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City of Dragons

admin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 02:00:06 +0000

February, 1940. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a 33-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up. The cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice–whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor’s shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic, she shakes down the city–her city–seeking the truth. An outstanding series debut.

Kelli Stanley is the author of the criticallly acclaimed Nox Dormienda, which won the Bruce Alexander Award for best historical mystery and was nominated for a Macavity Award. She lives in San Francisco, California.

“Beautifully imagined and beautifully written–this book does everything great fiction is supposed to.”
- Lee Child

Published by Minotaur Books – Hardcover – 978-0312603601 – 352 pages – $24.99

Anthropology of an American Girl

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:36:08 +0000

Self-published in 2003, Hilary Thayer Hamann’s Anthropology of an American Girl touched a nerve among readers, who identified with the sexual and intellectual awakening of its heroine, a young woman on the brink of adulthood. A moving depiction of the transformative power of first love, Hamann’s first novel follows Eveline Auerbach from her high school years in East Hampton, New York, in the 1970s through her early adulthood in the moneyed, high-pressured Manhattan of the 1980s.

Centering on Evie’s fragile relationship with her family and her thwarted love affair with Harrison Rourke, a professional boxer, the novel is both a love story and an exploration of the difficulty of finding one’s place in the world. As Evie surrenders to the dazzling emotional highs of love and the crippling loneliness of heartbreak, she strives to reconcile her identity with the constraints that all relationships—whether those familial or romantic, uplifting to the spirit or quietly detrimental—inherently place on us. Though she stumbles and strains against social conventions, Evie remains a strong yet sensitive observer of the world around her, often finding beauty and meaning in unexpected places.

Newly edited and revised since its original publication, Anthropology of an American Girl is an extraordinary piece of writing, original in its vision and thrilling in its execution.

Spider’s Web

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:19:43 +0000

Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.

I’m Gin Blanco. You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coal-mining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired.

So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scount mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental—with a little Ice magic thrown in—but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man … dead or alive.

“Bodies litter the pages of this first entry in Estep’s engrossing Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. In the corrupt Southern metropolis of Ashland, weather witches mingle with vampires, giants, and dwarves. A mysterious client hires assassin Gin Blanco, known as the Spider, to murder a whistle-blowing financial officer named Gordon Giles. Then the client attempts a double cross and brutally kills Gin’s mentor. Now Gin, a stone elemental with a hard-boiled attitude, a closely guarded heart, and a penchant for throwing knives, has to join forces with one of the few honest cops in Ashland, sexy detective Donovan Caine, who hates her for killing his partner. Fans of Estep’s humorous paranormal romances (Jinx; Hot Mama) may be taken aback by the gritty violence and steamy sex, but urban fantasy fans will love it.” – Publishers Weekly

Learn more about Jennifer Estep and her books at her website. Listen to David Wilk’s interview with Jennifer Estep at Writerscast.

Published by Pockets Books – Mass Market Paperback – 978-1439147979 – 432 pages – $7.99

The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:19:46 +0000

The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood is a collection of first-person stories about what it means to be a man in America today ~ from Pulitzer winners and Poet Laureates to ex-cons, Pro Football Hall of Famers and just regular guys. The authors describe their defining challenges, losses and triumphs through honest and simple truths, and are hoping to spark conversations about what it means to be a good man today.

Among the men profiled:
•   Pulitzer Prize nominated war photographer Michael Kamber, who describes his perilous job and why he has sacrificed so much for it.
•   Nationally renowned yogi Rolf Gates reveals how two women, his sister and his daughter, led him down a spiritual path that ultimately saved his life.
•   Bestselling author Mark St. Amant muses about a romantic, post-wedding journey to Italy that nearly ended his marriage.

