ABNA Books Online Newsletter Summer 2008
The contest that evolved into a community is growing strong on ABNA Books.com.
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Come back often. Tell your friends.
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ABNA Books continues to grow and evolve to meet the needs of the literary community. We have added a new page, the Small Press Collective. Participating Small Presses have listed their information and agreed to review the ABNA Books site for talent that may meet their needs. We invite all Small Presses to fill out the contact form if they would like to be added to the Small Press Collective. There is no cost for participation. We only ask that publishers notify us if they decide to sign an ABNA author.
Finding
Balance,
by Megan Bostic. "Is it possible to find time to
write while working, maintaining a household, and
attempting some kind of social life? If so, where
do you squeeze it in? I don't even work outside
the home and still barely find time to jot down a
chapter, paragraph, or even a sentence before it
slips into my middle aged, faulty memory abyss.
Ive had to be extremely creative when it comes to
my passion. Here are some ideas for how to squeeze
writing into your busy
schedule."(more)
Zen and the
Art of Writing, by Mark Fowler.
"If you could prove
God exists, should you? I don’t know who struggles
most with that question, my fictional protagonist,
Lowell Whaley, or me. If you can prove God,
doesn’t that take the whole faith thing out of the
equation?" (more)
Running the
Gauntlet,
Ian Thomas Healy. "There is a problem with most
writers. It is something that runs rampant through
nearly everything we do. No matter how much we are
writing, it is pervasive and insidious. It is even
running all through this paragraph. It is the
passive voice, and I hate it!" (more)
In
Our Words, Susanne O'Leary.
"Eight years ago,
when My first novel, Diplomatic
Incidents, was published, I thought: this
is it, I am an author, my career has taken off and
from now on, my books will be in the shops until I
decide to stop writing. I thought I would be
allowed to grow as a writer, building up a
readership over the next few years and the next
few novels, until I found my voice and wrote that
break-through novel, which might be my third or
fourth one. I expected my publisher help me
nurture my career, trust me to improve and go from
strength to strength. This belief proved to be a
complete fairytale." (more)
The Next
Step,
Julie Ann Shapiro. "Book marketing is not a solitary
event. It’s not like writing a book. It’s a social
process involving networking and promotions to
generate buzz about your book. One of the more fun
ways to get the momentum building is through
marketing collaboration with other authors."
(more)
Featured Published
Books
Read great fiction and nonfiction by ABNA
Authors!
Browse through our published books to read
works already available by these breakthrough
authors. These books are all available for purchase!
Here are few examples of what's available:
COOL by Mary
Walters
In these sixteen collected stories, Mary W. Walters
reveals the bizarre workings of seemingly normal
minds. Walters enlivens the commonplace, finds joy in
the intimate details of the surface, then takes her
readers into the infinitely varied landscape of the
mind with humor, clarity and purpose.
"She didn't want their
husbands, nor did the husbands want to leave their
wives. She'd thought of the affairs as good things,
small avalanches of intensity and passion in busy,
routine lives. Finished in their time - and with no
hard feelings afterward on either side. She had
always been careful, fastidiously circumspect. She
believed they’d left no victims.” From “Show Jumping”
Savage
Utopia
by Margaret Tanner
On board the convict ship taking them to the penal
colony of Australia, Maryanne Watson and Jake Smith
meet and fall in love. Jake hides a terrible secret
that will take him to the gallows if it ever comes
out. On arrival in Sydney, the lovers are separated.
Maryanne is forced to work for the lecherous Captain
Fitzhugh who attacks her. Fleeing into the wilderness
she meets up with Jake who has escaped from a chain
gang. They set up home in a hidden valley. When
Maryanne falls pregnant Jake risks everything to come
out of hiding to protect his fledgling family. Can
love triumph over such crushing odds?
