True to your story. True to your vision.
Plumb Creative Books brings precision and artistry to visually rich publications, crafted to the highest industry standards.
From legacy memoirs to poetry collections and illustrated works, we guide you from first idea to finished book—with heirloom-quality results and the support of a trusted creative partner every step of the way.
Overview
Plumb Creative Books is a bespoke publisher with one guiding belief: every life contains a story worth preserving beautifully. We specialize in visually complex works that demand both creative vision and technical craft. Whatever your book, we bring the same professional standard and curated process designed around you and your story.
Our Services
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Publishing
From first idea to finished book, we handle every stage of the process.
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Writing & Editorial
Ghostwriting, editing, and proofreading for all types of manuscripts.
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Digital Design
Cover design, interior layout, photo restoration, and ephemera digitization.
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Branding & Marketing
Author branding, press kits, strategy, and Squarespace website design.
Featured Books
What happens when two people from opposite ends of the world bet everything on each other - and win?
We Gambled Our Future is the memoir of María Cristina López Gandarillas-Page: two lives, two cultures, and forty years of a love that deepened every year.
She grew up in Cochabamba, Bolivia, shaped by revolution and early independence, and became the city's first woman architect before emigrating to California with $300 and a willingness to risk everything. He left the seminary after twelve years, arrived in Los Angeles with $500 in his pocket, and set out to discover who he was outside of institutional life. They met unexpectedly, agreed on the terms before they began, and built something neither of them could have planned.
Spanning continents and generations, the memoir weaves together family genealogies, personal letters, childhood memories, and the voices of the daughters, nieces, and nephews who knew Bill and María Cristina as fixtures of warmth and humor in their lives. It is history made intimate, and a legacy offered freely to those still to come.
For anyone who has ever loved someone from a different world, built a family across cultures, or wondered what story they will leave behind.
Also included:
14 pages of family photographs spanning early Bolivia and New York to the present day
Letters written in Bill's own words, offering an intimate and unfiltered glimpse into his heart and mind across the decades
Heartfelt tributes from his daughters and family members, celebrating the man and the legacy he left behind
We Gambled Our Future will resonate with fans of immersive family memoirs, American and Latin American love stories, and stories of strong women who forged their own paths in a world that didn't always make it easy.
AUTHOR: María Cristina López Gandarillas-Page
RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2026
Paperback, 332 pages
Also available as an ebook
“Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.”
(Walker, there is no path, the path is made by walking.)
—Antonio Machado
a deep dark black ray of sunshine began as a villanelle written by a nineteen-year-old at the International Society of Poetry convention, and won a publishing contract. The 2003 debut was Julie Kirsten’s first book. Twenty years later, she republished it with new poems and a design that finally matched the work. This omnibus collects it all: the original poems, two decades of poetry written in the spaces between everything else, and the personal essay that earned her the Hermann Schmeling Award for Nonfiction Writing in 2014.
This limited signed edition is only available in the Plumb Creative Books bookshop.
On June 20, 1960, 18-year-old Kirsten Mærsk Dyhr left Copenhagen, Denmark by ship with nineteen other young women and leaders of Girl Scout Troop Absalon II, for a summer with the American Girl Scouts of Manchester, Connecticut.
Growing up in post-WWII Scandinavian society, she experienced an entirely new perspective on personal freedom and independence. Within a culture of big cars, banana splits, and buildings that reached for the sky, "Kis" discovered more than the excess of mid-century Americana. It seemed there were no limits to the dreams they could achieve or the amount of ice cream they could consume.
Through carefully translated letters, diary entries, and digitized scrapbook pages, Kirsten’s story of coming to the United States for the first time captures the spark of independence that ultimately led to her discovering her own American spirit.
Digital download, FIXED EPUB format. Compatible with all major e-readers including Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and the free Kindle and Kobo reading apps. Note that is not a reflowable EPUB.
Who We Are
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Julie Kirsten Kanta
I’ve been writing poetry and creative nonfiction for over thirty years. I’m an avid traveler and LEGO builder, book collector and reader, and fluent film quoter.
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Nick Kanta
I’m an enthusiastic world traveler and motorcyclist; passionate about the PNW, film, music, and books; slightly fanatical with the Seattle sports scene; Star Wars super freak; connoisseur of wine, whiskey, and the occasional cigar.
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Max Mandell
I’ve been painting with pixels for over ten years. I’m a hiker, indoor boulderer, home cook, pub trivia regular, in-the-margins doodler, and occasional watercolorist.
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Daniel Alrick
I'm an avid reader and movie enthusiast, interested in history, geography, and good jokes.
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Traci Buck
I am a runner. I love world travel and I love being home. I am passionate about time in the kitchen, listening to music and creating meals. I am obsessed with learning to speak French. And there’s nothing better than time with my family.
“Julie transformed my manuscript from a rough draft into a beautiful memoir. While I initially just wanted to know if my story made sense, her insightful editing exceeded all expectations. My intuition to hire her was absolutely correct. I am profoundly grateful for her kindness and the deep care she took with my story. She guided me through the entire journey with such patience, working closely with me to polish the writing without ever losing my voice. She coached me through every step, making sure I truly understood and was empowered by the entire process.”
María Cristina Page, We Gambled Our Future
Stories
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