December, 2007 – Runaway Grandma, the second novel by Ann McCauley, an emerging Women’s Literature author from Northwestern Pennsylvania, is fresh off the press and is on shelves and online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and www.annmccauley.com.

Runaway Grandma is the story of seventy-year-old Olivia Hampton, a widowed retired school teacher who meticulously plans a fake suicide. She believes her son is plotting to have her declared incompetent to gain control of her finances. She moves to a distant state with a new identity but life has a way of refusing to let her be.  

The idea for the story came to McCauley several years ago during a Christmas visit with friends at a country log cabin. Though the characters are composites of people she has met over the years, and the story is fictional, in many ways it is true to life.

McCauley, who has worked as a psychiatric nurse and has a certificate in gerontology, believes that financial elder abuse is a definite problem in America today, citing an incident reported in a local newspaper that resulted in imprisonment for the accused.

It is not uncommon for adult children to want their inheritances while they are still young enough to enjoy it, McCauley explained. However, it is far less common for parents to actually press charges against children who try to take control of their assets by fraudulent means. Even though they feel angry and trapped, the humiliation of acknowledging they’ve been betrayed by their own family usually deters legal involvement.

In the novel the protagonist’s children are very self-centered and disconnected from their parents. When asked why she developed the characters that way, McCauley explained that she exaggerated their selfishness to enhance the story.

“Just read your daily newspapers and be aware of the peculiar nonfiction stories that surface all too often,” she said. “Truth can be stranger than fiction.”

Olivia, the heroine of her story, is very independent; perhaps modeled after McCauley’s mother, who drove to Texas alone two years ago, at the age of 82. 

McCauley knew from an early age that she would be a writer someday.

 “I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t reading,” she said. “Words and stories were the things I could always count on. All my life I’ve known I’d be a writer some day.”

McCauley is the oldest of seven children. “Family was the tapestry of my childhood. There were always cousins, aunts, uncles, friends and grandparents coming and going. My parents still live on the farm I grew up on.”

McCauley’s first novel, Mother Love, was published in November 2004. “Since then I’ve had a crash course in the publishing world. It can be brutal but I’m learning the ropes,” she said.

McCauley worked for many years as a nurse. She resides with her husband in Pennsylvania; they have five adult children and 10 grandchildren.

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with degrees in nursing and psychology, she’s done freelance writing for the local newspaper and nursing journals. McCauley is a member of Pennwriters, a networking association of writers and is currently working on her next novel.

Interested persons can learn more about McCauley at her website, www.annmccauley.com. Her books can be purchased online or ordered through any book store. Autographed copies can also be ordered through her website.