So, Tell Me

Have you ever wondered what a life of travel was like at a young age? Have you ever wondered how it would be meeting new people all the time growing up? Could you imagine strangers helping to watch you while your mother was sick? Can you fathom never making friends because you knew those relationships wouldn’t last? How grown up was a child expected to be or not be? Feelings of adventure, fear, sadness, and pure love all wrapped into this real-life story.

Splinter: My Personal Journey through My Sister's Mental Illness

We have all encountered people with mental illness in school, the workplace, among our friends, and in our families. If the emotional or mental distress is mild or non-threatening, empathy and compassion go a long way. Dealing with someone who has a personality disorder is another matter.

When Charlotte Yardley’s sister moved to her town after they had communicated mostly by phone for 40 years, she found herself ill-equipped to interact with someone whose behavior alternated between tears, depression, anger, blow-ups, and outright cruelty. She had thought they were close, but now she was being blamed for everything her sister believed was going wrong in her life. As Yardley dipped into co-dependence and depression of her own, she sought therapy.

Through journal excerpts, summaries of concepts from books she read, excerpts of her sister’s emails and therapy sessions, even a teacher-like handout, she invites the reader to join her in her journey toward acceptance of the kind of relationship she can and cannot have with her sister. Though the subject is dark, there is some humor, and there’s a section of quick tips at the end for those facing similar relationship struggles.

Stand Alone Still

Embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and healing in this compelling exploration of resilience and forgiveness.

Have you endured unimaginable hardships, surviving what feels like hell on earth, only to realize that the path to salvation lies not in entering heaven, but in healing your own wounded heart? In this poignant tale, you will discover that the true meaning of home extends far beyond physical walls – it resides within the depths of your own being.

As you navigate the challenging terrain of self-forgiveness and forgiveness of others, you will uncover a profound truth: the battle lies not in the external world, but within yourself. It is through this internal struggle that you find the strength to grow and transcend the limitations imposed upon you.

Story 1: The Delights of Sean Jr.

Sean Jr. had a tough life—as his mother told him, he had the ‘forbidden illness’: lusting for men. His uncle took him in, yet Sean lived a criminal lifestyle ingrained in the family business. Thug life meant trouble was Sean’s middle name; the drugs and jail did not help much either.

Now Sean had two loving parents. Yet his uncle was in conflict, wanting to protect Sean from the evils of their family’s work while disapproving of his player lifestyle. Meanwhile, the body count from their criminal exploits continued to rise.

Storyteller in Times Square

Storyteller in Times Square opens with a visit to New York and the ruins of the World Trade Center. Thus begins a poetry collection that reflects in subtle and surprising ways the post World War II history of the United States. Without being either “political” or “ideological,” the poet employs concise and often disciplined forms of language to touch upon deeper matters of destiny and feeling.  Our lives, our deeds, our ideas—all of these have consequences for how we treat our land and each other. The moments of lyricism and humor help us to keep our balance. And the perspective is important, for these poems are about paying attention to reality. Can we pay attention to the voices of history submerged in our wake, swirling behind us? Perhaps that question in essence is what these poems ask of us.

Supernaturalis Mortem

In the year A.D. 390, magic is both omnipresent and feared in newly Christian Rome. In an effort to revive their faith, three witches cast a curse on local leaders of the Empire’s new religion, subjecting them to demonic hauntings, possessions, and eventual death. Will the Iracundus family be able to survive the witches’ curse? Can the witches succeed in their quest for revenge?

Medea has always cherished her witch heritage, despite her family’s mistreatment of her. When her mother and grandmother decide to take action against the town’s mistreatment of them and their fellow believers, Medea initially supports their cause. However, when they unveil their plan for vengeance, Medea begins to question the morality of their actions.

As Medea attempts to convince her family to see reason and find a way to satisfy their desire for justice without resorting to revenge, she must navigate a difficult path that will affect not only herself but also her family, enemies, and the entire town.

Switch-Hitter

Switch-Hitter is the story of an ambidextrous female tennis player who plays the game with two forehands but quits after the untimely death of her father, a baseball switch-hitter who was her only coach. Enticed back into the game, she joins forces with an older Bahamian tennis coach who ends up moving in with her family. It is a feel-good American story about the obstacles encountered on the way to the top of the sport. In spite of issues including teenage pregnancy, racism, and geopolitical turmoil, will Sheila, our switch-hitter, fulfil her dream of being the first ambidextrous tennis player to win a major championship?

