News + Tips

Have you ever felt like your alarm clock is a starter’s pistol setting off a marathon sprint? In this hectic world, each day can seem like a never-ending race of deadlines, appointments and to-do lists. Then there are kids to pick up and drop off, emails to answer,...

Dan and Mary Nance of Oskaloosa are celebrating the release of their first children’s book, Greubie and the Cats, which was published by the Write Place this fall. Enlivened by illustrations from local artist Victoria Peterson-Laird, this heartwarming tale of the...

Author Shannon Basinger-Kotz and her 11-year-old son and illustrator, Vinny M.R. Kotz, are flying high after the release of their latest children’s book, Hero of the Black Hills. It’s the third book they’ve published with the Write Place since the summer of 2017, and...

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...