In a collection of personal essays, Joern reflects on a wide range of life experiences: growing up in rural Nebraska, raising children, surviving cancer, becoming a writer. With wit and candor, she displays a gift for mining wisdom through surprising connections; juxtaposing her father’s life to the discoveries of Isaac Newton or the writer’s task to the ancient art of alchemy.

Pamela Carter Joern has authored four published works of fiction. She has twice won a Nebraska Book Award. She has written six locally produced plays and taught at the Loft Literary Center for a number of years. She lives in south Minneapolis. This is her first non-fiction book.

Sheila O’Connor is the author of six novels, including Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions. A multi-genre writer, O’Connor’s book Evidence of V incorporates fiction, lyric flash forms, archival documents, memoir, and historical research, to reconstruct the buried history of incarcerated girls. Honors for Evidence of V include the Minnesota Book Award, the Foreword Editor’s Choice Award, Marshall Project’s Best Criminal Justice Books of the year, as well as others. Her other books are Where No Gods Came and Tokens of Grace, and her novels for readers of all ages include Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth, Sparrow Road, and Keeping Safe the Stars. Additional awards for her books include the International Reading Award, Michigan Prize for Literary Fiction, and Midwest Booksellers Award among others. Her books have been included in Best Books of the Year by Booklist, VOYA, Book Page, Bank Street, Chicago Public Library, and Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers. Sheila has been awarded fellowships from the Bush Foundation, McKnight Foundation, and Minnesota States Arts Board. She has been a residency fellow at Yaddo, The Studios of Key West, Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Tyrone Guthrie Center, and elsewhere.