The Biggest Dance - Beth Obermeyer

The Biggest Dance

by Beth Obermeyer

“And it just goes to show you—thousands, millions of people have a warm spot in their heart—their tap shoes hanging back behind the old tennis racket somewhere.” So said Garrison Keillor to author Beth Obermeyer on a Prairie Home Companion evening.

His evidence?  The 1,801 tap dancers who shuffled and clicked down Hennepin Avenue to open their arts center—the first flash mob, decades before the Internet—set a Guinness World Record.

The Big Tap was no stunt, and most certainly not a wine and cheese.  Beth, who organized the event, insisted everyone should dance, from church ladies to ladies of the street, downtown workers families and lovers, dance schools.  The police abandoned their corners and danced onto Good Morning America, all the way to Japan’s Asahi Evening News.    

The miracle?  When they all pulled together—a giant Little Engine That Could—they found they were more alike than different.  And that is quite possibly the biggest dance of all.

The book is inspirational to anyone who ever had a crazy idea.  Beth brings to the page all the energy and joy she brings to the stage.  “Act on intuition, from the gut, and never lose the big picture,” she says.


BIOGRAPHY

Beth Obermeyer used her journalism/telecommunicative arts degree and a lifetime of dance and music to start her own event/public relations company.  TA DA! Special Events produced and promoted many showstoppers, ranging from six that went into the Guinness Book of World Records—to directing statewide, the first Minnesota Festival of the Book.

Several became legendary but only a helicopter could capture the 1,801 tap dancers who opened an arts center; or the marching band, 2,512 strong,  that took the town when an 80-year-old Meredith Willson guest-conducted his 76 Trombones.

They whirled round the world, Today to UPI and AP; Asahi News, Japan back home to Good Morning America.  Her news releases generated national stories, Washington Post to Baltimore Sun, with Beth herself profiled in US Magazine.  She and three events won her city’s Committee for Urban Environment award for improving the quality of life. 

On the faculty of the Minnesota Dance Theatre, the largest center for dance in the Midwest, Beth appeared solo on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor and opposite Christopher Plummer and Gregory Hines.

Beth has done seminars to business and professional groups, including Public Relations Society of America.  Her journalism degree is from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.  She has three books published with North Star Press of St. Cloud in the year 5/2011-5/2012.

OTHER PUBLISHED WORKS

• Big! Released September 2011
• The Days of Song and Lilacs, Coming May 2012

WEBSITE
http://bethobermeyer.com

PURCHASE
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores, and North Star Press of St. Cloud


PUBLISHER
North Star Press of St. Cloud

A Kiss for Emily - J. P. Galuska

A Kiss for Emily

by J. P. Galuska

A Kiss for Emily is a love story gone awry! Kind of like Twilight meets A Series of Unfortunate Events, but without the nauseous fawning.

Emily, a 17-year-old teenager for Kansas, never dreams that falling in love will put her smack-dab in the middle of chaos, or make her think she's losing her mind! When strange occurrences turn dangerous, it becomes a race against time to save her from none other than: the good guys.


BIOGRAPHY

When Jennifer Galuska began writing her debut novel almost three years ago, she'd never heard of queries, Createspace, or dangling participles. Today, she is a big fan of all three.

All kidding aside, A Kiss for Emily is a book written for teens, about teens. Jennifer believes that kids' programs should be supported financially. At each signing, she plans to donate to a specific cause for teens. 

UPCOMING SIGNINGS

• Saturday, Feb 25, at the U-Turn Coffee House in Rochester, MN from 2-5pm. (Supporting the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester)
• Saturday, March 3, at Rochester Covenant Church from 9am-1pm. (Supporting CHIC youth conference)
• Saturday, March 24, at Bloomington Theater & Art Center Writers' Festival held at the Bloomington Center for the Arts. (Youth program not yet selected)

WEBSITES

Author site: http://jpgaluska.com/
Author blog: http://jpgaluska.blogspot.com/
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/J-P-Galuska/108907619212531

PURCHASE
Amazon, Barnes & Noble


PUBLISHER

CreateSpace

Dirkle Smat and the Viking Shield - Lynn Garthwaite

Dirkle Smat and the Viking Shield

by Lynn Garthwaite

Dirkle Smat and the Viking Shield is the third book in a series of early chapter adventures.  In this story the Explorers uncover a mysterious box hidden in the roots of an old tree where it's been hidden for over a hundred years. This chapter book for early readers, ages 6 to 10, returns with Dirkle, his little brother Quid Smat, along with Toonie Oobles, Fiddy Bublob, and the inventor of the roto-scooter and the Lumleyline, the creative genius, Bean Lumley. Travel with them in Bean's latest invention-a special submarine. Illustrated throughout with bonus pages for readers to form their own Explorer's Club.