Available
from www.whiskeycreekpress.com
JEN-ZEN AND
THE ONE SHOE DIARIES by
Julie Ann Shapiro
Brad Lynberry, a successful photographer is haunted
by the memory of Jen-Zen. He finds himself first
fascinated then obsessed with shoes but only lost
shoes! Is Brad driven by artistic inspiration or is
he going off the deep end like his sister fears? The
answer comes through encounters with his Grandma who
loves birds; a shaman named Red Hawk who tells him to
look in the shadows, and Jonathan the art collector
who leads him to Swansea where lost shoes keep
popping up in a display of whimsy. Time is running
out. Brad must unravel Jen-Zen s poetic riddles or go
mad trying.
FLASHES OF THE OTHER
WORLD by Julie Ann
Shapiro
Flashes
of the Other World is an intriguing collection of
short stories and one-act, to-the-point flash fiction
covering everything from dark family secrets and
death to lovers transforming into dinosaurs and
mental patients making a meal out of their mothers'
closets. Between the heartbreak, misunderstandings,
craziness and surrealism, Julie Ann Shapiro has
blended in some fantastic descriptions, funky yet
easy-to-relate to characters, and genius plot twists.
Available as an eBook from DPP
STORE
FINDING
MARGOT by Susanne
O'Leary
When Margo misreads the map as they travel through
France, her husband Alan indulges in yet another of
his habitual rages. On impulse, Margo walks out of
her emotionally suppressed life into the hands of
fate and the vast French countryside. As her world is
turned upside down, so are her expectations, and
while she is making new friends and waiting for Alan
to find her, she might just find herself…
GARBIE BARBYHOG-THE
WORM THAT WANTED TO FLY by
Veena Nagpal
Listening to his best friend Cathy
Butterfly chatter about the wonderful world that lies
beyond the garbage heap where he lives, Garbie
Garbyhog is extremely unhappy. All he longs for is to
be able to fly. He sets out on an arduous journey to
get himself wings. Garbie meets a young boy who is as
unhappy â he is sick of the way people leave their
garbage littered everywhere. They form a unique
partnership. Garbie realizes that God has created him
with a unique mission to hog garbage and turn it
into valuable vermi-compost. The book includes a
booklet on Vermi-composting. (Printing Rights
Available. Rights for Garbie Garbyhog - The Worm That
Wanted to Fly (except in India) are still available.)
Available
from environedu.promoters@rediffmail.com
THE MILKMAN
by Ian Healy
One question has plagued UFO
researchers for sixty years: What's the deal with
aliens and anal probes?
Blake, a milkman with a penchant for sword fighting,
and Liza, a reporter who needs a hot story, discover
the answer to this question when they are abducted:
aliens are clouds of sentient gas that require a
specific intestinal environment in which to live.
Blake and Liza are the first humans ever found to
possess the correct qualities. They will have only
one chance to save the world, their
friends, and themselves...
OBSESSIONS:
THE SHOCKING TRUE STORY OF THE REAL BILLIE
JEAN IN MICHAEL JACKSON'S LIFE
by Theresa J. Gonsalves
Delve into a world of intrigue, love,
sex and manipulation as you enter the real life world
of Theresa Gonsalves, known as the real Billie Jean
in Michael Jackson's life! Theresa Gonsalves grew up
in a fantasy world of Michael Jackson. She wrote him
numerous letters that intrigued him which led Michael
to cultivate a relationship with her after they meet
on her 16th birthday. As time goes on, the friendship
between them is nurtured. But while trying to develop
a relationship with another man, Theresa finds
herself pregnant and turns to Michael. Her baby's
father denies the kid as being his son. Michael is
privy to this information and soon the song Billie
Jean is released. When Star Magazine finds out about
their relationship, they dub her the Real Billie Jean
in Michael Jackson's life, as many believe the song
was written about her.
Featured
Not-Yet-Published
Books
Discover the next great novel!
