Coda
Coda
Coda
Book Launch at the Harvard Coop
Join us for Rajani Kanth book launch/signing for the title Coda on June 13th
Book Launch at Barnes & Noble
Join us for Rajani Kanth book launch/signing for the title Coda from 2:00 to 5:00PM on April 16th, 7119 South 1300 East St, Midvale, UT 84047
CODA chronicles the life, and afterlife, of the last human, in both flashback and future shock, after the apocalypse of the millennium, where timeless, misanthropic aggression, and blindness predictably destroy all life on Earth. Coda is a compelling philosophical, and quasi-theosophical, post-modernist narrative, that (re)solves eventually the Riddle of the Universe, from the unique vantage point of the last sentient being left alive to ponder the question of existence. It is the quest of a latter-day Siddhartha, albeit in the context of an apocalyptic world sundered by global catastrophe.
RAJANI KANTH, the author, has held affiliations with some of the most prestigious universities in the world. He also has served as an advisor to the United Nations. He is the author/editor of several academic works in political economy and culture-critique, is a novelist and poet, and has also scribed several screenplays. He is a visiting scholar at Harvard University and Trustee of the World Peace Congress.
He takes a keen interest in human wellbeing, women’s issues, peace, and environmental sustainability. His most current academic work, in belles-lettres format, is The Post-Human Society. He also has published a book of poetry, and a self-help work on nutrition and health.
Coda
by Rajani Kanth
Release date: March 15, 2016
Genre: Cli-fi, Eco-fiction
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-941861-11-0
“Rajani Kanth has held affiliations with some of the most prestigious universities in the world. He has also served as an advisor to the United Nations. A novelist, poet, and playwright, Kanth is the author and/or editor of several academic works in political economy and culture-critique. He is presently a visiting fellow at Harvard University, and permanent trustee of the World Peace Congress. “Coda” is a deftly crafted, thoughtful and thought-provoking work of impressively well written fiction that is very highly recommended for both community and academic library collections. Coda is especially commended to the attention of science fiction enthusiasts who appreciate deftly crafted post-apocalyptic novels.”
“An incandescent mind”
—John McMurtry Ph.D, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Professor of Philosophy, Author of The Cancer Stage of Capitalism from Crisis to Cure
“I recommend this book to all readers that like to think on what they read.”
—Books and Movies
Not Yet
Not Yet
Not Yet
Erik Segall
Book Excellence Gold Medalist; Winner of the Silver Medal in the Living Now Book Awards for “books that have changed your life” and the Bronze Medal in Literary Fiction for the 26th Annual Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) EVVY Book Awards; Maincrest Media Book Award
“Entertainment Encourages Suicide”
Aaron Clifton, a social worker at the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Hotline Center, is tormented by the request to help his ailing grandmother kill herself.
A literary, psychological novel imbued with social commentary, Not Yet reflects on the depressive conditions that lead to suicide. This introspective, in-depth character study of a single father, who is utterly surrounded by women, details the emotional struggle of raising a teenage daughter while confronting the imminent demise of his grandmother slowly engulfed by Alzheimer’s. The dark theme of suicide is uplifted by musings on race, religion, history and feminism, and with humor occurring suddenly in the midst of dialogue-driven Socratic therapy. Not Yet offers a temporally-deconstructed glimpse of a man conflicted by the contemplation of assisting his grandmother in death. A novel full of holiday cheer by a suicide hotline worker
Praise for Not Yet
“A fresh view of suicide from a new author should be read by anyone affected clinically or personally by suicide. The two main questions, why and how, are explored in detail by Mr. Segall in his work of literary fiction. His poignant account cleverly wrestles with facts about suicide as well as how the main character, a crisis counselor, processes these precarious moments when decisions mean the difference between life and death. Read it and learn. It’s a stunning work by a writer with a gift for storytelling.”
—Dr. Jody Glittenberg, Pen Women of America finalist, author of The Promise Seed
“With an underlying sense of humor running throughout”
“A human story told with fearless compassion, without lapsing into pedantry, Segall’s novel demonstrates truths often overlooked in the age of spectacular media, escalating news-cycle and daytime drama, and escapist-entertainment-
—Midwest Book Review, Adam Dunham, PhD, Department of English, Trinidad State Junior College
Not Yet
by Erik Segall
Release date: December 11, 2019
Genre: Fiction; Humor
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-941861-67-7
Julia Alvarez, Author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, holding Erik’s Baby
“An elaborate explanation of suicide with several kinds of fun on every page—grim, offensive, tender and touching. Segall’s characters are of a wilder sort; harsh yet loving, suffering yet giddy . . . and left me stunned by the pace, drama, and humanity of his conclusion. This book will travel everywhere.
—Dr. Nancy Regalado, Professor Emerita of French Medieval Literature at New York University
“The careful reader will discover specific communication skills . . . and the snippets of dialogue in NOT YET are full of learning tools!”
—Barbara Hadley MA/LPC, Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University-Pueblo, author of If Not Joy Now, Then When?
“Erik Segall’s work not only touches the sharp edge of the human existential condition, but also acts a bastion of both hilarity and tenderness around the reality of death and choic
—Katie Silcox, NYT Best-Selling Author
“If the mission of an author is, by creative thoughts, to give us a foreshadowing of a higher reality, then Erik Segall has done just that in Not Yet. He strikes all the neurons and emotional cords while directing them to timely images of eternity.”
—C. Buck Weimer, Author of The Darien Jungle Shakedown Cruise
Podcast:
The Authors’ Show – Interview with Erik Segall
About the Author
Erik Segall, award-winning author of NOT YET (Harvard Square Editions), recipient of the Silver Medal in the Living Now Book Awards for “books that have changed your life” and the Bronze Medal in Literary Fiction for the 26th Annual Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) EVVY Book Awards. He earned a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Colorado and a Master of Arts in the Eastern Classics from St. John’s College. He taught for several years at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, and volunteered at the Pueblo Suicide Prevention Center until its untimely demise. You can follow his blog at www.eriksegall.com
Title 13
Title 13
TITLE 13, A Novel
by Michael A. Ferro
An Emerging Writers’ Network ‘Best Book of 2018‘
TITLE 13 is a Powell’s Staff Pick!
Selected in “Most Anticipated Small Press Books of 2018!” by BIG OTHER lit journal
Michael A. Ferro will be on Ann Arbor’s “Living Writers” (WCBN) radio program, hosted by U-M professor, T. Wetzel live on June 7th from 5-6pm (EDT)!
