Vicki Salloum

2018 Louisiana Book Festival

webmaster — Sat, 10 Nov 2018 00:00:43 +0000

Vicki will participate as a featured author in the 2018 Louisiana Book Festival on Saturday, November 10th in Baton Rouge. More details to come later.
(See www.LouisianaBookFestival.org)

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Book Party

webmaster — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 18:00:56 +0000

Book party on Thursday, September 20th from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at Casa Borrega, 1719 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., New Orleans. Brief “teaser” reading, refreshments, and much celebration! Bring friends.

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WAITING FOR YOU AT MIDNIGHT:

webmaster — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 03:10:51 +0000

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Midwest Book Review Bookwatch, August 2018

webmaster — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 03:10:24 +0000

“…be advised that its heady descriptions and use of the first person makes for a compelling, empathetic examination that proves hard to put down and thoroughly engrossing as readers follow Arabella’s revelations, growth, and determination.

Waiting for You at Midnight is a vibrant story recommended for readers of women’s literature who would consider the fundamental differences between the sexes as they follow how an older woman recreates a different course for her love life in later years.”

– D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer
Link to entire review on MBR Bookwatch: http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/aug_18.htm#donovan

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Compulsive Reader, June 28, 2018

webmaster — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 03:09:11 +0000

”… Waiting for You at Midnight is an exceptional novel …“

–Carl Delprat
Link to entire review on Compulsive Reader: http://www.compulsivereader.com/2018/06/28/a-review-of-waiting-at-midnight-by-vicki-salloum/

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Discussion / Signing

webmaster — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 19:00:18 +0000

A panel discussion/signing will be held on Thursday, August 23 at 7 p.m. at

East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie

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Reading / Signing

webmaster — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 15:00:44 +0000

A reading/signing will be held on Sunday, August 12th at 3 p.m. at the

Maple Leaf Bar, 8316 Oak Street, New Orleans.

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Talk / Signing

webmaster — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 12:00:08 +0000

A talk/signing will be held on Saturday, August 11 from noon – 2 p.m. at

Barnes & Noble, 3721 Vets Memorial Blvd., Metairie.

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Reading / Signing

webmaster — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 18:00:02 +0000

A reading/signing will be held on Tuesday, August 7 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the

Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania St., New Orleans

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Book Signing

webmaster — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 19:00:07 +0000

A reading/signing will be held on Thursday, August 2nd at 7 p.m. at the Orange Couch Coffee Shop, 2339 Royal Street, New Orleans, in the Faubourg Marigny.

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Bookpleasures.com, June 2018

webmaster — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 10:44:32 +0000

“ . . . Through concise, elegant prose that hits with great force, [Salloum] engages her readers, bringing them inside the skin of her complex character while at the same time creating believable conflict which results in a satisfying serious novel and a triumph for its author . . . “

–Norm Goldman
Link to entire review on Bookpleasures.com: https://waa.ai/aes5

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Barb Johnson

webmaster — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:16:10 +0000

“It shook me, this book. Just grabbed hold of me and shook out whatever defenses I’d marshalled against grief. Waiting for You at Midnight is the story of a single year in the life of Arabella, the year following the death of her husband. But this is not a sad book. There is muddling, yes, and missteps, for sure, but there is no wallowing. It is a story of care set in New Orleans, the City that Care Forgot, a contrast that lays the human condition out bare and honest for all the world to see.”

–Barb Johnson, Author of More of This World or Maybe Another

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David Armand

webmaster — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:15:42 +0000

“Vicki Salloum’s latest novel, Waiting for You at Midnight, is at once a paean to enduring love and the sacrifices that come along with it as well as a tragic tale of loss and survival and hope. Narrated in a voice that is candid, warm, conversational, and familiar, readers will instantly feel at home with this novel’s timeless and universal themes, its flawed but lovable characters, and its gritty and realistic sense of place. Waiting for You at Midnight is truly a book that is not to be missed.”

–David Armand, Author of My Mother’s House

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Christine Bell

webmaster — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:15:08 +0000

“Waiting for You at Midnight is a haunting journey through the land of the living in New Orleans. Arabella is an unforgettable heroine who lifts the veil of grief to reveal the force of life. The writing is seared with passion. I was entranced.”

–Christine Bell, Author of The Perez Family and Grievance

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Jean Ryan

webmaster — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:14:43 +0000

“This book is a tender journey, told with unflinching honesty, of a woman emerging from grief. There are no false tones in this narrative, no pulled punches. Salloum’s evocative descriptions take the reader deep into Arabella’s world, a place of daring, remorse, forgiveness and abiding love. Highly recommended.”

