IndiePicks Jan 2018

2018 Jan

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NEW WORLDS:

AUTHORS EXPLORING THE BOUNDARIES OF SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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PUBLISHER SPOTLIGHT: LEE & LOW BOOKS

8681010004

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AUTHORS ON THE MOVE: JEN LANCASTER

CONTENTS

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issue 17 New Worlds:

Authors Exploring the Boundaries of Science Fiction and Fantasy

20 Authors on the Move:

Jen Lancaster

22 Publisher’s Spotlight: Lee & Low Books

On the Cover Photo Credit: Aaron Burden

Review Columns

Features

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Romance Horror General Fiction Book Club Picks Mystery/Thrillers Science Fiction/Fantasy Nonfiction YA & Children’s Books

International Awards Breakout Novels of 2018

Media 28

Rock N’ Roll Savior Kurt Baker

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EDITOR’S NOTE Editor in Chief: Rebecca Vnuk Graphic Designer: Courtney Pugh REVIEW TEAM Robin Bradford Craig Clark Erin Downey Howerton Alan Keep Megan McArdle

Andie Paloutzian Becky Spratford Kaite Mediatore Stover Magan Szwarek Henrietta Verma

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Justin Hoenke SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION Contact Naomi Blackburn, 361-356-1819 x402 or naomi.blackburn@patomimediagroup.com for subscription assistance. Please include name, address, and phone number on inquiries.

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Postmaster: Send address changes to: Patomi Media Group, PO Box 533 Sugar Grove, IL 60554 ADVERTISING Advertising Sales Naomi Blackburn Advertising in IndiePicks is an opportunity to showcase your book to a national audience of readers and librarians who support independent publishers and authors. For information on advertising rates, please contact Naomi Blackburn, naomi.blackburn@patomimediagroup.com PATOMI MEDIA GROUP President & Publisher: Naomi Blackburn Vice President of Operations: Erin Matty Vice President, Distribution: Patrick Blackburn IndiePicks Magazine is a book review publication (available in e- and print monthly subscriptions) dedicated to independent publishers and authors. Part of the Patomi Media Group, IndiePicks was founded in 2017 by publisher Naomi Blackburn.

I’m delighted to introduce you to the third issue of IndiePicks Magazine. Our goal is to celebrate the uniqueness and diversity of independent publishing houses and those who have chosen the nontraditional publishing route to bring their books to market. Our magazine and website focus on reviews, as well as interviews, articles, and other entertaining columns related to topics in the indie-media world.

This issue, you’ll notice we’ve got a theme going on: “Diversity in Publishing.” Diversity, to us, is more than just a buzzword. I think you’ll find that if you are looking for diversity in ideas, in authors, in genres, you’ll find no one is managing it better than independent publishers. As you scan through the reviews in this issue and read features such as our “Publisher Spotlight” with Lee & Low Books, the “International Awards” feature, and our “New Worlds: Authors Exploring the Boundaries of Science Fiction and Fantasy” list, you’ll see there is much to celebrate in the indie world when it comes to championing a variety of viewpoints.

Please take a moment to visit our website, indiepicksmag.com. There, you’ll find bonus review content, sneak peeks of print features, and blog posts. And if you’d like to know more about us, please check out the FAQ section of the site, which features everything you need to know about subscriptions, advertising, details on our social media accounts, and instructions regarding how to submit for review.

We’re so glad you want to take this journey into the world of independent publishing with us.

If you have questions, comments, or ideas about what you’d like to see featured in the magazine, please feel free to contact us at indiepicks@patomimediagroup.com.

Rebecca Vnuk Editor in Chief, IndiePicks Magazine

Our review team consists of readers’-advisory librarians who review with an eye towards making suggestions to collection development librarians as well as to general readers.

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ROMANCE MILITARY ROMANCE

by Robin Bradford

Catch My Fall by Jessica Scott. (Self-pub, $14.99, 9781942102434) Rank & File by L.A. Witt. (Riptide, $17.99, 9781626496064) Rogue Desire: A Romance Anthology

by Stacey Agdern, et al.

(CreateSpace, $17.99, 9781973771371) Trust Me by Farrah Rochon. (Self-pub, $9.99, 9781521422885)

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In Scott’s Catch My Fall, Deacon Hunter and Kelsey Ryder knew each other (and yes, in the Biblical sense) when they were stationed in Iraq. When they find themselves in North Carolina, however, working together, going to college together, and now team-teaching a course together, it becomes harder and harder to hide their previous relationship. On top of that, they are each dealing with personal problems, from injuries to insomnia to the general restlessness of being a civilian—which adds pressure on top of what they’re already feeling.

When keeping their distance from each other ceases to be the balm, Kelsey seeks to maintain her equilibrium, but falling into each other’s arms seems to be the next-best reasonable solution.

But, for how long?

And, at what price?

Scott’s Falling series— made up of linked stories featuring military veterans—is a must-read, not just for the romance, but because she relays the experiences of vets in a way that most readers rarely get to see. The characters are often coming from (or facing) difficult circumstances, and Scott gives the good and the bad of being separated from active service and reminds readers that everyone deserves a happily ever after.

MILITARY ROMANCE, TAKE TWO What happens when you’re in the military and you fall for the wrong person? In a post- “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” world, the same-sex nature of the relationship between Will Curtis and Brent Jameson is not the threat. Instead, it’s that Will is

an enlisted member of the Navy and Brent is an officer, a match that is strictly forbidden. Both are married to their Navy careers, but they also form a fairly quick and very strong attachment to each other. In Rank & File, Witt draws each half of the couple as a fully realized, independent character, with his own realities, goals, and past baggage. The more time Will and Brent spend together, the more painful the inevitable and impending end to the relationship feels. Yet, Witt makes it clear why the two can’t stay away from each other.

Although this is the fourth book in Witt’s Anchor’s Point series, it’s a fine stand-alone title (in fact, all the books can be read out of order.)

If you enjoy strong, characterdriven stories, with a seemingly

untenable situation at the center, this is the book for you. The happily ever after here is well deserved.

THE POLITICS OF ROMANCE Rogue Desire: A Romance Anthology is a set of stories set in contemporary America, where the heroes and heroines are trying to make the world they live in a better place as they meet and fall in love.

Overall, the stories are very strong.

The characters are diverse in a variety of ways, including politically.

The forms of resistance taken are also diverse, from characters taking part in protests to running for office, along with some interesting takes on the 25th amendment. Consistent across the collection, however, are the people who find happiness at the end of the stories. Sometimes they are old flames, such as the couple in Jane Lee Blair’s “My Delight in Her,” and sometimes they’re meeting for the first time, like in “Grassroots”

by Adriana Anders Veronica Cruz.

And what political collection would be complete without a story titled “Deep Throat” (here, written by Dakota Gray). By the end of each story, the characters have made a positive change—both in each other’s lives and in their corner of the world.

SLOW BURN Mackenna Arnold doesn’t know when her relationship with Ezra Holmes went horribly off the rails, but between him investigating her for corruption and her having him arrested, it has definitely gotten worse. When an off-hand comment from Ezra leads to Mackenna discovering another of her ex-husband’s misdeeds, it leads the pair to a tentative truce, and they eventually team up on a new investigation. Rochon’s Trust Me features the wonderful atmosphere of New Orleans that will make readers want to book a trip ASAP, but the best part of the book is the slow buildup to the relationship.

and the stakes are raised. Readers will feel invested in the characters’ individual happiness and well being, as well as in their happiness together. The mystery Rochon sets them to uncover isn’t merely a plot device but has consequences for the feelings of the characters

and forms the overall story. Fan of family drama will want to jump in to Rochon’s Holmes Brothers series and find love.

The stories of small town America brought to life in an award winning series...

Though the two have known each other a long time—Ezra’s crush dates back to when Mackenna was his older sister’s college roommate— Rochon doesn’t rush the magic that readers are looking for. Instead, she lets it develop slowly, respecting the history (good and bad) that the characters share. When they finally do come together, it feels important,

Photo Credit: Pixabay

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HORROR

by Becky Spratford

The flip of the calendar to another year is the perfect time to try something new. Why not start by diversifying your reading choices and give a new genre a try? Here are recent collections that offer a horror smorgasboard from which readers can pick and choose the terrifying tale that is right for them, whether they are new to horror or long-time fans.

FEMALE-VOICED FEARS: A DOUBLE-FEATURE

Cry Your Way Home

by Damien Angelica Walters. (Apex, $14.95, 9781937009618) Everything That’s Underneath by Kristi DeMeester. (Apex, $14.95, 9781937009571) Hardboiled Horror edited by Jonathan Maberry.

(JournalStone, $34.95, 9781947654020) Where Nightmares Come From: The Art of Storytelling in the Horror Genre edited by Clive Barker. (Crystal Lake Publishing, $16.99, 9781640074682)

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Women writers, once noticeably left out of the horror conversation, are no longer lurking in the genre shadows. They’ve recently appeared front and center, writing some of the most interesting tales of terror that use the torment and violence faced by women navigating a maledriven world as their inspiration and emotional center. Walters’ second story collection, Cry Your Way Home, is the perfect example of such tales. It features 17 stories including “Tongue, Tooth, Claw,” a twisted fairy tale that acknowledges the violence towards women at the center of most fables; and the engrossing and timely comment on rape culture in “The Floating Girls: A Documentary,” which tells of an evening when 300,000 teenage girls vanished all over the world. This is a collection that is beautifully written, hauntingly realistic, and terrifyingly thought-provoking.

