P U B L I S H I N G w i t h M
E R C U R Y H E A R T L I N K
A sample of Mercury HeartLink
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How to Be a Widow
Marilyn C. O'Leary
After she became a widow,
Marilyn C. O’Leary was surprised
at her reaction to changing her
status on Facebook. She was not
yet comfortable referring to
herself as widowed. That was one
of the dilemmas she faced as a
widow that seemed to be minor
but was not. Another one was
what should her new pair of
shoes look like? Should she buy
those orange patent leather
wedges?
The difficult questions beneath
these superficial ones included
who was she now that she wasn’t
a wife and a caregiver? What was
her purpose in life now that her
husband of fifty years had died
twenty years after receiving a
life-giving liver transplant?
Did she want another
relationship? Did she want to
live alone? Why didn’t other
widows tell her how devastating
the pain of loss would be? How
could she express her feelings
of loneliness and confusion, and
did she even want to?
Her pain and loss were followed
by new insights, new experiences
and new interests, including
playing bluegrass music and
finding new friends, and
fulfillment at being able to
fashion the life she now wanted
for herself. While every woman’s
journey is different, certain
experiences are common. Read
these essays to discover what
Marilyn discovered about her new
life—that there was life after
her husband’s death, and after
the pain came comfort and
fulfillment. |

Finding
My Heart in Uncertain Times
Becky Glenn
This book of poetry, Finding My
Heart in Uncertain Times by
Becky Glenn, is an essential and
supportive companion to anyone
facing uncertainty. Whether it
is a matter of life and death—or
just feels like life and
death—these poems illustrate how
to be fully in our circumstances
with realness, and to see these
circumstances as a catalyst for
our deepest, most profound
growth. Living in uncertain
times, we must find our way—our
own unique way—back to the
wisdom of the heart. These poems
give voice to the seemingly
inexpressible feelings of
uncertainty and gently guide us
to a deeper place within our
hearts. Becky’s poetry takes us
on a passage of heart-growth as
she experiences her husband’s
illness and death and
rediscovers life after his
death. May this book of poetry
encourage and deepen your
heart’s expansion in the face of
uncertainty, opening you to
growth and the wondrous mystery
of Life. |

The Seekers [black/white
edition]: Tales of the Tarot
Archetypes
Chris Lemme
What does a man with an
unusually large member, a
schizophrenic and a transvestite
have in common? They are three
of the twenty-one narrators of
this sprawling portrayal of
Americana during the past two
decades. Told in the
first-person, each chapter is a
snapshot into the very different
lives of the characters,
represented by each of the Tarot
archetypes identified by the
twenty-one cards in the major
arcana.The thread that binds
them together is Santorini, a
tarot card reader living in the
Gold Coast neighborhood of
Chicago. Follow him and his
clients through the twenty odd
years from the Monica Lewinsky
scandal to the election of
President Trump and all the
events in between.At times
hilarious, sometimes tragic, but
always entertaining, The Seekers
is an illuminating story
reminding us that collectively
we have the power to change our
destiny. |

God's Umbrella: Southwest New
Mexico World War II Survivors
Mary Alice Murphy
In the words of these men and
women who served in World War II
or were otherwise impacted by
the war, God's Umbrella recounts
the tragic, humorous and other
memorable parts of their service
during wartime. Humorous, you
ask? Most of these veterans were
in their late teens or early 20s
when they volunteered or were
drafted into service. They
played pranks, which created
levity in lives that they
perhaps could not otherwise have
tolerated. Some of those
interviewed teared up with
memories or would not talk about
the painful parts, but they
shared their words with the
local readers of the newspaper,
where they were first published.
Now, readers from other parts of
the country and world will have
an opportunity to read what 81
survivors of World War II told
about their experiences. The
photos, from their service days
and when interviewed, provide a
small sliver of history from the
four counties of the
southwesternmost corner of New
Mexico. This book recognizes the
sacrifices veterans and their
families have made in service to
country to preserve our
freedoms. May we never forget
their selfless actions. |

Feathered Dreams: celebrating
birds in poems, stories and
images
Janet M. Ruth
Here, there, and
everywhere we each experience a
connection with Nature. In Feathered
Dreams, Janet
Ruth—ornithologist, poet,
artist, and international
birder—shares her love of birds
through poem, story, and image.
She relies beautifully on
her scientist’s eye and artist’s
heart to recreate the magic
we can encounter when we stop to
watch and listen. Dedicated to 2018—The
Year of the Bird—the
collection introduces us to
birds familiar and exotic,
from grasshopper sparrows (her
beloved research subjects),
ravens, and owls, to resplendent
quetzals and red-capped manakins.
The poet's voice envelops the
reader in humor and awe, sadness
and joy. With scenes drawn from
a Pennsylvania childhood, a New
Mexico neighborhood, or a
tropical rainforest, the poet
explores themes of loss,
dreams, and stories both
intimate and far-reaching about
the birds with whom we share the
landscape. This collection of
avian treasures is a
“wingèd paean of gratitude for
the wonders, the messengers that
are birds.” Feathered dreams
drift on the wind of poems and
memories in this love song to
birds, to life. |

Living with the Doors Wide Open
Rebecca King Leet
As
one poem in this debut
collection notes: “words exhale
what has been inhaled”. Rebecca
Leet’s poetry demonstrates that
she inhales both the common and
the extraordinary in life – and
exhales each with exquisite
phrasing and uncommon insight.
In a style distinct yet
accessible, she brings out the
elegance in everyday language.
Living with the Doors Wide Open
reveals a life lived
lyrically – sometimes painful,
sometimes playful, often
mystical, always passionate and
authentic. One poem finds
profundity in the sad eyes of a
woman running for President
while another sees it in the
timid tremor of a baby sparrow.
Poetic lament of love and loss
is sung in a forgiving voice.
Throughout the collection runs a
theme of the unity of all life
and our opportunities for
routine reverence; she posits as
wordless prayer the “sigh to see
the moon full round … pause to
seek the rainbow source.”
Living with the Doors Wide Open
creates places where you find
yourself – and feel better
because you have. |

Via Trento No. 4
Mark S. Ennen
Vivid recollections from Italy
to the Smithsonian mall to a
basecamp in Viet Nam. There are
good and sad adventures, failing
loves, and rants from both sides
of the glass.
There is a list of places and
jobs, but only one person is
named. To name more would
require another book. The list
dredges a complex life bordered
by smiles, regrets, and
impassioned phrases.
Poems that evoke quizzical times
in graphic detail. There is a
walk-back to capture personal
events in staccato relief. Maybe
even horses on a merry-go-round.
|

My Life So Far: Breathing
Lessons
by Sally L. Fulton
This first book of published
poetry, My Life So Far:
Breathing Lessons, by Sally
L. Fulton invites you to enter
intimately into her life and
shows the reader, with clear and
lyrical imagery, how she finds
meaning in each moment. Her
life is a microcosm of the
suffering and transformation
that everyone faces. That
transformation, for this writer,
is found in nature, and in the
Buddhist principal which Thich
Nhat Hanh calls “interbeing”,
the knowledge based on both
spiritual and physical
understanding that we are all a
part of something greater that
unifies us.
Included in this artistic volume
are several images of her
paintings, each as rich and
diverse as her poems. These
paintings reflect the beauty of
what the painter sees with her
eyes as well as what she
encounters in the unexpected
nature of the spontaneous. It
is through both language as well
as through painting that she has
come to find potent avenues
toward an expression of her own
truth. |

Reflections: Soundings from the
Deep
Mark Fleisher
In
Reflections: Soundings from
the Deep Mark Fleisher
explores the depths of the human
condition, employing his poetic
voice and journalistic skills
honed across five decades, often
sprinkling his findings with wry
humor.
His skillfully crafted
narratives weave no-nonsense
poetic and prose tales; yet
Fleisher will throw readers
stream-of-consciousness
curveballs whose interpretations
reach across a wide expanse of
thought.
|

The Sourwood Tree by Jeanne
Shannon
Set in southwestern Virginia,
"the heart of Appalachia,"
The Sourwood Tree tells the
poignant story of Anna May
Osborne, a young girl trapped by
her stepfather's lust and
violence, who eventually finds
freedom and the love and
fulfillment she yearns for.
Told in Anna May's voice, the
narrative is lyrical, full of
the music of Appalachian speech
and Appalachian hymns.
Prize-winning poet Jeanne
Shannon brings to this story of
hard times and hard-won
emancipation her love of
language and seasoned craft.
|

Letters to the Grandchildren: A
Family's Life
Dan Wade, author and compiler
Spanning
almost a century from the early
1900s to today, author Dan
Wade’s treasure trove of family
stories will capture your
imagination, take you to a
simpler life and time, and make
you guffaw out loud. You will
travel from the deep South in
Mississippi to the high desert
of New Mexico and onward to the
Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Along the way you will meet up
with rattlesnakes, runaway pigs,
untamed horses, a crazed and
crazy cow, antelopes—and we
haven’t even gotten to the
antics of the people yet! These
are the stories of a family rich
in heritage, solid core values,
deep faith, and great respect
for one another. In the
author’s words, “This is what I
see: I see life, love, and
laughter, a home place…”
|

