Martha Woodroof: Small Blessings

smallblessingsSmall Blessings: A Novel by Martha Woodroof

Martha Woodroof is a local radio personality, a familiar name and voice to listeners of WMRA, the local NPR affiliate in our area. I know her because she interviewed me for her show, “The Spark,” and because we’ve met a few times for lunch to talk about writing and creativity. (You can listen to her interview me here.)

Now, Martha is also a novelist. Her first novel, Small Blessings, has been published by St. Martin’s Press, and I had the pleasure of attending her book launch at Stone Soup Books in Waynesboro, a great place for a book party (although small) because of the cafe that serves good food and drink. I haven’t yet read the book, which based on what Martha read from it at the party centers on Rose Callahan, a woman who arrives on a small college campus (based on Sweetbriar, Martha admits) to run the bookshop’s cafe. Just from the first few pages, we get an air of intrigue–who is this mysterious woman, and which male faculty members are going to make fools of themselves pursuing her?

I have a feeling–if only because of who was present at the book launch (I was the only man)–that the book’s appeal will mostly be to women. But I look forward to reading it. Martha is a fun person and I expect the prose to be the same. I wish her the best with her first novel!

About the author

I am the author of three novels--THE LAST BIRD OF PARADISE, OLIVER'S TRAVELS, and THE SHAMAN OF TURTLE VALLEY--and three story collections--IN AN UNCHARTED COUNTRY, HOUSE OF THE ANCIENTS AND OTHER STORIES, and WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. I am also the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine and the editor of the award-winning anthology series EVERYWHERE STORIES: SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET.

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