Jean Hatfield will be signing copies of her newly published work, “The Glass Ball,” at the Homer Bookstore this Sunday from 1-3 p.m. 

Hatfield describes her novel as a love story that is both realistic and poignant. Set in Alaska, the main characters are Dana, a survivor of childhood trauma, and Luke, who helps Dana find healing. 

What inspired the story? Hatfield said by email that she didn’t set out to write a book, but over the years kept hearing a similar narrative from friends or the news. 

That narrative was the story of women who have experienced abuse. 

“My admiration for these women and their courageous stories inspired me to write a novel describing what I learned about letting go of a traumatic past, healing and moving forward,” she said. 

For nearly 30 of the 35 years she’s lived in Homer, Hatfield has been working on “The Glass Ball.” Because she wanted to keep the novel short — a little over 150 pages — she had to make every word count. 

“I just kept rewriting and rewriting,” she said. 

Hatfield has also created an online community on her website, lookingforluke.com, where people can share their “Luke” stories — memories of when someone or something helped them open to positive changes in their lives.  

“The Glass Ball” is available at the Homer Bookstore, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com. Copies are $12.

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Bumppo Bremicker also will be at the Homer Bookstore on Sunday to sign copies of his new youth fiction book, “Everlasting and the Great Ocean.” 

His first book in the series, “Everlasting and The Great River – Adventures of an Alaskan Dene Girl,” was published in 2013. Copies are $9.95.

Toni Ross is a Homer freelance writer.

Karen Roush, local writer, artist and business owner, has just published her second book as well. “Tails of a Dogsitter,” relates funny stories from her business, Tails-By-The-Bay Dog Camp. 

Her first book, “Diary of a Silly Woman,” chronicles a road trip she took to Mexico in 2008 in a Volkswagen beetle nicknamed VeVe – with four dogs. 

Visit Karen’s blog for more stories at tailsbythebaydogcamp.com. Copies of both books are available at the Homer Bookstore for $13 each, or in e-book or paperback at Amazon.com.