Washburn Get Lit Event

Melissa did a great job coordinating this event. Here she is introducing me at my book talk at Coco’s Cafe on Saturday. You can see the road construction barriers right outside the window!

We had a fantastic time in Washburn! This was their “first annual” literary festival, so there was a lot of figuring things out happening. For all that, Melissa at the Chamber of Commerce did an amazing job of driving the event, coordinating many different facets, and making everyone feel so welcome. It’s exciting to already be thinking about next April and what the event might be like by that time. One challenge was the road construction. Downtown Washburn is completely torn up, so it was a challenge just to get places. Melissa and others helped people figure it out, and in spite of those challenges we all had a great time.

We drove up to northern Wisconsin on Friday, about five hours, and stayed at the North Coast Inn and Chalets. Very comfortable, with nice views of Lake Superior. Friday was mostly just getting orientated and checking out the town. Saturday morning we got to meet Jeff Nania, the author of the Northern Lakes Mystery books. We really enjoyed him and his family and the others who came to hear him speak. He did a great job and just kept things so down to earth.

Me enjoying myself at Coco’s. You can see the road construction right outside the window, and our book table in the background.

Saturday afternoon I spoke at Coco’s, which is an incredible coffee shop / bakery / restaurant right on the main drag through town. Highly recommend! Their whitefish pate lunch is incredible. Then Saturday evening, we had a table at the Book Fair, which was the high point of the festival. Lots of folks wandered through to check things out, and we got to visit with a lot of readers, as well as other vendors. It was so much fun.

Jeff Nania was back for the book fair, and we got to visit with him a bit more. One interesting aspect of that conversation was learning from him and his wife about their writing business. They’re a couple years ahead of us, seems like, and we learned a lot from talking with them.

Now we are looking ahead to our next author event at Hearthside Books in Watertown, MN on May 11th. We’re still firming up the time, but as soon as that’s solidified we’ll put it on the front page of the website.

And of course, the rest of life is still marching on. We’re making progress toward getting our basement put in and house moved. Little by little. Hope you are enjoying spring so far!