Author Event: April 6, 2024 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on April 6, 2024 from 11am - 2pm when author Rebecca Olmstead will be signing copies of the book “Dreams and Illusions” as well as “Malice, Matrimony, and Murder,” which she is a contributor.

Dreams and Illusions

The Gabrielle Dorian Mystery Series debuts October 4, 2023!

Gabrielle is a dreamer. Some call her a psychic, others clairvoyant. Her parents called it a gift, but why would a gift help people she barely knew and not prevent a drunk driver from taking her parents’ lives?

Two years later, tragedy strikes again, and Gabrielle’s dreams take a dark turn when a menacing figure begins to haunt them. Gabrielle fears the worst when she receives a cryptic call from her estranged sister, Tina. Leaving the comfort of her small hometown, Whitman, Washington, for the city of Seattle, she finds Tina accused of first-degree murder, a capital offense.

It’s been over ten years since Gabrielle saw her sister, but time hasn’t eased their strained relationship. Still, Gabrielle can’t turn her back on Tina and her children. Complicating matters, one of the detectives on the case is Matthew Pierce, a blast from Gabrielle’s past she wished had stayed there. With tensions rising and no clue whom she can trust, Gabrielle must decipher her dreams and face some old demons to uncover the truth. But the truth isn’t always what it seems.

Malice, Matrimony, & Murder

26 Authors came together for this collection of Cozy Wedding Mystery/Crime Short Stories, including yours truly! I’m so excited to release my latest story, “Love and Death in Madison, Georgia.” 

It’s 1957, and Violet Davenport is marrying a man she does not care for. Her nurse, Mama Bea, says the good Lord has a way of working things out. But, when the groom drops dead at the reception, it appears someone took matters into their own hands.

Author Event: Saturday, November 4, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, November 4, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Marleen Ramsey will be signing copies of My Mother Told Me Stories.

The story starts in the voice of 10-year-old Megan as she remembers the adventures of growing up in Walla Walla, a town in the southeastern corner of Washington State in the early 1960s. Megan has the usual struggles of growing up that most children have, but her concerns are complicated with the reality that she is half-Japanese and half-White. She also struggles with one concern that is unique to her and that is to understand why her mother is overly-protective and hovering, so different from the mothers of her friends. The mystery grows when she discovers pictures of her mother standing with a little Asian girl that she had never seen before in front of a drab and desolate looking building somewhere in an empty and arid landscape. On the back of the picture is written, Minidoka, 1943.

The second section of the book is written in a third voice narrative of what Megan’s mother, Hitomi, experiences after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the heart-breaking disruptions that turn her life upside down. Hitomi’s pre-war life is destroyed and she must re-build her future from the ashes of the past. This is a story of ordinary people, focusing centrally on one woman’s experience of extreme discrimination and disruption of her life. But it is also a story of surprising kindness, generosity, and friendship, of forgiveness and reconciliation, and the enduring love of family.

 The final chapter of the book resolves the mystery of the sister Megan never knew she had and Hitomi’s reconciliation to the tragedy and loss she experienced during her incarceration at Minidoka.

About the author:

I.M. Ramsey has worked in a variety of roles in counseling, teaching, and administration at the collegiate level and feels very fortunate to have spent her entire professional career in academia. She retired in December of 2017 from teaching and her position as Vice President of Instruction (VPI), Chief Academic Officer (CAO) at Walla Walla Community College. Her primary research interest has focused on the impact of empathy and forgiveness and the relational dynamics between perpetrators and those who extend forgiveness to them.

My Mother Told Me Stories, is her first novel with the story based upon the themes found in her South African research of apartheid political perpetrators who received empathy and forgiveness from family members of their victims. I.M. Ramsey lives in Washington State and enjoys spending time with her husband, their daughters, sons-in-law, and three grandsons, a.k.a. “the three scampering squirrels.”

Author Event: Friday, November 3, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Friday, November 3, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Heidi Rau will be signing copies of Are You Sealed with the Seal of God?

