Today is the official publication day for Strange Attractors: The Ephrem Stories by Janice Deal. Congratulations, Janice!
This remarkable collection of linked stories, set in a small town in Illinois, has garnered comparisons to the works of Sherwood Anderson, Flannery O'Connor, Willa Cather, and just yesterday, a rather famous Russian:
“Because it is set in a small town, it is tempting to compare Deal’s collection to Sherwood Anderson’s ‘Winesburg, Ohio.’ There are certainly similarities. But Deal seems a little closer to Anton Chekhov than Anderson. She handles fine grades of emotion with humor and wistfulness, and with a surgeon’s delicate touch. There is not just a child’s love for a mother—but subtle gradations of it. How much do I owe her? How badly should I feel, about this slight or this absence, or this food stain on a bedspread? The answers are unknown. There is order in chaos, and chaos in order. These strange stories stay with you, attracting more meaning when they’re read again.” —Mary Wizniewski, Newcity Lit
The author has scheduled several upcoming in-person appearances and one by Zoom:
Thursday, 9/14, 2023, 7:00 p.m. (Central): Barbara's Bookstore, 120 Yorktown Shopping Center, Lombard, IL. Janice in conversation with Kathy Bergen to launch the book.
Tuesday, 9/19, 2023, 6:30 p.m. (Eastern): Head House Books, 619 South 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA. Janice in conversation with Elise Juska.
Wednesday, 9/20, 2023, 7:30 p.m. (Eastern): Rosemont College Reading Series. Main Building, Rosemont College, 1400 Montgomery Avenue, Rosemont, PA.
Thursday, 9/21, 2023, 6:30 p.m. (Eastern), online by Zoom: All But True author reading series, with Shannon Bowring. Go here to register for the Zoom link.
Thursday, 9/28, 2023, 6:00 p.m. (Central): Bookends & Beginnings, 1620 Orrington Ave., Evanston, IL. Janice in conversation with Fred Shafer.
Saturday and Sunday, 10/21 and 22, 2023: Southern Festival of Books, Nashville, TN.
Sunday, 11/19, 2023: Sunday Salon, Roscoe Books, 2142 W. Roscoe St., Chicago, IL.