Meanwhile, DeMeester’s debut, Everything That’s Underneath, takes the darkness and the weird a few steps beyond what Walters’ collection provides, crafting nightmarish scenarios that draw readers in—often so far as to feel like they are involved in the action— and then abruptly drop them at the tale’s conclusion, reeling (but also reaching to turn the page and do it all over again). These intense stories of body horror, abuse, and terrifying violence will resonate with a wide range of readers. Either collection

would make a wonderful suggestion to readers who read and enjoyed Carmen Maria Muchado’s Her Body and Other Parties after her National Book Award nomination and are now hungry for more of the same raw, feminist-driven horror.

place for those brave enough to give horror a try in 2018.

SCULPTING THE SCARES

Across 28 articles, interviews, and essays, over 30 writers share the secret to their craft—how and why they take harmless words and HARDBOILED HORROR masterfully string them together Horror has never been a stagnant into sentences that build the stories genre. Its speculative tropes and that scare the stuffing out of readers. terrifying tone have been blended Where Nightmares Come From: with every genre, and the stories in The Art of Storytelling in the Hardboiled Horror Horror Genre features illustrate how the authors ranging from traditional PI novel best-selling household can be enlivened names (including by adding a dash of Stephen King and monsters, mayhem, Joe R. Lansdale) to or even a little life genre mainstays (like after death to the Richard Thomas, Lisa mystery. The 15 Morton, and Jonathan authors included, such Maberry) to exciting as Josh Malerman, up-and-comers (such as Seanan Maguire, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia).

Max Allan Collins While some pieces are are veterans of both technical, with advice the horror and crime genres. While on topics such as adapting your these all-new stories showcase story to a visual medium or creating a range of fears from merely better characters, others are more creepy to hide-your-book-in-thepersonal, like award-winning horror freezer frightening, they are all poet Stephanie M. Wytovich’s firmly grounded within the rules lyrical memoir pondering why she of mystery writing, presenting became the writer she is today and an investigator, a murder, and a Mark Alan Miller’s “Why Horror?”, whodunit puzzle. Readers may a persuasive argument for the be familiar with the characters genre’s importance. This book is a in Lois H. Gresh’s “Sherlock must-read for writers of any genre, Holmes: The Adventure of the because the advice is from authors Pin-Pricked Corpse,” in which who have proven their chops both the famed detective may have in the number of awards they met his supernatural match; or have garnered and the millions of Kevin J Anderson’s “Head Case,” fans who read their every word. which features his popular zombie But for readers there is an even PI, Dan Shamble. Other entries better reason to dive in, as these include“Sleep Debt,” by novelist pieces break open the scary shell Jacopo della Quercia, featuring a PI of horror and reveal its tantalizing who solves crimes in his sleep, and secrets, demonstrating exactly why “Gaslight: Tampa Bay” by Nancy the genre has captivated readers Holder, an atmospheric tale set in since the dawn of storytelling.

Ybor City, the Cuban community in Where Nightmares Come From will Tampa. Hardboiled Horror is a great keep readers up for many nights introduction to the chills and thrills to come as they frantically search of horror wrapped up in a well-tread for more by the authors who have PI package, making it a good starting contributed here.

GENERAL FICTION NIGERIAN LIT Nigerian-born author Emezi presents an emotionally charged debut novel, Freshwater. In Nigeria, Saul and Saachi pray for a daughter, but when Ada is born they soon see that something is not quite right. As a baby, Ada slithered rather than crawled, was prone to tantrums, and had repeated nightmares.

These behaviors were caused, the family believes, by malevolent spirits known as Ogbanje that plague a family with misfortune if provoked. As Ada grows, the spirits become more manipulative and Ada counters with self-harm in order to appease them. The spirits don’t stop their torment with Ada; they also attempt to disrupt the whole family in order to achieve freedom. When Ada goes to college in Virginia, the spirits manifest in a frightful and hedonistic form, and Ada slips in and out of madness in a battle for control over herself. Emezi’s prose is vibrant and terrifying; she portrays Ada’s tribulations in breathtaking detail.

Freshwater is a novel of unforgiving spirituality told in a manner that is sophisticated, precise, and elegant.

ALL ACROSS THE WORLD Sri Lankan-born Australian author de Kritzer has been awarded several Australian literary prizes, and her 2007 novel Lost Dog was long-listed for the Man Booker prize. In her latest offering, The Life to Come: A Novel, de Kritzer takes readers to Australia, Paris, and, for a brief time, Sri Lanka, in an entertaining meditation on friends, family, and national identity. The large cast of characters is supported by vivid prose and lively narration: an Australian author laments the lack of famous native writers; a Sri Lankan political scientist recounts his youth during anti-Tamil riots; a wealthy Australian

by Craig Clark

family offers questionable views of multiculturalism. Pippa, a wonderfully naïve and hopeful novelist, blogger, and cooking show host who permeates the novel with witty observations, holds the threads of the story together.

In Paris, she feels intimidated by the culture and Parisians view of Australians; back in Sydney she navigates relationships and her writing career. From country estates to small rental flats, de Kritzer sets the plot against a vivid description of place in this intelligent and timely story.

befriends Kendrick King, a man serving a life sentence for seconddegree murder. Moved by King’s story, Lazar delves into police documents, interviews relatives, and becomes obsessed with the inconsistencies he finds. To add to his compulsion, the investigations rekindle his anxiety and sadness about his father’s death, a true event he recounted in Evening’s Empire: The Story of My Father’s Murder.

Flashbacks to the scene of the crime and the interrogations switch to Kendrick’s viewpoint, and the backdrop of New Orleans, Angola, and the surrounding areas add depth to story. This contemplative BLENDING FACT AND FICTION tale of loss and redemption wrapped Lazar puts himself at the center around a police procedural will of the story in his latest novel, appeal to readers of true crime and Vengeance. Blending fact and fiction confessional literary fiction. is not new to this author; in I Pity the Poor Immigrant, he blended fiction into the life of mob accountant Meyer Lansky.

Freshwater by Akwaeke Here he takes a Emezi. (Grove Press, $24, 9780802127358) more personal approach— The Life to Come: A Novel by Michelle while working de Kritzer. (Catapult, on a project at $26, 9781936787821) Angola prison Vengeance by Zachary in Louisiana, Lazar. (Catapult, $16.95, covering a passion 9781936787777) play performed Photo Credit: by inmates—he Elizabeth Wirija

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GENERAL FICTION THE MAN WHO LIVES UNDER UMBRELLAS Get ready for this “new adult” romance full of twenty-something angst, quirk, irony, and very witty banter. Archie of Outlandish is a sweet, perfectly clumsy love story.

Archibald Plumby is a young man living in a seaside tourist town called Outlandish. He

by Andie enjoys a seemingly Paloutzian comfortable life, with supportive parents and a job he enjoys.

He even makes regular trips to the beach. However, he does have one major obstacle to contend with: he can’t look up. No, really. He can’t look up. One glance skyward into an open expanse, or even a very high ceiling, causes myriad physical symptoms for Archie. Thus, he lives life always under a low ceiling, or at the very least, never without his trusty umbrella to stave off vertigo and panic. Archie manages life with his Archie of Outlandish condition well. That’s all until one

by Lynnette Kraft. (New day he meets a young woman who Wrinkle Publishing, $25.99, 9780991110926) really loves that umbrella. Tallulah Beyond the Carousel by Z. Greenleaf is a photographer and the unexpected thing in Archie’s Bette Lee Crosby.

(Bent Pine Publishing, otherwise very expected life. Archie $14, 9780996921480) is a lovely soul and the romantic tale The Fatness here is a delightfully gentle read.

by Mark A. Rayner.

(To stream the soundtrack to the (Monkeyjoy Press, book, visit http://amzn.to/28Jxr3P.) $16.99, 9781927590058) Geek Actually: The Complete Season One

by Cathy Yardley, et al. (Serial Box, $18.99, 9781682101803) Hap and Hazard and the End of the World

by Diane DeSanders.

(Bellevue Literary Press, $16.99, 9781942658368 The Last to See Me

by M. Dressler.

(Skyhorse Publishing, $22.99, 9781510720671))

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HOMESPUN TALE This is one for the storytellers.

Beyond the Carousel is the latest installment in Crosby’s saga set in Wyattsville, Virginia. The book is home to all the lingering, relatable warmth of a family story “from just down the block,” with a surprisingly tense murder mystery wrapped around it. The book begins with Emory, a young man who will

tell this tale as it stretches into his golden years. As son, husband, father, grandfather, then greatgrandfather, it is Emory who relays all his family’s triumphs (he is the benefactor of an unexpected inheritance and his daughter meets a wonderful man, marries him, and becomes a mother) and tragedies (Emory is unlucky in the stock market and his son-inlaw is murdered following the crash of ’29). This is absolutely a carousel of a story, spinning from joy to sorrow in a well-paced and credible way. Crosby’s story packs in the expected Southern fiction charm her readers demand, and features returning characters and a familiar setting. Fans will find all they left behind with her last story in the series (The Regrets of Cyrus Dodd), yet this title works equally well as a standalone.

SPARE TIRE SATIRE Keelan Cavanaugh has been sentenced to a very different kind of prison. Uncomfortably installed at the Calorie Reduction Centre (CRC)—also known as the Fatness, or the Girth Gulag—he will lose weight whether he wants to or not.

In Rayner’s newest work of satire, The Fatness, anyone with a “few extra” must go to the CRC or lose their insurance, their jobs, or worse.

There’s a bright spot for Keelan, though, for it is at the CRC that he meets Jacinda, an activist attorney looking to expose the organization.

