Real Life

We all experience good and bad times in life. This book touches on some situations that occur, expectedly and unexpectedly, to all of us. Some of the stories you will find inside include the heartache of losing a child, the experience of living the single life, and a husband and wife working together to solve problems. Other stories inspire themes of seeing and accepting others, handling retirement, and realising that what you have is better than what you think you want. You will find hope, sadness, and happiness in these short stories. It will give you laughs, possibly some tears, and inspire you to think about and contemplate your own life, as well as understand the lives of others. Enjoy the characters. Get ready for Real Life.

Two Days in August

Alex Knight and his daughter, Aia, while early on in their motorcycle road trip to the Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota, are threatened with death by Fatso and his troop of outlaw bikers.

Alex will not back away from any threat against him, his family, or his friends, and he has always maintained the best defense is to go on offense.

Alex and Aia meet four couples—regular husband-and-wife bikers—going to Sturgis. Then, at a Montana campground on their first night, they meet Mike, a special ops soldier on leave. At a convenience store in Glacier Park, Alex meets three vacationing Seattle SWAT officers.

Forces are combined to deal with Fatso’s gang, and the Warriors, another violent gang, join Fatso to take care of Alex and his daughter.

This is a high-octane adventure with a heart-of-gold hero who will protect those he

loves with fearless resolution.

Playlists

Music is something that, especially today, forms the background of our lives. We hear it daily. We feel it weaving the tapestry that we live our lives upon. In this collection of poetry and prose, author E. P. Jordan explores how the music she listened to in certain years of her life impacted the art that she created. As you read this collection, you will go on multiple journeys with the author, and will be invited yourself to examine your life through the lens of the music that has been with you along the way.

The Runaways

The Runaways is a humorous, philosophical, pre-apocalyptic tale told from the perspective of Jolson H. Kawasaki, a thirteen-year-old, West Virginian visionary from a broken home who longs for a life away from ‘the abhorrent horrors engendered by polite society.’

 Abandoned by his father, haunted by his mother's grief, and seething with his unquenchable desire for their mechanic's daughter, Addison Dixie, Jolson must confront his leviathan troubles as he plans to escape a life of poverty to lead an expedition west with his disciples, out of ‘The Gray World’ and into ‘a Paradise of Green.’

Is he a prophet? Is he delusional? Does Addison feel the same kind of crazy? What starts as a simple effort to evade responsibility turns into the inheritance of it all as Jolson – guided by fate and depended upon by many – contends with himself, the natural world, and his diabolical opposite on his unforgettable journey toward becoming a man – and perhaps something greater.

Love Conquers

Robyn Polanski’s difficult childhood had moulded her into a young woman who knew who she wanted to be, and through perseverance she achieved her goals.

Robyn had grown up on a ranch and she set out to be a ranch manager and hoped that one day she could acquire her own land. And that was where she ran into trouble. She met Colin Fletcher, a ranch owner and through a clever clause in a will, she became his manager. Suspicion and doubt flared up just as high as their desire for each other.

Out of the blue Edward Crawford walks into her life, a twenty-year-old brother she never knew about. He was born the year she lost both parents … Her mother had run off with another man after her father was shot in cold blood.

Edward soon realised what the trouble between Robyn and Colin was and he understood their dilemma; both of them, through different circumstances, had lost their faith and trust in people, and until they resolved those issues, love could not triumph.

What would eventually break down those barriers?

El Paraiso Todavia es Posible

El Paraíso Todavía Es Posible narra la desgarradora experiencia de Mariali Cercado, secuestrada al final de una función de cine en Bogotá por un grupo de peligrosos delincuentes. Mientras lucha por recuperar su libertad, Mariali debe enfrentarse a los demonios de su pasado, al acoso de su captor y a un futuro lleno de sombras y vacíos.

Este relato va más allá del secuestro y sus atroces consecuencias; es una profunda reflexión sobre el poder del caos y el orden, un retrato íntimo de seres humanos atrapados en una compleja red de emociones y decisiones. A medida que la trama profundiza en la psique de sus protagonistas, atestiguamos sus temores y vulnerabilidades, cada uno con sus deudas y enredos, mientras intentan trascender hacia la justicia, la esperanza y la libertad mediante sigilosas estrategias.

Con un final inesperado y revelador, El Paraíso Todavía Es Posible desafía nuestras concepciones sobre el castigo y el perdón. ¿Podremos descubrir, aun bajo el sufrimiento más extremo, si la transformación y la redención siguen siendo posibles a pesar de nosotros mismos?

Choirs of Fire and Dust

In the tumultuous fires of the American Civil War, a young New York poet suffers a tumult of tense visions of past and future after a journalistic misadventure in the Holy Land. At the home of his ship chandler benefactor of Beirut, he meets his muse, the daring daughter. Back in New York, he is absorbed in her plot to sabotage her father’s gun-running operation. Self-sabotaged and lost, there is a hellish POW camp, some of the fiercest fighting of the war, and the hallucinatory wages of peace.

