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April 24 & 25, 2026
The Friends Of The Brainerd Public Library are proud to announce a new Author Event, Words by the Water. Tickets are on sale now - ticket sales end April 10th, 2026
Friday, April 24:
5:30 pm - Social hour with book sales; silent auction. More details to come!
6:15 pm: Seating for dinner
6:45 pm: The program starts with Authors Speaking
8:00 pm: Book Sales and Author Signing
Saturday April 25:
10:30 am - Social hour with book sales; silent auction. More details to come!
11:15 am: Seating for Lunch
11:45pm: The program starts with Authors Speaking
1:00 pm: Book Sales and Author Signing
Pricing:
Individual Seats $50.00
Table of 8: $400.00
Premium Table: 8 seats and Author at Table with Close to the front seating $500 (no more than 8 at this table to allow for seating of author and possible guest ( seats 9 and 10).
We are excited to announce our new event take place at Maddens on Gull Lake. 11266 Pine Beach Peninsula, Brainerd, MN 56401
Donations to our silent auctions are appreciated; we are looking for Minnesota themed donations. Please use form below.
2026 Author Line Up:
Erin Soderberg Downing has written more than seventy-five books for kids, tweens, and young adults, including the bestselling novels Controlled Burn and Just Keep Walking, as well as several popular series for young readers: The Great Peach Experiment, Puppy Pirates, and The Quirks. Her next middle grade novel - What Happened Then - will be in stores July 2025 and she also has a new series, Just Like Home, debuting in Fall 2025!
Erin loves reading, swimming, exploring the woods, traveling with her family, and walking around Minneapolis lakes with her fluffy and mischievous dogs, Wally and Nutmeg.
Avery is a firecracker. In a crayon box of colors, she’s the shocking pink and laser lemon, when all she wants is to be a quiet tan or soft cornflower blue. Jax is a wall flower, because sometimes it’s better to stay quiet when the alternative is to be told that you’re doing or saying everything wrong. Avery and Jax’s extended family haven't spoken to each other for years. Until now...When their beloved Aunt Robbie summons the large, estranged family together for a gathering at their broken-down family cabin on Crooked Lake, cousins Avery and Jax seem to be the only ones who don’t know what happened years ago that shattered this family. But instead of learning the answer, everyone is about to get a horrible surprise: Aunt Robbie has been diagnosed with ALS, and by the end of the summer, the island that’s been a part of their family for generations must go up for sale.As Avery and Jax begin to dig through decades worth of history in the long-abandoned house, they also begin to dredge up diary pages that their aunt once scattered around the island as a kid, the summer that tore their family apart.In this alternating narrative by bestselling author Erin Soderberg Downing, two cousins who have finally begun to discover the joy of family - however cracked and imperfect theirs might be - long to unravel the mystery of what happened then, with the hope that they might also be able to figure out how to glue their broken family back together again.
Tim Brady holds a Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an M.F.A in creative writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. He has worked as a freelance writer for many years in St. Paul, Minnesota and published over 150 articles for a variety of publications with a specialty in history. In addition, he helped develop the PBS series Liberty! The American Revolution, which aired nationally in 1997 and subsequently won a Peabody Award.
A LIGHT IN A NORTHERN SEA is the story of the remarkable rescue of Denmark’s Jewish population during October 1943. Assisted by the citizenry of Denmark, including hundreds of resistance leaders, local fishermen, and the good citizens of the nation, Jewish families crossed the strait between Denmark and Sweden in a flotilla of fishing boats that has been likened to a “Little Dunkirk.” The escape became the most successful rescue of a Jewish population from Nazi tyranny in the whole of World War II. More than 90% of the Jew’s of Denmark escaped German incarceration in the effort. A LIGHT IN THE NORTHERN SEA tells the full story of the occupation of Denmark in the early days of the war, describes the growing resistance to the German presence in this sovereign nation, details the Jewish community in Copenhagen, and the terrifying beginnings of the round-up of the Jews, as well as the heroic efforts of the Jewish people and their allies in the Danish community to escape the oppression. It also describes the continuing efforts by the Danish resistance to battle the German occupation in the months after the escape.
Ellie Palmer Ellie Palmer is the USA Today Bestselling author of Anywhere With You and Four Weekends and a Funeral, and is a prototypical Midwesterner who routinely apologizes to inanimate objects when she bumps into them. When she’s not writing romantic comedies featuring delightfully messy characters, she’s at home in Minnesota, eating breakfast food, watching too much reality television, and triple texting her husband about their son.
