Wow! Aunt Phil wins 2 more awards! I just learned that Volume Five in my Aunt Phil’s Trunk Alaska history series earned finalist status in the Best Books of 2016 contest and was a runner-up in the Shelf Unbound competition.

My self-published series is competing with books from giants like Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Wiley, McGraw Hill, Rowman and Littlefield, Forge Books, National Geographic, American Cancer Society and hundreds of independent houses. Pretty darned cool stuff – I think my Aunt Phyllis is probably doing cartwheels in heaven!

Here’s a link to the most recent Alaska Story Time with Aunt Phil. The first is about creating one of the best state constitutions back in 1955-1956. Men and women from all parts of Alaska gathered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus to craft the document that they hoped would nudge Congress to approve statehood.

Alaska Story Time with Aunt Phil, Alaska Constitution, Nov. 10

The other story is about a famous gold ship. When the steamer Portland arrived in Seattle on July 17, 1897, loaded with two tons of gold from the Klondike, people quit their jobs on the spot and tried to book passage north. My great-grandfather, John Couch Downing, captained the other ship, the Excellsior, which pulled into San Francisco.

Alaska Story Time with Aunt Phil, The steamer Portland, Nov. 17

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving celebration and I wish you all a wonderful holiday season.