Ironically, she gives Keelan a reason to make the program work—he now wants to look his best. But it’s not

as easy as counting calories. At the CRC, even personal weight loss is mired in bureaucracy and miles of red tape. The story holds up mirrors to social issues including the basic respect due all people and the need to cast a wary eye on the further privatization of health care. There’s humor and heart resident in Keelan’s story, as well as a sly inclusion of actual science. The Fatness is an ideal suggestion for fans of Christopher Moore’s absurdist delights and for readers of dystopian fiction who could use a side of levity with their otherwise totalitarian buffet.

SERIAL NOVEL Meet the squad. Michelle is slogging her way through digital manuscripts as a senior editor of fantasy and SF, and can’t believe it isn’t more glamourous than this. Taneesha should be a senior programmer, a video-game guru, but gets stuck with a downgraded title for being the female on the team. Aditi is the “special snowflake” fantasy writer who can’t seem to get it together. Christina is trying to make it in Hollywood. And Elli is a never-grow-up with great comic relief potential. Geek Actually was originally released as serialized shorts, and is now a new connected story collection from Cathy Yardley, Melissa Blue, Rachel Stuhler, and Cecilia Tan. Each character adds to the book’s hilarious progression with perspectives on geek industries and just plain geekdom. (Think Sex and the City with tech and sci-fi references.) Told in a text thread titled “Rebel Scum” as much as in prose, with the occasional mention of Pokémon GO, this a funny, sexy romp into the age of Internet friendships and singles hook-ups.

DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY Set in a nouveau riche suburb in Texas—the first to have air conditioners!—shortly after World War II, Hap and Hazard and the End of the World is a story about

Southern cooking (see: Sunday bacon-fat-fried chicken dinners).

While trying to solve the mystery of her parent’s volcanic relationship, our narrator is also trying to understand the greater world around her. Hap and Hazard is a child’s questioning of the types of issues that regularly plague adults: family dynamics, social class, race issues. This is a weighty book full of conversations that are still topical.

LITERARY GHOSTS

trying to love things that cannot love you back. In this coming-of-age tale, a nameless young girl narrates as she navigates the emotional landmines between her parents, Dick and Jane. Dick is a physically and emotionally scarred war veteran and Jane is trying way too hard to make it all okay. The voyeur in this chaos is the oldest of their three daughters. A large ensemble cast of kooky relatives adds to the novel’s credibility. Descriptions of the clan’s Southern Granny are superseded by portrayals of

ghost hunter is brought in, and he is determined to “clean” the house of this paranormal pest. If she wishes to survive the cleaning, Emma Rose must use all her guile to lead him astray. She has incorporeal tenacity, and is representative of the great character development readers will see throughout the novel. This is a twisting and tragic story where love is a kind of ghost too. This literary pick will appeal to readers who don’t think they want horror, but can appreciate a good ghost story.

This page-turner begins with a few sharp observations from the narrator, a young woman both Irish-born and Irish-stubborn—and many decades in the ground. Emma Rose Finnis, the protagonist of Dressler’s The Last to See Me, is a ghost who will not be moved. Her haunting place for the last century has been a stately mansion, home to a once-great family, in a tiny California town. When the last heir is gone, the house is put up for sale.

A pair of would-be buyers make their way to the coastal hamlet to see the famous sea-facing Victorian.

In a moment equal parts mirth and mayhem, Emma Rose exposes herself to the newcomers, setting chaos in motion. An infamous

“Short sharp shocks, finely developed settings, and eloquent prose make this collection a standout.”

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly Cry Your Way Home brings together seventeen stories that delve deep into human sorrow and loss, weaving pain, fear, and resilience into beautiful tales that are sure to haunt you long after you turn the last page.

ISBN 978-1937009618

ApexBookCompany.com

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BOOK CLUB PICKS ROMANCE AND REMEMBERING

by Megan McArdle

Asleep from Day by Margarita Montimore.

(Black Wing Books, $14.99, 9780999511404) Halsey Street by Naima Coster. (Little A, $24.95 9781503941175) Hour Glass by Michelle Rene.

(Amberjack, $14.99, 9781944995492) Knucklehead by Adam Smyer. (Akashic, $15.95, 9781617755873)

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When we meet Astrid O’Malley in Montimore’s Asleep from Day, she is in the back of an ambulance, having just been involved in a hitand-run accident on a New York street. While she remembers planning to come to New York from Boston for her best friend’s engagement party, as she recovers in the hospital she realizes she has no actual recollection of the trip, or indeed of the whole of the day before. Snatches of memory lead her to believe that she spent that day with an amazing guy. A guy she can’t quite remember.

Flashbacks to that missing day— 9/9/1999—alternate with Astrid’s life as it progressed afterwards.

Returning to Boston, Astrid is forced by a series of misfortunes to make changes in her life, such as finding a new place to live and a new job, while she becomes obsessed with locating the man from her missing day. She is aided in this search by Oliver, a psychic who seems to want to help her for reasons of his own.

Book Club Bonus: The bare bones of this plot could work for those craving a charming romantic comedy with a touch of the paranormal, but the author adds enough uncertainty by way of our unreliable narrator and her headwound-induced amnesia to keep readers guessing and discussing.

THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD Leaving behind her dream of making it as an artist in Pittsburgh, Penelope Grand returns home to Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant

neighborhood in Coster’s debut, Halsey Street. Ostensibly, she is back to take care of her ailing father, Ralph. However, she cannot bring herself to move back in with him, instead taking a room in the house of a rich white couple who are part of the gentrification happening in her historically black neighborhood.

Ralph drinks too much and clings to the memories of when he ran Grand Records,

once an important institution in Bed-Stuy. Penelope has little patience for Ralph’s sentimentality, especially when it comes to his estranged wife— Penelope’s mother, Mirella. Penelope cannot forgive her mother for many old hurts, not least of which is her abandoning the injured Ralph, but when Mirella sends a postcard from her home country of the Dominican Republic, it throws Penelope deeper into her ongoing spiral of self-destruction. The prickly flesh and blood character of Penelope pulls the reader in, as she tries to keep her distance from those who matter to her but still craves intimacy. The Grands breathe new life into the literary fiction staple of dysfunctional family angst.

Book Group Bonus: Motherdaughter drama is always good

fodder for book discussion groups, and readers will have plenty of opportunities to reflect on how Coster’s characters remain compelling despite their deep flaws.

They will also enjoy the portrait of a neighborhood in the midst of change.

TRAGIC CALAMITY A 12-year-old boy provides a unique perspective on a legend of the American West in Hour Glass. With their father desperately ill with smallpox, young Jimmy and his sister travel from their South Dakota mining camp to nearby Deadwood.

There they meet Calamity Jane, who has been helping nurse the many dying of the disease in the pest tents on the outskirts of the town. She takes an interest in Jimmy and his little sister, an autistic halfLakota child named Hour.

Introducing him to local brothel owner Dora DuFran, Jane helps Jimmy find work while the siblings wait to see if their father will recover.

Jane is past her prime, grieving the loss of Wild Bill Hickock and spending most nights passed out drunk on cheap whiskey. She can still be roused to impressive acts of heroism when needed, however, and her kindness to Jimmy and Hour in the short time they spend in Deadwood alters their lives. Rene transports readers to the Wild West, painting a picture of a violent town and the unexpected friendships found there.

Book Group Bonus: It’s not an easy thing to bring something new to a character who has been portrayed so often on page and screen, but Rene succeeds. Groups might enjoy comparing with this some other Calamity Jane portrayals, such as TV’s Deadwood, the movie musical Calamity Jane starring Doris Day, or books like Larry McMurtry’s Buffalo Girls and Pete Dexter’s Deadwood.

Together they build a life in San Francisco, but when things go off the rails in Marcus’s life, his anger threatens to engulf him. The book’s chronology, presented almost as a diary of the era, pauses in moments

Book Group Bonus: This is one of those books that simply must be discussed, as it manages to tackle difficult topics with unexpected humor and pathos. While Marcus is a troubled character, his journey and the choices he makes provide rich meat for discussion about race in America and how justifiable anger can turn toxic.

BOOK GROUP TOP PICK Set mostly during the 1990s in New York and the SF Bay area, Knucklehead chronicles that decade’s most contentious moments of racial tension through the eyes of law student Marcus Hayes. In 1988, Marcus attends NYU and is forced to confront the reality of being one of the few black students in his classes.

He struggles with a simmering rage that bubbles up when he encounters the small racist aggressions of his daily life. Helping keep his rage in check is the romance he finds with fellow law student Amalia.

so much time in his head that to stop reading is simply not an option.

While the provocative subject material will take readers to a sometimes-uncomfortable place, this brilliant debut is also deeply, darkly funny.

important to Marcus personally, but we also see his reaction to events of the day, such as the beating of Rodney King and the O.J. Simpson trial. Even as Marcus goes down a terrible path, the reader has spent

Photo Credit: Trent Erwin Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA

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INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

by Henrietta Verma

Publishing is a huge industry, with International Publishing Association statistics showing that books make around three times the turnover of the global music industry and almost 14% more than movies. Only a fraction of those titles are

by U.S. authors, meaning that there’s a wealth of overseas talent waiting for you to abandon your chores and put on your reading glasses.

Just as with books released in this country, finding the awesome needle in the so-so haystack is the challenge.

An easy way of finding a great overseas author, or a great U.S.-immigrant author whose work is attracting accolades in their home country, is to look at foreign literary awards. There’s much more than the Man Booker prize out there (there might also be much more to that prize than you think, as there are Man Booker International and Russian Booker prizes). Below are just a few of the notable awards from around the world, and some examples of the relevant books that are published here by small and Indie presses.

