SCHOLASTIC BOOKS TO PUBLISH AUTHOR, ACTIVIST, AND SCHOLAR, DR. BRITTNEY COOPER

6 March 2021

“Stand Up: 10 Mighty Women Who Made a Change!”,
the first of three picture books, to be published March 1, 2022

“The Bees”, a four-book middle grade series, to be published subsequently in 2022

Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, announces a seven-book publishing deal with activist, scholar, cultural critic, and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Brittney Cooper. The deal, won in a multi-publisher auction, is comprised of three picture books and a four-book middle grade series, all celebrating Cooper’s mission to empower Black and brown children to value their own strengths.

“Brittney is a preeminent voice in today’s discussions of race, feminism, equity and inclusion,” said Ellie Berger, President and Publisher, Scholastic Trade Publishing. “We are tremendously honored to become her children’s publishing home, and to amplify her voice for young readers.”

“Brittney is an incredibly gifted writer of both fiction and non-fiction, dedicated to promoting self-esteem, strength and confidence in young people,” said Liza Baker, Vice President and Publisher of Cartwheel, Orchard, Acorn and Branches, who will edit Cooper’s picture book publishing. “Arresting, honest, and authentic to her core, Brittney is one of the most exciting new voices in children’s books to come along in decades.”

On March 1, 2022, Scholastic will release Stand Up: 10 Mighty Women Who Made a Change!, wherein Cooper introduces young readers to 10 revolutionary Black women who changed the world for the better. Stand Up! has a first printing of 75,000 copies and will be illustrated by acclaimed artist Cathy Ann Johnson. With a voice that is at once commanding, inspiring, and relatable, Stand Up! tells the story of historic female figures like legendary Civil Rights activists Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks, and spans to contemporary role models like Bree Newsome, who removed the confederate flag from the South Carolina state house grounds, and Mari Copeny, youth activist who fought for clean water in Flint, Michigan. Each heroic figure is interconnected by a united quest for equity, and offers young readers a stirring call to action, reminding them that they, too, are mighty and can be forces for change. Scholastic will subsequently publish two additional picture books: Mama Says I’m Fine, a celebration of her single mom’s unwavering love and faith in her, and one as-yet-untitled.

Publishing in late 2022, The Bees is a middle-grade series celebrating Black girls and their friendships. David Levithan, Vice President and Editorial Director of Scholastic Press, said, “Editor Maya Marlette and I are delighted that Brittney is bringing her keen eye, deep warmth, and wonderful humor to middle-grade with The Bees. It’s so exciting that she’s going to add her brilliant voice to our series publishing, to the delight of readers everywhere.”

“I grew up going to Scholastic Book Fairs, and now I am thrilled to be a part of the Scholastic family,” said Cooper. “These books will continue my work of centering the voices and stories of Black women and girls for all age ranges. Black girls continue to be my freedom compass, and I could not be more thrilled to publish these stories that honor both their trials and triumphs.”

Essence Magazine called Cooper “A breakthrough… This force of nature is becoming one of our fiercest voices in the new generation of African-American thinkers.” Bestselling author Rebecca Traister agrees, “Brittney Cooper is a national treasure.” In 2016, Cooper gave a TED Talk called “The Racial Politics of Time” that has nearly one million views. She is the New York Times bestselling author of Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower (2018), as well as Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women (2017) and editor of The Crunk Feminist Collection (2017).

About Brittney Cooper

Brittney Cooper is the New York Times bestselling author of Eloquent Rage: A Black Woman Discovers her Superpowers. A professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, she co-founded the Crunk Feminist Collective, and her cultural commentary has been featured on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, Melissa Harris-Perry, the New York Times, New York Magazine, Marie Claire, The Cut, the Washington Post, NPR, PBS, Al Jazeera’s Third Rail, Ebony.com, Essence.com, TheRoot.com, TED.com, and has been named four times to The Root 100.

#scholastic

BEHIND THE WORDS: Jill Eileen Smith

Jocie McKade

6 March 2021

BEHIND THE WORDS welcomes Jill Eileen Smith. We’re excited to have you on Reader’s Entertainment. First, tell our readers a bit about yourself. Where you’re from, where you live? Is writing your full-time job?

I grew up in southeastern Michigan and have lived here all of my life. My husband and I raised three boys in our current house, which we are hoping to sell soon. It’s time to downsize since we are empty nesters.

While my husband is a retired engineer, I am a full-time writer. That doesn’t mean that I write eight hours a day, because I couldn’t physically handle that. But I am under contract for three more books, with two new releases, so other than cooking and cleaning and everything else we all do, I write.

How long have you been writing?
Hmm…that is a two-part answer. I began writing for myself in my teen years. I wrote poetry and later a couple of songs, but I wasn’t expecting anything to come of those in a public way. I just loved writing.

Later, after co-teaching a Bible study on King David, I wanted to read a novel on his life. I couldn’t find what I was searching for, so I began to write the book I wanted to read. Long story short, I spent twenty years learning to write a publishable novel and finally, in 2007 my agent, Wendy Lawton, sold The Wives of King David series to Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Since then, I have sold twenty books. Four of them were short novellas, while sixteen are full-length biblical novels. I have three more novels under contract. So if you add it all together, I’ve been writing for publication or toward publication for 33 years. I’ve been writing even longer for myself.

Briefly describe your writing day. Tell us about your latest release.

My writing life changed some during 2020. Before that, I would set a schedule for myself. I began by writing one book a year, so I studied the subject for about two-three months, then set a goal to have a first draft done by June. I did the math on how many words that would mean per day and stuck to that goal.

When the first draft was complete, I would send the book to my critique partner and do other things (like de-clutter—my least favorite thing) while she read it. I took any of her suggestions and began the second of at least four to five rewrites. One of those rewrites always includes reading the book aloud to myself. There are things you catch when you read aloud that you don’t catch in silent reading.

