Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Haroldย Phifer for his latest release,Surviving Chaos: How I found Peace At A Beach Bar.
About The Author
Harold Phifer
Harold Phifer was born in a deeply segregated South It is here he learned how to survive the harsh life of being unnurtured and unloved on the streets of Columbus, Mississippi. His first twenty-five years were spent dreaming, hustling, and ducking bullies at every turn. After graduating Mississippi State and Jackson State Universities, he became a highly specialized Air Traffic Controller, living and working as an international contractor, serving numerous tours in lraq and Afghanistan. Because of those experiences of being so close to death and the Taliban, he had no choice but accept the Tee-shirt while authoring his memoir โSleepWalking Out of Afghanistan: Walking it all Back.โ Next, Harold followed up with an expanded autobiography, โSurviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar,โ which is a combination of two books through different phases of trauma all meshed into one big novel.
For more than fifty years, Harold Phiferโs childhood living conditions remained a secret, even from those who thought they knew him best. No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness; a greedy aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an absent father.
It wasnโt until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory was blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Emma Roberson for her latest release, Beast: Book One.
Book: Beast: Book One Author: Emma Roberson Publication date: September 13, 2023 Genres: Fantasy, Monster-Beast Fiction Page Count:ย 220 pages Publisher: Green Hill Publishing
About the Book
FORCED FROM THE SEA HE ONCE ROAMED AS AN APEX PREDATOR, THE LEVIATHAN MUST FIGHT TO SURVIVE ON LAND.
With a new face and name the Leviathan carves a place for himself in a volatile and violent world where monsters and humans wage war against each other and amongst themselves for survival and supremacy.
An unlikely alliance is forged between the Master of the Vanguard, the leader of the kingdoms royally sanctioned monster hunters, and the Leviathan, once the most notorious and elusive monster of the sea. United by terrible circumstance and bound by a shared purpose, the Master and the Leviathan struggle to overcome the hatred and fear which rules and rots the realm.
The Leviathan must defend the realm from all things monstrous, including himself. He must find a way to conquer the turmoil of the kingdom and the darkness of his own nature.
Emma Roberson is an Australian author and illustrator who is obsessed with all things strange, dark and wild. Emma is an avid reptile and horse keeper, and these animals often feature in her writing and illustrations. Beast is the first book of The Leviathan Series, an illustrated fantasy adventure full of frightful monsters and gritty quests. Find Emma, the critters and the latest updates on her written work on Facebook.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring authorHarold Phifer for his latest release, Surviving Chaos, How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar.
Book: Surviving Chaos: How I found Peace At A Beach Bar Author: Harold Phifer Publication date: Feb 18, 2021 Genres: Humour, Dysfunctional Family, Young Adult, Non-Fiction Page Count:ย 267 pages Publisher: Rise and Read Free Press
About the Book
For more than fifty years, Harold Phifer’s childhood living conditions remained a secret, even from those who thought they knew him best. No one knew about his past growing up with a mother who suffered from mental illness; a greedy aunt; a mindless and spoiled older brother; an absent father.
It wasn’t until an explosion in Afghanistan that his memory was blasted back into focus. This book is the result of a long, cathartic chat with a stranger at a beach bar, where Harold finally found some peace.
Harold Phifer was born in a deeply segregated South It is here he learned how to survive the harsh life of being unnurtured and unloved on the streets of Columbus, Mississippi. His first twenty-five years were spent dreaming, hustling, and ducking bullies at every turn. After graduating Mississippi State and Jackson State Universities, he became a highly specialized Air Traffic Controller, living and working as an international contractor, serving numerous tours in lraq and Afghanistan. Because of those experiences of being so close to death and the Taliban, he had no choice but accept the Tee-shirt while authoring his memoir “SleepWalking Out of Afghanistan: Walking it all Back.” Next, Harold followed up with an expanded autobiography, “Surviving Chaos: How I Found Peace at A Beach Bar,” which is a combination of two books through different phases of trauma all meshed into one big novel.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring authorRebecca Butt for her latest release,Lipstick on a Pig: A Memoir.
About The Author
Rebecca Butt
As a young child, Rebecca escaped into books, and wrote happy stories accompanied by bright and cheerful pictures with houses, trees, flowers, and birds,that were a contradiction to her real-life circumstances. Her childhood love for reading and writing endured, and she eventualy wrote and published her short stories and poetry in a literary journal in college. Lipstick on a Pig is her lengthiest writing endeavor. A licensed Speech Language Pathologist with a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders, she is the Director of Special Education for a school district in New Hampshire, where she resides.
Candid and poignant, humorous and heart-wrenching, in nomadic fashion, the directionless Butt Family chaotically relocated throughout the city of Laconia, New Hampshire, like a ship, adrift and lost at sea without a captain.
Encumbered by night terrors, hauntings, and scraps of memories that spoke to a cruelty beyond her mother, Becky sneakily devoured her way into young adulthood and developed a crippling, yet all too comforting, binge-eating disorder.
Morbidly obese, visited often by a seething presence, and drowning under the smothering symptoms of childhood trauma, Becky is sure sheโs the defective link in her broken family-until her ghost relative provides her a life jacket of hope that may just keep her afloat.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
๐โจ Step into the TRB Lounge Spotlight! ๐โจ
Today, we roll out the red carpet for the amazing Mark Gutter, who is about to unveil the beautiful cover of his newest masterpiece, Dancer on the Ceiling: More Darkly Humorous Tales. Prepare to be enchanted, for what you’re about to see is not just a coverโit’s a visual symphony that captures the very soul of storytelling. ๐๐
Presenting…
About the Book
Presenting laugh-out-loud stories for lovers of absurd comedy, featuring an eccentric cast of characters including Derek Organ: Private Investigator, Lionel the Moth, Roman slave Servus Minimus, the Battlefield Masseur, ambulance chaser Bradley Scherp, the Incredibly Delusional Shrinking Man, Compound Fracture the Clown, and of course, the Dancer on the Ceiling.
MARK NUTTER grew up in a motel near Joliet, Illinois, which is not as glamorous as it sounds. He acquired a taste for absurd comedy while in the womb. Mark is the author of three short fiction collections (Dancer on the Ceiling, Giant Banana Over Texas, and Sunset Cruise on the River Styx). Heโs also written for the stage (Re-Animator the Musical, The Bicycle Men, Christmas Smackdown), television (SNL, 3rd Rock from the Sun), and film (Almost Heroes).
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
The world is dead, suffocated by the greed and neglect of the very children it gave birth to, and humankind itself is dancing on a razorโs edge between survival and extinction. Coghan, a young Breath Hunter, is sent out on his first mission to collect breathable air for the Dome, one of humanityโs last bastions. But in a world where a toxic atmosphere blocks out the sun, acid rain corrodes metal, and the wind blows away anything else remaining, a single misstep can be your last. And when everyone looks only after themselves, whom can you trust? Can you hope humanity will learn from its mistakes? Suit up with Coghan and brave through the toxic hell that is the legacy of a society that killed their own planet!
Harken Void is the authorโs alter ego – his real name is Kevin – and he uses Harken as a medium to tell his stories. In his writing, he likes to incorporate elements of spirituality, science, philosophy, and personal growth, and present it all in as awesome and epic a way as he can. He loves to ask the big questions, explore life’s deepest secrets, and shine light at those darkest places – while keeping a lighthearted attitude and leaving his readers with a sense of upliftment. He feels most at home in Fantasy and Science Fiction, genres of ideas and exploration of reality itself. While Harken is a multidimensional being, existing beyond all space and time, Kevin is mortal, and he lives in Slovenia, a small country in Europe. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Geology. Besides writing and contemplating existence, his two most burning passions are music and nature.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring authorRebecca Buttย for her latest release,Lipstick on a Pig: A Memoir.
Lipstick on a Pig: A Memoir
Book: Lipstick on a Pig: A Memoir Author: Rebecca Butt Publication date: June 30, 2023 Genres: Memoir, Non-Fiction Page Count:ย 276 pages Publisher:ย Bowker
About the Book
Candid and poignant, humorous and heart-wrenching, in nomadic fashion, the directionless Butt Family chaotically relocated throughout the city of Laconia, New Hampshire, like a ship, adrift and lost at sea without a captain.
Encumbered by night terrors, hauntings, and scraps of memories that spoke to a cruelty beyond her mother, Becky sneakily devoured her way into young adulthood and developed a crippling, yet all too comforting, binge-eating disorder.
Morbidly obese, visited often by a seething presence, and drowning under the smothering symptoms of childhood trauma, Becky is sure sheโs the defective link in her broken family-until her ghost relative provides her a life jacket of hope that may just keep her afloat.
As a young child, Rebecca escaped into books, and wrote happy stories accompanied by bright and cheerful pictures with houses, trees, flowers, and birds,that were a contradiction to her real-life circumstances. Her childhood love for reading and writing endured, and she eventualy wrote and published her short stories and poetry in a literary journal in college. Lipstick on a Pig is her lengthiest writing endeavor. A licensed Speech Language Pathologist with a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders, she is the Director of Special Education for a school district in New Hampshire, where she resides.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Steven McFadden for his latest release,Native Knowings: Wisdom Keys for One and All.
Native Knowings: Wisdom Keys for One and All
Book: Native Knowings: Wisdom Keys for One and All Author: Steven McFadden Publication date: May 26, 2023 Genres: Motivational, Self-Help, Inspirational, Non-Fiction Page Count: 84 pages Publisher: –
About the Book
This original compilation–a small treasure of 72 pages–offers a concise and contemporary compendium of some key North American (Turtle Island) wisdom teachings to help support people through this era of transition.
