Paperback
106 Pages
List Price: $8.95
978-1-935130-19-2

by T.A. Price

If I am in the chocolate dress,
If I am showing knee,
If I slap the mosquito on my leg,
and I am free
and climbing up the loft
to fetch another book,
then I feel most alive.
– from “Bent”


T.A. Price lives in Rutherfordton, North Carolina where she has enjoyed a long career as a distinguished teacher and school administrator.  A former feature writer for The Mountain Breeze, Price has also received first place awards for poetry in The Anuran and in Reflections literary magazines.  She has been published in: WNC Woman, Rutherford County News, Survivor's Review, The Advocate, Fictionique, Open Salon (Scupper), and Our Salon. Prior publications include two chapbooks, and one collection of verse, Perennial Heart.

Foreword by Ron Rash
“. . . clearly one of our state’s best poets.”

Paperback
50 Pages
List Price: $9.95
978-1-945714-08-5

by Alan G, Marshall, Ph.D.


No one knows how it happens. But for some people who are painfully abused, a separate part of the brain emerges and takes on the portion of the pain that is unbearable. An advantage is that the person does not have to live daily with the keen awareness of the pain, which could destroy his life. A disadvantage is that the pain is not really gone, and causes vague physical and mental symptoms that make no sense minus the memory of the abuse. In this book, that “other” part of the brain keeps a diary, not only of the abuse, but also the therapy that intervenes to help with the healing.

Paperback
5.25 x 8
148 pages
List Price $12.95
978-1-935130-95-6

Changing the Message: Cruelty to persons who are gay is incompatible with Christian teaching

Summary: Told from the perspective of a mother, Changing The Message: Cruelty to persons who are gay is incompatible with Christian teaching shares the heart-breaking journey of a family navigating the loss of a child. The author’s son, Ben Wood, died from suicide after experiencing the catastrophic impact of bad interpretation of theology and rigid misapplication of principles of faith regarding his sexual identity. This journey, interwoven into a family narrative involving mental health and adoption, speaks to the importance of authenticity, grief and community. Although a narrative wrenched from the tragedy of Ben’s death, the author’s writing recounts how hope developed as her family learned new ways to thrive and educate others on the importance of ensuring each individual is a masterpiece of divine creation worthy of celebration.

About the author: A native of North Carolina, Julie Hilliard Wood grew up as the daughter of a United Methodist minister. She received a BA in Psychology and a Concentration in Social Work. She has worked in the human services field for more than thirty years. Julie is a wife and mother who seeks to plant seeds to educate and hold accountable those who dismantle and cause harm in the name of God.Her family, Bill, Sophie, Julie and Lacy wants the life of their missing family member, Ben, to find a greater meaning through helping others like himself have better lives. Julie’s hope in sharing her beloved son’s story and that of her family’s journey is that unnecessary pain and suffering brought on by bullies—in many forms—will no longer be tolerated.

rsityf Georgia in graphic design and did post-graduate study at the School of Visual Arts in New York, the

by Mike Krecioch

At this time when law enforcement is being judged by about every aspect of interaction with the public, wouldn’t it be interesting to know what is going on when the officers get together away from work? In Convict Lake, fellow officers share such information around a campfire while enjoying some leisure time on an annual fishing trip. The stories are incredible and true in this creative nonfiction publication.
Humor, murder, tenderness, decapitation, fire, sadness, indifference, anger, thievery, family disputes, stabbings, shootings, riots, serial killers, and human stupidity is the world behind the badge. Journey with five LAPD veteran officers to California’s High Sierra as they discuss the politics, cases, and eccentric personalities of the Los Angeles Police Department. Often heartbreakingly blunt and gruesome, you’ll live and feel the gamut of police work during the height of the 60’s hippie movement to present day.

