Author’s events this summer

I am excited about my summer schedule at the following venues:

Saugatuck Village Square Art Fair, July 27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Booth 402

I will be at the village art fair with my books and 80 other vendors in this beautiful resort on Lake Michigan. It was precisely this town that inspired my best-selling book Shifting Sands: The Lost Town more than 20 years ago. As I stood in front of the historical marker in downtown Saugatuck, I knew the nearby town of Singapore buried somewhere in the dunes would make for a great story.

The Holland Sentinel headlined the article about my book Town’s Tale ‘Just Stayed With Me.’ Sometimes it even haunted me, but it wasn’t until 2021 that I sat down and penned the manuscript during National Novel Writing Month.

The Lost Town

The historical fiction novel is set in Singapore on the shores of Lake Michigan at the foot of the sand dunes adorned with white pines. Beautiful Ida is torn between her hometown of Chicago and her new home on the other side of the lake and between two men. Developed by New York investors, the once-thriving settlement of Singapore nurtured the dreams of adventurers and pioneers like Oshea Wilder. Singapore would rival Chicago and Milwaukee. It almost did with its sawmills, hotels, boarding houses, stores, and a “wildcat bank.” Entrepreneurial Ida struggles to adjust to the rough environment but finds more than support from her boss who invited her to Singapore to be the “Mistress” of the Big House. A “wildcat bank” was established in Singapore in 1837.

Who will win Ida’s heart?

I will be in booth 402 on Butler Street, so come on down to the heart of the book’s action. This is my first time selling books in Saugatuck, so I am looking forward to meeting new fans.

Lake Odessa Art in the Park, Aug. 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Booth 122

This will be my first time selling books in Lak-O at Art in the Park. I’ve covered many stories here as a journalist for The Ionia Sentinel-Standard, and I absolutely love the lake, and looking forward to meeting new fans.