The Mighty Quinn, illustrated by Katie and Aaron DeYoe

The Mighty Quinn

by Robyn Parnell
illustrated by Katie and Aaron DeYoe

Ages 8 & up

Quinn Andrews-Lee feels anything but mighty, and faces a dismal school year. His little sister outshines him athletically and socially, and he yearns for a service award his peers disdain. Not to mention charismatic bigot Matt Barker's goal in life is to torment Quinn and lure his friends to the dark side. When Quinn reports an act of vandalism, he finds himself accused of injuring Matt. Neally Standwell, a free-spirited new kid in Quinn's class, helps Quinn deduce who hurt Matt, but Matt would probably die—and would definitely lie—before admitting the truth. Through events both comical and poignant, Quinn and Neally solve the right mystery just as everything seems to go wrong and thwart a bully without becoming one in turn. And at the end of the day, the fabled ability to belch the entire alphabet might very possibly trump any award ever presented at Turner Creek School.

BIOGRAPHY

Katie and Aaron DeYoe met while studying graphic design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Though they are both full-time graphic designers, they spend most of their free time drawing, doodling, painting and printing. They also enjoy riding their serendipitously matching red Schwinns around Minneapolis.

WEBSITE
Katie - http://www.hellokatieevans.com/
Aaron - http://aarondeyoe.com/

SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mighty-Quinn/314422698666956?fref=ts 
Twitter: @aarondeyoe   @hellokatieevans 

PURCHASE
Amazon

PUBLISHER
Scarletta: http://scarlettapress.com/catalog/

Scarletta, a Minnesota Independent Publisher

Since its founding in 2005, Scarletta Press has been known for having a quality eclectic publishing collection. Recently, Scarletta Press has rebranded itself as simply "Scarletta".

The company now features four imprints: Scarletta Press, Scarletta Junior Readers, Scarletta Kids, and Red Portal Press. Scarletta Press, the original flagship, continues to feature adult titles while narrowing its genre focus to autobiographical fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir. The Junior Readers imprint focuses on fiction and non-fiction books for middle-grade readers, while Scarletta Kids sparks imagination with engaging picture and story books for ages 0 to 8. Red Portal Press, a hybrid self-publishing imprint involving trade distribution, started this past fall with its first title Knives on the Cutting Edge by Bob Macdonald.

Scarletta started publishing children’s titles in 2011 when they acquired their first middle-grade fiction, Lost in Lexicon by Pendred Noyce. The Ice Castle, Noyce’s second book, came out in August 2012 as their second children’s title.

Besides expanding from 2–3 titles annually to 10–12 titles annually, Scarletta has also created a new online store. It has partnered with ABDO Publishing Group for various titles in each season, allowing Scarletta to redesign institutional titles and place them in the trade, special, gift, and mass merchandise markets.


Scarletta’s spring 2013 title list features six titles across three of its imprints, with the majority of authors being from Minnesota. Determined to Matter by Jen O’Hara, an adult nonfiction about facing the loss of a child to an inoperable brain tumor, will be published June 1 in the Scarletta Press imprint. Scarletta Junior Readers features The Mighty Quinn by Robyn Parnell (May 2013), a humorous fiction story about growing up in the fifth grade, and Cool World Cooking by Lisa Wagner (July 2013), a cookbook for young chefs. Their three Scarletta Kids titles Nalah and the Pink Tiger by Anne Sawyer-Aitch (March 2013), A Day at the Lake by Stephanie Wallingford and Dawn Rynders (March 2013), and Betsy’s Day at the Game by Greg Bancroft (April 2013), will all feature ancillary products and interactive activities.

The company’s fall 2013 title list features a similar mix of authors across imprints withan adult fiction title, two junior readers, and three kid’s books.

Scarletta can be thought of as a new company, one with fresh and vibrant ideas driven by consumer-dedicated market strategy. “Publishing is challenging, complex, yet exciting,” says publisher Nancy Tuminelly. “Our goal is to positively and effectively impact our readers’ lives. Our tagline sums it up for us: Publishers by trade. Readers at heart.”

Want to find out more? Check out Scarletta's website.