–Jean Ryan, Author of Lost Sister

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Kate Sebeny

webmaster — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:14:20 +0000

“In Vicki Salloum’s powerful and moving new novel, Waiting for You at Midnight, the death of the narrator’s beloved husband lays a minefield of loss, longing and addiction. Addressed to the departed through journal entries and reflection, the widow recounts her path through the grieving process in lyrical prose laced with evocative description and brutal honesty.”

–Kate Sebeny, Author of The Last Best Thing

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Elaine Mansfield

webmaster — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:13:58 +0000

“Waiting for You at Midnight captivates from the first page to a startling ending we won’t forget. With a lyrical and compassionate eye, author Vicki Salloum leads us through the landscape of loss as her characters struggle to heal their broken lives. We see how grief and desperation lead to destructive choices even as we long to be saved. We learn how essential it can be to find healing and support within a caring community. Through unexpected twists and turns, we fall in love with Salloum’s everyday warriors who endure life’s tragedies but never give up fighting for their souls.”
–Elaine Mansfield, Author of Leaning into Love: A Spiritual Journey through Grief

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Erika Raskin

webmaster — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:13:23 +0000

“Waiting for You at Midnight is fiction that feels like truth. It is both a finely honed portrait of impending loss and an impressionistic landscape of dislocating grief. Vicki Salloum skillfully paints her characters, hard choices, and a long 12-step journey, in gripping detail.”

–Erika Raskin, Author of Best Intentions

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Margaret McMullan

webmaster — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:12:56 +0000

“Painfully honest, funny, and heart-breaking, Waiting for You at Midnight is a story of the lives and loves of Arabella Joseph and a world of addiction. This is a New Orleans story, a woman’s story of grief, love, loneliness, and survival. Author Vicki Salloum pours a lot of heart in these pages. Losing a loved one is a familiar and painful journey, but Arabella’s tale reminds us that we’re all in this together—reformed alcoholics, drug addicts, bank robbers, teachers, cooks, and artists—we’re all of us fragile survivors, traveling these streets in church-filled cities, looking for redemption.”

–Margaret McMullan, Author of Aftermath Lounge

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Helen Reichert Lambin

webmaster — Thu, 31 May 2018 03:12:27 +0000

“Grief, guilt, loneliness, longing, denial, anger, growth, mistakes, love, and hope: all are part of Vicki Salloum’s moving and honest novel about the death of a husband after serious, prolonged illness. In it, the words are directed to the narrator’s deceased husband. That can be a challenge. And it works. It is a moving and honest book that makes very immediate the feelings of loss and disbelief when you lose the one you love. At the same time, it is a story of hope. Arabella, the narrator, has a rocky path. But it leads to remembering love with gratitude, along with sorrow. And it leads to learning to live with –not just survive—loss.”

–Helen Reichert Lambin, Author of The Death of a Husband: Reflections for a Grieving Wife

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2016 Louisiana Book Festival

webmaster — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 00:00:38 +0000

Vicki will participate as a featured author in the 2016 Louisiana Book Festival to be held on Saturday, October 29 in Baton Rouge. More details to come later.

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CANDYLAND:

webmaster — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 08:40:06 +0000

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COL’S CRIMINAL LIBRARY, August 2016

webmaster — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 04:13:22 +0000

“ . . . Drugs, meths dealing, disconnection from family, lost friendship, familial abuse, poverty, a lack of trust in authority, allied with an almost evangelical urge to be better than what’s gone before . . . ”
-Col Colman

Link to entire review on COL’S CRIMINAL LIBRARY:
http://col2910.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/vicki-salloum-candyland-2016.html

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Small Press Bookwatch, April 2016

webmaster — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 13:35:31 +0000

The Mystery/Suspense Shelf:

“A riveting read from first page to last, Candyland is replete with unexpected twists and surprising turns. Clearly author Vicki Salloum is an exceptionally gifted novelist and one that will leave her readers looking eagerly toward her new effort. Candyland is very highly recommended for community library General Fiction collections . . .

Archived on Midwest Book Review website http://www.midwestbookreview.com

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Antigravity: April 2016

webmaster — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 13:38:44 +0000

“As thrillers go, Candyland is a standout mainly for its main character, one Lazara Maria Soto, a teenager
who aspires to pull herself out of the orbit of her drug making and dealing family any way she can, as
long as it’s legal . . . It is that student-mentor relationship between the teenager and the lawyer that
keeps readers turning pages, possibly laying a foundation for a series of Soto-Hutchins novels. Though it
could use some polish here and there, Candyland is an intriguing, if raw, gem . . . “

-Leigh Checkman

Link to entire review on Antigravity:
http://www.antigravitymagazine.com/2016/04/reviews-april-2016

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East Bank Regional Library Panel Discussioin

webmaster — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 19:00:41 +0000

Vicki will join authors Carroll Devine and Juyanne James in a panel discussion led by Chris Smith at East Bank Regional Library in Metairie. The event will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 24th.

