#Bookreview of Andersen Light: A Meta-Normal Novel

By: Tanya D. Dawson

Publisher: Empower Press

Publication Date: October 7, 2021

ISBN: 978-1951694760

Reviewed by: Alma Boucher

Review Date: August 22, 2025

In Andersen Light: A Meta-Normal Novel by Tanya D. Dawson, Georgie Jones finds herself caught between two fractured worlds after her parent’s divorce. Living in Starkton with her mother, siblings, and new stepfather, Jack, whom Georgie calls “Jackass,” life is anything but magical. Starkton inspires no sense of magic, and the household holds a dark secret. Georgie’s stepfather has inappropriate tendencies, and she knows she needs to keep a close eye on her younger sister. Georgie assumes the formidable responsibility of protecting her younger siblings, often prioritizing their needs over her own. Despite the weight on her shoulders, her resilience keeps her moving forward, though the cracks in her spirit begin to show.

After Georgie finds Jack nearly hurting her sister, the already fragile family falls apart even more. As a result, Georgie goes to live with her father, Professor William Samuel Jones, in Mystic Creek, Oregon. Georgie is unaware that Luther Andersen, a gifted mentor, is closely monitoring her life. Born with extraordinary potential, Georgie is destined to become an inestimable force of good. Luther plants dreams and insights into her mind, teaching her ways to protect herself and accelerate her awakening abilities.

As Georgie begins to adjust to life in Mystic Creek, she forms friendships with Shawn and Josefina while navigating the usual hurdles of a new school, strange faces, and the feeling of being an outsider. Nevertheless, there is something about the town, particularly the old lighthouse on the rocky shore, that seems to beckon her. When she steps in during a bullying episode at school, her abilities unexpectedly surge, hurling a classmate across the playground and revealing a speed she had never realized she had. Questions mount until Luther explains that Georgie is a “meta-normal,” part of a hidden group with paranormal gifts.

Before long, Georgie finds others who share her experiences and embarks on a journey woven with trauma, healing, friendship, and a destiny beyond her wildest dreams. Her actions would send ripples through time, remaining etched in the memories of future generations. During her journey, Georgie uncovers not only the secrets of the lighthouse but also the bravery to face her past and forge a new path ahead, one brimming with hope, purpose, and the realization of her true potential. It would take years, if ever, for Georgie to grasp the profound influence her actions had on individuals and families.

Tanya D. Dawson expertly blends fantasy with genuine emotional truths in Andersen Light: A Meta-Normal Novel. Georgie’s journey is one of resilience and self-discovery, where she confronts profound trauma with honesty and a lack of embellishment. Dawson’s prose immerses readers in Georgie’s thoughts, skillfully balancing the intensity of her experiences with the solace found in her father and Luther, who provide stability during chaos. The narrative artfully connects the fantastical aspects of Georgie’s awakening to her emotional recovery, intertwining themes of hope, bravery, and transformation. The storyline is both sincere and unique, catering to readers who appreciate emotional depth in their narratives. It will resonate with anyone who has overcome hardships and enjoys tales of young individuals discovering their inner strength.

Quill says: A moving and magical tale of resilience, healing, and self-discovery, Andersen Light: A Meta-Normal Novel shines with both emotional honesty and fantastical wonder—a story that lingers in the heart.

For more information about Andersen Light: A Meta-Normal Novel, please visit the author's website at: tanyaddawson.com

 #Bookreview of No More To Lose: Till Death Do Us Part

By: Dr. Gregory Steinberg

Publication Date: July 22, 2025

ISBN: 979-8292760979

Reviewed By: Tripti Kandari

Review Date: August 20, 2025

In his spy-espionage thriller, No More To Lose: Till Death Do Us Part, Gregory Steinberg opens up a shadowy world of covert missions that set the stage for a constant tug-of-war between power and morality.

The story opens with high-level meetings in rooms where secrecy is an obsession, and there lies a potential for scandal with every matter discussed. In this backdrop, we see how a covert program revives, a program that does not exist in official orders; it is only in whispers and never on paper.

The work introduces readers to a dangerous and morally grave world, where an intelligence agency is set out to take a calculated gamble to carry out its missions. They plan to make vulnerable retired soldiers their covert assassins. The idea is simple: broken, retired soldiers who have lost everything in life are picked to carry out covert missions. But as the narrative unfolds, this plan transcends a mere cold strategy and becomes a risky moral gamble. And there begins a journey where trauma, covert politics, and human manipulation coalesce into a deadly mix.