During 2020, I had two releases and one book to research and write, but the year has made writing harder than normal. So instead of going it alone, I’m working with a writing partner. We meet online most days, chat a bit, then set a timer and write during that time. It’s helped me to keep going when I am so often interrupted. First drafts are the hardest. It helps to work with a friend. My latest release is Miriam’s Song.

In her eventful lifetime, Miriam was many things to many people: protective older sister, song leader, prophetess, leper. But between the highs and the lows, she was a girl who dreamed of freedom, a woman who longed for love, a leader who made mistakes, and a friend who valued connection.

Follow Miriam’s dusty journey from childhood to motherhood, obscurity to notoriety, and yearning to fulfillment as she learns that what God promises he provides—in his own perfect timing.

What inspired this book?

This book was a joint decision between Revell and me. They liked Miriam and I agreed to try to write her story. It wasn’t easy to write, but I’m happy with what I learned in the process.

Who has been the most difficult character for you to write? Why?

Rebekah and Deborah. (Miriam came in third.) Rebekah was hard to write because so little is known about her. Isaac’s story is much smaller than Abraham’s or Jacob’s in Genesis. I didn’t think there was a story there to tell. I prayed over every scene with the constant question to myself of why I ever thought I could write this book! But by the time I reached the end, God had shown me that there was a story and I will admit, I was relieved.

Deborah isn’t given much page time in Scripture either, but her story was difficult because I had a personal mental block where her character was concerned. A friend read the book for me (after I had pulled it back from my editor to fix it) and for three hours we talked it out. We figured out the problem and while my husband made Christmas cookies, I rewrote those places that finally made the book make sense.

Miriam has even less known of her. This is actually true of many women in Scripture. So, I had to understand her brothers Moses and Aaron in order to give her a story.

All writers are readers. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

I think every book they read influences a writer. At first we tend to copy those that seem like our style, but after a while, we discard bits and pieces from all of them and end up with a voice of our own. But that takes time. When I began, Francine Rivers inspired and intimidated me. I thought I could never write like she did.

Then I read Jerry Jenkins and he made it seem easier than it is, but I thought, “maybe I can do this!” So I began with Jerry’s style and came to see Francine’s style as just as doable once I got used to truly showing a character, scene after scene. Both authors are wonderful at their craft. My voice resembles neither of them. But they both inspired me along the way.

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

I don’t know if it’s under appreciated because I appreciate it. But my favorite go-to novel has been Two From Galilee by Marjorie Holmes. Hers was the first biblical novel I ever read and when I closed the book, I thought, “these people were real!” I appreciate any novel that can point me to Jesus and inspire me to read God’s Word.

Do you have a secret talent readers would be surprised by?

I make a pretty decent pie. Cherry pie is one of my favorites. Before we homeschooled, our oldest had to “sell” things at a store in their 5^th grade class. They chose to sell my homemade cherry pies. I can still make that pie without a recipe because I made so many. Pie is one of our family’s favorite desserts. My grandmother taught me how to make a good one.

Your favorite go-to drink or food when the world goes crazy!

I LOVE black tea, but I usually drink coffee first. When the world goes crazy? Hmm…I guess you could say I turn to chocolate, but I love cinnamon rolls. My husband and I found a great place in California that makes them really well. (Haven’t found a bakery anywhere else that is quite the same.) But along California’s Central Coast, we would go to this little shop and buy two rolls and one coffee, because he doesn’t like coffee, but I do. We’d then walk to the pier and watch the ocean as we ate them. Some of my favorite memories! Now I’ve learned to make my own and we eat them most mornings. Making them costs far less than traveling to the west coast!

And what is your writing Kryptonite?

My granddaughters. I’ve always been “interruptible” when my kids were home. Now, if I’m writing, or working on an interview, as I’m doing now, and one of my kids or granddaughters calls, as one just did, they get my attention. I can be talked out of doing just about anything if those little girls are near.

Here’s a quick look at Jill’s latest release::::: MIRIAM’S SONG

With her impeccable research and keen eye for detail, bestselling author Jill Eileen Smith offers this epic story to fill in the gaps and imagine how Miriam navigated the challenges of holding onto hope, building a family in the midst of incredible hardship, and serving as a leader of a difficult people, all the while living in her brother’s shadow.

Follow Miriam’s dusty journey from childhood to motherhood, obscurity to notoriety, and yearning to fulfillment as she learns that what God promises he provides—in his own perfect timing.

QUICK LOOK: Snarc 2: The Journey Continues!!!

Jocie McKade

5 March 2021

Snarc 2: The Journey Continues!!!

Welcome to Snarc 2, the continuing adventures of Snarc, our favorite intergalactic traveler, and his companion Cosmic Staff. As you can see, this issue is in book form, or, if you will, graphic novel form. Snarc, a human-alien hybrid, must find a way to save humanity from the bellicose reptilian inhabitants of his home planet Maron. Along the way, Snarc meets new people and learns more about everyday life on Earth. You’ll discover Snarc’s origin as well as that of his Cosmic Staff. You’ll also meet a new intriguing character–Dr. Jekyll: Alien Hunter.

Many people disparage comic books. Comics should be taken seriously and are part of what is known as sequential art. Comics aren’t just for kids. Many people say that comics, as we’ve known them, are on the way out, but they are wrong. Harvey Pekar once said, that “you can do anything with words and pictures.” They may not look exactly the way they do now, but comics in the future will still inspire, educate, and entertain us.

Snarc is a hybrid, half human, half alien, all heart. He arrives on Earth with a mission to prepare Earth for colonization. Snarc is accompanied by his trusty Cosmic Staff who wise-cracks his way through their adventures on Earth. Through his experiences on Earth, Snarc learns that humans are wonderful creatures and should not be colonized or subjugated, in fact, he sets out to help them face their most severe challenges such as environmental degradation, nuclear proliferation, homelessness, and more.

