This Month’s Featured Articles…
Fall Into a Great Read at Rough Draft Bar & Books
As we transition into autumn, most of us return to some type of routine. For many, the fall season marks an official slowdown. The frenetic pace of squeezing so many activities such as swimming, hiking, and kayaking into long summer days, quickly comes to a halt. School returns, the number of invites to weekend barbecues start to dwindle, and we start looking forward to spending the new season in markedly different ways than the previous one. Once fall arrives, cool weather and shorter days sweep [...]
Taconic Distillery Celebrates Ten Years in the Hudson Valley
If you find yourself traveling on Bulls Head Road in Stanfordville, NY, you’ll likely find pass a sign for Taconic Distillery. A bit off the beaten path, the distillery, which is located on Bowen Road, is a community hub that is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Owners Paul and Carol Ann Coughlin previously resided in Greenwich, CT, but Paul had been making trips up to the Hudson Valley, as he has been a member of Tamarack Preserve, a hunting and fishing membership club on [...]
Internationally Best-Selling Romance Novelist TL Swan’s Career is a Lesson in Perseverance and Authenticity
TL Swan’s career as an independently published romance author began when she found a diary, sitting at the bottom of a moving box that she didn’t recognize, with a pen wedged in between the pages. Fourteen years ago, Swan purchased a business with her husband and the two endured great financial hardship as a result. Having experienced the emotional turmoil that comes with near-bankruptcy, Swan needed solace and inspiration. During this struggle, she discovered Rhonda Byrnes’ self-help book The Secret on The Oprah Winfrey Show. [...]
A Return to Reading Romance: Exploring the Genre’s Avid Popularity and What Makes Romance So Special
Last August, in honor of Romance Awareness Month and Read-A-Romance Month, I wrote an article for Main Street highlighting the insights and accomplishments of independently published romance novelists AK Landow, Brooke O’Brien, Jade Dollston, and Maggie Rawdon. According to market research company Circana (formerly IRI Worldwide and The NPD Group), US print romance sales increased to nearly 19 million units as of August 6, 2022, making romance the leading print genre in terms of growth as of September 13, 2022. Therefore, it has definitely been [...]
On a Mission: The Covet Collective in Rhinebeck, NY
Fashionistas who are looking to stock up on fall faves should certainly shop at The Covet Collective – a Rhinebeck-based boutique that opened in April 2024. Yvette Rogers and Kerry Lee Zeff are the girl power and creative energy behind this new retail destination, which offers sustainable, ethical goods. For this duo, dreams really do come true. Rogers and Zeff have been thinking about opening their own shop for quite some time. “This storefront fell into our laps. We decided it was meant to be [...]
