Ordering my books is easy and fast
If you live in the Richland Center area, you can call 608-604-0251 to make arrangements for your autographed copy of This Isn't My Bed, Billy Beechum and the Hooticat's Secret, Tales from Mike's World, Sammy the Shivering Snowblower, or A Distant Summer. I'll even deliver it in person if you live in or near town. If you live anywhere else in the 48 contiguous states, I'll make arrangements for a uniformed government agent to place it in your mailbox. Could it be any easier?
This Isn't My Bed!
$16
Includes tax, shipping, and autograph
To order an autographed copy of This Isn't My Bed!, send a check made out to Mike McNair for $16 per book to:
Mike McNair 855 Panorama Court, Apt. 105 Richland Center, WI 53581
Billy Beechum and the Hooticat's Secret
$13
Includes tax, shipping, and autograph
To order an autographed copy of Billy Beechum and the Hooticat's Secret, send a check made out to Mike McNair for $13 per bookto:
Mike McNair 855 Panorama Court, Apt. 105 Richland Center, WI 53581
Tales from Mike's World
$16
Includes tax, shipping, and autograph
To order an autographed copy of Tales from Mike's World, send a check made out to Mike McNair for $16 per book to:
Mike McNair
855 Panorama Court, Apt. 105
Richland Center, WI 53581
Sammy the Shivering Snowblower
$16
Includes tax, shipping, and autograph
Thoughtfully written & beautifully illustrated
Watch a trailer of Sammy the Shivering Snowblower by clicking this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeXx4-23e-Y.
To order an autographed copy of Sammy the Shivering Snowblower, send a check made out to Mike McNair for $16 per book to:
Mike McNair 855 Panorama Court, Apt. 105 Richland Center, WI 53581
A Distant Summer
$16
Includes tax, shipping, and autograph
To order an autographed copy A Distant Summer, send a check made out to Mike McNair for $16 per book to:
Mike McNair 855 Panorama Court, Apt. 105 Richland Center, WI 53581
Some of my book signings
Schmitt Woodland Hills Community Forum October 12, 2010
Muscoda Public Library October 14, 2010
Richland Area Retired Educators Association Book Reading August 19, 2010
Richland Area Retired Educators Association (RAREA) president Juan Hansen and I pose for the camera.
I tell the RAREA members about A Distant Summer.
Highlights of my July 31, 2010 Fort Branch, Indiana book signing
I was born and raised in Fort Branch, a small southern Indiana town. I decided that in addition to doing my July 6. 2010 book reading and signing in Richland Center, Wisconsin where I've lived since 1972 (information on that event follows), I'd also do a book signing in my hometown, five hundred miles away. I wondered if anyone would attend. Except for brief visits, I've been away from the area since 1966.
However, I had several things going for me. I sent a news release to the Fort Branch area paper, The South Gibson Star-Times, which the paper published a couple of weeks before the signing. The Fort Branch High School Class of 1961, of which I am a proud member, is a close group. Classmates put information about the signing on the Fort Branch Facebook page, informed people about it via e-mail and phone, and even made sure the county seat's newspaper in Princeton included an article about the event.
I had three pleasant surprises at the book signing. The first surprise was the marquee that announced my signing in big letters on both sides of the sign.
When the librarian took me to the learning center, she said, "Flowers arrived for you." That was my second surprise. But who in the world would send me flowers?
The flowers were from Myrna, a high school classmate and dear friend from Connecticut. She was one of the few people outside my family who knew I was writing a novel, and she encouraged me along the way.
The flowers were so beautiful, my wife Nancy and I kept them in the air conditioned car and motel rooms and brought them back to Wisconsin with us.
The third surprise was the amazing turnout. My wildest dreams could not have predicted the large crowd that walked through that door to purchase copies of A Distant Summer with my nearly-legible autograph. For the entire two hours I greeted people and wrote my name on the book's first page. Many in attendance were my classmates, but others came, too, including old friends I hadn't seen for years and people I'd never seen before.
And most didn't buy a book and leave. They stayed around and visited.
After the signing, some of the Fort Branch High School Class of 1961 members gathered in the Coca-Cola room at Sandy's Pizza. Finally, we all went our separate ways, but not before agreeing to meet again on June 17, 2011 at our 50th high school reunion.
Highlights from my July 6, 2010 book reading/signing at the University of Wisconsin-Richland
The campus's marquee announced my A Distant Summer reading in huge letters.
I read a selection from the book.
A nice crowd turns out for the reading.
I make a (probably very astute) comment.
I am grateful to Professor Marnie Dresser and the University of Wisconsin-Richland's English department for granting me the opportunity to discuss my book in the beautiful Pippin Conference Center in Melvill hall. Also, a big "Thank You" goes out to University Relations' Dorothy Thompson for providing outstanding publicity.
What is A Distant Summer about?
A Distant Summer is a bittersweet love story that transcends time. There are only eleven words in that sentence, but it contains a lot of complex thoughts. First of all, it's a love story, not a romance. There's a big difference between the two. Although it will make you laugh, I'd recommend havng tissues close by. I'm not going to explain what "transcends time" means. You'll understand when you read the book.
Here's a brief summary: University of Wisconsin's physics professor Mike Long returns to his rural southern Indiana hometown for the first time since his 1961 high school graduation to attend The Commander's funeral. The day he arrives he sees a pigeon that reminds him of Squall Baby, a special pigeon he and his grade school friends took on "secret missions" in a Buster Brown shoebox.
The sighting triggers memories of his last three months of fifth grade in 1954, a time of confusing inconsistencies. It's peacetime, but also the Cold War era with bomb shelters, hydrogen bomb tests, spies, and counterspies. The Golden Age of Television had recently replaced the Golden Age of Radio, and Charlie McCarthy and Senator Joseph McCarthy share both airwaves. Mike's childhood innocence, which revolves around a grandpa's love, is shattered by two abusive adults. But most of all, it's a time when Mike tries find a way to tell a special girl he likes her and has from the moment they met in first grade.
A Distant Summer will appeal to a wide range of readers. Baby boomers will love reliving the fifties, and everyone--including middle-grade readers--will enjoy the boys' suspenseful and dangerous adventures as make-believe games turn deadly.
And you know what? There's not a single swear word in the entire book. That's unusual these days, isn't it?