The problem, of course, is that in order to save the humans from enslavement by hostile reptilian aliens, Snarc must violate his orders and face harsh civilization on the planet of Maron. He also must figure out a way to help the people of his home planet who need a new home. More information on Snarc can be found at www.SnarcComic.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Bruce Olav Solheim was born on September 3, 1958, in Seattle, Washington, to hard-working Norwegian immigrant parents, Asbjørn and Olaug Solheim. Bruce was the first person in his family to go to college. He served for six years in the US Army as a jail guard and later as a helicopter pilot. He earned his PhD in history from Bowling Green State University in 1993. Bruce is currently a distinguished professor of history at Citrus College in Glendora, California. He also served as a Fulbright Professor in 2003 at the University of Tromsø in northern Norway. Bruce founded the Veterans Program at Citrus College and cofounded, with Manuel Martinez and Ginger De Villa-Rose, the Boots to Books transition course—the first college course in the United States designed specifically for recently returned veterans. He has published nine books and has written ten plays, five of which have been produced. More information about Bruce can be found at: www.bruceolavsolheim.com

George Verongos is a literary editor and project developer with a keen eye on social media. His company is called Literary Services. He is a vegan and a Seattle native.

George’s works include An Act of Self Defense and My Dad Is Dead and other Funny Stories. More information about George can be found at: http://www.georgeverongos.com

Gary Dumm is the illustrator and his wife Laura is the colorist.

Gary and Laura are lifetime Cleveland residents. Gary worked with Harvey Pekar on American Splendor and has been illustrating comics since the early 1970s. Laura is a painter and often collaborates with Gary and adds the color. Besides their work on Snarc, lately they have completed a series of environmentally themed paintings that have been haning in galleries around the city. Their Love Letter to Cleveland mural hangs in the Cleveland State University Library. See Dummart.com for more information about their art.

There’s a Book for That: Women’s History Month

Jocie McKade

5 March 2021

Welcome March and Women’s History Month. In 1987, Congress designated the month of March “Women’s History Month.” In President Biden’s proclamation of March 1, 2021, he states: “During Women’s History Month, let us honor the accomplished and visionary women who have helped build our country, including those whose contributions have not been adequately recognized and celebrated. And let us pay tribute to the trailblazers from the recent and distant past for daring to envision a future for which no past precedent existed, and for building a Nation of endless possibilities for all of its women and girls.”

In that vein, we’ve curated the following books about incredible women and their achievements to educate and inspire readers of all ages:

Women's Liberation! by WOMEN’S LIBERATION!: FEMINIST WRITINGS THAT INSPIRED A REVOLUTION & STILL CAN edited by Alix Kates Shulman, Honor Moore

Women’s Liberation! a groundbreaking collection recovering a generation’s revolutionary insights, bold ideas that in some ways went underground, but are ready to inspire a new generation through more than 90 selections by over 100 different writers and collectives. Each piece is expertly introduced with headnotes by writers and activists Alix Kates Shulman and Honor Moore who experienced the revolutionary ferment of the 1960s and 70s firsthand.

Being Heumann by Judith Heumann and Kristen Joiner BEING HEUMANN: AN UNREPENTANT MEMOIR OF A DISABILITY RIGHTS ACTIVIST by Judith Heumann, Kristen Joiner

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for Nonfiction

One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human.

Vanity Fair's Women on Women by VANITY FAIR’S WOMEN ON WOMEN by Radhika Jones, David Friend

Looking back at the last thirty five years of Vanity Fair feature stories on women, by women, with an introduction by the magazine’s editor in chief, Radhika Jones.

Broad Band by Claire L. Evans BROAD BAND: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE WOMEN WHO MADE THE INTERNET by Claire L. Evans

If you loved “Hidden Figures” or The Rise of the Rocket Girls, you’ll love Claire Evans’ breakthrough book on the women who brought you the internet—written out of history, until now.

The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck THE WOMEN WITH SILVER WINGS: THE INSPIRING TRUE STORY OF THE WOMEN AIRFORCE SERVICE PILOTS OF WORLD WAR II by Katherine Sharp Landdeck

The thrilling true story of the daring female aviators who helped the United States win World War II—only to be forgotten by the country they served.

A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross A BLACK WOMEN’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES by Daina Ramey Berry, Kali Nicole Gross

2021 NAACP Image Award Nominee: Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction

A Black Women’s History of the United States reaches far beyond a single narrative to showcase Black women’s lives in all their fraught complexities. Berry and Gross prioritize many voices: enslaved women, freedwomen, religious leaders, artists, queer women, activists, and women who lived outside the law. The result is a starting point for exploring Black women’s history and a testament to the beauty, richness, rhythm, tragedy, heartbreak, rage, and enduring love that abounds in the spirit of Black women in communities throughout the nation.

AMAZONS, ABOLITIONISTS, AND ACTIVISTS: A GRAPHIC HISTORY OF WOMEN’S FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHTS by Mikki Kendall, A. D’Amico

A bold and gripping graphic history of the fight for women’s rights

The ongoing struggle for women’s rights has spanned human history, touched nearly every culture on Earth, and encompassed a wide range of issues, such as the right to vote, work, get an education, own property, exercise bodily autonomy, and beyond. Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists is a fun and fascinating graphic novel-style primer that covers the key figures and events that have advanced women’s rights from antiquity to the modern era. In addition, this compelling book illuminates the stories of notable women throughout history—from queens and freedom fighters to warriors and spies—and the progressive movements led by women that have shaped history, including abolition, suffrage, labor, civil rights, LGBTQ liberation, reproductive rights, and more. Examining where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going, Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists is an indispensable resource for people of all genders interested in the fight for a more liberated future.

