SNEAK PEEK: The Key to My Pain by Antoinette R. Davis

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10 September 2019

Have you ever shared your deepest darkest pain with someone you love and someone you thought loved you?
(Reprinted with permission from Black Pearls Magazine)

The Key To My Pain takes place in Baltimore City in the early to mid-seventies, when racial tension is still high from the late nineteen sixty’s riots.The family of five are living just enough with Mr. Batchler being a police officer after leaving Vietnam and Mrs. Carolyn Batchler is a loving mother and wife to three aspiring sons.

Mrs. Carolyn Batchler is in love with her husband Rodney Batchler Sr. He promised to give her the family she never had but always wanted but she didn’t know her dreams of a happy ever after would unlock doors she never dreamed of.

Rodney Batchler Jr. the eldest of the three sons, he wants to be a basketball superstar, Edwin Batchler wants to be an artist and the youngest of the three Corey is just trying to find himself.

Rodney Sr. runs his house like a jail and his family like a warden. Carolyn is forbidden to work because Rodney Sr. wants to keep her subservient and he controls his sons with pure fear.

Verbal, mental and physical abuse happens every single day in the Batchler home. There is not day Carolyn can open her eyes and enjoy the beauty of the sun nor the sound of the rain. Rodney Sr. has single handedly put her internal light out with abuse and now her sons are starting to look at their mother as weak, helpless and a fool. The abuse is not limited to Carolyn, oh no. Rodney Sr. keeps his sons in line with the same mental, physical and emotional abuse he uses for his wife.
Experiencing abuse will and can lead you to the arms of people you think you can trust until the day that person unlocks the pain you gave them the key to. Love, Pain, Forgiveness and Hurt is all wrapped up in this 230 page novel. Follow the journey of the Batchler family as they discover life through tainted vision.
Message from the Author

I dedicate this novel, The Key To My Pain, to every person who has ever witnessed domestic violence and to everyone who has shared their pain with a person they trusted and loved only to have them use your deepest darkest pain to hurt you. You can’t trust everyone with the key because they will unlock doors you have closed.

Chapter Excerpt: The Key to My Pain

The long awaited visit.

Will somebody get the front door,” yells Chetta. The housekeeper is making up the beds and doesn’t hear the door so Chetta walks out of the kitchen to get the front door.

Chetta opens the door, “Hello.”

“Hello my name is Carolyn Batchler and I am…” Before Carolyn can finish introducing herself Chetta cuts her off.

“I know exactly who you are; please come in.” Carolyn walks in and looks around.

“Let me take your coat and have a seat.” Before Carolyn can take her coat off and have a seat Rodney Jr. walks down the staircase and looks right in his mother’s face.

Carolyn remains standing, “Hello son.” Rodney stands at the bottom of the staircase in a stare.

Chetta looks at her husband, “Rodney say something you’re being rude.” Chetta whispers. It’s been twenty three years since they both laid eyes on each other and Carolyn has dreamed of this day.

Carolyn walks over to Rodney, “Hello son.” A cold chill goes up Rodney’s spine and it causes him to shake. Chetta stands next to her husband looking on at the two of them and waiting for Rodney’s response.

“It’s been twenty three years since you walked away from me and I‘ve never stop thinking about you,” tears roll down Carolyn’s cheeks as she breathes easy. “I’ve watched you play basketball all through college and the NBA; I even watched when you went to the Olympics and won a gold medal. I have a photo album full of pictures when you were featured in the newspaper.”

Carolyn looks at Chetta, “You two had a beautiful wedding.”

“Thank you Mrs. Batchler,” says Chetta. Rodney turns to walk away from his mother.

“Do not walk away from me Rodney Jr.”

“Why should I stand here and talk to you?”

“Because like it or not I am your mother. I am the women who gave life to you,”

“That didn’t seem to matter when you were letting your husband take life from me.”

Chetta steps in, “Excuse me Mrs. Batchler.” Chetta pulls Rodney to the side. “This is your mother and she has come to talk to you at least hear her out. Honey this is what you need to get your head in a better space. You have spent years not living up to your full potential as a father and a husband; now is the time to get your questions answered,” Chetta whispers to him

“Rodney please talk to me,” asks Carolyn.

