My Name Is Yuri

Through the search for truth and the willingness to let herself be guided by ‘transcendental signs’, Valentina rediscovers the primordial meaning of life. The journey explores the importance of friendship and the search for truth in a squalid world.

An engrossing story that goes straight to the heart, endearing the reader to this boy named Yuri. He will leave a mark on you.

Malkin

Malkin tells the story of a small-town girl with big dreams, who believes her aspirations can only be realized in the big city, just a few hours away by train. Despite her humble beginnings, she seizes every opportunity, holding steadfast to her ambition of becoming a ‘Malkin’ in the bustling metropolis. She understands that achieving her dreams comes with a price: giving others what they want in order to attain what she desires.

With unwavering determination, she navigates the challenges and tribulations of her nuclear family and the struggles of her childhood friend. The narrative offers readers a vivid portrayal of how often her dream teetered on the edge of disaster.

Her journey is marked by indomitable courage and a positive mindset, fortified through meditation and gratitude. These elements guide her, acting as her talisman, and show her the path to success. She learns to see things in their true reality, overcoming self-deceptions born from her background, family, environment, and preconceived notions. Perhaps this is what it takes to dream and make that dream come true.

Gone by the C

When moving up the corporate ladder depends on the success to the second language proficiency test, an employee’s anxiety could reach a dramatic height.

“The funny part about Perdida’s cry was the tears. Normally, except for Black Africans, people’s tears run through their noses. Don’t ask me why. That really baffles me. On the other hand, African people’s tears come directly out of their eyes and quietly run through their cheeks before vanishing somewhere in the beard, for those who have one. Perdida’s tears were following the latter pattern. Was she some kind of a repressed Black African? Hard to say. But for sure, she didn’t look Black at all. With her blond hair, her blue eyes, and her shining light complexion, she must have been of Swedish descent. I ventured toward her classroom, wondering what was actually going on.”

Faithfully Failed

A well-raised women is one who models the vision of family life taught by her parents. She can only play the role of one character in the script. The other role players in her story must possess integrity for her contentment.

Imbria gets a taste of the good life. An inspiring clothing designer who wants the fairy tale ending, like most women want. Marriage is an important part of life’s completion. She is elated when her dreams come true. The twist and turns, lies and deception, can change the tremble of the heart. A spur of the moment decision can turn holy matrimony into rupture.

Dreaming of Storms

Death in art does not mimic death in life. Anna, a retired ballerina, often dreams of destructive storms. She is trying to outrun these dreams, but it is her husband who surprises her with his own need to find art in death.

Double Star

This story is set in Germany at the start of the First World War and follows Klaus, a quiet astronomer of Jewish background, who spends his time with a telescope in an observatory on the edge of town. There he meets an independent young woman from a well-to-do background whose desire for a career of her own leads her to work on the laboratory’s microscope.

Their different backgrounds clash even as the world is changing around them. Ulla is forced to keep her work secret from her socially ambitious mother to whom status and the old ways are prized above all. Her father encourages Ulla to help him in his quest to find a cure for a deadly disease. However, he has a secret of his own which also threatens the stability of their family.

As their relationship grows and Ulla and Klaus share their scientific discoveries, unforeseen events force them to make choices which will have far-reaching consequences for both them and their families.

Darby, the Horse from Hope

Darby, the Horse from Hope is a story of how animals can sense and react to the needs of humans. That is why horses have been found to be so successful in providing therapy for people with many different needs. There are horse therapy programs all over the United States. While this story is fiction, what the horses can accomplish is remarkable. Here, Darby deals with the depression experienced by PTSD patients. The story tells how animals can teach patients to feel a sense of worth again and learn more about coping and overcoming the deep sadness with which being in a war has left them. The book also teaches the readers more about the animals and how they can be loving and devoted friends.

Cottonmouth Droppings

Cottonmouth Droppings illuminates the power of female support across generations. It reveals how friendships confront and correct the stale patriarchal status quo in high school and college athletics. This riveting story explores the corrupt behavior of abuse and assault through the power-hungry relationships in a small southern town where most of the long-time residents seem to care more about their local high school and college sports than facing the horrible truth about one of their own. JB Taylor, Head Coach Doc Winters and with the help of a nefarious cop, Whit Cain, develop a formidable, yet disturbing relationship while they guide JB’s son Carter through the pipeline of high school and college sports. The story leads the reader from high stakes betrayals and the safety net provided by officious people in the town.

All Men

All Men takes readers on a thrilling journey through the challenges faced by Mr. Alex Tremont, a Congregational minister who has recently transferred from the Midwest to a small New England community. In this new community, Alex soon discovers that perceiving the enemy is no longer a simple task. He is faced with a litany of problems, including investigating the sighting of a mysterious ‘monster’ that he cannot comprehend, and his church being designated a ‘sanctuary’ status.

As he navigates through these problems, Alex finds himself increasingly drawn to a young lady who is the driving force behind the sanctuary movement. However, opposing her could lead to dire consequences. And as if that wasn’t enough, the ‘monster’ that Alex has been investigating becomes the prime suspect in the gruesome murder of his predecessor, a murder that resembles a terrorist attack common in the Middle East.

Despite being only 28 years old, Alex is expected to earn his stripes and overcome these challenges. But as he faces the trials and tribulations of his new community, he realizes that not all men are equipped to handle the weight of the world on their shoulders.

All Men is a gripping tale of mystery, love, and self-discovery that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

After the Before-Times

The story takes place at a picturesque inn on Orchard Lake in southeast Michigan. It features the couple who own the inn and seven very different, interesting, flawed and sometimes funny characters who all come together to help and support each other through the pandemic. Several minor characters also round out the story and provide depth and perspective to the novel. Actual pandemic developments interwoven with the fictional story add a high degree of realism.

This first novel for Leland is a carefully researched book which magnificently weaves together the events of the 2020 pandemic with gripping fictional events, dynamic believable characters, engrossing dialogue, and vividly beautiful descriptions. The novel provides a realistic but surprising answer to how life proceeds in the “After-Times.”

Academic Overtures

For twenty-five years, Lola has endured a tumultuous marriage marred by her husband Jack’s infidelities and abuse. Despite his betrayals, she clung to the hope that things would change when Jack landed his dream job as university president.

However, Jack’s new position thrusts them into a sordid scandal involving the sexual exploitation of student athletes by the athletic director. Haunted by his own history of misconduct, Jack resorts to his usual tactics: bribery and cover-ups. But when one of his past victims surfaces as a faculty member, the web of deceit threatens to entangle them both.

As the stakes escalate, Lola finds herself at a crossroads. Will she continue to enable Jack’s misdeeds, sacrificing her dignity? Or will she summon the courage to break free from the cycle of abuse and help others find their voice?

A Trail to Love

When West Point graduate John Richards marries socialite Felicity Wynngate against her father’s express wishes, they set off a chain of catastrophic events neither could have anticipated. Pursued by a determined adversary intent on returning Felicity to her dubious father, the couple flees Philadelphia, racing towards John’s parents’ home. However, fate has other plans as the British, fresh from their victory over Napoleon, turn their sights on the United States.

As the British burn Washington and aim to control the Mississippi, Colonel Andrew Jackson rallies American forces. Amidst the chaos, John is mistakenly listed as a casualty of the Battle of New Orleans. Before he can correct the error, a heartbreaking letter informs his parents of his supposed sacrifice. Believing her husband dead, a grief-stricken Felicity ventures west, only to meet with an accident that further complicates their separation. Each believing the other has perished, John and Felicity embark on separate journeys filled with peril and hope. Will their paths cross again on the trail to love, or are they destined to remain apart forever?