Plaidswede is based in Concord, N.H. George Geers is the publisher. Plaidswede publishes books about New Hampshire and New England. Why Plaidswede? Scottish mother, Viking father, Celtic daughters. Smile.
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NEW 2/16/10: GREAT WRITERS WANTED!!!
Great writers wanted for small-press project with a local angle. An anthology titled “Live Free or Undead: Dark Tales from the Granite State” will be published by Plaidswede Publishing of Concord, N.H. with an October 2010 shelf date. Editor Rick Broussard plans this as the first in a series of short story collections under the theme “New Hampshire Pulp Fiction.” Subsequent editions will treat the classic genres of mystery, science fiction, historical romance and adventure. Submissions between 1,000 and 8,000 words will be considered. For longer stories, query first. Writers need not be from New Hampshire, but all stories must use recognizable locales, people and/or themes of the Granite State. Deadline for submissions is March 31.

Contact the editor at nhpulpfiction@gmail.com or visit  www.livefreeorundead.com for details.

 NEW 2/16/10  FROM THE CONCORD MONITOR:  “Rick Broussard, editor of New Hampshire Magazine, is putting out a call for all things spooky.The Concord resident is compiling an anthology of horror stories titled Live Free or Undead: Dark Tales from the Granite State, and he would like submissions before March 31 that fall between 1,000 and 8,000 words. The stories don’t have to be written by New Hampshirites, but they must use recognizable locales, people or themes of the state. Broussard hopes it will be the first in a series of short story collections he calls “New Hampshire Pulp Fiction.”
Printed and distributed by Plaidswede Publishing in town, Live Free or Undead is set to hit store shelves this October, just in time for the spookiest day of the year.
CM:How many stories do you have so far?
RB:I’ve got seven stories already submitted, and I’ve got another half dozen I think are coming in. . . . There’s a lot of interest in this. I suspect we’ll get at least 30 stories when were done, and I’ll have to pick the 20 best.

CM: What’s so scary about the Granite State?
RB: By limiting the focus on New Hampshire, you start thinking about what’s horrifying about New Hampshire, and there’s actually a lot. Any place with high, dangerous mountains and deep, dark woods is by nature a spooky place . . . but there’s also colonial history and a lot of pirate history. A lot of ancient fright.

CM: What sparked your interest in the horror genre?
RB: I’m a wannabe writer. I always wanted to write fiction as a kid. I was a big fan of HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe. Now I have an anthology I’m sure I can get into. I know the editor (laughs).

CM: What makes a good horror story?
RB: It’s about something familiar and something unknown. A good horror story has both of those elements. It’s the creepy house everybody’s seen before, but there’s the light in the attic that nobody knows about.CM: Any ideas for a story around here?
RB: I think the State House is as good a horror story location as any place. . . . One zombie in there and the state (Legislature) is basically gone.”
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100215/NEWS01/2150351

NEW HAMPSHIRE LITHOGRAPH AS FEATURED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE MAGAZINE!!!!
The New Hampshire Lithograph, with scenes and icons of the Granite State by artist Frank Galasso, highlights several New Hampshire sites, sights and attractions: from the state house to the state bird; from Hampton Beach to the Weirs, the pumpkin festival to covered bridges, mountains and lakes.
 Can you find the spotted newt, New Hampshire’s state amphibian?

Books in print:

Fritz Wetherbee’s In Good Company, Fritz Wetherbee, $19.95
We never doubted Fritz would keep his promise to tell 1,000 remarkable stories about New Hampshire. In fact, with the publication of FOUR bestsellers and this FIFTH volume, he’s getting close!
Fans of all ages fill lecture halls, book signings, conventions and town events to hear “that voice” talk about New Hampshire.In this collection of tales, Fritz shows us the strength of human values and heroic toil in four chapters: “Stories,” “Towns,” “People,” and “The Wetherbees.”
You will be introduced to:

* The first Englishman to explore the Isles of Shoals
* The courageous pilots of the Flying Circus
* The brave engineer in Barrington’s train wreck
* The Henniker Shakers who were hustled out of town
* New Hampshire folks who rushed for gold

And you will learn about:

* Frightened townspeople fighting a plague
* A gruesome grave robbery in Hopkinton
* The famous White Mountain Freezers
* The REAL first battle of the American Revolution
******

Mutual Aid, Ruth Doan MacDougall, $19.95
As Mercy Wheeler Blodgett says of herself, she seems to be related to almost everybody in the small town of Chiswick, New Hampshire. To those she isn’t, her husband, Bob, is likely to be. Just when a mill closing in 1986 costs the Blodgetts their jobs, this town is suddenly terrorized by an arsonists, and heart attacks may cause Bob his life.

( The title of Ruth Doan MacDougall’s new novel, Mutual Aid, refers to the emergency system in which fire departments from neighboring towns assist each other, but it also emphasizes the interconnectedness and interdependence of all people, whether they are family, friends, or, as with Mercy and the young man who has become her pen pal, strangers at the outset. The word ‘aid’ summons up the word ‘AIDS,’ and this, too, is part of the story.)

