Blue Creek Press celebrates 20th anniversary

By Reader Staff

Since its founding in 2003, independent publishing house Blue Creek Press has supported authors, promoted creativity and provided readers with a diverse catalog spanning genres from fiction to poetry, non-fiction and more. 

Over the course of its two decades in business, Blue Creek Press has established a broad Northwest audience, with 40-plus books and multiple other publications reaching readers throughout the U.S. and abroad. 

Among the Blue Creek Press authors with whom readers have consistently engaged is founder Sandy Compton, whose 13th book, Her Name is Lillian, will be published Sunday, Oct. 1 — just in time for National Book Month.

Author Sandy Compton’s latest release, Her Name is Lillian. Courtesy image.

To celebrate both the 20th anniversary of Blue Creek Press and the publication of his latest book, Compton will be on hand Saturday, Oct. 7 for a reading and signing from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Vanderford’s Books (201 Cedar St.).

“Our 20th anniversary is actually sort of a surprise to me,” Compton stated in an announcement of the anniversary. “Time flies when you’re having fun, they say. But, from Day 1, our mission has been to provide a platform for people to share stories and thoughts with the world.” 

Readers, as well as writers, keep coming back to Blue Creek Press, which features both emerging voices and established authors, encouraging fresh talent to flourish while furthering the careers of more seasoned writers.  

Local author Dick Sonnichsen has published six books with Blue Creek Press — the most recent being the page-turner crime novel Whipsawed — with a seventh on the way. Meanwhile, poet Sam Olson has published Any River, which Compton said he suspects will be the first of many more books.

“Blue Creek Press books include a big variety of experiences and thought,” Compton added, noting that one of his favorites is Tiger Hunting (and Other Adventures) on Christ’s Mission in Old India, a memoir about the experiences of missionaries Herman and Mildred Reynolds in 1930s India. 

Blue Creek Press also helped Garth Fisher put together Five Years On The Inside, the story of his time as a recreation therapist in a maximum-security prison, and author Pat Seiler recently published an illustrated children’s book entitled, My Grandma Has a Boyfriend, a fun and helpful guide to a modern phenomenon.

Compton’s latest book, Her Name is Lillian, is the poignant third installment of a trilogy featuring Dr. Mary Magdalene Miller — a no-nonsense, incredibly human psychiatrist. 

In this latest riveting and sometimes heart-wrenching edition, Miller finds herself falling in love with two people at a time. One is “the smart dog,” an architect who may or may not be wooing her — sometimes it’s hard to tell. The other is Lillian, a beautiful 15-year-old anorexic girl intent on “becoming invisible” by starving herself. 

Author Sandy Compton. Courtesy image.

Lillian’s parents have charged Miller with saving their daughter’s life, and the doctor has concluded that maybe the only way that can be accomplished is to get her away from them. Miller isn’t sure psychiatrists are supposed to pray, but she sometimes finds herself doing so — for a miracle. 

With lyrical prose and empathy, Compton delves deep into the human condition through the eyes and ears of Miller, as he also did in the preceding books in the trilogy, The Friction of Desire and Scars on Top of Scars.

Each of the books reveal insights into the human psyche and Dr. Miller’s relationships with her patients and others. 

“I like books with happy endings so that’s what I write,” Compton said. “Sometimes they don’t turn out exactly like a reader might think they will or even wish them to, but they still are satisfying in the way I believe stories should be.”

Her Name is Lillian and other Blue Creek Press offerings will be available beginning Monday, Oct. 2 at Vanderford’s and the Corner Bookstore (405 N. Fourth Ave.), as well as online at amazon.com and bluecreekpress.com/books. 

As for the anniversary, Compton added, “We’re grateful for the journey so far and look forward to the times ahead.”