In need of a new summer read? We’ve got you covered!
Until August 31st, get the ebook versions of these series for $2.99 or LESS —
North of the Tension Line series by J.F. Riordan
The Red Hotel series by Ed Fuller and Gary Grossman
Jack Patterson series by Webb Hubbell
The Adventures of Bubba Jones by Jeff Alt
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A discovery on Washington Island brings new controversy among the locals, and Emily Martin has plans that will annoy all concerned. Meanwhile, Nancy is in love, Nelsen’s is for sale, and Fiona’s resignation from local government creates an opening that reopens old grievances. Even among the bickering, though, when bad news reaches the island, the shocked community forgets its animosities and rallies to offer support.
About: J.F. Riordan
Hardcover: $24.95 (ISBN: 9780825309816)
E-book: $12.99 (ISBN: 9780825308604)
Literary Fiction
384 pages
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A Small Earnest Question featured in Madison Magazine’s “2021 Reading List: Local books to add to your collection”
Every year we publish a list of books that have Wisconsin authors or connections. From “Wisconsin cocktails” to “Storied and Scandalous Wisconsin,” you might find an interesting read to add to your own 2021 reading list.
“A Small Earnest Question” by J.F. Riordan
Book No. 4 in the North of the Tension Line series, “A Small Earnest Question” opens a window into the imagined everyday life of Washington Island residents in Door County. With a year-round population of 708, Washington Island certainly makes a fun backdrop for a story involving many interconnected characters, including Elisabeth, who’s eager to open a remodeled hotel; Roger, an aspiring bartender; Marcie, a real estate agent; and Emily, who wants to start a literary festival. You might just have to take a trip to Door County and let this small-town story suck you in. J.F. Riordan, who has been called a modern-day Jane Austen, lives in Wisconsin with her husband and three dogs. –AB
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Madison Magazine: Fall reading recommendations from three local bookstores
As the leaves begin to turn and aggressive marketing campaigns for pumpkin spice-everything crop up around Madison, it’s once again time to find that new fall companion: a good book. This autumn, let local novels be your guide to the wonderful worlds created by Wisconsin writers, many of whom have new and recently released reads just in time for the fall season.
Here are the latest recommendations from experts at the three local bookstores: A Room of One’s Own in downtown Madison, It’s More Than Mystery to Me on Monroe Street and Arcadia Books in Spring Green. Whether you’re looking for a collection of poems, essays, a new children’s book or a relaxed novel — these three stores have something to offer for every reading level. While looking for that new literary adventure, Charlotte Colaluca of Mystery to Me reminds readers to not just read local, but to shop local, too.
“When you spend money at any local business, that money goes right back into your community and that money starts to work for you,” Colaluca says. “I think it’s an act of humanitarianism at this point if you shop local instead of shopping from Amazon, because when you send money that goes to the richest man on earth, that money doesn’t come back to you. It goes into his pocket.”
For the reader looking for something a little less intense than grandiose questions on living and dying, “A Small Earnest Question” offers a wry tale full of vivid characters living on Door County’s own Washington Island. Author J. F. Riordan, who resides on the island, has been called a “modern day Jane Austin” for her book, and visited Mystery to Me for a virtual event this month. Colaluca says this book is perfect for anyone looking for a relaxing read.
“[Riordan is] so excellent as far as writing about that place, and it’s not a very high-stakes drama … It‘s like a nice break from the world we currently live in.”
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NORTH OF THE TENSION LINE: AN INTERVIEW WITH J. F. RIORDAN
We’ll hazard a guess that, at least once in your life, you’ve fantasized about packing up your life and moving to (what feels like) a different world—an idyllic small town, a bustling metropolis, a remote windswept isle… In J. F. Riordan’s sparkling North of the Tension line series, a writer does just that, moving from Chicago to a sparsely populated island in Door County, Wisconsin. Her ensuing small-town adventures are presented with enormous heart throughout this delightful series. Today in the Bluestocking Salon, Bas Bleu sat down (virtually, no masks required!) with novelist J. F. Riordan to learn more about why she chose Door County as her setting, how opera helped shape her novelist’s voice, and what effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on her writing.
Bas Bleu: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey to becoming a writer.
J. F. Riordan: In one way or another I have always been a writer. I can remember at the age of seven or so, walking home on a summer evening, keeping myself company by making up a story. But my writing self has always been entwined with a musical self, and it confused me for quite a while. I spent my young life studying music, and had a career as an opera singer. It was an unhappy time, but it seems to have resolved itself: rhythm, the sound and feeling of words, and the movement of phrases are a very big part of my writing.
I didn’t start writing seriously for myself until quite late. I had a stressful day job, and writing was something that was personal and private, and helped me preserve a sense of purpose—not to mention a little sanity. The first novel took about seven years to write, partly because of the job, and partly because there was no pressure to finish. I had no idea whether anyone would want it. Since North of the Tension Line came out in 2014, I have published five books: four novels, and a book of essays, Reflections on a Life in Exile. It has all come as a bit of a surprise.
BB: Door County, and especially Washington Island, makes such an interesting and atmospheric setting for your series. What is your relationship to the area, and why did you decide to set the books there?
JFR: I have been going to Door County for decades, and it was probably thirty years ago when I decided to take the ferry to Washington Island just to see what was there. From the first moment I set foot on the ferry it was if a spell was cast on me. I can remember standing at the railing, looking out at the water and thinking what it would be like to come there every summer, with all the days spread out before you like a blank sheet of paper. There’s a magic in the island: as if you have fallen off the edge of the earth, and all that’s left is the essence of what matters. In my books I try to capture that mystical, almost magical reality.
