DE C EMBER 2018

Your guide to self-publishing

Meet the 2018 BookLife Prize Finalists •
Ask the Editor with Betty Sargent • Book Cover Redesign •
First Lines from BookLife Authors • 100 New Titles Listed

Spreading
the Wealth
A successful indie author
supports aspiring writers

BY MATIA BURNETT

W
hen author and self-publishing
entrepreneur Michael Anderle was
a teenager, he submitted a short
story to his high school’s literary journal. It
wasn’t well-received. “Rather crushed, I pulled
the submission and hid it in my books, never
to try again,” he says.
It was quite a few years before Anderle
again took a stab at writing fiction. “When
I turned 47, I decided to see what it took to
release a fiction book as a bucket list item,”
he says. The result of that effort was the
self-published novel Death Becomes Her
(2015), book one in the Kurtherian Gambit
series. Anderle hit the ground running: he
followed his debut with five sequels within
the span of 90 days.
 ® INDIE SUCCESS
Anderle describes his books as “an we learn,” Anderle says. He
amalgamation of paranormal science collaborates with a group
fiction, where I give vampires and of roughly 15 authors to
werewolves an alien genesis.” He pen the books, and LMBPN
adds, “The purpose is to entertain, has published more than
and hopefully make the reader 180 titles across multiple
laugh, smile, and perhaps sci-fi, fantasy, and largely
occasionally want to throw female-driven series, each
their Kindle.” of which unfolds in a dis-
Within two years, tinct universe. The books
Anderle says, he was pull- are bestsellers, and Anderle
i n g i n s i x f i g u re s p e r and his coauthors have
month. He believes that been ranked among
this early success arose the top 100 Amazon
from his strategic promo- authors.
tional efforts through social Anderle believes
media. He also began net- that LMBPN’s success
working with fans who were stems from his form-
aspiring authors themselves ing respectful, symbi-
by including author notes in otic working relation-
the digital books. In these, he ships with wr iters
shared his accounts of “what was navigating the excit-
going on as I was writing the books, i n g b u t n ot a l w ay s
and what frustrations I was encounter- easy indie landscape. He
ing.” broadened his network-
Anderle’s desire to share his knowledge ing efforts through the
and success with more authors led to development of
the launch of LMBPN, which stands for 20Book sto50K, a com-
“London, Milan, Barcelona, Paris, New munity that he and his
York,” the world’s fashion capitals. He business partner, author
says he believed early on that LMBPN Craig Martelle, created
would be a publishing house, “but we and that star ted as a
Michael
only had one author: me.” He adds, “It Fa c e b o o k g r o u p . T h e
Anderle
wasn’t until later in 2016 that I decided venture expanded into a
how I was going to publish more authors, series of conferences for
and the answer writers who self-
came from the
fans.” “I’ve gained a PhD in publish, the most
recent of which
Anderle gathered
feedback from his publishing success in Anderle and
Martelle hosted in
readers about what
k i n d s o f s to r i e s three years because of what Las Vegas in
November.
they were most
eager to read—and
the indie publishing revolution Anderle says the
conferences have
perhaps write. They
suggested genres
has allowed me to access.” allowed him to meet
“hardworking
that weren’t necessarily in his own wheelhouse. authors who know what to do but have not seen
Today, the entertainment company is “a constantly success.” He adds, “I choose to work with many of
evolving publishing concern, and our focus on them to see if I can supply the missing piece in
income-generating revenue streams changes as their puzzle to help them succeed.”

92 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
 Publishers Weekly presents
a semiweekly e-newsletter
SUBSCRIBE TODAY FOR YOUR
that reports on all the latest
®

FREE E-NEWSLETTER
children’s publishing news
Anderle’s entrepreneurial spirit, COVERING THE CHILDREN’S
and trends. Subscribers
grassroots publishing know-how,
and passion for reading have led BOOK SCENE!
receive a comprehensive
to a thriving business with an
international body of authors. He overview twice a week with
says that the work has been
strenuous and immersive: “I’ve dedicated coverage of:
gained a PhD in publishing success
in three years because of what ■ Industry news
Tap into the
the indie publishing revolution
has allowed me to access. Mind
children’s book market
■ Book reviews
you, I’m also old enough to know with your
a fair amount and willing to put Author
■FREE interviews
subscription to
in about 363 working days a year.”
In 2019, LMBPN will release ■ Rights deals
Children’s Bookshelf.
seven titles per week through
Amazon, according to Anderle.
SIGN UP NOW!
As soon as Amazon pays LMBPN, Publishers Weekly presents
the authors are paid as well. For PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe
Anderle, indie publishing allows a semiweekly e-newsletter
for this type of transparency,
that reports on all the latest
which, in turn, fosters a culture
of collaboration and mutual sup- Check out
children’s KidsCast
publishing news,
port: “In general, LMBPN focuses
on facilitating engagement and anda trends.
sponsored podcast
Subscribers
seriesa that showcases
allowing all of us to be as suc-
cessful as we want. If someone receive comprehensive
works with us and then goes and
builds their own properties, we the best
overview twicenew andwith
a week
will still market, on social media
and email, their personal proper- emerging
dedicated childrenʼs
coverage of:
ties as they release.”
LMBPN, Anderle says, draws ■ authors!
Industry news
Book reviews
from a fundamental principle:
that reading and writing are ■
reciprocal, and writers depend
on one another for support. He ■ Author interviews
continues to work on his own
books, and the more he learns ■ Rights deals
about writing and publishing,
the more he shares with other
authors. “Teach a person to catch
SIGN UP NOW!
a fish, and you feed them for a
day,” he says. “Teach them how
PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe
to successfully publish their own

out KidsCast
stories, and create a group like
20Booksto50k, and you allow
others to teach what they know. Listen
Check Today! ,
We all support each other and a sponsored podcast
PublishersWeekly.com/podcasts
help new successes happen.”  ■
series that showcases
the best new and B O O K L I F E .C O M 93
 ® COVER ART

Cover Redesign
This month, Michelle Argyle at Melissa Williams Design
reimagines the cover of Ideal High by indie author
Valerie Ipson, who praised the YA feel of the new cover.
To submit a book for a free cover redesign, email us at booklifeeditor@booklife.com.

Original Cover
This cover
doesn’t feature
much color, so I
decided to use
bold red for the Including burn
title. I balance marks around
that with the edge hints
the blue and at a fire—an
red balloons integral part of
directly below the plot.
the title.

Though the
original cover
hints that this
is a young adult
story, it feels
The somewhat
background, reserved. I
with its lined decided to go
paper and with a messier
doodles, makes approach that
it clear this indicates that
story is about the story has
teenagers and a dramatic but
takes place at sweet YA plot.
a school. The
doodles bring a
personal touch
to the cover—
something
lacking in the
original design.

94 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
 ® BOOKLIFE PRIZE
Meet the Finalists
We talk with the six finalists for the 2018 BookLife Prize
BY DANIEL LEFFERTS
This year, the judges of the BookLife Prize—best-
selling authors, the editorial staffs of Publishers
Weekly and BookLife, and PW reviewers—looked
at more than 900 submissions before selecting
just six titles (one from each of the contest’s
categories) for the finals. The grand-prize winner
will be announced on December 17. We caught
up with the six authors who reached the 2018
BookLife Prize finals to talk about writing his-
torical figures, trailer parks, supervillains, and a
whole lot more.
Rozsa Gaston:
Reviving a Royal
Gaston, this year’s finalist in the
general fiction category for her
novel Anne and Louis, lives in
Bronxville, N.Y., which is ideal,
given her fascination with European
history. According to her, many compare the village
to England’s Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace
of William Shakespeare. But as an author Gaston is
less interested in the historical figures we remem-
ber than in those we forget—and those who deserve
to have their stories retold.
This is the third book you’ve written about
Anne of Brittany. What got you interested in
the character?
About six years ago, I picked up Mildred Allen
Butler’s 1967 book on Anne of Brittany (Twice
Queen of France), largely because I was struck by
the image of Anne as a young girl on the cover. I
liked how sure of herself she looked. Her story was
beyond belief. She came to power in 1488, at age
11, as ruler of Brittany, then became queen of
France at age 14. This despite losing every one of
her immediate family members by age 12. Where
did she get the strength to go on? I searched for
anything I could find on her. There was almost
nothing out there. It occurred to me that there was
a huge opportunity.
96 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
You must have done quite a bit of research to
write this book. What’s a surprising fact you
uncovered?
Anne hid a limp. She had specially made shoes
built for her with a platform heel on one foot to
help her walk. From the age of four, she was
trained to conceal it, which she did magnificently.
What are your next steps as a writer?
Two more Anne of Brittany books are in the hop-
per. The first will be on the middle years of Anne’s
marriage with Louis. The final book of the Anne
of Brittany series will be on the last years of their
marriage.
Kelly Jameson:
Unearthing the Masters
Jameson lives in Sellersville,
Penn., and works as a copywriter
and editor for an advertising
agency. Her town is near New Hope,
the setting for her novel A Lady and
Gentleman in Black, this year’s finalist in the
mystery/thriller category. The book centers on an
FBI agent with the bureau’s art-theft task force
and touches on the life of the painter Rembrandt.
It turns out artists, and their unusual lives, are a
recurring inspiration for Jameson.
Why were you drawn to writing about the town
of New Hope?
I love to write about artists and their lives and
research them. I think it adds such texture and
color to your story. In New Hope, there seems to be
a geographic karma thing going on. There have
been a lot of writers and artists in the area.
The novel gets into history in multiple ways.
It features a nun who died in 1926 and it also
looks into the life of Rembrandt. What was
your research process like?
I read a lot. I scoured articles and books about
BOOKLIFE PRIZE
Rembrandt. I don’t like to overwhelm readers with
too many details. But I like to find things that
maybe aren’t that well-known. You can get more
of a human feel for what the person’s life was
like. And I didn’t know certain things. Apparently,
he was buried in this graveyard where they
moved bodies and rented the spaces out.
Nobody knows where this great artist is buried
in that cemetery.
You’ve self-published 14 novels. Which are
your favorites, and why?
Of all the books I’ve done, Dead On, A Lady and
Gentleman in Black, and What Remained of Katrina
are my favorites. What Remained of Katrina is set
in New Orleans and goes back and forth between
different narratives, kind of like A Lady and
Gentleman in Black, but it delves into van Gogh’s
life. Artists’ lives are fascinating.
Racheline Maltese and
Erin McRae: Pair Writing
a Pair-Skating Romance
Maltese and McRae, this year’s
finalists in the romance/erotica
category for their novel After the
Gold, have coauthored several books
together. Maltese works from
Brooklyn, N.Y., where she’s a free-
lance writer, and McRae works
from Fairfax, Va., where she’s a
freelance writer and editor. (She
was formerly a data analyst with
the State Department.) In addition to
writing projects, the authors share an obsession
with ice skating—which led to this romance about
pair skaters in love.
How did you decide to write about figure
skaters?
R.M.: We were obsessing about the 2016 Olympics,
and we weren’t working on a book we should have
been working on. We said, “Well, we can keep hav-
ing endless conversations about the Olympics, or
we should just write a different book.” Then I had
the brilliant marketing idea that if people preor-
dered the book, we would film an embarrassing
video of ourselves attempting to ice skate. Erin
had never done it before, and I got kicked out of
ice skating when I was six because I was too
scared. But then we fell in love with the sport,
®
and we’re both taking weekly lessons.
Did you ever post the video?
R.M.: We were trying to take the video. But my
partner, who came with us to do that, fell and
broke her ankle.
Other than practicing it yourselves, how did
you learn about the world of ice skating for
this book?
E.M.: We had the story we wanted to tell first, and
then we knew what gaps had to be filled. We
knew exactly what questions we needed
answered: How long is a program? How many
jumps are you allowed to do? How does this move
work? And a lot of reading the International
Skating Union rules.
Did you base your protagonists off any
real-life skaters?
R.M.: This really started because we were
obsessed with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and
the sort of hilarious media drama of “are they or
aren’t they together?” We write a lot of romances
about people who are in the public eye. To do that,
to be incredibly ambitious and successful, means
you’re not always an easy person to deal with.
How does that really work? My partner and I
argue about who takes out the garbage. What do
you do when you’re arguing about “you hurt
your knee” or “you missed that triple axel”?
David Reiss:
Antagonist as Protagonist
Reiss, this year’s finalist in the
science fiction/fantasy/horror
category for his novel Fid’s
Crusade, lives in Silicon Valley,
where he works as a software
engineer. Fid’s Crusade is the first book in a
projected trilogy. The stor y fits into the
superhero categor y but not neatly—Reiss is
much more interested in villains.
You’ve published two books now, both in this
series. When did you begin writing?
I’ve been writing for most of my life, but the vast
majority of my projects were unfinished until I
picked up a new piece of software, Scrivener,
which helped me to organize larger projects, and
organize my thoughts better.
B O O K L I F E .C O M 97
 ® BOOKLIFE PRIZE
Why in this book and the one that follows it,
Behind Distant Stars, did you opt to focus on a
supervillain rather than a superhero?
I read John Gardner’s Grendel when I was young.
That’s a deep dive into the mind of the beast from
Beowulf. Ever since then I’ve wondered what the
antagonist was thinking throughout a story when-
ever I saw what the hero was doing. In superhero
stories, the villains are more proactive. The heroes
all react. The villain’s robbing a bank, so the heroes
run to save the day. But the villain’s the guy that
has to start things rolling. I was trying to approach
the genre from what initiates conflict.
You’ve struggled to complete projects in the
past. How did you start, and ultimately finish,
this one?
I often say it took me 46 years to write my first
book and six months to write the second. The
truth is, once I started it, the first book, too, took
me about six months to write. But it went through
several iterations. When I first started it, it was a
short story. I went to a local writer’s group. This is
not a group I normally work with. The people there
were very condescending about the idea of genre
fiction. I got this attitude of “oh, we’re real authors,
we don’t write science fiction—we don’t write
superheroes.” So, I tried to do a capital-L-literature
story about a supervillain—just to be cantankerous.
It was a nonlinear, stream-of-consciousness deep
dive into the mind of the villain. It was chewy and,
I think, reasonably well-done. But it wasn’t fun.
So, I tore it apart and rewrote it. And I tore it apart
again and rewrote it. And I tore it apart until at
some point I realized, “I have a full novel here.”
Michael F. Stewart:
Big Questions in a
Strange Place
Stewart, this year’s finalist in
the young adult/middle grade
category for his novel Ray vs. the
Meaning of Life, lives with his fam-
ily in Ottawa, Canada. His novel, the latest of
more than a dozen, is about a young protagonist
on a philosophical mission in a trailer park—an
odd setup that only portends more oddness.
One of the more distinctive things about this
book is its setting, a trailer park. What
prompted you to choose that location?
98 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
The distinctive thing is the trailer park setting?
Not the cryogenically frozen grandma with her
brain stuck in an eight-foot-tall Barbie? Or the
marauding grizzly bear? Or the struggling moti-
vational coach to celebrities and billionaires?
I’m kidding. The setting is really important. And
there’s a good reason for it. I’ve been there. Not
Sunnydays in particular, but a place like it, situ-
ated in a veritable swamp, with all that mud and
so many mosquitoes. The people who lived there
were part of a shadow population, good people
staying for work. It was a weird, slightly alien place,
where weird stuff happened and a very unlikely
place to be thinking about the meaning of life,
which is why it’s the best place for this story.
You’ve advocated for interactive storytelling
platforms for young readers. Is there an inter-
active platform for this book in the works?
I like interactivity because it engages the reader
and pulls them into the narrative. It can be very
immersive and extend story into places it some-
times isn’t seen. I’m not sure this project would
be better with interactive features. Facing a
grizzly in virtual reality? Maybe you could play
against Ray in one of his video games and talk
to an AI version of him as he takes down dragon
spawn?
Oanh Ngo Usadi:
Learning New Memories
As you can tell from the title of
her first book, Of Monkey
Bridges and Banh Mi
Sandwiches, Usadi, this year’s
finalist in the memoir/autobiogra-
phy category, finds much meaning in food.
Recently she published an essay in the Washington
Post about the significance of Thanksgiving turkey
to her family, who immigrated to the U.S. from
Vietnam in the 1980s. Their experiences are at
the center of her memoir, which BookLife Prize
judge Julie Powell calls “the sort of book we need
right now.”
How long did you work on this book? What
prompted you to begin writing it?
The memoir took about four years from first ink
on paper to publication. I came to writing some-
what by accident. When my father passed away
eight years ago, I decided to write a short essay
BOOKLIFE PRIZE ®

