Happy Holidays 2025

 

2025 is pulling into the station. The final gasps of the year are upon us with Thanksgiving coming this week and Christmas not far behind. As we edge our way into the holiday season, I wanted to thank all of you for your support over the last 25 years. Who would have thought that I would still be standing as an author 25 years after my first book, Hiking Alabama, was released, and it's all because of you. Thank you for buying my books and your encouragement. 

As a thank you, once again this year, I'll be holding my Holiday Giveaway. There will be lots of freebies including free audiobook samples and ebooks to download, special discounts on select books, and of course, a big contest. This year, you will have a chance to win one of two collections: either a collection of my Arcadia history books (Hidden History of Mobile, A History Lover's Guide to Mobile, Notable Women of Alabama), or a collection of my Prometheus space books (Space Oddities, Everyone's Gone to the Moon).

The contest begins Monday, Nov. 24th and ends Monday, Dec. 1st. You can download the freebies through Christmas. Visit my website, http://joecuhaj.com, to start downloading freebies and for you chance to win a collection.

In other news...

I need to send a big thank you out to Rebecca, Sherry, and the staff at Mobile's Bellingrath Gardens & Home for hosting me Nov. 14th for my first ever reading. I know, right? All of these years and my first reading. We had a nice little turnout for my reading and a fun conversation about writing. Next up: a signing at Page and Palette in Fairhope, AL, January 10th from 1 to 3pm.

 

I was so proud when I received the email telling me that my short story was selected to appear in the 23rd edition of the Emerald Coast Review. Out of over 175 entries by incredible writers, poets, and artists on the Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast, 70 were selected.

The story I submitted has a long history. It was the first short story I ever wrote; I performed it once on on my overnight radio show 45 years ago. I later transformed it, along with others, into my podcast, "Joe Cuhaj's Shorts." This is the first time it has appeared in print and I can't be more excited.

I've just started reading the anthology and the editors did select the best of the best. You can purchase a copy through Amazon.

That's all for now. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Till next time...

Here Comes Another One

 

It's hard to believe that after 25 years of writing and 20 books, I have never done a reading. Of course, 13 of those books were hiking guides. Kind of difficult to get a crowd engaged reading trail directions. "Start at the trailhead. Go north 0.1-miles. Turn left..."

Yeah. Not very exciting. That's about to change Nov. 14 @ 10:30am when I discuss writing, read some fun stories from my history books, and sign copies of my books including the latest, Notable Women of Alabama. It's all part of the Ink & Insight series at Bellingrath Gardens & Home. Mark your calendar and I'll see you there.

In the Good 'Ol (Almost) Winter Time

 

We’re entering my favorite time of year, not because of the festive holidays of the season, but because of the weather. I love late fall and early winter, when the temperatures finally start to chill. Maybe we’ll see a little frost on the ground.

I moved to the Alabama Gulf Coast from New Jersey over 40 years ago and you would think that by now, I would adjust to the heat and humidity of the South. Nope. But once November and December arrive, I am a happy camper. Of course, the temps don’t drop that low, maybe 40s at night then back up to the 70s the next day, but that’s alright. There will be those cold, wintery nights when we drop into the 30s. And hey, last year we had up to 9-inches of snow in some areas. I was giddy as a schoolgirl.

I have a couple more events scheduled around my latest book, Notable Women of Alabama . The first will be on November 14^th when I return to the beautiful BellingrathGardens in Theodore, Alabama. I will be there at 10:30am for my first ever reading and book signing. I know, crazy, right? I have had 20 books published in 25 years and have never been invited to do a reading, so this will be fun.

Then on January 10^th from 1 to 3 p.m., I will be signing copies of the book at Page and Palette in Fairhope, Alabama. I hope to see you at one of these events.

So, I was asked the question the other day, "Have you ever used people you know as the basis for characters in your writing?" The answer is - how can you not?

I've met so many interesting people over the years, I can't help but mix their personalities into my writing. And that's what I do, when creating a character, they are usually a mashup of personalities - a bit of this one, a touch of that.

That's how I crafted the characters for my new cozy mystery. The banter, their quirks, the romance, the atmosphere at the station, it's all based on the great people I worked with over the years in the field. Yes, even my sarcastic personality shines through. Don't get me wrong. There wasn't a murder at any of the stations I worked at.

So, yes, I do use people I know as the basis for characters in my writing. And as the saying goes, "Be careful or you'll end up in my novel."

Until next time...

