Albert Lea native Suzanne Riley will sign copies of her newly published novel, &uot;Half-Three in Galway,&uot; Saturday, March 16.

Friday, March 15, 2002

Albert Lea native Suzanne Riley will sign copies of her newly published novel, &uot;Half-Three in Galway,&uot; Saturday, March 16. She will be at the Albert Lea Public Library from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and On Cue at Northbridge Mall from 2-4:30 p.m.

The romantic technology novel is set in Ireland, and the author said she is excited to be doing a signing in her hometown on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

&uot;Albert Lea Public Library and On Cue are two of the first book signings I’ve done,&uot; said Riley, a 1971 graduate of Albert Lea High School who now lives in Rochester. &uot;I’m thrilled about this, having grown up there.&uot;

In the novel, Thomas deFremond is scouting an invention that could earn Ireland a respected position in the technology industry. While he’s investigating its potential, he attempts to learn more about Maggie, an elusive woman he’s met in a chance encounter online.

But journalist Maggie O’Connor has her own mission while trekking across the Green Isle: to produce a documentary about the changing face of Ireland with videographer Eamon Loftus.

Under the protective watch of Eamon, Maggie finally agrees to a rendezvous with Thomas, and the threesome unwittingly become enmeshed in an international scheme to wrest the invention from Irish control.

In the midst of their adventure, Maggie faces the nightmares of a past fraught with pain and faces the challenge of daring to love and trust again.

The author said inspiration for &uot;Half-Three in Galway&uot; comes from two sources: her son Matthew and her growing love affair with technology.

&uot;Matthew was studying at Queens University in Belfast in an off-campus program,&uot; Riley recalled. &uot;He’s an aficionado of Irish politics and compiled the Riley genealogy, learning that the O’Reilley Clan ruled County Cavan hundreds of years ago. He and Sarah Rogers, both of whom were political science majors at St. Cloud State, were wading through tons of paperwork required by the Church of Ireland to obtain permission to marry at a little church in County Cavan. We couldn’t miss the wedding of our only child, so we hiked off to Ireland in December 1995, and I took my laptop with me, planning to journal and e-mail to friends. Internet and e-mail were fairly new to me then, and I was totally awed and enamored with tech-anything.&uot;

Riley said she was completely charmed with Ireland. &uot;Looking at pictures and my journals a year later, I shared some with an on-line acquaintance, who encouraged me to use them as the basis for a story,&uot; she said. &uot;Together, we started conceptualizing a story as a screenplay, but I had to turn very soon to writing it as a novel instead -&160;the screenplay format bogged down my thinking. My on-line acquaintance, David, tossed ideas back and forth with me, and I began writing.&uot;

Four and a half years and several rewrites later, &uot;Half-Three in Galway&uot; was completed. She also credits her husband, Richard, for story ideas, and admits she didn’t tell him she was writing a novel until three or more years into its creation.

&uot;I didn’t know I wanted to write fiction until my friend David nudged me into it. I knew I loved writing, but sharing my writing with teachers and strangers online was about as far as it went,&uot; Riley said. &uot;No matter what you write, you end up learning while you’re doing it. And I think that’s the crux of it: I love learning.&uot;

The Rileys are about to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary with a second trip to Ireland. &uot;Perhaps my journaling will translate into pieces of my next book, which I began last summer,&uot; she said.

Riley’s mother, Marie Charlson, lives in Twin Lakes, and her father, Richard Llewellyn Lee, died in 1972. Her siblings attended Albert Lea and Emmons schools and are the &uot;Lee kids:&uot; Marilyn, David, Chuck, Linda, Brian and Dianne, and half-brother Philip Charlson.

Her father-in-law, Lester Riley, and his wife, Helen, an RN at Naeve Hospital, made their home in Twin Lakes. Helen died in 1986.

During her senior year of high school, the author worked at KATE Radio as a student intern. Since 1978, she has been working with the Southeast Service Cooperative, a member-owned cooperative of schools, cities counties and other agencies, as a project developer and grant writer.

Copies of &uot;Half-Three in Galway&uot; are available at On Cue, and Riley will also have some available for sale at the library. The book was published by 1stBooks Library. For more information, visit the book’s web site at www.halfthreeingalway.com .