Candace Simar's Blog, page 13

      This chapel in Cold Spring, Minnesota, stands testimony to a miracle that happened in 1877.  Crop failures due to Rocky Mountain Locust infestations  occurred in 1873, 1874, 1875, and 1876. Each year the  hoppers ate everything in sight, laid their eggs, and flew away to torment another place.  When the eggs hatched, the hatchlings […]

   What a great time at the Minot Hostfest!  Scandinavian enthusiasts from all over the world gathered to celebrate our shared heritage. The bunads of Norway are specific to geographic locations, almost like a state flag  in America.  It was fun to see the different dresses from different places. And of course it is always […]

       I just received the image of the new cover for POMME DE TERRE as it comes out in large print/hard cover from Five Star Cengage. What do you think?  I love the way it looks with the updated cover of ABERCROMBIE TRAIL.  I can’t wait until I have all four new covers displayed on […]

The older I get, the more I appreciate my Scandinavian heritage.  I’ve been visiting Sons of Norway groups, Scandinavian lags and even a Danish Sisterhood Meeting.  Each time I am reminded of the common bonds we share as Scandinavians. Yesterday I spoke at the Granite Falls Sons of Norway club.  How fun to share my […]

     Great news!  Five Star Cengage Publishing purchased the large print/hard cover rights for ABERCROMBIE TRAIL.  It will be released in September and is available for pre-sales now.  Many people are waiting for a large print version–please help me spread the news!  Thanks.

   You can imagine my surprise when I was introduced to another Otter Tail County native who writes western fiction.  I met Wrangler Award Winner  D.B. Jackson at the Western Writers of America Convention last week.  Turns out he is well acquainted with the area where my novels are set.  After all, we are both... [Continue Reading]

      What fun to attend the 2013 Western Writers of America convention with my publicist, Krista Soukup.  We’ve met great writers and discussed books, writing and marketing to our hearts’ content. Yesterday 70 authors participated in a mass book signing event at a Barnes & Noble in Henderson, NV.  What fun to see... [Continue Reading]

Candace Simar Reads Greatest Generation   Our veterans deserve the best.  During my nursing career I cared for veterans from all of America’s  20th century wars.  I even knew one patient who  served in the Spanish American War as a young teen who lied about his age.   I was pleased when KAXE Radio out of... [Continue Reading]

  Recently I visited Annunciation Monastery in Bismarck, North Dakota  where  I spent an entire week in personal writing retreat.  Any writer will tell you how hard it is to find blocks of uninterrupted writing time.  I am nearing completion of a book of linked short stories and desperately needed time and space to work... [Continue Reading]

Gary Midge, a writer friend, encouraged me to join Western Writers of America a few years back.  My historical novels set in early Minnesota are not typical westerns but WWA includes frontier with the western genre.  Western Writers of America has been a good fit for me. I attended the 2011 WWA convention in Bismarck... [Continue Reading]