Writing books and going after your dreams

      Many have asked about Debbie’s third book, “Attempting Redemption,” in the Hope Series. Well, it’s here and Debbie (along with me) are hosting a book signing event at Star Lanes in Montezuma from 5 – 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3.
      We both appreciate Jake and Alicia Thompson for opening the bowling alley for the event. We hope to see you there. I believe the grill will be open for food and drinks.
      We will have all of our books there for sale and look forward to visiting with all who stop by to check out or purchase a book or books.
      I remember when we set out to do our first book, “Family Tradition – An ABC Photo Album of the Iowa State Fair,” published in 2006.
       Neither of us had published a book, so it was a learning experience.
      It was 2005 and our first goal was to get permission to do the book. We set up an appointment with the former state fair director, Gary Slater, to share our idea.
      Slater, a University of Missouri-Columbia graduate, the same college I attended, listened to our idea. His word of caution was that many have tried to do books on the fair and never got them off the ground.
      He had to talk with the fair board and later got us in touch with the director of the marketing department to get us set up with what we needed to do the book.
     The idea to do an ABC book was born out of a similar book I had from a photojournalist friend in South Dakota.
      Trying to find photos for every letter of the alphabet was a challenging undertaking. There is so much that goes on at the fair and sometimes being at the right place at the right time was key to getting a story-telling photo.
    The fair itself is a public event, but some things on the fairgrounds are private. The two Blue Ribbon characters that roam the fairgrounds and the state fair logo are owned by the fair. So, you can’t take a photos of them and publish them without the fair’s permission.
   We spent the next year putting the book together and having it printed at Sutherland Printing in Montezuma. We didn’t have a home computer, so Debbie and I would take the book and photos on a disk to the Montezuma Republican and work on it at night.
     When word spread about the book, Barnes and Noble in West Des Moines called us and we hand delivered a box of 50 books days before the fair started. We later had a book signing at the same Barnes and Noble.
     We went on to do our second book, “Family Reunion – Midwest Old Threshers,” in 2008.
    We worked with the folks at the Old Threshers and they partnered with us on the project, making it possible to publish the book. In exchange, they received a thousand books. 
     I took the photos and Debbie did all the interviews in 2007. As with our state fair book, we spent a year putting it together. The OT book was three times as big as our state fair book.
      Again, Sutherland Printing in Montezuma printed the book for us and did a great job.
       It was a lot of work and a lot of fun!
     Our family has attended the Old Threshers every year since 2007 and enjoy it. Maybe someday, we can do another book on the Old Threshers.
     Down the road, Debbie has a novella called “Mister Christmas,” slated for release in October this year and she is working to also published book four in the Hope Series, “Accidental Reveal,” this fall.
     My future goal is to do a book on riverboat life on the Mississippi River. I hope to spend some time going down the river on a barge and taking photos and doing interviews.
     My now late grandparents on my mom’s side of the family worked on the river boats in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They would take a bus from Tulsa to St. Louis, where someone would pick them up and take them to the river boat. They spent one month on and one month off. 
     Another project, probably for when I retire, is writing a fictional book on what life was like on a threshing crew in the early 1900s.
     It is good to dream and keep them on the bulletin board of your heart and mind. Take a step and keep trying.
​      Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.