When people find themselves taking root in the same space, no matter how or when they’ve arrived, they share, at the very least, geography. You don’t slip into a small town unnoticed. People know who you are. They hold vague notions on how you got there. They certainly know where you belong in the pecking order. It’s an order that’s been in place long before you showed up and will be intact long after you’ve gone. 

Sometimes, reading a book feels like eavesdropping on your neighbors' private conversations—the ones they'd never want you to hear. Kirkwood resident Anne Heinrich's Women of Paradise County Series (God Bless the Child, Violet is Blue and House of Teeth) offers that immersive reading experience.

I am passionate about in-depth character development because it’s something I strive for in my own writing. Humans are very complex creatures who are capable of a full range of responses on any given day, moment, or set of circumstances. Offering readers an opportunity to consider what motivates characters to behave in the ways they do makes a story worth sinking your teeth into. I am thankful to have been invited by Shepherd.com to name five of my favorite books with complex characters.