HIPPIE CHICK by Ilene English In Hippie Chick, a rebellious teenager finds her mother dead in the bathroom. To save her from living alone with a difficult father, her older sister sends her a one-way plane ticket to leave New Jersey. Landing in San Francisco, she is thrust into a lifestyle way beyond what she is ready for, and that challenges all previous notions of how one behaves. It is 1963, and we are brought along as Ilene becomes immersed in the unfolding of the sixties during the earliest days of sexual freedom, psychedelic drugs, the jazz scene, and rock ’n’ roll. This is a deeply personal story of how one young woman manages to survive and even to thrive in the face of the whirlwind of experiences coming at her. It is filled with a rich tapestry of moments that run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous, and everything in between. Ilene English, M.A., MFT was one of the San Francisco pioneers in the 1960’s. Her memoir, Hippie Chick: Coming of Age in the ‘60s, is chronicles her journey from lost child to strong, independent woman. Hippie Chick recently won the Independent Book Publishers Association Silver Award for Best Memoir of 2020.Ilene is a licensed psychotherapist, a mother and grandmother. Born in New Jersey, Ilene was the youngest of six. Because her mother was seriously ill, she became something of a lost child. In spite of this, she was a free spirit, fueled by an innate sense of optimism and determination. Ilene became an early psychedelic drug user, experimenting with LSD during a time when it was still legal, its effects not yet fully comprehended. During the 1960’s, she, along with an entire community of fellow trippers, innocently thought that they could change the world into one that valued love over materialism through their use.
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
Hello Readers! Welcome to READING NATION MAGAZINE, THE magazine for readers and booklovers everywhere. This month’s issue is filled with great books to add to your TBR list and lots of stories to enjoy. Get to know PQ Member, Susan Peterson, take a trip to Greenbrier, Tennessee with yours truly, read a love letter from Leslie Lehr, and Claire Matturo interviews the incredibly talented and humble, Carolyn Haines. If you’d like to join this great community of authors and readers, go to www.thepulpwoodqueens.com to find out more we’d love to have you! Wherever you are I hope you’re healthy, happy, and enjoying a good book. Thanks for stopping by,
Mandy Haynes Pulpwood Queen Author Creator, Editor, and Publisher of READING NATION MAGAZINE, Owner of three dogs write press and crazy dog lady… Because life’s too short not to have fun, we’ve added a mini scavenger hunt to this month’s article. The first twenty people who find this image within the pages and sends an email to mandy.pulpwoodqueen@gmail.com will be entered into a drawing for some fun prizes!
4 SEPTEMBER 2021
READING NATION MAGAZINE
SPECIAL EDITION - FALL OFFICIAL PICKS LOVE LETTER FROM LESLIE LEHR
9
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PULPWOOD QUEEN
15
SEPTEMBER OFFICIAL PICKS
21
OCTOBER OFFICIAL PICKS
31
NOVEMBER OFFICIAL PICKS
41
WATCH THIS!
49
AUTHORS INTERVIEWING AUTHORS
53
TO ADD TO YOUR TBR LIST
61
WHO WE ARE
101
WHERE WE’RE FROM
107
AUTHORS AND THEIR ART
113
TIARA WEARING, BOOK SHARING, GUIDE TO LIFE
117
BREATHLESS BUBBLES AND BOOKS
121
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
125
UPCOMING EVENTS
127
FYI
129
NETWORKING
131
IF OUR PETS COULD TALK
132
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COMING SOON! "River Jordan writes with the lyricism and grace of a gospel hymn, and the tales that weave through Sugar Baby ring like the chorus of a choir, rising and falling and then rising again, like all good sinners do." -Michael Farris Smith, author of Nick and Blackwood A union soldier who deserted, a scared girl in an abandoned, antebellum home, a gravedigger looking for a wife, seven sisters who will kill to protect each other, a stake-out at a rundown hotel, a Spanish priest trying to save his people from the Spanish flu, a young girl sneaking off with an encyclopedia salesman, an old woman aiming to use her last bullet. a woman framed for murder on All Saints Day. The characters in Short Baby and Other Stories are infused by desire, touched by love, seeking retribution and redemption at every turn. Sugar Baby is storytelling of the highest order, plucking up the reader and transporting them to a world of mystery, spirituality, violence, love, and everything in between.” River Jordan is an established literary figure, speaker, teacher, and radio host. Her work has been featured by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, NPR's Book Talk, Guideposts Magazine, and the Southern Literary Review. She is the author of four novels and three spiritual memoirs. Her work is most frequently compared to Flannery O’Connor, Harper Lee, and William Faulkner and Paste Magazine wrote that her novel Saints In Limbo was a “southern gothic masterpiece.”
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
Why You Should Join the Pulpwood Queen Family
Why do I love the International Pulpwood Queens & Timber Guys Book Club? Let me count the ways…. Fourteen years. Three Girlfriend Weekends. An enormous family of friends. Riding the rollercoaster of being a writer through the ups and downs of agents, publishers, divorce, motherhood, remarriage, cancer, and Covid, there is one thing that helped me hang on: my tiara. When I first discovered Beauty and the Book in 2007, the hot pink website matched the new paint on my sad singlemom-trying-to-be-sexy bedroom walls. I already had a tiara and pink feathered boa, required by a friend who dragged 8 SEPTEMBER 2021
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LOVE LETTER FROM LESLIE LEHR
me to my first post-divorce New Year’s Eve party. I also had a new novel, Wife Goes On, about how friends make all the difference. So I read The Pulpwood Queens TiaraWearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life, emailed Kathy L. Murphy, and joined the club. It was a match made in book heaven. Does anyone know how Kathy does it all? Is she solar powered or super-powered? By 2009, when I treated myself as a birthday present to fly from California to Louisiana, drive a rental car to Texas, and book an adorable room at the Delta Inn B&B to attend my first Girlfriends Weekend in the tiny town of Jefferson, we had emailed at least 68 times. (That’s how many I saved, anyway.) We traded personal stories of mothers & daughters and professional tales of business & books. And it wasn’t just me who felt special. That weekend - the first time I saw crocodile on a restaurant menu - I met authors River Jordan, Melanie Benjamin, Barbara Claypool White, 9 ISSUE NO. 6
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
Karin Gillespie, and so many more who all felt special. And now, they were all special to me. I arrived at Girlfriends Weekend without knowing anyone except Kathy, whom I’d never actually met. But our tiaras made us all royalty, readers and authors alike. Jane Porter shared her sweet social media person, who helped me for years. Kaya McLaren stopped on a road trip to visit me in LA and taught me about eating organic. Local members started a monthly meet-up. So many new friends! And oh, so many good books to read and recommend! I couldn’t resist encouraging Caroline Leavitt, a hardcore vegetarian New Yorker, to brave this crazy southern weekend soon after. We’d met years earlier while teaching in the Writers Program at UCLA, and she was always generous. In fact, she may have been the one who pointed out the original Beauty & the Book website. But she had never attended…. and she loved it. After that, I was sick for 10 SEPTEMBER 2021
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LOVE LETTER FROM LESLIE LEHR
a few years. When I started going to conferences in a wig to promote my new novel, What A Mother Knows, I met Marci Nault. We became roommates at the Girlfriend Weekend in 2014, dressed as bobby-soxers to serve the traditional Friday night dinner. With a head covered in Chemo Curls, I had a blast playing Audrey Hepburn to Jamie Ford’s Hunter Thompson at the Saturday night Gala. From the Elvis impersonator to book clubs in matching costumes, the theme is always fun. The mood remained long after unpacking my tiara at home. When North Carolinian, Denise Kiernan was in LA unexpectedly, I wasn’t able to see her. But I was pleased to offer her my home office for the afternoon; this is the level of trust between “girlfriends.” Becky Aikman and her husband, now bicoastal, double date with my husband and me whenever they’re in town. Julie Cantrell and I share a close personal friendship despite the distance between us. Pulpwood Queens support each other like family. When A Boob’s Life; How America’s Obsession Shaped Me… And You got a publishing deal on the eve of the Covid-19 lockdown, I was both elated and deflated. Gone 11 ISSUE NO. 6
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
was any chance of a book tour, public speaking, or traditional promotion. I’d spent five years on this book, switched agents and publishers, and was attracting attention from producer Salma Hayek for HBO Max. They needed to view the project as important. It wasn’t important at all compared to the mortal risk of a pandemic. Yet in the face of disaster, we must live on. So I put on my tiara. I contacted the friends I’d made on the Pulpwood path and traded reviews, events, even online interviews. And of course, I called Kathy. Not only did she immediately understand the message of my memoir, but she shared boob stories of her own. Sure enough, our Queen was up to the challenge of celebrating life and literacy during lockdown. She created a Zoom Slumber Party for the 2021 International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Girlfriends Weekend that was not only fun, but serves as a template for international participation in the future. It was an honor to have A Boob’s Life featured as Book of the Month in May. And now there are new ways to share our mutual love of reading, from Breathless Bubbles & Books to the Books & Film Club to 12 SEPTEMBER 2021
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LOVE LETTER FROM LESLIE LEHR
this fabulous magazine, Reading Nation. (And if you miss anything live, it’s all on Kathy’s Youtube channel.) I’m grateful to all the people who contribute so much time and effort, both behind the scenes and those I’ve had the pleasure of working with, from Jonathan Haupt to Mandy Haynes. As the world opens again, I am proud to label every book with a hot pink Pulpwood Queen sticker. Let’s just agree that Kathy L.Murphy is gift to readers and writers. She is proof that one person can make a difference. The importance of literacy cannot be understated – it spreads entertainment, education and empathy. This is a path to world peace. And, lucky for us, it also creates a community of respect, friendship and love. Grab a tiara and join us! XO, Leslie Lehr 13 ISSUE NO. 6
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
14 SEPTEMBER 2021
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WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PULPWOOD QUEEN
Thanks to Brother Mockingbird Publishing, I’d like to share an excerpt from one of the Pulpwood Queens featured in the collection, The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate 20 Years!
In the Beginning Christopher Cook After living for several years in France and Mexico, I returned to the United States for a while about twenty years ago to catch my breath. I’d written a novel and needed to sell it. I was broke and in debt, so I took a paying job as editor of a statewide magazine in Texas. First thing on my plate upon arrival in Austin: find good feature story ideas for the magazine. So I began poking around and a rumor caught my attention—a rumor about a woman up in northeast Texas, somewhere around Caddo Lake, somewhere on the outskirts of the small town of Jefferson, who ran a business that was both a beauty salon and bookstore. She also had started a book club called the Pulpwood Queens. That sounded like a dandy feature idea to me and I decid ed to assign it to a freelance writer. Then I changed my mind. The story was just too damn good to give to another writer. If one of the perks of an editor’s job isn’t claiming first dibs on the best sto ries, then what’s the 15 ISSUE NO. 6
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
point of being an editor? I decided to write the story myself, which of course required thorough research and an interview. Which naturally meant a road trip. So I packed a bag, jumped into my Dodge pickup truck, and headed northeast toward the East Texas Pineywoods and the hamlet of Jefferson, population 2,000 or so. I recall hitting the road with a surge of excitement. There’s no adventure like chasing down a good story, as any writer knows. Add a bit of travel into the mix and… well. And that’s how I met Kathy Murphy. Then, as now, Kathy was no mere beautician. Nor was she a simple bookseller. No, she proved to be something much, much more: a geyser of ambitious ideas, a whirlwind of energy, an explosion of creative possibilities. In short, a force of nature. It didn’t take a genius to realize Kathy was starting a venture that had the potential to grow much larger. But in those days—in the beginning, I mean—the endeavor seemed modest, a project likely limited by the parameters of time and place. Because even under the best conditions, success is an iffy proposition. The world is cruel and most ideas—even great ideas—die on the vine. On the other hand, Kathy clearly wasn’t your average human being. Her whole attitude was so upbeat and positive. She seemed full what the French describe as joie d’esprit. You found yourself really wanting her to succeed because her success would validate this world as a place worth living in. Her beauty/book shop back then was called Beauty and 16 SEPTEMBER 2021
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WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PULPWOOD QUEEN
the Book. It was a single room tacked onto the side of a large, sprawling home, itself tucked beneath towering pines on a large wooded lot fronting a rural county road. It was not an auspicious location for a business of any sort, I thought. Inside, the shop was stuffed with shelves and books interspersed with salon chairs and mirrors, the air perfumed with the aromas of both printed paper and beauty products. As for her book club—the Pulpwood Queens—it was just a handful of local women who shared Kathy’s love of reading. They met regularly at Kathy’s home for potluck dinners and discussions of books they were devouring together. Merging the social aspects of eating and visiting with the intellectual aspects of reading good books seemed to me a fine way to build and celebrate community. All in all, Beauty and the Book and the Pulpwood Queens and the woman behind those endeavors made for a fine human interest story. So I spent a day with Kathy in her shop, a prolonged interview of sorts, while she told me her story and gave some customers haircuts and permanents. Then I returned to Austin and wrote my magazine feature. It was a fun story to write because Kathy was a fascinating person and her beauty/book shop business was both unique and inspirational. When the feature was published, the response from our magazine readers was enthusiastic…. (find out the rest of the story inside the pages of The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate 20 Years!) 17 ISSUE NO. 6
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
Bookish Broads: Women Who Wrote Themselves Into History by Lauren Marino A boldly illustrated celebration of literary history's most revolutionary, talented women writers Women have written some of our most extraordinary literary works while living in societies and cultures that tried to silence them. These women dared to put pen to paper to express the multifaceted female experience. In Bookish Broads, Lauren Marino celebrates fierce, trailblazing female writers, reworking the literary canon that has long failed to recognize the immense contributions of women. Featuring more than 50 brilliant bookish broads, Marino cleverly illuminates the lives of the greats as well as the literary talents history has wrongfully overlooked. Each intimate portrait delves into one woman's works and is accompanied by vibrant illustrations depicting each literary legend in her element and time.
