Portage's own Rachael Clarke is proud to be able to share her latest creative endeavour with the local community. The author officially released her latest book, "Let Your Lips Twitch." She describes what you can expect from her new story.

"It's a collection of humorous short stories that I've written over the span of the last few years, between 2019 and 2022," Clarke explains. "They kind of just came from my mind. I enter a lot of short story contests, as well, so they come from that. It's a mixture of a lot of different genres. There's contemporary, fantasy, a fair bit of rom-coms, and there's even a crime caper in there."

Clarke notes she developed a passion for finding the funny things in all situations over the pandemic. 

"Once the stories started amassing, I was like, 'Why not share this with the world?' Especially after COVID, we need more laughter, and we need more smiles. So, I thought I should get this book out into the world," says Clarke. "It just kind of hit me in the last year that I was going to do this."

The author shares that she's been writing her entire life but just started taking it seriously in 2019. Since then, Clarke has put out a book per year, and she's happy to call "Let Your Lips Twitch" her best work to date.

"I'm pretty proud of the stories in this book. It's a huge variety of comedy from light to dark, a little cheeky, a little sassy, sarcastic, dark. There's a bunch of different stuff in there," Clarke continues. "They all have a place in my heart. I'm pretty proud of it. I think it's a good one."

Clarke held a book launch event at the Portage Regional Library over the weekend and says it was amazing to receive so much support from her local community.

"I really love living here in Portage. The people have been so supportive. The library has been so supportive. The radio stations, the newspaper, everyone's been so supportive. There's a great group of local creative people living here, and I feel humbled and very thankful to be one of those people. The support means the world to me."

For anyone who is on the fence about picking up Clarke's latest collection of short stories, she says the following to entice you.

"It showcases the variety of comedy and the variety of hilarious situations that people find themselves in. From parenting, dealing with crazy little ones running around and doing things that would make me laugh, or the rom-coms and the pitfalls of dating. There are some pitfalls of parenting, too. There's also some bumbling individuals getting into a bunch of shenanigans."

You can find "Let Your Lips Twitch" and all three of her other books at the Portage Regional Library under the name author name of R.A. Clarke.

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