Strangler figs are rainforest plants that wrap their roots around a host tree, eventually killing it. So, Ramona Ortenga Alterhood Jackson is born to a dead mother and is left by a priest at a local California hospital where baby Ramona is adopted by Sophie...

“Cinders Over the Junction” by J.P. Kenna is an intimate tale of a family’s history, from the mass exodus of Irish emigrants during the potato famine of the 1840’s to the attack on the Twin Towers in 2001. The story begins with a chance meeting...

When you think of a singing nun, visions come to mind of a habit-clad woman dancing in a field of wildflowers on a hill, spinning happily with palms up, belting out a healthy hymn. But the story of the singing nun is anything but that...

Danny Rorro lived in the neighborhood in Queens where he has lived all his life. Danny made life fun and interesting for himself and enjoyed making others laugh. “The Domino Effect” is the story of Danny’s life and the series of painful defeats that left...

In Dr. Jerome Schulte's book, "The Immortality Complex", he lists three things that are the philosophical theorems of his book: the essence of humanness is need, the essence of need is feelings, and the essence of feeling is growth. Need is the continued growth through...

Five women, each with their own tribulation, walk through life with their dreams that mean everything to them. The Visitor comes to make changes, to provide each a gem that, if things go well, will be the pivotal point that they yearn for. The plot...

"Walking Fish" by Joanne Bodin is gritty yet touching contemporary fiction. Artist Talia, a nonconformist by any standards, has had a difficult life. Losing custody of her daughter Sophie when she was five following an unpleasant divorce, Talia has been shut out of her child's...

"Fission" by Tom Weston is based on a true story. Our tale centers on Lise Mietner, a Physicist. Women were expected to get married and raise a family, not to dream or pursue a career and especially not in a field like Physics. The year...

"Lily of the Springs" by Carole Bellacera transports us back to the 1950s and 1960s with strong reminders of the morals, music, love and turbulence of the times. Lily lives in a small Kentucky town with her very strict Southern Baptist parents. Jake is the...

It is California in 1993, and Jazmin Valdez and Stephannie Bengochea are best friends. Both were born on March 15, 1975, which makes them astrological twins according to Jaz’s mom, an amateur astrologer. Steph is not so sure, but she doesn’t care. She...

"The One Year Marriage: A Formula For Enduring Love" by G. Stephen Renfrey, Ph.D., covers exams, love, romance, marriage and relationships. In the Preface Renfrey addresses a major problem with marriage. We too often go into it with idyllic notions of what a marriage should...

In 1940, General Charles DeGaulle sent a letter to his fellow Frenchmen urging them to resist the Nazis. And so began the famous French Resistance with its many unsung heroes. In the United States in 1944, teenage Joe and Raymond watch as the owner of...

Newly divorced, Maggie lives a pretty mundane life. She learns the old customs and language of her ancestors, the Mi’kmag people, through her grandmother Maggie and they linger in her memories. After her grandmother’s death, Maggie finds solace in her dreams where her grandmother still...

Tom Ufert begins his book "Adversity Builds Character: A Second Chance" by discussing his birth and childhood. Like most of us growing up in that era, he was exposed to the viciousness of war on the television. Parents did not censor children’s viewing habits in...

Born just after the Great Depression, Jack Hawn found that life ‘just happened’ for him in a series of serendipitous events, leading him into a writing career spanning 43 years. Although he never studied journalism, journalism found him after 4 years in the Army Public...

Have you ever wondered what it is all about? Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we heading? Given the chaos, crime, pollution, and society’s troubles, are the old biblical prophecies correct and does the hellfire and damnation scenario await us...

Parker Boyce's father served in Vietnam and talked of shooting out an entire Vietnamese village, referring to the dead as "gooks". Parker's uncle ran to Canada to avoid the draft of that Vietnam conflict as it was a war he just didn't believe in at...

It is the early years of the last century and Stefan Vladeslav leaves his family's Croatian home, running away from constant family problems. Stefan's father announces his illegitimate son Ivan as an heir and Stefan's mother is obsessed with the family's monetary inheritance. Stefan sells...

"Eternity’s Handmaiden" by R Peter Ubtrent is everything you would expect from this accomplished author. Yet again he creates an intriguing universe peopled by diverse, superbly drawn, unique characters. Alexis Locke, created by The Agency 65 years ago, is called back into service after fifteen...

Tears course down Sullie’s cheeks as he looks at his once pristine beach now littered with plastic. His granddaughter was left crippled by the abominable stuff. Sullie called a meeting of his bird friends and shared the dreadful acts humans have committed. They bring their...