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UMBC alum publishes novel
The Retriever Weekly, February 6, 2006 by Julie Sager
For as long as she can remember, Laurel, Maryland native Cassandra Zaruba has always loved to write. Winner of the 2000 Creative Writing prize from the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society and as a 2004 graduate of UMBC's English department, she has finally gotten her chance to professionally pursue this passion with her first published novel, a thriller/suspense/murder mystery story called Liquid Bones (PublishAmerica).
Inspired by the work of William Faulkner and the amount of time any self-respecting English major spends buried in literature, the novel centers around a serial murderer who goes by the Wallace-Stevens-inspired moniker "The Emperor of Ice Cream." Having indulged himself in one murder, the Emperor finds himself unable to stop, but regains some semblance of control by working, as many serial killers do, in a pattern. However, his selection of victims is somewhat more interesting and specific than most: inspired by a favorite book of poetry, the Emperor travels around the area surrounding Bismark, North Dakota, and chooses victims according to how well they fit his literary criteria.
The full text of this article can be found at The Retriever Weekly.
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