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Literature & Fiction

synopsis

Synopsis

Dear Diary, Shall we pause to take stock? Female (liberated, at least from fraught marriage). Age 52, height 5’5”, weight 120, bone density excellent, minimal cellulite, maximal hot flashes. One and ¾ breasts. Months since sex: 27 Lindsey Friedland, former river-rafting guide and avid outdoorswoman, has hit the worst stretch of water she's ever faced: divorce from an abuser, breast cancer, menopause symptoms that her friends seem to have paddled serenely by. And she's lost sight of her dream of becoming an environmental journalist. Lindsey needs to get her spark back. Dear Diary, Disastrous blind dates so far: The walking cologne bottle. The “really want a gal to give me babies” guy. The pushy past-life reintegration facilitator. Will Lindsey make it past the rocky shoals of family upheavals, job crises, sexism, and ageism... not to mention toxic love traps? Does “happily ever after” now mean settling for occasional (but hot!) sex with Mr. Maybe? Can she reclaim her journalism dream? Dear Diary, I’m tired of being tragic. I’m sending off my article about the bulldozers versus the baby owls. *** First Place, Somerset Award for Women’s Fiction A Pulpwood Queens International Book Club selection “A must-read novel about friendship, love, and killer hot flashes.” - USA Today Bestselling author Mindy Klasky “Stamey’s lovely, inspiring, often funny novel… will touch the hearts of readers.” - Publishers Weekly Booklife “Filled with lyrical prose and pure, thought-provoking joy.” - IndieReader “A solid, engaging tale about the importance of self-knowledge.” - Kirkus Reviews

bio

Author Biography

Award-winning novelist Sara Stamey’s journeys include treasure hunting and teaching scuba in the Caribbean, backpacking worldwide, operating a nuclear reactor, and owning a farm in Southern Chile. She taught creative writing at Western Washington University and shares her Salish Seaside home with wild creatures and her cat, dog, and paleontologist husband Thor Hansen. Sara’s science fiction novels with Berkley/Ace received praise from Publishers Weekly and made the Locus Best New Novelists list. Her Caribbean psychic suspense novel ISLANDS—“A stomping, vivid ride” (Statesman Review)—won the Chanticleer Paranormal Suspense Award and Hollywood Book Festival Genre Award. Her near-future Greek islands thriller THE ARIADNE CONNECTION won the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for speculative fiction. “A rocket-paced thrill ride that delivers complex, engaging characters in a laser-sharp plot.” (Chanticleer Reviews) Her novel PAUSE won First Place in the Somerset Awards for women's fiction and is a Pulpwood Queens International Book Club selection. "Stamey's lovely, inspiring, often funny novel... will touch the hearts of readers." (Publishers Weekly Booklife)

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Author Insight

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In my women's fiction novel PAUSE, Lindsey Friedland is going through a LOT of changes in addition to "The Change" of menopause. Too many crises can leading to crying or laughing, so she chooses to keep a humorous diary to help her through. A bit of a nod to "Bridget Jones's Diary" as she tackles absurd midlife dating....

Book Excerpt

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MARCH 13, 2005

Dear Diary,

March is the cruelest month—will gray winter never end?—and no sign of the lion lying down with the lamb (or anyone else).

Shall we pause to take stock?

Female (liberated, at least from fraught marriage), age 52, height 5’5”, weight 120, bone density excellent, minimal cellulite, maximal hot flashes.

Possessions: 2 Best Cats in the World; 1 degree in creative writing and journalism (what was I dreaming?); 1 dead-end job transcribing medical reports. 1 charming 1920s bungalow with 30-year mortgage and badly in need of new windows, trim, and roof. 1 aging Subaru wagon, 1 bicycle. 3 recycle bins.

Green eyes, somewhat nearsighted; long hair, braid optional (blah light-brown, but disguises the gray strands appearing); “terrific ass” (impartial testimony of ex-husband); no-longer-firm jawline; 1 and 3/4 breasts.

Months since sex: 27.

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Sara Stamey

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