Playing the Hand She's Dealt - David Fingerman

In the aftermath of "Silent Kill," Louise Miller is an ex-cop whose life could not be more of a mess. Unemployed and addicted to gambling, she comes home from the casino to find her front door unlocked and a corpse sitting on her sofa. Even worse, the dead man is Walter Farkos, a man she arrested shortly before resigning from the Minneapolis PD. Now Farkos' murderer is obsessed with a sadistic game of cat and mouse. The ultimate goal: to destroy Miller piece by piece. If Miller doesn't stop this madman she may not only forfeit her own life, but the lives of everyone she cares about.

BIOGRAPHY

As a student at the University of Minnesota, David Fingerman realized that if he switched his major from journalism to speech, he could graduate that quarter. It was a no-brainer. After twenty years of working for the Hennepin County court system an opportunity arose and he left the court system to do what he loves to do – write. It was a no-brainer. He has published a number stories in magazines and anthologies. “Playing the Hand She’s Dealt” is his third novel. David is married and presently lives in Minneapolis.

SIGNINGS

Reading & signing at:

True Colors Bookstore
4755 Chicago Avenue S.
Minneapolis, MN
November 10, 2011 at 7PM

WEBSITE:

http://davidfingerman.com

PURCHASE INFORMATION

Amazon.com (Amazon Promotional Code)

OTHER PUBLISHED WORKS

PUBLISHER

L&L Dreamspell

http://www.lldreamspell.com/

Once upon a Neighborhood - Evelyn Klein

Once upon a Neighborhood

by Evelyn Klein

Once upon a Neighborhood depicts the changing nature of Neighborhood in the Twin Cities. Neighborhood can be an important place of home and nurture, the pivotal point from which we embark on daily demands, responsibilities, adventures, and diversions of our lives. But the every-day stories that shape neighborhoods often remain unsung, unrecorded, become lost in storms of sensationalism. This book aims to depict the reality of ordinary living, “moments of being,” as it moves from Saint Paul to Minneapolis and areas in-between. Only some people’s names were changed for privacy. Told in prose and poetry, meant to be easily accessible, the stories combine memoir, history, and observation.

Because neighborhood and community are not only about people but about places as well and because words are not always enough, I sat in my car to draw pictures of places where the stories occurred. To represent unity, at least in the social sense, I designed a montage of skylines, Saint Paul at sunrise, Minneapolis at sunset, joined by a historic view of Fort Snelling. Inside the book, each of the five sections is also introduced by a drawing. The book was recently added to the Minnesota Historical Society’s permanent library collection.

BIOGRAPHY

Having lived in various parts of the Twin Cities most of her life, Evelyn Klein is a freelance writer, author, teacher, and visual artist as well as a frequent writing judge and editor. She holds a B.S. in Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an M.S. in the Teaching of English from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She taught in the public schools, at the Loft Literary Center and currently teaches at Century College. Her articles and poetry appear in numerous newspapers, journals and other publications, including the Saint Paul Almanac. She published the poetry anthology, Stage Two: Poetic Lives, in 1994. Sine 2005 her prizewinning poem, A Place Called Home, is still touring the Twin Cities area in the Home Sweet Home Again exhibit of poetry and art with the Minneapolis Family Housing Fund. She published the poetry memoir, From Here Across the Bridge, illustrated by her father, Wolfgang Klein, in 2006 with Nodin Press, winning a cover award. Her latest book of prose, poetry and her own art, Once upon a Neighborhood, was published in 2009 with North Star Press. Evelyn Klein’s upcoming events are regularly published in her newsletter, The Write Connection.

PURCHASE
Amazon.com

UPCOMING EVENTS
Classes and Workshops

Century College
3300 Century Ave. North
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
651-779-3341

Getting Started Writing: Short Shorts
Thursday, June 23, 2011, 6:00-9:00 p.m., 1 session

Finding Voice in Memoir
Thursday, July 21, 2011, 6:00-9:00 p.m., 1 session

Speaking and Reading
Minnesota Independent Scholars Forum
Hosmer Public Library
36th Street at 4th Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-630-6950
Poetry Reading and Discussion Featured are Morgan Grayce Willow and Evelyn Klein
Saturday, April 16, 2011, 10:30-12:00 noon

Pilgrim House Church
1212 W. Highway 96
Arden Hills, MN 55112
Finding Neighborhood and Community in Changing Times, Evelyn Klein guest speaker
Sunday, May 8, 2011, 10:15 a.m.

