At the start of this month, I headed to Cleveland to participate in the Heartland Fall Forum, a gathering of independent booksellers from all over the Midwest. This was be a great opportunity to share the story of The Twenty-Ninth Day with folks in those awesome little (and big) book shops all around the Heartland.

It was really cool getting to meet the men and women behind those shops. I love the feeling of walking into an independent bookstore. They’re a product of their owners, the towns and cities they call home, the good folks who work there and their customers. Each shop has its own character and feel — no two are the same. But it’s more than just the uniqueness of each one that makes it magical. When I walk into a bookstore, I’m struck with the feeling that I’m about to make discoveries. And I love it.

To support your local bookstore, you can go visit them, or you can buy The Twenty-Ninth Day, and myriad other books, through Indie Bound. Indie Bound is an online marketplace that allows you to order books and have that order fulfilled by your local bookstore. It’s convenient, the price of my book is the same, and it supports your friends and neighbors who support your community.

At Heartland Fall Forum, I was thrilled to meet fellow Minnesota authors Peter Geye (The Lighthouse Road) and Allen Eskens (The Life We Bury), as well as fellow Blackstone Audio audiobook author Lily King (Euphoria) and reconnect with the folks from Blackstone, and my agent, Philip Turner. During my time at the Movable Feast, I spoke with a lots of folks from independent bookstores, and I’m excited to share upcoming events as they’re scheduled. To see what’s coming up, check out the Events tab here.

As a featured author at the Movable Feast, I was paired up with another author, Allen Eskens, and we went around to seven different tables, each talking about our upcoming books for five minutes. It was a great opportunity to share the story of The Twenty-Ninth Day, and I thought it would be interesting to share it with you here, too. Below is a bit about my book in less than five minutes:

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I was 17 when I was mauled by a grizzly bear in the Canadian tundra. My book, The Twenty-Ninth Day, tells that story.

It’s an epic adventure survival memoir that’s a cross between Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, Aron Ralston’s Between a Rock and a Hard Place (later adapted to film in 127 Hours), and Michael Punke’s The Revenant.

I’d embarked on the trip of a lifetime; 42 days of whitewater canoeing through the remote wilderness rivers and lakes of northern Canada. Over the preceding summers, I’d been going on ever-grander adventures, but this was the pinnacle trip for the me and the five guys I was traveling with: the longest, most remote, most intense.

What I didn’t know, was that it would nearly become the last trip of my lifetime.

“This riveting true story of thrashing white water, mad bears, big fish, and graphic wilderness triage kept me turning pages well into the night.”

Dean King, New York Times bestselling author of Skeletons on the Zahara

The book begins as we climb into a thrumming float plane to leave the end of the road in northern Manitoba and fly hundreds of miles further north into the emptiness. The story follows our group as we navigate all the beauty, excitement and trials of an unsupported wilderness adventure, until, 29 days in, and nearly a thousand miles north of the US/Canadian border, I walk up a ridge alone and meet a 600 pound barren-ground grizzly bear.

What ensues is a heart-pounding first-hand account of confronting and being attacked by a grizzly bear. Injured and left for dead, I’m able to make my way back to camp, where it’s up to me and my 5 trip-mates to tend to my wounds and make our way to help at a remote Canadian village 1,000 miles north into Canada.

“Almost fifteen years later, Alex Messenger revisits the canoeing expedition that in a matter of minutes turned into a life-changing ordeal. That distance lends honesty and verve to a narrative that steadily builds toward its gripping climax.”

David Roberts, author of Alone on the Ice and Four against the Arctic

Originally written for an adult audience, The Twenty-Ninth Day is a crossover book that also appeals to young adult readers as well.

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The Twenty-Ninth Day comes out on November 12, 2019 from Blackstone Publishing, and will be available everywhere books are sold. There will be a launch party hosted by the Bookstore at Fitger’s and Trailfitters on Tues., November 12 at 6pm at the Fitger’s Spirit of the North Theater. Get tickets here.

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