Rodney raises his voice,“Talk about what, why you let that man beat me, why you stayed married to a psychopath who abused you and mistreated your children while you watched and telling us it will get better and it never did! You didn’t even come to my high school graduation,” Rodney breaks down in tears. Carolyn walks closer to him and puts her arms around him.

“Get off of me,” Rodney backs away from Carolyn and leans up against the hallway wall.

Rodney’s oldest daughter walks in the house, “Mama whose car is that out front,” asked Carolyn (Rodney’s daughter)

“Carolyn come over here and meet your grandmother; your father’s mother and your name sake,” says Chetta trying to take away the awkwardness in the room.

Rodney’s daughter walks over to her grandmother wearing a big smile, “Hello grandma; I’ve always wanted to meet you.” The two of them hug.

Carolyn hugs her granddaughter tight and closes her eyes, “I can’t believe this.”

“My name is Carolyn just like yours. My father named me after you.”

Carolyn looks over at her son. Chetta rushes over to her daughter, “Come on with me let’s go upstairs and let your grandmother and your father talk.”

Carolyn (Rodney’s daughter) looks over at her father, “Dad what’s wrong?”

“Come on I’ll explain to you later,” says Chetta as she ushers her daughter upstairs.

Carolyn walks over to her son, “You named your oldest daughter after me; that must mean you don’t hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, I just don’t understand you and all that you put up with from that man. How could love him more than you love your own flesh and blood?”

“Rodney look at me, it’s time I explained my actions to you. I was in foster care from the time I was three years old. I didn’t have a family my parents died in a car crash and no one wanted me. I grew up lonely and when I met your father he gave me love and he promised me a good life and a big family. I didn’t know he had issues at the time and I didn’t have a place to run to son and I was afraid to live outside of the life he provided. I’m sorry for not standing up for myself and for my children. I realize that staying with him and tolerating his abuse damaged my children and me. I know the things that run through your mind because they run through mine too. Some days it’s all I can think about but I can’t get the years I suffered back. I press my way through and it’s been rough without you and your brothers.” Carolyn starts to cry again.

Rodney finally feels for his mother, he walks over to her and places his arms around her shoulders and they share a moment they both have been dreaming about.

(Purchase The Key to My Pain by Antoinette R. Davis
https://www.amazon.com/Key-My-Pain-Antoinette-Davis-ebook/dp/B07JMVWM1Y
The Key to My Pain is available as a paperback novel, on audiobook and Kindle Unlimited ebook.

2019 Carla Gray Memorial Scholarship for Emerging Bookseller-Activists

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8 September 2019

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2019 Carla Gray Memorial Scholarship for Emerging Bookseller-Activists

Ends on October 21, 2019

The Carla Gray Memorial Scholarship will be given annually to a single bookseller. The winning bookseller will be awarded a year-long scholarship for professional development, which includes: up to $1,000 to cover travel and hotel for attendance to Winter Institute, up to $1,000 to cover travel and hotel for attendance to regional tradeshow, and a stipend of up to $1,000 to fund a community outreach project for their store.
PURPOSE

Support emerging booksellers and their efforts to make a difference in their communities.
Provide a bookseller the opportunity to connect with other booksellers, publishers, and authors,
Creation of a new, unique, and exciting project that can be replicated in other bookstores across the country. The community outreach project should focus on three things: 1) finding new readers, 2) ensuring access to books that improve readers’ lives, and 3) integrating the bookstore more fully into their community.
This scholarship and its recipients will celebrate and honor Carla’s boundless enthusiasm for the books themselves, her delight in pairing the right book with the right reader, her belief that establishing long-term relationships is what keeps this industry thriving, and her eternal faith in the bookselling community.

CRITERIA AND ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applicant has at least one year but fewer than 5 years of bookselling experience.
Applicant is willing and able to commit one year to complete the requirements of the scholarship and intends to remain employed at the designated bookstore until the completion of the community outreach project.
Applicant’s store meets the criteria of “bookstore” as defined by Binc policies. (Please email info@bincfoundation.org if you have a question about your store.)
Applicant’s store is a member in good standing of the ABA and their regional trade association.
Applicant is a regular part-time or full-time employee of a bookstore.
A maximum of one scholarship will be awarded each year.
Applicant may receive this scholarship only once in their tenure as a bookseller.
A bookstore may receive this scholarship only once.
Bookstore owner agrees to partner on the community outreach project.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE WINNER

Provide quarterly reports on project progress.
Final outcome report highlighting experience and project details.