Synchronicity

Fractured Identities offers an unflinching look into the complexities of desire, identity, and survival within a Hungarian Jewish family during the crucible of the Second World War. Brace yourself for a harrowing psychosexual journey that confronts the limits of the human psyche and morality.

At the story’s center is an uncle – a Jungian psychiatrist – whose career is stifled under the oppressive Nazi regime. Bereft of his practice, he grapples with the dissolution of his professional identity. Opposite him is his wife, a once-successful actress and singer. Constrained by her Jewish heritage, she challenges both her own and her husband’s sexual boundaries as a form of escape from the confinements of religious and societal norms.

Their niece, prodigiously gifted and strikingly beautiful, is raised by her aristocratic, war-hero grandfather. Throughout the war, she faces a relentless assault on her body and mind. Her identity oscillates violently, from a vulnerable Jewish girl to a fierce supporter of Nazi ideology, even as her capacity for scientific innovation and acts of heroism grow. Yet she, too, cannot evade the war’s corrosive ethical compromises.

Terms of Estrangement

After almost 50 years of battling an unwanted sexual identity that had promised him an afterlife in hell, Greg made the decision to give up the fight in 2019. Decades of depression and aversion/reparative “ex-gay” therapy – which consisted of sniffing dog feces while thumbing through cologne magazine ads and participating in awkward “gay men’s basketball” bonding sessions – had landed Greg in two separate mental hospitals, leaving him disillusioned and suicidal and with a choice that had to be made.

However, ‘coming out’ had its costs.

The 12

An outbreak of twelve gruesome, unsolved murders from the 1800s seems an excellent choice for Jay Dalton to try out his hand at writing. Doing so as he is starting life over after a painful divorce in a peaceful, rural farmhouse, in which he had recently moved, seems delightful. All would not stay as it seems for long.

The quaintness of his old farm house quickly fades as he becomes more aware that he isn’t alone in his new abode. A series of journals Jay discovers provide unexpected research results for his book, even as they seem to come more and more ominously to life. But it is a series of “accidents” that are most troublesome, as it seems that someone intends for Jay to never finish his book.

As Jay digs deeper, he begins to suspect that the unsolved murders, the hauntings in his house, and his current peril may be more closely connected than he would have ever suspected. How good he is at putting the pieces together may just determine if he lives to write about it. 

The Adventures of Leo James

In the game of life, there will be many “firsts.” There will be ups and downs with new beginnings that lead to smiles or frowns. When one door closes, another door magically opens. Tides ebb and flow and so does life. Leo Needs a Home of His Own begins with Leo realizing he needs to feel safe and secure. Knowing you are cared for, loved, and accepted satisfies the need, from a young age, that “home” sets the pace where good values can nurture successful early development. The Adventures of Leo James everyday stories present problem/solution creative insights for meeting life’s challenges. A journey of faith, hope, and the ability to develop the courage to discover and take on the “uncomfortable” teach a child what is necessary for fulfilling the multitude of ascending achievements that happen as they pass through adolescence into adulthood.

BE POSITIVE! It’s all about attitude!

“Early taught fosters an early start to a productive life and not one of naught.”

The Air That We Breathe - Book One

Father Marcellinus warns the young monk, saying, ‘The air that we breathe, that is the creature that we become’ explaining how every influence, both good and evil ultimately shape us into the person that we are. Based on real events, this novel unfolds in a nineteenth century abbey and is about a young man who struggles to face the truth of who he really is, something that all of us must ultimately do in our own lives. The reader is invited into that cloister, so full of passions and conflicts.

Simon desires only one thing since he was a little boy, and that is to serve God as a priest. He dreams of wearing silken gold vestments and being enveloped in great clouds of incense, offering the Sacrifice to God. When he is seventeen, he leaves home and becomes a monk far north in the mountains of Pennsylvania. His faith is genuine, and he gives himself to his studies in order to become a Roman Catholic priest.

But not all is as he expected. A sexual awakening he had not anticipated, blossoms in him and boyhood dreams are shaken to the core as he wrestles with a side of himself he never counted on. He falls in love in a monastic world filled with holy men, mischievous souls, colorful individuals and also great scoundrels.

A powerful visitor invites him to Rome, something Simon never expected. There is a dark price tag, however, something Simon is unaware of.