Deen D
Submitted
Count the Ways: A Novel
Eleanor and Cam meet at a crafts fair in Vermont in the early 1970s. She’s an artist and writer, he makes wooden bowls. Within four years they are parents to three children, two daughters and a red-headed son who fills his pockets with rocks, plays the violin and talks to God. To Eleanor, their New Hampshire farm provides everything she always wanted—summer nights watching Cam’s softball games, snow days by the fire and the annual tradition of making paper boats and cork people to launch in the brook every spring. If Eleanor and Cam don’t make love as often as they used to, they have something that matters more. Their family.
Then comes a terrible accident, caused by Cam’s negligence. Unable to forgive him, Eleanor is consumed by bitterness, losing herself in her life as a mother, while Cam finds solace with a new young partner.
Over the decades that follow, the five members of this fractured family make surprising discoveries and decisions that occasionally bring them together, and often tear them apart. Tracing the course of their lives—through the gender transition of one child and another’s choice to completely break with her mother—Joyce Maynard captures a family forced to confront essential, painful truths of its past, and find redemption in its darkest hours.
A story of holding on and learning to let go, Count the Ways is an achingly beautiful, poignant, and deeply compassionate novel of home, parenthood, love, and forgiveness.
The Life and Times of Angie Bardot
Setting out on her adventures, Angie is best described as endearingly tragic as she gives a truly laugh-out-loud account of what could possibly go wrong when her long-term marriage comes to an end. Extolling the many pitfalls of being single is no laughing matter and being thrown into the dating arena is even worse.
When curiosity to view a certain piece of the male anatomy takes priority, bedlam unfolds. Angie’s journey will leave you in fits of laughter while raising your eyebrows in absolute disdain.
Taking you from “Hell No” to “Hell Yes,” this two-part true story taps into a range of emotions as you travel along with Angie on her voyage of self-discovery. A captivating exposé of courage and raw honesty in finding a new beginning when life takes a nosedive, this compelling portrayal of compassion gives insight into the weakest and strongest moments of what it is to be human.
You will fall in love with Angie and won’t be able to stop turning the pages to see what she will do next. To err on the side of caution is not Angies strong suit. Heart wrenching, yet hilariously funny in the unique style of telling her tale, it’s never a surprise when she ends up on several occasions with her tail between her legs!
Does she ever learn?
This book is one of a kind, and better still, so is Angie Bardot.
Riley Thorn and the Dead Guy Next Door
Divorced. Broke. Living with a pack of elderly roommates. And those hallucinations she’s diligently ignoring? Her tarot card-dealing mom is convinced they’re clairvoyant visions.
Just when things can’t get worse, a so-hot-it-should-be-illegal private investigator shows up on her doorstep looking for a neighbor…who turns up murdered.
Nick Santiago doesn’t play well with others. Unless the “others” are of the female persuasion. Wink. He’s a rebel, a black sheep, a man who prefers a buffet of options to being stuck with the same entrée every night, if you catch his drift.
When the pretty, possibly psychic Riley lands at the top of the list of suspects, Nick volunteers to find out whodunit. Only because he likes solving mysteries not because he wants to flex his heroic muscles for the damsel in distress.
All they have to do is figure out who pulled the trigger, keep the by-the-book detective with a grudge at bay, and deal with a stranger claiming he was sent to help Riley hone her psychic gifts. All before the killer discovers she’s a loose end that requires snipping.
Trusting Molly (Silverstone Book 3)
When Mark “Smoke” Chamberlin ventures into the Nigerian jungle with his team of government assassins, his mission is clear: get in, kill the target, and make it out alive. With his extensive military experience, Smoke has no problem heading into dangerous territory. When it comes to love, though, he’s always been a little wary. But then he meets the beautiful, intrepid Molly Smith.
Schoolteacher Molly has been trying to outrun a lifetime of bad luck, and now she finds herself kidnapped along with a hundred schoolgirls in the jungle. But when Smoke finds them, Molly thinks her luck might be turning around—until she returns to the US to find her beloved grandparents murdered.
Devastated by their deaths and mystified by the turn of events, Molly turns to Smoke for comfort. But as Molly and Smoke grow closer, a different threat emerges…one that will put their relationship to the test and their lives in grave danger.