Smithsonian American Women by Smithsonian Institution SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN WOMEN: REMARKABLE OBJECTS AND STORIES OF STRENGTH, INGENUITY, AND VISION FROM THE NATIONAL COLLECTIONForeword by Jill Lepore; Edited by Victoria Pope

An inspiring and surprising celebration of U.S. women’s history told through Smithsonian artifacts illustrating women’s participation in science, art, music, sports, fashion, business, religion, entertainment, military, politics, activism, and more.

FOR YOUNGER READERS

Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky WOMEN IN ART: 50 FEARLESS CREATIVES WHO INSPIRED THE WORLD by Rachel Ignotofsky

Illustrated profiles of 50 pioneering female artists—from the 11th century to today—from the author of the New York Times bestseller Women in Science.

What Is the Women's Rights Movement? by Deborah Hopkinson and Who HQ WHAT IS THE WOMEN’S RIGHTS MOVEMENT? By Deborah Hopkinson, Who HQ, Laurie A. Conley

From Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Gloria Steinem and Hillary Clinton, women throughout US history have fought for equality. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women were demanding the right to vote. During the 1960s, equal rights and opportunities for women—both at home and in the workplace—were pushed even further. And in the more recent past, Women’s Marches have taken place across the world. Celebrate how far women have come with this inspiring read!

For more on these and many other relevant titles, visit Women’s History 2021

Visit https://womenshistorymonth.gov/ for events and more information.

Read President Biden’s entire proclamation here

#penguinrandomhouse

Shaped By Love by Jill Eileen Smith

Jocie McKade

5 March 2021

Celebrating Women’s History Month
SHAPED BY LOVE
Guest Post By Jill Eileen Smith

Looking back. I do a lot of that for some reason. Perhaps it is the history lover in me.
Or maybe I’m just old enough to think some of the past was so much fun that I wish I
could live it over again.Like watching the kids in the big sandbox—the one that used to sit beneath those trees—see it? They’re building a huge city, each child has his own corner and then…what are they doing with that hose? Thankfully that flooded city didn’t take
the sand away with it. The sand remains for another day.

Can you hear the laughter in the basement as children walk through that maze
they’ve built? Or the whooshing sounds of Star Wars light sabers in a game meant to
amaze?

They’re all gone now, of course. As are the children who once played there.
Oh, hello…I should have realized someone might be listening to me reminisce. It’s not a habit I indulge often, but every now and then, I’ll walk past the living room and see the son who used to sit there strumming his guitar. Or the son programming video games on his computer.

Sometimes I can almost hear them video taping that talk show with friends or shouting “scores!” over a hockey game.
I probably sound like an old woman, sitting in her rocking chair, woven blanket over her knees, staring into the light coming through the window. But I’m really just a working writer who is trying to give you a glimpse into the things that have shaped me. What caused me to pursue this career? Who am I behind the stories I write?
Who inspired me to be me?

Dusk is settling over the colorful leaves outside as I write this. If I slip back a little
farther than those memories of children playing, you would find me in my
grandmother’s kitchen helping her scald fresh peaches to make a pie. She had to
start early before the summer day grew too warm and the kitchen too hot from
baking. Grandma loved her sweets, and she taught me to make the best piecrust
ever! She also taught me to love story.

That’s what I love about history. It’s about people’s stories. The Bible, the main book
from which I write, gives us little snapshots of history told through the eyes of real
people. They’re gone now, like my grandma, but their stories live on.

Grandma told me stories through pictures, while my mom showed me the love of
words through her love of books. Then one day I got my very own diary – a young
introvert’s book of secrets, with lock and key to keep everyone out.
Ahh…time sure changes things, doesn’t it? And by now you may wonder why I
would title this post as I did. What do memories of children playing or grandma’s pie
making and storytelling, or my mom’s reading hobbies have to do with me being
shaped by love?

I’ll get to that. I promise.
These things make up a small facet of who God made me to be.

I can’t look back and tell you that I had an idyllic childhood. If I was really sitting in a rocking chair with a woven blanket over my knees, I might take time to carve out my past for my grandchildren in one of the many journals I’ve come to write over the years.

I might tell them how I was the unexpected “oops” baby, whose parents, though probably shocked to have another girl almost nine years after they were “done”, loved the fact that I was born. It took me some time to realize how much, but I think God put me with just the right parents to help make me into who I am today.

I’d also tell my grandchildren how I met their grandpa and all about the wonderful man that he is. If they asked, I might even tell tales on their dads, just for fun. Their dads sure knew how to make us laugh. We had a lot of love in our house, and I’d definitely want our grands to know that. I wouldn’t show them the same way my grandma showed me though. I doubt I’ll teach them how to make pie, but I’ve already started telling stories. How can I help but pass on what was given to me?

Which brings me back to how these snippet memories shaped my life. It’s so easy these days to feel too many negative feelings about the people God has placed in our paths. And if I wanted to, I could drag up the same frustrations we all face. We’re just people, after all. People are flawed, no matter how we look at it.

And my history is flawed too—just like yours. But you know what? I still know that I’m loved. The most important Person in the universe wants me. You see, when I was eight years old, my sister introduced me to Jesus, and I’ve been getting to know Him better each day ever since.

I learned to love His Word in my teens, write about the people in His Story in my twenties, and waited until my kids were out of high school to turn from that introvert secret diary kid into a career writer who shares what she’s learning through the people in history she has studied.

Love, forgiveness, reconciliation (yes, we all face these things), are themes of my life, shaped by the family that raised me, the grandma that “watched” me when my mom worked, the husband that still loves me after almost 44 years, the sons who grew to be hard-working men, and those grand girls who still capture my heart. Love runs through my life like blood that pulses through our veins.

