This is the second instalment of our celebrated series that shines the spotlight on independent authors and publishers. Widen your reading horizons with this glorious mixed bag of indies…
Katie Moran – The Spirit Inside & Periwinkle Wishes
The Spirit Inside is a product of Katie Moran’s poetry platform, SUMMΔTION 52. She created the platform to help others feel less alone. Her poetry is meant to connect reader with poet. She writes about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, fidelity, and temperance. Find yourself in the pages of her eleven collections, and connect to: yourself, your values, and your faith.
Periwinkle Wishes is a short story of friendship and loss. The story shares the perspective of two best friends: Iman Jihar, a Muslim American who aspires to be a painter, and Kara Cameron, an aspiring writer and daughter of a New York City Firefighter. Set in New Jersey from 1993-2002, the tale shares the perspectives from both girls through the anguish and uncertainty of life to the memories they keep of those whom they have loved.
I’m an author, advocate, poet and social entrepreneur. I blog at https://stayweirdstaydifferentblog.com/ and my poetry platform is https://www.summation52.com/
My twitter: https://twitter.com/katieemorann
My instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekatiemoran/
Bob Nailor – The Amish Series
“The Amish Singer” series takes a different approach to an Amish novel. It isn’t strictly about the love angst of a young Amish lady attempting to justify her faith, but a young man facing the realities of the Englische (non-Amish) world and his desire to sing and attend high school and what happens beyond.
The Secret Voice, Book 1 in The Amish Singer series: The year is 1961. In a quaint, rural NW Ohio town, secrets are coming to light. Daniel Yoder, an Amish boy with a dream, wants to attend high school against the strict rules of the Amish church. Surprisingly, the Bishop and Daniel’s father agree to let him attend. At school, Daniel meets the newly-hired chorus teacher, Julie Bronson, the sole black person in the all-white community. Julie discovers Daniel has the gift of song and tries to encourage his talent. Together, this pair conquer adversity and the stresses pitting them against both religious stereotypes and racial segregation. Everyone has secrets – some kept better than others. Still, secrets tend to surface. Nobody can hide from who they truly are in… The Secret Voice.
The New York Voice. Book 2 in The Amish Singer series: The year is 1963. Daniel must make a decision. A critical one: be baptized thereby joining the church and community, or continue his desire to learn by going on Rumschpringe and discover if he can truly sing. New York City calls to him, the die is cast. He will spend time in NYC exploring Rumschpringe. Music and murder make for strange companions. Song, dance, and costumes are definitely not of Daniel’s heritage. BUT, can an Amish boy, born and raised in a small, rural community, handle the Englische world, especially NYC? Now, toss in a mysterious, seemingly street-wise girl who understands his background. Daniel likes her. The stage is set for The New York Voice.
The Amish Voice, Book 3 in The Amish Singer series: Rumschpringe is over. Time for Daniel to become a member of the Amish community. He is the teacher for the new Amish school – a point of contention for the Englische community which voted to consolidate four schools into a single school district. Daniel wants to marry Martha who is Englische. She wants to become Amish, but her father is not about to allow his youngest daughter to join the ‘Amish cult.’ Will Martha become Amish? Or, will Daniel become Englische? Will the Amish school be closed? Can the Amish and the Englische come together in fellowship?
Bob is a retired federal computer geek employee who now resides in NW Ohio with his wife. He enjoys writing fantasy, Amish Christian, science fiction, adventure, mystery, and light horror. In addition, he enjoys traveling, gardening, reading, gourmet cooking, and music – all of which sometimes ends up in one his several novels. With five years of Navy duty traveling the world, learning Russian and a smidgen of other languages, and having been to 46 of the 50 states, Bob is able to flavor his books with his life experiences. Visit him at http://www.bobnailor.com which has some free reads, hints for writers, art, music and other eclectic items.
The Secret Voice: Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VW3BCA6
The New York Voice: Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P74QYQM
The Amish Voice: Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0876JY3YX
Mary Anne Edwards – Brilliant Disguise
Are you sure you could tell the difference between murder and suicide?
Having had more than enough of the big city, Detective Charlie McClung moves to a small town looking for a simpler life. Turns out his first case is the most complicated of his career.
A young woman is found shot, and while everyone is telling him suicide, his gut, and the dead woman’s beautiful neighbor, are telling him something entirely different.
How far can he dig before he uncovers secrets never meant to be unearthed? Throw in a shady police chief and an unexpected love interest, and McClung quickly finds himself with more trouble than he ever imagined.
About The Author
Born in Mercedes, Texas, Mary Anne has lived in Georgia for most of her life. A life-long fan of authors such as Agatha Christie, Anne Perry, Caroline Graham, and Elizabeth Peters, it wasn’t until a few years ago that Mary Anne listened to the voices in her head and began writing her own series of traditional mysteries featuring Detective Charlie McClung. The first book in the series, Brilliant Disguise, was released to critical acclaim in January 2014. She released the next three in the series, A Good Girl, Criminal Kind, and Sins of my Youth, soon afterward. The fifth book in the series, Flirting with Time, was released on June 30, 2017. Mary Anne released the sixth book, How Deep is the Darkness, on December 2, 2019, and is working on book seven, Complex Kid, with at least three more to follow. Although Mary Anne is a middle-aged woman, she believes no matter how old you are, you should have fun. Don’t let anyone steal your joy by telling you you’re too old. The main female protagonist in the Charlie McClung Mysteries is an exciting snapshot of the author’s sensibilities. Mary Anne and her husband of 39 years live in Smyrna, GA, with an ill-tempered Tuxedo cat named Gertrude. Mary Anne is active in the Sisters in Crime and sits on the advisory board of Rockdale Cares, a non-profit advocacy group for the developmentally challenged.
