Speaking of Mary Murphy, have you heard she has a new book coming out?
The popular Comox Valley musician and author has just released a book of mostly short stories, titled Speaking Of, described on the front cover as 鈥渁 houseful of eclectic works of fiction.鈥�
Murphy鈥檚 fifth release, Speaking Of is a bit of a departure from most of her previous books. Three of her first four books have been children鈥檚 books
鈥淧art of it is exactly what you would expect from me, and some of it is exactly the opposite of what you would expect from my writing,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淭here is a bit of everything in this book. There is a novella - just shy of being a novel; a novelette, which is just shy of being a novella, and short stories, very short stories, and a few poems. It runs the (geographical) gamut. There are stories from Ireland, stories from Scotland, stories in New York, and Greece鈥� there is a sci-fi, there is a mystery, and there are character-based stories.鈥�
Murphy said that while each story is its own, there is a link.
鈥淚 really like threads, so even though they (stories) are divergent in their content, I wanted there to be a thread throughout the book. So at the start, it is always someone speaking. So 鈥楧elilah Speaks,鈥� or 鈥楬ecti Speaks鈥� or 鈥楻esistance Speaks鈥欌�� while they are not connected as a whole, they are all connected through this thread of speaking.鈥�
The variety of stories will appeal to the masses. Some are only a couple of pages long, whereas others 80-100 pages in length.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the nice thing. You might be in the mood for something lighthearted, or you might like a longer story鈥� and they are all very engaging,鈥� said Murphy.
While all the stories in Speaking Of have clear endings, Murphy said some of the stories in the book lend themselves to sequels.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 say purposely, but I guess semi-consciously, I ended some of these stories where it could easily be picked up. So there could definitely be a second (version) of this book. Probably all of the stories could be somehow piggy-backed.鈥�
Speaking Of was edited by Kera McHugh, who Murphy said was a godsend.
鈥淪he is the most amazingly wonderful, talented, and humble person I have ever met. She was the editor and did all of the book design, and she is just remarkable. She has no idea how talented she is. This book is shining in parts because of her ability to lovingly, but strongly, push against me.鈥�
Murphy is hosting a book launch from 2-4 p.m. on Dec. 3 at Dove Creek Hall (3400 Burns Rd., Courtenay).
鈥淚 will be reading some segments from Speaking Of, but in between, we are going to be playing some music as well. So it will be a book launch/concert, free of charge. Also, anyone who buys a book at this event will get to choose one of many CDs that will be there, as well as bookmarks.鈥�
The book launch is for those 14 years and older. Anyone who purchases Speaking Of will also receive a free e-book version, and Murphy will have CDs for door prizes.