Ruth is the recipient of the New Hampshire Writer’s Project Lifetime Achievement Award, and Professor Ann Norton of St. Anselm College said in her nomination, “Critics have accorded her high praise for her spare yet lyrical realism. To my mind, MacDougall is the quintessential New Hampshire writer…”

Ruth Doan MacDougall was born and grew up in New Hampshire, where she lives with her husband, Don. In addition to writing novels, she updates her father’s hiking books.
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Kevin: The Last Invisible Vermonter, Steve Delaney, $19.95

Who is Kevin Beaujolais?

Some of the people in Nilesburgh, Vermont, know a bit about him … but they don’t know everything. Newcomers know nothing. Kevin keeps to himself, works hard for the townspeople and hunters, and is somewhat of a Robin Hood figure. But he is a mystery man — even where he lives in town is a mystery.

How, in this day and time, can a fellow like Kevin Beaujolais live with us, work with us and … not exist?

Broadcaster Steve Delaney brings to life Kevin Beaujolais in his first novel, “Kevin: The Last Invisible Vermonter,” published by Plaidswede Publishing Co., of Concord, N.H. This is Delaney’s second book. The first, “Vermont Seasonings,” a collection of essays on life in Vermont, was published in 2007 by Plaidswede.

Kevin is one of the most vivid characters ever to bubble up from the deep well of Vermont fiction. His struggle between the fears that drive him to hide from bureaucracy and the love that tugs him toward the alluring Maureen drives this tale of romance and mischief … and mayhem. Their story unfolds in the northern Vermont town of Nilesburgh … a town that holds many secrets.

Delaney’s distinctive voice has been heard on Vermont Public Radio for the past decade. He has won national honors for two NBC White Paper television documentaries, and for radio documentaries and news programs produced for VPR. Delaney is a fifty-year broadcast journalist who has covered politics and other petty crime in Washington, finance and other felonies in New York and wars on three continents. He is the middle link in a five-generation family love affair with Lake Champlain and the state and now calls Milton his home. “Kevin” is his second book.
*****

Wah-Say-Lan, James Smith, $19.95

She is a Seneca, a unique, courageous and adventurous woman.

He is a slave, a Continental soldier fighting for his freedom.

In their journey, they fall in love and cross paths with Cornplanter, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Lafayette and Red Jacket.

In his first novel, author Jim Smith tells the story of the Seneca, one of the six nations of the powerful Iroquois Confederacy and allies of the British in the Revolutionary War, and the love story of Wah-say-Lan and Freeman Trentham/Jamwesaw.

James Herbert Smith has been a journalist for 40 years. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors and is a member of the Academy of New England Journalists. He is the author of A Passion for Journalism, A Newspaper Editor Writes to his Readers. Smith is executive editor of The Bristol Press and The New Britain Herald in Connecticut.
*****
The Birthday Gift, Ellie Kraner, $9.95

A popular pastor is sharing her grandmother’s mighty childhood lesson in a recently published book, “The Birthday Gift,” a tender, heart-filled story of “furry friend finders keepers.”

“The Birthday Gift” is a childhood memory of Ellie Kraner and is published by PlaidSwede Publishing of Concord, N.H. Her story is of little Ellie and the surprise she finds for her mother’s birthday. It is illustrated by Lin Bourie.

“Ellie comes out of Grove Street School in a hurry on Friday afternoons. She is heading to the grocery store on the corner. Ellie gets paid on Thursday for helping her mother with the dishes each night. She buys a special treat at the store and is walking to her Nana’s house . . . And who does she meet along the way?”

Author Ellie Blaisdell Kraner is pastor of the Brookfield, Massachusetts, Congregational Church and a marriage and family therapist and spiritual director. Her passions include kids, dogs, reading, travel and gardening. She and her husband Dave raised four daughters and are the grandparents of six. This is her first published book.

Artist Lin Bourie helps support a ministry that impacts the lives of disenfranchised women and children. Her latest projects include murals, portraits, house portraits, jewelry, and producing prints and cards of original work. She has illustrated a children’s book about the Stari Most Bridge in Mostar Bosnia. She and her husband George have raised their three daughters in central Massachusetts.

A portion of the proceeds go to helping the Sugar Cane Kids go to school and eat at least one meal a day.

On the eastern savannahs of the Dominican Republic, sugar cane is harvested by men who live in some of the most primitive conditions in the Western Hemisphere. They barely earn enough to feed themselves, let alone their families. Yet their families are happy. Their children play and laugh just like our kids, but they go to bed hungry most nights. If their families can afford the school uniform, shoes, and a few pesos for a meal, these Sugar Cane Kids can attend school. When they are allowed to attend school, many excel at their studies and go on to graduate from the best universities in the Dominican Republic.
*****

New Hampshire Wine, James Beauregard, $19.95

Wine in New Hampshire? OF COURSE!

The state is dotted with beautiful scenic vineyards, not to mention private wine shops and state stores that offer the best of the land.

When it comes to wine in New Hampshire—the growing and the selling- Jim Beauregard knows and writes about it all.