Spaced Out

 

Here it is, the first week of October and it's Space Week, a global celebration of how space exploration and technology has improved life here on Earth. The annual celebration begins on October 4th, the day that Russia launched the first artificial satellite into orbit, Sputnik, in 1958.

As you all know by now, I am a space exploration geek. I have been since I was a kid growing up during the space race to the moon, but I wasn't into the tech stuff. I was more into the pop-culture and odd, unknown behind the scene stories of space flight. So much so that decades later, it prompted me to write my two books, Space Oddities and Everyone's Gone to the Moon.

When it comes to the pop-culture of the space race, I am amazed at how many songs were written about mankind's greatest adventure. When Space Oddities was released, I created a 10-part companion podcast with additional forgotten stories of space exploration. Episode 5 focused on the music inspired by the space program. Today, as Space Week 2025 begins, I thought I'd share three more songs I have found for your listening pleasure.

The first is a song by country legend Hank Snow. From 1953, Honeymoon on a Rocket Ship.

I like this one, the smooth sounds of the Ames Brothers from 1958, Destination Moon.

And of course, there has to be a Rockabilly tune. Songwriters of the genre loved writing about spaceflight including this one from 1958 by Nelson Young, Rock Old Sputnik.

I'll be posting more fun facts and trivia during Space Week 2025 on my Facebook page. Be sure to check it out.

A Short Autumn Short Story

 

The following comes from a longer short story I wrote several years ago called, Halloweenie. You can hear the full story on my podcast, Joe Cuhaj's Shorts:

Autumn is undoubtedly the most spectacular of seasons. The air is crisp, and the leaves on the trees weave a brilliant tapestry of red, gold, and orange. The wind begins to pick up, and the leaves flutter to the ground, blanketing it with their brilliance.

I clearly remember those days as a kid when mounds of freshly raked leaves piled high into impressive mountains beckoned us to dive in.

It was one such fall day. Dressed in our best red and black plaid wool jackets, my buddy Badger and I casually walked down the street heading for town to do a little shopping—a little candy, a comic book or two, and maybe a New York egg cream. Only a few houses away from mine, we saw it—the biggest pile of leaves we had ever seen in our lives.

            Without hesitating we bolted, running at full speed toward the pile with every intention of doing a swan dive into it, but just as we were about to leap into the air to nosedive into the rainbow of colors, a voice boomed from behind a tree. “Hey! Knock it off, you punks!”

            It was Mr. Schwartz. We were busted.

            Mr. Schwartz was the perennial “Best Yard of the Year” award winner. He kept his property immaculate, almost to the point of getting on his hands and knees with manicuring scissors to trim blades of grass. There was no way he was going to let a bunch of rogue kids mess up this perfectly groomed front yard. But that pile of leaves. It just had to be conquered.

            We stopped short of the pile and walked off, acting innocent like we were just passing by—our hands in our pockets, happily whistling and humming. Of course, Mr. Schwartz knew what we were up to, but we still had to try.

After walking a good distance from the yard, Badger and I spun on our heels and raced back towards the leaf pile, but Mr. S. was right there to greet us. He snarled angrily at us. His eyes were demonic red.

We ran off, circled the block, then reversed direction and headed back the way we came trying to confuse him, but once again were denied as Mr. Schwarts bolted from the house and chased us off again.

As the sun was setting, I walked up by myself to Mr. Schwartz’s property line. Digging my left toe into the ground and crouching like a sprinter, I sprang from the starting gate and raced toward the pile.

            Once again, Mr. Schwartz was watching from his living room window and flew out the front door with every intention of intercepting me. Before he could catch me, the entire gang, all seven of us, stormed the yard from every direction. It was a coordinated, blindsided attack that took Mr. S. by surprise. He couldn’t keep up with all of us. As he darted from one side of the yard to the other, Badger and I raced for the pile.

As we jumped into the air, our buddy Creep ran in past us with Mr. Schwartz hot on his heels. There was no stopping the inevitable. Badger and Mr. Schwartz collided, and both tumbled into the pile, showering the yard with leaves.

The rest of the gang joined them in a beautiful exhibition of leaf-pile synchronized swimming. As quickly as it began, it was over, and we disappeared, leaving Mr. Schwartz lying on his back in what was left of his leaf pile, looking up at the ever increasing twilight, knowing full well he had been beaten.

An Update and Ramblings

 

Happy Autumn, everyone! It's that magical time of year when the air turns crisp and the leaves on the trees turn into a kaleidoscope of colors. Unless you live here on the Alabama Gulf Coast where it will be a few more weeks before we have our brief - and I mean brief - autumn. 

