Clara Montague didn't even want to come home. Her mother, Constance Montague never liked her--or listened to her--but now they have to get along or they will both end up in jail or dead.
"During her yearlong tenure as Norwalk’s first poet laureate, Laurel Peterson will work to disseminate poetry in Norwalk’s public sphere. Her first project, a selection of poems to be displayed on Norwalk busses, will go on display this month." –The Hour
"Laurel Peterson, an author and poet, is Norwalk’s first poet laureate — one of only a handful in the state. For the next year, she will work to foster a love and appreciation of poetry among the city's residents and visitors" –Westport News
Laurel S. Peterson is a Professor of English at Norwalk Community College.
Her poetry has been published in many small literary journals. She has two poetry chapbooks:
That’s the Way the Music Sounds, from Finishing Line Press (2009) and Talking to the Mirror
from The Last Automat Press (2010). She also co-edited a collection of essays on women’s
justice titled (Re)Interpretations: The Shapes of Justice in Women’s Experience (2009).
Her mystery novel, Shadow Notes, was released by Barking Rain Press (May 2016).
A full length collection of poetry, Do You Expect Your Art to Answer You? was released
by Futurecycle Press in 2017. She served as poet laureate of Norwalk, CT from April 2016 – April 2019.
One eighth grade afternoon, the bully on the bus was worse than usual. I came home and wrote a story of revenge in my journal. What satisfaction to leave her bleeding (on paper, of course!) on the playground. Thus was born my career as a mystery writer.
In college, I majored in psychology, fascinated by what motivates us (or doesn’t). Why did that girl down the hall only write notes to her mother and rarely talk to her? Why did one kid in a family act like a goody two-shoes, while an older brother or sister did drugs and flunked out? Why was the rich girl with all the family connections bulimic? Why did people attend a religious school only to flout all its rules?
After college, I tested the waters in advertising, catering, retail, and sales, salting away character details in my journals, and in lousy short stories. Then, I did an MFA and entered the world of academic politics, where I currently reside, writing poetry and mysteries, and grading papers.