Warming Up: A Novel

Approaching forty, unemployed but well-off, talented but unknown, functional but depressed, former musical actress Cecilia Morrison is in a serious slump. Although she once won leading roles, Cecilia now can't bring herself to audition for parts. She finally—reluctantly— seeks therapy, hoping it will make a difference . . . but in the end a runaway teenager who cons her out of sixty bucks, not therapy, is what changes her life.

Whether at the apex of one's success or just starting out, Warming Up speaks to anyone who's ever wondered what it's all about—or who finds themselves doing something they never thought they'd do.

Warming Up was a short list finalist for the 2011 William Faulkner -William Wisdom Prize for the Novel. Ten percent of the author's proceeds are donated to The Night Ministry, which provides temporary housing, transitional living, and parenting services to Chicago's homeless youth.

"Reed's charming new novel stars a neurotic singer with mother issues who has been avoiding auditions and attending frustrating therapy sessions instead. When Cecilia meets a homeless boy on the streets, however, her life takes a risky new direction . . . A well-written, endearing book that surprises . . ."
—from Kirkus Reviews