Browse through unpublished books to read
the synopses of great novels from a variety of
genres. Download and review your favorites. Here are
few examples of what's available:
IN YOUR DREAMS
By Michael von Glahn
Institutionalized for behaviors resulting from a
sleep disorder, James learns to enter -- and alter --
other people's dreams. Discovered by a program
exploring the next stages of human evolution, he's
introduced to other teens with paranormal powers. But
when the research facility is destroyed by unknown
paranormal assailants, James and a handful of
survivors find themselves on the run from the
killers, as well as from government agents who think
THEY wiped out the program. Can they stay alive long
enough to decipher what's behind the attack -- and
what the real goal of the program was? (Read
excerpt)
THREE DROP PENNIES
by Julie Ann Shapiro
In Three Drop Pennies two teenagers and life long
friends, Tommy and Lori start a romance. But Tommy's
increasingly dark psychic visions threaten to tear
them apart. Lori seeks solace and collects pennies.
Online she befriends Bo, another coin collector.
Unbeknownst to Lori, Bo is a former mental patient.
He struggles to make his way in the world and is
tormented by his past, the evil impulses of Abe and a
bewitching ghost. When Lori disappears and is
seriously injured, Tommy must determine the nature of
Bo's involvement; as he too is lured into the world
of the mysterious penny man. (Read
excerpt)
WHERE THE HEART IS
by Susanne O'Leary
A woman finds out who her late mother was through
letters written thirty years earlier. It's a voyage
of discovery and identity. (Read
excerpt)
GUARDIAN OF THE
ELEMENTS BOOK ONE: The Paladin and the Pirate
by Jarucia Jaycox Nirula
Varuna (Una) Kannon lives an ordinary, American life.
She loves books, movies, and hanging out with her
best friend, Reed. The last day of school is the
first day to signal something unusual on Una's
horizon. Increasingly strange things happen to Una,
leading her to believe she's cursed, though her
mother insists it's something else. In the days
that follow, she's plagued with questions. Why is
Reed acting weird? Why are her parents so
indifferent? When her thirteenth birthday arrives,
its time for Una to except her fate, which will lead
to a calling no one has yet to imagine. (Read
excerpt)
TO:GOD@HEAVEN.COM
by Veena Nagpal 'A bitter, crusty old woman
in India. A young Indian girl in UK, trying to reach
out to God in a moment of trouble. A chance
connection. Set in India and UK, ‘To God @
Heaven.com’ is a growing up novel with a difference
in that the person growing up is an old woman in her
seventies.' (Read
excerpt)
LINCOLN PARK
by Anne Moore
Lincoln Park is a smart, sexy comedy
of manners set in downtown Chicago. Architect Philip
Hamner has just won a top prize, sending him to
Paris, with women falling all over him. Wife Sarah
feels like she's being left behind with a glamorous
but easy job and their three kids. His brother Marty
can't help it, but is in love with Sarah. Colleague
Anna openly pines for Philip. Young wanna-bees circle
Philip and Sarah, making sad or hilarious mistakes.
Philip's 40th birthday caps the story: will he stay
or will he go? (Read
excerpt)
DEEP
SIX: A JUST CAUSE NOVEL
by Ian Thomas
Healy
How is it possible to contain a prisoner who has the
ability to fly or walk through walls? In answer to
this question, the underground prison Deep Six was
built. It is the most secure prison in the world from
which nobody has ever escaped that is until a
brilliant psychopath engineers a mass breakout of the
entire prison population leaving it up to two guards
to thwart the escape. The underground prison quickly
becomes a battleground for a deadly war of attrition.
The two guards must devise a plan to overcome the
super-powered criminals and save the hostages.
(Read
excerpt)
THE PROPERTY
by G.R. Greene
Kath Havens isn't like
other people. She doesn't understand or trust them.
She buys a home in the country wanting to live on her
own terms. The former owner’s death aroused no
suspicion and Kath has no warning she's next.
Kath's reality is different. Secrets about her
parentage haunt her, she is suspicious, and has
extreme mood swings. She's also a fighter.
