About
Lori Ann Stephens’s debut novel, Song of the Orange Moons,will be released in October 2010 by Blooming Tree Press. When she's not writingor teaching writing, she reads, dances, and eats the best gourmet, home-cookedmeals. She is not the cook. She lives in Plano, Texas with her family.
Description
<p>FBI agent Alexis Toles is dispatched to New Rochelle, New York, to investigate threatening letters sent to Congressman Christopher O’Brien, and to protect his ex-wife, Cassidy, and six-year-old son, Dylan. But when she gets to New Rochelle, Alex discovers that there is more to the situation than simple stalking or political agendas; she finds that she has growing romantic feelings for Cassidy—and that the feelings are mutual.</p><p>As Alex and Cassidy explore their budding romance, they must surmount many obstacles in explaining their relationship to those around them, including Dylan. All the while, the investigation continues, and the disturbing, convoluted, and complicated web surrounding the threats begins to unravel, placing the characters’ lives in grave danger.</p><p><i>Intersection</i> is a taut political thriller that combines the action and suspense found in hit television shows like <i>24</i> with the insight and drama found in the widely popular fiction of LGBT authors such as R. E. Bradshaw and Stacey D’Erasmo. It is sure to appeal to fans of intrigue, mystery, and romance, and to provide positive role models for marginalized groups and relationships.</p>
Story Behind The Book
SONG OF THE ORANGE MOONS is a mosaic of stories that follow the intertwined lives of three girls coming of age. Two young girls and an elderly widow try to find happiness in a seemingly cruel world. In spite of their different cultural and economic backgrounds, Rebecka, Helen, and Adelle all share the delicate, self-conscious journey to womanhood. All three search for love and meaning in a variety of places-- a charismatic church, a Depression-era orphanage, a moonlit Savannah park, an orthodox Jewish boarding school-- and end up finding lasting strength in the power of their friendships.
Reviews
<p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span><span style="font:7pt 'Times New Roman';"></span></span></span></em><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">Nuanced
and lovely, written in three pitch-perfect voices of narrators aching for a
self, <em>Song of the Orange Moons</em> is an enchanting debut novel from an
exciting new writer. ~ Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of <em>A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain</em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><span style="color:#000000;">In this premiere novel, Lori Ann
Stephens offers a poignant allegory of our time. Each of her characters seeks the
true nature of the woman within; each must recognize and accept both the
bitterness and the sweetness of life’s deeper truths.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#000000;"> Clay
Reynolds, award-winning author of <em>Monuments</em> and <em>Franklin’s
Crossing</em>. <br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">The characters and, just as importantly,
the words in Lori Ann Stephens’s debut novel will stay with you long after you
close the cover. Full of heart and startling images, <em>Song of the Orange Moons</em> is a haunting book about love and loss.
The interwoven stories of a widow and her two young neighbors are humorous and
horrific, and crafted with bittersweet honesty. I highly recommend it.<span> </span><span> </span>~Robert
Nelsen, president of the University of Texas-Pan American</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">This is a book about love, loss, reclamation. Stephens reconstructs the
brutal, vivid experience of childhood with startling clarity. A fine,
exquisite novel full of feeling and careful observation.<span class="il"></span><br />
~Claudia Smith, Pushcart Prize nominee and author of <em>The Sky is a Well</em>, and <em>Put
Your Head in My Lap</em></span></p>