ABOUT US
E. C. MURRAY
Elizabeth Corcoran Murray, writing as E.C. Murray, founder and publisher of THE WRITERS CONNECTION is an author, teacher, and freelance writer. She wrote An Unfamiliar Guest, an intriguing, highly acclaimed mystery set in the northwest. Her memoir A Long Way from Paris, was named a KIRKUS BEST BOOK of 2014. Her short story, “The Urban Goatherd” received a Pushcart nomination. She’s published in Hybrid Mom, Spokes and Strokes, ABILITY magazine, Seattle Child, and more. E.C. interviewed many of the renown authors in our “author interview” section.
A frequent speaker at conferences, schools and libraries, E.C. studied creative writing at the University of Washington, Sarah Lawrence, Hedgebrook and Southampton, New York. Born in western Massachusetts she attended MacDuffie and Northfield-Mt. Hermon. She also studied at Ohio Wesleyan, received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Oregon and a master's in social work from the University of Washington. EC Murray teaches creative writing at Seattle Central College and lives on an island in Washington state with her family and frisky cat.
BOOKS By E.C. MURRAY
AN UNFAMILIAR GUEST
ISBN - 0960019715 Available to order at most bookstores, Bookshop.org, Amazon, KINDLE, or receive a signed book for the discounted price of $11.95 plus shipping by contacting truwryter@comcast.net.
“Secrets are revealed, a man is shot, and shocking lies surface in a saga that leads from New England to Washington state to La Serena, Chile. An Unfamiliar Guest is a mystery about friendship and intrigue with twists that will astonish even the most astute reader. In a departure from her award-winning memoir, A Long Way from Paris, E.C. Murray’s suspense brings together two estranged friends on a lush island in Washington state. The friends, a mysterious widow and a frustrated mother of teenagers, slowly reconcile only to discover nothing is as it seems.”
You think you know who your friends are — but do you really? An Unfamiliar Guest will make you wonder. A terrific read! – Mike Lawson, Edgar nominated author of the Joe DeMarco series.
Engaging tale proves that it’s never too late to try to repair the past. – Kirkus
An Unfamiliar Guest is a who-and-why-done-it which hits all the right marks and keeps readers guessing to the end. – Randall Platt, Award-winning author of eleven novels including Professor Renoir’s Collection of Oddities, Curiosities, and Delights
Deeply compelling…prose is always immediate and clear – Booklife
“This was such a fun book to read, I couldn’t put it down once I started. Besides being an interesting who-dunnit mystery, I loved the strong female characters and their complex, intertwined relationships. Wonderful themes of friendship, reconciliation, resilience and renewal.” Amazon reader
E.C. Murray is available for book clubs on Zoom or in person near Gig Harbor, WA. Contact truwryter@comcast.net.
A Long Way from Paris
ISBN-990310213 Available to order at most bookstores, Bookshop.org, Amazon, KINDLE, or receive a signed book for the discounted price of $11.95 plus shipping by contacting truwryter@comcast.net.
Named a Kirkus Best Book of the Year
“You will weep…you will laugh.” Kirkus Reviews
“Flecked with humor and bittersweet candor.” The Bellingham Herald
“Energetic prose, blending poetic description…brings to vivid, eye-popping life the rural landscape. Rich with history, Murray’s literary and philosophical reflections give the memoir substance.” Publishers Weekly
“A rich, lucid debut memoir… Murray writes with grace, complexity and humor… a rare balance of light and darkness…you will weep and you will laugh.” Kirkus Reviews
Cited as “New and Noteworthy” by Seattle Times
“Murray writes with humor and courage…as adventurous as “Eat, Pray Love”…with a little of Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild” thrown in. Yakima Herald
“This account captures the essence of coming of age.” Kitsap Sun
“A riveting read. Murray engages the senses every step of the way.” Scott Driscoll, University of Washington, author of Better You Go Home
“Murray is both a sharp observer of the local color and a cartographer of her own internal geography, making A Long Way from Paris as richly textured as fromage de chèvre.” Langdon Cook, author of The Mushroom Hunters, winner of the 2014 Pacific Northwest Book Award and 2014 Washington State Book Award
“She beautifully explores her deep awareness of the land, an unfolding appreciation of hard work and the importance of family. The result is a fascinating journey filled with wisdom, grace and compassion.” Carlene Cross, author of The Undying West, Fleeing Fundamentalism
“EC Murray brings the reader to the haunting, godforsaken beauty of the French Pyrenees…living a life stripped down to the basics, her senses, intuition, and heart must take over. It is a thoughtful, heartwarming journey…that leads…to the core of life.” Beth Corcoran, Lévis-Lauzon College, Quebec
“Totally engrossing and imbued with both humor and heartbreak. Murray has infused the everyday with meaning and adventure.” Carol Wissmann, Freelance writer, editor, and speaker.
