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Elizabeth Crook

Goodreads Author

Born

Houston, The United States

Website

http://www.elizabethcrookbooks.com

Genre

Fiction, Historical Fiction

Member Since

February 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomelizabeth_crook

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I grew up mostly in San Marcos, Texas, (with a brief time away in Washington D.C and Australia) graduated from San Marcos High School, attended Baylor and Rice, moved for a while to New Braunfels, Texas, and now live in Austin. One of the great blessings of my childhood was having a mother who read to my brother and sister and me for hours every night, long after we could read for ourselves. Those nights of listening transported us to foreign places and other centuries and allowed us to connect with characters living lives in stark contrast to our own. This was a great gift my mother gave us.

I've written six novels, including The Night Journal, which received The Spur Award from Western Writers of America and the Willa Literary Award from W ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Is The Madstone a sequel to The Which Way Tree?

Elizabeth Crook Hi Wendy, thank you for your question--it's the perfect first one to answer about this book. The Madstone is a free-standing novel but features the sa…moreHi Wendy, thank you for your question--it's the perfect first one to answer about this book. The Madstone is a free-standing novel but features the same narrator as The Which Way Tree-- Benjamin Shreve. After I finished writing The Which Way Tree I missed Benjamin as a character, and missed seeing the world through his eyes. So I decided to age him up a couple of years and give him a another adventure and a first love. The books can be read entirely separately; they're in no way dependent on each other, but if you like one of them, you'll probably like the other. Regards! Elizabeth(less)

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Liked your novel on many levels- identified with characters but especially delighted in descriptions of Texas. I share your love of this vast state. How did you decide on names for your characters?

Elizabeth Crook Sally, thank you; I'm happy you liked the book. To answer your interesting question about names: most of the characters went through a series of names…moreSally, thank you; I'm happy you liked the book. To answer your interesting question about names: most of the characters went through a series of names through a series of drafts before I landed on the names they kept. Shelly was "Julie" for a while before she was Shelly, but my closest friend's sister was named that, so for various reasons the name became confusing and I felt I should change it. Wyatt was "Philip" before he was Wyatt. In a previous book "Sarah" became "Meg"--and so forth. Basically as I write I get to know the characters better and so I think of names that fit them better; in other words I try to come up with names that give a sense of their character--whether it's strength, or softness, or power, or whatever. Sometimes if a character is too soft and I'm trying to ramp up the sense of strength, I'll strengthen the name--which is what I did with Wyatt. "Jack" was easy because he just always naturally seemed like "Jack" to me. Madeline, in the beginning, had a different name, but now I don't remember what it was--there were so many drafts and changes! I hope that answers your question. Thanks for asking, and again, I'm glad you liked the book! (less)

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Elizabeth Crook’s books

Average rating: 4.02 · 9,912 ratings · 1,831 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Which Way Tree 4.16 avg rating — 4,021 ratings — published 2018 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Madstone 4.11 avg rating — 3,312 ratings — published 2023 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Night Journal 3.65 avg rating — 1,292 ratings — published 2006 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Monday, Monday 3.73 avg rating — 1,037 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Raven's Bride by Elizabeth Crook (Goodreads Author), Barbara Whitehead (cover&illustration) 3.57 avg rating — 151 ratings — published 1991 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Promised Lands: A Novel of the Texas Rebellion 4.24 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 1994 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Monday, Monday: A Novel (September 15,2015) by Elizabeth Crook (Goodreads Author), Unknown Author 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Elizabeth’s Recent Updates

Elizabeth Crook is now friends with Robert Voedisch
Oct 12, 2024 05:20PM · like
Elizabeth Crook made a comment on Paul Bryant’s review of Monday, Monday " Paul, here it is, 2024, and I just came across your review of Monday, Monday since it appears to head up the reviews of this book, and I'm sitting her ...more "
Feb 04, 2024 10:44PM · see review

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Quotes by Elizabeth Crook (?)

“A person might have it fixed in his mind that death must call on him sometime, but that time will startle him nonetheless.”
― Elizabeth Crook, The Which Way Tree

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“He has reminded me that journeys will not often be of my choosing.”
― Elizabeth Crook, The Which Way Tree

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