes her experiences and love of flying and airplanes.

Bliss is currently an active horsewoman in Arizona.

Air Affair can be ordered from the author for
$18 plus $2.77 S&H

Send an email to fbr@commspeed.net.

Also available from Barnes &Nobel, Amazon, and bookstores.

Liz Stark Loves Airpark Life!

2009-10-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome Liz Stark, retired community college faculty member who found a new life at an Arizona airpark (and my neighbor).

Thanks, Amber, for inviting me. And where’s the coffee?

First Liz, tell me how did moving onto an airpark change your life?

After building our hangar and home I became a student of ceramics, created a ceramic studio in the bunkhouse attached to the hangar for where I play with clay. But wait. There’s more.

Next, neighbors and friends dragged me down the dark hole of quilting and I have enjoyed hours cutting up perfectly good fabric to make bed quilts, wall hangings, and table runners. Always willing to try new activities, I dabble in water color, spinning, beading, and gardening.

I have completed 27 walking marathons and loads of half-marathons and 10 Ks. My dh and I circle the airpark most mornings for exercise and connect with neighbors. I love bird-watching and have identified almost all the birds who visit our yard.

Are you a pilot?

I have soloed but do not have my ticket. I enjoy flying with my husband. Arizona offers great flying weather, world-class scenery and all the space and amenities to tinker on airplanes.

How long have you lived on an airpark?

We moved to the airpark in 2000 and lived in the bunkhouse while hour home was under construction. We could not have asked for better neighbors: helpful, generous, active men and women.

IYO, what’s the best part of airpark life?

There are many best parts of airpark life including a shared interest in airplanes and space. In California it would have been difficult to have a ceramic studio, a quilting studio, guest rooms for friends who visit, and a patio for large gatherings. And I can’t forget the clear skies day and evening, the mountain vistas, the clear air, the natural desert landscaping.

I get it, you like Arizona, but tell me about an incident in airpark life.

After we moved in, we took a trip through the Panama Canal. When we returned, yellow police tape encircled our house. A sign read “Abandoned House - Yours for Only $25,000.” Returning home from another trip, we found plastic pink flamingos inhabiting our yard. But, again, there’s more: While we were away on one summer trip our refrigerator died. A great stench gave the problem away. Neighbors cleaned out the frig and freezer, aired out our house, and sanitized the whole kitchen. We returned to a fresh smelling house and an empty refrigerator. Where could you find better neighbors?

What’s your connection to books?

I love to read and usually have two books going. My taste is eclectic. Mostly fiction. It’s fun to visit our local library and check out a book from the “New” shelf. I often read books recommended by friends.

For the past eight years I’ve volunteered with the local Adult Reading Program, helping local residents learn English and prepare for the GED.

Amber’s great new book, Flying Free. includes a character much like me. Of course I am more talented and less pushy than Pat Stone (and much younger).

Thanks for that plug. Anything else you'd like to say?

Is there more coffee? No brownies?

Thanks, Liz, for stopping by.

The omni-hobbied Liz Stark is also the Airpark Kazoo Choir director, Fun Walk Coordinator, local theatre buff, Airpark Treasurer, and award-winning artist. She has been married for 46 years to her violin playing, vintage motorcycle racing, pilot husband Chuck, has a son David, daughter-in law Anne, daughter Heidi, son-in-law Vince, and two grandchildren, Sam and Nick, who love to visit to visit their grandparents' airpark home.

Meet Anne Millbrooke, Aviation Historian

2009-09-30T16:16:00.001-07:00

Welcome, Anne Millbrooke, award winning aviation author, editor, and pilot.

Anne, tell me how your relationship with flying and aviation writing began.

I grew up on the cloudy coast of Washington state and I didn’t ride in an airplane until I was in college. I majored in history and wrote a doctoral dissertation on the history of geology, so I came to aviation relatively late.

