And in the good news department, the Whistler Writing Society received a note from Ashley Sweeney, who attended the Whistler Writers Festival several years ago. Since then she has released her first novel, Eliza Waite.Published in May by She Writes Press of Berkeley, Calif., and already in its second printing, Eliza Waite is the story of an intrepid young feminist who braves the trek to the Klondike during the Gold Rush of 1898 to open a successful bakery on Skagway’s lawless streets after surviving three years alone on a remote island in the San Juan Islands archipelago in Washington.
“Sweeney’s debut novel is a beautifully written work of historical fiction tracing one woman’s life in the wilds of nineteenth-century America. Readers will be immersed in Eliza’s world, which Sweeney has so authentically and skillfully rendered.” — BOOKLIST
The novel is garnering many positive reviews, including Powell’s in Portland, Oregon, where the novel was recently featured on the new and recommended shelf, numerous bloggers and book reviewers, and most recently from The Anchorage Press: http://www.
Ashley will be touring to Alaska for the month of August and will wrap up book tour events this fall. Congratulations Ashley, from the Whistler Writers Festival!