Words in the Garden featuring Susan Kraus and Jane Elzey

“Words in the Garden” is a weekly, alfresco literary reading series from the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (WCDH) and the Eureka Springs Carnegie Library.  Every Wednesday through the summer at 4:30 pm, a local and/or visiting WCDH writer-in-residence will present a reading and Q&A in the Eureka Springs Carnegie Library Garden at 188 Spring Street (south of the Carnegie Library Gardens Building). The readings are free and open to all. In the event of rain, they will be held in the library garden under the tent. Wednesday, June 30, will feature Susan Kraus, a writer-in-residence from Kansas, and local writer Jane Elzey.

Susan Kraus has been a therapist and mediator for decades, helping people re-write the narratives of their lives. In her novels, genre-bending blends of thriller, mystery and women’s fiction, she tackles polarizing social and political issues through the POV of a middle-aged female protagonist (a therapist/mediator who gets older and crankier in each book) and a returning cast of characters. Raised in NJ, Susan ended up in Kansas for what was expected to be a temporary job, but the Flint Hills stole her heart. She also writes travel stories for magazines, newspapers, and online publications. For more info, go to susankraus.com and thegracemcdonaldseries.com.  She detests social media but is trying to learn and will have hashtags and Facebook by the time she does this reading. Her current book, that she is working on while at Dairy Hollow, is expected to be out by late 2021. Or early 2022. Or whenever it finally gets finished. “I’ve come to Dairy Hollow over several years to jump-start my writing,” Susan shared. “It is a cherished place for me, where I can focus and be productive, unlike my real life which is altogether too messy.”

Jane Elzey is a mischief-maker, storyteller, and bender of the facts. A career journalist, she now writes modern-day, not-so-cozy mysteries without much regard for the truth. Born and raised a wild child on Florida’s sandy beaches, she now lives in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. An insatiable world traveler, she turns her bucket list travels into backdrop settings for her books, sharing destinations with readers on the hunt for whodunnit. Jane Elzey writes about four mature women who love to play games … while the husbands die trying. (The husband always dies.) Her Cardboard Cottage Mystery series includes Dying for Dominoes (2020) book 1, Dice on a Deadly Sea (2021), book 2. Poison Parcheesi and Wine, book 3 is her work in progress due out in (2022). For author gossip or to join Jane’s VIP Club, visit JaneElzey.com or CardboardCottageMystery.com.

Since opening its doors to writers in 2000, the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow has made a lasting impact on the arts and literary communities providing uninterrupted residency time for writers of all genres, including culinary, composers, and artists, without discrimination. The WCDH has hosted over 1,700 writers from 48 states and 13 countries. For more information, please visit www.writerscolony.org or call Michelle Hannon at (479)253-7444.