Paperback
6 x 9
370 Pages
List Price: $15.95
978-1-935130-96-3

by Barbara Willis Kimbrell
Rachel faces the obstacle of addiction. For most of her early life, she hid in the far corners of her mind. As a young child, she was brutally victimized by her red-headed monster, Ollie, and was afraid to come out from under her bed of fear. She continued to pile more and more blankets on that bed with unhealthy relationships, hard living, drugging and denial until finally she had the courage to crawl out from under that weight. That began her journey of recovery.

This book gives a glimpse into the raw, naked, heart-wrenching world of addiction and the struggle to return from the depths of trauma and tragedy. Though fiction, it is a true-to-life example of one woman’s journey from brokenness to picking up her own pieces, while trying to help others pick up theirs. This intriguing tale of self-medicating the torment of mental illness, takes place in the heart of the Western North Carolina recovery community. – Vernetta Eleazer, MS, LCAS,
CCS Director: Swain Recovery Center

Barbara Willis Kimbrell is first and foremost a believer in change. A licensed, clinical, substance-abuse counselor with her Masters in social work, she has witnessed change firsthand. Her own struggles are a testimony to her conviction that life’s scars are part of one’s identity and do not need to be concealed. She is a daughter, sister, mother, grandmother and loving partner to a wonderful man. She is the proud daughter of a Russian immigrant. She has two dogs, Gizmo and Satchmo. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

Paperback
5.5 x 8.5
232pages
$12.95
978-1-945714-14-6

There are times when people do things to each other that they shouldn’t do. There are times when adults do things to children that they shouldn’t do.
These terrible things happen to many children every day.

I Have a Secret honors the struggle of children who have felt they must not tell others about the bad things that have been done to them. This book is not pressuring the children to do anything or to think differently. It is not encouraging others to blame the children for the way they have handled it.
It is here to honor and respect the pain of what happened and the pain of keeping what happened a secret. When children are honored and respected in such pain, they have taken their first step toward healing and wholeness.

This book is the third volume in the Child-Centered Book Series focused on respecting children,
and witnessing them in their difficult experiences.

Andrew Barnett, LCMHC is a child therapist from Asheville, North Carolina, specializing in providing play therapy for children of all ages, Andrew has carried more secrets in this life than he would have preferred. He is grateful for the people he knows and loves who have listened to and been able to support him with the things he has felt he had to remain silent about.

Andrea Fietta is an artist who lives and works in Uspallata, Argentina. To check out more of Andrea’s work, you can find her on Instagram at the handle andrea.fietta. Andrea can also be reached at andreamfietta@hotmail.com.

by Abby Bates
illustrated by Becky LedBetter

Due to learning difficulties and struggles with my parents, I wasn't a top notch student. My high school teachers encouraged me to express myself through poetry. The administration at the private school I attended recommended that I transfer to public school, hoping that I would not feel the pressure to succeed. So, I transferred in the middle of my tenth grade year from private to public school. So, I transferred in the middle of my tenth grade year from private to public school. But I did not know how to put my thoughts and feelings into spoken words.
In 1978 a new minister, Reverend Dent C. Davis III, became the pastor at the church I grew up in—Oak Forest Presbyterian.
I connected with him immediately, very deeply at all levels, and he became my counselor. In the three and a half years that he counseled me, he helped me greatly to put feelings and words together, and I wrote many new poems. I had been "awakened" spiritually and emotionally.
Reverend Davis moved to Tennessee in 1981. Over the next eighteen years, I saw four different counselors.
Finally in 1998, I met the Reverends Anne and David Morgan and moved my church membership to New Hope Presbyterian Church. I knew I had come "full circle"—back to some real help. David became my counselor for the next twelve years.
My poetry along with counseling has been my “saving grace” through the years. I’ve been able to dispel anger and many other confusing—for me—feelings.
Asking for and receiving counseling is a sign of strength and courage and has helped me overcome and work through my weaknesses, feelings and fears.