A Tried Heart by Raymond C. Mock
A Tried Heart is a
collection of best poems and
prose that presents Raymond
Mock’s range of heartfelt
experience over the decades.
Heart is his key, and experience
has provided him doors to
poetry. His test for poetry: If
it moves the heart, write it. An
observer, he is astute to
granted and overlooked matters
of heart—the simple things can
be the most revealing.
We are all
tried hearts. There is likely
something for every reader in
this book. Find yourself in it.
Experience life again, anew. |

The Hazing of a Lumberjack by
Daniel E. Pedrick
This
captivating coming of age novel
is set in mountainous ponderosa-
pine treed Flagstaff, Arizona.
The year is 1966. A sheltered
young man named Derek Payne is
dropped off by his stoical
father at the college in
Flagstaff to begin life away
from home. He has very little
experience regarding women,
alcohol, drugs and
relationships. His arrogant
boastful classmates try to mold
him to fit their image. He is
transformed from a naive,
self-centered novice to a man
with depth and compassion.
Humor, misfortune and tragedy
sculpt his metamorphosis.
Derek’s musical background leads
him to a job as lead singer of
one of Flagstaff’s up and coming
bands. He is exposed to
alcohol, drugs and fleeting
sexual experiences that leave
him unfulfilled.
Early on Derek encounters Dan
Denipah, a Navajo dormitory
resident who jolts Derek’s
cloistered suburban background
with irreverent cross- cultural
humor and insight. Dan Denipah
is sent to Viet Nam and they
continue to correspond. The
“hawk” and “dove” points of view
on the war are argued between
friends. Their relationship is
central to the novel.
This is a trip down memory lane
laden with the music, jargon and
experiences of the times. |

My Culinary Compulsion by Alona
Abbady Martinez
…Food. A
kaleidoscope of memories: the
fine dance between burnt and
fire-roasted eggplants, the
brightness a squeeze of fresh
lime juice gives garlic-infused
hummus, the sweet cloud of rum
slowly heating in my mother’s
custard wrapping itself around
my face, a lustful temptress.
With such daily seductions, it
was inevitable that food would
be my destiny. —AAM
Daughter of
an Israeli father and an
American mother, Alona Abbady
Martinez was born and raised in
Caracas, Venezuela in a home
that obsessed over food.
My
Culinary Compulsion presents a
life deeply and deliciously
lived, amid global, and
gloriously homey cuisine, in all
its sticky, luscious reality.
Like the Slow-Cooked Brisket
whose thick, rich sauce demands
to be scooped up by a crusty
baguette or the moist perfection
of Pineapple Upside-Down Cake,
these simple, time-tested
recipes will beckon you
kitchenwards, as these tales of
life’s everyday trials and
jubilations will keep you
turning the pages. |

Migrating Through Mortality
Jeremy Taylor
In
this collection of poetry and
photography, Jeremy Taylor shows
us how the fear of death can be
confronted directly both by the
joy of living and by the
realization death is only part
of a greater journey. He
explores the unity of life and
death, and the challenges that
each of these provide. We live
in a culture that sees death as
the final enemy. Instead, these
poems and images suggest, death
is only part of a much larger
and more mysterious process in
which we all take part. We can
transfigure death and deprive it
of its dread by an appreciation
of the life we live, in a world
that far different from what we
usually suppose. From fear, we
can move to hope and full
acceptance of a peaceful
transition. The poems and
images in Migrating Through
Mortality all convey that in
the midst of death, the spirit
not only survives—it goes home.
|

A High-Spirited Woman
Carol Meredith
In A
High-Spirited Woman the
author reaches into the
personal, highly complex, and
life-defining moments that shine
inwardly toward many of life’s
naked truths. Her poems reflect
lifelong involvement with what
are often confounding emotional
responses to observing life’s
realities. For her those
realities have always included
not only the physical world but
the parallel reality of the
heart, mind, and soul with its
own unique imprint.
|

My Mother and I, We Talk Cat
Elise Stuart
My Mother and I, We Talk Cat
is an unusual memoir. The author
describes the complex
relationship between mother and
daughter in riveting poetry and
lyric prose. The journey they
travel is strewn with books,
words, empty bottles, and a
mother's struggle to care for
herself and her daughter. During
her research, Stuart uncovers
secrets within her mother's life
that she had not known before.
In understanding her mother's
troubled life, she begins to
understand her own.
|

Once, a Walking Shadow
Dan Pedrick
This unique
novel has Australia, Minnesota
and Arizona as some of its
locales. It is the story of
Griffin Siler, a bright,
inquisitive and compassionate
boy who is shaped by his early
bout with Polio, his older
abusive brother, and his work as
a juvenile correctional
officer. He attends law school
and becomes a mental health
judge in Tucson. It is hard
hearing sad cases daily, but
then a different type of psych
patient appears before him.
|
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Rocky Mountain Recipes for
Murder:
Historical and Personal Tales
from Pueblo, Colorado
by Susan Paquet
Set in Pueblo, Colorado,
author Susan Paquet blends
fiction, history, and memoir
drawn from her own childhood
memories to create a
delightful collection of
short stories in her latest
book, Rocky Mountain
Recipes for Murder.
Spanning the 20th Century,
the stories begin during
Prohibition and the
devastating Pueblo Flood of
1921 then continue through
the Great Depression, the
“Rosie the Riveters” of the
Colorado Fuel & Iron (CF&I)
steel mill during World War
II, and a story about a
post-war Mafia gambling
establishment. The final
story about a missing woman
takes place in modern-day
Colorado and Arizona.
Poignant, humorous, and
suspenseful, each story is a
tasty murder mystery and
includes her character’s
favorite recipes. “Eating
and cooking were important
to my family,” Paquet says.
|

The Workplace Zoo
by Karin Stangl
The Workplace Zoo is a
collection of poems about
fictitious, relatable characters
that everyone has encountered in
the workplace.
This book is descriptive,
sometimes sarcastic, always
sharply attuned to traits these
fictitious characters possess.
Keen observations address the
zoo subjects—whether they be
bosses, employees, or
co-workers.
It
is enjoyable to see how many
characters you recognize in your
own work environment.
|

A Journey from love to Love
by Azima Lila Forest
A Journey from love to Love
by Azima Lila Forest is a
collection of poems that takes
the reader on a heartful journey
that begins as the poet falls in
love with someone who does not
return her feelings, and ends
three years later as she finds
herself a lover of the Divine.
Each poem is a step along the
way, filled with deep feeling,
often in a rhythm of two steps
forward, one step back. This
collection is rich with echoes
of the imagery and sound of the
long and beautiful tradition of
Sufi love poetry.
|

be... psalms of a contemplative
heart
by maggi a. petton
In this, her second volume of
meditative poetry, Maggi A.
Petton invites us to move with
her from “psalms of the broken
hearted” to “psalms of a
contemplative heart,” ensouling
the journey from opening to
deepening through devotion to
Love.
|

The Color Book
by Annell Livingston
The Color Book is based
on the idea of color, and how it
plays in the visual arts and in
poetry. Color does not exist in
nature by itself, but always
surrounded by other colors. It
is color that we respond to
emotionally, we might say, “Oh,
I love that color!” or “That
color makes me sad.” Using color
can expand the meaning of the
written word. The book is
illustrated with images of
paintings by Annell, from the
series, Fragments Geometry and
Change. Annell insists she does
not experience life as a whole,
but in bits and fragments. Her
compositions are based on
geometry and the color is
inspired by nature. She keeps in
mind the universal meaning given
to colors, to set the mood in a
painting, and uses the names of
colors to set the mood in her
poetry. Words bring to mind
mental images. Change is also
important in her work. Change is
constant, nothing stays the
same, everything is always
changing. The weather changes,
seasons change, the light of the
day changes, night into day. The
sun moves across the sky, the
shadows on the wall are always
changing. |

Thea Speaks: Before I Leave You
by
Colleen Walsh Brezny
Thea,
rounding the final bend of her
life, is once again, (as in
Scripted) is faced with a darker
evil, than that which Charleston
brought upon the forest. This
time around it is none other
than the Son of Charleston, who
knew not his father.
This journey,
spectacular and dangerous as the
first, but threaded throughout
with a more wizened Thea. Her
steady guidance and wisdom roll
lovingly as a piece of symphony
from her lips. Everyone is
invited to the play. |

Secrets of the Blue Door
by Pierre L. Nichols
Death of a child brings to light
the hidden sexual abuse
perpetrated by a priest at a
boy’s ranch in New Mexico. One
volunteer worker secretly fights
against church and state to
resolve the abuse, while
struggling with his own faith
and personal tragedies. It all
culminates in lawsuits and an
emotional conclusion 40 years
later. A heart wrenching memoir
that speaks of courage as well
as sends a message that everyone
should read.
|

