Happy Birthday

to EARTH'S THE RIGHT PLACE FOR LOVE!!

Today’s the day that my new novel is on the shelves! This is book about first love, which reminds me of MY first love, David. We had a torrid love affair (we were in 8th grade, so “torrid” meant kissing on the LIPS. Closed lips. And that’s it.) Anyway, David broke up with me after about two days and I sobbed on my bed until my father opened my bedroom door and asked what was wrong. “David broke UP with me, and now I’ll NEVER have another BOYfriend!” I said. My Dad smiled. “Yes, you will,” he said, and he was right. Boy, was he right.

ANYWAY, yes, this is a book of first love, the chaos and ups and downs and pleasures and pains that your first crush involves. It is also a novel of how a 16-year old boy gets shaped into the man he becomes. Arthur Moses, in THE STORY OF ARTHUR TRULUV, was an exceptionally kind and compassionate individual. Is that because he was raised with that? Well, not exactly, as it turns out. But one of the reasons I wrote the book was to honor the premise that sometimes when people have catastrophic things happen, they turn not away from life and love and forgiveness, but toward it. And that makes all the difference.

The novel takes place in 1947, so you’ll see bobby sox and soda jerks and jukeboxes, and a kind of small town camaraderie that is nice to be around. You’ll see a mother who shyly tells her son about her old boyfriends, and a father who can’t find a way to tenderness. You’ll meet Arthur’s nerdy friend Harvey Guldorp, he of the jingling galoshes that he wears deep into spring. You’ll meet the people whom Arthur works for, who will reveal surprising things about themselves. You’ll come to understand how Arthur fell for Nola. And I hope, hope, hope that you’ll have a good time reading this book, and be comforted by it. You might cry, but you’ll laugh, too. And I hope you’ll come away with a lot to think about.

If you would like a signed and/or personalized book, please order from The Book Table in Oak Park, IL . It’s best to call: 708-386-9800

Just as a reminder, I’ll be in Cleveland tomorrow evening, March 22, at 7 pm at The Cuyahoga Public Library, North Olmsted Branch, 27403 Lorain Road, North Olmsted, OH. Contact: WKELLY@cuyahogalibrary.org

Thursday evening, March 23, at 7 pm, I’ll be in St. Louis, at the Grant’s View Branch of the St. Louis Public Library, 9700 Musick Rd. Contact: Carrie Robb, crobb@slcl.org

Monday, March 27, I’ll be at Boswell Books, 2559 Downer Ave, Milwaukee, at 6:30. Contact: daniel@boswellbooks.com

Wednesday, March 29 is a very special event at The Sweetgrass Inn at Wild Dunes Resort, 5757 Palm Blvd, Isle of Palms, S.C. This is a ticketed event, a luncheon that runs from 11:30-1:30, and it will feature the quite wonderful Mary Alice Monroe and me talking about the book and lots of other things. We will all eat together, talk together, and enjoy ocean views appropriately called Vitamin Sea. You can RSVP at https://bit.ly/BergEvent