Harry Potter Books Banned —- Again

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Readers Entertainment

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7 September 2019

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Since the first book in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling was released in 1999, they have continued to be among one of the most banned books. According to the American Library Association, Rowlings Harry Potter has been banned, banished and burned for being ‘too occult’, having ‘curses’ and assorted other grievances.

The latest banning of the series comes from a Catholic school in Tennessee. The reason behind the ban? “The pastor felt the series contained “actual curses and spells,” and that reading them risked “conjuring evil spirits.” He even notified the Vatican in Rome who agreed with him.

According to a report in Entertainment; “the Rev. Dan Reehil, a pastor at the St. Edward Catholic School in Nashville, stated: “These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception,” he wrote. “The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.”

The report goes on to state that Reehil contacted exorcists in the U.S. and Rome andy they agreed with the books’ removal.

Mysteries Just in Time For Fall

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6 September 2019

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Haunted House Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross

Tricks and treats keep the Halloween spirit alive in coastal Maine. But this year the haunted house theme is getting carried a little too far. . .

Haunted House Murder By Leslie Meier

Newcomers to Tinker’s Cove, Ty and Heather Moon have moved into a dilapidated house reputed to be a haven for ghosts. Now strange noises and flickering lights erupt from the house at all hours and neighborly relations are on edge. And when a local boy goes missing near the house, it’s up to Lucy Stone to unravel the mystery of the eccentric couple and their increasingly frightful behavior.

Death By Haunted House By Lee Hollis

For the past two years, the house next door to Hayley Powell has sat abandoned after the owner died under mysterious circumstances. The Salinger family has recently taken possession of the property, but the realtor behind the deal has vanished—after a very public and angry argument with Damien Salinger. If Bar Harbor’s newest neighbors are murderers, Hayley will haunt them until they confess.

Hallowed Out By Barbara Ross

With its history of hauntings and ghost sightings, Busman’s Harbor is the perfect setting for Halloween festivities. But when a reenactment of a Prohibition-era gangster’s murder ends with a literal bang and a dead actor from New Jersey, Julia Snowden must identify a killer before she ends up sleeping with the fishes.

There’s nothing like home sweet home in this trio of Halloween tales . . .

YOU CAN PURCHASE HAUNTED HOUSE MURDER AT:
Kensington Books

The Missing Ones: A Hester Thursby Mystery #2 by Edwin Hill

Edwin Hill, author of the acclaimed Little Comfort, returns with his next book featuring Harvard librarian Hester Thursby—an intimate, intricate mystery as smart and complex as it is riveting.

Hester Thursby has given up using her research skills to trace people who don’t want to be found. A traumatic case a few months ago unearthed a string of violent crimes, and left Hester riddled with self-doubt and guilt. Caring for a four-year-old is responsibility enough in a world filled with terrors Hester never could have imagined before.

Finisterre Island, off the coast of Maine, is ruggedly beautiful and remote—the kind of place tourists love to visit, though rarely for long. But not everyone who comes to the island is welcome. A dilapidated Victorian house has become home to a group of squatters and junkies, and strangers have a habit of bringing trouble with them. A young boy disappeared during the summer, and though he was found safely, the incident stirred suspicion among locals. Now another child is missing. Summoned to the island by a cryptic text, Hester discovers a community cleaning up from a devastating storm—and uncovers a murder.

Soon Hester begins to connect the crime and the missing children. And as she untangles the secrets at the center of the small community, she finds grudges and loyalties that run deep, poised to converge with a force that will once again shake her convictions about the very nature of right and wrong . . .

YOU CAN PURCHASE THE MISSING ONES AT:
Kensington Books

A Deadly Deception: A Constance Piper Mystery #3 by Tessa Harris

The streets of Victorian London are clothed in shadows and secrets in Tessa Harris’s gripping new mystery featuring flower seller Constance Piper . . .

London, July 1889. Eight months have passed since the horrific murder of Mary Jane Kelly. The residents of Whitechapel have begun breathing easy again—daring to leave windows open and walk about at twilight. But when old Alice Mackenzie is found dead, throat slashed almost from ear to ear, the whispers begin once more: Jack the Ripper is back.

