A Kiss for Maggie Moore by Micki R. Pettit

A coming-of-age love story between three best friends growing up in a small-town Wyoming neighborhood during the late 1960s, early 1970s. If you are familiar with “The Wonder Years,” this is the wonder years out west.

Smart-mouthed Maggie Moore is instantly smitten with the laid back, sometimes infuriating Bucky. Too bad he has eyes for her best friend Melinda. Their triangle of friendship and emerging romance is easily eclipsed by the free-spirited adventures of childhood, but when the turmoil of adolescence stirs unresolved feelings, and doing the right thing means betraying her own heart, Maggie must grapple with a moral dilemma that impacts them all. With a supporting cast of unforgettable characters set against the backdrop of rural Wyoming during the cultural upheaval of the 1960s, Micki R. Pettit gracefully weaves an endearing and humorous tale of first experiences that cuts to the heart of sacrificial love.

“This memorable read deserves repeated consultation and a place on the bookshelves of any reader of coming-of-age stories and small-town life.” —D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

About the Author:

“Grandma taught me how to read before I entered first grade. I’d practice on my younger cousin, going around those words I didn’t know, perhaps changing the story altogether, my cousin never the wiser. By third grade, I was working in the school library, devouring Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, checking out whatever copy of the popular series happened to be available, then reading and re-reading. I loved everything about her books; the illustrations, the songs, the pioneering spirit, Pa and Ma, the sisters. Being a tomboy, I identified with Laura’s feisty nature. I was also a romantic who wanted an Almanzo of my own, and eventually found one in Don Pettit – engineer, scientist, explorer, astronaut, poet, photographer, fixer of all things big and small. Like Ms. Wilder, I’m a late blooming author. A Kiss for Maggie Moore is my debut.”

Force of Nature by Joan M. Griffin

Equal parts gripping adventure tale, personal memoir, and vivid nature writing, Force of Nature is like Wild meets A Walk in the Woods.

Three friends, women in their fifties, set out to hike “the most beautiful long-distance trail in the world,” the two-hundred-mile-long John Muir Trail, through the heart of California’s Sierra Nevada. From the outset, their adventure is complicated by self-inflicted accidents and ferocious weather, then enriched when they “adopt” a young hiker abandoned by her partner along the trail.

The women experience the terror of lightning at eleven-thousand feet, the thrill of walking through a towering waterfall, and the joy of dancing among midnight moonshadows. For a month, they live immersed in vast natural beauty, tackle the trail’s physical demands, and find camaraderie among an ensemble cast of eccentric trail characters. Together, they are pulled forward toward the trail’s end atop the tallest peak in the High Sierra, Mt. Whitney, and the culmination of their transformative journey.

“An inspiring, empowering memoir by a talented new author.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Griffin matches every gripping moment on the trail with an ode to the spectacular landscape of the Sierra, her life-long love for the mountains beaming through her storytelling.”—Trail Magazine

“A must-read for both adventure enthusiasts and nature lovers…”—Readers’ Favorite

“See the beauty, feel the pain, experience the magic.”—Arnold Marsden, author of Muir Trail Magic

“Lace up your hiking boots! Let Griffin guide you over granite mountains, through thunderstorms, and wildflower-studded meadows.”—Barbara Olson Lawrence, author of Drawing Water

2023 Gold Medal for Best Memoir—Northern California Publishers and Authors

Author Joan Griffin lives under the spell of wanderlust. She takes wing, whenever possible, for actual destinations near and far and for literary locales in the pages of books. A native Californian and proud UCLA Bruin, Joan lives in the Northern California foothills of the majestic Sierra Nevada, a world she loves exploring. Joan navigated her way through two careers—marketing computers, then sailboats—before applying her love of storytelling to her dual passions of teaching and writing. Retired, Joan currently teaches classes in literature and history at the Osher Lifelong Learning Program (OLLI) at Sierra College. She is currently writing her second memoir about growing up adopted.

FABULOUS BEASTS: A Love Story by W.A. Schwartz

A gifted young poet from Boston arrives at a prestigious women’s college in 1950, carrying both literary ambitions and the shadow of her mother’s mental illness. A professor recognizes her raw talent, introducing her to New York’s vibrant literary scene where she encounters legendary figures of the era.

While studying literature at Cambridge in the UK, she meets a charismatic British poet whose intense presence and ruthless artistic vision captivate her. Their connection is immediate and combustible. Despite warnings about his reputation with women, she falls deeply in love, seeing in him both a kindred spirit and a pathway to artistic greatness.

After a brief courtship they marry in England, settle in London and later in a remote cottage in Devon. Initially, their creative partnership flourishes, with her first collection receiving critical acclaim. However, as his star rises in the literary world, she finds herself increasingly isolated, juggling household responsibilities with her writing while battling persistent bouts of depression.

The birth of their daughter deepens her emotional turmoil. When her husband begins an affair with a young German poet who rents their London flat, her fragile mental state deteriorates further. She channels her pain into a series of devastating poems that will later become her masterwork.

She struggles to rebuild her life. She works feverishly on a new manuscript while battling increasingly severe depressive episodes. Despite receiving electroconvulsive therapy, her condition worsens during a particularly harsh winter.

In February 1963, she makes her final, tragic choice. The novel closes with her husband receiving news of her death, even as her posthumous collection—filled with the raw, brilliant poems written during their disintegrating marriage—is being prepared for publication, securing her place in the literary canon that had once seemed beyond her reach.

Set against the backdrop of the 1950s and early 1960s, before the feminist movement gained momentum, the novel examines how talented women were forced to navigate a society that prized their domestic roles above their intellectual and creative contributions. It explores the cruel paradox of how great art can emerge from profound suffering, questioning whether genius must always extract such a terrible price, especially from women whose artistic ambitions defied the restrictive gender expectations of their time.
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This post is a sponsored collaboration with Black Rose Writing.