Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Marlin Bree - Nautical Author



Broken Seas: True Tales of
Extraordinary Seafaring Adventures


by Marlin Bree

In his fourth book set mostly on his home cruising area of Lake Superior, author and sailor Marlin Bree writes about some of the colorful Minnesota waterfront characters he’s met as a boater. Here Bree recreates real-life adventures upon a lake he regards as an inland ocean in such nonfiction tales as The Old Man and the Inland Sea, the tale of Helmer Aakvik, a Norwegian fisherman who went out in an oncoming Superior ice storm to attempt to rescue a fellow boater and survived after being frozen alive in his small skiff; The Day All Hell Broke Loose, the account of Bree’s own survival during the July 4, 1999 Boundary Waters “Green Storm” in which the author’s home-built sloop, Persistence, was hit on Superior’s open waters with winds over 100 mph. Bree also suspense fully recreates The Last Race of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which gives an hour-by-hour account as the aft-section crew struggle during a monster Superior storm. Broken Seas is Bree’s most award-winning book with two stories (The Day All Hell Broke Loose and The Old Man and the Inland Sea) winning the prestigious Boating Writers International Grand Prize in 2004 and again in 2009.

“Adventuring, and reading about it, gets no better than that.”—Kliatt magazine

“Veteran journalist and seasoned sailor Marlin Bree has crafted a series of stories that prove the adage that truth is stranger than fiction. A remarkable collection of well-told tales.” – Herb McCormick, Editor of Cruising World and Boating Editor of The New York Times.

BIOGRAPHY
When Marlin Bree first launched his home-built boat, Persistence, in the chill waters of Lake Superior, little did the former Minneapolis Tribune magazine editor realize that his boating adventures would begin a new career for him as a marine journalist and best-selling boating author. He has written numerous magazine articles about his adventures and his boat in regional and national magazines, ranging from Lake Superior magazine to Cruising World and Small Craft Advisor. He has written five books including Wake of the Green Storm: A Survivor’s Tale, which was number 2 on Amazon.com’s regional best-selling list for more than a year and which opened in 2010 as a Kindle e-book in the number 7 slot in Canada. In his books, Bree’s heroes are small boats and the sailors who man them; his books are internationally noted for authentic tales of wicked storms and the skippers who brave high seas and the forces of nature that sometimes overpower them. As he sees them, his real-life characters often are imbued with native courage, compassion and dignity, as well as a waterfront humor that arises in the worst circumstances. (One reviewer wrote: “Bree is at his best when the lake was at its worst”) The author has sailed his 20-foot home-built sloop most places on Superior and he writes some of his material onboard his boat while at anchor in some remote anchorages. In addition to his Superior stories, he also co-authored with Minnesota sailor Gerry Spiess, the nonfiction book, Alone Against the Atlantic, which became a national best seller and translated into many languages as well as to be published as a Reader’s Digest Condensed Book (circulation more than 2 million). A former resident of Duluth, he is a member of Boating Writers International, The Author’s Guild and he is profiled in Who’s Who in America.

MARLIN BREE NAUTICAL BOOKS

The Dangerous Book for Boaters: A humorous waterfront guide to the ways & wiles of boaters, 2009 Marlor Press.

Broken Seas: True Tales of Extraordinary Seafaring Adventures, 2005 Marlor Press.

Wake of the Green Storm: A Survivor’s Tale, 2001 Marlor Press. Also available 2010 as a Kindle e-book on Amazon.com.

Call of the North Wind: Voyages & Adventures on Lake Superior, 1996 Marlor Press.

In the Teeth of the Northeaster: A Solo Voyage on Lake Superior, hardcover edition 1988 Crown Publishing; trade paperback edition, 1993, Marlor Press.

Also:

Alone Against the Atlantic, Gerry Spiess with Marlin Bree, hardcover edition 1981 Control Data Publications; mass market edition, 1983 Berkley Books.

Marlin Bree’s books are widely available in the U.S. and Canada from various bookstores around the shores of Superior as well as from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble. Com. and several other Internet booksellers. Some titles are available abroad including in England, India and Australia. All books except Alone Against the Atlantic are in print. Marlin Bree’s books are published by Marlor Press, Inc., St. Paul, Minn., and are distributed to the book trade in the U.S. and abroad by Independent Publishers Group (IPG Books), Chicago, Illinois.