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SEPTEMBER OFFICIAL PICK
Alexandra Kilburn a Painter, Illustrator, and Muralist based in New Orleans.
Lauren Marino Hi, I’m Lauren. I have loved books since before I learned to read and as a lifelong bookworm I’ve had the great privilege of spending my career close to what I love – words strung together and bound together into things of beauty. They have allowed me to explore people, places and ideas I wouldn’t be able to experience without them. As a professional book editor and publishing executive I get to work with writers and words and ideas all day. As a writer I love to research and write about groundbreaking, strong women – women who broke the rules and pursued their dreams without apology. I hope reading about them inspires you as much as they inspired me while writing about them.
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THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
The Ancient Way: Discoveries on the Path of Celtic Christianity by River Jordan For years, from her home on a hill outside Nashville, River Jordan felt a call to travel to the mystical Isle of Iona, off the coast of Scotland--the island that gave birth to Celtic Christianity. In The Ancient Way she invites us to leave the sacred space of our homes and our lives and join her on this pilgrimage. With the help of friends and the kindness of strangers, Jordan winds her way across green mountains to late-night ferries, across islands and down one-way roads led by the light of Iona and a trust in God. Along the way she explores ancient Celtic Christian practices such as cherishing creation, trusting spiritual friendship, offering hospitality, creative imagination, and honoring community--carrying them home with her to infuse her daily life. This is an intimate story of imagination, of personal transformation, of stillness and prayer. It's also a quirky, thoughtful guide for cultivating divine connection and creativity as we embark on our own wild adventures, chasing after the mystery that calls us all. 22 SEPTEMBER 2021
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SEPTEMBER INTERNATIONAL PICK
River Jordan is an author, speaker, teacher and radio host. As a southerner with a global perspective she is a passionate advocate for the power of story. River's writing career began as a playwright and she spent over ten years writing and directing. She is the best-selling author of four novels and a three spiritual memoirs. As a critically-acclaimed author her work has been most frequently cast in the company of such writers as Flannery O'Conner, William Faulkner, and Harper Lee. Ms. Jordan lives on a hill just beyond Nashville city limits surrounded by her wild, southern family. When not on the road you'll find her on her porch at night watching the moon move through the star-filled sky and contemplating all manner of things human and divine. The Ancient Way, Discoveries On the Path of Celtic Christianity about her pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona in Scotland was just published by Broadleaf Books and is available wherever great books are sold. Her new collection, Sugar Baby and Other Stories will be available this fall.
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THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
Hippie Chick: Coming of Age in the '60s by Ilene English In Hippie Chick, a rebellious teenager finds her mother dead in the bathroom. To save her from living alone with a difficult father, her older sister sends her a one-way plane ticket to leave New Jersey. Landing in San Francisco, she is thrust into a lifestyle way beyond what she is ready for, and that challenges all previous notions of how one behaves. It is 1963, and we are brought along as Ilene becomes immersed in the unfolding of the sixties during the earliest days of sexual freedom, psychedelic drugs, the jazz scene, and rock 'n' roll. This is a deeply personal story of how one young woman manages to survive and even to thrive in the face of the whirlwind of experiences coming at her. It is filled with a rich tapestry of moments that run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous, and everything in between. "To have lived all of this with such relish, loved and lost so many times, and emerged as someone centered in a career, happily married, with a grown daughter who loves her: that is something to be proud of and amazed by." --Mark Matousek, teacher and author of When You're Falling, Dive 24 SEPTEMBER 2021
READING NATION MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER BONUS PICKS
Always a Song: Singers, Songwriters, Sinners, and Saints - My Story of the Folk Music Revival by Ellen Harper and Sam Barry Always a Song is a collection of stories from singer and songwriter Ellen Harper--folk matriarch and mother to the Grammy-winning musician Ben Harper. Harper shares vivid memories of growing up in Los Angeles through the 1960s among famous and small-town musicians, raising Ben, and the historic Folk Music Center. This beautifully written memoir includes stories of Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, The New Lost City Ramblers, Doc Watson, and many more. - Harper takes readers on an intimate journey through the folk music revival. - The book spans a transformational time in music, history, and American culture. - Covers historical events from the love-ins, women's rights protests, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy to the popularization of the sitar and the ukulele. - Includes full-color photo insert. 25 ISSUE NO. 6
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
From the Summer of Love to the Valley of the Moon by Nancy J Martin LSD meets Chardonnay. San Francisco 1967. A teenager comes of age during the Summer of Love at her rock & roll wedding. Her story relates the saga of life and reationships from then until the present through many lessons learned the hard way, In 2005 she transitioned into yet another challenging marriage to the founder of an iconic winery in the Valley of the Moon. An inspirational narrative of one woman's perseverance, creativity and stamina to overcome the cultural norms of patriarchy through years of controlling abuse and moving on through the learning curve of life. Inspired and encouraged by the now prominent #MeToo movement. San Francisco music industry to the Sonoma County wine industry. An inspirational San Francisco bay area narrative. “FROM THE SUMMER OF LOVE TO THE VALLEY OF THE MOON by Nancy J. Martin is riveting from start to finish.”
26 SEPTEMBER 2021
READING NATION MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER BONUS PICKS
Luz by Debra Thomas Alma Cruz wishes her willful teenage daughter, Luz, could know the truth about her past, but there are things Luz can never know about the journey Alma took to the US to find her missing father. In 2000--three years after the disappearance of her father, who left Oaxaca to work on farms in California--Alma sets out on a perilous trek north with her sister, Rosa. What happens once she reaches the US is a journey from despair to hope. Timeless in its depiction of the depths of family devotion and the blaze of first love, Luz conveys, with compassion and insight, the plight of those desperate to cross the US border. "This is a novel of great tenderness and great brutality-Debra is right inside of her characters' minds, bodies, spirits, their souls, and doesn't spare the reader either tenderness or brutality." Alma Luz Villanueva, author of The Ultraviolet Sky, winner of the American Book Award *Winner of 2020 Sarton Award for Contemporary Fiction *Winner of 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Multicultural Fiction *Finalist: 2020 International Book Awards for Multicultural Fiction *Pulpwood Queen Book Club Selection for 2021 27 ISSUE NO. 6
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THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
With or Without You by Caroline Leavitt New York Times bestselling author Caroline Leavitt writes novels that expertly explore the struggles and conflicts that people face in their search for happiness. For the characters in With or Without You, it seems at first that such happiness can come only at someone else's expense. Stella is a nurse who has long suppressed her own needs and desires to nurture the dreams of her partner, Simon, the bass player for a rock band that has started to lose its edge. But when Stella gets unexpectedly ill and falls into a coma just as Simon is preparing to fly with his band to Los Angeles for a gig that could revive his career, Simon must learn the meaning of sacrifice, while Stella's best friend, Libby, a doctor who treats Stella, must also make a difficult choice as the coma wears on. When Stella at last awakes from her two-month sleep, she emerges into a striking new reality where Simon and Libby have formed an intense bond, and where she discovers that she has acquired a startling artistic talent of her own: the ability to draw portraits of people in which 30 SEPTEMBER 2021
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OCTOBER OFFICIAL PICK
she captures their innermost feelings and desires. Stella's whole identity, but also her role in her relationships, has been scrambled, and she has the chance to form a new life, one she hadn't even realized she wanted. A story of love, loyalty, loss, and resilience, With or Without You is a page-turner that asks the question, What do we owe the other people in our lives, and when does the cost become too great?
Caroline Leavitt is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Cruel Beautiful World, Is This Tomorrow, Pictures of You, Girls In Trouble, Coming Back To Me, Living Other Lives, Into Thin Air, Family, Jealousies, Lifelines, Meeting Rozzy Halfway.Various titles were optioned for film, translated into different languages, and condensed in magazines. Cruel Beautiful World was an Indie Next Pick and a Best Book ofi the Year from Blog Critics and The Pulpwood Queens. Her ninth novel, Pictures of You, went into three printings months before publication and is now in its fourth printing. 31 ISSUE NO. 6
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
All the Way to the Tigers: A Memoir by Mary Morris One of NPR's Best Books of the Year From the author of Nothing to Declare, a moving travel narrative examining healing, redemption, and what it means to be a solo woman on the road. In February 2008, a casual afternoon of ice skating derailed the trip of a lifetime. Mary Morris was on the verge of a well-earned sabbatical, but instead she endured three months in a wheelchair, two surgeries, and extensive rehabilitation. One morning, when she was supposed to be in Morocco, Morris was lying on the sofa reading Death in Venice, casting her eyes over these words again and again: "He would go on a journey. Not far. Not all the way to the tigers." Disaster shifted to possibility and Morris made a decision. When she was well enough to walk again, she would go "all the way to the tigers." So begins a three-year odyssey that takes Morris to India on a tiger safari in search of the world's most elusive apex predator. Written in over a hundred short chapters 32 SEPTEMBER 2021
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OCTOBER INTERNATIONAL PICK
accompanied by the author's photographs, this travel memoir offers an elegiac, wry, and wise look at a woman on the road and the glorious, elusive creature she seeks. Born in Chicago in l947, Mary Morris moved East to go to college. Though she never returned to the Middle West, she often writes about the region and its tug. Morris likes the fact that there is more magnetisim around the shores of Lake Michigan than the North Pole. She feels drawn there and feel an affinity for Midwestern writers such as Willa Cather and Mark Twain who wrote their stories of the Middle West from afar. In her first collection of short stories, Vanishing Animals & Other Stories, awarded the Rome Prize in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts & Letters, Morris writes about childhood and adolescent memories. The Chicago Tribune called Morris "a marvelous storyteller-a budding Isaac Bashevis Singer, a young Doris Lessing, a talent to be watched and read". Morris's stories often deal with the tension between home and away. Travel is an important theme in many of the stories in her three collections, including Vanishing Animals, The Bus of Dreams, and The Lifeguard Stories. 33 ISSUE NO. 6
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
The Illusion of Leaving by Jeannette Brown Jamie Wright hates her West Texas hometown of Silver Falls, its small-minded people, the reminder of her childhood there and her failed first marriage--the source of her daddy's eternal disappointment. Jamie's in town to plan his funeral, sell the ranch, and never look back. The funeral goes as planned, however, the reading of the will does not go as planned. The night after the funeral, Jamie and two former classmates go for a nostalgic ride to reminisce about high school. When a tornado system blows in, they drive to a nearby storm shelter. There, fueled by vodka, the secrets erupt. The tornado razes part of Silver Falls as well as the ranch. Jamie realizes that she is not immune to the pull of the land, the way its vast barrenness manages to sustain flora and fauna. In the process of helping clean up the tornado damage to Silver Falls, Jamie finally becomes part of the community.