On June 8th, he’ll be on the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Litfest; A new interview with Michael Ferro on Michigan Radio NPR, the No. 1 NPR station in Michigan with a listener base of 500,000 people
Michael Ferro will be on Chicago Tribune Radio WGN, Sunday evening, February 18th for a live interview with Tribune columnist Rick Kogan, 9 p.m. Central (10 p.m. Eastern)
Michigan Quarterly Review interviews Michael Ferro
Michael A. Ferro will discuss his published work and the upcoming release, TITLE 13. The reading/Q&A will take place at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan on August 21
A timely investigation into the heart of a despotic government, TITLE 13 is a darkly comic cautionary tale of mental illness and unconventional love. The novel deftly blends satirical comedy aimed at the hot-button issues of modern society with the gut-wrenching reality of an intensely personal descent into addiction.
Young Heald Brown might be responsible for the loss of highly classified TITLE 13 government documents—and may have hopelessly lost himself as well. Since leaving his home in Detroit for Chicago during the recession, Heald teeters anxiously between despondency and bombastic sarcasm, striving to understand a country gone mad while clinging to his quixotic roots. Trying to deny the frightening course of his alcoholism, Heald struggles with his mounting paranoia, and his relationships with concerned family and his dying grandmother while juggling a budding office romance at the US government’s Chicago Regional Census Center. Attempting to combat the devastating effects of his addiction, Heald’s reality digresses into farcical absurdity, fevered isolation, and arcane psychological revelation, hilarious though redoubtable in nature. Meanwhile the TITLE 13 secrets remain at large, haunting each character and tangling the interwoven threads of Heald’s life, as the real question looms: Is it the TITLE 13 information that Heald has lost, or his sanity?
TITLE 13
by Michael Ferro
Release date: February 1, 2018
Genre: Suspense, Literary Fiction
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-941861-46-2
“A wonderful experience and a terribly compelling character study… sometimes fun, sometimes dark, and always knowledgeable about Chicago and about people. For a first-time novelist, (Ferro is) very knowing about the emotional territory of life. A very, very ambitious book.”
—Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune columnist and host of
“After Hours with Rick Kogan”
“Michael A. Ferro’s grand first novel churns fiction with a striking realism, and in his doing so, Ferro has successfully brought the Midwest back onto the literary map.”
“Even given the current political climate in Washington and its serious implications, it’s impossible for even the most concerned citizen not to find continuous insights, hilarious moments, and a resonating force within TITLE 13. Like a horrific accident, it draws spectators who might feel unwilling to observe, on one level; yet who are fascinated as events unfold, on another. It’s this ability to elicit that blend of concern, horror, and insight from his readers that keeps Michael A. Ferro’s story the perfect example of a individual and political catastrophe in the making, mirroring modern events from a delightfully fresh series of changing perspectives – especially from the perspective of the leaker himself, who is described as a ‘harbinger of doom’ and the ‘apogee of destruction’. The investigation will keep readers on their toes while Heald’s actions and reflections add a personal pivot point to cement events as they unfold. Readers who enjoy stories of political and individual blundering and irony should run, not walk, to TITLE 13: it’s a hard-hitting story wrapped in a unique voice that makes it nearly impossible to put down.”
“The missing pages are only vaguely described in TITLE 13, though their disappearance maintains a grip on his colleagues who are quick to absolve themselves of blame and point the finger at others…. The novel’s focus drifts further away from the lost TITLE 13 documents and instead focuses on Heald’s loss of self, a broken man living in a broken world at the hands of a broken government. Rich in dialogue and description with a delicate balance of foreboding and satirical humor, TITLE 13 serves to caution all of us in the trust of our hearts, our memories, and the supposed security guaranteed by government and technology in the hands of fallible citizens.”
“TITLE 13 is a darkly comic story for our time, a mélange of “Barton Fink,” “Office Space,” and Kafka, a novel that examines our alienation from one another and increasingly, our own country. Michael A. Ferro is a young writer on the rise.”
—Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and
The Hearts of Men
Goodreads Book Giveaway
“Affecting and inventively funny… Ferro’s work is an eclectic mélange.”
“With fierce wit and precision, Ferro paints a riveting portrait of a mind unraveling—ravaged by addiction, and rattled by the paranoia lodged in the beating heart of our government and seeping out into society. The gripping mystery driving TITLE 13, and the deeply troubled yet often hilarious psychology of the novel’s protagonist, are mesmerizing and brilliantly rendered. Ferro is a writer in possession of rare and unique talent—wise, agile, and bold.”
—Emma Smith-Stevens, author of The Australian
“The absurd excess of the modern security state is on full display in Heald Brown’s anxious, pummeled persona. TITLE 13 is a meticulous portrait of an illaudable bureaucrat that calls to mind the quixotic wit of Lethem and the comically punished protagonists of Stanley Elkin. A fun, impressive debut . . . Michael A. Ferro is a writer to watch.”
—Jarret Middleton, author of Darkansas
“TITLE 13 blends a hilariously absurd world of white-collar bureaucracy with the intense emotional realities of loss and longing. At the heart of this energetic novel and its darkly painted Chicago skyline is the throb of addiction. Ferro bravely puts his finger on that pulse and never shies away from its pain, from the lies we tell ourselves so that we can keep reaching toward a distorted sense of normalcy.”
—Dustin M. Hoffman, author of One-Hundred-Knuckled Fist
“Ferro has given us an insightful, tightly-crafted, and wickedly cutting novel that forces us all to think about the things we don’t want to think about. But it’s just such a funny story, too. The only times I stopped laughing were to panic and cry a little.”
—Brian Boone, Splitsider
“TITLE 13 proves that even when society fractures, meaning can be drawn from the chaos. Michael A. Ferro writes with heart, tenderness, and wit. An impressive debut!”
—Davy Rothbart, Found Magazine
“TITLE 13 is a dive into a depraved and yet likeable mind more than it is a mystery. While the missing documents are always a looming concern, the novel is more a depiction of a troubled mind than a troubled governmental agency. We follow Heald through the city of Chicago and to his home in Detroit, painting a picture of a slow-moving, Midwestern region mostly devoid of the technological annoyances that dog us today. The story is not a thriller in which there is a prominent and clean conclusion; it is more satisfying than that. Instead, we follow a government employee who doesn’t trust the agency and yet more importantly, doesn’t trust himself…. I would especially recommend TITLE 13 to those who enjoy a tormented narrator.”