Not Today! A Dora’s Rage Mystery – Book 1
The disguised voice on the phone claims City Hall is infested with corruption caused by a murder “that wasn’t a murder,” but when Dora’s beloved Lt. Franny Hart investigates and tragedy strikes, the enraged natural born fighter won’t let it stand … NOT TODAY – Dora’s Rage Series, Book 1.
Deborah “Dora” Ellison’s job collecting garbage, usually by lifting and “tipping” the filled garbage containers with one hand, has made her freakishly strong. At her lover, Beach City Police Lieutenant Francesca Hart’s suggestion, she tries out for a new MMA league and finds she is a natural; she forces the owner to tap.
Dora loathes bullies. When she sees someone being bullied, she is apt to go after the bully, often with unexpected brutality.
The corruption that is so much a part of Beach City politics did indeed begin with a “murder that wasn’t a murder,” and is defended by the powers that be — both in City Hall and in the person of the city’s brutal enforcer, “Cranky” Franky Patella, who is every bit as brutal, and as wounded, as Dora.
The two are destined to meet, a meeting that will decide the future of Beach City.
The Personal Librarian
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.
But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.
The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.
Undying Sway
On her path to find her long lost family, Kara meets Alex.
Their encounter is full of mysteries. At the same time, it brings light to the secrets of Kara’s family. She has no idea there is so much to learn about Alex.
A life-changing email gets Kara elated.
It is the news she has been waiting for all her life. Her DNA finally has a match. And they want to meet her soon.
Kara would love it more than anything, but she holds her breath. Suddenly years of
silence and patient and hopeful waiting are over.
Unable to hide her thrill, Kara doesn’t know how to act.
The thought that someone out there is her relative makes her cry with joy. However, she
is leery about strangers. Kara is torn between her mind and her heart. Hopeful and mystified, will she make the next step? This captivating novel with the touch of fantasy keeps you guessing until the last page.
Brothers in Arms
The colour of your skin or where you come from should never affect how people look at you.
The world changed after September 2001, when the twin towers were downed by two hijacked aircraft crashing into them and into the Pentagon. People of all creed and colour condemned the attacks and the murder of innocents in the name of religion.
Brothers in arms do not care about the colour of your skin; for them, it is about the loyalty you have for one and another. When you are in heat of the battle, who cares if the person fighting next to you is from a different religion; he is your brother, he has your back and will die and fight with you.
What 9/11 did was paint a red target on every person of colour as a potential threat. All religions preach happiness, peace, and love.
Aman, a young British Asian, fights for these very reasons’ loyalty, love and honour is his backbone. His brothers in arms do not look at him because he is Asian but just as another soldier doing his job and being there as a unit.
The valour shown by these young soldiers can only be admired; most of them, if they return, will never be the same mentally and physically. Many will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, proud men with deep scars of the theatre of war.
The Heretics’ Revenge
Condemned as heretics by the Catholic Church, the 13th-century Cathars are persecuted, tortured, and finally burned alive at Montségur. But according to legend, they hide their riches and relic beyond the castle walls on the eve of their demise. In the 1930s, Otto Rahn dedicates his life to recovering the long-forgotten relic, and coerced by Himmler joins the SS to find the ‘Holy Grail’ for the Nazis. Exposed as both Jewish and homosexual, Rahn commits suicide. But not before he entrusts his notes to his niece. – Notes that have never been found.
Seeking a challenge after retiring early, businessman Steve Jackson embarks on a modern-day search for the fabled Cathar cache. With French girlfriend, Manon Lubin, they locate Rahn’s abandoned clues in the Black Forest. The notes become a key to locating a religious discovery even greater than the Dead Sea Scrolls, and unleash a 750-year old time-capsule of revenge that threatens to shake the Church of Rome to its foundations.
The massacre of the Cathars and the true story of Otto Rahn are interweaved and then continued with the fictional search for the treasure and relic. Rich in historical detail, this fascinating and absorbing story, set in France and London, climaxes with a thought-provoking and controversial conclusion that brings The Heretics’ Revenge.
The Spark
Before I even met Donovan Decker, I knew his shoe size.
You see, I’d gone away for a few days, and in my haste to get out of the airport, I’d grabbed the wrong suitcase.
After checking out the expensive footwear and tailored clothes, I dialed the number on the luggage tag hoping maybe Mister Big Spender might have my bag.
A deep, velvety voice answered, and as luck would have it, he had my suitcase, too.
