FALL IS HERE!
Fall is here, ready or not!
The Trailing of the Sheep Festival occurs this week:
We have a booth at the Festival on Saturday, October 9, 2021, for our books about central Idaho, sheep and sheepherders, and photos by Gerry. Come say Hi!
Stanley Basin:
My husband, Gerry, and I traveled to the Stanley Basin to check out the fall leaves on my birthday. The drive there, about 50 miles, featured yellow, brilliant orange, a few burgundy reds, and still lots of green. In the Basin, most of the leaves had turned and fallen already. Up Croy Canyon in Hailey and around our own house, the aspen are turning and a crabapple tree has already flashed into pumpkin orange and now is dropping leaves. The drought in our area, we believe, impacted the timing and the falling.
So much NEWS!
My new book, MINERS’ MOON, set in the mines of North Idaho, will launch in December! Five Star, once again my publisher, has finished the front cover, and here it is! It features a chute in the Bunker Hill mine in Kellogg, Idaho, one I descended when I traveled into the mine in 1991. Gerry shot the moon photo several years ago. It has graced every one of my MOON books. Nellie Burns, Sheriff Asteguigoiri, Rosy Kipling and Moonshine travel to northern Idaho to investigate bootlegging and possible complicit town officials. A suspicious mine explosion pulls them into a second investigation. All four of them long for their high desert home but cannot return until they expose the secrets and lay bare the criminals before their luck runs out!
Exploring in the Bunker Hill Mine
Pre-ordering books presents the opportunity to receive the book as soon as it is available. It also helps my publisher know that my mysteries continue to be popular (thanks, everybody!). Try your local bookstore first, Indie Books next, Bookshop.org, next, and then Amazon. For the time being there is no ebook, but I am working on that, as well as paperbacks of my earlier books. Audio books should appear in the future as well.
MINERS’ MOON makes a terrific Christmas present for those who like mysteries!
Another possibility for Christmas ordering features Gerry’s and my book about the Southwest around the Four Corners area. For those who have traveled to Utah, Arizona or New Mexico and are intrigued with the rock art, artifacts, and Ancestral Puebloan ancient remains, you will enjoy The Magical Universe of the Ancients: A Desert Journal. You can find it at www.bigwoodbooks.com or at Amazon.com. The latter needs the full name. Or you can email bigwoodbooks1@gmail.com .
FLASH1 FLASH1 FLASH1 President Biden restored the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Monuments!!! Maybe our book made a tiny difference!
Recommended books: There are so many good books coming out or launched in late September, it is hard to select the best! As mystery fans, you know Louise Penny and Martin Walker have new books: The Madness of Crowds and The Coldest Case. Both are excellent. Craig Johnson’s The Daughter of the Morning Star is a treat too. Anne Hillerman and James Benn each continue their series in The Sacred Bridge and Road of Bones. We haven’t read those yet, but will be in line at Iconoclast Books or Chapter One in Hailey and Ketchum. We do have Cloud Cuckoo Land by Tony Doerr and Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.
Nonfiction:
Recollections of my Nonexistence by Rebecca Solnit. This book will strike home with so many of my women friends. Men friends would learn about our history, especially in the business world.
A Pilgrimage to Eternity by Tim Egan. He walked, mostly, from Canterbury to Rome—a combination travelogue, philosophy study, and thoughtful meditation.
The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende—a variation on Rebecca Solnit’s subject.
Unsolaced by Gretel Ehrlich, one of my all-time favorite writers. Her first book was The Solace of Open Spaces. This one explains what is happening in our world of climate change based on her trips to the Wyoming territory where she once ranched, the Arctic and Greenland where she journeyed with scientists, and Africa, where she learned new methods of grazing animals to help stop the desertification.
Fiction:
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, a follow up to The Martian. Another sci-fi, but it seemed so realistic and kept me absorbed for days.
Rafting the Snake River in Hells Canyon – Outpost
Heading to First Rapids
Writers Writing at Temperance Creek
Passing Mama and Baby Bears
We had a great adventure at the beginning of September. Craig Childs led twelve writers on a raft trip on the Snake River beginning at the Hells Canyon Dam to almost Kirkwood. This was Outpost, part of Fishtrap. We were on the river for five days and four nights. We all wrote based on Craig’s prompts and the scenes and flow of the river. We also rode the rapids and camped along the river, taking time each day to write and read our writing. The weather was a little hot and the river was low, but wet and swimmable. The outfitter was Winding Waters out of Joseph, Oregon. The crew did a terrific job of taking care of us—food, camping, rowing, finding bears and bighorn sheep, and thrilling us.
Would love comments and book suggestions at the bubble. All photos by Gerry Morrison.
Very nice blog post, Julie. Good luck at the Trailing of the Sheep Festival!
