The Year of Disappearances » (Reprint)

Susan Hubbard is the author of "Blue Money, " winner of the Janet Heidinger Kakfa Prize, and "Walking on Ice, " winner of the Associated Writing Programs' Short Fiction Prize. A sequel to "The Society of S, " her new novel, is in progress.

Hubbard's fiction has appeared in "Triquarterly, Ploughshares, The Mississippi Review, " and other journals. Coeditor of "100% Pure Florida Fiction, " she is Professor of English at the University of Central Florida. She has been awarded residencies at Yaddo, the Djerassi Resident Artists Project, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and Cill Rialaig.

Hubbard has given fiction readings and led writing workshops at universities and arts programs across the United States and the United Kingdom. A past President of Associated Writing Programs, she has served as an assessor and curriculum consultant for several colleges and universities. She lives in Orlando and Cape Canaveral, FL.

Bean has had careers as a television news producer, writer, actor, and voice talent. She has a B.A. in Telecommunications from Michigan State University.

In the sequel to her acclaimed debut novel, The Society of S, Susan Hubbard continues the adventures of young Ariella Montero, who discovers that a leading contender for president of the United States just happens to be a vampire.

Publishers Weekly

Fourteen-year-old Ariella "Ari" Montero, who's half human and half vampire, wants to know why bees are vanishing as well as humans in Hubbard's smooth supernatural thriller, the sequel to The Society of S(2007). Ari has moved to Homosassa Springs, Fla., hoping for happiness with her reunited parents, but after a hurricane hits and a fire almost kills Ari and her scientist dad, he leaves. Ari is further upset when a new friend, Mysty, disappears. The precocious Ari enrolls in college, dates and gets a crush on a visiting (vampire?!) politician, but is horrified when Autumn, another new friend, is murdered. After Ari's father returns and becomes ill, she and her mom wind up fighting for her dad's survival. The ending promises greater challenges ahead. Though Ari sometimes sounds more like 40 than 14, Hubbard's intriguing tale poses a tantalizing question: will humans or vampires ultimately inherit Earth? (May)

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