Four Seasons – Book One

Mark Marteau thought he had retired from the FBI after Red Widow almost killed him in his own apartment, but Hector, his partner and best friend, shows up on his property near Glacier Park, Montana to inform him his godson Dylan may be in trouble. But before Mark goes, he first must go back to a time over 40 years before, when it all started at a wrecking and salvage yard in East Pasco, Washington, where he is witness to the murder of his friend. The next story shows how Mark meets Hector following his best friend’s Dave Baker’s assassination by the order of Che Lopez.

Pancho the Parrot Reviews the Year 2020

Pancho the Parrot Reviews the Year 2020 stars Pancho, an Amazon parrot just purchased by Noramius Dumas, an average guy living a mundane bachelor life. However, Pancho never tolerates the status quo. Pancho is demanding and obnoxious, energetic, and mischievous, immediately testing the nerves of Noramius from day one. Pancho stirs Noramius to question his own existence and the meaning of life.

Pandemonium ensues. Both Pancho and Noramius find themselves escaping natural disasters and meeting new friends in a land yet unchartered by humans. Pancho encourages interpersonal relationships to solve catastrophic problems. Pancho and Noramius have their enemies, too. Both Pancho and Noramius overcome all odds to save the day.

Pancho the Parrot Reviews the Year 2020 is about a quirky little parrot who always says yes to comical mayhem and high exploits of fun, adventure, and a little mystery. This fairy tale is sure to arouse everyone’s expectations that life is as crazy as Pancho’s.

Pondside Park

Step into the charming world of Pondside Park Stories, set in the idyllic expanse of Pondside Park, nestled in the heart of ‘Every Town USA.’ This beloved park is a hub of activity, where children converge after school for playtime and families unite for festive holiday gatherings. The surrounding community boasts a diverse array of residences, from single-family homes and apartments to a few condos.

The children of this town each have their own unique tales to tell, resonating with experiences that mirror our own. Meet characters like Anna with her extraordinary life, Francis grappling with his name, and Eddie, whose fun is dampened by rain. Discover Barack’s proud self-identity, and join Cari and Donna in their enduring friendship, among many others.

But the surprises of Pondside Park don’t end there. The local wildlife, including squirrels, goldfish, and ducks, not only share in similar challenges but also demonstrate remarkable problem-solving through reasoning, understanding, and acceptance. Delight in stories like ‘Sammy the Unhappy Duck,’ ‘Hazel and Harry’s New Home,’ and ‘Lisa and Louis’ Lesson in True Friendship.’ And don’t miss the intriguing tale of ‘The Trouble with Ginger,’ a companion dog.

Pondside Park is a collection brimming with heartwarming narratives, each as enjoyable and enlightening as the last.

Human Adjacent

What makes someone human? What makes them inhuman? What do you do when those lines are much more blurred than they at first seem to be? How do you reconcile with realizing that you might have more in common with the monster of the story? What do you do when you realize that the monster probably isn’t a monster at all? That many of the things you were taught to you aren’t true at all?

Human Adjacent emphasizes human nature by telling the stories of things that are non-human, of shared experiences, and stories that resonate with what it means to be human without actually being so. Follow nine different stories as they all try to paint a wide picture of humanity in uncommon places, each one set in a unique world with diverse characters all trying to navigate their very different, outlandish circumstances that may or may not be similar to your own.

The Eye of Sicily

The year is 1895, and poverty is sweeping through Sicily, bringing a wave of la miseria to its people. Letters from America summon two Sicilian families to the shores of a distant land, but they soon discover that everything comes at a cost.

Time is running out for Giuseppe LoPinto, a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Out of options, his dire circumstances drive him to join the mass exodus of Sicilians from their beloved island. With a heavy heart, Giuseppe accepts an invitation to America. He embarks on an arduous journey, accompanied by his younger brother, Giacomo, to the bustling streets of Detroit.