Marlin Bree’s website, http://www.marlinbree.com/., features pictures of Bree’s wooden boat on Superior and some downloadable PDF’s of his award-winning articles including his latest BWI First Place Writing Award, The Last Battle of the Grampa Woo.

Marlin Bree’s Boater’s Blog is found on his website http://www.marlinbree.com/

Monday, March 29, 2010

Helen L. Montgomery

Skinwalker Moon

By Helen L. Montgomery

Love. Magic. Terror.

Sara Sawyer is swept from her feet by the Indian traditionalist known only as “Hawk.” Mysterious and mystical, he enshrouds her in a world of magic...until one day, with little explanation, he returns to the forests that had formerly been his life.

Two years pass. Sara, a reporter, is sent to cover an unusual killing—a man has been found dead with a look of screaming terror on his face. Sara senses there’s more to the killing than meets the eye but rejects the notion that repeatedly suggests itself: that the actual cause of death was something supernatural.

That night, at the height of a fierce storm, Hawk returns, bringing with him the disturbing tale of a skinwalker: a dreadful spirit creature he claims is responsible for the killing. But in rejecting a supernatural premise, Sara is forced to face the possibility that Hawk himself may be the killer.

BIOGRAPHY
Helen L. Montgomery has been a writer since the third grade when she successfully negotiated a deal with her teacher to write stories using her weekly spelling words rather than write them out ten times each. She is the author of several published short stories and the group facilitator for Southside Writers, an Eagan area writers critique group. A novelist at heart, Skinwalker Moon is her debut work.

READINGS
I donate my time doing readings at local senior centers and retirement communities. My next scheduled reading is May 11, 2010 for the residents at the Commons on Marice in Eagan.




PUBLISHER
Outskirts Press
http://www.outskirtspress.com/

REVIEWS
"Montgomery reinvents the werewolf for the 21st century... A must read for monster fans everywhere."
--TempleOfTheDemon.com.

Reviewed by eBookGuru.org
“A great read that will give your imagination a real thrill ride.” Full review at
http://www.ebookguru.org/2010/03/skinwalker-moon-by-helen-l-montgomery-fiction-ebook-review/

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Brian Freeman - The Burying Place


THE BURYING PLACE
by Brian Freeman

Available April 13, 2010

One cold night. Two shocking mysteries.

In the quiet town of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, a baby vanishes from her bedroom in an opulent lakeside home. Was she abducted – or does her father have a terrible secret to hide?

That same night, a young policewoman gets lost in the fog and stumbles into the middle of a horrific crime. Now a sadistic killer wants her to play his deadly game.

Lieutenant Jonathan Stride and his team need to move fast to save a child and stop a killing spree. As fear grips the winter farm lands, Stride knows that every snow-covered field may be the next burying place.

Each twist in the investigation takes Stride into an elaborate web of deceit and desire. But his biggest obstacles may be the very people he’s trying to help. With everything at risk and time running out, Stride worries how far a desperate mother will go to rescue her baby – and how far a desperate cop will go to save herself.

"Fleshed-out characters, high tension and terrifying twists put Freeman
up there with Harlan Coben in the psychological crime stratosphere."
– Daily Mail, London

BIOGRAPHY
Brian Freeman is a bestselling author of Duluth-based psychological suspense novels. His books have been sold in 46 countries and 18 languages and have appeared as Main Selections in the Literary Guild and the Book of the Month Club.

His debut, IMMORAL, won the Macavity Award and was a nominee for the Edgar®, Dagger, Anthony, and Barry awards for best first novel. He published his second novel STRIPPED to widespread critical acclaim in 2006. STRIPPED was named one of the top 10 mysteries of the year by the South Florida Sun Sentinel and was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award.
The Library Journal review of his third novel, STALKED, noted that “Freeman just keeps outdoing himself with each book.” Publishers Weekly gave his fourth book, IN THE DARK, a starred review, calling it his best book yet. When his most recent novel, THE BURYING PLACE, was released in the UK, London’s Daily Mail called Freeman the discovery of the year in crime fiction.