What begins is a series of intense actions and covert missions where disguises, intelligence games, and close-call assassinations provide a cinematic edge. The parallel track weaves out a love story of a UN worker and a disciplined Secret Service agent. Yet, the seemingly calm surface turns out to bear an undercurrent of secrets and hidden motives, which waits to erupt at the slightest trigger...

The story presents characters that become more than agents, with their own struggles of trauma, memories, and inner conflicts, proving to be a narrative journey that exposes, in the background of thrill, the fractured psyche of humans.

The short story expands into three books, giving it the form of a trilogy. Each book sets out to portray different characters, locations, and missions, while an overarching thread is maintained through a covert NSA program. This approach offers depth and variety, though at times it risks diluting the reader’s emotional investment. A connection with a character in one book may break off with a shift in focus in the next. Since each book preserves its own independent arc, the transitions can feel abrupt, giving the impression of separate stories loosely connected within a single universe. Still, this challenging approach is promising and could benefit from the consistent presence of recurring characters, which would provide a stronger narrative spine and help shape a more cohesive trilogy.

Moral ambiguity, fragile trust, and the hidden human cost of covert operations become the story's core. There is a highlight of a silent war outside the battlefield — a war with conscience and decisions. The thin line between loyalty and betrayal becomes the battleground in the narrative, and the spy world turns into an emotional minefield where every choice holds the power to leave permanent scars.

Quill says: No More To Lose: Till Death Do Us Part amalgamates into a series of covert operations, political intrigues, and betrayals, opening up to a world that threatens to scar not just the body, but the very core within.

 #Authorinterview with Dr. Jane Sofair

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Katie Specht is talking with Dr. Jane Sofair, author of The Beauty World Through the Lens of a Psychiatrist.

FQ: Tell our readers a little about yourself. Your background, your interests, and how this led to writing a book?

SOFAIR: After completion of medical school, I trained to be a psychiatrist. Originally planning to enter the specialty of family medicine, I believe I was attracted to the study of the human personality and all its offshoots, in health as well as disease, thus the choice of psychiatry. Outside of medicine, I have always been interested in literature, the arts, and sports.

Author Dr. Jane Sofair

FQ: Have you always enjoyed writing or is it something you’ve discovered recently?

SOFAIR: I have always enjoyed writing, absolutely! Early on in my writing career, I participated in academic research and survey studies for peer-reviewed journals. But during the pandemic, I found a voice in columns of a humanistic nature- for instance the role of hope in healing, the importance of learning to wait for things as a life skill, and most recently a reflection on one of the most basic of phrases in the English language- "pause and reset."

FQ: Tell us a little about your book – a brief synopsis and what makes your book unique.

SOFAIR: The book is a hybrid memoir- it's a little about me and a lot about other surrounding issues and my perceptions. The memoir glimpses into the years 2012-2014 when I worked in Connecticut, and how, there, I randomly picked up a second business as a beauty consultant. Somehow, I felt that the combination of being a psychiatrist by day and beauty consultant by night, was simply too intriguing and unique to pass over as a writing opportunity.

FQ: What was the impetus for writing your book?

SOFAIR: When I signed on as a beauty consultant, my mind immediately flashed over to the late Barbara Ehrenreich who went undercover as an investigative journalist in her book, Nickel and Dimed. I never went undercover, but was, nevertheless, confronted with the task of integrating two very distinct cultures- that of psychiatry and of retail beauty- in a (hopefully) professional manner.

FQ: Please give our readers a little insight into your writing process. Do you set aside a certain time each day to write, only write when the desire to write surfaces, or …?

SOFAIR: I love this question! I have read that many great writers set aside a dedicated writing block each and every day. Since I also work a day job, it has made more sense for me to designate between 2 and 2.5 days per week for writing. If it felt like a chore that day, I would stop, never forcing anything during the writing process. I wanted the material to flow with spontaneity, lightness, and intention. But even before I first sat down to write, please know that there was lots of prep time, as I am sure is the case for all authors.

FQ: What was the hardest part of writing your book? That first chapter, the last paragraph, or something else altogether?

SOFAIR: No doubt the hardest was the very first chapter reflecting on my teenage years growing up in the greater Boston area. That was intense. I spent the most time refining the initial chapter, always balancing openness and humor with restraint.

