June 26, 2008
Well, wouldn’t you know? Chet and I returned home from Alaska to our jobs and responsibilities. I am a new Project Manager for Good Catch Publishing. The company has produced over 70 books in about four years, many of them filled with very edgy, dramatic stories of people who have been through heartaches, tragedies, difficult circumstances, and have found hope and redemption and transformation in their lives. (Read blurbs on the books here.)
The very day I returned, Michelle, the Editor in Chief assigned me two more books. Would you believe – one of them is about and for the tiny Alaskan village community of Hoonah! It is located near the capitol city, Juneau, has a year round population of less than 900, 65 percent are Tlingit; the rest are other Native and non-Native nationalities, including a sizable number of Scandinavians. (An aside, I have a sizable amount of Scandanavian blood, with “Lindstrom” as my maiden name.) Hoonah can only be reached via boat or plane! During the summer, about 2000 tourists visit each day via cruise ship.
My job is to oversee the conceptualization and production of these books from start to finish
. I work with the client (who contracts the book) and match our unbelievably gifted staff of writers – currently 20, from all over the US from the West Coast to the East Coast in all their varying time zones – with seven storytellers. I make sure every component (such as the graphic rendering of the cover, back copy, intro and conclusion and ISBN numbers) are just right. Our publication cycle for each book is an amazing 8-10 weeks before we ship.
(Click HERE for free book.)
With this new book project, I have spoken with a 52-year-old native, whose living is commercial fishing and his wife; a couple of missionaries who felt their calling was to move to this tiny community and start a drug and rehab program; and several who have been delivered from drug and alcohol addiction and are now joyfully serving others in the community. Another Hoonah resident and commercial fisherman has published a previous book about his life through GCP and will be contributing a dramatic story in this one of how he was taking one of his many plane flights to Juneau and a storm almost took him out!
Having immersed myself in the beautiful sights of the Alaskan forest, riveleted tidewaters and “calving” glaciers, the smells of the fresh air, the conversations with those who live there – both their joys and struggles in a pretty harsh land – I am so excited that I get to be a part of producing this book!
This is a moose Chet and I saw while biking along the coast of Anchorage. He is a young fella – prolly a “teenager” and curiously followed us along the path for a brief part of our ride.
Tell Your Story Too 