I am sad to announce the death of Arlene Swenson, my loving mother, and accounts manager for Swenson Book Development, LLC.
Services will be held on Monday, June 16, at 2 pm at Memorial Lutheran Church in Afton, MN. In lieu of flowers, please send a memorial to Memorial Lutheran Church.
Your kind thoughts and wishes are greatly appreciated.
To Blog, or Not to Blog

Six or seven years ago my advice to aspiring authors of nonfiction books was to build an audience platform by blogging. An example of how critical blogging could be to securing a publishing contract can be found in the case of Ann Marie Ackermann, author of Death of an Assassin: The True Story of the German Murderer Who Died Defending Robert E. Lee. After an initial assessment of her manuscript, I had recommended she start a historical true-crime blog, and she did. In fact, the editor of the ideal book series at Kent State University Press became a fan ofRead more…
Sending love and warm, friendly, understanding hugs your way, Jill. Wish I could be there in person. I’m so very sorry for your loss.
Patti
Arlene will be dearly missed. I am sorry I never had the chance to meet her in person. Sending you thoughts of warmth and support for you and your entire family.
I’m so sorry Jill. I was hoping, when you mentioned you were going out there earlier, that there wasn’t a serious development with your mother. Darn, I’m very sorry. I’m sending you warmest thoughts and virtual hugs. Take care of yourself.
Robin