Constance Piper, a flower seller with a psychic gift, was a friend to both women. With the supernatural help of her late mentor, Miss Emily Tindall, and her more grounded ally, police detective Thaddeus Hawkins, she uncovers links between the murders and a Fenian gang. The Fenians, committed to violence to further their goal of an independent Ireland, are also implicated in a vicious attack in which the Countess of Kildane’s uncle was killed. Could the Whitechapel murders be a ruse to make the British police look helpless?

Soon, Constance is called upon for help. But there are spies everywhere in the city, and a bomb plot intended to incur devastating carnage. And as Constance is fast discovering, the greatest evil may not lurk in the grimy alleys of the East End, but in a conspiracy that runs from Whitechapel to the highest office in the land . . .

YOU CAN PURCHASE DEADLY DECEPTION AT:
Kensington Books

Jealousy Filled Donuts: A Deputy Donut Mystery #3 Ginger Bolton

When a firecracker becomes a murder weapon, Emily Westhill pursues a killer with a short fuse . . .

It is a truth universally acknowledged—cops and donuts go together. Exhibit A: Deputy Donut Café, owned and operated by detective’s widow Emily Westhill and her father-in-law, the retired police chief of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Named after Emily’s adored and adorable tabby, the donut shop is a favorite among cops, firemen, and EMTs, as well as tourists and townspeople. So when Fallingbrook needs donuts for their Fourth of July picnic, Emily’s shop gets deputized.

But a twisted killer has found another use for Emily’s treats. At the picnic, a firecracker is hidden in a stack of raspberry-filled donuts and aimed at the unwitting queen of the festivities. When it explodes, she is killed. Having her jelly donuts involved puts Emily in a sticky situation, and when a shady shutterbug tries to frame her with incriminating photos, she finds herself in quite a jam. To preserve her freedom and her shop’s reputation, Emily needs to solve this case—before the fuse-lighting felon goes off again . . .

YOU CAN PURCHASE JEALOUS FILLED DONUTS AT:
Kensington Books

Your Words in the World—4 Tips for Self-Publishing Your Novel by Lizzie Weakley

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5 September 2019

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Your Words in the World—4 Tips for Self-Publishing Your Novel
by Guest Blogger Lizzie Weakley

If you want to bypass big-name publishers to get your novel out to the public, self-publishing can be a great option. Whether you want to publish your book in print or e-book format or both, there are many resources that you can use to take control of your publishing. Here are four tips that you should follow if you’re thinking of self-publishing your novel.

Get Your Book Professionally Edited

Self-publishing means that you’ll have to hire your own editor instead of having your manuscript checked over by an in-house editor at a publishing company. Trying to do all the editing yourself or having friends or family members look over your manuscript may not be enough to catch all spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. A professional editor can catch all these fine details. Even it can be expensive, hiring an editor can be worthwhile if you want your novel to look as professional as possible.

Raise Funds

You might need to raise funds to get your book published. The fees to cover editing, cover design and book printing could be beyond your budget, and launching a fundraising campaign on an online crowdfunding site can help you get the money that’s needed. Another option is to ask friends and family members to lend you some money or apply for a loan with a financial institution, but you should be confident that you’ll be able to pay back all the money in full in a timely manner.

Use Reputable Online Publishers

Certain publishing websites allow writers like you to self-publish their novels. Amazon book publishing makes it possible for you to publish an e-book, a book in print, or in both formats. Some of the top online publishers also provide marketing services that can help your book get seen by more people. Best of all, these online publishers will only take a percentage of sales, which means that you can publish your book for free and won’t have to pay anything until it sells.

Market Your Novel

In addition to the marketing support that some self-publishing companies provide, you can take proactive measures to get your book noticed by the masses. Social media is a great tool for advertising a self-published novel. Asking an expert who knows a lot about your book’s topic to endorse it may also work. Even print advertising in newspapers and magazines can be effective.

Self-publishing often comes with many rewards. If you know the right ways to self-publish your novel, you’ll likely achieve greater success.

SNEAK PEEK: Failure to Protect by Pamela Samuels Young

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4 September 2019

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Failure to Protect by Pamela Samuels Young

Coming October 22 2019!