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OCTOBER BONUS BOOKS
A Visitation of Angels by Carolyn Haines Elizabeth Maslow is an educated woman living in the isolated town of 1920's Mission, Alabama. She's defied the town's definition of a woman's place--she's unmarried and given birth to a child with webbed hands and feet. In a town fraught with superstitions and religious repression, Elizabeth is dangerous. But Elizabeth is much more than an unwed mother. Since the birth of Callie, who she believes is fathered by an angel, she's been able to "dream the truth." And she's determined to testify in behalf of Slater McEachern, a man charged with the brutal murder of a local woman. Elizabeth insists McEachern is innocent. She's determined to speak, no matter the cost. Spirit detectives Raissa and Reginald arrive to help Elizabeth save McEachern--before she ends up on the gallows with him. Raissa and Reginald must unravel a crucial question. Does Elizabeth's gift come from an angel, or from something much, much darker. In the world of spirits and the dead, Raissa has learned to trust no one, especially not the dead. The dead lie. 35 ISSUE NO. 6
THE INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEEN AND TIMBER GUY BOOK CLUB
Switchback: A Patrick Flint Novel by Pamela Fagan Hutchins All Patrick Flint wants is a peaceful getaway in the Wyoming mountains for his rare days off. He's grown weary of the bicentennial celebrations, the angry families of patients, the rash of campers coming down from the mountains high on speed, and the midnight call-outs to cover for the town veterinarian. When his wife Susanne balks at the trip just as they're walking out the door-leaving him to go it alone with his lovestruck teenage daughter Trish and eager-but-adolescent son Perry-Patrick is wounded but determined, despite the news of a murderer escaping custody on the other side of the mountains. After two days of rain-soaked horseback riding to hunt and fish, Patrick's gotten nothing but weird encounters, wet socks, and a whiny daughter. So, on the third day, when Trish begs to stay behind at their campsite to read, Patrick is secretly relieved. Meanwhile back in town, Susanne's had a rough time of it herself. A break-in, a wreck, and a premonition that something is terribly wrong with her family. Unable to ignore her growing fears, she enlists the help of a Wyoming-tough neighbor, and the two women make for the mountains. When Patrick and Perry return to camp, Trish has vanished, along with the horses, the truck, and the trailer. Clues point in opposite directions. Did she run off with the boy whose note Patrick found at the camp? Or was she taken-as the tire marks over their destroyed tent suggest? 36 SEPTEMBER 2021
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OCTOBER BONUS BOOKS
Champagne Widows: Veuve Clicquot and Napoleon by Rebecca Rosenberg A series about the real heroines of Champagne from 1800 to 1950, who work through heartbreak, the restraints of a male-dominated wine industry, economic disasters, bad harvests and wars to head their own Champagne wineries during times when it was unheard of for women to hold such positions. Through their intelligence, perseverance and creativity, they create wildly successful champagne wineries and an explosive world-wide champagne market. “These first known women of Champagne/Sparkling winemaking may not have even realized how strong they were until they had to learn and do it all to survive for themselves and their wineries! Reading Champagne Widows makes it even more of an honor to learn a craft still dominated by men.” ~Penny Gadd-Coster, Executive Director of Winemaking, Rack & Riddle “For anyone who loves champagne, a must-read about Veuve Clicquot.” -Judithe Little, best-selling Author of The Chanel Sisters 37 ISSUE NO. 6
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The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg Bud Threadgoode grew up in the bustling little railroad town of Whistle Stop with his mother, Ruth, church-going and proper, and his Aunt Idgie, the funloving hell-raiser. Together they ran the town's popular Whistle Stop Cafe, known far and wide for its fun and famous fried green tomatoes. And as Bud often said of his childhood to his daughter Ruthie, "How lucky can you get?" But sadly, as the railroad yards shut down and Whistle Stop became a ghost town, nothing was left but boarded-up buildings and memories of a happier time. Then one day, Bud decides to take one last trip, just to see what has become of his beloved Whistle Stop. In so doing, he discovers new friends, as well as surprises about Idgie's life, about Ninny Threadgoode and other beloved Fannie Flagg characters, and about the town itself. He also sets off a series of events, both touching and inspiring, which change his life and the lives of his daughter and many others. Could these events all be just coincidences? Or 40 SEPTEMBER 2021
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something else? And can you really go home again? Fannie Flagg’s career started in the fifth grade when she wrote, directed, and starred in her first play, titled The Whoopee Girls, and she has not stopped since. At age nineteen she began writing and producing television specials, and later wrote for and appeared on Candid Camera. She then went on to distinguish herself as an actress and a writer in television, films, and the theater. She is the bestselling author of Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man; Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe; Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!; Standing in the Rainbow; A Redbird Christmas; Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven; I Still Dream About You; The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion; and The Whole Town’s Talking. Flagg’s script for the movie Fried Green Tomatoes was nominated for an Academy Award and the Writers Guild of America Award and won the highly regarded Scripter Award for best screenplay of the year. Fannie Flagg is the winner of the Harper Lee Prize. She lives happily in California and Alabama. 41 ISSUE NO. 6
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Duty and Desire (Winds of Fire) by Anju Gattani To uphold family honor and tradition, Sheetal Prasad is forced to forsake the man she loves and marry playboy millionaire Rakesh Dhanraj while the citizens of Raigun, India, watch in envy. On her wedding night, however, Sheetal quickly learns that the stranger she married is as cold as the marble floors of the Dhanraj mansion. Forced to smile at family members and cameras and pretend there’s nothing wrong with her marriage, Sheetal begins to discover that the family she married into harbors secrets, lies and deceptions powerful enough to tear apart her world. With no one to rely on and no escape, Sheetal must ally with her husband in an attempt to protect her infant son from the tyranny of his family.
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A shy Indian girl, Anju is from Jaipur, India, but grew up midst the skyscrapers of Hong Kong. She claims her childhood was like ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ –but without the soccer. Anju was first published at the age of 7 in Hong Kong’s leading English Newspaper, The South China Morning Post, and since then she’s been floating on a cloud of imagination wielding a pen in hand because characters wouldn’t stop talking to her. She filled numerous diaries with poems and carried them as she trotted across the globe. However, when she put her imaginary friends in hot water and saw them dance across the page, Anju found her voice! What began as one story unfolded into a series of books. A fiction author, freelance journalist, public speaker, fiction writing instructor, and former newspaper reporter, Anju has been published in cover stories, fiction, feature, news, interview and perspective pieces, columns, parenting and travel articles in publications across Hong Kong, India, Singapore, and the U.S. She was born in India and has also lived in Singapore, Australia, New Jersey, Connecticut, and finally dug her roots in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband, 2 dashing boys and a rebel lionhead rabbit. 43 ISSUE NO. 6
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Drawing Lessons: A Novel by Patricia Sands Sixty-two-year-old Arianna arrives in the South of France for a two-week artists' workshop full of anticipation but burdened by guilt. Back home in Toronto, she has been living with the devastating diagnosis of her husband's dementia and the heartbreak of watching the man she has loved for decades slip away before her eyes. What does her future hold without Ben? Before her is a blank canvas. Encouraged by her family to take some time for herself, she has traveled to Arles to set up her easel in the same fields of poppies and sunflowers that inspired Van Gogh. Gradually, she rediscovers the inner artist she abandoned long ago. Drawing strength from the warm companionship and gentle wisdom of her fellow artists at the retreat--as well as the vitality of guest lecturer Jacques de Villeneuve, an artist and a cowboy--Arianna searches her heart for permission to embrace the life in front of her and, like the sunflowers, once again face the light. 44 SEPTEMBER 2021
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NOVEMBER BONUS PICKS
An Unfinished Story: A Novel by Boo Walker It's been three years since Claire Kite lost her husband, David, an aspiring novelist, in a tragic car accident. Claire finally finds the courage to move on; then she discovers among the remnants of her shattered world her husband's last manuscript. It's intimate, stirring--and unfinished. An idea comes to her...What if she can find someone to give David's novel the ending it deserves? Whitaker Grant is famous for his one and only bestselling novel--a masterpiece that became a hit film. But after being crippled by the pressure of success and his failed marriage, Whitaker retreated from the public eye in his native St. Petersburg, Florida. Years later, he's struggling through a deep midlife crisis. Until he receives an intriguing request from a lonely widow. To honor David's story, Whitaker must understand, heart and soul, the man who wrote it and the woman he left behind. There's more to the novel than anyone dreamed. Something personal. Something true. Maybe, in bringing a chapter of David's life to a close, Claire and Whitaker can find hope for a new beginning. 45 ISSUE NO. 6
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Scattered Lights by Steve Wiegenstein This collection of stories brings together a wide cast of characters, all connected to the Ozarks - natives and transplants, young and old, wicked and innocent, troubled and happy, God-haunted and just plain haunted. These stories range over human experience from madness to reconciliation and everything in between, told in precise, poetic language that leaves a permanent impression. Scattered Lights was named a finalist for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction. Ann Weisgarber, author of The Glovemaker, The Promise, and The Personal History of Rachel DuPree: "Wiegenstein again brilliantly plumbs the depths of human emotions. With his pitch-perfect sentences and compassionate insight, Wiegenstein’s memorable characters are achingly real as they grapple with their ordinary lives and peer into the uncertain future. Scattered Lights is one of the best collections of stories I’ve read in years." 46 SEPTEMBER 2021
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The Girl in the Tree by Sebnem Isiguzel A young woman climbs the tallest tree in Istanbul's centuries-old Gülhane Park, determined to live out the rest of her days there. Perched in an abandoned stork's nest in a sanctuary of branches and leaves, she tries to make sense of the rising tide of violence in the world below. Torn between the desire to forget all that has happened and the need to remember, her story, and the stories of those around her, begins to unfold. Then, unexpectedly, comes a soul mate with a shared destiny. A lonely boy working at a nearby hotel looks up and falls in love. The two share stories of the fates of their families, of a changing city, and of their political awakenings in the Gezi Park protests. Together, they navigate their histories of love and loss, set against a backdrop of societal tension leading up to the tragic bombing that marked a turn in Turkey's democracy-and sent a young girl fleeing into the trees. Narrated by one of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary fiction--as full of audacious humor and irony as she is of rage and grief--this unsparing and poetic novel of political madness, precarious dreams, and the will to survive brilliantly captures a girl's road to defiance in a world turned upside down, in which it is only from the treetops that she can find a grip on reality--and the promise of hope. 47 ISSUE NO. 6
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WATCH TRAILER HERE
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WATCH THIS!
WATCH TRAILER HERE
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WATCH TRAILER HERE
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WATCH THIS!
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Claire Matturro interviews Carolyn Haines
CHM: Carolyn, you’ve written 23 Sarah Booth Delany books, and an abundance of other stand-alone books, and four Pluto’s Snitch Mysteries, and now three books in the Trouble Black Cat detective series plus earlier novels about Trouble’s famous black cat detective father. Just how many books have you written? CH: Over 80 have been published. I have books that I wrote that were never published (and likely never will be!). 52 SEPTEMBER 2021
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CHM: Please tell us about your Trouble the Black Cat detective series, how you started it, and how you recruited other authors to participate, and what the future might hold. I still remember you calling me and how we laughed about the possibilities, and now there are 13 books in the series. CH: My first break in publishing came from Tahti Carter at Harlequin Intrigue. I’ve always loved mysteries and grew up on Nancy Drew, Poe, Sherlock Holmes and others. When Harlequin edged from romance into romantic mysteries, I decided to try. With a lot of help from Tahti, I sold my first book. I created Familiar, the black cat detective who had a point of view in the stories, which was highly unusual for Harlequin at the time. Heck, the males had only recently been given a point of view in standard romance at this time. So Familiar, who saw himself as something of a Sam Spade character, was droll and observant of the foibles of humans. Familiar was patterned after one of my cats, E.A. Poe, a wonderfully smart feline. Tahti loved the “voice” of Familiar and how he helped the humans find clues to solve the mystery and also knew when to nudge them a little toward acknowledging their feelings. So when I was talking with some of my fellow writer friends, I had an idea for a collaboration—a collective of writers. We would create our own stories, but we would all share Trouble, son of Familiar, and the new black cat detective who has patterned himself after Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock. Trouble is from Alabama, but he loves British 53 ISSUE NO. 6
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slang and terms, so he’s terrific fun to write. I am pretty good at talking people into doing things (even when they shouldn’t) and so KaliOka Press was born and we’ve published 13 Trouble books. I’ve only written 3, but it is wonderful to see the range and talent of the other writers as they tell their standalone stories, yet keep Trouble true to his character. CHM: How in the world have you managed to find time to write so many books—and run a small farm and rescue animals? CH: I worked for years in PR, which was a lot less emotionally demanding than journalism, which was my first love, back in the day when journalists actually served as the watchdog of their communities. I knew that if I wanted to be a writer, I would have to find time to write. I got up early and wrote, or I wrote late. I was lucky to have the habit of writing every day from my journalism career. If you want something badly enough, you find the time to do it. I know that sounds a bit simplistic, but I structured my life so that I could find those hours each day to write. I sacrificed a lot of things. It’s a rigorous life with a lot of demands. I write almost every day. The routine of the farm and animal care keeps me structured, which is good for me since I’m a goose. It has been a life with a lot of isolation, though, and COVID really brought that home to me in the last two years. CHM: You were a journalist in South Alabama at one point, I know, because we almost crossed paths in the 54 SEPTEMBER 2021
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Mobile area. Can you tell us a bit about your newspaper days, and if or how print journalism led to your writing books? CH: I had a wonderful, exciting life as a young photojournalist. I was exposed to all kinds of people and situations. I covered two state legislatures, educational issues, police, crime, courts. I got to learn a little about a whole lot of things. That exposure is vital to a fiction writer. You have to know a little about a lot of things to create convincing characters. I also learned discipline and to be edited. Strangely enough, it was working as a journalist that made me realize that motive is what lies at the heart of most human actions, and all the great fiction. Motive is everything. CHM: You rescue horses, don’t you? And other animals. Can you tell us something about that, and where you and the critters all live? Do you care for them all yourself? CH: I have a small farm in Semmes, Alabama, with 2 horses now (several have passed on), 7 dogs and 15 cats. I do take care of them by myself with a little help from my friends. The day to day care is up to me, but I am fortunate to have great veterinarians and and friends to help during emergencies. The horses I have now were going to be sold for meat so I bought them. The dogs are strays that I found on the roadways or who strayed up; the cats are mostly feral cats I’ve trapped and who are now lovely housecats. I did take in my brothers 6 feral cats recently and I realize now I can’t take any more animals—there’s just not 55 ISSUE NO. 6
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enough of me to go around, and this is an expensive vocation. I am a 501(c)(3) and Good Fortune Farm Refuge has been lucky in obtaining grants to help low-income people get basic vet care. We also sold cookbooks for a spay and neuter initiative. We are desperately in need of spay and neuter funding for low-income families in this area. And we need some law making people responsible for their pet’s care. CHM: You recently retired from teaching graduate and undergraduate fiction writing classes at the University of South Alabama. How does it feel to leave the classroom behind? And what important lessons did you learn from teaching that you can share with us? CH: I loved teaching, and I was surprisingly good at it once I got over my fear and realized I had “the power.” I loved teasing the students and we had a lot of fun. I learned so much from them—because I had to clarify my thoughts and reasoning to be able to give it to them. It was a terrific two-way street. I’m not a big believer that degrees bestow literary skills on writers, but a solid writing program aimed at giving students skills, feedback, contacts in the business, etc., can be tremendously helpful. And my teaching job brought home again that learning should be fun, not punitive. We should learn all of our lives. CHM: You write under the pseudonyms of R. B. Chesterton, Lizzie Hart and Carolyn Burnes. Did I miss one? And why use these pseudonyms? And do the names 56 SEPTEMBER 2021
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in the pseudonyms have any particular meaning to you that you chose them? CH: They all have murmur diphthongs, which are supposed to bring luck and good fortune. The pseudonym was more of a signal to the reader—this isn’t Sarah Booth, this is different. And I did think a male sounding pseudonym (R.B. Chesterton) might be more suited to the type of book (scary but not gory) The Darkling and The Seeker are. Pseudonyms are hard to manage, and when I reissue the books as I get the rights back, I’ll simplify my life and use my legal name. I think readers are very capable of looking at the cover or reading the jacket copy and determining, this isn’t Sarah Booth or Trouble, this is darker. CHM: Among the many, many books you have authored, I know of only one nonfiction book, My Mother’s Witness: The Peggy Morgan Story, which is about one woman’s testimony against Byron de la Beckwith in the Medgar Evers murder. Publishers Weekly called it “powerful” not once but twice in its review. What led you to write this? And did your background as a journalist help in the writing and research? Do you plan to write other nonfiction books? CH: Peggy called me up one day and asked me to write her story. I refused. She persisted, and finally I met with her and let her tell me her story. It was such an incredibly difficult life—one she had survived by sheer will alone— that I had to write it. My journalism background did help, 57 ISSUE NO. 6
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but this book is so intensely Peggy’s personal story that I was pulled into her life and almost lived it with her. It was harrowing. I have no plans to write other non-fiction. I have a million stories I want to tell, and fiction is where I’m happiest. CHM: Have you set any of your books outside the South? If so, which books and where? CH: The Seeker is set at Walden Pond, a place as magical as the South, but most of my books are set in the South. It’s the land I know and love and sometimes despair of. CHM: For someone so prolific and versatile, I have to ask: What’s next? CH: I’m waiting on edits for the 24th Sarah Booth book, Lady of Bones. I’m desperate to find time to write the next Pluto’s Snitch mystery. I know my story line: possessed doll, New Orleans, 1920s—what’s not to love? And while I just finished TROUBLE RESTORED, that black cat is demanding another adventure too. I have so many stories to tell. I just can’t write fast enough. *Portions of this interview first appeared in Southern Literary Review and appear here with permission.
