Sandra Williams and Jan Blais

Sandra Williams will read excerpts from Moss on Stone, a local, historical novella inspired by the diary of the young Susannah Norwood Torrey (1826-1908), a resident of Rockport, MA in the mid-nineteenth century. With insight sensitivity, and lyrical expression, Susannah speaks to us, who live in a very different time, but not so different in human experience. All times are times of change. All lives are fraught with the joys and sorrows of being human. Here is the story of Susannah’s particular joys and sorrows imagined from her perspective in an afterlife.

Sandra taught Language Arts, World Literature, and Reading/Writing & Research for over twenty-five years at both high school and university levels. Having always written poetry and essays, with several articles published in New View magazine, UK, she now has published Moss on Stone. Time and Tide, a collection of short stories will be published in the fall of 2017. Sandra loves living on beautiful Cape Ann, inspired by its beauty and its community of creativity. She is a member of the Finish Line writers’ group at the Gloucester Writers Center where she facilitates a Poetry group, and is on the Education Committee.

http:// mossonstoneauthor.blogspot. com/ 

Moss on Stone is available on Amazon.

Jan Blais will be reading selections from his new novel Finding Botticelli, and excerpts from his novels Flight Path and Twentieth Century Limited.

Finding Botticelli begins with the theft of a sixteenth-century masterpiece from the museum of a small college west of Boston. In a bizarre twist, the thieves leave something behind that may be far more valuable – an apparently very old, very fine rendition of Boticelli’s Primavera. The story revolves around finding the stolen painting and discovering what the college really has on its hands – a genuine Botticelli or a clever fake. Even before tests are complete, the impetuous Fine Arts Department Chairman barges ahead, making the found painting, now being called “Primavera Due,” the centerpiece of a campaign to save the financially-troubled museum. Though fearful of embarrassing the college and wrecking her career, the young museum director bends to his pressure and begins organizing a blockbuster exhibition to showcase Due. The story ends with a bang and a surprise.

Flight Path is the story of a major international airline based in New York City and its confrontation with a small regional airline on the west coast. The time is 1978, deregulation is just taking hold and aggressive new airlines are springing up everywhere, undercutting the established airlines with low fares and service where there had been little or no competion. But despite the disruption, confusion and threat to the bottom line, they all must strive to maintain safe and reliable service.

In Twentieth Century Limited Paul Bernard, a disabled Vietnam vet, becomes a prize-winning reporter, foreign correspondent and network anchorman. Long critical of the radical right, after 9-11 Bernard attacks the Bush administration for allowing Osama bin Laden to escape and propelling the nation into a disastrous war. On assignment in Iraq, Bernard is killed under suspicious circumstances. Interwoven with Bernard’s account of his life is an interview of his professor/mentor by a reporter profiling Bernard for The New Yorker magazine. Frustrated by Washington’s excuses, they set about uncovering the truth behind the killing.

Originally from Rhode Island, Jan Blais has lived all over the country. Last year his wife Barbara and he relocated to Gloucester where he continues to consult and write. For further information see www.jandavidblais.com.