Uncertain Times

Times have changed since the grandiose days of Tampa, Florida, in 1890. The success that Quinn and Mika enjoyed at Henry Plant’s illustrious Tampa Bay Hotel changed as well. Twenty years saw the passing of Mr. Plant and the decline of his hotel and its standards, while Tampa’s cigar industry rose to international prominence. Also intervening was Mika, bearing fraternal twins. Marc, the elder by fifteen minutes, is dark-skinned like his mother. Ian favors his father in skin tone and disposition. Mika and Quinn have found that contriving time alone together has become a challenge.

Quinn is the 1910 St. Andrews Chamber of Commerce president. The tourist season is ending, and he, Mika, and the twins are once again off to Florida for the winter. As they prepare to leave St. Andrews, Canada’s trade union movement arrives and attempts to organize the town. Quinn knows nothing about labor negotiations and endeavors to avoid confrontation but becomes entangled in worker demands.

Arriving in Tampa, Quinn and Mika discover that the city fathers are locked in mortal combat with a new union movement called La Resistencia. Union walkouts lead to protest marches, people are killed, two are lynched, and the town is burned. Quinn, Mika, and the boys are caught in a riot; a hurricane wipes out Tampa.

My Roots, My Self

Clutching a childhood photo to her heart, Jenny asks, ‘Who is the real me?’ before setting off to find the parents who abandoned her. Centuries earlier, Macuya channels the courageous spirit of his father to survive being kidnapped into a hostile world.

Thus begins My Roots, My Self, a gripping historical novel intertwining two epic journeys from 1975 Minnesota to the blood-soaked origins of the Italian Mafia and Spanish Inquisition. A fresh and engaging story about a dual search for self-identity: one character searching back to remove the stains of her crime family, the other striving ahead to forge a family legacy in a racist society.

Jenny’s search starts in Boston, where the FBI detains her after an ill-fated meeting with members of the Anguilo crime family, people of her blood. Threatened but determined, she heads to Sicily and meets a mercurial genealogist who unlocks the secrets of her lineage and her path to freedom.

Macuya, a native of the West Indies, is torn from home and family by Columbus and taken to Spain, where Queen Isabella adopts him as a mascot. Later freed with a baron’s title, he secretly marries Beka, the Jewish love of his life. Together, they move from country to country to escape being burned at the stake.

With six centuries of separation, the reader is plucked from the now and wrenched into the mysteries of the past as both characters struggle forward to find the freedom to honor their true selves.

My Roots, My Self will appeal to fans who were enthralled with the search for faith and home in Scherman’s The Mapmaker’s Daughter, who cherished the journey of self-discovery in Shapiro’s Inheritance and loved the historical intrigue of Cornick’s The Winter Garden.

“I received an advance copy of My Roots, My Self and wow what an emotional ride. Jenny’s struggle to understand where she came from hit me hard; it made me think about my own family stories and what’s been passed down to me. I loved how the book shifted between her story and Macuya’s in 1492. At first, I didn’t see how the two connected, but by the end, it all came together beautifully. This is one of those books that stays with you long after you close it.”

– Abraham Alejandro, Member, Oprah’s Book Club.

“I was lucky enough to get a copy of My Roots, My Self, and I have to say, it’s one of the most unique family sagas I’ve read. I loved the cultural details, the Slovenian pastries, the Taino rituals, the Boston immigrant neighborhoods; they made the story feel alive. Jenny was such a relatable character: restless, a little lost, but determined. And Macuya’s chapters absolutely broke my heart. If you enjoy books about family secrets, ancestry, and identity, this is a must-read.”

– Betty Burgess, What’s the Name of the Book? Book Club.

Barb Wire Bible

Morgan Maguire ranched with her family along the highline between Montana and Canada. She worked with her father providing guide services for hunters and also assisted the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue as a tracker to apprehend criminals and return the lost to their loved ones. This cowgirl spent many years learning to cope with the Irish legacy of ‘second sight’ with the help of her mentor Charlie Many Dreams, a Blackfeet medicine man. Her peaceful world was torn apart when the drug dealer she was tracking shot her longtime friend, who was riding for the Blackfeet Tribal Police. Swearing to find this killer, her quest brings her into the steel and cement canyons of New York to obtain justice. A place as alien as the moon to her.

Made in the USA

Two workers get in an argument over who is the real “man”… 3rd shift employees engage in wild antics to pass the time… Misspoken and butchered common sayings and phrases… These are a few of the collection of humorous and outrageous fictional short stories about working in an American factory that are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud or, at the minimum, put a smile on your face.

The Search for Julia Garcia

A college student vanishes. Julia Garcia was last seen at a lakeside cottage on Seneca Lake, where she spent a weekend with friends. The routine police search comes up empty. Desperate, her parents turn to Frank Harris, a New York private detective, who takes the case, even though he doubts he’ll break even.

Harris suspects the police didn’t dig deep enough. But his decision to help isn’t purely professional. Having grown up in the Finger Lakes region, the case draws him back to his family. Yet both the search for Julia and his homecoming prove far more complicated than he anticipated.

As Frank follows Julia’s trail, he faces resistance from potential witnesses, including her new boyfriend and his wealthy family. It takes Frank time to grasp the background of Julia’s disappearance, namely the violent struggle between competing drug cartels. Was Julia abducted by gang members? Is she still alive?

Meanwhile, Frank’s return to his family gets him involved in the marital problems of his older sister for which he is unprepared.