Inkwater Press

Martha M. Martin’s debut YA novel, The Haunting of Annie MacKay, earned a top review at FlamingNet.com, a website featuring book reviews by kids and teens.

The student reviewer gave The Haunting of Annie MacKay a score of 9 out of 10, and wrote, “I enjoyed this book very much. It’s very easy to read and it’s a page turner. I couldn’t put it down. I like mystery books and this one was great. They book demonstrates friendship, love and determination. I love the relationship Annie had with her parents. They told each other the truth no matter how ridiculous it may seem.”

Ms. Martin has actively sought opportunities to share her work with local teen readers.  She recently spent a day at Langley Middle School, which earned her coverage in The South Whidbey Record.

Read the full Flamingnet review here. Or click here for the  South Whidbey Record article on Ms. Martin’s book and events.  A press release is available here.  To order The Haunting of Annie MacKay, visit our online bookstore at InkwaterBooks.com.

Africa Trek I & II

Alex Poussin, Africa Trek co-author and filmmaker, went on the road with a four-city book tour November 5 - 14, generating excitement from the media and his fans and readers every step of the way.  As a result, sales are soaring for Africa Trek I and II.

Alex visited Portland (Oregon), Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and San Francisco.  Click below to view the events and media coverage that made this tour a success.

KARE 11 interview

Oregonian two-page article

Deseret News half-page article

San Francisco Get Lost Travel Books reading

Salt Lake City Sam Weller’s Books reading

International School of Minnesota events

The Haunting of Annie MacKay by Martha Martin

Martha M. Martin’s YA novel The Haunting of Annie MacKay was recently featured in the South Whidbey Island Record. In her article, “New children’s books by Whidbey Island authors,” writer Patricia Duff writes, “Martha M. Martin integrates the very real themes of homelessness and bullying into her first novel for middle school readers.”  She continues,

“In this old-fashioned ghost story, main character Annie MacKay is dealing with various harrowing relationships and situations in her San Francisco middle school, while living out of an old van with her well-meaning, but unlucky and homeless parents.

When Annie learns that she has inherited a Victorian mansion on Fog Island off the coast of Washington state, the family moves there, accepting the terms that the house is haunted and that they must live there for at least one month in order to own it.

With the help of a new friend, the resilient Annie combats the predatory influence of a look-alike ghost whose unmet needs include finding a doll lost in a shipwreck two generations earlier.”

In addition to this excellent synopsis of The Haunting of Annie MacKay, Ms. Duff mentions that Martha will speak to classes at Langley Middle School on this Friday, November 14.

Of The Haunting of Annie MacKay, Sandy Gilbert, a teacher of thirty-one years, raves, “This brilliantly written first novel deals with friendships, family, and a sense of community in a fashion that will keep you turning pages.”

You can order The Haunting of Annie MacKay at our online bookstore, InkwaterBooks.com.  Read the Entire South Whidbey Record article here.

Globejotting by Dave Fox

Are you a budding travel writer?  Do you dream of seeing your name in National Geographic bi-lines?  Or would you just like to learn how to write travel journals that beautifully reflect your most extraordinary travel experiences?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider taking Dave Fox’s class on how to write amazing travel journals.

Long a Rick Steves travel guide, Dave has written two books on travel:  Getting Lost:  Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad, and Globejotting:  How to Write Extrordinary Travel Journals.  His next travel journaling class will be held in Lynnwood, WA, tomorrow night.  Here’s the 411:

Date and Time: Thursday, November 13, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Location: Lynnwood Library, 19200 44th Avenue West, Lynnwood, WA 98036. For more information, call 425-778-2148, or visit the Lynnwood Library website

Class Title: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Journals
(And Still Have Time to Enjoy Your Trip!)
(Formerly “Writing the Inner Journey”)
Recommended in the Wall Street Journal

