Dayton area novelist Martha Moody is well known for “Best Friends,” “Office of Desire” and “Sometimes Mine,” acclaimed, best-selling novels about the challenges and rewards of personal relationships, all set in present time.

Now, Moody is taking a sharp literary turn with her newest novel, “Sharp and Dangerous Virtues,” set to release on Tuesday from Swallow Press (Ohio University).

On the surface, this novel is a complete departure from Moody’s previous literary creations; it’s a literary dystopian novel, set in 2047 in Dayton. The novel’s plot is based on a future tragic, but not altogether implausible, situation; as described on her website (www.marthamoody.net): “in response to food and water shortages, the U.S. government has developed a successful agricultural area — known as ‘the Heartland Grid’ — just north of the city. The Grid and its valuable human and agricultural resources are now being threatened — or possibly, seduced — by a multinational enemy force, and all of America feels threatened, too.”

And yet, “Sharp and Dangerous Virtues” renders its tale through realistic, intimate portrayals of characters and relationships: a family struggling to remain together, a couple in the Grid, a once-powerful water commissioner, a church janitor made into a scapegoat.

“I started writing this novel in 1998 shortly after my first novel found a publisher,” Moody says. “My other novels are thematically big, but I wanted to write a novel that, while still thematically big, also that created a whole new world and a huge range of characters.”

Moody and her husband have four sons, ranging from high school age to a recent college graduate. “I don’t want them to live small. I want them to live by and embody virtues that can change the world. The characters in my novel embody virtues — curiosity, audacity, generosity, perseverance — that can help or hurt the world, depending upon how the virtues are used. To write about something that big, I knew I needed to create a world.”

Moody was inspired by a multitude of interests and events to create, over the years, the world that serves as the stage for the story in “Sharp and Dangerous Virtues.” Sighting military tanks rolling down a main street while she was on the way home from the grocery one day served as the creative spark that inspired Moody to ask herself the ‘what if’ questions that often lead writers to creative territory. She’s fascinated by the biographies of local inventors and the virtues they embodied to achieve great accomplishments.

Moody says, “I had no idea if it would ever get published. My agent retired, and my new agents were supportive, but told me that several science-fiction publishers thought the novel was too literary, while traditional non-science-fiction publishers weren’t sure how to market this novel. Fortunately, my agents were persistent and took the novel to Swallow Press, a part of Ohio University Press, which takes risks with established authors who want to try something different.”

With the publication of “Sharp and Dangerous Virtues,” Moody says she’s fulfilled her ambition of creating a story that is large in every literary sense — theme, world and characters.

Moody will introduce “Sharp and Dangerous Virtues” to Dayton area readers at Books & Co. at The Greene (Beavercreek), at 7 p.m. Oct. 24, a Wednesday.

Cincinnati’s Books by the Bank Festival

This free event takes place Saturday, Oct. 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati. Dayton-area authors in this year’s lineup are, well, yours truly (Sanity Check); the aforementioned Martha Moody (“Sharp and Dangerous Virtues”); Kristina McBride (“One Moment”) and Laura Vikmanis (“It’s Not About the Pom-Poms”). Learn more about the festival at http://booksbythebanks.org/

Writers for Peace competition

Sponsored by Antioch University Midwest’s Dizney Writing Center in conjunction with the Dayton Literary Peace Prize 2012, the Writers for Peace competition calls for writers to create an original work on the theme of peace. Entries may be fiction, nonfiction, poetry (up to 3,000 words) and can include artwork, photography and multimedia presentations. Best entries will be in an upcoming edition of The Antioch Voice and chosen for public reading. Deadline: Oct. 27. Send entries to: writingcenter.aum@antioch.edu. For more information, call (937) 769-1657.

Writing workshop reminders

Today, 2-3:30 p.m.: Antioch Writers’ Workshop’s Free Writers’ Mini-Workshop, Books & Co. at The Greene, on Making the Most of NaNoWrMo. (November will be NaNoWrMo, National Novel Writing Month).

Monday, 6:30-8 p.m.: Dayton Metro Library’s Writing Other Worlds, Wilmington-Stroop branch, Kettering, led by fantasy, horror and sci-fi writer Tim Waggoner. Free.

Wednesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m.: Springboro Library (125 Park Lane Ave.), workshop for writers of all levels led by historical mystery author Carrie Bebris; call (937) 748-3200 to register.

Saturday, 10-11:30 a.m.: Dayton Metro Library’s Memoir Writing, Wilmington-Stroop branch, led by writer Susan Kelleher.

Oct. 27, 2-4 p.m. or Oct. 29, 6:30-8:30 p.m.: Word’s Worth Writing Connections presents a course in preparing for NaNoWrMo led by author Katrina Kittle, at the Oakwood Starbucks (2424 Far Hills Ave.); for more information or to register, visit www.wordsworthdayton.com.

Oct. 27, 2-5 p.m.: Dayton Metro Library’s Focus on Fiction, Main Library, downtown, led by novelist Trudy Krisher.