“Offering essays by Wall Street power brokers, a war photographer, and a former inmate at Sing Sing prison, the Good Men essays share a humility, a bracing honesty, and a willingness to reveal the male mind-set without trying to defend it.”
—The Sacramento Bee

“There are stories about love and death, trauma and recovery, and, ultimately, understanding.”
—The Providence Journal

“The Good Men Project gives voice to regular guys talking about regular uncertainties and fathering/husbanding disasters in an unusually real way.”
—Boston Herald

The Good Men Foundation is a registered New York State 501(c)(3) charitable corporation dedicated to helping organizations that provide educational, social, financial or legal support to men and boys at risk. All proceeds from the sales of The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood book and documentary film DVD will be distributed to the Foundation and will be used exclusively for the charitable mission of the Foundation.

Visit The Good Men Project website for information about the documentary and events, programs, etc. David Wilk edited editor and co-founder Tom Matlack for Writerscast, listen to the podcast (or on iTunes).

Published by The Good Men Foundation – paperback – 978-0615316741 – 251 pages – $14.99

I-5: A Novel of Crime, Transport, and Sex

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:39:41 +0000

“In I-5, Summer Brenner deals with the onerous and gruesome subject of sex trafficking calmly and forcefully, making the reader feel the pain of its victims. The trick to forging a successful narrative is always in the details, and I-5 provides them in abundance. This book bleeds truth—after you finish it, the blood will be on your hands.” — Barry Gifford, author, poet and screenwriter

About the novel:
A novel of crime, transport, and sex, I-5 tells the bleak and brutal story of Anya and her journey north from Los Angeles to Oakland on the interstate that bisects the Central Valley of California.

Anya is the victim of a deep deception. Someone has lied to her; and because of this lie, she is kept under lock and key, used by her employer to service men, and indebted for the privilege. In exchange, she lives in the United States and fantasizes on a future American freedom. Or as she remarks to a friend, “Would she rather be fucking a dog…or living like a dog?” In Anya’s world, it’s a reasonable question.

Much of I-5 transpires on the eponymous interstate. Anya travels with her “manager” and driver from Los Angeles to Oakland. It’s a macabre journey: a drop at Denny’s, a bad patch of fog, a visit to a “correctional facility,” a rendezvous with an organ grinder, and a dramatic entry across Oakland’s city limits.

About the Author:
Summer Brenner was raised in Georgia and migrated west, first to New Mexico and eventually to northern California where she has been a long-time resident. She has published books of both poetry and fiction and given scores of readings in the United States, France, and Japan. In addition to I-5, her nine books include: Ivy, Tale of a Homeless Girl in San Francisco, Dancers & the Dance, and The Soft Room.

Listen to David Wilk’s interview with Summer Brenner at Writerscast.

Published by PM Press/Switchblade – paperback – 978-1-60486-019-1 – 190 pages – $15.95

Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:36:18 +0000

Douglas Gayeton’s SLOW: Life in a Tuscan Town is a magical and utterly unique portrayal of rural Italian life, and a tribute to the region’s kaleidoscope of charming local characters whose livelihoods and culture center around the everyday pleasures of growing, preparing, and eating food.

Imaginative and interactive portraits are layered with Gayeton’s handwritten notes, anecdotes, recipes, quotes, and historical facts and that cleverly bring context and color to the subject of each sepia-toned image and draw us deeper into this romantic, rewarding, and progressively rare way of life. You will fall in love with the intimate images of an entire town whose lives are profoundly bound to the rhythms of nature and inherently exemplify the popular principles that define Slow Food, a multi-national movement dedicated to preserving local food traditions and honoring local farmers and producers.

The unique interplay of pictures and words conveys a thrilling sense of narrative that transcends the page and transports you halfway around the globe. It is a riveting story told in a riveting way: each image is actually comprised of multiple photographs taken over the course of time (from ten minutes to several hours – a photographic approach critics have dubbed “flat film”). The result is nothing less than a new and startling way of seeing photographs.