BOOKWOKS_HALF_V_0715_Layout 1 7/24/15 10:10 AM Page 1

about his life. Around the anniversary of his
death, about five years ago, I sent the story to
different newspapers. To my tremendous sur-
prise, the Wall Street Journal accepted it. The
editor, who was very kind, thought there was
more to the story and suggested that perhaps I
should think about writing a memoir. While it
was incredibly gratifying to have that validation,
I couldn’t imagine writing a whole book. It took
me so long just to write the essay. But in the
end, I decided to take the plunge.
Calling all
What were the most challenging aspects of
Indie Authors
writing the book?
I left Vietnam when I was only 11, so my direct
knowledge of Vietnamese history was limited.
What can BookWorks do
Since my family’s history is very much linked with
for you:
that of Vietnam itself, I had to learn more about
the events during that time period. Weaving the
different threads into a coherent interesting
● Help You Find Your Reader
● Post Excerpts from Your Book
for Peer Review
narrative was a challenge. I also struggled writ-
ing about my parents when they had only recently
passed away. My father had died a few years
before I started the book, and my mother passed
away when I was near the end of writing. It was
difficult to have the detachment needed to write
about the past when I still had such raw feelings
about the present.
Now that you’ve written your first book, how
will you continue your writing career?
Since the book’s publication in April, I have con-
tinued to write essays and op-eds. At the moment
I’m working on narrating the audiobook version
of the memoir, which is a whole project unto
itself. I also have several writing ideas that I’m at
the early stages of pursuing. I hope to explore the
craft of fiction writing.  ■
Daniel Lefferts is a writer in New York.
Q&A SPONSORED

● Get a Featured Author Cover BookLife Talks with

Medallion for Your Book Rosemary Morgan
● Chat With Our Experts Heddens
Christian children’s author Heddens
● Showcase and Sell Your Books With
can BookWorks do
What Direct-to-Retailer for you:
Links
writes across generations and abili-
ties in this series inspired by real
children doing extraordinar y
● Find
• Help you the
FindBest
Your Editors,
Reader Designers, things.
• PostIllustrators,
Excerpts fromMarketers,
Your Book forandPeer Review
Publicists in the Business
• Get a Featured Author Cover Medallion for Tell us a little bit about your char-
acters in The Handy Helpers and
Your Book
• Chat
And that’s just for starters
With Our Experts
the world they live in.
Let us help you Prepare, Publish and Promote The main characters in my books
• Showcase and Sell
your books. Your Books
We show you how With
to make are seven kids who call themselves
Direct-to-Retailer Links the Handy Helpers. They volunteer
indie publishing easier and, yes it’s true —
at a senior center in the imaginary
• Find the Best how
Editors, Designers,
to make it fun. Illustrators, town of Bluesky. There are three boys and four girls,
Marketers, and Publicists in the Business all ten years old. The seniors they help are a zany
group who always have some crazy project going on.
The Handy Helpers jump right in and help and also
have a lot of fun along the way.
JOIN NOW!
bookworks.com For the complete interview, visit
booklife.com/heddens

B O O K L I F E .C O M 99
 ® HYBRID PUBLISHING
The Measures
That Matter
As hybrid publishing evolves,
authors should reconsider how
they define success and failure
BY BROOKE WARNER
A
fellow publishing professional told me recently
that she wished hybrid publishing had a
different name—that it would be better if
hybrid publishing could be clearer, sexier somehow,
as if that would solve its lingering challenges. But
there is no name hybrid publishing could adopt that
would change the fact that it’s a gray zone—between
traditional publishing and self-publishing—or that
it’s an emerging model that’s still being defined.
The Independent Book Publishers Association
took a giant step earlier this year to codify hybrid
publishing by laying out nine criteria that publish-
ers must meet to be called hybrid publishers. The
criteria are important because hybrid publishing,
despite its unsexy name, does have clear appeal.
It’s getting attention. The industry is writing about
it and therefore further codifying and validating it.
And because the business model is one in which
authors pay, service providers and other entities
that do not meet the criteria are calling themselves
hybrid because it behooves them to do so.
Not all of these players are sinister. I’ve talked to
plenty of service providers who say, “We’re hybrid.
We meet most of the criteria.” The issue is that most
isn’t enough, and hybrid publishing will only be fully
embraced and legitimized once the good actors
understand that aspiring to be hybrid and being
hybrid are two separate things.
Hybrid publishing has, in fact, been around for as
long as publishers have existed. In its simplest
definition, hybrid publishing is traditional publish-
ing in which authors invest in their own book proj-
ects in exchange for higher royalties. On the front
100 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
Brooke Warner
end, the difference comes down to the money and
who pays; on the back end, reputable hybrid publish-
ers must adhere to the industry’s best practices and
standards. Traditional publishers have been cutting
these kinds of deals for decades, and often the
authors who want them are the savviest and most
entrepreneurial: they understand that there’s a
certain insanity to giving up over 90% of their earn-
ings and that the reality of a big advance is that it
has the potential to be a career killer.
There’s no question that advances are seductive.
Every aspiring author wants one, not only for the
money but because an advance is a financial vote
of confidence. The problem is that votes of confidence
have zero insurance attached to them, and since
the publishing industry has only doubled down on
advances in recent years, with many celebrated
six- and seven-figure deals, the entire process—auc-
tions, bidding wars, giant advances—runs on high
adrenaline and makes book publishers look a whole
lot like problem gamblers hitting the Vegas Strip.
One editor, quoted in a 2014 Publishers Weekly
article titled, “The Rise of the Seven-Figure Advance,”
in attempting to explain these enormous advances,
said, “The whole pool of talent is shrinking. There
are fewer publishers, fewer slots, and fewer submis-
sions, so... the higher the quality of the project, the
more you’re likely to get.”
The talent pool is not shrinking. Far from it. It’s
just that there are fewer “sure bets”: the debut (often
young and attractive) literary ingenues and celeb-
rities. Publishers cry poor and then throw a million
dollars on red. What’s actually shrinking is any space
HYBRID PUBLISHING
within traditional publishing for new ways of think-
ing about how publishers might do business. Those
who think outside the box, as always, are the indies.
The big question that continues to challenge hybrid
publishers is how they can prove they have a stake
in projects if they’re not paying for them. It’s decid-
edly less glamorous to have to pony up the money to
publish than it is to get an advance, true. To measure
what’s at stake for a publisher, however, is to measure
what’s gained or lost. Hybrid publishers gain an asset
every time an author is added to their lists, but they
happen to pay authors a far greater percentage than
traditional publishers, and that therefore puts far
less pressure on either party to earn out.
The first article I wrote for PW about hybrid pub-
lishing was in 2014. “Traditional publishing has so
little flexibility that it’s wedged itself into a creative
void, and I think the long-term cultural impact will
become evident,” I wrote. There’s no separating the
space that hybrid publishing is carving out for itself
from the frenzied dance being played out in tradi-
tional publishing, because the two are interconnected.
Yes, it’s more interesting to watch the drama that
®
unfolds when the stakes are higher. But, in the long
run, the career writers of the future will be those
who embrace the myriad business models open to
authors today.
There are not and have never been sure bets in
book publishing. It’s a creative industry, and there-
fore, thankfully, many of the books that rise to the
top defy reason and expectation. Thus, what matters
most to any author should be the mechanisms by
which a publisher can get a book out into the world.
And, because the hybrid criteria include distribution,
authors would do well to investigate this process
and learn about how sales and marketing work.
Authors should also determine whether previous
books from publishers they’re considering rise to
the level of success that they’re hoping for. These
are the measures that matter—the measures that
will give authors the most insurance in the end. ■
Brooke Warner is the publisher of She Writes
Press and SparkPress, a TEDx speaker, a writing
coach, and the author of Write On, Sisters! (She
Writes, fall 2019).
B O O K L I F E .C O M 101
 ® BOOKS TO WATCH

Scouting Report
In this month’s roundup of the best-reviewed BookLife
titles, we highlight a techo-thriller, a murder mystery, a col-
lection of stories about river guiding in the United States,
and a lot more.

