Disasters at Sea

In October 1851, the bustling harbors of Gloucester, Massachusetts marked the onset of a promising venture as the American fishing fleet set sail towards the bountiful mackerel run in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. However, as they neared the waters off Prince Edward Island, Canada, an unanticipated hurricane engulfed them in a tempest of terror and despair, obliterating over 200 schooners and vessels. The calamity claimed the lives of over 100 seamen, a tragic toll that resonated across the waves.

Disasters at Sea unveils the poignant yet inspiring chronicle of the Prince Edward Island residents, who, propelled by compassion, rallied to extend a lifeline to the beleaguered seamen. Their unwavering aid echoed the noble deeds of the Newfoundland residents during the 9/11 crisis. With hearts brimming with empathy, they embarked on a mission of rescue, recovery, and honor for the fallen, manifesting an enduring maritime bond.

This narrative reflects on the ethos of neighborly duty prevalent in the 19th-century Maritime Canada, highlighting a stark contrast against the seemingly indifferent response of the vessel owners in the aftermath, who appeared to evade accountability for the lost souls and shattered vessels. Disasters at Sea navigates through the haunting whys of fate’s discernment amidst the storm, unearthing the profound human spirit that surges even amidst the darkest squalls, painting a timeless tableau of maritime valor and human resilience.

Deseret: A Defense and a Refuge

In this tale, people scattered throughout the world are woven together in the valleys of the Rocky Mountains. Forty years after Napoleon’s defeat, the development of modern warfare on the Crimean Peninsula sends reverberations across the globe, alerting all of the growth in technology, the precursor of the US Civil War in weapons and tactics, as well as the needs of multitudes of dispossessed and underrepresented. The shrinking planet is growing crowded. The bumping into one another becomes increasingly violent. Women and men stand to be counted, molded of numerous talents and abilities, striving for relief and equality, demanding rights and opportunity. Slavery, reservations, women’s suffrage, polygamy, and Manifest Destiny are swirled into the murky vat of the United States. Protesting members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known derisively as Mormons, are challenged over religious freedom. Despite the continued criticism heaped upon them for their unique doctrines, missionary work and its effects spread throughout the nation and the earth.

The 1850s see the homeland of Deseret plowing against Bloody Kansas, Buchannan’s Blunder, Mountain Meadows, the Sevastopol Policy, the Pony Express, and the Transcontinental Telegraph. These ventures combine with similar troubles and shove the nation into the red-hot furnace of civil war.

Darkly Dickinson

Some called her “Crazy Beth”, others called her the “Myth of Amherst,” and some called her simply a gifted genius. She was stunning and intelligent and was ahead of her time when it came to advocating change for society regarding women’s rights and minorities’ equality. Who is the girl behind the poetry? Why were so many of Emily Dickinson’s 1,800+ poems about death? What was the true meaning behind her cryptic poems? Who were the Master poems written to?

Join B. D. Watson as she welcomes her debut novel, Darkly Dickinson: The Untold Story of Poet Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, revealing all the mysteries that wrap around the most loved and read literary genius of all time. Darkly Dickinson will walk you through the life of poet Emily Dickinson from her childhood abuse to her teenage years of being bullied by her teachers and classmates, and then to her college years at Mount Holyoke when she was grabbed out of her bed to be a part of sinister acts performed by the girls who taught her how to dabble in witchcraft, and finally to her adult years with her cat-and-mouse chases with men. Darkly Dickinson will take you through the heartbreaking deaths of all her loved ones including her romantic interests, and finally you will be led to Dickinson’s mental breakdown that led to her isolation from society for over 30 years.

Read Darkly Dickinson and you decide for yourself, was ‘it’ fact or fiction? Were her imaginary friends demons or simply a figment of her imagination? Be prepared for an immense amount of pulled heartstrings, leaving you begging for more.

Daisy

Have you ever wondered what happened to Daisy Buchanan after the Great Gatsby was murdered in his swimming pool on Long Island in the summer of 1922? She and Tom Buchanan fled to Europe where they met almost everybody worth knowing in the roaring twenties: the Hemingways, the Fitzgeralds, Pablo Picasso, who painted her portrait, Gerald and Sara Murphy, as well as the Prince of Wales.

After years of interviews and with the help of Daisy’s diaries, her daughter, Pamela, has reconstructed Daisy’s life in Paris, in England, and in Spain where Daisy left the privileged life she had known to become involved on the loyalist side of the Spanish Civil War.

Crackers

During the late 1800s, England was a land of boundless potential, and there were those who eagerly sought to exploit it. The days of the aristocracy had faded, and self-made men of wealth breathed new life, energy, and money into the English countryside. Exploration and innovation were the tools that would usher in the next century.

Montgomery, a true English gentleman, was one such man who sought to bring his young family into an era of prosperity. Though Monty chose wisely in business, he chose poorly in those surrounding him. With a new bride, a young son, travel, and an expanding business, Monty enjoyed a happy life – until he could no longer remember it.

One rainy morning, Monty was found abandoned at an unknown manor, badly beaten and unconscious, left in the mud. As he awoke, he could feel the rain on his face and taste the blood in his mouth, but he could no longer recall who he was. Within the house, there were those who would help him and those who would seek to do him harm.

This journey takes Monty into a world where nothing is as it appears. Hypnotism, treachery, romance, and betrayal all lie in his path of discovery. With his memory gone, Monty has lost everything he once had in the world, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to get it back.

