Saturday, November 29, 2014

BookBub, a site for readers and writers

I discovered BookBub by accident and can’t get enough of it. A daily e-mail notifies me of discounts on e-books in every genre, fiction and non-fiction. Among the choices are action and adventure, biographies and memoirs, chick lit, Christian fiction, contemporary romance, cookbooks, fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, parenting, spiritual and inspirational, and much more.

I select the categories of books I like to read and each day I receive a list of books available for download. Sometimes the books are free, but most often they’re .99 to $3.99.

BookBub isn’t a bookseller, although it does take a commission on each sale. It’s a vehicle for alerting readers to limited-time offers that become available from retailers like Amazon's Kindle store, Barnes & Noble's Nook store, Apple's iBookstore, and others. Book publishers offer deals at these sites for promotional purposes, and BookBub works with them to determine the best books to feature to its members.

According to the BookBub website, founders Josh Schanker and Nicholas Ciarelli realized that with hundreds of thousands of digital books being published every year, and an exploding number of older titles becoming available in digital format a twofold problem was emerging: readers were having trouble sifting through all the titles to discover great books matching their interests, and publishers and authors were finding it difficult to get the attention of new readers. Out of these needs, BookBub was founded in early 2012. Today the service helps millions of readers discover great books with thousands of leading authors and publishers. 

In September 2014 BookBub was featured in Readers Digest’s33 Ways to Get Great Deals on Anything,” and in May 2014 The Economist wrote, “… BookBub, a discovery and marketing service of e-books, is two years old. It has seen rapid growth that has allowed it to help sell millions of e-books, says Josh Schanker, the firm’s founder. It sends out a daily email to three million subscribers, which list the best (and best-priced) e-books. A team of editors picks and chooses titles they enjoy. It also charges publishers and authors for placing books in front of its audience. Commissions vary, but BookBub generally takes around 25 percent of each sale. Both revenues and the size of the company have tripled since January 2013. Today more than 30,000 e-books a day are bought by BookBub users—one in 50 e-books sold in America, the company claims." 

I find BookBub has also introduced me to authors I wouldn’t have read otherwise. Right now I’m reading The Leigh Koslow Mystery Series, Books 1-3 by Edie Claire. The main character is quirky, funny, honorable, and can’t seem to stay out of trouble. I’m also over-indulging on Christmas themed books. It is that time of year, after all. Without Bookbub I would never have discovered these writers. Subscribing is free and downloading is simple. Since most of the books are older titles you might not be getting current bestsellers, but you will frequently see books by best selling authors.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Book Review: Changing Spaces

Changing Spaces
Title: Changing Spaces
Author: Nancy King
Genre: Women's Fiction
Price: Paperback $15.95

New Mexico author Nancy King will be in Las Vegas on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. at Tome on the Range to sign and talk about her new book “Changing Spaces,” a novel set in Santa Fe.

“Changing Spaces” follows Laura Feldman, a woman whose placid life goes from predictable to upheaval when her nice safe marriage to handsome and successful Zack, falls apart before her eyes. The most outrageous aspect of this book, and perhaps one of the telling characteristics of Zack, is his mistaken belief that she should be willing to reasonably discuss their separation, after all he is going to make sure she is provided for. The man just doesn’t get it that Laura has for years played his game, and buried her personality under his expectations.

Laura, after 40 years of trying to be that wife Zack has shaped her to be, finds herself making decisions and choices without consideration of his wants, wishes and desires. It is freeing and frightening for Laura.

On a trip to Albuquerque to attend a symposium, she discovers she is indeed still attractive to men, but also realizes the last thing she wants is to have a one-night stand. She doesn’t exactly run away to Santa Fe so much as drifts into a new life because she’s pretty much shed of the old one. Along the way she trades her sedate and conservative nature and clothing for a new and more flamboyant persona. Encouraged by Santa Fe women she encounters who are independent free thinkers, she begins to rediscover her true nature, hidden for years under the guise of pleasant propriety.

“Changing Spaces” tells a story of the ways subtle abuse occurs in what may on the surface appear to be a perfect marriage. To Zack’s way of thinking he is a loving husband. He doesn’t recognize his manipulative and controlling actions, which have over time eroded Laura’s confidence. When she does disappear he begins to question everything about his own life.

