My collection of shorts stories, “The Path of Totality,” is being published this week by Cornerstone Press. It will still be on sale for a few more days for 20% off until the publication date, which is Feb. 11. You can order it from Cornerstone here.
I’m having a launch event Feb. 18th, 6:30 p.m., at one of my favorite cafes in Duluth—Wussow’s Concert Cafe. It’s being hosted by Zenith Bookstore. I’ll also be doing a reading/signing at Foxes and Fireflies Bookstore in Superior on March 1 from 1-3 p.m. If you’re in the area, please stop by!
Noted Superior, Wisconsin, author, Carol Dunbar is helping me with the Feb. 18th event. She is way more well-known than I am, having had two books published by a national publisher. She was nice enough to write a blurb for my book, which appears on its cover. She was also nice enough to volunteer for a question and answer discussion with me of our books and careers. We deal with many of the same themes in our writing, so it should be a cool event!
“Booklist,” which caters to libraries, recently reviewed “The Path of Totality.” Here’s what they said:
Love, in its numerous forms: romantic, parental, devotional, inspirational, and desperate, has a lingering presence in Zhuikov’s collection of tales. The title story describes a young couple’s emotional struggles after the devastating loss of a premature baby boy. While viewing the 2017 total solar eclipse, healing suddenly sprouts as something “flipped a reset switch” inside the wife. “Bog Boy” is a comically creepy tale illustrating that love truly has no limits. A teenage girl discovers the long-dead body of a young man entombed by peat in the woods, and the preserved corpse becomes her de facto boyfriend. “The Shower Singer” is a feel-good story about an aspiring musician who receives more than just a much-needed jolt of creativity when he hears a woman in the adjacent apartment singing lovely melodies in the shower. Other characters include a sleuthing widow obsessed with the strangeness of a house who ultimately pays a steep price for her curiosity, a hungry alien life form that stalks a college student in Biosphere 2, and a reference librarian with an extraordinary connection to sentient trees.

Congratulations, Marie!
Thank you, Dave and Misty!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Congrats!
Thank you, Neil!
Yay! I’m so happy for you! I plan on being at both events!
That’s so awesome, Vickie!
Congratulations and best wishes!
Thank you!!
Congrats, Marie! Best wishes on a successful launch. 😊
Thank you, Jennifer! I wish you lived closer so that you could come out for it. 🙂
Me too!
That’s huge! Congratulations!
Thank you Ann. The book’s been 10 years in writing and 2 years in the making, so I’m pretty psyched.
Fantastic news! Congratulations to you!
Thanks, Swabby!
C
Congratulations! Your stories sound intriguing!
Thanks Liz. I like to think there’s a bit of magic in these stories. 🙂
Congratulations! Sounds fascinating. Enjoy the book launch!🚀
Thanks Eilene. I just hope the weather cooperates for my launch. Fingers crossed!
Congrats! Best wishes!
Thanks Diana!
congrats
Congratulations, Marie!
Thank you, Amy. I had the launch last night. It went great! A nice celebration of 10 years of work.
Thank you for sharing with us!
Congratulations!
Thanks Dawn!