“Picture some Kafkaesque bureaucratic fever dream set in quasi-contemporary Chicago and suburban Detroit. Then go drunkenly in search of something like love and something vaguely akin to those 28 conspiracy-inducing pages withheld from the original 9/11 Commission Report. Chase all this with a killer hangover worthy of Richard Yates and you’ll get a sense of Michael A. Ferro’s vivid and yearning debut novel, TITLE 13. But rest unassured. Any revelations you encounter — authoritatively written, funny as hell, wonderfully worthwhile — will be sadly, and suitably, short-lived. By turns earnest and ironic, also paranoiac, alcoholic, and elegiac, TITLE 13 is a critical excerpt pulled straight from the ailing heart of Middle America.”
—Jay Baron Nicorvo, author of The Standard Grand
“Michael Ferro writes about alcoholism in a way that mimics the disease. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, TITLE 13 is always a revelation: of our fears and anxieties, and the madness in which we might all get caught up if only a little something goes missing. Don’t misplace this impressive debut.”
—Stephan Eirik Clark, author of Sweetness #9
“Michael A. Ferro’s debut novel TITLE 13 is a stunning portrait of a man—Heald— trying to keep his personal and professional lives from unraveling. Like the Midwest city streets about which he writes, Ferro’s novel is tenacious, poignant, humorous, and always unpredictable. Sometimes fast-paced, other times deeply meditative, TITLE 13 is a timely literary thriller.”
—Keith Lesmeister, author of We Could’ve Been Happy Here
“If Joseph Heller had sat down to write And Then We Came To The End, he would’ve produced TITLE 13. Michael A. Ferro’s prose is fluid, his insights are sharp, and his humor is redeeming. This book is a required read.”
—Jamie Duclos-Yourdon, author of Froelich’s Ladder
“TITLE 13’s entertaining twists had me madly turning pages just to keep up. In his main character, Heald, Michael A. Ferro has drawn an alcoholic’s sneaky maneuverings and uneasy visions with enormous sympathy and refreshingly unironic humor. Heald’s quest to separate reality from imagination wraps him in a half-comic, half-tragic haze that challenges everything he thinks he knows, from his absurdly opaque workplace to the streets of Chicago to the familiar places Heald can never again call home. The novel’s break-out star is the Windy City. From a character whose medical condition causes him to superimpose faces on buildings to Heald’s unsteady view of his beloved city, no one in TITLE 13 lives in the same Chicago. Like Heald himself, TITLE 13 is both idealistic and despairing about the impossibility of reason and shared experience in a world where chaos is a strategy and secrecy a principle.”
—Laura Hulthen Thomas, author of States of Motion
“Ferro is a creative force to be reckoned with. TITLE 13 is a masterpiece of precision and vision, blended with a healthy dose of satire and wit. Echoes of Bradbury, Orwell and Huxley. As timely as it gets!”
—R.J. Fox, Author of Love & Vodka
Interviews
Crack the Spine literary journal
The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)
Michael A. Ferro took part in Largehearted Boy’s “Book Notes” series about writing books and how music influences certain scenes and the story. There’s been many big name authors who have been a part of this series, like Jesmyn Ward, Stephen King, Lauren Groff, and Bret Easton Ellis, so he was really excited to be asked to participate!
About the Author
Born and bred in Detroit, Michael A. Ferro holds a degree in creative writing from Michigan State University. He has received an Honorable Mention from Glimmer Train for their New Writers Award and won the Jim Cash Creative Writing Award for Fiction in 2008. TITLE 13 is his debut novel. Michael’s fiction and essays have been featured in numerous online and print publications. Michael has lived, worked, and written throughout the Midwest, currently as a Sportswriter and a Features Writer for CBS Detroit. In 2014, Michael became a national music and sports columnist for AXS. He currently resides in rural Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Additional information and writing can be found at: www.michaelaferro.com and @MichaelFerro
That One Cigarette
That One Cigarette
That One Cigarette
by Stu Krieger
A story of ordinary people making extraordinary ripples in the ocean of life
Stu Krieger is the winner of the
Riverside International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award
UCR library reading from That One Cigarette with follow-up Q & A on writing and publishing Thursday Oct 8, from 4:30-5:30 PST
That One Cigarette is a counterfactual history novel following four families from November of 1963 to January of 2009. In November ’63, Ed Callahan is an assistant manager at the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas. His promise to his wife to quit smoking as soon as he finishes the pack in his pocket ends up changing the course of events on November 22. The fallout of this action alters the lives of the Scott family in Rochester, New York, the Kaufman/Goldman family in Los Angeles and the extended Kashat family in Baghdad, Iraq.
It’s not until the final chapters that all of these lives intersect, but along the way, That One Cigarette explores questions of fate, love, loyalty and the ability of each of us to make defining contributions to our world by simply being present in our own lives.
That One Cigarette
by Stu Krieger
Release date: November 24, 2017
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Suspense
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-941861-44-8
Praise for That One Cigarette
“Epic in concept, direct in execution, the result is a 361-un-put-down-able pageturner that covers multiple families over several generations from birth to death. That One Cigarette is a well-researched alternative history of America woven into the daily lives of normal folk.”
“That One Cigarette is a saga of ordinary people struggling to make it in the 20th century. A single promise to quit smoking snowballs into a chain of events far bigger than any individual person could have dreamed. A down-to-earth, poignant tale, That One Cigarette encourages the reader to think long and hard about the long-term consequences of the smallest of actions.”
⎯Midwest Book Review
“THAT ONE CIGARETTE proves that the power of the Butterfly Effect is in all of us and even the most insignificant action can be felt around the world…it is a story of humanity, of flawed humans and how a seemingly normal action taken within these other families living their day to day lives would all become intertwined in the stream of history as lives are changed, lives are saved and the rest of the world goes on, completely unaware that somewhere, that ‘butterfly’ has just fluttered its wings again. Stu Krieger’s tale is well-written, almost like living a ‘day in the life’ with these characters who are very realistic, very human and very average. Witness the emotional struggles of these families, realize the changes Stu Krieger presented, none over the top, none overly drastic, but each actually quite fascinating to watch unfold from the safety and anonymity of our favorite reading chair.”
Articles
“How One Word Transformed a Hollywood Screenwriter’s Career”
—Reedsy
About the Author
Stu Krieger is an acclaimed screen and television writer making his debut as a novelist with That One Cigarette. He is currently a professor of screen and television writing in the University of California, Riverside’s Department of Theatre, Film & Digital Production and in the Creative Writing for the Performing Arts MFA Program at UCR. Each fall, he also teaches the Producing the Screenplay class at USC’s Peter Stark MFA Producing Program.
Krieger co-wrote the Emmy award winning mini-series A Year in the Life and was nominated for a Humanitas Prize for co-writing the Disney Channel original movie, Going to the Mat.