Mississippi Valley Poets and Writers
Venue to be announced
Spirit of the Muses
Saturday, May 21, 12:30-3:00 p.m.

River Falls Area Retired Educators Association
The West Wind Restaurant
Main Street, River Falls, WI 54022
715-425-8100
Publishing Your Manuscript

Wednesday, October 19, 2011, ll:45 a.m.

For more information see www.evelynkleinauthor.com

See also: Nodin Press at http://www.nodinpress.com

North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc. at info@northstarpress.com

In the final stages of completion – are Evelyn Klein’s next two books. Power Behind Your Writing, a writer’s reference book in three parts, including historical background on language, an easy-to-understand parts of speech section, and a sentence structure section, all designed to give writers of all backgrounds a better grasp of language as it relates to writing. It is presently in the final stages of editing. Seasons of Dreams, a book of prose, poetry and her own visual art deals with hope, renewal, spiritual growth and development. The author is currently working on illustrations to round out the reading experience. www.evelynkleinauthor.com

Blameless Mouth - Jessica Fox-Wilson

Blameless Mouth

by Jessica Fox-Wilson

Can we teeter together, on the knife’s edge of having and wanting? In Blameless Mouth, Jessica Fox-Wilson asks this question, by exploring the cycle of hunger, consumption and satiety. The collection traces the poet’s relationship with hunger from childhood to womanhood, uncovering what it means to feel forever wanting. Her work also considers the cultural legacy of hunger, through stories of starving children and hungry women, like Hansel and Gretel, Persephone, Eve, and others. Blameless Mouth illuminates the struggle of living daily with the contradictory pressures to want less but take more and searches for satiety in a culture that encourages insatiability.


Praise for Jessica Fox-Wilson and Blameless Mouth

Using retellings of the familiar stories – Grimm’s fairy tales, Adam and Eve – Fox-Wilson investigates the female body, its appetites and injuries, the relations between fathers and daughters and between a woman and her own image. Obsessed with violence and its repercussions, these poems imagine an alternate creation myth in which a woman struggles to take control of her own destiny. –Jeannine Hall Gailey, author of Becoming the Villainess

Jessica Fox-Wilson’s poetry casts seasons of light on what it means to be human. She elevates plain spoken story to elegance, seamlessly weaving narratives to create a lovely kaleidoscopic image. – Darci Schummer, whose fiction has appeared in Conclave: A Journal of Character, Paper Darts, and Volume One

Jessica Fox-Wilson has written a ferocious, elegant, tough-minded collection of poems. Her exploration of what it means to be hungry, of what the culture asks of its girls and women, compels the reader’s attention and a kind of allegiance with the fierce voice of the narrator. Braiding myths, tales, and sacred texts with her own compelling present-time narratives, we travel with a poet unafraid to speak truth to power, wherever that power resides, however evident or hidden. In the poem where she explores the definition of the word, lacuna, the poet gives us this definition: an empty space, a missing portion, in something which is otherwise continuous. I think of the deep and continuous traditions of poetry, and I think Jessica Fox-Wilson has filled an empty space, a missing portion, with her exceptional, beautifully crafted poems. Buy this book. Consider it food, a full portion which will leave you satisfied and inspired by her gifts as poet. – Deborah Keenan, author, most recently, of Willow Room, Green Door: New and Selected Poems, Milkweed Edition

BIOGRAPHY
Jessica Fox-Wilson is a part-time poet and a full-time educator. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and Middle-Secondary Education at Beloit College in Beloit, WI and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing at Hamline University, in St. Paul, MN. Throughout her career, she has pursued her twin vocations of unraveling poems and serving college students, with varying degrees of balance, luck and success. She writes about this balancing act at her blog, Everything Feeds Process (http://everythingfeedsprocess.com). Some of her poems have appeared in several journals, including Gin Bender, Blind Man’s Rainbow and qarrtsiluni and her articles about poetry and literature have appeared in Read Write Poem and the Uptown Neighborhood News. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband.