The greatest shaping love has been at the hands of Jesus. His Father, by the Bible’s own admission, wants me to be like His Son. To listen to Him. To believe in Him. To give like Him. To forgive like Him. To love like Him.

Sometimes being shaped by love has been hard. Whether it is learning from a parent, other family member, or friend, often the things that shape us, even the most difficult things end up being the most loving. That’s how God works in our lives too. He molds us, shapes us, into His character. Every single one of us might be made in His likeness, but we are not all molded into His character. We are His image bearers, yet not everyone would be recognized as such. It takes a lifetime to allow God to mold us and make us into what He wants us to be. To shape us by love and in love because He is love.

The cat has hopped onto my lap now and the sun is soon going to set. The houses around me will be cast in shadow and the lights behind the closed curtains will dispel darkness.

And tomorrow I will have one more day of my own history behind me. I may reflect back for a moment, as I do now and then. I may think about the things the women of Scripture have taught me in this love of learning and learning by love. How many of them did God shape by love to make them more like Him? I daresay He tried with all of them. But not all of them accepted that love from Him.

It’s getting late now, so I won’t bore you with more examples of German meals or drums blaring in the basement or hands held in prayer with those you love until tears run down your cheeks. Those are part of my history too. But maybe we can visit those another day.

I wish you love, my friend. I wish you God’s love most of all. Human love will fail you one day—it is too flawed to keep a perfect love. But God will shape you as He is shaping me by His everlasting, unfailing love until we are shining inside and out with His glory and joy. And we will know we are wanted. We always have been. We might be an “oops” baby as I was, in human terms, but we were planned by a great Creator in His.

May His love give you sunshine and joy, and a peace that passes any possible understanding.

~Selah

Here’s a look at Jill’s latest release::::: MIRIAM’S SONG

Follow Miriam’s dusty journey from childhood to motherhood, obscurity to notoriety, and yearning to fulfillment as she learns that what God promises he provides—in his own perfect timing.

PODCAST: Broken Peak with Author Jules Crisare

Jocie McKade

4 March 2021

Meet the shifters from Broken Peak with Author Jules Crisare

LISTEN HERE!

Jules Crisare loves writing sexy shifter romances. The growly and dominant males of Broken Peak and the Silver Sentinels are the ones bending to the strong wills of the smart heroines who cross their paths. Seriously, only strong heroines need apply to capture the hearts of these sexy alphas.

Born and raised in the Midwest, she hopped from one coast to the other for several years before moving back to the Midwest. If she isn’t at her laptop writing and it’s not football season (Go Pack Go!), she’s reading, knitting (she has a serious addiction to yarn), dehydrating fruit, or testing small batch bourbons for her Old Fashioneds. You can find out more and sign up for her newsletter here: https://jcrisare.com/

And for more about our host Lisa Kessler visit http://Lisa-Kessler.com

Book Lights – shining a light on good books!

Here’s a look at Jules latest release:

Broken Rebel: A Silver Sentinel Wolf Shifter Romance

Meet Broken Peak Pack, a pack of misfit dominant wolf shifters fighting to keep those they love safe from those who want to bring them down.

Finley doesn’t want or need a mate. Broken Peak isn’t safe for a female or pups. But when a female he’s never met is threatened, he’s convinced the only place where she’s safe is at Broken Peak. Living with the Pack and him. As his mate.

Maggie Iotor is running for her life to a rumored place of safety and finds a sanctuary she didn’t think existed for shifters. But she needs to leave Broken Peak behind to keep the shifters who live there safe from the deranged leader of her clan set on finding her and bringing her back at whatever cost.

Can Maggie accept everything Finley and Broken Peak can give her or will she walk away from it all and turn her back on the wolf her animal has claimed as her mate?

SNEAK PEEK: THE HANDS WERE GIVEN (Aces High 1 Jokers Wild) By O.E. Tearmann

Jocie McKade

4 March 2021

THE HANDS WERE GIVEN Aces High 1 Jokers Wild
A Stunning new Queer Cyberpunk Epic By O.E. Tearmann

Life’s a bitch. She deals off the bottom of the deck. But you play the hands you’re given.

Aidan Headly never wanted to be the man giving orders. That’s fine with the Democratic State Force base he’s been assigned to command: they don’t like to take orders. Nicknamed the Wildcards, they used to be the most effective base against the seven Corporations owning the former United States in a war that has lasted over half a century. Now the Wildcards are known for creative insubordination, chaos, and commanders begging to be reassigned. Aidan is their last chance. If he can pull off his assignment as Commander and yank his ragtag crew of dreamers and fighters together, maybe they can get back to doing what they came to do: fighting for a country worth living in.

Amazon.ca: The Hands We’re Given: Tearmann, O. E.: 9781949693836: Books – Amazon.ca

Amazon.com: Amazon.com: The Hands We’re Given: Aces High, Jokers Wild, Book 1 (Audible Audio Edition): O.E. Tearmann, Kirt Graves, Amphibian Press: Audible Audiobooks

Barnes and Noble: The Hands We’re Given by O. E. Tearmann, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

PRAISE FOR THE HANDS WERE GIVEN:

“This is a lovely paean to the healing power of respectful personal connections among comrades, friends, and lovers.” – BookLife

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

O.E. Tearmann is the author of the Aces High, Jokers Wild series. Their books include strong themes of diversity and found family, providing a surprisingly hopeful take on a dystopian future. Bringing their own experiences as a marginalized author together with flawed but genuine characters, Tearmann’s work has been described as “Firefly for the dystopian genre.” Publisher’s Weekly called it “a lovely paean to the healing power of respectful personal connections among comrades, friends, and lovers.”

