Schoharie Library’s Evening with Local Authors

By Heather Skinner

SCHOHARIE — “Happy birthday, Mae!” shouted Grandpa as he blew on a birthday horn. Mae sat up and smiled. “I’m 10! I’m finally 10! Grandpa, you said you would take me on an adventure when I was ten. Are we going today?”” Connie Spanhake read from her picture book, The Village That Disappeared; kicking off readings by all 7 authors at Schoharie Library during the evening of November 7th. Though the night was rainy and dark from the recent time change, patrons arrived before event setup was complete, excited to meet the featured local authors who write picture books, young adult, and adult novels spanning many genres of fiction, fantasy, and local history. Spanhake was joined by Katie Farrell, John Mullins, Chris Keefer, Rebecca Schmid, Pete Lindemann, and Dana Cudmore. 

Like Spanhake’s information fiction, The Village That Disappeared (she was asked to write for the Gilboa Museum), many works feature local settings. Farrell’s fiction novel, The Dahlia Farm, is set in Middleburgh and explores a theme of, “What it means to rebuild when faced with crippling sorrow.” 

John Mullins writes under the pen name, Jack Nanuq. His book’s title, Parabellum, “Is a Latin term which loosely translates to “When you live in peace, Prepare for war.” As he read chapter 1, it was revealed his, “Spy mystery novel circa 2000,” that includes, “Flashbacks to both World War I and World War II,” takes place in Albany. 

In book two of Chris Keefer’s historical, A Carrie Lisbon Mystery series, her protagonist is an undertaker in the year 1900, and McFail’s Cave (Nature Reserve) in Carlisle is an included setting.

Dana Cudmore suggested if you write fiction, you’ll find lots of intriguing setting possibilities when reading his works, “I write books about the remarkable history of the caves and the quarries here in Schoharie County. A lot of the focus is on Howe Caverns where I was a tour guide many, many years ago. The place really captured my imagination and I dug considerably into the history and I pushed myself into a lot of the caves around here, many of them are not very pleasant. Depending on who you talk to, there are anywhere between 150 and 200 caves in this Cave Country.” Underground Empires (published 2021) includes rare historical photos and explores, “World-famous Howe Caverns and Secret Caverns,” as well as, “Less well-known, such as Ball’s Cave and Schoharie Caverns in Schoharie County, and Knox Cave in Albany County.” Cudmore’s working on a next book that he previewed will have, “More from the Cave Country; tall tales and folklore, a lot of the strange things that happen.”

Farrell pointed out every author has their own process; she enjoys challenging herself with her writing, taking about 2-3 years per book, and starts sparsely; adding more layers to each draft. The Dahlia Farm had about 12 drafts before publication; each chapter named after Dahlias, and its cover’s a photo & painting collaboration with full-time local artist, Casey Beal, made of flowers from Farrell’s garden. Farrell’s in early drafting stages of a story centered around a women’s basketball team while maintaining her blog, littleflowebucket.com. 

Spanhake writes novels under the philosophy of, “You should write the kind of books you like to read,” and enjoys, “Page turners and mysteries.” She’s also a teacher; her picture books are inspired by helping her students when they’re struggling with something. 

Keefer included a prologue for the first time in book 3, Find Your Way to My Grave. She noted while looking back on each book currently in her series (book 4’s in progress), there’s a different way her main character handles bodies in the stories to serve many plot purposes, provide clues, and incorporate interesting research and answers to questions that fascinates her during research. Passionate and well-researched, Keefer’s often asked if she’s an undertaker; while she isn’t, she said, “I  have a heck of an imagination!”

2016 works, Rambles in Schoharie County. (William E. Roscoe; Edited by Peter Lindemann), is a transcription and preservation of Roscoe’s accounts of history that had been published in newspaper columns, then Lindemann added 25 historical articles. 

Lindemann attends Community Library Flash Fiction writing classes; crediting Adult Services Librarian, Don LaPlant, as a good workshop facilitator who provides prompts and deadline incentives that help him balance generating fictional ideas for his books while writing & proofreading newspaper articles for the Times-Journal. Keefer also writes a weekly Time-Journal column and attends writing classes at multiple libraries, appreciating the opportunities for consistency, feedback, and getting to see & help others developing their writing.

