News + Tips

Twenty-three years ago, Pella author Karen Fitzsimmons and her son, Cory, wrote Don’t Look Back—the tale of a little boy who overcomes his fear of walking to school alone. Cory, eight years old at the time, got out his markers and created illustrations complete with...

Our Story: Living Under God’s Umbrella of Care by Erma and Elva Vos of Pella is the latest memoir published by the Write Place. In warm and inviting tones, the Vos sisters describe everything from their birth in August 1935 on a farm near Sully, Iowa, to their...

Get Up, Get Going: Tales of a Country Veterinarian by Dr. A.J. Neumann, D.V.M., and Renae B. Vander Schaaf is a treasure almost 93 years in the making. The captivating memoir—and winner of the 2018 Write Place Book Contest—chronicles the life of “Doc” Neumann from his...

Author Bev Roozeboom of Pella is celebrating the release of A Day in the Life—a powerful book that takes an in-depth look into the lives of families whose children have chronic mental health disorders. “A Day in the Life came out of our family’s journey with our son,...

Author Shannon Basinger-Kotz and her eleven-year-old son and illustrator Vinny M.R. Kotz have a gift for weaving holiday magic. Last Christmas, they published their first book, The Little Lost Nutcracker. This year, they are celebrating the release of their second...

In 2011, the bald eagles of Decorah became an internet sensation when researchers at the Raptor Research Project began live streaming footage from a webcam installed near their nest. Seven years later, millions of viewers around the world still tune in each spring to...

In her latest children’s book—Will You Be My Friend?/Serás tú mi amigo?—Pella author Karen Fitzsimmons has a simple message: While it feels good to have a friend, it feels great to be a friend. “I wanted to get across to young readers what being a true friend is all...

“If you truly love the sport of fishing, you are no longer the one doing the catching,” said author and lifelong fisherman Ben Chiodo. “The fish have bagged you.” In his book Fishing: More Than a Passion—published this fall by the Write Place—Chiodo uses a mix of...

Carol Van Klompenburg, author and retired Write Place owner, and Sarah Purdy, our book editor and publishing consultant, will be featured presenters for an event at the Pella Public Library Meeting Room on September 11 at 7 p.m. The evening kicks off with a short...

Fortunate: The Fabulous, Fantastic Filly, written by Debbie Brady Shellady and illustrated by Victoria Peterson Laird, is the latest children’s book published by the Write Place. It tells the true story of Fortunate, a foal that is born three weeks before she is...