I’ll be participating in an evening of readings by local writers on November 5th at 7:00pm at Bas Bleu Theater. There will be poetry, excerpts from novels and essays. Written and read by members of Northern Colorado Writers: Dean Miller, Nan Reed, Wanda Tierney, Nic Widhalm, David Jessup, Rich Keller and Stephen Benjamin. Doors open at 6:30pm and admission is $5. C’mon down!
Details here
When I started twelve years ago to write my historical novel, Mariano’s Crossing, I never thought I would be sharing a speakers platform with two of my favorite authors, Laura Pritchett and Patty Limerick. Now, I am pleased to say, that moment has come.
On Saturday, October 5, starting at 10:00 AM, the three of us will be speaking at a “Conversations with Authors” event at the Embassy Suites Hotel near the Budweiser Events Center Near Crossroads Blvd and I-25. Sponsored by the American Association of University Women, the event raises funds for post-graduate scholarships for women. The cost is $50.
For reservations, including lunch, contact Martha Diccico by e-mail or call 970-461-5794. The RSVP deadline is Monday, September 30, but if you get this too late, try anyway!
I first learned about Laura Pritchett when I got hooked on her book, Hell’s Bottom, Colorado. It’s a collection of inter-connected short stories which, taken together, create a compelling account of three generations of a ranching family in a town suspiciously like Bellvue, Colorado, where Laura lives. Word is out she has a sequel in the works, and I’m elbowing everyone else aside to be first in line to buy it.
Patty Limerick runs the Center for the American West at CU, and in her previous books has transformed the way we view the history of the American West. Her latest book, A Ditch in Time, tells the fascinating story of Denver Water, with some characters that appear stranger than fiction. Each wonderfully readable chapter begins with–you guessed it–a limerick.
Hope you can join us. For me, it will be a nice break from Sylvan Dale flood recovery!
Thanks,
David J
PS. Click here to read an article about this event in the Loveland Reporter Herald.
If you ever get a chance, go to Crested Butte, Colorado. Boosters call their town the Wildflower Capital of the World, with good reason. Our visit, on August 1, was two weeks later than the peak blooming season, but the valley was still spangled with yellow coneflowers, blue asters, red firecracker flowers and scores more. The Slate River meanders through the flat valley floor, meeting itself coming and going like a gray snake coiling for sheer pleasure through the green meadows.
My reason for visiting was to give a presentation and book signing at the town’s Old Rock Library. Book club members had read Mariano’s Crossing and wanted to meet the author. I was only too happy to oblige. “Readers in the Rockies,” they call their author series. Not only are they enthusiastic, gracious hosts, they happily promoted my book to the local “Townie” book store, which bought several copies. Icing on the cake.
Like many mountain resort towns, Crested Butte’s shops, restaurants, and art galleries draw crowds of tourists. But celebrity wealth is less on display than in Aspen or Telluride. It feels more accessible somehow. The Old Rock Library’s historic, two-story stone walls embrace a thoroughly modern, well-lighted interior, the kind of classy, comfortable place that makes you want to curl up with a good book when those summer rains fall.
David J
Photos: Old Rock Library
One cool thing about being a finalist for the Colorado Book Award is getting invited to speak at book events in interesting places. Crested Butte, Colorado, for example. I’m doing a presentation and book signing there on August 1st, 2013, at the “Readers in the Rockies” event. Never been there, but everyone tells me it’s a beautiful mountain town above the Gunnison River valley. Linda and I will be driving there with our Australian shepherd, Promise, for a two-day summer get-away.
For details, click here.
In response to the many readers who asked to visit some of the sites described in my historical novel, we took the first Mariano’s Crossing Tour on Saturday, June 15, 2013, at Sylvan Dale Ranch.
Twenty-eight readers joined the tour. More wanted to come, so I’ll be scheduling another tour sometime in September. Stay tuned!
The event began with breakfast in the old ranch building that still houses, behind the current walls, the remains of the original Alexander homestead dugout in the riverbank. The tour ended with a bag lunch on Red Ridge, the novel’s imagined location of John Alexander’s hideout and Lena’s secret grave. In between, we visited the Medina cemetery and the site of Mariano’s Crossing on the Big Thompson River.