WEBSITE
http://everythingfeedsprocess.com

FACEBOOK
http://www.facebook.com/BlamelessMouth

PURCHASE
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/fox_jessica

CITISCAPE Vol 1 - Anthology

The Twin Cities - Cifiscape Vol. I

The Twin Cities is an anthology of science fiction with a geographic bent. The focus of this anthology is the Twin Cities. A lot of the time science fiction is just written, but we wanted to branch out and include two graphic artists as well. So what we have is seven storytellers telling their particular perspective on how the future of the Twin Cities will look. These stories tend to talk about a dystopian future. Each of the futures has their own mixture of joy and pain. Each has characters that are memorable and well crafted. All of these storytellers are people who live in the Twin Cities and rely heavily on the Twin Cities for inspiration.

CONTRIBUTORS
Ken Avidor
Brian Garrity www.briangarrity.com
Toianna Gum
Max Hrabal
Bob Lipski http://boblipski.wordpress.com
Ken Lubold
Aaron M. Wilson www.soullessmachine.com

PUBLISHER
http://onyxneon.com/books/twincities/index.html

BLOG
www.twitter.com/cifiscape

PURCHASE
Amazon.com

Entangled - Barbara Ellen Brink

Entangled

by Barbara Ellen Brink

One lost summer is time best left forgotten.

When Minneapolis divorce attorney, Billie Fredrickson, inherits her uncle's small California winery, she has no intention of actually moving to the west coast and starting a new life. Her only thought is to get it off her hands as quickly as possible. But her return to the winery after an absence of twenty years opens up more than the reading of her uncle's will. Childhood memories, long-buried, begin to surface, prompting more questions than anyone is able or willing to answer.

A late night prowler, a break-in at the winery, and an unearthed box of shocking photographs is someone's way of pulling the welcome mat out from under Billie's feet, but it only makes her dig her heels in deeper.

More secrets lie buried beneath Fredrickson Winery's innocent facade and Billie intends to get to the root. But disturbing the past lays bare the skeletons of others, including her mother's. Can she live with the consequences of full disclosure or will she run home where everyone is Minnesota Nice?

BIOGRAPHY
Barbara Ellen Brink is a freelance writer and novelist, supported financially by a loving husband who just happens to have a better paying job. Her novel, Time in a Bottle, was selected as a finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writer's contest in 2006 and her novel, Sense of Danger, was a finalist in the 2007 contest. Barbara’s short stories and articles have been published in THEMA Literary Magazine, The Springhill Review, Evangel, Liguorian, and others. Entangled is her first published novel.

She grew up on a small farm in Washington State, but now lives in the mean “burbs” of Minnesota with her husband and their dogs, Rugby & Willow. With her kids now pushed out of the nest and encouraged to fly, Barbara spends much time writing, motorcycling with her husband in the summer, and hiking through the snow with the dogs in the winter.

The second book in the Fredrickson Winery Saga will be out in March.

WEBSITE
www.barbaraellenbrink.com

BLOG
www.barbarasthinline.blogspot.com

PUBLISHER
https://www.createspace.com/3483348

Entangled is also available digitally in ebook formats through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Diesel, Kobo, Apple, and Smashwords.

If you're buying it from B&N, I know there are useful Barnes and Noble coupons to be found here.

Silent Kill - David Fingerman

Silent Kill

by David Fingerman

Police must follow a labyrinth, leading into the darkest tunnel of a twisted mind. A mind that carries no value for human life... Minneapolis police officer Louise Miller has attitude. Not only does she have to deal with the good old boy mentality of the department, but she's also a gay police officer who has to deal with harassment on a higher level. When one of her few friends on the force goes missing Miller investigates, despite her captain's order to leave it to the detectives. As Miller scours the precinct for any sign of the missing officer, Elias Boughton is on a psychopathic rampage. Kidnapping and murder are games he plays, blindly obeying a voice from his past. As the body count rises, Miller is convinced the detectives are heading in the wrong direction. Trying to fit the puzzle together, each clue revolves around a particular Rottweiler. As the mystery unravels so does her life, and the case becomes more personal than she ever dared imagine.

