Jennifer Fraser has set her new novel Crush: A Wine Thriller in Osoyoos. (Contributed photo)
The B.C. author who published an acclaimed thriller set in Osoyoos is coming to town for a book signing at the Okanagan branch of the Osoyoos Regional Library.
Jennifer Fraser, the author of Crush: A Wine Thriller, will be signing copies of her book and also holding a question and answer session for local residents and aspiring novelists and writers from noon until 2 p.m. at the local library branch.
“I’m really looking forward to coming to Osoyoos,” said Fraser, whose book received some exceptional reviews when it was published in the spring of 2016. “I will be signing books, but I would also love to answer any questions that people might have about the book or even about the creative process and how I come up with ideas to form characters and that sort of thing.
“If there are any aspiring writers out there, I would also be more than willing to discuss the writing process and what they can do to get published and things like that.”
Her husband Thomas Brown is an adviser with B.C. Emergency Preparedness and hasn’t had a day off in weeks as he’s been working endless hours due to the wildfire situation in the province, but he has managed to secure some time off and her family is looking forward to a well-earned vacation, she said.
She and her family, which includes a 22-year-old son and 17-year-old son, have been vacationing in Osoyoos for many years and she’s really looking forward to coming back, she said.
“I’ve been working on two educational books for the past several months and I honestly haven’t been outside much at all and haven’t left my computer in weeks,” she said. “My husband and I are really looking forward to a nice vacation and can’t wait to get back to Osoyoos.”
Fraser said she had to thank Georgia Bruyel, the head librarian at the Osoyoos public library, for generously helping her arrange the book signing and meet and greet in such a short period of time.
“She was just fantastic and so helpful,” she said.
Fraser said she has been working on a sequel to Crush, called Celsius, over the past several months and is close to being halfway through the writing process of that book.
“I just finished chapter five,” she said. “I would be more than glad to bring along several copies of the first chapter for anyone attending the book signing.”
Fraser will also be attending a book signing and meet and greet at Lunessence Winery and Vineyard in Summerland on Saturday, Aug. 26.
While all of the characters in Crush are fictional, Fraser said Osoyoos plays an integral role in her first published work of fiction.
Local residents will recognize the name of streets, buildings and other inside information only Osoyoos residents would recognize, she said.
Crush tells the story of Paige Munro, a freelance journalist who is still trying to get over the death of her husband who was killed while covering the civil war in Syria.
Paige wants to get back to work and accepts a job doing freelance writing about the wine industry in this region.
However, she gets tangled up with some dubious characters who are involved in smuggling at the U.S. border and her life becomes endangered as a result.
The sequel takes Munro and many of the characters in Crush to Hawaii, where more chaos and action continues.
“Instead of wine country, we’re in volcano country and everything erupts there,” she said smiling.
Fraser has discussed Crush with Jon Summerland, commissioner with the Okanagan Film Commission, and Summerland put her in touch with a well-known screenwriter who is considering adapting her book into a screenplay and possible movie, said Fraser.
Fraser said she has received emails from Osoyoos residents who read and enjoyed Crush and she’s hopeful many of them will show up to say hello at the book signing and meet and greet next Friday.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
