JanDunlap.com

I just received confirmation that my second Bob White Birder Murder, “Murder on Warbler Weekend,” has been nominated for the 2009 Minnesota Book Award. That makes it two for two, since the first book in the series “The Boreal Owl Murder” received a nomination last year. Finalists will be announced in February.

This coming March is shaping up to be an interesting marketing month for me. The first weekend of the month I’ll be at the International Owl Festival in Houston, MN. Last year’s event was delightful, so I’m looking forward to meeting birders and signing books there again. For the last weekend in the month, I’ve been invited to come speak and sign books at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN. I haven’t visited the new center there yet ...more...

It’s fifty degrees today, the snow is all gone from my backyard, and the sun on my face feels like heaven! It’s a wonderful ending for my busy March, which started out with a weekend in Houston, MN, at the International Owl Festival. What an amazing time everyone had there – the whole town was in on the fun. You could get a Great Grey Mocha at the coffee shop, admire paper-plate and egg-carton owls made by gradeschoolers, ooh and ahh at the gorgeous owls visiting from the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis, and go out calling wild owls in the evening. I met tons of readers and fellow birders; a huge congratulations to Karla and the town of Houston for a fabulous event! On top of that weekend ...more...

…to be merry, bake cookies, party with friends, hang out with owls…Last weekend, I was at the annual meeting of the MOU (Minnesota Ornithologists Union)at the Bell Museum on the U of MN campus. To my delight, I had a book display table right next to Karla Kinstler, the Director/Naturalist of the Houston Nature Center in southeastern Minnesota, and Alice the Great Horned Owl who lives and works with Karla. I’m now a big fan of Karla and Alice, and I’m planning to check out their big event in March, the International Festival of Owls. (Visit their website at www.festivalofowls.com for details!) I told Karla that she and Alice might make a cameo in my third Bob White Birder Murder mystery which is set in that area of ...more...