Harbor Books plans summer author series

Standing on its long tradition of supporting local authors, Hoquiam bookstore Harbor Books plans to host three author events at its Simpson Avenue location this summer.

Novelists Brian Anderson and Shaun Anthony McMichael, along with fisher poet Patrick Dixon, will read from their works, participate in question and answer sessions and sign copies of their books.

Ocean Shores resident Brian Anderson will debut his new novel, Death’s Honesty, the fourth book in the Lyle Dahms Mysteries, on Sunday, July 13 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Anderson is originally from Minnesota where he has set the Lyle Dahms Mysteries.

According to his Amazon bio, the Dahms novels spring from Anderson’s lifelong love of mystery fiction, especially the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, as well as more contemporary masters like Robert B. Parker and G. M. Ford.

Anderson is a three-time finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association mystery and suspense contest, and his debut novel, The Shiver in Her Eyes, was a finalist in their Nancy Pearl Contest for published fiction. Anderson has also participated in the Ocean Shores Public Library’s Local Authors Fair.

Award-winning fisher poet Patrick Dixon will appear on Sunday, Aug. 3, from 1 to 2:30 p.m., and will present his first full-length collection of poetry, Mending Holes.

Dixon is a writer/photographer retired from careers as an educator and commercial fisherman. A member of the Board of Directors of the Olympia Poetry Network, he has been published in several literary journals. Dixon is a past poetry editor of National Fisherman magazine’s quarterly, North Pacific Focus and is a member of the FisherPoets Gathering organizing committee. Dixon currently resides in Olympia.

Debut author Shaun Anthony McMichael will present Whistle Punk Falls, a powerful coming-of-age story set during the psychological and economic collapse of 2009 Aberdeen, on Sunday Aug. 24, from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

“Whistle Punk Falls is about the bonds that stretch, break, and rebuild us,” said McMichael. “It’s about the ways people survive when the system fails — and the beauty that can still rise from ruin.”

McMichael is a writer, educator, and mental health advocate based in Seattle. He has taught English as a second language and creative writing to diverse populations for over 15 years.

Harbor Books has hosted several author events so far this year including Robert L. Slater, Brian Kimmel, John C. Hughes and Edward Eichtle Jr., Carol Sunde, and Harbor Books founders Ruth and Greg Zschomler. The store also hosts writers groups, book clubs, workshops and holds writing contests.