TRUST TRUTH:
A Spiritual and Erotic
Pilgrimage with My Gay Spouse
by Trudie Schuyler Barreras
This memoir by Trudie S.
Barreras is specifically focused
on the author’s efforts to find
a meaningful basis in the
context of Christianity to
maintain an ongoing relationship
with her husband after he
acknowledged his homosexuality.
Although there are many “coming
out” stories now available, and
a few narratives of the way in
which a heterosexual spouse of a
gay individual may have made a
realistic adjustment to
co-parenting of children after
separation, the option to remain
married seems to be fairly
unique.
Besides describing the actual
events in the lives of this
couple and their extended
family, the narrative discusses
aspects of the development of
Metropolitan Community Church,
outreach experiences in the
Dominican Republic, and the
interplay of other factors such
as retreats and meditation. The
author discusses here reasons
for rejecting the extremely
rigid definitions of sexual
ethics promulgated by major
Christian denominations in favor
of a more honest interpretation
of Love as taught by Jesus.
|

Another Door Calls
Elise Stuart
In
Elise Stuart’s first poetry
collection, Another Door
Calls, the reader is invited
to step into the stark beauty of
the desert as she explores this
wilderness in a far corner of
southwest New Mexico. Rivers and
mountains become her teachers on
the journey as she begins to
know this wild terrain more
intimately. The land becomes a
mirror revealing itself to her,
revealing her own inner
landscape in startling silence
and the language of poetry.
|

Rabbit Sun, Lotus Moon
Andrea Millenson Penner
The poems in Rabbit Sun, Lotus
Moon present those uncommon
moments when we recognize our
world not only as a landscape or
backdrop for our individual and
collective experiences, but also
as soulful nourishment (if we
pay attention. The poet shares
with the reader a journey of
awakening “to what is important
in this one precarious life
between earth and sky.” Each
poem arrives unexpectedly and
deliciously like a handwritten
letter or postcard from a
relative, close friend, or even
from your former (or perhaps
future) self.
This volume extends and
complements the author’s first
collection, When East Was North
(2012 Mercury HeartLink). Andi
Penner lives, works, and writes
in Albuquerque, New Mexico. |

The Presence of Starlings
Jean Bower
The Presence of Starlings
is a collection of poems which
essentially describes the search
for identity. In its small way,
it is a search for the identity
and nature of mankind as well as
an investigation into the
identity of the individual. |

Orchid of the Night
J. S. Bodin
This dark psychological
thriller, inspired by true
events, delves into the world of
shadows, secrets, and lies, of
the two protagonists whose lives
intertwine as the Yaqui
detective, Andy Gomez, becomes
obsessed with solving the death
of Kyle O'Sullivan. Murders,
assumed identities, a Yaqui
medicine man
a gay commune in the desert,
eerie dreams, a gold bracelet,
and
Dracula vampira orchids
await the reader of this novel.
|

Love and Fun: Being Joyfully
Authentic, or How to Survive
Hard Times (Kindle)
Marilyn O'Leary
Life gets hard at some point for
each of us. The problem can be
personal, but sometimes it is
something society is
experiencing that we don’t know
how to deal with. Dip into this
small book of short writings for
some ideas of what to do when
things feel bad or life seems
out of kilter. These writings
can also provide a starting
point for conversations with
friends. Has life thrown us a
curve ball, something
unexpected? Or is it a life
transition that we all must
face-- aging, illness, or death?
This upbeat book can help us
figure out how to think about it
and how to do more than just
survive, but to thrive in hard
times. |

Hair on Fire: poems by Pamela
Williams
Hair on Fire
by Pamela Williams is a
collection of her poems
springing from a deep emotional
well fueled by grief, delight,
or just the mysteries of both
visible and invisible worlds.
The power of word is her gift to
take us out of the busyness of
life, to remind us of that safe
quiet place within, and to
celebrate what is uncovered
there. It’s an opportunity to
slow down and examine who we are
in these shifting times and to
look at that in the larger
societal mirror. Offered by
example in Williams’ embrace of
her own vulnerability is a
springboard for us to greet our
own - the archetypal hero's
journey! The collection is
invitingly introduced by Tarot
artist, teacher, and historian,
Arnell Ando. |

A Journey into the Heart of the
Black Madonna
Cindy M. Medina
In A Journey into the Heart
of the Black Madonna:
Self-Discovery, Spiritualism,
and Activism, Ms. Medina
eagerly invites the reader into
her relationship with the Black
Madonna and its transformative
nature. We travel through her
dreams, intuition, and
relationships; we reach
spiritual peaks, then descend
into verdant valleys of change.
Her exquisite descriptions of
Nature serve as an awakening to
the harsh contrast of
environmental degradation, and
the clarity of her writing
shines light on important social
issues.
Men and women who are yearning
to connect to their deep
intuitive and spiritual roots
and who long to make a
difference in the world will
find both tools for change and
inspiration in Ms. Medina’s
journey with the vibrant, loving
Black Madonna.
|

Beobuck: The Story of a Bear and
Those Who Loved Him
Robert Julyan
The two wandering orphan
sisters, Megan and Robyn, have
been seized by the Slave
Traders, and it is up to the
third member of their odd little
family, Gumbel, to save them.
But as he journeys to Slyrrh,
the vile town where the girls
await being sold, Gumbel saves
another victim of the Slave
Traders, the giant bear, Beobuck.
The funny little man and the
largest, most ferocious bear
anyone has ever seen, become
unlikely friends, especially
when joined by an even more
unlikely companion, the mouse,
Moon Bug. After escaping from
Slyrrh, they undertake a
dangerous journey, but one that
often is silly and fun, to
understand and confront the dark
changes happening in their
world. |

Way of the Sage: 4 Paths to
Manage Stress and Build
Resilience
by Mary Jorgensen
This
beautiful volume of teachings,
poetry and sculpture conveys
ancient and modern truths about
living deeply satisfying lives.
The four
SAGE paths enable you to choose
which approach is most needed in
the moment: paths of
spirituality, authenticity,
gratitude and enjoyment. Each
path leads to transformational
awareness of ways to enhance the
strength of your own holistic
nature.
Original
poetry by the author enhances
the prose, with artful
interpretations of each pathway
through bronze sculptures
designed by the author’s husband
and collaborator, Hans Peter
Jorgensen.
The task
of holistic healing is a
practice that leads to a wide
and deep commitment to live
fully in light of wisdom and
compassion. The author offers
her work as a blessing of her
own journey and also to those
who walk the path with her.
|

Daring to Live: Loss as a Way
of Awakening
by Michelle M. Anderson
Loss changes us. It can change
us for the better, or the worse,
but we cannot remain the way we
were in the moments before the
phone call or the knock on the
door that announced the new
shape of our world. Michelle
Anderson has written a beautiful
testament to how the experience
of loss and grieving that loss
contribute to that change. We
develop different priorities. We
gain a new awareness,
sensitivity, empathy.
Eventually, we are able to
recognize those changes and
reach back to help others just
beginning their own grief
journey. Michelle’s experience
will reflect yours in some ways,
and yet yours will be entirely
unique. |

Intersections: Poems from the
Crossroads
by Mark Fleisher
Intersections brings together
the people, places, events and
even occasional dream that
informed Mark Fleisher’s second
publication of poetry. Fleisher
is at heart a narrative poet,
leaning on his journalistic
background to impart clear and
powerful messages as he hammers
home the futility, frustration,
and hopelessness of war,
especially the conflict in
Vietnam where he served as an
Air Force combat news reporter.
Readers will also enjoy the
lyrical, image-filled style in
the tender and sometimes wistful
poems dealing with family and
relationships. And although the
poems in Intersections deal
mostly with serious subjects,
Fleisher keeps us off guard by
successfully intertwining a
handful of humorous works in a
pleasing wry and whimsical
style. |

Under the Open Sky: A Story of
Magic, God, and Girlhood
by Rachel Waterhouse
Abigail
Moore is your typical preacher’s
daughter—active in the church,
swift to volunteer, and curious:
is God really there? As she
stumbles through the West Texas
landscape of magic, coyotes,
aliens, and boys, Abigail finds
herself in a huge scandal. And
it’s just what she needs to open
her mind and seek the truth.
In the
style of Carson McCullers,
author Rachel Waterhouse, plods
through a strange and southern
coming-of-age world, giving the
reader an inside-look on growing
up. The novel draws from her own
story as a preacher’s daughter
living in Texas. Other than a
religious background, Waterhouse
credits the mystery of the
natural world, “Because the only
thing you could do in a small
town was look up.” Under the
Open Sky is her first YA novel. |

Cranberry Beads: poems
by Karin Stangl
Cranberry Beads is a
collection of poems that
describes the author’s journey
through early life.
This book
is her voice – bright,
perceptive, vivid, and sometimes
bittersweet. Striking imagery
and keen observations address
subjects that include departure
of family and friends, survival
paths, and destinations.
Many of
life’s lessons described are
still worn as a talisman,
“strung together like cranberry
beads, fastened with a silver
clasp.” |

Muse with Blue Apples
Anthology of the New Mexico
Poetry Alliance
Muse with Blue Apples
contains selected works from
members of the New Mexico Poetry
Alliance, a group in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, which
has been going strong since
1995. Members share a love of
writing, reading and listening
to poetry while striving to
maintain a positive, supportive
atmosphere to enhance their
respective growth as poets.
Writing styles and subject
matter vary from landscapes of
New Mexico, journeys of the
soul, character sketches, to
poems about muses, the color
blue, and apples. Some poems
are humorous. Others address
personal or spiritual quests.
All were inspired by the muse
with blue apples, who sings and
spins words into poems that
thread through the diverse
tapestry of the Land of
Enchantment.
|

