ELIZABETH WRENN

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I just finished reading Second Chance, ie in Dutch Translation (Braaf Meisje) and I enjoyed it a lot. I laughed and I cried at times and I'm even considering getting a dog again. I'm looking forward to read your second novel. Oh, and I already told friends of me to read your work. You'll become famous in Belgium too !

Being a sucker for books dealing with the human/dog bond, the cover of Second Chance caught my eye, and the novel didn't disappoint. I identified totally with that "middle-aged invisible" feeling, and a few years ago began fostering abandoned and orphaned puppies for our local animal rescue here in Cape Town. Although "my puppies" only stay for about eight weeks, or until they are homed, the emotions of loving and caring for a dog which ultimately will go on to be someone else's, are captured so accurately in Second Chance, as well as the wonderful way dogs keep love and laughter alive in the home. Thanks for a great read.

Thanks to all my readers for your thoughts and comments. In answer to some of the questions raised below: 1) I choose every word I use in my fiction with great care and intention, to do the best job I can of conveying character, mood, tension, story. 2) My second novel, LAST KNOWN ADDRESS is currently available only in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. 3) SECOND CHANCE is the same book as AROUND THE NEXT CORNER, just a different title for different country/market. Again, thank you all for your readership, recommendations and support! -EW

Ms. Wrenn, I just finished your book, Around the Next Corner. You are a very talented writer. The story line was GREAT. You certainly had my attention. My only question, as talented as you are, why did you feel the need to use profanity. It did not add to the story, but it certainly did take away from the story line. I always pass the books I read to others and I will this one. I marked out the profanity as I read the book. Maybe your next book will have less profanity. I'm looking forward to your next book, Second Chance.

I HAVE READ AROUND THE NEXT CORNER AND CANNOT SEEM TO MOVE ON TO ANYTHING ELSE,I AM ANXIOUS TO FIND YOU'RE BOOK, LAST KNOWN ADDRESS.
IS THE U.K. THE ONLY PLACE TO FIND IT?

"Around the Next Corner" is the absolute BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ!!!! You are a VERY TALENTED AUTHOR!

Around the Next Corner was given to me by a friend for Christmas. As a workaholic addicted to late hours and the adrenalin rush of managing a small business, I rarely made time to sit down and lose myself in a good book. Your book kept staring at me from the shelf as I would hurridly gather up the remnants of our three dogs escapades, which, since our latest rescue of a delightfully wacky German Shepherd puppy, consists of picking up dog toy stuffing and chewed up "just about everything else". I don't remember reaching for it, but the day I started reading your book was a huge milestone for me. Time for myself! What a strange concept for me, in my perpetual motion life. The relationship with dogs, and the taking care of everyone else I understood well, but one comment in the book hit me like a ton of bricks, and opened up the floodgates. It was when Elaine told Deena that she "never clocked out". Thank you, Elizabeth for a great book....and for helping me see that my time card hasn't been clocked out in....well, forever! I am slowly learning how to breathe in life again, and the air is really sweet.

Hi Elizabeth, Not sure if you have had an e-mail from Australia before, but you're going to get one now! I had already made my mind up to find you on the internet before I was half way through your book 'Second Chance', but low and behold, there was your website on the last page----you must have read my mind! I have never written to an Author before about their work, but I was so impressed by your first book, that I had to contact you. You have such a natural, but colourful way of writing that I was there with you. I could see what you saw and feel what you felt. I loved it, so beautifully written that, as others have said, I laughed and cried, ( I don't do that often, cry I mean!) I can't wait to get your next book, I just hope it is available in Australia! Keep up the good work, you will go far with your expressive and humourous kind of writing. Kind regards, from Sue in 'Tropical Far North Queensland', Australia





Just finished reading Second Chance.... Fantastic...... Cant wait to read your new noval......

Elizabeth, absolutely brilliant! I also have a golden lab, she is about 2.5 years now, but Heloise reminded me so much of my lab when she was a puppy. All labs are so similar in behaviour! Can't wait for your next book!



Hi Elizabeth, I started reading your book on sunday evening and finished it this morning. I absolutely LOVED it!! I am a dog lover, and so wished something would happen and Deena got to keep Heloise -- mean I suppose. I look forward to start looking for your next book here in South Africa. You are the first author since Georgette Heyer to keep me captivated.

