4-13-2026 12:23am

The Fine Print Bookshop Hosts An Evening With Local Author Pete Tiernan

The Fine Print Bookshop in downtown Saline was the host to local author Pete Tiernan on Thursday. Tiernan read an excerpt from his latest novel, Arboriginals, and answered questions from the attendees.

“I actually wrote the first draft four or five years ago. When I came back to it, it was 500 pages long, and I thought ‘I’ve got to cut this down’”, Tiernan said. “I think I started in 2015, wrote all the other books, and then came back to this one. I had to empty out all my memories.”

Tiernan moved to the Ann Arbor area in 1977, met his wife Michelle, and never left.

“It was me trying to wrap my arms around my entire experience in Ann Arbor,” he said. “If you grew up in Ann Arbor or went to U of M, this will resonate with you. But really, you don’t have to be an Ann Arborite to appreciate this.”

During his presentation, Tiernan showed a video of iconic spots in Ann Arbor such as the Burton Memorial Tower and Liberty Plaza.

“In terms of the plot of this story, it follows the exploits of 20 people whose paths cross over the course of 35 years in Ann Arbor. One day, they all happen to converge together in Liberty Plaza. Is it a coincidence or something more than that?”

“Arboriginals is really about the deep connectedness we feel if we stay in any one place long enough. How strangers become familiar and how the ordinary becomes miraculous,” he said. “ I know I sound a little bit like an Ann Arbor hippie. I’m trying to describe a phenomenon that I experience when I go downtown. Invariably, I will see people I haven't seen for years. I keep running into them, often they’re friends or acquaintances. Sometimes they're just familiar strangers, people I’ve seen but never really met.”

“The whole idea was ‘What if all these people that I keep seeing came together all at once?’”

Tiernan acknowledged the changing landscape of Ann Arbor, with many historic spots being transformed in recent years.

“You just want to come to terms with what you experienced. The Ann Arbor that I remember is going away,” he said. “We were downtown yesterday. So many high rises, all the places we used to hang out are going away. It all physically is disappearing, but in your mind it’s still there. That’s really some of the inspiration,” he said.

Many of Tiernan’s novels stem from real-life places and moments in time.

“It’s generally the place or the people. My first book was about living in Mt. Lebanon in Pittsburgh. My second book was about where I vacationed on the Canadian side of Lake Huron. Once in Chicago was probably my most autobiographical book. It’s the love story before the love story, and it ends with me meeting Michelle. It was all about my summer working at the bars in Chicago.”

“They say write what you know, and this is all I know.”

Tiernan was thankful for the support of friends and family as well as The Fine Print Bookshop’s owner, Bill Gibson.

“When you’re a self-published writer, you need events like this. You need somebody in town who’s as supportive as Bill. I really appreciate him. Bill’s been so charitable to me. I think this is my third time here, and I really appreciate the relationship we have.”

“It was fantastic,” Bill Gibson said of the event. “We had a great turnout. Pete always draws well and it’s fun to have him out here. We’re always happy to support local authors.”

April has been a busy month for The Fine Print Bookshop, with the launch of new book clubs and a celebration of Independent Book Store Day coming soon.

“We have Independent Book Store Day coming up on April 25th. We also just partnered with Saline Silent Book Club. If you’ve never heard of a silent book club, everyone sits around and reads their own book and then at the beginning or the end you talk about what you’re reading and how you’re liking it so far. It’s just a cozy social event that’s silent,” Gibson said.

“We started our own book club this month with Project Hail Mary. I can say the next book we will do will be The Plot, which came out in 2022. We have a lot of events planned for this summer, so keep an eye on our Facebook page.”