Jill D. Swenson’s forthcoming memoir, The Land of Everlasting Sky: A Memoir of Loss and Legacy on Lake of the Woods, will be released on June 2 from She Writes Press (distributed by Simon & Schuster). Early reviews have praised the book; D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer at Midwest Book Review calls it, “…a powerfully evocative discourse on race, culture, and personal empowerment which weaves together a seemingly disparate set of values and observations, creating a narrative powerfully impactful in its tone and approach to life.” And Kirkus Reviews writes, “Deeply moving and eye-opening, this memoir confronts the centuries of systemic bigotry that have led to Indigenous erasure.” Clear-eyed and yet deeply personal, The Land of Everlasting Sky is a compelling exploration of the history we inherit and our relationships to land and each other. You can pre-order your copy here. Q: You learned an Ojibwe family had been removed from their land to build a casino. How did that discovery lead to a book? A: After my mother’s funeral, I visited northern Minnesota where she grew up. My fondest memories of Mom were from my childhood vacations spent with her family in Warroad—picking wild blueberries, swimming in Lake of the Woods, seeing a moose, meeting an old Ojibwe man named Kakaygeesick in the nursing home. When I returned to Warroad in 2014 and discovered Kakaygeesick’s great-grandson, Don, and his elderly mother had been forcibly removed from their land by Red Lake Nation to build a new casino, I thought it…
Discover your voice. Let loose your inner sleuth. Learn new skills and polish your work-in-progress. This two-day non-fiction writing workshop will help you identify a story, learn new research methods, write fresh history, edit for publication, and prepare your pitch. Five 90-minute sessions will focus on 1) story 2) facts 3) genre 4) style and 5) publishing. WHERE: Retreat in scenic rural Brooktondale at the… [Read More]
Filed Under: Boiceville community, Cathryn Prince, Death in the Baltic, Historical, Jill Swenson, Meeting House, Narrative, Non-Fiction
No Comments
There are few feelings that compare to a broken computer – Did you save your tax records anywhere else? Do you know anyone who can fix this? What about your drafts, and photos, and important information? Is it all really gone? We live in a time when it’s fairly easy to forget to backup your information regularly. Features like autosave and document recovery create an illusion… [Read More]
The small farm book business grows organically. Growing the seeds of good ideas into books, is akin to farming in some respects. In publishing, like in farming, there are large multinational multimillion dollar corporations dominant in the industry. Yet, the groundswell of good books about small scale farms, seasonable cuisine, and sustainable living reflects the growing market for good ideas. You may have noticed more… [Read More]
Dream New Dreams: Reimagining My Life After Loss by Jai Pausch (Crown 2012) is one of the first memoirs to address the experiences of those who become full time caregivers to their terminally ill spouse. Imagine dealing with complicated medical care and even more complicated emotions. And then imagine having to tell your young children that their father is dead. You may have heard of… [Read More]
Filed Under: Farrah Fawcett, Grief, Jai Pausch, Lisa Niemi Swayze, memoir, pancreatic cancer, Patrick Swayze, Randy Pausch, Ryan O'Neal, widow
Authors may be surprised to learn that before an agent or publisher reads a word of their manuscript, they make judgments based on the query letter or proposal. They read your materials to assess the potential for successful publication based on the information they gather about the book, about the audience, and yes, about the author. In the last two posts, I focused on questions… [Read More]