Ever wanted to know the difference between Cab Sauv and Sangiovese but were too intimidated to ask? This “WINE 101” is for Granite State wine enthusiasts and beginners. This instructional and helpful guise includes an ever important glossary of wine terms, and information on New Hampshire wine tastings, bars, vineyards, specialty shops, even pairing wines for special occasions- including creating your own New Hampshire wine dinner. Grab a cork screw, some cheese and start tasting from the comfort of your own home!

Cheers!
*****

Fritz Wetherbee: Taken for Granite
by Fritz Wetherbee
$19.95
New Hampshire’s master storyteller Fritz Wetherbee has published his fourth collection of Granite State favorites.
His popular series, which appear on the best-seller lists at New Hampshire book stores throughout the year, heat up town history with Fritz’s take on how people have lived in the Granite State from the first settlers to the present day.
Also available: volume 1, Fritz Wetherbee’s New Hampshire, volume 2, I’ll Tell You the Story, and volume 3, Fritz: More Stories from New Hampshire Chronicle

* * *

Bittersweet Beginnings: Sketchbook of a Great Depression Boyhood
by James V. Wyman
$19.95
A newspaper editor’s memories of his Depression-era boyhood in New England has been published by Plaidswede Publishing Co. of Concord, N.H. “Bittersweet Beginnings,” by James V. Wyman, retired executive editor of The Providence Journal, is a chronicle of a boyhood overshadowed but not overwhelmed by the Depression.
Comprised of 23 essays, with prologue and epilogue, it offers readers insightful reflections, observations and snapshot images of one boy’s odyssey through the economic nightmare that was the Great Depression for his family and millions of others.

* * *

Dead Sand: A Lewis Cole Mystery
by Brendan DuBois
$18.95
Plaidswede Publishing has re-published the first novel in the acclaimed Lewis Cole mystery series by award-winning New Hampshire author Brendan DuBois. The novel, DEAD SAND, was first published in 1994 by Otto Penzler Books, a division of Macmillan Publishing. Since that first novel in the Lewis Cole series, five more novels have been published. However, for newer readers of the Lewis Cole series, it has been nearly impossible to find a copy of DuBois’ first published novel.
DEAD SAND tells the tale of Lewis Cole, a former Department of Defense research analyst who investigates things mysterious in and around the New Hampshire seacoast. In DEAD SAND, the discovery of a body buried for more than 40 years and the murder of a teenage waitress are connected to a decades-long grudge of death and betrayal.

* * *

Franklin Pierce, New Hampshire’s Favorite Son by Peter A. Wallner
Available in Hardback: $29.95 and Paperback: 18.95
The most recent biography of Franklin Pierce was published nearly seventy-five years ago. Yet the nation’s least known president is also one of the most charming, charismatic, and interesting men to ever hold the nation’s highest office. The first of two volumes on the life of Franklin Pierce, Wallner’s thoroughly researched, engagingly written account of Pierce’s rise to national prominence will surprise readers with accounts of the many triumphs and tragedies of Pierce’s life leading up to his presidency.

* * *

Franklin Pierce, Martyr for the Union
by Peter A. Wallner
Available in Hardback $35.45 and Paperback: $24
This 500-page second volume of the presidential biography examines his life during and after the White House.
Described by his best friend Nathaniel Hawthorne as “deep, deep, deep,” with “most of the chief elements of a great ruler.”
Pierce is also the greatest trial lawyer in New Hampshire history. A master politician at the state level, Pierce ruled over the most consistently successful state Democratic Party in the Northeast, before he and his supporters devised and executed the plan to capture the national party’s presidential nomination in 1852.

* * *

Vermont Seasonings: Reflections on the Rhythms of a Vermont Year
by Steve Delaney. Cover and illustrations by Amelia Fountain.

The voice of Vermont is now in print. “Vermont Seasonings: Reflections on the Rhythms of a Vermont Year” is broadcaster Steve Delaney’s affectionate salute to Vermont. Delaney, self-described Recovering Flatlander, writes of Vermont in this weekly and seasonal collection of essays. A Recovering Flatlander, he says, is “a person from Away who has moved to Vermont and believes it is possible to pass as a Real Vermonter. It’s not.”

Delaney’s distinctive voice has been heard on Vermont Public Radio for the past decade. He has won national honors for two NBC White Paper television documentaries, and for radio documentaries and news programs produced for VPR. Delaney is a fifty-year broadcast journalist who has covered politics and other petty crime in Washington, finance and other felonies in New York and wars on three continents. He is the middle link in a five-generation family love affair with Lake Champlain and the state and now calls Milton his home. “Vermont Seasonings” is his first book. In “Vermont Seasonings,” Delaney writes of sugaring (“The Fragrant Mists of Fairfield”), mud season (“That Joyant Sucking Sound”), families (“Reunion Season”), foliage (“Flo and Bert Alert”) and the weekly pace of life in this well-seasoned collection. His glossary also lists three definitions of a “Real Vermonter” — loose, strict and ultra-orthodox with an emphasis on seven generations. $21.70 ($18.95 plus s/h $2.75)

* * *

Could Have Been Worse: True Stories, Embellishments, and Outright Lies
By Rebecca Rule