FQ: The genre of your book is a hybrid memoir. Why this genre?

SOFAIR: The genre is a hybrid memoir- a personal story, my perspective on psychiatry and the beauty industry, and an encapsulated self-help guide. For me, the challenge is to balance enough self-disclosure to capture the reader's interest while sharing areas of expertise.

FQ: Which do you find easier, starting a story, or writing the conclusion?

SOFAIR: There is no question that I always find it easier to start the story. For me, nailing down the first paragraph is the key to setting up the whole book, any written work for that matter. It is from there, from the heart, that the narrative unfolds.

FQ: What is your all-time favorite book? Why? And did this book/author have any influence over your decision to become an author?

SOFAIR: I don't know that I have a single favorite book. A few of my favorites- A Little Life by Hannah Yanagihara- I thought it a brilliant epic novel and could not put it down. I really like everything of Dr. Abraham Verghese and I think Kristin Hannah is also a superb writer. I love all her work. I also enjoy Adriana Trigiani. Basically, I enjoy contemporary fiction.

FQ: If you were to teach a class on the art of writing, what is the one item you would be sure to share with your students and how would you inspire them to get started?

SOFAIR: I would have the students read William Zinsser's On Writing Well. And I would encourage the students to write about what they know and what they might have experienced. I would also encourage them to write with empathy for their reader. That means paying attention not just to content but the compositional aspects. One of the best inspirations for a writing project is to have a really interesting conversation with others.

For more information about The Beauty World Through the Lens of a Psychiatrist, please visit the author's website at: www.janesofair.com/

 #AuthorInterview with William R. Waddell

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Katie Specht is talking with William R. Waddell, author of Woven As One.

FQ: Tell our readers a little about yourself. Your background, your interests, and how this led to writing a book?

WADDELL: I grew up in a small midwestern town, went to college in New England, and gravitated back to the Upper South for law school. I had an incredibly rich life, centered on law practice, and the teaching of law. Along the way, my companion, lover, best friend and muse was my wife, Linda. After I lost her, when we were 80, I reflected on what was important to me in my journey, and she was the constant.

Author William R. Waddell

FQ: Have you always enjoyed writing or is it something you’ve discovered recently?

WADDELL: I have written throughout my life. Some of my earliest memories are of writing little stories or notes about this and that, sometimes to be given to someone, but sometimes just to be doing it. In seven years of higher education, of course, and in my career as advisor, advocate and teacher, I wrote constantly. I authored two professional books, one of which was, to some extent, more than just "legal" in nature. In later years, and presently, I came to enjoy creating more philosophical or political pieces.

FQ: Tell us a little about your book – a brief synopsis and what makes your book unique.

WADDELL: Woven As One is a memoir of my relationship with my late wife, Linda. About meeting her when we were 15 and losing her when we were 80. The book isn't, and doesn't pretend to be, a Shakespearean love poem. It's more of an accounting of how everyday shared experience, kindness and fun can add up, almost unexpectedly, to a profound love affair.

FQ: What was the impetus for writing your book?

WADDELL: Linda and I were not demonstrative people. Only those very close to us, and maybe not even they, knew what we meant to each other. Perhaps we even neglected to show it to each other as much as some. Even before I lost her, and certainly after, I found myself wanting to share, first with her and later with the world, the fabric we had created.

FQ: Please give our readers a little insight into your writing process. Do you set aside a certain time each day to write, only write when the desire to write surfaces, or something else?

WADDELL: I have sometimes needed discipline, i.e., setting aside time, etc. in other writings; some of course had actual deadlines. But Woven As One was a labor of love. I wrote when the spirit moved me, but it moved me pretty often.

FQ: What was the hardest part of writing your book? That first chapter, the last paragraph, or something else altogether?

WADDELL: It was hard to pick and choose from 65+ years’ worth of life those things that should be included. And re-living Linda's loss, even today, is emotionally hard.

FQ: The genre of your book is a memoir. Why this genre?

WADDELL: I have seen it characterized as memoir or family relationships or something else. I did not consciously try to fit it into a notch.

FQ: Which do you find easier, starting a story, or writing the conclusion?

WADDELL: This is a good question for a fiction writer, but not so much for me.

FQ: What is your all-time favorite book? Why? And did this book/author have any influence over your decision to become an author?

