Book Events – Page 8 – Janet fisher

Book Launch Party

March 7, 2016March 7, 2016Janet Fisher8 Comments

A wonderful crowd braved the rain to come out to my book launch party at the Elkton ECEC Sunday afternoon. I was surprised and delighted to see so many from my Roseburg writers group. They nearly filled one of the tables.

From left to right (above): Arvilla and Don Newsom, Kari Clark, Heather Villa, Bill Isaac (longtime friend who’s not in the writers group but just happened to sit at this distinguished table), me standing, Wilma Mican, Emily Blakely, President Dianne Carter, and Marlene Daley. Thanks so much for coming.

We had fantastic guitar music by Andrew Arriaga, Elkton music teacher, here in front of the fur trade display in the ECEC Library, appropriate for my story set in the fur trade days of nineteenth century Oregon. Thank you very much, Andrew. Such great listening!

We had wine with cheese and crackers, the wine compliments of Jim Wood, formerly of Napa Valley, now of Elkton. He offered Elkton wines from Brandborg Winery and Hundredth Valley Winery, as well as selections from the Napa Valley winery that used grapes from the Wood family vineyards there. That’s Jim, beyond the camera’s focal point, standing in the background next to Andrew. Thank you, Jim, for your wonderful generosity and for adding this touch of class to our party.

Jim enlisted his family to help serve the wine, son Nathan, Nathan’s friend Casey Zarnes, and Jim’s daughter-in-law Sarah Wood, wife of son Chad. Here Casey is chatting with one of my cousins, Karen Maupin Jackson in the striped top, Arvilla Newsom from the writers group in the green coat, and Emily Hunt behind Arvilla. And I love the flowers I found at the Bookmine in Cottage Grove, the deep pink carnations with lavender-colored spray that almost matches my book.

Then came the reading from The Shifting Winds, clearly a serious moment in the story here.

And the signing.

I had a lovely time, and everyone else seemed to enjoy it too.

All the photos are by Robin Loznak, my son-in-law. Thank you, Robin. And thanks also to my daughter, Carisa, for handling the guestbook and helping at the signing table.

Many thanks to Sue Butkus, Site Coordinator at ECEC, for all your help in setting this up, and to Executive Director Marjorie Hammon and to Kris Hendricks, Education Coordinator, for all your help. And a great big thanks to everyone who came and made this such a happy occasion.

NEXT UP: A signing and reading at the fabulous Douglas County Museum in Roseburg Thursday evening, March 10, from 6:30 to 8:30. It will be a very different kind of venue. I’ll do a tribute to George Abdill, the first director of that museum, a man who helped me so much in my research for this book. We’ll also show photos from the Oregon Trail and other historic pictures related to the story–the visuals Robin has been encouraging me to do. So he’ll help with that and I’ll do a reading–a different segment than I read in Elkton.

COMMENT

Book to Launch

January 11, 2016January 11, 2016Janet Fisher

My debut historical novel, The Shifting Winds, is about to launch. As you may have seen in the sidebar, I have a couple of book signings scheduled already. The first launch party will be at the Elkton Community Education Center (ECEC) library in Elkton, Oregon, better known as the butterfly place, on Sunday afternoon, March 6, from 2 to 4 pm. Less than two months away now. This is the same place I launched A Place of Her Own two years ago, and everyone there helped me make that a wonderful sendoff for Martha’s story. I look forward to another great beginning this year.

The photo above shows the ECEC library building. Elkton is about seven miles from my home on Martha’s Century Farm.

My next party will be later in the week at the Douglas County Museum in Roseburg, Oregon, Thursday evening, March 10, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. At this event I will offer a tribute to the late George Abdill, former director of the county museum. George offered me considerable information and inspiration for The Shifting Winds, which portrays one of his favorite periods of history when fur traders and pioneers came up against each other on the American frontier of the mid-nineteenth century. And I did have a lot of fun putting this story together.

The Douglas County Museum, shown above, is at the county fairgrounds just south of Roseburg’s downtown.

I hope many of my local friends will be able to attend one of these opening parties. We’ll have refreshments, readings, signings, and plenty of conversation with book-loving people. In addition to The Shifting Winds, I plan to have copies of A Place of Her Own available.

In the coming days I’ll be adding more events around Oregon and beyond. Those will be listed on the right-hand sidebar as they’re arranged and also on the “Events” page, where you can see not only where we’re going but where we’ve been.

Cheers!!! 🙂

COMMENT

Speaking in Roseburg

November 17, 2015November 30, 2022Janet Fisher

The Douglas County Genealogical Society asked me to speak at their meeting Thursday, November 19, at 1 pm in Room 310 of the Douglas County Courthouse. I’ll be talking about my books, A Place of Her Own and The Shifting Winds. The meeting is open to the public.

For the benefit of many in the audience who may be searching for their own ancestors, I want to share some of my experiences in seeking out the story of my great-great-grandmother Martha Maupin, subject of my first book, A Place of Her Own.

