CK Van Dam's Blog, page 5
March 22, 2024
Book Event Season is here
Living in a region with four seasons has its benefits. Most people hunker down in the winter – unless they’re winter sports nuts. (Skiers and ice fishermen, I’m looking at you.) I spent the -40 degree days of winter of 2023-24 writing my third book, Medicine Creek Claim. It will be published in May 2024 if the stars align.
We’re moving into “Book Event Season,” when authors meet with readers at book fairs and speaking events. I’ve already presented two events, “Women Tamed the Frontier,” through the South Dakota Humanities Council’s Speakers Bureau.
I’ll discuss book #2, Lone Tree Claim, at the SD Ag Heritage Museum on Sunday, April 21 at 2 pm. That’s a “full circle” moment for this story since the inspiration for Lone Tree Claim came from an exhibit at the museum.
Then, I’ll pause until May, when I can introduce readers to Medicine Creek Claim.
If you’re interested in hearing about women homesteaders or simply want your “On the Dakota Frontier” book signed, you can find me at these events:
Lone Tree Claim Author Talk: Sunday, April 21, 2 pm – SD Ag Heritage Museum, Brookings, SD
Book Signing: May 11, 1-3 pm, Barnes & Noble, Sioux Falls, SD
Author Talk & Book Signing: June 8, noon-2 pm, DDR Books, Watertown, SD
Book Signing & Book Fair: June 15 – Wild Deadwood Reads, Deadwood, SD
Women Tamed the Frontier: July 25, 6:30 pm, Caille Public Library, Sioux Falls
Book Signing: Aug 17-18, Canton Civil War Days, Canton, SD
Happy reading
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March 10, 2024
For the love of herding dogs
Confession: I’m a dog person.
Dogs have been part of my life since my father brought home Mr. Wiggs when I was five. We never did figure out his lineage. He was definitely a mutt, just like most of us. Mr. Wiggs was the first of many dogs in my life. When my son turned seven, he asked for a dog as a birthday present. He picked out Buddy at the Sioux Falls Humane Society. Buddy was part of the family for 13 years. Losing him was so hard that I promised myself I’d never get another dog. Then, a friend called about a collie puppy looking for a home. Bear was a herding dog – I watched him “herd” my grandchildren – minus nipping at their heels.
After Bear left us, I was lonely. Thanks to a good friend, I found Zinc. She’s a rescue dog and “probably” a border collie. She’s definitely a herding dog. Even though she’d never been on a farm or ranch, I watched her move cattle that had strayed onto family land in Wyoming.
Zinc was the inspiration for Maddie, the border collie in Lone Tree Claim.
Maddie is an essential character in Lone Tree Claim. The border collie was Katie Rose’s constant companion. Katie Rose relied on Maddie to watch the flock and protect the sheep from predators. I love watching videos of border collies herding sheep. They are so darn smart and intuitive. Herding is just part of their DNA. And herding dogs play an important role on ranches. Sheepherders and cattlemen would have much harder jobs without their canine partners.
All three of my novels include pets as part of the story. There’s Sunny in Proving Her Claim and Maddie in Lone Tree Claim. I had intended to switch it up in the third book and put a cat into the story instead. And I did: Butter, Lizzy’s yellow tabby, appears early on. But, well, I’m a dog person, and Shadow, a German Shepherd, showed up midway through the book.
They’re all good dogs.
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February 27, 2024
Celebrating Women’s History Month
Women’s History Month, March 1-31, celebrates the contributions women have made to the United States and recognizes the achievements women have made in a variety of fields.
In my SD Humanities Council presentation, “Women Tamed the Frontier,” I talk about how women changed the culture, the environment and the trajectory of life on the American frontier, including:
Mary Ida and Edith Ammons, two sisters who homesteaded near the Lower Brule Indian Reservation in South Dakota in the early 1900s. They made their marks: Edith was a newspaper woman and Ida Mary taught school. As homesteaders, they encountered prairie fires, rattlesnakes and blizzards. They opened a post office and a general store — in addition to proving their claims.
Dr. Mary Atwater, known as “Dr. Molly, who was prevented from opening a medical practice in the East because she was a woman. So she went West, where she opened a medical practice in Montana mining camps.
And here’s to the countless women who taught school on the prairie, who proved their claims through the Homestead Act, who established and nurtured church congregations.
I encourage you to visit the National Geographic’s traveling exhibition, “Women: A Century of Change” at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls. The exhibit includes images from the National Geographic archives and reveals the lives of women from more than 30 countries from the turn of the 20th century until now. These powerful images are organized into six themes including joy, beauty, love, wisdom, strength and hope.
Women’s History Month is a good time to pause and remember the women who went before us.
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January 24, 2024
Perfect or imperfect characters?
Author confession: I struggle with character flaws. More specifically, my characters’ flaws.
My editor tells me to add more obstacles for my characters to overcome. Sometimes that means writing characters who have flaws. Perfect is boring.
