Find your treasure this weekend among the 30 vendors at the Fallasburg village bazaar this weekend on Sept. 14 & Sept. 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Directions from Lincoln Lake Rd coming from Lowell
Take a right onto Fallasburg Park Rd, once you come to the Kent County Fallasburg Park sign hang a right onto the Covered Bridge Rd. Cross the Covered Bridge into the village to shop more artists.
Directions from McPherson Bridge fork
Take a right on McPherson, cross the concrete McPherson Bridge and turn right onto Covered Bridge Rd. into the Fallasburg village.
Emma’s Book Signing at the one-room schoolhouse from noon to 5 p.m. on both days.
You will be charmed by the historic ambience of the village and the historic buildings: the schoolhouse, the Tower Farm, the Misner House and the Fallass House.
Vendors
Two Hot Tamales- Food truck, Authentic Mexican Food
On the anniversary of 9/11, I usually rerun this post in remembrance of those who lost their lives. To this day I remember exactly where I was on that dark day deeply embedded in American history.
Where were you on 9/11 in 2001?
By Emma Palova
I was reporting on the finance committee of the Ionia County Board of Commissioners that Tuesday morning.
The treasurer read a boring roll of numbers.
All of a sudden the county administrator, who was sitting behind the computer, gasped and held his breath. He turned the screen toward us.
I ran up front to look at the surrealistic picture. It was the inferno of the Twin Towers collapsing, the flames, the blaze and the billowing smoke with sunshine on top of it all.
I looked at the administrator and back at the screen trying to understand what was happening.
“We’re at war,” he repeated the words of the broadcasting station.
We all left the Ionia Courthouse building early and scared.
It was pure fear not knowing what was going on.
I can still feel my skin crawling, as I broke into cold sweat running one block down Main Street in the dead silence of the downtown.
My camera was dangling on my side. I felt like I didn’t know what I was running away from or where I was headed.
I don’t think I’ve ever had that kind of a feeling in my life. It was creepy. It was everything rolled into that one moment.
But, the art of self-preservation prevailed.
Back at the Ionia Sentinel Standard newsroom, we all watched the news coverage.
Yes, it was the beginning of hell. And no one knew when it was going to end, how and where.
To quote the next day papers:
“It was a day of infamy.”
Copyright (c) 2017. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Lowell,
MI – Short like a summer romance, the book tour started in Muskegon with the
Lakeshore Art Festival, where I officially launched my new book 2 “Secrets”
from the Shifting Sands Short Stories series.
It was my first time at the festival in Muskegon, and I was impressed by its magnitude. Two busy days brought many surprises like the guy who asked me to sell my book to him in two minutes. I had the marketing pitch ready, and I did sell him the first book faster than he expected. Then came a lady with a cart who had to have a book from each Michigan author. There was only a little time left to network with other authors. Thank you Diane for buying our books.
MichiganAuthors are sweeping the shores of the Great Lakes from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior and Lake Huron in a new wave of renaissance in literature.
Michigan authors at the Lakeshore Art Festival 2019 in front of the Authors Tent.
But
I did manage to connect with authors Jules Nelson of “Shadows”, authors Andrew
Smith, Jean Darla Davis and Ludington author Joan H. Young. We filled two big
tents, and people did support #MichiganAuthors. The cost was $100 for two days.
Somebody asked me if my book was the original book “Shifting Sands” about a dune in Muskegon. And then better yet, my daughter Emma discovered the Pigeon Hill brewery in Muskegon with their Shifting Sands IPA.
The
next gig was in my hometown of Lowell during the annual Riverwalk Festival. We
were in the Riverwalk parade at noon, and in the afternoon, I was at LowellArts
signing my books during Livin’ is Easy exhibit. I had a big yellow and black
painting of a horse behind my back that matched my yellow dress.
Somewhere in between was The WGVU Morning Show with Shelley Irwin and a podcast with America’s Community Voices Network with hosts Ronald & Donald Brookins. I will be reading passages from my new book “Secrets” on their podcast show.
Books Alive! In Ludington was a Downtown Development Authority (DDA) event, and it was incredibly hot. There could have been 14 authors bearing the heat. People were not buying a lot of books, more like ice cream and pop, while loading up on free stuff.
Traverse City, organized by Dan McDougall was very cool, since it was inside a mall. The traffic was good, and I made new friends with fellow Michigan authors; I also stopped at the Horizon Books in downtown Traverse City. My book is available at the bookstore now.
Then again, I joined the horse on the canvas inside LowellArts on Aug. 10.
But definitely the best event was in Paradise located in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Paradise is a tiny village nestling on the shores of Lake Superior on Whitefish Bay. The Wild Blueberry Festival with Arts & Crafts show lasted three days. People flocked to it from all over Michigan and Canada. It’s about an hour drive from the Mackinac Bridge.
Our
booth was located on a dune above the lake. Priceless. We could see Canada on
the other shore. The traffic was busy all three days. I had bratwurst with wild
blueberries, and a great little helper Ella, 8. She even got commission from
book sales. Ella learned the marketing pitch and worked it all Saturday long.
“The
main story is historical fiction from Belding, MI when it was known as the Silk
City Capital of the world,” she said.
The book cover with the optical illusion of the “Face of Gossip” attracted a lot of attention. Other people were fascinated my own immigration story from former communist Czechoslovakia, when I showed than an article about my naturalization.
“You did the right way,” the lady said.
We were stationed next to Redfish Artworks booth of creative and original art, by Bill and Angela Kuhn. On second day, I knew their pitch for their arrowheads, just like they knew mine for the book.