Thanks, Mary! We are heading out now to set up our tent–between bouts of pouring rain!
Like you, I’m very excited Biden is restoring the 2 monuments So glad you gave that a mention Let’s hope they stay restored permanently
Andi, I was so excited when I read this!! I was afraid it would not get done, but here we are!! Such a beautiful, stunning place with so many ancient places.
I like it, too, that Biden is restoring the 2 monuments. Good for him, great for Idahoans.
Indeed, Irene, this is such good news!!
I’m an Idaho guy with roots in Kellogg, Wallace Lewiston & the U of I–some how I connected with you eons ago–probably because you graduated from KHS Maybe–I have a son living in Ketchum and I think you were living in Hailey–Maybe see you sometime[—-
bill mayer
Lewiston Golden Bengal
Thanks for commenting Bill. I’m not sure where we met either, maybe up here at Trailing of the Sheep. Let us know when you come visit your son. We can meet for coffee. I used to go to Lewiston every spring from Kellogg for the music festival. Always had a great time!
You certainly give us a lot in your posts, Julie! I look forward to book 4 in your Nellie series.
Thanks, Susan. I always love your posts, too! I have a launch date in Ketchum on December 16 for the new book!
I love your description of your trip on the Snake River and your photos.
When I heard Biden had restored the 2 monuments, I gave a happy yelp that was loud enough to wake my dog. The areas are national treasures.
My reaction, too, Mary, to the good news about the monuments! We had such a good time on the Snake River!
I just recently read Isabel Allende and really like her books. Haven’t read the one you mentioned yet.
Thanks for commenting, Beth. Did you read the one set in Chile? A really nice book, and I learned a lot about that country! Was that where Luis was from? It seems so, but my memory isn’t what it used to be!! Love to you!
Julie,
As always, your blog is refreshing and delightful to read. Thanks so much! And congratulations on the publication of Miners’ Moon. I admire your perseverance and focus to be able to complete it during the pandemic. I can’t wait to read it and have already placed a preorder with Bookshop.com.
The news about the Bears Ear and Grand Staircase-Escalante is terrific. You’ll want to read the entire proclamation. It covers so many of the precious spots that you and Gerry explored and depicted in your book on the area. Why not send the president a copy of your book with a thank you? It’s something that he would appreciate.
Recent books I’d recommend: 2 fascinating non-fiction book about Covid and CRISPR research and public health work leading up to and through the pandemic – The Premonition
( Michael Lewis) & The Code Breaker (Walter Issacson); Also, an absorbing book by a neighbor here in Wyndmoor, PA – Who’s My Daddy ( Joel Gottlieb). At 69, Joel accidently found out through 23&Me DNA testing that he and his sister did not have the same father. The book is about his search to find his real father and all of the questions it raised.
I’m so glad to see on The Weather Channel that the Wood River Valley should get snow tomorrow. Let’s hope for a great snow pack this winter!
Thank you, Karren, for the note and for the pre-order. I think it is a wonderful idea to send the Magical Universe to President Biden! As soon as I figure out how to do that, I will do so. Such terrific news, isn’t it?
I am reading Premonition shortly for my next book club meeting. Meanwhile, I am enmeshed in Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. And yes, we are kind of hoping for snow on Monday. I am sure we will get it in the mountains. The Boulders are gorgeous right now and the Pioneers probably have their dusting as well.
Great news, Julie, all around! I love hearing about what’s going on in your corner of the world. I hope yesterday was a good day for you?
Thanks, Alice! Saturday was an excellent day at the Trailing of the Sheep Festival! We sold over 60 books! I really can’t afford not to attend the Festival and, unfortunately, it conflicts with the Women Writing the West conference usually. I did attend sessions on Friday, but will have to wait for the recordings for the Saturday sessions. Sorry to miss most of the conference. Nice to hear from you!
HI Julie – I look forward to reading Miners Moon. We did go up to Kellogg this past summer – lots of memories. Spent some time at the Staff House — more memories.
Jean Morton
Hi Jean, Thank you! We were in Kellogg for my 60th high school reunion in late July. The memories are almost overwhelming, aren’t they? I did a book signing at the Staff House. I always think of our Christmas parties there as kids. I think it is the same carpet. So strange, and quite nice, to see trees all over the hills.
Julie
Hi Julie,
Always enjoy reading your newsletters as well as your books! Wanted to be sure you knew that my dear friend, Kip Greenthal’s debut novel, Shaol Water, just launched last week. A beautifully written book written over a span of 35 years.
Tonight there will be a conversation between Kip and Elizabeth Austen (virtually) at Elliott Bay Books. Go to Elliott Bay and register-it should be an inspiring event.
Thanks, Kiki. I’ve been following Kip’s launch. I’ll try to make it tonight. Should be a fascinating evening!