In the Village of Lonsdale: The Early Years of the Grayson Family in Cumberland, Rhode Island (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781412083034)

Born in her grandparent's bedroom on October 11, 1925, in the village of Lonsdale, in the town of Cumberland, Rhode island, Violet Grayson Lawton says of her writing, "My star rose early. At the age of fourteen, I wrote a poem and a rather dismal short story which I sent to Collier's Magazine. They rejected it, but I redeemed my pride by winning a school-wide essay contest at Cumberland high School. I was also made an at-large reporter for the school newsletter, "The Chronicle."

In my senior year, I served as Literary Editor for our year book. One of my teachers wanted to switch to the college course, saying he was sure I could win a scholarship to a school of journalism, but that was too much of a reach for me. Instead, i took an office job after graduation in 1943 until my first marriage in 1949." Thirty-seven years later in January of 1986 at the age of sixty, Violet launched her freelance writing career.

Since that time, she has had eleven personal experience stories, five articles, four how-to pieces and four short stories published in magazines. She also wrote twelve columns for "The Foxboro Reporter," a weekly newspaper in her former home of Foxboro, Massachusetts. In California, her present home, she's a member of "Two Cents," a pool of citizens who contribute opinions to "The San Francisco Chronicle." She is also an active member of "Writers West of Alameda." This is her first book.