Essays and Other Fiction

Owning Nordic Travel and Tours was a dream come true and Annika certainly didn’t have time for romance. So why had she met the man of her dreams, now? Tristan’s Minnesota Events and Adventures Company for singles allowed him the ability to meet available women on a regular basis, so why would he be interested in her? Annika had never mixed business with pleasure before and since Tristan would be booking tours through her company, there would be no romance. Now she only had to convince her heart.

Two Novelas, one of a young mans pursuit of a career in stand up comedy, and the other of Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny getting into a feud.

Short stories that are bizarre and peculiar that provoke the reader to think from a different angle.

Ruth England Gottlieb is a naive, protected daughter and young wife living in rural northeastern North Dakota in the early 1900’s. When her father dies and her husband of four months is tragically killed, Ruth loses her perspective on her identity. Decisions and unpleasant circumstances are thrust upon her for the first time in her life. She becomes lonely, bitter, and withdrawn. Ruth moves to another town and takes a job as ‘chore girl’ for Amos Armstrong, an irascible farmer whose leg injuries prevent him from tending to his animals and his garden. Amos is not easy to get along with and presents Ruth with many challenges. How she deals with her situation does not bring her joy or satisfaction. Yet God has not forgotten about Ruth even though she is not aware of His help. In the midst of self-pity and functional despair, hope seems elusive for Ruth. Her dreams of being a schoolteacher having been dashed, what lies ahead for her? Where will Ruth find the hope and faith she needs to move beyond not only her past but her present? Through a series of events, she hears God’s voice and receives the love He has for her. She is finally able to rejoice in a new life and realizes she has a hope and a future in Jesus Christ.

Minneapolis socialite Lilly Schmidt thought she had her life figured out… until her world came crashing down with the one-two punch of divorce papers and news of her grandparents’ deaths. Suddenly single and the new owner of her family’s farm, Lilly finds herself thrust back into the old life she’d left far behind in her rural hometown of Lone Tree, Minnesota. The simple restart Lilly looks for on the farm is anything but when she is caught up in the fight between land developers hoping to bring new business and growth to the town, and the locals who want to keep their country life simple. She also, begrudgingly, must keep the peace with the farm’s hired hand Ryan, who also happens to be her old high school boyfriend—and is he still nursing a grudge! When one of the land developers is found dead on her farm, Lilly faces a mix of small-town feuds and family secrets that proves deadlier with each turn. Can Lilly figure out the killer before she “buys the farm” permanently?

1870s circuit-riding pastor and his wife battle extreme hardship to bring the Word of Life to to the Minnesota frontier.

A collection of columns by humorist and industry pundit Chris Miksanek (’98) who has been writing computer humor since the days of the 5 1/4 floppy. His columns have appeared in numerous magazines like Datamation, Computerworld and The Journal of Irreproducible Results and have been translated into several languages.