Congratulations to Ellen Stimson, a longtime friend of Shelf Awareness who recently sold her first book, Mud Season, to Countryman Press through literary agent Rosalie Siegel. Stimson may be familiar to many booksellers and librarians from her days as a book wholesaler at the Booksource and as owner of Unique Books, which sold to public libraries and created a national library buying program for small presses.
Mud Season, set for release next fall, chronicles Stimson's move to beautiful Dorset, Vt., several years ago in search of a simpler life. Soon after settling in, however, she impulsively purchased the town's renowned old-fashioned country store, which, along with learning to live the country life, turned into an unforeseen comic family adventure.
"Booksellers are a romantic bunch," Stimson observed. "I think they will especially relate to the story of a family who fantasizes about changing their lives mid-stream. So many booksellers have done precisely the same thing--possibly with a good deal more success and maybe less cursing."