Claire Hamner Matturro was raised on tales of errant, unhinged kith and kin, whiskey making, and more than a few 58 SEPTEMBER 2021
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nefarious whoppers. Inspired by such stories, she wanted to write fiction, but became a lawyer instead. An honors graduate of The University of Alabama Law School, she became the first female partner in a large uptown Sarasota, Florida law firm. After a decade of lawyering, Claire taught at Florida State University College of Law and spent one long, cold winter as a visiting legal writing professor at the University of Oregon. She guest blogs, reviews books at Southern Literary Review, where she is an associate editor, and Compulsive Reader, maintains a butterfly garden year round in SW Florida, is active in writers critique groups, and counts her blessings daily. Claire maintains her long love affair with Florida through her fiction, as well as her life. In addition to The Smuggler’s Daughter, her other books are: Skinny-Dipping (2004) (a BookSense pick, Romantic Times’ Best First Mystery, and nominated for a Barry Award); Wildcat Wine(2005) (nominated for a Georgia Writer of the Year Award); Bone Valley(2006) and Sweetheart Deal (2007) (winner of Romantic Times’ Toby Bromberg Award for Most Humorous Mystery), all published by William Morrow, and Trouble in Tallahassee (2018 KaliOka Press). Changing pace from romantic suspense to serious mystery, Claire wrote Privilege (Moonshine Cove 2019), a steamy legal thriller noir set on the Gulf coast of Florida. She and a co-author, psychologist Penny Koepsel, are polishing Wayward Girls, which their wonderful, fun, funny and radically energetic agent Liza Fleissig placed with Red Adept Publishing for a late summer 2021 publication. 59 ISSUE NO. 6
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HIPPIE CHICK by Ilene English 2020 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards Silver Winner in Autobiography & Memoir 2020 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Silver Medal in NonFiction: Historical 2020 CIBA Journey Book Awards Finalist 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in Women's Issues (Non-Fiction) 2021 International Book Awards Finalist in Autobiography/ Memoir “To have lived all of this with such relish, loved and lost so many times, and emerged as someone centered in a career, happily married, with a grown daughter who loves her: that is something to be proud of and amazed by.” —Mark Matousek, teacher and author of When You’re Falling, Dive “Ilene English, a woman warrior with a wide-open heart, was already breaking racial and sexual taboos before the flowering of the counterculture. Her spare, candid style is the perfect vehicle to carry the reader from East Coast to West-Coast, traditional life to Bohemian freedom, and ultimately to the flowering of wisdom. I so enjoyed this book.” —Peter Coyote, actor, author, and Zen Buddhist priest 60 SEPTEMBER 2021
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TO ADD TO YOUR TBR LIST
Husbands and Other Sharp Objects by Marilyn Simon Rothstein
A heartwarming, hilarious novel for anyone who has ever had a family, from the author of Lift and Separate. After a lifetime of marriage, Marcy Hammer is ready to get herself unhitched--just as everyone else in her life is looking for a commitment. Her new boyfriend, Jon, wants to get serious, and her soon-to-be ex-husband, Harvey, is desperate to get back together. When her headstrong daughter announces a secret engagement to Harvey's attorney, Marcy finds herself planning her daughter's wedding as she plans her own divorce. Now with two huge events on the horizon, the indomitable Marcy soon realizes that there's nothing like a wedding to bring out the worst in everybody. From petty skirmishes over an ever-growing guest list to awkward confrontations with her sticky-fingered new in-laws, pulling off the wedding is going to be a challenge; seeing her divorce through is going to be a trial. And trying to make everyone happy might prove to be impossible--because in the end, Marcy alone must make a choice between something old and something new. 61 ISSUE NO. 6
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The Disharmony of Silence by Linda Rosen In 1915, jealous, bitter Rebecca Roth cuts all ties with her lifelong friends, the Pearls. Eight years later, Rebecca's son and young Lena Pearl begin keeping company in secret. Rebecca agrees to a truce when the couple marries. But the truce is fragile. Rebecca's resentments run deep. In 2010, Carolyn Lee, fitness instructor and amateur photographer, must come to grips with the fact that her mother's imminent death will leave her alone in the world. While preparing her childhood home for sale, she realizes for the first time that her mother's antique brooch is identical to the one pinned to the lady's dress in the painting hanging above the fireplace. Coincidence or connection? Carolyn is determined to find out. What she discovers has the potential to tear lives apart or to bring her the closeness and comfort she longs for. It all depends on how she handles her newfound knowledge. "Rosen paints a vivid picture of a family torn apart then shows us what true family means." -Pamela Taylor, author of the Second Son Chronicles 62 SEPTEMBER 2021
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"Linda Rosen spins an intriguing tale of long-held family secrets, an emotional search for identity, and a painting that may just be the key to untangling the complicated past." --Kristin Harmel, bestselling author of The Winemaker's Wife "Both tender and inspiring, The Disharmony of Silence unfolds with emotional and wise insights." -Bunny Shulman, author of After Aida Linda Rosen’s books are set in the “not-too-distant past” and examine how women reinvent themselves despite obstacles thrown their way. A central theme is that blood is not all that makes a family– and they always feature a piece of jewelry! Her debut novel, The Disharmony of Silence, released in March 2020 and her sophomore novel, Sisters of the Vine, one year later, from Black Rose Writing. Linda was a contributor to Women in the Literary Landscape: A WNBA Centennial Publication for the Women's National Book Association and has had stories published in online magazines and print anthologies. She is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and the Women’s National Book Association where she is Selections Coordinator of the Great Group Reads committee which curates a list, published annually, of novels and memoirs perfect for book clubs. 63 ISSUE NO. 6
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The Quisling Factor by J. L. Oakley
2020 Grand Prize Hemingway 20th Century Wartime PWQ International pick for December Post WWII Norway. An ex-intelligence agent in the Resistance prepares to testify at a war crime trial. When mysterious notes threaten the agent & his family, he must stop the traitor who captured & tortured him and destroyed the village that hid him. When his wife is kidnapped, he will have to rely on old wartime skills and comrades to save her. “This is a lesser-known subject―the five-year Nazi occupation of Norway―but it is the best wartime thriller I have read in a while! Recommended to readers of Robert Harris, David Gilman and Rory Clements.” ~ Fiona Alison, Historical Novel Society 2021 64 SEPTEMBER 2021
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The Baseball Widow by Suzanne Kamata When Christine, an idealistic young American teacher, meets and marries Hideki Yamada, an aspiring Japanese high school baseball coach, she believes that their love with be enough to sustain them as they deal with cultural differences. However, Hideki's duties, and the team of fit, obedient boys whom he begins to think of as a surrogate family, take up more and more of his time, just as Christine is struggling to manage the needs of their multiply-disabled daughter and their sensitive son. Things come to a head when their son is the victim of bullies. Christine begins to think that she and her children would be safer - and happier - in her native country. On a trip back to the States, she reconnects with a dangerously attractive friend from high school who, after serving and becoming wounded in Afghanistan, seems to understand her like no one else. Meanwhile, Daisuke Uchida, a slugger with pro potential who has returned to Japan after living abroad, may be able to help propel Hideki's team to the national baseball tournament at Koshien. Not only would this be a dream come true for Hideki, but also it would secure the futures of his players, some of whom come from precarious homes. While Daisuke looks to Hideki for guidance, he is also distracted by Nana, a talented but troubled girl, whom he is trying to rescue from a life as a bar hostess (or worse). Hideki must ultimately choose between his team and his family. 65 ISSUE NO. 6
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The Queen of Paris: A Novel of Coco Chanel by Pamela Binnings Ewen Legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel is revered for her sophisticated style--the iconic little black dress--and famed for her intoxicating perfume Chanel No. 5. Yet behind the public persona is a complicated woman of intrigue, shadowed by mysterious rumors. The Queen of Paris, the new novel from award-winning author Pamela Binnings Ewen, vividly imagines the hidden life of Chanel during the four years of Nazi occupation in Paris in the midst of WWII--as discovered in recently unearthed wartime files. Coco Chanel could be cheerful, lighthearted, and generous; she also could be ruthless, manipulative, even cruel. Against the winds of war, with the Wehrmacht marching down the Champs-Élysées, Chanel finds herself residing alongside the Reich's High Command in the Hotel Ritz. Surrounded by the enemy, Chanel wages a private war of her own to wrestle full control of her perfume company from the hands of her Jewish business partner, Pierre Wertheimer. With antiSemitism on the rise, he has escaped to the United States with the confidential formula for Chanel No. 5. Distrustful of his intentions to set up production on the outskirts of New York City, Chanel fights to seize ownership. The House of 66 SEPTEMBER 2021
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Chanel shall not fall. While Chanel struggles to keep her livelihood intact, Paris sinks under the iron fist of German rule. Chanel--a woman made of sparkling granite--will do anything to survive. She will even agree to collaborate with the Nazis in order to protect her darkest secrets. When she is covertly recruited by Germany to spy for the Reich, she becomes Agent F-7124, code name: Westminster. But why? And to what lengths will she go to keep her stormy past from haunting her future?