Among his more than 25 produced credits, Krieger wrote the animated classic The Land Before Time for producers Steven Spielberg & George Lucas and ten original movies for the Disney Channel, including Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century and its two sequels, Tru Confessions, Smart House, Phantom of the Megaplex, and Cow Belles.
He has been a story editor and writer on Spielberg’s Amazing Stories and the supervising producer on the ABC Television series Jack’s Place. He served as the head writer and story editor of the animated preschool series Toot & Puddle on Nickelodeon in 2008-2009.
His first full-length play, Chasing Smoke, debuted in a staged reading at Garry Marshall’s Falcon Theatre in Burbank in July 2014. His short film script Bad Timing was produced by the UCR Department of Theatre, Film & Digital Production in 2016. He is an Executive Producer on “The Binding,” a 2016 feature film written and directed by his son, Gus Krieger and also served as an Executive Producer on “My Name is Myeisha,” Gus’s second feature film which Gus co-wrote with UCR TFDP Professor Rickerby Hinds, based on Professor Hinds’ play, “Dreamscape.” “Myeisha” was shot on location in Riverside in October 2016.
Mr. Krieger’s TEDx Talk, “Choose Joy,” can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v02wrQ-OSA
On April 22, 2017, Stu Krieger will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award in Screenwriting at the opening night gala of the 2017 Riverside International Film Festival.
The Road Not Taken
The Road Not Taken
The Road Not Taken
by Susan Rubin
Request a review copy of The Road Not Taken, by Susan Rubin
This is the story of a woman who is suddenly widowed at 50. Left with money but no direction to her life, she moves back to the West Village where she grew up. She is deep in transition from suburban housewife to living in the big city with a child from whom she is emotionally detached when she meets a woman who appears to be her identical twin. The woman is in fact, a member of the Lost: a group of 100 fully formed people dropped off on earth as it cooled down – they have lived on the planet as it developed the many species and geography of today.
The Lost show her the myriad dimensions of Time and Space, taking her to mythic lands: ancient Egypt as well as very real places from the past, Weimar Germany. They show her planets without inhabitants, and introduce her to loved ones she has lost to death. Having casual affairs with Osiris of Egypt, being raped by his brother, Set, finding a lover among the Lost, she lives many truths that are new to her.They walk with her into a painting of a house in Arles and meets Vincent Van Gogh. In her friendship with “Vincent” she learns who she needs to become.
But it is her friendship with Vincent that drives her deeper into an exploration of the world. Vincent grieves for his paintings – his poetry, heartbroken to discover they have been sold to rich people for huge sums of money. Deborah (our protagonist’s new name) joins with painters of the 19th century who can make exact copies of Vincent’s paintings – the ones that sit in back bedrooms of the ultra-rich. Berthe Morisot, Monet, Matisse and Otto Dix join in the project until all of Vincent’s high jacked paintings have been recreated. Then Deborah calls on her mother, who is dead, but who was a fundraiser and organizer in her lifetime.
Together with her Lost alter ego, now called Vita, the three of them scheme successfully to steal all of Vincent’s paintings and replace them with unimpeachable copies. In the course of this process, Vincent encourages Deborah to find her own talent, and her Contract with Creation: things she has never sought. As the story unfolds, Deborah must figure out what she did with the first half of her life, why she never attached to any real study or creative endeavor, and what she can do now to walk The Road Not Taken.
The Road Not Taken
by Susan Rubin
Release date: September 4, 2020
Genre: Fiction; Humor
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-941861-68-4
“Playwright Rubin’s debut novel is a complex story that uses science fiction as a literary device, like Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse-Five…. Like the poem it’s named for, this story is the re-framing of Deborah’s past life in the context of her current one, a kind of coming-of-age story for a woman entering mid-life with nothing to hold her back from what she might become.”
“The compelling story, told with effortless grace, of a suburban woman driven to become a warrior, a hero, a priestess.”
—Ms Magazine
“Do the creatures of Earth have enough ability to learn to be nonviolent yet still artistically creative so our planet can be saved? Only Deborah can judge. With its mishmash of Freudian theory, Egyptian mythology, self-assured characters, and meandering plot, this book is mostly for fans of New Age fiction.”
“An inherently and absolutely fascinating science fiction novel by an author with a genuine flair for original and the commendable ability to hold the reader’s fully entertained attention from first page to last, “The Road Not Taken” by Susan Rubin is an extraordinary treat for all dedicated science fiction fans and unreservedly recommended for community library Science Fiction collections.”
“Susan Rubin’s The Road Not Taken offers a magical tale of transformation and joy. A pleasure to read.”
— Alicia Hoge Adams, Artistic Director, Bootleg Theater, Hollywood
“The Road Not Taken by Susan Rubin is a unique work of magical realism. It is filled with fantastic imagery, irony, and amazing ideas. This book sits next to Isabelle Allende and Neil Gaiman on my reading table. If you want to take a unique journey, filled with humor, fantastic imagery, ideas, and irony, grab a copy.”
— Luisah Teish, author, Jambalaya
In the News
Podcast: Dr. D’s Social Network talks to Susan Rubin, author of The Road Not Taken
Ms. Magazine Article: “Susan Rubin Wants More Women to Explore The Road Not Taken”
BookPleasures.com Interview: “In Conversation With Playwright & Novelist Susan Rubin”
JB’s Bookworms Brandy Mulder Interviews Susan Rubin
Blog posts at SusanRubinWriter.com
About the Author
Rubin’s writing talents range broad and deep: her Funny or Die sketches have survived to amuse readers for nearly a decade. In contrast, Rubin has written over two dozen documentaries that deal in the unfunny issues facing women worldwide: Domestic Violence, Forced Child Marriage, Untested Rape kits accumulating in police evidence rooms by the tens of thousands. In each documentary, Rubin has used her skill, empathy, and compassion to render these darkest of topics into accessible films distributed to tens of thousands of college classrooms, to educate young people about the gravity of the situation for women in the USA and worldwide.
As a playwright, Rubin has been the recipient of 20 years of Los Angeles County Arts Commission Grants and Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department Grants. She also was honored with a six-year residency at the prestigious Los Angeles Theatre Center.
Her plays have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, Baltimore Cen-ter Stage, and at every major 99 seat theatre in Los Angeles including co-productions with Bootleg Theatre, Circle X, Skylight Theatre to name a few. She is the recipient of Garland, Ovation and LA Weekly Awards for her plays and the critical response has been exceptional, for example:
“In its mythological themes, modernist irony and imaginative visual styling, ‘Liana and Ben’ is something of a companion piece to Circle X’s memorable 2006 production of Sarah Ruhl’s ‘Eurydice’.”