I'll have a new blog entry posted shortly with a snippet of a short story about fall that I wrote several years ago. It is another true tale of growing up loosely based on faulty memories. Be on the lookout for it.

Now for some updates:

My new book, Notable Women of Alabama, has been released a bit early! It is available now at your favorite local and online book store. Visit my website for some suggested online retailers. 

It is always an exciting moment when the first copies arrive on my doorstep. I did my first "unboxing" video of the event you can see on my YouTube channel.

The first presentation and signing for the new book is set for Saturday, September 27th at 1pm at the Fairhope Museum of History. It's free and open to the public. I hope you can join me.

I will have another presentation and signing on Thursday, October 23rd at 4pm at the Fairhope Public Library. Mark you calendars!

Unfortunately, I had to reschedule my appearences scheduled for mid-October at Page and Palette in Fairhope and Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore, Alabama. New dates will be announced soon.

Now here's a surprise: All of my outdoor recreation guides plus my history titles Space Oddities, Everyone's Gone to the Moon, and the Pig War and the Pelican Girls, are now being distributed by Simon and Schuster!

 

I hope to see you at one of my upcoming signings, and if your organization would like a presentation or signing, please contact me through my website.

Talk again soon!

Pile Up on the Writing Desk

 

Hi, everyone. Hope you're having a wonderful summer and you're beating the heat. Praise be to Willis Carrier for inventing a machine to save humid beings.

There is so much to get to from the writing desk this go around that I don't know where to begin. It's not only the heat outside that building, but also my writing projects, upcoming releases, and newly scheduled signings and presentations. 

While I work on promoting my latest books, The Pig War and the Pelican Girls and the upcoming Notable Women of Alabama (more on that in a moment), I got back to my freelance roots to research and write an article for the history magazine, Alabama Heritage. The article, The Great Civil War Bread Riots of 1863, appears in the Summer 2025 issue and traces the events that led to Southern women in Richmond, Virginia, and Mobile, Alabama, taking to the streets and violently rioting and ransacking stores to get the food and supplies they needed to keep their families alive. The issue is available online and bookstores. And I have to thank Susan Reynolds and the staff at AH for giving me the opportunity.

I was thrilled to learn this morning that my short story, Johnson Smith, We Love You, was selected to be featured in the upcoming issue of the Emerald Coast Review.

For those of you not familiar with my writing career, this is the story that started it all. It was first written in 1980 along with several other humorous stories about growing up, all loosely based on faulty memories. When I began my career in radio broadcasting that same year, in a style reminiscent if Jean Shepard, I read the stories on my overnight radio show. They were a hit. 

It was then that I decided to have them published. After dozens of re-writes, rejections, and my first experience with a very expensive and shyster editor to create an eBook, Living in a Banana Dream, I put the stories to bed and haven’t revisited them in a while. A few years ago, I did resurrect them for a series of podcasts called Joe Cuhaj's Shorts, that you can hear on my website. 

Long story short, I've decided to dust off the old Johnson Smith and sent it to the Emerald Coast Review, and here we are. I'll keep you posted and let you know when the article is published. 

My brand new book, Notable Women of Alabama, is on track and on time for release October 14th. The book traces the lives of 50 women who made a difference not only in Alabama, but the nation and the world as well. You can pre-order the book now. And if you are in the Mobile, Alabama, area in October, I have several signings and presentations on the way. See the calendar below.

            

If you're looking for a gift to give that reader in your life for the Christmas holidays, right now, Arcadia Publishing is offering 15% off on three of my local Mobile and the Alabama Gulf Coast history titles: Baseball in Mobile, A History Lover's Guide to Mobile and the Alabama Gulf Coast, and Hidden History of Mobile. Click the images above to receive your savings. And thank you!

Okay, that's all the news for now. On to the calendar of events! I hope to see you at one of these venues:

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

October 18: Ink and Insight at Bellingrath Gardens and Home

Joe will be reading selections from his local and regional books and signing copies of his latest book, Notable Women of Alabama, from 10:30am to 11:30am.

October 18: Page and Palette Author Book Signing

Joe will be signing copies of The Pig War and the Pelican Girls and his latest, Notable Women of Alabama from 1pm to 3pm.

October 23: Fairhope Public Library-Presentation & Book Signing, Notable Women of Alabama

Joe will present his new books, Notable Women of Alabama, from 4pm to 5pm followed by a Q&A and signing.