President’s Letter – Mid May 2025

A Good Spring Day to the Authors of the Flathead Family,

The apples in my orchard are in full bloom and now that blossoms have fallen, it looks like I’ll even have an apricot and peach crop this year, possibly a large one! My first novel, an espionage thriller titled Sword in the Heart and published under my pen name Thomas Craeg, is now distributed in e-book form through Draft2Digital. It’s up on Smashwords, Kobo, Apple, and many other sites. At this time, Amazon is lagging behind and is, I’m sure, missing out on thousands of sales from their lethargic response to my listing. Print copies will be coming soon and I plan some book signings in the Flathead and around the state.

Now down to biz:

Essential Announcement of Conference Venue Change!

The Red Lion had a middle management change, including the sudden resignation of the conference booking agent. In the administrative vacuum, they booked another organization on top of our weekend! Grrr!!!

But fear not, for conference coordinator Claudia Bennett was on top of the issue and has secured our dates at the Hilton Garden Inn on the south side of Kalispell, 1840 U.S. 93 South, Kalispell. The rooms are a little more expensive but we believe the new venue will serve our purposes well, in many ways better than our former site.

If you have already booked a room at the Red Lion, please cancel and rebook at the Hilton. The discounted Conference Room Rate: $124 – use code AUTHOR to book – (406) 756-4500. The deadline to book with this special rate is September 3. Our website has the updated information, too. As always, reach out to us via aotfboard@gmail.com or my personal contact info at the end of this letter if you have questions or run into problems.

An Exciting Opportunity For Us All: The StoryCorps recording studio will be in Kalispell May 30 – June 27. The trailer containing the studio will be at FVCC during that time.

A StoryCorps (https://storycorps.org/) recording is a conversation between two people who know each other well or would like to know each other better. Each visit is archived in the Library of Congress and brief snippets are often part of NPR’s morning and evening broadcasts. Before making your appointment, please have your recording partner’s name and contact information available. If there are no available appointments, add yourself to the waitlist. Signup at:

https://storycorpsmobiletour.as.me/schedule/a8419bbc/?calendarIds=10144511

Times are hard for many. If you are in a financial situation that allows you to fund a conference scholarship for a writer in need or a student, please reach out to me about your wishes. We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization and your donation is tax-deductible.

And, as always, thank you to all who have paid their membership fee of $60. Your support is essential to our continuing activities and opportunities. An exciting aspect is we have many new members joining us. Welcome and welcome back to all!

As I end this letter, I am reminded of Memorial Day and the Veterans we have in Authors of the Flathead. Many of these valued members carry wounds, often unseen, from their service to our country, and I wish to uplift them at this time. I’m also reminded of my mother, 1st Lt. Maxine Naylor, commander of her corps of Army nurses in London during the bombing of WW II; my father, 2nd Lt. Roy Naylor, bombardier in A-20 attack planes who searched for Nazi convoys at night, strafed and bombed them, then skedaddled; and my father-in-law, Willard Whitehead, who I never met. He was the sole survivor from his platoon as they attacked a fortified Japanese island in the Pacific Theater. I hear the emotional and physical wounds Willard carried contributed to his early death just after fifty. May we all remember the Veterans with us, who tell me they often wonder, why them and not me? I pray we honor their service and sacrifice on our behalf.

Other Opportunities:

Missoula-based editor Melissa Paulsen is an intern for the literary journal F(r)iction (https://www.brinklit.org/publishing/friction/). Some of us remember Melissa from attending the 2022 Flathead River Writers Conference. She reached out to me recently with this message: As the publishing imprint of our parent nonprofit Brink Literacy Project (https://www.brinklit.org/), F(r)iction seeks to give equal space to traditional and genre literature alike, as well as publishing underrepresented voices across the spectrum.

Onward and Write On!

Craig

Craig Thomas Naylor, DMA (aka Thomas Craeg)

craigtnaylor@gmail.com

406-250-8867