There’s a large writing community in Schoharie County, so big that Lindemann doesn’t think people realize how many authors there actually are out here. Schoharie County libraries are an integral part of those writing journeys; Schmid shared, “It’s always nice to come back to the Schoharie Library. This is where Niamh (best friend/sister-in-law/co-author) and I started writing.” At the age of 13, they’d create stories while waiting for their brothers to finish Chess Club. Schmid described Schoharie Library’s writing group as a community interested in your work and in seeing you succeed and that’s, “Really helped us grow as authors to the point of wanting to pursue publishing.” That publishing pursuit has resulted in 6 books currently available in their fantasy/steampunk/sci-fi series, A Daughter’s Ransom, as well as standalone, individual side projects like Askefise.

Mullins facilitates the Schoharie Library Writing Group, who meet via Zoom Monday evenings. Interested writers, beginner - published, check out Schoharie Library’s calendar website page to sign up.

Lindeman and many expressed gratitude toward Schoharie Library Program Director, Jennie Mosher, for putting this Evening with Local Authors event together. Keefer gave Mosher a shoutout before reading her excerpt and on her Author Chris Keefer Facebook page after the event.

Follow these authors and Mohawk Valley Library System & Schoharie County libraries through Facebook and their websites for local author updates, upcoming events, and opportunities for writers. 

Left to right: Pete Lindemann; author of Rambles in Schoharie County. William E. Roscoe; Edited by Peter Lindemann & The Night George Fell In Love and other stories.  Katie Farrell wrote The Dahlia Farm and brought a jar of flowers from her garden. John Mullins (pen name Jack Nanuq); his book Parabellum was published in 2019 & he is about halfway through writing its sequel. Chris Keefer with the 1st 3 books in her Carrie Lisbon Mystery series: No Comfort for the Undertaker, Tragedy’s Twin, and Find Your Way to My Grave.

(Top) Connie Spanhake’s picture books: The Village That Disappeared, Hermie’s BIG Problem, A Lesson for Charley, & Sammy and the Bully. Novels: The Code (series that transports you to the Wild West, Camelot, & the Bermuda Triangle), Finding Me (“A tragic accident shatters the lives of four college friends”), The Neighbors (Spanhake’s working on a sequel, anticipating a next Summer or Fall release), & Dark Secrets (“Time is running out as present and past collide”). (Bottom left) Dana Cudmore’s books: Underground Empires, The Cave Electrician’s Widow: The Tragedy at Howe Caverns and Dramatic Courtroom Fight for Justice, & Farming With Dynamite: The Forgotten Stone Boom in Schoharie County. (Bottom right) Rebecca Schmid selling a copy of her standalone book, Askefise (Tales of Redemeré Book 1); about one of the villains in their series approximately 15 years before events of A Daughter’s Ransom begins). The community member said her daughter-in-law is a big reader and is excited to give this book a go! A Daughter’s Ransom series by Rebecca Schmid and Niamh Schmid include (book 1) Of Shade and Shadow: The Exiled, (2) The GhostMaker: To take a World, (3) A Game of Wits: The Exiled, (4) The Living Stone: To Take a World, (5) Battle for the Black Queen: The Exiled, & (6) The Last Esmer: To Take a World.

Authors each read excerpts from their works during An Evening with Local Authors at Schoharie Library on November 7th. Here, Pete Lindemann brought a smile to everyone’s faces while reading Gravity from his book, The Night George Fell In Love and other stories. Authors whose books are available on Amazon: Connie Spanhake, Katie Farnell, John Mullins (pen name Jack Nanuq), Dana Cudmore, Rebecca Schmid, & Chris Keefer. Lindemann mentioned Cudmore’s daughter is also an accomplished author; Libby Cudmore’s novel, Negative Girl, is available on Amazon. Authors whose books are available on Barnes & Noble: Dana Cudmore, Rebecca Schmid. Local shops: Pete Lindemann (Rambles in Schoharie County is in Catnap Books in Cobleskill & at The Carrot Barn & Apple Barrel in Schoharie), Connie Spanhake’s books are available at local Mercantile shops, and visit her at the many Harvest and Winter festivals she tables at (like the December Fromer Market in Tannersville). Walmart: Rebecca Schmid. Author websites: conniespanhake.com, (Rebecca & Niamh Schmid) ScharaReevesPress.com, www.authorchriskeefer.com, (Dana Cudmore) howecavernstales.com.