Hello Readers!
Happy Summer to all of you. Here’s a quickie newsletter to catch you up on my news and wish you all a good summer ahead. Keep cool, everyone!
Writing Update
Six months until The Irish Girl hits bookstore shelves! I’m so excited for this release (December 10, 2024), which features the bones of my great-grandmother’s story of coming to America alone at age 13. I’ve just finished final edits and the book is off to the printer for Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs). Looking forward to a robust marketing campaign beginning in September through Blue Cottage Agency. More info and snippets from the book coming in the fall!
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WFWA Anthology
The Women Fiction Writers Association anthology, Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women, launched on June 8 in time for WFWA’s annual Women’s Fiction Day.
Spanning six centuries, the work includes short stories from 23 female authors, including me.
My heart-wrenching and poignant entry, “Double Whammy,” set in Maine in 1972, introduces Eva Killeen, a wounded 27-year-old facing a cancer diagnosis. Each of the short stories is a joy in itself, perfect for a bedside read or under the shade of a tree or an umbrella this summer.
To order Feisty Deeds, ask your local independent bookseller to order or order online. All proceeds benefit WFWA.
In honor of the anthology’s release, I’m giving away four copies of the book in exchange for reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. Enter here to win one of four copies of Feisty Deeds.
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Celebrating Pacific Northwest Authors Friends
Arthur Winer
Shearwater Storm (Kitsap Publishing 2023)
“Charlotte Rose’s quiet life on a remote island is forever altered on the day Michael Cordero, injured and bleeding, steers his forty-foot ketch into Eagle Cove. Using skills she’s learned over years of caring for her husband and son, who are away fishing for salmon, Charlotte tends to Michael’s wounds. As Michael recovers, an undeniable attraction grows between them. When a violent storm descends on the island, they risk everything to save Michael’s ketch, Shearwater, and their exhaustion reveals long-buried secrets. Set against the Pacific Northwest’s lush beauty, Shearwater Storm explores the power of love to heal and what it means to follow your heart.”
Cheryl Grey Bostrom
Leaning on Air (Tyndale House, 2024)
“They last spoke as teens . . .
But on a country road twelve years later, a surprise encounter reunites ornithologist Celia Burke with veterinary surgeon Burnaby Hayes, and they plunge into the most unusual romance of her life.
After a decade of marriage, Celia and Burnaby have found a unique and beautiful rhythm. Then tragedy strikes while Celia hunts for the nest of a research hawk near the Snake River. Reeling with grief, she’s certain Burnaby won’t understand her anguish or forgive the choice that initiated it.
She flees to kindness at a remote farm in Washington’s Palouse region, where a wild prairie and an alluring neighbor convince her to begin anew. But when unexplained accidents, cryptic sketches, and a mute little boy make her doubt her decision, only a red-tailed hawk and the endangered lives of those she loves can compel her to examine her past―and reconsider her future.
A soaring tale of wonder, loss, redemption, and restoration from Cheryl Grey Bostrom, the award-winning author of Sugar Birds.”
Teresa H. Janssen
The Ways of Water (She Writes Press, 2023)
“As Josie Belle Gore, daughter of a Louisiana train engineer and Texas seamstress, journeys with her itinerant family through the deserts of the boom-and-bust American West and revolutionary Mexico, she learns that in her life, two things are constant: water is precious, and her role in her family is to save it.
When unforeseeable events force the separation of her family, Josie begins an odyssey that takes her from New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto to Bisbee, Tucson, Los Angeles, and finally post-WWI San Francisco—experiencing betrayal, pandemic, and survivor’s guilt, as well as the compassion and generosity of friends and strangers, along the way. Once she lands in San Francisco, like a river meeting the sea, Josie has nowhere else to run—and she realizes that she must make peace with the past and good on her promise to the family she loves. Inspired by the author’s family lore, The Ways of Water is a lyrical tale of loss, hope, and forgiveness set in the rugged beauty of the turn-of-the-century Southwest that, like Josie, is growing up in fits and starts.”
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On My and My Critique Partner’s Reading Lists
Since the spring of 2020, I’ve met monthly with three critique partners, Gretchen Cherington, Shelley Blanton-Stroud, and Debra Thomas. In that time, we’ve hashed over life, become dear friends, and released eight books between us—quite a feat.
Here are a few reads suggested by Gretchen, Shelley, Debra, and me.
Gretchen:
—Northeaster: A Story of Courage and Survival in the Blizzard of 1952, by Cathie Pelletier
—Chainsaws and Cherry Burls, by Jennifer Neves
(Both finalists for the Maine Literary Award, along with Gretchen’s The Butcher, The Embezzler, and The Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry)
Shelley:
—The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing, by Adam Moss
Debra:
—The Memory of Lavender and Sage, by Aimie Runyan
Ashley:
—Long Island, by Colm Toibin
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In Closing
We’ll be off boating for the next two months around Washington’s San Juan Islands and Canada’s Gulf Islands, so I won’t have another newsletter out until September.
In the meantime, I love hearing from readers. What are you reading this summer? I’d love to hear.
And wishing you all a wonderful July and August filled with sun, family, friends, adventure . . . and, of course, books!
Until then, Happy Reading!
Ashley