Abby Bates: An Asheville native, the poet is a 1974 graduate of Enka High School and a 1985 graduate of Southwestern Community College with an A.S. degree in Early Childhood Education. Abby also attended Asheville Country Day School (now Carolina Day) and Montreat College. Abby is in her sixth year of employment at the Child Care Center of First Presbyterian Church. In her spare time, when she is not writing poetry, Abby enjoys scrapbooking, journaling, collage making and choral singing.

Becky LedBetter is an Asheville, North Carolina, native. She earned her education degree from Western Carolina University and Masters of Ed. from University of South Carolina. She taught for thirty-seven years in public elementary schools in Georgia and North Carolina, dabbling in art all along the way. She lives in Mills River, North Carolina, with her husband, Christopher, and their three “four-legged children.” Becky has chosen watercolor as her favorite medium because of its versatility. Nature is a true inspiration for her paintings. She is inspired by the natural world of plants, animals and landscapes. This is her first illustration collaboration using pen and ink drawings.

Paperback
88 Pages
List Price: $9.95
978-1-945714-30-6

Have you ever wanted to be invisible?
Were you willing to die for it? I am.

I will be skinny. Next year when I come back to school, I will not be fat, and these people will not torture me, Derrick thought as he sat on the bus the last day of school.

* * *

I will not have to come in feeling this way ever again. I am going to be the one thing that I want the most next year. It is not skinny or popular; all I really want is to be invisible.

. . . so says the troubled young man whose life is the purpose of this book. Invisible is a moving story with social significance. It follows the journey of a young man who succumbed to anorexia/bulimia triggered by a childhood of bullying. Usually a woman’s disorder, there were few resources specifically for males at the time of his life. His story is told from the perspective of his sister.

Angela Evans is an educator who works professionally with clients with physical and developmental disorders. She also serves cancer patients with her nonprofit, Waters of Hope, which provides supportive kayaking experiences to improve quality of life. She lives in Zirconia, North Carolina, wth her family.

I will be skinny. Next year when I come back to school, I will not be fat, and these people will not torture me, Derrick thought as he sat on the bus the last day of school.

* * *

I will not have to come in feeling this way ever again. I am going to be the one thing that I want the most next year. It is not skinny or popular; all I really want is to be invisible.

Paperback
198 Pages
List Price: $11.95
978-1-945714-19-1

Paperback
5 x 8
83 pages
List Price: $9.95
978-1-935130-86-4

by Wilma Styles
Cover photography by Donna Rhinehart

Joy on the Mountain: Guarded Secrets Revealed is a new book by native Western North Carolinian Wilma Styles. This is a story from the days of Native Americans and US colonists. The author is part Cherokee and is a descendant of WNC Johann Adam and Catherine Henkel Biffle.
In the story, Margaret, a Cherokee, is mysteriously summoned with her friend, Carolyn, to Pine Mountain Cemetery, not knowing what to expect. As wind moaned, lightning flashed revealing a stranger surrounded by a pale blue light at the head of her grandmother’s grave. His message “from the Great Eagle” sent Margaret on a quest in search of answers to her family’s secrets.  

The author has previously published three books: When I’m in His Presence, Angels of the Ages—a trilogy (Outskirts Press), and Forbidden Heart (Outskirts Press). The new book, Joy on the Mountain, is published by Grateful Steps, an Asheville-based traditional, independent, non-profit publisher located at Crest Mountain in West Asheville.

Paperback
446 Pages
List Price: $13.95
978-1-945714-21-4

Paperback
382 pages
List Price: $13.95
978-1-935130-70-3

When Wayne walked in stoned to the Warren Stanley shoe store in Orlando, Florida, one December day of 1971, he had no idea it would lead him halfway around the world to Afghanistan. Inside the store, a girl from a group called the Children of God approached him and invited him to join them. Needing more than the “peace and love” of the hippie movement of the 1960s and feeling they were in a spiritual void, Wayne and his brother joined the group, a group that gave them a purpose for living.

Many great countries later, Wayne looked into the eyes of an Arab girl, a girl who melted him and loved him like no other. Soon the love between them was all that mattered. Not their backgrounds, not their nationalities, not their religions.

