prestigious accolades
for Mission Point Press authors

Third MPP author accepts Michigan Notable Books Award

The next Michigan Notable Book could be yours! Here's the info if you'd like to submit your recently published book for consideration:

Each year, the Michigan Notable Books Award committee selects twenty notable books written by Michigan authors or about Michigan. The winning books are honored in the year after their copyright date. Authors of the winning titles are then invited to participate in a statewide book tour hosted by Michigan libraries that takes place in the spring.

If your book fits this criteria and was published before December 2023, you may submit your title for consideration. It's recommended that you submit six to ten review copies to the address below or electronically to Michigan-Notable-Books@michigan.gov. 
 
Shipping address:
Michigan Notable Books Coordinator
Library of Michigan
Butler St. Loading Dock
702 West Kalamazoo St.
Lansing, MI 48915

For more information visit: www.michigan.gov/NOTABLEBOOKS

Here's the latest news from Mission point press authors:
MARCH 2024

Katharine Crawford Robey
Last Train to Banff
First place in the 2023 Short Story Contest of the International Conference on the Short Story in English. Katharine will present her story at the conference in Killarney, Ireland, June 15-17, 2025.

Roger Coleman, editor
The Collected Works of Eustace Cockrell
Five-book series
The Warrensburg Star Journal

Tricia Frey
River Love: The True Story of a Wayward Sheltie, a Woman, and a Magical Place Called Rivershire
Narrated by the author, River Love is now available as an audiobook on ALL platforms. Love checking out audiobooks through library app Libby? Ask your local library to order River Love.

Brittany Darga
If a Petoskey Stone Could Talk
Leelanau Enterprise
If a Petoskey Stone Could Talk will be released on June 18, 2024, and is not currently for sale.

J.R. Seeger
The Swordfish Deception
Book 8 in the MIKE4 series
Author profile on Spyscape.com 
See J.R. Seeger’s website for more.

Jack Dempsey and the Michigan Civil War Association
His Sword a Scalpel: General Charles Stuart Tripler, MD, USA
Michigan in Books

Charles Cutter
Under the Ashes: Murder and Morels
Book 5 in the Burr Lafayette Mystery series
2024 Book Excellence Award finalist - Mystery category

Here's the latest news from Mission point press authors:
February 2024

Thomas A. Schupbach
STUMPED: The Legacy of the Great Pine Harvest in Mid-Michigan
Michigan Forests Magazine (Link unavailable - See review below)
Chronicle Magazine (Link unavailable - See below)

Michael Balter
Chasing Money
Feathered Quill Awards -
First Place: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, and Horror
Feathered Quill Awards - Second Place: Debut Author
Review: Alan R. Warren, NBC Radio host

Jane McKinney and Mary McKSchmidt
Miracle Within Small Things: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey Through Loss and Aging
Holland Sentinel 

Captain Robert A. Maynard
A Father's Arms: Close to Death, Across Hitler’s Path—and Home at Last
Michigan in Books

Stephen Lewis
Dementia: A Love Story
Kaleidoscope Review

Ed Demerly
Living in the Ulu: Letters from a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malaysia, 1967-68
Museum of the Peace Corps Experience

Thomas A. Buhr
The Big Water: A History of Michigan’s Lower Au Sable River

#1 New Release on Amazon in the Rivers in Earth Science category
#1 New Release on Amazon in the Fishing category (Link unavailable)

Here's the latest news from Mission point press authors:
January 2024

Roz Weedman & Susan Todd
Poppy and Mary Ellen Deliver the Goods
Book One of the Frankenmuth Murder Mysteries
Wickson Library’s Top 8 Circulating Books of 2023
(#1 Most Circulated)

Michael Balter
Chasing Money
Now available on audiobook!

Johnny Storm
Upper Peninsula Fun in the Sun: Hooray for Camp Days
The Livingston Daily

Joe Swann
The Early Life and Times of David Crockett in East Tennessee
Authors love getting uplifting messages from readers. We think this one is pretty special and worth sharing. Here's the news from Joe's wife, Rebecca:
"Joe received an interesting email from a direct descendant of David Crockett from Arkansas. James Davy Crockett III had read the book and was requesting seven signed copies for his children and himself. He loved the book and appreciated the information Joe provided while also saying he 'appreciated [Joe's] research and conclusions on Crockett's mettle and good character.'" Kudos, Joe!