Donovan and I met at a coffee shop to do the exchange.
Turned out, it wasn’t just his voice that was sexy. The man holding my luggage was absolutely gorgeous, and we had an immediate spark.
He got me to admit that I’d snooped in his bag and then convinced me to make it up to him by letting him buy me coffee.
Coffee led to dinner, dinner led to dessert, and dessert led to spending an entire weekend together. Donovan wasn’t just handsome with a panty-dropping voice. He was also funny, smart, and surprisingly down to earth for a man who wore seven-hundred-dollar shoes.
Did I mention he also did my laundry while I slept? Definitely too good to be true.
So what did I do to repay him for his kindness?
I waited until he was in the shower, then ghosted him.
My life was too complicated for such a great guy.
In the months that passed, I thought about Donovan often.
But New York City had eight-million people, so what were the chances I’d run into him?
Then again, what were the chances I’d run into him a year later…when I’d just started dating his boss?
The Paper Palace: A Novel
It is a perfect July morning, and Elle, a fifty-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at “The Paper Palace”—the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: last night Elle and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, all while their spouses chatted away inside. Now, over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn’t forever changed the course of their lives. As Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity. Tender yet devastating, The Paper Palace considers the tensions between desire and dignity, the legacies of abuse, and the crimes and misdemeanors of families.
RISEN: The accession and devolution of Yahweh Ben Yahweh: Miami’s Urban Chronicles Volume 1
The growth of “Mega churches” has risen considerably in the 21st century as compared to the past. Miami Urban Chronicles Volume I: Risen, seeks to set forth a fictional biopic of the rise of spiritual leader Yahweh Ben Yahweh of the Liberty City based movement the Nation of Yahweh, “Ben Yahweh’s.” Chauncey Miller, the main character in the story is determined to be a success. He uses his natural skills of cultivating relationships and influence to draw his followers. Despite his meager rural southern background he dreams big and takes risks head-on in realization of his goals. It is significant in modern 21st century times that individuals take control of their life’s path. The urban youth particularly need to realize by making deliberate decisions concerning their life they can live their
Life, Hope, and Forgiveness
This beautiful story will help you to understand how changing your mind, you can improve your life! It is easy if you point out your problems! This is the way for happiness, recognizing trouble if you want to know how to take the next step.
How I Saved the World
At one of the most chaotic periods in American history, in a time of national distrust and despair, one tanned TV host holds the key to the future.
In How I Saved the World, Jesse Watters takes readers on a tour of his life from basement-dwelling Fox minion to pampered champion of right-thinking Americans. He has divined great truths about the nature of our country while stumbling across beaches asking oblivious college students basic political questions and while stumbling out of Air Force One with the President.
Interspersed are his thoughtful suggestions for overcoming left-wing radicalism, maintaining American democracy, moving beyond aging hippies (like his long-suffering, loving parents), saving the world from social justice warriors and the deep state—all while smirking his way through life in only the nicest way.
Watters outlines the stark choice ahead of us between all-American hamburgers and leftist Green New Deal breadlines (okay, maybe that one is a no-brainer) and shows the way for order and fairness to be restored. A manifesto and a call-to-arms from a man for all seasons, How I Saved the World is a hilarious, enlightening, entertaining book with a reasonable chance of winning a Nobel Prize in every category, even chemistry.
Wolf Harvest
Coda is a hybrid coyote/wolf living on the outskirts of downtown Pittsburgh, encountering enemies and allies while struggling to survive.
When someone close to him is taken, he leads a band of misfits to Northern Canada.
Sam and Amy, two college students, drop everything to follow him on this unexpected exodus during the worst blizzard in decades.
This Is Your Mind on Plants
Of all the things humans rely on plants for—sustenance, beauty, medicine, fragrance, flavor, fiber—surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate or calm, fiddle with or completely alter, the qualities of our mental experience. Take coffee and tea: People around the world rely on caffeine to sharpen their minds. But we do not usually think of caffeine as a drug, or our daily use as an addiction, because it is legal and socially acceptable. So, then, what is a “drug”? And why, for example, is making tea from the leaves of a tea plant acceptable, but making tea from a seed head of an opium poppy a federal crime?
