Book Vault turns 2

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Herald photo by Wes Kappelman
Herald photo by Wes Kappelman

December 6, 2007

By Wes Kappelman

OSKALOOSA — The Book Vault celebrated its second anniversary Wednesday with sales, chocolate and an Iowa author visit.

“Today was fantastic,” Book Vault owner Nancy Simpson said.

Simpson said traffic was steady from when the store opened into the afternoon, and once people got off work, business picked up again.

“It was a celebration of an independent book store succeeding in a small town,” Simpson said. “We were trying to say thank you to the community for supporting us.”

Alan Loots, an Iowa author, was at the event from 7 to 8 p.m. to meet with people about his suspense novel, “Storm Lake.” In the book, the FBI recruits Professor Michael Lund, an expert on domestic terrorism, to infiltrate a militant group forming in the Pacific Northwest.

Loots was born in Carroll and works for KCCI as an account executive. He said the book probably took 10 years to write because he worked during the day and wrote at night. He said he likes suspense novels and mentioned Robert Ludlum, author of the Bourne series, as an author he enjoys.

The Iowa town much of the action takes place in is based on three west and northwest Iowa towns, Loots said.

His stop in Oskaloosa was the sixth or seventh book signing he has done in the past six weeks. His next signing will be at The Book Store in Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 7.

Loots said he is trying to do book signings in all of central Iowa and found The Book Vault online. When he called Simpson, she invited him to come on Dec. 5.

Although some of the anniversary sales are over, other sales will continue through the holiday season.

Herald staff writer Wes Kappelman can be reached by e-mail at news2@oskyherald.com