“Publication” Class Notes

Bill Venema (Law ’81 CM) recently published his second novel, Dawn in Dallas.

Set in the late 1980s, the book follows the journey of Robert E. Clark, the protagonist from Death in Panama, as he leaves the Army JAG Corps and embarks on a career in private law practice. He secures a position at Underwood & Crockett, a prestigious law firm in Dallas, Texas, even though his young daughter and ex-wife reside in Pemberton, Georgia, the small town where he grew up. 

Things get complicated when Robert receives disturbing news from home at the same time he is confronted with unethical behavior by one of the senior partners in the firm.  The challenges of his new career and his responsibilities as a father pull him in opposite directions, and he doesn’t always make the right decision. 

Dawn in Dallas has its share of plot twists and interesting characters and along the way reveals some of the darker secrets of life inside a large law firm and the serious deficiencies of the court system.

Currently, Bill is Of Counsel in the Austin office of Jackson Walker LLP. He and his wife live in Georgetown, Texas.

Jeff Drifmeyer (Grad ’74, ’80) published a thriller novel, When Pigs Flu, under the pen name Jake McKenzie. The thriller novel, Drifmeyer writes, “reads eerily like evening news” in its discussion of the possible role of research labs and wet markets in a real pandemic risk. His work of narrated non-fiction, Civil War Comes Home, explores historic origins of BLM.

Judy Dearlove (Grad ’75) published Play On!, her first novel, last November. The book has been named a finalist for the INDIES Book of the Year award; was featured in Shelf Unbound’s Summer issue recommended reading list; and was the focus of Dearlove’s interview in Allison Kirkland’s Creatives in Conversation series.

Play On!, a stand-up-and-cheer tale of epic rivalry and deep friendship, has been lauded as “the funniest book . . . in years” (Frank McNair), and “a brisk and joyful first novel by a wise woman” (Georgann Eubanks). It is available in paperback and as an e-book for Kindle and other devices. Check with your favorite bookstore, RCWMS Publications, Amazon, or Smashwords.

B. Michael Antler (Com ’06) will publish his first book, Josephus: A Novel, on Sept. 29, 2020. Available on Kindle, audiobook, hardcover, and paperback, Josephus brings the First Roman-Jewish War and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. back to life nearly 2,000 years later. Based on Josephus’ own writings and written for a 21st Century audience, this epic comes packed with thirty original illustrations, original songs, dances, prayers and psalms, and historically accurate quotations. 

Tim Lough (Engr ’72, ’84 L/M) published his first book, Misadventures of the Nockizeemi Kid. According to one review, reading this book is no misadventure. In fact, the reader will be enthralled with the adventures, exploits, and occasional snowballs landing badly of the Nockizeemi Kid. What a refreshing and entertaining view of life from the eyes of an inquisitive and active boy growing up during the ’50s and ’60s in Richmond, Virginia, and eventually surviving childhood and UVA. A delightful read!

Betty Phipps Roberts (Nurs ’53) has published her third book, In the Shadow of the Bridge. The historical novel answers the question, “Why were we so unprepared for Pearl Harbor?” Covering the year 1941, it is accurate right down to the price of eggs. and quotes Roosevelt, Churchill, Lindbergh and others. The book will be presented in the New York World Book Fair—if and when it is held.

Esther Yin-ling Spodek (Col ’84) published We Have Everything Before Us in April. It is a darkly comic novel of everyday suburban American life, an internet romance and the families of the couple involved, love and loneliness.

Matthew J. Jones (Grad ’14) will publish his first book, Love Don’t Need a Reason: the Life and Music of Michael Callen, in the fall of 2020. The book chronicles the life and music of singer, songwriter, and AIDS activist Michael Callen (1955-1993). Callen was instrumental in the fight against AIDS in the first years of the US epidemic. He coauthored “How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One Approach,” a publication widely regarded as one of the first safe-sex guides, and he recorded two solo albums and two albums with queer acappella group The Flirtations. This book is based on research that began as Jones’ doctoral dissertation in the McIntire Dept. of Music at UVA and includes extensive archival research as well as oral history interviews with Callen’s friends, family, and fellow musicians. Jones says Callen is a forgotten hero of the AIDS activist movement, and Jones is thrilled to have an opportunity to share his story with readers around the country and around the world.

Jennifer Krause (Educ ’10) coauthored Technology for Physical Educators, Health Educators, and Coaches, a book aimed at helping professionals enhance instruction, assessment, management, communication, professional development, and advocacy by leveraging modern technology. It has been praised as “the book to empower all teachers” and “a text that embraces current professional expectations within a twenty-first-century classroom.”

Krause is an associate professor of physical education and physical activity leadership, program coordinator of the Physical Education K-12 Teaching Program, and research faculty in the Active Schools Institute within the School of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Northern Colorado. 

Robin Ward (Educ ’97) published Count on Texas: Fun Facts from 1 to 12, a book that entices young readers to enjoy the beauty and history of University of Texas-Austin’s campus, while counting from 1 to 12. The rhyming narrative and colorful illustrations capture the 12 months and four seasons, and help the reader learn even and odd numbers. Two coloring pages included. Available at Amazon and at MascotBooks.com

Kaethe Walther (Col ’18) will publish her debut novel, If We Were Us, in June. The book is a young adult story of friendship, love and identity set at a fictional east coast boarding school. She says she is indebted to Elizabeth Denton and the late Sydney Blair for their thoughtful comments and wise advice. 