From the back cover:

There are many views in the world today regarding what people think the seal of God is. Are You Sealed with the Seal of God? focuses on a biblical view of the seal of God and why it cannot be some of the more traditional views many people believe today.
Written in an easy-to-understand language, Heidi emphasizes the importance of the seal of God, as it determines who is saved and who is not at the coming of Jesus. Those who are not sealed will be deceived into obtaining the mark of the beast and will be eternally lost. It is vital that we are sealed now, before the coming deception that will deceive the whole world. Heidi's ultimate goal is for readers to understand what the seal of God is and take the necessary steps to be sealed before it is too late. Are you sealed with the seal of God?

About the Author
Heidi Rau and her husband are active members in the ministry of their church. They have two daughters and two little Maltese dogs. Heidi graduated from Walla Walla College with a BS degree in education and a minor in math and theology. She loves reading spiritual books and spending time studying God's word. In her spare time, she also enjoys learning to cook tasty, non-dairy dishes, gardening, and finding the answers to puzzling questions.

Author Event: Saturday, October 21, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, October 21, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Sherri Maret will be signing copies of her books.

Twelve Days of Winter: A Wildlife Celebration

In this reimagined version of The Twelve Days of Christmas, winter wildlife is observed as the snow comes. What animals do you think you might see? Do you think bears will be included? Why or why not? The only way to find out is to read or sing along as animals watch their world get blanketed by gentle layers of snow.

The Cloud Artist (English/Choctaw)

Leona, a little Choctaw girl, uses the sky as a canvas and the clouds as paint. When a traveling man learns of her gift and invites her to join the carnival, the Cloud Artist must make a decision about what kind of artist she wants to be.The author, illustrator, and translator are all members of the Choctaw Nation.

Author Event: Saturday, October 14, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, October 14, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Rob Phillips will be signing copies of Cascade Man Hunt.

After continuous complaints that a poaching ring is running rampant in northeastern Washington, Fish & Wildlife police officer Luke McCain is assigned to go undercover to try to infiltrate the gang. Just as Luke and his fellow deputies move to finally catch the poachers red-handed, one of the crooks flees into the mountains and Luke has to hunt him down.

Days later when a serial killer, suspected of killing dozens of women around the Northwest, escapes from custody when a Department of Corrections van crashes in the rugged North Cascades, Luke and Jack are hand-picked by the Governor to join the manhunt.  The pressure is on to find the fugitive before he disappears into the wilderness, possibly to reemerge and kill again. 

Rob Phillips is an award-winning newspaper and magazine writer and the author of the critically acclaimed “Luke McCain mystery series,”featuring a fish and wildlife officer who, with the assistance of his faithful yellow Labrador retriever Jack, patrols the mountains, streams and trails of the Pacific Northwest.  

In his best-selling debut novel “The Cascade Killer,”Phillips gets his protagonists involved in a search for someone who is murdering women and dumping their bodies in the Cascade Mountains of Central Washington.

In the four Luke McCain mysteries that have followed, Luke and Jack have run down murderers, kidnappers, eco-terrorists, and several other criminals, including an organized gang of poachers, in the just-released “Cascade Manhunt.”

A book Phillips wrote about his life with dogs, was released last Christmas.  “A Dog Life Well Lived” shares many heartwarming, scary and funny tales of a lifetime spent outdoors with some amazing four-legged family members.     

Phillips’ column, “The Northwest Sportsman,” has appeared virtually every week for the last 32 years in the Yakima Herald-Republic. 

Rob and his wife Terri, live in Yakima, Washington withone very spoiled Labrador retriever named Bailey.  

Author Event: Saturday, October 7, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, October 7, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Carolyn Neufeld will be signing copies of Molly Magee and Bees in the Two Cherry Trees.

“Molly Magee and the Bees in the Two Cherry Trees,” written in rhyme,teaches kids about how important honey bees are to our community and world. Her photos allow the reader to see the beauty of bees up-close in their natural environment.Carolyn shares her story of this unexpected 7-year journey of photographing honey bees, and lessons learned.