Summoning
by Jeanne Shannon
A
collection of poems and hybrid
works that hover at the boundary
between poetry and prose, and
that range from the abstract and
experimental to the concrete and
accessible. Employing imagery
that is vivid and frequently
surprising, the author addresses
subjects that include the
natural world (especially the
plant kingdom), art and music,
the dreamlike regions of memory,
and the mysterious—the
“dissolving forms” that tell us
the world is stranger than we
might suppose. In the title poem
and others, she summons
recollections of her early life
in 1940's southwestern Virginia,
“the heart of Appalachia.” |

On the Cusp of Memory
by Randy Prus
Randy Prus is Professor of
English and Humanities at
Southeastern Oklahoma State
University. The poems in this
collection are all fourteen
lines, and they examine the
landscape of southern Oklahoma
and the terrain of literature
and the humanities as the poet
finds them to be. Illustrations
are by the poet’s son, Ethan, an
artist and graphic designer. As
John Roche has written: “Herein
you'll discover a re-mapping of
love's terrain, of history's
accidents, of an American
Republic unfounded, but not
undreamt.” |

Northern Compass
by Isobel Cunningham
In
Northern Compass, a debut
collection of poetry by Isobel
Cunningham, readers embark on a
voyage. They visit Montreal, the
Canadian island city poised in
the mighty St. Lawrence River
and San Miguel, the Mexican
winter retreat of the author.
Shining observations of everyday
wonders and acute examinations
of the mysteries of the human
heart allow the reader to
navigate the inner world of
ecstasy, pain and gentle
insight. These poems, lyrical or
narrative, escort us to new
destinations. |

Socorro: The Heart of New Mexico
by Barbara R. DuBois
Socorro: The Heart of New
Mexico is a collection of
concise and keen observations of
Socorro, New Mexico that are
both factual and personal.
Barbara R. DuBois, once again,
doesn't pull any punches as she
looks with unflinching but
compassionate eyes at the city
and rural area she has called
home for more than 30 years.
Accompanied by 30 photographs,
her brief descriptions of
infrastructure, history and
organizations explored through
personal anecdote provide an
honest and kindhearted
assessment for both visitor and
resident alike. |

Scota's Harp
by Michele Buchanan
According to oral Celtic legend,
a warrior princess named Scota
came from Egypt and claimed
Ireland for her son Ir. From
Ireland, her descendants called
the "Scotti," invaded more land
and named it Scotland. Though
this story is not widely
accepted, the truth is found in
their names, their language, and
their courageous fight to keep
their culture alive, and will be
revealed the day the Stone of
Scone breaks its silence. |

Writing the Routes: Bus Poems
and Stories from Albuquerque
Dante M. Berry
Emerging writer Dante Berry has
created a collection of poems
and short stories all from the
perspective of a bus passenger.
Using regional events, language,
and people he explores a wide
range of universal topics
written in free verse. From a
spider web in a bus stop canopy
to the natural beauty of the
Sandia Mountains, he invites you
to board the bus and ride a
while. Get to know the drivers
and listen to passenger stories
captured in Morning Maria and
Last Ride. His prose is fresh,
uncomplicated, and filled with
imagery, capturing New Mexico.
Experience Writing the Routes,
feel the day-to-day events that
are tragic, humorous,
informative, and heartfelt.
|

C - in
Conduct: Poems from a
Semi-Wayward Life
Beth Spencer
C- in Conduct, Poems from a
Semi-Wayward Life, is a
collection chosen from decades
of the poet’s life. The poems
are both lyrical and accessible
and address common feelings with
a slightly skewed perspective.
In topics
ranging from trout to travel,
snow to stoneflies, acorns to
wax lips, Beth Spencer
transforms the ordinary view
with fresh, and sometimes,
startling imagery. Enjoy a
bedtime treat!
|

In Our Father's House
Porter G. Shreve Jr.
This
collection is about all levels
of fatherhood – among fathers
and sons and fathers and
daughters; it is about the
fatherhood and brotherhood of
man; it speaks to the Father
within us which is the
transcendent Spirit, the source
of redemptive love; it is about
being stewards for the community
and the environment. I have
selected the theme of
“Fathering” because as a father,
as a family therapist and as a
concerned citizen, I can speak
passionately about a matter
fundamental to the survival and
renewal of the American culture.
|

Images of Our Time
Toni Gilbert, MA
This book, a pictorial and
written record of life in rural
Oregon during the late 1800s and
early 1900s, includes a brief
history of immigration to the
United States and the Oregon
territories. In these pages,
author, Toni Gilbert, crafts a
living, breathing picture of her
pioneering grandparents. While
some official papers remain
intact, much of Gilbert’s
information was passed down
orally. Current descendants of
the Curtis-Wilson family had
several old picture books
containing photographs by Lilly
Wilson Curtis, Gilbert’s
grandmother, who was a trained
photographer. These, along with
Wilson Curtis’s saved newspaper
articles, lend beauty and
credence to the stories. Taken
together, Gilbert’s sources
reveal the urban cultural
trends, personality traits, and
family patterns that formed the
life paths of her ancestors. |
No
One to Wake
also on
Kindle
Marilyn C. O'Leary
In
No One To Wake, Marilyn
O’Leary shares “a bouquet of
mourning” the death of her
husband of fifty years. This
book of poetry is beyond
beautiful. And one needn’t have
been married for fifty years, or
married at all, to feel softly
wrapped in the understanding of
how it feels to lose someone you
love deeply. Both pain and
transcendence are painted in her
poems, plus the naturalness and
magic of death itself “…you took
your leave breathing like a
fish, swimming out into an ocean
of darkness and love.” She also
addresses the guilty urge to
look back and question whether
she did enough, whether she was
enough “The recipe for my life
had ingredients you didn’t
like,” and then acknowledges
that “Our relationship was
whole.”
And then there’s the need to go
on. She recognizes the “freedom”
that comes from loss; “sadness
an opening… (to) find yourself
unwrapped. I could do anything,
be anything, go anywhere,” she
writes, but “What if it wasn’t
you who kept me tethered?” In
this small book, O’Leary takes
us from the dark folds of
anguish where we’re sometimes
drawn towards death ourselves,
to the realization that “The
answer to all is Life.”
—Gail Feldman PhD, Psychologist
and Author, Midlife Crash
Course: The Journey From Crisis
to Full Creative Power
|
Susan
Davye Gray Shelley
Susan tells the story of
two sisters, their uniquely
intimate relationship, their
enthusiasm and delights in
living and their mutual coming
to terms with a fatal diagnosis.
It is a tale of a talented and
supercharged older sister who
fearlessly tackles the
challenges that life has to
offer. Shelley recreates her
journey of her sister’s illness
and the health care system
through her inner life—memory, a
deep love, and finally
acceptance. The book beckons the
reader from the streets of
Manhattan, the freeways of Los
Angeles, the hills of Provence,
the fall foliage of Upstate, New
York and the sparkling island of
North Haven, Maine. It also
takes us down the bleak
corridors of hospitals and into
nameless waiting rooms.
Shelley’s memoir speaks to the
devotion and evolution of the
admiring younger sister in a
time of fatal crisis. |
Apricots
and Tortillas
An Anthology about Growing Up in
Albuquerque in the Postwar Years
In this nostalgic rendition of
postwar Albuquerque in the
Fifties and Sixties, seven
authors bring their unique
perspectives as they share
memories of growing up in what
could be described as a "Norman
Rockwell" time in our country's
history. This anthology features
seven voices from various ethnic
and cultural backgrounds who
tell their stories of childhood.
No two stories are the same. One
takes you to the candy counter
at Fedway Department Store.
Another talks about the
debilitating disease of polio.
Some stories hint at
discrimination and cruelty, a
reality during that time in
history. One story deals with
the devastation of the Bataan
Death March from a child's point
of view. One deals with the
Fourth of July, not as a
patriotic holiday, but as an
adventure into the vast world of
fireworks. These stories will
move you to laughter and to
tears. More importantly, you
will share the optimism of our
writers and the nostalgia of the
times as you are reminded of the
taste of fresh apricot
empanadas, the aroma of warm
buttered tortillas, the sweet
honey combined with puffy
sopapillas, and the magic that
was once childhood in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. |

Crossing the Bridge: a memoir
Bea Epstein
Crossing the Bridge
weaves together 26 stories of
growing up in Brooklyn during
the 1940's and 50's and the
author’s powerful drive to leave
that “ghettoed world.” With each
chapter, each character sketch,
and each pivotal experience, Bea
Epstein, guided by her work as a
psychotherapist, expands the
reader’s understanding of the
emotional meaning of her life’s
events and their place in the
complex web of family
relationships. From the
recollection of her parents’
journey to America as children,
to the story of their painful
marriage; from descriptions of
the immigrant neighborhood in
which she grew up, to the tragic
end of her parents’ lives, we
travel with the author on her
journey to cross the bridge out
of Brooklyn. Regardless of age
or cultural heritage, readers
will recognize universal human
themes… the conflicts in family
life, the struggle for identity,
and the limits of parental love. |