''Ewen dazzles in this outstanding historical thriller that chronicles the life of Coco Chanel in occupied France...Ewen's Chanel is arrogant and fragile in equal measure, and the author does a marvelous job of digging into the motivations of a woman born into poverty as she defends the fortune she built for herself, making this a refreshingly nuanced character portrait and also a real page-turner. This is top-notch historical fiction.'' -Publishers Weekly (starred review) ''Through meticulous research, Ewen vividly brings the enigmatic Coco Chanel back to life. The Queen of Paris is multilayered and compelling, the characters lingering, like the delicate scent of Chanel No. 5, long after the final page.'' --Sonia Velton, author of Blackberry and Wild Rose 67 ISSUE NO. 6
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F*ck the Bucket List for the Soul: Discover the Wonder of You by Ayelet Baron The universe is full of wonder and wisdom... and so are you. All around us-in nature and deep within our hearts-exist endless opportunities to learn, create, unlearn, overcome, contribute, love and be. You find yourself wondering whether there's much more to life than you were told. But often, we are so immersed in the chaotic pursuit of "success" as defined by society that we simply don't make time to experience the universe's wonder and wisdom and to trust our inner connection to it. If you are ready for this to do your inner work, then join us on a journey of a lifetime. Leave behind the exhaustion, overwhelm, burnout, stress, anger, fear, blame and judgement of society's decaying systems and reveal yourself to the universe in all your wonder. Life will never be the same. The journey will be intense. It is not for the faint of heart. But as you learn how to access and trust the universal wisdom within your own heart, your life will begin to shift dramatically. 68 SEPTEMBER 2021
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F*ck the Bucket List for the Adventurer: Trekking into the Unknown by Ayelet Baron At a certain point in your journey, you may not know where you're headed but you become more curious and courageous to experience life and all it has to offer. Your heart knows when you're ready to take the first few steps. And once you do, nothing will ever be the same. No one can do this work for you; it's your job to become fully aware that you are standing at a juncture of possibilities. Are you entertaining thoughts about a healthier direction in your life? Are you ready to experiment and try things on to see what actually fits you? Through all of the knowing and unknowing, the visible and invisible, facts and mystery, loss and gain, sanity, and insanity of it all-you are here. Trekking into the unknown takes courage because it forces you to realize how much you don't really know. F*ck the Bucket List inspires you to ask questions, dig deep, and create your own meaning. The story starts and ends at your own pace.
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F*ck the Bucket List for the Health Conscious: Trusting Your Heart by Ayelet Baron You are being invited to the biggest transformation on the planet today and it's up to you to take the first steps. You may not know where you're headed, but you're becoming more courageous and curious to experience life and all it has to offer. When you are health conscious, you become a dynamic creator of your life. You can no longer afford to sit back passively and complain or blame the world or anyone outside yourself for your problems. Why? Because you can no longer be satisfied with the world the way it is now. You consciously choose to step out of being told how to live your life. F*ck the Bucket List for the Health Conscious serves as a wake-up call for anyone who is no longer satisfied with the way things are, and an inspiration to anyone who is trekking into the unknown. There's no going back when you're walking through a gateway of awareness. You can easily lead yourself into a healthy world of possibilities. You are already on your way if you're engag-ing with this trilogy. 70 SEPTEMBER 2021
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Ayelet Baron, Author & Global Futurist Hi, I’m Ayelet Baron. In the midst of a very successful career as a global strategy executive at Cisco Systems, I went through my own transformation. After several life-altering experiences, I realized that the old paradigm no longer worked for me. I made the bold decision to fire myself and started to question everything. Along this trek into the unknown, the universe and I wrote theF♥ck the Bucket List book trilogy because we decided that had we partnered up sooner, my journey towards becoming a conscious architect of humanity would have been much easier… My dream is that the triplets, as I call them, help unleash millions and millions of heart-centered people who are ready to do their own inner work and ultimately join us in the HeartPickings community as we work together as architects of humanity.
Introducing the F♥ck the Bucket List Book on hiitide Virtual Book Club You don’t have to take this journey alone. 71 ISSUE NO. 6
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Death By A HoneyBee: A Josiah Reynolds Mystery by Abigail Keam READERS' FAVORITE - GOLD MEDAL WINNER Death By A HoneyBee is an enjoyable read which will capture the interest of most die-hard mystery fans! Finalist in the USA BOOK NEWS Best Book List Abigail Keam writes with vision and understanding. Keam leaves the reader yearning for more. Midwest Book Review
Josiah Reynolds is a beekeeper trying to stay financially afloat by selling honey at the Farmers' Market. She finds her world turned upside down when a man is found dead in her beeyard, only to discover the victim is her nemesis. The police are calling the brutal death murder and Josiah is the number one suspect! Fighting an unknown enemy in the glamorous world of Thoroughbreds, oak-cured bourbon, and antebellum mansions, Josiah struggles to uncover the truth in a land that keeps its secrets well. There is justice and then there is Josiah’s justice! The Josiah Reynolds Mystery Series is just like fried chicken - finger-licking good! Add some sweet tea and a 72 SEPTEMBER 2021
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piece of chocolate pecan pie with a scoop of ice-cream and you got yourself some tasty reading. We are introduced to a cast of characters and a storyline that, like honey, is sweet and delicious. -Linda Hinchcliff, Chevy Chase Magazine Other books in the Josiah Mystery Series: Death By Design Death By Drowning Death By Malice Death By Bridle Death By Drama Death By Bourbon Death By Stalking Death By Lotto Death By Deceit Death by Chocolate Death By Magic Death by Haunting Death By Shock Death By Derby
Abigail Keam is the award-winning author of thirty novels. She has won numerous awards for her Josiah Reynolds Mysteries and the 1930s Mona Moon Mystery Series. Her most recent historical novel is Murder Under A Black Moon. She lives on the edge of the Kentucky Palisades and is a beekeeper. 73 ISSUE NO. 6
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The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney “Some things in this world are meant to burn …” The summer of 1956, a brood of cicadas descends upon Providence Georgia, a natural event with supernatural repercussions, unhinging the life of Analeise Newell, an elevenyear-old piano prodigy. Amidst this emergence, dark obsessions are stirred, uncanny gifts provoked, and secrets unearthed. During a visit to Mistletoe, a plantation owned by the wealthy Mayfield family, Analeise encounters Cordelia Mayfield and her daughter Marlissa, both of whom possess an otherworldly beauty. A whisper and an act of violence perpetrated during this visit by Mrs. Mayfield all converge to kindle Analeise’s fascination with the Mayfields. Analeise’s burgeoning obsession with the Mayfield family overshadows her own seemingly, ordinary life, culminating in dangerous games and manipulation, setting off a chain of cataclysmic events with life-altering consequences—all of it unfolding to the maddening whir of a cicada song. 74 SEPTEMBER 2021
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“What a cast of characters! What a voice! And what insight and empathy into the lives of her diverse characters. I am a huge Mandy Haynes fan. I see in her writing traces of Flannery O’Conner and Alice Munro. Having read both of her short story collections, Walking the Wrong Way Home and Sharp as a Serpent’s Tooth, I find myself thinking of her characters long after closing the book. Most precious to me is Jewel. Check out both books to find out which story I’m talking about and why both Jewel and Mandy have touched my heart.” Debra Thomas, author of Luz "Reading Mandy Haynes's collection of short stories, Sharp as a Serpent's Tooth, takes me on a journey down red clay backroads to the gothic South where Flannery O'Connor rides shotgun and whispers in my ear. Haynes takes her fiction into a world I love--a South of conmen, snake handlers, and individuals with unsettling courage. She brings fresh insight into characters I've met and places I've visited in real life and in fiction. There's no better journey-highly recommended." USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Haines, 2010 Harper Lee Distinguished Writer Award winner 75 ISSUE NO. 6
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The Flying Cutterbucks by Kathleen M. Rodgers A serving of "Fried Green Tomatoes" set against backdrop of presidential elections. Decades ago, Trudy, Georgia, and Aunt Star formed a code of silence to protect each other from an abusive man who terrorized their family. One act of solidarity long ago lives with them still. With the election of a president who brags about groping women without their consent, old wounds 76 SEPTEMBER 2021
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and deep secrets come alive again, forcing hard truths to be told and even harder truths to be left to the dead. On the outskirts of Pardon, New Mexico, Trudy returns to her mother, Jewel, to navigate an old house filled with haunting mementos of her father who went missing in action over North Vietnam. As she helps her mother sift through the memories and finally lay her father to rest, Trudy will do her own soul searching to say goodbye to the dead, and find her way along with the other women in her family, and through the next election. Kathleen M. Rodgers is a novelist whose work has appeared in Family Circle Magazine, Military Times, and in several anthologies. A professional writer for more than forty-five years, her novels have garnered many awards and favorable reviews from readers. She’s been featured in USA Today, The Associated Press, and Military Times. The Flying Cutterbucks, her fourth novel, is a 2021 WILLA Literary Award Finalist in Contemporary Fiction from Women Writing the West. It released June 2020 from Wyatt-MacKenzie and is represented by Diane Nine, President of Nine Speakers, Inc. Rodgers is working on her fifth novel and is a grandma to grandsons Reader (8) and Colton (2). Her two big rescue dogs, Denton and Jav, offer emotional support along with her husband, Tom, a retired pilot and her biggest champion. 77 ISSUE NO. 6
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The Kiminee Dream by Laura McHale Holland A deeply poetic, riveting debut novel, The Kiminee Dream is a tale of Midwest charm and quirky characters, but with twists and turns that reveal a dark side you don’t see coming. It’s true that odd things happen in Kiminee, Illinois. Lilacs bloom in winter. Gravel glows golden on occasion. The river sings as it wends through town. But this is normal for the tight-knit folks who call Kiminee home. So when auburn-tufted Carly Mae Foley learns to read at age two and masters multiplication at age three, the denizens take it in stride and embrace her with pride. But all is not well in Carly Mae’s family. And when a twister roars though, it decimates their home, along with their emotional bonds, as her mother’s affair is exposed and her father goes missing. A determined grandmother, one-eared dog and generous benefactor come to the gifted child’s aid, but not everyone is rooting for her, and when an appalling crime occurs, long-held animosities boil over. No one can say whether the good folks of Kiminee will pull closer together—or be torn apart. 78 SEPTEMBER 2021
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The Eves by Grace Sammon The Eves is a multi-generational novel portraying lives lived well and lives in transition. Filled with poignancy and humor, The Eves captures the conversations we wish we had had with our parents, if we had taken the opportunity, and the lessons we would want to impart to our children, if they were ready to listen. Told through the voice of the psychologically complex Jessica Barnet, this is her story. As the primary witness in a messy trial she has been torn from the foundation of her existence-her connection to her children. With a partially finished doctoral degree, and incomplete renovations on her Washington, DC row house, she has let go of her ambitions and her appearance, but not her vodka or her sense of loss and guilt. When Jessica meets five diverse, determined, and sometimes ditzy old women living in a sustainable community everything and everybody changes. Through plot twists and turns that cover three continents, we learn the truth of Jessica's life and lies just as we fall in love with the vividly drawn characters and the vibrantly described settings. “I enjoyed turning every page, until the last one. This is a book that we will be talking about for a long time.” Bette Blitzer 79 ISSUE NO. 6
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Wayward Girls by Claire Matturro and Penny Koepsel When late-night phone calls summon Jude Coleridge and Camille Prescott to the demolition of their old boarding school, Talbot Hall, painful memories bombard the former best friends. Though estranged for years, both bear the physical and emotional scars from their youth. At Talbot, they were branded “the crazy girls, the ones who lie.” They soon formed a trio with a new student, Wanda Ann, who ensnared them into her bewildering relationship with the school psychologist, Dr. Hedstrom. But Wanda Ann’s wild stories masked a truth that threatened to engulf them all. As teens, the girls could only rely on each other as they moved toward an unfathomable, fiery danger. Now, in the crumbling halls of the old school, hours before its final destruction, they must grant forgiveness, to themselves and others, if they are to move forward. Sizzling with tension and intriguing characters, Wayward Girls is set in a creepy Central Florida boarding school that is supposed to provide structure for teens whose parents or therapists have deemed them as too rebellious, who thought they were "crazy girls. The ones who lied." Their infractions seem to be as trivial as skipping school— 80 SEPTEMBER 2021
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so what's really going on?... The careful unfolding of the truth as the story moves back and forth in time is a testament to the skill of these talented authors. ... The Matturro-Koepsel collaboration has produced a compelling novel, one worthy of wide readership and a lasting place on bookshelves. ~Southern Literary Review August Read of the Month. While the story goes to some dark places (it is a school for troubled teens, after all), readers can't help but get engaged in the evolving friendships formed at Talbot, and the secrets that bonded these three girls for life. Wayward Girls will leave readers asking: Who are the friends in your life who will help you hide the body?~Blogger and award-winning author Karen Spears Zacharias Wayward Girls doesn't whitewash much in a story that as fiction will keep a reader needing to unravel one convoluted knot after another. ... The writers have convincingly placed their characters in the middle of the1970s, with allusions to vernacular products and styles of speech, even the mores of the time. And it is this veracity, seemingly so close to the recollections the authors must have of their own time as "wayward girls" in a remote boarding school not so very far away in memorytime, that gives Wayward Girls its punch. ~Tallahassee (FL) Democrat 81 ISSUE NO. 6
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Time Is Eternity (The Full Circle Series Book 3) by Annette G. Anders Some ties aren’t meant to be cut. Life is good! Luca Harrison enjoys spending time with his trusted group of friends, isn’t shackled to a wife and children, and now a promotion to his dream job has rounded everything out nicely. But just when he embarks on his new endeavor, one friend is tying him in knots in more than one way. And while Luca is resisting his own feelings, he’s also wondering if maybe he got his priorities wrong. Josephine Alberts believes in the grounding energy of the moon and in the strength of friendship. She has many dreams, and New York City is the place to achieve them. But when a series of tragedies leaves her vulnerable and broken, she must turn to the one person she doesn’t want to burden—her best friend, who left her when she needed him most. The man she wants to spend eternity with. What will it take for Luca and Jo to bridge the distance and heal together? 82 SEPTEMBER 2021
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Annette G. Anders grew up in Germany with a love for books, music and traveling instilled by her parents. She always liked the idyllic world created by Astrid Lindgren, loves listening to ABBA, but also enjoys classical music. When she can’t travel, Annette explores the world through the eyes of her favorite writers. Annette has worked for many years as an Executive Assistant in Germany and Switzerland. In 1998, she and her husband moved to the United States, where they welcomed and raised their son. In 2018, she turned her love for books into a freelance editing career and, in 2019, found the inspiration and courage to write her first novel, TURN BACK TIME, which won the 2021 NIEA award. In her stories, Annette explores relationship questions, how events from our past influence decisions in the present, and what it takes to follow our dreams. Her characters are relatable and have flaws they try to overcome, and her stories are intriguing and pull the reader right in. They make the reader laugh, and cry - they are believable! When Annette isn’t working on a new book, she enjoys reading, photography, traveling, and spending time with friends. Annette looks forward to hearing from readers. Follow her on social media and stay in touch. 83 ISSUE NO. 6
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The Bellamys of Texas (3 book series) by Susan Yawn Tanner
Winds Across Texas A Comanche captive for five years, Katherine returns home to find herself shunned by her Texas town. Worse, her brother is missing. Slade is a mercenary lawman whose latest quest is Katherine’s brother, last seen with the outlaw who murdered Slade’s wife and son. Katherine is determined to find her brother before Slade can but their paths twine and sparks fly.