Tiny van. Enormous feelings.Charley Beekman is thriving... if you overlook that she's financially strapped, stuck in a dull legal career, and the youngest divorcee at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. After being left by a man she was sure was too boring to ever leave, she’s figured out that the key to true happiness is protecting yourself from surprises. So when her free-spirited sister announces she’s eloping with an on-again-off-again childhood sweetheart, Charley knows she has to stop the wedding before her sister makes the biggest mistake of her life. Conveniently, Charley’s best friend Ethan, who’s as gorgeous as he is chronically unreliable, has an extra seat in his camper van.As Charley and Ethan embark on a wild road trip through the enchanting northern woods of Minnesota, Charley starts to feel something she’s ignored for years—a spark that threatens to turn into a full-blown bonfire. But after crashing and burning at marriage despite her best laid plans, the last thing Charley needs is a fling with a non-committal, irresistible, nomadic musician…. right?Hilarious, witty, and teeming with heart, ANYWHERE WITH YOU is the perfect escape for anyone who believes that sometimes, the best destinations are the ones you never planned
Deborah Jiang-Stein is a multifaceted professional. Deborah spans the vast spectrum from speaking in prisons to serving on the Minnesota Opera Board, to bringing theater, opera and other arts into prisons. A multiracial woman, she exemplifies the essence of bridging contrasting worlds. Deborah symbolizes the human quest to unearth our core identities.
A deeply personal and inspiring memoir recounting one woman’s struggles—beginning with her birth in prison—to find self-acceptance
Prison Baby is a revised and substantially expanded version of Deborah Jiang Stein’s self-published memoir, Even Tough Girls Wear Tutus. Even at twelve years old, Deborah, the adopted daughter of a progressive Jewish couple in Seattle, felt like an outsider. Her mixed Asian features set her apart from her white, well-intentioned parents who evaded questions about her past. But when she discovered a letter revealing the truth of her prison birth to a heroin-addicted mother—and that she spent the first year of life in prison—Deborah spiraled into emotional lockdown. For years she turned to drugs, violence, and crime as a way to cope with her grief. Ultimately, Deborah overcame the stigma, shame, and secrecy of her birth, and found peace by helping others—proving that redemption and acceptance are possible even from the darkest corners.
April 24 & 25, 2026
The Friends Of The Brainerd Public Library are proud to announce a new Author Event, Words by the Water. Tickets are on sale now - ticket sales end April 10th, 2026
Friday, April 24:
5:30 pm - Social hour with book sales; silent auction. More details to come!
6:15 pm: Seating for DINNER
6:45 pm: The program starts with Authors Speaking
8:00 pm: Book Sales and Author Signing
Saturday April 25:
10:30 am - Social hour with book sales; silent auction. More details to come!
11:15 am: Seating for BRUNCH
11:45pm: The program starts with Authors Speaking
1:00 pm: Book Sales and Author Signing
Pricing:
Individual Seats $50.00
Table of 8: $400.00
Premium Table: 8 seats and Author at Table with Close to the front seating $500 (no more than 8 at this table to allow for seating of author and possible guest ( seats 9 and 10).
We are excited to announce our new event take place at Maddens on Gull Lake. 11266 Pine Beach Peninsula, Brainerd, MN 56401
Donations to our silent auctions are appreciated; we are looking for Minnesota themed donations. Please use form below.
2026 Author Line Up:
Update On Author Lineup
Erin Soderberg Downing has written more than seventy-five books for kids, tweens, and young adults, including the bestselling novels Controlled Burn and Just Keep Walking, as well as several popular series for young readers: The Great Peach Experiment, Puppy Pirates, and The Quirks. Her next middle grade novel - What Happened Then - will be in stores July 2025 and she also has a new series, Just Like Home, debuting in Fall 2025!
Erin loves reading, swimming, exploring the woods, traveling with her family, and walking around Minneapolis lakes with her fluffy and mischievous dogs, Wally and Nutmeg.
Avery is a firecracker. In a crayon box of colors, she’s the shocking pink and laser lemon, when all she wants is to be a quiet tan or soft cornflower blue. Jax is a wall flower, because sometimes it’s better to stay quiet when the alternative is to be told that you’re doing or saying everything wrong. Avery and Jax’s extended family haven't spoken to each other for years. Until now...When their beloved Aunt Robbie summons the large, estranged family together for a gathering at their broken-down family cabin on Crooked Lake, cousins Avery and Jax seem to be the only ones who don’t know what happened years ago that shattered this family. But instead of learning the answer, everyone is about to get a horrible surprise: Aunt Robbie has been diagnosed with ALS, and by the end of the summer, the island that’s been a part of their family for generations must go up for sale.As Avery and Jax begin to dig through decades worth of history in the long-abandoned house, they also begin to dredge up diary pages that their aunt once scattered around the island as a kid, the summer that tore their family apart.In this alternating narrative by bestselling author Erin Soderberg Downing, two cousins who have finally begun to discover the joy of family - however cracked and imperfect theirs might be - long to unravel the mystery of what happened then, with the hope that they might also be able to figure out how to glue their broken family back together again.
