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G.G. Vandagriff

Goodreads author profile

born

July 24, 1947 in Fresno, California, The United States

gender

female

website

http://www.ggvandagriff.com

twitter username

ggvandagriff

genre

Historical Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers, Romance

influences

Leo Tolstoy, Earlene Fowler, Marisa de los Santos, all my professors f...more

member since

July 2009

About this author

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I realize that I am one of those rare people in the world who gets to live a life full of passion, suspense, angst, fulfillment, humor, and mystery. I am a writer. Everyday when I sit down to my computer, I enter into world of my own making. I am in the head of a panoply of characters ranging from a nineteen year-old Austrian debutante (The Last Waltz) to a raging psychopath (The Arthurian Omen) and four women at once in The Only Way to Paradise.

How did this come about? I think I was wired to be a writer when I was born. Even though my formal career was in finance, writing was all I really wanted to do. There were a lot of things about my surroundings that I couldn't control during my growing up years, so I retreated to whatever alternate e...more I realize that I am one of those rare people in the world who gets to live a life full of passion, suspense, angst, fulfillment, humor, and mystery. I am a writer. Everyday when I sit down to my computer, I enter into world of my own making. I am in the head of a panoply of characters ranging from a nineteen year-old Austrian debutante (The Last Waltz) to a raging psychopath (The Arthurian Omen) and four women at once in The Only Way to Paradise.

How did this come about? I think I was wired to be a writer when I was born. Even though my formal career was in finance, writing was all I really wanted to do. There were a lot of things about my surroundings that I couldn't control during my growing up years, so I retreated to whatever alternate existence I was creating. The habit stuck, and now my family finds themselves living in my current reality during dinnertime as I overflow with enthusiasm about Wales or Italy.

I studied writing in an advanced workshop when I was at Stanford, but was discouraged because everyone but me wanted to be J.D. Salinger. I hadn't yet found my writing voice. But with my study abroad in Austria, I finally found the story I wanted to tell--the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its collapse into fascism. (I never for a moment thought that this might be a bit ambitious.) I eventually began this project while commuting to and from my job in Los Angeles as an International Banker. I had an outline. My studies abroad had given me the historical background. Using that, I created characters as prototypes of the ideas that existed in Austria in 1913. Then, while teaching economics and waiting for my first child to be born, I read all of Churchill's books on World War One, and everything I could get my hands on that would give me the zeitgeist (literally "time spirit") of the age.

By the time my three children were born, I had a draft, but I knew it wasn't going anywhere. It was too superficial. I didn't understand the European mind. I couldn't convey the degree of suffering they had endured, nor the trauma the Austrians experienced at the collapse of their empire.

I turned to writing a more modern story that was semi-autobiographical at that point. I was living in the Ozarks, full of conflicted feelings that I worked out over the course of five years in the novel that has now become Pieces of Paris. However, I knew also that that project had not yet lived up to its potential. Discouraged, I turned to writing what I read--light mysteries. For color I imparted to my heroines another passion of mine--genealogy. Finally, I felt significantly secure to submit something and I was published.

However, for fifteen years, I had been the victim of bi-polar disorder (a common ailment among writers), and after publishing three books, I became too ill to write. During that ten year struggle to survive, I learned enough about overcoming pain, and about life and love to be able to complete my Austrian project. That became The Last Waltz. After two more mysteries, I was able to complete Pieces of Paris.

I am, at this writing, 63 years old, and for the last eighteen months I have turned my eyes toward Italy. My new book "The Only Way to Paradise" is the result of intense immersion in the Florentine and Tuscan culture, and most of it was written there. Of course, the art and landscape are spectacular, but what makes my heart sing are the people. I think that they are born with a genetic tendency to agape (unconditional love). I have experienced so many kind and loving experiences at their hands, most of which are chronicled fictitiously in my book. I plan at least two more in the same setting--a mystery and a time travel.

I do genre-hop a lot, but I firmly believe that any endeavor that enables us to further understand ourselves, our world, and our loved ones is never wasted. I have chronicled much of what I have learned about PTSD from "Pieces" and "Paradise" on my new website http://PTSDweb.com. I(less)

145 posts
G.G. Vandagriff's Blog: The Writer in the Cranberry Tower

Hey, Guys Get Over There!

I just realized that my new blog has only 3 subscribers, compared to the 60 that this blog had!

I'm actually going to have a schedule on Embracing Abundance! Hopefully with my "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date" anxiety about my writing will allow me to slow down and communicate better with my fans!

The schedule will be as follows:

Monday:

Guest Blog on Different Topics. The topic for...

View more on G.G. Vandagriff's website »

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Published on August 25, 2011 15:52 • 23 views

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combine editions
Books by G.G. Vandagriff

Average rating: 3.62 · 1,810 ratings · 590 reviews · 16 distinct works

	The Last Waltz: A Novel of Love and War 3.83 avg rating — 405 ratings — published 2009 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Arthurian Omen 3.19 avg rating — 291 ratings — published 2008 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Tangled Roots: A Mystery 3.61 avg rating — 225 ratings — published 2007 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Cankered Roots 3.76 avg rating — 155 ratings — published 1994 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Poisoned Pedigree: A Mystery 3.65 avg rating — 159 ratings — published 2008 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Of Deadly Descent 3.77 avg rating — 148 ratings — published 1996 — 2 editions	My rating:
	The Hidden Branch 3.54 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 2009 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Foggy with a Chance of Murder: A Novel of Suspense 3.45 avg rating — 101 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Pieces of Paris 3.31 avg rating — 106 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Deliverance from Depression: Finding Hope and Healing Through the Atonement of Christ 4.08 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 2008	My rating:

