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Mimi Schwartz devotes much of her life teaching others how to write nonfiction creatively. She's the co-author of Writing True: The Art and Craft of Creative Nonfiction. which spells out the ways a good writer's voice can drive a true story. She explains why this style of writing has become increasingly popular since the early 90's and cites examples in her book of authors who succeed in writing creative nonfiction. Mimi Schwartz will also read from her own creative nonfiction work including Thoughts from a Queen Sized Bed.

Later in the show we check in with naturalist Rosemary Conroy for a review of the Peterson Field Guide to Animal Tracks. A new third edition of the classic book has just been released. Rosemary also provides an overview of other tracking guides including

Stokes Guide to Animal Tracking and Behavior by Donald & Lillian Stokes (Little, Brown)

Mammal Tracks and Sign of the Northeast by Diane K. Gibbons (University Press of New England)

Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks & Signs by Paul Rezendes (Camden House Publishing)

Trackers interested in obtaining a tracking card can download and print out one from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department website.

Charles Niebling has been with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests for the past eight years, and he's been the brains behind lots of the conservation and land-use initiatives in the state. He announced this week that he's stepping down from that position to take a job in the private sector. We'll talk with him about his work and the role of conservation in New Hampshire.

Later in the program we'll check in with a gingerbread house expert to get some tips on the craft. Canterbury Shaker Village is holding a competition this weekend, so we turn to chef Frederick Lozier of Frederick's Pastries to find out what makes for an award-winning house.

Tonight on the Front Porch, we meet The Magic Numbers. The British band has been getting quite a bit of attention in the U.K., and now they're making waves in the U.S. The Magic Numbers is made up of two sets of siblings, and their music sounds like 60s-era pop with a modern twist. They're opening up for Bright Eyes at a concert tonight in Concord.

Tuesday marks the birthday of the only U.S. President to come out of the Granite State. We'll take a look at Franklin Pierce's life through a collection of his letters and news accounts from his day. The New Hampshire Political Library and the Pierce Brigade are releasing the documents (originally compiled 30 years ago) in a new book called The Persistent Patriot.

We'll also talk to writer Jack Kraichnan about his new book Winter to Winter, which documents the changing seasons around the Monadnock foothills using Haiku-like poetry.

Thomas Christopher Greene's new novel is a modern telling of the Cain and Abel story that takes place in a restaurant. It's called I’ll Never be Long Gone, and it looks at how a family-owned restaurant shapes the destiny of three generations of men in one family and how the business affects their relationships as fathers, sons and brothers.

Tonight's show also includes a radio piece by producer Jay Allison. He tells the tale of the relationship between his father and his father's mentally retarded brother. The piece comes to us via the website PRX.org. You can listen to the story (and comment on it) by clicking here.