What will Kentucky Book Festival visitors find on your table?
Copies for sale of recently released novel, I Never Do This, a literary thriller about a small-town Ohio woman who becomes embroiled in a crime spree. Readers can also pick up postcard announcements of my next novel, Our Orbit, an ebook forthcoming in November from the new imprint, Sibylline Digital First. Like my current book, Our Orbit is a story of southern Ohio that engages critical social issues of our time: addictions, fundamentalism, anti-government sentiment. Finally, I like to offer readers lapel buttons as a token of appreciation. These include “Read Local,” “Bookaholic,” and other slogans. These will be available at my table.
Whom do you invite to stop by? Who will benefit from reading your book?
The suspenseful plot of I Never Do This will appeal to fans of crime novels and thrillers, while the style and treatment of contemporary issues will interest literary readers. I also believe the extensive backstory, which takes place while my heroine is in high school, will benefit young adults.
Could you please tell us something curious about you and/or your book?
Fun facts about me: I was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, went to college in Los Angeles, and taught Russian on the college level for twelve years. Fun facts about my novel, I Never Do This: It began as a short story back in 2011. The first of several titles was “Common Cause.”
Is this your first time participating in Kentucky Book Festival? If yes – what are you looking forward to the most? If you’ve participated before – what was your favorite experience at the Festival?
I have not attended the Kentucky Book Festival before, but I have attended other literary events in Kentucky and am excited to visit again. In 2005, I was able to take part in the Spalding University MFA residency with Sena Jetter Naslund and Silas House—a wonderful and enlightening experience. And in 2015, I had the great pleasure of attending the Appalachian Writers’ Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School with David Joy and Robert Gipe. The solidarity of writers and readers across the Appalachian region is an inspiration to me.