“I
am a flint knapper,” Bill would repeat 100 times a day.
We
all had a blast and sold a lot of products.
“Are
you coming back next year?” Bill asked.
“Yes,
we loved it.”
We were only a short drive from Tahquamenon Falls surrounded by beautiful nature from all sides. There were four other authors at the festival, and people were buying books.
I would consider both Belding parades, where the main story “Silk Nora” is set as the last summer events on my tour. Both parades started by the former Ballou Basket Works Factory and proceeded through downtown with hundreds of spectators.
Labor
Day weekend is known as Belding’s homecoming.
Thank you, Belding, for a great homecoming.
Watch for a post about my upcoming fall book tour.
I will be at the Fallasburg Village Bazaar on Sept. 14 and Sept. 15 from noon to 5 p.m. Come for a book and an authograph. There will be plenty of vendors to find your treasure.
Check out the Kindle Countdown deal starting on Sept. 10 through Sept. 15 on Amazon at:
With Lake Superior in the background, surrounded by awesome vendors, flocked by tourists, blessed by good weather, the Wild Blueberry Festival in Paradise continues to rock.
Visit the festival also on Sunday.
Stay tuned for the full story marked by the beauty of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan and its great people.
Copyright (c) 2019. Emma Blogs,LLC. All rights reserved.
Lowell, MI – I am getting ready for my next book stop in Paradise located in Upper Peninsula in Michigan. The tiny village nestled on Lake Superior’s Whitefish Bay annually hosts the popular Wild Blueberry Festival-Arts & Crafts Fair on Aug. 15, 16 & 17 with close to 100 vendors peddling everything from Lake Superior agate pendants to books.
My new book “Secrets” from the Shifting Sands Short Stories series is a collection of 15 short stories with the main historical fiction story “Silk Nora” set in the turn-of-the-century Belding.
One of the stories “When Layla met Corey” is set in Mackinaw City, which is a gateway to Upper Peninsula.
The book made its debut at the Lakeshore Art Festival in Muskegon in July.
An artist’s dream
Paradise, a community rich with nautical folklore, logging and Native American History attracts thousands of visitors and vendors due to close proximity to Tahquamenon Falls.
For its natural wonders and wilderness, Upper Peninsula has traditionally drawn writers, photographers and artists from all over the USA. Among the most famous authors were: Earnest Hemingway and John Voelker.
Whereinspiration abounds
A recent wave of emerging Michigan authors is sweeping the shores of the Great Lakes from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior. They write from Michigan with Michigan settings and locations. They market themselves under the umbrella of Michigan Authors. Follow them on http://www.MichiganAuthors.com
This is by far, not my first visit to UP or Paradise. I have fond memories of vacationing Up North, both from years ago with our kids and most recently with our granddaughter Ella.
I love the wilderness of UP and its natural pristine beauty, as well as the spirit of the Great Lakes.
Lowell, MI – Stop by today for an autographed copy of my brand new book “Secrets” from the Shifting Sands Short Stories collections. I will be at the LowellArts gallery from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. during the Livin’ is Easy exhibit.
I will be sharing insights from the publishing industry and from my own publishing journey. See you there.
Check out the article in Aug. 4th Buyer’s Guide “Taking the book on the road to connect with readers.”
Also watch for my posts from my book tour with the next event in Paradise, MI during the Wild Blueberry Festival on Aug. 16,17 & 18.
I am looking forward to my hometown book signing of “Secrets” from the Shifting Sands Short Stories series at the LowellArts gallery on Aug. 10 from 2pm to 4pm during the Livin’ is Easy exhibit.
Stop by for an autograph and for publishing insights. Also check out the story ” Taking the book on the road to connect with readers” about my tour in the Aug. 4 Buyer’s Guide.
The new book is a collection of 15 short stories with the main historical fiction story “Silk Nora” set in Belding, Michigan on the backdrop of the turn-of-the century era of inventions.
Other stories are based on Palova’s years of journalistic experience.
Together with other Michigan authors, Palova stands on the busy streets of hometowns manning her booth or tent, in the malls, at fairs or at art centers.
Locally, the book is available at the Springrove Variety in Lowell. It is on Amazon in both formats: paperback and kindle. It will be at the libraries of KDL, Schuler’s Books, Michigan News Agency and more. It is also at Horizon Books in Traverse City.
Traverse City, MI – It was a memorable Sunday afternoon in one of the busiest small towns in the Midwest.
“I love mall events,” said a local customer. “We came here for the books. We’re all readers.”
The Grand Traverse Mall event was organized by Dan McDougall of Bookbrokers & Kramer’s Cafe.
“This is the event that everyone will be talking about afterwards,” said McDougall. “T his one’s a keeper! ”
The event was complete with bagpipers, storytellers and a superhero.
Michigan authors represented all genres. Pictured below Ludington author Joan H. Young with Ella Konecny from Big Rapids.
“I support Michigan authors,” Konecny said.
Traverse City, MI – All set up at the Grand Traverse Mall with my brand new book Secrets from the Shifting Sands Short Stories- collections.My book will be available @Horizon Books in Traverse City and in Cadillac, as well as at Bookbrokers & Kramer’s Cafe at the Grand Traverse Mall.Organized by Dan MacDougall of Bookbrokers & Kramer’s Cafe, the event highlights Michigan authors and movie paraphernalia.The event was complete with bagpipers.
Pictured in the feature photo is Ella Konecny with Joan H. Young, author of North Country Cache.
authoremmapalova 