Three for three! Happy to announce that One for the Ark is a 2016 national #ForewordINDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist in General Fiction. Warming Up was a finalist in 2013 and Saluting the Sun in 2015. Big winner to be announced June 24 at the American Library Association in Chicago. Hope springs eternal! ...Read More
My reading list for our January cruise to Hawaii and Mexico was longer than my ability to stay “awoke.” Cruising on the Westerdam with Holland America is way too relaxing! Did manage to read a few books: Commonwealth, by Ann Patchett, the author we are studying in my workshop with Fred Shafer. Lots of characters, lots of...Read More
One for the Ark is a Round One Finalist in the 2017 Illinois Soon To Be Famous Author Project sponsored by the Illinois Library Association. Got my fingers crossed for the March 6 announcement of the 3 Finalists. My second novel, Warming Up, was a Top 3 Finalist in the inaugural STBF Project in 2013. I...Read More
My friend, Julieanna, sent this loving tribute to Gwen Ifill. The HistoryMakers is a unique and extensive collection of in-depth interviews with black leaders in all areas of American life, founded by Julieanna here in Chicago and now housed by the Library of Congress. Year-end and memorial contributions are always welcome. Read Julieanna’s tribute (photos...Read More
Thank you, Cubbies, for this lesson in authorship and how to create something great: STAY IN THE MOMENT. Now might be a good time, too, to read a baseball-themed mystery. How about something by G.W. Kennedy? Read More
We had the chance this week to celebrate with Erin Goseer Mitchell the publication of her second book, From Colored to Black, A Bittersweet Journey (Ampersand, 2016). At a reading we hosted for her, one guest called it a chance to meet “living history.” She read a story called “Grandma Tucker’s Red Piano,” and he...Read More
I’m so grateful to so many who have written me to tell me how much you enjoyed ONE FOR THE ARK. So I am reluctant to ask for a smidge more of your time, but it would really help me (or so the industry wisdom has it) if you would review OFTA at amazon.com and/or...Read More
I recently attended the Oswego Literary Festival at the beautiful Oswego Library District Oswego Campus. Forty-six authors were there to hawk their works, but I doubt that we sold 46 books among us. This could be depressing. OK, it is depressing. But we still made lemonade.Read More
I doubt that any of my books will ever be banned–what a boost to sales that would be!–but over the course of our history, some classics, such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Grapes of Wrath and Moby Dick...Read More