“I ask you to listen, not just with your minds. I ask you to listen with your hearts, because that’s the only way you can receive what it is, what we are giving. These are the teachings of our hearts.” – Frank Decontie, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg
What do some of the venerable, deeply rooted wisdom teachings of the Americas offer in our era of transition?
This Soul*Sparks small treasure offers an array of thoughtful messages, a compilation of keys that everyone has opportunities to turn. We’d be wise to understand and then to weave their enduring insights into the fabric of what we are creating for ourselves, our children, and our childrenโs children
The words of contemporary elders, in particular, sound a note of urgency.
Steven McFadden is an independent journalist based in the Southwest of the USA. In the early 1980s he initiated Chiron Communications as an umbrella concept for his varied interests and pursuits. Chiron is a bridging figure, and bridging is what he has mainly been interested in over the years. After authoring Profiles in Wisdom and then Legend of the Rainbow Warriors in the early 1990s, he rested the chiron concept to serve as National Coordinator for the annual Earth Day USA celebration, in partnership with the Seventh Generation Fund (1993). Then he returned to the work of chiron. As a journalist, he is the author of a range of non-fiction books, including Farms of Tomorrow, Farms of Tomorrow Revisited, The Call of the Land, Teach Us To Number Our Days, A Primer for Pilgrims, and Classical Considerations. He is also the author of an epic, nonfiction saga of North America:Odyssey of the 8th Fire. This saga (8thFire.net) relates a true story arising from the deepest roots of the Americas, but taking place in the present and the future. In it, circles within circles, honorable elders make a great and generous giveaway of the teachings they carry. McFaddenโs newest agrarian book, Deep Agroecology: Farms, Food, and Our Future won the national Indie Excellence Award in the environmental category (2020). He is a member of the New Mexico Book Association (NMBA), and also the SouthWest Writers association (SWW).
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring authorGlendall C. Jackson III for his latest release, Naked Came the Detective.
Naked Came the Detective
Book: Naked Came the Detective Author: Glendall C. Jacksonย III Publication date:ย 20th June 2023 Genres: Detective Fiction Page Count:ย 102 pages Publisher:ย GCJ3 Enterprise Awards: WINNER: 2023 Paris Book Festival, WINNER, best novella: 2023 Firebird Book Awards, WINNER, best noir mystery: The 2023 BookFest Awards, WINNER: 2023 Literary Titan Gold Book Award, RUNNER-UP, sleuth-mystery: 2023 PenCraft Book Awards
Naked Came the Detective
In many murder mysteries, the call girl gets killed. This novella turns that tired trope on its head. A skilled and versatile sex worker learns that one of her clients, a prominent businessman, was brutally murdered just hours after their last date. With her unique access to the upper echelon of Washington D.C. society, she embarks on an investigation that leads to a shocking discovery. Glendall C. Jackson III, an award-winning non-fiction writer, creates a vivid portrait of high-end sex work.
You can findย Naked Came the Detectiveย here: Amazonย |ย Goodreads
About The Author
Glendall C. Jackson III
Glendall C. Jackson III is an award-winning writer who has long specialized in deeply-reported non fiction. Naked Came the Detective, his first novel, won an award in the Paris Book Festival and has earned numerous five-star reviews.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Greg Belliveau on The Reading Bud for his latest release,Gods Of Imago.
About The Author
Greg Belliveau
Greg Belliveauโs books include his dystopian novel Gods of IMAGO (Rogue Phoenix Press, 2023), IMAGO, and Go Down To Silence (Multnomah Publishing), a Christy Award Finalist for Best First Novel. He has written a collection of creative nonfiction entitled Seeds: Mediations on Grace in a World with Teeth (Crosslink Publishing, 2017). His short stories have been published in Fathom Magazine, The Atticus Review, The Cleveland Review, and Vine Leaves, where his vignette โLG Donโt Want To Flyโ was selected for their 2012 Best Of Anthology, published by eMergent Publishing. He is a Christopher Isherwood grant recipient and teaches Creative Writing at Antioch University, Midwest, and has taught at The Antioch Writerโs Workshop, Yellow Springs, OH. He is currently a Visiting Instructor at Capital University and lives in Ohio with his wife and two daughters.
It has been ten years since Christopher Dante, the last storyteller, defeated the Ghul in the abandoned subway tunnels under Cogstin, and now he has vanished without a trace. There are rumors and whispers of a new evil emerging, ancient, dark, beyond the Black Mountains, a Horned God who rules the skeleton people of the north. Welcome to Gods of IMAGO, book two in the stunning IMAGO Series. Gods of IMAGO is literary dystopia at its absolute best, blending amazing world-building with thought-provoking, artful prose in an unforgettable, page-turning experience that will haunt the reader long after the last sentence.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Greg Belliveau for his latest release, Gods of Imago.
Gods of Imago
Book: Gods of Imago Author: Greg Belliveau Publication date:ย August 15, 2023 Genres: Fantasy Page Count:ย 381 pages Publisher:ย Rogue Phoenix Press
About Gods of Imago
It has been ten years since Christopher Dante, the last storyteller, defeated the Ghul in the abandoned subway tunnels under Cogstin, and now he has vanished without a trace. There are rumors and whispers of a new evil emerging, ancient, dark, beyond the Black Mountains, a Horned God who rules the skeleton people of the north. Welcome to Gods of IMAGO, book two in the stunning IMAGO Series. Gods of IMAGO is literary dystopia at its absolute best, blending amazing world-building with thought-provoking, artful prose in an unforgettable, page-turning experience that will haunt the reader long after the last sentence.
Greg Belliveauโs books include his dystopian novel Gods of IMAGO (Rogue Phoenix Press, 2023), IMAGO, and Go Down To Silence (Multnomah Publishing), a Christy Award Finalist for Best First Novel. He has written a collection of creative nonfiction entitled Seeds: Mediations on Grace in a World with Teeth (Crosslink Publishing, 2017). His short stories have been published in Fathom Magazine, The Atticus Review, The Cleveland Review, and Vine Leaves, where his vignette โLG Donโt Want To Flyโ was selected for their 2012 Best Of Anthology, published by eMergent Publishing. He is a Christopher Isherwood grant recipient and teaches Creative Writing at Antioch University, Midwest, and has taught at The Antioch Writerโs Workshop, Yellow Springs, OH. He is currently a Visiting Instructor at Capital University and lives in Ohio with his wife and two daughters.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
๐โจ Step into the TRB Lounge Spotlight! ๐โจ
Today, we roll out the red carpet for the amazing Glendall Jackson, who is about to unveil the beautiful cover of his newest masterpiece, Naked Came the Detective. Prepare to be enchanted, for what you’re about to see is not just a coverโit’s a visual symphony that captures the very soul of storytelling. ๐๐
Presenting…
About the Book
WINNER: 2023 Paris Book Festival WINNER, best novella: 2023 Firebird Book Awards WINNER, best noir mystery: The 2023 BookFest Awards WINNER: 2023 Literary Titan Gold Book Award RUNNER-UP, sleuth-mystery: 2023 PenCraft Book Awards
In many murder mysteries, the call girl gets killed. This novella turns that tired trope on its head. A skilled and versatile sex worker learns that one of her clients, a prominent businessman, was brutally murdered just hours after their last date. With her unique access to the upper echelon of Washington D.C. society, she embarks on an investigation that leads to a shocking discovery. Glendall C. Jackson III, an award-winning non-fiction writer, creates a vivid portrait of high-end sex work.
You can findย Naked Came the Detectiveย here: Amazonย |ย Goodreads
In the Press
International Thriller Writers – Author Spotlight
About The Authors
Glendall C. Jackson III
Glendall C. Jackson III is an award-winning writer who has long specialized in deeply-reported non fiction. Naked Came the Detective, his first novel, won an award in the Paris Book Festival and has earned numerous five-star reviews.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge! We’re thrilled to host author Jack Lucci today, who will be unveiling a tantalising excerpt from their newest masterpiece, Loving & Leaving. Dive in and get an exclusive sneak peek into the intriguing world they’ve crafted in their latest work!
About the Book
Loving & Leaving
The first installment of Jack Lucciโs living memoir, Loving & Leaving spans five years, touching on themes of gratefulness and regret and stories of love for people, places, narcotics, and the effort it takes to sustain that love. Far from stable and rather turbulent, Lucci chronicles his life as he oscillates between hero and anti-hero, sharing lessons learned in the Italian countryside, mistakes made in Americaโs Second City, the angst and constriction of southeastern Washington, and observations on the miserable Oregon coast. Whether you find yourself rooting for or against him, Loving & Leaving is the result of bleeding over the keyboard.
The light coming in over the waterโs edge was blinding. One must block a portion to see the subject clearly. She was a comet crashing through, a most delighted interruption. A shot and a beer sat in front of her, a half-full pack of American Spirit tobacco, and a single hand-rolled cigarette. While my initial impression would turn out to be partially incorrect, I doubt anyone could live up to the way she appeared to me in that moment.
Discovering love seems to be an instant, a flash, bulbs burst, an image captured forever. A single-minded drive to share a moment. My goal became to talk to her. Stan pumped fleeting courage into my spine, and I kept an eye on her. I waited like an alligator in the brush, on the edge of the water, lying completely still, aware that if she perceived any movement, it would be taken as a threat, and while she certainly may evade me, I had a smile to surprise her with. She began to move, taking a step toward the patio.
