“Writers Among Us!,” featuring northern Wisconsin authors Tara Woolpy, Lorrie Kruse, and Joel Goulet, will be held at T.B. Scott Free Library’s Community Room on Sunday, March 17 from 1-3 p.m.
Admission to the program is free, and refreshments, compliments of First Street Coffee Station and The Checkered Churn, will be served. Author Woolpy will also bring a batch of Survive Anything Brownies, a favorite recipe of one of her books’ characters.
Fiction readers will enjoy the opportunity to find out first-hand from these writers what it’s like to imagine, develop, write, and publish a literary novel, romance, or adventure fiction work.
Kruse, Woolpy, and Goulet will also share their thoughts about what it’s like to be a writer in northern Wisconsin, and how that’s shaped their life and their craft.
Tara Woolpy of Minocqua, after earning her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Whitworth College, spent a year at the Women’s Writers Center in Cazenovia, New York. After publishing herself in small journals and newspapers, Woolpy eventually went back to school, earned graduate degrees in aquatic science, and became a tenured professor at UW-Green Bay. The main character of Woolpy’s first novel, Releasing Gillian’s Wolves, is a woman seeking happiness in spite of a marriage with a prominent but unfaithful husband. In the sequel, Raising Wild Ginger, two characters from Woolpy’s first book, a gay couple, are determined to create a family with a young girl badly in need of love and direction.
Lorrie Kruse, who lives near Antigo, works as a legal secretary by day, but years ago thought of her first storyline while reading a John Sanford novel. Years later, having worked at refining her ideas and her writing skills, she came up with the idea for her romance novel, A Life Worth Living. In Kruse’s book, a young man faces a new reality after being paralyzed in an automobile accident, while his physical therapist, finding herself attracted to him, must first overcome her own demons.
Joel Goulet of Wausau has written seven novels and nine movie scripts, three which have been optioned by Gilt Entertainment. He’s presently working on two more novels. He’ll have prints of his book covers available for autographing; all of his books are available online, including on his award-winning website, joelgoulet.com. Goulet’s books are packed with adventure and action. For example, in his fantasy novel 3333 Years, time travel brings the Egyptian boy king Tut and his high priest to 21st century Milwaukee. His most recent, The Swiss Guard, is set in 16th century Europe, where a young Swiss mercenary falls in love with a woman, then loses touch with her, only to find her in Rome, married. Heartbroken, he joins the Swiss Guards before the Sack of Rome. After she’s taken away by Imperial soldiers, the young Swiss Guard sets off to rescue her.
Kruse, and Woolpy will all have their books available for purchase and signing by them at the program. Copies of their books can also be found online or through Book World or Janke Book Store in Wausau.
Sunday’s program is part of the library’s Words Worth Hearing series. The next series program, “A Whole Which Is Greater: Examining the Wisconsin Uprising” on Thursday, April 18 at 6:30 p.m., will feature contributors to the new book co-edited by Paul Gilk reflecting on the historical significance of 2011’s events in the state.
Learn about the library’s events and collections at www.tbscottlibrary.org or T.B. Scott Free Library on Facebook.