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. 

North Branch Library Book Signing/Discussion July 20, 2013

Thank you Friends of the North Branch Library for inviting us to your event on Saturday!  We shared TIMBER with the audience and appreciated the questions and comments.  Another author, Bud Hoekstra was also sharing his book The Life and Times of a Railroad Engineer.  Sounds like a good read for those interested in hearing stories about working on the railroad.  Trains are a huge part of our country's history.  The Friends felt having our book paired with a book about trains would be an interesting and appropriate pairing because of the role the train played in saving lives in The Great Hinckley Fire. 

Not only are there lots of interesting stories to read, there also seems to be some brave and heroic folks that have worked for the railroads.  In the case of the Great Hinckley Fire, several engineers including James Root and William Best performed strategically and bravely to save hundreds from the fire storm.  Depot agent Thomas Dunn lost his life heroically transmitting the catastrophe.  Porter John Blair repeatedly went to collect and save many children from the fire ignoring the danger to himself.  There are many wonderful survivor and hero stories I will strive to share in future posts.  Many of the people we meet at book events tell us they had relatives who survived--amazing.  We're coming up to the anniversary of the fire September 1, 1894.

Thursday, July 25 we're in Duluth for a book signing at The Bookstore at Fitgers.  Stop and see us if you're able; we're excited to be there!

June 22, 2013 Dorset's Festival of Authors and Artists

Sandy was invited to participate in this annual event to promote her debut novel TIMBER; Fire in the Pines.  It's the eighth year of this fun event where writers gather to meet with store patrons to discuss and sell their books.  We were pleased to be part of this unique event along with about 30 other authors including William Kent Krueger, Lorna Landvig and author friends Mary Donlon and Marilyn Rausch who just released their new book "Love can be Murder."  

                                                        

 Sally Wizik Wills and A.L. (Sandy) Sanderson

Sister Wolf is a seasonal bookstore open for the summer tourist season near the Park Rapids area of Minnesota.  Sally Wizik Wills is the owner of this cool little gem of a store.  In an article I read about this interesting lady, she states "I'm a reader.  Either you're a reader or you aren't.  I are."  Hurray for indie bookstores and hardworking booksellers!  Sally also owns Beagle Books and Bindery in Park Rapids.

  Dorset Store: Cabin built circa 1890's by a Swedish Lumberjack

Our recent trip to Dorset included a visit to this quaint little Stained Glass store.  The lady that owns it is a talented artist who creates beautiful stained glass; Sandy bought a lovely piece there.  Turns out this little cabin was built by a Swede back in the late 1800's who was also a lumberjack!  Talk about coincidence.  New book idea...Shades of Thor!

                                           Shades of Weird!

Parked outside a Dorset restaurant, this dead animal adorns a motorcycle.  Another interesting and weird tidbit--the mayor of Dorset is 4 years old.

July 13, 2013 Mooselake Art in the Park

Art in the Park in Mooselake, MN during their Agate Days is a BIG deal!  There were tons of people strolling along; we didn't have a gorgeous day but we had a mostly dry day and for that we were grateful!  Sandy had a great time meeting folks and signing books.  I believe we were the only authors there!  Maybe we started a new tradition.

Mary Donlon and Marilyn Rausch were sharing our booth and being with them was a lot of fun as well.  They just released their new book "Love Can Be Murder" and did well selling it and the first book "Headaches Can Be Murder" as a set.  

Our readers often ask when Sandy's next book will be released.  We are into our second printing of TIMBER and hope to release the second book late this year or early next year.

We also did a free drawing for a hand crocheted (by Sandy) afghan!  Sandy Morgan won the drawing.  We did a drawing once before because it goes with our marketing theme:

                    Curl Up With A Good....Lumberjack!

Our next event is tomorrow at the Eden Prairie Senior Center's Thursday Book Club.  I've met some of the members--all men!  Surprisingly (maybe) older gentlemen are amongst our biggest fans!  On Saturday July 20, we're off to North Branch Library for a reading and discussion.  Next week we're in Duluth July 25 with the Tall Ships!  Good tie in with TIMBER, the prologue begins with Thor's ship voyage.  August is looking busy as well, August 10 we're in Sandstone at Cheri's Flower Basket during Quarry Days!  August 17 we pair up again with our favorite team of author's Donlon and Rausch at Excelsior Bay Books.  Please come and see us if you're in the area!