★ The Storm over ★ Halfway to

Paris Halfway and Back
WILLIAM IAN GRUBMAN EDITED BY DICK LINFORD
Synopsis: In Paris in 1942, AND BOB VOLPERT
art dealer Mori Rothstein Synopsis: This second
finds himself in an awk- assortment of stories from
ward position when he is editors Linford and Volpert
tasked with creating an art about river guiding in the
museum for Hitler. U.S. and the people who do
PW’s Takeaway: Grubman it for a living is both light-
is adept at crafting nail- hearted and serious.
biting scenes of suspense, building up to a PW’s Takeaway: A raucous and delightful collec-
tantalizingly inconclusive ending. tion. Every story in the book is well worth
Comparable Title: Iain Pears’s The Raphael one—or two—thoughtful reads.
Affair Comparable Title: Kevin Fedarko’s The Emerald
Sample Line: “Mori froze. Impossible. Across the Mile
room behind the grand desk stood the most Sample Line: “I suppose the goats might have
feared man in Paris, Reichsmarschall Hermann been an omen. But, really, who would expect
Goering, the head of the Gestapo.” an omen to come along on a Friday afternoon.”
Read the Review: Read the Review:
publishersweekly.com/9781732610002 publishersweekly.com/9780692136256

★Arcadia The Best Open Season

ALEXANDER Possible ALISA SCHINDLER
PLANSKY Angle Synopsis: A
Synopsis: In this LLOYD JOHNSON groundskeeper
techno-thriller, Synopsis: Secrets, finds a corpse on
a tech journalist blackmail, and the home plate
must investigate murder make for of a baseball field
the death a colleague. a tantalizing trifecta in Johnson’s belonging to the Fort Jefferson
PW’s Takeaway: Imaginative, edgy and entertaining novel. Youth Organization.
pulse-pounding... smooth prose PW’s Takeaway: The story PW’s Takeaway: This twisty mys-
and relatable characters are features complex characters. tery will catch even veteran
a plus.” A sharp, suspenseful novel. whodunit readers off guard.
Comparable Title: Michael Comparable Title: Gillian Flynn’s Comparable Title: Tori Carrington’s
Crichton’s Prey Gone Girl Foul Play
Read the Review: publishers- Read the Review: publishers- Read the Review: publishers-
weekly.com/9780999239933 weekly.com/9780997323443 weekly.com/9781976382604

102 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
FIRST LINES ®

First Lines
Evelyn Marsh
SCOTT CLEMENS
“Evelyn’s first murder was an accident.”

Our monthly look at some of the best

first lines from BookLife authors The Obsession
DAWN BROTHERTON
“There was so much blood.”
To round out 2018, we’ve got brave girls, an
abundance of blood, and murder. To submit a first
line, email booklifeeditor@booklife.com. Brainwashed
PAUL AERTKER
A Bullied Reunion “Lucas Benes lay in a sleeping bag on
CHRIS PONICI the roof of his father’s hotel, dreaming
“There is no greater high than the about a past he couldn’t remember.”
moment just before you kill a human
being.”
The Castle Blues Quake
LINDA COVELLA
The Flute Player from Urumqi “Man, that girl don’t scare, not easy,
JEFFREY L. CARNETT anyhow.”
“They call my father a terrorist.”

B O O K L I F E .C O M 103
 ® WRITING ADVICE
Ask
the
Editer
A veteran editor answers
your writing questions
BY BETTY KELLY SARGENT
S hould I outline my novel or
just write and see where
the story takes me?  —John T.
F or most authors, writing a
novel without an outline
would be like trying to drive
from Chicago to Tucson with-
out a map. You might get there
eventually but at what cost?
104 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
In Write Away, Elizabeth
George writes, “I create a step
writes, “During the months (or
years) it takes me to put my
outline [a series of scene ideas together I don’t take
descriptions]. I then expand notes or make outlines.... I
it to a running plot outline... get everything set in my head
a present tense stream-of-
conscious affair... just firing
away at computer keys, writing
and then I go.”
Each writer is different, and
it is up to you. Most of the
down what I see happening in successful novelists I have
each scene on my step out- worked with over the years
line.” have used fairly detailed out-
John Searles, author of lines. They were in a hurry to
Strange but True, says he get to Tucson.
works from a loose outline.
“It’s always a very fluid pro-
cess as I discover what works
and what doesn’t in crafting
the story. So the outline
changes many times as I move
forward with the writing.”
Not all writers rely on an
Betty Kelly Sargent is the
founder and CEO of BookWorks.
outline. In The Getaway Car: If you have a question for the
A Practical Memoir About editor, please email Betty Sargent
Writing and Life, Ann Patchett at booklifeeditor@booklife.com.
 PAID LISTINGS

PW SELECT LISTINGS ®

New Titles from

Self-Publishers
Booksellers, publishers, librarians, and agents are encouraged to look at the 100
self-published titles below. Each appears with a list of retailers that are selling the
book and a description provided by its author. Some of these writers are waiting to
be discovered; others have track records and followings and are doing it on their
own. If you are a self-published author interested in listing titles in this section,
please visit publishersweekly.com/pw-select for more information.
Fiction Gifts of the Gods: Iron and Bronze Killer Competition
The Adventures of White Fang Thomas J. Berry. Tom Kranz. Thomas Kranz.
Toni Licastro. BookLocker. $21.95 $24 paper (220p), ISBN
AuthorHouse. $10.99 paper (514p), ISBN 978- 978-1-64467-148-1;
paper (74p), ISBN 978- 1-64438-306-3 $12 e-book, ASIN
1-5462-2441-9; $3.99 Amazon, BN.com, B07K631P15
e-book, ISBN 978-1- BookLocker Amazon, BN.com, Kobo
5462-2440-2 Five men and women Two years out of prison
Amazon in ancient Greece are and trying to reinvent himself, Bud
The wolf White Fang’s set on a dangerous journey of self- Remmick just wants to be a solid citizen.
arrest record was A+ except for the discovery during the bitter conflict of the But after only a week, he discovers bad
unsolved death case of his master’s father. Peloponnesian War. things swirling around him.
Will this exceptional animal find the truth?
Harp Paris Postcards:
After the Rain Nidhi Dalmia. Short Stories
Jane Lorenzini. Nest Press. CreateSpace. $14.95 Guy Thomas Hibbert.
$14.99 paper (252p), paper (412p), ISBN 978- Ventura Editions. $14.95
ISBN 978-1-73232-480- 1-5329-3330-1 paper (260p), ISBN 978-
0; $9.99 e-book, ISBN Amazon, BN.com 1-986761-02-4
978-1-73232-482-4 Set in the context of the Amazon
Amazon, BN.com, Powell’s zeitgeist and idealism The hopes and dreams
It’s 1888. Can Belle of the late 1960s, this book is about love, of the characters are kindled by the pow-
Carson reinvent her life by moving in next longing, and coming-of-age. erful mystique of Paris. In each linked
door to Thomas Edison’s winter estate? story is a simple postcard, which may
Jerusalem Stone have dramatic consequences.
Frank Vaughn Killed by His Mom Susan Sofayov. Black Opal
D. Krauss. Dustyskull Books. $2.99 e-book, The Parsley Thief
Press. $15 paper (405p), ASIN B07968PVX7 Ingrid Leopold Blanco.
ISBN978-1-72942274-8 Amazon, BN.com, Kobo, Ad Infinitum Press. $16
Amazon Smashwords paper (313p), ISBN 978-
In the summer of 1965, On Sept. 15, 2008, 0-915474-20-2
a 10-year-old takes a Julie loses her job, and Adinfinitumbooks.com,
bizarre trip across the her twin, Jack, in a car crash. Feeling AbeBooks, Amazon
South with his manic responsible for his death, she flees to An elderly woman’s life is upended by her
and wildly violent dad and the ghost of a Thailand and meets Avi. Can he help her husband’s death and by the discovery
murdered classmate. let go of her guilt? that all her money has been stolen.

