Join me in celebrating the 8th birthday of my first novel FLING!’S release, a wildly comic romp on mothers, daughters, art, and travel!

My novel Fling, a wildly comic romp on mothers, daughters, art, and travel, was published in July 2015.

What happens in Fling? Feather, an aging hippie, returns to her Calgary home to help her mother, Bubbles, celebrate her 90^th birthday. Bubbles has received mail from the dead letter office in Mexico City, asking her to pick up her mother’s ashes, left there seventy years earlier and only now surfacing.

A woman with a mission, and still vigorous, Bubbles convinces a reluctant Feather to take her to Mexico so she can recover the ashes and give her mother a proper burial. Both women have recently shed husbands and have a secondary agenda: they’d like a little action. And they get it.

Alternating narratives weave together Feather and Bubbles’ odyssey with their colorful Scottish ancestors, creating a family tapestry. In Mexico, the land where reality and magic co-exist, Feather gets a new sense of her mother.  The Indian villagers mistake Bubbles for a well-known rain goddess, praying for her to bring rain so their land will thrive again.  Feather, who’s been seeking “The Goddess” for years, eventually realizes what she’s overlooked.

Meanwhile, Bubbles’ quest for her mother’s ashes (and a new man) has increased her zest for life. A shrewd business woman, she’s certain she’s found the fountain of youth at a mineral springs outside San Miguel de Allende; she’s determined to bottle the water and sell it.

But gambling is her first love, and unlike most women her age, fun-loving Bubbles takes risks, believing she’s immortal.  Unlike her daughter, Bubbles doesn’t hold back in any way, eating heartily, lusting after strangers, her youthful spirit and innocence convincing readers that they’ve found the fountain of youth themselves in this character. At ninety, she comes into her own, coming to age, proving it’s never too late to fulfill one’s dreams.

Praise for Fling:

Lewis Buzbee, who teaches creative writing in the University of San Francisco’s MFA in writing program and has published several volumes of fiction and non-fiction, says, “Fling is both hilarious and touching, the madcap journey of an aging mother and her adult daughter from cold Protestant Canada into the hallucinogenic heart of Mexico’s magic, where the past literally comes to life.  Every page is a surprise, and “Bubbles” is one of the most endearing mothers in recent fiction.  A scintillating read.”

He also said, I so enjoyed reading Fling.  A terrific book. The writing is wonderful and such a good read.  And the characters!  I especially loved Bubbles.  Thanks for letting me read it.