In the women who come to Laura's aide, King has created refreshing and diverse characters who feel familiar, because they are. You can see them as business owners, healers, poets, artists and creative spirits on any day in Santa Fe.

King has written  several other novels and nonfiction books. She is a prolific writer who also weaves and finds inspiration hiking in the mountains. She is also a contributing writer at Your Life is a Trip. King makes her home in Santa Fe.








Monday, February 3, 2014

Review: Burning Man



Book: Burning Man
Author: Alan Russell
Genre: Mystery and Suspense
Price: Paperback $14.95

Author Alan Russell continues to reap critical acclaim for his mystery novels. After reading “Burning Man” I can understand why. The story grabs you from the first moment and carries you straight through to a conclusion that leaves you wanting more, which is what any good storyteller aims for. In “Burning Man,” Russell goes to the heart of moral dilemmas that have life-altering consequences.

Michael Gideon is the burning man, burning for justice and burning up with memories and dreams.

Gideon is a man who has lost much but finds solace in his work. Despite troubling uncertainty about his own life and tragic loss, this veteran LAPD cop is unprepared for what will happen when he and his four-legged partner, Sirius, encounter a serial killer in the midst of a raging wildfire. The events leading to the two of them becoming front-page news, and the bad guy ending up in prison, will haunt Gideon during his and his partner’s recovery from severe burns, and stay with him as he battles his way back onto the force.

Instead of getting his choice job of working in homicide, Michael is dragooned into heading up the newly formed Special Cases Unit. The unusual and often bizarre cases require skill sets well suited to Gideon’s independent and resourceful way of thinking. Sirius is right with him every step of the way.

The dialog is crisp, the relationship between Gideon and Sirius is rich, and Gideon’s journey is satisfying to the reader. Who he is in the beginning – a nice enough fellow with hide-bound ideas about what constitutes justice – evolves throughout the story. He is conducting parallel but unrelated investigations, one complicated by his personal history and the other an amalgamation of half-truths and out right lies. His life is further complicated by the convicted serial killer who – even from prison – seems to have a long reach.

Russell is deft at plotting and masterful at character development. I recommend “Burning Man” because it’s plain good reading, a story with heart and hope, about a man who perhaps wonders at times if he has either

This is the first book by Russell I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. Publisher’s Weekly calls him, “One of the best writers in the mystery field today.” Russell’s 10 novels include whodunits, comedic capers and stories of suspense. His works have been nominated for many major awards in crime fiction. He has won a Critics’ Choice Award, The Lefty (awarded to the best humorous mystery of the year), and two San Diego Book Awards. He is a native and long-time resident of California, where he lives with his wife and three children. 

Review: Doing Harm


Doing Harm” by Kelly Parsons will make you nervous all over again about going under the knife, but it turns out that in this case, that’s the least of your worries.

Parsons has done a fine job of creating a character caught up in his own success, too sure of his abilities, determined to a fault, ambitious and yet genuinely good at what he does. When disaster starts to rain down all around him, partly because of his smug over confidence, but equally because of circumstances beyond his control, he finds his life and the lives of his family targeted by a masterful Machiavelli.

Dr. Steve Mitchell is a star at the teaching hospital where he is a respected surgical resident. His prospects are better than good, they’re stellar, and then his life starts to fall apart. Overconfidence in the operating room causes him to make a life-altering choice for his patient, while another of his patients is declining and no one can figure out why. These two events run a parallel course as one disaster after another makes Mitchell begin to doubt the security of his future and his marriage.

Those who once regarded him as the golden boy will hardly speak to him. His wife becomes suspicious of changes in his behavior and his absences from home. He is banned from doing the work he loves, and he’s lost a bit of his swagger and a lot of his confidence. The fiercest blow comes from a betrayal that leads him to discover horrific facts about a colleague that leaves him dazed and helpless.

Mitchell’s downward spiral slows when he digs deep and finds the core strengths that made him want to be a surgeon in the first place. With his knowledge of computers and help from an unexpected source he begins to make his way back, but the way ahead is rocky because he is dealing with an adversary pathologically bent on ruining his life while trying to justify murderous acts.

Parsons writes vividly even when describing medical and technical details. You are in the action right along with Mitchell.

