She is also a lifelong writer. Her 2015 novel, LIKE A RIVER, won the Grateful American Book Prize and was nominated for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award. It is on Bank Street College Best Book list, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and earned a starred review in Kirkus. Her second novel, EMPTY PLACES, launched in April, 2016 with good reviews. (Kathy is generously donating an autographed copy of one of her books. For a chance to win, please leave a comment below. More details at the end of the post.)