As we approach another year and embark on a fresh start or a continuation of the good fortune we enjoyed throughout 2013, please enjoy this encore presentation of Conversations Live! Vicki returns live next week for the first show of 2014!

Newberry and Carnegie award winning author Sharon Creech shares her inspirations and chats with Vicki about her latest work, The Boy on the Porch. Later, is family more sacred to you than sales? Filmmaker Dave Gardner and the Growthbusters team have put together an alternative to Black Friday shopping with their new documentary Hooked on Growth. Also today, writer Rivvy Neshama discusses her delightfully inspiring new book Recipes for a Sacred Life.

Enjoy Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. You can follow Vicki on Twitter, and like Conversations Live on Facebook for exclusive show updates!

Sharon Creech is back with a new novel that poignantly illustrates how love can be discovered in the strangest of circumstances. The Boy on the Porch begins with a couple returning home to find a young boy sleeping on their porch with a note from a parent unable to care for hm. Their lives take an unexpectedly joyous turn as they begin to raise the boy as their own… until the father returns and reclaims him. What happens next is at once heartbreaking and inspiring, and the surprise ending will leave you in tears. Creech has been honored with both the Carnegie Medal and Newberry Medal for her writing, and is a national bestseller with over a dozen novels in print.

To inspire a low-consumption holiday season this year, the Growthbusters team is organizing a free worldwide Black Friday screening of Hook On Growth via the internet. Families are encouraged to avoid malls and big chain stores, and reconnect to what the holidays are supposed to be about… playing games, eating great food, and spending time with loved ones. The screening event is Growthbusters way to spur on interesting conversation, have fun, and leave a small ecological footprint. Director Dave Gardner directs you to the Growthbusters website for further ideas to make the holidays more about family and less about consumerism.

Rivvy Neshama’s new book, Recipes for a Sacred Life: True Stories and a Few Miracles may sound like it’s a run of the mill self-help book, but nothing could be further from the truth. From dancing to forgiving, from walking at dawn to sharing dinner with a stranger, Neshama shares true short tales that are at once meaningful, playful, and inspiring. She proves she has a timeless wisdom, turning down-to-earth ordinary encounters into enriching and sacred moments that can be appreciated by readers of all ages and backgrounds. Neshama is a writer, editor, and community organizer who draws her unique spiritual path from many sources.

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us here at Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair! Join us today as we celebrate holiday traditions and music from around the world, and test your mettle with our holiday trivia! Plus the one and only Joan Lunden will be joining us to discuss why this is one of the best times of the year to bring up sensitive family issues regarding health care for aging relatives. 

Enjoy Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD! And get exclusive content and updates by liking Conversations Live on Facebook and following Vicki on Twitter!

The holidays are a time for family, and Joan Lunden believes that they provide the perfect setting for important family discussions. Among the most sensitive can be how to handle the declining health of aging relatives. Nearly 44 million adults serve as caregivers for relatives over 50, which has included Joan herself. She draws on her own personal experiences to give advice on how to have the talk with parents and siblings, resources on where to find information on health care providers, legal and financial documents that should be collected, and more. Joan’s nearly two decades as host of Good Morning America helped to make her not only the longest running host ever on early morning television, but one of the most trusted and recognized television personalities who exemplifies today’s modern working woman!

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Deftly weaving the past and present together, Kristina McMorris evokes rich emotions as she weaves a story that reflects the power of personal histories to echo from one generation to the next in her new book The Pieces We Keep . Also today, award-winning filmmaker and author Elizabeth Baker joins Vicki to chat about writing, current and past film projects, and how a film goes from a concept to the screen. 

Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair airs every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like Conversations Live on Facebook for exclusive show updates and information, and follow Vicki on Twitter!

Inspired by a combination of a mysterious story from a friend, the strange experiences of her eldest son as a child, and a true account of Nazi spies on American soil, The Pieces We Keep by Kristina McMorris is a richly emotional story of how a young boy’s nightmares unearth secrets buried since WWII. She seamlessly weaves the present and past as the mystery of her son’s visions unravels to a surprising and satisfying climax. Kristina is a Northwest writer based in Oregon whose won numerous awards for her works of fiction, primarily centered around the WWII era. Before embarking on her writing career, she was an actress and as a child was the host of an Emmy-award winning television show, as well as most recently hosting the WB’s Weddings Portland Style.

The award-winning and versatile author and filmmaker Elizabeth Baker is a busy gal. Her latest book Gifts of Gratitude features her sharing her own personal experiences to inspire the reader to remember that life is a magnificent journey when lived to the fullest. Meanwhile, her filmmaking career continues unabated, from the award-winning feature length documentary The Trail of Painted Ponies to her current project, For They Know Not What They Do, which she is travelling to Bangladesh to complete for a 2014 release.