Freeman is also co-author of THE AGENCY under the pseudonym Ally O’Brien. The book, described as “Sex and the City meets The Devil Wears Prada,” was published to favorable national reviews in People and Entertainment Weekly.

BOOKS BY BRIAN FREEMAN
THE BURYING PLACE (April 13, 2010)
IN THE DARK (2009)
STALKED (2007)
STRIPPED (2006)
IMMORAL (2005)

All Available from St. Martin’s Minotaur
http://www.minotaurbooks.com/

Under the Pseudonym Ally O’Brien
THE AGENCY (2009)

Available from St. Martin’s Press
http://www.stmartins.com/




UPCOMING MINNESOTA EVENTS
April 13, 2010 • 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM

The Bookstore at Fitger's
600 East Superior Street Duluth, MN 55802 888-270-BOOK
Brian will be in Stride country on the release date for his new book, THE BURYING PLACE. He's teaming up with the Bookstore at Fitger's in a fundraiser to support the Duluth Public Library. The store is donating 10% of all sales that afternoon and evening to the library, so come meet Brian and help the library while you shop.

April 15, 2010 • 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Borders Books
8472 Tamarack Bay Woodbury, MN 55125 (651) 578-2931
Brian will do his first local event for his new book THE BURYING PLACE at the Borders bookstore in Woodbury in the Twin Cities.

April 17, 2010 • 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Once Upon a Crime
604 West 26th Street Minneapolis, MN 55405-3303 (612) 870-3785
Meet Brian on Saturday afternoon as he signs copies of his new Duluth-based suspense novel THE BURYING PLACE. Readers outside the Twin Cities can place advance orders for signed copies from Once Upon a Crime. Just call Pat or Gary at the number above or e-mail onceuponacrime@earthlink.net.

April 20, 2010 • 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
O'Donoghue Books
1926 2nd Avenue Anoka, MN 55303-2429 (763) 427-4320 Brian visits O'Donoghue Books in Anoka, Minnesota, a great old-fashioned bookstore featuring new titles and rare, out of print books. He'll be answering questions and signing his books, including THE BURYING PLACE.

April 24, 2010 • 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Barnes & Noble Miller Hill
1600 Miller Trunk Hwy Duluth, MN 55811 (218) 786-0710
Brian will be at the Barnes & Noble store in Duluth on Miller Hill to greet readers and sign copies of his new book, THE BURYING PLACE.

April 27, 2010 • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Barnes & Noble Har Mar
2100 North Snelling Ave Roseville, MN 55113 651-639-9256
Brian will be speaking with members of the long-standing mystery book club at the Barnes & Noble Har Mar store in Roseville, Minnesota. The public is welcome, so feel free to stop by and join the discussion and get your copy of THE BURYING PLACE signed.

May 04, 2010 • 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Burnhaven Library
1101 County Road 42 W Burnsville, MN 55306-4430 (952) 891-0300
Brian will speak and answer questions at the Burnhaven Library. Books will be available for sale and signing, including copies of THE BURYING PLACE.

May 05, 2010 • 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Totally Criminal Cocktail Hour
425 East Nelson Street, Stillwater, MN 55082 Brian will be the featured speaker at the delicious Totally Criminal Cocktail Hour, sponsored by Valley Bookseller in Stillwater. The event is held at the Dock Cafe, and tickets are $10. Contact the bookstore for reservations. Books will be available for sale and signing.

WEBSITE
www.bfreemanbooks.com

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

EIGHTH ANNUAL WRITE OF SPRING


Eighth Annual Write of Spring

ONCE UPON A CRIME
MYSTERY BOOKSTORE

Join us and meet the authors !

