Novel

Talk about tumbling down the rabbit hole. Jessica Anya Blau is the Baltimore author who memorably mined her experience growing up in a freewheeling bohemian family in her first two novels, "The Year of Naked Swim Parties" and "Drinking Closer to Home. " "Swim Party," in particular, made a splash, ending up on a couple of national "best of" lists. In her third novel, "The Wonder Bread Summer," which is being released Tuesday, Blau explores the Southern California counterculture of the 1980s through the eyes of 20-year-old Allie Dodgson.

It's difficult to imagine what Laura Moriarty's four novels would have been like if she had chosen a place to live other than Kansas, with its endless wheat fields and abundance of ordinary light. Moriarty, 42, focuses her gaze on the most common, everyday things in the world - a single mom cooking a grilled cheese sandwich, a visit to the convenience store - and finds in them characters and events of remarkable depth, complexity and variety. Though the author is a Marine's daughter who was born in Hawaii and spent her childhood in places renowned for their physical beauty, she decided as an adult to settle in Kansas.

Barbara G. Bisset, who helped run a youth camp that mixed religious teachings with horsemanship, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday at her home in Manchester. She was 92. She mentored young women for more than four decades at River Valley Ranch, a western-themed Christian camp in Carroll County that she founded in 1952 with her husband, John Bisset. Known as "Mrs. B" to ranch visitors, she helped manage the camp and taught the dozens of girls who attended each summer about the Bible and offered them spiritual guidance.

Talk about tumbling down the rabbit hole. Jessica Anya Blau is the Baltimore author who memorably mined her experience growing up in a freewheeling bohemian family in her first two novels, "The Year of Naked Swim Parties" and "Drinking Closer to Home. " "Swim Party," in particular, made a splash, ending up on a couple of national "best of" lists. In her third novel, "The Wonder Bread Summer," which is being released Tuesday, Blau explores the Southern California counterculture of the 1980s through the eyes of 20-year-old Allie Dodgson.

M.T. Smith, of Randallstown, recently released a book, "A Familiar Murder," on Amazon.com. The murder mystery takes the reader through Baltimore neighborhoods while solving a crime being perpetrated on the elderly. Smith is a former creative director for Guild Communications Inc, a community relations firm in Greenbelt. McDonogh School Director of Aquatics Scott Ward, of Owings Mills, has been named the recipient of the Thomas R. Harper Endowed Teaching Chair. This award was established in 2001 by alumnus Bob Chilstrom to honor his 1963 classmate, Tom Harper, who retired in 2004 after teaching English at McDonogh School for 36 years.The Harper Chair recognizes outstanding service to the school by a faculty or staff member.

J.K. Rowling, who created the fabulously successful Harry Potter series of book -- and movies -- will publish her first adult novel, Little, Brown and Co. announced today. The title, date for  worldwide publication and further details about the novel will be announced later in the year, the publisher said. Rowling's website simply shows an enticing, mysterious, yellow book entitled "The New Book. " Clever, that. Rowling said in statement via the publisher, “Although I've enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series ... . The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry's success has brought me, and with that new territory it seemed a logical progression to have a new publisher.

Twelve -year-old Connor Sullivan has anger-management problems. How he grapples with his temper drives the plot of "Hothead," an entertaining first young-adult novel by legendary Orioles infielder and Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and Baltimore Sun columnist Kevin Cowherd . With its conflict-driven plot, the story is a page-turner. Add concrete details and strong verbs (Cowherd's signature touch), and the story will engage even kids who might have more interest in baseball than in reading.

When it comes to books, I guess you could call me a voracious listener. I have been commuting about an hour to and from work for more than 30 years, and during that time I bet I've listened to a couple of thousand books. First on tape, now on compact discs. If you had to sit in traffic that long every day - and it is worst on a Friday in summer, when everyone is trying to cross the Bay Bridge - you'd listen to anything that might distract you, too. And I have delved into a wide range of titles, from history to historical fiction to murder mysteries to true crime.

ATLANTA - Several news organizations have jumped into the fight over whether the protectors of "Gone With the Wind" can block the publication of the new novel "The Wind Done Gone." CNN, Cox Enterprises and the Tribune Company, which owns the Chicago Tribune and The Sun, said in "friend of the court" briefs that they "are extremely concerned about the implications of a federal court issuing a preliminary injunction blocking publication of a potentially significant work of fiction that comments on the evils of slavery."

Although Anne Rice is the most famous of contemporary vampire novelists, she is by no means the only one.Several hundred vampire novels have been published in the past 25 years, with writers such as Chelsea Yarbro, Fred Saberhagen, P. N. Elrod, Tanith Lee, Lori Herter and Elaine Bergstrom turning out multiple tales. Horrormeisters Stephen King, Peter Straub and Clive Barker have all tried their hand at fictional vampires.Here's a look at some of the latest offerings in the genre:* "The Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula," by Roderick Anscombe (Hyperion, $22.95)

Last weekend, the film "The Great Gatsby" was reported to have earned a whopping $51 million, according to Business Insider. Just prior to its release, however, many critics ripped the film for distorting the classic novel on which it is based with over-the-top production, including 3-D images and a modern soundtrack produced by Jay-Z. This is the third time that one of the most well-known flawed heroes of 20th century fiction has had his story told on the big screen. But unlike its B-movie 1949 adaptation or drab 1974 version starring Robert Redford, this film explodes with excess - just as Jay Gatsby had intended with his mansion parties on the West Egg. It also gives audiences yet another chance to analyze the one-time Bolton Hill resident F. Scott Fitzgerald's version of the Great American Novel, this time as told through the lens of director Baz Luhrmann.

