One-of-a-Kind Author Experiences Among Giving Perks in Literary New England Fund-raising Campaign @WriterCindyWB @LitNewEngland

Brunch with “Defending Jacob” author William Landay, lunch with “The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D” author Nichole Bernier, an Adriana Trigiani walking tour of New York, and personally inscribed copies of Tara Conklin’s “The House Girl,” Andrew Pyper’s “The Demonologist” and Cathy Marie Buchanan’s “The Painted Girls” are among the many perks being offered to supporters of Literary New England’s fund-raising campaign. [http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/literary-new-england-radio-show-literary-new-england-travel-guide/x/1060791]

Money raised will be used to help the weekly Literary New England Radio Show continue to air ad free, as well as to complete the Literary New England Travel Guide that will be released in September in print and e-form. The campaign, hosted on Indiegogo, will run through May 30.

Founded in December 2011, the Literary New England Radio Show http://www.litnewengland.com/ airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. on BlogTalk Radio, featuring author interviews, book giveaways, event coverage and a celebration of all things literary New England. Listenership has skyrocketed from six to the first episode to as many as 10,000 per episode now and growing. Equally exciting is these listeners’ diverse geographic locations, which include not just New England and throughout the United States, but Japan, the United Kingdom and other countries.

“New England is home to so many authors, and serves as the setting and inspiration for so many books, that the possibilities of who and what we can feature on the show are endless,” said Literary New England Radio Show creator and host Cindy Wolfe Boynton.

An award-winning journalist, playwright and poet, Boynton is a long-time freelancer for The New York Times, Boston Globe, Better Health and other publications. As regular Literary New England Radio Show listeners know, she’s also a college English instructor and big believer in the transformative power books and stories can have on both reader and writer alike.

“Books create connections, help us better understand ourselves and others, and can change lives,” Boynton added. “The opportunity to use the show to talk about titles and writing, share author interviews and take listeners to book-related events they might not otherwise be able to attend is a real privilege. And the show fills a real niche.”

Featuring both established and emerging authors and writers, Literary New England Radio guests have included Margaret Atwood, Joe McGinniss, Richard Russo, Jodi Picoult, Jenna Blum, Tara Conklin, Aria Beth Sloss, Will Schwalbe, Sebastian Junger, Amy Brill, Nathaniel Philbrick, Alice Hoffman, Owen King, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s great-great-granddaughter Alison Hawthorne Deming, Anita Diamant, Alan Lightman, Geraldine Brooks and more.

For those unable to listen live on Mondays, past episodes can be accessed from the Literary New England Radio Show archives  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/literarynewengland

Written by Boynton and scheduled for release in September, the Literary New England Travel Guide will take actual and armchair travelers to more than 500 New England locations featured in contemporary and classic books and related to popular authors, as well as provide a list of the best New England bookstores, book fests, writing workshops, retreats, and more.

Produced in both print and e-form, the guide will also include maps, suggested itineraries and author interviews. Travel spots include:

– Wally Lamb’s Three Rivers

– The Matlock Paper’s Carlyle U

– Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary”
– The Gloucester port from “The Perfect Storm”
– Truman Capote’s high school
– Mark Twain’s home
– The Little Women house
– The apple orchards in Jodi Picoult’s Songs of the Humpback Whale
– William Styron’s and Arthur Miller’s graves
– The foghorn that appears in many Eugene O’Neill plays
– The Weissmanns’ Westport
– Where Linda Greenlaw set The Lobster Chronicles
– And many more

“The response to both the Literary New England Radio Show and Travel Guide have so far been amazing, exceeding all of our expectations,” Boynton said. “Our commitment to those who support us and this campaign is that we’ll do everything possible to make sure Literary New England exceeds all of your expectations, too.”