New Book Release: The Adventures of Teddy Tennis Ball - by E.D. Massey

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Teddy Tennis Ball lives in a crowded bin with other tennis balls and enjoys the company of his friends. Boy and Girl play tennis and use the balls for practice. Teddy is hit hard by Boy, sending him over the fence and into the street. Teddy faces several challenges: nearly being run over by a car, floating in water, being licked and bitten by a dog, and getting stuck under a thorny bush. Abigail Ant and Albert Ant, along with their ant friends, help Teddy escape from under the bush. Crystal Ball, missing Teddy, gets herself hit over the fence to try to reunite with him. Girl finds both Teddy and Crystal Ball and returns them to the bin, where their friends celebrate their return.

About the author:

E.D. Massey is a native Californian, retired from the U.S. Air Force and California Air National Guard. He moved to Arizona 9 years ago and lives near the White Tank Mountains in Buckeye where his wife and friends encouraged him to share his unpublished stories of romance, relationships and family.

"Love on the Internet, Erick and Stacy Go Hollywood, and Erick and Stacy-Hard Times." Erick and Stacy series of Internet friends who fall in love.

"Growing up Carrie." A stepfather raising a young daughter.

"Second Chances...in Montana." A man finding a second chance for love in the middle of Montana.

"My Life by Elena." Not only a story of a bisexual woman, but people building friendships for a lifetime.

"Love at Any Age." Older man, younger woman, need I say more.

"Love's Journey." A divorced man finds his never known father's family.

"Andrew and the Walking Club." A troubled divorced man saved by a women's walking club.

Traditional medicine, acupuncture, ancient remedies... they still work - by Vijaya Schartz

 

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In this modern society of ours, dominated by the wealthy pharmaceutical industry, we tend to forget ancient medicine and healing practices, even though they worked for thousands of years… There is no profit in home remedies, so commercial advertising only focuses on marketable chemical solutions, and tends to ridicule the old ways. Worse, we now have to take secondary medicines to counteract the side effects of primary medicines.

Then, once in a while, someone realizes that acupuncture, Yoga, Chi Gong, Tai-Chi, chicken noodle soup, carrots, and other ancient medicine and disciplines can still keep modern people healthy and happy. Unlike most pharmaceuticals, these practices and remedies do not just treat the symptoms but promote general health.

In September 1991, a 5000-year-old frozen mummy later named Otzi was discovered in the frozen Alps between Austria and Italy. He was very well preserved and had 61 tattoos, corresponding to the traditional acupuncture points.

Now, scientists are curious about acupuncture. We can observe that it works. We just don’t understand how or why it works. As it happens, recent university studies discovered connections between the acupuncture points and the organs they are supposedly linked to, through what they call the interstitium, a fluid matrix permeating and linking various parts of the body, undiscovered by science until now.

8 pieces of Brocade Chi-Gong exercises

But the most important part of staying healthy is exercise. Yoga, Tai-Chi, Chi-Gong types in particular, can keep your joints flexible, your legs strong, your posture ideal. And when you have the right posture, all your organs work better. You breathe better, you digest better, your heart is not compressed… your lymphatic system (part of your immune system) is stimulated by movement.

As for food as medicine, here are a few ancient remedies that still work today:

Honey: Ancient Egyptians and Sumerians used it to dress wounds because its natural low pH and high sugar content kill bacteria. As an ointment or ingested, it’s a natural antibiotic.

Turmeric: A staple in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine for millennia, its active compound, curcumin, is clinically shown to have powerful anti-inflammatory effects.

Aloe Vera: Historically used by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Chinese to heal burns and skin ailments, it remains a frontline natural treatment for sunburns.

Ginger: Used in ancient Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for nausea, modern clinical trials support its efficacy in treating pregnancy-related and motion-induced nausea. It’s also good for your heart.