BIOGRAPHY

Lynn Garthwaite was raised in the idyllic suburb of Bloomington, MN. An avid reader, Lynn began writing her own stories while still in elementary school and pictured herself as a professional writer from a very young age. After college she attended several screenwriting workshops and began writing screenplays in earnest. Several years and seven screenplays later, she put that ambition on the back burner to pursue other interests. When the urge to write hit again, she found that her passion had changed to children's literature, and the "Dirkle Smat Adventure Books" were born.

Lynn's other interests include family (a husband, two grown sons and a daughter-in-law), law enforcement (she's a retired police reserve officer in Bloomington) and gardening. She volunteers in the public schools, at church, and dabbles in local politics. She enjoys being the visiting author at elementary schools and structures her presentation to match the age group of the audience. The best part of author visits, she claims, is the question and answer session. "Kids ask the BEST questions!"

Lynn serves on the Literary Council for the Bloomington Theatre and Art Center.  She has also been named the Writing Examiner on Minneapolis Examiner.com. Read her articles for advice to aspiring writers.

UPCOMING SIGNING/SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

• March 24, 2012  Bloomington Writer's Festival and Book Fair (http://www.bloomingtonartcenter.com/)  She will be moderating a panel on the topic of children's book publishing.

WEBSITE
http://www.lynngarthwaite.com/blog

PURCHASE
Amazon, Barnes & Noble


OTHER PUBLISHED WORKS

• Dirkle Smat Inside Mount Flatbottom
• Dirkle Smat and the Flying Statue

PUBLISHER
James A. Rock Publishing

Safe from the Sea - Peter Geye

Safe from the Sea

by Peter Geye

Safe from the Sea tells the story of a son returning home to reconcile with his estranged father while they relive the story of a horrific Great Lakes shipwreck that the father has only partially survived and that has divided them emotionally ever since. At times a harrowing tale of survival, at others an intimate look at forgiveness and the indubitable bonds between a father and son, here is a timeless story for readers of every stripe.

BIOGRAPHY

Peter Geye holds an MFA from the University of New Orleans and a PhD from Western Michigan University, where he was editor of Third Coast. He was born and raised in Minneapolis where he continues to live with his wife and three kids. Safe from the Sea, his debut novel, won the Indie Lit Award for literary fiction as well as the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award. His second novel is forthcoming in fall 2012 from Unbridled Books.

UPCOMING READINGS

• March 22nd – reading at the University of Minnesota. Time TBD

WEBSITE
http://www.petergeye.com

PURCHASE
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Unbridled Books, and IndieBound

PUBLISHER
Unbridled Books

Sisterhood of the Hennepin Chalice - Jack Salmela

Sisterhood of the Hennepin Chalice

by Jack Salmela

The sinking of the Titanic, the I-35W Bridge collapse, the St. Anthony Falls Mill District, and Duluth … linking these is a secret history of North America.  Three people struggle to know that history:  Tim Malone, humiliated in his career and losing the love of his life; Jed Bjornstad, convinced that the history will give him closure in his brother’s death; and Diane Solquist, a newly ordained pastor whose call is challenged.

An organization guarding the secret history also happens to be the one and only source of help for Tim, Jed, and Diane to overcome their personal crises.  And that organization is … the Sisterhood of the Hennepin Chalice.

BIOGRAPHY

Jack Salmela has been writing articles and essays going back to the eighties.  Since 2002, after he was asked to collaborate on a novel, he’s been concentrating on two follow-up novels.  Of Vikings and Voyageurs (2008) and Sisterhood of the Hennepin Chalice, each published by North Star Press of St. Cloud.  Both are historical fiction with strong regional connections.

Salmela is a civil engineer and recently retired early from the Minnesota Department of Transportation.  He continues to give his PowerPoint presentation, “The History behind the Novel, Of Vikings and Voyageurs,” along with his new presentation for Sisterhood of the Hennepin Chalice.  Salmela works with a voyageur interpreter for the former, and for the latter, the interpreter plays Oscar Olsson, a Swedish third class survivor of Titanic disaster who has a harrowing tale to tell.  If you are interested in a presentation, Salmela can be reached at 218-724-2902, or jack.salmela@hotmail.com.


Salmela is currently producing a film, "Celebrating Stained Glass in the Northland - its beauty, its story."  It will air on Public Access TV, Duluth station.  The film is a spin-off from "Sisterhood," as stained glass is crucial to the plot.

UPCOMING READINGS

• Mindekirken Norwegian Church in Minneapolis, Feb. 7 - "Sisterhood of the Hennepin Chalice"

OTHER PUBLISHED WORKS

• Of Vikings and Voyageurs (also published by North Star Press)
• The Messiah Medallions (self-published)

WEBSITE
http://www.jacksalmelabooks.com

PURCHASE
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores, and North Star Press of St. Cloud


PUBLISHER
North Star Press of St. Cloud