A Bowl Full of Nails
A Bowl Full of Nails
A Bowl Full of Nails
Charles Degelman
Independent Publishers Book Awards Medalist
Finalist, Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction
Finalist, Indiefab Book of the Year
Barnes & Noble Book Launch, April 21, 2015
Fiery young Gus Bessemer vows to stop the war in Vietnam. His weapon of choice? Guerrilla street theater. But when a shotgun-wielding riot squad loads up with live ammo, Gus’ defiant art attack screeches to a halt. Nursing rage and confusion, he heads for the Colorado Rockies, only to discover that—even surrounded by rugged mountain beauty—there’s no escaping the war at home . . . or himself.
A Bowl Full of Nails
by Charles Degelman
Release date: February 1, 2015
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Suspense
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-0-9895960-4-6
Charles Degelman reads an excerpt on public radio
Praise for A Bowl Full of Nails
“A Bowl Full of Nails is a distinctive novel that evokes a time and place with rich dialogue and detail. Degelman has conjured up a blend of patchouli, Bob Dylan lyrics, Indian print textiles, and hippie slogans and set them down in a windswept patch of the Colorado Rockies, making for a textured and evocative book.”
— Rachel Jagareski, Foreword Reviews
“A Bowl Full of Nails offers the reader a suspense-filled tale bursting with humor, espionage, and rebellion while the author explores the dance between personal demons and political resistance.”
— Carl Logan, Midwest Book Review
“BERKELEY, May 15, 1969 — Riot police carrying shotguns killed one bystander and wounded several protesters…the factual event that begins the fictional odyssey of Gus Bessemer, antiwar activist in Degelman’s A Bowl Full of Nails . . . a gonzo re-creation of a deadly serious time.”
— Susan Weinstein, Not Another Book Review
“A Bowl Full of Nails reminds us that the ‘60s weren’t just about flowers and stoned hippies. With a dynamic plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat, this rough-edged tale bursts with humor, rebellion, tragedy, betrayal, and espionage.”
—Mary Mackey, author of Season of Shadows
“In A Bowl Full of Nails, Degelman builds a marvelous suspense that lures the reader on a trip into the past, to a power place where big things happened. I could taste the ‘60s gestalt in the back of my throat..”
—Destiny Kinal, Founder, Reinhabitory Institute,
author ofBurning Silk
About the Author:
Charles Degelman, is an award-winning author, performer, and producer living in Los Angeles. His recent novel, A Bowl Full of Nails, set in the counterculture of the 1970s, collected a Bronze Medal from the 2015 Independent Publishers Book Awards and was a finalist in the Bellwether Competition, sponsored by Barbara Kingsolver. His novel Gates of Eden, set during the anti-war movement of the 1960s, won an Independent Publishers book award, and his first screenplay, “FIFTY-SECOND STREET”, garnered an award from the Diane Thomas Competition, sponsored by UCLA and Dreamworks. His first novel, A Bowl Full of Nails, was a finalist in the Bellwether Competition, sponsored by Barbara Kingsolver. He is on the Faculty of California State University where he teaches writing in the Television, Film, and Media Studies/Communications Studies program. He lives in Los Angeles with his companion on the road of life and four cats.
Close by Erika Raskin
Close by Erika Raskin
Close by Erika Raskin
Get it at Barnes & Noble
1035 Emmet Street, Charlottesville, VA 22903
Should family therapy be a spectator sport?
2014 USA Best Book Award Literary Fiction Finalist
On the ballot for Teen Choice Book of the Year
Close, a novel of family and suspense. Single mom Kik Marcheson is doing the best she can — but effort doesn’t seem to count for much in the parenting department. Her oldest daughter is swimming in the deep end of adolescence; the middle-child slash good-girl is fraying along the edges; and the baby, a quirky kindergartner, has befriended an imaginary playmate. When a TV therapist offers help, they take it. And then things go from bad to terrifying.
Reviews
“Discovering that you are not alone in your battles is sometimes a relief – or not. Close by Erika Raskin does just that by revealing the imperfections of the Marcheson family. This book tells a poignant and edgy story of a divorced-family dynamic through complex characters and the real life struggles of parenting and adolescence. While trying to get help for the Marcheson daughters this family experiences something that will shock you.”
—LitPick Student Book Reviews, 5 Star Rating, www.litpick.com
“Raskin easily balances humor and drama in this novel about parenting, reality TV, and family. Erika Raskin’s Close is a welcoming and nuanced novel that offers a window into the life of the Marcheson family—with ultimately much of America peering through that window as well.”
—Foreword Reviews 5 Heart Rating
“This book is all about relationships between people and knowing when to forgive and when to let go. It focuses on the theme of trust and what happens when that fragile trust is broken. CLOSE by Erika Raskin is a great read for any teenager and the characters are all extremely relatable. While most families will fortunately never experience the pain of a missing child or the humiliation of national criticism, the actions and struggles of the characters will touch readers as they hope for a happy ending for the Marcheson family.”
“Author Erika Raskin’s ability to deftly blend humor and drama into a relentlessly entertaining novel that holds the reader’s rapt attention from beginning to end without letup is truly impressive! Very highly recommended for personal reading lists and community library General Fiction collections…”
Close , by Erika Raskin
A novel of family and suspense
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Suspense
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 978-0-9895960-3-9
and
Release October 31, 2016
Price: $15.88
ISBN 978-1-941861-38-7
“Close by Erika Raskin, looks at the fragile link that holds families together. The unraveling of one thread can rapidly lead to the disassembling of the whole unit. Parents and children may have the best intentions, but they don’t always let their true selves be known.”
“. . . Close details the moving, wryly funny and ultimately fateful actions of a single mother trying to cope with raising three daughters. “
“Crisply written. A page-turner of significance. This wise debut novel, Close, slices into 21st century motherhood on an academic campus revealing expected and unexpected terrors and tenderness. Erika Raskin captures the thousands of small choices that can go tragically wrong on an ordinary day, the perils of making the private public, and the vulnerability that comes with loving a child. Her ability to portray a mother’s love for three very different children is uncanny.”
—Alice Randall, Author of The Wind Done Gone
“Wow. Erika Raskin’s right-on-the-money observations and incisive prose pull you directly into the heart of this messy, endearing family. It’s an accelerating story of entwined love and dread, and it left me breathless.”
—Janis Jaquith, public radio commentator,
newspaper columnist
“Raskin’s debut novel delivers witty, insightful prose, flesh and blood characters and a compelling plot with a twist that keeps you on the edge of your seat. A terrific read!”
