A story of heartache and the power of forgiveness, Ashes to Ink shines a light on the challenges of living true to who we are, especially for single parents.
About Ashes to Ink
Acceptance struggles to emerge from a cocoon of family secrets . . .
After her parents’ divorce in 1974, Lisa Lucca’s idyllic Midwestern childhood is shattered when she learns her father is gay. Sworn to secrecy, she begins carrying the emotions of her family like a cracked bucket, making a mess as she embarks on a life of rebellious choices.
Decades later, faced with the aftermath of her father’s death, Lisa revisits the complicated relationship she had with him, delving deeper into the stories she’s held about love, sexuality, and the family she comes from with a shimmering clarity that arises from her grief.
Lisa Lucca’s work has been published in several publications and anthologies, most recently in Crone Rising. She is the co-author of the epistolary memoir, You Are Loved, with her partner, Mark Mathias, a love story she will continue telling in her next book.
She shares a home with Mark in the high desert of southern New Mexico where she continues her work as a life coach, and hosts a weekly public radio show, Live True, bringing insightful and engaging interviews to her listeners. The show streams globally at lccommunityradio.org where the shows are available in the archives.
L’Origine: The secret life of the world’s most erotic masterpiece is the riveting odyssey of one of the world’s most scandalous works of art.
About L’Origine: The secret life of the world’s most erotic masterpiece
In 1866, maverick French artist Gustave Courbet painted one of the most iconic images in the history of art: a sexually explicit portrait of a woman’s exposed genitals. Audaciously titled L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the World), the scandalous painting was kept hidden for a century and a half. Today, it hangs in the world-renowned Orsay Museum in Paris, viewed by millions of visitors a year.
As the first artist authorized by the Orsay Museum to re-create Courbet’s The Origin of the World, author Lilianne Milgrom was thrust into the painting’s intimate orbit, spending six weeks replicating every fold, crevice, and pubic hair. The experience inspired her to share her story and the painting’s titillating, clandestine history. L’Origine is a tale of survival, replete with French revolutionaries, Turkish pashas and nefarious Nazi captains. Hold onto your berets for a riveting ride through history.
Paris-born Lilianne Milgrom is an internationally acclaimed artist and award-winning author residing in Washington DC. In 2011, she became the first authorized copyist of Gustave Courbet’s controversial painting L’Origine du Monde, which hangs in the Orsay Museum in Paris. Milgrom spent a decade researching and writing L’Origine: The Secret Life of the World’s Most Erotic Masterpiece. Her debut novel has been awarded six literary honors including the Publisher’s Weekly 2021 US Selfies Book Award for Best Adult Fiction.
In Gideon’s Grandchildren, author Bill Jaquette weaves his own thirty-plus years’ experience in public defense and provides readers with an intimate look at the day-to-day lives and struggles of public defense attorneys.
About Gideon’s Grandchildren
Steve Cole is a young public defense attorney with a long list of clients: Among them is Jeff Harris, who is facing a life sentence under a law that Steve believes is cruel and unfair. When Harris is presented with a plea bargain that would spare him a life sentence, Steve urges his client to accept. Steve is shocked when Harris turns down the plea bargain in favor of going to trial. Steve quickly finds himself in the most difficult case of his career, in addition to all his other clients. Nevertheless, Steve grows to respect Harris and the decision he made, compelling him to work tirelessly for a not-guilty verdict for Harris.
Throughout the novel, author Bill Jaquette weaves his own thirty-plus years’ experience in public defense and provides readers with an intimate look at the day-to-day lives and struggles of public defense attorneys. The result is a compassionate portrayal of some of the most critical figures in the American courts, their clients, and the arduous and complicated role of maintaining justice.
Bill Jaquette practiced law for over forty years. During that time, he served as a deputy prosecuting attorney and was also in private practice. A substantial part of his career, however, was as a public defender, including thirty years with the Snohomish County Public Defender Association, of which he was also director. In addition to his JD from the University of Washington, Bill holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of Missouri and, prior to his career in law, served as a tenured member of the philosophy faculty at Southwest Missouri State University.
