Local Authors Shine at the 2021 DSM Book Festival - Part 2

The DSM Book Festival will showcase more than 60 authors with Iowa ties, giving local voices an opportunity for exposure in their own community. In part two of our blog series on local authors, you will find author information for the following genres: History, Mystery, Nonfiction and Poetry.

Local Authors

History

Rachelle Chase

rachellechase.com
lostbuxton.com
Some have called Buxton a Black Utopia. In the town of 5,000 residents, established in 1900, African Americans and Caucasians lived, worked and attended school together. It was a thriving, one-of-a-kind coal mining town created by the Consolidation Coal Company. This inclusive approach provided opportunity for its residents. Dr. E.A. Carter was the first African American to get a medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1907. He returned to Buxton and was hired by the coal company, where he treated both black and white patients. Attorney George Woodson ran for file clerk in the Iowa Senate for the Republican Party in 1898, losing to a white man by one vote. Author Rachelle Chase details the amazing events that created this unique community and what made it disappear in “Creating the Black Utopia of Buxton, Iowa.” Chase is also the author of “Lost Buxton.”

Myron Williams

mlwilliamsbooks.com
Inspired by a Native American creation story, “A Most Promising Planet” peeks back in time to offer another view of Earth’s beginning and illuminates some of mankind’s most significant moments in history. The story follows mysterious entities as they nudge Earth to life, then slowly nurse it along until a sentient race evolves. These free-thinking humans prove to be challenging as the beings of energy endeavor to bring enlightenment to a most troublesome species. Williams is also the author of “Seers of Verde: The Legend Fulfilled (Book One)” and “Return of the Earthers: Seers of Verde (Book Two).”

Mystery

Joseph LeValley

josephlevalley.com/index.html
Joseph LeValley’s “The Third Side of Murder” is a story about an unexpected death that takes Iowa newspaper reporter Tony Harrington and his mother, Carlotta, to the Amalfi Coast of Italy for the funeral. While there, Tony learns beautiful young Noemi’s fall from the seawall may not have been an accident. Other works from LeValley include “Cry from an Unknown Grave” and “Burying the Lede.”

Jeanne Martz

Jeanne Martz is the author of “For the Love of Paulo,” the story of rakishly handsome Paulo Leonetti, his wife, Cheri, and Cheri’s unapproving wealthy father, Douglas Northway. After one of Leonetti’s clients is found dead, Federal Agent Hugh Chancy must investigate. Martz has also written “Then Came the Dawn,” “The Women of Swenson Farm” and “The Creekers.”

Jan Walters

tempestcourtbook.com
In Jan Walters’ “Tempest Court — A Ghost and A Cop Series,” Des Moines Detective Brett O'Shea has hunted and killed supernatural monsters that are the basis of nightmares. He thinks he has seen it all. Until now. Walters is also the author of “York Street — A Ghost and A Cop Series (Book One),” “Red Sunset Drive — A Ghost and A Cop Series (Book 2)” and “Believe — Time Travel Romance.”

Nonfiction

Adam Carroll

adamspeaks.com
The philosophy “Build a Bigger Life Manifesto” teaches all started with a simple statement to a friend: Maybe you should build a bigger life, not a bigger lifestyle. Today, tens of thousands of people have been exposed to the message by listening to the Build a Bigger Life Podcast or attending a Build a Bigger Life Retreat. This book is a framework for building a bigger life and features step-by-step instructions on how to explore what you most want, how to leverage your existing talents and resources, and how to reveal the shortest path to the life you most desire. Join the tribe known as "Life Architects" that have decided life is about living out your core values, pursuing a higher vision, creating successful and positive relationships and making money irrelevant!

Ryan Glick

internshipmastery.com
“Internship Mastery: The Technology Student's Guide to Crushing Your Internship and Launching Your Career” is a step-by-step guide designed to help you score the ideal pre-job experience and make the perfect impression with your prospective employer. “Internship Mastery” will teach you the most important things you need to know from internship research all the way through internship completion.

Jackie Haley

Brenda's Wish
“BRENDA'S WISH: A True Story of Faith, Family and the Testament of Love” is a unique story of Brenda Schmitz, a cancer-stricken wife and mother who, in the few precious months left, wrote a letter to a local radio station and asked a friend to deliver it when the time was right: When her husband David found a new wife to help raise their four boys. Two years later after Brenda passes away, David hears the words of his late wife for the first time and receives an incredible wish from the radio station. Haley is also the author of “Crystal Beach” and Truce Island.”

Lindsay Hindman

SiouxlandFamilies.com
In “100 Things to Do in Sioux City and Siouxland Before You Die,” take a guided tour of all that this wonderful corner of the world has to offer, including America’s longer river, the mighty Missouri, the glacier-made Loess Hills, art by modern master Grant Wood and more. Whether you’re a life-long resident or a first-time visitor, “100 Things to Do in Sioux City and Siouxland” is your insider guide to a great timein Siouxland!