WADDELL: Future Shock, by Alvin Toffler. Genuinely original thinking, not just on a narrow topic, but on the sweep of history and societies. Still relevant and good reading after 55 years. So far above my pay grade that it would never occur to me to claim even to be influenced.

FQ: If you were to teach a class on the art of writing, what is the one item you would be sure to share with your students and how would you inspire them to get started?

WADDELL: Serious writing, whatever its "genre," is re-writing. There are those in the world who can produce a finished product in the first draft, a compelling and complete report on the first try. Some can even speak in paragraphs, paragraphs that are perfect and persuasive. God bless them. For the rest of us, reflection and revision are our friends. Don't be afraid of them. And remember, if you run into someone who is so rude as to criticize re-writes, throw the drafts away and claim you extemporized. No, kids, I didn't mean that. Lying is not good. Almost never.

For more information about Woven As One, please visit the author's website at: www.williamrwaddell.com/

 #Bookreview of Yesterday Was Not So Long Ago

By: Ruth Benario (A Peter Benario Project with Carolyn Zalesne)

Publication Date: June 12, 2025

ISBN: 979-8283701479

Reviewed by: Douglas C. MacLeod, Jr.

Review Date: August 14, 2025

One of the greatest works of Holocaust literature ever written is Ahron Appelfeld’s 1979 classic Badenheim 1939, a gripping novel that speaks to what happened prior to the building of the concentration camps and before the Nazis forcibly acquired absolute power in Germany. In Appelfeld’s book, families live their lives normally, blissfully naïve to the fact that their households will be completely upended, their families will be torn apart, and humanity would be fighting its second world war. Appelfeld, in other words, wrote a book about what was going to happen rather than what eventually happened during the 1940’s. Within Holocaust literature, this approach is generically uncommon, but does expose life prior to fascism. Similarly, Yesterday Was Not So Long Ago is reminiscent of Appelfeld’s dramatic narrative, but told from the standpoint of Ruth Benario, a real-life woman who lived through World War II and was able to tell her story from her humble beginnings. Her work, which is edited by Peter Benario (Ruth’s son) and Carolyn Zalesne, is an exciting, honest, and stunning autobiographical testimony coming from a Protestant citizen who fortunately lived through the war to tell her tale.

Organizationally, Yesterday Was Not So Long Ago (a fantastic title) starts with Ruth living her best life as a child in Erfurt, a town in East Germany on its way to being occupied. Right from the beginning of this memoir, readers will be impressed by the abundance of concrete details provided by Benario, who used her handwritten diaries as her guide. For example, when talking about her grandmother Helene, she remembers sitting “across from her in a big blue satin armchair, eating those delicious cream puffs, while she completely mesmerized me with her stories of strange and distant lands.” Whether delving into her love affairs with Gerhard, a naval captain in the Third Reich, and Ernie, a Jewish-American counterintelligence officer, whom she would ultimately marry; or her historical discussions about the Ritchie Boys (20,000 American soldiers who trained in Camp Ritchie near Cascade, Maryland); or her family life in America after World War II, Benario’s work is rife with beautifully constructed and vividly produced passages coming straight from her diaries and onto the printed page. Ruth’s story is a complete one, a harrowing testimony of a woman who experienced the best and worst in humanity during a time of great strife and beyond.

Yesterday Was Not So Long Ago is so thorough and so inclusive, Benario and her editors even provide photos and newspaper clippings throughout the text to draw readers in further; a visual account of Ruth’s life allowing the audience to become a part of the family. And, that is the true beauty of Benario’s memoir and of master storytellers like Benario (and Appelfeld). As readers, we want to feel like we are experiencing what these characters, these people are experiencing. We want to not only empathize but also immerse ourselves in their lives to the point of almost feeling like one of the family. Benario, without question, does this in spades, providing readers with a work--an experience--that is certainly educational, emotional, and memorable.

Quill says: Yesterday Was Not So Long Ago is, by far, one of the best memoirs of the year and an absolute must read.

For more information about Yesterday Was Not So Long Ago, please visit the author's website at: peterbenario.com

 #Authorinterview with J.F. Collen, author of The Path of Saints and Sinners

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Alma Boucher is talking with J.F. Collen, author of The Path of Saints and Sinners.

FQ: Nellie’s path is as much about her inner self as it is about the places she travels. What motivated you to carry on her story in such a politically charged setting like Great Salt Lake City in 1857?