—Deborah M. Prum, author of First Kiss
and Other Cautionary Tales
“When Erika Raskin writes that the father ‘downshifted into the somnolent whisper of the Permanently Disappointed’ she forcefully sets the tone of her well-paced novel. Close paints an astute yet funny portrait of three daughters and a mother trying to cope with their fractured family. Her vivid characters remind me of many families I’ve treated over the years.”
—Justin A. Frank, M.D., Psychoanalyst and
best-selling author of Obama on the Couch
“Raskin’s debut novel will keep you turning the pages in this turbulent family drama, and you’ll cheer on as the Marchesons get their collective act together despite their all-knowing TV therapist.”
—Jenny Gardiner, author of Kindle #1 Bestseller
Slim to None
• Erika Raskin’s second novel, Best Intentions, Macmillan
• Visit Erika’s website at www.erikaraskin.net
• Author Twitter @ErikaRaskin
The College of Corn
The College of Corn
The College of Corn
by Kunyang He
A tragicomic story set in a Midwest university town, The College of Corn portrays a community of overseas Chinese students and immigrants, and three fledging young woman scholars — one from Taiwan, one Mainlander, and one Hong Konger — experiencing early adulthood, the reality of the American dream, commercialized education, and romance in a troubled country and flawed academia.
Rachel, a Ph.D. student from China and the chief editor of a “notorious” local Chinese newspaper has been using the paper as a weapon for scathing criticism and as a channel for underdogs’ grievances. She is struggling with budget deficit and continual threats from the authorities and her own compatriots. The story is told from the point of view of Alex, the newspaper’s graphic designer and Rachel’s secret admirer. While the newspaper is short-staffed and facing another severe cutback, Alex meets the daughter of a Taiwanese tycoon, a stellar young scholar, who can write and seems the solution to both the problems of the paper and Alex’s unrequited love, until events take an unexpected turn.
The College of Corn
by Kunyang He
Release date: November 15, 2017
Genre: Fiction
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-941861-43-1
“A Chinese Ph.D. student strives to make sense of American college culture in general and two women in particular. Alex, the narrator of He’s debut, is a listless doctoral student studying art history at an unnamed Midwestern university (though it closely resembles the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), where he works as a designer on a ‘notorious’ weekly Chinese-language campus newspaper. He’s one of the few stable staffers thanks to the domineering leadership of its editor, Rachel, who browbeats aspiring writers out of the office when she isn’t writing ill-considered op-eds. (She takes a blame-the-victim stance toward battered women in one piece, for instance.) But the paper has a booster in Alice, the daughter of an international manufacturing tycoon, who quickly captures Alex’s attention, and their relationship deepens after she separates from her abusive boyfriend. Alice is hard to trust—is her father actually wealthy? Did she really go to Harvard?”
—Kirkus
“The College of Corn captures the rhythms and textures of the lives of international students at a large midwestern university while telling a story filled with humor, pathos, and truth. Kunyang He writes with wit and a sharp eye, bringing the characters to life. The story grabbed me. I couldn’t put it down, and after I finished it I felt like I had a personal relationship with the people in the story.”
—John Nerone, the author of The Media and Public Life: A History
About the Author
Kunyang He is a Chinese author writing in English. He has written two independent films and one documentary featuring the new generation of Chinese immigrants and international students in the States. He is also a translator and an English teacher, who takes teaching very seriously. The College of Corn is his first novel.
Gates of Eden, by Charles Degelman
Gates of Eden, by Charles Degelman
Gates of Eden
Silver Medalist, Historical Fiction, 2012 Independent Publishers Book Awards
Gates of Eden follows a handful of young rebels as they band together to create the most powerful antiwar movement in history. From their scattered beginnings through a surge to resistance, Gates’ colorful characters invite us to join them as they transform “hell no, we won’t go,” into a celebration of collective action, shared consciousness, sexual revolution, and the realization of their dreams.
Get it on Kindle!
Fantastic praise for Charles Degelman’s award-winning novel Gates of Eden
“War is not to be waged lightly. Gates of Eden is a novel set amongst the turmoil of the Vietnam War at home, as the Americans of the 1960s decry the unpopular war. Seven rebels unite with others who are dissatisfied with the government and begin to plot against it, daring possibly to go as far as rebellion. With a personal story among each of them, Gates of Eden is a fine novel of the period, very much recommended.”
Gates of Eden
by Charles Degelman
Release date: August 1, 2012
Genre: Fiction, Historical, Suspense, Political
Price: $14.95
374 pages
ISBN: 978-0983321637
“Gates of Eden is no sentimental apologia for the Sixties. It’s the real deal. Charlie Degelman was there, living his life for keeps, moving at the same breakneck pace as his characters. I know. I was there with him.”
— Peter Coyote, actor, author, Sleeping Where I Fall
About the Author
Charles Degelman, is an award-winning author, performer, and producer living in Los Angeles. His recent novel, A Bowl Full of Nails, set in the counterculture of the 1970s, collected a Bronze Medal from the 2015 Independent Publishers Book Awards and was a finalist in the Bellwether Competition, sponsored by Barbara Kingsolver. His novel Gates of Eden, set during the anti-war movement of the 1960s, won an Independent Publishers book award, and his first screenplay, “FIFTY-SECOND STREET”, garnered an award from the Diane Thomas Competition, sponsored by UCLA and Dreamworks. His first novel, A Bowl Full of Nails, was a finalist in the Bellwether Competition, sponsored by Barbara Kingsolver. He is on the Faculty of California State University where he teaches writing in the Television, Film, and Media Studies/Communications Studies program. He lives in Los Angeles with his companion on the road of life and four cats.
APPOINTMENT WITH ISIL
APPOINTMENT WITH ISIL
APPOINTMENT WITH ISIL
An Anthony Provati Literary Thriller
by Joe Giordano
Read the first chapter
Book signing with Joe Giordano on Saturday, December 9th, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble
in the Hill Country Galleria – Bee Cave, TX
Italy Book Tour June 19-30, 2017
This time, Anthony’s libido threatens his life. Anthony Provati flirts with Russian mob boss, Gorgon Malakhov’s mistress. The Russian deals in death. ISIL, the Islamic State in the Levant, wants the product. Russian Intelligence supplies the means, and an art theft funds the scheme. ISIL’s targets are chilling. The chase across the Mediterranean is on. Can Anthony thwart ISIL? Will he survive?