B O O K L I F E .C O M 105

® PW SELECT LISTINGS
The Pretenders
Leland J. Katz. iUniverse.
$28.99 paper (772p),
ISBN 978-1-5320-3822-
8; $3.99 e-book, ISBN
978-1-5320-3823-5
Amazon
The story of tens of
thousands of liberal arts and social sci-
ences majors who worked in high tech and
helped create the computer industry.
Red Dale Ray: A Sober Rebrand
Debra Cunningham. Debra
Cunningham. $10.98
paper (295p), ISBN 978-
1-72882-966-1
Amazon
Ray wants to give up on
his struggling mountain
bar and travel around
the country in his travel trailer. He doesn’t
know that some sneaky business is going
on behind his back.
Revenge Is Best Served Hot
Alan Eaton. AuthorHouse.
$13.99 paper (144p),
ISBN 978-1-5462-2155-
5; $3.99 e-book, ISBN
978-1-5462-2153-1
Amazon
John’s wife was mur-
dered, and he has to
figure out what was really going on.
Who really ran SOTE? How was his wife
involved with them?
Royally Courted
C.S. Nolan. Toplink
Publishing. $11.99 paper
(140p), ISBN 978-1-
948962-24-7
Amazon, BN.com
In a French coastal
village during the
Thirty Years’ War, Altheia de Savoir waits
for her Scottish sailor love, Matthew, to
return from the sea.
The Secret Letters of President Donald
J. Trump, Age 72 1/6 (Wiseguy Satire
Series, Book 1)
106 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
PAID LISTINGS
Rudolf T.G. Hess. Irokopost
Books. $15.99 e-book,
ASIN B07KRG54DD
Amazon
Thirty-eight satirical
secret letters that U.S.
president Donald
Trump wrote to figures
as varied as Kim Jong-un, Oprah Winfrey,
Kanye West, LeBron James, Vladimir
Putin, and many others.
Send Packs!
David Kutchinski.
BookBaby. $15 paper
(275p), ISBN 978-1-
64254-412-1; $4.99
e-book, ASIN
B07KNX9SY5
Amazon
This book chronicles the lives of George
Armstrong Custer and the main character,
David Cole, until the fateful day on a
desolate plain in June 1876 when they
both are killed in battle.
The Sugar Merchant
James Hutson-Wiley. New
Generation Publishing.
$14.99 paper(378p), ISBN
978-1-78955-320-8
Amazon
This book explores the
turbulent commercial
revolution of the 11th century through
the eyes of a participant and his Jewish
and Muslim merchant partners.
Tim tim? Bwa sèch! Keskiya à Kiskeya?
The Xó of Àgasú
Jacques-Raphaël Georges. Xlibris. $121.99
paper (228p), ISBN 978-
1-5434-7656-9; $3.99
e-book, ISBN 978-1-
5434-7655-2
Amazon
This book sprang
from a deep nostalgia for the Haiti of
yesteryear. The author tells of two folk
heroes, Bouki and Malis, and intends to
revive and enrich Haiti’s cultural heritage
of oral storytelling.
A Woman’s Prerogative
Steven C. Brandt. Steven
C. Brandt. $14.99 paper
(416p), ISBN 978-1-
73221-084-4
Amazon, Ingram
Greta Sadler returns to
Reno, Nev., to discover
that the family company
is on the brink of bankruptcy. She and
her lover, a high-tech geology professor,
take a high-risk gamble to turn it
around, confronting blackmail, family
betrayal, and a legendary lost mine.
Poetry
Be the Pine, Be the Ball: Haiku
Reflections on the World of Golf
Paul J. Zingg. Xlibris.
$19.99 paper (278p),
ISBN 978-1-984516-
87-9; $3.99 e-book, ISBN
978-1-984516-88-6
Amazon
These haiku poems and
essays lead readers to
appreciate the culture and history of golf
and to an awareness of a player’s place
in the game.
This Atmosphere of Love
Franklin Bass Jr.
AuthorHouse. $12.95
paper (72p), ISBN 978-
1-4772-7632-7; $3.99
e-book, ISBN 978-1-
4772-7631-0
Amazon
Bass shares a collec-
tion of his poetry from 2008 to 2012 that
speaks about his true feelings and expe-
riences of love.
Mystery/Thriller
The Amulet—WW1 Espionage at Its Best
Clinton Mhic Aonghais.
Ingram Spark. $29.95
paper (816p), ISBN 978-
0-473-46302-1
Amazon, BN.com
A WWI espionage novel
involving a little-known
French female MI1
 PAID LISTINGS
PW SELECT LISTINGS
operative and the discovery of an ancient amulet that sets several
on a fated collision course.
The Arms of Death: Loch Lonach Mysteries, Book One
Maggie Foster. Maggie’s Mysteries. $11.99 paper
(438p), ISBN 978-0-9989858-0-0
Amazon, BN.com, Kobo, Scribd
When one of her ICU patients dies unexpect-
edly, Ginny Forbes decides to find out why.
The answer lies buried in the distant past.
Unearthing it will change Ginny’s life forever.
The Curing Room
Michael Winn. MW Publications. $8.99 e-book,
ASIN B07KNB3B7S
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo
The lies collide as Ava, a young professor, is
forced by circumstance to match wits with a
volatile student who brings hostility into her
mundane life.
Drive
John Nuckel. Thewordverve Inc. $15 paper (230p),
ISBN 978-1-948225-06-9
Johnnuckel.com, Amazon
In this crime thriller, history and current events
unite through a secret society created in late
1800s New York City. The society’s purpose is
to intercede when typical rules of justice cannot.
Merchant of Dreams
Anita Briggs. CreateSpace. $14.99 paper (342p),
ISBN 978-1-5333-7465-3
Amazon, BN.com
Felicity meets an acclaimed pianist in
Yorkshire. As her life becomes a nightmare of
duplicity, she must call upon courage and
intellect to save her music—and her life.
Paint Her Dead
Wanda Shelton. Wanda Shelton. $15 paper (360p),
ISBN 978-1-72931-304-6
Amazon
Murder and intrigue occur at a cozy but
quaint inn located on a beautiful bay in
coastal Maine.
The Payout
Bryan Cassiday. Kindle Direct. $16.99 paper
(390p), ISBN 978-0-9834989-9-5
Amazon
A distressed young woman falls under the
spell of a homicidal maniac and becomes his
Q&A SPONSORED
BookLife Talks with
Vanya Erickson
In this lushly written debut,
memoirist Erickson uncovers
her father ’s Pearl Harbor
trauma and finds her own path
to h e a l i n g i n t h e S i e r r a
Nevadas.
You grew up with a Christian
Scientist mother and a WWII
veteran father who suffered
from alcoholism and PTSD.
How did these aspects of your
parents’ lives inform your
memoir?
Boot Language is essentially
t h e s to r y o f a ch i l d to r n
between two worlds, of how
she makes her way and finds
her voice. My mother’s religion
played a key role in my story,
particularly her decision to
pray rather than rush to the
hospital when I was a bleeding
newborn. But I prefer to look to
her love of poetry and music, her gentle hands, and
her inventive use of language.
My father’s PTSD and alcoholism were the result
of years of war in the Pacific. He never once men-
tioned that he was at Pearl Harbor. He self-medi-
cated with alcohol, but his flashbacks of the war
provided a deeper truth. I began to list his many
gifts: that riding in the high Sierras is nothing short
of heaven; that books can transform your life; that
Beethoven was a brilliant badass.
Tell us what you mean by the expression “boot
language”?
When I was young, I coined the term boot language
to describe my father’s approaching footsteps. I could
predict his moods based on these sounds. This is how
I managed to survive. Fast forward to adulthood,
where I had completely blocked this out, though I was
living its negative effects with self-harm.
For the complete interview, visit
booklife.com/erickson
B O O K L I F E .C O M 107
 PAID LISTINGS

PW SELECT LISTINGS
partner in a murder plot to collect on his Shot to Pieces
life insurance policy. Michael O’Keefe. Lulu.
$21 paper (412p), ISBN
Pistachio 978-1-4834-5327-9;
Jeanie Doyle Singler. $3.99 e-book, ISBN
AuthorHouse. $20.99 978-1-4834-5325-5
paper (304p), ISBN 978- Amazon, Apple iBooks,
1-5246-8465-5; $3.99 BN.com
e-book, ISBN 978-1- A brutal murder in Brooklyn becomes the
5246-8464-8 springboard for a tale of a man coming
Amazon to terms with his chaotic past.
Forty-five years after the rock group
Pistachio ended, its members begin Twilight Never Sleeps
dying unexpectedly. Wharton Forde and Betty Hamilton. Newman
Atlanta Gabriel join forces to uncover the Springs Publishing.
mystery behind these unexplained $16.95 paper (274p),
deaths. ISBN 978-1-64096-030-
5; $9.99 e-book, ISBN
Release 978-1-64096-033-6
Nina Blakeman. Outskirts Amazon, BN.com
Press. $20.95 paper A story of deception, corruption, and
(412p), ISBN 978-1- ways that small-town life has changed
977201-87-4 due to the influence of drugs and the
Amazon, Apple iBooks, money they bring to rural America.
BN.com
Dr. Faye Davis is a SF/Fantasy/Horror
member of Cullen State University’s The Bright Path: An Anachronism
esteemed faculty, but life in academia Benjamin M. Birney.
has left her unfulfilled. What she wants Benjamin M. Birney.
most is a family. $26.99 paper (800p),
ISBN 978-1-71781-
Resolve: The Elesin Vollan Story 651-1; $2.99 e-book,
R.S. Kee. Xlibris. $19.99 ASIN B07JCDDPLR
paper (272p), ISBN 978- Amazon
1-5434-1843-9; $3.99 A science fantasy comic
e-book, ISBN 978-1- adventure romance political thriller with
5434-1842-2 goblins and cannons. Two young people
Amazon follow a sour history professor into the
Elesin Vollan begins a wilderness in search of strange history.
new chapter in his life,
but his plans are halted as his past comes Genesis (The Infinity Series, Book 2)
back to torment him. Will this be the end Bellamy Westbay.
of his story? Quadratic Pie Publishing.
$12.75 paper (412p),
The Rigel Affair ISBN 978-0-9996065-
L.M. Hedrick. Black Rose Writing. $20.95 1-3; $2.99 e-book, ASIN
paper (328p), ISBN 978- B07DXP2Y8D
1-68433-162-8 Amazon, Apple iBooks,
Amazon BN.com, Books-a-Million
This WWII thriller with A tale of love, lust, revenge, and betrayal
chilling danger is as an angel defies the god he’d sworn to
softened by a wartime obey and sets out across the multiverse
romance. to save the human woman he loves.

108 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
 PAID LISTINGS

PW SELECT LISTINGS
Homo Transformans: The Origin and Amazon
Nature of the Species The threat of invasion
Mary Elizabeth Ames. looms in this space
Xlibris. $23.99 paper adventure with epic
(586p), ISBN 978-1- space battles and a
5434-8013-9; $3.99 new twist on artificial
e-book, ASIN intelligence.
B07CM23J1G
Amazon, BN.com, Ingram To Be to Is to Was
Conflicts arise when a new species of Stephen C. Bird.
human, Homo transformans, develops the BookBaby. $14 paper
ability to transform into different animal (206p), ISBN 978-0-
species, including apex predators. 692-06946-2
Amazon, BookBaby
A New God in Athens Sunnie Deelite and
Peter Kornis. Peter Isabella Gloucester
Kornis. $2.99 e-book, say goodbye to Fascibook and polarized
ASIN B07JQR2Y1B Isolamicka and travel to planet Gorp,
Amazon, Kobo where they party and meditate with the
A young man and an unusual god travel to Egyptian cat goddess Bastet.
a parallel universe and change the history
of the war between Sparta and Athens. Tomas of Terra: Mastery of Tomas Series
Jaylee Balch. Strategic
The Revelation of Number 10: A Galactic Book Publishing & Rights
Neighbor’s Appeal Agency. $21.95 paper
Cliff Joseph. iUniverse. (378p), ISBN 978-1-
$13.99 paper (214p), 68181-639-5
ISBN 978-1-5320-4225- Amazon
6; $3.99 e-book, ISBN When a primordial
978-1-5320-4226-3 enemy threatens the
Amazon safety of the universe, the only human child
Two artists become the who escaped banishment must master his
global focus of extraterrestrial intervention abilities in order to protect his home.
that will influence Earth’s choice between
life and self-destruction. Romance/Erotica
Amish Acres: The Celery Patch
The Seeing: The Morrigan Rises Samantha Bayarr.
Steve Peek. Providence Livingston Hall Publishers.
Press. $4.99 e-book, $1.99 e-book, ASIN
ASIN B07HCMF85V B07DXM4XCN
Amazon Amazon, Audible
A professor, an When a celery patch
inspector, and a priest, mysteriously crops up
drawn by destiny to overnight in the Yoders’
Ireland’s last bastion field, it attracts some unwanted suitors
of belief in Irish lore, must face the for Naomi, and now she’s being accused
Morrigan, the unholy trinity of Celtic gods. of trying to “catch” a husband.

A Tale of the Tail of Nine Stars: An Inner
and Outer Space Odyssey
Lawrence L. Stentzel III. AuthorHouse. $26.95
paper (500p), ISBN 978-1-5462-4254-3;
$3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-5462-4252-9
The Captain & the Queen
Phillip Vega. Thewordverve Inc. $15 paper
(276p), ISBN 978-1-948225-53-3
Phillipvega.com, Amazon, BN.com
When the thunderbolt really happens,