Tearmann lives in Colorado with two cats, their partner, and the belief that individuals can make humanity better through small actions. They are a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and the Queer Scifi group. In their spare time, they teach workshops about writing GLTBQ characters, speak and plant gardens to encourage sustainable agricultural practices, and play too many video games.

A Writer Observes by Cynthia Ruchti

Jocie McKade

4 March 2021

OBSERVING by Cynthia Ruchti

For years, I lived as a Noticer among those who didn’t. Details are high on my list of core values, but weren’t even clinging to the bottom of my husband’s list or my teen and toddler (at the time) sons. With my Noticer daughter away at college, I directed my detail attentions to writing projects. Trying to start a dinner table conversation about what I’d observed that day was otherwise met with, “That’s nice, Mom” or “Uh huh.” How could they not care about what had so captured my attention?

Like a moment ago. A pine branch I can see through my office window is sporting a nub of gold—a broken stub of a branch that lost its fight with last night’s wind. The small spot of yellow branch-flesh stands out against the rain-darkened trunk and the deep green needles. Small thing. But I noticed, and my internal reaction was, “Fresh wound.”

The tree had lost something, and it showed. Happens all the time, especially with hundred-year-old pines. What I saw out my window, though, reminded me that people around me often carry fresh wounds from what the winds of adversity have done to them. He spoke more harshly than needed? Must have a fresh wound. Her posture is slightly bent forward? Maybe a fresh emotional wound.

The mental picture found its way to my cerebral file folders of potential book scenes and the bulging folder of life lessons.

A teardrop of rain holds onto the tip of a pine needle as if it doesn’t want to let go. It eventually does, making room for more tears. Noted.

A toddler’s freedom instinct sends them racing for the end of the driveway despite a parent’s fast-approaching footsteps and “No, no, no, no!” Noted.

I’m fascinated that a service animal can notice a slight alteration in his person’s respirations, pulse, or breath smells and know to draw near and sound an alert to stave off a diabetic coma, heart attack, nightmare…

Somehow, the noticing gene found its way to all of my six grandchildren. Even from a very young age, they’ve paid attention to new growth sprouting in the garden, a pillow I moved from one chair to another, a brass handle now polished, word choices, a book out of place, where Grammie has scattered candles around the house. The other day, my 15-month-old granddaughter toddled into the family room and patted the spot on the leather couch where I usually sit when we play with her toys. She knew. She noticed. It was her way of expressing “This is where I know I can find you, and I like it.”

I can expect to be handed a tissue by a grandchild when a tender scene comes on the television, or my voice catches over an exceptional kindness observed. It feeds my hope that whatever comes their way, they will thrive relationally because they are alert to what’s going on in the people around them.

As a writer, whatever observational tendencies I was born with ramped up so I could tell stories. It’s more than reading the wind or pre-storm leaves or the width of the black stripes on a caterpillar in autumn. I had to learn how to notice the alteration in a character’s pulse or the way a single tear clung a little too long. I care about the way a detail like dried grasses versus parched grasses resonates in a reader. Paying attention to details like barely detectible body language or what lies unsaid between the lines of dialogue is what makes a story more than ink-on-paper.

Readers may not know this, but authors often notice things about their own storytelling when they go back through for a first or second or third round of edits. We pick up on nuances we didn’t realize we’d written into the narrative. A thread we didn’t realize had woven its way throughout the story while we weren’t looking. A motive we didn’t think about until the character we assumed we created expressed it on the page. A connection between our own fresh wounds and the characters’.

The author holds her breath until the story reaches readers’ hands. Will they notice that the single feather reappears in the final scene? The symbolism of dust? The poignancy of a Hamilton-like forgiveness scene? Will the reader note that the tea meant something more than a beverage? Or why the main character refused to drink water?

Yes. Yes, a reader will note details like that. Readers are Noticers. They’ll point out details even the author missed.

And the author couldn’t be more grateful.

Here’s a look at Cynthia’s latest release:::: FACING THE DAWN

While her humanitarian husband Liam has been digging wells in Africa, Mara Jacobs has been struggling. She knows she’s supposed to feel a warm glow that her husband is nine time zones away, caring for widows and orphans. But the reality is that she is exhausted, working a demanding yet unrewarding job, trying to manage their three detention-prone kids, failing at her to-repair list, and fading like a garment left too long in the sun.

Then Liam’s three-year absence turns into something more, changing everything and plunging her into a sunless grief. As Mara struggles to find her footing, she discovers that even when hope is tenuous, faith is fragile, and the future is unknown, we can be sure we are not forgotten . . . or unloved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Cynthia Ruchti tells stories hemmed in Hope through her novels, novellas, devotions, and nonfiction, and through speaking for women’s events/retreats and writers’ conferences/workshops. She draws from 33 years of experience writing and producing the 15-minute daily radio broadcast, “The Heartbeat of the Home.” Her books have received recognition from RT Reviewers’ Choice Book of the Year, PW Starred Reviews, Selah Awards, Christian Retailing’s BEST Awards, Golden Scroll Awards and Novel of the Year, The Carol Award, two Christy finalists, and more. She serves as Professional Relations Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers, is a founding board member of the Deliver Hope ministry, and is part of the worship team at her church. She’s also a literary agent with Books & Such Literary Management. She and her husband live in the heart of Wisconsin, not far from their three children and six grandchildren.

SNEAK PEEK: Obsession by Patricia Bradley

Jocie McKade

3 March 2021

Obsession by Patricia Bradley
A Tale of Obsession and Second Chances

In 2020, Daphne Du Maurier Award winning author Patricia Bradley introduced a fresh cast of characters in Standoff, the thrilling launch to her Natchez Trace Park Rangers series. Bradley’s latest work returns readers to historic Natchez, Mississippi, to deliver a nail-biting tale of sinister infatuation, misunderstanding, and forgiveness. Readers won’t want to miss the second installment of the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series, Obsession.

