The three women have recently been published in a new book by Simon and Schuster, “Chocolate for a Woman’s Courage.”
Ball is a freelance writer and part-time librarian. A former newspaper reporter, she has had articles published in the Charlotte Observer, Farm Wife magazine and the Belmont Banner Mount Holly News where she won awards for feature stories.
Her selection in the book is titled “A Home for the Lonely” which deals with a woman’s growing maturity and the impact parents have on their grandchildren and children.
A resident of Greensboro for nine years, Mlekush is a native of Lancaster, Ohio and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at UNCG after going back to school at age 50. Her story is titled “Door Number Four” and expresses her “my life is over-empty nest induced depression” when her only child left home for college.
Barnes, a native Virginian, has been a resident of Southern Pines for the past 32 years. A former schoolteacher, newspaper columnist, and chamber of commerce public relations director, she writes devotionals for several publications and has published two books and numerous articles for magazines including Catholic Digest and Homelife.
“His Hand at my Elbow” is her selection and describes her anguish at being widowed.
“Chocolate for a Woman’s Courage” contains 77 stories that honor the strength and wisdom of women. Created by Kay Allenbaugh, a writer and speaker whose books have sold more than a million copies, the book is the 11th in the “Chocolate” series.
Poignant, funny and empowering, “Chocolate for a Woman’s Courage” will appeal to all women with its abundance of encouragement, understanding and insight, as well as its focus on the softer side of being brave.
Also at the Country Bookship this week will be Southern Pines author Stephen W. Berry II discussing his new book “All That Makes a Man: Love and Ambition in the Civil War South.” This event is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Berry is assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