Chicken soup: Turns out, Grandma was right. Chicken soup can be good for a cold. Studies show it can ease symptoms and help you get rid of it sooner. It also curbs swelling and clears out nasal fluids.

My latest chicken soup creation

Carrots: They are not just good for babies. Their active compounds act as natural medicine by providing high levels of beta-carotene, dietary fiber, and antioxidants. In traditional and integrative health, they are used to support eye health, reduce inflammation, balance blood sugar, and combat oxidative damage

Green tea: This comforting drink does more than keep you awake and alert. It’s a great source of some powerful antioxidants that can protect your cells from damage and help you fight disease. It may even lower your odds of heart disease and certain kinds of cancers, like skin, breast, lung, and colon.

Garlic: Some studies show that people who eat more garlic are less likely to get certain types of cancer (garlic supplements don’t seem to have the same effect). It also lowers blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

Hot bath: It’s good for all kinds of things that affect your muscles, bones, and tendons (the tissues that connect your muscles to your bones), like arthritis, back pain, and joint pain. And warm water can help get blood flow to areas that need it, so gently stretch and work those areas while you’re in there. But don’t make it too hot, especially if you have a skin condition. The ideal temperature is between 92 and 100 F.

In my latest series, THE PROTECTORS, set on a feudal planet, I use ancient remedies when my characters need a healer's attention. My Celtic legends series, Curse of the Lost Isle, also uses ancient remedies. 

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Happy Reading.

Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author
Kick-butt Sci-fi Heroines, cats, romantic elements
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New Book Release: Wrequiem at the Red Rocks: A Novel of Brutalist Satire and Futile Gestures - by Jason Makansi

 

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Bradley Maniopolos has Problems.

Sedona, Arizona Plays Host to Them.

When attendees at the “Neo-Anthropocentric Models of Retrospective Freedoms” colloquium arrive in spiritual Sedona, they become facilitator Bradley Maniopolos’s problem. Scholarly debate immediately devolves into who has freedom, who doesn’t, who’s getting it, who confers it, who assumes it, who guarantees it, and why the hell anyone cares. All the while, pontificating on stolen land.

But Bradley has problems of his own. Looming retirement. His identity. Personal issues of a private nature he’d rather not talk about. Too bad his best friend can’t keep his mouth shut, and the billionaire benefactors are keeping tabs through social media.

In the tradition of Catch-22, A Confederacy of Dunces, and The Sellout, Wrequiem at the Red Rocks makes you laugh until you see yourself. Then you cry. It’s not art that wins universal praise, but in the brutalist tradition, the satire is functional and effective exposing the hypocrisies we flawed humans depend on, and vociferously deny.

About the author:

Since launching a family newspaper in the 6th grade (it lasted two issues), Jason Makansi has considered himself a writer all his adult life. He wrote bad poetry in the 1980s and 1990s, a few published in vanity collections; short stories for fifteen years, a dozen of which were published in reputable (though now largely defunct) literary journals. His first novel, The Moment Before, came out in 2018 to a small but quite enthusiastic readership of about a hundred. Other publishing credits include several professional books, including the industry-acclaimed Lights Out: The Electricity Crisis, the Global Economy, and What It Means To You (John Wiley & Sons, 2007) and the 2016 IPPY Gold and Foreward Reviews Indie Silver winner, Painting By Numbers: How to Sharpen Your BS Detector and Smoke Out the "Experts," a layman's guide for strengthening numerical literacy. Makansi earned his BS in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University in New York in 1974, worked towards a higher degree in Sociology at the University of Missouri in the late 2000s, and attended the Sewanee Writers Conference in 2009. Other than the epigraph in the beginning, his favorite quote, from a long-ago Saturday morning cartoon, is "A pie in the face is worth two in the mouth. "Find out more about me and my work, including my music.

visit: kristinamakansi.com/jason-makansi
Instagram: @jasonmakansi

Substack: https: //jmakansi.substack.com/

New Book Release: A Diplomat, A Politcian, An Evangelist and A Warrior: Spotted Tail, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse : The Greatest Lakota Leaders - by Steve Lindstrom

