Author returns to area for ‘Windfall’
Best-selling author Wendy Corsi Staub graduated from Dunkirk High School and the State University of New York at Fredonia. She is returning to the area for an author talk and signing at the Darwin R. Barker Library on Oct. 7.
“Windfall,” published earlier this year, is Staub’s latest stand-alone thriller and will be available to purchase at her upcoming visit to Barker Library.
Best-selling author Wendy Corsi Staub graduated from Dunkirk High School and the State University of New York at Fredonia. She is returning to the area for an author talk and signing at the Darwin R. Barker Library on Oct. 7.
“Windfall,” published earlier this year, is Staub’s latest stand-alone thriller and will be available to purchase at her upcoming visit to Barker Library.
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This summer's Powerball jackpot--the third largest prize in Powerball history--hit $1.08 billion, and with the current jackpot approaching $1 billion, it's only natural to fantasize about winning.
"Everyone thinks, 'What if I won the Powerball?'" New York Times-bestselling author and Dunkirk native Wendy Corsi Staub told the OBSERVER in a phone interview. "What if you and your friends went in on a ticket together and won? And what if the one with the winning ticket disappeared?" In her latest suspense novel "Windfall," Staub explores these very questions and more. On Saturday, Oct. 7 at noon she'll be talking about this new book, as well as the latest book in her Lily Dale mystery series, at Fredonia's Darwin R. Barker Library.
"Windfall"
Hailed a "first-rate thriller" by Booklist and a summer must-read by Bookreporter, "Windfall" takes readers on what may feel like an ordinary journey - at least at first. Three close friends and former college roommates travel to Las Vegas together to celebrate a birthday weekend and decide to buy a lottery ticket, never imagining that they'd get the winning one! The friends travel to California to meet with Shea Daniels, a "sudden wealth manager," who promises to help them navigate this life-changing sum. Circumstances quickly change when wildfires inhibit travel and communication, trapping the friends at Shea's home. When the friend holding the winning ticket disappears, the others are left to wonder if their friend isn't who they thought she was or if something far more sinister is responsible for her disappearance.
Staub told the OBSERVER her inspiration for the book came from her own musings about the possibility of winning. "I feel like coming out of the pandemic, so many people experienced hardship in one way or another," she said. "When you're on shaky ground like that, and you're worried about tomorrow, you start to fantasize: 'Wow, it'd be great!' So I took that and kind of twisted it." Staub, who once knew a family who shared a winning ticket, recalled that a dispute over the prize money ended up ruining the relationship. "When there's $1 billion at stake, you really question who you can trust!"
As Staub's readers know and appreciate, there is much more to her books than suspense. In "Windfall," she told the OBSERVER, "I wanted to explore poverty in women in particular: women who had sacrificed their career to raise children, or whose business had gone belly up, or who had been discriminated against in the workplace and didn't make as much money, or because of divorce or a custody battle end up struggling. ... I wanted to explore what happens when women all bond over that." In "Windfall," the women have all suffered financial hardship. "It's not something that people are comfortable talking about usually," Staub noted.
Loyalty and friendship are other themes explored in "Windfall," as few things can test a friendship like $1 billion! "There's a way that you have with friends, even over time," Staub said. "Usually, you step in and pick up where you left off because you feel like you really know these people. But then if it came down to a situation like this, it's 'How well do I really know this person?' ... You make assumptions about somebody and how they'd react to something just because of how they would have 25 years ago when you knew them so well."
Staub said the book was fun to write, and she's looking forward to signing copies at the library next weekend. There, Buffalo independent bookstore Talking Leaves will be selling copies of "Windfall" and "The Stranger Vanishes," the fifth book in her Lily Dale mysteries series. This is Staub's first event signing "The Stranger Vanishes," as she knew she couldn't return to the area without her local fans' favorite.
"The Stranger Vanishes"
"I have to say, I wasn't going to do more Lily Dale books," said Staub as she paused to feed her cats, who often make an appearance in her mystery series. "It's the readers! Everyone wants more, and people are so wonderful. They're so invested in the characters...Even my agent said, 'Why do you want to do this?' Because I love it, and my readers love it, and it's special to me."
Set in Lily Dale, "The Stranger Vanishes" features a mysterious visitor to Bella Jordan's guest house. As if his unexpected arrival at midnight on Juneteenth isn't strange enough, his sudden disappearance shocks the community. Is there a logical explanation or is the vanishing guest a warning from the Spirits? Like Staub's earlier books in the series, "The Stranger Vanishes" includes plenty of local landmarks and history--this time from Chautauqua County's Underground Railroad. The book also features a character that may be familiar to local readers. "The cats are always real (in the Lily Dale series)," Staub told the OBSERVER. "Columbus was my Aunt Mick and Uncle Ron's cat. Growing up, I used to cat sit him; he was like a member of the family. He's the real cat in 'The Stranger Vanishes'".
Upcoming projects
The series doesn't end with "The Stranger Vanishes," as Staub recently signed a two-book deal with Severn House. She is currently writing book six, "Dog Days," and will begin book seven soon. "I have a two-book deal with a new publisher for two more stand-alone thrillers," Staub told the OBSERVER. "The first should be launching in early 2025 once I get busy on it!"
Fans of Staub's young adult Lily Dale series will be thrilled to know that the series is moving closer to the silver screen! "We actually sold it to NBC's Peacock," Staub told the OBSERVER. "It had been optioned originally by Tish Cyrus' production company HopeTown Entertainment. They really moved ahead with it and ended up selling it to Peacock. I have my separate deal with them, but they are attached to produce it." Staub said the series is not in development yet, as the recent writers' strike froze this and many other projects. She is glad the strike is resolved: "I was excited about it then, and I'm excited about it now...Until it goes into development, you just never know, but let's hope it moves forward soon!"
Meet Staub and purchase her two latest books at the Darwin R. Barker Library's free event "A Visit from Wendy Corsi Staub" on Saturday, Oct. 7 at noon. To learn more about the best-selling author of more than 90 novels, visit www.wendycorsistaub.com.