B O O K L I F E .C O M 109
 PAID LISTINGS

® PW SELECT LISTINGS
there’s no denying its Amazon So many youth of today
intense heat. An inter- This book looks back are on the cusp of
racial love story set in at Muller’s celebrated greatness and failure.
1986, between a 17- career as a successful This book guides
year-old Hispanic boy and respected film readers in navigating
and a Greek tycoon’s animator. the good times and
beautiful daughter. the bad.
Approaching Freedom: An Exile’s
Dearest Millie (The Pennington Family) Quest for a New Self Coming About: Life in the Balance
May McGoldrick. MM Maria A. Nodarse. Maria Mario Dell’Olio. Mario
Books. $2.99 e-book, A. Nodarse. $17.99 paper Dell’Olio. $14.99 paper
ASIN B07HWC5M62 (384p), ISBN 978-1- (276p), ISBN 978-0-
Amazon, Apple iBooks, 73289-290-3; $6.99 692-12078-1; $9.99
BN.com, Google, Kobo e-book, ISBN 978-1- e-book, ISBN 978-0-
Millie’s future looks 73289-292-7 692-12464-2
bright until she learns Amazon, Apple iBooks, Amazon
she has cancer. Dermot BN.com, Kobo With a midlife crisis, a
is a man with a secret past. Providence Detailing an exile’s quest for a new self, sailing adventure, and a rescue at sea,
brings them together, but their future this book follows Nodarse’s journey, from this memoir tells a story of survival and
may lie beyond redemption. her arrival as a Cuban political refugee in inner strength through a foundational
1960s America to her return to her native loving relationship.
Last Exit to Montauk land in 1979.
Phillip Vega. Thewordverve The Commonsense Guide to Everyday
Inc. $15.99 paper (388p), The Basics of Electronics Poisons: How to Live with the Products
ISBN 978-1-941251-89- David Askew. You Love (and What to Do When
8; $3.99 e-book, ISBN AuthorHouse. $33.99 Accidents Happen)
978-1-941251-88-1 paper (68p), ISBN 978- Teddy Vincent Angert.
Phillipvega.com, Amazon, 1-5462-4378-6; $3.99 Teddy Vincent Angert.
BN.com e-book, ISBN 978-1- $12.99 paper (198p),
An interracial coming-of-age story set on 5462-4379-3 ISBN 978-0-692-
Long Island in the summer of 1986, replete Amazon 19612-0; $9.99 e-book,
with milestones, tangled emotions, and This book provides basic information in ASIN B07HRCZDWP
adventures that embody first love. the field of electronics, covering several Amazon BN.com, Ingram, Powell’s
electronic components and the basic Everything you need to know about the
Nonfiction theory of topics such as DC and AC. products you use the most, including
The 12 Steps to Joy and Happiness: ingredients, history, safety information,
Finding the “Kingdom of God that Lies The Beginning Starts at the End and DIY tips. Inspired by the author’s
Within” Luke 17:21 Caroline Hanna Guirgis. years working in a poison control center.
David L. Peters. Balboa Westbow Press. $17.95
Press. $23.99 paper paper (238p), ISBN 978- Cooked on the Outside, Raw on the
(384p), ISBN 978-1- 1-973632-97-9 Inside: The Struggle to Wait on God’s
5043-7641-9; $3.99 Amazon, BN.com Timing
e-book, ISBN 978-1- The true story of how a Ken Bosket. Kenneth
5043-7642-6 cocaine and heroin Bosket. $12.78 paper
Amazon addict came to the end (207p), ISBN 978-0-692-
Peters offers 12 practical tools to build of himself, found new hope, and over- 97881-8; $4.99 e-book,
toward a life of bliss and find the kingdom came addiction. ASIN B07HZ4CL3S
of God within yourself. Amazon
A Champion Game Plan for Life How long do we have
40 Years of Animated Cartoons Preston Brown. AuthorHouse. $13.99 paper to wait, and how much do we have to
Jacques Muller. Partridge Singapore. $110.46 (134p), ISBN 978-1-5462-3091-5; $3.99 endure? Is it possible to develop and
paper (388p), ISBN 978-1-4828-8087-8; e-book, ISBN 978-1-5462-3089-2 maintain patience while waiting on God in
$3.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-4828-8088-5 Amazon a microwave society? Bosket offers insight.

110 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
 PAID LISTINGS

PW SELECT LISTINGS ®

Cuba, Adiós: A Young Man’s Journey to Kidd shares her definition of inbetween- (169p), ISBN 978-1-
Freedom ness as a shared resonating spiritual 72270-344-8
Lorenzo Pablo Martínez. field of movement and vibration at the Amazon
CreateSpace. $10.99 root of all spiritual experiences and Danks tells of his seek-
paper (270p), ISBN 978- scientific investigation. ing happiness, living in
1-5009-5218-1 a funeral home, facing
Amazon, BN.com Invisible Scars of War: A Veteran’s serious illness, and
The author’s account RELIGION_THIRD_V_1114_Layout
Struggle with Moral Injury 1 11/11/14 11:38 PM Page
grieving and1 recovery.

of his participation in a Dick Hattan. Dick Hattan.

program known as Operación Pedro Pan, $16.95 paper(188p), ISBN A Jazzman’s Tale
which brought more than 14,000 Cuban PW 978-1-73274-100-3
keeps a watchful eye Annette Johnson.
children to the U.S. Amazon
over spirituality and
RELIGION_THIRD_V_1114_Layout
RELIGION_THIRD_V_1114_Layout
RELIGION_THIRD_V_1114_Layout
1 11/11/14
1 11/11/14
CreateSpace.
1 11/11/14
11:38
11:38 PMPM
11:38
Page 1
Page
PM1 Page 1
$24.99
RELIGION_THIRD_V_1114_Layout 1 11/11/14 11:38 PM Page 1
A veteran’s struggle paper (178p), ISBN 978-
The End-of-the-World Delusion: How religion books withintwo
with participating 1-5446-4891-0
RELIGION_THIRD_V_1114_Layout
RELIGION_THIRD_V_1114_Layout 1 11/11/14
1 11/11/14 11:38 PW PW
11:38
PM PM keeps
1 1 aa
keeps
Page
Page watchful
watchful eye
eye
Doomsayers Endanger Society greatthe ways to keep
Vietnam War, abreast
a PW keeps a watchful
overspirituality
over spiritualityand and eye
Amazon
PW decision
keeps a watchful eye
Justin Deering. iUniverse.
of changesthat wentfield,
in the over spirituality and
religion
religion books
books
A screenplay memoir
with
with two
two
$20.12 paper (172p), against his moralover
PWPW
code. spirituality
keeps
keeps
This amemoir
watchful and
a watchful eyeeye of bebop trumpeter and pianist Charles
emerging new trends greatways
andreligion
great waystotokeep
books keep
with abreast
abreast
two
documents his journey over
overfrom spirituality
spirituality
guilt toand and
ISBN 978-1-4759-1355-
religion books with two Freeman Lee, who
ofofchanges
changesininthe
falls
thefield,
in love with another
field,
2; $9.99 e-book, ISBN the
healing and forgiveness.authors
religion
religion shaping
books
books withwith jazzman’s wife as
great ways to keep abreast
twotwo he tries to make it as a
978-1-4759-1353-8 great ways
great
great
totokeep
ways
ways to
keepkeep
abreast
abreast
abreast
emerging
emerging
trumpet newtrends
new
player trends
in 1950s and
and New York City.
the genre. of changes
the inshaping
theauthors
authors the field,
shaping
Amazon It’s a Matter ofof changes
Lifeofand ininthe
Death:
of changes
changes in
the field,
Growing
the field,
field,
This book provides Up in a Funeral Home and What I trends emergingthe new trends and
thegenre.
genre.
and Making Your Own Trail
emergingemerging
emerging new
new trends
newtrends and
and
concrete historical Learned Since RELIGION_THIRD_V_1114_Layout 1 11/11/14 11:38 PM Page 1
Daniel Martin Molliver. Xlibris. $15.99 paper
thethe authors
authors shaping the authors shaping
shaping
information, examines numerous end-of- Lawrence J. Danks.the authors
Kindle shaping
Direct. $9.97 paper (55p), ISBN 978-1-4931-6663-3; $3.99
thethe genre.
genre. the genre.
the-world claims, and shows how such PW keeps the genre.eye
a watchful
doomsday predictions are detrimental to over spirituality and
society. religion books with two
great ways to keep abreast
Heal Your Family: Get Love and Life to of changes in the field,
Flow from Your Ancestors to You and PW keepsemerging
a watchful
new trends eye
andover spirituality
Listen
Listen toto and
authors
authors religion books
discuss
discuss
Your Children Listen to authors discuss
with two great ways to
the authors shaping keep abreast
their
their of changes
latest
latest books
books inin thisin the field,
this
Magui Block. Balboa emergingtheir
new latest books in
trends
the genre. andthis the authors FREE
FREE shaping
podcast.
podcast. the genre.
Listen
Listen
FREE to authors
to podcast.
authors discuss
discuss
Press. $15.99 paper PublishersWeekly.com/podcasts
PublishersWeekly.com/podcasts
their
their latest
latest books
books in this
in this
(186p), ISBN 978-1- Listen to authors
PublishersWeekly.com/podcasts
FREEFREE podcast.
podcast.
5043-9042-2; $5.99 Listen to authors
discuss discuss
their latest
Listen to authors discuss
PublishersWeekly.com/podcasts
PublishersWeekly.com/podcasts
e-book, ISBN 978-1- their latest books
books in thisin this
their latest books in this Receive
Receive PW’s
PW’s e-newsletter
e-newsletter toto stay
stay
5043-9043-9 FREE
FREE and
enlightened podcast.
podcast.
enlightened and informed
informed ofof new
new
FREE podcast.
Amazon books
books and
and news
news coverage
coverage with
with
Receive PW’s e-newsletter to stayPublishersWeekly.com/podcasts
A seasoned psychotherapist shares loving Receive
Receive PW’sPW’s e-newsletter
e-newsletter
PublishersWeekly.com/podcasts to stay a FREE
to stay a FREE subscription
subscription today.
today.
guidance and proven methods that help enlightened
enlightened
Listen and
andinformed
enlightened
to authors and ofofnew
informed
informed
discuss new
of new
PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe
PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe
families free themselves from past bur- bookstheirand
books
books news
latest
and books
and
news coverage
in
news this
coverage
coverage with
with with
Receive PW’s e-newsletter to stay
FREE
a FREE podcast.
asubscription
FREE subscription
subscription today.
today.
dens and behaviors, heal naturally, and a FREE today. enlightened and informed of new
embrace the power of unconditional love. PublishersWeekly.com/podcasts
PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe
PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe Receivebooks
PW’s e-newsletter
Read
Read Moreatat to stay
and news coverage
More
with a
Receive PW’s e-newsletter to stay
PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe FREE subscription today.
PublishersWeekly.com
PublishersWeekly.com
enlightened and informed of new
enlightened and informed of new
Inbetweenness: A Meditative Approach books and news coverage with
books ande-newsletter
Receive PW’sRead
news
Read coverage
MoreMore at with
atstay
to Everyday Life to
PublishersWeekly.com a FREE
Read More at PublishersWeekly.com
PublishersWeekly.com subscription today.
PublishersWeekly @PublishersWkly
@PublishersWkly
Sunnie D. Kidd and Jim a FREE
enlightened subscription
Readand informed
More ofatnew today. PublishersWeekly

Kidd. Xlibris. $19.99 PublishersWeekly.com

books and news coverage with
PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe
PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe
a FREE subscription today.
paper (198p), ISBN 978- PublishersWeekly@PublishersWkly
PublishersWeekly @PublishersWkly PublishersWeekly
PublishersWeekly pubweekly
pubweekly
PublishersWeekly.com/subscribe
1-984518-98-9; $3.99
e-book, ISBN 978-1- PublishersWeekly @PublishersWkly Read More at
984518-99-6 Read Morepubweekly
at
PublishersWeekly
PublishersWeeklypubweekly
PublishersWeekly.com
Read More at
PublishersWeekly.com
PublishersWeekly.com
Amazon

PublishersWeekly pubweekly
PublishersWeekly @PublishersWkly PublishersWeekly @PublishersWkly B O O K L I F E .C O M 111
PublishersWeekly @PublishersWkly
 PAID LISTINGS

