Of course, there are certainly exceptions. The connection, from a writerly standpoint, is deeper than that-their work, nearly all of it, is set in 'their' state. What makes authors like these inextricably associated with a particular state is not simply the matter of their having been born there or choosing to live there. And what reader can think of Washington State without contending with the sparkle-vampire yarns of Stephanie Meyer? Illinois can lay claim to William Maxwell, Sandra Cisneros, and Adam Langer, among numerous others.

Rural Pennsylvania is the playground of the much-heralded (and occasionally maligned) John Updike, and when many bibliophiles think of New Jersey, they also think of Richard Ford's series of novels featuring recurring Everyman character Frank Bascombe. The state of Maine is gifted with Pulitzer winner Richard Russo and horror icon Stephen King. Mississippi has William Faulkner and his incomparable (fictional) Yoknapatawpha County and Missouri can lay claim to Mark Twain.

Hearts of the Missing by Carol Potenza