After a year of production, local author Terri Depue will host a book signing for her first novel, “Blooms: A Magnolia Creek Novel.”
The book signing will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Know Where Coffee, located at 1226 W. University Ave. The book will be available for $10 during the event.
“The priority is to support local authors,” said Deyanira Romero, marketing manager at Know Where Coffee. “We love having our space, and we love involving the community as much as we can.”
Open for almost a year, the coffee shop has held one book signing in the past and is looking to host more events to support local talent, Romero said.
The first of a three-part series, the story follows fictional main character Annie Reed, a young woman who moves across the country and ends up finding her life.
Reed travels to a small town in rural Virginia, where a change of events leads her through a journey of self-discovery. She ends up finding three older women who offer a unique perspective on life, love, faith and family.
“I appreciate the relationship that young people benefit from with old people,” Depue said. “I see it as a positive message in this book as well.”
While the characters were not intended to represent Depue, the author touched upon certain aspects of her life throughout the book.
“I think a lot of the characters represent different aspects of myself, and my family and friends,” Depue said. “They are definitely aspects of people I know because you write what you know.”
Some of those aspects include humor, personality traits and a sense of adventure, Depue said.
The 54-year-old had worked in software implementation and support for more than 20 years before deciding to write and publish her first novel.
While she still works in this field, her first step toward becoming an author began at a leadership and development course with Klemmer and Associates.
The final class required everyone to set two goals: one personal and the other professional.
“I decided I wanted a different career for retirement and set a goal to write a draft of a novel and submit it to one publisher,” Depue said.
After writing the draft in the time allotted, she submitted it to Tate Publishing, which accepted the story.
The inspiration for the book came from a scene Depue kept replaying in her head.
The scene focused on a young woman changing the tire on an old truck. It was muddy, and the young woman was frustrated, but she kept this sense of humor about herself, Depue said. Changing the tire was completely out of her element, but she decided to stay positive and find humor in the situation.
Although the scene didn’t make it into the book, the inspiration of the young woman who decided she was going to take a chance inspired Depue to write the novel.
“I have lived a life where I will strike out some place I’ve never lived,” Depue said.
Depue is currently working with Tate Publishing to finalize the second book in the series, which is expected to be released in the fall.