The Midnight Gardener
Chronicles
Ann Rayburn
In
this debut book Ann Rayburn
leads us on her journey as she
looks for clues to understand
her life. In poems and brief
prose sketches she explores the
people, the losses, the places,
the events that have helped
shape her life. From eccentric
aunts to rock-climbing
companions, from secrets found
in a sister’s youthful journals
to reflections on the character
of the moon, she has found her
way to reconciliation.
Always anchored in the world of
growing things, challenged and
renewed by the garden she has
tended for many years, Ann
Rayburn shares with the reader,
as she does with those
personally close to her, a
thoughtful exploration of what
life demands of all of us:
courage and patience. |

I Begin: poetry and prayers
of a woman's journey through
loss and grief
Ginny Gaskill
I Begin: poetry and prayers
of a woman's journey through
loss and grief is
a meditation on life, love,
loss, and incredible
perseverance. In this, Ginny
Gaskill’s first poetry
collection, she chronicles a
journey of devastating loss that
ultimately leads not only to a
deeper faith in herself and in
life, but increased wellbeing
and sense of belonging in a
community of artists. Ginny
recounts her experience as a
“rebuilding of soul,” a need and
a quest that should interest any
reader truly engaged in the
sorrows and joys of a life well
lived. It is through speaking
her truth that Ginny Gaskill has
survived—and thrived. She
invites us to begin, and begin
again, as we enter into that
shared experience where life
takes on new meaning through
opening to all that love holds. |

Coyote Points the Way
Kathy Park
Coyote Points the Way:
Borderland Stories and Plays
is a compilation of fiction,
nonfiction and ten-minute plays
that explore the borderlands,
both literal and figurative,
where individual
resourcefulness, creativity,
intuitive knowing and courage
make all the difference. Many of
the stories are set in
Colorado’s vast San Luis Valley,
the largest alpine valley in the
lower 48 states; two of the
plays are derived from the
author’s experience teaching
holistic health in a federal
women’s prison; and all of the
pieces are inspired by the
people, animals, times and
places that continue to shape
the author’s life. |

Moments of Time
Mark Fleisher
If
using musical terms, Moments
of Time by Mark Fleisher
ranges through several octaves
and timbres, and up and down the
scale to define his inspirations
and poetic voice. His
observations range from
uncomplicated subjects to
romantic love to thoughts both
personal and universal about war
and conflict. Along the
continuum are poems reflecting
his sense of humor, often
frivolous and whimsical.
Moments of Time contacts the
senses and stokes the emotions,
but also entertains, encourages
laughter, and revives nostalgic
memories.
Writing in an approachable and
accessible manner, Fleisher
remembers his youth in the 1950s
and 1960s of New York City, the
horrific inhumanity of Vietnam
and a major personal loss to
finally find new life in an
unfamiliar place across the
continent. |

Limitlessness: a collection of
poems
Matthew P. Crowley
Limitlessness, a
collection of poems by Matthew
Crowley, explores self, nature
and cosmos. Fearless,
microscopically honest and
authentic, Crowley invites us to
journey with him into the
boyhood magic of muddy puddles,
through the dark night of
personal searching, the terrors
and joys of love, and the awe of
grand landscapes, both inner and
outer.
Selected from 18 years of
inspired writing,
Limitlessness delves into
spiritual cosmology and
relationship, both personal and
ultimate, and demonstrates the
poetic process of writing
through revealed snapshots of
the authors life experiences.
The central thread that runs the
length of these poems is the
will and courage to love above
all else. |

No Sins of Omission: poems
Myra Binns Bridgforth
No Sins of Omission is
Myra Binns Bridgforth’s debut
collection. In it she tells and
shows us what it is to be stuck,
not able to move forward or
backward. In the next moment,
unstuck shows itself as
redemption and putting one foot
in front of the other and
breathing. From her thoughts and
ruminations of loss and longing
and playful celebration of
ordinary moments in time, we are
transformed by the human spirit
that keeps on. These poems are
funny and heartbreaking at the
same time, displaying the
mystical and everyday, the
bodily experience and fully
engaged brain attesting to our
need to make things mean
something.
The poems are complimented by
Bridgforth’s art pieces;
photographs, altered book pages
and mail art cards that mirror
and interpret the words. |

Troth
& Rapture: 400 Sonnets
Stanley Paul Thompson
For his second book entitled
Troth & Rapture: 400 Sonnets,
Stanley Paul Thompson has
selected 400 delectable treats
of love and adventure to let his
readers feel that fervor.
Written almost exclusively in
the format of Shakespeare, many
are read as if one in the
sixteenth or seventeenth century
had sat and penned sonnets of
the Renaissance Period; thus, a
feeling of that period may be
felt.
Being blessed in knowing
fabulous women throughout his
life, Mr. Thompson has crafted
these sonnets so that the reader
can experience the deep love and
admiration he has felt for these
women. Immerse yourself in these
sonnets and feel the passion of
romance and thrill of adventure. |

Recovered Memories
Barbara R. DuBois
Recovered Memories, the
“lost files,” is Barbara DuBois’
second installment of poetic
memoir, which is an addendum to
From Chapstick to Lipstick. |

Reaching for Air
Gayle Lauradunn
Reaching for Air, Gayle
Lauradunn's debut poetry
collection, tells the story of a
childhood spent in a landscape
full of beauty, hardship, and
violence. In their restless
yearning and relentless motion,
these poems feel completely
American. Interspersed with the
voice of the child is that of
the adult woman, as both an
extension of the child and as a
counterpoint to the child's
experience. Each poem stands
alone, yet is a piece of the
whole. This is poetic
storytelling at its finest.
|

Autism: A Dad's Journey
Luis M. Bayardo
Autism: A Dad’s Journey is for
all those struggling with the
special needs diagnoses of their
child. Luis takes the reader on
an honest and insightful journey
as he slowly comes to terms with
his two sons diagnoses of
Autism. He gives fathers a
voice. Their lives cannot be
summed up in one conversation
over a drink or just driving
down the road. Most fathers are
he-men, private, tough, stoic,
unwavering, and the rock of the
family until....one day they are
not. Come and join Luis on his
sometimes humorous, certainly
adventurous, and continuing
journey as he discovers how to
become the father that his
autistic boys and family need
him to be. |

EarthTribe Gather: Outline for a
New Mythology
John Ashbaugh
The Earth as a Planetary Life
Support System is now on the
cusp of intensive realignment of
elementary forces. The times of
change will be quite challenging
to the centers of human
population growth around the
world, regardless of religious
affiliation, political
organization, or ethnic
identity. Those factors will
come into play as the forces of
chaos and control intersect and
intertwine.
EarthTribe Gather is for all of
us who care, who choose to live
and work together to create a
caring humanity, and who know
that the darkness ahead is for
us to walk through, together,
into the Light of Dawn. |

Plague No More: A Modern Odyssey
of Courage and Recovery
Michael J. Ferguson
Few people know that at least
three million of us die each
year from infectious
diseases. One particular killer
is caused by a bacillus called
Yersinia Pestis. Over the course
of several centuries it has
taken over 250 million human
lives, and is still doing so
today, about a thousand a year.
Unlike other diseases, there is
no inoculation for it, and it is
mutating to the point where
conventional antibiotics may not
successfully stop the next
pandemic. In the United States
it sometimes goes undiagnosed,
most untreated patients dying of
pneumonia. In the Middle Ages
its occurrence changed history,
bringing about the fall of an
empire, rise of a powerful
theocracy, and changes in
medical interventions. Although
research abounds on the history,
course and treatment of this
disease, there are hardly any
accounts from survivors. This is
one. |

A Mother's Story:
Angie Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Maggie C. Romero
A Mother’s Story is a
searing and intimate portrait of
addiction and how it has been
passed down in Maggie Romero’s
family from generation to
generation. Maggie is herself an
addict, and when Angie’s drug
addiction, at age twenty-two,
became apparent to her, she
jumped into a recovery program
to cope with her daughter’s
illness. The subsequent twelve
years have proven to be a
powerful and poignant redemption
journey, as she has gradually
come to claim recovery for
herself even as she’s watched
her beautiful daughter continue
to struggle. This is a story of
hope and recovery that will
resonate with many people, as
epidemic as addiction is in our
society. Many will benefit from
her experience and the
lessons passed on.
A Mother’s Story (on Kindle) |
|

From Lipstick to Chapstick
Barbara R. DuBois
This newest collection of
musings, From Lipstick to
Chapstick, by Barbara R.
DuBois is the honest, humorous
and straightforward accounts of
a woman who records life with
curiosity and fairness. As a
series of compassionate but
unsentimental anecdotes, this
memoir unfolds before us into a
tapestry of a long life
well-lived. |

