Welcome to your monthly update from Watermark Book Company!

Below, you'll find what's new in the store, upcoming events,

book reviews, and more!

Hello to all of my happy readers!!!

I can NOT believe that it is already April—ahhhh!!!!! My John, who will be turning 18 this month, came home for a visit last week for his Spring Break. I took most of the week off and spent it with him. We had fun, we ate a LOT of food, and we went to the movies a fair bit as well. We also built Lego sets and finished an art project that we started together at Christmas break.

We also celebrated our Jaycee and her day of birth—such a fun evening out. I am so glad she is my friend and chosen family.

To the right and below:

We celebrated Jaycee's b-day dinner at Adrift with our significant others. Lovely time, and I had them make this cake for her—AWESOME!

My doctor told me that, for my mental health, I should try to get out and hike more. It is something that I truly love to do, and I really have let it fall away. One of the things holding me back for soooo long is a lack of a hiking partner. I just don't feel confident enough or safe enough to hike alone. I finally found a hiking buddy and that feels really good. I would love to hike with Amberly, but our schedules do not allow for it. So my new friend is great—we work at being flexible, and for the last 3 weeks we have hiked about 10 miles each week. I feel a lot better. I am so grateful. I am typing this on Easter Morning, and I have already hiked a very tough hike and I loved it. I just need to figure out how to do ALL the things that I love. Balance. Ha!

Above: On this day we got a little turned around on our hike—hahahaha!

It was really raining and I was having a BLAST!

My hubby and I are celebrating 9 years married this week. We are going to pop over to San Juan for a couple of days this week. We will hike, soak in a hot tub, drink wine and beer. Play cribbage and read. Janet will be with us; it is her Spring Break, Ben has off this week, and I just have a couple of days that I can play with. I am looking forward to a little downtime.

This month we celebrate 6 years of owning the shop—I can NOT believe it. It really does feel like it has just flown by. WOW! I really want to thank the community for just being such strong and loving supporters of us as we found our way and even tried some new things. We cannot do any of this without you, and even if we could, why would we want to?

I did not read as much as my heart would have liked to. I will admit, this new hiking, weightlifting, and yoga schedule has got me by the horns. I am plain tuckered out, but I am starting to adjust nicely. I did start reading Kate's War, by Linda Stewart Henley. It has a strong start so far. I am interested. I have read other books from this time period. I am taking it to San Juan with me. I will report more later. I will maybe read Things We Left Behind, by Lucy Score...or something else. I think I will see what strikes my fancy. I started listening to Piglet, by Lottie Hazell, and it is good so far—I will report more later. I am not sure how I feel about it yet. It is giving real millennial vibes, and that usually does not sit well with me. I still want to listen to The Manicurist's Daughter, by Susan Lieu. I will let you know what my thoughts are next month.



Happy Reading and Stay Safe!

Brandy~

Author Events, Book Signings, and Shop Updates

We hosted the Mike Allen Trio for Jazz Walk.

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Watermark Writing Company hosted our first Fiction Writing Workshop!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Rachel Linden joined us for our book club conversation on her novel

Recipe for a Charmed Life.

⬇️⬇️⬇️

There's Still Room In Our Next Fiction Writing Workshop!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

We will meet once a week on Wednesdays, 4/17–5/8, from 7:00-8:30pm.

Each week, we will give you a new prompt to help you develop your story.

Space is limited! You must register to attend,

and there is a registration fee of $90.00.

We will send you further information once you've registered or inquired further.

Sign up by responding to this email or calling the bookshop at 360-293-4277.

Mark Your Calendars! Our Anniversary of New Ownership is

🎉 Monday, April 15th–Sunday, April 21st 🎉

It's been six years since Brandy bought Watermark Book Company!

Help us celebrate. We have so much fun in-store...

All Week Long!

Our Semi-Annual Raffle Basket Special!

Baskets are at least a $300 value!

Enter to win the basket of your choice when you spend $100+.

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Wednesday, April 17th

6:00pm at the Anacortes Public Library

Author Event with Margaret Willson

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Thursday, April 18th

Cash or Check Sale!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

For one day only, get 20% off your purchase when you use cash or check at checkout!

💵 Few exclusions apply. 💵

🎈 Independent Bookstore Day Is Saturday, April 27th! 🎈

Are you ready to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day with us? This year, we'll host local author Linda Stewart Henley with her latest novel, Kate's War! She'll be at the shop with us from 12:00pm-3:00pm for a meet-and-greet. Get a book and have it personalized!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

We are running our annual tote bag sale!

Get a free tote bag with your purchase of $75+ while supplies last!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

🎈 Come celebrate your favorite indie bookshop! 🎈

April Is Poetry Month!

Celebrate National Poetry Month by reading or writing poetry!

Updated Bag Fee

Handled bags will be $0.25 going forward. Thank you for your understanding!

Flat paper bags will remain complimentary—all you have to do is ask. 😊

Save the bag and the fee by bringing your reusable tote!

Check out these brand new ones...

⬇️⬇️⬇️

This Just In

🧩 New Puzzles! 🧩

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Cute new birthday candles!

 ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Black and white sketchbook paper for these awesome new metallic color pencils!

 ⬇️⬇️⬇️

This Just In for Kids

New Earth Grown KidDough play kits!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

📙 New in Paperback📙

⬇️⬇️⬇️

📗 New in Hardcover📗

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Upcoming Events

April

Monday, April 15th–Sunday, April 21st

Anniversary of New Ownership!

Saturday, April 20th

Anacortes Earth Day Celebration!

Downtown Anacortes is ready to celebrate Earth Day!

Come downtown and celebrate with all kinds of vendors and activities.

The Procession of the Species will take place at 5:00pm, and the

Luminary Light Parade will take place at 8:00pm.

The shop will be open until 8:00pm.

Streets will be closed from 4:00pm - 9:00pm

Saturday, April 27th

Independent Bookstore Day!

Join us for our annual Independent Bookstore Day celebration!

May

Saturday, May 4th 12:00pm–3:00pm

Local Author Meet and Greet with Kerri Hakoda

We're excited to host local author Kerri Hakoda for a meet and greet! She will be here from 12:00pm - 3:00pm signing copies of her new mystery thriller, Cold to the Touch! Discover an awesome new novel and meet the author!

Wednesday, May 8th

6:00 pm at the Anacortes Public Library

Author Event with Reverend Terry B. Kyllo

We're pairing up with the Anacortes Public Library to present Reverend Terry B. Kyllo and his new book, Go and Do Likewise: Following Jesus Into Our Common Humanity.

We will be selling books at the event—get one and have it personalized by the author!

Sunday, May 12th

Mother's Day–We Are Open!

We are open our regular Sunday hours—11:00am - 4:00pm—on Mother's Day!

Treat the moms in your life to a trip to the bookshop.

Monday, May 27th

Memorial Day–We Are Open!

We will be open our regular weekday hours—9:30am - 5:30pm—on Memorial Day.

Watermark Book Club

This month, Watermark Book Club is reading

The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles.

This is a closed book club. If you'd like to join the waitlist,

please respond to this email and let us know!

In the meantime, feel free to follow along with what we're reading.

Here is what Amberly had to say about it:

The writing in this book is gorgeous. Every sentence is crafted with care. It's one of those books that makes your brain feel good when you read it—does that make sense?

This novel is about four young men in the 1950s

who take off on a cross-country adventure to New York.