® PW SELECT LISTINGS
e-book, ISBN 978-1- Crochet writes of his experience as a of the Officers of
4931-6664-0 cadet, student, and athlete at the Citadel, Excise
Amazon the Military College of South Carolina. Paul Myles. Thomas Paine
Molliver helps readers Society. $14 paper
find their strength, Old Geezer Romancing in Cyberspace (114p), ISBN 978-1-
faith, way, and mind. Bill McDonald. Xlibris. 9993263-0-2
$15.99 paper (102p), BN.com
Me and Mario: Love, Power & Writing with ISBN 978-1-984533- The seeding of Thomas Paine’s political
Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather 94-4; $3.99 e-book, ISBN thought. This is the story of how Paine rose
Carol Gino. aaha! Books. 978-1-984533-98-2 to prominence from a lowly excise officer
$19.95 paper(298p), ISBN Amazon in England to a founding father of the U.S.
978-1-936530-33-5 This book covers
Amazon, BN.com, almost four years of Saying Thanks and Beyond
IndieBound, Ingram McDonald’s internet dating adventures. Ralph Mosgrove.
An intimate look at Archway Publishing.
the life of Mario Puzo, Parallels in Autocratic Leadership $9.99 paper (58p), ISBN
author of The Wolfgang Mack. 978-1-4808-4352-3
Godfather, and his insights on love, family, CreateSpace. $15 paper Amazon
power, and writing, from his longtime (151p), ISBN 978-1- Mosgrove explores
love Carol Gino. 72634-406-7 ways to respond to
Amazon acts of kindness, to go
Musings of a Soul An examination of beyond the words, and to find possibilities.
Judith Franklin. Xlibris. dictatorships, how
$21.99 paper (30p), they happen, and their Schools of Thought: Well-rounded
ISBN 978-1-5434-8202- impact on their people and nations. Education in the Lands of Opportunities
7; $3.99 e-book, ISBN Peter Felton.
978-1-5434-8201-0 Perfecting Your Smile CreateSpace. $15.99
Amazon Edward Givens Jr. Ingram paper (264p), ISBN 978-
Within these pages, readers may find Spark. $24.99 paper 1-72701-081-7
their own musings, find peace within the (131p), ISBN 978-0- Amazon, BN.com
stanzas, recall a joyful experience, or 578-42473-6 An informative memoir
grow in their spiritual life, awakening a Amazon, IngramSpark chronicling the author’s
contact with their creator. A comprehensive and hands-on experiences
practical book on oral as a student-turned-educator in notable
My Connie health care for the public. It provides many schools, highlighting the diverse branches
Pradeep Berry. of the answers readers need regarding of modern American education.
AuthorHouse. $20.99 their oral health.
paper (300p), ISBN 978- Seasons and Memories: Seasonal
1-5246-9510-1 The Plant Listener Memoirs Tell How an Active and Full
Amazon Julie C. Kilpatrick. Gardenzine Publications. Life Can Be Influenced by Impactful
The author’s tribute to $12.99 paper (308p), Surrounding Events
his beloved wife of 41 years, Constance, ISBN 978-1-9997243- Carlton Evans. Xlibris.
who died on Feb. 28, 2015. Everything 0-6; $4.85 e-book, ASIN $19.99 paper (166p),
changed after that day. B073ZD9MZS ISBN 978-1-5434-7445-
Amazon, BN.com, Books- 9; $3.99 e-book, ISBN
My Winning Seasons: Discovering the a-Million, Powell’s 978-1-5434-7446-6
Champion Within Kilpatrick takes readers Amazon
Joe Crochet. Outskirts on a journey through Spring, summer, fall,
Press. $24.95 paper the lives of plants, explaining the pro- and winter reflect Evans’s life as outside
(270p), ISBN 978-1- cesses on which all plants rely and how influences occur in such a way as to
977204-55-4 they influence our horticultural practices. guide and change its course.
Amazon, Apple iBooks,
BN.com, Books-a-Million The Rise of Thomas Paine: And the Case Shamaron: Dog Devoted

112 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
 PAID LISTINGS

PW SELECT LISTINGS ®

Tammie Rogers. Stephen Singular. ISBN 978-1-5434-2813-

CreateSpace. $15.99
paper (369p), ISBN 978-
1-4993-9014-8
Amazon
This story of a woman
and her beloved border
collie is a reminder
that dogs are extraordinary spirits that
coach us about life, devotion, and love.
WhoWhatWhy. $3.99 1; $3.99 e-book, ISBN
e-book, ISBN 978-1- 978-1-5434-2814-8
73292-190-0 Amazon
Amazon This book reflects the
Investigative journalist healing sense of grati-
Singular conducts an tude that is possible as
excavation of the disputed 2000 election one navigates the daily encounter with
in Florida, examining how our trusted elec- Parkinson’s disease or any other life-
tion mechanisms can be compromised. challenging experience.

Silent Spring—Deadly Autumn of the The Tantra Connection: Healing Through Waiting Still: God’s Glance
Vietnam War Cosmic Interface Marie Stevens.
Patrick Hogan. Whatnot Monika Muller. Toplink AuthorHouse. $20.99
Enterprises. $5.99 e-book, Publishing. $11.99 paper paper (46p), ISBN 978-
ASIN B07KDXN93H (178p), ISBN 978-1- 1-5462-0655-2; $3.99
Amazon 948779-00-5
Amazon, e-book, ISBN 978-1-
Despite the uniqueness of Vietnam BN.com 5462-0656-9
veterans regarding the diverse range of This book is based on Amazon
hazardous chemicals to which they were personal experiences. A book of imagery, gentle persuasion,
exposed, the Department of Veterans It connects tantric knowledge and life touching, encouraging new life, love, and
Affairs insists on placing the burden of wisdom with knowledge about the desire, not only in our own selves but in
proof on veterans. healthy flow of energy in the body. God as well.

Simple Man’s Dreams: Stories of the Hunt
Victor Scarinzi. iUniverse.
$20.99 paper (288p),
ISBN 978-1-5320-4401-
4; $3.99 e-book, ISBN
978-1-5320-4402-1
Amazon
A self-described Italian
redneck, Scarinzi cel-
ebrates his love of hunting, fishing, and
being outdoors in this joyous memoir that
revels in pursuing dreams and life’s
simplicity.
Teachers Have 9 Lives: An Underground
to Surface Exposure
Hannah Hope. Outskirts
Press. $25.95 paper
(310p), ISBN 978-1-
977204-41-7
Amazon, BN.com
A culmination of
Hope’s 20-plus years of journal-keeping
as a teacher. It’s an open book on the
pressing realities about America’s
teachers and their far-reaching impact
on American society.
Will the Office Be Open on Thursday:
Organic Economics—A
Different Point of View
H. Doyle Smith. Aaron
Denburn Publishing. $14.95
paper (91p), ISBN 978-0-
9982612-3-2
Amazon
This book introduces the
processes of economics by defining the
basic activity as the use of a resource to
accomplish an objective—rather than the
exchange of money for goods and services.

A Sin of Sodom
Dinka Doll. CreateSpace.
$15 paper (193p), ISBN
978-1-72963-576-6
Amazon
It started when a pho-
tographer sent an email
to the author and
model, offering her a paid photo shoot.
This one simple email turned into a com-
plicated, raunchy relationship full of ups
and downs.
Stolen Future: The Untold Story of the
2000 Election
This American Life Sef! The Life of African
Immigrants in America
Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo.
Irokopost Books. $9.99
paper (116p), ISBN 978-
0-9768354-6-2
Amazon
This book explores
the lives of African
immigrants in America without embel-
lishment in this expanded edition.
The Thriving Heart: Daily Words to
Encourage and Inspire
Thomas Millner. Xlibris. $19.99 paper (386p),
Children’s/YA
The Boy Who Understood Animals
Yeshi Dorjee and John S. Major. Xlibris. $21.99
paper (28p), ISBN 978-1-
5245-8801-4; $3.99
e-book, ISBN 978-1-
5245-8800-7
Amazon
Tenzin, a Tibetan shepherd boy, prays to
the Buddha to understand the languages
of animals. When his wish is granted, he
uses his gift to save the life of a princess.
Christmas Best
Diana Kizlauskas. Bright Bear Books. $19.99