I have always wanted to live there, in that sense of deep authenticity, but it wasn’t practical, so writing about being on the island was the next best thing.
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Great news for North of the Tension Line fans; we spoke with author J.F. Riordan to discuss her latest installment in the North of the Tension Line Series, A Small Earnest Question. Join us as we go behind the book with Riordan to learn more about Washington Island, its iconic cast of characters, and her future plans for the series.
BB: A Small Earnest Question is Book Four in your North of the Tension Line Series. What do you enjoy most about diving back into the vivid world of Washington Island when you start a new novel?
JFR: I really miss the characters when I’m not writing about them. I look forward to checking in and seeing what they’re up to. A friend recently commented to me how funny it is that I refer to them as if they were real people, but to me, they are real. They have their own worlds, and their own lives. Even when I’m not thinking about them, they are busily spinning their stories, and I have to catch up when I start to write again.
BB: When you began writing North of the Tension Line years ago, did you imagine it would result in a 4+ book series? What about the process of writing a series, if anything, surprised you?
JFR: I always envisioned this as a series. As I wrote the first book, I was setting the background for an on-going story. What I didn’t expect was how different the process for each book would be. My approach to building the story-lines has varied each time, and to my surprise, this last book was the most difficult, in part because I wasn’t sure how it would end. At one point I realized that I was actually writing two books, and it took quite a while for me to sort it all out. It wasn’t until the last week or two of writing that I saw which of the two endings I needed to use.
BB: In A Small Earnest Question, as well as in previous books in the series, goats play a big role in everyday life on Washington Island. What inspired the inclusion of these eccentric characters?
JFR: The goat came about because I wanted Roger’s housewarming gift to be as eccentric as he is. I asked myself: What kind of thing would Roger bring to a party? And the rest just kind of evolved from there.
BB: Many have said that the book’s setting–a small island in Door County, Wisconsin–becomes a character in its own right. From your perspective, why do readers from all around the world connect with life on Washington Island?
JFR: The setting is local, but there is a universality about life in small towns; I’ve had readers from all over the world tell me that the Island is just like the village or town they came from. Human nature doesn’t change much, and when you’re living in a place where everyone knows you, you are very conscious of what you say and do. I think the accountability that comes from being known is an essential part of good behavior. It’s in an anonymous setting that we tend to see the worst of human beings.
Still, the gossip and backstabbing of small-town life isn’t much fun. I learned about that from backstage at the opera house. Ironically, I left opera, in part, because I thought I could escape all that, but I’ve finally figured out that these are the fundamentals of human interaction. And that’s why the books resonate, I think.
BB: What is one question you would like to be asked about the book, and what is your answer?
JFR: People often ask me what Elisabeth sees in Roger. My response is usually that we all know a couple whose relationship is unfathomable to outside observers. How often have you had the conversation: “What does she see in him?” And I like that sort of reality in my books. If you pay attention, though, Roger is actually a very kind person, he just doesn’t know how to express it. He watches everyone around him very carefully, and tries to pick up cues from his watching, and he can be quite insightful. And eventually he comes around to the right conclusion, however awkwardly. There’s a reason Rocco and Roger love each other. Rocco, too, is in a world he doesn’t fully understand, and he, too, expresses his love by watching. There’s a definite parallel between the two characters, and they express their love for Elisabeth in the same way.
BB: Can you give us a hint as to what might be next for Fiona Campbell and the rest of the beloved Washington Island residents?
JFR: There’s going to be more of Ben. We’re going to see him grow up. That’s all I can say for the moment because that’s all I know.
A Small Earnest Question hits bookstore shelves on August 3rd. Pre-order your copy now from Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, or Bookshop.org.
WINNER OF THE GOLD IPPY AWARD FOR BEST REGIONAL FICTION – MIDWEST
FINALIST FOR THE 2020 FOREWORD INDIES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS
It’s spring on Washington Island. Despite her concerns about Roger’s desire to bartend, Elisabeth is eager to plan a grand opening for their newly remodeled hotel, but she quickly realizes that she may also need to make accommodations for Roger’s proposed goat yoga classes. Bored and lonely, Oliver Robert joins bartender Eddie in forming a great books club at Nelsen’s, and Emily Martin, determined to make her mark on the community, forms a new Committee of the Concerned.
When Emily decides that the Island needs a literary festival, complete with a famous author, she imprudently seeks out a notorious celebrity, hoping, as always, to enhance her own prestige. Real estate agent Marcie Landmeier confides that an unknown someone is buying up the Island’s shoreline, newly-appointed Fire Chief Jim Freeberg contends with a string of suspicious fires, and Pali and Ben have a spiritual encounter that will change them both. Meanwhile, drawn once more into local controversy, and awash in suspicion herself, Fiona Campbell must determine the answers to questions that will affect her future, and the future of the entire Island.
A Small Earnest Question is Book Four in the award-winning North of the Tension Line series, set on a remote island in the Great Lakes. Called a modern-day Jane Austen, author J.F. Riordan creates wry, engaging tales and vivid characters that celebrate the beauty and mysteries of everyday life.
About: J.F. Riordan
Hardcover: $24.95 (ISBN: 9780825308925)
E-book $16.99 (ISBN: 9780825308024)
Literary Fiction/Women’s Fiction
375 pages
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