This was my moment to act. Other predators inhabit the environment, and they, too, stalk their prey. I drank my beer and positioned a pre-rolled cigarette, ready to light, attempting to appear natural, as if we serendipitously decided to step out at the same time. I stepped outside, and it was like stepping off a cliff. I imagine my face went white because my brain, right then, was completely empty. I struggled to offer a greeting; instead, I just stared, forcing her to acknowledge my presence and attempt to engage with the strange man in front of her.
She asked, โYou need a light?โ
I responded with words that, looking back, were purely instinctual, as there was no way I spoke on my own volition. She offered me a seat at the bench where she was sitting, which I accepted eagerlyโฆ
About The Author
Jack Lucci
ย The American melancholic writer Jack Lucci was born in a valley at the base of the blues. Lucci has lived all over the world and shares stories from his travels with a deserved honesty concerning people, places, and things. Although Lucci may at times be his own worst enemy readers can expect honest introspection and vulnerability. His first book, Loving & Leaving is available now. His blog, Separation Naturalist can be found on his website, Jacklucci.com.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
๐โจ Step into the TRB Lounge Spotlight! ๐โจ
Today, we roll out the red carpet for the sensational Greg Belliveau, who is about to unveil the breathtaking cover of his newest masterpiece, Gods of Imago. Prepare to be enchanted, for what you’re about to see is not just a coverโit’s a visual symphony that captures the very soul of storytelling. ๐๐
Presenting…
About the Book
It has been ten years since Christopher Dante, the last storyteller, defeated the Ghul in the abandoned subway tunnels under Cogstin, and now he has vanished without a trace. There are rumors and whispers of a new evil emerging, ancient, dark, beyond the Black Mountains, a Horned God who rules the skeleton people of the north. Welcome toย Gods ofย IMAGO, book two in the stunning IMAGO Series.ย Gods of IMAGOย is literary dystopia at its absolute best, blending amazing world-building with thought-provoking, artful prose in an unforgettable, page-turning experience that will haunt the reader long after the last sentence.
Greg Belliveauโs books include his dystopian novel Gods of IMAGO (Rogue Phoenix Press, 2023), IMAGO, and Go Down To Silence (Multnomah Publishing), a Christy Award Finalist for Best First Novel. He has written a collection of creative nonfiction entitled Seeds: Mediations on Grace in a World with Teeth (Crosslink Publishing, 2017). His short stories have been published in Fathom Magazine, The Atticus Review, The Cleveland Review, and Vine Leaves, where his vignette โLG Donโt Want To Flyโ was selected for their 2012 Best Of Anthology, published by eMergent Publishing. He is a Christopher Isherwood grant recipient and teaches Creative Writing at Antioch University, Midwest, and has taught at The Antioch Writerโs Workshop, Yellow Springs, OH. He is currently a Visiting Instructor at Capital University and lives in Ohio with his wife and two daughters.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, Iโd like to welcome authors Julie G Fox and Tzuri King for the cover reveal of their upcoming book The Dreamer: The Girl Who Dreamed the War Over.
Presenting the beautiful cover of The Dreamer: The Girl Who Dreamed the War Over by Julie G Fox and Tzuri King
In โThe Dreamer: The Girl Who Dreamed the War Over,โ readers are transported to a small town in Ukraine where a young girl and her family huddle together in a bomb shelter. With bombs raining down above her, she dreams of a peaceful world where she and her pet are safe, her family is reunited with her veteran dad, and she can dance with her friends without fear. Through the eyes of the brave and hopeful girl, we see the power of imagination and the strength of family in the face of unimaginable hardship. This heartwarming story inspires children of all ages to dream big and never lose hope, even in the darkest of times.
The Dreamer is the brainchild of Tzuri King and Julie G. Fox. It is the first book in a series that aims to incorporate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into childrenโs literature. This first book is dedicated to Global Goal 16, which promotes โpeace, justice and strong institutionsโ. There are more books to come!
You can findย The Girl Who Dreamed the War Overย here: Amazonย |ย Goodreads
About The Authors
Julie G Fox
Julie G Fox is the author of over fifty award-winning childrenโs books. Julieโs philosophy is to writeย up to children, challenge them with demanding stories and use language and ideas to help themย become empathetic and responsible citizens of the world. As an ambassador for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Julie incorporates into her work the UNโs messages of peace andย prosperity for people and the planet, ending poverty and other deprivations, improving health andย education,
Tzuri is a curious adventurer with a warm, empathetic personality. He ponders the mysteries of the world, and loves lighting fires, fishing, and listening to music. Though he values solitude, he also has a group of students whom he teaches to swim every summer. He has a restless spirit and feels a strong urge to travel and explore. He divides his time between Tel Aviv in the spring and summer, and wandering during winter. His students often ask him why he travels and he answers, to see new things and to have time alone without feeling lonely. He is a non-material person, carrying everything he needs in a single suitcase. Zuri is not fond of authority and hates restrictive signs. He has a sweet tooth and loves his motherโs cakes, especially chocolate ones.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Jack Luccion The Reading Bud for his latest releaseLoving & Leaving.
About The Author
The American melancholic writer Jack Lucci was born in a valley at the base of the blues. Lucci has lived all over the world and shares stories from his travels with a deserved honesty concerning people, places, and things. Although Lucci may at times be his own worst enemy readers can expect honest introspection and vulnerability. His first book, Loving & Leaving is available now. His blog, Separation Naturalist can be found on his website, Jacklucci.com.
The first installment of Jack Lucciโs living memoir, Loving & Leaving spans five years, touching on themes of gratefulness and regret and stories of love for people, places, narcotics, and the effort it takes to sustain that love. Far from stable and rather turbulent, Lucci chronicles his life as he oscillates between hero and anti-hero, sharing lessons learned in the Italian countryside, mistakes made in Americaโs Second City, the angst and constriction of southeastern Washington, and observations on the miserable Oregon coast. Whether you find yourself rooting for or against him, Loving & Leaving is the result of bleeding over the keyboard.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
The first installment of Jack Lucci’s living memoir, Loving & Leaving spans five years, touching on themes of gratefulness and regret and stories of love for people, places, narcotics, and the effort it takes to sustain that love. Far from stable and rather turbulent, Lucci chronicles his life as he oscillates between hero and anti-hero, sharing lessons learned in the Italian countryside, mistakes made in America’s Second City, the angst and constriction of southeastern Washington, and observations on the miserable Oregon coast. Whether you find yourself rooting for or against him, Loving & Leaving is the result of bleeding over the keyboard.
ย The American melancholic writer Jack Lucci was born in a valley at the base of the blues. Lucci has lived all over the world and shares stories from his travels with a deserved honesty concerning people, places, and things. Although Lucci may at times be his own worst enemy readers can expect honest introspection and vulnerability. His first book, Loving & Leaving is available now. His blog, Separation Naturalist can be found on his website, Jacklucci.com.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Amir Shaheenon The Reading Bud for his latest release, F*** My Brain.
About The Author
Amir Shaheen is a 36-year-old writer, comedian, and creative producer from Norway. He is one of the creators behind the TV series “Home for Christmas,” a Netflix Originals, and the author of the humorous book “F*** My Brain!” Shaheen’s writing often explores themes of belonging, society, and alienation, as well as the experience of growing up between two cultures.
F*** My Brain!” is a humorous and relatable book aimed at a young audience. The book delves into themes of belonging, society, and alienation, capturing the challenges of growing up between two cultures. Told with a lighthearted and engaging tone, the book explores the experiences of being a minority in a different country.
Through easy-to-read narratives infused with humor, “F*** My Brain!” offers an insightful and entertaining journey for readers, as they navigate the complexities of identity, relationships, and cultural differences. In this book, he takes you on an unforgettable journey, humorously sharing what it’s like to grow up between two cultures. Finding one’s place amid such distinct cultures isn’t always easy.
Prepare yourself for a rare reading experience, and we can promise you one thing: This book is anything but boring. “One of the Minds Behind the Netflix Success ‘Home for Christmas'”
You can findย F*** My Brain here: Amazonย |ย Goodreads
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest, or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail atย thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to the TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Mary Beth Moorefor her latest release, Unwanted: Fighting to Belong.
Unwanted: Fighting to Belong
Book: Unwanted: Fighting to Belong Author:ย Mary Beth Moore Publication date:ย 8th September 2022 Genres: Memoir, Disability, Parenting Page Count:ย 218 Publisher:ย New Degree Press
About Unwanted: Fighting to Belong
โHe is my son. A person. He is not a condition or a statistic. Heโs my son.โ
Mary Beth Moore chose to have hope in a situation experts deemed hopeless. She was encouraged to abort her son when an ultrasound revealed the presence of multiple disabilities. Years later, experts education said the limitations of the school system could not be changed to meet her sonโs needs. Again, Mary Beth chose to have hope.
Unwantedย is a powerful story about one momโs journey to make the world a better place for her son. Full of heartbreak, grit, and triumph, it raises awareness for disability rights and advocates for the human right to belong.
The presence of disabilities is a natural part of humanity, and in no way makes someone less worthy of living a full, inclusive life. Children with disabilities face pervasive discrimination and systemic segregation in school systems across the United States and around the world.ย Unwantedย explores the evolution of special education law, research on creating inclusive classrooms, and real-world stories of families and teachers actively fighting to protect the rights of children with disabilities in our education system.