 

The book is 36 pages packed with colorful, fun, and unusual bee photos. It makes a great gift for the bee enthusiast, for families who like to read and learn together or for anyone who appreciates the beauty of the bee/flower relationship.

Author Event: Friday, October 6, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Friday, October 6, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Gina Mitchell will be signing copies of The Princess Goose.

The princess goose is a majestic creature who lives at Cheshire's Pond. Amelia is a little six-year-old girl who loves Canadian geese the best. She loves to visit the pond daily where she likes to feed Princess Goose. 

Author Event: Saturday, September 23, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, September 23, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Susan Matley will be signing copies of Crisis in Big-G City.

Athena’s Secret Ops program steps in when bad boy and technological genius Hermes can’t come up with a carbon-curbing solution. Undercover agents Cleo Petra and Pan are deployed in the mortal world to vanquish the notorious East brothers, chthonic fossil fuel magnates who pass as human and eat humans, too…

Two-month-old Pablo, the one-quarter chthonic infant son of two fathers formerly known as P.B., employs his extraordinary abilities of adult speech and intellect in pursuit of climate justice!

Meanwhile, David Bernstein, whose hot romance with Cleo Petra meets a rocky end, recovers the memory of his century-old love affair with a beautiful Spanish nurse. He time travels to 1918 to find her and encounters love, loss, and the City of Mount Olympus—a dark and sinister place where every inhabitant lives in fear of volatile and destructive Zeus!

David’s birth father and Hera’s former fling, Saul Crispin, is outed as a mortal made immortal. Will Hera’s high crime of granting Saul eternal life land her before a jury of her peers for judgment?

And what of baby-crazy Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, pregnant at last but not by Hades?

Author Event: Saturday, August 26, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, August  26, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Denver Morford will be signing copies of Two Goofy Dogs.

From the back cover:
Ever since Charlie joined their family... it was obvious he needed a friend.  One day in the middle of the summer the whole family agreed it was time to find him a pal.  They called the person they adopted Charlie from and discovered that Charlie's brother, Harry, was in desperate need of a loving home. Based on a true story of actual events, discover how Harry found an unexpected home with loving kids and days filled with hugs, snuggles and brotherly love.

Author Bio:

Denver Morford graduated from Washington State University and moved to his home town in Central Washington.  

He's always had a dog by his side, in the back of his Jeep, next to him on the couch or at work laying beside his desk.  There have been several rescue dogs in his life, including Harry.  Denver is a proud father of two amazing kids and a husband to his best friend of over 26 years.  In his free time he plants trees in areas affected by wildfires, coaches youth sports and founded a local charity to help kids get involved in athletics. These endeavors have earned him two "Citizen of the Year'' awards from his community.  Within this book lie two of his biggest passions, kids and animals.

Author Event: Saturday, August 19, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, August 19, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Jane Breuer will be signing copies of Trouble's Defense.

In Janet Breuer’s first book, Here Comes Trouble, Tucker the dog tells the story

of his peaceful, cat-free life with his brother Ridge and their people. When

Trouble the cat comes to live with them, she has a hard time adapting. The

dogs can’t understand why the cat yowls and hisses and refuses to be their

friend, but according to Trouble, they just don’t understand.

So now Trouble gets to tell her side of the story. At first Trouble is scared of the

dogs and confused by her new surroundings. Plus these new people have all sorts

of rules she didn’t have to worry about at her old house. And she just doesn’t like

dogs! They slobber and smell and are such boring rule followers. Yawn. Trouble

gets bored quickly by the dogs and her surroundings and creates a little chaos to

liven things up.

Another hilarious peek into the lives of Trouble, Tucker, and Ridge.

Author Event: Saturday, August 12, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, August 12, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when Dwight Thompson will be signing copies of Inner Sanctum. 

MY LIFE is a balm, five-ring alarm

1, 2, 3, Contact! do you bodily harm

catch where I'm coming from?

as your life signs go critical

My hidden agenda becomes visible / physical

Lyrical my mission statement / hit the pavement

Anybody ask / FedEx / I was sent

to leave a dent in this world / impact crater

see the world for what it is / a baby shower.

