About
Lynne Murray knew she wanted to write a novel featuring a fat heroine with a take-no-prisoners attitude when the book hit the wall. She threw the novel she was reading when she reached a page where the book's heroine sneers at a fat character. It was one fat joke too many. She had to do something.
She wasn't sure how to create a fat fictional character who refused to be ignored or disrespected. It turned out that what she had to do was become a self-accepting woman of size in the process of writing about one.
Larger Than Death, the first book in the mystery series featuring Josephine Fuller, a sleuth of size who doesn't apologize, won the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) Distinguished Achievement Award.
In Bride of the Living Dead, she set out to write a romantic comedy about love and marriage. She conjured up a rebellious, plus-sized heroine whose idea of dressing up is wearing a monster movie T-shirt and jeans to go to the movies. Yet Bride of the Living Dead finds heroine Daria MacClellan trapped into a formal wedding with her anorexic, perfectionist older sister planning the whole thing.
Murray's humorous short pieces have appeared in magazines and newspapers. Many of these articles, including an interview with Darlene Cates, star of What's Eating Gilbert Grape, are available on her website at www.lmurray.com. She is also a regular contributor to the Body Impolitic blog.
Murray went to San Francisco to go to college and ended up staying. She received a B.A. in psychology from San Francisco State University. The city is the setting for Bride of the Living Dead and has been the setting for most her her fiction since her first book, Termination Interview, was published in 1988.
Murray shares an apartment with a small group of extremely mellow cats, who are all either rescued or formerly feral.
Description
<p>Does your child have ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)?</p><p>Meet David, one of award-winning author Sherrill S. Cannon's "Classroom of Kids," who manages his ADHD with the help of classmates.</p><p>David discovers ways to cope with his hyperactive brain, while learning how to calm and soothe his ADHD. Solutions include setting daily schedules and following simple rules that regulate behavior. His teachers and therapists encourage using the computer for academic advancement, and to establish a pattern for study as well as for occasional recreation. David not only learns self-control and communication skills, but is able to fit into the classroom and make friends.</p><p>Once again social values are emphasized in the author's latest illustrated children's story, and classroom friends from previous books are featured. In fact, David has been part of the class for a long time!</p><p><strong><em>"David's ADHD</em></strong><em> is a timely topic for parents and children. A story in rhyme that demystifies ADHD. It explains a youngster's behavior in terms of his inattentiveness and impulsivity and how it impacts those around him. A sensitive way of creating understanding for children with ADHD and their families."</em> - <strong>Dr. Valerie Allen, licensed school psychologist</strong></p><p><strong>Author Bio: </strong></p><p>Former teacher Sherrill S. Cannon has won 76 awards for her previous 11 rhyming books. She is also the author of seven published and internationally performed plays for elementary school children. The author has been called "an absolute master of rhyming" and "a modern-day Dr. Seuss."</p>
Story Behind The Book
Originally published in hardcover by Orloff Press, then in mass market paperback by St. Martin's Press, but out of print for several years....Pearlsong Press has brought Larger Than Death back to life in trade paperback & ebook form.
Reviews
"Big is beautiful in this debut. Josephine Fuller is a character of substance, not just size."<br /><em><strong>Publishers Weekly</strong></em><br /><br />"Written with a rare and entertaining
clarity, and unique comic imagination."<em><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong><br />San Francisco Examiner</strong></span></em><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em><br /><br /></em></span></font>"Murray brings a refreshing approach to
storytelling,developing realistic characters and believable relationships."<em><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong><br />Booklist</strong></span></em><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em><br /><br /></em></span></font>"Josephine Fuller is truly a woman of
substance: wry, perceptive, richly alive and unapologetically independent."<strong><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br /></span></font>Marilyn Wallace</strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em><br />author of <strong>Lost Angel</strong></em></span><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em><br /><br /></em></span></font>"Finally! Great character, terrific concept. Josephine Fuller is...self-confident, self-accepting, strong. Wonderful!"<font size="2"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><strong><br /></strong></span></font><strong>Kathleen Swanholt</strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em><br />editor of <strong>Mysterious Women Newsletter</strong></em></span><br /><br />"Lynne Murray has developed a bold and
gritty heroine. The fresh, sassy voices of both Jo Fuller and her creator are welcome additions to the mystery shelves."<br /><strong>Selma Eichler</strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em><br />author of <strong>Murder Can Wreck Your Reunion</strong></em></span><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><em><br /><br /></em></span></font><em>"<strong>Larger Than Death</strong></em> has more twists
and turns than the curves of its amply endowed heroine.Delicious reading!"<strong><br />Cheri K. Erdman</strong><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;"><br />author of <strong>Nothing to Lose</strong> & <strong>Live Large!</strong></span></em><br />