“Unwantedย is a captivating page-turner that will resonate with any parent who has found themselves navigating between the legal rights of their child and the historical practices and financial restrictions of the public educational system. Mary Beth challenges the segregated classroom environment, provides practical advice for parents, and inspires systemic change in a way that has never been done before—she is a true powerhouse with the most generous heart.”
~ Kimberly Fradel, Licensed Clinical Social Worker
“As an educator and a mom of a child with Down Syndrome,ย Unwantedย is a must read for educators, parents, and service providers. It gives an authentic glimpse into the realities of raising a child with a disability and the education system in our present day society. Thank you Mary Beth for shining light and attention on the importance of inclusion for all.”
~ Janessa Ginn, Special Educator
“Unwantedย is exactly the kind of book that inclusively-minded educators and parents need to read. Despite all of the barriers to inclusion, Mary Beth shows her family’s path to advocate for their son and hopefully can light the way for other families who want the same.”
~ย Tim Villegas,ย Director of Communications for MCIE, Host of the Think Inclusive Podcast
“My heart pounded out of my chest readingย Unwantedย just knowing someone else experienced the same things I haveย experienced. I know now that I am not alone and that others also share this journey of fighting for a child that is worthy.”ย
~ Johnna Elstob, mother of a boy that is very much wanted
About The Author
Mary Beth Moore
I have been writing for most of my adult life, first as a military intelligence analyst and then as a professional marketer and occasional ghostwriter. In the fall of 2022, after many prayers, long bouts of procrastination, a fair amount of cussing, and a lot of rewrites, I finally became a published author!
The title of my debut book isย Unwanted: Fighting to Belong. It is a vulnerable story that chronicles my journey from the moment I discovered my child would be born with multiple disabilities, through all of the challenges I faced in getting his basic needs met, and how the lessons I learned transformed me into a leading advocate for inclusive education.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author ย Julie G Fox and Tzurei Kingfor their latest release, The Girl Who Dreamed the War Over.
The Girl Who Dreamed the War Over
Book: The Girl Who Dreamed the War Over Author:ย Tzuri King and Julie G. Fox Publication date:ย 8th March 2023 Genres: Children’s Fiction, Graphic Novel Page Count:ย 36 (print) Publisher:ย Independently Published
About The Girl Who Dreamed the War Over
In “The Dreamer: The Girl Who Dreamed the War Over,” readers are transported to a small town in Ukraine where a young girl and her family huddle together in a bomb shelter. With bombs raining down above her, she dreams of a peaceful world where she and her pet are safe, her family is reunited with her veteran dad, and she can dance with her friends without fear. Through the eyes of the brave and hopeful girl, we see the power of imagination and the strength of family in the face of unimaginable hardship. This heartwarming story inspires children of all ages to dream big and never lose hope, even in the darkest of times.
The Dreamer is the brainchild ofย Tzuri Kingย andย Julie G. Fox. It is theย first bookย in aย seriesย that aims to incorporate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into children’s literature. This first book is dedicated to Global Goal 16, which promotes ‘peace, justice and strong institutions’. There are more books to come!
You can findย The Girl Who Dreamed the War Overhere: Amazonย |Goodreads
Praise for The Girl Who Dreamed the War Over
“Using the thread of Torria’s innocent prayers and the vivid subjects of her grandmother’s poems, [the authors] have done a brilliant job of weaving together the story. The authors speak to their readers from the copyright page to the end of the book, reflecting their own style of communication, instead of adopting common practices. The vibrant colors will catch the eyes of readers, and the book will be dear to them long after the last page. The story is comforting and gives readers a sense of safety as they understand Torria’s situation. Even though Torria seems to dream her wishes and prayers into her life, the story is realistic, and it provides a happy ending. The Dreamer is a great selection for children who fear the uncontrollable effects of war and wish they had the power to end it”.
–ย Courtnee Turner Hoyle
The Dreamer is not just a children’s book. Tzuri King and Julie G. Fox paint a dark, but to our horror, almost mundane picture of a family spending so much time in a bomb shelter. The repetitions in the text indicate that their life is the same day after day. But there is a distraction from the tragedy of war; the bedtime stories Torria asks her granny to read over and over again like children often do. Natali Barbalat’s excellent illustrations contrast the dim light in the shelter and the vivid colors of the world from the stories, where there is no war. Tzuri and Julie do not name Torria’s country directly, but the girl prays for yellow and blue dreams, telling us it is Ukraine. At the same time, The Dreamer leaves a place for hope for a better future for all children around the world affected by war. The story shows that children should not be separated from their friends and family members and should not lose their pets because of the endless shelling. But despite the hard setting, the story has a beautiful plotline and ends on a high note. Also, I appreciate the brilliant editorial work by Leonora Bulbeck and Renรฉ Nel for The Dreamer is flawless.
–ย Nino Lobiladze
talented, and her prose is evocative and thought-provoking. It captures both the heartwarming and tragic aspects of the story beautifully. This book will bring children face to face with the harsh realities of war and its effects on innocent civilians in a way that is both gentle and relatable. The story begins with the young Torria listening to her grandmother read from inside a bomb shelter. The reader is quickly drawn into Torria’s world and that of her family as they try to survive in a war-torn country”.
–ย Louise Jane
Aboutย Theย Authors
Julie G Fox
Julie G Fox is the author of over fifty award-winning childrenโs books.
Julieโs philosophy is to write up to children, challenge them with demanding stories and use language and ideas to help them become empathetic and responsible citizens of the world.
As an ambassador for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Julie incorporates into her work the UNโs messages of peace and prosperity for people and the planet, ending poverty and other deprivations, improving health and education,
Tzuri is a curious adventurer with a warm, empathetic personality. He ponders the mysteries of the world, and loves lighting fires, fishing, and listening to music. Though he values solitude, he also has a group of students whom he teaches to swim every summer. He has a restless spirit and feels a strong urge to travel and explore. He divides his time between Tel Aviv in the spring and summer, and wandering during winter. His students often ask him why he travels and he answers, to see new things and to have time alone without feeling lonely. He is a non-material person, carrying everything he needs in a single suitcase. Zuri is not fond of authority and hates restrictive signs. He has a sweet tooth and loves his mother’s cakes, especially chocolate ones.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Blake Milleron The Reading Bud for his latest releaseDELOS: The Moon’s Eye.
About The Author
Blake Miller is a graduate of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA and Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. He presently resides in his hometown of Lexington, KY.
The magikal world gets even larger, the adventure gets even more thrilling, and the mysteries get even more intriguing in the second installment of this epic fantasy series, where climaxes and anticlimaxes once again abound, keeping you glued to the story. THE QUEST OF SIX WATERS When Cynthia Summers and Kaden Krossway learn that the Lil of Lurkur has gone missing, they join up with Alec Mulsiver and a surprising fourth companion to find her. This leads to another trip into Lurkur Woods, a haunting discovery about what has happened to the Lil, and then to Diluvium where they must undergo the Quest of Six Waters to claim what they need to save the Lilโs life: the Seventh Water. The problem is, no one has survived the Quest in over 6,000 years. . . . The amazing story of Cynthia, Kaden and Alec continues.
โBlake Millerโs DELOS: The Moonโs Eye packs war, love, family drama, prophecy, and humor into a fast- paced (and satisfying standalone) world of quests, magik and deceit. A must-read for fans of sci-fantasy, and one that will bear readers easily along to its next port of call.โ
โ IndieReader.com (4.5/5 Stars)
โDelos: The Moonโs Eye blends different elements from science fiction and fantasy to create a non-stop adventure that is fast-paced, humorous, and clever.โ
โ Readers Favorite (5/5 Stars)
โThe nature of the quest amazed me, as it repeatedly tested the questersโ intelligence, resourcefulness, and daring. Their friendship, love, and the ability to trust each other often determined the outcome. I liked how they readily made sacrifices for the greater good. The gently blossoming romances completed the young adult story. All in all, I would recommend this engrossing novel to anyone who appreciates science fiction and fantasy.โ
โ The Chrysalis BREW Project (4.8/5 Stars)
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Blake Miller for his book, DELOS: The Moonโs Eye.
DELOS: The Moonโs Eye
Book: DELOS: The White Tree Author:ย Blake Miller Publication date:ย 04/19/23 Genres: Fantasy (Epic, YA) Page Count:ย 443 (print) Publisher:ย Hierophant Press
About DELOS: The Moon’s Eye
The magikal world gets even larger, the adventure gets even more thrilling, and the mysteries get even more intriguing in the second installment of this epic fantasy series, where climaxes and anticlimaxes once again abound, keeping you glued to the story. THE QUEST OF SIX WATERS When Cynthia Summers and Kaden Krossway learn that the Lil of Lurkur has gone missing, they join up with Alec Mulsiver and a surprising fourth companion to find her. This leads to another trip into Lurkur Woods, a haunting discovery about what has happened to the Lil, and then to Diluvium where they must undergo the Quest of Six Waters to claim what they need to save the Lilโs life: the Seventh Water. The problem is, no one has survived the Quest in over 6,000 years. . . . The amazing story of Cynthia, Kaden and Alec continues.