“Do Harm” isn’t for the faint of heart. The doc talk can be pretty grim, but the overall story is compelling, a complex tale of human frailty, unexpected compassion and professional duplicity. A great medical thriller from a talented writer. I recommend the book to anyone who likes a good story well told.

This is Parsons’ debut novel. His knowledge of hospital and operating procedure are obvious and based on his personal experience as a board-certified urologist with degrees from Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins. He is on the faculty at the University of California San Diego.

Friday, November 1, 2013

History: Lincoln, by Ray John de Aragon

Title: Lincoln
Author: Ray John de Aragon
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Genre: Nonfiction - History
Price: $21.99

Author and historian Ray John de Aragon explores the story of Lincoln County by looking at the lives of people who lived, worked, raised hell and raised families during a tumultuous time in history.

Lincoln, the newest in the popular Images of America series published by Arcadia Publishing, features vintage photos with interesting facts about the people and places captured by the camera. Cattle rustling, fraudulent claims against landowners, murder and mayhem were the order of the day. As often as not, the bad guys prevailed leaving devastation and death in their wake. For a time Lincoln seemed to be at the center of more corruption than anywhere in the state. Members of the Santa Fe Ring – unscrupulous lawyers, lawmen, judges and landowners ­­– held sway over anyone unwilling to go along with their plans. Yet people continued moving into the territory bringing education, churches, and families.

The area teemed with colorful, and often violent characters. Aragon writes of Jose Chavez y Chavez: “(He) was Billy the Kid’s sidekick. He went back and forth from lawman to outlaw. Chavez joined the Alexander McSween faction (opponents of the Santa Fe Ring). He was sentenced to death for murder, but Gov. Miguel Antonio Otero commuted the sentence. Later, Gov. George Curry pardoned Chavez. He spent the rest of his life thrilling youngsters with stories of Billy the Kid as he sat on a park bench on the Old Town Plaza in Las Vegas, New Mexico.”

These factoids about people make for interesting reading and offer insight into what life was like in the Old West.

The town of Lincoln has been described as the most authentic Old West town remaining in America. It sits in the lush green valley of the Rio Bonito in southeastern New Mexico and has been a National Landmark since 1960. Spanish settlers arrived in the area during the 1840s. By the 1860s it served as a supply center for local ranches, mines and nearby Fort Stanton. Merchants vied for lucrative government contracts creating conflict and resulting in the Lincoln Country War. 

The small town boasts 17 historic buildings and four museums. Many notable characters crossed paths in Lincoln and rode into history. Among them Lew Wallace, Billy the Kid, Sherriff Pat Garrett and John Chisum. 

In Lincoln Aragon recreates the drama, intrigue and turbulence of the town, the county and the times, bringing to life an era that spawned a legend.

Aragon’s book is available in bookstores, independent and online retailers, and through Arcadia Publishing (888-313-2665)

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Saturday, October 19, 2013

Q&A With Author Sally Ooms

Title: Finding Home
Author: Sally Ooms
Publisher: Home Free Publishing
Genre: Nonfiction


Sally Ooms has been a print journalist for 30 years—a reporter, correspondent and editor for publications in Oregon, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri and Kansas. She has covered spot news, government, education issues, the arts, mental and other health concerns, business, sports and local crises during times of war, and has written hundreds of feature articles and investigative reports. Among the publications she has worked for are: the Sacramento Bee, the Las Vegas Daily Optic, the Albuquerque Journal, the Santa Fe New Mexican, New Mexico Business Weekly, Springs Magazine (Colorado Springs), the Kansas City Star and The Sun newspaper (Johnson County, KS).
In this Q&A Sally candidly talks about her book and her personal engagement with the stories.

H: Talk about your book, “Finding Home.”