MY LIFE by Dwight Thompson, Poem #1 of INNER SANCTUM: Protecting my Peace through Poetry.

It is not a misstep thinking that poetry is primarily an intellectual endeavour. It simply never was and never will be. Poetry is a spiritual endeavour first, the voice of the universe manifesting in range that cannot be measured or contained.

Poetry is life. Poetry is about taking the truths of the universe and focusing it into a drop of blue ink and then having the words expand in a reader's mind, beyond the space between their ears and their years.

Why do you think we spend so much time and energy learning about my peers, reciting the words written in ages past by the Gibrans and the Shakespeares? We are trying to connect our human consciousness across space and time, distance and history, knowing that there's a possibility that the future might be impacted by our words. In between the pages and screenshots we are hoping to find that elusive meaning and richness of life.

Life is spiritual. Our every walking, waking moment is refined by an energy that we cannot see and scientists are just beginning to discover fully. It has not stopped this spirituality from being taken for granted, manipulated by the music industry, entertainment complexes, sports monopolies and the broadcast media so that sometimes the vortex of feelings and beliefs threatens to overwhelm us.

In walks myself with a broken pen, spilling ink with every breath I take, watching 0's and 1's become oohs and aahs of a fickle minority/majority. Our faith promises peace by trusting in Jesus, even in the most adverse circumstance (John 14:27). The takeaway is that this peace is not defined by the situation but by your spiritual existence and connection to something greater than you.

Whether you believe spirituality is a detriment to society or a supplement to our morality, ignoring the spiritual in our lives is denying our self the ability to grow, to love, to change, to plan and to find peace.

Everyone should have a poem that resonates with them. A poet and a writer that brings a truth within them into the outer realm. What is your favourite book of poetry or quotes or devotions that concludes the day and/or opens the night?

My true peace starts within with acceptance, that we all need poetry in our lives.

Welcome to my Inner Sanctum.

Dwight Thompson

Author Event: July 29, 2023, from 11a.m. to 2p.m.

Please join us on July 29, 2023, from 11a.m. to 2p.m. when author Kenton Bird will sign copies of Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle.  (2023, University Press of Kansas)

From the publisher:

Thomas S. Foley represented eastern Washington in Congress for thirty years. From 1972 to 1994, his district included Walla Walla County. In 1989 he became the first Speaker of the House of Representatives from a district west of Texas, a position he held until his defeat in the 1994 election.

Tom Foley: The Man in the Middle is a political biography of this important but often overlooked figure in modern congressional history. Co-authors Kenton Bird and John Pierce place Foley’s career in the context of his own life story and congressional politics in the late 20^th century.

Bird, a professor of journalism and mass media at the University of Idaho, and Pierce, a former professor and dean at Washington State University, offer the first major study of a transformative leader who brought politicians from both sides of the aisle together to make Congress work. 

Bird will answer questions from readers about Tom Foley’s contributions to American politics and his impact on eastern Washington. He’ll offer the authors’ analysis of Foley’s surprising loss in 1994.

Author Event: Saturday, July 22, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, July 22, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when Dale Hom author of Going Out on a Limb will be signing books.

This graphic novel, “Going Out On a Limb”…the Unauthorized Autobiography, is a story about the author’s early career working for the US Forest Service as a young Asian American.

Author Event: July 1, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on July 1, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when autor Linday Ray will be signing copies of The Fading Yellow Brick Road.

From the back of the book:

Compiled especially for those anticipating or presently traveling through the end-of-life experience with a parent in one hand and their grandchild in tow, the reader will find a bedside quality in the brief and concise chapters within.

Written without pretense, those who enter its pages will, simply put, realize that there is no ‘perfect, shining path’ before them. More important than being errorless, is being there. Holding the hand, wiping up the spill, patting the shoulder, and laughing at the mishap will put you in a new frame of mind for finding joy and growing during and through this new adventure on a distinctly fading, (Or ‘not so shimmery’) yellow brick road.