You can findย DELOS: The Moon’s Eyeย here: Amazonย |Goodreads
โ…this is a really powerful sequel that delivers on the promise of the conclusion of the original one and does it with personality, character, and a clear knowledge of what works and doesnโt work in storytelling. Overall, this is a solid sequel. In addition to that, it is propelled by two protagonists who are both powerful and captivating.โ
โGoodreads Reviewer
About The Author
Blake Miller
Blake Miller
Blake Miller is a graduate of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA and Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. He presently resides in his hometown of Lexington, KY.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Blake Miller for his book, DELOS: The White Tree.
DELOS: The White Tree
Book: DELOS: The White Tree Author: Blake Miller Publication date: 01/05/21 Genres: Fantasy (Epic, YA) Page Count: 492 (print) Publisher: Hierophant Press
About DELOS: The White Tree
Incredible world-building, a thrilling adventure, and intriguing mysteries to unravel will have you engrossed in the story and invested in the characters from the opening chapter to the monumental, unforgettable, hundred-page climax in the first installment of this epic fantasy series. Cynthia Summers and Kaden Krossway have different parents. Cynthiaโs from London, England, and Kadenโs from Southern California. Moreover, Cynthiaโs black and Kadenโs white. So why do they know with such certainty theyโre twins?
Their 16th birthday will reveal that nothing about them is ordinary or as it seems when theyโre called upon by a mysterious source for help. Along with a new friend, theyโll learn theyโre part of a much larger world, one of Lurkur Witches and evil shadowraiths; of treetop villages and a skeletal forest within the forest; and of battles for survival and a realization they had been hidden away for the first sixteen years of their life for a reasonโฆ The story of Cynthia and Kaden begins here. Great for Teens, Young Adults, and Adults alike!
โ…Miller has found a way to keep me turning the pages obsessively to find out just what happens next, forcing myself to stay up longer and longer to try and see what may be happening in this world that I seem to keep forgetting isn’t on my current plain of existence.โ
โAmazon Reviewer
About The Author
Blake Miller
Blake Miller
Blake Miller is a graduate of Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA and Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. He presently resides in his hometown of Lexington, KY.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Junis Sultan studied in Frankfurt am Main, Eichstรคtt and at California State University Fullerton. He received a Fulbright and a Horizonte Scholarship. For the past six years, he has taught English, politics, and economics as a high school teacher in Frankfurt am Main. He is pursuing a doctorate in Modern Political Theory at the University of Heidelberg.
As fate would have it, I started writing very young, in primary school. I did not only write fictional stories to rediscover my lost Iraqi identity in Germany. Since my father was not very fluent in German and since I was the most successful among my siblings at school in academic terms, he asked me to read and explain our letters from the mailbox and answer them. Soon, I began to translate and write speeches for my father, who worked as the chairman of the Council of Foreigners in our town. I first dreamed of becoming a writer when I started journaling as a 15 year oldโin the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, a very intense and emotional time. My dream was to live in a warm country close to the ocean, read a lot of books, and write books. Writing has been my way to process things and find meaning ever since. It started as a hobby as I was more serious about becoming a boxer as a teenager. Boxing taught me many life lessons, above all discipline, which includes making sacrifices. So, being ambitious and disciplined has been part of my personality for a long time. It was and still is natural to me. And yes, I made a lot of sacrifices on the way to follow my passion and become a writer. When you work 9 hours a day, commute, do the household, cook, eat, do sports, shower, and sleep 7 hours at night, there is not much time left every day to become something else in addition to your current jobโespecially if you decide to use your free time watching TV or going out, being social etc. I radically cut back mostly all of those things, except family and health. There always needs to be time for these two things. But if you really want to become something else, you need to invest at least 2 hours every day in yourself, if not more. If you add up those days, months, and years, you will eventually reap the fruits of your work. ย
About The Book
Brothers and Strangers: A German-Iraqi Memoir
Born in Mosul, Iraq, to a wealthy intercultural family, Junis Sultanโs happy, privileged childhood is abruptly cut short by the start of the Gulf War in 1991. With their home destroyed, Junisโs family flees to Germany, settling in a small conservative town near Frankfurt. As his family struggles to adapt to their new circumstances, Junis finds himself increasingly torn between two worldsโfighting to carve out an identity for himself between his familyโs expectations and a culture that demands his assimilation. After the 9/11 terror attacks, Junis begins to keep a diary, in which he reflects on questions of family, friendship, religion, and politics. These deep insights gradually expand beyond cultural borders, as Junis begins to explore the universal human needs for bonding and freedom.
Brothers and Strangersย is a unique, heartfelt memoir of endurance, forgiveness, and self-actualization, offering a timely message about the importance of acting with openness and love in a global reality.
If you are an author and wish to be interviewed or if you are a publicist and want to get your author interviewed on TRB, then please get in touch through direct e-mail: thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, Iโd like to welcome author Junis Sultan who’ll be sharing an excerpt from his latest release Brothers and Strangers: A German-Iraqi Memoir.
About the Book
Brothers and Strangers
Born in Mosul, Iraq, to a wealthy intercultural family, Junis Sultanโs happy, privileged childhood is abruptly cut short by the start of the Gulf War in 1991. With their home destroyed, Junisโs family flees to Germany, settling in a small conservative town near Frankfurt. As his family struggles to adapt to their new circumstances, Junis finds himself increasingly torn between two worldsโfighting to carve out an identity for himself between his familyโs expectations and a culture that demands his assimilation. After the 9/11 terror attacks, Junis begins to keep a diary, in which he reflects on questions of family, friendship, religion, and politics. These deep insights gradually expand beyond cultural borders, as Junis begins to explore the universal human needs for bonding and freedom.
Brothers and Strangers is a unique, heartfelt memoir of endurance, forgiveness, and self-actualization, offering a timely message about the importance of acting with openness and love in a global reality.
Growing up, I often wondered whether my skin looked brown or white. My hair is certainly black, and my eyes are brown. Many Westerners I met probably thought Middle East as soon as they laid eyes on me or heard my nameโJunis Sultan. โWhere are you originally from?โ I was asked innumerable times. Some were visibly surprised that I spoke their language accent-free. Middle Easterners, however, were oftentimes disappointed that I did not speak Arabic fluently. โWhy did your parents not teach you?โ For a number of reasons, it was usually impossible for people to label meโand vice versa.
My story is one of unfavorable coincidence and unending reinvention. In the summer of 1991, after surviving the Gulf War, my family fled from Iraq to Germany. I was four years old at the time. One of my early memories is of sitting with my father in our run-down living room and watching the news. He raised his finger and shouted, โThe West imposed those bloody sanctions on Iraq, not Saddam.[1]หฎ Intimidated by his anger, I quietly asked him what he meant. He said, โThe West is Europe, North America, and Australia. Theyโve killed millions, and now they are killing us!หฎ His warning scared me. However, when I started attending kindergarten in 1992, I soon realized that his warning had proved wrong. In fact, we would live together happily and in peace with many Westerners for many years.
Since those early days, Iโve strived to live in harmony with everyone around me, including Middle Easterners and Westerners. Even though Iโve repeatedly failed, Iโve kept trying to balance both our common need to bond and common need for freedom. During puberty, I was particularly concerned with religious freedom. The divisiveness I experienced, especially in the post 9/11 years, always seemed human-imposed, harmful to our relationships, and therefore self-destructive and wrong. Growing up in Germany, I frequently pondered the purpose of our existence. Were we not all precious social individuals, connected and meant to support each other while realizing our personal dreams?
Despite my strong belief in the need for humans to bond, I often doubted our connectedness when meeting other people. A number of Westerners confronted me with negative stereotypes: โDoes your mother wear a hijab or a burka?โ โWere your sistersโ marriages arranged?โ โDo you hate Jews, the United States . . . ?หฎ None of it applied to me. Quite the opposite is true: My mother is Christian, and she has had difficulties accepting my different religion. A number of Middle Easterners have been disappointed by me as well, saying, โDonโt drink! Donโt wear shorts! Donโt . . . ! Itโs haram.[2]หฎ Interactions like these often left me feeling strange, disconnected, and challenged. How could I ease and strengthen our relationship? Was I overreacting? Were they looking for common ground?
The thousands-of-years-old stories of my name have shaped my complex identity. In 1993, during my first school year, my father told me that Junis derives from Yunus, โa prophet in the Quran who strongly believed in Godโs rules.หฎ In a Catholic religion class, I learned that the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament first told the story of Yunus under the name of Jonah. โJonah means dove in Hebrew, and a dove is a symbol of peace,หฎ my teacher said before she read us his story. โJonah was ordered by God to go to Nineveh and prophesy against the Ninevitesโ great wickedness. Afraid, however, that God would simply forgive the sinners, he boarded a ship that sailed in the opposite direction; a serious mistake! God punished him for his disobedience with a heavy storm at sea, and when the sailors found Jonah responsible, they threw him overboard. Jonah was then swallowed by a whale. While inside the belly of the whale, he repented, thanked God for his mercy, and committed himself to Godโs will, so the whale eventually spewed him out. . . .โ I looked at my teacher with large eyes. While I had no idea what my life would bring and how I would reactโat times quite like an unforgiving, disobedient runawayโI could relate to Jonahโs story. I, too, wanted to have a relationship with God and be uplifted when I fell.