Critical Mass: Fostering
Explosive Growth in YSA Groups
Chuck Brown
A
Must Read for anyone who works
with young single adults, ages
18-30.
Starting with a membership of
thirty five, a congregation of
LDS young singles in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, grew to
220, was divided, and then grew
again to more than 180 in just
over four years. During that
time 83 couples met each other,
dated, and married. Chuck Brown
and his two assistants, David
Hardy and Jay Cobb, together
with their wives directed this
incredible process. If you've
ever wondered how to communicate
more effectively with young
singles, motivate them to
participate in your group and
influence them to change their
lives in positive ways, this
book is for you. The key to
their success was coming to know
and embrace a principal called
Critical Mass!
|
psalms
of the broken hearted
maggi a. petton
When our
hearts break, our pain spills
from us. We all grieve, and
often feel lost and alone. At
times we try to help others
maneuver the messiness of
living. Spills, after all, are
messy.
Sometimes our breakings just
require acknowledgment that we
are not alone in our pain and
that the agony will pass. Here,
in Maggi A. Petton's remarkably
raw and moving Psalms of the
Broken Hearted, we find
ourselves not only acknowledged
but comforted and companioned in
our brokenness.
Regardless of your faith
tradition, these poems are
loving prayers of connection and
perhaps even healing. |

Notes to My Mortician
Bruce Noll
These
poems surprise. Behind the
warmth and seeming simplicity
Noll has a way to make us
rethink the commonplace of our
lives. Through his gentle
prodding we come to new insight
into human relationships as well
as our interactions with nature.
In Notes to My Mortician,
Bruce Noll uses warmth and
sardonic wit to help us
experience our world. |

Klokking Twelve: Snapshots of
a Life
Elaine Mingus
In
Klokking Twelve: Snapshots of a
Life, Elaine Mingus takes
the reader on a remarkable
journey through various aspects
of place, class and culture in
20th Century America—all through
the keen eyes of a woman
determined to find love and
meaning within, and beyond, the
world as it unfolded before
her. In this
uniquely structured memoir
Mingus creates twelve snapshots
for each of its four sections.
Each snapshot is accompanied by
a back-story or supporting
information that provides
further relevance and vitality
concerning places and events,
many now lost in the bustle and
remake of history. In the first
snapshot she is six years old;
in the last snapshot she is well
into her eighties. Astute
though kind in her assessments,
Mingus makes good use of a long
life of sharp observation.Open about
flaws in her life, and humble
about successes, Mingus searches
her heart as well as her mind in
the telling of these stories,
digging deep for their meaning.
She tells how important love has
been in her life, and with the
wisdom of her years she shows
tolerance for every person,
family and otherwise, who has
crossed her path.People in
all walks of life will find
something to appreciate in this
honest story of a girl from a
background of poverty and
without a college education, who
raised a family, put out three
newsletters, was sought after as
a spiritual adviser, wrote
poetry for the sake of art, and
became a James Joyce scholar.
Elaine Mingus has two previous
books: Toccatootletoo: Papers
on James Joyce; and
Leally and Tululy: Free Verse. |

Hush Hush and Other Veneers: a
memoir
Alexandra Dell'Amore
Hush Hush and Other
Veneers by Alexandra
Dell’Amore is the true story of
girl who endured abuse to
protect her family and
eventually shot the man who her
parents called “doctor.”
Although she protected her
family from an evil man, she
nevertheless became an outcast.
The story shows how greed and
lies kept her from being
believed. Her lonely journey
charts her self-effacing life
from the 1940’s to the present.
By fearlessly exploring her
past, Dell’Amore realized the
shame and guilt she had embraced
were never hers. Hush Hush
and Other Veneers is a
journey of resilience and
courage in the face of self
interest and denial from a
society that looked the other
way—it is a story of hard-won
freedom. |

Dorothea and Preston: a story
of love
David Bachelor
Once
again, in Dorothea and
Preston, a story of love,
David Bachelor has captured
humanity at its awkward but
noble best, striving as always
against unforeseen odds. In 1940
while hate and destruction in
Europe were building to a second
world war, Dorothea Dolan runs
her quiet boarding house on the
shores of Lake Michigan. Here
she loves and cares for the
elderly who have been broken by
the Great Depression. Dorothea’s
commitment to her charges is
absolute and her tacit motto is
“no one will suffer” as she
attempts to rescue them from
slow and painful declines.
Into this
setting Michigan State Police
Detective Preston Duhamel
strides in search of thieves and
incorrigibles—who he finds, and
sometimes who find him. Preston,
however, is fleeing his own
afflictions. With redemption
just around the corner, Dorothea
tries to help her lover and
herself, as they are both
challenged by elemental powers
beyond their control. |

Ruminations: Reflections
on a Long Life
Barbara R. DuBois
In
Ruminations: Reflections
on a Long Life, Barbara DuBois
delights the reader with stories
and poems depicting her busy,
happy life with her family.
Eight sections tell about her
farm, her parents and children,
her past, and her present.
|
Tzimtzum:
5 contemporary poets lend us
their hearts
Abeyta, Arness, Broderick, Hill
and Seluja
From San Miguel de Allende,
Mexico to St. Paul, Minnesota
and from the American Southwest,
both rural and urban, each
author has contributed a score
of poems and included their own
introduction, giving the reader
an opportunity to befriend the
poet and settle into their craft
and high art. Included here are
the works of aaron a. abeyta,
Tani Arness, Richard Broderick,
Judyth Hill and Katherine
DiBella Seluja. These writers
speak unabashedly of love and of
death, and in so doing make
invitation to experience our
tragedies, deceits and glories
as veils, stations and gifts
along a journey of miraculous
unfoldment. They do the work of
poets—they reflect the
mysterious wonder and
unbelievable fortune of being in
a body, on a planet, all
together—and knowing it. |
 Health:
Motivational Coloring Book
Dr. Nancy North
This
motivational exercise was
created to positively activate
both the creative and rational
aspects of the brain through
intuitive illustrations and
effective affirmations. Feel
free to color outside the lines
and doodle to your heart's
content as you take note of all
your current realizations. Take
a look inside for further
instructions. |

Arranging the Constellations
Robb Thomson
Arranging
the Constellations is the
record of a man who straddles
the worlds of science and myth
and is faithful to both. A
physicist who writes poems and
yearns to keep the ancient fires
of inspiration lit and burning,
Robb Thomson can both fondly
recall his father’s Model T and
recognize all too well the first
consequences of global warming.
There is a hard-won courage in
these poems: they accept the
passage of time that teaches us
how to live with loss after loss
and, at the same time, they
celebrate the pleasures of the
here and now. Behind them, there
is a deep-rooted belief in
Beauty—in the elegant equations
of physics and mathematics; or
the magic of language that
speaks, at moments, with a power
beyond what we know. These poems
trace a lifetime spent learning
to grasp the right questions to
ask; to live artfully, with the
hope of adding one man’s
“marginalia” to the sacred text
of the here and now and what
lies beyond, “more real than
real.”
—Robert Cording holds the
Chair of Creative Writing at the
College of the Holy Cross, and
is the author of several
collections of poetry, including
Life-list, Heavy Grace,
and Walking with Ruskin.
|

Ditchbank Dairies: Haibuñera
from the Land of Enchantment
Shirley Balance Blackwell
Once you
start down [Blackwell's]
ditchbank path, you will find it
difficult to stop or step aside.
The book is a real landmark that
will prove that acequias, the
bordos (footpaths along the
waterways), and the "collective
imaginary" they inspire are true
world treasures.
—From the Foreword by Prof. José
Rivera, specialist in irrigation
communities worldwide and author
of Acequia Culture—Water,
Land, and Community in the
Southwest (UNM Press, 1998,
in English; Universitat de
Valencia [Spain], 2009, in
Spanish).
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The Ruby Moon
Ruby
Jebbour
The
Ruby Moon by writer and
performance poet Ruby Jebbour is
a narrative poem—an
autobiography in poetry. It is a
dense and beautiful journey
through time—a conglomerate
fusion of verse touching life,
nature, spirituality, religion,
and history. The Ruby Moon
is where Jewish thought,
history, and mysticism meet the
Red Road of the Native
Americans—their teachings and
traditions, and as well the
beauty and wisdom of the Islamic
world. By virtue of her quest to
comprehend her own life and
tragedy, the poet’s eye is able
to perceive far beyond the scope
of her own experience,
unearthing the deeply spiritual
and philosophical aspects of
existence from the Garden of
Eden to the modern day. |

Living by Ear:
Memoir of a Wayward Teacher
Sharon Rhutasel-Jones
In her
humorous and poignant memoir,
Living by Ear, Sharon Rhutasel
puts readers into a classroom
with the kinds of adolescents
everyone knows. She brings to
life real kids sharing a part of
their lives with a wayward
teacher, as she calls herself,
who is guided more by her heart
than by her lesson plans. Among
her students, we meet a bored
overachiever who just wanted to
be pointed in an interesting
direction and told to explore,
an insecure boy who overcame
stuttering to become a published
writer, and a poet who hated
high school then became a
teacher.... (More info on
Amazon. Click link above.) |

