Author meet-and-greet April 24 - Empty Nest, by Curt Swarm

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It is with great pleasure I announce a book signing and “Meet the Author” for L. Kephart-Nash, better known as Linda Nash, of Ft. Madison.  This gala affair will take place on Saturday, April 24th, at 1:00 p.m., at the First Christian Church in Ft. Madison, 608 10th St.  Masks and social distancing will be observed.  If it's a nice day (hope, hope), we'll meet across the street in Central Park where it will be easier to social distance and enjoy nature.  Yours truly (me) will be introducing L. Kephart-Nash to the community and world, although for those of you who know her, she needs no introduction. 

At 83, this is her first book. “When the Tempest Passes...and the Wicked is No More” is a smash hit. No fooling. It's about her Norwegian grandparents' life in SE Minnesota/NE Iowa, eking out a living on hard-scrabble land. The story is rife with silent abuse, an arranged marriage and even the possibility of murder. At the turn of the 20th Century, suffrage was a but whispered topic around the dinner table, that took second and third place to hard work, minding your own business and following the Will of God. It was a tough life where men ruled and women fell in line.

            Beautifully written with breathtaking prose, and a story line that can stop you dead in your tracks, not once, not twice, but multiple times with an unfolding mystery, “When the Tempest Passes” might be the Great American Novel of the 21st Century.  I say this in all seriousness.  I don't hand out compliments that easily, but L. Kephart-Nash might be a Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, or Harper Lee in disguise.  Sucking up her courage, she took my creative writing class and exploded on the page.  I just stood back in amazement and made sure she had free rein to write with abandon.  Like writers of old, she writes everything longhand.  Her daughter does the word processing. 

            Here is what one of my readers had to say.  “I am a retired school teacher....I just finished rereading 'When the Tempest Passes' by L. Kephart-Nash and I can't thank you enough for connecting me to this book and author.  What an amazing story along with such beautiful prose!  My book club has chosen Ms. Nash's book for discussion....I read that you are perhaps planning a meet-the-author party for her and wanted to make sure we didn't miss the chance to know about and attend that event.” 

            And another reader: “I enjoyed the book, (except I don't know if enjoy is the word to use).  It was one that really made me think and I went back to reread parts.  I am passing it along to my sister.  I hope the author does write more books.”  

            Well, yes.  L. Kephart Nash has written another book.  No one-book wonder is she!  “A Spacious Place” will be released soon.  This makes two books in little over a year.  “Prolific” doesn't even begin to express energy of that nature.

            A retired RN, moving from obstetrics to geriatrics, married to a Presbyterian Minister, and having six children, Nash has experienced the full gamut of heartbreaks and rewards of a full life.  Never having written before, she writes stories that are within her, the ones that have been begging for exposure all her life.  “Raw talent” is a good descriptor of her, another is “brave,” still another, and the most important is, “Christian.”

            You won't be disappointed in L. Kephart-Nash, A.K.A, Linda Nash.  Books will be available at the “Meet-and-Greet.”  If we're lucky, she'll even read a little selection from “When the Tempest Passes.” 

            For those of you who can't make it, books are available on Amazon.

author, Curt Swarm, editorial, Empty Nest, fort madison, Linda Kephart Nash, Mt. Pleasant, Pen City Current

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