My first name mostly caused insecurities among new people. Many Germans called me Jonas after I had introduced myself. Sometimes, when I spelled out JโUโNโIโS, I wondered if my pronunciation was unclear, or whether they ignored my real name out of convenience, or even disrespect. Some asked me to spell it out again, and then wanted to know where the name came from. The problem started when I was naturalized in 1991. โYounes is its international notation, but would complicate matters for Germans. Theyโre not used to Y, which is only used in a few words in German,หฎ a public official told my mother. My first name was thus Germanized. I was too young to notice the forced assimilation. Some Middle Easterners did, however. โSo are you a real Arab?หฎ they asked me after reading my name. โMy mother is German, my father Iraqi,โ I usually told them before I explained how my name was Germanizedโwhich often led to an awkward silence. Growing up, I soon began to understand how much my name defined me.
My last name, Sultan, sometimes amused people, reminding many of a carnival song: โThe caravan is moving, the sultan is thirsty . . .โ Sometimes, however, it raised fear or false idolization. The word sultan originally meant โstrengthหฎ in Arabic. Over time, it also became a title for leaders who claimed independence from any higher ruler. According to Wikipedia, one of the most famous sultans, Mehmed II, conquered Constantinople and ended the one-thousand-year-old Byzantine Empire in 1453. I assume his destructive power intimidated the West, whichโas Professor Edward Said[3] would sayโhas continuously strived to invent itself as good in direct contrast to the imagined evil of the Orient. Strangely, my father ascribed the exact opposite value to the Middle East. As if Mehmed II were better than any other murderer, and as if killing four thousand non-Muslims in 1453 was good.I always struggled to understand why some people devalued or even demonized those with different cultural backgrounds while idealizing their own people. Were we not all the same: just people, more or less flawed, and yet all worthy of love?
In my school days in Germany between 1993 and 2006, I mostly learned about the merits of the West. We investigated the European Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.Kantโs[4] โcategorical imperativeหฎโto always act in such a way that one would be willing for his actions to become general lawโseemed to me like a precious idea that could bring peace among people. We read the classics of the German literary periods; the eighteenth century Storm and Stress period was my favorite since it allowed the free expression of strong emotions. I excitedly examined the revolutions for freedom and unity: 1776 in America, 1789 in France, and 1848 in Germany.
Above all, I embraced the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first document I read at school that was drafted by an international committee with the aim of promoting peace for all peopleโa dream I wished everybody shared. While our teachers claimed that the unprecedented horrors of World War II led to the UDHR, I learned in 2009 in a rare seminar on โpost-colonialismหฎ at Goethe University that Nazi Germany was not a short-term mistake, which killed more than seventy million people around the globe, but rather a direct result of the propagandistic and bloody history of the West. Like Hannah Arendt[5] said, mainstream European nationalism and colonialism blended with post-enlightenment racial theories that proclaimed the natural superiority of the โwhite race,โ paving the way for the pseudo-legitimized enslavement and killing of non-white and non-Christian people around the globe for almost two centuries beforeHitler. Our seminar discussions also revealed the subtle, allegedly colorblind and areligious ways in which millions of non-white and non-Christian people have been killed far beyond the borders of the West since 1945, through economic exploitation, starvation, or military adventures that brought chaos, destruction, and even civil war. Still, one burning question remained: how could we stop these processes of dehumanization and these crimes against humanity?
I was eager to find out. After I completed my basic studies at Goethe University, Frankfurt, I studied political science at California State University, Fullerton, from 2010 to 2011. During my political philosophy course, I learned about Greek, Hebrew, Roman, and Christian societies, which my senior professor called โthe foundational stories of the West.หฎ In particular, I enjoyed our recurring discussions about whether it was possible to establish truths about ethicsโright individual conductโand politicsโright collective life. I, like a couple of my fellow students, believed we could.
At the end of the semester, my professor suggested that modern, twenty-first century global liberalism represented the synthesis of all stories of the West. Skeptical of his Eurocentric perspective, I asked him about the role of the rest of the world. He pondered for a second before he raised his head and said with a raised eyebrow, โWell, there was Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, and then came the bloody bastard Mohammed who spread Islam by the sword.หฎ Sitting in the last row, I looked at him in disbelief. Did he just really say that? As if the stories of the West were free of bloodshed. I remained silent and waited to hear more about his black-and-white worldview; but he stopped himself. โOh, shit, is she here? The one with the scarf?หฎ he asked, looking around.
Her name was Manar, which means โguiding lightหฎ in Arabic. She was not in class that day, but I wasโembodying a vibrant blend of Judeo-Christian-Muslim, German, Arabic, and Ottoman traditions. That day, like so many times before, I wondered: How could we overcome those hostile attitudes against โthe othersโ? How could we connect with one another and appreciate each other? How could we create more happiness and peace among each other and within ourselves?
[1] Saddam Hussein (Apr. 28, 1937โDec. 30, 2006), fifth President of Iraq, serving from July 16, 1979 to Apr. 9, 2003, was sentenced to death after being convicted for crimes against humanity.
[2] Arabic term; means โforbiddenโ or โproscribedโ by Islamic law.
[3] Edward Wadie Said (Nov. 1, 1935โSept. 25, 2003); professor of literature, public intellectual, and founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.
[4] Immanuel Kant (Apr. 22, 1724โFeb. 12, 1804); German philosopher and central figure in modern philosophy, known for his book Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.
[5] Johanna โHannahโ Arendt (Oct. 14, 1906โDec. 4, 1975); German-born Jewish American political theorist.
About The Author
Junis Sultan
Junis Sultan studied in Frankfurt am Main, Eichstรคtt and at California State University Fullerton. He received a Fulbright and a Horizonte Scholarship. For the past six years, he has taught English, politics, and economics as a high school teacher in Frankfurt am Main. He is pursuing a doctorate in Modern Political Theory at the University of Heidelberg.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, Iโd like to welcome author L.J. Sellers who’ll be sharing an excerpt from her latest release AfterStrike.
About the Book
AfterStrike
What if, without warning, you had to run for your life and leave everything behind?
Remi Bartell faces that terrifying moment and takes only the dog who saved her.
But as she starts her new life, lightning strikes! Remi briefly loses her memory and makes one small mistakeโthat costs her everything. The crime-family patriarch sheโs hiding from kidnaps her and plunges her into a revenge nightmare. The psychological trauma cracks open buried memories from her old life that will either save her or destroy her.
AfterStrike blends fast-paced action with psychological suspense and unexpected romance, then ends with an explosive twist.
Remi opened her eyes, her fists clenched. โItโs still not coming back.โ
Her counselor sighed.โIโm sorry. Thatโs the only method I know for recalling memories. I think itโs time to see a specialist, someone who can help you in a more neurologic way.โ The womanโs robust voice didnโt match her thin, aging body.
โYouโre dumping me?โ Another unexpected blow. Remi had found Joanneโs name in her phone contacts and assumed they had a history. Even though this musty, low-rent office didnโt give off a professional vibe, sheโd counted on this woman to help get her life back.
โPlease donโt see it that way.โ Joanne scooted forward, her eyes troubled. โThis situation is complex for me. During our earlier sessions, before the incident, you told me things about your past, about your guilt. Now that you canโt remember any of that, it would be unethical and probably counterproductive for me to remind you. So I shouldnโt see you until youโve recovered.โ The counselor reached for a notepad. โIโll refer you to a neuropsychologist in Portland.โ
Remi shook her head. โI canโt start over. Itโs all been too much.โ Sheโd had a sliver of hope when sheโd walked in, but now she felt abandoned and alone. That would be the tagline on her gravestone.
โIโm still available by phone if you have destructive impulses and need to talk.โ Joanne held out the referral note.
Remi let out a harsh laugh. Destructive impulses would be her footnote. โIโll be fine. Thanks though.โ
She bolted from the office, knowing she would never be back. Coming here the first time a year ago had felt like cracking open her own chest. She remembered the pain of that first session if not the details. Then two months earlierโjust as she was able to get through a day without hating herselfโsheโd suffered the strike and woken up with unbearable pain and no memory. Pieces of her recent life in this town had come back, but the rest of her past was still a total blank.
What was the point of seeing yet another specialist? So they could tell her she was physically fine and to just be patient? The doctor whoโd treated her in the ER kept saying that, and his indifference, especially to her physical distress, infuriated her. Remi reached for her phone to delete the counselorโs contact, but sheโd left the cell in her car.
At the bottom of the exterior stairs, she swore. Not only was it drizzlingโsignaling summerโs coming endโsome jackass had parked his crappy van too close to her Mazda. Now she would have to squeeze her wide hips in sideways like a contortionist. She shuffled across the secluded back lot, wincing at the literal pain in her ass and wishing sheโd dressed warmer. As she grabbed the driverโs side handle, a flash of panic. Where was Tuck?
Behind her, the vanโs sliding door clanged open. Instinctual fear made her spin around to run, but she was too slow. A powerful hand pressed a vile rag against her mouth and a massive arm wrapped around her rib cage. With a quick lift, the man heaved her like a sack of cement. From inside the van, someone grabbed her armpits and pulled her into the dark space.
โMotherfuโโ She couldnโt form the rest of the word. Her tongue wouldnโt work and her brain felt woozy. Yet before she blacked out, a vague thought came together. Whoever sheโd been hiding from had finally found her.
Chapter 2
The Recent Past
Did you call me Remi?
July 3, two months earlier
Thunder boomed in the dark sky and Remi tensed. A storm hadnโt been in the forecast, so the sky-shaking noise caught her off guard. Every fiber in her body wanted to bolt for the building, but she had to round up the kids first. She ran toward the girls on the swing set. โGo inside!โ She pointed at the back door. โNow!โ
Remi pivoted toward the boys playing basketball and repeated her frantic message. Three of the kids went wide-eyed and followed the girls, but Trevor, a hyper five-year old, took another run at the low hoop. Panic made her heart pound in her ears. โI said now!โ
The boy turned, shocked at her tone, but instead of running toward the daycare, he burst into tears and bolted to the corner of the fenced-in play area.