Working as an archivist and historian for United Technologies Corporation, I became immersed in the history of aviation through the company's subsidiary companies, Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky, and what was then Hamilton Standard. I loved touring the research facilities, factories, and records storage, as well as reading the historical documentation.

While a National Science Foundation Visiting Professor at Montana State University in the mid-1990s, I found myself in a delightfully clear climate (for the most part) and became a private pilot. Later, while living in Alaska, I spent two fun summers working with NASA's supersonic transport program at the Langley Research Center in Virginia. Right now, I am secretary-treasurer of the Gallatin Valley Hangar of the Montana Pilots Association.

I wrote Aviation History for Jeppesen and it has been in print ten years, now in an updated revised edition. This book was great fun to write, because the coverage is worldwide and I got to study many interesting stories in the process of selecting significant examples. Even revising the book was fun, as I literally wrote new text for 200 change pages, a process that again immersed me in stories from around the world. For a single paragraph on early boys book on aviation, for example, I read more than 20s boys books published from 1908 into the 1920s, books I had not had the time to read when writing the first edition. Jeppesen sells Aviation History as a textbook to aeronautics schools around the world. Winning the top history book award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics was quite an honor.

In ground school I began to compile notes and added more into a 700-page reference book Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Alphabets of Aviation. What's unique is that it’s arranged by shorthand expression. In the context of time and place, the author and reader may have known what an abbreviation, acronym, code, or mnemonic meant, but a reader may lack immediate recognition, or may associate the short term with a meaning from a different time and place. Some short-hand expressions in aviation have more than twenty meanings. I annotated as many terms as possible as to when and where the term with that specific meaning was used.

My most recent aviation publication is "History of the Space Age" in Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology, and Heritage. I enjoyed working with the engineers, scientists, and archeologists collaborating on this massive handbook.

What kind of books do you like to read?
I read widely, both fiction and non-fiction. Aviation, of course, but also mysteries, nature, history, and poetry.

What's your favorite "flying" book?
Stick and Rudder taught me much when I was learning to fly. Books by Saint-Exupéry — Wind, Sand and Stars; Night Flight, and Flight to Arras — still inspire me and instill me with awe for the wonders of flight.

What are you writing now?
I have several books in progress. A history of aviation in Montana has some great tales from the state fair demonstration flights, World War I hysteria about German planes in Montana, mountain flying, agricultural planes, Army air bases during World War II, the Lend-Lease air route through Canada and Alaska to Siberia, the CIA shutting down a distinguished flying service during the Vietnam War, and recreational flying.

I also have done most of the research for a biography of Frederick B. Rentschler, founder of Pratt & Whitney and United Aircraft Corporation. And I'm writing a novel.

Thanks, Anne, for visiting and good luck with your new ventures.

An award-winning writer and experienced editor, Anne Millbrooke has written and edited reports, press releases, exhibit text, scripts, web content, speeches, articles for newspapers and magazines, chapters of books, and books. She is available to help you get the product you need.

In addition to working in corporate communications, teaching at universities, and consulting with private companies, not-for-profit organizations, and government agencies, Anne Millbrooke has won awards for her articles and books, and won Mellon, Smithsonian, National Science Foundation, and NASA fellowships.

In June 2008 Anne helped at the starting events of the Air Race Classic, the national women's air race that Will Rogers called the Powder Puff Derby. She judged six aviation photograph contests for Airscene in 2008; the contests are in London, but the Internet allowed her to judge the photographs from Montana.

Visit Anne's website

Blog Launch October 1st

2009-06-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

October 1st I'll post an interview with Anne Millbrooke. My first guest's name may be familiar to many aviation students as the author of the award-winning, Aviation History. Next I'll interview the wacky Liz Stark.

Stay tuned for more interesting women.

My blog Wordshaping focuses on writing and promotion and may often have articles of interest to aviation authors. This week I wrote about "How to Host a Book signing in an Airplane Hangar."

Are you a woman with your feet firmly off the ground?
Love books and/or write them?
To schedule an interview email: amber@amberpolo.com