BIOGRAPHY
I was born in St. Paul, but once out of the hospital I've lived my entire life in Minneapolis. During the summer months when the sun is shining and birds singing, I'm perfectly content to sit in my office, with blinds drawn, typing away at my computer. My favorite day of the year is the first day I pull a flannel shirt out of the closet. After 24 years of working in the court system, I walked away to write full time. "Edging Past Reality" is my first book of short stories. "Silent Kill" is my first novel.

PUBLISHER
L & L Dreamspell

WEBSITE
www.davidfingerman.com

Julie Kramer - Silencing Sam

Silencing Sam

by Julie Kramer

IN THIS TOWN, GOSSIP KILLS . . .
When a widely despised gossip columnist is found shot to death, Riley Spartz must secretly investigate a case in which she becomes the prime suspect. In the wake of the brutal murder, our heroine discovers that news and gossip have more in common than she ever imagined. Trouble begins when Riley publicly clashes with newspaper gossip writer Sam Pierce, throwing a drink in his face after he implies in his popular column that she cheated on her husband. When clues to the homicide lead to her, Riley is charged with the crime. The police seem unwilling to look any further for perpetrators, although numerous local news- makers have reason for revenge—even a motive for killing.

Meanwhile, competition in the Channel 3 newsroom is just as murderous. While Riley struggles to interest her boss in a story about rural wind farm bombings and dead bats, a new reporter spikes the station ratings with exclusive stories about the headless homicide of an unknown woman whose decapitated body is found in a city park. Maybe murder isn’t such a bad idea after all? Riley must fight to stay out of jail, ahead in the ratings, and even alive in a killer showdown not fit for television audiences.

REVIEWS
"Readers will love this riveting, action-packing journey into television news investigations." -- (starred review) Library Journal

"This brisk mystery, in which homicide is leavened with deadpan humor, makes a worthy entry in a winning series." - Booklist

"Silencing Sam has a sexy protagonist, a sinister plot, and delivers another delightful read in this smart series." - Linda Fairstein

“A perfect summer vacation read." - RT Book Reviews, 4 stars

BIOGRAPHY
Julie Kramer is a freelance network news producer. She formerly ran WCCO-TV's nationally award-winning investigative unit in Minneapolis. Her debut thriller, STALKING SUSAN, won the Minnesota Book Award and the RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best First Mystery. It was also a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark, Anthony, Barry, and Shamus Awards. Her second book, MISSING MARK, was just nominated for a Daphne du Maurier Award. Kramer lives with her family in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

WEBSITE
www.juliekramerbooks.com

FACEBOOK
http://www.facebook.com/julie.kramer?v=feed

PUBLISHER
Atria/Simon & Schuster

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
International Thriller Writers
Mystery Writers of America
Sisters in Crime
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Romance Writers of America/Kiss of Death Chapter

EVENTS
Saturday, July 3, 11 am
Nisswa, MN
Rainy Day Bookstore
25491 Main Street

Sunday, July 4, 10 am - noon
Park Rapids, MN
Beagle Books
112 3rd St. W.

Monday, July 5, noon - 2 pm
Duluth, MN
Northern Lights Books
307 Canal Park Drive

Monday, July 12, 7 pm
Wazyata, MN
The Bookcase
607 East. Lake Street

Tuesday, July 13, 6:30 pm
White Bear Lake, MN
White Bear Lake Library
4698 Clark Avenue

Monday, July 19, noon
Brainerd, MN
Brainerd Public Library
Brown Bag Lunch Series
416 South Fifth Street

Wednesday, July 21, 4:30 pm
Stillwater, MN
The Dock Cafe
Totally Criminal Cocktail Hour
www.valleybookseller.com
for reservations, call 651-430-3385
425 Nelson Street East

Saturday, August 7, 1 pm
Little Falls, MN
Author Tea Retreat at Historic Linden Hill
608 Highland Avenue

Tuesday, August 10, 5:30 pm
Minneapolis, MN
Raking Through Books
Kieran's Irish Pub
6th St. & 1st Avenue

Linda White - Book Reviewer

LINDA WHITE

BOOK REVIEWER

BIOGRAPHY
Linda White has worked in publishing for 15 years. She now runs BookMania, which offers services for authors and publishers. From manuscript critiques to editing to publicity, she can help at any stage in the book publishing process. She is also the Minneapolis Books Examiner and teaches classes on Publicity and Marketing, among other topics, at The Loft and other venues. Next class is Publicity for Authors on August 7 at The Loft. She is available to speak to writing groups and other groups on publishing, publicity and other topics. Check out www.bookmaniaonline.com for current class offerings and the latest book reviews, plus a link to her Books column. Take the BookMania quiz and find out if you are a BookManiac!