Personally, I hate reading books or watching movies where the characters consistently make bad choices. But I realize it’s the flaws that make characters interesting. Audiences want characters who are flawed. Whether it’s cheating on a math test or murder, it’s these plot twists that make a story enjoyable.
Character flaws also are part of an engaging arc. Sometimes they’re deeply rooted in childhood trauma, creating the character’s backstory. Character flaws allow protagonists and antagonists to grow, change and solve their problems. And those character arcs are what keep audiences turning pages or tuning in.
Character flaws come in a variety of flavors. There are minor shortcomings like being forgetful or egotistical. These are not serious flaws, but they do provide opportunities for characters to “be better.”
Major flaws, such as arrogance or selfishness, make it harder for audiences to like the character, but they might still be able to relate to those flaws. And if the character can overcome these flaws, the outcome is even more satisfying.
Then there are fatal flaws. A tendency to violence, addiction, or vengeance makes characters harder to like – and more challenging to change for the better. But who hasn’t rooted for the “big bad” character who redeems themself? The character transformation is the payoff.
I’ll continue to struggle with flaws: mine and those of my characters.
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January 10, 2024
Sequel or Series?
After I published my first novel, Proving Her Claim, friends and readers asked me about a Sequel.
I was dumbfounded. I didn’t have a plan to write a second book. And then I did.
But I didn’t write a Sequel: a “what happened next” book with the same characters. I was still working through what happened next to Anna and Two Hawks.
Instead, I wrote a story with new characters: Katie and Jake. So, I’m writing a Series.
A Series is a collection of books, all set in the same world (sometimes with the same characters), but where each book can stand alone. These books can be read in any order, with little confusion or back story needed. Mysteries are a good example of a series with the same main character but different villains in each book.
Author’s note: The “On the Dakota Frontier” series is competing in the 2023 Chanticleer Book Awards for Genre Fiction.
The “On the Dakota Frontier” series continues with a third story about women homesteaders in Dakota Territory. If the stars align, this book will be published sometime this spring or summer. Watch for more to come on the third book.
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December 27, 2023
Top Ten Books for 2023
It’s the time of year when Top Ten Lists start popping up, so I decided to look through my GoodReads list for 2023 and see which books I rated the highest. Interestingly, my list contained a good mix of fiction and non-fiction books. Some of the fiction books were historical, others were mystery/thrillers, and a couple were lighter, almost science fiction. The list is not in any particular order.
Here goes:
John Sandford writes about Minnesota cops in his “Prey” series. “Righteous Prey” and “Judgment Prey” featured his go-to characters, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers. I also enjoyed the spin-off series about Davenport’s daughter, Lettie. I’m counting those books as one book…because it’s my list.I also love William Kent Krueger’s Minnesota-centric “Cork O’Connor” series. I don’t always read the books in order. This year, I particularly liked “Vermillion Drift.”“Lady Tan’s Circle of Friends” by Lisa See was not a book I’d usually choose. Still, I really enjoyed this historical novel based on the life of an actual female doctor in 15th-century China.Another historical fiction book, “Eye of the Needle” by Ken Follett, is an exciting World War II story set in Scotland. It had me guessing till the end.“The Light We Carry” by Michelle Obama was the right book at the right time for me. Michelle Obama crafts a series of anecdotes into memorable life lessons.Heather Cox Richardson’s latest book, “Democracy Awakening,” uses her “Letters From an American” series to explain the attacks on our democracy – and how we can work together to ensure this American experiment endures.Another not-so-serious book about politics, “Profiles in Ignorance” by Andy Borowitz, made me laugh and made me cry.A book that definitely made me cry was “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. This book, published in 1970, is a horrific recounting of the history of American expansionism and how it displaced thousands of Native Americans.“The People We Meet on Vacation” by Emily Henry is a rom-com with heart. I really got attached to the characters and hoped there would be a happily ever after.The last two books tackle female empowerment – with a twist. “When Women Were Dragons” by Kelly Barnhill imagines what would happen when women are continually oppressed. It’s delightful.Finally, “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus is set in the 1950s and is about a woman scientist – who cannot be a scientist because…she’s a woman. But it’s funny. And the 1950s characterizations are spot on. A must-read.
I highly recommend any of these books. And if you have suggestions for my TBR 2024 list – send ’em over!
Happy New Year and Happy Reading!
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December 11, 2023
Acronyms for authors
Every industry has jargon and acronyms – code words that “insiders” automatically understand. The writing and publishing industry is no different. I must confess that even after publishing two books, I still find myself Googling some of these codewords.
For instance?
For instance, HEA. That’s author-talk for Happily Ever After. Here’s how to use HEA in a sentence: Does your novel have an HEA?
How about ARC? I learned that ARC stands for “Advance Reader Copy.” An ARC is a pre-published book that is sent to an elite group of readers. The job of ARC recipients is to read the book and provide honest feedback on the storyline, the characters, even the title and (sometimes) the cover. In my advertising days, we would call this a Focus Group.