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National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson is among the contributors to a new book that has been described as a “symphony of photographs” that “tells the story of a single day, from dawn to dusk.” He shares his unique insights into this project wit Vicki today, as well as tips for holiday picture taking! The Seattle Times EcoConsumer columnist Tom Watson joins us later to share information regarding the local EcoConsumer Green Holidays annual campaign.

Join us every Monday for Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like Conversations Live on Facebook for exclusive updates and show information, and follow Vicki on Twitter!

National Geographic Dawn to Dark Photographs: The Magic of Light is a stunning collection of photos chronicling the changing light over the course of a day. The beauty and majesty of something we take for granted… the different shades of light throughout the day… are splendidly portrayed here, often accompanied by text from the photographer explaining the inspiration for the shots, the scene it conveys, or how the shot was captured. Accomplished National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson is among those whose striking and elegant pictures are featured in this striking tapestry of images.

Green Holidays is one of the big annual campaigns delivered by King County’s EcoConsumer environmental public education program, providing information on how to reduce your environmental footprint over the holidays. Tom Watson, manager of the program, shares tips such as how to choose greener gifts, making green choices for meals and Christmas trees, the best ways to recycle, and more!

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The exquisite award-winning Dani Shapiro joins Vicki today to discuss the subject of her latest bestseller, Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life. We’ll also select holiday books as gifts courtesy of Karen West, events coordinator for the reknowned Bay Area bookstore Book Passage.

Click here for a list of books recommended by Karen West as great holiday gifts!
Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair airs every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Like Conversations Live on Facebook for exclusive updates, and follow Vicki on Twitter!

BaBestselling author Dani Shapiro is back with Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life, a witty, practical, and heartfelt look at the exhilarating and challenging process of storytelling. At once a memoir, meditation on the artistic process, and advice on craft, Still Writing is an intimate and eloquent companion to living a creative life. The versatile Shapiro has penned several novels and memoirs, has taught in the writing programs of various universities, is a contributing editor at Travel + Leisure, and is co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy. She will be appearing at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Company at 7 PM on December 7th.

Known as “The Bay Area’s liveliest bookstore,” The Book Passage is an award-winning and New York Times-reporting destination for anything book related. Karen West is the events coordinator, helping provide the community with an array of author events, writing and language classes, and highly respected annual conferences. Today she shares her expertise on what books are ideal as holiday gifts.
Here are some of the books Karen recommends as gifts for this holiday season!
The Circle of 13 by William Petrocelli
Aimless Love, a book of poetry by Billy Collins
The Circle by David Eggers
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Colonel Chris Hatfield
The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
The Ottolenghi series of Mediterranean cookbooks
Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett

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Enjoy this encore edition of Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair as we embark upon Thanksgiving Week! We hope you will have a great holiday and enjoy some quality time with your family and loved ones. Vicki returns live next week!

In what can best be described as a “delicious read”, Ellen Kanner brings an irreverent recipe for a reverent life! Later, Adam Grant debunks the notion that good guys finish last with a groundbreaking look at how to achieve success!

Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair airs every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. Get exclusive updates by liking Conversations Live on Facebook, and you can also follow Vicki right here on Twitter!

Ellen Kanner believes that with a little thought and preparation, every meal we eat can not only nourish our bodies, but our souls as well. Feeding the Hungry Ghost: Life, Faith, and What to Eat for Dinner is a one-of-a-kind book that ventures far beyond being simply a collection of recipes. In between global vegan recipes that call you to the table, she presents inspiring stories and establishes meaningful connections between the simple act of eating a meal and creating a more vital and nourished soul. The book challenges you to decide if you want to keep reading or start cooking! Ellen is an award-winning food writer and writes the syndicated column Edgy Veggie. She is Huffington Post’s Meatless Monday blogger and has been published in a wide variety of culinary publications.

Why do some people rise quickly up the corporate ladder while others languish at the bottom? Is there something beyond talent, effort, and luck that drives our productivity and accomplishments? In his landmark new book Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, Wharton professor Adam Grant reveals how the way we choose to interact with others defines our successes and failures. He demolishes the “me-first” worldview and shows the best way to get to the top is not to focus on the solo journey, but to help others rise to the occasion along with you. Grant is the youngest full professor at Wharton Business School. He has been honored as one of BusinessWeek’s favorite professors and one of the world’s 40 top business professors under 40.

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Newberry and Carnegie award winning author Sharon Creech shares her inspirations and chats with Vicki about her latest work, The Boy on the Porch. Later, is family more sacred to you than sales? Filmmaker Dave Gardner and the Growthbusters team have put together an alternative to Black Friday shopping with their new documentary Hooked on Growth. Also today, writer Rivvy Neshama discusses her delightfully inspiring new book Recipes for a Sacred Life.

Please take a moment to visit the link below, it is an information and registration page offered by Growthbusters for the public. They’ll send a link for the screening to everyone who registers!
http://www.growthbusters.org/see-the-growthbusters-documentary-free-on-black-friday-around-the-world/

Enjoy Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. You can follow Vicki on Twitter, and like Conversations Live on Facebook for exclusive show updates!

