BLOGS

I distribute my “Gangster” BLOG every 3-4 weeks. Go to “CONTACT ME” and send a note requesting to be added to the e-distribution list.

  • 2024- 03-15 Blog #65 English Valleys (SE Iowa) —Book Tour; Mother’s Day 2024: “The Life of Mrs. Dr. Alexander Wiltse”; Back Story: Dr. C. C. Sharp (Obituary); Website-Update
  • 2023-06-06 Blog #62 Hope to see you at the fair!; La Cava, an Italian Mafia Family; Delhi, Iowa (where book 2 began); Downtown Thursday, Owatonna, MN
  • 2023-03-30 – Blog #61 Two Novels by Comparison (Sales); 1st Annual Wapsie Writing Contest (Judging Phase); Keynote Speaker 2023 Wapsie Honor Society; For the Love of Books (Podcast)
  • 2022-12-24 – Blog #60 Christmas Fan Letter (to YOU); The Rigors of a Marriage (behind the scenes); Book Three—Gangster Series (sign up to be a Beta Reader)
  • 2022-11-25 – Blog #59 Twin Cities Book Launch—The Black Bag of Dr. Wiltse; 12 Months/45 Book Events (& a Book Award!); The Tragic Death of Dr. Alexander Wiltse (Christmas 1876); This ‘n That
  • 2022-08-29 – Blog #58 Birthday Blessing/12 Years an Author; “A memoir makes a great Christmas gift; August NE Iowa Book Tour – Highlights; Bouchercon 2022 — Land of 10,000 Crimes
  • 2022-07-11 – Blog #57 Limited Offer: Commemorative Mug & Book; Bouchercon 2022 — World Mystery Convention — Mpls, Sept. 8-11; June NE Iowa Spring Book Tour #2 
  • 2022-05-26 – Blog #56  NE Iowa Spring Book Tour #1 (April); (2) New Collections; “The John Bartels Family of 1889”; NE Iowa Spring Book Tour #2 (June)
  • 2022-03-15 – Blog #55: 2022 Spring NE Iowa Book Tour, Apr. 5-9; Sharing the True Stories I’ve Captured (schools); Sumner, Iowa Sesquicentennial, IA, Jun. 12 (Cruising Event)
  • 2022-01-02 – Blog #54: DECADES, Oelwein, IA—Closing, December 1; Iowa Authors McCann and Passick at Denver Public Library; Book Reviews Welcomed: Amazon, Goodreads; 3 New Links to Books About Northeast Iowa
  • 2021-11-09 – Blog #53: The Black Bag of Dr. Wiltse (Pre-orders); Author Talk, Parkview Assisted Living, Sat., Fairbank, Iowa, Dec. 4, 6 pm; (Sample) The Black Bag of Dr. Wiltse (2021)
  • 2021-09-11- Blog #51: 10th Annual Austin ArtWorks Festival, Aug. 26-28; Help Launch: The Black Bag of Dr. Wiltse; Children’s Workshop: “Journaling”
  • 2021-06-25- Blog #50: QCTV Cooking Show—May 21 (link); Fairbank Islander Newspaper (link); Pre-order your copy of The Black Bag of Dr. Wiltse, Fairbank Days, Jun 24-26, or at www.BettyBrandtPassick.com
  • 2021-04-22- Blog #49: 4 (New) Book Events, WORKSHOP—GRADES 5-7: “Journaling”
  • 2020-02-16- Blog #48 Webpage: Author Panelist:  Deep Valley Book Festival, Cabin Fever Edition (Virtual), Mar. 6-7; Closing Chapter to an Old Interview—Larry Flynt (1943-2021)
  • 2020-11-27- Blog #47: As though We Were at Dinner Without An Audience, Oct. 27; Jane’s Book Club via Zoom, Nov. 16; “Where Women Talk,” Feb. 2; Fairbank Islander Newspaper”; Two Books in 2020; Another Clue (Book #4): 2nd in the Trilogy
  • 2020-10-10 – Blog #46: Metropolitan State Univ. Alumni Author Event, October 27, 6-7:30 pm, Panel of 3 Award-winning Alumni Authors, “The journey that led to writing your most recent book of fiction”; November 2020 Sterling Lord Festival Zoom interview; More Clues: Sequel (Book #4); (Anthology) “Black and White, Divorce at Christmas”(link)
  • 2020-08-22 – Blog #45: Worldwide Book Exchange; Follow me on Facebook & Fairbank Islander Newspaper; Does Real Life Show up in Books?; (Anthology) “Black and White, Divorce at Christmas” (link)
  • 2020-07-21 – Blog #44: Oct. 24th WOW Writers’ Conference—CANCELLED; Audible Book Recording, Gangster in Our Midst (finally); Reminds Me of an Old Worm Movie
  • 2020-06-12 – Blog #43: WOW Writers’ Conference, Minnetonka, MN, Sat., Oct. 24; “The Train” — WINK Magazine, May 2020; “Black and White, Divorce at Christmas,” Anthology: Thoughts and Prayers for Those Experiencing Loss, by Kathryn Holmes; The Farewell (the rest of the story)
