The Hemlock Run Tattler

Late Fall 2023 Edition

I hope you all enjoyed a blessed Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends! We had a great time in the Sawtooth mountains, even had a blanket of snow to get us in the holiday spirit!

In the previous edition of this newsletter, I mentioned that I was working on a book that had been on the "back burner" for a few years! I'm happy to say that, with a bit of encouragement from me (and the threat of candy rationing from their mother), the young authors finally finished the book.

It was a labor of love for the boys, their mother, and me to put it all together,

but I'm pleased with the finished product ...

and relieved to have it off my desk!

If you have middle-grade kids in your family, I think they'll enjoy this story, chock full of fun, adventure, middle-grade humor,

and the magic of time travel!

They'll also learn a thing or two about life on the Oregon Trail

and the legend of Bigfoot.

It's the perfect Christmas stocking-stuffer for the young readers in your circle of family and friends! And maybe even for the adults. Ha! Ha!

Read on for an exciting preview ...

SOME KIDS WILL DO ANYTHING TO AVOID ANOTHER BORING VACATION WITH THEIR PARENTS !!!

Ride along with the McGillicuddy boys---thirteen-year-old Will and his ten-year-old brother Mick---as they embark on their family's annual "Road Trip of Doom", a four-hundred-mile drive to visit their grandparents in Idaho. But this time the boys get more than they bargained for, including a rumble with an outlaw motorcycle gang, a brush with a knobby-kneed hitchhiker bound for Bermuda, and an undercover 0peration at Bigfoot Casino.

When a hair-raising storm forces the McGillicuddy family to take refuge in a creepy old cabin, weird things start to happen. Weirdest of all, Will and Mick run into Jesse and Owen Mayfield, Oregon Trail pioneers from 1847, who accidentally time-traveled to the future during the storm!

Now the McGillicuddy boys face their biggest challenge ever: getting Jesse and Owen Mayfield back to the year 1847 before it's too late!

Click Here to Order on Amazon

Author's Update

Revealing Ophelia

Book Two of the Hemlock Run Series

Now that the Oregon Trail Time Trap is published, I'm ready to re-focus on Ophelia and her adventures!

As I reached the halfway point of the book, I faced a dilemma. An interesting new character, Penelope Ainsworth, was heading down a strange path, and I wasn't quite comfortable with the direction she was taking the story.

Fortunately, we authors can make excellent use of the delete key when it suits us. I'm happy to say, Penelope is back on track --- for the moment, at least! But she has a knack for stirring the pot, so Ophelia will need to keep on her toes!

Fingers crossed, I'll have the manuscript completed in early 2024!!

THE LOCALS CORNER

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HEMLOCK RUN SLOGAN CONTEST PART TWO!!

By Lorae Ditzler, Executive Editor

HAPPY FALL EVERYBODY!!

Thank you to the outstanding community members who VOLUNTEERED to be on the Hemlock Run Slogan Committee!!

(Editor's note: It's a wonder their arms aren't in slings, from all the twisting I had to do!! They are worried about someone taking revenge if their slogan doesn't get picked, but I am SURE that won't happen. Especially since our brand new first-ever SHERIFF is supposed to arrive any day now. Unless he chickens out!! Ha.)

Committee Members:

Cecil, Jetta and Coralee, and Darlene

We received a few very interesting suggestions as follows:

Welcome to Hemlock Run

Home of the Warning Shot

We didn't think it sounded friendly enough, so the person, who shall remain anonymous, was given the opportunity to try again:

Welcome to Hemlock Run

Home of the Friendly Warning Shot

Well, it's better, I guess. The other suggestions received were:

Welcome to Hemlock Run

Nicer Than It Looks

Welcome to Hemlock Run

Peg Leg Lucy's Final Stomping Grounds

Welcome to Hemlock Run

We Don't Call 911 (with an outline of a shotgun)

So, DEAR READER, we REALLY hope you will consider dropping off your own ideas at the General Store lockbox. Or since I am learning how to use this computer, just click the red button and LIKE MAGIC your idea will fly into my inbox. I don't know how it works but probably most of you don't know either. Anyway, your slogan might be the LUCKY WINNER!!! The committee doesn't know what the priZe will be yet, but it will be a goood one!!!

Keep your head in the clouds, LORAE

Click Here to Submit a Slogan Suggestion

kathyschuknecht.com

Fall 2023