Those Who Live

Two cousins, Chinle Davis and Mae Godwin, are determined to find the truth about why six female infants spanning three family generations died shortly after birth. Their plan to interview family members about these deaths is fruitful, the details, alarming.

As the interviews proceed, Chinle, injured at five when someone pushed her on her bike down a deep, steep, rocky ravine, begins to have memories of the accident that left her with an inturned right foot, a leg with little feeling, and a spastic gait due to neurological damage. The mystery of who pushed Chinle gradually becomes more central than the mysteries of the six infants. The relationship between Chinle and Mae becomes tenser and more layered as each woman’s romantic life becomes more complex, Chinle establishing a bond with Cody and Mae, losing her bond with her long-time boyfriend, Bernie.

What will each woman discover about herself as mysteries between them unfold?

The Year that Didn't Exist

Walter’s freshman year at a top Engineering School wasn’t what he had hoped for. Academic success was a given but wasn’t college supposed to be about freedom, drugs and wild sex? This was 1969 after all. But as Walter laments “freshman year was just OK, I somehow missed out on that sex thing.”

Walter was hoping sophomore year will be his MVP season. Regrettably it wasn’t, it was a nothing, in fact it was The Year that Didn’t Exist. The story opens with Walter’s big mistake: securing off-campus housing with two roommates he finds intolerable. One chapter details his accidental meeting, and getting stoned with Jane and Tom H. They, activist-celebrities, on their way to a Vietnam protest rally at the Tute, Tom being the keynote speaker.

Several chapters are devoted to his introduction and obsession with recreational drugs, pot, hashish, LSD and Ludes. How he meets his first girlfriend, the result of a bet, as to who would score better on a biology test, is thoroughly, but not graphically detailed. And finally, the only real highlight of his meaningless year, teaming up with drug buddy Strappa and winning a collegiate bowling championship, provides a humorous ending to the saga. The Year that Didn’t Exist should strike chords that ring true in almost everyone and hopefully transport the reader back to their college days, days perhaps simpler and likely filled with unbound optimism.

The Story of Words

The Story of Words intricately weaves the tale of Nathaniel Brand’s journey - intellectual, spiritual, and geographical. A deep dive into his life reveals a poignant discovery: the woman he believed was his soulmate, Stephanie Haller, is in reality a stranger. His PhD dissertation challenges decades of literary criticism but fails to bring him professional recognition. Nathaniel’s spiritual exploration, fuelled by marijuana and acid-rock from the 60s, results in seventy-five ‘messages from the beyond’, which he hopes will revolutionize society but are instead seen as negative by his peers. His quest, marked by trials and introspection, takes readers on a transformative path, hinting at an unexpected resolution that reshapes his understanding of life. This novel offers a unique glimpse into the complexities of pursuing dreams and truths.

The Sisters Graves

In the gripping pages of The Sisters Graves, a shocking murder rocks the tranquil property of Coo Blackstone. The victim, a beautiful woman, is discovered in a grotesque state, sending shockwaves through the community. All eyes turn to Angus, her lover and Coo’s own brother, as a prime suspect in this heinous crime.

However, as the layers of the victim’s life are peeled back, it becomes evident that she was not innocent. In fact, she led a covert existence, manipulating and blackmailing the townspeople. The list of disgruntled individuals with motives to see her silenced grows longer, each unaware of the others’ entanglements with the captivating but treacherous country girl. Money, sex, and revenge emerge as the compelling motives that entwine the dead woman and the town’s residents, leaving a web of secrets and a trail of potential killers.

Determined to defend her brother’s honor, Coo takes it upon herself to unravel the perplexing clues that emerge during her investigation. Yet, the more she digs, the more bewildering and uncertain the truth becomes. Clues begin to implicate not just Angus, but several other individuals, leaving Coo at a loss, torn between her loyalty to her family and her relentless pursuit of justice.

As the local Sheriff, Clyde Buck, steps into the investigation, tensions rise. With the victim found on Coo’s property, suspicion falls upon her, straining their relationship. Clyde is committed to solving the crime, but his growing feelings for Coo make it increasingly challenging to separate personal desires from the demands of upholding the law. Even if the unthinkable truth implicates Angus or even Coo herself, Clyde must navigate the treacherous waters of love and justice to bring the murderer to light.

The Rock in Our Story

Just when ten-year-old Maria Della Notte becomes comfortable with her surrogate mother and their surroundings she discovers an unsettling truth about her origin. Who is she? How did she get here? Why does she have a surrogate mother? Who left her in the care of a surrogate mother and why? Where did she come from? Why is she forced to leave? Can she learn to live in a new country without family or friends where language, customs and traditions are unfamiliar and intimidating? Whom can she trust? Will she ever love and be loved? Will she find answers to her endless questions?

