Carolyn Jourdan is an American author,

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, Audible, and six-time

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top-ten bestselling memoirist, biographer, and mystery writer.

Biography

Jourdan's first book, a memoir, '' Heart in the Right Place'', was a ''Wall Street Journal'' No. 7 bestseller in 2012 and No. 9 bestseller in 2017. ''Heart in the Right Place'' is the true story of a spoiled, high-powered

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

lawyer who gives up a glamorous life in Washington, DC and comes back home to the

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...

to work as an inept receptionist in her father's rural medical office. It was published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill in 2007 (hardback) and 2008 (paperback). According to WorldCat, it is held in 912 libraries. ''

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'' magazine chose ''Heart in the Right Place'' as its first ever Book of the Month, and ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' awarded it a Readers Prize. It was honored in Michigan with a

One City One Book One City One Book (also One Book One City, '' ity' Reads, On the Same Page and other variations) is a generic name for a community reading program that attempts to get everyone in a city to read and discuss the same book. The name of the program is ...

in the ''Capital Area Reads One Book'' in 2010. ''Medicine Men: Extreme Appalachian Doctoring'' (2012) was Jourdan's second book. It was a ''Wall Street Journal'' #5 bestseller in 2014, a ''Wall Street Journal'' No. 6 bestseller in 2015, and a ''Wall Street Journal'' No. 9 bestseller in 2022,. ''Medicine Men'' was No. 1 in Biography & Memoir, Science, and Medicine on Amazon. It is a follow-on to ''Heart in the Right Place'' and is a collection of true stories from Jourdan's family and over a dozen physicians who practiced in Southern Appalachia. ''Bear in the Back Seat: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger in the

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, w ...

'' is a two-part memoir with Kim DeLozier. It was a ''Wall Street Journal'' No. 9 bestseller in 2013 and No. 7 audio book bestseller in 2016. It describes DeLozier's 32-year career dealing with wildlife. Her medical mystery, ''Out on a Limb: A Smoky Mountain Mystery'' (2013), was a ''USA Today'' best seller and voted a Best Kindle Book of 2014. The French translation of the book, ''Suspendue'', was shortlisted for the Cognac Thriller Prize, the Prix Polar International. It deals with East Tennessee and the

, with an emphasis on the insular and quirky local culture. Jourdan's work has been translated into French, German, and Hungarian. Jourdan is a former Counsel to the

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and the

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. She has degrees from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

Biomedical Engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

and Law.

Bibliography

Nonfiction

Medical

*''Heart in the Right Place: A Memoir'' (2007) *''Medicine Men: Extreme Appalachian Doctoring'' (2012) *''Radiologists at Work: Saving Lives with the Lights Off'' (2015) *''Talking to Skeletons: Behind the Scenes With a Radiologist'' (2015) *''Nurse: The Art of Caring'' (2016)

Wildlife

*''Bear in the Back Seat I: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park'' (2013) *''Bear in the Back Seat II: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park'' (2014) *''Bear Bloopers: True Stories from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park'' (2014) *''Waltzing with Wildlife: 10 Things NOT to Do in Our National Parks'' (2016 ebook) *''Dangerous Beauty: Stories from the Wilds of Yellowstone'' (2017)

Writing

*''How to Write, Edit & Publish Your Memoir: Advice From a Best-Selling Memoirist'' (2018)

Fiction

Mystery

*''Out on a Limb: A Smoky Mountain Mystery'' (2013) *''School for Mysteries: A Midlife Fairy Tale Adventure'' (2014) *''School for Psychics: A Midlife Fairy Tale Adventure'' (2014) *''Breakdown on Blowhard Mountain: A Travel Mystery'' (2019)

References

* "Carolyn Jourdan" in ''Contemporary authors. : Volume 263 a bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields'' Gale, 2008

External links

Official website

Author page at Algonquin/Workman

Author Central Amazon page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jourdan, Carolyn Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women novelists 21st-century American memoirists American women memoirists 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers University of Tennessee alumni