Saturday, March 20, 2010 from 12:00 - 4:00 pm


AUTHOR APPEARANCE SCHEDULE

12:00 pm
Joel Arnold, Judith Yates Borger, Laura Childs, Katie DeCosse, Pete Hautman, Monica Ferris, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Priscilla He
rbison, Kathleen Hills, William Kent Krueger, Jackie Maher, David Oppegaard, Deborah Woodworth

1:00 pm
Carl Brookins, Gary Bush, Jan Dunlap, Margaret Frazer, Brian Freeman, Ellen Hart, Jenifer LeClair, Victoria Houston, Camille Hyytinen, Andrea Sisco, Beth Solheim, Roger Stelljes, Richard Thompson

2:00 pm
Barbara DaCosta, Pat Dennis, Barbara Fister, Bob Gust, Steve Horwitz, David Housewright, Chuck Logan, Larry Millett, Julie Schaper, Rick Shefchik, Anthony Neil Smith, Steve Thayer, Christopher Valen,
Lance Zarimba

3:00 pm
KJ Erickson, William Fietzer, Lois Greiman, Judith Koll Healey, Dean Hovey, Julie Kramer, Michael Allan Mallory, Sujata Massey, Scott Pearson, Susan Runholt, Marilyn Victor, JP White

It’s always a good time!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Scott R. Walvaert - Poet


PACIFIC

By Scott R. Welvaert

SOL Books

Star-crossed lovers, David and Marti, set out to fulfill their dying wish: see the Pacific Ocean. They begin in Minnesota, where they meet at an AIDS clinic, and Pacific chronicles their journey through the Black Hills, past Devil’s Tower, and to Cannon Beach. Before reaching their final destination, they must first accept their fates and the past choices that have led them down this tragic road.

"Welvaert’s characters rush toward their fate even as they seem to evade it, in poems tender and elegiac, poems full of clear-eyed detail and music informed by compassion, gravity, and grace." —Richard Robbins, author of The Untested Hand and Other Americas

"Welvaert’s road trip West makes us want to do as its young and desperate protagonists and take off our shoes “to feel the world again, to step on the jagged rock.” —Richard Terrill, author of Coming Late to Rachmaninoff and Fakebook: Improvisations on a Journey Back to Jazz

BIOGRAPHY
Scott R. Welvaert lives in Chaska, Minnesota, with his wife, two daughters, and a dog named Sparrow. His poetry has been previously published in the Rockhurst Review, Chiron Review, Rockford Review, Cold Mountain Review, Jabberwock Review, Rosebud, Birmingham Poetry Review, Valaparaiso Poetry Review, and numerous other magazines and journals across the country. His published children’s novels include The Curse of the Wendigo and The Mosquito King, the former title being recently nominated for a 2009 Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award. Pacific is his first full-length collection of poetry.

WEBSITE
http://solbooks.com/authors/scottrwelvaert.html

BLOG
http://scotchowashere.blogspot.com/

OTHER TITLES BY SCOTT
The Curse of the Wendigo
The Mosquito King


PACIFIC LAUNCH DATE
03/01/10


PUBLISHER LINK
http://solbooks.com/


Friday, March 12, 2010

SOL BOOKS - Publisher

SOL Books
an imprint of Skywater Publishing Co.
PO Box 24568
Minneapolis, MN 55424

Blake A Hoena, Editorial Director

Sol Books was founded as a publisher of print books, as well as ebooks and audio books. We seek to publish quality poetry and prose that not only stands up to high literary standards, but is also accessible to a wide audience of readers.

While drawing attention to yet undiscovered talent and showcasing some of today's best authors, we also hope to form a creative writing community whose goal is to cultivate interest in all forms of literature. We will hold yearly book contests, present interviews with our published authors, and publish articles on the craft of writing.

We are a collective of authors, editors, and designers publishing books for the love of the written word. A small publisher based out of the Twin Cities, we’re looking to publish at least one local author each year.


BOOKS PUBLISHED
Pacific by Scott R. Welvaert
Well Deserved by Michael Loyd Gray
Bodywearers by Connie Colwell Miller
My Father’s Gloves by David Spiering
Prostitutes of Post Office Street by Frank Carden

NEXT BOOK RELEASE
Gigs by John Davis
January 2011

PURCHASE
http://solbooks.com/books.html
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble.com

WEBSITE
http://solbooks.com

BLOG
http://solbooks.com/blog

FACEBOOK

Monday, March 8, 2010

Swati Avasthi - SPLIT


SPLIT

By Swati Avasthi

Knopf

16-year-old Jace Witherspoon arrives at the doorstep of his estranged brother Christian with a re-landscaped face (courtesy of his father’s fist), $3.84, and a secret.

He tries to move on, going for new friends, a new school, and a new job, but all his changes can’t make him forget what he left behind—his mother, who is still trapped with his dad, and his ex-girlfriend who is keeping his secret. At least so far.

