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A couple of busy weeks in book world

October 30, 2019 Leave a Comment

Between the day job and book work lately, I haven’t been getting much sleep – for the best of reasons on both fronts.

In the day job, we’re in the final week before municipal elections in Missoula, and starting the final year before the state- and nationwide 2020 elections, which basically means we’ll be in full-sprint mode the whole time. Color me the sort of weirdo who loves this stuff.

There are some fun developments on the book front as well. My second novel, Dakota, was released in Italian by Marsilio on Oct. 10 as Le Ragazze del Dakota (The Girls of Dakota, according to Google Translate). Here’s a nice review in Italian, that says something to the effect of “Gwen Florio tells a dark story, very sad, using the tools of the authentic novelist rather than the journalist.”

 

Then, on Oct. 15, A Million Acres: Montana Writers Reflect on Land and Open Space (Riverbend), edited by Keir Graff, was released. It’s a stunningly beautiful book, thanks to Alexis Bonogofsky’s photographs, and benefits the Montana Land Reliance. I’ve got an essay in it that sits abashed beside pieces from writers whose work I’ve admired for decades. The best thing (for me)? That I’m included under the label of Montana writer. There may have been a bit of boo-hooing on my part when I realized that.

A week later, the softcover version of Silent Hearts (Atria) was released, just in time for the holidays, hint, hint. In Missoula, it sits among some pretty great company at Fact & Fiction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, perhaps best of all, I sent the manuscript for Best Laid Plans, the first book in the new Nora Best series (Severn House), off to my agent. Why is that best of all? Because it means I can head off to Bouchercon this coming weekend without it hanging over my head. If you’re in Dallas, hit me up for a drink in the bar.

 

 

 

Leave a Comment Tags: Atria, Severn House, Silent Hearts

Writing across cultures

September 5, 2018 Leave a Comment

It’s always a bit of a risk writing about race, ethnicity, creed and culture different than one’s own.

I tell myself that my decades as a journalist, when more often than not I was reporting in such situations, honed my sensitivity – but there’s always that fear that you’ll slip from the high wire that divides patronizing from romanticizing.

So it was especially gratifying last night when Mariam and her daughter Noor showed up at my reading and book signing at the Boulder Book Store in Colorado and assured me that Silent Hearts got it right.

The fact that one of the characters in the book is named Mariam made it even better!

And I’ve already marked as “must attend” a panel at this weekend’s Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold conference called “Writing characters from cultures not your own.” Because you can never pay too much attention to those details.

Leave a Comment Tags: Atria, Readings, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers

Some Sentences, January 2018 – Some shameless self-promotion

January 18, 2018 Leave a Comment

SilentHeartsCover

 

Jan. 17, 2018 – Because that’s how things work these days. The pub date for Silent Hearts is still six interminable months out, but you can pre-order it from so many different places.

Incentive? Richard Fifield (The Flood Girls) calls it his favorite book of the year!

Here’s where to click to find out more or pre-order: Indiebound, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million and Amazon.

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a Comment Tags: Atria, Silent Hearts, Simon and Schuster

Some Sentences, Nov. 21 – Thankful for a title

November 21, 2017 Leave a Comment

IMG_3463

IMG_3751Nov. 21, 2017 – It’s Thanksgiving week, and we all know what that means.

Pie!

Oh, and being thankful for all of our blessings. Like pie!

But I’m doubly thankful this year because, after months of possibilities and rejection, my standalone novel finally has a title.

Drum roll … Silent Hearts. You can read about it here. But you can’t see the cover yet. Maybe that’ll be next month’s surprise.

Hoping y’all have the best of Thanksgivings, filled with lots of you-know-what.

Leave a Comment Tags: Atria, Silent Hearts, Simon and Schuster, Some Sentences Nov. 2017

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