Author! Author! :: Anne Mini’s Blog
On Dec. 13, 2008, Author! Author! :: Anne Mini's Blog featured a guest entry by Arleen Williams: Bringing a memoir to successful publication at an indie press. Williams writes:
"How did a middle-aged straight woman get a memoir published by a small press with a lesbian fiction focus?
"This is a question I am often asked in one form or another. It’s a sort of how and why question, I suppose. So here’s the answer I tell readers and fellow writers alike: it took relentless determination and a whole lot of luck."
New video feature...
Issaquah Reporter
Recently featured in the Issaquah Reporter, Wendy Giroux writes about Arleen:
"Twenty-five years ago,
Gary Ridgway killed Arleen
Williams’ sister, irrevocably
changing her
family.
In her first book, Williams
tells the tale of
growing up on a remote
parcel of land on Tiger
Mountain in the Issaquah
Valley.
Arleen Williams tells the story of her family’s journey, before and after the Green River killer murdered her sister Maureen. The Thirty-Ninth Victim gives you a window into the family dynamics that contributed to this life-altering tragedy.
Arleen Williams completed a master’s degree in education at the University of Washington and currently holds a teaching position at South Seattle Community College.
The Green River murders were headline news throughout the 1980s. By the time the perpetrator was sentenced in 2003, at least 48 young women had met an untimely death at his hands.
What started as as string of local killings in Seattle became a national nightmare before it was over. In homes all across America, television news programs and newspapers large and small carried feature stories about the ever-growing list of victims.
Now imagine that during this time, someone you love--your baby sister, a beautiful young woman of 19--suddenly goes missing. The police are at best unhelpful, and at worst, seemingly uninterested in what's happened to her.
And then comes word you hoped you'd never receive: your youngest sister's remains have been found. She is yet another victim of the Green River killer.
With amazing candor, Arleen Williams tells the story of her family's journey, before and after the Green River killer murdered her sister Maureen and left her body in a stretch of wilderness off the west side of Highway 18. As insightful as it is heart wrenching, The Thirty-Ninth Victim gives you a window into the family dynamics that contributed to this life-altering tragedy.
This is a memoir unlike any other. The author set out to tell Maureen's story, but in doing so, she tells bits and pieces of every family's story. You cannot read this profoundly personal and cataclysmic tale and come away unchanged, nor will you ever view your own family in quite the same way.
You will applaud Ms. Williams's courage in sharing this recounting of her family's trauma through one of the most atrocious streaks of serial killings in American history. And like the family, you will never forget The Thirty-Ninth Victim.
Published by
Blue Feather Books, Ltd.
ISBN 978-0-9794120-4-2
Available at:
Blue
Feather Books
Amazon Books
Contact arleen at:
aw@arleenwilliams.com
Vino Loco Wine
& Tapas Bar
420 West Dearborn Street
Englewood, FL 34223
www.vinolocowine.com
Sat., December 20, 2008
4:00 p.m.
•
Wordsmiths Books
545 N McDonough
Decatur, GA 30030
www.wordsmithsbooks.com
Mon., December 15, 2008
7:30 p.m.
•
Federal Way Regional Library
“Meet the Author”
34200 1st Way S.
Federal Way, WA 98003
(253) 838-3668
Thurs., November 6, 2008
7:00 p.m
•
YWCA of
Washington State University
“Week Without Violence”
CUE 203
Pullman, WA 99164
www.ywcaofwsu.org
Fri., October 17, 2008
7:00 p.m.
•
Issaquah Library
“Meet the Author”
Issaquah, WA 98027
Tues., September 30, 2008
•
Village Books
Bellingham, WA 98225
www.villagebooks.com
Thurs., September 4, 2008
•
Third Place Books
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
www.thirdplacebooks.com
Wed., August 13, 2008
•
Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference
Hilton Seattle Airport
& Conf. Center
Seattle, WA 98188
Fri., July 18, 2008
•
Book Club by invitation
Tues., June 24, 2008
•
KOMO 4 TV
Northwest Afternoon
Mon., June 16, 2008
•
Wine Tasting & Reading
South Seattle Community College
Seattle, WA 98106
Fri., June 6, 2008
•
KING 5 TV
Morning News KONG 6/16
Fri., June 6, 2008
•
Book Launch and Reading
Louisa’s Café
Seattle, WA 98102
Sat., May 17, 2008
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Contact arleen at:
aw@arleenwilliams.com