Class Description: Every journey has two parallel experiences — the external, in which we observe the world around us, and the internal, in which we visit new places within ourselves. “Writing the Inner Journey” is a class in self-discovery through travel journaling. With foreign surroundings as a backdrop, you’ll learn to tap your deeper emotions and create vivid travelogues for yourself and others. Simple but powerful exercises will help you discover your unique voice as a travel writer. You’ll explore different journaling techniques to find the style that’s right for you, and learn ways to overcome one of the biggest challenges in travel journaling simply finding time to write when there is so much else to do! Whether you’re writing for yourself or publication, whether your explorations take you around the block or around the world, this class will help you tune in to your inner journey. You’ll travel and write with exciting new insight. For related articles and exercises, please see the online version.

Take this class and you could soon be winning awards for your travel writing, like Margaret Hopkins, who recently won the Getting Lost travel writing contest!

Alex with the Inkwater staff

Alex Poussin made an exciting, inspiring stop at Inkwater Press headquarters in Portland on November 7.  For many of us, it was the first chance we had to meet a person we had come to know intimately by way of email over the months and months of work it took to get both Africa Trek volumes to print.

Over the past six months, Linda Franklin, Inkwater Press’s Editor-in-Chief, exchanged emails with Alex many times a day.  She sat at her desk in Portland each day of the week; Alex sat in front of his computer outside Paris for most of the day and night.

For Linda, the task was different than most since she needed to refine the translation of Alex’s books — from French to English — plus work with Alex to ensure that American idiom duplicated his original intent.  Linda called this process intense but said she was impressed by how “off-handedly erudite Alex was throughout the process.”

For Linda and for the rest of the Inkwater Press, meeting Alex in person was exciting, gratifying and a tangible reminder of the collaboration and pride Inkwater Press takes in its work with its authors and customers alike.

Alexandre Poussin, co-author of Africa Trek

Alexandre Poussin, co-author of Africa Trek, is visiting Inkwater Press’ hometown of Portland, Oregon from November 5-10.  Alex will appear in author events at the French American International School, Portland State University, and the Wordstock Festival.

After spending the school day with students at the French American International School, Alex will speak to parents, educators, and the public at 6:30 pm on Thursday November 6 in the FAIS Commons. The evening event is open to the public and will include a video overview of Alex’s three-year walking journey along the length of Africa, which he and his wife documented in journals, videos, and photographs.

At 2:30 pm on Friday, November 7, Alex will speak at Portland State University in an event sponsored by the Graduate Literary Organization and the Portland Pre-Health Society.  Also free and open to the public, this event will include a video screening, reading, Q&A with the author, and book signing.  Join us in room 110 of the Native American Center for complimentary light refreshments and writing advice from a best-selling European author.

All of us here at Inkwater Press are excited about this weekend’s Wordstock Festival, where Alex will speak twice on Saturday, November 8.  At 1:00 pm, on the Columbia Sportswear Stage (exhibit hall d) Alex will participate in a panel discussion on The Importance of Place.  Later that evening, at 5:00 pm, Alex will speak in room d-136.  Come visit Alex and meet other Inkwater staffers at our booth in the book fair.

Inkwater Press is proud to have published the first English-language version of Africa Trek, which sold over 280,000 copies in its original French version.  To learn more, visit AfricaTrekSeries.com.

Margaret Hopkins, winner of the Getting Lost Travel Writing Contest

Inkwater Press and Dave Fox are proud to announce that Margaret Hopkins of Brookfield, Illinois is the winner of the Getting Lost Travel Contest.

The Getting Lost Travel Contest invited writers to submit their worst travel stories of 900 words or less.  Inkwater Press received submissions on such far-flung destinations as Paris, Prague, and Kazakhstan.   As is the case for many of the most memorable travel stories, Ms. Hopkin’s winning entry focuses on the journey, rather than the destination, and describes her exceptionally unfortunate airline experience.

