New York Times Bestselling authors Iris and Roy Johansen will be coming to FoxTale to celebrate the release of their newest novel, “Close Your Eyes,” today at 6 p.m. Iris Johansen has written almost 90 books, of which more than 50 have been on the New York Times Best Seller 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 now lives in Los Angeles and is a screenwriter and author.
According to Johansen, 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 audience satisfied.
“I write a lot,” Johansen said in an interview in 2010. “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.” She also said she likes music and keeps her iPod on while writing.
Johansen started writing romance novels in the early 1980s while working for Eastern Airlines. Johansen has often said 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. She has written many stand alone novels but is widely known for her recurring characters such as Eve Duncan and Joe Quinn.
“Close Your Eyes” is a novel about a once-blind woman with a talent for tracking serial killers. In the book, 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 20 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.
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, according to the author’s website.
For more information on the event, visit www.foxtalebookshoppe.com or call (770) 516-9989. For those unable to attend the event but would like a personalized autographed copy of “Close Your Eyes,” contact the store for details.