When shots are fired at park ranger and historian Emma Winters within the Natchez Trace, she turns to law enforcement to figure out who’s behind the attack. But the officer assigned to the case is the last person she ever wanted to see again, her ex-fiancé, Sam Ryker.

Thrown together by the ensuing investigation, Emma and Sam must track down an obsessive stalker. With both their lives on the line, the pair must set aside their personal history and past regrets to put the culprit behind bars—and potentially find a second chance at love.

With the page-turning suspense and intrigue Bradley fans have come to love, Obsession will have readers breathless until the very last page.

EXCERPT:

he January warm spell had definitely ended in South Mississippi. Emma Winters zipped her National Park Service jacket against the biting north wind as she hiked the quarter mile from the gate to the Mount Locust Visitor Center on the Natchez Trace. A hike that wouldn’t have been necessary if she hadn’t forgotten the gate key. Or the folder she needed to finish a report due by midnight.

Forgetting things wasn’t like her, but her mother’s resistance to tracking down her brother had Emma off-center. Her cell phone broke the silence, and she checked her caller ID. She wasn’t sure she was ready for her mother’s reaction to the email she’d sent and let two more rings go by. In fact, she was tempted to not answer her mother’s call at all because she just didn’t want to hear her objections. But just before it went to voicemail, Emma punched the answer button.
“Hello,” she said, forcing a cheery note in her voice.
“Oh, good, I caught you,” her mother said. “I received the flyer you emailed.”
“And? What did you think?”
“Honey, I think you’ll get a lot of nutcases if you send it out. Like you did before when you offered money for information on Ryan.”
“But someone might know some—”
“Your brother’s choices in life are his. I hate to see you throw good money after bad.”
“It’s my money,” she muttered. As each year passed, finding her twin brother pressed deeper into her heart, but she should have known her mother would kick up about the flyer. If she knew the whole story . . .
“What are you doing? You’re breaking up.”
“Walking to my office.”
“You’re . . . Mount Locust . . . night?”
“Mom, we have a bad connection,” she said. “I’ll call you when I get home.”
Emma ended the call and shrugged off the sense of failure that seeped into every fiber of her body whenever she thought of Ryan. But it wasn’t so easily shrugged off. She glanced toward the sky just as a pale sliver of moon broke through the clouds, giving off enough light to cast eerie shadows on the ground.

A shiver ran over her body. Maybe next time she would ask someone to come with her. Or bring a gun. Not likely. She’d never desired to be a law enforcement ranger and was quite satisfied being on the interpretive side of the National Park Service.
In spite of that, the hair on the back of her neck rose as she approached the stone and wood building.

Come on. Don’t get all spooked. She worked here, and Mount Locust was as familiar as the backyard where she’d grown up. And it wasn’t like being here after dark was something new. From November until the days got longer, she locked up every day in the dark. Besides, she’d never been afraid of the dark.

Even so, she scanned the area, trying to shake the sense she wasn’t alone.
Nothing moved as she scanned the grounds, her gaze stopping at the lighted maintenance building a quarter mile away and visible through the bare trees before moving to the tractor shed a few yards away.

Probably should check on the ground penetrating radar machine that had arrived earlier today. Tomorrow she was supposed to begin the preliminary mapping of the historic quarters and the adjoining cemetery. She’d left word for the new district law enforcement ranger on the Natchez Trace to have someone swing by every few hours to check for trespassers. Now would be a good time for a ranger to arrive . . . as long as it wasn’t Samuel Ryker. Emma hadn’t seen her once-upon-a-time fiancé since he returned to
Natchez and had avoided talking directly to him on the call for assistance. But eventually she would haveto face him, and she might as well make peace with it.

Something rustled to her right. Emma froze with her hand on the doorknob. She turned just as a bottle rolled from the open passageway separating the office from the restrooms.
“Who’s there?” She tried for commanding, but the tremor in her voice destroyed the effect.
A bedraggled gray-and-white tabby walked around the corner and sat down, its doleful stare almost as pitiful as its meow. Emma released the breath caught in her chest and leaned against the door.

“Where did you come from?”
The cat couldn’t be over three or four months old. It stretched and then rubbed against her leg, and Emma stooped to pick it up. She could count the poor thing’s ribs. With it still in her arms, she turned and unlocked the door. There was half of a roast beef sandwich in the mini refrigerator she’d recently purchased so she could eat at her desk when she worked alone at the visitor center. Maybe the cat could eat the meat.

As she bent to retrieve the beef, Emma spotted the file she’d come for. Beside it, the landline blinked with a message. She would feed the cat first, then listen to the voicemail. Emma shredded the meat and set it on the floor. The cat sniffed the food, then tore into it, making little growling noises as it ate. When it finished, the cat sat down and looked up at Emma as if to say, “Where’s the rest?”

“That’s all I have,” she said. Funny how having another living thing with her made the place seem less scary. “I’ll bring you something in the morning—how about that?” she asked and punched the play button on the phone. “Or maybe I’ll take you home with me tonight.”

The cat wound around her ankles as a voice that belonged on the radio echoed in the empty room.
“Emma, where are you? You’re not answering your cell phone. Give me a call before you begin your excavation.” She groaned. Corey Chandler would be the death of her. Not the attorney exactly, but his client, whoever that might be. Corey wouldn’t tell who objected to the excavation of the slave quarters and the survey of the cemetery. Emma straightened her shoulders.

It would take more than a phone call to stop
the project. Besides, it wasn’t like she was going to dig up the cemetery. That was the purpose of the GPR machine—to locate and determine once and for all the number of graves there. Conflicting reports had abounded for years that bodies had been missed in the research project conducted in 2000, and that bothered Emma. Her goal was to find every grave and make sure each person received the dignity and recognition that had eluded them in life.