Fire Across Texas Done with the army’s mismanagement of Indian affairs, 84 SEPTEMBER 2021
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ex-Texas Ranger Jeb sets his mind on New Mexico. At a remote homestead, he finds a woman alone with her husband’s body and blood on her clothes. She’s no murderer but she is the most stubborn woman he’s ever encountered. Hannah is determined to bring her husband’s murderers to justice. Jeb is determined to find a place to leave her—if only he can be sure she’ll be safe now that she’s under his skin.
Storm Out of Texas Ford never expected his wife to leave him but death came and it’s time to move on. Maria is excited to return home but not to the marriage that awaits her. The rugged cowboy with a baby in his arms tugs at her heart but he’s surely married and she’s betrothed to a stranger. The perils of stagecoach travel throw them together but the trip is coming to an end. Ford hasn’t found love only to lose it again and Maria is a woman worth fighting for.
Susan Yawn Tanner didn’t plan a series when she first wrote Winds Across Texas but she fell in love with Jeb Welles. He had to have his own story and Fire Across Texas was born. When both stories were re-released by Secret Staircase Books, an imprint of Columbine Publishing, her publisher and fans wanted just one more and she obliged with Storm Out of Texas. Ms. Tanner’s 85 ISSUE NO. 6
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Scottish Highland romances—Highland Captive, Captive to a Dream, and Exiled Heart—were also re-released by Secret Staircase Books along with the novella A Warm Southern Christmas. As Susan Y. Tanner, she blends her passion for horses with her passion for writing. Trouble in Summer Valley introduces readers to the rescue horses of Summer Valley Ranch. In Turning for Trouble, her own rodeo experience brings that rough and tumble world to life. Trouble in Action, showcases the risky profession of stunt riding while giving a glimpse into historical reenactments. A Whisper of Trouble provides insight into a talent practiced by few…the art of horse whispering. Published by KaliOka Press, these romantic mysteries are part of the Trouble Cat Detective series. When not at her desk, Ms. Tanner can usually be found in the barn or on the back of a horse.
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Luz by Debra Thomas *Winner of 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Multicultural Fiction *Winner of 2020 Sarton Award for Contemporary Fiction *Finalist: 2020 International Book Awards for Multicultural Fiction *Pulpwood Queen Book Club Selection for 2021
"This is a novel of great tenderness and great brutality―Debra is right inside of her characters’ minds, bodies, spirits, their souls, and doesn’t spare the reader either tenderness or brutality." ALMA LUZ VILLANUEVA, author of The Ultraviolet Sky, winner of the American Book Award, and most recently, Song of the Golden Scorpion "An earnest novel about the journey of a young Mexican immigrant. . . A sensitive but unsparing coming-of-age drama." KIRKUS REVIEWS "This reader was mesmerized by the depth of pain and love that guides this story along the trail of Alma's fearful journey to her hopes for her daughter." CHARLOTTE ROBIN COOK, Next Generation Indie Book Awards Judge 87 ISSUE NO. 6
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Sonju by Wondra Chang “Chang offers a debut historical novel about the extraordinary transformation of a Korean woman and her country. In 1946, the inquisitive, forwardthinking 19-year-old Sonju holds onto the hope of “living a modern life” by continuing her education and marrying childhood friend Kungu, whom her parents find unsuitable. Although she dreams of being “equal partners” in a marriage in which both partners have “equal voice,” it quickly becomes clear that her future will be different, as her parents arrange a marriage to a stranger. Her new husband lives in Maari, a strictly traditional village; it takes time for Sonju to adjust to married life in a large extended family, but she grows fond of her sister-in-law and comes to have a tolerable relationship with her husband. Her life is irrevocably changed when she has a daughter, Jinju; just as South Korea moves toward independence from Japan, Sonju vows to raise Jinju as an independent girl, giving her “freedom to explore possibilities.” Sonju also begins to teach local women how to read and write. But as the Korean War breaks out, her dreams for her future are threatened. She and her daughter evacuate but aren’t spared from witnessing horrors of war: “limp bodies reduced to animal 88 SEPTEMBER 2021
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flesh, reeking animal stench.” After the war, her marriage unravels after a great loss, and she eventually returns to Seoul, where she rekindles her love for Kungu. Soon, though, she must begin anew once again. Throughout this novel, Chang uses Sonju’s life as a metaphor for the cultural upheaval of Korea in the mid-20th century. She successfully crafts a fully formed protagonist with singular strength and determination, and her prose is measured and thoughtful. She’s particularly adept at conveying emotion through everyday, domestic imagery that readers will appreciate, as when Sonju sadly contemplates the “valleys and mountains” made by the fabric of her wedding gown, mourning days of freedom with her childhood friends; at another point, during her melancholy introduction to her husband’s family home, she notices how the “freshly applied wallpaper with light pink flowers seemed overly hopeful.” A well-crafted tale of a person who forges ahead amid heartbreak and war.” - starred Kirkus Review “Wondra Chang delights us with a story of family, love and the search for happiness. Here is a journey filled with romance, tragedy, and intrigue, a journey worth taking. Enjoy.”—Jose Antonio Rodriguez, author of This American Autopsy Chang gifts us with an epic pulsing with life, fevered with longing, brimming with hope, and coursing with humanity. It’s the kind of writing and storytelling that will settle into your heart, your soul, your very bones.” —Brian Petkash, author of Mistakes by the Lake 89 ISSUE NO. 6
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Being Home is about the spirit of place, the juncture of memory and emotions. It is different for everyone; it is different for members of the same family, and it most likely has nothing to do with where you were born or grew up. Award-winning essayists Sam Pickering and Bob Kunzinger selected the essays for this collection, selecting essays about being home where setting becomes character, where time becomes the antagonist, and where we make our most important discoveries. These are not quarantine, stay in place, Covid-19 essays. The editors: Sam Pickering grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. He spent 67 years in classrooms learning and teaching and has long been a rummager and writer wandering New England and the South, the Mid-East, Britain, Australia, and Canada. He has written some thirty books and is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Bob Kunzinger is the author of eight collections of nonfiction, and has been widely published in publications such as World War Two History, Southern Humanities Review, the Washington Post, St Anthony Messenger, and more, including notations for essays in Best American Essays. He lives and writes in Virginia. 90 SEPTEMBER 2021
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Alegría by Emi Wright To be released October 21, 2021. Alegría’s family struggles to keep afloat amid secrets as she develops narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder that disrupts her nights and dulls her days. In a fantastical world where dead grandmothers come to visit and witch doctors prescribe waking concoctions, young Alegría discovers the secrets behind her namesake and the imperfections within her family. When the wind blows and the rains come, will she be able to keep her family together? A powerful and impassioned novel based out of hope, loss, and of finding one’s place in the world. Through breathtaking descriptions and elegant prose, Alegría shows a girl’s mystical journey through its enchanting moves, and it’s graceful telling of life’s search for faith, acceptance, and clarity.” —Jasmine Robinson, author of Stony the Road we Trod 91 ISSUE NO. 6
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Buried Beneath (Bishop Security Series Book 3) by Debbie Baldwin Camilo Canto has unfinished business. As the newest member of the Bishop Security team, Cam has left the dark world of undercover work with the CIA and is starting a new life in South Carolina. Unfortunately, there is a haunting figure from his past with an agenda. The Conductor is a criminal mastermind who wants Cam eliminated along with the evidence Cam compiled while working undercover. A devious plot is in place to do just that. Cam is abducted and awakes on the island paradise of Mallorca, where crime, danger, and obsession are buried beneath the picture-perfect surface. In order to stop The Conductor, Cam must sift through layers of diversion, including an infatuated supermodel, a corrupt mine owner, and an obsessed treasure hunter. As he fits the puzzle together, Cam crosses paths with a beautiful archaeologist searching for answers to another mystery hidden in the caves beneath the island. Evangeline Cole is a Ph.D. candidate in Mallorca with an 92 SEPTEMBER 2021
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archaeological team. When Evan stumbles upon a strange marker, she is compelled to follow the clues to solve a centuries-old mystery buried in the caves. When Evan’s treasure hunt crosses paths with Cam’s investigation, passion and danger ignite. Cam is forced to confront both the real and psychological demons from his years undercover to find the true treasure buried beneath. Fans of Lori Foster, Sandra Brown, and Toni Anderson will love Illicit Intent. Be advised: this story contains scenes of violence equivalent to an R-rated movie and explicit sexual situations.
Debbie Baldwin is a successful print media and television writer. She is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Virginia School of Law. Debbie and her husband live in Saint Louis, Missouri with their puggle, Pebbles. They have three children in college. 93 ISSUE NO. 6
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Gold Digger -The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor by Rebecca Rosenberg DOUBLE GOLD for GOLD DIGGER! 2020 IBPA and IPPY Awards for fiction! One look at Baby Doe Tabor and you know she was meant to be a legend of the Wild West and Gilded Age! She was just twenty years old when she came west to work a gold mine with her new husband. Little did she expect that she’d be abandoned and pregnant and left to manage the gold mine alone. But that didn’t stop her! She fell in love with an old married prospector, twice her age. Horace Tabor struck the biggest silver vein in history, scandalously divorced his wife, became a US Senator, and married Baby Doe at the US capitol with President Arthur in attendance. Though Baby Doe Tabor was renowned for her beauty, her fashion, and even her philanthropy, she was never welcomed in polite society. Her friends were stars they hired to perform at their Tabor Grand Opera House: Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde, Lily Langtry, opera star Emma Abbott. Discover how the Tabors navigated the worlds of scandal, greed, wealth, power, and politics in the wild days of western mining. 94 SEPTEMBER 2021
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10 out of 10! "An engaging and beautifully-written story, this fact-based novel celebrates the endurance of the human spirit in one woman's determination to survive." -Publisher's Weekly Book ListPrize "An accomplished and absorbing novel...Rosenberg brings forth a fine historical inspired by Elizabeth McCourt Tabor, better known as Baby Doe whose rags-to-riches and back to rags again story made her a famous figure in history. The skillful plotting and richly crafted characters get readers immediately drawn in. Rosenberg's poignant account delivers a stunning historical, and the openending climax makes readers wait eagerly for the next installment." -The Prairies Book Review "Gold Digger is a gripping story of female grit and resilience. Lizzie, or Baby Doe, as she becomes known, has a wonderful, indomitable spirit, and Rosenberg brings her physical and emotional challenges vibrantly to life. The story is fastpaced, but also moving. Lizzie faces many hurdles as a woman, an abandoned wife, and then a divorcee and mistress, earning the disapproval of many, including her own, much-loved mother." Historical Novel Society 95 ISSUE NO. 6
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FREEDOM LESSONS by Eileen Sanchez
Back to School! Are you a teacher? Do you know a teacher? Here’s what Amazon reviewers have to say! Recommend Freedom Lessons – A Novel, for your classroom or your school’s library. A deeply affecting novel A must read for Americans and a vehicle for conversations on racial justice. Should be a required book in all American high schools. An Important and Relevant Work of Historical Fiction The lessons shared in the book are as important and relevant for today as they were fifty years ago. This book should be read, shared, and discussed by parents, teachers, students, elected officials, and all human beings who believe in "a more perfect union." Outstanding read! Freedom Lessons is an amazing story that grabs you immediately and holds you until the end. Beautifully written, this is a must read for educators and students alike. This book needs to be made into a movie and added as required reading for high school and college students! I read it in three days because I couldn't put it down! 96 SEPTEMBER 2021
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Poignant, powerful novel of court-ordered school integration in the late 1960s. Recommended read for preservice and in-service teachers, administrators, and students of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Much to Learn from Freedom Lessons. As a former high school teacher in Los Angeles, I would have made this required reading in my American Literature class. In fact, Freedom Lessons should be on high school reading lists throughout the US. An intriguing history lesson A novel that will resonate with audiences across the spectrum, from young adults to the teachers who fight for them, from history buffs to those who lived through the times. Still relevant fifty years later This book could be very useful in a high school classroom since it presents very clearly the impact of forced integration as it was happening on the students at the time. Flashback to 1960s I think this book is well timed and should be mandated reading for school children to facilitate discussions of race at a time of growing ethnic divisions in our country. Job well done, Mrs. Sanchez! Thank you for sharing your story of Freedom Lessons.