A hundred miles away, on the eastern tip of Sicily, Vincenza Catalano blames a different letter from America for turning her life upside down. Forced to leave the scenic coastal city of Messina, she must put all her dreams for the future on hold. Aboard the steamship Giava, the Catalano family crosses paths with the LoPinto brothers from Termini Imerese. Vincenza, with her fiery spirit and determination, leaves a lasting impression on the younger brother, Giacomo. Defying her family’s wishes, she challenges the cultural limitations placed on women and confides her deepest secrets to him.

Arriving in Detroit during the dark era of the late nineteenth century, the Catalano and LoPinto families face ethnic prejudices, language barriers, and extortion threats from the notorious Black Hand. The bond between Giacomo and Vincenza grows stronger as they strive to find a sense of self in their new homeland, battling the perils of a dangerous time period. Inspired by true historical events, the young Sicilians soon realize that the luster of the American Dream is fading. Will they ultimately risk everything to achieve their dreams?

Shugart: The Candy-Eating Dragon

Too much candy

Won’t be fun,

And the holiday season

Has just begun.

‘What to do with the excess?’

Grown-ups might ask.

This book has the answer:

(hint): A dragon’s up to the task!

“‘Twas the night before Halloween and all through the house,

a creature was stirring, but it wasn’t a mouse…”

The Way It Ought to Be

The Way It Ought to Be is based on the idea that life does not always happen the way we want it to and that the only things that are important are the relationships we experience along the way – those we can’t get away from, those we want but can’t have, and the one we hold with ourselves.

Winifred Simone is in love with the life she had as a young girl and with the people from that life: her lone, childhood friend, Casey, and her ever-present mother, Maggie. Winifred and Casey spend their days in the small, rural town of Hickory in 1940s Pennsylvania; free to roam the nearby woods and isolating themselves from the rest of the world. But what seems idyllic to Winifred was anything but for Casey, a boy who always felt unloved and unlovable, despite Winifred’s boundless adoration.

Neither one could perceive the events that take away their innocent outlook and, without a word, Casey leaves Hickory, shattering their bond. This propels Winifred on a six-year search to find her friend and love far beyond the comfort of her hometown. As the story moves from the canopied safety of the Pennsylvania woods to the exposed rawness of the California desert, Winifred continually relies on the wrong people in an attempt to find the life she is convinced she is supposed to have.

That is, until she meets two very different families, the Hixsons and the Quinns. With their help, she learns to accept and be grateful for the life she is actually living.

Prince Mizar

Long ago, in the country of Romania, there lived a Count and a Countess who couldn’t have any children. However, when their son, Prince Mizael, was born, they were overjoyed. But their happiness was short-lived when their son gets cursed by an evil vampire count and was taken to be raised in his castle.

When the distraught parents discovered that their son was missing, they sent out search parties to find him. When these efforts failed, it fell to a brave young girl named Mina Westerna to take up the quest. Entering a forbidden wood, Mina hears a hauntingly beautiful singing voice and follows it, only to find that it belongs to a man named Mizar. The two quickly grow close and fall in love.

But Mina soon uncovers a shocking truth: Mizar is actually the missing Prince Mizael. As she and her friends Gabriel, Harker, and Abraham prepare to face three powerful vampires to rescue him, Mina realizes the stakes are higher than ever. Can Mina save Prince Mizael before it’s too late?

Elepa and the Magic Cloud

A jungle on a cloud – impossible!

Meet Elepa, an orphaned baby elephant who loves making up tunes and playing music, and a very naughty cadet dragon who causes chaos.

Join Elepa and his animal friends as they travel across the skies on their magic cloud. Follow their adventures as they create a musical band, evade capture by hunters in a helicopter who want to put them in a zoo, survive a raging storm, and journey from a jungle to the Arctic ice and back again.

Read on to discover their incredible story!

Drinks with God

Drinks With God is what you might get if you blended the wit of George Carlin, the satire of Jonathan Swift, and the quirky imagination of Kurt Vonnegut. In this irreverent and humorous narrative, the Supreme Being himself confesses to being a celestial klutz, making cosmic blunders from the dawn of time to the present day. From accidentally creating an upright squirrel in a jockstrap in his attempt to make the first human, to sending a swarm of hummingbirds instead of locusts to plague the Egyptians, this God is far from the omnipotent figure we know from the Bible.

