Former Top Source for Sports owner, Jack Lindquist, is reinventing himself as a novelist. He will hold a book signing at Coles in the LloydMall on June 10 from noon to 4 p.m. for his first of three books in a series titled Valley Of The Turtle Shirt Men. Supplied Photo
Who knew? Jack Lindquist, the former owner of Top Source for Sports in Lloydminster, is reinventing himself as an author.
The fact he’s recently published his first book, Valley Of The Turtle Shirt Men, took a lot of people by surprise.
“I would say it’s been right out of left field for most people that know me, that I wrote the book,” said the 69-year-old.
Lindquist has written some short stories and poetry before, but Valley Of The Turtle Shirt Men is his first actual book.
“It’s been an interesting journey,” he said.
He’s already two-thirds finished writing the second of three books in a series with excellent reviews for the first one.
Barnes & Noble bookstore gives it a five-star review stating, “This is going to be a great movie. This is such a visual read, it plays like a movie.”
Lindquist will hold a book signing at Coles in the LloydMall on June 10 from noon to 4 p.m.
He describes his novel as basically an action-adventure story based in 1849 during the California gold rush.
Throw in the main Texas Ranger character named Jessie Rivers, a hunt for lost Spanish gold and some ambush adversaries and you’ve got the makings of a great read.
“It’s actually doing really well for a self-published book,” said Lindquist.
As for the book’s odd title, he explains a turtle shirt is how natives described the iron breastplate worn by Spanish Conquistadors as they knew nothing about iron.
Lindquist says the book is promoted in the Western genre and action-adventure category, with the bulk of sales from readers 45 and up who share his interest in historical fiction.
“Anything that’s got a twisted plot, I’m all over it,” he said.
Lindquist is a history buff who loves horses and the western lifestyle.
He grew up on a farm near Lloydminster. He and his wife, Linda, have raised two adult children and have five grandchildren.
Lindquist took a writing course during the pandemic and set out to write a science fiction novel.
He nearly finished it when it dawned on him he didn’t like it, but Linda came to the rescue.
“My wife suggested I do something in western history because that’s one of my passions, so I switched genres and got it together,” he said.
To double check he was cut out to be a novelist, he hired a company to conduct a professional assessment of the book and they gave it the proverbial thumbs up.
“I basically had to pick a publisher and that was probably my hardest task,” he said before settling on FriesenPress Publishing, which printed it in Manitoba.
The book sells for about $30 in Canada and less in the U.S. depending on the seller. There’s an ebook edition and a print version.