Courage

Suppose you were living peacefully in your own country when you were suddenly visited by foreign agents from a nearby nation, who advised you that you were to no longer speak your own language, English. You were given ninety days to learn the language of the foreign country or suffer the consequences: lose your hand or arm. And if you chose to run, expect a rifle bullet to strike you in your unprotected back. That is exactly what Bayto Afwerki faced while exiting from his last day of school.

This horror story and many others will greet you as you turn each page of this heart-gripping tale of two of the most impoverished nations in the world, engaging in a life-and-death struggle, fighting a thirty-year war before Eritrea obtained its independence. Chillingly, you learn that the United Nations and all the world powers felt that Eritrea would be better off federated to Ethiopia.

This story will literally take you around the world to include the presence of American soldiers stationed at nearby Kagnew Station, and other characters as far-reaching as Australia and Saudi Arabia.

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.

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.

Christmas Celebration

Is Christmas something that has to be predictable, aimed only at kids, limited to one calendar day, and more trouble than it's worth? Not according to holiday specialist, Lynn MacKaben Brown. In her expansively creative book, Christmas Celebration, Lynn provides theology with flair, custom with uniqueness, and family unity with jubilation. Everything needed for a fresh, invigorating approach to Christmas is found within these pages-stories, music, devotions, prayers, activities, even decorating and organization tips. Whatever you need to revitalize your Christmas spirit can be found here, shared in simple language. Dig into a treasure trove of ideas you'll revisit year after year! 

Christina's War

Growing up on a poor farm in Missouri and learning how to sing opera from her war-scarred father, young Christina Cross has no idea the powerful forces of good and evil, of music and war, will one day pull her into the maelstrom of the Second World War, compelling her to make life-or-death-decisions about who she is fighting for and the price she is willing to pay.

Like a masterful opera, Christina’s War deftly transports the reader to early 1940s Paris where Christina and her sister, Nicollet, are sent by their father to live a better life with their Grandfather, Philippe Pétain. Philippe, eager to please the Nazi regime, envisions Christina’s exquisite voice as a means to entertain Hitler and his officers. Yet, unbeknownst to him, Christina’s heart belongs not just to music but to Laurent Gauvion Saint-Cyr, the charismatic leader of the French Underground who had recruited her into the resistance.

When she defiantly refuses to sing, setting Hitler’s fury aflame, Nicollet becomes a pawn in a dangerous game of power and retribution. Now, Laurent must not only fight for their country’s freedom but race against time to save the two sisters from the clutches of a malevolent Nazi officer who revels in torture.

Changing Time

In 1890, progress overruns Quinn’s remote fishing village on Passamaquoddy Bay. With the railroad and industrialization devastating his livelihood as a longline fisherman, Quinn struggles amidst changing times. After the tragic death of his father and a failed marriage, Quinn loses hope of having a family.

Seeking solace in a hotel lounge, Quinn notices a striking Passamaquoddy woman. When their eyes meet, she seems to recognize him before hurrying off. Desperate for income, Quinn starts smuggling exports to Eastport, Maine where he serendipitously encounters the woman from the hotel.

Kindred spirits, Quinn and Mika find themselves jobless and with no prospects. Just when their situation seems hopeless, an unexpected opportunity arises when Quinn’s mother develops a relationship with a retired gentleman of means. Deciding to leave their struggles behind, Quinn and Mika take a chance on a new life in the wilds of Florida. Upon arriving in Tampa, their timing coincides fortuitously with the grand opening of the opulent Tampa Bay Hotel. A bold proposal from entrepreneur Henry Plant soon has Quinn and Mika poised to embark on an adventure too good to pass up.

Bridge of Stones

In the simmering heat of August 1967, a kaleidoscopic minivan carrying a band of hippies – adorned with long hair, beards, beads, sandals, and granny dresses – pulls up at the gates of Ft. Gordon, Augusta, GA, then the heartland of the Military Police. Their mission is unconventional: to instruct the 25th Infantry Division, 60th Mine Scout Dog Platoon in harnessing the keen senses of dogs to detect landmines, trip wires, and hidden tunnels.

The air crackles with animosity as two worlds collide: the free-spirited and the regimented. Yet amidst the discord, Charlie Fasanaro, a young man with wisdom flowing through his veins, recognizes the crucial necessity of forging a bridge across the chasm of enmity that separates them. Their common cause is as clear as it is noble: saving lives in a theatre of war. Unbeknownst to Charlie, he is on the precipice of a spiritual catharsis that will redefine his very essence.

Volunteering to journey to the harsh landscapes of Vietnam alongside the 60th, Charlie is plunged into the visceral cruelties of war. Amidst the chaos, he witnesses acts of heroism and self-sacrifice that cast a new light on the soldiers he stands beside; a nobility and honor scarcely seen amidst the peace-loving circles of his civilian life. This revelation propels Charlie into a tumultuous voyage of self-discovery, as he grapples with his identity amidst a whirlwind of contrasting ideologies.

Bridge of Stones navigates through the turbulent waters of a time where ideologies clashed and the essence of humanity was put to the test. As Charlie endeavors to find his footing on the battlefield of conflicting beliefs, readers are ushered through a rich narrative that explores the profound essence of camaraderie, the unyielding spirit of sacrifice, and the indelible marks etched upon souls in times of war and peace.