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WORK TITLE: Moki Steps
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Rich, Deborah
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.jreedrich.net/
CITY: Denver
STATE: CO
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.jreedrich.net/j-reed-rich-bio * http://www.corvisieroagency.com/deborah-rich–j-reed-rich.html
RESEARCHER NOTES:
Not found in LOC authorities under J Reed Rich or Deborah Rich
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:Attended Colorado State University and Eastern Montana College.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, editor, book designer, and Website manager. Has also worked as a clothes designer, manager of an athletic club, and for a literary nonprofit society.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
J. Reed Rich is the pseudonym for Deborah Rich. Rich attended Colorado State University and Eastern Montana College and then went on to work an editor, book designer, and website manager. She has also worked for a literary nonprofit agency and as an athletic club manager and ballroom gown designer. Rich added the title of novelist to her many roles in 2017, and her debut title, Moki Steps, follows a young linguistics professor named Mackenzie Campbell. Mackenzie is a single workaholic, but despite her dedication to her career, she has trouble interacting with her students. Still, Mackenzie is determined to become a better teacher, which is why she declines a request for field work when forced to choose between teaching and research. It doesn’t help that the request comes from Mackenzie’s ex-boyfriend, Charlie; he wants her to travel to the Lake Powell canyons to help him authenticate an Aztec codex.
When Charlie goes missing, however, Mackenzie decides to throw caution to the wine, and she joins an archaeological expedition that’s set to travel to the canyons. Sparks fly between Mackenzie and her expedition guide, Sullivan, and their initally combative relationship soon turns into something far more romantic. As Mackenzie and Sullivan traverse the difficult terrain of the canyons, Mackenzie remains determined to find out what happened to Charlie. Will she and Sullivan survive? Will she find Charlie? An what happened to the Aztec codex?
Reviews of Moki Steps were somewhat mixed, with critics asserting that the novel’s many elements either do or don’t manage to come together. A Publishers Weekly columnist landed in the former camp, announcing that “the blend of Native American archeology-lite, Southwestern scenery, and tame romance is unlikely to find many fans.” A Midwest Book Review Online contributor landed on the other side of the debate, and advised that “one of the strengths of Moki Steps lies in its ability to build fine tension right from the start with a series of logical events.” The Midwest Book Review Online contributor went on to conclude that the “tension escalates into ambushes, gunmen, and confrontations between different special interest groups. The result is a fast-paced, vividly realistic adventure story that tests character connections, motivations, choices, and chance.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, November 21, 2016, review of Moki Steps.
ONLINE
J. Reed Rich Website, https://www.jreedrich.ne (August 21, 2017), author profile.
Midwest Book Review Online, http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ (January 1, 2017), review of Moki Steps.*
Yes, I've had a somewhat haphazard career path. I've managed an athletic club, designed ballroom gowns for competitive ballroom dancers, and worked for a literary nonprofit society.
Mostly I've spent my time in the nonfiction publishing arena, where I've worked as an editor, book designer, and website manager. I now write fiction full time.
If I'm not writing, I'm playing with my dogs, gardening, sewing, cooking, or reading. Sometimes I'm out and about exploring in our teardrop trailer
Deborah Rich a.k.a. "J. Reed Rich"
I’ve been writing full time for the past five years. Before that, I worked in nonfiction publishing for twenty years as a website manager, editor, production coordinator, and book cover designer.
If I'm not writing, I'm playing with my grandkids, hiking with my dogs, or gallivanting with my husband in our teardrop trailer.
Author of UNDER THE RADAR and MOKI STEPS.
Represented by: Marisa Corvisiero
J. Reed Rich
Author of Moki Steps
Moki Steps Arapahoe High School, Colorado State University, Eastern Montana College
Denver, Colorado 1 1 connections
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J. Reed Rich (her pen name) worked in nonfiction publishing for twenty years as an editor, book designer, production coordinator, and website manager. When not writing, she’s hiking with her dogs or gallivanting with her husband in their teardrop trailer.
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Literary Agents: What I've Learned, Part Two
Rich on LinkedIn
Publish date February 18, 2017
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Literary Agents: What I've Learned, Part One
Rich on LinkedIn
Publish date February 18, 2017
February 18, 2017
Experience
Moki Steps
Author
Company NameMoki Steps
Dates EmployedFeb 2017 – Present Employment Duration7 mos
LocationGreater Denver Area
Newbie linguistics professor Mackenzie Campbell longs for love and success but works all the time, can’t connect with her students, and is afraid she’s a second-rate teacher. When she receives a phone call from her ex-boyfriend Charlie, begging her to join him in the remote Lake Powell canyons to authenticate an ancient Aztec codex, she balks. Discovering an authentic codex would stun the linguistics world—but her department head will fire her if she leaves.
