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Welcome to the Mt. Sneffels Press home page. Check out our Mt. Sneffels Press catalog to see our current offerings. Also see our Extended Catalog, listing non-MSP authors for whom we do web fulfillment. You can order from our catalogs using PayPal, a highly secure way to accept your credit card. To learn more about Mt. Sneffels Press, read our About page. To contact us, see our Contact page. You can also subscribe to this blog via e-mail.

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Author and close personal friend Randy Cassingham has joined our list of Extended Authors with two compilations from his This is True weekly newsletters. Volume 5 in the series is “Cost of Being Poor Rising.” Volume 6 is “Platform Shoes Claim Another Life.”
 
Randy Cassingham has a university degree in journalism, but he could never quite deal with the concept of intruding on people in disasters to ask, “How do you feel about this?” Nor could he ever keep a straight face when presented with outrageously silly situations that people tend to get themselves into that might make it into the “news.” So, not counting brief stings as a writer and photographer on his school paper (“It doesn’t count; it was a long time ago”), he has never been a reporter. Instead, he drove an ambulance in northern California (keeping a straight face most of the time, and since has been a search and rescue sheriff’s deputy, commercial photographer, writer, editor, publisher, software engineer, consultant, curmudgeon, and staff jester for various projects and companies. He is happily non-single and lives in Ridgway, Colorado. His personal website has more details.

Our Extended Authors

Greta Hemstrom, author of Slates, Chalk, & Inkwells, has joined our list of Extended Authors.
 
Greta writes about herself:
 
I grew up on a farm and have been a farm/ranch wife most of my married life. After the last of our five children left home, I acquired a Liberal Arts Degree at Mesa State in Grand Junction, Colorado. My degree included many studies in Creative Writing and Literature. I have been writing for nearly thirty years, and finally published my first book in 2008, which is titled Slates, Chalk, & Inkwells, A History of Schools in Colorado’s Uncompahgre Valley.
 
The inspiration for this book came about when I walked into the old 1912, two-room, yellow-brick, Pea Green schoolhouse on nearby California Mesa. The building had been remodeled and contained a convenience store in the east room and a small breakfast/luncheon establishment in the west room. When I walked in, the friendly spirits of the past grabbed me and my heart rate went up; I had just stepped back into the golden era of the old country school. I was hooked, and immediately began a search for the rural schools in the Uncompahgre Valley.
 
In the beginning, I did not realize how many, many schools were in session back then; I was totally surprised at how many were still standing and in use as dwellings or otherwise. What a joy the research became and what lovely people I met as I dug deeply for rural school information!
 
My husband and I retired from the farm almost twenty years ago. We now live on forty acres, where the pinon and jumipers grow and where the critters come to visit us in our high-desert yard on the east side of the Uncompahgre Plateau in Southwest Colorado. Life is good!

Our Extended Authors

Linda Louise Ashley has joined our list of Extended Authors. She is the author of a children’s book, “How Much, Woodchuck?: A Book of Ponderings and Opposites,” which she has extensively illustrated with original watercolor paintings.
 
Linda started her painting career in earnest in the mid-1990s. Soon after taking her first art classes, she found my true passion: watercolor. From then on she has had the opportunity to paint with many fine artists in workshop setting in wonderful locations here in Colorado and California. She always comes away with renewed inspiration and techniques to add to her repertoire.
 
She am fortunate to have a studio behind her home in Montrose, Colorado, and it is there she offers workshops in “watercolor basics” and several ongoing classes. Some of her Read more…

Our Extended Authors

Hey, all Broom lovers! Give me a hand!

Do you love the Flying Broomstick books? Would you like to show something to a friend? Then click on the image to open a pdf of a flyer you can print and hand out. Help me spread the word! Together we’ll soon reach the tipping point where word of mouth spreads on its own.

People new to the broom phenomenon are signing up for the free e-mail chapter-a-week for the first Broom book, Genesis. And those who buy the hardcopy books rave about it. I love the fan mail—keep it coming! What I’m hearing is that you’re finding the books funny and enjoyable. I’ve been told they’re so realistic that if someone saw me flying one for real, they wouldn’t bat an eye.

But those free chapters each week only cover the first book. To enjoy the second, you’ll either have to order the hard copy or else read it on Kindle. And the third book is now available—the best yet. Order your copy today!

Many have said they don’t have the time to sit with a book, but they enjoy their free chapter a week. That’s fine! But there are 117 chapters, so it’ll take over two years. Why not order the hardcopy and slip it in your briefcase. Then you can read a chapter here and there at your convenience. Or, of course, there’s Kindle. Books 1 and 2 are on Kindle, and Book 3 will be soon.

How do I keep this operation afloat? By selling hardcopy books, of course! So give me a hand and order copies for yourself and your friends. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys the books, I’ll bet your friends will too.

American Flying Broomstick

The long-awaited third book in the Story of the Great American Flying Broomstick series is here. Entitled FOG at the Crossroads, it tells the amazing story of the loss and recovery of the Holy Grail.

The official launch date is Saturday, October 3rd at the Regional Mensa Convention in Reno, Nevada. I’ve been invited to give a 90-minute talk about flying broomsticks, similar to what I presented at the 2008 Mensa National Convention in Denver. But you can order the book today.

