Here’s a roundup of writing news from our members:
Sandra Bolton’s original farcical-noir-comedy-mystery-musical, Death at the Library, may be enjoyed at the Cotuit Center For The Arts, March 11, 2014. boltonslanding@comcast.net
Bill Burbank has received the first printing My Life Embracing and has his launch signing at Titcomb’s in Sandwich February 8th at 1 PM. This is Bill’s first book retracing his end stage renal failure, dialysis, transplant and relate health complications. A portion of book proceeds with go to Sandwich Resident Michael Robbins, who is awaiting a kidney transplant.
Linda Conti will soon be releasing her second children’s book, Ike, The Ice Cream Man on a Trike. Linda previously wrote Sammy’s Clam, and she is co-author of The Billy Best Story, Beating Cancer with Alternative Medicine. See her website for more information: http://www.sandcastlememoirs.com/
Dr. Margaret Desjardins, a CCWA member, is lecturing to education students in Florida at Edison State College about stress and math anxiety in young children in grades 3-5. Her new book, Murky, Quirky Beserky Math, is a humorous and informative story of how ten Beserky math kids learn strategies to cope with math anxiety. Go to www.murkyquirkybeserkymath.com.
MS Madness! A “Giggle More, Cry Less” Story of Multiple Sclerosis by member Yvonne deSousa will be released in mid-February. Please check out Yvonne’s website www.yvonnedesousa.com for release details and scheduled readings.
In advance of the spring release of her new book, Coffee for Roses, C.L. Fornari has launched a new blog at www.CoffeeForRoses.com where she is writing a variety of “constant content.” C.L. will be the featured speaker at CCWC’s Writers Night Out in Hyannis on February 19.
Charles Harper’s new poetry collection, Fragments, is now at the press. It will be available by early March. At that time you can see selections from the book at www.harperpoetry.com. The book can also be ordered from that site.
Jim Hill graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in Writing. While enrolled in the Writing for Children & Young Adults program, he worked one-on-one with authors Mary Quattlebaum, Tom Birdseye, Rita Williams-Garcia and Garret Freyman-Weyr. In May, Jim is teaching two workshops at the NESCBWI conference; Websites for Authors & Illustrators, and Storytelling Secrets of Sequential Art in Narrative Prose. See more at his website: http://heyjimhill.com
Christine Jenkins has started a blog with her cousin. They write amusing posts about running, parenting and everything in between. Please check it out: midpackmoms.wordpress.com. E-mail: tworunningmoms@gmail.com.
Christina Laurie has recently had her first volume of poetry accepted by Finishing Line Press. Her previous book, Seasons Rising: A Collection of Haiku, has been selling well and is available through her at PreacherPoet@comcast.net. Her children’s book, C is for Cape Cod will be launched next month at Titcomb’s Bookstore, 432 Route 6A, East Sandwich, on Sunday, March 23, from 2-3 p.m. with refreshments being served. It can be pre-ordered through www.Islandportpress.com/c-is-for-cape-cod.html.
Steven P. Marini’s novel Aberration finished 4th in the Mystery category, taking a Top Ten Award in the 2013 annual readers’ poll by Predators and Editors. Steven is currently in Florida, where he’ll be doing a reading at The Hub, an arts center in New Smyrna Beach, on Feb. 19th. His latest novel, Calculation, is slated for publication in May.
Diane McDonough’s poem “After Reading Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard” won first prize in the PrimeTime Cape Cod 2013 poetry contest. The awards ceremony and readings of all prose and poetry winners will be held on February 22 at the Mashpee Public Library. Her poem “Yarmouth Fantasy” was just published in the 2014 Winter/Spring issue of the online literary journal The Write Place at the Write Time.
Frances McNamara’s Death at Chinatown, the fifth book in the Emily Cabot series, has been accepted by Allium Press for publication in 2014. In 1896, Emily is drawn into a mystery in Chicago’s Chinatown when she befriends two young Chinese women doctors who are spending the summer in the city before returning to China to run a clinic. Frances will also appear at the Love Is Murder Mystery Conference Fri. Feb. 7 at the Intercontinental Chicago, where she will interview with Featured Author thriller writer Jamie Freveletti.
ElsBeth and the Call of the Castle Ghosties, Book III in J. Bean Palmer’s Cape Cod Witch Series, was released as a ebook this month, and Midwest Book Review said: “Suffice it to say that ElsBeth and the Call of the Castle Ghosties is about as fine a middle school fantasy as you could get: vivid, packed with ghosts and mystery, and yet tempered with an attention to interpersonal depth that is rare and inviting.”
Shortly after the 2012 Cape Cod Writers’ Conference, Falmouth Fiction Writers came to be (thanks to CCWC liaison and web page). Two members are recently published: Nancy Porter’s story, “Houdini,” appears on-line at http://www.thewriteplaceatthewritetime.org. Alta Mae Stevens’s story of her father, And Then What Happened? Harold R. Harris and the Early History of Aviation appears in print this week.
David A. Purdy and Pamela Chatterton-Purdy were featured in an article, “The Art of Remembrance,” on the front page of the Arts and Entertainment section of the Cape Codder (01/17/14). They also had signings of their book, Icons of the Civil Rights Movement, over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend at the Brooks Public Library in Harwich and at the Groton (MA) Prep School where Pam’s “Icons” art exhibit is on display during the months of January and February. Check out the www.chatterton-purdyart.com website for pictures and reviews.
Wendy Shreve’s article: “Love Inside Out” will be featured in South Shore & Cape Cod Metaphysics’ On-line Magazine, published the first Tuesday in February. Their website is: http://ssccmetaphysics.com/.
Alice Plouchard Stelzer will be one of the presenters at the monthly meeting of ABITH—A Book In The Hand, being held February 10, 7 p.m., at the Jacob Sears Library, 23 Center Street, East Dennis, MA. She will be talking about her book Female Adventurers: the Women Who Helped Colonize Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Barbara Eppich Struna will be speaking about her historical fiction, The Old Cape House, on Feb. 11 at 2PM at Chase Library in Harwich, MA. Barbara will speak about her research and what prompted her to write this tale of two women, centuries apart, uncovering a mystery hidden for over 300 years. Also, on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 1PM, she will be talking and signing her books at Titcomb’s Bookshop in Sandwich.
Current CCWC members are invited to submit their news to the next Member News Roundup, which will be posted to our blog and Facebook page on the first Monday in March. To have your news included, please email a one or two sentence announcement to writers@capecodwriterscenter.org no later than February 28. Write “Member News” in the subject line, and be sure the announcement includes your name exactly as you would like it to appear. We do not have room for longer articles or reviews, but you may include an email or website link so readers may contact you or find further information. If you have multiple events, signings, etc. coming up, the best way to publicize these is with a link to a calendar on your own blog or website. (Please note that we reserve the right to edit any announcement for length or for potentially offensive or controversial content.)