Teacher discounts available!
Purchase Here 97 ISSUE NO. 6
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Independent Bones by Carolyn Haines Carolyn Haines's Independent Bones is the next novel in the series that Kirkus Reviews characterizes as “Stephanie Plum meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” featuring sassy Southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney. When Dr. Alala Diakos, a visiting professor of Greek literature, comes to teach at Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi, it doesn't take long for controversy to follow. With her fervent feminist ideals and revolutionary leanings, she quickly earns the admiration of many―and the ire of others. During a speech in the park, in which Alala tries to organize the women of Zinnia to demand equal pay, the crowd gets unruly, with men heckling the professor. And when PI Sarah Booth Delaney finds a sniper rifle and scope in the bushes, she begins to worry that there are more than fighting words at stake. Sarah Booth calls her boyfriend, Sheriff Coleman Peters, who offers the protection of the Zinnia police department, but Alala rejects him, saying she has no use for the law or men. And when a notorious domestic abuser is found dead 98 SEPTEMBER 2021
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the next day, suspicions turn to Alala herself, who was overheard bragging that she would take him down. Tensions deepen when connections are drawn between Alala and two similar, previous deaths. But Sarah Booth doesn't want to believe Alala is a murderer, and when the professor shows up at Sarah Booth’s doorstep, asking her to find the real criminal, Sarah Booth embarks on a case stretching across the Delta. Yet Alala remains at the center of it all, and Sarah Booth can’t help but wonder if the killer has been with her all along... Independent Bones is Book #23 in the Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery series "Danger and adventure ensue." ―Woman's World “[With] room for humor as dogs and cats assist with the investigation. Fans of the series will enjoy the depth of the story, along with the characters' personal development.” ―Library Journal on Independent Bones "Cozy fans attuned to the #MeToo movement may want to check this one out." ―Publishers Weekly on Independent Bones
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Let me introduce you to another one of our favorite Pulpwood Queens, Susan Peterson!
Sue’s Reading Neighborhood
My journey as a reader began at a young age. Our house was overflowing with books, my mom loved to read, but it was my dad—a man who didn’t go to school past 9th grade—who was the person who really inspired me to read. He would often have two books going at once, sometimes more, as he read everything he could on the 100 SEPTEMBER 2021
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WHO WE ARE
Civil War, and the Wild West, his favorite eras of American history. Books and stories became a refuge and an escape for me as a teenager, a break from the dysfunction of the family of an alcoholic. I loved pretending I was Nancy Drew, or one of the Bobbsey twins, and later on I got lost in the world of Victoria Holt. My younger brothers used to tease that every book I read had the picture of a young woman running from a castle on its cover, and they weren’t wrong! I continued to read as much as I could after I married, had a child, and began a long career as a paraprofessional in schools. I savored my long holiday breaks as a time to read all the books I was too tired to read during the school year. In 2014, I retired from that job, and what a luxury it was to have unlimited time to READ!! At the same time, I was 101 ISSUE NO. 6
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beginning to follow authors on social media, especially Facebook, and what a delight it was to form online friendships with these people who were my idols. I began to meet more and more writers on Facebook, most of whom I never would have heard of without social media— and what a pity that would have been! As my reading world grew and grew, I began to understand the value of reviews to authors. I had won a few books, and knew that leaving a review was the best way to repay them for the gift of their writing. I also started to use my voice on Facebook to promote the books and authors as much as I could. It was around 2017 that I “met” Kathy Murphy, and learned all about the wonderful world of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club, and in 2018 I was finally able to attend Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend! What a dream come true! Here I was, in the company of so many authors I’d admired; authors whose books I’d talked about online; authors who I’d become online friends with; authors who I was suddenly standing next to, or having lunch with! I was up in the clouds that weekend, and never wanted to come down. Shortly after that fantastic weekend, I thought I’d give it a go to start my own Facebook group, which at the time was called Sue’s Booking Agency. I wanted to introduce readers to authors, to promote their books, to share my reviews—I wanted nothing more than to pair readers with books and authors, especially those that they might never have heard of, the 102 SEPTEMBER 2021
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way it happened to me a few years before that. From a group of about 200 friends and authors, the renamed Sue’s Reading Neighborhood now has close to 2,700 members. My goal remains the same, pairing readers with books, and nothing makes me happier than to have a reader tell me that they loved a book I recommended. It’s those connections that keep me motivated! I’ve now hosted my own panel at PQGW two times. The first time, at the 20th anniversary weekend, I hosted my panel while Kathy Murphy did a complete makeover on my hair— teased and sprayed and swept up into a beautiful updo! It was fantastic, it calmed my nerves, and was a truly memorable experience. I’ve been working on my interview chops, especially with lockdown and virtual events that followed, and awkward moments aside, they have been such a delight! I recently found myself to be the interviewee, when Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North 103 ISSUE NO. 6
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Carolina, along with author Barbara Claypole White, interviewed me about reviews, reading groups, and book recommendations. Nobody is more surprised than I am that a young girl who read Nancy Drew under the covers so I wouldn’t bother my sister has found this whole new life, this whole new mission, to support authors and the books that they write as much as I can. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
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Where I’m From Mandy Haynes
I’m from a small town called Greenbrier in Middle Tennessee. Some stories say that it got its name for the thick vines full of sharp green briers that still grow wild there. They say those briers almost caused the L&N (Louisville to Nashville) railway to make a detour. Another story is that it was named after an old fella nicknamed “Greenbrier” who worked at the local whiskey distillery. I like the second story best myself because it gives me a chance to talk about the fact that in 1885, Nelson’s distillery produced 357,000 more gallons of sour mash whiskey than Jack Daniel's distillery. 106 SEPTEMBER 2021
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The distillery was what built the town - everything needed to make the whiskey was grown here, and the barrels needed to ship it were built here. Just think what would’ve happened to this little town if the distillery hadn’t closed in 1909 due to prohibition. Some of the buildings still stand, including the spring house and a spout where clear water runs nonstop. I never knew what those buildings were until I was an adult, all I knew was that the creek that ran behind them was a great place to catch crawdads. Greenbrier is twenty miles south of the home of the notorious Bell Witch in Adams, and twenty-five miles north of downtown Nashville and the haints of country music stars that frequent Broadway. It’s fertile soil to grow storytellers and feed superstitions. When I lived there we had one red light on the “big” twolane highway. The “old highway” which was barely wide enough for cars to pass each other, ran the full length of town on the opposite side of the railroad tracks. It still had a pig pen that let you know you were about to hit the big bump in the road that – if you hit it just right and were 107 ISSUE NO. 6
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going fast enough – would turn your mama’s car into a flying missile. Back then no one wore seat belts, so the jumps would flip stomachs and unstick sweaty little thighs from the hot vinyl of the backseat. That two to three seconds of freedom when all four tires were off the asphalt did wonders for a carload of antsy kids and a mama with a hangover. You could still find hidden caves, freshwater springs, and places to skinny-dip when you were let loose to roam the woods and creeks that seemed to go on forever. And new sightings of the Carr’s Creek Critter (Robertson County’s version of Bigfoot) were reported every two years or so. But things have changed. There are two red-lights now due to increased traffic on Hwy 41N. Fast food restaurants and even a small strip mall litter the side of the highway as well as two liquor stores. When I was growing up, Greenbrier was a dry town. If you wanted to buy a six pack of beer you had to make a trip to “The Beer Store” which was actually a gas station – but the ONLY gas station that sold beer unless you wanted to make a run into Springfield or go down the ridge into Davidson County. The song B double E double R, U N seemed like it was written for us. If you wanted liquor and you didn’t want to leave the ridge to go into Davidson County, you went to a bootlegger. I was in Jr. High when I figured out that all those trips my parents made to the Circle K in Springfield weren’t because they had the coldest Yoo-Hoos or Dr. 108 SEPTEMBER 2021
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Pepper in the county. The hill behind the high school (the make-out spot if you had access to a four-wheel drive) has been cleared of the big oak and cedar trees that offered protection from nosey parents and police officers and they’ve been replaced with a subdivision of McMansions. Big brick houses with tiny yards that look about as out of place as false eyelashes and lipstick at a gym. The pig pen is gone and the bump in the old highway was removed when they widened the road. I wish I’d been there when that happened, because I was always curious what caused that bump. I’d bet my best friend Holli that it was the body of one of the James brother’s victims after we learned that they’d spent time in our town. (Fun fact – one of the old houses I’d lived in had been a hideout of theirs. Jesse James had been patched up in our kitchen after one of his run-ins with the law. Scouts honor). I went home in February of 2020 for the first time in a few years and was reminded of all the changes. I was coming “home” a published author and had two new events to promote my first book. It was surreal. I’d left Greenbrier when my son went to college and moved closer to my job in Nashville, so it hadn’t felt like home for a long time. 109 ISSUE NO. 6
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Driving around looking for the old houses we’d lived in when I was a kid and finding most of them torn down was odd. I’d never felt like I’d had a home because we’d moved around so much - without ever going anywhere. I felt like an imposter. I was searching for something to make me feel like I’d belonged somewhere, in a place I’d left four lifetimes ago, and all I was finding were empty fields or brand new houses that I didn’t recognize. The last house I looked for was one we’d lived in when I was eleven. One that almost felt like home before we moved to another old house and another new start. The first thing I noticed as I got closer was a bright yellow sign by the edge of the road. BOOK SALE. My heart skipped a couple of beats. Book sale? What a strange
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coincidence. I’d read so many books and thought up so many stories there. Stories I’d used to scare my friends and cousins, stories I dreamt of writing one day. And here I sat with seven cases of my first published collection in the back of my van. Stories that mentioned the Carr’s Creek Critter, Possum Trot Road, and the ghost of the Pilgrim Lady who walks down Owens Chapel - the seeds were planted for some of those stories right there. Then I noticed another sign, Greenbrier Historical Museum and Library, in the spot where we raked leaves to burn after my dog got tired of running through them. Fat Albert had made lots of moves with us, but died at that house after living a long, happy life chasing us on our bikes and threewheeler. Putting more miles on his short dachshund legs than seemed possible. He’s buried in that yard as a matter of fact. I saw my first ghost in that house. I’d felt them and heard them in other places, but it was there on the staircase under the stained glass window that I saw her. And she saw me too. I never saw her again, but she would remind me she was there by turning on the light in the foyer and making my bedroom light dim and go bright when I was brave enough to ask her. I didn’t get to go inside. The Museum was closed and the rest of my short stay in Tennessee was a blur. But I did think about that old house and how it made feel. I was glad it was still there. So what - I didn’t have a childhood home to gather around the table with family for Thanksgiving Dinners or Christmas Eve parties to prove I 111 ISSUE NO. 6
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existed. I had the stories, and those stories are me. Imagine my surprise when a year later I got a message from a lady named Stephanie Simmons. I’d met her when she purchased a copy of Walking the Wrong Way Home at the event I’d had at Stokes Brown Library in Springfield, Tennessee. She wanted me to know that she loved my book and that she had donated it to the library.
This library. Isn’t that something? This place right here….This is where I’m from.