Here’s the blurb:

“Book 3 in the American Flying Broomstick series starts with a bombshell. The tiny Fraternal Order of the Grail (FOG), the group that has safeguarded the Holy Grail for two millennia, has misplaced it. The Keeper, Reggie Baker, moved the Grail to its new secret repository and then died while walking his dog—before he could tell the other brethren where he’d put it! The loss causes a rift between powerful American brother Hal Bender and the English branch centered in London, and Dave is caught in the middle. Dave makes haste to London to organize FOG’s new young novices to find the Holy Grail—by using flying broomsticks, of course. But the media is full of rumors that FOG will take back the Power that enables broomsticks to fly. And the sinister Plasma Vortex organization is after Dave’s wand so they can use its power for extortion and general mayhem. FOG at the Crossroads records Dave’s high adventure in the American West and in Southern England. Come along for the wild ride!”

Check it out and order today. See our catalog for order information.

American Flying Broomstick

Here’s a comment from Pam:

My mom bought the first two Great American Broomsticks as a gift for me at [ARRL Amateur Radio] Field Day. I started reading #1 Sat night and had to be very firm with myself to go to bed so I could get back to the mesa the next morning. I finished up this afternoon (Mon.) I love the first person style and am trying to decide whether to save book two for a day or two so I can savor book one longer—or if I just won’t sleep tonight!

I’ll be watching for #3. Thanks for writing them and thanks to my mom for being sharp enough to snag them for me.

Thanks for the kind words, Pam. And Broom 3 is now ready for order!

American Flying Broomstick, Reader Comments

I had a blast at last year’s Mensa national convention in Denver, selling every copy of Broom 1 and Broom 2 that I had with me. And I’m looking forward to speaking by invitation at the Mensa Regional Convention in Reno on October 3rd. About flying broomsticks of course!

But I never thought I could become a member.

I told those who urged me to take the test that I didn’t see Read more…

American Flying Broomstick, Mt. Sneffels Press

The Ridgway Railroad Museum’s book, Narrow Gauge Railroading in the San Juan Triangle: The Rio Grande Southern, the Ouray Branch of the D&RG and Otto Mears’ Silverton RR, is earning plaudits from the magazines that follow narrow-gauge railroading.

From the NG&SL Gazette Review, Sept/Oct 2009:

This book describes three of the 3-foot gauge railroads that once ran in the Silverton, Ouray, and Ridgway areas of Colorado. There are stories, short histories of the area described, maps and black and white photos. These include “Ridgway Street Names,” “The Legacy of Robert M. Ridgway,” “The RGS Through Telegrams,” “Unusual Spikes on the RGS,” and an item about a runaway RGS flatcar. The book also describes the Ridgway Railroad Museum, and the narrow gauge equipment located there. Included are D&RGW Boxcar #3130, Stock Car #5574, and Drop Bottom Gondola #702. Articles also describe the restoration of Caboose #0575, Goose #4 and the re-creation of Motor #1. All great reading!

From the Colorado Railroad Journal, Sept 2009:

The 110-page volume contains 40 carefully researched short articles by seven museum members, along with 60 photographs, maps and drawings. The articles contain information available nowhere else. Some of the topics covered include history of each of the museum’s railcars, snow fighting on the narrow gauge, life working for the railroad, locations along the featured routes, the Corkscrew Gulch turntable, Ouray depot, water tanks on the narrow gauge, Ouray to Ironton by rail, the Ramona townsite affair, dispatcher’s train sheets, and many more.

Check out the book in our catalog.

Mt. Sneffels Press, Railroad, Reader Comments

At last! It’s here! The third book in the series, The Story of the Great American Flying Broomstick, Book 3: FOG at the Crossroads, is just about here. I received the proof from the printer last week. Everything is as it should be. And the print run should be here this week or next. As soon as it is, I’ll put a “Buy Now” button in the catalog.

Here’s the blurb for the new book:

Book 3 in the American Flying Broomstick series starts with a bombshell. The tiny Fraternal Order of the Grail (FOG), the group that has safeguarded the Holy Grail for two millennia, has misplaced it. The Keeper, Reggie Baker, moved the Grail to its new secret repository and then died while walking his dog—before he could tell the other brethren where he’d put it! The loss causes a rift between powerful American brother Hal Bender and the English branch centered in London, and Dave is caught in the middle. Dave makes haste to London to organize FOG’s new young novices to find the Holy Grail—by using flying broomsticks, of course. But the media is full of rumors that FOG will take back the Power that enables broomsticks to fly. And the sinister Plasma Vortex organization is after Dave’s wand so they can use its power for extortion and general mayhem. FOG at the Crossroads records Dave’s high adventure in the American West and in Southern England. Come along for the wild ride!

So watch this space for availability!

The official launch will be at the Regional Mensa Convention in Reno, NV, in early October, but unofficial availability starts as soon as I receive the print run.

American Flying Broomstick, Mt. Sneffels Press

For those following the Ridgway Railroad Museum, here’s a blurb of interest if you happen to be in the area this September 12th. The book has been quite the hit—the museum asked for a reprint because they’re selling them so fast! You can check out their book and order from us by clicking on this link to our catalog. The book is available from us for $19.95 plus S&H. If your shipping address is in Colorado, there is a nominal sales tax.

Mt. Sneffels Press