DOUGLAS GAYETON is a filmmaker, photographer, and writer. His images are held in a number of influential museum and private collections around the world, and have been featured in numerous print and online media, such as Time Magazine. Since the early 90s he has created award-winning work at the boundaries of traditional and converging media for AOL, MSN, MTV, Yahoo, Fox, Vivendi, Sony, Viacom, Sega, Intel, National Geographic, PBS, Warner Bros., Columbia, and Virgin Records. Recent projects include LOST IN ITALY, a 26 episode interstitial TV series Gayeton created, directed, and shot for Fine Living, and A SECOND LIFE ODYSSEY for HBO, the first documentary shot inside a virtual world. Gayeton lectures frequently on art, technology, and sustainability.

Published by Welcome Books – Hardcover – 978-1-59962-072-5 – 176 pages – $50.00

Twilight of Avalon: A Novel of Trystan and Isolde

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:03:11 +0000

Book One in the Twilight of Avalon Trilogy

She is a healer, a storyteller, a warrior, and a queen without a throne. In the shadow of King Arthur’s Britain, one woman knows the truth that could save a kingdom from the hands of a tyrant…

Ancient grudges, old wounds, and the quest for power rule in the newly widowed Queen Isolde’s court. Hardly a generation after the downfall of Camelot, Isolde grieves for her slain husband, King Constantine, a man she secretly knows to have been murdered by the scheming Lord Marche — the man who has just assumed his title as High King. Though her skills as a healer are renowned throughout the kingdom, in the wake of Con’s death, accusations of witchcraft and sorcery threaten her freedom and her ability to bring Marche to justice. Burdened by their suspicion and her own grief, Isolde must conquer the court’s distrust and superstition to protect her throne and the future of Britain.

One of her few allies is Trystan, a prisoner with a lonely and troubled past. Neither Saxon nor Briton, he is unmoved by the political scheming, rumors, and accusations swirling around the fair queen. Together they escape, and as their companionship turns from friendship to love, they must find a way to prove what they know to be true — that Marche’s deceptions threaten not only their lives but the sovereignty of the British kingdom.

In Twilight of Avalon, Anna Elliott returns to the roots of the legend of Trystan and Isolde to shape a very different story — one based in the earliest written versions of the Arthurian tales — a captivating epic brimming with historic authenticity, sweeping romance, and the powerful magic of legend.

Published by Touchstone – Paperback – 978-1416589891 – 448 pages – $16.00

California the Beautiful

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:32:01 +0000

As America stands to the rest of the world, so stands California to America – a shining promise of endless possibility. This exquisite celebration of the Golden State has been updated with a new introduction, new cover design, and an enlarged size to suit the grandeur of its subject. California the Beautiful is both a portrait of the state’s diverse natural beauty and, through the incredible voices of its writers, a testament to the ever-renewing spirit that it has come to embody. Aldous Huxley, British author turned Hollywood resident, described the California dream as “this great crystal of light, whose base is as large as Europe and whose height for all practical purposes, is infinite.” Among the other authors offering praise are Maya Angelou, Mary Austin, Ray Bradbury, Joan Didion, Gretel Ehrlich, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, M.F.K Fisher, Robertson Jeffers, Jack Kerouac, Clarence King, Jack London, Henry Miller, John Muir, William Saroyan, April Smith, John Steinbeck, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Nathanael West, and Walt Whitman.

Land of innovation and opportunity, California is both dream and reality. California the Beautiful is a gift for all who have felt the lure of this dual promise and who have marveled at the unrivaled beauty of this quintessentially American land.

GALEN ROWELL (1940-2002) photographed all over the world and is renowned for his staggering archive of nature and outdoor photography. An accomplished mountaineer, he could obtain camera angles that other photographers could not reach. His work has appeared in every major nature magazine, including National Geographic, Life, Outside, Sports Illustrated, and countless other publications around the globe.

Rowell’s fine prints have been featured at New York’s Nikon House and International Center of Photography, Chicago’s Field Museum, The Smithsonian Institution and many other domestic and foreign venues. He is the author of more than a dozen bestselling illustrated books, including North America the Beautiful, Mountain Light, and My Tibet.

PETER BEREN has authored and edited numerous books, including The Writer’s Companion, Vintage San Francisco, and Hidden Napa Valley. Formerly publisher of Sierra Club Books and founding publisher of VIA Books, Peter lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Susan, a publishing professional.