Here's the latest news from Mission point press authors:
november 2023

Mollie Moody (author's daughter) - A Father's Arms: Close to Death, Across Hitler’s Path — and Home at Last by Captain Robert A. Maynard:
Good Day Northern Michigan
Leelanau Enterprise
The Ron Jolly Show
Glen Arbor Sun

Michael Balter - Chasing Money:
Best Indie Book Award 
House of Mystery Radioshow on NBC

Ruth Ann Smith - Faith, Family & Music: 150 Years of History & Tales of the Ed and Irene (Lamie) Fleis Family: 
Leelanau Ticker

Dottie Pepper - Letters to a Future Champion: My Time with Mr. Pulver:
Full Circle blog

John Wemlinger - The Road to Empire:
Michigan in Books blog

Thomas A. Schupbach - Stumped: The Legacy of the Great Pine Harvest in Mid-Michigan: 
Michigan in Books blog

Here's the latest news from Mission point press authors:
October 2023

Sharon Emery - It's Hard Being You: A Primer on Being Happy Anyway:
TedX talk

Maureen Monte - Win Like a Girl:
WJR (interview starts at the 10:30 mark)
The Athletics of Business podcast

Michael Balter - Chasing Money:
Lake Oswego Review 
IngramSpark's list of Halloween reads - (trending title on both Goodreads and Bookshop.org)

Deborah Kaskinen Crandell - Sisu: Not Just Another Pretty Cat: 
Amazon #1 New Release - Nursery Rhymes - (see photo below)
Good Day Northern Michigan

Katharine Crawford Robey - Sleeping Bear Wakes Up; Tor & Raven are Friends:
International Conference on the Short Story in English Contest (First Place winner)

John Wemlinger - The Cut; Before the Snow Flies:
Military Writers’ Society of America (Before the Snow Flies—Gold Medal; The Cut—Silver Medal - see photos below)

Anne Barbour - From the Beginning: 
Global Book Awards - Award Finalist, Romance - Contemporary
Shawnee Mission Post

Kathryn Den Houter - Prison Shadows:
Global Book Awards - Award Finalist, Psychological Thrillers

Katy Klimczuk - M is for Mackinac: A Nature Alphabet:
Michigan Blue (pages 30 & 31)

Charles Cutter - Under the Ashes: A Burr Lafayette Mystery:
Northwest Review

Dave Dempsey - Great Lakes for Sale; The Great Lakes: Fact or Fake?:
Society of Environmental Journalists

J.R. Seeger - MIKE4 series:
SPYSCAPE.com

Ralph James Naveaux - Invaded on All Sides: The War of 1812 and Michigan's Greatest Battlefield Engagements at Frenchtown and the River Raisin:
Michigan in Books

Alice B. McGinty - Mushroom House Man: The Story of Earl A. Young and His Cottages of Stone:
VoyageMichigan 

Steve Babson - Forgotten Populists: When Farmers Turned Left to Save Democracy:
Jacobin

Here's the latest news from Mission point press authors:

September 2023

Kenneth L. Gomez (w/ contributions by Lisa Gomez) - On a Ruffling Day: Poems, Photos, Folk Art, and Nature:
Lansing State Journal
Leelanau Enterprise

T.H. Corbett - PBB: An Environmental Disaster: Michigan Chemical Poisoning Reverberates 50 Years Later:
2023 Global Book Awards - Silver Medal, History category; Bronze Medal, Environmental category (scroll through list to find award categories)
Michigan in Books - (scroll down to August 15, 2023 entry)

Thomas Buhr - The Outgoing: A Spinnerfall Thriller: 
2023 Global Book Awards - Silver Medal, Amateur Sleuths category (scroll through list to find award categories)

Michael Balter - Chasing Money: A Marty and Bo Thriller: 
The Ron Jolly Show 

John Wemlinger - The Road to Empire:
Manistee News Advocate

Charles Cutter - Under the Ashes: A Burr Lafayette Mystery:
Readers' Favorite

J.R. Seeger - The Enigma of Treason: A Steampunk Raj Novel: 
SouthWest Writers

Ed Demerly - Living in the Ulu: Letters from a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malaysia, 1967-68:
Brown Dental Associates newsletter

Live Interviews

Mary McKSchmidt - Miracle Within Small Things: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey Through Loss and Aging on Good Day Northern Michigan. Mary's mother, Jane McKinney, is the book's co-author. 

Roy Inman, photographer - The City of Fountains: Kansas City's Legacy of Beauty and Motion on NPR station KCUR 89.3.

Mary Don Beachy - Step Up to the Plate, Kansas City! on KC Royals pregame show.

Tom Carr - Dark Side of the Mitten: Crimes of Power & Powerful Criminals in Michigan's Past & Present (Blood on the Mitten series) on "The Chee-Tash" podcast.

Print Interviews

Dave Dempsey - The Great Lakes: Fact or Fake? in the PBS newsletter Great Lakes Now.

