The Warren County Public Library will host “An Evening with Tammy Oberhausen and Silas House” at 6 p.m. Friday at The Capitol.

Logan County native Oberhausen, who lives in Bowling Green and graduated from Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s and masters degree, will discuss her debut novel, “The Evolution of the Gospelettes” with Kentucky Poet Laureate House.

The novel, published by Fireside Industries – an imprint of the University Press of Kentucky –  was released Nov. 5 and tells the story of a family of gospel singers in Kentucky.

The novel’s cover features art by award-winning Bowling Green artist David Jones.

Oberhausen, who spent three decades working on the novel and developing her craft, said she had always had a fascination with gospel groups and grew up listening to them at church and at home.

“My mother had WRUS from Russellville playing day and night, so I would hear gospel music all the time,” she said. “I loved the emotion in the songs and the harmonies. I loved that a lot of times there were family groups singing. I had a real fondness for that.”

She said she started writing the book in the 1990s when she was in Lexington.

“By that time, that kind of music was fading from the scene and it was being replaced with contemporary Christian music,” she said. “It was just not the same for me.”

The novel takes place over a span of time from the 1970s to the early 2000s, “showing the changes in society and how gospel singers would adapt to all of those changes.”

Oberhausen said she is looking forward to discussing her book with House, who she had first met around 20 years ago shortly after his first novel.

“I actually met him at the Southern Kentucky Book Festival,” she said. “I was telling him at the time my woes about finishing my book and he recommended that I attend the Appalachian Writers Workshop. This was the first time that I had shared my writing with anyone.”

Later, House, who serves as editor of Fireside Industries, became her mentor and, after reading her book, he suggested she submit it to Fireside Industries.

Oberhausen said she faced some challenges while writing her first novel.

“It took a lot of time to write for many reasons, she said. “I was working full time, raising a family and writing a novel at the same time.”

Finding the mindspace rather than the time was actually one of the biggest challenges, she said.

Oberhausen said she does have ideas for future books, but doesn’t plan to focus on that until January.

“I have a few different ideas that I have started to play around with and am looking forward to see where to go next,” she said.

For free tickets to the conversation with Oberhausen and House, visit warrenpl.org.