A prolific writer who hails from the North Okanagan is set to launch her latest work this summer.
Lena Gibson is a recently published author who grew up in Cherryville and went to high school in Lumby, graduating in 1990. In the last year, she’s had three books published, with a fourth coming in June, a fifth in December and a sixth in April 2025. Several of the books have won indie book awards.
As an autistic author, Gibson said the success of her books — published by Texas-based independent publishing house Black Rose Writing — is something she’s particularly proud of. It also allows her to create neurodivergent characters that reflect the autistic experience.
An example of this can be found in her book The Edge of Life: Love and Survival During the Apocalypse, in which neurodivergent Kat and jilted Ryan fall in love as they race toward a bunker in South Dakota in the wake of an asteroid collision. The book was published in April 2023.
“Blending romance and action/adventure, Gibson makes the end of the world the most fun the reader will have all day,” Eileen Cook, author of You Owe Me a Murder, said of The Edge of Life.
Published in August 2023, Gibson’s The Wish tells the tale of a woman who makes a wish to travel back in time five years and fix her past mistakes. Haunted by her choices, including marrying an abusive con man, 35-year-old Elizabeth has been unable to speak for two years. With nothing going right in her life, Elizabeth wishes for a mulligan. When she wakes up, to her surprise, it is no longer 2022, but 2017.
The Wish was named best romance/women’s fiction at the 2023 Maxy Awards, and best cross genre book at the 2023 Firebird Awards.
In February, Gibson published book one of her Train Hoppers series, Switching Tracks: Out of the Trash — a dystopian train-hopping thriller. Set in 2195, life in SoCal is controlled by a corporatocracy. Elsa scavenges 21st Century trash, living on the edge of starvation in a ruthless world.
“I highly recommend Switching Tracks by Lena Gibson for readers who like exciting love stories full of danger and passion,” reads one five-star review.
Gibson is holding a book launch for books three and four of her Train Hopper series at Spruce Landing in Vernon Saturday, July 6, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
When Gibson isn’t writing, she enjoys reading, karate, and tea. She now lives in New Westminster with her family.
READ MORE: Armstrong forager promotes connection with the land in new book
READ MORE: Book sale supports Vernon library
