Local author featured at book reading, signing on Aug. 11

Hank Buchmann’s years has been filled with adventure; both in his personal life and the world he creates in the pages of his novels.

Buchmann has been a Ritzville resident for the past six years, and now he is looking forward to sharing his stories and passions with residents during a book signing and author reading on Friday, Aug. 11.

Under the pen name Buck Edwards, Buchmann has developed a series following U.S. Marshal Boone Crowe.

During the author reading on Aug. 11 at the WSU Extension Office, Buchmann will be reading from the first book in the series, “Dead Woman Creek”, as well as from the second book, “Showdown in the Bear Grass”.

Buchmann is reading from his first novel because the Liquid Lit Book Club has selected his book to highlight the August meeting. While Liquid Lit is for those 21 and over, Buchmann encourages local community members, both young and old, to participate in the book reading portion of the program.

The book reading and signing runs from 5-7 p.m. and Buchmann is focused on having a dialogue with those attending. His secondary passion, after writing, is teaching and serving as a mentor to aspiring writers.

Along with reading passages from his books, Buchmann will also share some of his poetry. He hopes to provide a broad range of topics and styles of writing to create a conversation with those gathered, as they may have varying interests.

Buchmann’s interest in writing began in seventh grade when he won a scary story contest. At that young age, he began to realize the power of the written word and continued to pursue his interest in writing.

He studied journalism in high school, and then was drafted for the Vietnam War. He was assigned with the 101st Airborne where he served as a military reporter.

Buchmann stated his first story in the service garnered national headlines and he quickly showed his talent for writing and researching stories.

He returned from the service and continued as a freelance reporter and a source editor in the area. After years of continuing in the communication field, Buchmann returned home to help his father with farming.

After farming, Buchmann took a job as a custodian and by chance, ended up being a guest lecturer during an English class.

His experience teaching that day led him to pursue the passion, and he has been fortunate to teach poetry in every school in Moses Lake, including Big Bend Community College.

During one of his courses instructing educators, he met his wife Becky. The couple has been together for almost 20 years, and to date she is still one of his best, and favorite, critics and editors of his books.

The couple purchased “The Portico” in Ritzville, and has spent the last six years refurbishing and updating the property. Buchmann now refers to the building as the “Wheat House” and enjoys evenings spent out on the veranda reading a book.

Buchmann has focused the majority of his books on the Western genre. He had initially planned on writing a single book, but after the popularity of “Dead Woman Creek” he decided to make it a series.

The two-hour author meeting on Aug. 11 will showcase Buchmann’s diversity of writing styles and provide interest for all different levels of readers and writers.

He hopes younger readers will also be interested in attending, not only individuals who attend the Liquid Lit Book Club.

Buchmann’s books are available on Amazon and at Mason’s Coffee Shop in Moses Lake. He will also have books available for purchase at the book signing.