Local author releases romance novel 'About What Happened at the Festival'

Brigetta Schwaiger, a Whitefish local, released her second book last month. “About What Happened at the Festival,” is a love story between a small-town teacher and a big-time country music star.  

The inspiration for the book was sparked three years ago while Schwaiger was at the Under the Big Sky Festival.  

“It was a really good environment for something extraordinary to happen,” Schwaiger said.  

Schwaiger said that she likes to start a story based off of a question. She started this one with, “What would happen if this small-town, quiet teacher was brought into this environment where she has all of this exposure because she is brought up on stage with this up-and-coming music star?”  

She said the rest of the plot unfolds from there.  

Schwaiger says that she was drawn to the idea of how someone who is living a familiar, comfortable life would react to visibility and exposure. She said that this is a very prominent topic in today’s media-filled world. 

Schwaiger always believed she wanted to release a book one day.  

“I would say from the time I was probably 13 or 14, I always knew I’d write a novel,” she said.  

She grew up in Southern California and majored in English at UCLA. After college, she taught high school English in Southern California for a few years.  

She released her first book soon after moving to Whitefish in 2009. Having just moved to an unfamiliar town, she wanted to find a way to fill her time. She would write during her baby’s nap time and while her older boys were at their sports practices.  

After her first book release, she put a pause on writing to be a full-time mother and work a professional job.  

“I wanted to be really present for my kids,” she said. “I knew I’d come back to it. It’s a dream that didn’t leave.” 

She spent time developing her writing skills by starting the blog, “Whitefish Life,” where she took photos and wrote articles highlighting stores around town. At the time, social media marketing wasn’t a thing yet.  

This blog led her to co-start Fly Girls Media where she would help to build websites for companies and assist them with their social media platforms.  

This media and marketing experience brought her to Glacier Restaurant Group.  

Schwaiger has now been with the group for 10 years where she is the vice president of marketing — a job she loves. 

She believes that her marketing expertise has helped her as a writer and publisher because it has given her a more diverse skillset. She can be creative in designing her own cover and knows how to run a social media account.  

“For me, it helps that I can kind of do everything myself,” she said. 

After Schwaiger digitally designed her initial idea, the cover of “About What Happened at the Festival” was hand drawn by her niece and local artist Brielle Walker.  

“I wanted it to be real art,” Schwaiger said.  

Now that her kids are older, she has been able to make more time for her writing again. 

“The house is quieter now," she said. "I have time to do this."  

Schwaiger has also been writing another book, “Where Promises Break,” for the past few years. 

“This is what I want to do, so I am just having fun,” she said. “I am taking opportunities as they come.” 

She has appreciated the support from the community and says that she is excited to continue discovering new possibilities.  

Schwaiger's advice to aspiring authors is to "give yourself permission to sit down and write. You deserve to pursue what’s pursuing your heart.” 

When she is not working or writing, Schwaiger enjoys “all of the stuff that Whitefish has to offer.” She enjoys spending time with her family on the lake and the ski mountain. She has four boys, and her husband, Jason, is a firefighter in Kalispell.  

Schwaiger is excited to be working on a sequel to “About What Happened at the Festival” which is set to come out next summer.  

Schwaiger's book can be purchased on Amazon or at Good Girls bookshop in Kalispell.  

"About What Happened at the Festival" by Brigetta Schwaiger. Cover artwork by Brielle Walker.