Tim Brady holds a Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an M.F.A in creative writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. He has worked as a freelance writer for many years in St. Paul, Minnesota and published over 150 articles for a variety of publications with a specialty in history. In addition, he helped develop the PBS series Liberty! The American Revolution, which aired nationally in 1997 and subsequently won a Peabody Award.
A LIGHT IN A NORTHERN SEA is the story of the remarkable rescue of Denmark’s Jewish population during October 1943. Assisted by the citizenry of Denmark, including hundreds of resistance leaders, local fishermen, and the good citizens of the nation, Jewish families crossed the strait between Denmark and Sweden in a flotilla of fishing boats that has been likened to a “Little Dunkirk.” The escape became the most successful rescue of a Jewish population from Nazi tyranny in the whole of World War II. More than 90% of the Jew’s of Denmark escaped German incarceration in the effort. A LIGHT IN THE NORTHERN SEA tells the full story of the occupation of Denmark in the early days of the war, describes the growing resistance to the German presence in this sovereign nation, details the Jewish community in Copenhagen, and the terrifying beginnings of the round-up of the Jews, as well as the heroic efforts of the Jewish people and their allies in the Danish community to escape the oppression. It also describes the continuing efforts by the Danish resistance to battle the German occupation in the months after the escape.
Ellie Palmer Ellie Palmer is the USA Today Bestselling author of Anywhere With You and Four Weekends and a Funeral, and is a prototypical Midwesterner who routinely apologizes to inanimate objects when she bumps into them. When she’s not writing romantic comedies featuring delightfully messy characters, she’s at home in Minnesota, eating breakfast food, watching too much reality television, and triple texting her husband about their son.
Tiny van. Enormous feelings.Charley Beekman is thriving... if you overlook that she's financially strapped, stuck in a dull legal career, and the youngest divorcee at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. After being left by a man she was sure was too boring to ever leave, she’s figured out that the key to true happiness is protecting yourself from surprises. So when her free-spirited sister announces she’s eloping with an on-again-off-again childhood sweetheart, Charley knows she has to stop the wedding before her sister makes the biggest mistake of her life. Conveniently, Charley’s best friend Ethan, who’s as gorgeous as he is chronically unreliable, has an extra seat in his camper van.As Charley and Ethan embark on a wild road trip through the enchanting northern woods of Minnesota, Charley starts to feel something she’s ignored for years—a spark that threatens to turn into a full-blown bonfire. But after crashing and burning at marriage despite her best laid plans, the last thing Charley needs is a fling with a non-committal, irresistible, nomadic musician…. right?Hilarious, witty, and teeming with heart, ANYWHERE WITH YOU is the perfect escape for anyone who believes that sometimes, the best destinations are the ones you never planned
Deborah Jiang-Stein is a multifaceted professional. Deborah spans the vast spectrum from speaking in prisons to serving on the Minnesota Opera Board, to bringing theater, opera and other arts into prisons. A multiracial woman, she exemplifies the essence of bridging contrasting worlds. Deborah symbolizes the human quest to unearth our core identities.
Prison Baby is a revised and substantially expanded version of Deborah Jiang Stein’s self-published memoir, Even Tough Girls Wear Tutus. Even at twelve years old, Deborah, the adopted daughter of a progressive Jewish couple in Seattle, felt like an outsider. Her mixed Asian features set her apart from her white, well-intentioned parents who evaded questions about her past. But when she discovered a letter revealing the truth of her prison birth to a heroin-addicted mother—and that she spent the first year of life in prison—Deborah spiraled into emotional lockdown. For years she turned to drugs, violence, and crime as a way to cope with her grief. Ultimately, Deborah overcame the stigma, shame, and secrecy of her birth, and found peace by helping others—proving that redemption and acceptance are possible even from the darkest corners.
Lucky Tomorrow Stories: For a Lucky Tomorrow Buy a Flower Today. Is it true? a prospective customer asks. About the luck? “Absolutely!” Felma says. Flowers, she knows, are all that’s anchored in this world, even if not for long, and like others in these luminous stories, Felma knows what it is to be rootless. In Lucky Tomorrow, Deborah Jiang-Stein presents an unforgettable cast of characters dreaming of redemption, purpose, and connection in a wounded yet beautiful world.