Sharon Creech is back with a new novel that poignantly illustrates how love can be discovered in the strangest of circumstances. The Boy on the Porch begins with a couple returning home to find a young boy sleeping on their porch with a note from a parent unable to care for hm. Their lives take an unexpectedly joyous turn as they begin to raise the boy as their own… until the father returns and reclaims him. What happens next is at once heartbreaking and inspiring, and the surprise ending will leave you in tears. Creech has been honored with both the Carnegie Medal and Newberry Medal for her writing, and is a national bestseller with over a dozen novels in print.

To inspire a low-consumption holiday season this year, the Growthbusters team is organizing a free worldwide Black Friday screening of Hook On Growth via the internet. Families are encouraged to avoid malls and big chain stores, and reconnect to what the holidays are supposed to be about… playing games, eating great food, and spending time with loved ones. The screening event is Growthbusters way to spur on interesting conversation, have fun, and leave a small ecological footprint. Director Dave Gardner directs you to the Growthbusters website for further ideas to make the holidays more about family and less about consumerism.

Rivvy Neshama’s new book, Recipes for a Sacred Life: True Stories and a Few Miracles may sound like it’s a run of the mill self-help book, but nothing could be further from the truth. From dancing to forgiving, from walking at dawn to sharing dinner with a stranger, Neshama shares true short tales that are at once meaningful, playful, and inspiring. She proves she has a timeless wisdom, turning down-to-earth ordinary encounters into enriching and sacred moments that can be appreciated by readers of all ages and backgrounds. Neshama is a writer, editor, and community organizer who draws her unique spiritual path from many sources.

Listen to PODCAST –

For straight talk on confidence, courage, and career for women, Becky Blalock delivers, and she dares you to take charge of your life! Also today, Anne Katherine recognizes that your boundaries may be your comfort zone, but in excess may be limiting your potential. 
Join us every Monday at noon Pacific for Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair on KKNW 1150 AM or 94.9FM HD. And throughout the week get exclusive show and guest updates by liking Conversations Live on Facebook, and enjoy the musings of Vicki St. Clair on Twitter!

Becky Blalock’s new book Dare takes women firmly by the hand and propels them onward and upward. Through a series of dares, Blalock empowers women to succeed with practical strategies that build relationships, promote potential, and ultimately create opportunities on which great careers are founded, nurtured, and grown.

Have you ever felt a little empty at the end of a day? Or maybe it seems as if your dreams and goals are becoming farther away and harder to attain. Perhaps there are days when it seems like you have more friends in the digital world than the real world. Anne Katherine has discovered that not truly connecting to people face-to-face can be detrimental to your long-term goals as well as your daily happiness. In Boundaries in an Overconnected World, she can help you better certain aspects of your life, such as the distance or closeness you want with friends, turning longings into reality, and making better connections to the people in your life.

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Therapist and former philosophy professor Dr. Paul Dunion believes that peace and a more meaningful life can come from becoming… and remaining… a ‘novice mystic.” Later, from musicians in hospitals to quilts on the National Mall, art is already healing people all over the world. Dr.‘s and spiritualists Michael Samuels (MD) and Mary Rockwood Lane (PhD) have teamed up once again with their latest book, Healing with the Arts: A 12-week Program to Heal Yourself and Your Community, combining their own stories with professional expertise to teach people how to heal themselves. 

Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair airs each Monday at noon Pacific on KKNW 1150AM and 94.9FM HD. Throughout the week you can get exclusive Conversations Live updates and guest information by liking our Facebook page, and follow Vicki on Twitter!

Dr.’s Michael Samuels (MD) and Mary Rockwood Lane (PhD) both know firsthand what it’s like to heal through art: Mary painted her way through depression, while Michael healed a patient’s arthritic pain via illustration. Based off of their proven program used in hospitals around the country, Healing with the Arts: A 12-Week Program to Heal Yourself and Your Community highlights the extraordinary ways that the arts can help people heal mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Michael and Mary have teamed up on several books devoted to creativity and innovation in healing, and are widely considered among the foremost experts in body, mind, and spirit medicine.

The key to gaining some understanding of the journey of life begins with grasping and accepting that is is mysterious, insecure, and unpredictable. Dr. Paul Dunion, therapist and former philosophy professor, explains in his new book Path of the Novice Mystic: Maintaining a Beginner’s Heart and Mind that wheter you are religious or non-religious, there can be spiritual enrichment in remaining a beginner, as he opines that a novice starts the day open to what’s new, and lives from curiosity rather than already discovered conclusions. Dr. Dunion can help foster the ability to forgive, develop a healthy ego without becoming arrogant, and make peace with life while shedding needless worry and anxiety. Dr. Dunion is a licensed professional counselor with his own counseling and consulting practice. He has led over 300 workshops on a wide range of topics.

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