Tyler Tichelaar and Gretchen Preston at Art on the Lake 2013 in Curtis Michigan

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Tyler Tichelaar and Gretchen Preston at Art on the Lake

Tyler Tichelaar and Gretchen Preston at Art on the Lake


Two popular U.P. Authors were  part of this year’s Art on the Lake event at the Erickson Center in Curtis on Saturday, September 1.
Gretchen Preston, author of the endearing Valley Cats series of children’s books, and Tyler R. Tichelaar, Upper Michigan’s most prolific historical novelist, attended Art on the Lake for the second time this year. In previous years, such U.P. authors as Jerry Harju and Lon and Lynn Emerick have attended the event.
Preston said she was excited to be part of Art on the Lake this year. “I love to travel around the Upper Peninsula to meet readers, and I’m especially excited to meet children and bring the Valley Cats to their attention. Kids need characters they can relate to, and my cats Boonie and River, just like kids, are adventurers right here in our U.P. backyard.” Preston is the author of Valley Cats: The Adventures of Boonie and River and its sequel More Valley Cats: Fun, Games and New Friends. The characters, Boonie and River, will also be making an appearance, and Preston will be giving out free character trading cards with every book purchase.
Tichelaar, who is president of the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (www.uppaa.org), believes it’s important for authors to meet the public outside the usual bookstores. “U.P. literature is about the U.P. and its people and we want to bring it to those people, letting them know it’s relevant to their lives and exploring through books the ways that living here matters to them.” Tichelaar has penned numerous historical novels set in Upper Michigan, including The Marquette Trilogy and Spirit of the North: a paranormal romance, as well as My Marquette, a combined history of Marquette and personal memoir.
Preston and Tichelaar have participated in numerous events individually and together, including the Outback Art Fair and TV 6 Christmas Craft Shows in Marquette, the U.P. Book Tour 2011, and book signings throughout Upper and Lower Michigan from Ontonagon to St. Ignace, and from Traverse City to Detroit.
For more information on Art on the Lake, visit www.EricksonCenter.org. Additional information on Preston and Tichelaar can be found at their respective websites, www.PrestonHillPress.com and www.MarquetteFiction.com.

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