A young girl stuck working at her family’s candy stand. A former priest trapped on a crowded train. A prisoner robbed of the book she’s been writing. A father haunted by his broken family. A woman confined to a psych ward. A reverend caring for her dying housemate. And Felma, a flower vendor, searching for the daughter she gave birth to while in prison, who was swiftly bundled away. Felma’s story leads us in, through, and around the others—a central beating heart for these lives on the fringes, where Jiang-Stein finds a singular, tenacious humanity.
The stories in Lucky Tomorrow move through settings drawn from the path of the author’s own Seattle, where she grew up after being born in an Appalachian prison; Tokyo, where she once lived; the Twin Cities, where she currently resides; and the American South, where she travels for much of her advocacy work with women in prison. Pushing the boundaries of genre, Jiang-Stein delicately layers the stories of these outcasts, eccentrics, and visionaries, gathering them in from the shadows with remarkable empathy and candor, laying bare our shared sorrows and joys.
April 24 & 25, 2026
The Friends Of The Brainerd Public Library are proud to announce a new Author Event, Words by the Water. Tickets are on sale now - ticket sales end April 10th, 2026
Friday, April 24:
5:30 pm - Social hour with book sales; silent auction. More details to come!
6:15 pm: Seating for dinner
6:45 pm: The program starts with Authors Speaking
8:00 pm: Book Sales and Author Signing
Saturday April 25:
10:30 am - Social hour with book sales; silent auction. More details to come!
11:15 am: Seating for Lunch
11:45pm: The program starts with Authors Speaking
1:00 pm: Book Sales and Author Signing
Pricing:
Individual Seats $50.00
Table of 8: $400.00
Premium Table: 8 seats and Author at Table with Close to the front seating $500 (no more than 8 at this table to allow for seating of author and possible guest ( seats 9 and 10).
We are excited to announce our new event take place at Maddens on Gull Lake. 11266 Pine Beach Peninsula, Brainerd, MN 56401
Donations to our silent auctions are appreciated; we are looking for Minnesota themed donations. Please use form below.
2026 Author Line Up:
Update On Author Lineup
Erin Soderberg Downing has written more than seventy-five books for kids, tweens, and young adults, including the bestselling novels Controlled Burn and Just Keep Walking, as well as several popular series for young readers: The Great Peach Experiment, Puppy Pirates, and The Quirks. Her next middle grade novel - What Happened Then - will be in stores July 2025 and she also has a new series, Just Like Home, debuting in Fall 2025!
Erin loves reading, swimming, exploring the woods, traveling with her family, and walking around Minneapolis lakes with her fluffy and mischievous dogs, Wally and Nutmeg.
Avery is a firecracker. In a crayon box of colors, she’s the shocking pink and laser lemon, when all she wants is to be a quiet tan or soft cornflower blue. Jax is a wall flower, because sometimes it’s better to stay quiet when the alternative is to be told that you’re doing or saying everything wrong. Avery and Jax’s extended family haven't spoken to each other for years. Until now...When their beloved Aunt Robbie summons the large, estranged family together for a gathering at their broken-down family cabin on Crooked Lake, cousins Avery and Jax seem to be the only ones who don’t know what happened years ago that shattered this family. But instead of learning the answer, everyone is about to get a horrible surprise: Aunt Robbie has been diagnosed with ALS, and by the end of the summer, the island that’s been a part of their family for generations must go up for sale.As Avery and Jax begin to dig through decades worth of history in the long-abandoned house, they also begin to dredge up diary pages that their aunt once scattered around the island as a kid, the summer that tore their family apart.In this alternating narrative by bestselling author Erin Soderberg Downing, two cousins who have finally begun to discover the joy of family - however cracked and imperfect theirs might be - long to unravel the mystery of what happened then, with the hope that they might also be able to figure out how to glue their broken family back together again.
Tim Brady holds a Bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an M.F.A in creative writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. He has worked as a freelance writer for many years in St. Paul, Minnesota and published over 150 articles for a variety of publications with a specialty in history. In addition, he helped develop the PBS series Liberty! The American Revolution, which aired nationally in 1997 and subsequently won a Peabody Award.
