by Debbie Burke

Whitefish park and historic train station before Farmers Market

Every Tuesday afternoon in summer, the park across the street from the historic Whitefish (Montana) train station becomes a hive of activity as the weekly Farmers Market sets up. The tree-shaded grass park occupies an entire city block in the resort town. The perimeter fills quickly with food trucks and vendors setting up stalls to sell produce, artwork, handcrafted goods, and…books by local authors.

Shayla Paradeis, the energetic new president of the Authors of the Flathead, came up with the terrific fresh idea of connecting with the community via a stand at the Farmers Market. We introduce people interested in writing to our weekly meetings and invite them to the annual conference. Plus, we members can showcase our books for sale.

The past few Tuesdays, Shayla, Sue Purvis, and I display our books for hundreds of tourists and locals who stroll by, munching on corn dogs, huckleberry pastries, and Flathead cherries. Kids run around playing games and petting friendly dogs while a local musician sings classic rock hits. The atmosphere is carefree and cheerful despite a light haze of wildfire smoke that turns the sun orange.

We chat with visitors from around the US along with other countries. Thanks to Zoom, our meetings are open to interested writers from anywhere in the world.

You quickly learn to spot avid readers. They stop on the grassy walkway to stare at our book displays. Sometimes they hang back for a moment, scanning. Their gaze may home in on Shayla’s eco-spiritual journey of walking across the country five times; or Sue’s memoir of training a search dog to find the lost and herself; or my mystery-thriller series set in Montana. Then they beeline to a certain book, pick it up, and start asking questions.

Their reactions show how important a good eye-catching cover is. 

This past Tuesday, we hit the trifecta with one delightful family of enthusiastic readers who bought books from all three of us.

Tourists often want souvenirs of their Montana vacation and books are a good memento to read on the plane. Travelers without extra room in their suitcases picked up bookmarks, saying they’d buy the ebook instead.

A pleasant surprise: we enjoyed conversations with several pre-teen boys and their parents. That demographic isn’t known for being big readers, but these young guys talked with animation about stories, videos, and games they found exciting and interesting. One seemed especially interested in my thriller, Instrument of the Devil, about a terrorist who targets the electric grid. About a half hour later, his dad returned alone and bought the book as a surprise for his son. Sweet!

The highlight of the evening came from two girls, about 10 or 11, who are best friends and share a love of books. Accompanied by one girl’s parents, they stopped and talked with me for quite a while. I asked them what they liked to read. The dark-haired one said, “True crime!” She’d just finished a bio of Lizzie Borden and didn’t believe Lizzie was the killer. Wow!

When I was that age, I found children’s stories boring and always hung out in the adult  section of the library. These young readers were kindred souls.

We talked about crime stories in general. The blond one asked what my books were about and showed interest in Deep Fake Double Down, where the villain uses deep fake video to create false evidence against an innocent woman. They thanked me for talking with them, wandered down the aisles, but returned several times to ask more questions.

Finally, the blond came back by herself and wanted to buy Deep Fake Double Down. I asked her if she’d like me to sign it. She practically wiggled with excitement and told me her name is “Paige.”

I’m always surprised but humbled and honored when people react as though my signature is a big deal.

Then Paige paid and additionally handed me a one-dollar bill. She said, “This is a tip.”

I about busted out crying.

Through the lump in my throat, I told her that wasn’t necessary, but she insisted.

If I never sell another book, that experience is payment enough. Thank you, Paige.

Reading and writing are all about connections between people. Nothing can match a face-to-face, heart-to-heart relationship between an author and a reader.

Will I be back to meet more readers at the Whitefish Farmers Market next Tuesday?

You betcha.