B O O K L I F E .C O M 113

® PW SELECT LISTINGS
hardcover (52p), ISBN
978-0-9915233-4-4;
$11.99 paper (52p), ISBN
978-0-9915233-5-1
Amazon, BN.com, Books-
a-Million, Powell’s
Merry mayhem with a message. Santa’s
elves quit their holiday jobs to look for
greatness and learn that even the littlest
things, done with care, can change the
world.
Einstein’s Compass: A YA Time Traveler
Adventure
Grace Blair and Laren
Bright. Modern Mystic
Media. $3.99 e-book, ISBN
978-0-9988308-9-6
Amazon
A young Albert Einstein
is given a supernatural
compass that allows him to travel through
time and space.
Hamelin Stoop: The Eagle, the Cave,
and the Footbridge
Robert B. Sloan. 12
Gates Publishing. $10.99
paper (323p), ISBN 978-
1-4956-1973-1
Amazon, BN.com, Books-
a-Million
In an epic journey of
courage, kingdoms, and family, an orphan
longs to learn who he is. Guided by an
eagle through a cave, he discovers he’s
being summoned by a mysterious Ancient
One.
Hummingbird Wisdom for Kids:
Enlightening Hearts of All Ages
Rosemary Watson.
Rosemary Watson. $31
paper (82p), ISBN 978-
1-9845-6894-6; $3.99
e-book, ISBN 978-1-
9845-6895-3
Amazon, BN.com, Xlibris,
drrosemarywatson.com
A spirited hummingbird empowers gar-
den friends with creativity to build
courage and overcome dark, hostile
creatures.
114 B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
PAID LISTINGS
Lettuce!
Diana Kizlauskas. Bright Bear Books. $17.99
hardcover (40p), ISBN
978-0-9915233-3-7;
$9.99 paper (40p), ISBN
978-0-9915233-2-0
Amazon, BN.com, Books-
a-Million, Powell’s
How much good luck can Farmer Rabbit
handle? Find out what he does with his
humongous lettuce crop in this tall tale
about caring and sharing.
My Child, as You Grow Older:
Lessons for Life
Laura Doyle, illus. by Toby
Mikle. Luminare Press.
$14.95 paper (32p), ISBN
978-1-944733-59-9
Laura-doyle.com,
Amazon, BN.com
This book presents a fresh perspective on
some day-to-day lessons of life and sug-
gests ways that children can overcome
them with a positive outlook, renewed
strength, resilience, and self-esteem.
The Path
Douglas A. Sirois.
CreateSpace. $12 paper
(38p), ISBN 978-1-
72788-135-6
Dougsirois.com, Amazon
Micah lost his imagination. A picture book
with a how-to-find creativity hook and
detailed natural and fantastical artwork.
Peace Is a Choice You Make
Erin Sullivan. This is What
I’m Doin’. $16.95 hard-
cover (38p), ISBN 978-0-
9994036-0-0
Erinsullivancreations.
com, Amazon
This illustrated book is about recogniz-
ing that peace begins with each of us.
Stars Shine: A Magic
Journey
Ingo Blum, illus. by Bea
Balint. planet!oh Concepts
Publications. $9.95 paper
(114p), ISBN 978-1-
981044-43-6; $3.85 e-book, ASIN
B07BJKTNH1
Amazon
A journey in a magic umbrella to find the
obscure ingredients of a fabled gloom
cake.
The Story of Princess Victoria
Larissa Bouyett, illus. by
Kayla Ruiz. AuthorHouse.
$15.99 paper (27p),
ISBN 978-1-5462-
6217-6
Larissabooks.com,
Amazon, BN.com
A girl from Spain
named Victoria becomes a princess
after meeting her prince on a cruise.
Surviving Minimized
Andrea White. River
Grove Books. $12.95
paper (266p), ISBN 978-
1-63299-194-2; $4.99
e-book, ASIN
B07JNG3XMN
Amazon
Roach stew? Cricket farming? Predators
bigger than he is? Zert must find a way
to fit in with this new, minimized world if
he’s going to survive.
A Trail of Honesty
J.A. Angelo, illus. by
Patrick Carlson. J.A.
Angelo. $9.99 e-book,
ASIN B07JD3MB9G
Amazon, Apple iBooks
This illustrated book
teaches children
about honesty while explaining that
actions have consequences.
Who Created the Definition of Beauty?
Doris Dancy-Whiteside. Archway Publishing.
$8.99 paper (54p), ISBN
978-1-4808-7055-0
Amazon, BN.com
This book is for anyone
who needs reassurance,
reminding readers that
beauty is in the eye of the
beholder. ■
REVIEWS
Fiction
After the Gold
Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese. Avian30,
$3.99 e-book (222p) ISBN 978-1-5365-0234-3
McRae and Maltese (A Queen from the
North) falter slightly with the tale of figure
skaters Katie Nowacki and Brendan Reid,
who win Olympic gold and then try to
figure out what comes next in their lives.
After a failed attempt at a romance years
earlier, the skaters try to limit their sexual
chemistry to the ice. Brendan’s game for
another relationship try during a post-
Olympic tour, but Katie isn’t so sure. When
the authors attempt to show Katie’s vulner-
ability and flaws, she comes off as a neurotic,
mercurial jerk who drives her steady, reli-
able partner crazy with her blame games.
After Katie’s knee is hurt and she opts to
flee New York and a series of business meet-
ings rather than disclose the injury, readers
will question why Brendan is even trying
to forge a relationship with her. But Katie
redeems herself somewhat while working
with Brendan on her family farm—and real-
izes that he is a steady partner in more ways
than one. The figure skating details feel
authentic, but the plot skims the surface of
emotion. This ice needs a bit more fire.
After the Rain
Jane Lorenzini. Nest Press, $14.99 trade pa-
per (252p) ISBN 978-1-73232-480-0
A young woman with a painful secret
from childhood finds love, healing, and
personal fulfillment as Thomas Edison’s
gardener in Lorenzini’s bittersweet novel.
In 1888, Belle Carson, 25, finds her niche
when she is hired as gardener for the
Edisons’ winter estate in Fort Myers, Fla.
Orphaned as an infant and adopted by a
couple in town, Belle was tormented for
years by her adoptive brother, Julius. She
ran away at age 14 to live with a kindly
widower and work in his store. Now, Belle
is content—she lives alone in a cottage on
the Edison estate near her friend, Abigail,
and starts a women’s club and a romance
with Boone, whose brother’s tragic death
left him emotionally broken and physically
disabled. The action heats up when Julius
tracks her down, and one night, in a
drunken rage, he breaks into her cottage
and attacks her. No longer a child, Belle
fights back. There are serious repercussions
from the violence, which Belle and Boone
confront together, as they learn to trust one
another. Well-drawn characters and
descriptions of Edison’s laboratory, the
estate, and a mysterious listening device
that allows Belle to eavesdrop on private
conversations help to vivify this particular
time period. This is a sure bet for readers
drawn to small-town, historical settings.
★ Arcadia
Alexander Plansky. Meq Media, $12.99 trade
paper (322p) ISBN 978-0-9992399-3-3
Plansky delivers on the promise of his first
novel, Safari, in this imaginative, pulse-
pounding techno-thriller. L.A. tech jour-
nalist Desmond Lewis is devastated to learn
of his colleague Jake Miller’s death. The
official story is that Miller died in a car acci-
dent in Nevada, but readers are privy to the
truth—that Miller, who was on the run, was
actually killed by someone, or some thing,
dressed in a white astronaut suit. After Lewis
listens to the last voicemail Miller left, in
which the dead man refers to having stum-
bled onto something big, he pursues leads
that take him to Las Vegas, Nev., the loca-
tion of Arcadia, a virtual-reality amusement
park. He’s accompanied by his girlfriend,
e-sports champion Jenna Bateman, whose
father is convinced that violent video games
have contributed to an upsurge in real-world
bloodshed. Lewis learns that the master-
mind behind Arcadia, Victor Zhao, previ-
ously created a virtual reality game in which
players assumed the persona of a serial killer.
Lewis and Jenna soon find their lives in peril.
Smooth prose and relatable characters are a
plus. Michael Crichton fans will be pleased.
The Best Possible Angle
Lloyd Johnson. Lloyd Johnson, $14 trade pa-
per (294p) ISBN 978-0-9973234-4-3
Secrets, blackmail, and murder make for
a tantalizing trifecta in Johnson’s edgy and
entertaining novel. If the buzz in
Tinseltown over his soon-to-be-released
movie, It Is What It Is, is to be believed, then
hunky Kendrick Black is on the verge of
becoming a huge star—and after five years
of struggling, he’s more than ready. Then,
while visiting family in Minnesota,
Kendrick gets into an accident, inadver-
®
tently killing a little girl who jumps in
front of his car. He flees the scene in a panic
before calling Lenox, his best friend, who
takes care of everything and counsels him
to carry on as if nothing ever happened. As
Kendrick’s star continues to rise, he begins
having nightmares about the hit-and-run,
plagued by shame and guilt, problems that
are compounded when Sabathany, his
opportunistic girlfriend, learns Kendrick’s
secret and decides to blackmail him. The
well-plotted story features some complex
characters who all seem to have an angle—
some are devoid of a moral compass while
others, such as Kendrick, test the limits of
how far they’re willing to allow their moral
compasses to veer for the sake of their sur-
vival. This is a sharp, suspenseful novel.
Civil Blood
Chris Hepler. Christopher Hepler, $14.99
trade paper (400p) ISBN 978-0-9996133-1-3
Courtroom drama and explosive action are
the hallmarks of Hepler’s fantasy debut about
vampires, their legal rights, and the ethics of
vigilantism. Infinity DeStard is a member of
the Force Protection (F-prot) team in L.A., a
secret ops team working for the Benjamin
Rush Health Initiative (BRHI). Their sole
function is to confine people infected with
EBL-4, the disease that causes vampirism.
Then Infinity gets infected herself. Running
from her own team before they learn her
secret, she winds up in Washington, D.C.,
after seeing a video posted by Morgan Lorenz,
who claims to be a vampire and demands to
know who’s responsible for unleashing
EBL-4. Once in D.C., Infinity collaborates
with the local F-prot team, who are tasked
with hunting down Morgan. But Infinity
doesn’t want to imprison Morgan—she wants
to help him. When Morgan sues BRHI, a
legal dispute arises as to Morgan’s right to sue
as a person, and trouble ensues. While raising
thought-provoking ethical questions, the
legal portion of the story feels long and slows
the pacing of what is an otherwise action-
packed paranormal thriller.
DeadSteam
Edited by Bryce Raffle. Grimmer & Grimmer,
$2.99 e-book (328p) ISBN 978-0-9952767-5-8
Raffle brings together a fine selection of
17 “dreadpunk” (gaslamp horror and dark
steampunk) stories in this gritty, enjoyable
B O O K L I F E .C O M 114a
 ® REVIEWS
anthology. The London Underground
becomes a playground for the undead in
Raffle’s suspenseful “Burke Street Station.”
A greedy lover gets her comeuppance in Jay
Seate’s “The Velvet Ribbon.” Rob Francis’s
“B.A.R.B.” plays with the concept of devil
worship, and the lengths a grieving man
might go to revive his dying wife. The pin-
nacle of the collection is Ross Smeltzer’s
“The Hunger,” in which a man’s encounter
with the undead in a forgotten cemetery
lurches him toward Lovecraftian insanity.
Although Raffle includes several stories
that hover around a similar idea or theme
(there is a glut of vampire fiction in this
anthology), the standout tales are those that
break from conventional horror. The nature
of human frailty and propensity towards
violence is underscored in all of the col-
lected tales, making it more than just full
of good scares. Seasoned horror readers will
appreciate this dark anthology.
Fire Me
Libby Malin. Istoria, $4.99 e-book (263p)
ASIN B07C54NC9V
Malin’s romantic comedy (first published
by Sourcebooks in 2009) doesn’t have vast
quantities of either romance or comedy, but
it is an amusing tale of a woman who finds
herself and love while trying to get fired.
Anne Wyatt, 29, is fed up with her job at
the Burnham Group, a corporate think tank,
and has a new job waiting for her in San
Francisco. She plans to deliver her resigna-
tion bright and early Monday morning. But
when her boss tells the staff that someone
will be let go at the end of the day, Anne
hatches a plan to become the worst employee
ever in order to get the promised severance.
As Anne makes her way through resched-
uled press conferences, destroyed copiers,
and fake new religions, she has to deal with
the cute graphic designer who’s trying to
help her by fixing her mistakes. Malin popu-
lates the novel with a number of enter-
taining characters, such as poor unlucky
Lenny and Anne’s termination competition,
Sheila. Many will empathize with Anne as
she struggles to figure out just what she
wants to do in life. Readers looking for
romance may be disappointed, but will
enjoy Anne’s antics and daydream of making
their own splendid exits from hellish jobs.
114b B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
The Happy Home for Ladies
Michele Gorman and Lilly Bartlett. Notting
Hill, $5.99 e-book (400p) ASIN B07DWVVYFH
Gorman and Bartlett invoke Jane Austen
with partial success in this inconsistent con-
temporary romantic comedy of errors.
Phoebe Stockton, award-winning chef, runs
the kitchen at the Jane Austen Home for
Ladies, a women-only care home in Suffolk,
alongside her best friend, June, and her
crush, Nick. While Phoebe is still dealing
with the sudden death of her hypercritical
mother, the care home owner decides to
open the doors to men, throwing staff and
residents into confusion. Soon battle lines
are drawn between the women and the men,
and Phoebe must navigate new circum-
stances with not just her family and her job,
but June and Nick, as well. Clumsy
attempts to mirror Pride and Prejudice
through Phoebe’s flighty new assistant and
June’s mysterious boyfriend mostly don’t
distract from the conversational style, Nick
and Phoebe’s flirting, and the charmingly
eccentric female residents. The male char-
acters are more stereotypical, and the unfo-
cused connections between Phoebe’s emo-
tional upheavals will confuse some readers.
Those who persevere will find a satisfying
self-discovery and a sweet journey to love.
High Desert High
Steven Schindler. The Elevated Press, $16
trade paper (303p) ISBN 978-0-9662408-0-1
In this sharp novel, Schindler does a fine
job creating the believably gritty life and
mind of a New York City cop, but the story
stumbles as it moves into supernatural and
religious realms. Paul Santo, a lieutenant
detective who worked undercover in nar-
cotics, walks off the job when he’s had enough
of antipolice protesters (or antipolice atti-
tudes) and retires. He’d had a distant relation-
ship with his daughter, Tracy, now a young
adult who is moving to southern California,
and he decides to join her on the trip. Paul
finds the desert to be entrancing, “Just a
slowly disappearing racket of humans and
machines,” and he settles in Joshua Tree,
Calif. Soon enough, his drinking becomes
problematic, and strange events (such as what
he thinks could be a UFO sighting) shake
him—Paul can’t tell if he’s having religious
experiences, alien visitations, or a nervous
breakdown. He tries to build a relationship
with Tracy, and also pursue his new neighbor
Kate, but instead, he withdraws into the
bottle. The only way he can find answers is to
challenge himself, live as a better man, and
believe what he feels. Though marred by a