More books by G.G. Vandagriff…

Series by G.G. Vandagriff

Alex and Briggie (5 books)
by G.G. Vandagriff (Goodreads Author)

3.67 avg rating — 787 ratings

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G.G.'s Writing

The Only Way to Paradise (Literature & Fiction)

1 chapters — updated Jun 15, 2011 09:31am

Description: After watching a romantic Italian movie together, four women in a therapy group discuss the question, If Italy is so wonderful and therapeurtic, what are we doing in Ohio?" Dubbing themselves "The Crazy Ladies of Oakwood," they all take off for Florence, packing their worries with them. Their lives will change forever in this seat of the Renaissance, but not at all in the ways they expect. Possessed of more than artistic treasures, the Italians seem to be born with the unique gifts of agape (unconditional love) and phillia (love of mankind). It is this balm that is applied gently into their weary souls. The Crazy Ladies slowly transform while embracing these Italian virtues. They discover romance as well as a healing that binds them together and puts them on the road to recovery, "The Only Road to Paradise."

The Only Way to Paradise (Select)

1 chapters — updated May 28, 2011 03:21pm

Description: When a therapy group of four Ohio women decide to drop their therapist and go to Italy for healing they meet with surprises, romance, suspense, and a new definition of paradise.

The Last Waltz (Literature & Fiction)

1 chapters — updated Jul 10, 2009 08:47am

Description: The story of Amalia Faulhaber, a Viennese socialite with an aristocratic grandmother who taught her the fine art of flirtation and a socialist uncle who tutored her conscience. Amalis is changed by the events of World War One and its aftermath, as well as her relationships with three men: a Prussian Officer, a Polish patriotic doctor, and an Austrian Baron. As events transpire over two decades she becomes a woman who would be remarkable in any age.

G.G. is Currently Reading

G.G. Vandagriff is currently reading:

The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall

by Christopher Hibbert

bookshelves: currently-reading

My rating:

Jan 13, 2011 06:35am

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G.G.'s Recent Updates

G.G. Vandagriff wrote The Only Way to Paradise: An Innocent Movie Leads to Temporary Insanity "While viewing Enchanted April with her therapy group, MacKenzie relaxed for the first time since her" …more
Jun 15, 2011 09:31am · like
G.G. Vandagriff said "yes" to attending the event: Virtual Book Launch Party date: June 15, 2011 10:00AM location: http://ggvandagriff.com, The United States description: I am thrilled to invite you to my first “virtual launch party” taking place today, tomorrow, and Thursday on my website at http://ggvandagriff.com. Of my twelve books, The Only Way to Paradise has become my favorite over the three years (and three trips to Florence) I have spent writing it. So I wanted you to share in the excitement. You will finally discover what these “Crazy Ladies” (four women in the same therapy group) have been up to in Italy! In my sojourns there, I have learned so many le...more
Jun 14, 2011 10:17am
G.G. Vandagriff joined the Clean Romances group.
Jun 08, 2011 06:35am · see group
G.G. Vandagriff gave to: Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin read in June, 2011	My rating:
I LOVED this book. It deals with excruciating clarity the emotions of two women in love with the same man. The resolution was brilliant. I don't want to be a spoiler, so I just urge you to read this book which has made me a Giffin fan forever. I have...more
Jun 08, 2011 06:26am · see review
G.G. Vandagriff gave to: Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin	My rating:
This is a brave book to have written, particularly after Giffin's first three chick lits. It tackles the recurring fictional theme of the old boyfriend returning into the life of a heroine dissatisfied with her life. It didn't spare any of the attrac...more
Jun 03, 2011 03:06pm · see review
G.G. Vandagriff made a comment in the group mystery lovers — What are you reading? Do you recommend it? topic "I don't know if this group covers romantic suspense, but my novel "Foggy With a Chance of Murder" set in San Clemente, CA in the unsavory fog of June...more "
May 31, 2011 07:38am
G.G. Vandagriff gave to: The Perfect Fit (Butterfly Box, #3) by Michele Ashman Bell (Goodreads Author) read in May, 2011	My rating:
Wow! Review of A Perfect Fit By G.G. Vandagriff In her latest book, which is definitely Romantic Suspense, Michele Ashman Bell whirls us through worlds we will probably never experience for ourselves. First: A Reality TV Show? I mean, that is the furthe...more
May 30, 2011 02:29pm · see review
G.G. Vandagriff made a comment on April's review of Foggy with a Chance of Murder: A Novel of Suspense "Thanks for the review, April! "
May 28, 2011 04:07pm · see review
G.G. Vandagriff liked April's review of Foggy with a Chance of Murder: " Set near the California coast. Rob Stevens' son dies in a drowning. His sister Ginger is an alcoholic. He takes her to a locked down detox facility. He has a number of brushes with death. Is it terrorists or something else. Chloe is a writer. She l... " Read more of this review »
May 28, 2011 04:07pm · see review
G.G. Vandagriff is now friends with Heather
Sep 22, 2010 01:35pm

More of G.G.'s books…

Quotes by G.G. Vandagriff

“It's always seemed to me that flirtation is a man's device for avoiding responsibility. He can say whatever he wants and knows he won't be taken seriously.”
― G.G. Vandagriff, The Last Waltz: A Novel of Love and War

tags: flirtation , men , relationships , responsibility

18 people liked it

“That's life, MacKenzie. We can't go back, only forward. And we can't afford to waste the past. The best we can do is reframe it. We only have so many years on this earth. They all count.”
― G.G. Vandagriff, The Only Way to Paradise

2 people liked it

“True artists must be determined not to shy away from what they might find. She remembered a quote from Nietzche, Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it: Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
― G.G. Vandagriff, The Only Way to Paradise

1 person liked it

See all G.G. Vandagriff's quotes »

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