Author Dave Fox certainly has experience turning his travel horror stories into comedy gold.  His first book, Getting Lost: Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad is a collection of self-deprecatingly funny stories about moments of international near-disaster. Getting Lost begins when, at age eight, Dave moves to England and nearly starts a riot in Northern Africa. As a nerdy teenager, he inadvertently smuggles illegal radio equipment into Finland on his way to spending a year in Norway. In his college days, he discovers it is not wise to seek inner peace inside an Icelandic volcano, narrowly misses being stripped, gassed, and robbed (at least in his own head) on an overnight train through Italy, and finds himself surrounded by machine gun-toting cops in Greece.

Globejotting by Dave Fox

His second book, Globejotting: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Journals (and still have time to enjoy your trip!), is an informative and irreverently funny tool for learning to:

• Bring destinations to life with bold details.
• Splash those details quickly onto your pages so journaling doesn’t gobble up your precious vacation time.
• Elude your “Inner Censor” and write with confidence.
• Weave together your “outer” and “inner” journeys, using unfamiliar places as a backdrop for self-discovery.

Dave shares his favorite journaling techniques, shows how to find time to write in the middle of an exciting trip, and infuses it all with a generous dose of his off-the-wall humor.

Learn more at Dave Fox’s website, where you can also read Ms. Hopkin’s entry in its entirety.

To order Dave’s books, visit our online bookstore at InkwaterBooks.com.

Have I Gone by Richard Boden

On November 13, Inkwater Press’ own Richard Boden will be celebrating the publication of his first book of poetry at Heineman Meyers contemporary art gallery in Bethesda, Maryland.

A book launch for Mr. Boden’s book, Have I Gone:  Observations in Poetic Verse will be held from 6-9 pm, and will include poetry readings, catering from On The Fly Catering, spirits, and great music.

Heineman Meyers is located at 4728 Hampden Lane, Bethesda, MD.  Their website is www.heinemanmyers.com.

Copies of Mr. Boden’s book, Have I Gone:  Observations in Poetic Verse will be available at the event for author signings.  To order Have I Gone before the book launch, visit our online bookstore, InkwaterBooks.com.  To attend the book launch, please RSVP by November 9th by emailing info@thebodengroup.com, or calling 866-415-2230.

Domain of Illusion, by Ellen Sunden

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Colleen Welch
(503) 968-6777
colleen@inkwaterpress.com

Domain of Illusion – Health Educator Publishes First Novel

PORTLAND, OR – OCTOBER 13, 2008: E.A. Sunden’s debut novel Domain of Illusion reveals a fantasy world in upheaval. Once a bright and beautiful oasis, the Valley of Tsura faces bleak times. The assassination of the High Emperor followed cruelly on the heels of Empress Zaiya’s unexpected death after the birth of her first child, Naora. Now, strange smoke phantoms are openly attacking the small agrarian village. Three mysterious, unknown illnesses are striking the people of the valley. With the strange disappearance of the High Emperor’s eldest son, it is up to his younger twin brothers Arel and Kozai to unravel the mysterious plot against the valley before the malevolence of a hidden power destroys everything.

Local author E.A. Sunden initially wrote Domain of Illusion in 2001 as a Health & Kinesiology student at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. In carefully constructing this thrilling tale, Ms. Sunden included an underlying health message for all inclined readers to decipher. A reader’s guide has been prepared for such purposes and is available upon request.

After graduating in 2005, Ms. Sunden saw an incredible opportunity to bring her chosen health issue to life in a fresh new way: through fiction. She worked to finish the unique project that she had begun back in 2001, and is currently working on a sequel to Domain of Illusion.

Published by Inkwater Press, Domain of Illusion is available online at InkwaterPress.com, Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com.

The author is available for events and interviews by telephone or in person, depending upon the location. For more information, contact Colleen Welch at Colleen@inkwaterpress.com

About the Publisher

Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Inkwater Press has published more than 400 titles, including fiction and nonfiction, poetry and children’s books. Inkwater Press is a division of First Books, which was founded in 1988. The company is committed to a sustainable future, printing on recycled paper and using no animal-based products.