Coming Soon
On Writing Sensitive Stories Without the Fluff
What it means to write Women's Fiction that respects the reader — stories driven by character, not formula.
Women's Fiction Author
Elvy
Howard
"Character-driven stories from the heart of a rebel."
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Books
Written by Elvy
Women's Fiction
Love on the Half-Shell
Three parts love, two parts grit, the perfect recipe for making a family. Rae Green believes in the power of a good recipe, not only in the kitchen but in life as well. She invests in preparation, hard work, and independence — until the night a stranger calls to ask if she is willing to take custody of her two nieces. The children are virtual strangers since their drug-addled mother banished Rae four long years ago, but with her sister's incarceration, she agrees. Rae's well-ordered life goes into the toilet, accompanied by everything she thought she knew. With Melissa, a disturbed five-year-old, and newly adolescent Torey, the drama queen from hell, in tow, Rae stumbles into romance and a desperate need to heal her nieces from their past. And maybe, along the way, figure out how to heal herself as well.
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Women's Fiction
Lady Guadalupe and the Sno-Kone Hut
Jolene Gibson has been alone for a long, damn time, but she never noticed, what with keeping Gibson's Bait and Tackle going, reading those Tarot cards of hers, and making cures for folks. No one suspected she spent time with her secret boyfriend, Lyman Pettigrew, too. And, if asked, she couldn't have said why she kept messing with him. Neither Lyman or Jolene had an inkling of the changes coming their way — a miracle impacting them and everyone they knew. Welcome to Magnolia, Virginia, a sleepy little town about to wake up.
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Women's Fiction
Bounty — A Love Story
It's 1953. Somehow, Tom talked Netty into marrying him two weeks after they meet. Three months later, instead of getting comfortable with each other confusion multiplies like mushrooms after a month of rain. Netty and Tom hope a cross-country trip to Tom's home in Lexington, Virginia, will change things, but what they don't know is another journey tags along; discovering what each has to learn before pledging themselves to another. With heart and humor, you're invited to join them.
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Women's Fiction
Lonely Man With Fat Cat Seeks Suitable Girlfriend
Being a weird duck can be challenging, but a long time ago, Gus quit apologizing. Always a whiz at computers, he's made a good life for himself and his cat. And except for a minor, three-year glitch with an ex-wife, he lives as he wants, or, at least until Enid came along. She was only a waif, nine years younger than his thirty-one years. So how did this wisp of a young woman drag him into a mystery at the mansion where she worked, involve him with three kids totally unrelated to either of them and bring in a cacophony of new voices so loud he couldn't hear himself think? For the first time in his life, Gus didn't know what he thought. Did that have something to do with Enid too?
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About
Meet Elvy
I have a checkered past. I may look like a grandmother, and it's true I'm crazy nuts about my grandkids, but something else lurks inside, and it's the heart of a rebel.
I'm also a bookworm, and since learning to read, nothing kept me from it. Marriage and becoming an unconventional mother raising two terrific kids, nor my many jobs or becoming an adult student and eventually earning a master's degree.
While searching for the right occupation, my reading slowly morphed into a writing hobby, which then became something approaching an addiction. Eventually, I succumbed to the only career I ever wanted and became a writer. Better late than never, I arrived.
Blog
Latest from Elvy
Coming Soon
Small Towns, Big Hearts
Why every one of my books is set in a small Virginia town, and what those places mean to me. The front porches, the gossip, the deep roots — they shape every character I write.
Coming Soon
The Rebel Grandmother's Guide to Starting Over
At seventy-two, I left everything behind for my high-school crush. Here's what I learned.
Newsletter
Stay in the Loop
Please join my mailing list for updates about new books and an occasional free short story.
Contact
Invite Elvy to Your Book Club
Book clubs have enjoyed my company pre-pandemic and beyond. I'm told I'm funny, personable, and older women seem to have a good time with me. I'm also available for speaking events.
Zoom
Available anywhere, anytime — connect from the comfort of your living room.
In Person
Happy to visit book clubs within a 50-mile radius of Powhatan, Virginia.
Speaking Events
Available for panels, library events, and literary gatherings.