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My Journey G. Claire
I came into this world with a small, expandable suitcase packed full of troubles. True story. The problem was, it was invisible, so no one could toss it in the trash. Which was too bad. Throughout my difficult years growing up, I camped out in my imagination when things got to be too much. Throughout my early school time, my mother often got notes from my teachers saying: “Claire is in a world of her own. She daydreams. She must start paying attention. She must learn to focus . . . Fortunately, I didn’t pay much attention to that and found ways to listen and draw (doodle) at the same time, so my entire school career 114 SEPTEMBER 2021
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AUTHORS AND THEIR ART
wasn’t a wasteland. At home I found sanctuary in my bedroom to draw, read and dream… my happy place. This will sound familiar to many creatives. You’ve had a similar experience or have a child with a similar bent. If the former, my heart goes out to you; if the latter, I hope you have found ways to encourage and nurture this gift in your child. I found my way through school and went to college as an art major. Writing was a personal joy to me at that time, but not something I imagined I would pursue as a career. I graduated, became an artist/illustrator/teacher and later sold my paintings to private and corporate collectors. Later, in my final years as an art teacher, a story began to 115 ISSUE NO. 6
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form in my heart. As it grew, I overcame my own thoughts about my limitations and began to write the story. In the years to come, the story ripened and changed. It became: Dreaming in a Time of Dragons, a story about discovering your truest self and having the courage to embrace the adventure of your life. The illustrations were a lot of fun to do. I conscripted family, friends and their children as models. My iPhone camera came in handy for grabbing shots of landscapes & buildings for source photos. My creative journey comes from a place deep within. It was not easy making the leap from artist/art teacher to author. The first hurdle I had to get past was limiting self-talk. (You’re an artist, not a writer.) Then, educating myself on the craft of writing. . . all the while feeling the story growing inside. 116 SEPTEMBER 2021
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If I could give any advice, it would be this: If you are feeling a new creative direction or season growing in your life, explore the possibilities. Don’t do what I did and spend years talking yourself out of it. Because we are not just one thing. We have so many facets. Life can turn in new directions. Be bold and brave, even if you have not been that way before. This world needs exactly what you, and only you, can bring. If I could sum up what my creative works are about it would be this:
Explore the unknown.
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THE PULPWOOD QUEENS' TIARA WEARING, BOOK SHARING, GUIDE TO LIFE celebrates female friendship, sisterhood, and the transformative power of reading. It includes life principles and motivational anecdotes, hilarious and heart-warming stories of friendships among the Queens, and stories from Kathy about the books that have inspired her throughout her life, complete with personalized suggested book lists. 118 SEPTEMBER 2021
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TIARA WEARING, BOOK SHARING, GUIDE TO LIFE
Enjoy an excerpt from chapter two of THE Pulpwood Queen Kathy L. Murphy’s book - it’s recommended reading for everyone who is interested in knowing what it means to be a Pulpwood Queen. “This is a rollicking, heartwarming, and ultimately inspiring book by a Pulpwood Queen who proudly proclaims a passion for literature, tiaras, peanut butter-fudge cake, and Elvis.” —Daniel A. Olivas, author of Devil Talk
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover People often ask me what in the world do a bookstore and beauty salon have in common. I look them straight in the eye and state the obvious: Both are about friendship, community, and feeling good about yourself. They will walk into my shop and turn around to leave, saying, “It’s a beauty shop.” I’ll stop them and reply, “Wait, we are so much more— we’re a bookstore too!” They stop in their tracks and turn around as I explain what my shop really is. Sometimes they’ll stay on for just a couple of minutes; often they’ll stay for almost an hour. You see, they judged the book by the cover, when all they had to do was keep an open mind and experience what 119 ISSUE NO. 6
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Beauty and the Book really is. I believe that women go to the beauty shop for so much more than getting their hair done. The hour or two a woman spends each week or month at the beauty salon is often the only time she ever gets for herself, and for sure it’s the only time she takes care of her. It’s the same way with books. Most women think reading a good book is a luxury, what with taxiing the kids to and from piano lessons and softball games, picking up the dry cleaning, and all the other tasks women have to do daily. I, like many women, find it hard to indulge in anything without feeling guilty— except reading. Reading a good book helps us to escape from our lives for a while. Have you ever read a book about someone that you thought would read one way and then it turned out to be totally different? That’s what happened when my friend and author Andy Behrman told me about Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle. He told me a little bit about Jeannette, his good friend from college who was the MSNBC reporter for gossip and entertainment in New York. I had the idea that she was raised a privileged, educated New Yorker, a Manhattan princess. But when I read the book I found out that her family was from Appalachia and she spent most of her growing-up years homeless with her genius father and artistic, yet I think mentally ill, mother. I 120 SEPTEMBER 2021
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couldn’t put that book down. I’ve learned that you should never judge a book by its cover; read it first. My Beauty and the Book has been judged as a place only for women and, yes, it has become a safe haven for a wonderful community of women, but we also have men clientele. Women tend to be drawn to our shop, though, a world where they’re comfortable talking, where they can just plop down and relax. Where they can drink a real Dr. Pepper made with pure cane sugar and not be reprimanded for the calorie intake. We have a community spirit here at Beauty and the Book where we can let our hair down or put it up. We let women just be themselves. “I was inspired to be a Pulpwood Queen after reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I never took the Pulpwood Queens seriously, and often laughed and even poked fun at their antics and appearance. However, as a media guest at the 2006 Girlfriend Weekend press conference, I was in awe when I saw MSNBC reporter Walls walking up the sidewalk at Kathy’s bookstore/ beauty shop, Beauty and the Book. To realize that someone I admired as much as Walls would be a part of an event such as this changed my thinking and forced me to turn my feelings around and realize that the work of Kathy Murphy was worthwhile and not in vain. After that weekend I started a Pulpwood Queens chapter in my hometown and I have been wearing my tiara and reading ever since.” Phyllis, of the Pulpwood Queens of Marshall, Texas 121 ISSUE NO. 6
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Breathless Wines is a family affair!
Created by the love between three sisters, Sharon, Rebecca, and Cynthia, and sparked by a passion for life passed down by their mother. Guided by the expert hand of award-winning winemaker Penny Gadd-Coster, the sisters are dedicated to sparkling and still winemaking in the time-honored French method. By employing this méthode champenoise—the traditional second fermentation in the bottle—and using the finest select Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay grapes, Breathless sparkling wines pair beautifully with all of life’s moments, from the everyday to the extraordinary.
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BREATHLESS BUBBLES AND BOOKS
We love curling up with a great book and sipping a glass of bubbles. Breathless Wines has selected our favorite books to pair with our awardwinning Brut in a beautifully packaged gift set sure to delight the recipient! Especially if it’s you! 98 Points - Best of Show - Best of Class - Double Gold Medal Best of Sonoma 2019 Harvest Challenge 90 Points - Breathless NV Brut Méthode Champenoise (Sonoma County). Golden in color, with a firm mousse, this lively, refreshing sparkling wine tastes of apple skin, pear, mango and a hint of brioche. It remains fresh in the glass, showing moderate body weight and finishing stony and dry. - Wine Enthusiast Magazine (08/20) 123 ISSUE NO. 6
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Bookish Broads: Women Who Wrote Themselves Into History by Lauren Marino. A boldly illustrated celebration of literary history’s most revolutionary, talented women writers. Women have written some of our most extraordinary literary works while living in societies and cultures that tried to silence them. These women dared to put pen to paper to express the multifaceted female experience. In Bookish Broads, Lauren Marino celebrates fierce, trailblazing female writers, reworking the literary canon that has long failed to recognize the immense contributions of women. Featuring more than 50 brilliant bookish broads, Marino cleverly illuminates the lives of the greats as well as the literary talents history has wrongfully overlooked. Each intimate portrait delves into one woman’s works and is accompanied by vibrant illustrations depicting each literary legend in her element and time. Breathless Brut and Book gift set $39. September special!
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BREATHLESS BUBBLES AND BOOKS
Cheers to Bookish Broads by Lauren Marino with a Breathless Cocktail: Empress 75! Ingredients 1.5 oz Empress 1908 .75 oz fresh lemon juice .5 oz simple syrup Breathless Sparkling wine Instructions Shake all ingredients except for Breathless wine on ice, double strain into a chilled flute, and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with a lemon twist. Cheers! Sign up for monthly Breathless newsletter deals! Champagne Cocktails by Champagne Widows, by Rebecca Rosenberg
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Let’s have fun and share some stories! I came up with the idea for this collection because I had such positive responses from readers I shared my works in progress with when I was working on my first collection. I still get emails from some of them who want to know if I’m ready to share a few pages of one of my novels in progress. I’ve been saying I wasn’t…but maybe I am. And maybe we could do it together! Your submission doesn't have to be something you are working on at the moment. Maybe there were scenes that had to be deleted from your last manuscript, or there is something that you love, but haven't worked on in awhile... This book will be a great tool that not only tells who we are - proud Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys - BUT also shows the reader that we have a diverse group of authors that cover lots of genres. Submissions must read as a short story (DON’T OVERTHINK IT - IT DOESN’T HAVE TO MEET A SPECIFIC STANDARD, IT JUST HAS TO BE EASY TO READ AND GRAB THE READER’S INTEREST) length can be between 200 to 4000 words. Each submission must have the story behind the piece and a short bio in a separate attachment. Only one submission per author please. If you’d like your work in progress to be considered, send it to mandy.pulpwoodqueen@gmail.com Deadline for submissions is OCTOBER 30th 127 ISSUE NO. 6
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Upcoming Events For Our Members *Taken from our Calendar of Events All events will be posted on The International Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Reading Nation Facebook page and on Kathy L. Murphy's YouTube Channel. We encourage everyone to join us live in 2021. Each event is an opportunity to show support, share stories, and make connections! Join Kathy L. Murphy and Robert Gwaltney every Saturday at 6:30pm CST for The Pulpwood Queen Book to Film Club. Email Kathy L. Murphy at thepulpwoodqueen@gmail.com for the link up to one hour prior to the event. Guest Host schedule for Breathless Bubbles and Books: August 30th-Sept 5th Lauren Marino - Bookish Broads Sept 6th -12th
Ilene English - Hippie Chick: Coming of Age in the 60s
Sept 13th-19th
Nancy J. Martin - Summer of Love to the Valley of the Moon
Sept 20th-26th
Debra Thomas - Luz
Sept 27th-Nov3rd Caroline Leavitt - With or Without You 128 SEPTEMBER 2021
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Featured Author Schedule for Tuesday Night Online Book Club For April & May. Email Kathy L. Murphy thepulpwoodqueen@gmail.com for the link up to one hour prior to the event.
Aug 31st Sept 7th Sept. 14th Sept 21st Sept 28th
Lauren Marino Ilene English Nancy J. Martin Debra Thomas Caroline Leavitt
Writing Workshop (2nd Saturday of each month at 10am CST) Email Kathy L. Murphy thepulpwoodqueen@gmail.com for the link up to one hour prior to the event.
Sept 11th TBA
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If you’re an author member and would like to purchase a page (or more) to feature your book, I have several pages left in upcoming issues for 2021. (I’ll be taking orders for 2022 soon ) If you’re a member of the International Pulpwood Queen or Timber Guy Book Club and have a story you’d like to share in the READING NATION MAGAZINE, I’d love to hear it. Book Club Members that includes you! 130 SEPTEMBER 2021
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FYI
We love our readers and you will always have a place in the magazine to share your news. I’m looking for pets to feature on our If Our Pets Could Talk page, authors and their art, photos of your local bookstores, and libraries. Maybe you have an interesting blog article you’d like to share that you think our reader’s would enjoy?
Send orders for pages, stories, as well as any questions about the magazine, to readingnationmagazine@gmail.com
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NETWORKING
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Llama Llessons When I allowed the Bakken family to bring me home with them, it was because I could tell they needed some llama wisdom. They were nervous when they tied on my halter and lead that first time. So, Llama Llesson 1 was : Relax and walk like you know where you are going. I introduced them to other llama families, so they could have company on the trail and together we all worked on Llama Llessons 2 & 3: Take the road less traveled and offer to carry the load for your friends. Those memories feel distant now. But, as the years pass - llamas know to surrender gracefully to change and to celebrate the big and small moments in style! Namaste! The wise one in the Bakken family - Bouncer 134 SEPTEMBER 2021
READING NATION MAGAZINE How the Deer Moon Hungers by Susan Wingate
For people who enjoy books like Where the Crawdads Sing and My Sister's Keeper. MACKENZIE FRASER witnesses a drunk driver mow down her seven-year-old sister and her mother blames her. Then she ends up in juvie on a trumped-up drug charge. Now she’s in the fight of her life…on the inside! And she’s losing. From the ashes rises the phoenix. As a family descends into an abyss of pain, so Mackenzie fights to discover her own way out of the overwhelming circumstances of her sibling's death. "Susan Wingate is gifted at capturing these shifting nuances as events continue to pull characters apart and put them back together like puzzles, albeit in a different way. HOW THE DEER MOON HUNGERS carries the reader through this process, creating a powerful and memorable saga that is hard to put down and lingers in the mind long after the story is over." -Diane Donovan, Senior Editor, Midwest Book Review Susan Wingate is a #1 Amazon bestselling and award-winning author. Her story "How the Deer Moon Hungers" has won seven book awards, including a Silver Award in the 2021 eLit Book Awards, the 2020 SABA Book Awards for the Judge’s Selection “Best Fiction Author,” Best Fiction in the 2020 Pacific Book Award, a Silver Award in the 2020 Moonbeam Children's Book Award, and July 2020 Book Cover in the Book Cover of the Month Awards. Wingate writes about big trouble in small towns and lives with her husband on an island off the coast of Washington State where she tends to wildlife in her 135 backyard wildlife sanctuary. ISSUE NO. 6
