Greetings, Dear Friends!  September has arrived, and that means it’s a mere week and a half until the Publication Date of my new novel

Catherine Over Water

In case you’ve managed to evade my blatant self-promotion and even more frequent attempts at subtle hints, here I go again.

Catherine Over Water will be published on September 15th by She Writes Press.  It will be distributed by Simon & Schuster, and thus will be available for order at local independent book stores.  If you don’t see it, please ask.

Catherine Over Water is the story of a mythology professor who feels she’s been living in a kind of limbo ever since the disappearance of her tween daughter five years earlier.  She’s afraid to grieve, because she thinks grieving would mean giving up hope.  She wants to be strong, but instead she comes across as angry and intolerant.

Then she meets a talking crow named Veronica.

The twist is that Catherine suffers from face blindness, an inability to recognize even familiar people.  Crows excel in human facial recognition.  Soon Veronica is serving as Catherine’s support animal, perching on her shoulder to whisper the names of colleagues, neighbors, and students in her ear.

What happens next?  Well, you’ll have to buy a copy to find out.

I hope the story sounds intriguing to you!  But if you want to know more, let me tell you about my iron-clad guarantee:  after you buy my book, I promise I will never ever ask you if you’ve read it.  I will never ask you if you liked it.  I do hope you’ll read it, and I hope you’ll love it, and I hope you’ll tell me about it.  I hope you’ll write a good review and drop it on Goodreads and Amazon—but I won’t ask.  I promise.  You won’t have to avoid me at parties or gatherings or even on Facebook.  I won’t put you on the spot.  I know you’re busy.  You’ll get to it when you get to it.  I won’t bother you.

Please buy a copy anyway.

Okay, promotion done, but one more thing:  I didn’t set out to write a book about climate change, or the plight of unhoused people.  I began with an idea to write a rather small, very personal story about a woman who lost her daughter.  But as I followed Catherine on her journey, she led me to more mothers who were concerned for their daughters, and soon she had me reflecting on the myth of Demeter and Persphone, and the sad effect on our culture when feminine energy is lost.  These are some deeper themes that evolved as I wrote, but I promise I don’t hit you over the head with any of it.  It’s all in there if you’re interested.

Catherine Over Water is available now for pre-order from several online outlets.  You may find links at my website. BTW, my website has undergone a recent glow-up, and it looks beautiful.  Do take a look here.

As noted before, you may also order it at your local book seller.

Finally, let me say the first few weeks and months are crucial to the overall success of a new book.  The gift-giving season is nearly upon us, and books make great winter gifts.  If  you and your family members and friends enjoy heartfelt, magical books like Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, The Measure by Nikki Erlick, or The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, then there’s a good chance you’ll love my book too.

Thanks for your consideration!  I am grateful.