Shit. She didnโt have time for this.
The sky flashed, a light so bright it hurt her eyes.
โGet inside!โ Remi dashed toward him, but he dodged her. Cursing loudly, she gave chase, catching him as he rounded the big metal slide. She scooped him up and tried to run, but he was heavy and kicked at her knees. Thunder boomed again, and her lungs fought for air against her tight chest. Almost there. As she reached the patio, the boy squirmed out of her arms and scurried in the door ahead of her.
A moment later, the air sizzled and a bolt of lightning knocked her to the ground. The pain was so intense Remi blacked out before her face hit the concrete.
She woke to the sound of concerned voices, a man and a woman talking softly nearby. Her eyes fought to stay closed like they did sometimes on sleepy mornings, but she managed to force a word out of her parched mouth. โWater.โ Why did she hurt everywhere?
One voice came closer. โRemi, can you hear me? I see you blinking.โ
Who was Remi? โWater.โ She forced her eyes open.
The man, who seemed young and dressed in white, was rather blurry as he leaned in and offered a straw. The cool liquid soothed her mouth, and the room came into focus: a small exam space in the back of an ER.
โWhy am I here?โ Dread filled her chest as she realized she couldnโt remember what had happened.
โYou were hit by lightning at the daycare.โ
What? Confused, she sat up and peeked under the sheet. Her body had nice breasts that were starting to sag and a layer of pudge on her belly. How could she not remember this? Panic rolled in like a tidal surge, threatening to drown her.
โYou should lay back and rest.โ The man pressed a lever to raise the top of the wheeled bed. โIโm Dr. Azul Sanjay.โ
โDid you call me Remi?โ
A flash of concern. โYour work badge says Remi Bartel.โ
She gulped for breath. โI canโt remember anything.โ
โWeโll get you a CT scan and see whatโs happening.โ The doctor sounded calm, but his eyes were uncertain. โYour memory loss is likely temporary.โ An uncomfortable pause. โIโve never treated a high-voltage shock patient, but my understanding is that the effects are short-term.โ
โGood to hear. Because I need to get home.โ Remi didnโt know why, but the feeling was urgent. โHow long have I been here?โ
โTwo hours or so.โ
Remi glanced at the wall clock: 3:45. About the time she usually got home from work. The thought floated in and out, untethered to specific details. Still, it offered hope her memory would return.
Dr. Sanjay shifted. โYou donโt seem to have any injuries except for the burns where the lightning entered and exited your body. As soon as you feel ready, we can release you.โ
Remi touched the white bandage taped to her right shoulder socket. Where was the other burn? She started to ask, then realized she knew. The searing pain in her left butt cheek now made sense. โHave you given me any pain medication?โ
โNo. I wanted to see how you felt first.โ
โLike Iโve been dunked in a deep fryer with a vice-clamp around my head, then branded on the ass.โ She tried to smile. โSo put some of the good stuff in my IV, please.โ
The doctor looked surprised. โOn a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst pain you can imagine, whatโs your level?โ
โI thought I just told you, but Iโll say eight or nine, just to be clear.โ
A long moment of silence. โOkay. Weโll get some anti-inflammatory in your line, and Iโll write you a script for ten Percocet with no refills.โ
โThanks. Iโd like to leave soon.โ And go where? Remi tried to visualize her home. A small brown cottage came to mind. No. That was her childhood home. โWhere are we, by the way?โ
โWilsonville.โ
It meant nothing to her. โCan you be more specific?โ
โItโs a small town south of Portland, Oregon.โ
The west coast seemed familiar and correct. Time to get out there and see it. Maybe the visual images would trigger actual memories. โWhereโs my purse? With my driverโs license?โ
โItโs likely still at the daycare. Weโll call them. Anyone else we should contact? A spouse? Family?โ
Remi couldnโt think of a single person she might know. โAfter the CT scan, will you call an Uber for me?โ Being alone with the pain and memory loss rather terrified her, but lying in this windowless room not knowing anything felt like a layer of hell Dante hadnโt experienced.
Chapter 3
The Recent Past
Her life had once been more vibrant
A few hours later
Remi walked into KinderCare, blinking at the bright colors. If she worked here, she must like kids, but she didnโt remember this place. Or anything else. Her CT scan hadnโt shown an injury to her skull or brain, but her mind seemed to be lost in a thick fog. The sensation was bizarre and embarrassing and she wanted to get this interaction over quickly. Her headache had eased, but so had the effect of the anti-inflammatory, and her burns hurt with every movement.
โRemi!โ The stout woman behind the counter desk beamed. โIโm so glad youโre okay. Weโve all been worried sick.โ
Remi tried to be pleasant. โThanks.โ She glanced at the receptionistโs badge. โCheri.โ
โYouโre wearing hospital scrubs. Are you sureโ?โ
โIโm fine. My clothes were burned and they cut them off me.โ
โOh right.โ Cheri stood. โLet me get the rest of the staff. Theyโll want toโโ
โNo. Please. Iโm not up for it. I just need my purse.โ
โOf course.โ Cheri reached under the counter and held out a brown canvas shoulder bag.
Remi took it, dug around for a wallet, then stared at her driverโs license. The woman in the photo looked vaguely familiar: thirty-five or so with ash-blonde hair, hazel eyes, and round cheeks. Kinda pretty, but not really. The name read: Remi Lynn Bartel. She noted the date of birth and realized she was only thirty-one. She looked up at Cheri. โMy memory is fuzzy. Do I have a car here?โ
The receptionist frowned. โThe green Mazda.โ
โThanks. I need to go.โ
โAre you sure you should be alone?โ
โIโm not sure of anything, except that I need to get home.โ Remi also remembered the address on her license after glancing at it only briefly. That struck her as odd.
From an interior door, a young boy burst into the lobby. โRemi!โ He threw his arms around her legs. โIโm so sorry you were hurt.โ
Startled by his affection and concern, Remi patted his head. โThanks. I think Iโll be okay.โ She felt bad about not remembering his name.
He looked up. โJason told me you were dead.โ
Remi chuckled and stepped back. โDo I look like a zombie?โ She forced a smile. โI was just asleep for a while. Now I have to go home and rest.โ
โYouโll be back tomorrow?โ
โMaybe not โtil next week. Bye for now.โ She hurried out before anyone else confronted her.
In the car, which was impressively clean, she gave Google Maps her address and let its naggingvoice guide her. As she drove through Wilsonville, the sign for Boonsferry Landing amused her, and directions to Coffee Lake made her smile. Had she grown up in this funky little town or purposely moved here? When the Nag told her sheโd arrived, Remi stopped at the end of a short side street and stared at the two-story farmhouse. This wasnโt it. She noticed two mailboxes, then realized the driveway went past the house to another dwelling in back. Remi eased down the cracked, narrow concrete, spotted a cute cottage, and felt a little less intimidated. On the porch, a planter bloomed with purple petunias. Had she planted them? She stepped up to the door and panic hit her. What if she had a roommate or boyfriend inside? Would she even know their name?
Remi unlocked the door with the other key on her set and stepped inside. The air smelled of fried onions, a strangely comforting scent. Something banged in the back of the house, startling her. Rapid clicking sounds, then a little white dog with a brown face burst across the room. He leapt into her arms, wiggling and kissing her face.
โTuck!โ
Love surged in her heart, overwhelming her to the point of tears. She wasnโt alone. This little guy was her lifeโand remembering his name delighted her. She squeezed him tight, then sat on the bench by the door, letting him jump and rub all over her until he settled down. By then, pain screamed at her to get up, and she took one of the Percocets sheโd picked up at the hospital pharmacy. She needed to put something in her stomach soon, or the oxy might make her nauseous, but she wanted to explore the house first.
The tour took all of three minutes, with Tuck padding along. In addition to the boxy living room and galley kitchen, she had two small bedrooms, a hall bath with outdated fixtures, and a closet-sized laundry room with a dog door leading outside. The main bedroom was tidy and simple, the only color a mint-green blanket, the only decoration a vase with dried flowers on the dresser. The simplicity suited her, yet also made her sad, as though her life had once been more vibrant.
โNot much to look at, huh, Tuck?โ
He wagged his tail, and they wandered back down the hall. The spare room contained a narrow desk with a laptop, a dust-covered stationary bike, and a stack of empty retail boxes. Theyโd once contained a flat-screen TV, an electric can opener, and sets of plates, bowls, and glasses. Sheโd either recently purchased these things, or she never threw away boxes.
A memory tickled her subconscious, like the way her nose itched before a sneeze. Exhausted, Remi headed back to the kitchen. She needed to eat, take some aspirin, and rest for a while.
Halfway through a bowl of canned chili, with Tuck eating his share nearby, an image surfaced. She was stepping out of her car at a park, where sheโd looked around and liked what she sawโa quaint, lush-green town where she could feel safe. Her backseat had some luggage, a blanket, and a bag of dog food. Tuck, of course, was at her side.
When had she moved to this place? By the look of the house, particularly the retail boxes, maybe only a few months ago. Yet she knew it had been longer, and sheโd come here for a reason. Someone to be close to? No. Fear squeezed her heart. Someone to get away from. . . in yet another life she couldnโt remember.