Published by Welcome Books – Hardcover – 978-1599620749 – 160 pages – $19.95

Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service A Year Spent Riding Across America

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:34:06 +0000

During the tumultuous year of 2008—when gas prices reached $4 a gallon, Amtrak set ridership records, and a commuter train collided with a freight train in California—journalist James McCommons spent a year on America’s trains, talking to the people who ride and work the rails throughout much of the Amtrak system. Organized around these rail journeys, Waiting on a Train is equal parts travel narrative, personal memoir, and investigative journalism.

“America once had a passenger railroad system that was the envy of the world. Now we have one that the Bulgarians would be ashamed of. The task of reviving it could not be more important if we wish to keep people moving around this continent-sized nation, especially as the airlines crap out and our system of mass Happy Motoring founders on the shoals of ‘peak oil.’ The infrastructure of our rail system is lying out in the rain waiting to be fixed; the project would put scores of thousands of people to work at meaningful jobs at all levels; and the fact that we’re not even talking about it shows how un-serious we are as a society. This book is one small step toward the giant leap of consciousness necessary to repair our battered country.”–James Howard Kunstler, author of World Made By Hand and The Long Emergency

“Like William Least Heat Moon’s Blue Highways before it, James McCommons’ Waiting on a Train is a celebration of America’s past and a hopeful prescription for its future. It is one of those rare books that will change the way you see the world, a fascinating and engaging tale of how this nation’s infatuation with the automobile all but destroyed a once glorious passenger rail system. If you are not already a rail lover, you will be by the time you finish this book. You will want to pack your bags and hop aboard. Waiting on a Train is an important story thoroughly reported and well told.”–John Grogan, author of Marley & Me and The Longest Trip Home

Published by Chelsea Green Publishing – 978-1603580649 – paperback – 272 pages – $17.95

Thriving on Pressure: Mental Toughness for Real Leaders

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:31:37 +0000

This is not another book on how to lead; there are tons of those books out there already! Instead, this is a book on how to deal with the pressure that is an inevitable and inescapable part of being a leader, and how you can use it to your advantage. But first you must make a choice about how much you are willing to put on the line as a leader.

This book is aimed at “real” leaders – those in business and organizations of all kinds who have the guts to put themselves out there and make a real difference to the organization they work for, as well as the teams and people they lead – a must-read for leaders in business and organizations.

“Graham’s expertise on mental toughness and helping executives grow into real leaders is second to none. This book is a must read for all business leaders during these competitive and turbulent economic times.” – Mark Schortman, Chairman,
Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Sales & Services Company LLC

“This book is an extraordinary read. Jump into it and fasten your seat belt! THRIVING
ON PRESSURE brings the feel and the lessons of that driving, intense world of “A” players, those who consistently deliver top performance and results under the kind of pressure that makes most others buckle.” – Gene Boccialetti, PhD,
ILR School, Cornell University

Graham Jones’ experience of consulting with high-level performers spans more than twenty years. It includes working closely with Olympic and world champions from a variety of sports, military personnel, and senior leaders and their teams in Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies.

Formerly Professor of Elite Performance Psychology at the University of Wales, Bangor, Graham has more than 150 publications in the area of high-level performance. Among these are three books, numerous ground-breaking studies in scientific journals, and articles that demystify and unravel complex concepts and theories in human performance psychology, making them easy to apply in the workplace. His article “How the Best of the Best Get Better and Better,” published in Harvard Business Review, received wide acclaim for capturing the essence of sustained high performance that all business leaders aspire to.

Graham is a founding director of Lane4 Management Group Ltd, a leading performance development consultancy with offices in the United States, England, and Australasia. Lane4 specializes in helping organizations create high-performance environments in which individuals and teams can thrive. Graham leads Lane4’s U.S. business in Princeton, New Jersey.

Published by Easton Studio Press – 978-1935212072 – Paperback – 256 pages – $17.95