It’s been a long time since my last update here—back when I wrote about the Plattsburgh Zine Fest last summer. Since then, my wife Amy and I have been setting up Snowfort, the bookstore and community space we’re opening in the Adirondacks. With the grand opening set for May 17, 2025, we’re finally in the home stretch. This evening marks a big milestone—if all goes well, we’ll receive official approval from the Westport town planning committee. Fingers crossed!
It’s funny—even once we bought this building and decided to start a bookstore, I never really thought it would be as official as it’s becoming. I thought it would be the speakeasy equivalent of a bookstore or something. Maybe a bit punkier, more guerrilla-style, like Publishing Genius is. But it’s shaping up to be a real deal situation. I’m not saying we’re Barnes & Noble, but I anticipate we’ll maintain regular hours, at least. The community has been really supportive and I am getting the sense that people all around are glad we exist.
We have spent the past year slowly getting the building ready. My brother, Alan, came up from Philly and did a ton of painting over many visits. How do you like that pink ceiling? My parents stayed with us all last summer and my (81-year-old!) dad did a ton of work, including customizing the bookshelves. We replaced an old, dangerous deck with a beautiful new one where we hope to spend a lot of time hanging out with customers this summer. We also worked with Hoodzpah on branding, and now Artisan Sign and Design in Peru is building our sign.
We’ve already started hosting events. Way back in June of last year, we had a release party for The Thing I Was Trying to Tell You by Joseph Young and Rocks by Christine Sajecki and Mike Make. (The sign you can see backwards in the window of the event above was made by Mike.)
In December, Nell Irvin Painter and Amy Godine read from their books I Just Keep Talking and The Black Woods, and last week, Emily J. Smith visited to share from her novel Nothing Serious. Looking ahead, we have a reading with Verónica Mar Salazar Hernández on March 31, and Amy is currently leading a guided book club series for Parable of the Sower. That’s part of her “Counternarratives Book Club.” We’re also hosting a Silent Book Club, which, it turns out, is edifying fun and great camaraderie.
Meanwhile, Publishing Genius has been slow, but I’m looking forward to getting back to it soon. There’s a collection of essays by Paula Bomer in the works, plus a children’s book by John Dermot Woods and his son Teddy that I’m really excited about. The PG section at Snowfort looks beautiful, and a lot of people who come to our events have been interested in checking out what’s there.
Something I’m most excited about is that we’re also slowly developing plans for a family-oriented writing residency, which we hope will offer a retreat space for writers who want to bring their kids along. We are already unofficially booking residents. If that’s something that interests you, definitely get in touch. Here’s a sneak peak of the apartment, fwiw:
We have a second building out back that is an old Ski-Doo repair shop. We got the power turned on in January and installed a wood burning stove, and we’ve been playing music in there. He call it the HüSki-dü shop. My friend’s band is coming from Vermont to stay for a few days to work on some new songs in there. I love it.
If you’re interested in all things Snowfort, check out this post of our 2024 year in review, and sign up for the mailing list!
There’s still a lot to do before May, but it’s exciting to see everything coming together. If you’re in the area (or feel like a trip to the Adirondacks), mark your calendar for May 17—we’d love to see you at the grand opening!
