We have several releases this month:
Square Up: 50,000 miles in search of a way home
Release Date – March 16, 2021
Have you ever wished you could run away and leave your life behind? Born on the “Day of the Wanderer,” Lisa Dailey has always been filled with wanderlust. Although she and her husband had planned to take their family on a ’round-the-world adventure, she didn’t expect their plans to come together on the heels of grief, after losing seven family members in five years. Square Up shows us that travel not only helps us understand and appreciate other cultures, but invites us to find compassion and wisdom, heal from our losses, and discover our capacity for forgiveness, as well as joy.
“Lisa Dailey weaves an extraordinary and fascinating tale of her journey around the world with her family. But this is far more than a travel story; it’s a merciful, compassionate story of how traveling experiences can offer insight, perspective, and healing. As a therapist, I can say that I’d recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with profound loss or serious anxiety. It is a story of self-compassion, not self-pity, with moments of charm and humor that delight throughout. If you loved Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, you’ll adore this story.”
~Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, author of Filling Her Shoes
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Blood On a Blue Moon: A Sheaffer Blue Mystery
Release Date – March 17, 2021
Sheaffer Blue can’t hold a job, a boyfriend, or her place in line at the liquor store. But she can solve murders.
In Blood on a Blue Moon, set in Seattle’s houseboat community, Sheaffer-just Blue to her buddies-tackles corrupt politicians, big money, and killers who think nothing of torching an old woman and blowing up her neighbors. In her current job as an insurance investigator, Blue must join forces with David Chen, a high-ranking detective on loan to the Seattle police department. Chen is precise, organized, and diligent-the polar opposite of Blue. Their relationship is icy. But when thrown together in life-threatening danger, things heat up, and sparks fly. Sheaffer Blue is a woman of many careers and many lovers, but the one constant in her life is murder.
“Sheaffer Blue is a smart, sassy insurance investigator who teams up with Detective David Chen to solve a brutal murder in Seattle’s houseboat community. Cleverly balancing humor, romance, and the right amount of thrill, Stone delivers a perfect mystery. You won’t be able to put it down. Highly recommended!” ~Michelle Cox, author of the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series
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Rain Drops: The Poetry of Jack Darby Rider
Release Date – March 23, 2021
Jack Rider’s collection of poems, written over the course of fifty years, is the work of an evolutionary writer assured in his craft and comfortable with many forms. It is poetry that touches the heart, the soul, is rooted to the Earth, and reflects on what it means to be human, to be a man, a husband, and a father. Approachable and relatable, the poems in Rain Drops refresh as if from an early morning shower, and share with “perspicacious glows” the intimate reflections of a life lived in respectful equipoise.
Jack Darby Rider
Jack Rider was born in Seattle, Washington, and with the exception of a few years in Hollywood, California, and Pendleton, Oregon, has lived in Washington State his entire life. He began writing poetry while working on his degree in Psychology at Central Washington University. “I would write about whatever I was feeling.” A lover of the outdoors, fishing, and hunting, he found inspiration in the places he visited, like camping at Bumping Lake east of Mount Rainer, or boating around the San Juan Islands and up the Inside Passage with his wife, Terri. He credits his sobriety of over forty years for illuminating his life and directing his values and his years of service as a U.S. Marine for his strength of body, mind, and character. But it is his mother who influenced his love of language. Precious events, time-stopping moments, and people he loves live in Jack’s poems; they paint a portrait of who he is.
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Heart of This Family: Lessons in Down Syndrome and Love
Now, as World Down Syndrome Day approaches on March 21, I’m happy to announce that Heart of This Family – Lessons in Down Syndrome and Love is available as an e-book. As with the paperback format, all proceeds from sales will be directed to the Steve Cohen Fund at the Howard Center.
1966, the Beatles and “Leave It To Beaver” reign, the Vietnam War and Civil Rights rage, feminism is unheard of, and Linda’s first baby is diagnosed with Down syndrome. Linda refuses to institutionalize him, determined to raise Steve at home. For the two more sons who follow and her husband, Linda tries to fulfill cultural norms as a homemaker, a woman whose voice is seldom heard or valued. But it isn’t her nature to be meek.
Linda struggles to provide Steve an education at a time when disability rights don’t exist. Her advocacy focuses first on integrating him into the community, then, as he grows into adulthood, landing a real job and independent housing. Pioneering what’s now called “inclusion,” Linda follows her heart to help Steve develop his fullest humanity.
Over these same decades, Linda learns to advocate for herself as well, starting with a career in public education. When she unexpectedly falls in love with a woman, her life path takes unforeseen turns. Linda must dig deep to accept her new identity before she’s ready to meet her true soulmate. Throughout, unwavering love for all her sons is her lodestar.
