Mary Saums grew up in North Alabama. Her earliest memory is of her first trip
to the library at age six. Both her mother and the well-meaning librarian
refused to let Mary check out the book she wanted -- Madeline with the blue
and green watercolor cover showing a rainy Paris and an Eiffel Tower in bold
black strokes. Instead they insisted she take a book more suited to her reading
level and her interest in music -- a non-fiction book on the life of Mozart.
"I've hated that little weenee ever since," said Mary who later became a Debussy aficionado.
Fortunately the library incident did not diminish Mary's love of books or music. A student of voice and piano for many years, she performed in countless recitals, the memories of which provide vivid nightmares to this day. After college, she worked in Muscle Shoals, Alabama as a recording engineer on gold and platinum albums by Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett, and many other artists.
Mary also writes poetry and short fiction. Her poem "The Blues Reminds Me"
was chosen by Nikki Giovanni for a Tennessee Writers Alliance Award. Two
other poems about the South, "She Haunts In Roses" and "The Price of Cotton"
were published in the anthology Southern Voices In Every Direction. Her
short story "Ai-yee, Chihuahua!" received an Editor's Choice Award from
Futures Magazine as well as the 1999 Fire To Fly Award for Fiction.
When the Last Magnolia Weeps
A Celtic Christmas concert puts Willi Taft, Nashville session singer and private eye, in a holiday mood. Even her reluctance to attend with a blind date dissolves as snow falls outside and the heavenly Irish music lifts her spirits. But soon she and the rest of the concert's attendees will be brought abruptly back to earth when tragedy strikes.
A kindly old priest is found outside after the concert, stabbed to death in the snow. When one of the musicians in the band comes under suspicion, he asks his friend Willi for help. Who would do such a thing? And why? As Willi searches for the answers in her investigation, she gets closer and closer to the killer's trap, one that may cost her life.
For more information, see Marysaums.com.