Homeward:
poems
Elizabeth Keough McDonald
In Homeward,
Elizabeth Keough McDonald relies
on her poems to speak for
themselves. Whether it is about
family, place, love lost and
found, friendship or the
experience of military service
and its aftermath, Elizabeth
lets the hands of her poems go
and reach towards yours. Hold
tight or shake loose!
|

Lithic Scatter and Other
Poems
Karla Linn Merrifield
At once
sweeping, visceral, earthy,
gritty, ethereal, and
primordial, Karla Linn
Merrifield’s Lithic Scatter and
Other Poems unfolds a
kaleidoscopic odyssey of the
American West at its all-natural
wildest. Here is the frontier
seen — and felt — through the
eyes of a visionary poet who
explores the region’s vast
terrains as anthropologist and
archeologist, historian and
ethnographer, shaman and
seeker-after-self. From the
whimsical to the emotionally
searing, these 59 poems evoke
vast landscapes rich in myth and
mysticism, loss and hope.
Merrifield captures the West’s
majesty and brings it home for
all to discover.
|

Success: Motivational
Coloring Education
Dr. Nancy North
“Success”
is one in a series of
motivational coloring books from
Dr. Nancy North, a chiropractic
doctor treating professional,
Olympic, and college athletes
for over 25 years. Coupled with
fun and intuitive drawings by
illustrator Tantan Araya, the
affirmations in this book have
been created to bring your mind
to a better place. Using the
written word, color therapy and
visualization, anyone interested
in adopting healthier attitudes
and manifesting well-being and
increased happiness will surely
benefit from this inspirational
jumpstart. Become your own
personal life coach and feel
free to color outside the lines. |

When
East Was North
Andrea Millenson Penner
This
collection of very personal but
accessible poems explores
the substance of recent and
distant memory against the flow
of ever-rapid change that we all
have experienced since the
mid-20th century. In
several poems, Andrea Penner
explores contrasting
relationships: the brief
fragility of some, the enduring
power of others. Readers will be
drawn into familiar, intimate
scenes evoked by the poet’s
delicate balance of words and
emotions: a revisiting
of childhood memories and
neighborhoods, a parent’s
terminal illness, a woman’s
disintegrating marriage, and a
lover’s passions. When East
Was North also introduces
the reader to a wider world and
cast of characters: a San
Quentin prisoner, a gold miner
in South Africa, and women
victims of war. In a voice that
ranges from humor to pathos, the
poet puts word and meaning to
those personal and
universal vicissitudes of life
that make our existence so
challenging and exciting. |
Leally and Tululy: Free Verse
(print and Kindle)
Elaine Mingus
Here a common
person speaks to you in simple
language, believing that there
is meaning to be found without
frequent help from Webster.
This collection is largely
autobiographical. However, you
may notice the influence of
mythology, folk tales, and
children’s lore. The verses
also reflect love of children
and love of family. Included
are Christmas verses.
Toward the
end of the collection there is a
poem entitled “An Aside.” This
asks “What does one really need
to share?” Although this poet
tends not to get into dark
places much, there is also the
honesty to peek into them now
and then. Hopefully the balance
is there. This collection is
meant to be enjoyed. |

Jubilation: selected poems
Barbara R. DuBois
Jubilation, by Barbara R.
DuBois, is a selection of her
poems, favorites chosen by
herself and her family,
rejoicing in love and life. |

A Black Odyssey: collected
poems
SETH
This diverse, vibrant book is
modeled, like Joyce's Ulysses,
on Homer's ancient epic, using
it as an allegorical scaffolding
for the poet’s own experience as
a Black man in contemporary
America. The author’s language
runs the gamut from the
vernacular to the Elizabethan;
everything from pattern poems,
free verse, prose poems, sonnets
to parodies of Mother Goose.
Remarkable in scope, every poem
stands on its own while arranged
in chapters that lead the reader
through an epic journey of human
trials—poverty, desire,
injustice, racism—and ultimately
to a transcendent awareness of
beauty, joy, love and personal
triumph. |

Naked Underneath
Valerie Haugen
Poetry
saves lives! That is at the
heart of Valerie Haugen's belief
system. That is precisely what
poetry has done for her every
day. The poems included in this
collection are about family,
friends, history, and how we
move through this world. The
poems and prayers included here
emerged through the daily
practice of writing poetry.
Ms. Haugen
is also an actress who has had
the opportunity to perform her
poems. Seeing, feeling and
hearing how her poems affected
others, gave her the strength to
put these words to print, baring
her soul in the hopes that the
power of words, the power of
feeling, and the power of
poetry, will be meaningful to
others—anyone for whom poetry
can be a salvation. |

Sun in an Empty Room
Maryhelen Snyder
This
volume of new and selected poems
is Maryhelen Snyder’s
celebration of the curiosities,
ecstasies and griefs of a life
lived fully. Having early
experienced the gift of poetry
summoning her, she has remained
faithful to its call. These
poems are without exception an
expression of her gratitude.
|

Sweet By and By
David Bachelor
The heart of
this good story is about an old
man finding meaning and love in
his last days. As the author
writes: life and love is like a
puzzle.
But so is Bachelor’s story about
life like a good puzzle. The
author takes us through
quotidian days of lovely folk
living hard and complicated, but
good, lives. Then the author
takes us through days that are
disrupted by bad and violent
folks crashing into each other’s
lives. Lives are lost in this
exciting story. But life and
hope are also promised in the
Sweet By and By.
—Luisa Duran, Ph. D. |

Living Well Is The Best
Revenge
Barbara R. DuBois
In the
rich poems in Living Well Is the
Best Revenge, Barbara R. DuBois
humorously shows us the way to
live well, surrounded by the
beautiful and exciting colors,
animals, and land of her beloved
Southwest. Thoughtful new poems
take us to other fascinating
foreign as well as domestic
sites. The praise she treasures
is that her poems are
“accessible.” You will surely
agree. |

I Wished for a Serpent
poems by Nate Maxson
This is Nate
Maxson’s 3rd book of wild, free
verse poetry after last year’s
Vaudeville Jihad and one
other book that wasn’t published
because it made the editor go
crazy. I Wished For a
Serpent pushes what the
author calls “the theory of
total poetic annihilation” even
farther yet.
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HolyFunk
Kim Nuzzo
Part
twilight language, part Jungian
koan, overlapping symbols and
poetic fragments, full of a
topsy-turvy logic, HolyFunk
is an artbook, toward the quirky
end of the spectrum. HolyFunk
is affectual brain play, the
heart of art, full of paradox
and contradiction. The book is
comprised of manipulated,
painted Polaroid photographs in
combination with poetic lines
meant to encourage the reader
toward the spiritual wisdom of
unknowing, with intent,
bafflement and wonder.
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Sonnets of Life Well Spent
Stanley Paul Thompson
Rather
than make a career of poetry,
Stanley Thompson has engaged a
number of careers from which he
has drawn the details and
essence of personal experience
and which he brings forth in Sonnets
of Life Well Spent. Motivated by
the death of his beloved wife
Patricia in 2011, the stories of
his journey have come into
sharper focus with an enhanced
meaning that has allowed him to
present this collection of 126
poems in the style of memoir.
The reader will not only
experience sonnets in the
format, and even in the tone, of
William Shakespeare, but will
come to appreciate the life of
the author, a life, indeed, well
spent.
|

Love of Language:
I’ve Got It Badly and That
Ain’t Well
Barbara R. DuBois
Barbara
DuBois is a self-avowed lover of
language, but don't think that
makes her blind to its
imperfections. What some might
call the absurdities of language
fascinate her and prompt the
wry, witty pokes she takes at
the mongrel dogma we call
English usage.
I can
imagine DuBois holding her own
on a verbal seesaw with Ogden
Nash, who must have been a
kindred spirit. I'd romp through
their wacky word-play-ground any
day. Luckily, Love of Language
shows us where to find the
entrance.
—Shirley
Balance Blackwell
President, New Mexico State
Poetry Society |

Upside
Down Rainbow: Trauma
Recovery of Mind, Body & Spirit
Alice Hurst
When Alice
Hurst was run over by a car she
was faced with a new reality.
She clearly wasn’t going to die,
so how was she going to help her
broken body heal? Through
journal entries, Alice documents
her incredible journey as she
navigates through a year of
hospital stays and physical
therapy. Upside Down Rainbow
shines a light on the path to
healing for others to follow.
|

Scripted:
Thea's Tale of
Love, War and Wisdom
Colleen Walsh Brezny
The scripted
mission Thea must undertake is
daunting. The guidance
unfathomable. The experience
dangerous and magnificent. The
love unexpected, essential and
of the highest nature one can
conceive. A journey that is out
of this world. One you have been
invited to take.
|

Light as Air: the rose rescued from exile
Joseph Bottone
For Joseph
Bottone everything is
relationship, and his poems
point ultimately to one
relationship, our relationship
with the divine and the silence
in which we discover it.
Whether set in the desert
mountains of New Mexico, the
coast of Big Sur, cabin or
cityscape, his hand-sized poems
are always arriving from
silence.
|