SO: I have been a print journalist most of my adult life. I spent four years interviewing people around the country about displacement from the place they called home and hearing how they recreated or regained them. I talked to them about what home means to them as well, and discovered a wealth of meanings in that word or concept.
H: Does the book follow a pattern, regional or otherwise? And why?
SO: The book is divided into about 10 types of displacement—from foster kids to veterans, immigrants to Native Americans, victims of natural disasters to homeless men and women. They all tell in their own voices how they climbed out of their adversities and “found home.” That often meant how they regained their center. Witnessing their determination and grit is what makes the book upbeat in general and downright inspirational at times.
H: How has your personal life experience shaped the way you wrote “Finding Home?”
Throughout my journalism career, displacement has arisen and been a huge issue for me. I gravitated toward, and received assignments, of that nature. For example, I have interviewed farmers who have been relocated from their land and written articles about mental hospital outpatients who were being taken advantage of by boarding house landlords.
At one point, I went to Oklahoma and interviewed Wilma Mankiller who was then chief of the Cherokee Nation. She, of course, talked about the Trail of Tears and this led me to do research into forced relocations of other Native Americans.
As a Midwestern child, I spent time cowering in the basement wondering if my home would be ripped away. And, I was raised by a father who had lost his parents at an early age and had been tossed from family member to extended family member several times in his upbringing. I sympathized with his early-years predicament and learned the importance of family as home.
H: What was the writing process? Did you do it story by story or gather bunches of stories and then put them together?
SO: I began the book after I watched Katrina’s sad aftermath and a tornado destroyed the entire Central Kansas town of Greensburg. I had first-hand knowledge of Greensburg because I traveled through it and sometimes stayed in it on my trip from New Mexico to see my mother in Kansas City.
So, I began investigation of my topic with people who were rebuilding their physical houses and communities. I discovered then that the word home contains a wealth of meanings, from the structure we inhabit to a place strictly in the heart. I decided that was what I wanted to talk to people about. Furthermore, I wanted to hear from people who are on in the fringes of society and have felt isolated or alienated from mainstream America. I saw so many groups of people that we dismiss, either because we do not understand their plights or, if we do, we are clueless as to how we might do anything to uplift them.
I found people who have been dislodged from their core, if you will, and regained their identify and the “place” where they can be their authentic selves.
I did all the things reporters are supposed to do in terms of researching my material. I read newspaper accounts, mined the Internet, read books on the issues related to various types of displacement. I told everyone I came into contact with what I was doing, always carrying my trusty pad with me. People would ask me what I was writing down. That is how I got a tip from a man in a Missouri motel breakfast room, a suggestion from a waiter in a Chicago hotel restaurant and a helpful comment from a fellow subway rider in San Francisco. I talked to people at the head of agencies that are helping people climb out of their difficulties. I heard from friends, relatives of friend and friends of friends.
I set up interviews and traveled to towns, cities and regions around the West, Southwest and Midwest and to Washington, D.C. More often than not, I would arrive at an appointment with a person I thought was crucial to be a part of the book and that person would say, “Sorry, I’m busy today,” or “I just don’t have the time.” They would then lead me to another person who actually turned out to be the perfect person to interview. So, there was a lot of serendipity in the process.
For example, the coordinator of the Youth Empowerment Project in New Orleans, turned me over to the man who really rolls up his sleeves and creates a home atmosphere for young people who have been incarcerated and have troubled homes. In addition, he had walked the walk himself, having experienced similar troubles in his own youth. He then interested one of the young people in talking with me about her experiences.
Another example would be when, after quite of few days of pursuing the head of a Navajo organization called Forgotten People, (he kindly took me around to chapter house meetings on the reservation to meet people but they only spoke Navajo), he introduced me to his mother and said she was the right person for me to interview. Her story is incredible—a tale that spanned her life as an adolescent sheepherder in remote New Mexico mountains, to her hard-won education and election to the Coconino County (Arizona) Board of Supervisors where she served for 30 years.
Putting together the book was quite a journey. I began to see that it was best not to try and rule the material with an iron fist. There began to be a natural flow as to the people who were “right” to tell their stories. I gained confidence that they understood what contribution they were making to others in relating them.
I also recognized that there is a healing power for people when they tell their stories. I would see them move from the memories of devastation or hardship to pride in overcoming the problems. Pride in what they had accomplished. Gratitude for those who had assisted them.
H: In the process of writing the book, what resonated most with you?
SO: People ask me what I learned in creating the book. I think one of the things I learned is something that I perhaps already suspected: there is increasing connection between and among people, and this connecting is a powerful thing. It particularly comes to the fore when there are hard times or collective predicaments to be tackled.
I have heard people read some accounts in the book and compare themselves to them. “I would never had been so brave,” or “I could never have overcome those circumstances.” But, I think they don’t understand the reserves that they—that we all— have to draw upon. If you have never been tested, as it were, you don’t know what enormous strengths you possess. Or recognize the value of partnering with others toward a common goal until a desperate need arises.
That is why I included the word “prevail” in the subtitle: How Americans Prevail. I saw, and hope others see, how Americans of all shapes, colors and persuasions are discovering what is meaningful to them and taking charge of their lives. They would all agree, I believe, that divisiveness is not the answer. They are living, breathing examples of how we cope, and then go beyond simply coping.
H: What kinds of reception are you getting from people who read the book?

