Some of you may recall that over the winter I got a call from Taku Graphics about creating puzzle books. In particular, an adult sudoku/trivia book and a children’s puzzle book for Alaska Geographic. I was/am thrilled. Ten years ago, I pitched an idea for a children’s natural history puzzle book project to the Alaska Natural History Association (what is now Alaska Geographic), but the timing wasn’t right. So you can see how long I’ve been wanting to do this.

As with many publishing gigs, it was a bit of a rollercoaster, but all parties stuck with it, and we figured it all out. The sudoku/trivia books arrived from the printer last week or so, and I just got copies.

The book will be sold exclusively in Alaska Geographic bookstores. Those are the bookstores at National Parks, State Parks, Wildlife Refuges, etc. here in Alaska. Though there are four different covers, they all contain the same contents–the same puzzles and the same trivia. I worry a bit that people may buy more than one, not realizing they are the same. I offered to create different puzzles for each, but this is what AK Geo wanted. The purpose was to create covers relevant to the different areas where the book will be sold.

The fabulous cover art is by Gail Niebrugge. Mike and I love her work. I’m going to mount my copies of the book so that I can hang them on my wall and look at them all the time.

I don’t see Wild About Sudoku on the Alaska Geographic Web bookstore yet, but they may turn up soon. Otherwise, I guess you’ll just have to come to AK if you want one!