Dylan Huey

hueyphotography.com
“Above and Beyond Cancer,” is about the philosophical journeys of ordinary people — caregivers, patients, survivors and loved ones — whose lives have been touched by cancer. Breathtaking professional photography accompanies the narratives, which captures a variety of human emotions and conditions of people across the globe as well as stunning vistas from the jagged peaks of Everest Base Camp to the quiet cornfields of Iowa. Featuring a foreword by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa and insights by Dr. Richard Deming, founder of Above + Beyond Cancer, this book provides much needed wisdom and inspiration for our times.

Brandon Hurley

littlebrown.com/titles/nick-nurse/rapture/9780316540179
Brandon Hurly is the author of “Rapture: Fifteen Teams, Four Countries, One NBA Championship, and How to Find a Way to Win -- Damn Near Anywhere (Nick Nurse autobiography).” The book offers unprecedented access inside the Raptors' locker room, so readers get an intimate study of not only the team culture he has built, but also of a rookie coach's unique dynamic with the star players, including Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Low¬ry and Pascal Siakam.

Richard L. Deming, M.D.

aboveandbeyondcancer.org
“Above and Beyond Cancer,” is about the philosophical journeys of ordinary people — caregivers, patients, survivors and loved ones — whose lives have been touched by cancer. Breathtaking professional photography accompanies the narratives, which captures a variety of human emotions and conditions of people across the globe as well as stunning vistas from the jagged peaks of Everest Base Camp to the quiet cornfields of Iowa. Featuring a foreword by Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa and insights by Dr. Richard Deming, founder of Above + Beyond Cancer, this book provides much needed wisdom and inspiration for our times.

Verne Lyon

In “Eyes on Havana,” Verne Lyon tells the story of an American spy betrayed by the CIA. The book describes how Verne Lyon was recruited by the CIA while he was a senior at Iowa State University in 1965. Lyon is also the author of an essay in the book “The CIA on Campus.”

Ben McDougal

BenMcDougal.com/you-dont-need-this-book
“You Don’t Need This Book: Entrepreneurship In The Connected Era” is a friendly jolt, a synthesized narrative brewed as innovative energy to help you start that new business, improve an existing company, fire up a side hustle or evolve your own entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Drew McClellan

agencymanagementinstitute.com
If your agency’s future is tied to making stuff, then you’re destined to be on a perpetual financial roller coaster. Someone will always make stuff less expensively than you can. We’re entering the era of the authority. While you may already be sick of the phrase thought leader, the truth is there aren’t that many of them in our industry. Thought leaders don’t write content that any other agency could claim. Thought leaders don’t write about anything and everything and thought leaders don’t compete on price. And their time is now. Experts are afforded the highest level of confidence and trust because they have a depth of knowledge that can’t be denied or easily replicated. Why wouldn’t we capitalize on that, as opposed to writing generic marketing tip posts that look like every other agency’s content? Agencies are at the cusp of a huge shift, and if you take full advantage now, you’re going to be tough to catch. You can own an authority position that will future-proof your agency. Find out more in “Sell with Authority.”

Cheryl Mullenbach

CherylMullenbachInk.com
Cheryl Mullenbach is author of “Stagecoach Women: Brave and Daring Women of the Wild West,” a story of the contributions of women in history who contributed to stagecoach enterprises, including that of women who drove stagecoaches, negotiated contracts, defended cargo from bandits and more. Mullenbach is also the author of “Double Victory” and “Industrial Revolution for Kids.”

Aaron Putze

putzeink.com
YOU Are Destined for Greatness is a collection of first-hand stories and experiences that inspire and empower readers to be their best self. Shared by 27 incredible personalities all with Iowa roots, the words of wisdom are organized into 16 chapters. Each chapter is a theme and ends with a series of questions the reader can reflect on to develop and enhance their leadership skills in service to others. The practical and relatable stories of empowerment have motivated people of all ages and professions to recommit to personal and professional growth. Those featured in the book include Bruce Harreld, Chuck Long, Wendy Wintersteen, Gene Meyer, Bob Myers, Suku Radia, Randy Edeker, Scott Raecker, Terry Branstad, Miriam Erickson Brown, Angela Walker Franklin, Hayden Fry and Kirk Tyler, to name just a few. Putze is also the author of “Destined for Greatness — The Story of Chuck Long & Resurgence of Iowa Hawkeyes' Football.”

Poetry

Mike Bayles

“With Suitcase and Bag,” Mike Bayles' third collection of poetry, takes the reader on a poetic journey to places where he worked as a flagger for road crews, and to places he has called home. It is a must-read for people with a sense of wanderlust.

Kelsey Bigelow

kelkaybpoetry.com
In her debut collection, “Sprig of Lilac,” Kelsey Bigelow combines grief and poetry to open a raw conversation about becoming a motherless daughter at a young age. Through multiple voices, she broadens the perspective to other forms of the grieving process.

Find out more information about festival authors at the DSM Book Festival here.

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