COLLEN: I have been fascinated by the history of Salt Lake City since I first visited it as a kid, on a camping trip with my parents. With each visit, my curiosity grew. I found a whole different world in Salt Lake City, with a different culture than the Northeast. I was intrigued by the history of the city’s founding and started to research the details. As with any story there are conflicting statements of fact, controversies and multiple points of view—the perfect ingredients for a novel.

Author J.F. Collen

FQ: The book paints a vivid portrait of a divided city on the brink of conflict. What strategies did you employ to blend historical truth with narrative fiction during this turbulent time in American history?

COLLEN: As an historical fiction writer, I think the first step is to pick a side! Since I had created Cornelia Rose’s back story and personality in books 1 through 3, I tried to view my historical research from the lens of my fictitious main character, making her background and point of view the rubric for the readers’ experience of this moment in time. Thinking she landed in a utopia, Nellie finds herself plopped into the middle of a long-percolating controversy, and she needs all her resources to figure out where the danger to her family truly lies. I wanted to tell the story as it would have happened around my character at the exact moment of her arrival in Great Salt Lake City (the original, full name of the Utah capital.) Rumors and falsehoods swirl all around her. Access to information is sporadic at best. I wanted us to feel Nellie’s panic while she ferrets out the ‘truth’ of the controversies and tries to decide what to believe.

FQ: Obadiah’s position as a federal judge puts him in a delicate situation between two different worlds. What were the challenges in creating a character who is required to uphold law in a lawless and mistrustful environment?

COLLEN: I needed to build a character with a strong sense of self-worth and self- confidence, but human enough to recognize he needs a counterbalance and a helpmate. His backstory shows the strong moral fiber at his core and his belief in his ability to determine the right path and pursue his dreams. Obadiah acts with deliberate care, strategically navigating a path. I needed this character to be a strong head of the household, a good match for Nellie. He is well trained to use his exceptional wit and his great education to negotiate his family’s wellbeing.

FQ: Nellie’s strength lies not in open rebellion but in quiet resilience. How do you balance portraying a woman true to her time with giving her a voice modern readers can connect with?

COLLEN: It was a challenge! I tried to give Nellie the ability to challenge the status quo, even though she is a product of her upbringing and could not help but be ‘brainwashed’ by her time. I think Nellie vacillates between wanting all the things she was taught to want in life – a husband, a family, an education – and rebelling against those things as ties that bind her.

My theory is that people are the same, throughout history, even though their thoughts and opinions are shaped by their milieu. I think that people living in the past faced the same dilemmas we face today, and that, with access to the philosophies and thoughts of some of the great thinkers of that day through extensive reading, Nellie and some of the actual historic people she meets in my novel had the same perspectives on the events of their day that we share today.

FQ: Themes of faith, identity, and loyalty are central to the novel. How do you think these themes resonate with today’s readers, particularly in these divided times?

COLLEN: I think humans are always challenged to find a rubric of beliefs and create their identity and it is always interesting to me to see what path this takes. Some people think about their lives carefully and create themselves purposefully, and other people’s identities just come about from their circumstances. But I know I love a good fiction that illuminates a character’s evolution to a better person.

In today’s divided times I think we can find some solace in history. People in Utah in 1850 faced similar challenges to today’s and they resolved many of the issues through diplomacy, dialogue, kindness and empathy for the other’s plight. Maybe we can too.

FQ: Nellie’s marriage to Obadiah is layered and nuanced. What did you want readers to take away from their relationship, especially in the context of power, love, and gender roles?

COLLEN: All good relationships are layered, and nuanced and evolve with time. Hopefully they change for the better, and love smooths out the differences in power and gender roles.

I tried to understand women’s position in the 1850 and it led me to a sincere appreciation for the opportunities available today. Women had few rights in America in the 1850s. In the Netherlands, and some other countries, they had more at the time, but in the U.S. women could not vote, of course, and laws even constrained what property they could own. Women had to marry to have an income, social status and any rights at all. My review of primary sources confirmed many women put up with less-than-ideal marriages because there were no alternatives. Unmarried and widowed women had no voice.

So many circumstances marginalized people in general at that time – gender, poverty, lack of education, social status and extreme prejudices. I believe good historical fiction can help us examine the mindset and obstacles of former times and rejoice in how far we have come – even though, of course these same factors still block the path for many.

