Author Elizabeth J. Church

LIBRARY News:

For as long as she can remember Elizabeth J. Church has wanted to be a writer.

So it is a dream come true for her to be presenting her second novel “All the Beautiful Girls” to a Los Alamos audience at 7 p.m. April 26 at Fuller Lodge as part of the Los Alamos County Library System’s Authors Speak series.

After the talk, there will be a book signing.

Church, who grew up in Los Alamos, had a plan to begin the writer’s life immediately following college, but that was not to be. Practical concerns, her mother’s disapproval, and the social strictures of the time all conspired to guide her to a different path.

She practiced law for 30-plus years, and used her writing skills to “draft persuasive legal briefs,” along with publishing stories and writing for journals.

After her husband died and Church retired from legal practice, she decided to return to her dream of devoting a period of time to writing her novel, and The Atomic Weight of Love was the result. That novel portrayed Los Alamos with all of the familiarity that comes from spending one’s childhood in a place.

The new novel “All the Beautiful Girls” takes place mainly in Las Vegas at a time when all of the great stars of the Rat Pack era were holding sway. Ruby Wilde has transformed herself from a Midwestern girl from a loveless home to one of the most glamorous and desired women in a glamorous place- but that’s not the end of her story.

Upcoming talks in the series include Jessica Kisiel, coach and author of Winning the Injury Game May 17, followed by Dede Feldman author of Another Way Forward May 24. Anne Hillerman, whose latest book is called Cave of Bones, will talk June 5, and Steven Ledoux who has published a new book in his field of expertise called What Causes Human Behavior: Stars, Selves, or Contingencies? June 28.