Cynthia Kolko

Her life as a writer has wound its way through a curious trellis of jobs.

Cynthia's written for Kodak. She's been published in periodicals as varied as How, Interactivity, and Progressive Railroading. She's been the Pittsford, N.Y., town blogger for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

"Fruit of the Vine," by Cynthia Kolko, will be published this spring by Charles River Press.And now the twists and turns have followed a natural course: a first novel with a setting aptly inspired by Rochester's rural backyard. Coming this spring from Charles River Press, Fruit of the Vine is a Bildungsroman set in a wine country with obvious similarities to the Finger Lakes.

“I love the history of this region of New York,” says Cynthia, a Hamilton College grad. “And I'm enamored with the natural beauty of the Finger Lakes. Plus, genetics has long been an interest of mine. This book is an amalgamation of these three subjects.”

The novel tells the story of vineyard worker Jem, a man faced with a dilemma after he inherits his family's farm just as a developer has set his sights on it.

“I am drawn to stories with dark elements, a touch of grit, and surprises,” Cynthia says.

CynthiaThe story intertwines “beauty and ugliness, good and evil, present and past,” she says of the many dichotomies in her book.

“In the book, the language can be flowery, yet the dialogue is often raw, perhaps jarringly so,” she says.

“At its core, the book is about Nature versus Nurture,” she says, “and what we ourselves create with that raw material—the Fruit of the Vine, so to speak.”

As you might expect, Cynthia is fond of the Finger Lakes' selections of wines herself. Her favorite? The region's signature varietal, Riesling.

“Every one I’ve tasted has been fantastic in its own way, though I prefer the semi-dry type,” she says.

Rieslings aside, it looks like 2011 will be a very good year for this novelist.

Cynthia's already working on a second book, which will also be regionally set.

“This time, with a female protagonist,” she says.

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Fruit of the Vine (ISBN: 1-936185-27-X) will be available in the Spring of 2011 from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Fictionwise, as well as select retail locations. It can already be pre-ordered at www.bn.com.

See more: www.cynthiakolko.com

Say hi: cynthia@cynthiakolko.com, on Twitter and Facebook