 

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The story of the rise to power of Spotted Tail, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud and Crazy Horse and how they used that power to address the convoluted and inconsistent military, humanitarian and treaty policies presented by the U.S. Government, is a study in leadership styles. They were each the most prominent Indian in America for a time and their every action was closely followed by politicians, military leaders and the American public. The relationships between the four were complicated and they were sometimes allies, sometimes bitter enemies and always rivals. They had drastically different political beliefs, personalities and leadership styles, but were all focused on the preservation of the future of the Lakota people.

About the author:

After completing a career in South Dakota State Government and another as a Vice President in the corporate world, Steve started a new chapter in his life writing and teaching.

He grew up in Western South Dakota and now lives and writes in Minnesota. He received a Master of Arts Degree in English Studies from Minnesota State University Mankato and his debut novel The Last Ram was published by North Star Press in June 2013. His second novel Murder Trial of the Last Lakota Warrior was published in June of 2014. He published a book of short stories called Collections in 2024.

Steve has published short stories in the Lake Region Review, Arizona Literary Magazine and the Talking Stick Journal.

He retired from teaching English at Southwest Minnesota State University in 2021. He regularly attends the West Side Writers group sponsored by the St Paul Riverview Library.

Steve and his wife Steph live in St Paul MN.

New Book Release: Sunflower Yellow: Memories of a Latin Lover - by Rob Lezcano

 

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A true story of love, loss, and the beautiful mess in between.

From sun-soaked streets in 1970s Miami to the turbulent path of early adulthood, Sunflower Yellow is the unforgettable memoir of a boy growing up with too much heart and not enough direction. Rob’s story is filled with first loves, locker room confessions, broken rules, and moments that define a lifetime, all told with raw honesty, humor, and the kind of nostalgia that stings a little.

But at its core, this is a love story, for his mother, for the girls who shaped him, and for the boy he used to be.

Set against the backdrop of a changing America, Sunflower Yellow is not just a coming-of-age story. It’s a coming-to-terms story, with grief, with guilt, and with what it means to truly grow up.

If you’ve ever loved hard, lost deeply, or wished you could go back... this book is for you.

About the author:

Rob Lezcano is a genre-bending author whose work explores memory, myth, legacy, and the thin veil between the ordinary world and the impossible one hiding just beneath it.

His writing moves freely between memoir, speculative fiction, magical realism, and myth-driven adventure, but each book is united by the same central question: What do we carry with us, and what refuses to let us go? Whether grounded in lived experience or wild invention, Rob’s stories examine identity, love, obsession, faith, and the quiet moments where truth reveals itself sideways.

New Book Release: O'Dooly's: Pub & Church - by Rob Lezcano

 

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Welcome to the only place in Ireland where you can sip a stout and save your soul.

Since 1870, O’Dooly’s Pub & Church has stood at the edge of Fisher Street in Doolin, Clare County, Ireland.

One building, one door, two eternal purposes.

On the left side of the room, a warm pub, full of music, stories, and the best pour in County Clare.

On the right: a humble church with stained glass and stubborn grace.

And just behind the bar, nestled between aged whiskey and imported gin, you’ll find the confessionals, carved alcoves in the wall of alcohol, where sins are shared as quietly as secrets and forgiven with a nod and maybe a nip.

Generations of the O’Dooly family have served this sacred and slightly sacrilegious space, pouring pints, offering blessings, and keeping the peace between the pulpit and the pint glass. And somewhere in the mix, a leprechaun named Laffy has been causing holy hell for over a century.

Told with heart, humor, and a splash of irreverence, this magical realist novel blends Irish family saga, religious satire, and Celtic folklore into one unforgettable tale. You’ll meet priests who pour whiskey, barkeeps who offer grace, and villagers who know the line between heaven and hangover is thinner than a communion wafer.