The author of the award-winning thriller Anybody’s Daughter is back with an addictive read that tackles bullying and its devastating aftermath.

What Really Goes on Behind School Doors?

When the classroom is no longer a safe space for her child, a grieving mother is determined to seek justice for her bullied daughter. Enter hard-charging attorneys Angela Evans and Jenny Ungerman. From the very start, the two lawyers face more than an uphill battle.

An ambitious school principal is far more concerned about protecting her career than getting to the truth. She flat out denies any knowledge of the bullying and prefers to sweep everything under the rug. But just how low will she go?

As the battle enters the courtroom, the attorneys fight hard to expose the truth. But will a massive coverup hinder their quest for justice?

Excerpt from Failure to Protect by Pamela Samuels Young

Prologue

Nobody cares about me. Not even God.

Just because I’m a kid, grown-ups think I don’t have problems. They tell me stupid stuff like, Bailey, you have to learn to stand up for yourself. Or Just ignore them and they’ll leave you alone. And the lamest one of all, Just pray about it. God’ll handle it.

I tried that last one about a thousand times. But like I said, God don’t care about me.

Even if I reported Kenya Jackson to my new teacher, it wouldn’t help. Mrs. Phillips is really nice, but all she’s going to do is send me to the principal’s office. Then Kenya will be even meaner to me for getting her in trouble.

That’s what happened when I told on a girl at my old school. After she got in trouble, she waited until there weren’t any adults around and pushed me into a restroom stall and stuffed my book bag in the toilet. I never told anybody about that.

I want to tell my mom what’s going on at my new school, but she’s got enough to worry about. She just got promoted to be the first black marketing manager at her company and now she works even harder than she did before. After she gets home, she still has more work to do on her laptop. The other night, she fell asleep right in the middle of helping me with my science project.

Since we moved to our gigantic house in Baldwin Hills with the dope view and a supposedly better school, she thinks everything’s all good and that makes her happy. I’m glad to see her smiling again. We were both super sad for a long time after my dad died. I guess she hasn’t noticed that I’m not smiling yet.

At my old school in Inglewood, when the principal told her that maybe I’d be “more successful in another environment,” my mom almost lost it. I was ready to lose it too. Anybody would be more successful if they weren’t being bullied all the time.

I wish my mom could understand what I’m going through. She wants me to be more like her, but I can’t. Sometimes she says stuff that really hurts my feelings.

I just don’t understand why you can’t make friends.You have to try harder to meet other little girls. When I was nine years old, everybody wanted to be my friend.

Well, nobody wants to be friends with me.

One time, I almost told my mom what was going on at Parker Elementary. But then I got scared that she would say it’s my fault because I don’t know how to make friends. So, I just keep it to myself. Every morning, right before I walk into school, I get the worst stomach ache you could ever have. It feels like a bunch of hot rocks are playing foosball in my stomach.

If my mom knew about Kenya spitting in my face, it would be one hot mess. She’s usually very professional, but if she found out what was really going on, she would turn straight ghetto and go off on everybody at the school. Then she’d end up in jail and I’d have to go into foster care. That’s what happened to my friend Trey in first grade when his mom slapped the cashier at Walmart.

Okay, I wouldn’t really have to go into foster care. I would probably have to go live with my granny in Oakland or my Uncle Marcus in Atlanta.

If I had my choice, though, I’d rather stay with my Uncle Dre. He’s really my godfather, but I pretend like he’s my uncle. One time, when he picked me up from school, I tried to tell him about Kenya always roasting me. I was surprised that he didn’t even know what roasting was. After I explained that it means dissin’ you real hard, he just hugged me and told me I had to toughen up.

You’ll be okay, he said.

But he’s wrong. I’m definitely not going to be okay.

Chapter 1

“Please, Uncle Dre, let me stay home with you today. Maybe you can homeschool me. Please!”

Dre scratched his shaved head and laughed. “Unfortunately, I’m not smart enough to homeschool you or anybody else.”

“I’m serious,” Bailey pleaded, her face twisted in terror. “Please don’t make me go!”

As his Jeep inched along behind the line of cars doing drop-offs in front of Parker Elementary School, Dre looked over his shoulder at the cute little girl sitting in his back seat. Bailey’s stress level was way too high. She’d had a few run-ins with a bully at her old school, but he assumed the transfer to Parker had fixed everything.