Author Event: Saturday, June 24, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, June 24, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Alex Anderson will be signing copies of Peace Pirates.

From the publisher:  Peace Pirates follows the life of Alexander Leonidas "Leo" Tempestas, the most powerful member of a peaceful race of humanoid beings, as he grows from impetuous youth to a galactic leader of epic proportions and abilities. Over his multi-thousand-year lifespan, his family and friends help him battle two ultra-powerful foes and save countless lives across the universe.

Author Event: Sunday, June 18, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Sunday, June 18, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Frédérique Lavoipierre will be signing copoies of Garden Allies. 

From the back cover:

The birds, mammals, reptiles, and insects that inhabit our yards are overwhelmingly on our side -- pollinating our flowers and vegetables, and keeping pests in check. 

In Garden Allies, biologist and lifelong garden educator Frédérique Lavoipierre shares fascinating portraits of these beneficial creatures.  You’ll learn how to keep the garden’s ecology in dynamic balance, how to welcome them into your yhard, and how they form a harmonious whole with the plants and soil in your garden -- even with you.

Frédérique Lavoipierre was the director of education at the Santa Barbara Botanic

Garden, where she shared her enthusiasm for native plants and insects. Prior to

working at the Garden, she was the founding director of the Sustainable Landscape

Professional Certificate Program at Sonoma State University, where she also revived

the Garden Classroom program, and established an entomology outreach

program. Frédérique holds a M.Sc. in biology, with an emphasis on ecological

principles of sustainable landscapes. Her research focused on plant/insect

interactions. Prior to her graduate work, she founded and operated an organic

nursery specializing in heirloom vegetables and culinary herbs from around the

world. She currently lectures, teaches, and works as a consultant. She serves on the

editorial advisory group for the American Public Gardens Association magazine,

Public Gardens, and is on the content committee for the Pacific Horticulture

Society. Frédérique authored a ten-year long series, Garden Allies, for Pacific

Horticulture Magazine, and continues her contributions to the Society.

Author Event: Saturday, June 17, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, June 17, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Milani Filan will be signing copies of The Life of Adele.  

Thirteen-year-old Adelaide, a young French duchess, had always dreamt of having a horse of her own. One day that dream came true. Adele met Giselle, the horse of her dreams, and they instantly bonded to one another.

With her new horse, Adele meets James, a boy she befriends. They come upon Germans, who kidnap their horses, and they must save them. Giselle becomes her best friend and will always be there for her.

As they grow up, James and Adele find themselves learning about love. They begin to care for one another. But when James enters the war, Adele learns that love is stronger than war and that it cannot be broken.

This is a story about the love of a girl and her horse, and how love stays strong during times of war.

Author Event: Saturday, June 10, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, June 10, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Amy Korslund will be signing copies of Sam & Sandy and other titles. 

From the back cover of Sam & Sandy:

This story came about when I was a nanny for a 3 year old.  I asked her if she wanted me to read her a book before her nap.  She said, “no, I want you to write me one.”  So I told her to go take a nap and when she wakes up I will have a story written for her.  This is the story.

Author Event: Friday, June 9, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Friday, June 9, 2023 from 11am to 2pm when author Helen Heavirland will be signing copies of the book Surviving the Sand.

Pasco, Washington—1950s.  Irrigation arrived.  Could the desert be transformed into fields that feed the world?  New settlers broke sod and begged seeds to grow.  Sandstorms cut off young plants.  Dreams of farming became hungry nightmares.  Could the farmers’ grit be as strong as the sand?

Surviving the Sand is the inspiring memoir of one farm family—like many others. With frustration and humor they work together, play together, struggle together, and, ultimately, win together. 

Author Event: Saturday, June 3, 2023 from 11am to 2pm

Please join us on Saturday, June 3, 2023 from  11am to 2pm when Jack Lucci will be signing copies of Loving & Leaving.

Somewhere between gratefulness and regret Loving & Leaving is a recollection of virtues and follies of Lucci’s life over a five year period. With honesty and compassionate storytelling, Loving & Leaving is the result of bleeding over the keyboard.