If you love The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window, An Irish Country Doctor, or Good Omens, pull up a stool, or kneel, if you must.

O’Dooly’s Pub & Church is a literary toast to tradition, rebellion, and the holy art of carrying on.

About the author:

Rob Lezcano is a genre-bending author whose work explores memory, myth, legacy, and the thin veil between the ordinary world and the impossible one hiding just beneath it.

His writing moves freely between memoir, speculative fiction, magical realism, and myth-driven adventure, but each book is united by the same central question: What do we carry with us, and what refuses to let us go? Whether grounded in lived experience or wild invention, Rob’s stories examine identity, love, obsession, faith, and the quiet moments where truth reveals itself sideways.

New Book Release: Gary Greenbird A Baseball Adventure - by D.K. Wingerson

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Gary Greenbird is back and he’s taking flight on a whole new adventure!

When Gary’s big brother, Greg, swoops in with a surprise invitation, the Greenbird brothers fly off to discover a favorite pastime of people everywhere.

They are going to the ballpark, and not just one ballpark. From the cheering crowds, the players running around a diamond, to the real reason they’re on this journey, the ballpark food, Gary learns that courage, curiosity, and teamwork can take you farther than you ever dreamed.

Join the Greenbird brothers as they fly half way across the country, from one ballpark to the next, making new friends and priceless memories, in Gary Greenbird A Baseball Adventure.

About the author:

Wife, mom, grandma, beagle mom, and Cubs fan. Now I can add author to my list. Inspired by my grandson, who is on the autism spectrum, I decided to write a book about courage. My grandson gets more courageous every day, and so does the character in my book. Stay tuned to see what other adventures Gary Greenbird might decide to take.

New Book Release: The Island - by Rob Lezcano

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Somewhere in the heart of the Devil’s Triangle, a secret world thrives. Hidden from history, built by visionaries, and inhabited by legends — The Island is a place where those who were thought to be dead are very much alive. Einstein. Disney. Marley. Their stories didn’t end… they were rewritten.

James Jones, an investigative journalist grappling with the loss of his brother, receives a mysterious lead. His search for the truth takes him on a journey through shadowy governments, ghost ships, and forgotten technologies — until he finds himself face-to-face with a paradise that was never meant to be discovered.

But The Island is not what it seems. There are rules. There are consequences. And once you arrive, there may be no going back.

At once thrilling, emotional, and deeply original, The Island is a page-turning speculative adventure — a story about legacy, reinvention, and the cost of living forever.

About the author:

Rob Lezcano is a genre-bending author whose work explores memory, myth, legacy, and the thin veil between the ordinary world and the impossible one hiding just beneath it.

His writing moves freely between memoir, speculative fiction, magical realism, and myth-driven adventure, but each book is united by the same central question: What do we carry with us, and what refuses to let us go? Whether grounded in lived experience or wild invention, Rob’s stories examine identity, love, obsession, faith, and the quiet moments where truth reveals itself sideways. 

New Book Release: The Devil's Bull Rider: Boone McBride - by Rob Lezcano

 

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Boone McBride was a cowboy with nothing, until the day he met a stranger riding a massive white bull in the Arizona badlands.

Broken, bleeding, and desperate in 1897, Boone made a deal that changed everything. Fame in the rodeo arena. Land of his own. Wealth enough to build the McBride Ranch from dust and dreams. All of it came from one cursed gold buckle, and the promise he made to the man in black.

But greatness always demands payment.

As Boone rises from ranch hand to rodeo legend, tragedy follows close behind. Children are lost. Shadows grow longer. And the cost of his bargain becomes impossible to ignore.

Generations later, his great-great-grandson Cash McBride is chasing his own future in the rodeo arena, trying to save the family ranch and build a life of his own.

But some legacies do not stay buried, and some debts are passed down like blood.

Because the devil never forgets a deal.

And when the past comes riding back, it never comes alone.

