Flatlands

Flatlands is believable and complex. This story ranks with the classic depictions of the marvel that was the Old West, that great, vanished moment in history; within its strong atmosphere of reality, fiction intertwines with known facts of the time. This novel is a study in the strength of interaction between individuals of the same family or group, and explores stress and loyalty in the face of hostile odds.

Flatlands rewards the reader with rich insight into character and situation. Its individual tune interrupts shock and sorrow with irresistible laughter. A gripping original.

Fiercely Loyal

Brother and sister, Sean and Colleen Callaghan share a relationship of love, loyalty, and perseverance. Their early childhood in a dysfunctional orphanage run by sisters focused on corporal punishment created a bond that carries them through a hard scrapple existence. Living through tough times in the Big Apple while concurrently 20^th century history plays out, Sean and Colleen are challenged at every step.

Sean grows from petty thief to booze-running during Prohibition, to waterfront dock boss. Colleen starts out running a speakeasy that transitions into an upscale restaurant catering to the well-heeled New York crowd, politicians, and Sean’s less-than-legit pals. The Callaghans’ saga spans pre-WWI to post WWII and is a true New York City story with colorful characters from waterfront toughs, bootleggers, slick gangsters, Nazi spies, and seductive women. When Sean is accused of murder and found guilty, the bond shared by the siblings is brought to its greatest test. The Callaghans are so fiercely loyal to each other their story will break your heart and keep you turning pages.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bodotria

Step back into the first century C.E., a time when Caledonia was a windswept frontier on the fringes of Roman rule. Andreas, fleeing Roman persecution, joins the Roman army and embarks on a remarkable journey. Alongside fellow soldiers Isaac and Bergamus, they’re assigned a year-long intelligence mission in Caledonia.

This debut novel launches a trilogy, chronicling their years-long odyssey. Amidst forging friendships, love, and alliances with Caledonian tribes, they must contend with the militant Caledonii tribe of the Western Highlands. Andreas grapples with his faith and soldier’s duty, Isaac finds love in the midst of war, and Bergamus seeks one last mission before retiring from the Roman army.

Bodotria is an epic exploration of faith, duty, and destiny against the backdrop of an evolving land, a story of courage and camaraderie amidst the tumultuous birth of Scotland.

Blood Summer 1862

1862 was the second year of the Civil War and a year when hundreds of European immigrants and settlers from the eastern United States were building cabins and clearing farmland in Minnesota.

It was also the year when the Dakota Sioux were starving on their reservation because the annuity from the federal government was late, and the traders refused to sell them food on credit. In August the smoldering firestorm erupted, and the Dakota Sioux went on a rampage that shook the state and the nation.

This is the story  of a newly-arrived Swedish family who suffered through it, of a devout Dakota Sioux man who helped them and many others survive, and of the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who sought justice for 303 condemned Dakota Sioux prisoners in the midst of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.      

An Irishman's Story of Survival

Every life is a tapestry of challenges, with resilience as its weft and weave. Amidst the torrent of trials that threaten to engulf one’s spirit, there stand the unyielding souls who, with a spark of defiance in their eyes, dare to face the tempest and emerge on the other side. They are the survivors, the dauntless hearts who tread the rocky path with an unwavering resolve.

Kevin O’Donnell is a beacon of such indomitable spirit, grappling with life’s relentless waves that seek to subdue him. In the turbulent era of mid-20th century, the world could be a harsh, unforgiving place for a young Irish lad. Yet, within Kevin lies a burning desire to carve out his niche, to transcend the barriers that life hurls his way and grasp the reins of a fulfilling existence.

Can his resolute will and earnest endeavor outshine the adversities that loom? Can he navigate the maelstrom and anchor himself to the shores of a prosperous life? Traverse the chapters of his journey within these pages, and unveil the saga of a young man’s undying spirit amidst the trials of time. Through Kevin’s eyes, explore a testament to the enduring human spirit that resonates with every beating heart that refuses to yield to life’s storms.