More Lively Discussions are Coming!

Last month, I did the first reading from my novel, The Lies That Bind, at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (see recent blog post, “Fun Reading Stimulates Insightful QA&A”). That appearance prompted an invitation from one of the English department's faculty to speak at her “Literature of the American Civil War” class later this month.  Should be fun!

Most Americans know about this epochal event in American civilization, so I wasn’t surprised at the depth of the conversation that first reading prompted. (Incidentally, as a former amateur thespian, I’m enjoying the chance to read dramatically, especially since the story is quite dramatic itself.)

I am more than willing to do more readings or discussions. So contact me if your school or organization is interested.

OUT & ABOUT
·  Thurs., March 31. Interview on LA Talk Radio’s “The Writer’s Block” show, 10 pm CT. Details.

·  Thurs., April 28.  Reading/signing at Subterranean Books in St. Louis, 6:30-7:30 pm. Details.

·  Sun., Sept. 11. Reading/signing at Garden District Book Shop, New Orleans, 2-3:30 pm. Details.

·  Sat., Oct. 29.  On the panel at the St. Louis Central Library's 2016 Author Shout Out! event. Details.

ON THE SHELVES
Left Bank Books, St. Louis
The Booksellers at Laurelwood, Memphis
University City Public Library (soon)
More to come...

Progressing on Book 2, Honor Among Outcasts
Because The Lies That Bind takes place 1859-61 Mississippi, it overlaps with the beginning of the Civil War. Honor Among Outcast, the second book in my DarkHorse Trilogy, takes place smack dab in 1863 Civil War Missouri, a guerrilla war not much kinder than the Syrian civil war today.

Oh, my poor characters, women and men, black and white! Leaving antebellum Mississippi for Civil War Missouri takes them out of the frying pan, and into the fires of hell. Like people today—and at every time—the novel’s characters also are in denial about the war. Of course, it has a profound effect on them in a number of ways. But America needed this conflagration for its transformation from a slave society.

In the meantime, I’m readying for the students’ questions on March 25.

(See amazing Amazon reviews!)