‘Joy on Paper’ Celebrates 5th Anniversary

“America’s Book Lover,” Patzi Gil, launched her radio program “Joy on Paper” five years ago. Now it’s broadcast on nearly 50 radio stations as well as online at www.TanTalk1340.com.

CLEARWATER, FL — Patzi Gil, “America’s Book Lover,” plans to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Thursday, Feb. 13, by inviting three poets to her popular radio show “Joy on Paper.” On St. Patrick’s Day, she’ll celebrate the program’s fifth anniversary by talking to Andrew Grant and his wife, New York Times best-selling author Tasha Alexander.

“I love poetry and, especially around Valentine’s Day, my heart turns to the way a few words can become so magical,” Patzi said, adding that, “I am also thrilled that my special guests for the fifth anniversary of my program will be Andrew Grant and Tasha Alexander. Andrew is Lee Child’s baby brother and will be joining Lee to write the next books in the Jack Reacher series.”

“Joy on Paper” can be heard Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Tan Talk Radio, 1340-AM and 106.1-FM, or online at www.TanTalk1340.com.

Little did Patzi know that a serendipitous thought on the way to visit her husband at the hospital would blossom into a nationally broadcast radio program.

“I got the idea on a Tuesday when I was driving to the hospital at 4 o’clock in the morning,” Patzi explains. “My husband had just had a knee replacement and called me—he was hungry. He didn’t like the hospital’s graham crackers. Knowing my husband, I had cinnamon rolls ready to go…”

During the drive, Patzi heard a radio host interview an author.

“It was a bad interview,” she recalls. “I could tell that the host had not read the book. For some reason, I just ‘saw’ what became my radio program in my head. I thought—Well at least I would have read the guy’s book.”

Thus began what she calls a “radio program for writers and those who dream of writing—and for everyone who wants to know the story behind the book.”

For her first broadcast, Patzi interviewed legendary literary agent Irene Goodman, a leading member of the publishing community for over 30 years, whose authors regularly appear in the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly.

Since then, Patzi has filled the airwaves with other interviews, including best-selling authors like Lee Child, Douglas Brunt, Laura Resnick, the late Mary Higgins Clark, David Baldacci, Nelson DeMille, Sara Paretsky, and C.J. Box. In addition, she has spoken to nine Mystery Writers of America Grand Masters, a Poet Laureate of the United States and many military heroes.

For her Valentine’s Day show, Patzi has lined up three poets. Two are nationally known, L.L. Barkat and Kim Dower; the third, Jim Lamb, is from the Tampa Bay area.

Barkat has authored six books for grown-ups and two for children. Her poems have appeared at Best American Poetry, VQR, and NPR. She’s founder of Tweetspeak Poetry, T. S. Poetry Press, Every Day Poems, and WordCandy. She’s also a writer at Edutopia, focusing on literacy, writing, poetry, and math. Her website is LLBarkat.com.

Dower was born and raised in New York City. She earned a BFA from Emerson College, where she has taught creative writing. Dower’s poems have been featured on Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac” and Ted Kooser’s “American Life in Poetry,” as well as in many journals, magazines, and anthologies. Her website is KimDowerPoetry.com.

Lamb is a retired journalist who worked for The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He studied poetry in college as a way to hone his headline-writing skills. His poems and other writings can be found at TheProse.com/JimLamb.

When it comes to interviewing, Patzi Gil likes a broad array of authors: “It’s my joy to talk every week to amazing authors—from best-selling New York Times authors to those who’ve just released their first book,” the popular radio host said. For the St. Patrick’s Day/anniversary show on Tuesday, March 17, at 11 a.m., “Joy on Paper” will feature novelist Andrew Grant and his wife, New York Times best-selling author Tasha Alexander. The couple lives in Wyoming.

Grant was born in Birmingham, England, and attended the University of Sheffield where he studied Literature and Drama. His website is AndrewGrantBooks.com. In January, Grant’s brother, Lee Child, announced that he intended to retire from writing the Jack Reacher series, with Grant taking over.

Alexander is the daughter of two philosophy professors and grew up surrounded by books. She studied English Literature and Medieval History at the University of Notre Dame and is author of the long-running Lady Emily Series as well as the novel “Elizabeth: The Golden Age.” Her website is TashaAlexander.com.

Laura Resnick, author of “Doppelgangster,” calls Patzi “a charming, welcoming, and enthusiastic host.” Sara Imm, author of “How I Survived the Killing Fields,” describes Patzi’s show as “inspiring!” But Lawrence Block, a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, put it best: “Patzi Gil is every writer’s dream interviewer. Not only does she read the book, but she gets it, and champions both it and its author. I’ve grown to hate interviews—but not when it’s Patzi on the other end of the phone line.”

ABOUT: “Joy on Paper” is produced at WTAN 1340-AM (http://www.tantalk1340.com) in Clearwater, FL. The program is also on Starcom Radio Network’s 42 stations across the United States, including California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Maine, Oklahoma, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio.