Saums to speak at last library lunch

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

SAUMS

Magness Library will be welcoming Nashville author Mary Saums to the final “Lunch at the Library” program of 2004 this Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. The public is invited to attend and bring a brown bag lunch. A dessert and beverage will be provided by the library.

Saums’ most recent novel is “When the Last Magnolia Weeps” published by Silver Dagger Mysteries, her third in the series featuring Nashville session singer and private eye Willi Taft.

An accomplished musician and singer, Saums has led a colorful life. Like many writers, Saums says her series character sometimes has a life of her own.

“When I started writing,” Saums said, “I never dreamed one of the requirements would be knowing how to sucker punch an unruly character. Willi Taft, the protagonist in my mystery series, gets so ornery sometimes I don’t know what I’m going to do with her. I feel like I’m in the grocery store with a screaming toddler who decides to break loose and throw a fit right next to a tower of pasta sauce jar. ‘Clean up on aisle three,’ is a phrase never far from my mind when I write about Willi.”

The author will be talking about the craft of writing and signing her books during the program. Though this will be the final Lunch at the Library in 2004, the program will resume in late January, according to Robbins. For more information, contact Magness Library at 473-2428.

For more information about the author, visit Silver Dagger Mysteries online at www.silverdaggermysteries.com or her own Web site at www.marysaums.com.