Amazon- http://bit.ly/BrilliantDisguiseBook1
Amazon UK- https://amzn.to/36olCyn
Audible- https://bit.ly/BrilliantDisguiseAudioBookUSA
Audible UK- https://bit.ly/BrilliantDisguiseAudioBookUK
Stevie Turner – Barren
Esme Jones and husband Aron have completed their family and have twin sons Jared and James. Esme’s older sister Eden Reece is desperate for a child, but a hysterectomy has put paid to any chance of her becoming a parent. When Esme offers herself as a surrogate, Eden and husband Billy are delighted. However, when Esme notices the first fluttering of life inside her and a scan reveals that she is carrying a girl, both sisters are not prepared for the outcome which threatens to tear the fabric of the whole extended family apart.
About The Author
Stevie Turner is a British author of romantic suspense, humour, paranormal stories, and women’s fiction family dramas. She is a cancer survivor, and still lives in the same picturesque Suffolk village that she and husband Sam moved to in 1991 with their two boys. Those two boys have now grown, and she and Sam have 5 lovely grandchildren.
One of her short stories, ‘Lifting the Black Dog’, was published in ‘1000 Words or Less Flash Fiction Collection’ (2016). She has also written an article ‘Look on the Bright Side of Life’ which was included in the 2016 book ‘They Say I’m Doing Well’ which are articles about mental illness, proceeds of which go to the charity MIND. Her screenplay ‘For the Sake of a Child’ won a silver award in the Spring 2017 Depth of Field International Film Festival, and her novel ‘A House Without Windows’ gained interest in 2017 from an independent film production company based in New York. ‘Finding David’ reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Competition. https://writers.coverfly.com/profile/writer-d3b3affc7-6104#accolades
Links:
Website: http://www.stevie-turner-author.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevieTurner6
Blog: https://steviet3.wordpress.com/
About Me: https://about.me/stevie_turner/
Google: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105747643789021738179/posts/p/pub
Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/stevieturner988/
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stevie-Turner/e/B00AV7YOTU/
Email: stevie@stevie-turner-author.co.uk
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7172051.Stevie_Turner
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClWFuLQHDqGmOM3KbKJ-Z0g
Cathy Cade – The Godmother & A Year Before Christmas
The Godmother
Euphemia Ffinch, godmother to Lucinda Eleanor, has been travelling since she retired as nanny to the Regalian royal family.
Buttons the dog lives in the basement with Cindy since his master died. Cindy’s stepmother treats her as a servant and is no dog lover.
Prince Alfred of Regalia is dreading his birthday ball. His stutter gets worse in company, and the daughters of the nobility look down on him. (They are all taller than he is.) He’d rather invite the girl he met online.
Euphemia learns that Cindy’s father has died. Her intuition tells her she is needed back in Regalia.
But Cindy hasn’t read the fairy tales and has plans of her own. Somebody has other plans for Euphemia too, and Buttons isn’t sure he has a future to plan for.
A Year Before Christmas
Emmie the Elf works hard, running errands and sweeping out reindeer stalls, but Santa’s newest helper still finds herself grounded on the biggest night of the year. Can Emmie get airborne in time for next Christmas Eve?
As a novice writer, I joined our local U3A writing group (University of the Third Age) and when one of our bright sparks suggested we publish a collection of our work, I found myself proofreading and formatting Where the Wild Winds Blow. This gave me confidence to self-publish A Year Before Christmas, just to see if I could (I know nothing about manipulating images. I knew even less then.)
After our second Whittlesey Wordsmiths anthology, A following Wind, I finally got around to publishing Witch Way, by which time I had a better idea what I was doing, technically if not creatively.
The Godmother is currently being serialised in very small bites on my blog and is now available through the usual channels (but without the blog’s illustrations. ☹)
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Cathy Cade
Cathy is a retired librarian. Her writing has been published in Scribble, Best of British, Tales of the Forest and Flash Fiction magazines, The Poet, (Summer 2020 edition) and To Hull and Back Short Story Anthology 2018. Stories have been placed third in two competitions, shortlisted in four others and longlisted by the National Literacy Trust. (Always the bridesmaid…)
Most of the time, Cathy lives with her husband in Cambridgeshire surrounded by Fen fields. The rest of the time she lives across the fence from London’s Epping forest.
Her story-verse, A Year Before Christmas, is available from Smashwords and your local Amazon, including Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
Her collection of short stories: Witch Way, and other ambiguous stories can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com, and from Smashwords.
The Godmother, an alternative Cinderella, is also available from all Amazon marketplaces (incl. Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com) and at Smashwords .
Find Cathy online at www.cathy-cade.com
Lucy Brazier 