Blackburn, Wendy

PERSONAL:

Children: two daughters.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Residence XII, 12029 113th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034. Agent—Charlotte Gusay Literary Agency, 10532 Blythe Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064. E-mail—wendy@wendyblackburn.com.

CAREER:

Counselor and writer. Residence XII, Kirkland, WA, chemical-dependency counselor. Previously worked a series of odd jobs, including messenger, newsstand clerk, art gallery receptionist, and lingerie salesperson.

WRITINGS:

Beachglass (novel), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Author of blog Wendy Blackburn Web Log.

SIDELIGHTS:

In her first novel, titled Beachglass, Wendy Blackburn draws on her own experience as a drug counselor to write about Delia, a drug counselor in Seattle who is also a recovering addict that has been clean for ten years. When she discovers that her friend Timothy, a onetime friend and fellow Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) member is dying of AIDS, she heads to Los Angeles to be with him during his final days. A Publishers Weekly contributor described the story as "Delia's retrospective account of her addiction and her arduous and still-constant struggle to find a way to live clean." In an interview with Bob Condor in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Blackburn noted: "I wanted to write about recovery, what it is really like." The author went on to comment: "One of my goals is to show that people in recovery can be successful, lively, not the stereotype of creepy addicts." Whitney Scott, writing in Booklist, referred to Beachglass as "a richly poignant first novel." A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that "the AA meetings and late-night coffee and cigarette klatches ring so true that the tobacco smoke practically wafts off the page." In a review on the Curled Up with a Good Book Web site, Michael Leonard commented that the author "writes a compelling account of those afflicted with the disease of drug and alcohol addiction. Delia's growth and emotional restoration is flawlessly engraved in time; her passage of memory is captured in stunning images and deeply effective symbolism."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2006, Whitney Scott, review of Beachglass, p. 16.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2006, review of Beachglass, p. 196.

Publishers Weekly, March 27, 2006, review of Beachglass, p. 54.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 15, 2006, Bob Condor, "Living Well: Rehab Counselor Draws on Battles for Her First Novel."

ONLINE

Curled Up with a Good Book,http://www.curledup.com/ (October 20, 2006), Michael Leonard, review of Beachglass.

Wendy Blackburn Home Page,http://www.wendyblackburn.com (October 30, 2006).*