I will go on to tell how that book came to be published and how that led to a deal on the second book, The Shifting Winds, which will be released in March 2016.

Time permitting I’ll read excerpts, leaving plenty of time for questions from the audience.

COMMENT

Conference Across the Mountains

October 11, 2015October 19, 2015Janet Fisher7 Comments

Three friends from my Eugene writing group trekked east with me this weekend for some western flavor at a Women Writing the West conference at the Eagle Crest Resort near Redmond, Oregon.

The highlight for me was meeting my editor Erin Turner. Erin, shown with me at right, is the Editorial Director of TwoDot Books, the Globe Pequot imprint for A Place of Her Own and for my next book as well, The Shifting Winds.

Here we are after the Saturday lunch in front of a Pendleton blanket displayed for the evening’s raffle.

It was great meeting Erin face to face and having a chance to sit down and talk with her about the upcoming book and just to chat. She’s a wonderful editor. I feel like a very lucky writer.

At the book signing Saturday evening I had the pleasure of sitting next to Molly Gloss, keynote speaker for the conference, bestselling author of Falling from Horses.

Molly’s many awards include the Oregon Book Award, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, and the PEN West Fiction Prize. Molly also wrote Jump-Off Creek, The Dazzle of Day, Wild Life, and The Hearts of Horses.

My friends and I rented a condo at the resort for the weekend, a lovely place nestled among the tall junipers, a bit apart from the conference center, so quiet only the delightful twitter of birds surrounded us. We each had a room of our own in the two-story building. We decided we could live there if we took a notion. At right is a glimpse inside.

And at the front door of our condo, below, my good friends and fellow travelers show a little attitude at the end of an intense weekend of workshops, networking, bookselling, and fun. From left to right: Elizabeth King, Lynn Ash, and Carol Brownson.

We are ready to head west again for home, inspired to do great things with our next big writing projects.

COMMENT

Fort Umpqua Finale

September 7, 2015September 7, 2015Janet Fisher

Fort Umpqua Days in my hometown closed out last night with the second and final presentation of this year’s pageant, Echoes of the Umpqua 2015: History Comes Alive.

Don’t look now, but those characters on the stage are from dioramas at the reconstructed Fort Umpqua, and they have apparently come to life, unbeknownst to the students in front who are trying to put on a homecoming dance. Or so the story goes. The audience got into the act, and we all had a great time. I have the distinct privilege of serving on the writing committee for the pageant, and it’s always fun to see what the actors do with the scenes you write. They had me laughing.

And the dioramas were pretty lively–with local tribeswomen, a pioneer woman, animal pelts, Hudson’s Bay Company men, including the historic yarn spinner Tom McKay telling a tale in the above shot–as well as a bust of President Polk and a portrait of Queen Victoria, who all had their say. You can see Queen Victoria a little better in the upper photo, to the far right.

A great weekend! I truly enjoyed my time in the booth too. Sold some books. It’s a great venue for me. Also talked to many friendly people and enjoyed hearing a lot of their stories too. Fun!

COMMENT

Stepping into History

September 5, 2015September 5, 2015Janet Fisher

I was selling books outside Fort Umpqua today when a mountain man appeared. He’s one of our local mountain men from nearby Drain, Oregon, Ken Putnam. I had to admire his fancy fringed buckskins, and he agreed to have his picture taken by my booth.

Meanwhile, a few shots rang out from the black powder rifles other mountain men were shooting next to the fort.

It’s quite an event, giving locals a chance to step back into history for a couple of days to imagine what life must have been like in the days of the fort, back in the mid-1800s. And some like Ken get right into the spirit of it.

I especially find all this interesting, given the settings of my books. In Shifting Winds, which comes out in April, a couple of mountain men play significant roles, including one real-life character, the legendary Joe Meek. I do have fun portraying Joe with his storytelling and bravado.

Today was a fine day with perfect weather, the world nicely washed after yesterday’s rain, and we’ll be back at the fort again tomorrow, Sunday the 6th, looking into our wild and woolly past.

COMMENT

Tasting Local History

September 3, 2015September 3, 2015Janet Fisher2 Comments

It’s time for Fort Umpqua Days again, an annual event in my hometown of Elkton, Oregon, when we honor our past and have some fun doing it. It’s Labor Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 5 and 6, pretty much all day, at the Elkton Community Education Center just west of town.

The photo above shows the massive gates for the reconstructed Fort Umpqua, which was the southernmost fort of the British Hudson’s Bay Company in the 19th century. Thanks to the dedication of local people this fort was reconstructed with an eye to authenticity so folks can get a glimpse of life back then.