About the Author

Wayne Cox left the Children of God when he returned to America in 1978. He sold real estate in Florida, landscaped in Kuwait and worked as an avionics technician on private and commercial aircraft. He and his wife and children live in North Carolina.

Written by Heath Towson

Illustrated by Gail Sheldrick

Lionel’s Drum is a book that shows both children and adults the power of music in transforming lives. Music can transcend gender, age and race by soothing the soul. Lionel’s Drum is what happens when we put down our cell phone, awaken from the glaze of electronics and clap along with the beat.

Hardcover
11 x 8.5
56 Pages
List Price: $16.95
978-1-935130-93-2

story and illustrations by JeanAnn Taylor

Mermaid Magic is the story of SparkleLeah, a mermaid, who takes Michael, a human, on an adventure around the world—from Hawaii to France to the Arctic Sea—as well as to many other places. On this journey Michael learns of the many secrets mermaids share.

Growing up in Florida, JeanAnn could swim practically before she could walk. Her infatuation with mermaids grew as she spent many summer days “playing mermaid” in the community pool. After a family trip to Weeki Watchee, Florida, to visit the mermaid tourist attraction, JeanAnn began imagining a world where mermaids were truly real. Mermaid Magic is the result of a fantasy that never went away.
Author JeanAnn Taylor is an independent writer of fashion, style, and life-reflections for local magazines. Her first children’s book, The Little Girl Who Loves to Twirl, was published in 2011. JeanAnn is an avid needle artist with interests in crochet, embroidery, quilting, doll and dressmaking. She is also a passionate dance competitor who placed in the 2020 Country Dance World’s Championship.
JeanAnn lives in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina where she finds inspiration in quiet mountain tops and bubbling streams.

Hardcover
84 Pages
List Price: $22.95
978-1-945714-20-7

illustrated and authored by Dianne Ramsey

My Sock Market Crashed tells of a boy, Dylan, helping his grandmother sell the beautiful socks she knits. A venture into mass production is abandoned because Grammy could not knit fast enough to supply her popular socks for the demand, and the socks provided by the mass-production company were not nearly as desirable as Grammy’s. Dylan rescues the situation by redirecting Grammy’s socks to help children in the hospital. The book endorses public efforts to provide socks to the needy.

Paperback
48 Pages
List Price: $9.95
978-1-945714-56-6

by Christine Davison Page
illustrated by Dana Margaret Irwin

Based on a true story, Naughty Noel is about a cat who loses everything and finds his way home for Christmas. Without Grandma, Noel is forced to leave the comfort of the little house with pink shutters in Florida and embark on a year-long journey. There are adventures and misadventures along the way. It’s a scary world even for the toughest cat, and at times, he wants to give up. Ultimately, Noel discovers a home and family in the spirit of Christmas!

Hardcover
32 Pages
List Price: $17.95
978-1-945714-36-8

CHRISTINE D. PAGE received a painting of her mother’s beloved cat as a Christmas gift from her daughter and was inspired to write Naughty Noel. Christine enjoys photography and writing short stories and poetry. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Utah and later studied fine arts and photography at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her short stories are regularly published in the La Honda Voice.
Christine is an international flight attendant and a volunteer with Airline Ambassadors International (AAI). She is also a mission and child sponsorship coordinator for Shepherd of the Hills Children’s Foundation in the Philippines. A portion of the proceeds of this book will go to AAI (airlineamb.org) and to the orphanage. Christine lives with her husband, Philip, in Asheville, North Carolina.