If We Were Us: 

Everyone at the prestigious Bexley School believes that Sage Morgan and Charlie Carmichael are meant to be….that it’s just a matter of time until they realize that they are actually in love.

When Luke Morrissey shows up on the Bexley campus his presence immediately shakes things up. Charlie and Luke are drawn to each other the moment they meet, giving Sage the opportunity to steal away to spend time with Charlie’s twin brother, Nick.

But Charlie is afraid of what others will think if he accepts that he has much more than a friendship with Luke. And Sage fears that things with Nick are getting too serious too quickly. The duo will need to rely on each other and their lifelong friendship to figure things out with the boys they love.

Jeannine Johnson Maia (Col ’86) published Rossio Square N.°59, a novel that takes place in a turbulent Lisbon during World War II. In a city filled with intrigue and betrayal, it’s the story of lost dreams, infinite hope, and two young people caught up in change they never sought or wanted. The novel was first published in Portugal, where she lives and writes, as Praça do Rossio, N°59.

April Pride (Arch ’98) is the host of How to Do the Pot, a new seasonal narrative podcast that answers some of the most common questions women secretly Google about cannabis. How to Do the Pot’s first season will focus on topics relevant to the health and happiness of women such as CBD, endometriosis, migraines, and sleep. 

April is an original innovator in the cannabis industry having founded one of North America’s most recognized cannabis lifestyle companies, Van der Pop, acquired by Canopy Growth in 2018. How to Do the Pot is the first product from Of Like Minds, which April co-founded with Ellen Scanlon (Col ’99, Darden ’07) in 2019. 

Deborah E. Hammond (Arch ’82 L/M) has published her 21st novel, The Rogue’s Son. Second in the Smuggled Heart series, the novel follows the McEwan family, 20 years on. Alexander McEwan II travels with his family to his mother’s home in England. It is the Regency period, and the family has come to the deathbed of Amelia McEwan’s father, The Earl of Havenstock. If he dies, Alexander will become his sole heir. As a young Scot in Regency England, the prejudice of neighbors and associates is a very real thing. To compound that problem, his father, The Duke of Arleigh, has his own secrets. If they were to become known, they would ruin his son’s fortunes in the socially concious world of the ton of Regency England. Alexander’s life is about to change forever. The Rogue’s Son is available in kindle and paperback versions on Amazon.

Mercy Hansen Mize (Educ ’10) published her first children’s picture book, Samson’s Tail, a book about her dog’s experience in the DAWGS Prison Program. The non-profit organization rescues dogs from shelters and places them with prison inmates who train them for adoption. She enjoys sharing Samson’s story and bringing awareness to the DAWGS Prison Program at book signings and readings at Barnes & Noble and independent book stores.

Rick Hodges (Col ’87) published his first novel, To Follow Elephants, in 2019. He will appear at the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 20, 2020, at New Dominion Bookshop in Charlottesville. To Follow Elephants tells the story of an African woman and elephant researcher who helps a young American learn why his father is imprisoned in a dusty cell in Kenya. The book, praised as “a stunning debut novel that weaves the lives of wild elephants and people in a truly breathtaking journey,” brings readers into the elephants’ world—their thoughts, beliefs and religion. Equal parts thriller, adventure and moving portrayal of elephant civilization from the creatures’ point of view, To Follow Elephants occupies the intersection between the worlds of people and animals, enriching our understanding of what it means to be human.

Christina Villafaña Dalcher (Col ’89) will publish her second novel, Master Class, in April 2020. The dystopian thriller resurrects the American eugenics movement of the early 20th century, asking how far a mother will go to save her child. Her first novel, VOX, has been translated into more than 25 languages and was a Sunday Times bestseller in the United Kingdom.

Vicki Lemp Weavil (Col ’78) has published the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series under the pen name Victoria Gilbert. Titles include A Murder for the Books, Shelved Under Murder, Past Due for Murder, and Bound for Murder. A fifth book in the series, A Deadly Edition, will be published in December 2020. Vicki is also writing another series, the Booklover’s B&B series, with the first book, Booked for Death, coming out in June 2020. 

Corinne Adams Heyning Laverty (Com ’80) published North America’s Galapagos: The Historic Channel Islands Biological Survey. The narrative nonfiction book recounts the story of a group of researchers, naturalists, adventurers, cooks, immigrants, and scientifically curious teenagers who came together in the late 1930s to embark upon a series of ambitious expeditions never before, or since, attempted. Their mission: to piece together the broken shards of the Channel Islands’ history and evolution.

Sometimes called “North America’s Galapagos,” each island supports unique ecosystems with varied flora and fauna and differing human histories. Readers follow the scientists behind closed museum doors and to all eight islands, spending time in the hot and dusty, or wet and foggy, field with them, rejoicing in their successes, cringing at their failures and shortcomings.

A lack of funds and dearth of qualified personnel dogged the pre-WWII expeditions, but only after America enters the war and the researchers are stranded on one of the islands is the survey aborted, their work left for future scientists to complete. This saga of ambition, adventure and discovery is juxtaposed against the fresh successes of a new generation of Channel Island scholars, thereby illuminating the scientific process and revealing remarkable modern discoveries that are changing our ideas of how the Americas were populated. Upon completing this book, the lasting impression the reader may have might not be the raw beauty and uniqueness of these islands, though they will certainly gain that, nor even a greater appreciation for the grandiose and challenging undertaking the scientists attempted, rather, the reader may come to recognize that the larger story of the scientific process continues long after individual efforts cease.

Laverty’s lecture schedule can be found under the “Events” tab of my website: https://www.channelislandscalifornia.com/