I’m happy to welcome Amazon International best-selling author Judy Penz Sheluk to the Power of 10 series. Today, Judy shares interesting facts about Lake Superior and her latest release, Past & Present.
Here’s Judy!
Earlier this year, I established my own publishing imprint, Superior Shores Press. As a traditionally published author, it was a decision I thought long and hard about, but after three years and three books, I felt ready to take the plunge.
Deciding on a name for the company was actually pretty easy. Although our main residence is in New Tecumseth, Ontario, we also own a cottage on Lake Superior, not far west of Sault Ste. Marie. Yes, it’s a long drive (7 ½ hours), but as you can see from the pictures, it’s a perfect writing retreat.
Sunset at Judy’s Cottage on Lake Superior
Gibbs Sheluk Enjoys the View
The first book released under the Superior Shores Press imprint is Past & Present, Book 2 in the Marketville Mystery series. And now, here are 10 interesting facts about Lake Superior.
1. Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes, shared by Ontario to the north, Minnesota to the west, and Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the south.
2. The Ojibwe name for the lake is kitchi-gummi or gichi gami, meaning great sea or great water. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the name as “Gitche Gumee” in The Song of Hiawatha, as did Gordon Lightfoot in his song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
3. According to the University of Wisconsin, the Objibways believe Lake Superior is protected by Nanabijou, Spirit of the Deep Sea Water.
4. The average depth of Superior is about 500 feet. The deepest point in Lake Superior (about 40 miles north of Munising, Michigan) is 1,300 feet (400 meters) below the surface.
5. Superior holds about 3,000 cubic miles of water— enough to fill all the other Great Lakes plus Lake Erie three times over. Its volume is second only to Russia’s Lake Baikal.
6. The surface area of Lake Superior (31,700 square miles or 82,170 square kilometers) is greater than the combined areas of Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire.
7. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum approximates 6,000 ships and 30,000 lives lost in Lake Superior shipwrecks. Thanks to Gordon Lightfoot, one of the best known is the Edmund Fitzgerald, which lost her entire crew of 29 men on Lake Superior November 10, 1975, 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point, Michigan.
8. Because of its location north of Lake Huron, which was discovered first by Brûlé, the lake’s name comes from the French word lac supérieur, which means “upper lake.”
9. The lake is about 350 miles (563 km) in length and 160 miles (257 km) in width. If straightened out, the Lake Superior shoreline could connect Duluth and the Bahama Islands.
10. In the summer, the sun sets more than 35 minutes later on the western shore of Lake Superior than at its southeastern edge.
About Past & Present
Sometimes the past reaches out to the present…
It’s been thirteen months since Calamity (Callie) Barnstable inherited a house in Marketville under the condition that she search for the person who murdered her mother thirty years earlier. She solves the mystery, but what next? Unemployment? Another nine-to-five job in Toronto?
Callie decides to set down roots in Marketville, take the skills and knowledge she acquired over the past year, and start her own business: Past & Present Investigations.
It’s not long before Callie and her new business partner, best friend Chantelle Marchand, get their first client: a woman who wants to find out everything she can about her grandmother, Anneliese Prei, and how she came to a “bad end” in 1956. It sounds like a perfect first assignment. Except for one thing: Anneliese’s past winds its way into Callie’s present, and not in a manner anyone—least of all Callie—could have predicted.
Bio
Judy Penz Sheluk is the Amazon international bestselling author of the Glass Dolphin Mysteries (The Hanged Man’s Noose; A Hole in One) and the Marketville Mysteries (Skeletons in the Attic; Past & Present). Her short stories appear in several collections.
Judy is also a member of Sisters in Crime International, Sisters in Crime – Guppies, Sisters in Crime – Toronto, International Thriller Writers, Inc., the South Simcoe Arts Council, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where she serves on the Board of Directors, representing Toronto/Southwestern Ontario.
Find her at http://www.judypenzsheluk.com.
Find Past & Present in trade paperback at all the usual suspects, and on Amazon Kindle for an introductory price of $2.99 (reg. $5.99) and Kindle Unlimited.
Buy Link: http://authl.it/afj
Joanne Guidoccio 
I have always been fascinated by the Great Lakes, though I have not made it to the USA yet. But I also laughed because a memory came back of junior school days when we had to imagine travels on another continent – my friend wrote ‘…and in the afternoon we canoed across the Great Lakes.’
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
Wow. Gorgeous views. I wouldn’t get much writing done there. Staring at the view would occupy me. Thanks for the interesting facts.
Thanks Catherine. I find the water very motivating!
Great facts about Lake Superior – I’ve never sailed it, but would like to! Congrats on your imprimatur.
I’ve never sailed but I think Superior could be dangerous Noelle! Thanks for your good wishes.
Thank you for sharing your ten facts about Lake Superior. I’ve never been to that part of the U.S. but hold hopes that one day I will. Congratulations, Judy, on your new book. Hugs, vb
Thanks for commenting. My comment — if you do go to N. Ontario, do it in July!
Hi Joanne and Judy!
LOVED this post and the 10 fun facts!
I live in Indiana and vacationed in northern Michigan and the UP last summer for a week. We visited Sleeping Bear Dunes, Charlevoix, Manistique, Munising, White Fish Point, the Shipwreck Museum, and Mackinac Island…..I absolutely LOVED every minute! Lake Superior. Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron waters were gorgeous shades of green, blue, and aqua. When I show friends pictures, they think I went to the Caribbean! I have to admit, I only dipped my foot in the water—-brrrrrr!
What a lovely place for a writing retreat!
Becky
Hi Becky, yes indeed, the water is not for the faint of heart when it comes to swimming. If you’re lucky, in a sheltered bay, and have had weeks of hot weather, it might heat up to 63-65. One storm and you’re back in the 50s! But it is beautiful country. You got to see a lot on your trip. Excellent. I have not yet seen the shipwreck museum but it’s on my to-do list. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
Joanne and Judy – great blog post. I lived in SUperior, WI, right on Lake Superior, for 7 years. In fact, my baby girl was born there! Fabulous lake, but wicked cold in the winter, or when the wind shifted off the lake. One July 4th on noon it was 76 in SUperior, the wind shifted off the lake at 1:30 pm. and by 1:45 it was 43 degrees!!!! But I loved that town sososos much and the lake, for all it’s cray-cray, as well. Your piece brought back a lot of great memories, so thanks!
Hi Peggy, yes, part of the charm is the ever changing water. Our place faces northwest, so when that NW wind blows, it can get as rough as the ocean and bone-chilling cold. I avoid it in the winter, but my hubby goes up there and tells me it’s magical. Maybe one day…thanks for stopping by and commenting.