Owning a Mountain Bookstore--Part One

Every booklover I know has dreamed of owning a bookstore at one time or another. I was no exception and had the privilege of realizing that dream in 1997 when I purchased “Frisco Books” from its owner, Peter Brindemore.

I had met Peter the year before when he hosted my first-ever booksigning for the novel, Never Come Down, a romantic mystery set in a remote mountain area not unlike the Summit County, Colorado, environs where we lived.

Frisco is a tiny gem of a town situated between the northern end of the Ten Mile Range and the western shore of Lake Dillon. At 9,100 feet in altitude, snow covers the ground seven months of the year. Four ski resorts lie within a fifteen minute drive of Frisco and ski tourism supplies most of Frisco’s commerce. My family had been spending our summers there since 1988 and by 1993, we moved to the high country fulltime.

Prior to that, I had been working as an attorney for the Small Business Administration. Each day I dealt with would-be entrepreneurs who were actively realizing their dreams of self-employment. Their enthusiasm was inspiring--and contagious. It left me with a longing to own my own business. When Peter mentioned he was putting “Frisco Books” up for sale, I jumped at the opportunity. The store was situated on Main Street, just three blocks from my house. I could walk to work--another dream fulfilled.

The sale was completed in April of 1997. I closed the store for two weeks to redecorate a bit, making numerous small changes to personalize it. I renamed the shop “Wolf Moon Books.” In folklore, the full moon of January is the “wolf moon.” I love the iconography associated with wolves since my beloved Siberian Husky, Knik, resembled a wolf, so I designed a logo from a photo taken of Knik and ordered the sign maker to create a carved wooden replica of this logo to hang over the shop door.

TO BE CONTINUED...