Coming from a poverty-stricken, war-torn country, Maria quickly learns the benefits and advantages of wealth, education and her new life in a place filled with opportunity. While she is pleased with her newly acquired affluence and experiences, Maria has never been truly happy since she left her homeland. The friendship she offers at school, and the kindness she extends to some of her classmates is met with ridicule and rejection.

At every turn, Maria feels unloved, so she withdraws and buries herself in studies and extracurricular activities. She strives to be the best at every challenge put before her. Her goals stretch far beyond seeking not only to win, but to win by a landslide.

Maria is a young lady dreaming of reconnecting with her mentor, while carrying a big chip on her shoulder waiting for the right someone to gently remove it.

The Man Who Wanted to Be Cary Grant

George is at rock bottom: His wife is leaving him, his job is gone, and even his kids can barely stand him. But instead of wallowing in despair, George opts for a drastic makeover. Inspired by his cinematic hero, Cary Grant, he sets out to reinvent himself, enlisting the help of modern-day mentors akin to Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering from ‘My Fair Lady.’

Suddenly, George is the toast of Hollywood. He rubs elbows with A-listers like Bradley Cooper and George Clooney, while acclaimed directors like Spielberg are captivated by his charm.

But when George’s estranged mother orchestrates a reunion with his childhood love, he’s forced to ponder the cost of his new life. Is this glamorous façade worth losing the one who got away? The choice becomes even more complicated when he spots her in the arms of another man.

Returning to LA, George finds that his friends and family have teamed up for the ultimate romantic intervention – with a celestial assist from Cary Grant himself.

The Liberation of Oliver Rook

Oliver Eastmund’s life is hell. He is married to Mona who makes him and his children miserable, yet nothing can stop her or help Oliver and their two children, Gavin and Gwendolyn. Mona’s cruelty is relentless, and just when you think she has done her worst, she reaches a new level of malice.

The courts, police, child-welfare authorities, and mental-health systems fail Oliver and his attempts at protecting his children, himself, and even Mona. He makes his wife a promise: “When the children are gone and our debts are paid, I will leave you,” which seems to him the worst thing he can do to someone with her mental instability.

But he is wrong. He discovers that he is capable of far worse. He moves away, changes his name, yet must go back to find deliverance from his guilt. As Winston Churchill said, “If you are going through hell, keep going.” This is what Oliver Rook must do.

The Jungle Entrepreneurs

Allen and Franco are two young entrepreneurs coasting their last year of Business School in New York. Feeling drained and uninspired by the pressures of success, they take on an expected journey to the jungle of Costa Rica, where they will do what they can to make a business out of an old, abandoned property, submerged in local rumors.

Once surrounded by the power of the place, they unravel an unexpected family history, which will take them on a wild and spiritual inner journey. The struggles of arduous work and lack of resources will shape these men’s partnership, new friendships, and the way they each understand their lives.

In this intimate tale, N.V. Parks takes us on a unique spiritual journey, a rite of healing and transformation into adulthood, unraveling a new meaning of happiness and success, while soaking in the magnificent beauty of Ostional Wildlife Refuge.

The Eden Evacuation

When young historian Adam and his daring art conservator girlfriend Gina embark on a Roman holiday, they expect delicious food and captivating sights – not a bewildering mystery. While touring the Vatican Museums, Gina suddenly vanishes. Adam’s desperate search for her uncovers a shadowy art forgery conspiracy greater than either could have imagined.

To unravel the truth and reunite with Gina, Adam plunges headlong into a thrilling quest spanning centuries of history, culture, religion, and current affairs. As the perilous investigation spreads across two continents, Adam and Gina are each forced to confront what really matters most. Will their love unite them despite the dangers they face? Or will the high stakes of the mystery tear their relationship apart?

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.

Submission

This is a story about a marriage breakdown and the difficulties facing primarily women in protecting themselves and in collecting support payments under the Ontario justice system.

This is a story about justice delayed, justice denied, and how the justice system failed to level the playing field.

Every day a woman is demoralized in not being able to collect on support orders.

Every day in Canada a woman is subjected to ongoing abuse with her partner with minimal assistance through the legal system.

This story is typical of a woman’s plight going through a legal system where the parties have lost faith and face the dilemma of giving up or taking the law into their own hands.

Stories From the Heart

Be it the sweetness of courtship, the fragility of flirtation or deep prevailing commitment, these are stories that bring a sigh and a smile as we glimpse love in all its iterations.

Set against the backdrop of Italy, whose very essence is romance, we spend time with a woman who flips the script on actors; a little boy and his beloved violin; a snowy-haired cupid and destined dance partners, all of whom are connected by the powerful theme of love.