Edwards Author Alice Feagan Gives Away Kid’s Surfboard for New Book Launch

The air inside The Bookworm on Main Street in Edwards is usually thick with the quiet rustle of pages and the low hum of conversation. But on June 12, that stillness is about to be interrupted by the promise of a kid’s surfboard.

Alice Feagan isn’t just dropping off copies of her new children’s book, The Lost Board. She’s bringing a tangible piece of the story with her. Or rather, she’s giving one away.

Here’s the thing though: you don’t just hand out a surfboard in the middle of a bookstore in the Vail Valley. It’s a specific kind of spectacle. It’s a hook. And for locals who have watched Feagan evolve from a North Carolina transplant into a fixture of the local literary scene, it’s a reminder of why she sticks around.

Feagan has been a Colorado resident since 2015, trading the lightning bugs of her home state for the high-altitude creeks and pine forests that now define her days. But her imagination has always been tethered to the water. The inspiration for The Lost Board didn’t come from a beach in Hawaii, but from a news clip she read in 2020. A man in Hawaii lost his surfboard on a massive wave. He thought it was gone forever. Over a year later, a teacher in the Philippines found it.

"It was such a great story about connection," Feagan says, recalling the moment the idea took root. "I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I started to read and research other stories about lost surfboards."

That research led her to the history of female surfers and a narrative about letting go. The book follows Lana, a young girl eager to ride her family’s treasured heirloom — a board that belonged to her great-grandmother and has carried many riders. When a large swell comes in, Lana can’t resist taking it. She loses it. The board is gone. And when she admits what she did, her family says goodbye to the physical object but holds on to its memories. The board, meanwhile, goes on to have its own adventures, finding a new rider somewhere far away.

It’s a simple story, but the execution is where Feagan’s skill as an illustrator shines. Her mixed media collage work is everywhere in the book, reflecting the outdoor life she leads with her husband and two young sons. It’s that same life that makes her a neighbor, not just an author passing through.

"The Bookworm is my hometown bookstore," Feagan says. "Being there is always special. I love seeing our friends, our sons’ friends, and new faces!"

And that connection is what’s driving the giveaway. Those who preorder a copy of The Lost Board through The Bookworm before the June 9 release will have their names entered into a drawing to win a signed copy of the book and a kid’s surfboard. It’s not just marketing; it’s a way to get kids out of their chairs and thinking about the ocean, even if they’re miles from the nearest wave.

Feagan’s track record suggests this won’t be her last big local event. Her previous books, Read Island and The Collectors, published in 2021, are already favorites among children of all ages and are readily available at the store. She’s also collaborating with local author Nicole Magistro on their 2027 release, The Day After The Storm. The community ties are deep, and they’re only getting stronger.

The book tour kicks off at 9:15 a.m. on June 12. The events will include storytime, a drawing demo, and a "design your own surfboard bookmark" activity. It’s a full morning of engagement. But the real draw is the board.

Picture a room full of kids, each holding a bookmark they designed themselves, waiting to see if their name is pulled from the hat. The tension is small, but the stakes feel big to a seven-year-old. The surfboard sits there, a bright, colorful promise of adventure. It’s a physical object in a digital world, a reminder that stories don’t just stay on the page. They travel. They get lost. And sometimes, they find their way back to you.

Feagan knows this. She’s spent years chasing it, both in her art and in her life. Now, she’s just waiting for the swell to come in.