MY LIFE AS A BOOK REVIEWER
To start with, I have a serious addiction to books, or anything related to books. Is this a prerequisite for being a book reviewer? I don’t know. But it certainly helps!

I had always wanted to work in publishing. After I got a degree in English, my first stop was a little publishing company in Saint Paul for an unpaid internship. Then I was off to parts unknown to do as people have to do sometime in their lives – see what is over the horizon. My first foray into book reviewing was while working at a newspaper in Key West, the Key West Citizen. I was helping the Keys Life editor, and she gave me a book to review. “Can you write a review of this?” Well, of course! I had read enough literature, after all, hadn’t I?

So I wrote that first review, and went on to write a few more for her, plus a play review and an interview with an artist. It was a great introduction to arts writing. She was probably my one and only mentor, but she died of cancer very suddenly just a few months later. Her name was Paulie. On the basis of that work, I wrote some reviews for a few other publications around town.

Shortly after that, I left the paper for a better-paying job, and shortly after that we left Florida. I spent some time at our next home in Texas trying to get in touch with publishers. I had seen ads advertising for ‘readers’ – well, wasn’t that the perfect job for me? I sent out letters, as one did in those days before e-mail, and got – no responses.

Then I moved back to Minnesota, and lo and behold, got a job at a publishing house! I
was thrilled. But I soon realized that I had no time at all to read all the books I had to write advertising copy for. Someone said promoting books was the perfect job for me, but this one seemed to take me away from the books.

But a very good thing happened there. One of my colleagues was a Board member for an organization that helped church libraries. He ran a notice in our company newsletter asking if anyone was interested in being an editor for their book review journal. I applied and was hired the same day of the interview. It was a very part-time job, and didn’t pay very well, but I loved it. I would go to their office where the books were sent by various publishers and pick up boxes of books, take them home and sit on the floor in my living room surrounded by stacks of books as I sorted them out and assigned them. Can you say heaven? The ones that did not get reviewed I got to keep – I gave them to another Board member for her church library. But still, somehow I always ended up with some extras, and my bookshelves soon filled.

When I was laid off from the publishing house, I parlayed that experience into working for an online site, running a book review e-newsletter. Shortly after that I wrote my first review for Publishers Weekly. I was so excited to be writing for a national publication, especially the bible of the publishing industry. But then 9/11 happened, and I lost touch with my editor because I had to find another full-time job.
It was a few years before I got back into publishing, but then I was hired as a publicist. I really thought that was my dream job. And it was, but again, there was that thing about not having time to read all the books! And I couldn’t write reviews, due to the conflict of interest. So when I left there, I immediately contacted some publications, and started doing reviews for BookPage and Publishers Weekly again.

I went to sessions at BEA on Ethics in Book Reviewing, and read everything I could find on the topic (which isn’t much, to tell you the truth). Michele Kerns, the national Books Examiner, has some great articles on what makes a good book reviewer. http://www.examiner.com/x-562-Book-Examiner~topic112601-Book-reviews?selstate=topcat#breadcrumb

I had always wanted to write for the Star Tribune, and I was thrilled to be able to start reviewing for their books editor in March of 2009. Here at last was something that my dad would read! I continued to do book reviews for BookPage and Publishers Weekly, so by the time I decided to start my own business, I had a pretty good slate of book reviews under my belt.

I launched my BookMania website in March and finally had a place to display all of my book reviews. It is especially gratifying when you read something that is really well done, and carries a compelling message, and find that you can then tell other people about it!

Over the years, I have found that book reviewing was a lot more than telling whether or not you liked the book. I like to think of myself as producing literary criticism in some cases, because it is important to understand why you like what you do and why other things are not sitting right. Sometimes it is a jarring transition; sometimes it is a lack of character development. Sometimes there are problems with flow or voice and other things that should have been taken care of at the early editing stage.