APPOINTMENT WITH ISIL
by Joe Giordano
Release date: June 15, 2017
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Suspense
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-941861-34-9
“The threats feel very real. The plotting and writing throughout are taut and the stakes are very high. Not only are individual lives in peril, but plans are laid for massive attacks and enormous security breaches. Sales of submarines, Strontium-90 (a component of diabolical “dirty bombs”), and shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles are all part of the high-level negotiations. Also mixed into the nefarious loot are massive amounts of heroin and three small, but priceless, Vermeer paintings…. A roller-coaster ride to the finish, this book confirms Giordano as a writer to eagerly watch.”
“Joe Giordano delivers an absorbing story with abundant scenes of nefarious activities and subplots. With Giordano’s imaginative writing breathing life into the narrative, you’ll soon realize why ‘Thriller is in the title.”
–Ambassador, magazine of the National Italian American Foundation, Robert Bartus Jr., Fall 2017. Pg. 60
“If you like gritty intriguing thrillers involving the FBI, Russian/Italian mobs or Islamic Terrorists you will absolutely love this book…. The characters, the plot and prose come together for an outstanding work of contemporary Americana. PRIMO highly recommends Appointment with ISIL.
“…Giordano paints a globe where the chaotic isn’t resolved but modulated, where crime isn’t black and white but a shifting polarity of moment by moment compromises, where good often emerges out of the back alleyways of Manhattan to save the world.”
–Gravel Magazine
“This is my first read written by Mr. Giordano. You can call me very impressed. I could not tear myself away from reading this book.”
“A sexy, all-in-one-breath read, this is a story for those eager to strap on their boots and immerse themselves in a whirlwind adventure…”
–The iRead Review
“This is a fast paced thriller that will keep your attention hooked. Anthony has a lusty libido and that gets him up to his neck in trouble. But he is bound and determined to stop more deaths from ISIL. If that doesn’t get you interested in the story, the first chapter will have you in tears. If you like fast action with a great story, look no further. I strongly recommend reading Appointment with ISIL.”
“Appointment with ISIL by Joe Giordano is a riveting chase around the world that will have gritty thriller lovers salivating for more from this talented and bold author. Action-packed, suspenseful and at times terrifying, clearly a must read for those who like hanging on the edge of the cliff by only their fingers.”
–Dianne Bylo, Five stars Tome Tender, Top 1% of Reviewers on Goodreads
“Joe Giordano’s superbly written new novel, Appointment with ISIL, is arguably an important book, providing a deeper understanding of a tumultuous world that seems hopelessly mired in a terrifying clash of cultures and belief systems. The book is a gripping socio-political thriller, taking us on a frantic chase from the tough streets of New York to Greece and Egypt and ultimately to the Vatican and Jerusalem. And with such a careful account of history, the human condition and the current state of the world, the book stands with such academic works as Waltz’s Man, The State and War. The author’s command of the language is on display throughout, and his vivid imagery and wry metaphors are real gifts for readers. His narrative, unique characters, and international settings are a pleasure to take in as we become immersed in the action. Appointment with ISIL is a must-read.”
–Daniel VanTassel, editor, The Zodiac Review
“One of the strongpoints for me in Appointment with ISIL was its multinational backdrop. The series of countries through which Anthony’s misadventures take him add colour to the plot.”
Forthcoming Reviews
Articles
Appointment with ISIL Author Interview
Joe wrote the Giovanni di Verrazzano monologue for New York Talking Statues
The Pen & Muse interviews Joe Giordano
J Bronder Book Reviews interviews Joe Giordano
Other fiction by Joe Giordano
Fabula Argentea has published Joe’s story, “Mongrel Dog,” set in the old Brooklyn neighborhood. A piece that dog lovers will enjoy,
Boston Literary Magazine – “Twenty-Pound Salmon”
About the Author
Joe Giordano’s stories have appeared in more than ninety magazines including Bartleby Snopes, The Saturday Evening Post, decomP, and Shenandoah. His novel, Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story, was published by Harvard Square Editions October 2015. His second novel, Appointment with ISIL, an Anthony Provati Thriller will be published by HSE in June 2017. Read the first chapters and sign up for his blog.
Joe Giordano was born in Brooklyn. He and his wife, Jane, have lived in Greece, Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands. They now live in Texas with their shih tzu, Sophia.
Never Summer
Never Summer
Never Summer
A Samurai Western, by Tim Blaine
Hollywood Book Festival and New England Book Festival Honorable Mention
A nineteenth-century drifter returns from Japan to learn that his tuberculosis has left him “weeks, months, but not years.” He embarks on a philosophical inquiry of death as he journeys on the historic overland route from New York to the Rocky Mountains. A devilish samurai mask, a cursed revolver, and his ‘romantic disease’ propel him on a Herculean adventure into the Wild West, where he hopes to subdue his fate. But the lessons he learns turn his struggles inside out when he realizes a life without end would become as desolate as a place with no summer.
Read an excerpt of Never Summer in the Pennmen Review
Never Summer
by Tim Blaine
Release date: May 18, 2017
Genre: Coming of Age, Samurai Western, Suspense
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-941861-35-6
Praise for Never Summer
“Categorized as a Samurai Western, Never Summer is packed with action, suspense, danger and intrigue. The thing that sets this book apart from other Westerns (that, at least, this reviewer is aware of) is the vivd and almost poetic style of the writing. This is a book where we search the soul of the main character, who himself asks a lot of philosophical questions. There are moments where you think you might be reading a parable; one featuring six-shooters, painted ladies and more than one epic showdown…. Never Summer is well-written and well-edited, and kept me interested from beginning to end…. This is a book that takes an (albeit unknowing) student of The Book of Five Rings and sets them on the Oregon Trail, and that alone should make this worth a look. Fans of westerns and samurai literature will be most at-home here, but this book will likely appeal to an even wider audience. 5 stars.”
“In the mid-19th century, the itinerant Vlad D’Agostino arrives in New York City after a long stay in Japan, bringing with him a samurai mask and a terminal case of tuberculosis. In Manhattan, he learns of an innovative doctor who claims to have found a treatment for the disease using ‘alpine air,’ but Vlad will have to travel to the physician’s clinic in the Rocky Mountains, in a place known as Never Summer…. On his quest to save himself and prolong his life, he inadvertently makes discoveries about his traumatic past—and about how to live more fully in the present…. Vlad is a thoughtful hero, and Blaine seems just as interested in evoking Herman Melville’s work as he is Zane Grey’s. Adventure fans of all stripes will find something compelling in the tragic, mysterious protagonist. An original, philosophically minded Western adventure.”