In This Is Your Mind on Plants, Michael Pollan dives deep into three plant drugs—opium, caffeine, and mescaline—and throws the fundamental strangeness, and arbitrariness, of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs while consuming (or, in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants. Why do we go to such great lengths to seek these shifts in consciousness, and then why do we fence that universal desire with laws and customs and fraught feelings?
In this unique blend of history, science, and memoir, as well as participatory journalism, Pollan examines and experiences these plants from several very different angles and contexts, and shines a fresh light on a subject that is al
Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood
On screen, Danny Trejo the actor is a baddie who has been killed at least a hundred times. He’s been shot, stabbed, hanged, chopped up, squished by an elevator, and once, was even melted into a bloody goo. Off screen, he’s a hero beloved by recovery communities and obsessed fans alike. But the real Danny Trejo is much more complicated than the legend.
Raised in an abusive home, Danny struggled with heroin addiction and stints in some of the country’s most notorious state prisons—including San Quentin and Folsom—from an early age, before starring in such modern classics as Heat, From Dusk till Dawn, and Machete. Now, in this funny, painful, and suspenseful memoir, Danny takes us through the incredible ups and downs of his life, including meeting one of the world’s most notorious serial killers in prison and working with legends like Charles Bronson and Robert De Niro.
An honest, unflinching, and “inspirational study in the definition of character” (Kevin Smith, director and actor), Trejo reveals how he managed the horrors of prison, rebuilt himself after finding sobriety and spirituality in solitary confinement, and draws inspiration from the adrenaline-fueled robbing heists of his past for the film roles that made him a household name. He also shares the painful contradictions in his personal life. Although he speaks everywhere from prison yards to NPR about his past to inspire countless others on their own road to recovery and redemption, he struggles to help his children
“I LOVE SEX, I LOVE MYSELF” (UNMASKING SEXUAL DEPRESSION, HEALING AND WINNING THE BATTLE WITHIN. FREE YOURSELF FROM YOURSELF, BY LOVING YOURSELF!!! )
How to Understand a Sexually Active Person Post Sexual Trauma
Regardless of how old a person is or their gender, sexual violence impacts an individual far past any of the physical injuries…
The emotional trauma of being sexually assaulted or raped can be life-shattering, leaving the person feeling alone, ashamed, and in fear. The good news is that blaming yourself, feeling defective and helpless are NOT reality. As difficult as it must seem, there are strategies and techniques that will help you come to terms with the unfortunate circumstances in your life so you can regain your sense of trust and safety, and learn how to heal and move forward in your life.
Understanding Sexual Repression/Depression.
Shame around any form of nudity
Discomfort or shock when viewing anything sexual on TV or in the movies
Shaming you for sexually expressing yourself in any way (i.e., You dirty boy, take your hand off of there!”),
Dirty, bad, and/or wrong labels for sex (Dirty magazines)
Anything having to do with sexuality is a family secret, stiff gender roles, and punishment for any type of sexual expression
If you follow the training in this book, it is very likely that you will have the tools necessary to never fall back into toxic shame, depression/repression, etc.… again.
It’s Just Me, Hutchel
This is an inspiring, page turning, feel good story about overcoming your fears.
The Paper Palace: A Novel
It is a perfect July morning, and Elle, a fifty-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at “The Paper Palace”—the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: last night Elle and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, all while their spouses chatted away inside. Now, over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn’t forever changed the course of their lives. As Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity. Tender yet devastating, The Paper Palace considers the tensions between desire and dignity, the legacies of abuse, and the crimes and misdemeanors of families.
UNDERTAKERS INC.
Tim Thompson is a young man waiting only to join his entire family in the grave. But when he is hired by a mysterious undertaker business, he learns that many things other than death can happen to him, from meeting and falling for an outlaw vampire, Cyril, to being reunited with his relatives after they emerge from the grave! Undead life is anything but simple, especially when you are the son of an ultra-dominant vampire. Will he choose the same path as Fiona, the vampire mortician and her forbidden love for a mortal, or follow the path to power and fight against his own sister who has both love and murder on her mind?
Opium traffickers, vampire hunters, Japanese ghosts: the intrigues of the vampire court of England are complex. “Undertakers Inc.” is a hair-raising journey to the other side of the grave and into a dramatic power struggle between the powers that dwell there.
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything
Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield’s success-and survival-is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst- and enjoy every moment of it.
In An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement-and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don’t visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.
You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth-especially your own.