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Maple Leaf Book Signing

webmaster — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 15:00:10 +0000

Vicki will read from and sign copies of CANDYLAND at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 20th at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans.

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Judy Alter

webmaster — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 23:09:53 +0000

“Vicki Salloum has written a psychological suspense thriller outside the box. Candyland focuses on a seventeen-year-old girl from a drug-related brutal family and her attempt to do one honorable thing, save one life her family has ruined. Paired with her is a boozy, overweight, middle-aged lawyer at the low point of his career, facing a case more important than any he had at the height of success. Their lives intertwine in unexpected ways, and the suspense is high as this novel winds slowly toward an inevitable confrontation. Noir at its darkest, set against the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.”

-Judy Alter, Author of Desperate For Death and The Perfect Coed

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Scott Phillips

webmaster — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 23:08:34 +0000

“Candyland echoes the great noir writers of the twentieth century, with a great feel for the wounded city of New Orleans and a cast of vividly drawn characters. Vicki Salloum has written a first-rate crime novel, and I look forward to whatever she writes next.”

-Scott Phillips, Author of Rake and The Ice Harvest

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Mike Roche

webmaster — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 23:06:41 +0000

“I thoroughly enjoyed Candyland. Like a well-blended gumbo, Vicki Salloum captures the essence and spirit of New Orleans with vivid characters and a suspenseful plot full of surprises.”

-Mike Roche, Author of Coins of Death and The Blue Monster

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Karen Pullen

webmaster — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 23:05:54 +0000

“A gritty post-Katrina New Orleans is the fascinating setting of Vicki Salloum’s colorful and lively novel, Candyland, about a brave young woman who wants to climb her way out of the dangerous life she was given at birth: drugs, guns, family violence and police brutality. The characters are complex and the action non-stop as Lázara pursues her hopes and dreams in a morally gray world. Salloum’s writing sparkles and her story is compelling.”

–Karen Pullen, Author of Cold Feet and Brea’s Tale and Other Stories

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Thomas Davidson

webmaster — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 07:43:00 +0000

“There is no saccharine in Candyland, a poignant coming-of-age tale – a gritty snapshot in the life of a young woman who quotes Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls and scrambles to survive in post-Katrina New Orleans. Lázara Soto, 17, is stranded in a land of no role models, no money and hard choices. She’s caught in a high-pressure system of a homicidal brother, phantom parents, an alcoholic attourney/employer, and a dwindling dream of college and escape. Next stop: shitstorm . . . swim or sink. Pristine prose and vivid characters abound. Highly recommended.”

–Thomas Davidson, Author of The Museum of Sudden Disappearances and Past is Present

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Ruth Latta

webmaster — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 07:26:40 +0000

“Salloum has excelled in evoking the Katrina disaster and in depicting a criminal sub-culture. The action keeps readers alert, and the New Orleans landmarks will interest those who lived or have visited that city.”

Link to entire review on The Compulsive Reader:

http://www.compulsivereader.com/2016/02/19/a-review-of-candyland-by-vicki-salloum/

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FAULKNER & FRIENDS:

webmaster — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 07:36:19 +0000

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Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival

webmaster — Fri, 27 Mar 2015 00:00:16 +0000

Vicki will participate in a panel discussion at 10 a.m. Friday, March 27 at the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, New Orleans. The event will be held in the Queen Anne Ballroom, Hotel Monteleone. Emily Nemens will moderate the discussion, Louisiana Witness: Homegrown Narratives.

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East Bank Regional Library Book Signing

webmaster — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 00:00:46 +0000

Vicki, along with local authors Christa Allan and Colleen Mooney, will talk about and sign copies of their latest books at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 4th, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 West Napoleon Avenue, Metairie.

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Casey Porter

webmaster — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 23:10:10 +0000

“. . . The imagery of ‘Faulkner & Friends’ is raw and vivid, which, combined with the complexity of each character, embodies the too-often hidden pulsating heart of New Orleans. A heart that is full of lively, unique characters not often seen in common, touristy settings . . . “

–Special to The Sun-Herald
covering Biloxi-Gulfport and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
September 28, 2014

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Ruth Latta

webmaster — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 23:06:10 +0000

“The need to have sympathy for those whom society has left behind, even at personal sacrifice, is key to the novel . . . “
–Ruth Latta, Author of The Songcatcher and Me

Link to entire review on The Compulsive Reader:

http://www.compulsivereader.com/2014/07/09/a-review-of-faulkner-and-friends-by-vicki-salloum/