The Devil’s Bull Rider - Boone Mcbride is a gritty supernatural western about family, legacy, sacrifice, and the terrifying price of greatness, where every ride may be your last, and every victory comes with a soul attached.

About the author:

Rob Lezcano is a genre-bending author whose work explores memory, myth, legacy, and the thin veil between the ordinary world and the impossible one hiding just beneath it.

His writing moves freely between memoir, speculative fiction, magical realism, and myth-driven adventure, but each book is united by the same central question: What do we carry with us, and what refuses to let us go? Whether grounded in lived experience or wild invention, Rob’s stories examine identity, love, obsession, faith, and the quiet moments where truth reveals itself sideways.

New book release: Hula Girl 2: Tears of Pearls - by Rob Lezcano

 

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Beneath the waters of the South China Sea lies a secret older than empires.

While continuing to learn the deeper meaning of Aloha through the ancient scroll left to him, Tommy Tanner and his dashboard Hula Girl, LaʻKa, discover something unexpected on the beach behind his Oceanside home, a wounded woman washed ashore by the tide.

But she is no ordinary woman.

She is one of the JiaoRén, a legendary Asian mermaid whose tears transform into priceless pearls.

Through her story, Tommy learns a terrible truth: deep beneath the waters of the South China Sea, the JiaoRén are being captured and tortured by pirates seeking their magical tears. The pearls they produce have become one of the most valuable treasures in the world.

Together with LaʻKa and the ancient Protectors of Aloha, Tommy sets out on a daring mission across the Pacific. What follows is a magical and dangerous journey that leads them into hidden ocean caverns, pirate strongholds, and a battle against a ruthless captain known only as The Butcher.

To save the JiaoRén and restore balance to the ocean, Tommy and his friends must confront forces far older, and far darker, than they ever imagined.

About the author:

Rob Lezcano is a genre-bending author whose work explores memory, myth, legacy, and the thin veil between the ordinary world and the impossible one hiding just beneath it.

His writing moves freely between memoir, speculative fiction, magical realism, and myth-driven adventure, but each book is united by the same central question: What do we carry with us, and what refuses to let us go? Whether grounded in lived experience or wild invention, Rob’s stories examine identity, love, obsession, faith, and the quiet moments where truth reveals itself sideways.

New Book Release: Friends for A Season: Because Wisdom is Ageless - by Brad Graber

 

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Can Strangers from Different Generations Truly Become Friends?

When Helena takes a tumble that requires hospitalization, she thinks her life as an independent woman is over. In her youth, she'd been a mother, author, speaker, and activist, but now, she's scared and alone, abandoned by her sons, certain the world has forgotten her. Faced with moving into a retirement community, Helena struggles to adjust her expectations, even as Julie, the activities director, wrangles her into volunteering as a patient advocate for Zak, a college freshman, also alone and struggling in this intergenerational novel of the friendship that blossoms between two people on opposite ends of life's journey.

From the award-winning author of The Intersect, After the Fall, Boca by Moonlight, and What's That Growing in My Sour Cream? comes a novel that rips aside the facade of a woman's life, leaving readers to contemplate the value of friendship and family.

About the author:

Brad Graber writes novels because he grew up in a family where no one listened to him...so he made up stories about them. Insightful and witty, Graber encourages us to look beyond the surface, creating characters that inspire hope and connection. Graber also writes a monthly humor blog, There, I Said It! To learn more about Brad, check out his website at bradgraber.com

New Book Release: Rewrite Your Normal: A Workbook for Rebels, Survivors, and Cycle-Breakers - by Lisa Gerardy

 

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Rewrite Your Normal is a guided workbook for anyone ready to break old patterns and build a life that finally fits. Created for rebels, survivors, and cycle-breakers, this workbook helps you explore the beliefs you inherited, understand the protective habits that shaped you, and create new emotional and mental tracks that support healing and growth.