“What’s going on? Why don’t you want to go to school?”

Bailey hugged her book bag to her chest as if it was a life raft that might slip away. “I just don’t.”

“C’mon, talk to me. Is somebody bothering you here too?”

After a long beat, Bailey slowly raised her head up and down.

Dre had intentionally used the word bothering, not bullying. He was tired of hearing all the hoopla about bullies. Kids getting picked on was nothing new. It happened in his day and would keep happening until the end of time. Sometimes life is just hard. Kids need to know that sooner rather than later.

Truth be told, today’s kids were just too damn soft. People turned backflips to protect them from the realities of life. Like everybody getting a trophy just for participating. That was the stupidest crap he’d ever heard.

“Please don’t tell my mom,” Bailey begged, her brown eyes glassy with tears. “She’ll fuss at me for not standing up for myself.”

Dre reached back and gave Bailey’s foot a playful squeeze. “No, she won’t. But you do need to learn how to stand up for yourself. If somebody’s being mean to you, you have my permission to be mean right back.”

He wasn’t condoning violence, but if another kid started some mess, the only way to show ‘em you weren’t no punk was to clap back twice as hard. Most bullies were nothing but wimps anyway. Once you stood up to them, they backed off. That’s what he’d taught his son to do and Little Dre had never had a problem. He just had to teach Bailey to do the same.

“You don’t get it,” Bailey huffed, her shoulders drooping. “That won’t help.”

They were almost at the drop-off point, when Dre steered his Jeep out of the line of cars and made a hasty U-turn in the middle of the street.

Bailey sprang forward in her seat. “We’re going home?”

“Nope.” Dre pulled to a stop along the curb across the street. “I’m walking you inside. I want you to show me the kids who’re messing with you.”

Bailey flopped back against the seat, her lips puckering into a stiff pout. “That’ll just make it worse.”

Turning off the engine, Dre hopped out and jogged around to open the back door. “Let’s go.”

He took Bailey’s hand as they stepped into the crosswalk. The closer they got to the school doors, the slower Bailey walked. By the time they reached the entrance, Dre felt like he was tugging a sixty-pound bag of potatoes behind him.

“Please, Uncle Dre,” Bailey whispered in a panic, glancing all around. “Please don’t make me go!” Her tiny hand clutched two of his fingers.

Dre took Bailey off to the side, squatted until they were at eye level, and caressed her shoulders.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s no reason for you to be this stressed out about going to school. If somebody’s messing with you, I need to know about it. What’s the kid’s name?”

Bailey hung her head as a tear slid down her right cheek. For a second, Dre thought she was finally about to come clean.

“It doesn’t matter,” she mumbled, hoisting her book bag higher on her shoulder.

“Yes, it —”

Bailey jerked away from him and dashed inside the school.

He was just about to go after her when a woman took a side step, blocking his path.

“I’m sorry, sir. May I help you?”

Dre flinched at the suspicion in the woman’s caustic voice. He pointed behind her, growing anxious as he lost sight of Bailey. “I was dropping off Bailey. Bailey Lewis.”

Lifting her chin, the woman folded her arms at the waist. “And you are?”

“I’m Bailey’s”— he paused— “uh, I’m Bailey’s godfather.” He’d started to introduce himself as her uncle to make himself sound more legit.

“Your name?” Her tone conveyed all the warmth of an ice chest.

“Andre Thomas.”

Dre pegged the woman to be in her early-forties. Her straight black hair fell just below her chin in a blunt cut that matched her funky disposition. She was wearing a sleeveless, form-fitting red dress that hugged every inch of her curvy frame. Actually, she was kind of hot. Taraji P. Henson with a bad attitude.

“Bailey’s mother didn’t tell us someone else would be bringing her to school today.”

She looked him up and down like he was some pedophile on the prowl for a new victim.

Dre couldn’t seem to pull his eyes away. Despite an innate seductiveness, the woman still managed to carry herself with the spit-shine polish of a CEO. If professionalism had a smell, she would reek.

“Erika had a meeting in Irvine and asked me to drop her off.”

Dre shifted his weight from one foot to the other. It was rare for someone—especially a female—to make him feel this degree of uneasiness. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

“I’m Ms. Freeman. The principal.”

