Louisiana spring titles to explore

Lots of new books out this spring, and plenty of literary events on the horizon.

Liz Talley, who lives in north Louisiana, has released the ebook “Prince Not Quite Charming: A Morning Glory Novella.” New Yorker Frances Genovese agrees to stay in Morning Glory, Miss., for a few weeks after her brother’s wedding to help with his new restaurant. She clashes with contractor Clem Aiken, who’s going to teach the sophisticated beauty what it’s like to live in a southern small town. Talley has written numerous books set in the fictional town of Morning Glory.

June Shaw is currently under a three-book contract with Kensington. Her first cozy mystery set in Louisiana, “A Fatal Romance,” hit bookshelves recently and features two divorced sisters with the same secret romantic interest — and murder. Upcoming books are “Dead on the Bayou,” releasing in August, and “Saving Mom,” to be published early next year. Read more at www.juneshaw.com.

Deborah Burst of Covington has published “The Resistance: United in Love,” an anthology of poems, letters and essays featuring 28 authors discussing the political climate of today. All the proceeds from the book will go toward the American Civil Liberties Union. The book is available in print and ebook form at Amazon.com.

Lenora Weiss, an award-winning writer who spent time in Louisiana, has published “The Golem: Poems of Love, Loss, and Being Mortal.” The book contains three movements: “Past Perfect, Present Tense, and Future Fictitious,” exploring love, grief and death to find the courage in being mortal. The poems travel across the United States and include Louisiana, with the last section a sonnet sequence that reinvents the golem myth borrowed from Jewish folklore and the mystical tradition. Weiss makes her home in Oakland, Calif.

Louisiana native Timothy David Jones has written a story of a troubled young veteran named Wesley Booth in 1971. “Booth” resembles an autobiography, Jones said, but the novel is fictionalized. The setting of “Booth” incluses Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Pineville, Bunkie, Cheneyville, Mamou, Ville Platte and Pass Christian, Miss. It’s available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle versions.

R. Randy Veillon, a retired loan officer with experience in what makes or breaks a business loan, has published “Behind the Lender’s Desk,” an effort to de-mystify the loan process. The book offers the reader advice on how to work through loan applications and is available on Amazon.com. 

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.