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as the smoke clears: a memoir

by Erika Cormier

Only the Rats are Walking-Tales of a Female Tetraplegic

by Nancy Smith

In the confusing, fear-filled moments following the car crash, Nancy Smith pushed down her rising panic to ensure her four young passengers were safe. Only when Smith turned her attention to herself did she realize something was terribly wrong. She was motionless, unable to move, her face pressed against the airbag. Her spinal cord had been severed. She was paralyzed. In Only the Rats are Walking, Smith offers an uncompromising portrayal of life as a tetraplegic, with no sensation or moto... more

She's Not Herself

by Linda Appleman Shapiro

On the surface, her childhood seemed normal—even idyllic. Linda grew up in the iconic immigrant community of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, with her parents and a gifted older brother. But she spent her days at home alone with a mother who suffered major bouts of depression. At such times, young Linda was told, “Your mother…she’s not herself today.” Those words did little to help Linda understand what she was witnessing. Instead, she experienced the anxiety and hyper-vigilance that often take root wh... more

Sugar Burn: The Not so Hot Side of the Sweet Kitchen

by Ryan Kurr

After leaving a career in the insurance industry and then one in massage therapy, Ryan Kurr decides to follow his dream of becoming a Pastry Chef. As Ryan whisks his way through some of Chicago’s most acclaimed restaurants with notoriously difficult, award-winning chefs at the helm, he learns an important recipe for self-worth and balance that includes ingredients that are both sweet and savory. After graduating from pastry school, he began trial days in kitchens, quickly learning the pace w... more

Ride The White Horse: A Checkered Jockey's Story of Racing, Rage and Redemption

by Eddie Donnally

Eddie Donnally rode on racing’s undercard, lived inside its underbelly and became a part of its underworld. From constant bulimia, broken bones and betrayal of Boston’s infamous Winter Hill Gang, he depicts an unseen side of Thoroughbred racing. Yet the five tons of his sweat that disappeared down “hot box” drains was nothing compared to his struggles with sibling sexual trauma, same-sex promiscuity, bipolar disorder, a suicide attempt and stays in two psyche wards. Within seven months, an addic... more

Episodes and Vignettes; an Autobiography/ 978091531704602

by David Richard Beasley

David Richard Beasley, author of Sarah's Journey and many other books, wrote a two- volume autobiography. Vol 1 concerns his growing up in Hamilton, Ontario before and during World War II. David Beasley tells of his pioneer ancestry, family difficulties and early schooling with refreshing candor. His years in England, France, Spain (Ibiza), Italy and Austria make for fascinating reading as he develops his knowledge and writing skill. His friendships with artists, writers, bohemians, businessm... more

Reconstruction: First a Body, Then a Life

by Ara Lucia Ashburne with Michael J Ashburne

Ara Lucia Ashburne is a talented 35-year old woman, with a burgeoning creative life and a blossoming psychotherapy practice. When she and her husband try to start a family, things go horribly awry and she lands in intensive care. For two months she teeters at death's edge, largely separated from the world we know. Medically paralyzed, she is caught in a hyperreal dream world of pure suffering—terrorized by hideous creatures and only fleetingly aware of events transpiring around her. Astonishingl... more

The Serpent Beguiled Eve: Healing the Wounds of Abandonment, Betrayal, and Shame

by Acacia Slaton

A young married woman with two daughters deals with her husband’s infidelity and his struggle with homosexuality. She seeks spiritual counsel, but when her husband refuses to cooperate with spiritual leaders—other than on a surface level—she has to make the most important decision of her life.

MEETING MEME: A STORY OF GRANDMOTHERS

by Merry Byrd

This memoir follows two sisters as they commemorate their grandmother's life with words and pictures. The siblings realize that while role models never change, they do age. They offer to become caretakers and comforters as their grandmother's health changes, and they celebrate the love that all grandmothers give to their families.

The Murder of Michael Jackson: The Cover Up & Conspiracy

by Deborah Stefaniak

The first question to ask in any homicide is "What was the motive?" For Dr. Conrad Murray the real motive should have been to keep Michael Jackson alive. That way he could get paid. But it wasn't Dr. Murray that was the only person in Michael Jackson's life at the end. There were other people too. Other people who did have a motive to kill. Working backwards from information personally received, discoveries have been made as to who the real killer of Michael Jackson was. This recounting of the e... more

Home Thoughts from a Man

by Daniel Ogilvie

Join our titular hero and his stalwart wife when, after 40 years of living in the UK, he uproots and travels through Singapore, Canada and finally Thailand, taking on all the world can throw at him. And losing.

Between Two Bridges

by Victor Colaio

A sweet story, both sad and happy, that depicts vividly living and growing up on the lower east side of New York City from the Great Depression to the beginning of 1960.

Not in the Pink

by Tina Martel

When visual artist Tina Martel was diagnosed with Stage 2B breast cancer she decided to document everything. Throughout her treatment she created a stream of sketchbooks, photographs, paintings and video, in response to and frequently in spite of what was happening to her. Not in the Pink is a “graphic narrative” of the pain, frustration and frequent hilarity of her day-to-day dealing with the eccentricities and bureaucracy of the medical system. It is also a candid and moving exploration of the... more

A Wolf In Sheep Clothing

by Pauline Rogers

“A Wolf In Sheep Clothing” Pauline Rogers joined the Ansaru Allah Community (later becoming Nuwaubian Nation of Moors) at the tender age of 15 with the thought that she would be safe from the sins of the world by joining Godly people. While the people of the community were well-intentioned and made an effort to be positive, it was the leader who had serious mental issues and deviant sexual perversions. She was one of many “wives” of Imam Isa later known as Dr. Malachi Z. York. However, she wa... more

Stripping Down to the Bones

by Merry Clark

How does a pretty, white, educated, organically grown woman become an alien in her own country? This is the story about a girl who grows up running on the back roads of her small hometown and winds up taking the long way home. It unmasks the rare and intimate complexity of the life and mind of a woman who wanted to experience America first-hand rather than listen to opinions about it. Taking to the open road, she lives her life close to the bone, armed with little else besides raw instinct and i... more

Reflections of a Wayward Altar Boy: An Archaeology of Memory

by David M. Brewer

Being the True History and Misadventures of a Servant of the Lord, a Stumbling Adolescent, Truck Driver, Carpenter, Hippie, Anthropologist and Underwater Archaeologist, Father, Son, Brother, Buddhist, and Sometimes Unholy Spirit... Here is a compilation of scenes, memories, and anecdotes describing family, adolescence, archaeology, and misadventure while growing up in Florida in the latter 20th century. This set of short tales brings the reader into a culture for the most part now foregone: a... more

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