Hi, folks. My name is Ed Zdrojewski, and I’m the author of the Northern Star mystery series in Grain Journal. I’m about halfway through serializing my second short-novel-length story about the adventures of Gil Maier, general manager for Northern Star Farmers Cooperative in the fictional town of Monrovia, Iowa (allegedly not all that far from Algona).

 The blog is intended to be a fun addition to the Northern Star serial, which is also posted on our Grainnet web site, www.grainnet.com. You can talk with me here, ask questions, make comments, or whatever you like. In addition, you’ll be able to talk to each other about Northern Star or any other topic you like.

 A couple of general requests — let’s try to keep the conversation focused either on the story as it unfolds or on topics of at least vague interest to the grain industry. Your thoughts about the War in Iraq or your Florida vacation pictures may be very interesting, but there are plenty of outlets for you to take advantage of in the blogosphere. (WordPress is a highly recommended one.) If you like, post a link, and a lot of us will probably go and take a look.

 Anyway, welcome to the Northern Star blog. Enjoy.