Calkins Day 2023 and a Gift of a Dissertation

I met Helen Hicks of New Lenox by phone in 2013, shortly before I transitioned from full-time features writer to full-time features writer and editor in a staff position at The Herald-News in Joliet.

I had interviewed Helen about her experiences with helping to install a solar electric system on a Nicaraguan elementary school.

At the time, Helen was writing a dissertation on off-grid solar for her doctorate degree in management information systems for online classes at Walden University in Minnesota.

It was a copy of that dissertation that Helen presented to Ed on Calkins Day 2023 in exchange for a free BryonySeries book.

You see, Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, really wanted to give away some books away on his birthday (February 13). 

And  ever since he's published his first book, he's been slowly building up his personal collection of books by local and independent authors (and giving those books as gifts, too).

So why not extend the offer to other authors, too? Bring a book to give and take one of ours home. 

To our surprise and delight, some authors took a chance on this out-of-the-box idea and came out with their books.

Or in Helen's case, her dissertation.

Ed actually had some knowledge about Helen's writings, was excited to receive it, and they spent a few minutes chatting about it before Helen (book in hand) had to leave for another appointment.

Helen has attended a couple of WriteOn Joliet Zoom meetings as she's interested in writing some fiction. 

So we are looking forward to seeing more of Helen's writings.