few implausible turns, this is a provocative
physical and emotional trip.
A Lady in Havana
Ashley Morgan. Gatekeeper, $9.95 trade pa-
per (295p) ISBN 978-1-64237-142-0
A torrid love affair and a country on the
brink of revolution mesmerize in this his-
torical romance by the pseudonymous
Morgan. It’s the early 1950s, and dutiful
Florida wife Dorothy “Dimple” Duncan
(who lives in a shabby bungalow “near Coral
Gables, not in it”) joins her husband, Dallis,
on a trip to Havana, where they embark on
a risky business venture. Their local contact
is handsome attorney Roberto Montero,
who makes no secret of his attraction to
Dorothy. When Dallis temporarily returns
to the States, Roberto and Dorothy become
lovers, but she’s shocked to discover that her
charming lothario is the integral link
between Cuba’s despotic president and Fidel
Castro, the man planning on overthrowing
him. The story is well researched with a solid
narrative, and the dialogue is peppered with
charming Southern affectations as elderly
Dorothy recounts the shocking events of her
younger life to her adult daughter. The
author writes with a convincing familiarity,
and her characters’ brief interactions with
the likes of Lana Turner, Ernest Hemingway,
Meyer Lansky, and Castro himself add his-
torical authenticity to an irresistible drama.
The Matrimonial Advertisement
Mimi Matthews. Perfectly Proper, $4.99 e-
book (386p) ISBN 978-0-9990364-4-0
For this impressive Victorian romance,
Matthews (The Viscount and the Vicar’s
Daughter) crafts a tale that sparkles with
chemistry and impresses with strong char-
acter development. Helena Reynolds is
desperate to be married, so she responds to
an advertisement for a wife and travels to
Devon to be interviewed. Justin Thornhill
is haunted by his military service in India.
He survived a mutiny but was captured and
tortured before returning to England,
where he bought an isolated estate so no one
can see his disfiguring burns. Loneliness
REVIEWS
prompted his search for a wife; he is imme-
diately attracted by Helena’s beauty, and his
protective instincts are aroused. After a
quick wedding, Helena soon finds herself
falling for her enigmatic husband, but her
past and his cynicism about love threaten
her ability to transform their marriage of
convenience into something more romantic.
Their story moves smoothly, with occa-
sional stumbles toward the end. Matthews
combines authentic period touches with
building sexual tension in an excellent
series launch that will appeal to fans of
Loretta Chase and Stephanie Laurens.
Motel Sepia
Dale Kueter. AuthorHouse, $20.99 trade pa-
per (368p) ISBN 978-1-5246-2036-3
In this critique of racism in 1955
America, Kueter creates lively characters
who stay at an integrated motel that accepts
all people. When the enterprising black
couple Elroy “Roy” Sanders and his wife,
Lillian, open the Motel Sepia in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, it’s in response to the lack of
accommodation for traveling people of
color, but Roy welcomes everyone, no
matter their race or culture. The lives of
Viola and George McDowell, Ben and Ann
Rooney Dolan, Harold and Monica
Erickson, and more guests of different races
and cultures are detailed as they travel on
their various journeys, and when they stop
for a short stay at the motel, Roy is pleased.
There is some suspense for the first group of
guests when a playful hoax by a young black
man in Cedar Rapids appears to result in a
murder, and questions of mob involvement
arise, but Roy’s endeavor to run a rare mul-
tiracial motel is a success. The Motel Sepia
is a true facet of Iowa history, and the careful
attention given to the background of each
character—no matter how small their role
in the story—brings all of them to life.
Open Season
Alisa Schindler. CreateSpace, $14.99 trade
paper (271p) ISBN 978-1-9763-8260-4
This twisty mystery from Schindler
(Murder Across the Street) will catch even vet-
eran whodunit readers off guard. The night
after the Golden Rockets Little League
team wins the last spring tournament,
making them the top-ranked squad on Long
Island’s North Shore, a groundskeeper finds
the bludgeoned corpse of head coach Wayne
Savage on the home plate of a baseball field
belonging to the Fort Jefferson Youth
Organization. Savage inspired strong posi-
tive and negative reactions, giving police
detective Jonas no shortage of suspects.
They include Savage’s widow, who wastes
little time after her husband’s death to start
flirting online with an assistant coach for
the Golden Rockets. The murder also
brings into the open problems at the youth
organization, including nepotism and bul-
lying, further muddying the investigative
waters. Schindler makes effective use of
transcripts of chats of the team members as
a choruslike device. Her plausible depiction
of the interpersonal dynamics surrounding
a competitive youth sports team enhances
her clever solution. Readers will hope for a
sequel.
A Pirate at Pembroke
Danielle Thornton. Amazon Digital Services,
$3.99 e-book (433p) ASIN B07CNZFVCX
Austen enthusiasts seeking sweet
romance will be well pleased with
Thornton’s Regency-era novel, which brims
with proper manners and subtle courtship.
Sophie Crestwood is content to live at home
with her gossipy father, bookworm mother,
and precocious younger brother, who
dreams of nothing more than joining the
Royal Navy. Though Sophie assumes her
pretty face will help her find a husband,
she’s in no rush to marry or even meet the
new owner of the adjacent manor, bachelor
and rumored pirate Captain Murdock, who
moves in with much mystery and no fanfare.
During a summer house party, Sophie is
nudged along by a family friend with a pen-
chant for matchmaking. Captain Murdock
is a guest as well, providing Sophie an
opportunity to better learn his character
while they navigate card games, perfor-
mances, and dancing. Thornton takes the
time to draw Murdock as a hero rather than
a rascally sea dog, rewarding the reader with
a gentle, entertaining love story.
Soldier Boys: Tales of the Civil War
Jack Matthews. Personville, $3.50 e-book
(169p) ASIN B01DUNJCE8
This excellent posthumous collection by
Matthews (Gambler’s Nephew) is inspired by
memoirs and correspondence from Civil
®
War soldiers and ranges from dreamy to
nightmarish in its penetrating descriptions
of lives lived between the battles.
Deceptively ordinary language (“Sometimes
it seems we’re in better health when we’re
on a march and dead tired and desperate and
hungry... it’s almost like you just don’t have
the time or energy to get sick”) reveals
thoughtful insights from young soldiers
who witness and participate in the atrocities
of war. Highlights include “The Silver
Link,” in which a sweet exchange of letters
between young, illiterate lovers in 1863
leads their friends, who are reading and
writing for them, to fall in love; “Johnny
Kincaid,” in which a soldier is haunted by a
ghost after burying one of his comrades in a
grave dug for an enemy; and “The Killing
of Old Mortality,” about two soldiers
ordered to kill a prolific and deadly sharp-
shooter. Throughout, fully realized charac-
ters enliven the themes of war and survival
and elevate these stories above standard
Civil War fiction. Matthews’s fans will be
well satisfied with this collection, and new
readers will discover an alluring storyteller.
★ The Storm over Paris
William Ian Grubman. Dupapier, $13.99 trade
paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-7326100-0-2
Set mainly in Paris in 1942, Grubman’s
impressive debut stars Mori Rothstein, an
art dealer with an international reputation
for detecting frauds, who finds himself in an
awkward position when Reichsmarschall
Hermann Goering demands that he help
realize Hitler’s dream of establishing an art
museum with only the very best paintings
and sculptures on display. Toward that end,
Mori is to evaluate the artwork the Nazis
have stolen from its Jewish owners to assess
which pieces merit inclusion in the Fuehrer’s
showcase. Outraged by the shameless thefts
and the grim fate of their rightful owners,
Mori devises a risky plan to replace the most
valuable paintings with forgeries prepared
by his gifted son, Émile. Goering’s reliance
on Mori arouses envy on the part of a German
army officer who’s something of an art
expert, making Mori’s venture even riskier.
Grubman is adept at crafting nail-biting
scenes of suspense, building up to a tantaliz-
ingly inconclusive ending. Readers will
eagerly await the sequel.
B O O K L I F E .C O M 114c
 ® REVIEWS
3 Women, 4 Towns, 5 Bodies &
Other Stories
Townsend Walker. Deeds, $18.95 trade paper
(286p) ISBN 978-1-947309-21-0
Walker’s moody story collection blends
elements of noir, thriller, and romance. Many
of the 12 entries focus on dominant and
resourceful female protagonists who utilize
their wits and sexuality to avenge the men
who have harmed or underestimated them.
Perhaps the best selection—and the most
literary in tone—is “The Second Coming,”
in which an underhanded reverend meets his
match in a savvy young woman. Also notable
is “Coming Home,” in which a soldier in
1839 Hungary is reunited with a past lover.
Walker’s writing is at its finest in moments
of descriptive storytelling. In contrast, repet-
itive erotic interludes often become more
gratuitous than integral to the plot. For
example, in the title novella, a female sniper,
whose primary targets are violent and abu-
sive men, silences a potential witness by
removing her clothes. As a result, many of
the characters feel interchangeable and can,
unfortunately, be reduced to sexual stereo-
types. Still, those who like to see awful men
receive just retribution will be satisfied.
Nonfiction
★ Halfway to Halfway and Back:
More River Stories
Edited by Dick Linford and Bob Volpert.
Halfway Publishing, $19.95 trade paper
(318p) ISBN 978-0-692-13625-6
With this second assortment of stories
about river guiding in the U.S. and the
people who do it for a living, Linford and
Volpert deliver a raucous and delightful
collection. The editors have a rare talent for
picking stories with opening sentences that
capture the reader’s attention instantly (“I
suppose the goats might have been an
omen”; “We were both naked”). What
nearly every selection also does is create
quick but lingering character sketches that
convey the guides’ resilience, flair for inno-
vation, and “relentless pursuit of laughter.”
Many contributors joined the river life
“almost by accident,” often starting with a
summer job. Many found partners equally
in love with this unique avocation, and
some, like both Linford and Volpert, had
114d B O O K L I F E , D EC E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 8
children who grew up to also pursue lives
on the river. Not every story is light-
hearted—there are a few sad ones, too, such
as a tribute to a friend and fellow guide who,
afflicted by PTSD from his service in the
Vietnam War, died by suicide. There’s also
a brief look at how, with some difficulty,
women were gradually accepted as river
guides. Every story in the book is well
worth one—or two—thoughtful reads.
Pass the Torch: How a Young
Black Father Challenges the
Deadbeat Dad Stereotype
Jamiyl Samuels, with Tracy-Ann N. Samuels.
W.R.E.a.C Havoc, $20 trade paper (282p)
ISBN 978-0-6926-1811-0
Haunted by the emotional turmoil caused
by an absent father, Samuels, a media con-
sultant, earnestly examines his life and the
“deadbeat dad” stereotype in the often
crime-ridden black communities in
Brooklyn, N.Y. The early memories of his
Jamaican father, his hero, were pleasant, but
his middle-class Brooklyn home was rocked
by his father’s departure during his child-
hood, which left Samuels feeling “unwanted,
rejected, confused, sad, angry.” Though he
admired his hard-working mother, he
always felt the absence of his father. It was
only after the birth of his son, Trey, that he
realized fatherhood is “the ultimate act of
selflessness to put someone else’s well-being
before your own.” Samuels writes about the
influence hip-hop had on his life, and refers
to the memoirs of such artists as LL Cool J,
“who convey the pain of their own fatherless
childhood[s].” Samuels’s reconciliation
attempts with the absent patriarch never
seem to jell due to the sting of their lost
years. Samuels’s bittersweet memoir of for-
giveness and heartache is also a strong, sin-
cere plea for young men today not to follow
in the footsteps of their absent fathers.
Title to Come
Kevin E. Spall. Motor City, $22.95 (120p)
ISBN 978-1-943290-85-7
The biggest takeaway from Spall’s intro-
ductory but less than comprehensive guide
to publishing—the title of which should not
be mistaken for a misprint—is that the DIY
road still requires help from experts and a
substantial amount of upfront money. Spall,
CEO of Thomson-Shore, a book manufac-
turer and independent publishing company,
is an enthusiastic cheerleader for writers
(“This is an awesome accomplishment and
an incredible journey”). He lays out the
various options for authors with a completed
manuscript, but no clear plan for getting it
into readers’ hands. Spall effectively outlines
the different possible avenues for the aspiring
author: self-, independent, and hybrid pub-
lishing, as well as traditional publishing. He
also explains different types of printing,
paper, and binding. No matter what path one
takes, though, Spall emphasizes that “You
are C.M.O.” (chief marketing officer).
However, he offers few concrete suggestions
of how to be so. He emphasizes having a
social media platform, but doesn’t give
advice on how to develop a strong following.
Mostly, Spall recommends hiring experts
from various fields, such as editors/proof-
readers, designers, and distributors. A glos-
sary and bullet point summaries of his con-
clusions would have been helpful for readers
seeking to use this book as a guide. Spall’s
book will be a good first step for writers
looking to publish, if not the end point.
Children’s/YA
I Love You for You
Heather Lester, illus. by Vicky Fieldhouse. For
Good Media, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-
9992621-0-8
An adoring guardian narrates this celebra-
tion of parenthood and differences. “As
you’ve grown I’ve come to realize,/ you have
your own unique personality,” Lester writes.
Fieldhouse’s illustrations feature diverse
families, warm colors, and residual pencil
lines that convey a sense of ease. A mother
greets a girl in a tutu and rain boots: “You
like to dress in bright colors./ I like a more
basic style./ We are different in this way,/ but
your outfits make me smile.” A father prefers
mysteries over the fantasy books his daughter
enjoys: “We are different in this way,/ but I’ll
always sit with you and read” (the two appear
together, shoes off, reading in a comfy chair).
The verses can be clunky, and the messaging
doesn’t seem geared toward children so much
as their parents, but Lester explores the idea
that kids are not always like their parents
with a gentle touch. Ages 5–6.