Author of A 1000-MILE WALK ON THE BEACH to Discuss Writing at Kazoo Books

Oct. 30, 2011 - PRLog -- On Friday, November 4 at 7pm, author and adventurer Loreen Niewenhuis will be at Kazoo Books Parkview store located at 2413 Parkview Avenue in Kalamazoo.  There, Niewenhuis will take part in a fireside chat about her experience as a writer, how she got published, and how she successfully writes both fiction and nonfiction.  "This is a great event for aspiring authors to attend and to ask questions about the publishing world," Niewenhuis said.  "And Kazoo Books is a great indie bookstore.  The owner, Gloria Tiller, loves literature and is an important part of the Kalamazoo community."

When Loreen Niewenhuis turned 45-years-old, she felt compelled to break out of the day-to-day routine and to take on a big challenge. She decided to walk all the way around her favorite place:  Lake Michigan. Niewenhuis said: “My mid-life crisis evolved into a mid-life adventure!”  In March of this year, Crickhollow Books of Milwaukee published the book about her 1000-mile hike around Lake Michigan, the fifth-largest lake in the world. The book, A 1000-MILE WALK ON THE BEACH, spent several weeks on the Heartland Indie Bestseller List this summer.  

Her second book, ATLANTA, is a modern novella set in this great, Southern city.  "I lived in Atlanta for several years in the mid-nineties," Niewenhius said, "and the city stayed with me...the neighborhoods with such history and character, the red clay, and the miracle of camellias blooming in December.  This short novel grew out of my time there as kind of a tribute to the city."  This book was published by Main Street Rag of Charlotte, NC, this summer and has been nominated for a SIBA Award.  

Niewenhuis is also an author of many published, literary short stories and she was a finalist for the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction in 2009.  

Niewenhuis originally trained as a scientist. She has worked as a laboratory analyst and a cancer researcher.  She has a bachelors of science from Calvin College and a masters of science from Wayne State University.  In 2007, she got her MFA in Fiction Writing from Spalding University's Low Residency Program.  "I draw on my experiences in the scientific world for my creative work," Niewenhuis said, "so my past as a researcher feeds my writing at times.  No experience goes to waste in life, so I encourage emerging writers to get out into the world and to have experiences so they have something to draw from during the solitary work of writing."

Her complete book tour schedule and a link to her blog can be found on her website LakeTrek.com.

Next year, Niewenhuis will undertake another 1000-mile hike.  In January, she will announce the route of her hike on her Facebook Fan Page

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Loreen Niewenhuis is the author of A 1000-MILE WALK ON THE BEACH (the account of her hike around Lake Michigan), the novella ATLANTA, and many literary short stories. She gives lectures about the Great Lakes and readings from her work.

Photos:
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