A week ago, fifteen area authors gathered at our local library for our third annual Book Bums Writers' Workshop. The weather cooperated and didn't throw any early November snow storms at us like the first year. We covered topics ranging from character development to publishing and marketing. Lots of great questions were fielded by the panels and every one I talked to felt they picked up much useful information. And I picked up several books to add to my beside-the-chair stack for the winter. So I will be posting reviews of all of the authors over the next few weeks.
Mary Howard and I go way back. We went to church camp together and roomed together our junior year in college. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding. We've lost touch off and on through the years but then Mary called me and said she was going to be in Iowa City--did we want to meet for supper? Why was she going to be there? To read at Prairie Lights from her first book, Discovering the Body. I believe I was as excited as she was. It inspired me to take the plunge later into writing and publishing.
Mary's most recent book, The Girl with Wings, came out this year and was chosen the Great River Writers Retreat winner, gaining her a week at the Benet House in Rock Island, IL to work on her writing and an appearance to read from her work. This is a book with a gripping story, complex characters and relationships, and wonderful descriptions. Mary Howard has captured how our perceptions are often so limited by the constrictions of our experiences. The effects of the disappearance of a 6-week old baby on the parents, a schizophrenic grandmother, a nearing-forty woman with a first pregnancy, and several other interesting characters is so well done. Mary has a M.A. in English/Creative Writing from Iowa State, where for seventeen years she was an academic advisor in the Art and Design Department. She lives in Ames, Iowa.
Elaine Orr and I became friends after I published my first book. I noticed that it was frequently paired on its Amazon page with one called Any Port in a Storm, by Elaine Orr. Curiosity got the best of me and I downloaded it. It was actually the fourth book in Elaine's Jolie Gentil cozy mystery series. I enjoyed it immensely. The series takes place in the fictional town of Ocean Alley on the Jersey Shore where Jolie Gentil lives with her aunt Madge after a wrenching divorce. Jolie works as a house appraiser, which gets her into some dicey spots. The dialogue is great, the characters unique, and there is lots of humor. Unlike many cozy heroines, Jolie is very active in local fund raising as well. Pets are always popular in cozy mysteries, and I fell in love with Aunt Madge's two Golden Retrievers, Miss Piggy and Mr. Rogers.
After writing a review, I emailed Elaine to tell her how much I enjoyed it and we began to correspond. She was in the process of moving to Springfield, IL but had lived in Ottumwa, IA at one time. She does frequent workshop presentations so it was only natural that I invited her to our first workshop two years ago and we finally got to meet.
After writing a review, I emailed Elaine to tell her how much I enjoyed it and we began to correspond. She was in the process of moving to Springfield, IL but had lived in Ottumwa, IA at one time. She does frequent workshop presentations so it was only natural that I invited her to our first workshop two years ago and we finally got to meet.
Elaine's latest book, From Newsprint to Footprints, is the start of a new series, the Rivers' Edge Mysteries. The locale is a fictional Des Moines River town in southern Iowa. Melanie Perkins is fired from her small town newspaper job and has to find other employment. She decides to use her gardening skills as a landscaper but "digs up" more than she planned. The murder of her former boss, Hal, puts her in prime suspect territory.
However, Melanie is not the only one Hal has clashed with, and Melanie puts her investigative reporter skills to work when she feels the law is not looking at anyone but her. It becomes stickier as she wonders who to trust and how several possible suspects are connected. Life in this small town is turned on end before the crime is solved.
Elaine also has several books out about writing.
However, Melanie is not the only one Hal has clashed with, and Melanie puts her investigative reporter skills to work when she feels the law is not looking at anyone but her. It becomes stickier as she wonders who to trust and how several possible suspects are connected. Life in this small town is turned on end before the crime is solved.
Elaine also has several books out about writing.
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