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Monica Wood Books In Order

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Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Secret Language (1993)Description / Buy at Amazon
My Only Story (2000)Description / Buy at Amazon
Any Bitter Thing (2005)Description / Buy at Amazon
The One-in-a-Million Boy (2016)Description / Buy at Amazon
How to Read a Book (2024)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

A Woman in a Million (2016)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

12 Multicultural Novels (1997)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Pocket Muse (2002)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Pocket Muse 2 (2006)Description / Buy at Amazon
When We Were the Kennedys (2012)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Elements of Fiction Writing Books

Characters & Viewpoint (By: Orson Scott Card) (1988)Description / Buy at Amazon
Plot (By: Ansen Dibell) (1988)Description / Buy at Amazon
Dialogue (By: Lewis Turco) (1989)Description / Buy at Amazon
Beginnings, Middles & Ends (By: Nancy Kress) (1992)Description / Buy at Amazon
Setting (By: Jack M. Bickham) (1994)Description / Buy at Amazon
Description (1995)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Anthologies

A World of Fiction(1983)Description / Buy at Amazon
Short Takes(1992)Description / Buy at Amazon
What Are You Looking At?(2003)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Way Life Should Be(2005)Description / Buy at Amazon
Coming of Age in a Hardscrabble World(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon

Monica Wood is a bestselling and award winning novelist, memoirist, and writer of short stories. She is particularly famous for writing the Ernie’s Ark, One in a Million Boy, Secret Language, and several other standalone books. Author Wood was born in Mexico, Maine, in a family of devout Catholics of the Irish descent. The members of her family used to work in paper mills when she was small. Wood’s maternal and paternal grandparents were descendents of Canada, who used to follow the storytelling tradition. Wood believes that it is this tradition of her grandparents that has helped her to become a noteworthy novelist. Author Wood and her sisters were the first ones from their family to attend college. Her father was very good in grammar and this is how she gained the notion of telling the stories in a particular way at a very early age. Also, author Wood’s grandfather loved to sing melodramatic, long, and novelistic ballads, which is also among the island traditions that he had acquired. Author Wood does not believe that she is the kind of writer who has been weaned on the Proust. But, she agrees that she has spent a lot of time reading whatever she liked to read as a child. The fictional work of author Wood is not autobiographical in nature, rather they are inspired by her family’s theme. Even her own life reflects many of her family’s traditions. The family of author Wood was an ordinary one, but it had several twists in it. A couple of her older siblings were older than her by almost a generation. Her elder sister, Anne, was her teacher through most of her academic career, while her brother, named Barry, had joined the air force when she was just born. As author Wood’s parents had died when she was very young, she and her other younger siblings were raised by the older ones. The other great presence of a male in Wood’s life was of her uncle, who was a Catholic priest. Due to all these factors, Wood’s stories, mostly consist of families which combine of any number of individuals who are able to share common experiences.

Author Wood finds it very striving and difficult to create the characters who appear to be real, no matter what circumstance they dwell in. She also strives to make the readers care about what happens to the characters. The one obsession that Wood has, being a writer, is the idea of the family’s power into which we took birth. Every day, author Wood spends time working towards the development of her books and novels from a tiny studio that she has built in her backyard with the help of her husband named Dan. She believes that having her work place and separated physically is a great incentive for her writing career. Even the several steps that she takes to reach to the studio from her house gives her the impression that she is going for work. Most of Wood’s day time is spent in writing, while she uses the night time to relax and interact with her family. The hobbies that she enjoys very much in her spare times include listening to music and watching birds. In addition to writing, author Wood spends an ample amount of time in reading, which has played an important role in her career as an author. She likes to read mostly contemporary works. Wood has subscribed to a number of literary magazines and also has a big collection of anthologies. Author Wood is of the opinion that murder mysteries can become instructive in many surprising ways. Wood’s advice to the aspiring writers is that they must read as much as they can, which is the only way they can succeed in this career in the long run.

An exciting book written by Monica Wood earlier in her career is entitled ‘Ernie’s Ark’. This book was released by the Ballantine Books in the year 2004. The main characters introduced in this book’s story by author Wood include Ernie Whitten, Marie, Dan Little, John McCoy, and Francine Love. Author Wood has set the plot in Abbot Falls, Maine. At the start of the story, it is depicted that a paper mill can be seen from very far in Abbot Falls. The town was previously drenched with simple dreams and hopes, but is now praying for some good fortune. A pipe fitter named Ernie Whitten was just 3 weeks away from his retirement, secured with pension, when the mill’s union decided to go on strike 8 months ago. This proved to be a great loss for him. Now, Ernie’s wife, Marie, is ill and he does not have money for her treatment. Suddenly, he gets struck with inspiration and builds a huge ark in the backyard of his house. Ernie Whitten sees the ark as an artwork for his beloved wife and hopes that the vessel would take both of them away from the town. He also thinks of it as a means to save the life of Marie when the town gets flooded or hell breaks loose. As Ernie gives finishing touches to the ark, the rest of the town looks surprised in awe of Ernie’s fine work. Dan Little, who is an enforcer for building-code, approaches Ernie to fine him for his work. Instead, he ends up discovering something significant about himself. Francine Love is a 13 year old, who wishes to become a part of the union workers’ family. On the other hand, Henry John McCoy is described as an impatient person, who looks determined to prove a nice father to his 26 year old daughter. On the whole, the people in the town of Abbot Falls try their level best in holding the community together against all odds.

Another popular book that author Wood wrote is called ‘Secret Language’. The Ballantine publication released this book also in 2002. In this novel, author Wood has told the story of Connie and Faith, who are described as sisters and the daughters of moderately famous actors. At the beginning of the book, it is shown that both Faith and Connie experienced similar childhood as the children of egocentric actors. They could hardly take care of their own. However, the sisters were not much different. Faith shrunk from the little emotions of the ordinary life, while Connie learned the art of begging for attention, filling her silence with appropriate words, and clamoring for approval. Even though the sisters had differences, they relied on each other most of the times. But, after going through several years years of close bonding, the two sisters appear to have lost the fondness for one another. Faith settles down, looks after her family of a husband and 2 sons, but still longs for unconditional love. Her sister takes up the job of a flight stewardess, and searches for her own true love in life. They are brought together by a series of revealatory and shocking events, which make them think what they used to think about love, fulfillment, and family.

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