When it comes to books, I guess you could call me a voracious listener. I have been commuting about an hour to and from work for more than 30 years, and during that time I bet I've listened to a couple of thousand books. First on tape, now on compact discs. If you had to sit in traffic that long every day - and it is worst on a Friday in summer, when everyone is trying to cross the Bay Bridge - you'd listen to anything that might distract you, too. And I have delved into a wide range of titles, from history to historical fiction to murder mysteries to true crime.

Plunging into a novel by James Kelman is like diving head-first into a chilly lake. It's a shock to your system at first, and a bit disorienting, but the trick is to keep moving. Once your muscles get warmed up and you get your bearings, the experience is exhilarating. Kelman, 66, is the Man Booker Award-winning author (in 1994 for "How Late It Was, How Late") whose novels champion the working-class people of his native Scotland. His novels are typically told through the point of view of one character, and from the opening sentence, the reader is thrust headlong into his narrator's thoughts and perceptions.

David Poyer is a retired naval officer, and most of the 34 thrillers that he's written draw on his experience serving in the waters of the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific, Caribbean and Persian Gulf. So it was inevitable that at some point he'd take on the whale of all tales, "Moby Dick. " But try as Poyer might, he couldn't figure out how to write the sequel to Herman Melville's great American novel. Then one day, while the 63-year-old Poyer was teaching a creative writing course at Pennsylvania's Wilkes University, the solution came to him in a flash: "When I'm brainstorming with students, my brain doubles its IQ after a short period of time from my usually reptilian torpor at home," the 63-year-old Poyer said in a telephone interview.

Local authors share the titles they're enjoying right now. Madison Smartt Bell, whose most recent novel is "The Color of Night": "Noble Savages," by Napoleon Chagnon, back to back with "Triste Tropiques" by Claude Levi-Strauss. Sort of a bookend pair of anthropology texts, both fascinating. "Les Cloches de la Bresilienne," a magical mystery by Haitian author Gary Victor. I have a project with some other people to publish this book in the U.S. Jessica Anya Blau, author of the forthcoming "The Wonder Bread Summer": I'm reading "Beautiful Ruins" by Jess Walter.

For romance writer Suzie Carr, inspiration comes from everyday life. Through her lesbian romance novels, she tackles topics such as adultery, temptation, bullying and coming of age. She says she hopes those themes resonate with her readers and bring awareness to social issues. “Through my books, I feel like I'm touching lives. There's a positive message behind it,” says Carr, who lives in Elkridge. “It's more than just a love story. This literature could be mainstream because it deals with real-life issues.” Carr's first novel, “The Fiche Room” -- which is currently being adapted into a short film -- was published in 2007 by LavenderDoor.com, a website that sells e-books.

In September we put aside all those unread beach books and look for something more substantial. It's the time of year when, beyond all reason, we are tempted to buy thick novels with tiny print and pretentious titles. As the faint hint of a chill enters the air, we seem to feel a sudden urge to suffer under the weight of really "serious" prose.How else can one explain this month's publication of Lawrence Norfolk's impenetrable 608-page novel "The Pope's Rhinoceros" (Harmony Books. $25)? A British author who received high praise for his first novel - "Lempriere's Dictionary" - Norfolk is, undoubtedly, a talented young writer with a sharp eye, but his new book buries a good story under a massive pile of detail.

By selecting Dorothy Farley as Maryland's high school English teacher of the year, the Maryland Council of Teachers of English has honored a deserving instructor. Affectionately known as "Far" by her students at Liberty High School, Ms. Farley embodies all the qualities of an excellent educator.She is demanding, flexible, attentive, enthusiastic, helpful. Although she teaches English, she sees her job as one of introducing high school students to the rich, rewarding and complex world of literature.

Jeanine Cummins wants more than anything in the world to give a voice to people who are unable to speak for themselves. In the past, she has spoken for family members. In her 2004 memoir, "A Rip in Heaven," Cummins spoke for her cousins, Julie and Robin Kerry, who were gang-raped and murdered in 1991. She spoke for her older brother, Tom, who also was hurt in that attack on a bridge outside St. Louis. "My cousin, Julie was a really gifted writer," says Cummins, 38, who grew up in Gaithersburg.

Cal Ripken Jr. stopped by The Baltimore Sun this morning as part of the promotional tour for his third children's novel, “Wild Pitch,” which came out today. The book - about a young pitcher who loses his confidence after beaning an opponent - was co-written by Sun columnist Kevin Cowherd. Before leaving on a book signing tour that will include stops in a number of spring training spots (including the Orioles' camp in Sarasota on Thursday), Ripken sat down for a quick Q&A touching on the O's, his color commentary, the late Earl Weaver and his son Ryan.