Jennifer-- Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment; it made my day! And, recommending my book to others is the greatest compliment you can give to any author, but especially a new one like me. I'm working away on the next book! Thanks so much for your support and interest. EW

I just finished reading the book, Around the Next Corner. I'm an avid reader and can say this is one of the best books I've ever read. You successfully developed such wonderful and REAL characters. Almost anyone can relate to their fictional lives. I am also a pet owner (we have a 6yr. old female boxer) and appreciated how you made Heloise an intrical (and life changing) part of the Munger's lives! This is truly a beautiful story and one that I will highly recommend to anyone! Thank you for a great read. Looking forward to the next one. Jennifer, Youngstown, Ohio


HI READERS: IF YOU HAVE EMAILED ME RECENTLY AND I DID NOT REPLY, PLEASE TRY AGAIN. WEBMAIL MALFUNCTION HAS BEEN FIXED. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE! -EW

Thanks for your comment, Tracey. I'm so glad you liked SC. Please give Rolo a hug for me. (I just met a choc. lab named Toby, short for Toblerone, yesterday.) These brown Labs' names make me hungry for sweets! Warmest wishes, EW

Hi Elizabeth, I just had to drop you a line to tell you how much I enjoyed your book Second Chance. I couldn't put it down. I laughed and cried and laughed some more and then cried again. It was truely wonderful. I too have a chocolate lab who's 9 months old. His name is Rolo...he's such a character. Thank you so much for Deena and Heloise...I can't wait for the next one. Hugs from across the pond! Tracey, Liverpool, UK

Thanks Amy! Great to hear from another reader in the UK! So glad you enjoyed Second Chance, and I really appreciate your support. I am a big fan of Greyhounds! Please give your dear fellow a hug from me. Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth, I have just finished your book and thought I must let you know how wonderful it was. I have a chocolate labrador who is now nearly 18 months old and your book brought back so many memories of my dog when she was a pup. I laughed and laughed throughout the book and then of course at the end the tears came and wouldnt stop. I cant imagine how heartbreaking it must be to hand over a pup. I noticed in your interview at the end of the book that you were considering a resuce dog for yourself. We have a retired Greyhound, whom we have had for 3 months and I highly recommend them to anybody. Such a dear, loving, gentle fellow, yet he suprises me every day as his personality continues to shine through. Good luck with the next book, I will definately be reading it. Best wishes, Amy Phillips, Taunton, UK.



THANKS SAMMI-- LOVELY TO HEAR FROM A READER FROM "ACROSS THE POND"! SO GLAD YOU LIKED S.C. THANK YOU, AND THANKS TO ALL FOR SPREADING WORD ABOUT MY NOVEL. I'M WORKING ON BOOK #2. HOPE TO HAVE FIRST DRAFT DONE SOON. WARM REGARDS TO ALL--ELIZABETH

Elizabeth! I just finished 'Second Chance', as a fellow raiser of guide dogs, I've laughed and cried right along with darling Deena and Heloise. I've reccomended this to everyone I know, and the rest of the dog group has unanamously agreed, you're a wonderful author. That, and all thirteen of us are waiting with baited breath for the next one. Thank you! Sammi Dublin, Ireland.

I just finished your book - I didn't want to finish it, I set it down several times just to make it last longer! Like some of the other readers I was hoping it wasn't published recently, so I could quickly sink into another of your novels. I guess I will impatiently wait. I read your newsletters, and was delighted at your mention of "Range of motion", it was the first book I read by Elizabeth Berg and has always been a favorite of mine. Thank you for such a wonderful story and I can't wait for your next one. Mindy Schmidt, St. Charles, MO

I fell in love with this book! It was like you were writing about me. I laughed and cried ( big whomping sobs). I borrowed the book from the library and ended up buying one for keeps and several others for all the important women in my life. Its been ages since I have read a book that had me so engrossed I literally couldnt put it down, I wait impatiently for my friends to finish thiers so we can discuss it together. anyhoo, congratulations on this wonderful book!!!!!


