An Alabama author with Columbia connections will be in town Wednesday to sign copies of her latest book.
Kimberly Conn of Birmingham will be at the Columbia-Marion County Public Library at 3 p.m. that day with her work, “Audrey Anonymous.” Born in Ocean Springs, Conn is the daughter-in-law of Charles and Sharron Conn of Columbia.
The book features Audrey Anderson, who was once a corporate powerhouse who finds herself in the throes of motherhood, raising a highly emotional teenage daughter and an autistic son, without much help from her husband. Audrey’s goal each day is to survive with minimal drama from her children, but as she relies more and more on alcohol to help her cope, is a growing addiction blinding her to her responsibilities? Can Audrey recognize what is truly important before she loses everything? Audrey Anonymous is a powerful portrayal of one woman’s struggle to confront her own selfishness and rediscover the gift of motherhood.
Her first novel, “Buying the Farm,” was published several years ago, and Conn visited several book clubs in Columbia. Her upcoming visit is being sponsored by the Friends of the Library and the Charlotte Yarborough Book Club.
Conn was born in Mississippi but moved to the Washington, D.C., area as a child.
“I’ve always had this connection to Mississippi,” she said. “But I was the only one in my family who was born here. I have sisters who were born in Maryland and California.”
However, Conn would later visit Columbia and her husband, Joel’s family.
Kimberly began writing when her fourth-grade teacher, Jane Eagan, encouraged her to put the wildly imaginative stories she told down on paper and read them to younger students at school.
“I still think of Ms. Eagan when I sit down to write,” she said.
A graduate of Virginia Tech, she has taught elementary school in Florida, Virginia, and Alabama. Kimberly lives in Birmingham, Ala., with her husband, teenage sons, and “the world’s best dog.”
“I taught in Tallahassee, Fla., and northern Virginia,” she said. “I took some graduate classes at George Mason University in creative writing and absolutely loved them. I used to write a lot in my teaching. Kids are great about putting their thoughts down on paper, and they will tell you a whole lot of stuff that you never expected to hear. Written expression is totally underused.”
