Dear Readers, Christmas is coming and so is THE CHRISTMAS STAR, my brand new holiday novel inspired by the star that shines over my small town in the hills of northwest New Jersey.
Everyone in my hometown has a story about our Christmas star and what it means to them. It was while watching a Hallmark movie a while back with my mom (who loved them!), when she said, "You should write about our star!" Though I started, it took a back seat to another novel I was in the midst of finishing. And then it was forgotten. Until ...
April of 2020 I was walking through my neighborhood as dusk was falling. It was the beginning of the lockdown and everything seemed scary and lonely. And then I looked up and in that early evening light ... the Christmas Star was shining! In April! Seeing that beautiful image which has always been a symbol of hope for me brought tears to my eyes and I decided I had to finally finish this book. And I did!
This is a story of hope, of never giving up and believing in second chances. Like my single mother, Hope, I can see the star from my bedroom window. Even from my pillow. Our star has been shining every December since welcoming the soldiers home from WWII. More than 75 years later, it's still shining. And it is still a beacon of hope.
I hope you will take a chance on this beautiful story of family, forgiveness, and finding love when and where you least expect it.
xoxo Maryann
I am thrilled to share that the 10th Anniversary edition of THE BOOK LOVER is being released late November with a stunning new cover and a new Author's Note! This is a novel for lovers of books, whether you are a reader, writer, bookseller, librarian, or simply love walking into little bookstores and getting lost in the sights and smells of all those books. Best of all, are the characters who inhabit this world. I think you will fall in love with my bookseller, Ruth, one of my favorite characters ever. I think you'll also root for Lucy who is chasing a dream after some life disappointments.
This story has been called "the most honest novel about the world of books." It follows my own crazy publishing journey that had so many twists and turns and which I almost gave up. But I believe in following dreams and ...mine came true! I have been writing books ever since. So if you have taken a chance on one of my books, I hope you loved it. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart! You are the reason I write.
xoxo Maryann ps. for more of my writing journey, scroll down.
For more go to my website maryannmcfadden.com or go to my Facebook author page for frequent giveaways! https://www.facebook.com/maryannmcfaddenauthor/
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THE CEMETERY KEEPER'S WIFE is here!
This has been my longest and most challenging work to date, but I hope you will feel it’s been worth the wait. It’s an historical novel, one which I believe I was meant to write.
When Rachel Miller marries the 7th generation cemetery keeper, she is propelled on a journey that becomes an obsession: to find out the truth about Tillie Smith's life, and death. It's a journey I travelled myself, and this historical novel is the result.
Tillie Smith really lived, right here in my own hometown. She died in 1886, brutally murdered and raped on the campus of Centenary Collegiate Institute, a Methodist Seminary that is now Centenary University. The case and the trial were akin to the OJ Simpson trial in our modern era. It ignited a tide of outrage and sympathy across our nation for this poor working girl who “chose death over dishonor.” But sadly, Tillie Smith became little more than a footnote in the story of her death.
I discovered Tillie’s monument as a little girl. I was not sure what those words meant, but I was captivated by them, and her. And then, years later during my real estate career, I happened to sell the house of the man who was convicted for the crime and sentenced to hang. Yet there in the dining room was a picture of him looking like a sweet old man in his nineties. Over the years, the coincidences continued, fueling my desire to tell Tillie’s story.
I'm also thrilled to share that my first 2 novels have just been rereleased as trade paperbacks. CAPE COD LIGHT is the retitled SO HAPPY TOGETHER (I title I never liked!) and has a gorgeous new cover of Long Point Light in Provincetown Harbor, a setting in the book.
THE RICHEST SEASON also has a stunning new cover of Pawleys Island! Yes, the real setting! I hope if you haven't read them, you will! Both were American Booksellers Association Indie Next Picks and translated into multiple languages. THE BOOK LOVER, my third novel, was also anAmerican Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick!
ABOUT ME
Ever since I was a little girl, nothing gave me more pleasure than losing myself in a good book. And now, as a writer, I get that same joy as I lose myself in the creation of a rich and intricate story with memorable characters. Characters who are not so very different from you and me, really, as they struggle to find their way in life.
I began writing poetry and stories in high school. After college, I worked as a freelance writer while raising my babies, squeezing writing time in while they napped in the afternoons. I wrote for a variety of newspapers and specialized in health and fitness articles for magazines such as WORKING WOMAN and WOMEN'S SPORTS & FITNESS. But after nearly a decade of working mostly from home, a bit lonely, I must admit, I left writing and pursued a career in real estate, of all things. I found myself becoming intimately involved in people's lives. I loved it. And I was good at it.
For the next 15 years, I helped my customers sell their homes, whether for a job transfer, a divorce, a death, or simply the need for a change in life. I also helped them to pursue their dreams as they sought a first home, a cottage by the river to soothe a grieving heart, or a little ranch after spending more than 50 years in a rambling Victorian. These stories of people's lives, I began to realize, were rich and precious, the kinds of stories people like to read about..
And then my own children began leaving the nest, and the need to write again began to consume me.
I returned to school, got a Master's Degree in Literature with a Concentration in Writing, and turned to the kind of writing I always loved best: fiction. My first novel, THE RICHEST SEASON, is the story of a corporate wife who runs away. As a realtor, I witnessed first-hand the trials and tribulations of families relocating every few years all around the world. My second novel, SO HAPPY TOGETHER, is a sandwich generation novel, something so many of us are familiar with these days. What happens when you've finally hit that age where you think you can spread your wings and live your dreams--only to find your family tugging at you from all directions. That's what happens to Claire as she's about to leave for a dream summer in Cape Cod.
I enjoy setting my stories in the kinds of places I like to escape to. THE RICHEST SEASON takes place at one of my favorite beaches in the world, Pawleys Island, South Carolina. And SO HAPPY TOGETHER unfolds in a charming little town in northwest New Jersey, not unlike the place where I live, and also at the tip of Cape Cod, otherwise known as "land's end."
So Happy Together will be coming out in Summer, 2009.
My writing is filled with things I am passionate about: nature, wildlife, gardening, writing, family, love, and the spiritual side of life. And also the complicated dance of the human heart.
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