Elk River

by Gregory C. Randall

A finalist for a 2012 Benjamin Franklin Award in LGBT, a finalist for a Global Ebook Award for Young Adults and winner of Best Young Adult Fiction in Northern California; Gregory C. Randall weaves a tale of secrets in northern Michigan during the hot and stormy summer in 1956. With the constant fear of nuclear war, an exploding Middle East, and memories of World War II still fresh with flowers on soldier’s graves, a young man realizes that he is growing up. In Howie Smith’s world of primal forests, orderly orchards, and Lake Michigan, he learns about life and begins to understand death. A crazy aunt, a dying uncle, and the unyielding pressure to bring in the demanding crop of cherries, forces Howie to realize there is more to life than baseball.

Randall unveils, during a brief summer, a family’s fears and triumphs. He explores a region of America left apart from the chaos of the world. It is a place of unwanted migrant pickers, backwoods people who must live off the land, a man's love for another man, and the grand lake that encloses them all. But is is also here that Howie discovers it is a realm of miracles.

341 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 26, 2011

About the author

Michigan born and Chicago raised, Randall has made the San Francisco Bay Area his home with his wife for the last 45 years. A graduate of Michigan State with a degree in landscape architecture, Mr. Randall has 45 years of community design and urban planning experience. He has his own design firm, Randall Planning & Design, Inc., and has designed hundreds of residential, commercial and retail properties throughout the western United States.

Mr. Randall has enjoyed writing for many years but it has become a serious vocation in the last twenty years. His books almost always have an historical component and often reflect how the past has impacts on the present. Randall has developed all the cover cart for his books as well as the interior design, graphics, and overall formatting. This also includes ebook formatting.

Greg is the author of the five book series, The Sharon O’Mara Chronicles. The six book in the series is under development.

He is also developing the third book in the Detective Tony Alfano thriller noir series set in 1933 Chicago. The first book in the series, Chicago Swing, won the Silver Medal in the 2016 Global Ebook Awards. The second, Chicago Jazz, is now available.

His edgy young adult novel, Elk River, has won acclimation and awards from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and Northern California Book Publishers Association (BAIPA).

Mr. Randall and his wife have their own independent publishing company, Windsor Hill Publishing. He is a book cover designer and artist and is well versed in the ebook conversion process. All of his books are available through the usual sources.

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WEBB SITE: WWW.GREGORYCRANDALL.INFO
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Reviews

[Dennis Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wished that you could hop on a time machine and go anyplace, anytime? Greg Randall has succeeded. His novel "Elk River" took me back to Elk River, Michigan, summer 1956. Where - a cherry/Apple Orchard just outside of town. I had a wonderful time; of course I was invisible and I saw everything that happened firsthand. Only a good writer, like Greg Randall, can make that happen. I walked into that book at the beginning of the summer and stayed there invisibly until the beginning of fall. What did I see? So many wonderful things... I saw a boy and his brother almost run over by a dying stag; I saw a man drowned foolishly in town while going after the big one; I saw a boy, his brother and family having fun at a Carnival and other strange things that happened there. And I saw many other wonderful strange events. You, the reader, can decide for yourself what`s strange and what's not. But you know what else I saw, but didn't see because I felt some things that I haven't felt in a very long time. I felt what it was like to be part of a strong knit family, what it was like to eat at the kitchen table and discuss the events of the day, what it was like to visit with friends and relatives and have a good time, what it was like for an uncle to teach his nephew some things he would never forget. And the list goes on and on... I'll let you, the reade,r decide for yourself. So you see, this book is not just about Elk River in 1956 and what happened there. This book is about what it was like growing up in the 50s, the way people treated others, knowing right from wrong, doing the right thing, growing and learning from your mistakes, and learning about new love. And of course, there's oh so much more in "Elk River" by Greg Randall. I feel I must make one final comment, this book was extremely well edited and a pleasure to read. Greg Randall, please keep writing, you're doing a wonderful job. Reading your book has enriched my life. --Dennis DeRose