MPP author gets interviewed on Good Morning America
and goes to the Super Bowl! 

Here's the latest exciting news: 

Kudos to Burkley Hoover, a spunky fourth grader, for becoming the first MPP author to get on Good Morning America. Woo hoo! Burkley is the daughter of former Shawnee Mission East High School football coach Justin Hoover and wrote Here Comes Football: A Kids' Guide to the Game. It didn’t take long for Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to learn about her efforts to educate kids about football fun and invited Burkley to his 15 and the Mahomies Foundation Fundraiser, where he gifted her two Super Bowl tickets! After arriving in Glendale, Arizona, for the big event, she chatted with Good Morning America on Saturday morning about her new book. And on Super Bowl Sunday, Burkley watched her favorite team win the big game. That's what we call a SUPER weekend. Well done, Burkley!

MORE news out of Kansas City ...

Congratulations to Mary Don Beachy, who got some great press in the Johnson County City Lifestyle Magazine for her book, Step Up to the Plate, Kansas City!You can read the article here on pages 10-13. Nice publicity, Mary Don!

Michigan News

Author Alan McColl and his book, What Was Said at the Burns Supper: Speeches about Robert Burns and Really Bad Scottish Jokes Best Washed Down with a Wee Dram, received some fine media attention just in time for the celebrations and suppers honoring the birthday of Scottish poet Burns. Alan was featured onGood Day Northern Michigan on 9&10 News—watch the interview here—and in the Sunday edition of the Traverse City Record-Eagle with a nice feature article. Cheers, Alan!

Tricia Frey and her books, River Love: The True Story of a Wayward Sheltie, a Woman, and a Magical Place Called Rivershire and Sheldon's Journey: The Story of a Sweet-Natured Dog in Search of His True Home, were showcased in the February issue of Michigan Country Lines Magazine. If you're an electric co-op member, watch your mailbox for your copy. If not, click here to check out this month's issue. The article is on pages 8 & 9. Congratulations, Tricia!

Author Jack Dempsey and his newest release—Heart in Tatters—recently received mentions through two different Civil War-related outlets. The Calling Card—the monthly e-newsletter of the Society for Women and the Civil War—congratulated Jack on the book's release, and Civil War Digital Digest promoted the book to its audience with a 10-minute video in a recent episode. You can check out both here: The Calling Card and Civil War Digest. Nice work, Jack!

There's more exciting recognition for authors Katharine Crawford Robey and Tracy Mikowski and their book, Tor & Raven Are Friends. Recently, the book and the real-life story of Tor and Raven were shared in the Traverse City Record-Eagle and the Manistee News Advocate. Read the News Advocate story here. Keep the great press coming, Katharine and Tracy!

Kudos to Charles Cutter, whose most recent release, Under the Ashes: A Burr Lafayette Mystery, has received an excellent review by Kirkus Reviews. "An appealing hero headlines a bracing legal thriller." Under the Ashes will be released in late March. Check out the complete review here. Great review, Charles!

MPP books continue to make the Horizon Books best sellers list. Recently, Jacob Wheeler's book Angel of the Garbage Dump: How Hanley Denning Changed the World, One Child at a Time was on the list that was featured in the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Well done, Jacob!

Finally, a story about how one MPP author got creative in spreading the word about her book. In her own words, here is author Karen Rieser's story of how she shared her book, Aiden's Tree: The Story of a Fir Tree, a Boy, and the Mackinac Ice Bridge, with others:

"I decided to take four copies of Aiden's Tree on vacation to give away. I wanted to sell books outside of Michigan but was struggling as to how to do this.

"So we went to New Orleans and I found homes for all four books. The first went to a young boy in a beignet shop. He was so pleased. He was from Australia and his mom was also an author of children's books. All three of them pored over the book as they ate. The next was at Jackson Square, where artists sell their wares. I found a picture I wanted and as I spoke with the artist, she told me she just loved Michigan and had in-laws there. I gave her a book. She thanked me happily. As we were walking away, I heard her scream. She ran after us and told us her in-laws spend Christmas on Mackinac Island, and they Zoom one another and read Christmas stories at Christmas. 'I will read this one every year,' she said with this huge smile. The third one went to a funky coffee shop and stands out bright blue among their books. The fourth to a traveling companion on the plane. He was going to Pakistan to visit family that [included seven- and eleven-year-old children who had lived] in the U.S. He loved the idea of the tree having a life before and after Christmas and was pleased to take it to his children.

"I had so much fun doing this that I will do it again when we go to Nassau in March. It is nice to know that in our jobs we create happiness in others."

What could be better than that? Thank you for sharing your story, Karen!