Elizabeth: I love this book and enjoyed reliving every minute of raising a lab puppy! You write so beautifully and accurately about Madison Wisconsin that I wonder if you lived here for a while? Your correct references to "off the square" and Ella's Deli, etc. are so correct, that I feel as if you must be here in Madison with me!! Beth Madison, WI


Elizabeth, I HATE that I'm done reading Around the Next Corner! It was delicous. I absolutely loved relaxing with it. I felt I knew the characters and wanted to go on knowing them through new episodes of their lives. I'm glad to know that you are writing another book! Cheryl Skid St. Louis

I just finished reading "Around the Next Corner" and had to e-mail you right away to let you know how much I loved it. Now I'm going to e-mail all my friends and tell them about this great new author I've discovered! I'm already anxiously awaiting your next book...

I'm midway through the book. I have to slow down because I don't want it to end. I've chortled loudly reading in bed at night and have bounded out of bed many times to rush to email yet another friend that this is a book she would love! 60 year old reading teacher in St. Louis

Got the book for my mom at a local Meijer's when I was buying dog food. The first paragraph hooked me. Mom, who is 90, read it in two days and gave it to me, saying it is a "simply wonderful story." Can't wait to read it myself. I'll get back to you. - Tim, Reed City, MI

This book was wonderful. I really enjoyed all the characters and found myself laughing and crying all at once. Can't wait to recommend it to my friends and family!

Reading your book makes me think you have read my thoughts and seen inside my
heart. I read it sitting on the deck with my setter at my feet and laughed and cried and nodded my head. How refreshing to have someone validate the things I have felt in the last year. I have already recommended it to every person I have talked to in the last two days and will continue to do so for a long time. J.S.-Nebraska

. . .it was like looking in a mirror to my soul.
I was so moved by your storytelling, and by the way it all flowed so easily and felt so normal to read, that I polished off your book in about 6 hours, in and around daily life interfering! It was masterful and emotionally poignant. . . G.Z.,Alberta

JUST A WEE NOTE TO TELL YOU THAT YOUR FIRST NOVEL WAS THE BEST BOOK I'VE EVER READ. I'M 63 YEARS OF AGE AND AN AVID READER, AND THIS BOOK TOUCHED ME IN EVERY
WAY. I RATE IT HIGHER THAN SHELL SEEKERS, LIGHT A PENNY CANDLE, PALOMINO, ETC. ETC.
CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE !!!!! P.P./Canada

I just finished Around the Next Corner and didn't want it to end. I picked it up at the Library and it was just what I needed to read at this time in my life. ( I will be buying my own copy so I have it to share with my daughters and friends.) You gave me the inspiration to step into my own life instead of taking care of everyone else and then feeling "invisible". Your writing is great--humor mixed with insight and so much more. I laughed and cried and shook my head "YES". How hard it must have been to give Heloise back to the program and how wonderful that she gave new life to her blind companion. Can hardy wait for your next book. Marge--Boulder, CO

I LOVED this book, Around the Next Corner. I couldn't put it down. I too was VERY disappointed to see it was a debut novel...meaning a long wait until the next one by Miz Wrenn! Thanks for an all night read! A.A. from Missouri

Better than Elizabeth Berg, Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Tyler, Anita Diamant, and Rosamund Pilcher is Elizabeth Wrenn's book "Around The Next Corner." When I finished the book and dug through to find the copyright, I was disappointed to find it had been published just this year because I want another Elizabeth Wrenn book NOW! I'd drive across the state tonight to buy her next book if it were on the shelves. I can't remember when I've felt this hungry for someone's writing. DK/Ellensburg, WA

I thorougly enjoyed Around the Next Corner. No, that is an understatement.....I loved it. More More More.......Jane Hamilton, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Just an ole Hoosier and love good reading.

I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of Around the Next Corner as part of research for an article I wrote on Elizabeth Wrenn and the book for The Bark (July 2006 issue). I would say that the book has a Barbara Kingsolver-esque tone and feel to it. So, if you like Kingsolver, you'll like Wrenn. The characters are real. The narrative is natural. The ride is one you'll enjoy, even if you do sniffle along the way. For example, I finished the last 50 pages or so before bed one night. All of a sudden, my husband started laughing at me. When I asked why, he said, "Well, you cry, then you laugh. You cry, then you laugh. All I hear is boo-hoo ... ha ha ha, boo-hoo ... ha ha ha." RH/Colorado