DANA MARGARET IRWIN has been creating art since her childhood in Greenville, South Carolina. She earned a BFA from University of Georgia in graphic design and did post-graduate study at the School of Visual Arts in New York, the Art Students League of New York, Tyler School of Art in Pennsylvania, and Pythagorian School of Art in Samos, Greece.
Dana’s publishing career spanned both coasts as art director for Avon Books, Hearst Magazines, Mother Earth News, Peninsula Magazine, Northern California Home & Garden, and Lark Books. She is a member of the Saints of Paint, a local art fundraising group benefitting non-profits and artists. She lives with her dog and two mischievous cats in Fairview, North Carolina.

by Steven Cox

A variety of characters with corrupt moral behavior are subjected to a bizarre experience in which they perceive they have faced eternal torment unless they return to their life without the person they have wronged and mend their ways for twenty years, at the end of which time they are given a choice. 
The book is fast moving with a plot that constantly challenges the reader's interpretation skills.
By the author: “At some point, all of us will look back on our experiences, remembering the life-altering events that molded us into who we are . . . and sometimes, those events never happened.” 

Born May 23 1977, Steven Cox grew up in Concord, NC. Life was rough, but it was also fun. He moved to Burnsville, NC, when he was 15. Life in the small mountain town wasn’t any easier, but it never got less fun either. Steven currently lives in Asheville, NC, working as a sous chef in one of the better joints near one of the rivers. Been through it a few times. Hopes to write a bunch more books . . . for many reasons.


Paperback
330 Pages
List Price: $11.95
978-1-935130-85-1

by Linda L. Harley

In Office in Back: Falling in love is the easy part. Negotiating the living is the hard part., author Linda L. Harley presents a fictional couple whose issues and successful interventions reflect a composite from her years as a marriage counselor.

It is a novel about a troubled married couple, C.J. and Leeta, who live in small town in the mountains of Western North Carolina. They fell in love for all the right reasons, but the “living” got in the way of their loving. The story is driven by C.J. and his inner thoughts. The reader joins the couple in their journey as they commit to marriage therapy in their challenge to revitalize and heal their marriage to keep their well-intended oath to each other, “Till death do us part.” If the couple has the “energy of the heart,” the primary ingredient needed to work through any troubled relationship, marriage counseling will be successful; thereby, keeping the marriage in the couple’s hands, instead of a lawyer’s.

Paperback
201 Pages
List Price: $14.95
978-1-945714-18-4

From the book:
“James Allbright and Woodrow Holcombe once rode together as Texas Rangers. They both want the same woman, but Miss Lizzie can only have one man. When fate takes a hand, she might not get either of them.”

Praise for the book:
“The way Chuck Waters can turn a phrase and his metaphorical writing is evident in Pale Rider. He can make this non-cowgirl want to saddle up and ride out West. If you love Westerns, don’t miss this one. Mr. Waters has a gift!”
– Susan Reinhardt, humorist and author of best-selling Chimes from a Cracked Southern Belle

About the author:
Chuck Waters is a freelance writer currently living in Beaufort, North Carolina.
His articles and stories have appeared in various newspapers and magazines including The Raleigh Times, the News & Observer, the Asheville Citizen-Times, the Carteret County News-Times, the (Waynesville) Mountaineer, Lumina News, Wrightsville Beach Magazine, Smoky Mountain News, This Week Magazine, the Spectator and the Independent Weekly. He has won North Carolina Press Association awards for feature photography and graphic design. Pale Rider is his first novel.
Waters is currently at work on The Devil Serves Lemonade, his take on the hard-boiled, pulp fiction genre.
There may be more.

Hardcover
10 x 8.5
56 Pages
List Price: $16.95
978-1-935130-85-7

Paperback
72 pages
List price: $9.95
978-1-935130-88-8

There is grief hidden behind every hand raised in farewell, every soft bell of laughter. We wear our loss like a winter coat, bodies bowed under the heavy burden. Some flaunt the mound of fur, while others hide in the folds. This collection is for the perspicacious chameleons—the quiet gatherers of stray glances and uncomfortable silences—for the terrariums you carry within your eyes, absorbing the tears of others with your moss-covered lashes. May your homes never shatter.

