Chasing Dreams in a Sailboat

Chasing Dreams in a Sailboat is an anthology of stories about the interesting people we met in foreign sailing destinations; vibrant people with different perspectives, backgrounds, and life experiences, who have shaped us into more open-minded individuals.

This is a collection of memoirs about the cultural experiences we have encountered in our beloved British Virgin Islands, the shockingly beautiful French Polynesian Society Islands, the ancient villages along the ink-blue Tyrrhenian Sea’s most dazzling stretch of the Italian coastline known as the Amalfi Coast, and the magnificent Dalaman sailing region in southern Turkey, appropriately nicknamed the ‘Turkish Riviera.’

In each destination, we mingled with the locals and embraced unexpected opportunities so that for a passing moment in time, we could become a part of the diverse civilization we visited.

Cherry Blossom Blues

Delve into a lyrical love story shared between two Afro-American men living in the District of Columbia during the ethos of the roaring 1920s and the Harlem Renaissance. In spite of their class differences, their clandestine affairs thrive among their respective travels, marriages, careers, and time itself. Experience exhilaration as the main characters intertwine with real-life figures: Al Capone, Marcus Garvey, Herbert Hoover, Stephanie St. Clair and Albert Khan in Harlem, Macon, Georgia and Paris, France. Get goosebumps observing the living commune with the dead during ritualistic and mysterious séances. Observe how history often repeats itself by encountering the ramifications of the Spanish Influenza, World War I, Prohibition, and the threat of rising fascism foreshadowing the Jewish Holocaust. Most importantly, glean the profundity of our interconnections with everything in the universe in order to achieve authentic bliss.

Child Protection in America

Child abuse and neglect are tragically common. Each year, more than 1,000 American children die due to maltreatment. Thousands more suffer physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Across the country, every community has a system of government-operated and funded child protective services (CPS). But given that social workers of CPS have the authority to remove children from unsafe parents, it is no surprise that CPS is controversial. Does CPS protect children? Does CPS do more good than harm? Is CPS fundamentally racist, as some critics argue? Should CPS be abolished? To answer these questions, it is essential to understand the origins of child protection in America. How did we arrive at the child protection system in place today? This book traces the history of child protection from colonial times to the present and provides the most in-depth analysis ever published of the origins of child protection.

Chock Full of Fuckery

Chock Full of Fuckery is a captivating collection of poems, short stories, and musings told through the lens of a mixed, Gen X chick who is ridiculously sick of everyone’s shit. Including her own.

Blended with pain and humor, this book gives a glimpse into raw and often absurd aspects of her life, and offers a gentle reminder that life is a tapestry of experiences interwoven with darkness and light, tragedy and triumph.

Be ready to embrace the beautiful mess of one woman’s history. Why? Because this could be just what you need right now.

Chosen

In a gripping thriller that delves into the complexities of identity, murder, and the enduring question of nature versus nurture, Chosen follows Ted, a man whose quest to find his birth mother leads him to a chilling discovery: Chosen, his identical twin, separated at birth and raised in a starkly different world.

When a moment of uncontrollable rage leaves Chosen dead at Ted’s hands, Ted must make a life-altering decision: turn himself in or flee, erasing his ties to the fateful deed. As Ted navigates a dizzying maze of moral dilemmas, weaving himself into a new narrative, the authorities begin to unravel the mystery behind Chosen’s disappearance, unearthing a tale of twins divided by circumstance and a mother’s secretive past.

Through vivid and immersive prose, Chosen explores the divergent paths of two brothers, one raised in privilege and the other in poverty, casting a spotlight on the influence of upbringing on their individual fates. As the investigation deepens, readers become voyeurs into the tumultuous psyches of characters grappling with the weight of their choices, the elasticity of truth, and the undying question of what shapes us.

Christmas Eve at Grandmother's House

Join three excited girls as they visit their grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve. The air is filled with laughter and chatter as they decorate, discussing who’s been naughty or nice. The warm, inviting scent of holiday smells from the kitchen, where Grandmother is busy preparing holiday dinner and treats.

The girls look so beautiful in the PJs Grandma has bought them for Christmas, a heartwarming tradition they cherish. Earlier that day, Grandma visited the MDPLS Library and has chosen a special story to read to her granddaughters tonight.

To find out how this enchanting Christmas Eve unfolds, you’ll have to read the book!

Circle of Stone

In Depression-era Arkansas, a group of Black individuals, weary of enduring relentless brutality and disrespect from white communities, form a covert alliance known as ‘The Circle.’ United by a vow to clandestinely resist racist oppression, they employ ingenious tactics to combat the injustices inflicted upon their town. As they skillfully orchestrate retribution, ‘The Circle’ begins to shift the power dynamics, much to the chagrin of their white oppressors. This stirring tale reveals the resilience and ingenuity of a community determined to fight back in the face of adversity.