Split is about what happens after. After you’ve said enough, after you’ve run, after you’ve made the split—how do you begin to live again?

BIOGRAPHY
Swati Avasthi has been writing fiction since she read Little House in the Big Woods at age five. Emily Brontë, Harper Lee, and many others furthered her addiction. She institutionalized her habit at the University of Chicago, where she received her B.A. She has received numerous honors, including a Loft’s Mentor Series Award and University of Minnesota’s Marcella DeBourg Fellowship and the Thomas H. Shevlin Fellowship. 2010 will be a big year for her: she will complete her MFA from the University of Minnesota, and Knopf will publish her debut novel, Split, in March.

BOOK RELEASE
March 9, 2010

BOOK LAUNCH
The Loft Literary Center
March 20, 2010
7:00 PM
Performance Hall
Refreshments provided

APPEARANCES
March 18th, I'll be interviewed by Charlotte Sullivan on KFAI

WEBSITE
www.swatiavasthi.com

BLOG
www.swatiavasthi.blogspot.com

UNIQUE INFORMATION
Before I wrote Split, I coordinated a domestic violence legal clinic where I interviewed thousands of abuse survivors.



Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Laura Childs - Teaberry Strangler

The Teaberry Strangler
Tea Shop Mystery #11

By Laura Childs

Berkley Crime

ISBN 978-0-425-23245-3

When Laura Childs’ previous book, Oolong Dead, hit the New York Times Bestseller List last year, it yielded a heady blend of tea and talk shows. So it’s with great hope, terror, and fingers crossed that her 11th Tea Shop Mystery launches on March 2, 2010.

The Teaberry Strangler gallops out of the gate with a moonlit alley crawl spearheaded by Charleston tea shop owner Theodosia Browning. But as rain patters down and fog rolls in, customers aren’t the only ones combing the twisted passages, looking for bargains in local shops. Someone strangles a map store owner and Theodosia, who views the terrible deed from afar, vows to seek justice. But who stands to benefit from inheriting a dusty map store, how are the quirky ladies from Jardin Perfumerie involved, and why is a mysterious woman suddenly stalking Theodosia?

As Theodosia plunges into a hunt for the killer, she encounters the treasure hunting Kipling Club, an old love, the mysterious Pinckney’s Castle, and a terrible trial by fire at the Heritage Society. Combining the genteel art of tea with a breakneck-paced mystery, The Teaberry Strangler delivers big time!

BIOGRAPHY
Laura Childs has been a mystery author for the past ten years – writing the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbook Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries for a total of 20 books in print and 3 more manuscripts sitting on her editor’s desk. In her previous life she was CEO of Mission Critical Marketing with offices in Minneapolis, MN and Austin, TX. Laura is married to Dr. Bob, a professor of Chinese art history at the University of Minnesota, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs. Interests include art collecting, foreign travel, and serving on the board of directors of various non-profit organizations.

Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries, Cackleberry Club Mysteries, and Scrapbooking Mysteries have been named to the USA Today and New York Times Bestseller Lists.

WEBSITE
www.laurachilds.com

BOOK SIGNINGS/APPEARANCES
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Noon – 2:00 PM
Once Upon a Crime Mystery Bookstore
604 West 26th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55405
612-870-3785
A Teaberry Strangler publication party, book signing, refreshments, and tea basket drawing will be held

Saturday, March 20, 2010
Noon – 4:00 PM
Write of Spring Author Festival
Once Upon a Crime Mystery Bookstore
604 West 26th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55405
612-870-3785

Saturday, March 27, 2010
Formal Teas at 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM
(Reservations required)
Mystery tea and book signing
Mad Hatter Tea Room
300 East Main Street
Anoka, MN 55303
763-422-4160.

Saturday, April 10, 2010
Formal Teas at 11:00 AM and 2:30 PM
(Reservations required)
Mystery tea and book signing
Lady Elegant’s Tea Room
2230 Carter Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108
651-645-6676

Saturday, April 17, 2010
Three-course teas beginning at 11:00 AM
(Reservations required)
Mystery tea and book signing
Avalon Tea Room
2179 4th Street
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
651-653-3822