“. . . a wonderfully thoughtful and original volume of work.”
– Nancy Dillingham, Thanks for the Dark But That’s Not Home,
poems and stories

After earning an associate degree from Walters State Community College, Abby N. Lewis made her way to East Tennessee State University, where she is pursuing a B.A. in English. She lives in Dandridge, Tennessee.

Sacred Connections Horsemanship shows you how to create a loving, empowered partnership with your horse. Within this book is a step-by-step, logical approach to understanding and working with the horse through the wisdom of chakra energy. The method includes a system of communication using a language the horse can understand and a non-interfering way of riding that creates a healthy flow of energy between horse and rider. Here you will discover the secrets of creating the safe, cooperative, fun, happy horse you’ve always dreamed of riding.
This book is for the rider who wants more than a horse that submits. For the horseman or woman who wants more than playing games. For those who wish a deep, empowering connection with the horse’s mind, body and spirit . . .

Paperback
276 Pages
List Price: $18.95
978-1-935130-80-2

by Knight Chamberlain

Suddenly, the hand that had been gently, but insistently guiding me forward clenched my shoulder with a viselike grip, and I was forced into a wooded area just beyond the church grounds. I had no way of knowing what was to come, but I whimpered, “I want to go home now.”
The man said nothing but took off his jacket and placed it on the ground in a clearing covered with a mixture of pine needles, moss, and leaves. What little light there was from the moon illuminated his features as he spoke words that burn in my brain to this day: “Lie down and do as I say,” he whispered hoarsely, pulling a switchblade from his back pocket and unbuckling his belt. “If you scream, I’ll cut your throat . . .”

Knight Chamberlain was nine years’ old when he was raped and sodomized by a stranger in 1965. Fifty years later he wrote Sidestepping the Pit to try and understand how he was able to rise above what could have been a life-crippling experience to cope with the loss of his innocence. Instead he became a happy optimist who avoided drug use, alcoholic addiction, and debilitating depression. Follow Knight’s confounding, surprising, and ultimately life-affirming journey as a series of events, the love of family and friends, and hard-learned lessons lead him—over time—to forgive his attacker and find the courage to share his story in hopes of helping others.

Paperback
130 Pages
List Price: $9.95
978-0-9962490-9-6

by Wilma Styles

When Martin Cullman asked his dearest friend, Kaylee Shell, to go to Stone River to investigate a stack of old letters that his mother, Clara Aims, had written before and after his birth, Kaylee said yes. She traveled to Stone River, North Dakota, to take a job at Fairmont High School as a senior history teacher.
Upon arrival, Kaylee thought she had rented five rooms in a big house but instead ended up living in the Roy Hilmar Mansion. Kaylee’s training did not prepare for the likes of the late Ellen Hilmar. In addition, she was astonished when she met the mysterious guardian of the house. Early in her investigation, a century-old murder of two Lakota Indians sent Kaylee into a maze of life-altering events. With her life being threatened, Kaylee’s guides became anger, fear, confusion and determination to find truth, whether good or bad.
Murder, intrigue, passion and suspense will keep you guessing. Just when you think you have it figured out, major revelations occur and send you right back to the beginning. The action is swift and electrifying as you encounter the nerve-racking history of Stone River.

Paperback
456 Pages
List Price: $13.95
978-1-945714-47-4

From the book: My father was still at work. My stepmother met me at the door as I returned from school. She handed me fifty dollars and my suitcases and told me, “You can go stay at one of your friends’ for a while . . . or forever if you want to. But you must go.”
Shocked and not moving, I stared at her.
“I mean it. Your father and I need some time together without you around.”
So, I, a 14-year-old girl, went stumbling down the road.

From the author: I grew to late childhood without any positive relationship models. No one ever told me that they were proud of me or encouraged me school. I was not taught how to succeed. I was in my early 40s before I felt like a “grownup.” As a child, I had been groomed only to be promiscuous. I became promiscuous searching for a father figure. I self-medicated with drugs to deal with my loss and confusion. I did not seek counseling; I did not know that it existed for me. Only when I repeated my story over and over again did I finally hear it for myself . . . and understood. It took years.