The Caine Prize for African Writing is awarded to the author of an English-language short story by an African. It attracts entries from around Africa and the continent’s diaspora. The following novels by some of the winners are available in the United States: Henrietta Rose-Innes’ Nineveh (Unnamed Press, $16, 9781939419972); Dust (Granta, $16.95, 9781783781027)

by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, which was also a Washington Post Notable Book; and Lyrics Alley (Grove Press, $15, 9780802145758) by Leila Aboulela.

Chinese authors vie for several prominent literary prizes, which cover works in various genres. One of those that recognizes novels is the Mao Dun Literary Prize. The recent winning titles are only available in Chinese, but some other titles by the same authors are available in English, including Jin Yucheng’s A Nest of Nine Boxes (Shanghai Press, $13, 959781602202542) and Ge Fei’s The Invisibility Cloak (New York Review Books Classics, $14.95, 9781681370200).

The Miguel de Cervantes Prize is awarded to Spanishlanguage authors for lifetime achievement rather than a particular work. Many of the winners’ works are still only available in Spanish, but others are published by Indie or small presses in English. Dalkey Archive Press, for example, has published News from the Empire by Fernando Del Paso ($16.95, 9781564785336), as well as Juan Goytisolo Gay’s Exiled from Almost Everywhere ($13.95, 9781564786357).

Japanese authors have many literary prizes open to them, including the Mystery Writers of Japan Award, which is notable because it sometimes gives the nod to books that can be enjoyed by young adults as well as by older readers. Sadly, English translation of these titles is not the norm, but English-language readers can try Kazuki Sakuraba’s Red Girls: The Legend of the Akakuchibas (Haikasoru, $15.99, 9781421578576,) and Keigo Higashino’s Naoko (Vertical, $14.95, 9781932234077).

Australia has no lack of literary awards, and true to the country’s roots, some of them are bestowed by the Crime Writers Association of Australia as the Ned Kelly Awards. The “Neddies” recognize several works in various crime subgenres annually, some of them available in the United States. This year, Adrian McKinty’s Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly (Seventh Street Books, $15.95, 9781633882591) won best novel, while The Drowned Man: A True Story of Life, Death and Murder on HMAS Australia,

by Brendan James Murray (Echo Publishing, $9.99, ASIN B01HEI540G), was recognized as one of the best works of true crime.

France’s Prix Goncourt is awarded to a novel written in French, and most winners are from France, though some writers from Belgium, Morocco, and elsewhere have been recognized too. Unlike some deeper-pocketed literary prizes—the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature receives more than a millions dollars, for example—the purse is a tiny 10 Euro, though the author becomes an instant millionaire anyway due to the sudden burst of sales sparked by the award.

The 2017 recipient has just been announced; it is The Order of the Day, by Eric Vuillard. This book is not yet available in English, but the author’s The Sorrow of the Earth (9781782272212; $19.95) has been published in English by Steerforth Press. The most recent Prix Goncourt-winning novel that is available in English is Mathias Énard’s Compass (New Directions, $26.95, 9780811226622).

Israel is another country whose authors have several literary competitions open to them. One is the Sapir Prize, which recognizes works written in Hebrew by an Israeli resident. Dalkey Archive Press has released the most recent winning book, Orly Castel-Bloom’s An Egyptian Novel (9781943150229; $15), and Yoram Kaniuk’s winning novel 1948 is published by the New York Review of Books as a Kindle ebook ($9.99, ASIN B0082Z8228).

Enjoy your armchair travels!

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MYSTERY/THRILLERS DELICIOUS DEATH

by Henrietta Verma

Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

by Sarah Graves.

(Kensington. $25.

9781496711281)

turned author who assumes a new identity after a breakdown from Every year, gourmet bakery The which he can’t fully return. The Chocolate Moose crafts chocolate author is left second-guessing the cheesecakes for a fundraiser that’s people and events in his new life, a headlining event in the small, which helps when they’re actually downeast Maine town of Eastport.

It’s that time again and Jacobia (Jake) untrustworthy. Approached by a mysterious Belgian who wants and her business partner, Ellie, are ready to roll when Jake finds a body Caskey to tail a local man, Caskey gets in deeper than asked and head-down in a vat of chocolate. things get rough There are worse physically as ways to go, but the well as mentally. timing couldn’t Also having a be worse—the turbulent time is fundraiser keeps one of Caskey’s demanding more characters, P.I. and more of the Billy Chapman, bakery’s to-diewho’s treading for goods while the same Belfast Jake and Ellie streets as Caskey, resume their but in 1949. side jobs as town Chapman’s story, sleuths. Sarah told in chapters Graves’ Death by that alternate with Chocolate Cherry the present-day Cheesecake, story, show that which is perfect post-war Belfast for chilly was no quaint evenings, has the idyll. Like his feel of a cozy. There are no vicars fictional creator, Chapman is forced or knitting, granted, but other to take on work that sees him necksubgenre tropes—yummy food, local deep in shady characters and lifegrudges, and family worries—are lavished on readers here, along with threatening situations. Maltman’s narrative deftly switches between a cracking mystery that takes the the past and present, and between lid off Eastport’s quaintness. Cozies seemingly genteel foreigners and are enamored of groan-worthy grittier Belfast natives. Both stories titles, and potential readers of this end in unexpected and tense ways book, as well as of Graves’s earlier and will leave readers ready for titles starring Jake Tiptree, such more from Maltman—happily, this as Dead Cats Bounce and Mallets standalone work is the second in a Aforethought, should know that the author’s plots and writing are far less series, after A Chaser on the Rocks.

Maltman provided us with silly than the titles may suggest. A bonus is the appended recipe for the a playlist for this book: check it out on our website cheesecakes that star in the book. at indiepicksmag.com/ mystery-112018/ MUSIC AND MYSTERY

If there’s a job in which mental A Kill for the Poet by Simon Maltman. (Solstice illness is a benefit, it might be Publishing. $12.99. writing—at least, it helps Brian 9781625266774) Tonight You’re Dead by Viveca Sten. (Amazon Crossing, $10.99, 9781542048538)

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Caskey, the intriguing main character in Simon Maltman’s A Kill for the Poet. Caskey is a Northern Irish police officer

STOCKHOLM SUSPENSE Tonight You’re Dead, the gripping fourth mystery in Sten’s successful Sandhamn Murders series, gives readers another front-row seat on

the struggles of lawyer Nora Linde.

This time, Nora is taking the first, leaden steps of figuring out divorced life when her childhood friend Detective Thomas Andreasson gets in touch with a welcome distraction: he needs help with a case that has ties to an island military installation near Linde’s Sandhamn home. After taking a half-hearted look at the case of a young man who was found hanged—whose family insists that it can’t be suicide—Andreasson finds that the student’s recent activities involve an elite military group, the Coastal Rangers. The narrative moves back and forth among various characters and between the present-day investigation and the Rangers’ isolated, Spartan military base in the post-World War II period.

Sten excels at keeping readers at attention. Her descriptions of policework, the characters’ troubled personal lives, and, especially, the brutal life at Coastal Rangers bootcamp, are immersive and sometimes flinch-causing reading.

(Think recruits being forced to run while their feet have blistered down to the bone.) Suggest this to fans of the Sandhamn Murders TV series and of Arnaldur Indridason’s The Shadow District, another skillful Scandinavian mystery with present-day and wartime intrigues.

AmazonCrossing is the company’s imprint for translated works; it’s offerings are well worth checking out for titles from all over the world.

SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY SPACE OPERA

this is a much more diverse entry in the space opera genre than is Wright’s 1988 space opera is being usually available today—let alone brought back as an e-book and is as in 1988. Wright’s novel is highly exciting today as it was for those who encountered in its first printing. recommended not only for those looking for more diversity in their A Matter of Oaths is set in a world SF, but for anyone interested in an where dueling immortal emperors engaging and well-written space perpetuate an endless stalemate opera adventure. through contracts with the Guild of Webbers, a group of pilots with specially developed nervous systems THE DEAD RETURN who are attached to ships through As hazy images of the dead (or cyberpunk-style contacts. In the “smokes”) appear with increasing midst of this world is Rafe, a Webber frequency all over California, whose memories have been altered chance brings together two men for allegedly breaking the Guild’s drawn to Los Angeles by figures oath of service to both empires, but from their past. Marvin Dietz, whose past and present seem much the reincarnation of Joan of Arc’s more mysterious than that simple executioner drawn to L.A. after explanation allows. With characters seeing a woman claiming to be of various races and ethnicities Joan reborn on television, is picked whose sexualities are fluid (and up hitchhiking by Mike Vale, a some of whom enter into very former artist and current alcoholic matter-of-fact gay relationships), attending his ex-wife’s funeral.

Rosson’s Smoke City chronicles Marvin and Mike’s journey to L.A. while also delving into their pasts and the history of the mysterious smokes. Rosson creates a fantasy in which a very real world of human relationships filled with common concerns such as forgiveness and guilt mixes with fantastic elements in a seemingly straightforward way, similar to the slipstream style of writers such as Kelly Link, Ted Chiang, and Jonathan Lethem.

Smoke City is an involving

and engrossing blend of fantasy and the everyday, and is highly recommended to anyone looking for the sort of book that allows a reader to get lost within its pages.

URBAN FANTASY When bizarre crimes start being committed by ordinary citizens who suddenly seem possessed, Agent “Sully” Sullivan, a powerful witch and investigator for the British Imperial Bureau of Investigation, is on the case. Set in a world where the

British empire never fell and magic and demons are commonplace, Penman’s The Year of the Knife follows Sullivan as she attempts to unravel the mysterious force behind these apparently random crimes as well as deal with the various other pressures in her life, such as her on-and-off relationship with her vampire girlfriend, whomever or whatever turned her former boss into a colorful macaw, and attempting to negotiate for information with a demon trapped in an antique doll. Penman creates an energetic and breezy narrative filled with a likable and diverse array of characters. While the exact details of the alternate history of Sully’s world can be a little confusing, fans of urban fantasy, stories featuring LGBT characters, and those looking for a fun and energetic read are highly encouraged to give it a look.

by Alan Keep

A Matter of Oaths

by Helen S. Wright.

