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Warming Up

A Novel

Published by She Writes Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

LIST PRICE ₹741.00

PRICE MAY VARY BY RETAILER

About The Book

Approaching forty, unemployed but well-off, talented but unknown, functional but depressed, former musical actress Cecilia Morrison is in a serious slump. Although she once won leading roles, Cecilia now can't bring herself to audition for parts. She finally—reluctantly— seeks therapy, hoping it will make a difference . . . but in the end a runaway teenager who cons her out of sixty bucks, not therapy, is what changes her life. Whether at the apex of one’s success or just starting out, Warming Up speaks to anyone who’s ever wondered what it’s all about—or who finds themselves doing something they never thought they’d do. Warming Up was a short list finalist for the 2011 William Faulkner -William Wisdom Prize for the Novel. Ten percent of the author’s proceeds are donated to The Night Ministry, which provides temporary housing, transitional living, and parenting services to Chicago’s homeless youth.

About The Author

Mary Hutchings Reed has always wanted to be a writer. Now a novelist and playwright, her fiction has appeared in ARS Medica, The Ligourian, and The Tampa Review. Warming Up is her seventh novel. Her first, Courting Kathleen Hannigan, was published in 2007. Mary lives with her husband, Bill, in Chicago.

Product Details

  • Publisher: She Writes Press (April 23, 2013)
  • Length: 272 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781938314117

Raves and Reviews

“Reed’s charming novel stars a neurotic singer with mother issues who has been avoiding auditions and attending frustrating therapy sessions instead. When Cecilia meets a homeless boy on the streets, however, her life takes a risky new direction. A well-written, endearing book that surprises . . . ”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Reed engages the reader from page to page toward a satisfyingly cozy niche for all ofher characters, never losing s—Barbara Scott, founder of A Woman’s Write

“To read Warming Up is to enter a story that keeps you eager to know what evercompelling twist is just beyond the next page.”
—Lucia Blinn, author of We Called It “The Country”

“Only an ingenious writer gifted with imagination, heart, and courage could bring together the characters in this book, with the result that the reader cannot turn pages fast enough to be rewarded with basic truth—that caring for someone else and accepting yourself, even when your own life is forcing harsh truths on you, can break the bonds of fear and allow love to thrive.”
—Enid Powe ll, author of To Tell You The Truth and Other Fictions

“As in her first novel, Courting Kathleen Hannigan, Reed draws you into a compelling story and immerses you in a fulfilling and heart-warming experience.”
—Marjie Rynears on, author of Gentle Vignettes and Elements of Story Structure

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