After moving to the property, Kath's life
improves. She's learning to trust when
tragedy strikes. Her friends and family turn
against her. She falls into a dark place, a
depression that takes her to the edge of
self-destruction. (Read excerpt)
RHYTHM
Robin Meloy Goldsby
Teenage drummer Jane Bowman lives in swanky Sewickley
Heights with her father and two eccentric maids. She
attends a private high school, practices the drums,
and struggles to recover from her mother’s death,
caused by a fire in a Manhattan nightclub. After
graduation Jane moves to New York City, where she
encounters the best and worst elements of the music
business. RHYTHM reveals the tragic beauty of human
resilience, the restorative power of love and
laughter, and the way one girl's music—steady, solid,
and courageous—helps to mend her shattered heart.
(Read
excerpt)
DENA POWERS:
SUPERHERO?
by Megan Bostic
Strange things begin to happen to Dena Powers on her
thirteenth birthday. She writes it off as overtired
delusions, but only until lunch time, when an
incident at school leads her to believe that her
bizarre day is due to more than just lack of sleep.
Dena gets home to find out she has super human
powers. Her father advises her to keep her them under
wraps because of the overwhelming temptation to use
them selfishly. However, Dena confides in her BFF's
Mary and Rachel, who urge her to use her new gifts to
better society. Dena begins a crusade against crime,
while still dealing with homework, snobs, and boys,
making her world go from confusing to downright
chaotic. (Read
excerpt)
From the
founders of ABNA Books, we proudly
announce Conclave: A Journal of
Character
Conclave is an annual print journal that
focuses on character-driven writing in short
stories, flash fiction, creative nonfiction,
poetry, and prose poems. Conclave will also feature black and
white photographs, and excerpts from plays:
monologues, scenes, single acts, or one-act plays.
The editors will be accepting submission from
April 1 to July 1, 2008. (more)
ABNA Books Online Newsletter April 2008
ABNA Books currently has over 80 authors participating on the site, 55 authors on the forum, over 69 published books and 75 not-yet-published books.
This month we bring you the first column by ABNA Books feature columnist Ian Thomas Healy, as well as new columns by ABNA authors Rebecca Crandell and Tom Maremaa. We have several other “firsts,” as we feature an author interview with April L. Hamilton, who is paving new ground with her IndieAuthor movement. We also have Leah Davidson’s Book Review of 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published And 14 Reasons Why It Just Might, by Pat Walsh.
Be sure to check out the newest featured published and not-yet-published books by ABNA authors, and stay tuned for the latest news.
Zen & the
Art of Writing, by Rebecca Crandell.
"When I conceived
the idea of the 7th Moon
Chronicles, most of us relied on
dot-matrix printers. I still have a stack of
yellowing sheets with holes along the edges, but
the story and its author have undergone so many
transformations that it’s impossible to connect
the initial concept with what exists now, on my
flash drive or in my heart." (more)
Running the
Gauntlet,
Ian Thomas Healy. "Hello, my name is Ian, and I’m
a self-published author.
'Hi Ian,' you all chorus.
A lot of people are curious about self-publishing.
What is it? How is it different from conventional
publishing? And, of course, can you make any money
with it?
To answer those questions, I’d like to share some of
my own experiences with dodging the pitfalls of the
self-publishing industry." (more)
Featured Book
Review,
by Leah Davidson. "December 31, 2004,
eleven-o-something PM. After one last read-through
of my first email query for my first completed
novel, I hit the "send" button. It took nine
months of late nights writing, time snatched
proof-reading and note-making on every lunch hour,
but I'd done it. I'd actually written a novel. I'd
read the first chapters of the latest Writer's
Digest Guide to Literary Agents (so of course I
knew how to write a query letter) and picked a
dozen agents I was sure would be thrilled to read
my manuscript. Now I was ready to barrage the
publishing industry with brilliant queries."
(more)
The Next
Step, by
Thomas Maremaa. "It was not an easy decision: I
had written both books with the intention of
placing them with a New York agent and a
conventional print publisher. Both works came to
me spontaneously and wrote themselves over a
period of time, working long nights and weekends,
as I channelled the voices of each narrator
emotionally and through some creative process I
can't describe. Both works, modesty aside, are
originals; nobody's done before. So what happened?
