"A fascinating thought-provoking novel, with memorable characters and a gripping plot inspired by real-life events.”
—Readers Choice Awards 5 Stars
"Tangles doesn't feel like the historical novels I've been reading lately...it feels like so much more.” —San Francisco Book Review
See the full trade reviews at In the News
Available for preorder
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Black Rose Writing
and your favorite bookstores via bookshop.org
For a 15% discount click Black Rose Writing and use code Preorder2024
Coming
December 3rd
A Suspense-Filled
20th-Century Historical
Environmental Thriller
A quietly fierce secretary, a brash young scientist,
a small town cloaked in secrecy...and
an entire region
under threat.
for my newsletter
for more details and upcoming appearances in Seattle, Portland, Park City, Tri-Cities, Carmel, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, Austin, Charlotte, and many more!
Robert Dugoni, New York Times Bestselling author of
The Tracy Crosswhite Series
“In a well-crafted debut,
Smith-Blum provides the reader a ringside seat to the
birth of the nuclear age…a beautifully written, important story…much like A Civil Action - Tangles packs a punch and hits close to home.”
James Anderson,
Award-winning author of
The Never-Open Desert Diner
"At once labyrinthine and simply and deeply human…in stunning and engrossing multiple narratives, Smith-Blum reminds us about the lasting costs of love, loyalty and freedom and, above all, the enduring solace of nature and family.”
Kevin O'Brien, New York Times Bestselling author of
The Enemy at Home
"In her knockout debut novel, Kay Smith-Blum sheds new light on Hanford…skillfully blending historical details and nail-biting suspense, she delivers two complex protagonists you can really root for…”
Cam Torrens,
Award-winning author of
The Tyler Zahn novels
"Kay Smith-Blum’s voice radiates, with Annie Proulx-like dialogue and descriptive prose reminiscent of Guterson, KSB explores America’s Northwest at the dawn of the nuclear age!
A genre-defying novel that is impossible to set aside."
Joshua Frank, Award-winning journalist and author of
Atomic Days
"Tangles is a brilliant, captivating ride through a very dark period in America's nuclear history. Although fiction, Smith-Blum reveals many truths about our radioactive legacy."
Michelle Gerber, PhD, author of On the Home Front: The Cold War Legacy of the Hanford Nuclear Site
"Tangles is a fascinating read…set against the backdrop of an important time and little-known place in American history, Smith-Blum keeps the reader guessing.
I couldn’t put it down.”
Steve Olson, Award-winning author of
The Apocalypse Factory
"Smith-Blum has gorgeously re-created an obscure time and place that were critical to the future of the planet. Her story speaks to us all."
Morris Hoffman, author of
Pinch Hitting
"...a triumphant artistic reconstruction of the radiation horrors at the Hanford, Washington plutonium processing facility...an ode to the irrepressibility of caring in the face of uncaring dangers. Tangles is
first-rate literature."
Joseph Lewis, Author of
Blaze In, Blaze Out,
Fan Mail &
other Evans Family tales
"A master storyteller, Kay Smith-Blum
is now
on my "go to" list
of authors to read...
she should be
for you, too!
Gut-wrenching and heart-warming... characters as memorable as the setting...Tangles is
a 5-Star, Must Read!"
Chris Riley, Author of
Went Missing
"Smith-Blum delivers
a powerful novel
about a time
in history we should
never forget. A story of
hope and loss, regret,
and love... keep the tissues handy,
as it comes with
an ending that will
shed the tears."
Gary Gerlacher,
Author of the
AJ Docker Thriller series
"Themes of love, betrayal, and deception resonate throughout the story as...Luke and Mary personalize the Hanford disaster for the audience in the same way that Rose and Jack personalized the Titanic tragedy. A smart story you won’t want to put down."
Carole T. Beers, Author of Fire Girl and other New West Mysteries with heart
"Kay Smith-Blum offers up a trenchant tale of hope, fear and longing that penetrates the heart. ...intensely personal, occasionally light,
sometimes hurtful and yet readers cannot turn away.
Smith-Blum
makes us care.
Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women
Co-edited by Carolyn Korsmeyer, Christy Matheson, Elaine Aucoin Schroller, Kay Smith-Blum and Kimberly Sullivan
THE STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION depict ordinary women from the 1470s to the 1970s meeting life's challenges with fierce determination.
An unhappy housewife in 1950s California gathers the courage to escape an abusive marriage. As local men are shipped off to WWI, a young Yorkshire woman joins others to keep a munitions factory at peak operation. As her land and way of life are threatened, a 19th-century Chickasaw wife and mother rekindles the strength of her ancestors. A midwife strives to protect mothers from accusations of witchcraft. A Victorian portrait artist possesses a rare sought-after talent that dispatches unwanted relatives.
Foreign invaders, rigid domestic authorities, strictures of society and religion, the supernatural and love and family bonds serve as catalysts for the feisty women in these tales.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Redefining Historical Fiction
An Austin, Texas transplant, Kay Smith-Blum is a recovering retailer who is redefining the historical fiction genre from her bayside perch in Seattle. Named Woman Business Owner (NWWA) of 2013, her wit, humor, and resourcefulness helped her high-end retail fashion business endure multiple economic shifts in a decades-long career. She and her husband sold their company in 2016, allowing KSB to write full-time.
Winner of the 2023 Black Fox Lit short story contest, Smith-Blum is a member of the Historical Fiction Writers Group, WFWA (serving on the Scholarship committee), HistFic Feisty Deeds Anthology editorial committee, Ravenna Writers Circle, CommuterLit Writers Group, the Authors Guild, PNWA, NIWA and AWP. She has been published in over a dozen literary journals and her debut novel, TANGLES, will be published on December 3, 2024 (available for pre-order now and all preorders benefit the HanfordCleanup.org).
As a publicly elected official (President of the Seattle School Board 2012) she led multiple initiatives on behalf of the students of Seattle. As a private citizen, Smith-Blum raised millions of dollars for education, the arts, and medical research. She established the first greenhouse and urban gardening program in Seattle Public Schools. She has served on numerous charitable boards in the Pacific Northwest.
Photo credit Marc Von Borstel
An active member of the downtown Seattle community, she is currently advocating for a park in the last green space in the urban core, made available by the demolition of the Highway 99 viaduct. An avid gardener, Smith-Blum works out her writer's block in her three sons' gardens and the nearest lap pool.A graduate of the University of Texas, Smith-Blum chaired Downtown Seattle’s first marketing campaign and published a seasonal magazine for 10 years. She co-authored the “Every Man, Every Woman” inspirational series of cards and posters, published by Schurman Fine Papers, Portal Publications, and Sawdust City. Smith-Blum is a dynamic speaker and experienced producer of large and small events that leverage both traditional and social media.
CONTACT
For media or event inquiries, please contact:
Catherine Kennedy cat@ckpublicity.com
For book clubs please contact: KSB kaysmithblum@gmail.com
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