Fantasy Romance Novelist
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MARY LENNOX dreamed up stories from the age of seven, when she sparked a fierce playground debate on the existence of faeries. She woke up long enough to leave graduate school, marry an irreverent lawyer and tour the world. Nothing could have prepared her for the medieval beauty of Europe's cathedrals, the grimness and glory of Russia, the exotic mysteries of India. The only way to top that experience was to turn carpenter and build her perfect house with her husband on a tranquil horse farm in Appalachia, home-school her kids from K-12, and gallop her horses on the wooded trails.


The Moon Runners is her second print novel. she now divides her days between the barn and the siren call of her computer.

Some of Mary's Favorite Books:
When I came home from school, my mother used to say, “Don’t tell me about the books you read. Tell me about who you played with.”
It was all her fault that I was book-crazy. She introduced me to the books I loved, dreamed over (and sometimes re-wrote in my head if I didn’ t like the endings). So for parents and children everywhere, my list of favorite books includes some children’s books that people of all ages can love and read together.
Favorite Books—a Partial List

Alcott, Louisa May, LITTLE WOMEN, EIGHT COUSINS, ROSE IN BLOOM
Anderson, Hans Christian, FAIRY TALES
Burnett, Francis Hodgeson, THE SECRET GARDEN, A LITTLE PRINCESS
Byatt, A.S., POSSESSION, A LOVE STORY
Cherryh, C.J., THE FORTRESS TETRALOGY, RUSSALKA, CHERNEVOG, YVGENIE
Cooper, Susan, THE DARK IS RISING
Dickens, Charles, A TALE OF TWO CITIES—that Sidney Carton scene near the end always gets to me.
Dunnett, Dorothy, THE LYMOND CHRONICLES, THE HOUSE OF NICCOLO—both are unequalled.
James, Eloisa, FOOL IN LOVE, DUCHESS IN LOVE
Kay, Guy Gavriel, Anything he writes
Kinsale, Laura, FLOWERS FROM THE STORM
Heyer, Georgette, THE GRAND SOPHY, THE TALISMAN RING, DEVIL’S CUB.
Hoffman, Alice, TURTLE MOON, SECOND NATURE
Lawrence, Louise , CHILDREN OF THE DUST
L’engle, Madeleine, A WRINKLE IN TIME TRILOGY, A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT, MANY WATERS
Mann, Thomas, JOSEPH IN EGYPT TETRALOGY, THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN
McKillip, Patricia, THE BOOK OF ATRIX WOLFE, SONG FOR THE BASILISK
Mckinley, Robin, Anything!
Marillier, Juliet, DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST TRILOGY
Pullman, Phillip, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, THE SUBTLE KNIFE, THE AMBER SPYGLASS—extraordinary, brilliant, inventive—one of the best children’s series for adults
Riley, Judith Merkel, THE SERPENT GARDEN, THE ORACLE GLASS
Rowling, J.K., THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS
Renault, Mary, THE KING MUST DIE, THE LAST OF THE WINE
Shinn, Sharon, ARCHANGEL
Tolstoy, Leo, ANNA KARENINA, WAR AND PEACE
White, T.H., THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING
Willis, Connie, DOOMSDAY BOOK, PASSAGE, TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG

Mom was right, but she was wrong, too.
You cherish your friends. You listen to them. You sympathize with their troubles, you cheer their victories, and you tell them about yours. But talking about friend stuff with others comes under the heading of gossip. I admit it—I love a juicy bit of gossip. But I’ve found that if you want to really know about your friend’s lives, you keep their secrets. Otherwise, eventually, they won’ t tell you anything. So I do a lot more listening than talking.

But books! The friends you make in books are fair game. Their foibles, their heroic traits, their trials and their triumphs are all out there to make you cry or laugh or cheer at the end of the book. And you can share them all with a world of book lovers. If you’ve read some of these, or if you read one soon from this list, let me know. I’d love to hear your reactions and I’ ll be glad to email back.