"(more)
Author
Interview with April L.
Hamilton. "I’m trying a different approach
with one of my works in progress, but every other
novel, short story or screenplay I’ve ever written
has followed the same process. I begin with a
protagonist and a general challenge or life
situation. Next I think about the likely people
who would populate the protagonist’s world: family
members, friends, co-workers and so on."
(more)
Featured Published
Books
Read great fiction and nonfiction by ABNA
Authors!
Browse through our published books to read
works already available by these breakthrough
authors. These books are all available for purchase!
Here are few examples of what's available:
SNOW BALL
by April L.
Hamilton
Cinder
Torley is an intelligent young woman who yearns to
escape the stifling yoke imposed by her small town
upbringing and unhappy marriage, but that doesn't
mean she killed her husband. When he goes missing
one night, Cinder quickly learns who---and how
few---her friends really are in this darkly comic
tale of dueling schemers and incompetents. The
sheriff thinks this might be his only ticket out
of back-country law enforcement. Coffee house
barista Clark Norris knows a sordid, true-crime
story could jumpstart his stalled writing career.
Glamorous correspondent Bailey Weems sees a
ratings bonanza that can make her a cable news
star. And as for Velma and Naomi, who may or may
not be part of the notorious Manitoba Six Canadian
crime ring, they're only in it for the black
market Phen-Fen. The surprising truth about what
happened to Cinder's husband will lay waste to all
these agendas, but will it prove Cinder's
innocence?
THE LOTTERY TICKET
by Tom
Maremaa
The
Lottery Ticket, set in the sleepy yet vibrant town
of Palo Alto, California, takes the conventional
murder mystery and turns it flat on its head. One
day Luke Cherry finds his mother hanging from the
living room rafters, an apparent suicide, but this
is far from the truth. When Luke's father, the
Ur-Geek of Silicon Valley, is arrested and charged
with assisting in his wife's suicide, all hell
breaks loose in the Cherry family. A stormy trial
ensues, shaking up the community. Dad looks sure
to be convicted, until Luke, his wily, loving son,
is able to connect with Dad's motley crew of
friends, including a tribe of Afghan refugees who
challenge the natural order of things and come
heroically to his rescue. The story is told in the
cool, unflappable voice of its youthful narrator.
CROSSING WITH THE LIGHT
by Dwight Okita
It
was a labor of love. Thanks to the fantastic and
multicultural Tia Chucha Press for being the first to
publish a book of my poems. Some of these poems have
been reprinted in the Norton Introduction to
Literature, the Smithsonian, an array of anthologies,
and textbooks from publishers such as Holt Rinehart
Winston, Penguin, and Milkweed. And they have
appeared on the NPR show This American Life hosted by
Ira Glass, as well as on Chicago buses and trains.
The title poem appears on a bronze plaque in San
Francisco along the Embarcadero.
Much of the poetic voice of my novel grows out of my
days as a poet.
BAREFOOT IN THE DARK
by Lynne Barrett-lee
Do you believe in
fairytales?
When Hope Shepherd loses her trainer while boarding
the 8.42 into Cardiff, Cinderella couldn't be further
from her thoughts. Painfully divorced, she's all out
of daydreams - and it's not a glass slipper, after
all. It's picked up, however, by a Prince Charming of
sorts - DJ Jack Valentine, who's just been divorced
too. He appeals on his show for the owner to come
forward; a latterday princess being just what he
needs... Hope works as a publicist for the charity,
Heartbeat, and is encouraged by her boss to get Jack
on board. A celebrity endorsement is exactly what
they're after, to raise the profile of their upcoming
fun run. So far, so good; a fairytale beginning -
their mutual attraction's just too strong to ignore.
But this is the real world, and these are two damaged
people. With both of them determined not to risk
another heartbreak, is a happy-ever-after an
impossible dream?
THE MILKMAN
by Ian Healy
One question has plagued UFO
researchers for sixty years: What's the deal with
aliens and anal probes?