He should’ve guessed. A sister with a little power.

“I’ll be dropping Bailey off and picking her up from time to time,” Dre said, anxious for the chick to move out of his way so he could go after Bailey. “Erika just got a big promotion. So her job’s a lot more demanding now.”

“Is that right?”

“Yep, that’s right.” What’s up with this chick?

“Please ask Ms. Lewis to email Bailey’s counselor to verify that you’re authorized to pick her up from school.”

Dre nodded. “Will do.”

He still wanted to go inside, but the woman stayed put like a queen guarding the gates of her castle.

Without saying goodbye, Dre pivoted and headed back across the street. As he opened the door to his Jeep, he made a mental note to have a talk with Erika. She’d been thrilled about getting Bailey into Parker Elementary because of its stellar reputation. But the place might not be any better for Bailey than her old school.

Dre also couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. And not just with Bailey.

About the Author
Attorney and award-winning author Pamela Samuels Young writes fast-paced mysteries that tackle important social issues. Her thriller Anybody’s Daughter won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Fiction. A former journalist, Pamela also writes sexy, sassy romantic suspense under the pen name Sassy Sinclair. Visit her website at http://www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM BLACK PEARLS MAGAZINE

SNEAK PEEK: Zoo Nebraska The Dismantling of an American Dream by Carson Vaughan

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3 September 2019

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zoo Written in the tradition of some of our best American reportage—think Susan Orlean, John McPhee, Truman Capote, or “This American Life”—Carson Vaughan’s debut, ZOO NEBRASKA: The Dismantling of an American Dream is a timely requiem for a rural America in the throes of extinction.

Royal, Nebraska, population 81, is a place of characters out of central casting, rural charm, and deep dysfunction. It is a Great Plains town that failed to flourish—until Royal native and primate enthusiast Dick Haskin returned to his hometown with Reuben, an adolescent chimp, in the bed of a pickup truck and transformed a trailer home into the Midwest Primate Center. From that ill-fated August 1986 decision, Zoo Nebraska grew, and transformed a desolate town on the brink of despair into a popular tourist destination over the next two decades. With financial support from Nebraska native Johnny Carson, the primate center at Zoo Nebraska flourished, and ultimately became home to 60 animals across 7 acres.

But greed, small-town politics and power struggles, inept financial dealings, and myriad personality clashes led to the demise of the zoo. It finally closed its doors for good in 2005 after four of the beloved chimps escaped and wreaked havoc on the town of Royal for hours, terrorizing its residents. In an act of final desperation, three of the chimps were shot and killed by locals, a devastating and tragic end to the zoo and its inhabitants.

As Studio 360 host and bestselling author Kurt Andersen writes, “ZOO NEBRASKA is Great Plains Gothic, Fargo meets S-Town meets Alexander Payne, a riveting tale of quixotic hopes and dreams and bad blood, all of it carefully, knowingly, sympathetically told.”

Carson Vaughan is a native of Broken Bow, Nebraska. A freelance journalist who writes frequently about the Great Plains, his work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Guardian, Paris Review Daily, Outside, Pacific Standard, Slate, The Atlantic, Vice, In These Times, and more. ZOO NEBRASKA is his first book. You can see more at www.carsonvaughan.com.

ZOO NEBRASKA is a resonant true story of small-town politics and community perseverance, and of decent people and questionable choices. I look forward to your coverage.

“A marvelous, meaningful book, full of deep reporting, fine writing, and big questions about the nature of community, of living with animals, of challenging values. Zoo Nebraska will surprise and engage you and make you think.”

—Susan Orlean, author of New York Times bestsellers The Library Book and The Orchid Thief

“Zoo Nebraska is the kind of delightfully unexpected book that comes along once in a blue moon. The subject, the bittersweet and hilarious collapse of a once-charming zoo in a once-charming Midwest town, is as unlikely as it is wonderful. The chimpanzees run wild, and away we go. Carson Vaughan writes with eloquent meticulousness. He has a novelist’s eye. The overall impact is stunning.”

—Buzz Bissinger, author of Father’s Day and New York Times bestseller Friday Night Lights

“Reading like a sustained segment of This American Life, in a tone at once dryly comic and doleful, this account of bizarre events in northeastern Nebraska paints a portrait of the entire region and suggests a metaphor for mankind in general. Well observed and crisply written.”

