Haustein Publishes Novel

Cathy Haustein ’76, professor of chemistry and department chair, has written her first science-romance novel, “Natural Attraction.” The book was published in May.

In the novel, Clementine, the main character, dreams of a career as a naturalist — but she must create and use a mysterious tonic to disguise herself as a man to participate in an adventurous prospecting expedition. Masquerading as Calvin, she must wade through the journey with the team’s attractive and gentle preacher, Wesley, and struggle between telling him the truth or keeping her secret.

Some may raise their eyebrows at a chemistry professor publishing a fiction romance novel, but Haustein also has a MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa. And good writers need the eye for detail that science demands, she says. “An experiment and a story both bring things together to create a narrative,” Haustein says. “Both are used to understand a chaotic world.”

“Natural Attraction” will be released as a paperback and e-book, available through Penner Publishing and Amazon.