About The Author
L.J. Sellers
L.J. Sellers writes the bestselling Detective Jackson mysteriesโa four-time winner of the Readers Favorite Awards. She also pens the high-octane Agent Dallas series, the Extractors series, and provocative standalone thrillers. The Gender Experiment also won a Readersโ Favorite Award, and her newest release, AfterStrike, is getting the best reviews of her career. L.J. resides in Eugene, Oregon where many of her 30 novels are set. When not plotting murders, she enjoys standup comedy, cycling, and zip-lining. And much like her Extractor character, she once rescued her grandchildren from a dangerous cult in Costa Rica
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author L.J. Sellerson The Reading Bud for her latest release Afterstrike.
About The Author
L.J. Sellers
L.J. Sellers writes the bestselling Detective Jackson mysteriesโa four-time winner of the Readers Favorite Awards. She also pens the high-octane Agent Dallas series, the Extractors series, and provocative standalone thrillers. The Gender Experiment also won a Readersโ Favorite Award, and her newest release, AfterStrike, is getting the best reviews of her career. L.J. resides in Eugene, Oregon where many of her 30 novels are set. When not plotting murders, she enjoys standup comedy, cycling, and zip-lining. And much like her Extractor character, she once rescued her grandchildren from a dangerous cult in Costa Rica
โThe best thriller L.J. Sellers has written, and sheโs at the top of my must-read list.โ
โ Bestselling Author Teresa Burrell
About the Book
Afterstrike
What if, without warning, you had to run for your life and leave everything behind?
Remi Bartell faces that terrifying moment and takes only the dog who saved her.
But as she starts her new life, lightning strikes! Remi briefly loses her memory and makes one small mistakeโthat costs her everything. The crime-family patriarch sheโs hiding from kidnaps her and plunges her into a revenge nightmare. The psychological trauma cracks open buried memories from her old life that will either save her or destroy her.
AfterStrike blends fast-paced action with psychological suspense and unexpected romance, then ends with an explosive twist.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Josephine Waldenon The Reading Bud for her upcoming book The Ordeal.
About The Author
Josephine Walden
Josephine was raised in a quaint small town in โthe thumbโ of Michigan in a close extended family.ย Music and nursing were her passions.ย She became a psychiatric nurse and worked while her husband attended college.ย Work opportunities took them to Chicago.ย Years later they returned to โthe thumbโ and renovated her ancestral home.ย She enjoys her daughter and granddaughter who live nearby.ย โThe Ordealโ is her first book and she is working on another true story involving hardship and duplicity.
After two major floods with their financial, physical, and emotional ramifications, a car accident, several dangerous encounters while traveling and family deaths, I spiraled down into a life-changing, nursing-career ending illness.ย Diagnosis:ย ย Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a little understood illness at the time.ย A single mom, I struggled to work but the symptoms slowly overtook me:ย ย debilitating fatigue, flu-like symptoms, a pre-leukemic blood dyscrasia and a slow loss of memory.ย Then a beloved sister and I inherited two estates.ย She took care of probate.ย As I descended into the throes of the illness, she invited me to stay with her and her husband.ย While there, fun times were punctuated by unpleasant encounters and accusations of family neglect and other short comings.ย Unable to respond due to memory loss and slow thought processes, I kept silent.ย As probate progressed, my daughter began to warn me about my sisterโs behavior in dealing with the probate issues.ย I couldnโt comprehend her concerns as I trusted my sister implicitly.ย I was blissfully unaware of game playing, creative manipulations, plots, thefts and acts of revenge.
Finally, there was some improvement and I returned to work.ย That attempt failed after only four months.ย With trepidation I eventually returned to my sisterโs due to her persistent coaxing.ย While there, she did all she could to make me physically, as well as emotionally, uncomfortable.ย I left.ย Once away her behavior became overly hostile and aggressive.ย She seemed to be a combination of Baby Janeโs sister and Virginia Wolff!ย My ex-husband, a state policeman, guided me through a two-estate, nine-year ordeal.ย Julieโs actions would almost financially break me, deprive me of some of my inheritance and cause family members to turn against me.ย
Eventually I had to retain an attorney.ย He had been a former prosecutor and said it was the worst case he had ever handled.ย Finally, after trying to deal with her, the attorneys asked me to meet with her.ย Still ill but with some improvement I pulled myself together.ย My attempted intervention wasnโt successful.ย She was evasive, less than honest, accusatory and walked out of the meeting to avoid answering my questions.ย The lawyers made the decision to hold a judicial inquiry so the judge would know how to rule.ย Sadly, court would be the next step.
In court the findings influenced the judge to put Julie on supervision to finish the probate business and had her escorted from the parental home and out of town by a Sheriffโs Deputy.ย He followed her to the next town.ย My lawyer called it โFrontier Justice.โย The home was sealed, and contents and home were sold.ย This final resolution brought peace and financial stability to my life.ย Estranged family members were reunited with me.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
What if, without warning, you had to run for your life and leave everything behind?
Remi Bartell faces that terrifying moment and takes only the dog who saved her.
But as she starts her new life, lightning strikes! Remi briefly loses her memory and makes one small mistakeโthat costs her everything. The crime-family patriarch sheโs hiding from kidnaps her and plunges her into a revenge nightmare. The psychological trauma cracks open buried memories from her old life that will either save her or destroy her.
AfterStrike blends fast-paced action with psychological suspense and unexpected romance, then ends with an explosive twist.
โThe best thriller L.J. Sellers has written, and sheโs at the top of my must-read list.โ
Bestselling Author Teresa Burrell
โA sizzling, must-read thriller!โ
Midwest Book Review
About The Author
L.J. Sellers
L.J. Sellers
L.J. Sellers writes the bestselling Detective Jackson mysteriesโa four-time winner of the Readers Favorite Awards. She also pens the high-octane Agent Dallas series, the Extractors series, and provocative standalone thrillers. The Gender Experiment also won a Readersโ Favorite Award, and her newest release, AfterStrike, is getting the best reviews of her career.
L.J. resides in Eugene, Oregon where many of her 30 novels are set. When not plotting murders, she enjoys standup comedy, cycling, and zip-lining. And much like her Extractor character, she once rescued her grandchildren from a dangerous cult in Costa Rica
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
Welcome to TRB Lounge. Today, we are featuring author Josephine Walden for her latest release, The Ordeal.
The Ordeal
Book:ย The Ordeal Author:ย Josephine Walden Publication date:ย 20th August 2022 Genres: Memoir, Non-Fiction Page Count:ย 401 Publisher:ย Self-Published
About The Ordeal
After two major floods with their financial, physical, and emotional ramifications, a car accident, several dangerous encounters while traveling and family deaths, I spiraled down into a life-changing, nursing-career ending illness.ย Diagnosis:ย ย Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a little understood illness at the time.ย A single mom, I struggled to work but the symptoms slowly overtook me:ย ย debilitating fatigue, flu-like symptoms, a pre-leukemic blood dyscrasia and a slow loss of memory.ย Then a beloved sister and I inherited two estates.ย She took care of probate.ย As I descended into the throes of the illness, she invited me to stay with her and her husband.ย While there, fun times were punctuated by unpleasant encounters and accusations of family neglect and other short comings.ย Unable to respond due to memory loss and slow thought processes, I kept silent.ย As probate progressed, my daughter began to warn me about my sisterโs behavior in dealing with the probate issues.ย I couldnโt comprehend her concerns as I trusted my sister implicitly.ย I was blissfully unaware of game playing, creative manipulations, plots, thefts and acts of revenge.
Finally, there was some improvement and I returned to work.ย That attempt failed after only four months.ย With trepidation I eventually returned to my sisterโs due to her persistent coaxing.ย While there, she did all she could to make me physically, as well as emotionally, uncomfortable.ย I left.ย Once away her behavior became overly hostile and aggressive.ย She seemed to be a combination of Baby Janeโs sister and Virginia Wolff!ย My ex-husband, a state policeman, guided me through a two-estate, nine-year ordeal.ย Julieโs actions would almost financially break me, deprive me of some of my inheritance and cause family members to turn against me.ย
Eventually I had to retain an attorney.ย He had been a former prosecutor and said it was the worst case he had ever handled.ย Finally, after trying to deal with her, the attorneys asked me to meet with her.ย Still ill but with some improvement I pulled myself together.ย My attempted intervention wasnโt successful.ย She was evasive, less than honest, accusatory and walked out of the meeting to avoid answering my questions.ย The lawyers made the decision to hold a judicial inquiry so the judge would know how to rule.ย Sadly, court would be the next step.
In court the findings influenced the judge to put Julie on supervision to finish the probate business and had her escorted from the parental home and out of town by a Sheriffโs Deputy.ย He followed her to the next town.ย My lawyer called it โFrontier Justice.โย The home was sealed, and contents and home were sold.ย This final resolution brought peace and financial stability to my life.ย Estranged family members were reunited with me.
Josephine was raised in a quaint small town in โthe thumbโ of Michigan in a close extended family.ย Music and nursing were her passions.ย She became a psychiatric nurse and worked while her husband attended college.ย Work opportunities took them to Chicago.ย Years later they returned to โthe thumbโ and renovated her ancestral home.ย She enjoys her daughter and granddaughter who live nearby.ย โThe Ordealโ is her first book and she is working on another true story involving hardship and duplicity.
If you are an author and wish to be featured as our guest or if you are a publicist and want to get your author featured on TRB, then please get in touch directly by e-mail at thereadingbud@gmail.com
The Reading Bud 