Barb Solberg
Barb formerly taught at Magic City Campus and was a writing professor at Minot State University. She published a textbook with Harcourt College Publishers, was a freelance writer for the Minot Daily News in the 1980s and 1990s and has had articles published in North Dakota Horizon Magazine. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, and currently serves on the North Dakota Humanities Council Board of Directors.
In her new book, Minot author Barb Solberg navigates the twists and turns of a family saga that intersects homesteading in Mountrail County with the lesser-known history of Norway in World War II. What We Leave Behind is told from the perspective of a Norwegian homesteader wife and three of her daughters. This historical fiction is based on the true story of Solberg’s grandmother and aunts, with a cast of other real-life characters.
Kirstie Marx
Kirstie is an energetic tennis pro, author, and homeschooling mum of 15 years. Born in England, Kirstie moved to Denmark at eight and quickly fell in love with the Danish way of life. She moved to the United States in 1993 to pursue a professional tennis career until God called her to an even more grand adventure as His child. She has pursued this calling by ministering to special needs children through tennis, sharing her gifts with fellow homeschool moms, and pouring into the lives of her husband and two daughters. She currently lives in Cary, North Carolina, with her family and faithful Labrador/Great Dane mix, Steeler.
Homeschooling mum Kirstie Marx has spun a charming tale based on growing up in Denmark. Families will delight in reading about the quaint The Blessing Nisser, a magical tale of a Danish family’s Christmas adventure with two mythical creatures, which encourages children of all ages to actively serve others. The ideas make implementing service quick and easy for parents who want to keep Christmas simple, yet purposeful. Put all together, this old-world take on the greatest Love of all is the perfect addition to your Christmas holiday traditions!
Lindsey Undlin
Lindsey started writing when she was in fifth grade and self-published her first book at age thirteen. At fourteen, she was writing the second book in the series along with playing basketball, softball, and volleyball. It was through being part of a team and general school life that inspired her to create the Swallowsville series. She lives in Mohall, North Dakota with her family and plans on continuing her writing career with more books in this series and two spin-off series which should be complete by the time she goes to college.
Lindsey attends book festivals across the U.S. e.g., the Southern Festival of Books (Nashville, Tennessee), The Tucson Festival of Books (Tucson, Arizona), the Printers Row Lit Fest (Chicago, Illinois), and many more to come. Lindsey was a finalist for the Next-Gen Indie Book Awards – the largest international awards program for Indie authors and independent publishers.
Rory Foresman
Throughout his career, Rory has had the knack for bringing stories to life. Born in South Dakota, he is known as an amateur historian in the Black Hills; a tour bus guide, a handyman, an outdoor enthusiast, and an old-car guy. However, as a tour guide, he might be best known for his storytelling. Rory has refined his stories through the years while performing as Santa for organizations and elementary schools.
He has written six children’s books including the Barefoot Monster book, three Aify and Elfie books, and The Treasure of Amidon book. All are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other booksellers.
Ben Hylden
Ben is from Park River, North Dakota where he grew up on a dairy farm. At the age of 16, he was in a near-death car accident, which brought him on an unforgettable journey of faith and recovery. Seven years later, he released his book, Finding Faith in the Field, to share the miracles, events, and experiences that changed his life and inspired him to write a book; and pursue a career as a public speaker. Recently, he also founded a Christian clothing brand called Purified and a health company named Purified Health.
Heidi Herman
Born in the United States, Heidi cherishes the Icelandic heritage passed down from her mother. Heidi loves to travel, sharing Icelandic culture and her books. When she’s not on the go, she is usually found cooking something up in the kitchen.
Heidi spent more than thirty years in the telecommunications industry, becoming one of the most skilled cost management consultants in the country. Her career included specialties in sales, systems installation, training, and contract negotiation, giving her a broad understanding of business which she later applied to entrepreneurship, first in a successful multi-location restaurant and later in a boutique publishing company. She had authored seven books in five genres, the most recent being a motivational book On With the Butter! Spread More Living onto Everyday Life. Today, she continues to write between time spent on motivational speaking, travel, and a variety of hobbies.
Tracy Will
He is the owner of Will Publishing and lives in Waunakee, Wisconsin. His company has published three children’s picture books related to Icelandic culture and history. Guðríður´s Saga was published for Icelandic Roots in Fargo, North Dakota and was the second book published by Tracy Will and his company. Will Publishing also published The Yule Boys which was written by Bryndís Víglundsdóttir and illustrated by Gay Strandemo, based on the Icelandic sagas. It is a lively tale of the thirteen Jolasveinar or Yule Boys that visit every Yuletide season, spreading mirth and mischief among Icelandic families.
Frank F. Weber
Frank F. Weber is a forensic psychologist specializing in homicide, sexual assault and domestic abuse cases. He uses his unique understanding of how predators think, knowledge of victim trauma and expert testimony in writing his true crime thrillers. He has profiled cold-case homicides and narrated an investigative show on Oxygen. He has been the recipient of the President’s Award from the Minnesota Correctional Association for his forensic work. His award-winning books include Murder Book (2017), The I-94 Murders (2018), Last Call (2019), Lying Close (2020), Burning Bridges (2021), and Black and Blue (2022).
Olaf Minge
Olaf Minge is a co-author of The Viking Battalion: Norwegian American Ski Troopers in World War II. His grandfather served as a medic with this unit during the war which helped writer, Kyle Ward, add to Olaf’s expertise to the book. This book tells the story of the 99th Infantry Battalion through an anthology of rarely, if ever, previously seen memoirs, journals, letters, and newspaper articles written by or about the Viking soldiers.
William Jackson
William “Jack” Jackson is an American author of ten books and a television documentary. He is best known for his Dakota Mysteries and Oddities series which explores unusual events which occurred in North Dakota. He wrote his first book, North Country Jack and his Almanac, and produced a radio show aired in three states, while living in a log cabin just south of Shevlin, Minnesota. Jackson and his wife, Arlyce Forthun-Jackson, published a bi-weekly newspaper, The Valley Star, from 1993 to 2000 in Velva, North Dakota. In 1999, he published Dakota Mysteries and Oddities, the first in his Mysteries and Oddities series. The series explores mysterious and odd occurrences in the Dakota. During the 2000s he operated the traveling Dakota Mysteries & Oddities Museum, appearing at events across North Dakota including the 125th anniversary celebrations of North Dakota towns. Jackson published his tenth book, Dakota Mysteries & Oddities 2022 edition, in late 2021.
William Jackson was born in Murphysboro, Illinois. Jackson studied at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin. In the early 1970s, Jackson purchased land and built three log cabins in northern Minnesota as part of the Back-to-the-Land movement. Jackson currently lives in Dickinson, North Dakota.
Barbara Schutte
In 2021, Barbara and her sisters published a book called Heartfelt Greetings from Nazi-Occupied Norway. It may be the only written experience from a woman’s perspective during that time period in Norway. It also exemplifies wonderful detail of the lifestyle of the common citizen in Norway during that era. They were able to use some of their Aunt Sophie’s diaries and preserved letters to contribute to the book. This was written during the extra ‘at home’ time they had during the COVID Pandemic in 2019.
Barbara currently lives with her husband in American Falls, Idaho.