JanDunlap.com » appearances

Book Launch set for “A Bobwhite Killing”

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:46:38 +0000

It’s September, which means I’ve got a new book coming out!

“A Bobwhite Killing” will be unveiled at our Book Launch party on September 18. Gary and Pat, the proprietors of Once Upon A Crime mystery bookstore in Minneapolis, have once again graciously agreed to host my party from 1 to 3 pm. Last year when we launched the second book in the Birder Murder series, we had a mix of readers and many of my close personal friends in attendance, and it was a blast! Birders were chatting with mystery buffs, and book club members were hobnobbing with my neighbors. I hope you’ll take some time on Saturday, September 18 to stop in at OUAC and join us in launching this third book in the series. Wow – three books already! It seems like I just fledged “The Boreal Owl Murder” yesterday…

Summertime and I’ve got things to do…

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 01:03:22 +0000

Yikes! I just looked at my blog and realized I’ve been incommunicado since late March. I’ve got good excuses – #1: April was the last month of the spring semester and I poured the work on my online students at New Mexico State University, which meant I had tons of papers to read; #2: In May, I graded final papers and then I proofed the final version of the third Birder Murder mystery, which is due out this September, and I also signed books at the Urban Birding Festival in Ramsey County; #3: my middle daughter got married in early June, which meant I was doing mother-of-the-bride busyness on top of excuses #1 and #2; and #4: I forgot to blog.

So now I’m ready to get back to the business of being a writer! Next weekend, I’ll be at Summer in the Garden at the Linnaeus Arboretum in St. Peter, with my books. It’s a new event open to the public to showcase the lovely grounds and resource that the Arboretum provides the region. I’m also beginning to schedule fall book events for the third Birder Murder, titled “A Bobwhite Killing,” while my fourth Birder Murder has already begun to take shape on my trusty laptop. Happy summer!

Owls and eagles

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:09:38 +0000

Maybe I should rename March and make it Predator Month. The first weekend I was in Houston, MN, for the International Festival of Owls. Karla Kinstler and her team of fabulous volunteers put on a great festival as usual, although all the little kids with faces painted like owls probably tickled me the most. I met owlers from all over the region and got to connect with both old and new fans of my Birder Murder series, talking about birding experiences and mystery writing. This last weekend of the month I was in Wabasha, on my first visit to the National Eagle Center. Scott Mehus, one of the program directors there, told me they’d had about 14,000 visitors in March during their month-long celebration of the spring migration. It’s a gorgeous center right on the Mississippi, and again, I met lots of readers and birding fans, along with a wide range of folks who are fascinated with eagles. You can get fairly close and personal with several education birds there – a popular activity is getting your photo next to a live bald eagle held by a handler. Believe me, if you’ve never realized how big these birds really are, you will when you stand next to one! Now I know why mice and fish quake in their little paws and fins when they realize an eagle has an eye on them….Happy spring!