James Dreadful’s Epic Adventure Continues in Book Two of the Dreadful Series, James Dreadful and the Tomb of Forgotten Secrets.
About James Dreadful and the Tomb of Forgotten Secrets
After narrowly escaping a contract with his father’s evil servant Rekenhowler, James reluctantly decides to return home to the Cades Isles to live out the rest of his youth training to become a sorcerer. The only problem: James and his companions are adrift on the boat Persephone in the Realm of Shadows without a crew.
When a stowaway aboard Persephone informs James that his father—the Dark Lord—might have been mind-slaved by the mysterious, evil Cowl, James is shocked. The only proof that he will accept is the soul of his father, which he learns is lodged deep in the Tomb of Forgotten Secrets. In confronting his father’s soul, James can learn the truth about the Dark Lord—and if he is destined to become one himself.
But before he can reach the Tomb, James must travel to Sarvelok, an island protected by raiders, to retrieve the key his uncle Oskar stole from him. Attacking the island would be suicide—but possible with the help of Rekenhowler. The price James will have to pay, however, is too high, but without it, will he ever learn the truth of his father—and his own fate?
Alan Creed fell in love with storytelling after seeing Star Wars for the first time as a child. When he was ten years old, his tutor asked him to write sentences containing three words: Ocean, Desert and Jungle. Instead of sentences, Alan wrote a 103-page story entitled Journey through the Desert. That’s when he knew he wanted to be a writer. His 103-page story served as the source material for the Dreadful Series. Alan is currently working on the next installment in the James Dreadful series.
Gallant: The Call of the Trail is a gripping journey of a young girl and a foal who are raised together in The Valley of Hearts Delight.
About Gallant: The Call of the Trail
A gripping journey of a young girl and a foal who are raised together in The Valley of Hearts Delight. Gallant and Gracie have a special bond, rarely seen between a human and a horse. Separated by a bad accident when Gallant is five, each gets a second chance of happiness pursuing the long-distance sport of endurance riding, neither knowing they are leading parallel lives. Will Fate bring them together again? Gallant’s arch nemesis, The Almighty Flash, threatens to destroy all that Gallant has worked for. His misguided ambition and greed, developed at the hands of an abusive owner, has created a darkness in his soul that turns to blind fury when his endurance career is threatened.
My Thoughts
I fell in love with this touching story of a youth and her love and deep connection with her horse, Gallant and their trials.
From a very young age, Gracie developed a special bond with Gallant. They were more than just a human girl and her horse, they were family. A bad accident separates the two of them and both must struggle through this loss and pain, learning how to move forward and heal (which feels almost impossible at times). We are there as each of them must learn methods to cope and heal through their grieving. While a part of them is healed, it is when they are brought together by chance that you realize how strong their bond is and their reunion was heart warming and anxious all wrapped in one. But how do they move forward? They have both gained new people/animals in their lives, and while those bonds are not quite the same, they are still very much loved. I also loved the story that developed at the same time around Flash. Who on the surface is a mean, ambitious horse but when you really look at his past, his treatment and his lack of love in his life – your heart goes out to him. He has never known any different.
Gallant: The Call of the Trail is a well written novel for both youths and adults – I loved the story myself and could not put it down. It was such a special story of love and nurture – how this affects our growth and development, and our connections to the world around us. It is also a story of grief and loss, and the healing that occurs after this. I loved that we read the book from the perspective not only of Gracie but of the horses as well! I also learned a lot about endurance riding, something I had no idea existed but sounds incredible. This novel is a definite must read.
Award winning Author Claire Eckard combines her love of writing with her passion for animals to create memorable children’s books that are fun to read, but also include valuable life’s lessons. Claire grew up in England and moved to Hawaii in her early twenties where she married her husband of thirty-four years. Together they raised two sons, Mitchell and Matthew. Claire is inspired by her two Granddaughters Mila and Ella, as well as the beautiful backdrop of the Arizona mountains where she lives. Claire has a farm full of animals, and has spent many years as a board member and volunteer of her local animal shelter.
You can connect with Claire on her website and Facebook.
The Giveaway
Enter to win a signed copy of Gallant: The Call of the Trail here.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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