  • 2020-05-13 – Blog #42: After the Coronavirus, will Book Events Ever be the Same Again?; Gangster in Our Midst — The Sequel; I Only Wish I Knew Their Names (those who fought in the Great War, plus survived Spanish Influenza 1918)
  • 2020-04-10 – Blog #41: Hoping there’s an end in sight to the coronavirus lockdown; Dr. Lorain W. Ward and the Tuberculosis Epidemic in America (1860-1940); Press Release
  • 2020-03-26 – Blog #40: Coronavirus Stay-at-Home Lockdown; A Little Unfinished Business (Award Winning Author, Gloria Van Demmeltraadt); Not a Good Time in America to be Named Adolph (A.H. Nieman, Fairbank State Bank, President)
  • 2020-03-14 – Blog #39: Coronavirus Effect; DSM Book Festival, Sat., Mar. 28 (CANCELLED due to coronavirus); June Iowa Book Tour; Author Workshop: “Writing a Memoir” Feb. 29 (update); The Man Who Found a Way to Crossover (Charles Grantham)
  • 2020–2-20 – Blog #38.pub: Confirmed (new) Book Events/Festivals (4); Book (new) Club Read (1); Prohibition Divided America, too (Rev Alfred “Alf” Qualiffe Van Benschoten, pastor Fairbank Baptist church, 1924-1929)
  • 2020-02-04 – Blog #37: A fun, entertaining read (testimonial); Author Workshop: “Writing a Memoir”— Feb. 29, Oakdale, MN; This & That (new book club read; 30th Annual Midwest Book Awards—June 7); When Someone Dies, a Book of History is Lost
  • 2020-01-15 – Blog #36: Teaching: “Writing a Memoir” (2 workshops); Original Culture Wars Began in the 1920s
  • 2019-12-24 – Blog #35: WMT Mid Morning Show with Justin Roberts, iHeart RADIO—Interview, Dec. 17; Gangster in Our Midst—the Sequel; A Farmer and a Gangster—Christmas 1931
  • 2019-12-04 – Blog #34: 2019 Notable 100 Indie Book Award; Memorial to Fairbank, Iowa historian, Howard Durham (1941-2019); The Day America Turned Against Al Capone
  • 2019-11-09 – Blog #33: A ‘shout-out’ to Women of Words (WOW) & Book Award; When Ill-considered Legislation Creates Powerful Gangs
  • 2019-10-26 – Blog #32: A pioneer doctor gets left out of Strawberry Point, Iowa history (Dr. Alexander A. Wiltse, 1822-1876); “Insiders” helped take down Chicago Kingpin, Al Capone
  • 2019-10-06 – Blog #31: “Most of all, you made them laugh!”— WOW Mystery Writers’ Panel, Sept. 28; Digging for the story…(determining if Louie La Cava was part of Capone’s inner circle)
  • 2019-9-20 – Blog #30: Scholarships Available: WOW Writers’ Conference, Sept. 28th; Back by popular demand: “A Ray of Hope: Iowa’s Oakdale Sanitorium” (Sept. 24); Strawberry Point, Iowa Settlers—Another Great Immigrant Story (“Wiltse Families in America”)
  • 2019-09-04 – Blog #29: Joint St. Paul Police-Book Event (Oct. 17th); The “Wiltse Family of Strawberry Point” (Oct. 20th); Attn. Teachers: “Writing for the joy of it”; The Murder of Phoebe Jane Vigoletti, Oelwein, Iowa, 1926
  • 2019-08-17 – Blog #28: For the Mystery Writers of America | Midwest Chapter Newsletter Feature (When did you start introducing yourself as a writer?); “Gangsters were a topic of conversation in our home over dinner”
  • 2019-08-02 – Blog #27: Mason City Author Event Southbridge Mall, Mason City, IA—Saturday, Aug. 3; Lake Country Booksellers White Bear, MN—Friday, Aug. 9; New Vendor: Johnson County Historical Society, Coralville, IA; Two Brothers Passing in the Night (Richard Hart & Al Capone)
  • 2019-7-18 – Blog #26: WOW Writers’ Conference, Minnetonka, MN, Sept. 28th; Gangsters catapulted to infamy the Tommy gun as the weapon of choice
  • 2019-07-04 – Blog #25: Sisters in Crime, Iowa; Amazon Review: James Howard Huonder, White Bear Lake, MN; Shout Out: Author Frank Weber, Anoka, MN; One married a Cop—the other, a Gangster
  • 2019-06-20 – Blog #24: WINK, Issue 8, “The Duck Blind”; IHeartRadio Interview; Shout Out: Robin Barefield, Kodiak Island, AK; What happens to a gangster after he disappears from newspaper headlines?
