Ever since FoxTale Book Shoppe opened in Woodstock, customers have been asking for an Iris Johansen book signing event.  Woodstock’s wait is finally over.  New York Times Bestselling authors Iris and Roy Johansen will be coming to FoxTale to celebrate the release of their newest thriller, Close Your Eyes, this Wednesday, July 18^th at 6pm.  FoxTale Book Shoppe is known among authors, publishers, and customers for throwing a fun and great event and this one promises to be another terrific event with the signing, Q&A and light refreshments.

Iris Johansen has written almost ninety books of which more than fifty have been on the New York Times Bestseller List.  Johansen will not have to travel far to visit FoxTale Book Shoppe since she lives nearby with homes in both Kennesaw and Cartersville.  Her son and writing partner Roy, an Edgar Award-winning author, graduated from Sprayberry High School and Georgia State University; he currently lives in Los Angeles and is a screenwriter and author.  According to Iris, they spend a great deal of time on the phone while co-authoring a book.  Johansen typically writes two books a year to keep her hungry audience satisfied.  In an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 2010 Johansen explained how she keeps up, "I write a lot. I start working about 8 in the morning, and I end at noon or 1 — sometimes I go back to clean up later in the afternoon. And sometimes, when you're really into something, it's 10 or 12 hours a day just because you can't let it go. I write every day, because I think that's the professional thing to do."  Johansen continued that she likes music and has her iPod going all the time while writing. 

Close Your Eyes is a suspenseful novel about a once-blind woman with a talent for tracking serial killers. Kendra Michael’s astonishing powers of observation and analysis have made her a favorite of law enforcement agencies all across the country. Blind for the first twenty years of her life, she cares little for investigative work but can’t deny her unique skill, or the results she’s been able to facilitate. Kendra learned at an early age to become hyper-aware of her surroundings, perfecting the art of picking up the most subtle audio, olfactory, and tactile cues in the world around her. Like a secret weapon, she is in high demand.  What begins as a heinous murder investigation escalates into something even larger and more frightening: a multi-million dollar conspiracy to hide a secret that’s worth killing for, again and again and again.  [Book description taken from the author’s website.]

Johansen started writing romance novels in the early 1980’s while working for Eastern Airlines.  Johansen has often stated that she is a romantic at heart but found that the romantic series “were not big enough” for what she had in her mind, so in 1996 she wrote her first crime fiction novel and a new course was set.  In the same interview with the AJC in 2010, Johansen explained, "You know, it's an insecure life, writing, and I had kids to support. I'd go in at 5 in the morning and I'd write, and when I got home at night, I'd clean up the stuff and then I'd write some more, and in the meantime, I was taking care of the kids and taking care of business."  Johansen has written many stand alone novels but is widely known for her recurring characters such as Eve Duncan and Joe Quinn.

For more information on the Johansen Signing Event, please visit www.foxtalebookshoppe.com, call them at 770-516-9989, or stop in to the Shoppe.  If you cannot make the event but would like a personalized autographed copy of Close Your Eyes, please contact the store and they will gladly help you.