SO: Readers have told me a variety of things in reaction to “Finding Home.”
One woman said she was going to be more patient with her adult son who had a learning disability. Another person said she wanted to start a scholarship organization to help former foster kids get their college degrees. An ex-combat veteran told me the book was important. A retired boat captain says he will tell everyone he knows to read it because these are stories people will want to hear. An investment manager bought 10 copies, saying simply that he loved it. The formerly battered woman who was interviewed in the book came to a reading in Taos and publicly thanked me for writing the  
SALLY OOMS
book and for including her in it. (That, of course, touched me deeply.) I have just completed a six and a half week book tour and will resume it this week. As I travel, I hear how timely the book is and how people have renewed hope in their countrymen and women as they read “Finding Home.” I feel very gratified to hear their comments.
I feel very privileged to have made the acquaintance of my interviewees as well. You can’t hear people’s struggles and follow their accounts through to their triumphs, both large and small, without developing a sense of intimacy with them.
This I think is one of the things I hope people take away, that they “meet” people they might never have come into contact with, that they find some commonality with them. They might say, “Gee, I never thought I would have anything in common with that person, but I might have done the same thing in their circumstances. I might have found that same solution or taken a creative approach like that.”
So, I always hope for a reaction that is more than “There but for the grace of God go I.” Not that there is anything wrong with feeling that. I just want readers to move one step forward toward considering what home means to them and realizing that hopelessness is not really stitched into our consciousness. I believe that hope is.
H: The image on the cover is interesting. Talk about what that means to you.
SO: Jerry Uelsmann is the creator of the photomontage on the cover. He is famous for this technique and taught it in the ‘70s and ‘80s at various schools and universities. His website is really worth checking out. Lots of interesting images. This one was on a postcard that I had sitting on my desk in front of me the whole time I was working on the book.
Once I decided that the issue of home was where I was going with the book, the image became even more linked in my mind with my topic. A huge root system arises from the ground supporting a house. The strength of the support system is symbolic for me of the wellspring within us that grows our sense of home.
I silently kept wishing that I could use the image for the cover. When I moved to San Francisco to get the book published, I found my terrific editor. I told him about my long-time desire to include it in the cover. He said, “Why don’t you e-mail the guy?”
Oh, hmm, now that seemed too simple a solution. However, I did e-mail him immediately, explaining the concept of the book. The next day I heard back that I could definitely use it. It’s funny how we get these, “Oh that could never happen” thoughts in our heads and cling to them.
The overall design is by Stewart Cauley, a New York cover designer who suffered the loss of his own home and business because of Hurricane Sandy. The cover was held up several months because of his circumstances. The publicist and I found it ironic and sad that he had been working on the cover for “Finding Home” when he lost his own. He has now recovered. Perhaps fodder for a second book?
Along that line, I would very much like to travel back east and hear what creative things people are doing to rebuild their lives after the hurricane hit such a populous area. Also, I neglected the east and most of the south in this book except for Louisiana and Mississippi, strictly because I had more familiarity with the areas I went to. I lived and worked in most of the regions in the book, but I’d like to take up other home-related issues with people back east. I’ve done loads of phone radio interviews with stations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and more, so I’d like to follow up.
H: In the course of writing “Finding Home” did you learn something about yourself you didn’t know before?
SO: That I possess that same resilience that I admire in so many others. I just access it differently than I once did, partly because I have taken to heart the examples of the people I had the good fortune to listen to.
It is good that I am half stubborn German and half pig-headed Scot. These traits carry me through when I need them to. But only up to a certain point were these attributes useful in gathering the people for the book and during the process of putting it all together. I had to abandon the “this-is-how-I want-it-to-be” approach to the project and give it over to the universe, in a sense. I had to trust that things unfold as they are supposed to and make room to allow for that in my psyche and my heart. Oh yeh, in my mind too. Did I mention the doubt demons? I think for any author a book is a battle over preconceptions and what is expected.
I guess the short answer is: I learned more about who I am, and I feel more capable of living my calling.
H: When you asked people if they would share their stories through your book, what was the most consistent reaction?
SO: Most understood what I wanted. I would just ask a few questions about their lives and they would start talking. I didn’t have to prompt them much. As I say, I think most were glad to tell their stories.
They were sometimes reassured by the agencies I found them through. It was always a matter of trust but I told each one that they would be able to review their stories (a horrifying pursuit for a journalist, believe me. But necessary.)
Some Native Americans were concerned they would not be able to use their own stories after I published them, that I would have some right to them. I signed things saying that this would not be the case.
I solicited all the stories. The exception was one man who came up to me at a friend’s party in Colorado Springs and said to me, “You have to interview me. I’ve never felt at home anywhere.” Incidentally, he reverses himself in the telling of his story, but it was an interesting account because for him, like so many of us, what home means to us has evolved as we go along in life.



Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Review: Just One Evil Act

Title: Just One Evil Act

Author: Elizabeth George
Genre: Mystery/British Detectives
Price: $29.95 (Hardcover)


Barbara Havers, nothing gets in the way of her loyalty to a friend

Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, second banana to Inspector Thomas Lynley of Scotland Yard in most novels in the series, takes the lead in “Just One Evil Act,” a story of betrayal, lies, and loyalty.

Barbara does not let anything get in the way of her quest to help her neighbor Taymullah Azhar, whose daughter has been taken by her mother Angelina. Hadiyyah’s parents never married. Consequently Azhar’s name isn’t on Hadiyyah’s birth certificate. He has no legal claim, which makes getting the
police involved problematic.

As the story progresses Angelina returns and demands to know what Azhar has done with their daughter. It turns out the child has disappeared, this time from in a marketplace in Tuscany where Angelina now lives with her lover.

The story heats up and so does Barbara’s efforts to find the child. Barbara figuratively climbs into bed with a tabloid journalist whose prime directive is to get the story, spin it with rapier disregard for consequences and sell papers. The best that can be said for Mitchell Corsico is his determination to get the facts. What he does with them is another matter entirely. Barbara hopes to manipulate him and his newspaper to achieve her own ends, but her plans backfire on her time and again, causing Lynley’s high regard for her to take a tumble, and their boss to threaten to sack her.

She can hardly get past one crisis before another rises. The private investigator Azhar hires hits a dead end and Barbara is left with nothing but frustration.

But there is much more going on than Barbara knows. As she learns about Azhar and his actions, she must decide between loyalty and facts. She will do anything to protect him. In her determination to find Hadiyyah and keep Azhar safe from legal action, she is blind to what is going on around her. An enemy within the ranks of Scotland Yard is doing everything he can to undermine her and tarnish her reputation. Not even Lynley can protect her, especially since she insists on going her own way. The private investigator she has hired, who had previously worked for Azhar, is lying and covering his tracks.

The one thing Barbara refuses to believe or even consider is that she cares more deeply for Azhar than she’s willing to admit. These feelings color every decision and effect every choice on her road to discovery.

Be prepared to curl up for a long siege of reading. Every one of the 725-plus pages draws you into the story. You want to keep going until you reach the climax.

In “Just One Evil Act,” we see Barbara in a different light and come to understand more about her as a woman. She is clever, determined and loyal. She may not be conventionally attractive but everything about her speaks of a woman at peace with who she is.

Elizabeth George is a master at complex story lines. Her characters are rich and colorful, distinctive and compelling. Her plot development is flawless and her use of language memorable.

George is a graduate of University of California in Riverside. She also attended California State University at Fullerton, where she was awarded a master’s degree in Counseling/Psychology and an honorary doctorate of humane letters.

She is American born and educated but writes with a sharp understanding of British culture, use of language, and police procedure.

According to her website she started out as a teacher, and much like Barbara, not inclined to go along to get along. She was fired from her first job along with ten other teachers for union activity.

George has won the Anthony Award, the Agatha Award, and France’s Le Grand Prix de Literature Policiere for her novel “A Great Deliverance,” for which she was also nominated for the Edgar and the Macavity Awards. She has also been awarded Germany’s MIMI for her novel “Well-Schooled in Murder.”