Former Appeal columnist publishes debut novel, set mostly in Carson City


Share this: Email | Facebook | X

Lorie Schaefer, retired Carson City teacher and former contributor to the Fresh Ideas column in the Nevada Appeal has published her first novel, “Us, Now and Then.”

“This book has been 10 years in the making and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the late Marilee Swirczek and the Lone Mountain Writers. I set out to prove that one is never too old to set a new goal, to learn something new. This novel is the result.”

Globetrotting Claire Jordan has spent most of her life playing hide and seek from her past. A father who vanished without a word. A sexual assault. A lost love. A child.

Through decades of work in international relief, she’s sought to balance her karmic scale. But when her lifelong best friend, Libby Cooper is diagnosed with cancer, Claire immediately flies home to Carson City for the first time in years. She discovers Libby’s life entangled in the very ties Claire has so scrupulously avoided. When letters arrive revealing deeply held secrets, they shake Claire’s notion of identity. Libby too must shake off expectations that have held her back. Both must learn if it’s too late to change the course of their lives.

Schaefer has lived and worked in Northern Nevada for more than 40 years. Her career in education included many years with the Carson City School District and as a teacher consultant for the Northern Nevada Writing Project.

Retired now, she lives in Reno with her husband where she spends her time avoiding housework by reading, writing, and watching her granddaughter grow up way too fast.

More information at https://lorieschaefer.com/

E-book release is April 1. Preorder e-books at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

“Us, Now and Then” is also available for prerelease at Smashwords at 50% off through March 27 as https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1003344

Paperbacks are available on Amazon and on Barnes and Noble.

-->

Lorie Schaefer, retired Carson City teacher and former contributor to the Fresh Ideas column in the Nevada Appeal has published her first novel, “Us, Now and Then.”

“This book has been 10 years in the making and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the late Marilee Swirczek and the Lone Mountain Writers. I set out to prove that one is never too old to set a new goal, to learn something new. This novel is the result.”

Globetrotting Claire Jordan has spent most of her life playing hide and seek from her past. A father who vanished without a word. A sexual assault. A lost love. A child.

Through decades of work in international relief, she’s sought to balance her karmic scale. But when her lifelong best friend, Libby Cooper is diagnosed with cancer, Claire immediately flies home to Carson City for the first time in years. She discovers Libby’s life entangled in the very ties Claire has so scrupulously avoided. When letters arrive revealing deeply held secrets, they shake Claire’s notion of identity. Libby too must shake off expectations that have held her back. Both must learn if it’s too late to change the course of their lives.

Schaefer has lived and worked in Northern Nevada for more than 40 years. Her career in education included many years with the Carson City School District and as a teacher consultant for the Northern Nevada Writing Project.

Retired now, she lives in Reno with her husband where she spends her time avoiding housework by reading, writing, and watching her granddaughter grow up way too fast.

More information at https://lorieschaefer.com/

E-book release is April 1. Preorder e-books at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

“Us, Now and Then” is also available for prerelease at Smashwords at 50% off through March 27 as https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1003344

Paperbacks are available on Amazon and on Barnes and Noble.