Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk

A retired Ohio factory worker has published an account of a canoe and kayak journey that started as a 1986 fishing trip and ended, more than two decades later, at the Gulf of Mexico. "Paddle Across America: The North-South Canoe and Kayak Passage," by Joe Altaffer, was released through Page Publishing, according to the announcement.

The book covers a route Altaffer and his paddling partner, Carmon, pieced together over years of trips: from the Arctic Ocean, through Canada’s inland waterway system, down to the Gulf of Mexico, requiring only two portages across the entire continent. The release states the route was confirmed by canoe-route authorities as the shortest passage of its kind ever completed, though it does not name those authorities or the standard used.

Altaffer, who has lived on the same small farm in Montpelier, Ohio, for 57 years with his wife, Janet, spent 45 years working at Chase Brass while raising three sons, per the announcement. He and Carmon finished the crossing in 2008, when Altaffer was 65 and Carmon was 75. Among the moments the book recounts, according to the release, is a crossing of the Mackinac Straits made while racing a lake freighter, and a final push to reach the Arctic Ocean.

Carmon died in 2015. Altaffer wrote the book afterward, framing it as both a tribute to his friend and a record of the trip before, in his words, "my time on earth expires."

"This journey changed who I am — it deepened my faith, strengthened my friendship with Carmon, and showed me what’s possible when you simply say yes to adventure," Altaffer said in the announcement.

The book is available through Page Publishing’s website and through major retailers including Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play and Barnes & Noble. Page Publishing operates as a full-service self-publishing house, handling distribution and production for its authors.

Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.

Press Releases at Studio CarryOnHarry

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Balle Balle Radio™ Entertainment Desk

Author Ann Aschauer has released "Satan’s Worst Nightmare," a book built around a real outreach event two Michigan women created by reworking Halloween into a Christian production. According to the announcement, the expanded title reads "Satan’s Worst Nightmare: A Testimony of Recognizing, Fighting and Winning Today’s Spiritual Warfare" and it follows two small-town mothers, identified as Annie and Kelly, during the initial development of what the publisher calls a potentially unprecedented theatrical work: the story of Christ’s Resurrection told from Satan’s point of view.

The book arrives from Covenant Books, a Christian publishing house, and comes after Aschauer’s earlier novels including "Counselor," "Vision," and "Sparrows," as well as her prior nonfiction publications. Aschauer has a background in theater, playwriting and drama education, and taught middle school English and drama, experience the publisher says shaped how she reconstructed the obstacles the two women faced in building the event.

The narrative frames the project as spiritual warfare in a literal sense — prayer, obstacles, and what the release calls attacks and opposition standing between the women and a finished outreach. "This story shows that God can use anyone to do remarkable things that bring Him glory," Aschauer said in the announcement, adding that the original event became a testimony to everyone who helped build it. "I pray readers will see their own potential to make a difference in ways they never imagined possible," she said.

The book is being sold through bookstores and online retailers including Amazon, Apple’s iTunes Store, Google Play and Barnes and Noble, per the publisher.

What the announcement doesn’t specify is how the original event has evolved since — whether "Satan’s Worst Nightmare" is still staged annually in the women’s community, or whether the book is meant to document a one-time production. That detail is left to readers to find on their own.

Studio CarryOnHarry Perspective

At Studio CarryOnHarry, we see Aschauer’s career trajectory as instructive for faith-based creators working in theatrical spaces. Her progression from drama educator to playwright to novelist reveals how technical storytelling craft and spiritual conviction can reinforce each other. By teaching middle school drama, she developed an intuitive understanding of how audiences connect with narrative—not through sermon, but through character, conflict, and transformation. That foundation shapes how she approaches faith narratives: not as didactic messages, but as dramatic experiences. Her earlier novels like "Counselor" and "Vision" suggest an author learning to weave theological themes into structured plots. With "Satan’s Worst Nightmare," Aschauer applies those hard-won skills to document a real community event, transforming grassroots ministry into publishable testimony. For Christian creators, her arc demonstrates that investing in craft—understanding how stories actually move people—strengthens rather than dilutes faith-centered work.

Read more People’s Choice stories on Studio CarryOnHarry. Reporting via Live News Vault.

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