Karen Spafford-Fitz, Artsci’86, Ed’87, has released her sixth book. Taking the Lead is a novel for 10- to 13-year-olds. When track star Jonas lands in the school office, his principal notices that Jonas has not fulfilled his volunteer requirements. She kicks him off the track team and strips him of his captaincy. She later makes him a deal: Jonas can compete at the final track meet, but he must first complete his volunteer hours by training a vision- and mobility-impaired teen for a 5k race. A former junior-high teacher and an avid runner herself, Ms. Spafford-Fitz is delighted that her first sports story showcases running and athletes of various abilities.

Pamela Haley, Artsci’79, MPA’97, is the author of Escape from Shambles County, a humorous work of fiction centred around a murder in the dysfunctional community. Hired to modernize the county library, Damares Mutch has to deal with a libellous press, a hostile county council, and the underhanded tactics of community members. And when she finds a body in the library, things go from bad to worse.

Ainsley Hawthorn, Artsci’04, (PhD, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale), is the co-editor of Distant Impressions: The Senses in the Ancient Near East. Although we often treat the senses as though they are immutable, fundamental properties of our physiology, the way we parse our sensory experiences is dictated by our cultural context. Accordingly, the essays in Distant Impressions explore the social aspects of sensation in the ancient Near East, inviting the reader to move beyond the physiological study of sensation to an examination of its cultural meanings. Dr. Hawthorn is an author, cultural historian, and multidisciplinary artist based in St. John’s, N.L.

Deborah (Evans) Cohen, Artsci’94 (PhD, University of Ottawa), has released the first novel in a planned trilogy: Boleyn Curse. When PhD history student Ellie Bowlan attends a séance, she receives a strange message: “To end your family curse, you must save the life of the man who killed your parents.” As a skeptic of all things supernatural, she ignores this bizarre advice, until her research forces her to face the truth about her parents’ murder and the astonishing connection she has with Anne Boleyn. Queen’s alumni readers will find plenty of familiar references: parts of the book take place on Queen’s campus. Dr. Cohen is an adjunct professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa and a researcher with the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Kristin Andrychuk, Arts’62, is the author of Mother’s Genius. The novel follows the life of Martin Thorton, an intelligent but troubled man who suffered a terrible accident as a child, and the women in his life who are wrestling with guilt, devotion, and alienation. As in her previous novel, Cadillac Road, Ms. Andrychuk explores the intricate dynamics of small-town living and family relationships.

Abdul Hai Alami, PhD’06 (Mechanical Engineering), is the author of Mechanical Energy Storage for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Resources. The available literature on energy storage technologies in general, and mechanical energy storage in particular, is lacking in terms of both quantity and quality. This volume focuses on novel (yet uncomplicated) ideas that are currently part of the Energy Storage curriculum at the University of Sharjah, U.A.E. Although ideally suited for wind energy storage, the techniques described are also suitable for renewable energy storage in general. Dr. Alami is an associate professor in the Department of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of Sharjah.