June 10/11 Ox Cart Angel talks - Moorhead, Barnesville and Breckenridge, Minnesota

On June 10th, I gave a talk at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, Minnesota. It's a very cool museum, and if you're in Moorhead, I highly recommend checking it out. This talk was especially nice, because they had a full-size Red River Cart replica nearby. I found out right after the talk, that one of the men who built it in the 1980s was there in the audience. His name is Eddie Gudmundsun - a World War II vet - and here he is, standing in front of the cart:

The cart is part of an Antoine Gingras exhibit they are having from June through July.

The next day, I had two talks. One at the Barnesville Public Library, and one at the Breckenridge Public Library. In Barnesville, I had a late breakfast at the Eagle Cafe. It was a cool place - it had formerly been a bowling alley, so the cafe was llloooooonnnnnggggggg.... They had a funky display of whisks and egg beaters hanging on chicken wire. It was one of those small town cafes where the food is so darn tasty:

At the Barnesville library, I did my talk in a room in the back, and it happened to have a mural of charcoal on paper that had just been done by an artist named Steve Stark. He does a presentation where he tells stories while drawing scenes from them on a 30-ft roll of paper. Here's a small part of the one in the library:

I had a nice time at the Breckenridge library, too. I saw some spectacular displays of lightening afterward on the way out of town.

Of course on my journeys north on I-94 (and back) I always have to stop at the Clearwater Travel Plaza. I mean, who can resist this stuff?

I recommend the Cappuccino Chip Muffins.

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

May 6th, Jamestown, North Dakota Ox Cart Angel talk

I gave a talk in Jamestown, North Dakota to the James River Genealogy Club at the Post House on May 6th. I always love stopping in Jamestown whenever I head out west. I like to see the giant buffalo statue and walk through the old west town they have set up.

On the way there, I saw this giant statue of a prairie chicken in Rothsay - in fact, it's billed as the World's Largest Booming Prairie Chicken. Take that, world's second largest booming prairie chicken! Don't worry - it wasn't actually impaled by the U.S. flag:

Here's the Post House - so named because it used to house a post office. I gave the talk in the dining room, which still contains the old post office boxes. It was a nice setting:

As always, the people I meet at my book/history talks are wonderful. Chatting with them is a highlight for me. One person I mention in my Ox Cart Angel talks is a guy named Orlin Ostby, who recreated the trek via Red River cart from Pembina to St. Paul in 2008. Orlin had helped Delmar Hagen prepare for his trip in 1958 - Minnesota's centennial - and had promised that he would do the trip in fifty years. Which he did. At my talk in Jamestown, there was a guy in the audience named Tommy Thronsedt who not only knew Orlin, but had also gone along on the trip with him. It was great to get his insight!

Here's Tommy, who was kind enough to pose with a copy of my book:

On the way back home, I stopped in Rothsay again and ate at Ole & Lena's Pizzeria.  Here's what I had. Can't remember the name of it - perhaps I shall name it 'heart attack on a plate' - but it was delicious!

Anyway, it was a great trip!

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Ox Cart Angel: An Interview with Author Joel Arnold

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Ox Cart Angel in Crosslake!

Last week I gave a talk on about the ox cart/Red River trails to the Crosslake (MN) Historical Society. The even was held outside in the middle of the Old Pioneer Village. Beautiful weather, great people, and delicious treats provided by the historical society members. I think I only got one mosquito bite during the whole thing, and that's saying something! Special thanks to Mary Hoag, the CHS president, for letting me come up and talk.

Ox Cart Angel on Amazon

Ox Cart Angel in Cold Spring - on YouTube!

I spoke at the Cold Spring, MN Historical Society on Friday, February 8th. Of course, on the way up, I had to stop at the Clearwater Travel Plaza for some of their amazing caramel apples. Anyway, the talk went well, and it was great to meet some of the folks up there.

PLUS, the talk was videotaped by Duane Kuss and put up on Youtube! So if you'd like to see it, you can view it here. It's about 43 minutes long.

