Ari Basil Wagner

Author

Ari Basil Wagner is one of six children, and at last count, her immediate family includes seventy-five people, including her Sage adult child. These connections, along with dear friends, are sources of loving joy for Ari. She has also faced great sorrows and grief, including a cancer diagnosis that cast doubt on her life’s journey many years ago. This experience guided her to hold on to life’s light and thrive, even in grim times. From there, she found her spirit’s chant, “Whatever measure of joy you can hold on to in the precious life, make it count!”

Ari’s professional career focused on serving vulnerable populations. During that time, she co-authored a book on juvenile justice reform, used in universities in Oregon and translated into Russian. Over the years, Ari continuously returns to her first true love – a blank page, pen in hand, and a story of life’s challenges and hope steaming through her imagination. Now, she is delighted to be part of Sapphire Books’ community of authors with her novel, Faithful To My Heart, a romance adventure laced with the intricate relationships between women, and the enchanting power of their resiliency. Sharing this story with you brings Ari full circle to her youthful days when she wrote in her Jr. High journal, “I want to be an author when I grow up – no, I’m an author now. When I grow up, I want others to know that.”

Ari lives in Oregon where she loves outdoor adventures in the Pacific Northwest. She hikes, snowboards, goes kayaking and other fun. As a gregarious introvert, she enjoys meeting people and visiting, but solo time in nature is where her heart-home dwells, and her imagination crests.

Ari’s stories show the array of bonds in which women love each other. Her work invites readers to find inspired hope and self-discovery through the tales of each character’s life. She writes about lesbians in stories for all readers. The women in her novels are much more than the moments unfolding around them. They look within and to each other to find inspiration and humor, holding on to the measures of joy in their lives and making it count!

Website link: aribasilwagner.net

FaceBook link: Ari B. Wagner

Instagram link: ari_for_now

Wagner, Linda (Ari Basil-Wagner); Aarons, John; Smith, Lisa. Dispatches from Juvenile Hall : Fixing a Failing System. Penguin Books, 2009.