Jo-Ann Mapson Books In Order

Publication Order of Bad Girl Creek Books

Publication Order of Chloe Books

Publication Order of Solomon's Oak Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Anthologies

Jo-Ann Mapson is a bestselling author of general fiction novels who has also penned many national book reviews, and freelance articles and has been included in several short story anthologies.
The author dropped out of college to get married but later went to the Long Beach-based California State University where she got her creative writing degree.

Following the birth of her son in 1978 Mapson would take on an assortment of jobs as she worked retail, taught horseback riding, typed resumes, and cleaned houses.

After she graduated from the low residency program at Vermont College she went on to teach at Orange Coast College for half a dozen years before she became a full-time author in 1996.
“Blue Rodeo” her first novel in the “Bad Girl Creek” series of novels was adapted into a movie on CBS that starred Ann-Margret and Kris Kristofferson.

Her debut fiction novel “Hank and Chloe” in addition to several of her other novels have all become national and international bestselling titles.
Mapson grew up in Fullerton as a third-generation Californian and middle child with four brothers and sisters.

After living in New Mexico, Arizona, and growing up in California, she currently makes her home in Costa Mesa in California.

Growing up in the Californian city of Fullerton, Jo-Ann Mapson was very passionate about books and horses.

Her father was an industrialist who used to manufacture circuit boards but made just enough money to just provide necessities for his family and children.
Since there was hardly any money for hobbies, Jo-Ann and her sister used to climb their neighbor’s fence and go ride their neighbor’s horses.

She has said that she was also quite the reader as it was a form of escape that made it possible for her to travel and kept her afloat.

From a very early age, Mapson used to pen poems and stories, a predilection her parent believed she would outgrow and take something more practical in time.
When she went to the University of Redlands and decided to major in creative writing, there was a lot of resistance from her parents.

Ultimately, she could not withstand the pressure and hence decided to quit and begin working until she made enough money to pay for a degree of her own choice.
In 1974, she got married to sculptor and painter Jack Allison, and three years later, she graduated from California State University with a degree in creative writing.

Since the kid she got in 1978 had a rare blood disease that took forever to get diagnosed, it would not be until he entered kindergarten that Jo-Ann Mapson resumed writing.
However, she was very frustrated during the 1980s as she did not have money given that she held all manner of odd jobs to supplement her husband’s meager earnings.

While she won several local prizes with her short stories, she never had the much-needed breakthrough she needed. At some point, she gave up writing and decided that she would just concentrate on horse riding.
However, getting away from writing criticism and books informed and taught her that she soon penned “Hank and Chloe.” It was a short story that Jo-Ann Mapson penned to her husband one Christmas since they did not have money for presents.
In 1989 “Fault Line,’ a collection of her stories was published by Pacific Writers Press and this was the time things started looking up for her.

While attending Vermont College for her creative writing MFA, she eventually published the novel “Hank & Chloe” in 1993. In addition to her novels, she is also a teacher of the creative writing MFA Program at UAA.
She currently makes her home in Anchorage where she lives with her husband and five dogs.

“Bad Girl Creek” by Jo-Ann Mapson is an interesting novel that is one of the warmest novels on friendship particularly between women.

It tells the story of four women who could not be any more different. They had come together on the newly inherited flower farm of Phoebe DeThomas and become fast friends strongly bonded by love.
Despite being disabled, DeThomas is an atypical and warm heroine with great strength of character who you cannot help but root for. When her aunt Sadie left her a flower farm, she decided to invite her three friends Ness, Beryl, and Nance.
Ness harbors a life-threatening and very dark secret and came to the farm alongside her horse Leroy, who it turns out is not actually hers.

Beryl is a woman that has been to hell and back as she was once married to a cruel husband before she left to go work at a bird rehabilitation center. Nance came to the house with Duchess her golden retriever who is quickly adopted by all the women.

In addition to the women is Stinky, who is Phoebe’s brother that seems to have designs over the farm and then there are the ex-husbands, the farm hand, and the partners who have impacted all their lives.

Jo Ann Mapson’s novel Along Came Mary is a brilliant follow-up to her debut novel “Bad Girl Creek.” In this work, we are introduced to another unforgettable character in addition to the hard luck women from the first novel.
Mary Madigan had saddled up her two Border Collies and left miles of highway and heartache behind her as she headed to Oklahoma City. There she met a journalist named Rick who is haunted by his own ghost.

After he lost his job, he traveled back home which is where he met Maddy, a woman that gave him the cold shoulder. However, he is a persistent and charming man and it is not long before they become lovers and travel companions.
Their wanderings ultimately land them in Bad Girl Creek, where he has been nicknamed Rotten Rick for breaking Nance’s heart.

Meanwhile, Phoebe is dealing with a life-threatening pregnancy, Ness who is HIV positive is trying to create distance between herself and the healthy world, while Nance embarked on a breakup diet that was very successful but dangerous.
Nonetheless, they are resilient and strong women and they pull together in love to help each other despite the curveballs life throws at them.

“Goodbye Earl” by Jo-Ann Mapson is set five years after the events of the previous novels in which Phoebe, Beryl, Ness, and Nance experienced all manner of heartache, hardship, and much happiness too.
Beryl now makes her home in Alaska where she lives with Earl but the cracks in their relationship have been growing wider.

When Earl goes missing one night, some desperate and dark memories come to the surface and force her to withdraw from her friends and take inventory of things.
Meanwhile, Nance is coming from a string of painful marriages and is reeling from being told she needs to stop trying to get a kid.

As for Phoebe, she is overwhelmed by Sally her own daughter, even as she tries to rebuff the advances of Andrew an enigmatic southern charmer.

On an isolated part of the farm, Ness takes care of David Snow who is slowly succumbing to HIV complications even as Beryl has never felt more isolated.
However, the farm has been very profitable despite many challenges and explosive surprises. Once again their friendship is put to the test but the women are determined to laugh often, love as often as they can, eat heartily, and live life to the fullest.