LAKE COUNTY — A Clearlake woman said she wrote her way out of a depression with “Secret on Cobb Mountain” and reading from her laptop on a TV tray in front of the living room fireplace, she shared the therapy with her husband.
“It helped us both to get through the winter,” Kit DeCanti, 61, said.
She worked for years to get the book published and finally settled on an online publisher that prints copies on demand. By using an online publisher, she was able to maintain full control of the book”s content.
“There is nothing in there that I wouldn”t want my granddaughters to read,” DeCanti said.
She and her husband, Tony, moved to Lake County in 1996.
DeCanti is writing the third book of the romantic mystery series set in Lake County that she said is heavy on the mystery. She plans to title the book “Konocti Caves” and hopes to release it in the spring.
“If it were made into a movie, it definitely would not be a chick flick,” DeCanti said.
The first book in the series is “Secret on Cobb Mountain,” released in May 2009 and the second is “Return to Cobb Mountain,” released in May. The books have some of the same characters but go in different directions in what she calls entertaining fiction.
DeCanti said her books address what she considers to be important social issues.
“I like my readers to come away with something of substance,” DeCanti said.
Dr. Bob Gardner read the books, reviewing the first, and said he enjoyed them, especially because they are set in Lake County.
“It”s really nice to read things that are familiar,” Gardner said.
He said he was surprised by her insight into people and recommends the books to readers.
DeCanti also wrote “Secrets of a Lazy Cook, How I Survived Marriage to an Italian when I Hate the Kitchen.” The book includes recipes and family stories. She said it was culture shock when she got married, having a husband who expected her to make dinner and have it ready at 5 p.m. every day.
Kitchen Gallery owner Leslie Firth said the cookbook is delightful and a joy to read. She said she would love DeCanti to do a book signing at Watershed Books next door with the author cooking live at the Kitchen Gallery, which they hope to set up soon.
DeCanti wrote “Rock House,” a picture book she wrote for grandchildren about her father and the house in which he was born.
She finished her first book, “Crossroads Inn Time” in 2000 during a dark time in her and her husband”s lives so now she”s rewriting it, trying to lighten it up. It”s also set in Lake County and she will likely split it into a trilogy.
DeCanti said her books are available at bookstores in the county, where staff can order the books if they”re out. People can also buy the books at the Mountain High Coffee & Books in Cobb, the Shannon Ridge Vineyards & Winery Tasting Room and on amazon.com. Her Web site is kitdeeproductions.com and she”s also on facebook.
DeCanti will have a book signing from 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 21 at Jellystone Camp on Cobb. She will also be at the open mic Sept. 11 at Mountain High Coffee & Books in Cobb.
“Moving to Lake County has been such a good thing for my husband and myself,” she said. “I feel like living in Lake County has opened a wide door to my creativity.”
Contact Katy Sweeny at kdsweeny@gmail.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