Dear Reader, You must summon your courage to face the pain needed to find the solution for a normal life. You must tell your story. This is mine.


M.A. SANDRY, an Asheville native, is now living in the North Carolina mountains with her best friend and two fur babies. She is still writing and is currently working on a children’s book.

by Paul B. Taylor

Paperback
114 Pages
List Price: $14.95
978-0-9962490-7-2

Advocates come in various forms and speak in many forums. Attorneys advocate to judges, juries, and government officials for a decision in favor of their clients or causes. Individual citizens advocate before town councils and other government tribunals. Parents advocate to school officials on behalf of their children. The sick and their representatives advocate to hospitals and insurance companies for better medical treatment. The falsely accused and wrongfully imprisoned write petitions for themselves or others, seeking a second chance at justice and freedom. Friends and families must sometimes advocate to one another to change or improve the conditions of their relationships.
Jesus advocated to us during his ministry and now advocates to God on our behalf.
A common feature of all advocates is that the outcome of their efforts is not always certain, even if they believe their position is morally or legally correct. Someone else will be making the decision. But what is certain is that for every advocate there is always help and encouragement available, before, during, and after the moment one stands up to speak.
Such help can be found in The Advocate:Encouragement for those who speak out
for others or themselves, by Paul B. Taylor.

About the Author

Paul B. Taylor is an advocate who knows his limitations and is thankful for the ever present hand and help of God, both within and without the courtroom. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he majored in English and History. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he served on the Law Review. After law school, Mr. Taylor was a law clerk to the Honorable Robert D. Potter, United States District Court Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, assisting with numerous criminal and civil trials in federal court. After his clerkship, Mr. Taylor became an associate at the Charlotte law firm of Blakeney, Alexander & Machen where he litigated cases for regional and national companies in federal court. He was appointed a United States Magistrate Judge and served for several years. Missing the role of advocate, Mr. Taylor returned to private practice as a partner in the firm of Van Hoy, Reutlinger & Taylor, litigating cases principally in federal court. He later moved to Asheville, North Carolina, practicing as a solo practitioner for a year before joining the Office of the United States Attorney where he had practiced for many years as a civil litigator representing the United States and its agencies and officers.

Mr. Taylor lives in South Korea with his wife, Angela, and sons, Harrison and Forrest.

My son asked the question, “Where do eggnogs come from?”
The answer is inside this book.

Author: Gail Heller earned her Bachelor of Arts at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. She received her Master’s degree in Special Education at Georgia State University. When she retired from teaching, writing became her passion. Her self-published novella, Seely’s Shoes, is a murder mystery that takes place in Italy. Her book promotion included a partnership with the inter-national organization Soles4Souls. She collected over six hundred pounds of shoes for recycling. Encouraged by family and friends, she continues to create more stories and looks forward to sharing them in the future. She currently resides in Alpharetta, Georgia. Ten percent of royalties are donated to Habitat for Humanity.

Illustrator: Stephanie Tian is a student at Lambert High School in Suwanee, Georgia. She has been studying at the Sunny Fine Arts Studio for twelve years and has won several distinctions in programs including: The International Science without Borders Challenge, The International River of Words Poetry and Art Contest, The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and The Global Connections Art & Essay Contest. She is president of The National Art Honor Society, founder of the Art Club, drum major of her school’s marching band, and has served on the Teen Council at the High Museum of Art. She has designed the cover for GIS Technology Applications in Environmental and Earth Sciences. She hopes to go to college and continue expanding her self-established company, SGL-Art LLC.

At first glance, this might appear to be a story about Antoinette Davis, publicly identified as one of the most hated women in America. She is considered the worst type of offender, with convictions including sexual servitude of a minor, rape and murder. Her crimes are shocking and incite unquantifiable amounts of animosity and rage against her. I am drawn to her story, compelled to it even. Like the rest, I want to understand who she is and how this happened. But what keeps me submerged in this uncomfortable and heavy ocean is the need to understand why. Why Antoinette and not me? – A.H.

