After years of trial and error, I’ve adopted a pretty structured routine in creating a book. No AI here! I’m old school. As Master Jedi Paul once said on the road not taken to Damascus, “AI is the path to the dark side. You must hate what you write. Hate leads to suffering. Suffering leads to endurance, and endurance creates good characters, and good characters—that has made all the difference.” So yes, I’m in favor of a bit of suffering in the writing process. Early in my ca

"The reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated" As a proud member of the Gen-X generation, malls hold a special place in my heart. During the 1970s, the "mall" business model exploded and these monstrous collections of stores transitioned shopping from downtowns to wide open spaces. Want that new Van Halen album? A Hawaian shirt and white blazer like Miami VIce? Turqouise Converse? The malls had it all, including a dating buffet of fellow teens from other schools. By the

It’s a parental expectation that when a child shows interest in something, they should indulge that topic for the child’s development. Only a fraction of kids who choose a sport end up doing it professionally, a box of legos does not create an engineer, and it’s a safe bet that buying a goldfish at the pet store will not result in a career in marine biology. For parents  Ernie and Sharlie Hansen, indulging their daughter Lexi’s interest in horses went from a charming (and exp

MOSLOSKI FIXES CARS BY DAY, CRASHES THEM ON WEEKEND Given Mapleton’s status as a bedroom community for so many folks that travel back and forth to Mankato, the need for a quality auto mechanic is vital in this day and age. While the corporate business model is to make most cities clones of each other with franchises, in Mapleton, local garages are still chugging along. One of these locally owned small businesses is Moz’s Midtown Auto. As the name suggests, the garage is locat

I love learning. Running out of grant money in college ended five of my favorite years on this planet. After all, my habit would be to sign up for an overload, drop a couple at the deadline, but still sit in if they were interesting (just no homework). Consequently, because of the Army/government grants, I went WAY over the number of college credits needed for graduation. So as an author, I still have the same passion for learning. Picking a new genre is not good for my brand

Larry Barott was recently awarded USA Curling’s 2025 Volunteer of the Year Award Winner, and while he quietly goes about his business with little fanfare, this award showcases all the little things it takes to keep a tradition such as curling alive in a community.  Mapleton historian (and curler) Tim Solie has seen the impact made by Barott first hand. “If there's anybody cynical to believe that a person can't make a difference, I hope they look at Larry Barott because the di

Sales are a fragile thing. In hindsight, my 2025 book tour was my most successful year to date (yay!), but it felt anything but successful at times. It was a grind. The most emotionally taxing part of it was the unpredictability. With almost 50 events in 2025, I needed for each of them to “hit” financially in order to justify taking my hobby to a profession, so there was plenty of self-imposed pressure for them to be successful. Since getting “serious” in 2021, I’ve kept reco

Since the days of telling ghost stories around the camp fire, storytellers have reveled in producing goosebumps, and 2005 Maple River graduate Amanda (Schubbe) Ruzsa has turned that love of being frightened into a diverse career in the horror genre. After being a life-long fan of horror stories, Ruzsa had jumped feet-first into being a horror author with 19 titles that range from poetry and anthologies to short stories and novels. Why horror? Ruzsa explains her love of the ge

The concept of “love” has many definitions in life, but in the game of tennis, the word “love” has a very specific meaning: nothing, nada, zilch, zero. Leading 40-love is so much better than trailing love-thirty, but whether winning or losing, love is often present. For Maple River senior Claire Langworthy, an integral part of one of the area’s top tennis programs, the ebbs and flows of a tennis match has become symbolic for a life that has also seen plenty of triumphs and he

When a juvenile bird leaves the nest, it has to be pretty confident before taking the leap or else pay the price. For students at Maple River, the curriculum might prepare students intellectually and socially for the real world, but there is no Aviation 101 on the course registration list to take in preparation of becoming a pilot. Yet there are several graduates who have earned their wings and are now flying machines that range from small crop dusters to the “Titans of the S

For generations, Star Wars has resonated with viewers because of its universal themes, especially the idea of a learner becoming a master. For 2002 graduate Gretchen (Maurer) Gosch, she’s gone from being a student-leader to now administering her own school.  Back in the day, Gosch was asked by Jim Swanson to help create the fledgling Serteen program due to her leadership skill in and out of the classroom. When NHS Advisor Jason Fickett left midyear to join the FBI, Gosch also

No more pencils. No more books. And the only dirty looks from teachers will be if you forget your chromebook at home. The modern classroom–from elementary through high school–has continued to evolve due to an ever changing technological world. While some schools might’ve been content to stop evolving with typewriters and the abacus, preparing students for an ever-changing workforce falls upon the shoulders of Maple River’s technology coordinators Dee Stencel and Billy Vait. O

The Alchemist’s Tomb Dedication: Dedicated to the cellar monster that lived at my childhood farm in South Dakota. You were persistent,...

Serteen Celebrates 25 Years Having a student show up late to a Serteen meeting rarely distracts adviser Jim Swanson, but when dozens of Maple River staff members crash the meeting, even Swanson took note. With the school year coming to a close, Maple River’s Serteen club honored its members who’d gone above and beyond the call of duty, but this year, on the 25th anniversary of the club’s creation, senior officers Olivia Anderson and Wyatt Birr paused the meeting promptly at 7

An interview with Canvas Rebel where I toot my own horn (I guess) FInd the original article at: https://canvasrebel.com/meet-jason-lee-wi...

The biggest factor in being able to chase my dream of being a full-time writer was my secret weapon, my wife Julie. Now that I’m in year...

I saw it coming in the classroom a generation ago. Five minutes before class would start, students would huddle up around the ONE KID...

This video essay will look back on Dale Massop's state wrestling championship in 1985

Miss Bonnie Lass celebrated its 60th Year thanks to participants who began caretakers of the program. An Overview of 60 Years of Miss Bonnie Lass Crowning Moments in Miss Bonnie Lass History Insight into the Parades and Events by Miss Bonnie Lass courts. Lessons taught by the Miss Bonnie Lass program. Preserving the History of Miss Bonnie Lass Decades ago, small towns across Minnesota found ways to celebrate history while also forging an identity by creating unique town cele

David Lynch: One of my storytelling influences. WIth the recent passing of David Lynch, it game me a moment to ponder how this strange...