Newcomers, Orcas Island, and back on the Northwest bestseller list

I had some good Pugetopolitan events this week. Have you ever heard of the Seattle Newcomer's Club? Me neither. But I spoke to the group, which is so popular that some members some have been in it for 30 years. It's a social network of women who've moved here from elsewhere, a great place for people to shake off Seattle "nice-o-lation" or the so-called "Seattle Freeze."

I spoke at their monthly luncheon at Third Place Books' pub in Ravenna. As much as I hate to say it, these people mostly seemed like assets to the community, but I would have liked it better if each had passed the lutefisk tasting test. We had a great time talking about the quirks of Seattle culture and politics and they proved to be an enthusiastic audience.

I also learned this week that Pugetopolis is back on the Pacific Northwest Indie Bestseller list (Trade Paperback Nonfiction), outpaced by gardening, weather and Tim Egan.

Next reading is on Friday, April 17 at Darvill's Bookstore at Eastsound on Orcas Island. I'm excited about this reading because I have a sentimental attachment to Darvill's dating from the times my family spent on Orcas back in the 1950s and '60s when we often summered there at Sea Acres. My dad collected prints and old man Darvill had a marvelous collection. He also sold various odd bits, like a pamphlet he'd written on ventriloquism and Darvill's Perpetual Calendar by which you could find the day of the week for any date in history. Or my favorite: an all-black postcard that purported to show "Orcas Island at night." At that time, the shop seemed like something out of a Twilight Zone episode, old, dusty, a little spooky. Today it's a first-rate bookshop.