Abigail Hickman lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, Simeon. When she is not researching murders, she teaches Rhetoric and Composition at Mars Hill University and AB Technical Community College. Abigail is a contributing writer to Mountain Xpress. This, That and the Third is her first book.

by Christopher Mead Armitage

Unlocking My Wordhoard: Poems and Prose with illustrations is a collection of poems in three divisions; the first is related to historical and public matters, the second, to famous poets or their work, the third, more personal, with some heartfelt poems, others jesting. Most of the poems are short and attempt to concentrate on the essence of events such as falling in love or the German invasion of Russia in World War II. The prose that follows explores such subjects as the author as a child exposed to war; studying with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien; and participation in sports and theatrical productions.

Paperback
132 Pages
List Price: $14.95
978-1-945714-38-2

In Who’s Got Your Back?, engaging characters are rising to the best within themselves as each one faces different and very real issues in life—among them single parenting and parental rejection, childhood incest revealed as an adult and the painful transformations that accompany major illness within the family. They draw the reader into a depth common to each of us. It is through these specific issues of life we each encounter that we are challenged to make choices, and it is through these choices that we manifest and become who we are in this world. Who’s Got Your Back? powerfully expresses the gamut of emotions from the dearest, innocent humor and tenderness of childhood to the soaring loves and sorrows throughout adult life. Pulled together by a young girl named Pauli, these characters face life’s realities with courage and strength. They bond with moving loyalty, such that the reader is left with an ever present beacon of hope and optimism. Who’s Got Your Back? is a novel that will remain within the reader’s heart.

Barbara Duncan founded and was director of The R.E.A.C.H. Centre, Reach Every Adult and Child to Heal, 1990-2007, in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she provided counseling for individuals, couples and families and specialized in the treatment of child abuse in all its forms. Her practice was featured as the “Healing Segment” of Scared Silent, a nationally aired television documentary on all forms of child abuse, hosted by Oprah Winfrey, 1992. Barbara’s warmth, her belief in our inner wisdom and her enthusiasm for life are reflected in Who’s Got Your Back? She retired to Asheville, North Carolina, in 2007, where she lives with her husband, Russ, and their five small dogs. Sunsets over the mountains are especially meaningful to them.

Paperback
418 pages
List Price: $14.95
978-1-945714-13-9

by Denise Owen
Illustrated by Jo Wicker

Why Does God Pull Teeth? helps children understand the purpose of baby teeth and the process by which a beautiful smile is ultimately achieved. Beautifully illustrated, the 28-page paperback includes an excellent educational section with colorful depiction of in situ baby teeth and adult teeth. There is also a helpful glossary, with simple definitions.

Besides helping parents explain the tooth phenomenon to their children, it has great appeal for dentists’ offices.

The author has a Master’s Degree in Social Work and for many years worked with adolescents with behavioral and learning disabilities. After home-schooling her own kids from middle through high school, she continues to teach, write poetry, work part time and stay involved with several volunteer organizations.
The illustrator has an Associate’s Degree in Drafting and Design, having worked for many years in the field. She is a retired Licensed Practical Nurse. She enjoys reading, painting, cooking, hiking, gardening, Internet research and crafts, including jewelry and soap making. Since becoming a professional clown (aka “Pansy Jo”) in 2006, she and her clown partner, entertain at Adult Day Care and Assisted Living facilities.

Hardcover
28 Pages
List Price: $9.95
978-1-945714-16-0

by Cynthia Yancey
illustrated by Twila Jefferson

Zak and Niki is a story of a Southern family’s first encounter with biracial relationship. It is a story of the mother’s response, guided by her belief in the innate goodness of all children. Zak and Niki is about simply and freely rising above the social shackles of racism.

Hardcover
32 Pages
List Price: $14.95
978-1-935130-90-1