A LIGHT IN A NORTHERN SEA is the story of the remarkable rescue of Denmark’s Jewish population during October 1943. Assisted by the citizenry of Denmark, including hundreds of resistance leaders, local fishermen, and the good citizens of the nation, Jewish families crossed the strait between Denmark and Sweden in a flotilla of fishing boats that has been likened to a “Little Dunkirk.” The escape became the most successful rescue of a Jewish population from Nazi tyranny in the whole of World War II. More than 90% of the Jew’s of Denmark escaped German incarceration in the effort. A LIGHT IN THE NORTHERN SEA tells the full story of the occupation of Denmark in the early days of the war, describes the growing resistance to the German presence in this sovereign nation, details the Jewish community in Copenhagen, and the terrifying beginnings of the round-up of the Jews, as well as the heroic efforts of the Jewish people and their allies in the Danish community to escape the oppression. It also describes the continuing efforts by the Danish resistance to battle the German occupation in the months after the escape.
Ellie Palmer Ellie Palmer is the USA Today Bestselling author of Anywhere With You and Four Weekends and a Funeral, and is a prototypical Midwesterner who routinely apologizes to inanimate objects when she bumps into them. When she’s not writing romantic comedies featuring delightfully messy characters, she’s at home in Minnesota, eating breakfast food, watching too much reality television, and triple texting her husband about their son.
Tiny van. Enormous feelings.Charley Beekman is thriving... if you overlook that she's financially strapped, stuck in a dull legal career, and the youngest divorcee at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. After being left by a man she was sure was too boring to ever leave, she’s figured out that the key to true happiness is protecting yourself from surprises. So when her free-spirited sister announces she’s eloping with an on-again-off-again childhood sweetheart, Charley knows she has to stop the wedding before her sister makes the biggest mistake of her life. Conveniently, Charley’s best friend Ethan, who’s as gorgeous as he is chronically unreliable, has an extra seat in his camper van.As Charley and Ethan embark on a wild road trip through the enchanting northern woods of Minnesota, Charley starts to feel something she’s ignored for years—a spark that threatens to turn into a full-blown bonfire. But after crashing and burning at marriage despite her best laid plans, the last thing Charley needs is a fling with a non-committal, irresistible, nomadic musician…. right?Hilarious, witty, and teeming with heart, ANYWHERE WITH YOU is the perfect escape for anyone who believes that sometimes, the best destinations are the ones you never planned
Deborah Jiang-Stein is a multifaceted professional. Deborah spans the vast spectrum from speaking in prisons to serving on the Minnesota Opera Board, to bringing theater, opera and other arts into prisons. A multiracial woman, she exemplifies the essence of bridging contrasting worlds. Deborah symbolizes the human quest to unearth our core identities.
A deeply personal and inspiring memoir recounting one woman’s struggles—beginning with her birth in prison—to find self-acceptance
Prison Baby is a revised and substantially expanded version of Deborah Jiang Stein’s self-published memoir, Even Tough Girls Wear Tutus. Even at twelve years old, Deborah, the adopted daughter of a progressive Jewish couple in Seattle, felt like an outsider. Her mixed Asian features set her apart from her white, well-intentioned parents who evaded questions about her past. But when she discovered a letter revealing the truth of her prison birth to a heroin-addicted mother—and that she spent the first year of life in prison—Deborah spiraled into emotional lockdown. For years she turned to drugs, violence, and crime as a way to cope with her grief. Ultimately, Deborah overcame the stigma, shame, and secrecy of her birth, and found peace by helping others—proving that redemption and acceptance are possible even from the darkest corners.
Matt Goldman is a New York Times Bestselling author and Emmy Award winning television writer. He has been nominated for the Shamus Award and Nero Award.​Matt's television writing credits include Seinfeld, Ellen, The New Adventures of Old Christine, and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.​Matt lives in Minneapolis with his wife, two dogs, and two cats.​
Nils Shapiro embarks on an international quest to avenge his wife’s murder in this gripping, emotionally charged thriller from New York Times bestselling and Emmy Award-winning author Matt Goldman.​“Irreverent and insightful, private detective Nils Shapiro is sure to become a fan favorite” –HARLAN COBEN, New York Timesbestselling author​“I want more of Nils Shapiro” –LEE CHILD, New York Times bestselling author​“Taut, grimly humorous . . . Perfect reading for an airplane, foreign hotel, or anywhere else you have a few hours to enliven”, Kirkus Reviews​"A somewhat dark, often humorous, and entertaining escapist read" --Booklist​​"...a dark premise grows even more grim as the story progresses, but somehow Nils’ plucky openness makes for an accessible entry point to his vigilante justice." MinnPost​​​​A page-turning detective novel written in Matt Goldman’s unique, sharp style. The long-awaited return of beloved private eye Nils Shapiro is perfect for fans of Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, and Harlan Coben.