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Louis Maistros

webmaster — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 22:58:30 +0000

“In Vicki Salloum’s brilliant New Orleans novel, Faulkner & Friends, hope is the banner that is waved against insurmountable odds, proudly, defiantly. Here, the usual tourist-friendly props are cast aside so that we may venture into the souls of the very real (if too often invisible) people that make the city what it is, their vices as tragically beautiful as their virtues. In Salloum’s soulful telling, we learn that the greatest hope of all sometimes arrives in that awkward moment where we find the courage to reach out to our sworn enemy with love and understanding. It is in this moment of realization that we see the formerly invisible thread that unites us all, at long last informing us as to why so many of us would rather live here in misery than anywhere else in mediocrity. It is rare to find an author who is able to put the joy and tragedy that exists at the heart of the City of New Orleans together into the same room, each fully aware of the other and neither ashamed of what it sees, to uncover a story that each reader must acknowledge in some way as his own. Faulkner & Friends is a joy to read, its prose as musical as its message is satisfyingly poignant. A very welcome addition to the New Orleans literary canon.”

–Louis Maistros, Author of The Sound of Building Coffins and Anti-requiem: New Orleans Stories

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Mark LaFlaur

webmaster — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 22:56:58 +0000

“In this charming new novel set in the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans, an idealistic woman with a dream opens a neighborhood bookshop called Faulkner & Friends that quickly attracts more quirky characters—and trouble—than customers. Written with vivid, detailed descriptions, a good eye for New Orleans as a fertile breeding ground for eccentrics, creative talents, and troubled families, Faulkner & Friends exudes a spirit of optimism, caring, and devotion, with ample servings of earthy humor and tragic violence. Literature, friendship, and faith are treasured like fragile, lighted candles that must be nurtured and protected. Vicki Salloum understands how chance and serendipity, along with faith and grace, are powerful forces in our lives, and that it is through loyalty to friends that we are most alive.”

–Mark LaFlaur, Author of Elysian Fields

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David Armand

webmaster — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 22:54:38 +0000

“Vicki Salloum’s Faulkner & Friends is a novel that is at once both charming and tragic. Her vision of New Orleans and its denizens is so alive that it pulses and breathes. But what makes this novel worth reading and thinking about is its message of hope: hope in the written word, hope in each other, and ultimately the hope that can be drawn only from the deep well that is the lovely city of New Orleans, Louisiana.”

–David Armand, Author of The Pugilist’s Wife and Harlow

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Mark Gstohl, Ph.D.

webmaster — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 22:50:53 +0000

“Faulkner & Friends captures the essence of New Orleans. It’s a story about friendship, about struggle, and what it means to experience transforming grace that allows one to let go of the past and focus on the blessings of the present. It’s both heart-breaking and heart-warming and deeply spiritual without preaching to the reader.”

–Mark Gstohl, Ph.D., Head of Department of Theology, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Author of Southern Baptist Theologians and Original Sin

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Moira Crone

webmaster — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 22:49:33 +0000

“Vicki Salloum’s Faulkner & Friends is a moving, heart-wrenching narrative about a group of New Orleanians whom fate has thrown together. Their lives are full of regret, and also, great love, for each other, and for the power of books and stories to heal. She writes with power about the reality of redemption and the gift of hope.”

–Moira Crone, Winner of the Robert Penn Warren Award for Fiction, Fellowship of Southern Writers, and Author of The Not Yet and The Ice Garden

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William Greenway, Ph.D.

webmaster — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 22:42:19 +0000

“If I didn’t know better, I’d swear there’s something in the water coming down the river that blooms good writers in New Orleans like magnolia blossoms: Faulkner, Rice, Percy, Toole, etc. And now here’s the newest one to squeeze the heart to offer up its secrets. Faulkner & Friends is a wonderful read; that it’s set in New Orleans is lagniappe.”

-William Greenway, Ph.D.,
Author of Everywhere at Once and Fishing at the End of the World

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Reading/signing at the Maple Leaf Bar

webmaster — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Vicki’s reading/signing at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans on October 12, 2014. Photos taken by Kelly Allerton.

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The launch of Faulkner & Friends

webmaster — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:00:05 +0000

Vicki and friends celebrating the launch of Faulkner & Friends at Casa Borrega in New Orleans on Oct. 11, 2014. Photos taken by Kelly Allerton.

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Bev Marshall

webmaster — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 07:56:33 +0000

“Faulkner & Friends is a captivating exploration of loss and the resilience of those who retain hope and faith through unimaginable tragedy. With astonishing skill and compassion Vicki Salloum weaves the stories of a writer, a bookseller, a destitute grandmother, and two troubled boys who form a bond of humanity at its core. An engrossing and unforgettable read, boldly conceived and beautifully written.”

Bev Marshall, Author of Walking Through Shadows and Right as Rain

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Reading/signing at the Francis Xavier Seelos Welcome Center

webmaster — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 00:00:49 +0000

Vicki’s reading/signing at the Francis Xavier Seelos Welcome Center on September 27, 2014. Photos taken by Kelly Allerton.

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