Blake, a milkman with a penchant for sword fighting,
and Liza, a reporter who needs a hot story, discover
the answer to this question when they are abducted:
aliens are clouds of sentient gas that require a
specific intestinal environment in which to live.
Blake and Liza are the first humans ever found to
possess the correct qualities. They will have only
one chance to save the world, their friends, and
themselves...
Featured
Not-Yet-Published
Books
Discover
the next great novel!
Browse through unpublished books to read
the synopses of great novels from a variety of
genres. Download and review your favorites. Here are
few examples of what's available:
SWIMMING IN THE
RAINBOW
by Rebecca Crandell
Following a devastating attack on her home that kills
her only friend, young Zoé is torn from her solitary,
fantasy-filled life in pastoral Germany. With help
from an extraordinary man of poetry and courage, she
flees deep into the Mediterranean archipelago, barely
a step ahead of the soldiers who relentlessly pursue
her. Magic and realism collide as she discovers why
she is so important, why governments are fighting
over her. When the soldiers catch up to Zoé, they
force her into a world wounded by the loss of dream
and myth. Ultimately, she alone must choose between
life and final obliteration. (Read
excerpt)
SOLDIERS OF ORANGE
by Tom Maremaa
Soldiers of Orange is a
powerful, heartbreaking novel about veterans of the
Iraq war coming home and being treated for their
wounds in a California hospital. The story is told by
Jeremy Witherspoon, an ex-Marine who knows all the
soldiers on the ward, a collection of oddball, yet
heroic characters. Spoon, as he is called, witnessed
a brutal crime of war in Ramadi, did nothing about
it, and covered up the details. His fear is one of
discovery. One day a private contractor named Skank
shows up at the hospital, realizing Spoon's worst
fear. Critics have hailed Soldiers of Orange as the
Catch-22 of the Iraq war. (Read
excerpt)
A LIGHT IN THE CANE
FIELDS
by Enrico Antiporda
This coming-of-age story chronicling a
Filipino boy's wrenching passage from son of
privilege to guerilla fighter is a stylistic
tour-de-force. From its first lines, the saga of
Jando Flores seizes readers with the same chilling
intensity as the cold water that wraps around Jando's
chest as he hides in a river to escape a gang of
pillaging cutthroats. Mountain bandits, sugar
warlords, Peace Corps volunteers, dignitaries, and
revolutionaries all jostle beneath "mango-colored"
skies in this riveting epic of loss and
transformation, but it is a masterful and delicate
choreography--Publishers Weekly (Read
excerpt)
OF TWO MINDS, A STORY OF THE ALLIANCE
CHRONICLES
by Leah Davidson
Timu Maarinen, the worst slacker in Vaaseli's school
for diplomats, enjoys telepathic gifts so great, and
a family so prominent, he can't contrive to get
himself expelled. Stubbornly devoted to natural
history rather than politics, he falls under the
influence of three compelling women. His schoolmate,
Aulia, offers to help him academically, hoping to
spark his romantic interest; his sister Elian,
progressive scholar betrothed to the heir to the
throne, enlists him in her political causes; and Lady
Rilsa Karula decides to further his diplomatic career
while teaching him the arts of pleasure.
When these forces converge, they propel Timu into
dangers that threaten to destroy his family and all
progressives and jeopardize the international
Alliance made possible by the Peace of Alidor.
(Read
excerpt)
DEEP
SIX: A JUST CAUSE NOVEL
by Ian Thomas
Healy
How is it possible to contain a prisoner who has the
ability to fly or walk through walls? In answer to
this question, the underground prison Deep Six was
built. It is the most secure prison in the world from
which nobody has ever escaped that is until a
brilliant psychopath engineers a mass breakout of the
entire prison population leaving it up to two guards
to thwart the escape. The underground prison quickly
becomes a battleground for a deadly war of attrition.
The two guards must devise a plan to overcome the
super-powered criminals and save the hostages.
(Read
excerpt)
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