(Bloomsbury Caravel, $7.99, 9781448216963) Smoke City by Keith Rosson. (Meerkat Press, $26.95, 9781946154163) Starlings by Jo Walton.

(Tachyon Publications, $15.95, 9781616960568 The Year of the Knife

by G.D. Penman.

(Meerkat Press, $16.95, 9780996626286)

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AN ATTACK ON ORLANDO, DEVASTATING A NATION.

For the first time, survivors speak about one of the worst mass shootings in American history. Utilizing survivor interviews, re-enactments, and police footage, this documentary examines the Orlando Night Club shooting.

DOCUMENTARY 818506022774

Order today at midwesttape.com Library digital available on

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Available March 6

AUTHORS EXPLORING THE BOUNDARIES OF SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY Try some books by the most engaging new writers in the genre and by established authors whose groundbreaking works have been re-released in new editions.

Samuel R. Delany Delany, one of the central figures of the ’70s wave of authors who explored race, gender, and sexuality in science fiction, is also one of the most diverse and experimental prose stylists in the genre. Many of the author’s most essential books such as those in his Nevèrÿon series, have been republished as e-books by Open Road Media. These gender- and sexuality-exploring sword and sorcery novels include Tales of Nevèrÿon (Open Road Media, $11.99, 9780819562708) and Dhalgren (Open Road Media, $17.99, 9780375706684), in which a man known as the Kid moves through various marginalized communities in the city of Bellona as it suffers from a strange, reality-altering disaster. Many of Delany’s influential SF criticism collections, such as The Jewel-Hinged Jaw: Notes on the Language of Science Fiction (Wesleyan University Press, $21.99, 9780819568830), were some of the earliest to explore issues of gender and sexuality as well as the nature of science fiction as a form.

Gwyneth Jones Jones is famous for exploring themes of gender, sexuality, and colonialism, particularly through The Aleutian Trilogy. First published in the 1990s, the trilogy, made up of White Queen (Aqueduct Press, $7.95, 9780312890131), North Wind (Aqueduct Press, $7.95, 9780312863968), and Phoenix Café (Aqueduct Press, $7.95, 9780312868345) are once again available, in e-book form. Exploring the ways in which humans are changed and transformed by an encounter with aliens whose technology, biology, and concepts of gender and the self are radically different than humanity’s, The Aleutian Trilogy is one of the most important explorations of gender and sexuality in SF. Other works of interest by Jones include follow-ups to the trilogy, Spirit: The Princess of Bois Dormant (Aqueduct Press, $7.95, 9781619760202) and The Buonarotti Quartet (Aqueduct Press, $10, 9781933500294), both of which explore the aftermath of teleportation technology that transforms the boundaries between human and alien worlds.

NEW WORLDS:

Yoon Ha Lee Lee’s breathtaking Machineries of Empire trilogy, beginning with his debut novel, Ninefox Gambit (Solaris, $6.99, 9781849979924) and continuing with this year’s Raven Stratagem (Solaris, $6.99, 9781786180469), presents a space opera setting in which gender and sexuality are relatively free, but in which a rigid calendar-based social system is enforced in order to enable the functioning of bizarre and powerful technologies. Following infantry captain Kel Cheris as she is given custody of the undead arch-traitor General Shuos Jedao, Lee’s work explores both the horrors of war and the intricate strangeness of his space opera setting. Lee’s earlier short fiction collection Conservation of Shadows (Prime, $6.99, 9781607013983) includes both SF similar to his later novels as well as some of his fantasy stories.

by Alan Keep

Sofia Samatar In her widely acclaimed novels A Stranger in Olondria (Small Beer Press, $9.99, 9781931520775) and The Winged Histories (Small Beer Press, $14.95, 9781618731159), Samatar’s achingly beautiful prose style creates a fantasy world that not only is miles away from the vaguely European fantasy standard but that also has such weight and heft to it that it feels as if the reader has discovered a memoir from another world.

Moving from war and religious conflict to the intimate memories and visions of her protagonists, Samatar’s writing is some of the most absorbing and poetic in fantasy today. Much of the author’s equally beautiful and engaging short fiction has been recently collected in Tender (Small Beer Press, $14.99, 9781618731272) and is also highly recommended.

Benjanun Sriduangkaew In addition to Sriduangkaew’s recent queer science fantasy Winterlight (Apex Publications, $10.95, 9781937009625), which combines the fairy tale The Snow Queen with a ghost-haunted Southeast Asian influenced space setting, Sriduangkaew’s other work is of interest to anyone interested in exploring sexuality, gender, and post-colonial themes. The urban fantasy Scalebright (Immersion Press, $2.99, 9780956392497) follows the young mortal Julienne who, despite the warnings of her divine aunts, the mythical Houyi and her wife Chang’e, becomes drawn into the magical world beneath the surface of modern Hong Kong.

Sriduangkaew’s prose is some of the most intricate and lovely writing out there, and Scalebright is no exception.

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NONFICTION OH MY FUR AND WHISKERS! Rare will be the reader who doesn’t identify with at least one level of furry fandom after reading Strike’s lively pop culture history, Furry Nation: The True Story of America’s Most Misunderstood Subculture. One of the more delightful trends in publishing in recent years has been social histories

by Kaite of various fandoms. “Geeking out” Mediatore is out of the closet and marching Stover proudly in the mainstream. Strike joins the parade with his honest, respectful examination of Furry culture from fandom to community and points out “this is a very human story.” Strike namechecks the Bible, pre-historic art, Greek mythology, sports mascots, the automotive industry, and the magic of Disney (just for starters) to show how global cultures have made use of anthropomorphic creatures. He doesn’t shy away from the more questionable elements of Furs— people who live like the animals they love (Boomer the Dog has been interviewed by Dr. Furry Nation: The True Phil and referenced Story of America’s

by Jimmy Kimmel); Most Misunderstood Subculture by Joe the sexualization Strike. (Cleis Press, of cartoon animals (Disney has $17.95, 9781627782326) done this more than once or twice), Mean by Myriam Gurba. and the common idea that “Furry” (Coffee House Press, equals “sex in a fur suit” (less than $16.95, 9781566894913) 2.5% of the entire fandom will risk Not a Crime to Be Poor: their expensive, custom-made fur The Criminalization of suits). Give this book to teens and Poverty in America by adults with a spirited curiosity in Peter Edelman. (The New Press, $26.95, popular culture. Display it with 9781620971635) all the other pop-culture histories in the library’s collection, such as Quackery: A Brief History of the Candyfreak: A Journey through the Worst Ways to Chocolate Underbelly of America by Cure Everything by Steve Almond; Masters of Doom: Lydia Kang and Nate How Two Guys Created an Empire and Pedersen. (Workman, $22.95, 9780761189817) Transformed Pop Culture by David

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Kushner; and Harry, a History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon by Melissa Anelli.

HAUNTINGLY FAMILIAR Many readers enjoy memoirs for the pleasures of connecting with individuals who live different lives in different parts of the world, sometimes in different time periods.

But Gurba’s forceful and unique memoir, Mean, will likely conjure the very recent #MeToo connections for some readers. This blended memoir—a little true crime mixed with several paranormal elements— is haunting and mesmerizing. It is a trainwreck of a memoir (in the best possible way). Readers may want to tear their eyes from her searing words and the horrendous acts they describe, but Gurba’s haunting, ethereal, earthy wordsmithing won’t allow it. This slim volume of poetic vignettes opens with the sexual assault of a transient woman in a neighborhood park. This crime and the soul of the young woman take up residence in Gurba’s psyche for reasons revealed later in the book. It’s a tense build up to the climactic reveal of the rapist and the connection he has with Gurba.

In the meantime, the author offers scenes from her childhood dealing with schoolmates and neighbors who are befuddled by this vibrant, garrulous, mixed-race Chicana child. Gurba’s understated humor and inventive wordplay provide necessary lightness when the mood verges on the maudlin. Readers

won’t believe they are absorbing brutally honest descriptions of molestation, rape, and assault in such poetic, lyrical language. Mature teens who are budding writers will identify with Gurba’s gimlet-eyed high-school observations. A great option for book groups that enjoy memoirs with an unusual story arc and innovative voice such as Tara Clancy’s The Clancys of Queens.

NF TOP PICK If readers feel an overwhelming rage after reading Edelman’s Not a Crime to Be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America, they will be completely justified. Edelman uses real people (some names changed) and their all-too-real, horrific situations to demonstrate the injustices rained on the poor simply because they are poor. In clear, accessible language, the author explains laws, policies, and circumstances that adversely affect working-class people of color.

A simple traffic ticket fine can result in a working mother losing her job, custody of her children, and being evicted from her home. A homeless person can be arrested for sleeping, sitting, or eating in a public place.

Edelman isn’t mincing words here, and he wants every reader to understand the cyclical nature of criminalizing the poor, homeless, and mentally ill. He draws a clear connection between poverty and the disparities of the public policies concerning addiction treatment, public housing, and public benefits that are designed to help, not hinder. Edelman’s narrative is compelling—readers may be turning the pages in abhorrence, but they won’t stop until the last endnote is read. An eminently readable book suitable for book groups and every public library collection, pair this with Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, and Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder.