—Alexander Payne, Academy Award–winning director of Nebraska and The Descendants

Best Regards,
Suzanne Williams, Shreve Williams Public Relations
908.375.8159 / suzanne@shrevewilliams.com

Wordplay Podcasts from Kristine Raymond Presents SANDRA BROWN

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Readers Entertainment

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2 September 2019

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If you would’ve told me a year ago that I’d be adding the designation ‘Podcasting Host’ to my resume, I’d have laughed out loud and asked what you were drinking. Yet, here I am, on the cusp of my one-year anniversary as the host of Word Play with Kristine Raymond, a podcast created to promote books and give listeners insight into their favorite authors, proudly wearing the title.

As with most of my ideas, this one began on a whim. Not adept at tooting my own horn, I’m a brass band when it comes to promoting others and wanted to do something beyond the typical author interview blog. I wanted pizzazz; a venture that included the authors I was promoting. I’d tried my hand at a daily newsletter (Kangaroo Reads) and a YouTube channel (First Pages) but neither made the impact I’d hoped. And then it came to me – why not start a podcast?

To say I knew nothing about the process is an understatement, but I plowed ahead, breathing life into my wild notion, and on October 31, 2018, Word Play with Kristine Raymond made its debut. I’ll admit, I wondered if the show would last a month, but now at close to 100 episodes and having had the honor of chatting with both indie and traditionally published authors from the United States and abroad, some of which are New York Times and USA Today bestsellers, my doubts have fled. Downloaded in over 30 countries and streamed on platforms such as Apple, Google, iHeartRadio, Spotify, CastBox, Podbean, and Radio Public, and accessible through Alexa, Word Play is undoubtedly a hit! And I was worried…lol.

If you haven’t yet listened, I encourage you to give it a try. The format goes beyond the usual Q&A; instead, you’ll be treated to casual conversations between host (that’d be me) and guests, with topics ranging from books and writing, to hobbies, travel, family, and pretty much anything else that comes up. Oh, and be prepared for lots of laughter.

Author Kristine Raymond presents her super-popular WORDPLAY PODCAST this week’s guest is bestselling author SANDRA BROWN.

https://www.wordplaypodcast.com/2019/06/episode-30-guest-sandra-brown.html

Sandra Brown – author of 70 NYT bestselling novels including Friction, Seeing Red, and TAILSPIN.

Don’t forget to visit Sandra Brown’s Website

You can listen to the podcast on any of the following or simply follow the link above.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-1-guest-cj-baty/id1440408142?i=1000422706395

https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93b3JkcGxheXdpdGhrcmlzdGluZXJheW1vbmQucG9kYmVhbi5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw%3D&episode=d29yZHBsYXl3aXRoa3Jpc3RpbmVyYXltb25kLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VwaXNvZGUtMS1ndWVzdC1jai1iYXR5LTIyNzJlM2NiNjVjNGY0MzZmZWUxNTg3OWZiOGM3NmVi

https://wordplaywithkristineraymond.podbean.com/e/episode-1-guest-cj-baty/

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-Word-Play-with-Kristine-Ra-30291630/episode/episode-1-guest-cj-baty-30291659/

https://castbox.fm/episode/Episode-1-Guest-CJ-Baty-id1468564-id98148417

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ucizXASBESaXOJgPZ6el6

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/word-play-with-kristine-raymond/e/57041059

https://radiopublic.com/word-play-with-kristine-raymond-G7q0Kp/ep/s1!5b32f

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Word-Play-with-Kristine-Raymond-p1175571/?topicId=126632441

Lori Foster RV Interviews Presents: CHRISTINE FEEHAN

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Readers Entertainment

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1 September 2019

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Author Lori Foster presents another great RV interview with bestselling author Christine Feehan.

Romance Includes You Mentorship Initiative From Harlequin Publishing

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Readers Entertainment

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31 August 2019

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The Romance Includes You Mentorship initiative offers aspiring romance writers from underrepresented communities the chance to work one-on-one with a Harlequin editor for a year on writing a romance novel, and includes an offer to publish the completed book and $5,000 (US) to support the novel writing.

Harlequin is accepting submissions from September 1 – October 15, 2019.

More information: http://www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com/mentorship/