OVERTON, Ariana M. 1950-

PERSONAL:

Born January 6, 1950, in Oakland, CA; married Max Overton (a store manager and naturalist), June 4, 1999. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, reading, graphic arts, travel.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—Collinsville, IL. Agent—Mary Ann Amato, Legacies Literary Agency, 501 Woodstork Circle, Bradenton, FL 34209. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer. Has also worked as managing editor for Sharpwriter and as senior editor for Clocktower Books. Graphic artist, designer of book covers.

MEMBER:

Romance Writers of America, EPIC, Writers Guild.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Children's E-book Hall of Fame citation for A Gift for Roo.

WRITINGS:

(With husband, Max Overton) Glass House, Atlantic Bridge, 2001.

Tapestry, Mundania Press (Cincinnati, OH), 2003.

The Devil Is in the Details, Mundania Press (Cincinnati, OH), 2003.

(With Max Overton) A Glass Darkly, Mundania Press (Cincinnati, OH), 2003.

(With Max Overton) Looking Glass, Mundania Press (Cincinnati, OH), 2003.

Portal, LiquidSilver Books, 2003.

Also author of Trapdoor, a mystery novel, and of children's books, including A Gift for Roo, Roo & Stumpy, Roo & the Easter Bilby, and A Gecko in My Orange Juice. Contributor to periodicals, including Writer's Digest, Author's Den, and Word Museum.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A historical novel, with Max Overton; a new action/adventure trilogy about the mysteries of New Zealand.

SIDELIGHTS:

When Ariana M. Overton was phased out of her job in 1998 she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. She has since published books in the mystery and science fiction/paranormal genres through online publishing houses, sometimes working alone and sometimes collaborating with her husband, Max. Tapestry is a mystery with science fiction elements—the heroine, Kat Hurston, seeks to go back in time to influence the present day. As with a fabric, however, if one thread is rearranged, others will go awry, as Kat discovers. In The Devil Is in the Details, FBI agent Jake Daniels and his partner Martine Joyner search for a particularly heinous serial killer who strikes on holidays. In a review collected at Angelfire.com, Shirley Truax wrote of The Devil Is in the Details: "Ms. Overton has given the reader a most fascinating mystery to work on. The details are here, but where the devil are they? If you think you are stumped, then you'll know what Jake is up against." Truax called the work "An A-number-one book."

With the help of her husband, Overton has written a science fiction/paranormal trilogy, Glass House, A Glass Darkly, and Looking Glass. The work was inspired by her long stay in Australia and her immersion in the mythology of the Aborigines and the earliest European settlers of the continent. In Glass House, an Australian named James and an American named Samantha journey together to a mysterious location deep in the wilderness in order to understand an otherworldly obelisk they have found. Library Journal correspondent Rebecca Bollen noted that the story "is an imaginative debut, fast-paced and full of unlikely twists." A Glass Darkly continues the saga of Samantha and James but also introduces new characters, including Andromeda Jones, Samantha's sister, and the diabolical Morgan Steele, who seeks Andromeda's help in building a doomsday machine. At Wordweaving.com, Cindy Penn called A Glass Darkly "a remarkable novel of passion, war, and the quest for power." The trilogy ends with Looking Glass, in which Samantha and James must travel through time to ancient Australia to save their daughter, Gaia. J. B. Scott, quoted on Angelfire.com, felt that the work "is resonant with diverse and unique characters that populate the journey to ensure an expedition of extraordinary detail to indulge any literary adventurer."

Overton told CA: "Writing allows me to give back to the literary world what it gave to me as a child—the opportunity to experience other worlds, countries and lives. After living in Australia for two and a half years, I became enamored of the culture and myths of the Aboriginal people. That started me writing the "Glass House Trilogy." I'm also fascinated by forensic profiling. I've studied sociopathic serial killers for years now and writing about them is a way to face my fear that they are really out there, more and more each year.

"At the opposite side, I love writing children's books. I started writing them for my grandsons but it soon became a real joy in itself. My first, and only so far, children's picture book, A Gift for Roo, made it into the Children's E-book Hall of Fame.

"I love writing in several different genres. It keeps my writing fresh and allows me to explore many, many things that fascinate me. My next two novels are paranormals."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, November 1, 2001, Rebecca Bollen, review of Glass House, p. 72.

ONLINE

Angelfire.com,http://www.angelfire.com/ (May 9, 2003), collection of reviews of The Devil Is in the Details, Tapestry, Glass House, A Glass Darkly, and Looking Glass.

Wordweaving.com,http://www.wordweaving.com/ (May 9, 2003), Cindy Penn, review of A Glass Darkly; Cindy Penn, interview with Overton.*