Eden Prairie Senior Center Book Club #2

Sandy and I visited the other Eden Prairie senior center book club on September 11.  It was a lively group of women and we had a good time chatting with them.  We're on their 2014 calendar to read.

This has been a wild summer for us.  Two of our grandchildren stayed with us all summer!  It was fun but challenging at times since they were out of their element and missing their mom part of that time.  But good news, my daughter moved back to Minnesota with them so now I get to see them lots! 

This senior center also has a "let's go fishing" program  to teach kids to fish.   Kira participated in the program this summer and had a fantastic time. The people guiding the kids were super great.

Kira and Lucas

Hinckley Ribfest!

The first week of September brought us to Hinckley, MN for their annual Ribfest.  It's a nice event and we had another beautiful day for it.  As you may know, our novel TIMBER; Fire in the Pines, takes place in a fictional town near Hinckley.  The story culminates with the fire.  We shared a space with three other authors and had a wonderful time talking with them and while trying to kill the bees that were buzzing around our tent!

Karlajean Jirik Becvar, who is also a teacher has written two young adult books in her Firestorm Chronicles series.  Book one is titled "The Seeing Stone" and book two is "The Secrets of the Stone."  They're about a young girl who goes back in time to the Great Hinckley Fire.  I have them both on my reading list!  I gave them to my granddaughter who is now eleven to read first.

Jeanette Lukowski wrote "Heart Scars: A Memoir of Parenting a Teen Runaway."  It's a poignant story about her daughter and how her life changed after she met a man on the Internet.   Tough, but important stuff.

Lastly, lest you be thinking it was just the girls....

Authors from left to right: Karlajean, Sandy, Dale and Jeanette

D.A. (Dale) Swanson joined our group with a historical novel called "The Thirty-Ninth Man:  A Novel of the 1862 Uprising."  He's got a lot of knowledge to share on the subject of this Native American tragedy from our past which is fascinating to learn about.  I'm looking forward to reading this one too!

Looking ahead to more road trips, meeting new friends and adventures with TIMBER.  If you read it, like us on Facebook and write a review on Goodreads or another book lover site for us.  Thank you!

"It's too nice to be inside!"

Excelsior Bay Books

On August 17, we paired up for a book signing with our favorite mystery writing authors Mary Donlon and Marilyn Rausch.  (Previously I mentioned they just released their second book called "Love Can Be Murder".)  We went out to the quaint little store --which is in the quaint little town of Excelsior Bay on a bright, sunny day.  They have a nice children's area and a cozy place to sign and look at books.   They also carry this handmade pottery I love! 

Frankly it wasn't a big book signing day by the lake on a perfect summer afternoon but it was fun being in Excelsior and at this indie bookstore which is filled to the brim with lots of good books.  In this business of selling books, we have become accustomed to not selling a lot of books during book signings.  But it helps build exposure for TIMBER and Sandy's upcoming book in the final editing stage. 

Fall is upon us which is a lovely time to curl up with a good....lumberjack!  If you're in a book club, we are filling our calendar with dates to go and discuss the book with people.  Please let us know if you'd like Sandy to visit!

TIMBER and the TALL SHIPS in Duluth

 A picture's worth a thousand words, right?  Well this mermaid in a tree was discovered at an artist's farm on our road trip to Duluth.  My niece Grace and granddaughter Kira came along to their grandma Sandy's book signing in Duluth at Ftigers.  





 Kira and Grace at the Tall Ships Event in Duluth in July 2013.  We decided to combine our signing with some fun during this event.  Wow, they are so cool! 

The day before the event Kira and Grace helped hand out bookmarks to promote the book signing at Fitgers.  For those of you who have read TIMBER, the prolog opens with Thor sailing from Sweden to the United States in a ship very much like the ones displayed during the Tall Ships event.

Lumber "Jill"  Kira!

Kira had fun dressing up in a "lumber Jill" costume and chatting with anyone who would listen.  What a great little speaker she is!  "Hi my name is Kira and my grandma Sandy wrote a book called TIMBER and it's really good but I can't read it because I'm only 10."

Grace and Sandy at Fitgers

Kira during her break

                                                                                                                                                                               

Kira's Announcement "My Grandma Sandy wrote a book called TIMBER....."

We had a great time at Fitgers, I love their bookstore.  The staff is so accomodating, stop and visit some time.  Book signings are a delightful way to engage with our readers.