My book reviewing and promotion work in publishing over the years have trained me well to be able to look at a manuscript and determine if it’s ready for prime time. I see so many authors who jump the gun, and are in a hurry to get their idea to market. The key is to be patient and take the time necessary to craft your story into the brilliant piece that it is meant to be.

I am always looking for book reviewing opportunities, but alas, with newspapers cutting their book sections and so many online sites popping up with reviewers who will write for free, I’m afraid the glory days of book reviewing may be over. I no longer feel that I could make enough doing book reviews to contribute significantly to my income. But still, I do it… for the love of books.

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

Once Upon A Crime Bookstore

Once Upon A Crime Bookstore
604 W. 26th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55405

Owners: Gary Shulze and Pat Frovarp

Established 1987, Once Upon A Crime hosts an annual "Write of Spring" - an open house celebrating MN authors and their fans, every March. Last year we had over 60 authors in attendance.

Coming out the end of this month from Nodin Press: "Once Upon a Crime" - an anthology of 24 crime stories, includes 16 MN authors, plus an introduction by Vince Flynn.

Following is a list of Minnesota authors we are featuring on August 27 at our "Once Upon a Crime" anthology launch party:

Chris Everheart, Gary R. Bush (editors and story contributors)
Norton Stillman, publisher
David Housewright
Michael Stanley (actually, one half of the duo: Stanley Trollip
Maureen Fischer
Anne Frasier
Pat Dennis
William Kent Krueger
Terri Persons
Sujata Massey
Marilyn Victor

Additionally, we would like to congratulate MN authors, Julie Kramer and William Kent Kruger for their Anthony Award nominations.

Once Upon a Crime was just voted as "Best Mystery Store" for the Crimespree Awards. Both the Crimespree and the Anthony award will be presented at Bouchercon in October in Indianapolis.

MN author signing dates:

• Wed Aug 19 7:00 Judith Yates Borger “Where’s Billie?” Launch party MN author debut
• Fri Aug 21 7:00 Susan Runholt “Rescuing Seneca Crane” Publication/Birthday Party/refreshments
• Thu Aug 27 7:00 Once Upon A Crime the anthology edited by Gary R. Bush & Chris Everheart with introduction by Vince Flynn Launch party refreshments. Stories contributed by: William Kent Krueger, Lori L. Lake, Gary R. Bush, Reed Farrel Coleman, Anthony Neil Smith, Mary Logue, Lois Greiman. Libby Fischer Hellmann, Max Allan Collins & Barbara Collins, Sujata Massey, Marilyn Victor, C. J. Box, Ken Bruen, Michael Stanley, Gary Phillips, Anne Frasier, Troy Cook, Pat Dennis, David Housewright, Terri Persons, Maureen Fischer, Pete Hautman, Chris Everheart and S. J. Rozan
• Sat Aug 29 12:00-2:00 Jess Lourey “September Fair” refreshments
• Tue Sep 1 7:00 Sister in Crime meets the book to read is Linda Barnes’ Heart of the World
• Wed Sep 2 7:00 William Kent Krueger “Heaven’s Keep” publication Party refreshments
  Marilyn Victor, Michael Mallory. Camille Hyytinen and Lois Greiman (facilitaors for monthly book club (2nd Wednesdays)
• Thu Sep 10 7:00 Jan Dunlap “Murder on Warbler Weekend” Launch party refreshments
• Sat Sep 12 12:00-2:00 Christopher Valen “The Black Minute” Signing/refreshments
• Sat Sep 26 12:00-2:00 Pete Hautman “How to Steal a Car” young adult signing/refreshments
• Wed Sep 30 7:00 John Sandford “Rough Country” a Virgil Flowers novel
• Thu Oct 8 7:00 Sister In Crime meets book choice is Pegasus Descending by James Lee Burke
• Sat Oct 10 12:00-2:00 Laura Childs “Tragic Magic” Signing/refreshments
• Sat Dec 6 12:00-2:00 Laura Childs “Eggs Benedict Arnold” signing/refreshments
• Thu Oct 15 7:00 Vince Flynn "Pursuit of Honor" signing/refreshments