Laura Boggess

A Taste of Honey, Poetry & Love When spring comes, the bees need tending, but their master is gone, mercilessly taken away in the past year. Who will take care of the unsuspecting creatures? Our protagonist is in no shape to do so, grieving as she still is over the loss. Enter friendship and a summer's journey, right in her own back yard. Between the making of peach tarts and days where she simply can't get out of bed, love comes quietly to heal. But not in the way you might expect. With gentle humor, lyrical beauty, and a fine serving of poetry, author Laura Boggess weaves a satisfying summer read you won't want to miss.

*Winner of the West Virginia Writer's Competition* A gorgeous and gentle rising musician (Sam) loses his long-time girlfriend when they both admit they've been engaged in a "slow drowning" together. At the same time, Sam's been peering in on a fan's (Mildred's) Instagram and feeling the pull. He's dreamy when he sees her in a field of poppies or with sunflowers or talking about her new bed and breakfast business. Before he knows it, he's calling her Moonflower and wondering whether she'll let him into her life beyond the screen. What he doesn't know, at first, is that they share a part-Vietnamese heritage-and that Mildred is about to take on a challenge with refugees who are suffering. At the same time, his own hard beginnings are missing important details that could settle his heart. Sam also doesn't know that Mildred's got a secret of her own that's been keeping her from any new relationships for 15 years. In a whirlwind get-to-know-you-with stops and starts, plus poetry and a few surprises-the alluring promise of beginning again arises for Sam, Mildred, and others who end up in their orbit.

Waiting for Neruda's Memoirs. A novella.Laura Boggess first started this story as she waited for poet Maureen Doallas's Neruda's Memoirs: Poems. She'd been looking forward to the release of the book, had ordered it the second she heard it was available-and then was frustrated by what seemed like a terribly long delivery (it was only a few days, but she says it felt much longer). It was very windy that week; Laura watched tirelessly for the mailman each day, amidst flying little bits of the world-leaves, papers, her neighbor's flag. As she waited, she entertained herself with the story of Amy Pinkleberry-a young woman recently divorced, who struggles with depression that's characterized by auditory hallucinations-destructive voices that prevent her from finding the happiness she longs for. Only one thing stops the voices and that is...well, you'll just have to read the story to find out.