WIP? That’s easy: Work in Progress. It’s what authors say to one another: Do you have a WIP? (Of course, every author has at least one WIP…)
Then, there’s KDP and KENP. Those are very important acronyms. KDP is shorthand for Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon’s publishing division. And, if a book is listed on Amazon Books, KENP or Kindle Edition Normalized Pages measures and reimburses authors for pages read by Kindle subscribers.
Here are a couple more acronyms:
MG – that stands for Middle Grade Fiction. No, that’s not a rating system. It’s the age of readers. Middle Grade readers are usually 8 to 12 years old. These books are often the first non-picture books for early readers.
YA – is short for Young Adult. YA books can be almost anything. They target readers aged 12+, including adults. These are longer books, usually fiction, that can include more adult themes – within limits, of course.
And that’s a little “inside baseball” of publishing.
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November 25, 2023
How many books do you have?
A true bibliophile would answer “Not enough.” But how many books does the average person own? YouGov.com, an organization specializing in market research and public polling*, set out to answer that question and other book-related questions.
Counting the 9% who say they own no physical books, at least 69% of Americans own no more than 100 books (6% are unsure how many they own). Another 25% own at least 100 books, including 4% who own between 500 and 1,000 books and 3% who own more than 1,000 volumes. Not surprisingly, the survey found that people with large libraries tend to be older (more time to accumulate books), wealthier (more money to buy books), and have more formal education (which often involves extensive reading).
The survey found that of those Americans who own 100 or more books, 61% have a postgraduate degree, 43% have a college degree, 31% have some college, and 18% have a high school diploma.
Another surprise, one factor that doesn’t have a stronger relationship with bookownership was having children at home. Parents of young children will probably disagree with that stat – the number of books that children accumulate seems endless, especially at bedtime!
The survey also asked how people sort their books. That, too, depends on how many books someone owns. Overall, 29% of bookowners need to organize their books. (I’m in that group.) People who do organize their books choose a variety of methods. The most popular method is sorting by genre or subject: 37% of people with 100 or more books sort by subject, while people with smaller book collections sort by book size or book color, by author, or by title.
Until I came across this survey, I’d never given much thought to how many books I own or how I sort them. Being an author, however, has impacted the number of books I purchase. While the internet is a good research source, there’s nothing like pulling a tome from the shelf that an expert in the field wrote.
* Methodology: This Daily Questions survey was conducted online on October 20 – 23, 2023 among 29,397 U.S. adults. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. census region, and political party.
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November 18, 2023
The SD Humanities Council Speakers Bureau
I’m proud to announce that I will be part of the South Dakota Humanities Council‘s 2024 Speakers Bureau.
The Speakers Bureau is a collection of humanities scholars who present on various topics comprising the humanities – including, but not limited to, history, culture, language, literature, philosophy, arts and sciences, and heritages. Community groups can easily host a humanities scholar through the Speakers Bureau offerings at a local event.
The scholar application process includes submitting proposed presentation topics, a description of how the presentation or presentations fit with the humanities and culture in South Dakota, an updated CV (resume), a photo, and a brief video explaining the presentation(s). And then, you wait to see if your topic or topics may be of interest.
As a published author, I thought my book would open that door, but that’s not what the Speakers Bureau is about. I learned that to use my books in a presentation, I needed to paint a bigger picture.
My presentation is entitled “Women Tamed the Frontier” and focuses on how the Homestead Act of 1862 was truly “landmark legislation.” The Homestead Act was the first legislation that allowed women to own property. In the presentation, I also provide a glimpse at the lives of actual pioneer women through their letters and interviews.
I’m excited to be part of this program. Click here to learn more about the South Dakota Humanities Council and the Speakers Bureau. If you or your organization would like to host a program, learn more here.
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November 14, 2023
First Book Talk for Lone Tree Claim
Once again, my good friend Sue Alverson hosted the first author talk for my new book, Lone Tree Claim. Last fall, she invited friends, family, and neighbors to my first-ever author talk for Proving Her Claim.
Some of the guests had already read both books. Others had read the first book but were interested to learn about Lone Tree Claim. During the talk, I introduced the new characters and briefly summarized the plot. Then, I read an excerpt from the book that encapsulates Katie’s and Jake’s personalities and relationships.
I explained that the idea for the book came from an exhibit at the SD Ag Heritage Museum. The exhibit was entitled “The Unspun Tale: Sheep in South Dakota.” In addition, I talked about the research and background that helped shape the book, such as Sheep: Life on the South Dakota Range by Archer Gilfillan and Sheepwagon: Home on the Range by Nancy Weidel.
Over beverages and snacks, we talked about my visit to Dakota Carding & Wool last summer. And we discussed how carding and spinning wool could fill a long evening on the Dakota prairies.
It was an excellent introduction for Lone Tree Claim and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing what readers had to say about the books.
Thank you again, Sue, for your gracious hospitality!
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