When she discovers that Charlie has disappeared, Mac manipulates her way onto an archaeological expedition to find him. There, she meets Sullivan, the expedition’s brash, insensitive guide who thinks she needs babysitting. His goading incenses her, but as they battle their way through unrelenting canyons, she’s forced to acknowledge her growing respect for him.
After a kiss in a cavern, they have a night of steamy sex. But is their relationship just the result of two people bonding during life-threatening events? Or is it real?
It takes all of Mac’s linguistics chops to decipher obscure clues, outwit devious expedition mates, and battle hazards that would unhinge even the bravest linguist. In the end, she realizes her most difficult task will be deciding between a known love and a new one. If she makes it out alive, that is.
Media (1)This position has 1 media
Find Moki Steps at Amazon: http://amzn.to/2kv45eK
Find Moki Steps at Amazon:
http://amzn.to/2kv45eK
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Education
Arapahoe High School, Colorado State University, Eastern Montana College
Arapahoe High School, Colorado State University, Eastern Montana College
8/11/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1502466524437 1/1
Print Marked Items
Moki Steps
Publishers Weekly.
263.47 (Nov. 21, 2016): p97.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Moki Steps
J. Reed Rich. Arete, $19.99 (292p) ISBN 9780-9976352-0-1
MacKenzie Campbell, the protagonist of Reed's contemporary romantic thriller, sets off on a search-andrescue
mission equipped with delusions of grand deeds and little else, much less good sense. When the
University of Denver linguistics professor learns that her ex-boyfriend Charlie is lost somewhere among the
canyons surrounding Lake Powell, she impulsively drops everything and takes up with a foundationsponsored
expedition in hopes of locating him. The plot meanders, making it anybody's guess whether this
is a Survivor knockoff or a watered down Lara Croft mystery---if Croft were an impetuous 34-year-old too
headstrong to admit her own limitations. The romance part of this romantic suspense story is so subtle that
by the time anything happens it's more of a damp sparkler than a bottle rocket. The blend of Native
American archeology-lite, Southwestern scenery, and tame romance is unlikely to find many fans. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Moki Steps." Publishers Weekly, 21 Nov. 2016, p. 97. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA471273980&it=r&asid=f4250479aa3900e1082ec35aa48eb9c9.
Accessed 11 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A471273980
Moki Steps
J. Reed Rich
www.jreedrich.net
Arete Book Group
PO Box 260722, Denver, CO 80226
9780997635201, $19.99, www.aretebookgroup.com
Mackenzie Campbell has better things to do than stand in front of a class of reluctant young learners begging them to properly diagram a sentence. She's a professor of linguistics at a fine university who has built a reputation as an expert in Uto-Aztec languages. Why is she wasting her time participating in a failed educational experiment with a group of reticent eighteen-year-olds?
The call from an ex-boyfriend comes out of the blue and promises a big discovery that will change everything; but just as sudden are a series of events that cause him to go missing, leading her on an expedition to a slot canyon which holds more than a few questions. Can an old Navajo woman's letters lead to a cache of gold hidden by the Aztecs as Cortes massacred them?
Predictably, there's a treasure map - and equally inevitable are the reasons why Charlie's discovery are certain to lead straight into danger. Less clear, at first, is Mackenzie's role in this process; but motivated by the promise of a research trip of a lifetime and a discovery that would add to her credentials, the professor soon finds that love and achievement in this case run hand in hand, straight into deadly danger.
One of the strengths of Moki Steps lies in its ability to build fine tension right from the start with a series of logical events. Take a self-proclaimed "nerdy" professor who feels stuck in both career and personal choices, take her out of her familiar world of academia and on the field trip of her life, and add romance into escalating intrigue. Stir. Then capture the culture and sense of place of the slot canyon lands of Arizona and add an elusive enemy. The result is an exploration that excels in vivid descriptions of place ("He placed one foot in front of the other, testing each step. She didn't look down but continued following him, aware that Vic was right below her. The ledge was almost two feet wide and level. To reach the cave, they had to pass through a thin stream of water that had been diverted by a cleft in the rocks next to the bigger waterfall. Getting wet was a given.") as it leads readers step-by-step through Mackenzie's adventure.
The physical challenges of a rugged journey are well described, the psychological makeup of a band of explorers is probed ("Henry had taken on Sandy's role, becoming the whiner of the group. There always had to be one, even in a group this size. There were only six of them now. What was Sam doing? If he'd come with them, he would have stayed back with Sandy. Been patient with him. But if Sandy hadn't left them, she realized, they might have voted to go back. Now they had to get to the end of the canyon, and with luck, find Charlie."), and tension escalates into ambushes, gunmen, and confrontations between different special interest groups.
The result is a fast-paced, vividly realistic adventure story that tests character connections, motivations, choices, and chance. It's never a good idea to go into the canyons alone. But Mackenzie has an entire support group behind her: J. Reed Rich's readers of Moki Steps.