Within the pages of Drinks With God, the reader is treated to an unconventional take on familiar biblical figures. From his ‘weirdo’ son Jesus, the amorous Holy Ghost, and the entrepreneurial Noah, to the not-so-virginal Virgin Mary, a sassy Judas Iscariot, and a chef Satan who has a flair for spicy cuisine – these characters are reimagined in a way you’ve never seen before. And where does God divulge these surprising insights? Not in a heavenly realm, but in the more earthly locales of New York City’s bars, coffee houses, and parks, revealing a deity who enjoys a good drink.

Reading Drinks With God might not sway your religious beliefs, but it’s guaranteed to leave you in stitches. Prepare for a hilarious, blasphemous, and utterly unique exploration of divinity like no other.

“Drinks With God has reopened my eyes to the truth that humor, maybe even blasphemous humor, is the only way to make sense of this distracted, click-happy, self-infatuated world.”
– Cornelius Walters, author of Fairy Snow.

“OMG! Millman’s latest book is divine – a heaven-sent blessing for atheists, unbelievers, heretics, and anyone who still has a fully-functioning funny bone.”
– Gary Allen, author of Galloping Gourmand.

“A round of hilarious irreverence from a unique writer!”
– Jim Christy, author of The Rough Road to the North and Scalawags.

Bounty of Beauty

The Bounty of Beauty explores the societal differences between the families of Mackuel, the cattle keeper, and Maluaac, the fisherman. When their sons, Nguac and Nguoi, both fell in love with an elegant Atuot girl, each proposing to marry her, a rare traditional marriage competition sparked a fierce rivalry and divided the community in two. Mackuel’s family, with their staggering wealth in cattle, won the race by arranging to marry a daughter from their rivals, Maluaac’s family.

Beyond his large family of 17 sons and daughters, Mackuel’s immense wealth in cattle was a symbol of great influence and fame. He arrogantly proclaimed that no one in the community had the power to challenge his son Nguac in marriage. Stubbornly, he declared, ‘A hatchling is no match for a calf,’ comparing himself to a calf and Maluaac to a hatchling. By this, Mackuel meant that fishermen held no social, economic, or political standing to win a marriage competition within the Atuot community or beyond.

Unfortunately, Mackuel’s extreme remarks became public, generating negative sentiment toward his family. Fearing the damage these sentiments might cause, Mackuel’s wife grew anxious and believed something must be done to change the public’s perception. She called a meeting with elders and her family members, proposing an extravagant dowry of 250 cows to be paid to Maluaac’s family for their daughter, Monica Ichut. She presented this as a way of retracting her husband’s harsh words during the intense competition between their sons, Nguac and Nguoi.

The elders from both families agreed to the marriage of Maluaac’s daughter Monica Ichut, and soon the community, once divided, witnessed a vibrant traditional wedding celebration.

My Grandpa

With meticulous detail, the author paints a vivid portrait of an intellectual family grappling with the complexities of modernization, globalization, and the clash of ideologies. As the narrative unfolds, you are invited to ponder the universal truths about family, education, life, and death, that transcend time and borders. You can also see the influence of Western culture, especially the U.S. culture in China during the early 21st century, while gaining insights into China’s miraculous rise and the forces that shape its destiny.

What did the heart and mind of an ordinary CCP member, a physics teacher, look like? How would a political dissident growing up in his family think of the government? What did Shanghai look like in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and how was it different from Shanghai in the 1930s? Why did the country embracing globalization and democracy collapse back to autocracy and totalitarianism in less than fifteen years, under Xi Jinping’s rule?

You can also witness the transformation of China from the 1920s to the early 21st century, as is seen through the lens of a CCP member’s experiences, as well as a political dissident’s narratives. Prepare to be swept away on an unforgettable voyage of discovery, as you uncover the hidden truths that lie at the intersection of family, culture, and history.