Author Next Door Spotlight: Tricia Frey
Tricia Frey encourages new writers to “sit down and write.”
By Grace Meyer
While there are a lot of dog books out there, this is one of the best. -The BookLife Prize 2021.
Tricia Frey’s memoir River Love: The True Story of a Wayward Sheltie, a Woman, and a Magical Place Called Rivershire, explores redemption, love, and being enough—just as you are. The 249-page novel also carries a powerful message about the life-altering possibilities that occur when one welcomes a rescue pet into their home and heart.
On the Boardman River, just south of Traverse City, lies a place dubbed Rivershire by its residents. Frey came to Rivershire after buying a home that she envisioned as a vacation spot and an investment opportunity for both her and her sister, Sandra. One day in 2006, Frey noticed movement outside her window and discovered a dog standing in her backyard. As soon as they made eye contact through the window, the dog “took off like a shot to the neighboring property.”
The dog, whom Frey named Sheldon, kept coming back to her property where Frey and her sister transformed a shed into a warm shelter for him and fed him daily. The building supplies for the shed took a bit of haggling from Frey and her sister with a store clerk, who was won over by their story of Sheldon. Even with the shed and daily meals, Sheldon remained timid, skittish, and frightened; it took two years before he even let Frey touch him and six more months before he came into her home.
After being Frey’s dog for quite some time, she discovered during a visit to the veterinarian that Sheldon had both an enlarged heart and a microchip.
National Writers Series announces new leadership
New leadership is coming for the Traverse City National Writers Series.
The non-profit was created in 2010 by bestselling author Doug Stanton and his wife Anne.
NWS Announces New Executive Director
The Traverse City National Writers Series is coming under new leadership, with Executive Director Anne Stanton stepping down effective February 1 and Jillian Manning taking the helm as the new executive director for the organization.
National Writers Series Classes Help Students Develop Cooking & Writing Skills
Young people the world over often dream of getting published and two upcoming National Writers Series classes will get them closer to the thrill of seeing their work in print. Jillian and Craig Manning will team up to teach kids, ages 11–18, how to write a children’s book (with an adult class planned for this summer). They’ll also teach young people about writing for a magazine, from crafting the pitch to writing an actual draft.
NWS is also partnering with Great Start and 5toONE to offer an international cooking class with Deanna Cook. The price of admission is Cook’s cookbook: Cooking Class Global Feast (say that three times fast).
National Writers Series: TC journalist turns chance encounter into four-legged love story
Martha Teichner knew she had a story after a trip to the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City.
It wouldn’t be a story for the Traverse City local’s usual job as a correspondent with “CBS Sunday Morning.”
NWS Hosts Activist and Author Albert Woodfox
Political activist and award-winning author Albert Woodfox joins Traverse City’s National Writers Series on Thursday, December 3, beginning at 7 p.m. to discuss his debut biography, “Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement.”
National Writers Series Presents Playwright Larissa FastHorse
The journey has only just begun for indigenous playwright Larissa FastHorse.
National Writers Series Welcomes Bob Giles Nov. 10
At the time of the Journal’s Kent State coverage, Bob Giles had been left to pilot the paper alone, while his executive editor was away on business. His parting words to Giles? “You’re in charge—don’t screw it up!”
Alice Hoffman at Traverse City National Writers Series Oct. 19
What’s the fastest route to female empowerment? If you ask award-winning author Alice Hoffman, it isn’t protest, or even politics; instead, power comes from the pen.
Parallel 45: 10 years of re-imagining story lines
For the past decade, the Parallel 45 Theatre has re-imagined storylines. Parallel 45 and the National Writers Series partnered for “The Thanksgiving Play.”