Teasing out the Divine
Ellen Marie Metrick
Some poems are meant to be
heard, and some to be soaked up
by the eye. This book carries
both, to be shared in voice with
community or passed quietly from
one hand to another around a
small campfire along a desert
river, or between lovers on a
summer night when it’s too hot
to sleep. These poems delve into
dreams, mountains, ravens and
rattlesnake medicine,
relationship and the mythic life
of the human spirit, and remind
us that what we seek is in our
hearts all along.
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The Gathering of the Tribes
of the Earth
John Ashbaugh
58 full color
illustrations w/
poems
The Earth as a
Planetary Life
Support System is
now on the cusp of
intensive
realignment of
elementary forces.
The times of change
will be quite
challenging to the
centers of human
population growth
around the world,
regardless of
religious
affiliation,
political
organization, or
ethnic identity.
Those factors will
come into play as
the forces of chaos
and control
intersect and
intertwine.
This book is for all
of us who care, who
choose to live and
work together to
create a caring
humanity, and who
know that the
darkness ahead is
for us to walk
through, together,
into the Light of
Dawn.
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Fixed and Free: poetry
anthology 2011
Celebrating a group of New Mexico poets from differing
generations, ethnicities and
cultural settings, the Fixed and
Free Poetry Anthology 2011
includes a variety of forms from
the sonnet and villanelle to
open verse and slam. Rather than
rely on a regional, academic or
ideological theme, this
collection includes the best
poems from a grassroots
community that meets monthly in
Albuquerque, New Mexico to
perform, discuss and appreciate
the written and spoken word.
|
Blessed
a photographic perspective of
the Carmel area
Bruna Rita Odello—presented by Carla Celeste
Odello
Blessed is a collection
of seventy six photographs of
the Carmel area captured by
Bruna Odello who shares her
knowledge of the region and her
appreciation of the sublime in
these stunning images. Ms Odello
is a member of one of the
original settling families with
intimate connections to both the
rural coast and the long
established religious
institutions that serve its
residents. Her intensive camera
work over a period of nearly
forty years celebrates a
perspective that brims with
gratitude.
Images of the Carmel Mission and
Carmelite Monastery are
juxtaposed with those of
wetlands and grand sunsets to
give travelers a kaleidoscopic
yet focused view of the area,
and provide those who are
already familiar with the Carmel
coast a deeper appreciation of
their beloved religious
landmarks and magnificent
coastline. |

Seeing Into Stone
A Sculptors Journey
Kathy Park
Set in a ghost town in
California's Mojave Desert,
Seeing Into Stone: A Sculptor's
Journey is a memoir about the
author's struggle with flaws in
her vision, her carvings and her
new marriage as she searches for
her identity as an artist.
Through her fifteen-year
apprenticeship with Gordon
Newell, a wise and patient stone
sculptor, she learns that
carving stone and wood can be
understood as a metaphor for
life: go with the grain and not
against it; trust that the form
inside will emerge in its own
good time; and realize that
understanding comes slowly, chip
by chip.
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Already There: poems
Shirley Balance Blackwell
To
find a hidden thing
already there, one
must first pay attention. A
childhood spent in the grand but
unforgiving landscapes of the
desert southwest and a career as
a national security analyst
reinforced that insight for
Shirley Blackwell.
Already There is an eclectic harvest of poems found by
combining rigorous intellectual
investigation with a personal
longing to understand both the
workings of the cosmos and of
the human heart.
Whether the topic is caring for
a mother-in-law with dementia,
finding one's own path, or
lessons in courage for a 4–year-old
terrorized by a neighbor's
vicious turkey, the poet speaks
in a voice of unflinching
candor. The natural world
suffuses this book both as
metaphor and for its own, but
don't expect a sentimental
treatment of the birds and
beasties in these poems. They
all occupy a niche in the food
chain. What you can expect is
poetry imbued with depth and
whimsy, scientific fact and
mythical fantasy, gentleness
and raw honesty–all couched in
precise, musical language.
These perceptive poems celebrate
the strength of the human spirit
as well as its place in a
wondrous universe. |
In A Rose Wood Wandering
Jeanne Shannon
In a Rose Wood Wandering
is a collection of poems,
stories, meditations, and
reveries that explore facets of
the word and the idea of
Rose.
It
roams through gardens, orchards,
and forests burgeoning with
large and small members of the
family
Rosaceae, visits
women named Rose, and even looks
at rose-patterned china teacups
and silver spoons with roses on
their handles..
The book reflects the author's
intense interest in the world of
plants. As a friend of hers
once said, "She has a love
affair with trees." Not only
trees, but shrubs and
flowers, as well as lowly
wildflowers that some dismiss as
weeds. She has a special
fondness for the family of
roses.
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Piggybacked: poems
Joanne S. Bodin
Piggybacked, is a collection of
poems that evokes universal
experiences of beauty, pain,
suffering, longing, joy, mirth,
dreams, nightmares, and
transcends them into the
unorthodox world view of the
poet. With thought-provoking
imagery, these poems allow us to
delve into the paradoxes of our
own human existence.
The
inspiration for this book came
from the author’s relationship
with her grandfather, also a
poet, and their personal quests
for freedom. The title of the
book is an expression of
ancestral ties that bind us
through the generations.
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In Silence I Speak: My Journey Through Madness
Mary Elizabeth Van Pelt
In Silence I Speak takes the
reader on a journey of
transformation. First into the
depth of psychiatric illness
that is often misunderstood,
then through systems that intend
to give good care but fall
short, and finally to health
restored and a life of recovery
found beyond the identity and
label of a psychiatric
disability.
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Richard is Missing: A True Account of a Kidnap/Murder on the Mexican Border
Dennis W. Harlan
After more than a quarter
century Dennis Harlan finally
tells the true story of brutal
murder, intensive investigation
and speedy resolution that
crisscrossed the U.S./Mexican
border for 10 days and involved
Mexican Federales, the Del Rio
Police Department, Val Verde
DA's Office, Texas Rangers, U.S.
Customs and the F.B.I.
Harlan’s blow by blow accounts
taken directly from the case
history that was his
responsibility to write, reveal
the professionalism with which
he managed the case while
dealing with his underlying
feelings of loss about his
fellow officer and compadre.
Richard is Missing is
a great read for law enforcement
officers, both veterans and
those new to the territory, and
for anyone with an inquiring
mind and a keen eye for well
documented accounts of true
crime in a volatile locale
that’s close to home—very close
to home. |
After the Murder: My Affair With a Felon
Mary Elizabeth Van Pelt
After seeing an inmate
interviewed on a television
program Mary began writing to
inmates in state prisons. A few
years later in a prison visiting
room she met Mark.
Mark was
twenty-five and serving
twenty-to-life for a liquor
store robbery that went bad and
ended in murder. Mary, a college
student, became enamored by the
long and beautiful letters he
wrote. She didn’t know that this
murder, the death of someone she
never knew, would become a
transforming power in her life
more than thirty years later. |
Meaning of Mountains: poems
K. K. Cherry
Composed with a voice of
authenticity, this collection
sings with a celebration of
nature. These poems, crafted by
visual artist and poet K. K.
Cherry, illuminate a path for
the reader through some of the
more sublime landscapes of the
Rocky Mountains, the small and
hidden places so often
overlooked. Cherry’s stylistic
use of punctuation and
enjambment, and her love of
alliteration, create a lyric and
meditative tone that resonates
in the places where we come to
befriend ourselves.
Consistent
in candor with her nature poems,
her personal anecdotal pieces
from childhood paint poignant
scenes from a rural America that
is not so much hidden as it has
vanished.
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Ceremony at Dawn: Hot Air Balloon Adventure
Carol Shelton March
with Bill Pearson
From the minute Carol set out at
the crack of dawn for the
Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon
Fiesta, the colorful excitement
and the surprises of the event
won her heart and soul. Carol
March’s story begins with the
uncanny sight of the Dawn
Patrol, three balloons lit from
the inside out and floating in
the blackness above a sleeping
city about to waken to giant
orbs rising in the clear New
Mexican sky. We experience the
careful planning and
anticipatory excitement of
spectators, chase crews and
safety directors called
“Zebras,” as they prepare for
launch. And we watch as Carol, a
reluctant bystander who is
determined to never step aboard
a basket about to be lofted into
the air, is confronted with an
invitation—and a challenge no
one expected.
Accompanying
Carol’s narrative of high
adventure are the photographs of
Bill Pearson, a videographer and
skydiver with over 900 jumps.
His keen eye for spatial context
cause these full color images of
the fiesta to lift the reader
right off the page. Ceremony
at Dawn is your escort
through the wondrous ritual of
hot air ballooning, and may well
serve as your invitation.
|
A Walk Along the River:
A Literary Anthology From the Upper Rio Grande
Eloquent, genuine, evocative of
place and community—such are the
voices in this collection. Open
the cover and you push from the
bank, moving with the river's
shifting current of poetry,
essays, stories, ripples of
Spanish overlapping English.
Listen for Coyote, pass below
polished volcanic cliff rock,
and smell the spiced wind off
the mesas. Let the songs here
sing to you of life lived in
appreciation of the unique place
that is the Upper Rio Grande.
—Chris Ransick, Denver Poet
Laureate, 2008-2012, and author
of Lost Songs and Last
Chances
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