Climbing the Stairs of the City & Other Short Stories

H. Lloyd Weston worked assiduously to create a compilation of short stories, some from real-life experiences, the others from the divine gift of the imagination. Each story is crafted with the author’s emphasis on originality and fluidity of thought and expression, keeping in mind the reader who will embark upon the same journey by finding enjoyment in reading these engaging stories. The author wants the reader to experience the same palpable joy and reward he received in the task of creating them.

His obsession with executing a quality batch of stories came from his love of literature and the coterie of exceptional short story writers whose works he read along the way. Among these are writers such as Anton Chekhov, Katherine Mansfield, D. H. Lawrence, James Baldwin, Eudora Welty, Katherine Ann Porter, Ernest Hemingway, and Leo Tolstoy. The reader is swept away by the gripping power of these stories-tales that are original, imaginative, and adventurous.

It is hoped that the average reader will find things pertinent to their own life experiences within these poignant and suspenseful tales; stories that afford them the chance to escape the humdrum of daily life and the headlines of today’s depressing 24-hour news cycle. It is hoped that these stories will take each reader to a place of wonder and escape to the three different geographic locations within these stories.

Close Friends' Cathedral Adventure

Peat, a toad, and Paul-Paulette, an earthworm, live in the woods beneath the roots of their friend, Christy, a Christmas fern. One day they are dug up and carried away. Christy is replanted in a pot large enough to hold Paul-Paulette, but Peat is too big to get in and cannot completely hide. He stays under Christy’s fronds, but can’t disappear.Together with their wild flower friends, they are taken to the Washington National Cathedral to participate in the annual Festival of Flowers. While the plants are being carried into the cathedral, Peat is discovered, picked up and left in the Garth – the small, enclosed garden near the base of the stairs.This is the story of the little toad’s adventure as he tries to find his plant and animal friends in the huge building. It is a tour of the cathedral and an introduction to cathedral architecture inside and out. A short glossary of architecture terms is included.

Cold-Blooded Waters

On the frigid coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, two families find themselves in the cold water of turbulent times. One, a human family, is immersed in a sea of misdirected emotions and the other, a killer whale family, is faced with the consequence of human interference. Both families are split apart on the rocks of life and heading straight for a collision course.

Young Charlie Newhook and his clan were struggling fishermen, who lived under a continual cloud of brooding storms brought on by blinded emotions. The immaturity of a son to understand his family’s situation and the inability by the father to express his feelings, introduces a perfect storm of discontent.

Cultis, the renegade killer whale, is the product of humanity’s quest for greed. Taken from the freedom of the sea, he becomes an uncontrollable force of terror, hell-bent on destroying everything in its path.

Blinded by the thirst for revenge, blood is freely spilled on the path of reconciliation, in hopes of shedding the weight of antiquated ways. In a sea of uncertainty, the Newhook clan and the pod of killer whales finally collide, to find unexpected redemption upon the cold-blooded waters of Newfoundland.

Columbus, Slave Trader

Columbus, Slave Trader delves into an eye-opening exploration of history as it uncovers a seldom-told truth: the initial transatlantic slave ships did not traverse from Africa to America with captive Africans. Instead, the journey took a different, darker turn. The very first slave ships embarked from the New World to Europe, carrying a harrowing cargo of 500 captured Native Americans. Their enslaver? Christopher Columbus himself.

As the narrative unfolds, we confront the chilling reality of this early chapter in the slave trade, where these Native Americans, originally destined for Seville’s slave auction, endured unimaginable hardships. Only 80 would emerge as survivors, highlighting the heart-wrenching toll of this historic voyage.

Columbus, Slave Trader is a stark, essential and accurate historical fiction account that challenges prevailing narratives, shedding light on a pivotal moment in history and reevaluating our understanding of Columbus as not just an explorer but also a slave trader.

Come Out of Her

I became a Christian about five years ago. Before that, I was a New Age guru and a practitioner of the occult science of Alchemy. My whole life, I have been fascinated with all things supernatural, spiritual, mystical, and psychic—if you look up the definitions of each word, you will see that they all have the same basic meaning.

He looked at the crowd and said, “How did I get into Alchemy? As I studied everything mystical, I came across a book that explained the science of Alchemy and its history. It sparked interest in me, and I did what I needed to do to find any manuscript on Alchemy. I was around 13 years old when I bought my first book on the subject. Now, what is Alchemy? For me to answer that, I need to first reference Genesis chapter 3. I’m not going to read the entire chapter; I will summarize what it says. We will be analyzing a few key verses to gain better understanding. The serpent goes to Eve and convinces her that if she eats from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, she will be a god as God is. Here is where Alchemy has its roots—why do I say that? Let me explain further...”