PAGING DR. GOOGLE Who hasn’t Googled a symptom or ailment in an effort to reach an instant diagnosis or save the co-pay? Readers might think twice about taking medical advice from the world wide web after reading Quackery: A Brief History of the

Worst Ways to Cure Everything.

Physician-writer Kang and librarian-journalist Pedersen have teamed up to pen a collection of “medical oddities and morbid curiosities.” From head to toe (and including animal, vegetable, and mineral), Kang and Pedersen look at the outrageous ways surgeons, barbers, midwives, kings, and presidents have tried to cure various ills. Writing in a breezy style (think Jerry Lewis-meetsMarcus Welby in tone), Kang and Pedersen describe grisly practices and the underdeveloped scientific thought driving the practitioners of the time. This is not a book for the faint of heart.

It’s a gleefully gruesome compendium of medical horrors.

Trivia buffs will enjoy adding to their store of arcane knowledge.

Horror fans who think true crime is too tame will blanch at some of

these entries. Some readers may feel there’s a few too many quips and witticisms, but those serve to keep the mood light when the subject matter gets gory. The research, history, and facts go down easily.

A fun gift for the recent medicalschool grad and a sure bet for readers who get a kick out of Mary Roach’s popular science books.

Photo Credit: Davidson Luna

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AUTHORS ON THE MOVE:

jen lancaster by Rebecca Vnuk

Jen Lancaster is the best-selling author of memoirs (including Bitter is the New Black and Pretty in Plaid), women’s fiction (such as Here I Go Again and Twisted Sisters) and YA fiction (The Gatekeepers). She recently went out of her comfort zone to take the non-traditional route to self-publish a return to her memoir roots, Stories I’d Tell in Bars. Here, she tells IndiePicks readers all about her path to self-publishing and what she thinks is next on the horizon.

Lancaster’s memoirs and novels alike have, up until now, been published by Big Five publishing houses. As a long-time fan of hers, I was quite curious to know what led her to take Stories I’d Tell in Bars out on her own.

“In early 2017, I gained a new agent and a new publishing house.

But I had to walk away from a deal with a Big Five publisher,” she explains. “They wanted something I didn’t really want to write.” Lancaster has a huge following on social media, and she heard loud and clear from them that they wanted her to return to her snarky and humorous memoirs. “With this many books under my belt, I know who I am as a writer, and I know what my audience likes,” she says. “My agent and the publisher were telling me, ‘You’re showing us Old Jen L., we want New Jen L.’ Well, I don’t know what that means! I know my readers are constantly asking me for more memoirs, so why were the publishers so far behind that curve?”

“Traditional publishing is someone guessing what people want for dinner in two years, while indie publishing is what’s on the menu right now.”

When asked what some of the pros and cons were to striking out on her own, she replies, “It’s been the best

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experience of my publishing career. I’m responsible for my own decisions and accountable to myself. And, Stories I’d Tell in Bars sold more copies in its first two weeks than any of my 14 traditionally published books.”

(Stories I’d Tell in Bars is available in e-book via Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com, and Apple iBooks. The paperback is also available.) She goes on to state that, “It’s been an interesting experience cutting out the middleman. Most of the publicity here has been word-of-mouth, and it’s been great. Working with Amazon and Apple, I can get copies out to fans faster than I would have expected.”

But it hasn’t been without a learning curve. “I realized immediately that when self-publishing, you MUST get an outside copyeditor. It’s not enough to think you’re a good enough writer, and you can’t just have your friends look it over for you. A professional will find things you never knew were there.”

I was also eager to know more about Lancaster’s writing process. “For me, the most important part of the process is to always have a piece of paper within reach. What I’ve been learning in the Second City class I’m currently taking—and which I’ve already lived—is that the second inspiration hits, write it down. Or voice record or note in your phone or whatever works for you.” She tells the story of her trip a few years ago to South by Southwest, where she had been invited to speak on the topic, “Balance Is Bullshit.” “Ostensibly,” she says, “they wanted to know how I juggled multiple writing projects. Let me tell you how much the tech people were impressed with my paper note cards and manila file folders. I have not been invited back.”

In terms of ideas, she notes that many of them come from dreams. “My dreams are generally boring, as they’re often a literal rehash of my day. But occasionally, there will be some topic front of mind that my subconscious shapes unexpectedly. For example, a few years ago, my husband was organizing his high-school class reunion and it was a total goat rodeo. He spent so much time complaining about it that this subject worked its way into my dreams and that’s what

fiction, my favorite thing to write is whatever’s next.”

And what is next? “It’s hard to say!” she exclaims. “Agents say one thing, publishers say another, my fan base says something else entirely. Do I put the same product out to the same places who will pitch it to the same audience but somehow expect different sales?” She is vehement that this is exactly why hybrid publishing is where it’s at for her. “Self-publishing is a great way to maintain control.

Everything in publishing is so uncertain, and if it’s up to me, I can quickly adapt. Traditional publishing is someone guessing what people want for dinner in two years, while indie publishing is what’s on the menu right now.”

“When I first started my blog, which spawned my first memoir, I had hoped to get a newspaper column out of it. Instead, I gained a whole career as a memoirist, then novelist. Who knows what happens next?” She’s not sure what the future holds, saying that, “This has been a great experience, and I’m not opposed to going totally indie again.” inspired Here I Go Again, a magical realism novel about high- school mean girls, time travel, and Whitesnake.”

She jokes, “P.S., his reunion went well and it was my first book to ever receive three starred reviews. Hooray for goat rodeos!”

Visit jenlancaster.com for more information about Jen and her books, and follow her on social media: facebook.com/AuthorJenLancaster; and twitter.com/altgeldshrugged.

Outside of dreaming up crazy scenarios, she tells me that most of her ideas come from simply paying attention. “Every writer is a skilled observer of human behavior,” she notes. “What makes them a pro is the discipline to turn what they see into pages.” She elaborates, “When I have a project due, writing becomes my day job. I’m up at my desk—the only place I can write—by 9:00 AM, and I work until I reach a stopping point. I can’t work in coffee shops because I’m too busy minding everyone else’s business. My reward for hitting word count is a shower. And, yes, there have been days I’ve cooked dinner in my pajamas. But I’ve never missed a deadline.”

When asked the difference between writing fiction and writing memoirs, Lancaster explains that, “Nonfiction is so much easier than fiction because it’s simply putting my spin on events as they transpired. I don’t have to get into anyone’s head but my own. For me, fiction is a much greater challenge as I need to understand not only the plot but also the characters’ motivation.” She dives further, noting that, “When writing a novel with more than one narrator, like I did with The Gatekeepers or The Best of Enemies, I kept a style sheet on each narrator, noting the proclivities of their speech. One might favor short, declarative sentences, while another might ramble. One might refrain from cursing, while another’s thoughts may be entirely blue. While I prefer

Photo Credit: Jolene Siana

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PUBLISHER SPOTLIGHT:

&L OW BO OK S

LEE by Rebecca Vnuk

Every issue, we like to take a look at an indie publisher. Jason Low is the publisher and a co-owner of Lee & Low Books, the largest multicultural children’s book publisher in the United States. Founded in 1991, Lee & Low celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016. That same year, the Eric Carle Museum selected Lee & Low as the recipient of its Angel Award for the company’s dedication to diverse books and to a new generation of artists and authors who offer children both mirrors and windows to the world.

IndiePicks: Please introduce us to Lee & Low Books.

JASON: Based in New York City, the mission of Lee & Low Books is to publish books for children that are about everyone and for everyone. Our books focus on diverse characters from minority backgrounds (ethnicities), sexual orientations, and disabilities. We were founded over 25 years ago, and through our own publishing efforts and other acquisitions, we are now the largest multicultural children’s book publisher in the United States.

IndiePicks: Why is diversity in publishing—especially children’s publishing—so important?

JASON: The company mission is to fill the void caused by the lack of diverse books available for children.

This “representation deficit” has been tracked and studied for over two decades by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) in Madison, Wisconsin. The CCBC’s statistics show that the number of diverse books each year amounts to just 10% of all books published. This becomes more confounding when compared to the U.S. Census Bureau 2015 report (census.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/2015/cb15-tps16.html) that children under the

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age of five years old became majority-minority. The US Census predicts that by 2020, children under the age of eighteen will be majority-minority. So then why are publishers not publishing books that accurately reflect what children look like today? The main reason is the publishing workforce is predominantly white. While this was never a secret, our team felt the need quantify this further. In 2016, we created and distributed the first publishing staff survey called the Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS). (See blog.leeandlow.com/2016/01/26/ where-is-the-diversity-in-publishing-the-2015-diversitybaseline-survey-results for more information.) The survey was distributed to 8 major review journals and 34 publishers. Over 13,000 surveys were deployed.

The results were not surprising, but very telling: the industry is overwhelmingly white at 79%, cis-women 78%, heterosexual 88%, and able bodied/without a disability 92%. The one exception is at the corporate/ executive levels, which showed boardrooms tended to be more evenly staffed by white men at 40%. So, while not perfectly aligned to the CCBC numbers, the DBS numbers were strikingly similar and the lack of diversity in books reflects this data.

Publishing is not unlike other industries, which also struggle with their own diversity problems. Over the years, we have generated various awareness campaigns like the Diversity Gap Studies (blog.leeandlow. com/2014/02/20/wheres-the-diversity-hollywood-85years-of-the-academy-awards). Our hope is to keep the conversation going and find new ways to talk about why diversity matters.

IndiePicks: Share a company triumph or a moment you’re most proud of.

JASON: We have had much to celebrate over the years.

For starters, the quality of the books has always been a top priority for us. For a press our size, we receive a considerable number of starred reviews (16 stars in 2017), which is a testament to the authors, editorial staff, and the fascinating stories we continue to discover.

