As a little girl, Trudy Herman is taught to stand up for truth by her much-loved grandfather. Then in 1943, Trudy’s childhood drastically changes when her family is sent to a German-American Internment Camp in Texas. On the journey to the camp, Trudy meets Ruth, who tells her and her friend Eddie the legend of the Paladins―knights of Emperor Charlemagne who used magic gifted to them by the heavens to stand up for virtue and truth. Ruth insists both Trudy and Eddie will become modern-day Paladins―defenders of truth and justice―but Trudy’s experiences inside the camp soon convince her that she doesn’t have what it takes to be a knight.

After two years, her family is released from the camp and they move to Mississippi. Here, Trudy struggles to deal with injustice when she comes face to face with the ingrained bigotries of the local white residents and the abject poverty of the black citizens of Willow Bay. Then their black housekeeper―a woman Trudy has come to care for―finds herself in crisis, and Trudy faces a choice: look the other way, or become the person her grandfather and Ruth believed she could be?

When he approaches her at the market, he has no idea the next three weeks of his life would change him forever.

It’s the late 1980s, summertime, on the North Shore of Long Island. The air stirs with possibilities as it often does during this time of year. And so begins the romance between one Hispanic seventeen-year-old male, on the verge of manhood and ready to conquer the world, and one beautiful and intelligent young woman named B.

 It is much more than romance, though. B will forever become a part of this young man’s soul. He will never forget her.

This is a coming-of-age story, a love story, replete with milestones, tangled emotions, and adventures that are the embodiments of first love. Not just for the young, but for the young at heart.

 

Everyone’s convinced the hottest guy in school’s going to ask me out - that Mason and I would be the perfect couple, that he’s my John Cusack. Except, he hasn’t.

One holidays, I find myself hanging out with the resident underachiever, and he surprises me. With Roman, I don’t have to pretend that little Piper Barlow is perfect; even if we’re both in a foul mood, just sitting in silence together is perfectly enough. Until it becomes more.

But, Roman doesn’t do more. Does he...?

What do you do when you accidentally find perfection with the wrong guy?
You fight for it.

Accidentally Perfect is a story about finding support in the least likely of places, never giving up, and learning that being the real you is always perfect.
Not suitable for younger readers due to mature content.

***Best Mystery Novel for 2017 the John E Weaver Excellent Reads Award by Earthshine

***Third Place Winner-Best Novel of 2016 by the Public Safety Writers Association(PSWA)***

***Finalist for Best Young Adult Novel for 2016 by Bookvana***

Finalist for Best Crossover (Mystery & Young Adult) Best Books Award for 2017***

2015 Finalist for Best Book Award by Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MIPA) for Suspense/Thriller ***

A compelling mystery/thriller by Nick Chiarkas If it moves away from you, it*s food; if it moves toward you, you*re food. The 1957 murder of an undercover cop in a New York City housing project has unexpected ties to the unsolved disappearance of a young father walking home in those same projects with his son, Angelo, on Christmas Eve six years before. The only witness to the cop killing is Angelo, now 13, while on his way to seek his own revenge in the early morning hours. The killers know he saw them. A series of gripping events forge a union between a priest, a Mafia boss, a police detective, and Angelo, a gang member. In the end, Weepers shows us that the courage of the underdog despite fear and moral ambiguity will conquer intimidation.

Billy cheerfully runs The Valley’s Finest Inn with his father and daydreams of a fantasy life in the distant courts of the kingdom. One night, a murderous stranger from his secret past emerges to take from him his life and the magic ring that belonged to his mother.
Billy must flee home to stay alive and is thrust into an adventure that leads him to the highest courts in the land. But there are perils to such a journey. Monsters, giants, spirits and brigands prowl the wilds of Lyonesse, not to mention a dragon that wants to eat him! As he struggles to survive and unravel the mysteries encircling his life, Billy becomes aware of a menacing figure lurking in the shadows; a ruthless nemesis that has hunted him his entire life.
The Innkeeper’s Son is the first of four novels in The Jester King Fantasy Series.

Based on a true story, Tears and Trombones follows a boy who wants to become a musician. His blue-collar, alcoholic father is dead set against it, and uses ridicule, humiliation and finally, cruelty, to prevent the boy from pursuing his musical dream.  The boy is creative not only in music as he fights to hold on to his dream.

Millington Valley is a quintessential small Pennsylvania town: families go back generations. Football rules. Kids drink while adults look the other way. High school is a whirlwind of aspiration and rivalry, friendship and jealousy.

When smart and pretty Molly Hanover moves to town and attracts the attention of the football team’s hero, Wade Thornton—a nice guy with a bad drinking habit—longtime friendships are threatened and a popular cheerleader tries to turn the school against Molly.

The young couple’s future is shattered when Wade, drunk, wrecks his truck and Molly is thrown through the windshield. She wakes from a coma to find her beauty marred and her memory full of holes. As she struggles to heal, she becomes sure that something terrible happened before the accident. And there is somebody in the valley who doesn’t want her to remember.

Seventeen-year-old Gina Falcone has been alone for much of her life. Her father passed away when she was a young girl and her un-affectionate mother eventually leaves her to care for herself when she is only thirteen.

Though her epic journey begins in 1920 by an almost deadly mistake, Gina will find many of her heart's desires in the most unlikely of places. The loss of everything is the catalyst that brings her to a level of achievement she could have never imagined.

Yet Gina soon realizes it's the same events that brought her success that may also bring everything crashing down around her. The new life she's built soon beckons for something that was left behind. Now, the new woman must find a way to dance through a life she could have never dreamed of.

Gold Award winner - 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards

Stabbed. Burned by a dragon. Abandoned for the windrocs to pick over. The traitor Ra’aba tried to silence Hualiama forever. But he reckoned without the strength of a dragonet’s paw and the courage of a girl who refused to die.

Only an extraordinary friendship will save Hualiama’s beloved kingdom of Fra’anior and restore the King to the Onyx Throne. Flicker, the valiant dragonet. Hualiama, a foundling, adopted into the royal family. The power of a friendship which paid the ultimate price.

This is the tale of Hualiama Dragonfriend and a love which became legend.

Fly away on an unforgettable dragonride today!

Gold Award winner - 2017 Readers Favorite Awards (Young Adult / Coming of Age)

Based on a true story, Tears and Trombones follows a boy who wants to become a musician. His blue-collar, alcoholic father is dead set against it, and uses ridicule, humiliation and finally, cruelty, to prevent the boy from pursuing his musical dream.  The boy is creative not only in music as he fights to hold on to his dream.