It was hard to understand why anyone objected to the research project anyway, but she didn’t have time to worry about Corey’s client tonight. “Come on, Suzy,” she said, deciding the tabby was female, and then grabbed the folder and stuffed it in her backpack.
Suzy shot out the door, and Emma followed suit, locking it behind her. A screeching sound jerked her attention to her right, and she fisted her hands. Another gust of wind whistled through the trees, followed by the screeching sound again, and she identified the source. A branch scraping against the window on the side of the building. Adrenaline left as fast as it had come.

What was wrong with her tonight? If Brooke Danvers were here, she would have a ball teasing Emma. But Emma was the first to admit she wasn’t as brave as her best friend. A tree frog seemed to agree as he serenaded her with his song and then was joined with a chorus of other males, each one vying to outdo the other. Poor things were singing for nothing. The last two weeks of warm weather had them confused and singing to the female frogs who were not in the mood to answer them in the middle of January.

Another sound overrode the frogs, and Emma cocked her head toward it. Someone was operating machinery. Had the maintenance supervisor come back after supper and started some of the road equipment? She doubted it, since the noise appeared to come from the inn area, not the tractor shed or the maintenance building.

Maybe it was those kids she’d run off earlier. Just before closing time, she’d caught three teenage boys pulling up the flags she’d staked out where the slave cabins used to be. Had they come back and hot- wired one of the backhoes?

“Stay here,” she said, as if the cat would. After she set the backpack beside the door, she flipped on her flashlight and walked up the brick path that led to the inn, which was really just a four-room log cabin with a dogtrot in the middle for ventilation in the summer. If it was the teenagers, this time she would get names and call the parents.

Instead of remaining behind, Suzy followed her to the deserted log structure, and they climbed the steps together. Emma walked through the dogtrot to the back porch and cocked her ear again. The sound had quit. She swept the light toward the maintenance building. The equipment looked untouched. Then she flashed the light against the trees, revealing only stark trunks and bare limbs except for the occasional live oak.

Wait. On the other side of the trees in the slave cemetery, the light revealed a yellow backhoe. Yep. Had to be those kids, since the maintenance supervisor wouldn’t have moved the equipment. While she wasn’t afraid of the teenagers, there was such a thing as common sense, so she checked her cell phone for service. One bar and it looked iffy.

She would try 911 anyway and let whomever the dispatcher sent deal with the boys. Preferably anyone but Sam.

When the operator answered, Emma could only make out a couple of words. She identified herself and asked for a patrol ranger to come to Mount Locust, hoping the operator understood the call. When the operator didn’t respond, she checked her phone again. The call had dropped. She’d have to walk either to her office or the visitor center for better reception.

A rifle report split the night air as Emma hopped off the porch. She froze as a bullet splintered the wooden post where she’d just stood. Then she dove for the ground and scrambled under the house. Her heart stuttered in her chest as another report sent a bullet kicking up dirt a few yards from her hiding place.

Why was someone trying to kill her?
Like that mattered at this moment. She had to move or be trapped in the crawl space under the house. Frantically she looked for the cat. If it had any sense at all, it had high-tailed it back to the visitor center. Emma scanned the area, looking for a way to escape. She couldn’t go back the way she’d come—it was too open—but there was ground cover from the side of the house to the edge of the woods only thirty feet away. Emma belly-crawled to the nearest tree, scraping her hand on a rock.

A dry twig snapped to her left. Emma hoisted the rock and flung it away from her before she darted in the opposite direction toward the tractor shed. Another shot rang out, and the bullet embedded in a nearby tree.

With her heart exploding in her chest, she ducked under a live oak limb that dipped down to the ground and pressed against the huge trunk. Her lungs screamed for air. Heavy footsteps stomped through the dead leaves, and she pressed closer to the trunk, biting back a cry as the bark gouged her back.

A faint siren reached her ears. The 911 operator had understood her!
The footsteps halted. The shooter had heard it as well. But where was he? She dared not peer around the tree and remained absolutely still, surprised that he couldn’t hear the pounding of her heart. Seconds later, footsteps retreated toward the service road. Then a motor roared to life, and the car sped away.

Emma’s knees buckled, and she braced against the tree, her fingers shaking as she dialed 911 again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Patricia Bradley is the author of Justice Delayed, Justice Buried, Justice Betrayed, and Justice Delivered, as well as the Logan Point series. Bradley won an Inspirational
Reader’s Choice Award in Romantic Suspense, a Daphne du Maurier Award, and a Touched by Love Award, and she was a Carol Award finalist. She is cofounder of
Aiming for Healthy Families, Inc., and she is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Sisters in Crime. Bradley makes her home in Mississippi. Learn more at
www.ptbradley.com.

SNEAK PEEK: DANGER IN NUMBERS BY HEATHER GRAHAM

Jocie McKade

3 March 2021

Danger In Numbers by Heather Graham

When a ritualistic murder shakes a small north Florida community, an agent from the State police is forced to team up with an FBI specialist on cults to uncover the dark past of the town, and who might be twisting faith into something lethal. A new standalone suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham.

On the edge of the Everglades, an eerie crime scene sets off an investigation that sends two agents deep into a world of corrupted faith, greed and deadly secrets.

A ritualistic murder on the side of a remote road brings in the Florida state police. Special Agent Amy Larson has never seen worse, and there are indications that this killing could be just the beginning. The crime draws the attention of the FBI in the form of Special Agent Hunter Forrest, a man with insider knowledge of how violent cults operate, and a man who might never be able to escape his own past.

The rural community is devastated by the death in their midst, but people know more than they are saying. As Amy and Hunter join forces, every lead takes them further into the twisted beliefs of a dangerous group that will stop at nothing to see their will done.

Doomsday preppers and small-town secrets collide in this sultry, twisty page-turning thriller.

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