I’m particularly interested in the period because I write about it. In my first book, A Place of Her Own, my great-great-grandmother comes to Elkton near where the fort stood. The fort has fallen by the time she gets there and the British have left the area following the 1846 settlement of a boundary at the 49th parallel. However, conditions haven’t changed dramatically. It’s a part of her immediate history. And in my next book, a novel called The Shifting Winds, the story opens in 1842 when Oregon was still contested territory between the British and the Americans, and tensions stirred rumors of war. In my story a triangle romance parallels the conflict, when two young men, a Hudson’s Bay Company clerk and an American mountain man, vie for the protagonist, a young pioneer woman who never wanted to leave her New York home in the first place.

So I revel in events like this that help bring history alive. Also, I serve on the writing committee for the annual pageant that’s performed both nights of the event, where we bring out a little history with a bit of humor and music and dance and a whole lot of fun. During the day there are games for the kids down at the fort, crafts for sale, food, black powder demonstrations by our own mountain men, and more.

I’ll have a booth both days where I’ll be selling and signing copies of A Place of Her Own, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you’re in the neighborhood, welcome to a dip into our past.

COMMENT

Holiday Cheer at OHS

December 10, 2014November 30, 2022Janet Fisher2 Comments

The Oregon Historical Society in Portland brought in many authors from the local area for their annual Holiday Cheer party last Sunday, a 50-year tradition.

Rachel Randles, OHS Communi-cations and Marketing Manager, who organized this year’s event, said early estimates indicate more than 700 people came to buy books and join in the day’s festivities.

I was delighted to be included among the authors this year to present my recently published history, A Place of Her Own: The Legacy of Oregon Pioneer Martha Poindexter Maupin. It seemed like an excellent venue for my story.

Here I am with other authors at a nonfiction table displaying our books for sale. At the left is Portland author Barbara J. Scot, author of The Nude Beach Notebook, and at right is Elizabeth Enslin from Wallowa County, author of While the Gods Were Sleeping.

My thanks to Portland publisher and author Laura Stanfill, who stopped by and took the above picture with my camera. I met Laura in Tacoma in September at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Trade Show. It was great seeing her again.

Here’s Laura (at left) in the plaid coat talking with some other authors at the OHS event.

Besides book selling and signing, we had refreshments and entertainment. Before the event started authors were treated to a lovely lunch downstairs, with tasty cookies, muffins, and other treats offered throughout the afternoon.

To add to the festive air, The Dickens Carolers came by and sang a few carols for us. Here they are at our table.

It was a great crowd. I even met some relatives–from the Poindexter side. A delightful Poindexter couple came by to talk about our ancestors going back to George Poingdestre who immigrated to Virginia in 1657 from the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel. The Poindexters were pleased to buy a book. They knew their history, and we had a wonderful visit.

I heard many stories from others who stopped by. I’m having a vigorous discussion (at left). When people learn I’ve written a story about a pioneer ancestor, they often want to tell about their own pioneer ancestors, and I enjoy hearing their stories. I hope many of them will get those stories written down while they still have time to talk with the elders who know the history.

All in all, it was a lovely day, and I found considerable enthusiasm for Martha’s story.

Except for the picture Laura took and the one of the carolers, which I took, all others on this post are compliments of the Oregon Historical Society. Rachel sent out a large collection of photos from the event with her thank-you email, offering these glimpses of the day so we authors might use and share them. Many thanks to Rachel and OHS.

COMMENT

Holiday Time

November 23, 2014November 23, 2014Janet Fisher

It’s that time of year, and I’m happy to be joining other authors to celebrate this holiday season with signings of our books.

I’ll be at the Christmas Craft Fair at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Friday, December 5, from 1 to 5 pm. You’ll find me at the booth for the local Roseburg writers group, An Association of Writers. We’ll be selling an anthology put together by members of the group, as well as books written by individual members. The fair runs for three days, the 5th through the 7th, from 10 am to 8 pm Friday and Saturday and 10 to 4 on Sunday. My book will be on sale all through the craft fair that weekend, but I will only be there the four or so hours on Friday.

On that Sunday, December 7, I’ll be in Portland with my book at the Oregon Historical Society for their 2014 Holiday Cheer signing party, a big event OHS puts on every year. It’s an honor to be included in that party of selected authors. A good venue for my book, a history of an Oregon pioneer.

So whichever event is handier, I hope I’ll see many of you at one place or the other. Books make great gifts. Spread the word and pass the cheer.

Happy Holidays! 🙂

COMMENT

At the Literary Salon

November 15, 2014November 16, 2014Janet Fisher

This afternoon I went back to the book events after a little time off.

I was pleased to be invited to the first Literary Salon at the Opal Center for Arts & Education in Cottage Grove, Oregon’s historic downtown.

Four local authors–Hal Holbrook, Anastastia Machachek, Theo Czuk, and I–presented our work, each of us taking a turn on stage.

Theo, a composer of music, gave his presentation in song, with a short reading from his first novel, and the rest of us read and discussed our books. Afterward we had a little time for selling and signing.

The event was cosponsored by The Bookmine of Cottage Grove. An enjoyable afternoon with a welcoming crowd! Thanks to Allan and Gail for putting this on, and to Steve for taking the picture.

COMMENT