Through reflective prompts, practical exercises, and clear guidance, you will uncover the stories that have influenced your sense of self and begin writing a healthier narrative for your future.

This workbook is a companion to Lisa Gerardy’s memoir Chasing Normal, yet it stands completely on its own. You do not need to read the memoir to benefit from the insights and tools offered here.

Choose your direction. Rewrite your story. Build your version of normal.

About the author, Lisa Gerardy:

I'm a writer, educator, and trauma survivor who believes deeply in the power of telling the truth out loud. I grew up on the wrong side of the highway and the wrong side of the tracks, raised by a mother I half jokingly call the Government Cheese Mommy Dearest. My childhood included sexual abuse, emotional harm, and a long lesson in pretending chaos was normal.For years, I tried to outrun that past through relationships and alcohol. In 2005, I met my husband and learned a different definition of love, one built on patience, safety, and laughter instead of fear.I wrote a memoir called Chasing Normal about surviving abuse and learning to believe in love again. I followed it with the Rewriting Normal workbook for anyone trying to untangle their own story and decide what normal actually means. I also created Cracked Track Parenting for fellow cycle breakers raising kids without a healthy blueprint.

Do cats have mystical, supernatural powers? - by Vijaya Schartz

  

Pasha safeguarding my latest book
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I have loved cats since I was five years old, petting the neighbor’s cat and bringing strays home on my way back from school. But I was deprived of having one as a child because of my dad. “Cats belong in a barn,” he always said. We lived in an apartment at the time. But as soon as I left home, I adopted my first cat. I have enjoyed their company ever since.

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Unlike dogs, who love unconditionally, cats are very picky about who they like. Some believe they can read a person’s aura (the magnetic field surrounding all living beings), and they develop supernatural powers as they age. If an adult cat comes to you and chooses you to take care of him or her, it means you are a good person, kind, peaceful of heart and mind, and trustworthy. I would never trust someone who hates cats.

Pasha, the current blue-eyed guardian of my home

Cats are believed to watch over dreams, sense spiritual energy, and guard thresholds. Some say they have nine lives, others that they are shapeshifters. They have a knack to appear in sealed rooms with no explanation. No closed door or high balcony ever stopped a cat. I often find strange cats on my balcony on the third floor with no apparent access.

Byzantium series
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While black cats are sometimes vilified in the west, because long ago they shielded witches from evil spirits, in Scottish folklore cats in general are considered good luck and believed to bring prosperity. In China, cats and big cats (like tigers) are a symbol of wealth. In Japan, the Maneki-neko (beckoning cat) is a symbol of good luck, prosperity, hospitality, and happiness. It graces homes and waves at you from the windows of most Japanese restaurants, or it wishes you a Happy New Year on your Social Media feed.

Maneki neko (photo: Tokoname ware - Amazon)

In Egyptian antiquity, cats were the guardians of the underworld, preventing the evil dead from escaping and wreaking havoc in the world of the living. They were considered divine, and the Goddess Bastet, with the head of a panther, warded-off evil and protected mothers.

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But many other cultures around the world venerate the cat. Celtic lore mentions the “Cat Sith,” a large black cat with a white spot on his chest, said to change form nine times in his life (possibly the origin of the nine lives legends).

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In Siam, many temple cats reside in sacred spaces safeguarding the souls of the deceased as they move to the afterlife. In Nepal and Tibet, temple cats are nurtured, fed, and loved. In return, they get rid of vermin… physical and otherwise.

In my latest novel, Chi Warrior, many cats dwell in the monastery of the Celestial Gate, protecting the monks and the Acolytes, even curling up on their crossed legs as they meditate.

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If you like cats, definitely check out my science fiction novels. Some of my cats are big, others small, some are genetically engineered, and some wield supernatural powers.

Happy Reading!

Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author

Kick-butt Sci-fi Heroines, cats, romantic elements

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New Book Release: Four Corners Voices: Stories, Poetry, Essays

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Four Corners Voices: Stories, Poetry, Essays is a collection of writing published by Four Corners Writers based in Cortez, Colorado. The pieces included (12 short stories, 24 poems, and 13 essays) were gathered through a submission process in the summer of 2024.

In 2025, Four Corners Voices was named the winner of the 2025 Colorado Book Award for Best Anthology and, in 2026, Four Corners Voices was named by Colorado Humanities as Colorado's selection for the 2026 National Book Festival.

About the authors:

Chuck Greaves, the author of seven novels, has been a finalist for many of the top honors in crime fiction including the Shamus, Lefty, Macavity, and Audie Awards, as well as the New Mexico-Arizona, Oklahoma, and Colorado Book Awards and the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. His 2012 novel Hard Twisted (Bloomsbury) was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "a gritty, gripping read, and one that begs to be put on film" while his 2015 novel Tom & Lucky (Bloomsbury) was a Wall Street Journal "Ten Best Mysteries of 2015" selection. His latest novel The Chimera Club, the fourth installment in his critically acclaimed Jack MacTaggart series of legal mysteries (Minotaur), was a 2023 Colorado Book Award finalist and was named the "Best Mystery Novel of 2022" by the Colorado Authors League. You can visit him at www.chuckgreaves.com.

Lisa C. Taylor holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Stone coast/University of Southern Maine. She has three published collections of poetry, two published collections of short stories, and her forthcoming novel, The Shape of What Remains, will be published in March 2025. Lisa's honors include the Elizabeth Shanley Gerson Lecture in Irish Literature with Irish writer Geraldine Mills, a Surdna Arts Fellowship that enabled her to spend a summer in Ireland, a Hugo House New Works Fiction Award, Pushcart nominations in fiction and poetry, and Best-of-the-Net nominations in fiction and poetry. She's received writing residencies from the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland, Vermont Studio Center, and Willowtail Springs in Colorado. Her work has appeared in anthologies and numerous literary journals. Lisa formerly taught creative writing at a university and an arts magnet high school. She currently teaches online, presents at writing conferences nationwide, and codirects the Mesa Verde Writers Conference with writer, Mark Stevens.

The son of two librarians, Mark Stevens was raised in Lincoln, Massachusetts and has worked as a reporter, television news producer, and in public relations. He's the author of The Fireballer (2023, Lake Union), named Best Baseball Novel by Twin Bill Literary Magazine and named a Best Baseball Book of the Year by Spitball Magazine. Thomas & Mercer will publish No Lie Lasts Forever in April of 2025, the Buried by the Roan, Trapline, Lake of Fire, and The Melancholy Howl. Buried by the Roan, Trapline, and Lake of Fire were all finalists for the Colorado Book Award (2012, 2015 and 2016 respectively). Trapline won. Stevens has had short stories published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Denver Noir (2022, Akashic Books), and Crimes Against Nature (2024, Down & Out Books). In 2016 and again in 2023, Stevens was named Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Writer of the Year. Stevens hosts a regular podcast for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and has served as president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter for Mystery Writers of America.

New Book Release: The Roses of Carterhaugh - by Melissa Widmaier

 

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Illustrated

Love is immortal.

In a quiet souters village in Scotland, an earl’s rebellious daughter stirs up trouble with the fabled faeries known as the Daoine Sìth. Can she lift the veil on a darkened past and rescue her knight from the seelie queen’s clutches?

Based on a beloved Child Ballad, this fairytale retelling mixes magic with devotion, leading our heroine and her loved ones on an adventure worth recounting in an enchanted glade or a royal hall.

About the author: 

Melissa is an award-winning author on the spectrum who likes to mix a little ink with her magic. Her books focus on the familial bond and exploring the natural world. When not manipulating words, she can be found camping with a camera in hand, getting lost among things green and growing. She lives in Arizona with her husband, three boys, a dapper old cat, and a rambunctious corgi.