  • 2019-06-11 – Blog #23: Lillie News articles, by Solomon Gustavo; My Growing Community of Authors (Women of Words); Victor would likely have been institutionalized
  • 2019-05-22 – Blog #22: The Good Die Young [Leo Beierschmitt & Bob Maricle]; Those Who Raise Families Amidst War
  • 2019-05-08 – Blog #21: Gangster in our Midst—Now available at Walmart; Wanted! 10 People to Write a Book Review; Neither rain, nor snow, nor (flooding) [Burlington, Iowa author talks]
  • 2019-04-19 – Blog #20: Interview with Twin Cities Atty. Julie Finch, Apr. 4, 2019 (“Legal Bits for Business” podcast); La Cava Likely Brought a Little Excitement (Lehmkuhl Hardware)
  • 2019-04-05 – Blog #19: Book Club (study guide now available); Meet the Model T, “Maggie”
  • 2019-03-06 – Blog #18: RIP, Dear Verlie; “Oakdale Sanitorium: A Ray of Hope”, Iowa City, Iowa (the story of Dr. Edwin Wiltse)
  • 2019-02-13 – Blog #17: More about the “Yellow Paint” story (Rev. August Bartels, ALC at Maxfield Church, Denver, Iowa); The real Bill Hahn, Fairbank town marshal, 1916-1949
  • 2019-01-29 – Blog #16: The story behind the yellow paint (Anti-German Sentiment in Iowa During World War I)
  • 2018-12-29 – Blog #15: Recap of 2017-2018; What does this story say about a town? (fetus pulled from the river)
  • 2018-12-05 – Blog #14: New Milestone: Only one percent of Authors reach; Two Iowa Communities That Have Much in Common (the story of Charlie Gioe, Ottumwa, Iowa)
  • 2018-11-12 – Blog #13: Two Town Stalwarts (Bob Maricle, Arnola Siggelkow); Chicago Police Commissioner Michael Hughes’ Career Ended in Political Controversy
  • 2018-10-25 – Blog #12: Book Your Christmas Reading—Now; Capone was Known to Kill for this (Templeton Rye Distillery, Templeton, Iowa)
  • 2018-10-10 – Blog #11: (2) Radio Interviews with John Busbee, KFMG 98.9 FM CULTURE BUZZ, and Jeff Stein, KXEL-1540, Waterloo, Iowa; Twin Cities Book Festival
  • 2018-9-22 – Blog #10: Who Thinks to Call a State Senator for this (Craig Johnson, Iowa State Republican for District 32); Only Three People Raised Their Hands (Marion County Historic Society, Knoxville, Iowa)
  • 2018-09-12 – Blog #9: Q & A (why the car ride to Chicago?); Christmas at the Depot, Independence, Iowa
  • 2018-08-23 – Blog #8: Interview, Spencer Daily News; “Indian Summer” — September (St. Paul, Des Moines & Knoxville)
  • 2018-08-08 – Blog #7: Beaverdale Books, “Local Author Fair,” Des Moines, Iowa; There’s always a story behind everything (Daniel Wetherell, Director, General N.B. Baker Library in Sutherland, Iowa)
  • 2018-07-20 – Blog #6: “The Lonely Tragedy in Marion County,” The deaths of two Keefer Sisters from Knoxville, Iowa
  • 2018-07-05 – Blog #5: : Q & A (fact v. fiction); I Envisioned a Boxing Match (my return to Fairbank for “Island Days”)
  • 2018-06-18 – Blog #4: What Nobody Explained to Me (not really); Redbery Books, Cable, WI
  • 2018-06-04 – Blog #3: Events at Gangster Hideouts are Pure Fun; Historical Societies & Libraries: Preserving Fairbank’s place in Iowa history; Fact V. Fiction (Gangster In Our Midst)
  • 2018-05-11 – Blog #1: Sympathy to Family of Lo-E Miller; Going Global; First Book Event in WI