Northern Lights Showcase

Tonight Aly and I head to town to attend the Haines Arts Council’s Northern Lights Showcase, a fund-raiser concert of local talent. Among other performances, we’ll hear our neighbor, Burl Sheldon (paid link) sing and play his incredible new handmade guitar, and see one of Klukwan’s Tlingit dance groups. Then, there’s me. I’ll be offering a public reading version of one of the stories from my book, Shy Ghosts Dancing: Dark Tales from Southeast Alaska.

Hopefully, this event will be better attended than my reading at the museum in January. It would have to be. Luckily, I’m not the draw, I just get to ride on others’ popularity. Actually, I’ve talked to one person in town who plans to attend, and he knew I was on the bill, so that helps.

Since tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day, it’s appropriate that I’ve chosen to read the story, Shelikof Bay. It’s the book’s only love story—at least the only one that ends reasonably well. It is a romantic story, in my opinion. It’s also one of my favorites, a retelling of an old legend from one of my many ancestral homelands, Scotland, transplanted to Southeast Alaska. I’ve had to trim it some, but I think I’ve about got it short enough to fit the 12 minute slot.

I’ve never been to one of these events, but I spoke with one of the organizers earlier this week. He assured me it’s reasonably casual. It’ll be in the lobby of the arts center, with the performers very close to the audience. Intimate.

It tickles me that this infers that I’m a Northern Light. I also like that the title story and cover art of my book refer to northern lights. That seems appropriate.

If you’re in the Haines area, I hope you’ll come. It’s at 7pm at the Chilkat Center for the Arts. I believe tickets are $5 at the door.