House selling and a new tour

House selling. Is any routine task more frustrating??? Especially long distance . . .

Aaarghh.

But enough about THAT. I'm excited to announce a new GCC author tour:

Wives and Sisters
By Natalie R. Collins

And just LOOK at what reviewers are saying:

“It's a white-knuckles ride all the way. Expert depiction of a young woman's struggle with the oppressive "family values" of one kind of fundamentalism. Newcomer Collins is a talent to watch."--Kirkus Reviews

“Startling and compelling--I could not stop turning the pages. Natalie Collins weaves an absolutely riveting tale."-- Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Sinner

“Please warn your readers, this is not a book that can be put down. It’s so compelling, so dramatic, with strong suspense and mystery elements, that I had to find out what would happen.”—Perri O’Shaughnessy, New York Times bestselling author of Unlucky in Law

"This is a book written with skill and passion and I suspect it will resonate with women who have never set foot inside a Mormon church. These problems are too widespread to pin down to one place, one time or one institution."—The Washington Times

About the book:

Set in the closed world of the Mormon Church, a world scrutinized because of the Elizabeth Smart case and covered in nonfiction bestsellers like Secret Ceremonies and Under the Banner of Heaven, WIVES AND SISTERS is the gripping story of a young woman on the run from evil, powerful men. When Lori Hacking disappeared last July, the nationwide spotlight turned to Salt Lake City once again, just as it had with the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart. But tragically, Lori did not come home alive. Lori’s husband, Mark Hacking, pled guilty to the crime. Although written well before the Hacking case became known, Collins’s WIVES AND SISTERS portrays a world eerily similar to that of Mark Hacking. The parallels between the deception Mark Hacking built around his education and the lies perpetrated by the character Mark in WIVES AND SISTERS are uncanny, right down to the same first name.

WIVES AND SISTERS opens with a look back at the sudden disappearance of Allison Jensen’s best friend, who was kidnapped while playing in the woods near home. One moment her friend was beside her; then she was gone. When no leads emerged, she was given up for dead. Now, years later, trying to fill in the gaps of a patchwork memory, Allison still gets no answers from the community in which she lives.

Allison is determined to bring Mark and those who didn’t stop him to justice, before they stop her from piecing together the tragic past that has haunted her for so many years.

Natalie R. Collins is an author and journalist with over 20 years of writing experience. She was also an editor for the 2001 and 2002 Sundance Film Festivals. A lifelong resident of Utah, raised a member of the Mormon Church, Natalie lives there with her husband and two daughters. Wives and Sisters will be available in paperback in March of 2006 and her next book, Behind Closed Doors, will be out in hardback in 2006.