Fiction writer and journalist Mary Tolan is the author of Mars Hill Murder, a mystery set in Flagstaff, Arizona. A longtime journalist, she is also the creator of the nonfiction blog “The Ripple Effect: Stories of Gun Violence Survivors,” about people who are affected by this tragic and growing epidemic of gun deaths and damage in the United States. You can find her writings on this tough topic on the blog button above. A reporter for four decades, in 2018 and 2019 Tolan traveled across the country talking to survivors and others affected by shootings. By sharing these stories of gun violence survivors, Tolan hopes people will gain a clearer awareness of the onslaught of physical damages, emotions, and losses created by the existence of so many guns — often in the wrong hands. Living in Flagstaff, Arizona, Tolan writes fiction and nonfiction. A retired Northern Arizona University journalism professor, her articles have appeared in dozens of publications including The Progressive, New Mobility, Arizona Highways, Teaching Tolerance, New Mexico and Phoenix magazines, and in newspapers such as the Arizona Republic, Los Angeles Times, Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe Reporter, and High Country News. Her monthly column “The Long & Winding Road” finds a home in the Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff's local paper .
And This is Mars Hill Murder
Mary Tolan's first novel, Mars Hill Murder, is due out in autumn of 2023. Published by The Wild Rose Press, the book is a mystery set in Flagstaff, Arizona.