FQ: What kind of research went into capturing the conflict between the Mormons and the U.S. government during this era? Were there any surprising facts or stories you uncovered that made it into the novel?

COLLEN: As a lawyer, research is second nature to me, and a weird kind of fun!

I not only tried to visit as many of the places in my books as I could, I also searched for all available primary sources of information about the events and that time period. I have read the diaries of women who trekked across the country in search of a better life. I found shocking reports from Elders in the Church of the Latter-day Saints confirming the orders Brigham Young gave to vandalize and burn the United States Army’s wagons. I discovered letters from Elizabeth Wells Randall Cuming, the federally-appointed Governor’s wife, telling her family of the deprivation, starvation and extreme cold she suffered in the Mormon-burned Fort Bridger. And I laughed at Samuel Clemens and Horace Greeley’s accounts of their meetings with Brigham Young. Federally-appointed Judge Waite’s wife wrote an entire book about the intricacies and deep secrets of the Mormons at that time. And I read further accounts from the Mormon faithful of their quest to bring judgement on those who did not believe. There were so many surprising facts, so many interesting historical tidbits, that I could not cram them all in the book. But I did include all the best ones!

FQ: Humor and wit add unexpected lightness to a story filled with tension. How important is it to you to include moments of lightheartedness in your historical fiction?

COLLEN: Humor is imperative! I could not bear the vagrancies of life without a sense of humor, and neither can my characters. The comedic aspects of life are what keep us going in times of adversity. And times of happiness! Although, humor is a tricky business. Something is only funny within a specific context of time and place; it does not seem to transcend cultures. But I found my love of a good pun sometimes withstands the test of time.

FQ: Nellie’s daughters play significant roles in aiding her journey. Could you elaborate on how you portrayed these intergenerational relationships and the significance of women uplifting each other?

COLLEN: Our intergenerational relationships not only pass the wisdom of the ages down to modern times, but they comfort and sustain us. The mother/daughter relationship, I think, is timeless. Certainly, mothers gave different advice to their daughters in 1850, because the definition of what it meant to be a successful woman was different, but the intent was the same. Most mothers only want what is best for their offspring and they go to extreme lengths to try to obtain it.

I believe women must empathize and support each other’s choices – we need a sisterhood of understanding and help. No one achieves their goals without a little help from someone. We need to be each other’s someone.

FQ: How does The Path of Saints and Sinners build upon what you established in previous books? In what aspects has Nellie evolved, and in what aspects has she stayed the same?

COLLEN: I have taken my same characters and grown them up! As people grow, they change, and I have tried to make my characters do the same, while being true to their core selves. It has been fun putting them into situations and seeing how they react! I think Nellie has become a little less silly and flirtatious and a little more focused on what it takes to be a responsible mother, a loyal wife and a dedicated healer. I hope I have shown her to be less focused on her own whims and more focused on establishing a home and a community for those she loves.

 #AuthorInterview with William Overstreet

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Diana Coyle is talking with William Overstreet, author of Halley's Gathering.

FQ: One of the first things I do when I read a book by an author I’m unfamiliar with is read the author’s bio to get to know them better. Would you please tell us a few things about yourself so that new readers, like myself, can learn about you?

OVERSTREET: I certainly understand the curiosity—I do the same thing, checking out a new author’s bio—but, personally, I’d rather be as anonymous as possible. So I’ll meet you half way. I was born in Troy, NY, grew up in various towns in the Hudson Valley, and went off to college at Cornell University. I also have degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Binghamton University. After that, I always earned my living as a nonfiction writer, mostly in the area of international politics but, for a time, specializing in medical technology. I’m married, we have twins (girl and boy), and live in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

FQ: Can you please tell our readers a brief synopsis of your book, Halley’s Gathering, and what specifically makes your book unique?

OVERSTREET: The quickest synopsis I can give is from the back cover:

New Mexico Territory. 1910. Julia Halley, unlikely owner of the Many Springs Canyon Trading Post on the Navajo Reservation, has attracted a small but devoted circle of friends—her “gathering”—both Anglo and Navajo, all with their own stories to tell. Among them, a Southern doctor who opened a free reservation clinic after the Spanish-American War. A Navajo woman, also a healer, who survived the Long Walk of the 1860s. A self-taught photographer and former Franciscan brother. A young surveyor drawn to the Southwest by a fascination with the ancient Anasazi ruins. And living deep in the canyon, Clement Yazzie, half Navajo and half Hopi, whose ruthless reputation conceals a shadowy legacy, and Johanna Yazzie, his enigmatic younger sister, mute since birth.