“The more she dug, unveiling more intimate, personal material, the more she felt compelled to write, rather than inspired.” Springfield Republican, MassLive
“Anyone who’s struck out on the road to find themselves (and those who’ve wanted to!) will surely see themselves in E.C. Murray’s lovely and nicely rendered A LONG WAY FROM PARIS.” Theo Pauline Nestor, author of WRITING IS MY DRINK.
“This is one of my favorite memoirs out of over 500 which I’ve read and taught. It is all about the simple beguiling power of internal growth. The story unfolds through the use of Elizabeth’s daily journal while she tended goats as a young American woman in southern France. Almost imperceptibly, we are drawn into her experiences, reflections, memories and challenges. We start to care about the people and animals for whom she cares: the Fontaine family, their neighbours, her Australian fellow goat-herder, the goats themselves. All come alive as “Ay-leez-a-bett-a” grows with and through their struggles. It’s an adventure story, a love tale, a travelogue. We breathe the air, we taste the wine, we see the mountains in the mists and we walk for free through beautiful rugged ancient Languedoc. Elizabeth Murray’s sincere and emotionally touching account of her time in southern France stirred my soul.” Dr. Maureen Slattery, Former Vice-Dean Faculty of Human Sciences at University of Ottawa and St. Paul University; Montreal, Canada
Two TINY, Tiny Books
WRITERS UNBLOCKED
Insightful tips from writers in and around Seattle.
Fulfill your passion to write! Thirty of Seattle’s most respected writers offer advice for aspiring writers, for writers facing the accursed “writer’s block,” and for those who want to improve their skills. What’s a step outline? Do I need to get an MFA? What’s the best way to get started in the morning? How do I motivate myself? E.C. Murray gathered insightful tips from her Writer’s Connection interviews (www.writersconnection.org) in this slim volume of authors, poets, essayists and screen writers advice. Use these insightful tips to boost your motivation, overcome frustration and spark your writing.
Writers included are: Meg Wolitzer, Garth Stein, Erik Larson, Debbie Macomber, Elizabeth George, Theo Nestor, Bruce Barcott, Jim Lynch, Jonathan Evision, Hank Searls, Carla Seaquist, Randall Platt, Langdon Cook, William Dietz, Mike Lawson, Carol Cassella, Sheila Roberts, Susan Rich, Stephanie Kallos, Jamie Ford, Scott Driscoll, Marissa Meyer, Ryan Boudinot, Michele Torrey, JA Jance, Anca Szilágyi, Waverly Fitzgerald, Ann Hedreen, Diane Mettler, Kelli Russell Agodon, Bharti Kirchner, and Marcia Bradley.
Life Kind of Sucks
“Life Kind of Sucks,” beautifully illustrated by award winning artist Germaine Austin, is based on being a Mom and a social worker. When life feels rough, when nothing comes easily, when one is anxious or depressed or sad or confused, here’s a mini-book with some fresh ideas. It isn’t an anecdote for the hard times per se, but hopefully, it will provide tools to make each day go a little more smoothly. Life Kind of Sucks is filled with ideas for people of all ages, girls and boys, men and women, who are in a funk. It’s especially popular with teen boys and girls and older women.
WENDY HINMan
Wendy Hinman
is an award-winning author with an insatiable curiosity and a natural inclination to share her discoveries. She loves stories: telling them, writing them, reading them and editing them. Her hit book, Tightwads on the Loose: A Seven-Year Pacific Odyssey, details her seven year adventure afloat. Her second book, Sea Trials was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2017.
She has years of experience in journalism, public relations, and marketing internationally. She’s a sought-after speaker, particularly on living your dreams, nautical matters, adventuring and living simply as well as writing and publishing. www.wendyhinman.com