I had a wonderful time.

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Ox Cart Angel in Sauk Centre

In the beginning of January, I had the privilege to give a talk at the Sauk Centre Historical Society's annual meeting. I had a nice time, and I hope the historical society members enjoyed it, too. One neat thing is that Sauk Centre was Sinclair Lewis' hometown - he based his famous novel Main Street on the city. I've read Main Street, Arrowsmith, and my favorite of his - Babbitt - and enjoyed them all. So it was quite fun to hear Pamela Borgmann, who was my contact person with the historical society, tell me that her grandfather had passed by Sinclair Lewis when they were both youths. Sinclair started throwing apples at Pam's grandfather, scaring his horse, after which the grandfather proceeded to beat up Mr. Lewis. When taken to Sinclair's father, who was a doctor, apparently the father told Pam's ancestor that Sinclair had it coming. What a great story!

Anyway, much thanks to the folks there for hosting me!

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Ox Cart Angel in Lake City, MN!

I had a wonderful time in Lake City, Minnesota on December 1^st. Much thanks to the Lake City Friends of the Library and the Lake City Historical Society for hosting me.

The shindig was in Lake City’s City Hall – the old part was built in 1899. I gave my presentation in the ball room, which had beautiful woodwork and historical displays all around.

Here’s the “Mystery Woman” that’s part of my presentation (and also the photograph that led me on a genealogy search that sparked the idea of Ox Cart Angel.)

Check out the nice spread! Cookies, crackers, cheese, fruit, coffee, cider...perfect for the day!

Also thanks to the Mississippi Mercantile for their lovely display!

Here’s me signing (again) – that’s my dad standing in the background. My mom and one of my brothers was there, too, which was fun. It’s the first time they've seen me do my thing.

After the event, Don and Alice Schwartz had us over to their beautiful home for lunch. Don’s classical guitar playing added a nice touch to the day!

Another cool thing – both my brother and I saw a white squirrel scampering around the area. The last time we’d seen one was at our grandparents’ Walt and Laura Arnold, who used to live further down the Mississippi in Wabasha. Perhaps they were there with us, too, watching and enjoying the day.

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

22nd Annual Midwest Book Awards

Ox Cart Angel won a Midwest Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel of 2011 at the 22nd Annual Midwest Book Awards, held in Bloomington, Minnesota. It was exciting to be part of the process and nice to be in such good company.

I attended the award ceremony with my wife, Melissa, and my parents Scott and Colleen Arnold. It started with a reception complete with hors d'oevres and a display of all the finalists.

When it comes to free food, the writing community gets serious!

Just a small part of the display of books.

After the recepton, it was time for the award ceremony. We filed into the auditorium.

Karen Walhof, the Midwest Book Awards Chair, did the presenting:

When a category was announced, they'd show the finalists up on the screen:

Then they would announce the winner. Dorothy Mostad,the president of the Midwest Independent Publishers Association, handed out the certificates and medals. Here I am receiving the award:

Wait - do I look over this way? Or that way?

Mary Ann Grossman, longtime book reviewer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press (she started her career there in 1961!) received the Bell Award, which "honors a person in the publishing community who epitomizes the core values of professional collegiality and generosity with support, knowledge, and wisdom."

It was a wonderful event, and I'm glad I could share it with Melissa, my folks, and you, my readers!

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!

Ox Cart Angel wins Midwest Book Award!

I'm pleased to announce that Ox Cart Angel has won the Midwest Book Award for best YA novel in 2011!

I'll write an entry about the event that took place last night, May 9th, and include more pictures. It was so nice to be included among so many fine writers, publishers and illustrators!

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon

Midwest Book Awards finalist!

Found out this week that Ox Cart Angel is a finalist in two categories (Young Adult fiction and Historical fiction) for the Midwest Book Awards. They're having the awards ceremony on May 9th in Bloomington, MN. I'll let you know what happens!

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Ox Cart Angel on Amazon!