2/25/2012
 

Local publishing house to publish UW-Stevens Point lecturer’s novel

Elizabeth Caulfield Felt, an associate lecturer in English at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, will have her historical fiction novel “Syncopation” published this spring by Cornerstone Press, a publishing house staffed by UW-Stevens Point students.

“Syncopation” tells the story of Adéle Hugo, the youngest child of French poet and dramatist Victor Hugo, as she writes her memoir late in life. A composer, poet, intellectual and beauty, Adéle rebels against her father’s expectation that she play the part of a traditional 19th-century wife and mother, putting her on a path to become a seductress, thief and liar.

“I really like Adéle,” said Felt, a 12-year resident of Stevens Point. “Although she can be a very frustrating person, she pulls you into her story. Part of her life is so unfair, and you can feel how unfair it is. But she makes a lot of decisions that really aren’t very good. As a reader you want things to work out for her, and because she was real, but not all that famous, you don’t know what will happen.”

She will sign copies of this book, as well as take preorders for “Syncopation” at BookFinders, 1001 Brillowski Road, Stevens Point, on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 3–5 p.m. during the bookstore’s grand opening celebration.

The author spent three years writing the novel, which several major publishers almost picked up. She revised it in November 2011 as part of her National Novel Writing Month project before submitting it to Cornerstone Press in January. She said she was delighted to learn that Cornerstone Press selected it for publication. “I danced all around the house,” said Felt.

Felt’s previously published work includes “The Stolen Goldin Violin,” a children’s novel she wrote and published with her husband, Andy, and their sons, Craig and Tom.

Cornerstone Press is advised by publishing industry veteran and Assistant Professor of English Per Henningsgaard. Students in English 349: Editing and Publishing, act as employees of the publishing house, filling roles in managing, editing, producing, marketing and sales. Its student staff has published 31 novels to date, including “Whipped, Not Beaten,” a chick-lit novel by UW-Stevens Point alumnus Melissa Westemeier, and “The Illustrated College Survival Guide” by New York Times bestselling author and UW-Stevens Point alumnus Patrick Rothfuss.

For more information, visit Cornerstone Press or call 715-346-4342.