David Jessup
SCHEDULE:
8:00 AM. Breakfast in historic Sylvan Dale Dining Room.
8:45 AM. Walking tour of William Alexander Homestead, including the location of the original riverbank dugout inside the ranch kitchen, the original bridge supports, old barn, main ranch grounds, Indian tipi rings, and view of Mt. Alexander.
9:30 AM. Historic photo slide presentation at Wagon Wheel Bunkhouse.
10:00 AM. Depart for driving tour, car caravan to the Old Canyon, Boothroyd Graveyard, Weldon School ruins, Dry Creek, Marianna Butte, Medina Cemetery, and Mariano’s Crossing near Namaqua Park.
11:30 AM. Red Ridge (hikers and 4-wheelers only).
12:00 Lunch on Red Ridge at the “Hideout” overlooking the river valley below, or at Namaqua Park.
1:00 PM Tour ends.
COST: $55.00, paid in advance, plus tax (total $55.81).
Includes full breakfast, sack lunch, meeting facility and tour.
($25 of this amount will be donated to the Loveland Historical Society’s Medina Cemetery Project.)
RESERVATIONS: Call the Sylvan Dale Ranch Front Desk, 970-667-3915, with your credit card number, or send a check to Sylvan Dale Ranch, 2939 N. County Rd. 31D, Loveland, CO 80537. Questions? E-mail davidj@sylvandale.com
Organized by Lois Pierson for book club members. David M. Jessup will present slides of the characters in his historical novel, Mariano’s Crossing, followed by a reading and book signing.
Time: Tuesday, May 21, 7-9 PM.
Place: meeting room #2 at the Loveland Community Building (545 N. Cleveland Avenue, downtown Loveland)
Our next regular meeting will be Monday, May 13th, 2013, at the Elks Club in Fort Collins (1424 E. Mulberry Street). Social hour begins at 6:00pm.
How do the facts of history give rise to fiction? This question will be explored at a slide show and reading from Mariano’s Crossing, an award-winning historical novel by David M. Jessup. His novel was recently nominated as one of three finalists for the Colorado Book Award, in addition to winning first place in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Contest. Based on real people and historic events in post-gold rush Colorado, Mariano’s Crossing relates the mesmerizing struggle between Mariano Medina, former mountain man and friend of Kit Carson, his Indian wife, Takánsy, and young John Alexander, the son of a hardscrabble sawmill owner, over the future of the Medinas’ fifteen-year old daughter, Lena. Their tug of war soon spirals out of control as secrets past and present propel them toward their final, haunting encounter.
David M. Jessup co-owns Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch in Loveland, Colorado, where he introduces low-stress, grass-fed cattle raising methods to guests, and guests to the ways of both the old and the new West. A history buff, he is passionate about preserving open space, battling invasive weeds, catching wild river trout on a fly, singing cowboy songs, and telling stories about the American West—some of them true.
Cost for dinner is $18 per person. The menu is: Beef Stroganoff with Egg Noodles, California Vegetables, Tossed Salad, Dinner Rolls, Cherry Pie, Coffee & Tea
See you at the Elks Club on May 13th. Please RSVP by noon on Friday, May 10th, to Joan Day, 482-8088
Mariano’s Crossing has been selected as one of three finalists for the Colorado Book Award in literary fiction, to be announced at the Colorado Book Award Celebration on Friday, June 21, from 1 to 4 PM, at the Doerr-Hosler Center at the Aspen Meadows Resort in Aspen, Colorado.
I’ll be reading an excerpt from my book at a Finalist Reading Event, Thursday, April 25, 2013, from 6 to 9 PM at the Denver Press Club, 1330 Glenarm Place in Denver. C’mon down!
David J
Presentation and Book Signing:
Saturday, March 23, 2 PM
Old Firehouse Books
230 Walnut, Ft. Collins, CO (970) 484-78898
Author Presentation and Book Signing
Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl Street Boulder, CO 80302, (303) 447-2074
Rescheduled from Feb. 24 to Sunday, April 7, 2 PM
David J will present slides of historical characters in the novel and discuss how fact is transformed into fiction.