“Never Summer... not only blends a Japanese theme with the story of a wanderer through the wild West, but it is replete with evocative metaphors and images not usually seen in Western writings…. the refreshing, sparkling prose simply shines; as does the life of Vlad, who is anything but your typical Western wanderer. The result is a compelling literary piece about a nineteenth-century drifter who returns from Japan to traverse a landscape as foreign to him as the concept of his own impending demise. Readers who appreciate genre-busting, thought-provoking reads – especially those familiar with and holding an affinity for Western settings – will relish the tone and characters of Never Summer.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Never Summer is a samurai western (how cool is that?!)”
—Am Reading
About the author
An alumnus of Drury University in Springfield, MO, Tim Blaine is a member of the Springfield Writers Guild. Never Summer is his debut novel. Check out Tim’s web site!
Stained
Stained
Stained
Abda Khan
Launch events and readings
6 October Gatsby Books Long Beach 3pm
31 October Bluestockings bookshop New York
5 November PACC Milpitas CA
Selina, a beautiful, British-born Pakistani young woman recently lost her father, and finds herself struggling to cope with life, in particular with some aspects of her studies. Matters go from bad to worse, when a trusted family friend from the mosque offers to tutor her, and rapes her instead. With the threat of dishonour to her family at her back, Selina goes to extreme lengths to avoid scandal, and prevent shame being brought to her widowed mother’s door. It will take all the strength and courage Selina can muster when her life travels down a dangerous path, from which there may be no return…
Stained
by Abda Khan
Release date: October 3, 2016
Genre: Crime, Romance, Thriller
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1941861325
‘True Honour Award’ Honouree
“loaded with painful lessons from the contemporary immigrant experience”
—The Weekly Voice
“Khan has written a contemporary Tess of the D’Urbervilles, a heart-wrenching and engrossing tale that challenges the definition of morality through the story of a wronged young woman fighting to come to terms with harsh realities and finding empowerment along the way.”
—Booklist, Caitlin Brown
“The depiction of how a conservative community, emotional blackmail, and rape culture all lead to an intelligent young woman to not report her sexual assault is realistic and therefore upsetting. But what I enjoyed most about this novel was how ultimately, the story was about Selina’s strength and growth as a survivor. The title and (current) book cover may not indicate this, but Selina emerges a stronger person out of this ordeal. In the end, she refuses to allow her life to be defined by the men around her, whether they are positive or negative influences in it. She wants to carve out a life of her own and define its parameters herself. This feminist message strengthens the story and provides an important perspective.”
“One of the things I love in stories about Muslim women is when they are actually by Muslim women. I really liked this book, both for how it delicately addressed taboos and for the fact that it adds to a body of work where Muslim voices and narratives are lacking. Stained is a gripping read. 10/10 would read again.”
“…this book is so important; diverse read; hard-hitting, emotionally-charged subject matter; super short, but SO SO heavy; Selina’s story is one of strength and poise in the face of adversity, of finding yourself despite the darkness threatening to swallow you; this book touched me deeply.”
—Betwixt These Pages
“This book was a page turner! Totally gripping, and inspiring.”
—Dr Sana Rashid, New Jersey, USA
“Stained examines the pressures of cultural taboos and sensitivities faced by women in society, and how they affect their life profoundly. Ultimately, it explores human endurance in the face of extreme adversity, and the extent to which, eventually, one is left with nothing but hope. The plot and characters draw the reader in from the very first page. Abda Khan has skilfully produced a novel that is both compelling and thought-provoking. A thoroughly captivating book.”
—Julian Knight, former BBC Journalist, Member of the British Parliament
“Stained draws readers in with the effortless combination of an intense storyline that is tinged with elements of the unexpected. Khan’s skillful characterisation facilitates a relationship with the heroine, and allows the reader to become immersed in her world….The narrative is fast-paced, the storyline is gripping, and the characters are engaging. The novel tackles many pressing cultural, social and moral issues that are prevalent in the Pakistani/Muslim and other Asian communities in Britain today, particularly pertaining to the position and rights of women. Khan’s masterful characterisation and dramatic plot lend an eloquent voice to women who currently do not have a voice at all, and expose the traumatic abuse faced by women in many cultures.”
“Whoever picks up this novel will witness the horrifying build up to sexual abuse, and all through a victim’s perspective….Stained is a vitally important novel for the British Asian community. It unearths truths that have long simmered beneath the surface, and Abda Khan is extremely brave to bring them to light.”
“The author does an amazing job with positioning us inside the perspective of a victim. A lot of times, people, assume that a survivor of rape doesn’t go through anything else. We often ignore the fact that it is a everlasting trauma that reoccurs and can be triggered by so many things”
“An inspiring and empowering story about a young British Muslim girl’s determination for independence and self-regulation. Selina’s story is captivating, with so many twists and turns that I read it in one sitting!”
—Mrs Rehana Hanif, Yorkshire, UK – Reviewer
“Stained, no doubt, is a voice for women, loud and clear, from highlighting the unfair treatment of daughters, to disregarding of girls rights to education and most importantly to their consent in all its forms. Selina, goes on to achieve the unthinkable in this story by fighting for her name on her own, and in the end clearing her name of the dishonor that had befallen her.”
“Selina is a superb character – very easy to like and empathise with, and her voice feels completely natural and real. I also love the way Abda has woven in the various strands about culture and identity, and the cultural clash that takes place in the homes and hearts of South Asian families in Britain. The differing viewpoints of Selina and her mother come across very sharply, but with a warmth that’s often lacking. I found the story to be dark and shocking in places, but this only added to my enjoyment of it. Stained showcases what, for me, is the often almost hopeless reality of life for so many girls, and the ending, although sad, is refreshingly honest and real. I love that it’s set in Bradford and Brum, and that Abda has left no stone unturned, especially in dealing with patriarchy and the predatory nature of some men. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
—Bali Rai, celebrated British Asian teenage fiction author of Dream On, selected for the Book Trust’s inaugural Booked Up list
“Lawyer and author Abda Khan will tell you she has no professional training as a writer, but real life experience proved more than enough preparation for her debut novel, Stained.”
—Anokhi Media
Shaktistri Interview with Abda Khan
Ravi Magazine Interview with Abda Khan
Yorkshire Post Interview with Abda Khan
Article by Abda Khan
News: “The threats and abuse outspoken Pakistani women receive” — BBC
Abda Khan’s web site
Author Bio
In 2017, the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation named Abda Khan a ‘True Honour Award’ Honouree for her work, including Stained (HSE 2016), her debut novel. She has also been shortlisted for the Asian Women of Acheivement Award 2017. Born to Pakistani immigrant parents, Abda Khan was the first child in her family to go on to higher education. She is a lawyer with her own practice.