Another thing worth mentioning is the relentless, methodical way that we have pursued solutions to the

diversity problem: Through our publishing program we have filled the gap in history textbooks by publishing books about people who have made significant contributions to society, but have somehow been omitted from the narrative. Recent examples are: Tiny Stitches (NAACP Image Award winner) about medical pioneer Vivien Thomas, who invented the surgical procedure to prevent blue baby syndrome; and Marti’s Song for Freedom/Martí’s versos por la libertad, a bilingual picture book about José Martí, a brilliant Cuban political writer and courageous fighter for freedom.

We believe the key to cultivating a growing, thriving pool of authors of color depends on actually nurturing more of them. We launched two writing contests: The New Voices Award for unpublished picture book authors of color and The New Visions Award for unpublished middle grade/ YA authors of color. Worth noting, the 2017 New Voices Award attracted 59% more aspiring authors than in 2016.

to police brutality have not subsided and have only gained traction as the #takeaknee protests in the NFL and high schools across the country have become more widespread. I Am Alfonso Jones was just added to the 2017 Best Books for Teens list by the New York Public Library.

As the political rhetoric from the oval office increases, it is by no coincidence that the majority of our newest titles happen to fit nicely into a #resist roundup. Ahimsa and Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh are set during the Gandhi era and the peaceful-protest movements.

Likewise, Simon Ortiz’s The People Shall Continue, a groundbreaking picture book originally released in 1977, was recently republished and has proven that it has not lost its cultural or political edge.

"We are taking participants from the first spark of inspiration all the way to having something tangible to share."

When we learned that young adult readers were having trouble finding books that featured diverse characters, we launched our Tu Books imprint in 2010.

Recently, we took note of the lack of diverse early reader books and responded by creating our “Dive Into Reading” series. We’ve published seven books under this series since 2015. Next, we plan to address the lack of diversity in the chapter book format with “The Story of…” series, planned for release in 2018.

IndiePicks: What do you like about being an independent publisher?

JASON: Although I have never worked for a large publishing house, I have worked for many other companies before entering the field 20 years ago. What I like about working for an independent publisher is our ability to make concrete plans and act on those plans.

In the early days of the company, there was no lack of good ideas, but the main hurdle was our modest size and lack of resources. We could only offer to publish the books and send them out for reviews. Today, we have the resources to publish more books than ever before and have developed the ability to support our books in different and meaningful ways that will reach a larger audience.

Thinking long-term, we partnered with Simmons College and their alumni to form The Lee & Low and Friends Scholarship The $100,000 scholarship fund will provide students of color, destined for publishing, financial support toward completing their degrees.

We hope this will begin to address the issue of a predominately white publishing staff by helping more people of color to consider publishing as a career. A little early financial support could potentially go a long way.

IndiePicks: What do you have in the works right now?

JASON: Our latest graphic novel, I Am Alfonso Jones was just released this fall. The reception has been extraordinary and the book’s powerful message of opposing wrongful police shootings could not have come at a better time. As we’ve seen, issues related

23

CHILDREN’S TOP PICK

by Erin Downey Howerton

Two writers come together to write a story of classmates in the image of their younger selves in Can I Touch Your Hair?Hesitant to tackle an assigned project together, the younger Irene and Charles are a study in contrasts: one shy and white, the other talkative and black. But as they write the series of poems that makes up the book, they learn of surprising similarities and deep differences between their

a desire to continue writing and learning together. This thoughtful journey through the hearts of two elementary schoolers is brought to life by married illustrators Sean Qualls and Selina Alko using acrylics, colored pencil, and collage, observing in the end notes that the mixed media artwork reflects their own collaboration. This deeply heartfelt book embraces children’s curiosities and growing awareness of the world around them, and will spur lots of dialogue around dinner tables and in classrooms. As Irene and Charles discover through their writing, having these conversations is the key to new understandings.

An important and notable book on race and culture. [Ages 9-12] NOBODY HERE BUT US CHICKENS

Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko. (Carolrhoda Books, $17.99, 9781512404425) I Got a Chicken for My Birthday by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Sarah Horne. (Carolrhoda Books, $17.99, 9781512431308) Miriam’s Secret by Debby Waldman. (Orca, $10.95, 9781459814257) A Sky Full of Stars by Linda Williams Jackson.

(HMH Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 9780544800656) Wrestling Dreams

by Colt Cabana and Sam Weisz. Illustrated

by Erica Weisz.

(Trism Books, $14.95, 9780988833876)

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lives. Charles struggles with soul food traditions as a new vegan, the indignities of kids touching his hair without permission, and rejection from peers who value black styles but not the people who originated them. Irene observes the homogeneousness of her church, mysterious rejections from her black classmates, and hearing about police violence secondhand from her father, who doesn’t want her to watch the news. Moments of reconciliation ring true for this age group—the children reach out awkwardly to each other, not always knowing how to say what’s in their heart. Despite setbacks and misunderstandings, Irene and Charles bond over a shared love of writing and their favorite author, Nikki Grimes, and end the book with a hopeful nod towards the future, expressing

In I Got a Chicken for My Birthday, an unexpected birthday gift from Abuela Lola sends Ana into a tizzy.

Tickets to her favorite amusement park would have been better than this demanding, strange chicken!

The reader soon realizes that the unexpected fowl is part of a family tradition, and that the chicken recruits all the family pets to help him build an amusement park from scratch just for Ana. The over-thetop concept is enhanced

by Horne’s zany, colorful illustrations that showcase this enterprising chicken as he hammers and bulldozes the park to life. The story ends with a clear invitation for a sequel, as the reader realizes that the chickens Abuela Lola gifts are able to accomplish things that are truly out of this world! A delightfully wacky read. [ages 3-7]

DEPRESSION-ERA FICTION In Miriam’s Secret, city girl Miriam is sent to live with her grandparents, Bubby and Zayde, on their upstate New York farm while her parents travel to fetch young relatives from Europe. Although at first things are unfamiliar and unsettling, Miriam soon gains her footing and confidently begins to explore her new environment. Waldman’s warm, loving depiction of a Russian Jewish family during the Depression is a cozy read that will be treasured by young readers, many of whom will relate to the fish-out-of-water element of her story. Miriam’s comforts, such as family traditions, chatting with the transient men who work with Zayde, and the new kittens in the barn help her adjust to her temporary circumstances.

Miriam’s faith informs her decisions, especially when she is confronted by an ethical dilemma.

As Passover approaches, Waldman weaves religious traditions into the narrative and uses the holiday to drive the plot forward, giving Miriam an opportunity to form an unexpected friendship. As she learns that the best way to overcome the feeling of being an outsider is to invite more people into their circle, Miriam discovers that

with force. Jackson seamlessly weaves the political together with the personal, addressing Rose’s underage pregnant cousin, Rose’s determination to finish school, and her longing to know her father. A multi-faceted look at the choices young black youth faced in 1955 Mississippi. [Ages 10-14]

art compliments the story, a bright and cheerful watercolor rendering of Colt’s world both in and out of the ring. Young readers will remind themselves that Colt didn’t give up on his big dream, and neither should they. [Ages 4-9]

A NEW FAVORITE

her long wait is also an opportunity to grow. [Ages 8-10] CIVIL RIGHTS FICTION A Sky Full of Stars picks up where Jackson’s previous novel, Midnight Without a Moon, left off. Rose Lee’s community is still reeling from the Emmett Till murder and other crimes against blacks in Mississippi.

Her friend, Hallelujah, prods their fellow middle-schoolers to march and protest, but cousin Shorty thinks violence and fear is the more effective route.

With another cousin in jail for retaliating against a white employer and her uncle dead from the shock, Rose knows that things are bad and about to get worse. Jackson’s portrayal of the pre-Civil Rights era South is raw and honest, and readers will see the cruelty of the angry white community leaders as they take out their frustration with the NAACP and the black community in front of Rose and her classmates. The tension ratchets higher as Rose is forced closer to another pivotal decision in her life—to fight for civil rights with words and principles, or

“Please kayfabe,” reads a sign on young Colt’s clubhouse wall.

Instantly, little wrestling fans will know that this kid speaks their language. In Wrestling Dreams, we meet a young Colt Cabana before his career as a professional wrestler. Seen as too rowdy by the adults around him, Colt struggles to put together his own crew of babyfaces and heels so they can live out their wildest dreams of performing in front of a screaming crowd. It’s not just a love letter to wrestling, it’s also a touching tribute to Colt’s mom, who supports her little wrestler every step of the way.

When the big opportunity arrives, Colt straps on his dad’s (formerly forbidden) tie and jumps into the ring. Readers will cheer and race to try out their own wrestling moves after reading this one. Erica Weisz’s

ADVERTISE WITH US We are running our Charter Publisher Program offering special discounted rates through the March 2018 issue.

View our rate card online at

bit.ly/IndiePicksRateCard or call Naomi Blackburn at 361-356-1819 x402

25

YOUNG ADULT

by Magan Szwarek

Keeper by Kim Chance.

(North Star/Flux, $14.99, 9781635830125) Shoot the Moon by Kate Watson. (North Star/Flux, $14.99, 9781635830149) The Zanna Function

by Daniel Wheatley.

(Jolly Fish Press, $11.99, 9781631631689)

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YA URBAN FANTASY

TWISTY PLOT

Lainey’s focus on acing the SATs and graduating early from high school is interrupted by a chance encounter with a mysterious new boy, Ty, at a comic book convention and the appearance of a blood-stained woman only Lainey can see.

Determined to find a logical explanation for the apparition, Lainey, her best friend Maggie, and Ty uncover the incredible truth: Lainey is the last of a powerful line of witches and, like her mother, is a Keeper—the guardian of her family’s Grimoire and the only one with the power to unlock its secrets.

