Many characters in the book deal with unexpected changes in their lives and would welcome facts to guide them. The title seemed to reflect the emotional struggles of the characters and almost implies that it’s simple to change a life. But my characters find that life is complex; what works for one person will not work for another.

A unique portrait of a time and place populated by fearless people, this reimagination of an uncommon woman is powerful.

Donna Baier Stein artfully intertwines her story with some of the real-life Lizzie’s own journal writings, and the author pays tribute to her protagonist by emulating and maintaining the tone of these entries.

Colorado’s Baby Doe Tabor was a fiercely independent woman who bucked all her era’s social expectations. In 1866, 12-year-old Lizzie McCourt watched a fire consume her father’s tailoring business and home in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Vowing to rebuild her family’s fortune, she later married Harvey Doe, the mayor’s son, and followed him and her father-in-law to Colorado, where Harvey Doe, Sr., had gifted them a mine called The Fourth of July.

The Saint Ann’s Review published Donna Baier Stein’s story, “The Sweet Perfume of Somewhere Else” Fall 2015 issue

Life and Legends published two of Donna Baier Stein’s poems in an issue guest-edited by Melissa Studdard

Sympathetic People named one of four finalists in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Short Fiction category

Miriam Polli has turned her own fascinating life journey to good use, making the recent publication of her first novel, In a Vertigo of Silence (Serving House Books), cause for celebration. The novel spans four decades from the 1920s to 1960s and shines a warm light on family secrets that have haunted several generations of Polish women. Mental illness, alcoholism, adultery—and the many things we do not tell those closest to us—are the dangerous threads woven through these women’s lives.

Free State Review published Donna Baier Stein’s story “Under the Weight of His Mother’s Body” Fall 2015 issue