Mandy Mikulencak's Blog

Fruitcake Lovers Anonymous

I think I need to start a support group for those of us (relatively few, it seems) who love fruitcake. In my opinion, the haters haven’t tried the right kind of fruitcake. It’s been almost two years since my novel, The Last Suppers, came out. The story is about a young, female prison cook who is obsessed with preparing the most meaningful last meal for death row inmates. One of the elderly inmates chooses fruitcake, a recipe from his childhood. The novel contains a recipe appendix and I...

Goodbye, Mr. Wonder Cat

This is the story of Walter, the One-Eyed Wonder Cat.

Over a Christmas trip to Texas in 2014, Andy and I decided that we were ready to welcome a new furry loved one into the family. I began perusing the La Plata County Humane Society website and saw a photo of a skinny, part Siamese/part tabby cat named Walter Matthau. He was almost nine years old already. He was a handsome fella. I fell in love.

On January 2, 2015, we made our way to the shelter as soon as it opened. Walter nuzzled us throug...

A Little Hometown Love

I’m extremely lucky to have the support of my little community of Durango, CO. My launch event for FORGIVENESS ROAD was held March 4 at the Durango Public Library. My favorite independent bookstore, Maria’s, was on hand to sell all three of my books. And close to 50 people turned out for a talk, reading and cupcakes. Special thanks go to Phoenix, a bookseller at Maria’s, who introduced me. She noted the importance of the tough subjects I write about and how powerful my writing is. (I still te...

Beach Memories: A Special Excerpt from Forgiveness Road

I promised to post a special excerpt from my upcoming novel, Forgiveness Road, if more than 500 people added it to their to-be-read lists on Goodreads. So here goes! Let me set the scene. It’s 1970s Mississippi. Sixteen-year-old Cissy Pickering has killed her father to stop him from abusing her little sisters. She’s remanded to a psychiatric hospital. Part of her treatment are sessions with the hospital psychiatrist, Dr. Guttman. Here’s one of their conversations I call Beach Memories.

______...

Facts and Resources about the Death Penalty

The Last Suppers raises issues that are as relevant today as they were in the 1950s: poverty, racism, the death penalty, and sexual inequality. The book, although fiction, has sparked important discussions and debates.

Click here to read several statistics about the death penalty in the U.S.

For those who wish to learn more about the death penalty — past and present — below is a list of resources.

Death Penalty Information Center National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty NAACP and the...

Sisters, Sisters, There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters

 The song ‘Sisters’ in White Christmas (one of my all-time favorite movies) makes me smile and think of my own younger sister every time I hear it. On my 10-day trip to Texas to promote THE LAST SUPPERS, Tessa was my chauffeur, friend and cheerleader every step (mile) of the way. She’s the one person who can make me laugh so hard I can’t regain my composure. This has proved extremely embarrassing in restaurants and at fast food drive-thru speakers. I was a tad bit afraid that she’d make me la...

Dallas Didn’t Disappoint

I’ve dubbed my 10-day trip to Texas the Great Texas Book Tour of 2018. It was an exhausting, exhilarating blur. The final official stop was Interabang Books in Dallas on Thursday, January 25. It’s one of the coolest book stores I’ve ever been in. There were 22 people at the reading/signing including two book clubs. One club (pictured) drove in all the way from Cleburne, TX. My sister, Tessa (in the maroon top), and I drove in from Glen Rose, where she lives. It was 90 miles we expected to be...

The Power of the Aggie Network

Back in October 2017, when I learned I’d be speaking in Austin in late January, I contacted my friend Lisa Whittlesey. She and I were on the Texas 4-H Council back in the 1980s. We were both Aggies. And I knew she lived and worked in College Station. Since I’d already be in Austin, I asked her to recommend a book store that might host an author talk and signing. Lisa took the ball and ran with it. By the time it was all over, she had orchestrated a private dessert reception for a large group...

A Texas-sized Welcome from Austin

When I learned I’d be speaking and signing at BookPeople in Austin, TX, on Saturday, January 20, I knew it’d feel like coming home. And the day didn’t disappoint. BookPeople is one of my all-time favorite book stores, which made it all the more significant. But it was the crowd that made this day so memorable: uncle, cousins, siblings (Tessa and Paul), friends, former co-workers, even folks from Granger (a town of 1,200 where I grew up) arrived after seeing me interviewed on KXAN-TV early tha...

Thank you, Durango!

I couldn’t have asked for a better launch event than the one that took place at Maria’s Bookshop in my current hometown of Durango, CO, on January 17. More than 50 packed into the venue, crowding the aisles. Nerves rattled my insides but friends said it didn’t show. The night was a bit of a blur but perhaps these photographs will help me remember this special night once my memory starts to go. (I baked the treats for the evening: gingersnaps, salted graham crackers, Oreo truffles and Mexican...