The first book in a planned series, this paranormal romance jumps back in forth in time, unraveling the secrets of Lainey’s family history through the eyes of Josephine, the blood-stained apparition who has crossed over to warn her of the dangers ahead. The Grimoire was stolen from her mother by a sinister warlock, who now has Lainey in his sights.

The lush writing, gothic settings, and star-crossed romance add up to a fun addition to the urban fantasy trend in YA fiction that shows no sign of slowing down.

In Shoot the Moon, the second book in Watson’s Seeking Mansfield series, wealthy and spoiled pretty-boy Tate is not a gambling addict (or so he says).

Despite having been seriously injured in a gambling-debt dispute, an intervention, a trip to rehab, and a regular date at Gamblers Anonymous meetings, he begins running an illegal poker club out of a friend’s swanky apartment until he is found out and cut off by his wealthy family.

Out of desperation, he takes his aunt up on her offer to join her campaign for local office as a paid intern and becomes embroiled in the bitter race against her rival—her brother-in-law, who is likely mob-connected.

Tate uncovers a political mystery, complicated by the presence of Alex, the adopted daughter of the rival, on his aunt’s campaign. Brisk pacing keeps the twisty plot moving as Tate negotiates his feelings for Alex and his broken relationships with his family while coming to terms with his gambling addiction.

Shoot the Moon is an engaging, fun novel with a protagonist just sympathetic enough to keep readers on his side despite his propensity for

making colossally selfish and short-sighted choices.

SPARKLING DEBUT Zanna Mayfield, a 14-old puzzleloving high achiever who lives with her grandfather, is anxiously awaiting the first day of school— her first day at the mysterious St. Pommeroy’s School for Gifted Children. After a confusing first day during which she narrowly escapes an elaborate metallurgical illusion, it is revealed to her by her rescuer, Dr. Mumble, that she is a Scientist, and that St. Pommeroy’s is devoted to training Scientists in the four basic functions of the universe: mathematics, physics, chemistry, and self, so they may learn to bend those functions for

their own purposes. Building upon this fascinating premise, The Zanna Function delivers an engrossing, action-packed story. Debut novelist Wheatly’s varied pacing transitions smoothly from introspective and emotional as Zanna acclimates to her new life to faster as the stakes are raised and her future is jeopardized by the mysterious woman who is bent on preventing her from continuing her education.

Although packed with scientific theory, the story provides enough context to keep it from feeling too burdensome.

BRE AKOUT

NOVELS OF 2018:

Check out a new year full of incredible soon-to-be-released indie reads!

interest in newcomer Liz, she becomes nervous that her series of detrimental mistakes won’t stay hidden for long and that those counting on her will fall to pieces.

As Good As True by Cheryl Reid (Lake Union, $15.95, 9781503949546. Available 2/1)

The Opposite of Never by Mary Kathleen Mehuron (SparkPress, $16.95, 9781943006502. Available 4/24)

The rumors and whispers all started when Anna Nassad invited the first black postman into her home for a drink of water. Only a few days later, Anna’s abusive husband is found dead and the community jumps to conclusions about the killer. In order to set the record straight and reconcile the relationships she has with those around her, Anna will have to confront the idea that she could lose everything she has ever worked for.

Kenny didn’t think life would go on after the passing of his wife but upon meeting Georgia, his life, along with those of his children, drastically changes in this story of adventure, new love, and unprecedented challenges.

As two of Kenny and Georgia’s respective children begin to fall in love with each other and fall into opiate abuse, the parents will be tested in ways they never saw coming.

Beautiful Illusion by Christie Nelson (She Writes Press, $16.95, 9781631523342. Available 5/1)

The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypole White (Lake Union, $14.95, 9781542048989. Available 1/16)

On a new utopian island, the population is fueled by the promise of building a new community focused on world peace and comradery. So when Lily Nordby gets the opportunity to take on an assignment on this new illustrious island, she knows she can’t turn it down. Wrapped up in a new world and a suspicious yet intriguing local, Lily finds herself in an unknown and possibly dangerous new place.

Struggling from mental illness, new mother Katie Mack lets her fears get in the way as she runs from her life, leaving a newborn baby and husband behind. Years later, having found time to heal, Katie accidentally runs into the daughter she never knew but is unable to reveal her true identity as she promised to change her name and not intervene. But as Katie discovers her daughter needs help, she must find a way to navigate the complicated reunion.

Entangled Moon by E.C. Frey (She Writes Press, $16.95, 9781631523892. Available 6/12)

Song of Isabel by Ida Curtis (She Writes Press, $16.95, 9781631523717. Available 4/17)

In one second, the perfect life Heather has worked so hard to create threatens to come crashing down all around her. The death of an ex-employee has Heather running back to her childhood friends and together, they must correct their past mistakes if they want to make things right again.

With dashes of historical detail, Song of Isabel tells the story of two young people who are brought back together by fate and a second chance to fall in love, despite their arranged marriages. Enduring damaging trials together in their dangerous journey to the court of King Louis, Lady Isabel and Lord Chetwynd will form an irreversible bond for which there will be serious consequences.

The Frontman by Ron Bahar (SparkPress, $16.95, 9781943006441. Available 4/3)

contributed by Ashley Johnson, Content Editor, SparkPoint Studio

Ron Bahar has always tried to please his Israeliimmigrant parents but when a relationship with Amy Andrews begins and his love for rock and roll music grows, he will have to make tough decisions about his future despite the expectations placed upon him in this fictionalized autobiography.

The Last Thing She Ever Did by Gregg Olsen (Thomas & Mercer, $15.95, 9781542046428. Available 1/1) New York Times-bestselling author Gregg Olsen creates a picturesque community with dark secrets in this January 2018 release. When one couple’s son goes missing and a mysterious neighbor takes a sudden

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Rock N’ Roll Savior Kurt Baker Delivers His “Lost Weekend” If someone tells you that rock n’ roll is dead, point them in the direction of Kurt Baker. He’s recently released his ninth collection of tunes, The Lost Weekend EP. An infectious burst of power pop and garage rock, The Lost Weekend EP is what Baker calls “a way to cleanse the palate in preparation for the upcoming new Kurt Baker Combo full-length album due out in 2018.”

Baker is a longtime stalwart of the indie scene. Before going solo, he played in the band The Leftovers, a peppy power pop trio that had a tremendous fanbase up and down the east coast of the United States. After they disbanded, Baker went solo and then built his own new band, the Kurt Baker Combo. 2015 saw the release of the band’s album In Orbit, and during their subsequent tour they played close to 100 shows in 8 countries around the world. All this hard work has paid off, as their newest single, “Girls Got Money,” was featured as “The Coolest Song in The World” on the nationally syndicated radio program and SiriusXM channel, Little Steven’s Underground Garage. “It’s been a huge honor to have the support of Little Steven,” notes Baker. “He really is keeping rock n’ roll alive with The Underground Garage. Working with him and his team at Wicked Cool Records has been great.”

The Lost Weekend EP is a short but powerful collection of tunes that Baker has stored up through the years.

The songs originated “from out-of-print singles, some obscure bonus tracks that were released internationally, and a few unreleased tunes” that were recorded all over the world, from Spain to Maine to Nashville. From start to finish, the record packs a punch for the listener, never letting up on Baker’s wild and catchy songwriting and performances. “Music brings me joy, and I want people to feel good when they hear my stuff,” he says.

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Being nine albums deep into a career is a great accomplishment for a songwriter these days. “I’m constantly writing and recording, and I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to release records with labels that are into rock n’ roll,” says Baker. The inspiration machine never turns off for him, and he’s always out there thinking of his next move. “There was a time when I would try and write a song or come up with an idea every day,” he notes. “As I get older, honestly, that’s started to become more difficult, but it’s all the more reason for me to try to stay active.” What keeps Baker and his sound fresh is that at the core, he is also as much of a fan of music as he is a creator. “It’s amazing how much good music continues to be released year after year. When I discover a new record, whether it was released in 2017 or 1967 and it blows my mind, I immediately want to sit down with the guitar or piano and write new stuff. I guess being a fan of music is what drives me to create music.”

When asked how he’s kept everything moving along for such a long time, Baker said that it was all “through making good connections and building relationships.”

Baker enjoys the freedom of being an independent musician, but also notes that the Internet has blown the door open to a Wild West-type atmosphere in the music industry. “Now everybody can be an independent artist, so you’ve got to navigate yourself through a whole mess of a musical black hole: bands that rock, bands that suck, managers, promoters, sleazy clubs, dirty hotels. . . it can get competitive, too,” he laments.

However, the ability to connect with others and stay true to his original aim is what has kept him afloat as an indie musician for so long. “Finding the right group of musicians and friends is so important. I love rock n’ roll, but the reality is that the world does not love rock n’ roll like they used to,” he says. “I couldn’t be happier to play rock, power pop, pop rock, whatever you want to call it these days. I know that at least some people enjoy it, I can make a small living off it, and it’s still very fun—fun is the most important part of it all!”

Those wanting to check out The Lost Weekend EP or the rest of Baker’s discography can find his work on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon. Up next on the agenda for the Kurt Baker Combo is a full-length album titled Let’s Go Wild!, coming out in 2018. “We’ll be hitting the road in Europe in April 2018 as well, and hopefully, we’ll be back in the States again soon! As our bassist, Juancho likes to say, ‘Keep a-goin’!” In the meantime, you can stay in touch with the Kurt Baker Combo at: kurtbakermusic.com, facebook.com/KurtBakerMusic, and wickedcoolrecords.com.

by Justin Hoenke

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