Marching Through Culpeper
by Virginia Beard Morton, Longwood alumna ('66)

One critic has called this novel about Civil War action in Culpeper County "wonderfully researched and vastly entertaining." Morton, who leads walking tours of Civil War sites around Culpeper, where she's lived for 31 years, wrote it to "help the community promote tourism and preserve our battlefields. I wanted to educate people as to what took place in Culpeper County, which saw more troop movement than any other place in America." Most of the military characters are real, as are the military events. Morton taught math for four years and later ran an interior design company for 15 years. Published by Edgehill Books, hardcover, 534 pages

When Daffodils Ran Free
by A. Roberta Wiatt, Longwood alumna ('54)

This is a "fantasy set in Mystic Land, where the daffodils ran and danced in the sunshine all day long ­ until their lives were threatened by the cold, cold winds of winter," says Wiatt, who retired in 1994 after teaching physical education at Gloucester High School for 40 years. The illustrations were done by her sister-in-law, Jackie Wiatt. A native and lifelong resident of Gloucester, Wiatt also is a composer, songwriter and poet. She is working on another children's book. Published by V. & M. Graphics, hardcover, 28 pages

Froggie Babies
by Suzanne B. Farrior, Longwood alumna ('66)

Farrior, a retired art teacher in Fayetteville, N.C., wrote and illustrated this children's book, which "blends collective elements of entertainment and education" and "unfolds fantastically through the blissful daydream of a parent's pride and faith in his child's future," according to one account. Farrior taught (mostly on the elementary level) in North Carolina for 24 years, and before that in Chesterfield County for seven years, before retiring in 1999. "Ever since I was seven, I dreamed of illustrating children's books," she says. "Just before I retired, I fell and broke both elbows, and that's when I began writing poetry." She has already written and illustrated three other books. Published by Pentland Press, hardcover, 24 pages

The Journey Home
by Sherie Ragsdale Kennedy, Longwood alumna ('79), under the pseudonym Marigold Fields

This "inspirational" novel, her first, is about "overcoming obstacles in life with faith and determination," says Kennedy, of Chesterfield, who has taught English at Colonial Heights High School for 22 years. "It's about a grandmother who decides to return to a point in her life where she has to settle something that's been haunting her," she says. It takes place in Chesterfield County, where Kennedy grew up, and sprang from stories she heard from her grandmother and others. Published by iUniverse.com, softcover, 104 pages

Growing Up on Route 66
by Dr. Michael Lund, Professor of English

This semi-autobiographical novel, Dr. Lund's first work of fiction, was "crafted with sympathy and candor," says one critic. It's a "frank look at the coming of age sexual anxiety" of baby-boomers growing up in the late 1950s and early '60s in a small Missouri town along the highway (now Interstate 44) called 'America's Main Street,' which cuts through Dr. Lund's hometown of Rolla, Missouri. "That time and place are remembered by the novel's narrator as ideal, but closer scrutiny repeatedly ­ and often humorously ­ complicates this innocent picture," he says. This is part of a series; the second book, Route 66 Kids, is due out this fall. Published by BeachHouse Books, softcover, 262 pages

 

 

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