HALLEY’S GATHERING. A sweeping tale of a new century. When the dawn of the modern is supplanting the violence and isolation of the Old West, but also endangering the Navajo way of life. Where the magnetic Julia Halley struggles against the dictates of polite society to follow her own uncompromising path. Where the controversial explorer Richard Wetherill and the celebrated photographer Edward S. Curtis are among the notable names who play a part. And where, coincidentally, the return of Halley’s Comet is just over the horizon.

It’s unique in the combination of setting and time, the Southwest USA, and more specifically the Navajo Reservation, from roughly 1898 to 1911, a time when the Old West was fading and the Modern was arriving, with all the attendant conflicts and adjustments.

I need to say a bit more about the magnificent Navajo Nation, where I lived for four years. It’s vast, the size of West Virginia, and much of it is sparsely populated. As a result, you can easily find yourself in a landscape that has been virtually untouched by the modern world. (Of course I’m not referring to areas that have been strip mined for coal, and so forth.) For that reason, I had no difficulty describing it as it might have been in 1910.

I think Halley’s Gathering is also rather unique in that I decided from the very beginning to give all of the main characters their full stories, from childhood on, and to provide each with a unique explanation for why they end up at Julia Halley’s trading post. If you’re going to have eight or nine main characters, you’d better make sure they stand on their own.

FQ: I loved how well-written and detailed Halley’s Gathering was and how you wrapped the storyline around characters living during the early 1900’s. In doing so, you wrote in exceptional detail how different it was to be living during this period of time. What made you want to create a storyline specifically set back in the 1900’s?

OVERSTREET: I’ve always loved Westerns—not so much the typical genre Western, though there’s certainly an art to it, but the outliers: Frank Norris’s The Octopus, Willa Cather’s frontier novels, Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy. And I have to throw in such classics as The Ox Bow Incident, The Searchers, Shane, Warlock, Butcher’s Crossing, and of course Lonesome Dove, which is the quintessential myth-maker. But I didn’t want to repeat what had already been done so well. The trigger, for me, was that change from the Old West to the Modern.

FQ: What made you decide to have Julia Halley run the Many Springs Canyon Trading Post as an independent owner, which was a rarity for women to do during that time?

OVERSTREET: That was the center around which everything else revolves. Julia had to be more than just unique. (I’m pretty sure I’m safe in saying that in fact no woman of that period ran a Southwest trading post on her own.) She had to be somewhat isolated from the daily pressures of Anglo (white) “civilization,” and she had to be charismatic enough to attract a small circle of devoted friends who were willing to go far out of their way to gather around her.

FQ: Are there any future novels in the works? If so, can you tell us any information about them?

OVERSTREET: Yes. The one I’m closest to finishing takes place at the end of World War II. Totally different time and place, obviously, and with no overlap.

FQ: Where do you look upon for inspiration for what you write?

OVERSTREET: What attracts me is something that hasn’t been written about before. I don’t mean that in a pretentious way. I like to find some actual event, some circumstances that haven’t been fictionalized before. I try to be very careful to anchor what I’m writing in fact. Sometimes I find connections almost at random. In Halley’s Gathering, for example, Julia’s last name was originally Haley, for no special reason. I had already decided on 1910 as the central year because I wanted to tell some of the story of the explorer and trader Richard Wetherill, which has a dramatic conclusion in that year, but well into the writing, I learned that Halley’s Comet had returned in 1910. Several things fell into place at that point, including the central episode when I bring all of the principal characters together in a mountain meadow to view the comet.

FQ: Please tell us what is your writing routine like?

OVERSTREET: I don’t really have one. I do lots of research before beginning, but that continues through the process. I write illegible (to anyone but me, but also sometimes to me) bits on paper as they occur to me, and revise and revise and revise, and I do a lot of writing in my head, working ideas over and over. At some point I sit down at the computer. I don’t necessarily start at the beginning of the story. Most of the actual putting of words on the screen happens in the afternoon or evening, very rarely in the morning.

FQ: To wrap up our interview, is there anything you would like to add to tell our readers?

OVERSTREET: Read the book. Pass it on or recommend it if you like it. It’s out there now, and I’m completely inessential.