Someone asked me what the theme of my collection was. I hate those questions. I'm really bad at theme. I don't think about a theme when I'm writing the story. I'm just trying to tell a story that interests me (and hopefully someone else).Here's a tagline for some of the stories:Riding a Greyhound Bus into the New World - a widower searches for the innocent boy he used to beDalton's Good Fortune - a down-on-his-luck ex-soldie...

When his boyhood friend vanishes, a man who has coasted through life on the fading memory of high school heroics, risks everything to save him.They had a parade for Darwin Burr years ago when his team won the state title. He's coasted through life on that memory. Still lives in Claxton, Illinois - but the bucolic farm town now simmers with racial tension. He has a cushy job working for his wheeler-dealer boyhood friend, Billy Rourke. He has a country house, a healthy 401k, and stil...

Clayton Stonemason idolized his father, a hometown hero in their small Missouri town. But when his father's life unravels, Clayton loses his way, too. He tries to escape his father's legacy but discovers he can't run away from his destiny.AMERICAN JUKEBOX, a story of small-town America in the last decades of the twentieth century, explores the many ways our relationships, hopes and dreams can alter the course of our lives.

“A boy who loses everything but his heart."The day All-American Joey Blade turns 18, he learns his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, is betrayed by his new girlfriend, and is arrested for the attempted murder of two police officers. Then things get bad.The high school bonfire is supposed to be the kickoff to a great night: Joey has just won a football scholarship and he's hoping for a sex breakthrough with his new girlfriend. Then his true love--but ex-girlfriend-...

Everyone dies famous is a story from the heartland about the uncommon lives of everyday people — the choices they make, how they live their lives, and how they die.1st Prize - Top Shelf Book Awards - Souithern FictionAs a tornado threatens their town, a stubborn old man who has lost his son teams up with a troubled young soldier to deliver a jukebox to the wealthy developer having an affair with the soldier’s wife. It’s July 2003 and the sm...

September 1953...Dancer Stonemason is three days from his major league debut. With his wife and son cheering him on, he pitches the greatest game of his life. And then loses everything.Told against the backdrop of America's postwar challenges from Little Rock to the Bay of Pigs to Viet Nam, American Past Time is the story of what happens to a man and his family after the cheering stops.

Jake Doyle used to be famous.Twenty years ago, his Chicago political column was syndicated in two hundred papers, but he had an affair - and a son - with his intern, and lost it all. Now he writes a local column and drivers for Uber to pay his bills.Jake is playing out the string when his tranquil world is turned upside down. His biracial son - an ambitious entrepreneur - is marked for death by a street gangster, his alcoholic daughter is pregnant and wants an abortion - wh...

If you look closely, joy is everywhere. Where do you see joy? Instill a joy for reading while learning about the feeling with the children’s book I See Joy!Joy feels and looks different for everybody. This kid’s book illuminates the real lives of four different people and gives readers a close-up look at how people experience and describe one of life’s most beautiful feelings—joy.Fun Storybook Features:This children’s book inc...

What does day-to-day life look like for an unschooling family?Leaving the traditional education system behind can be scary, so it helps to have a solid picture of what your family is going to do instead. In this meaty and inspiring book, Pam explores how unschooling both enables us to nurture our children's curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm for learning as well as encourages strong and connected relationships with them to blossom.With more than a dozen years of unschool...

A New 20/20 Vision is an inspired road map for creating sustainable happiness. Rochestie boldly illustrates the ability to always have perspective and find joy in all aspects of life. By adopting this innovative positive filter, you too can redefine the way you experience the world.

The fully revised second edition of this easy-to-use resource introduces the sensory differences autistic children may face, and explores how these differences can affect their ability to make sense of the world. It is invaluable in helping those adults working with autistic children to identify the possible triggers for the child’s behaviour and consider it through a sensory lens.Children have varying sensory needs so the book offers both a wealth of enjo...

We begin aging the moment we're born, but when do we start thinking about aging? Is it when we spot our first wrinkle, feel our bodies slowing down, or realize society starts looking right past us?In The Joy of Aging and the Generation Gap Through the Lens of Someone 85, Joyce H. Weiblen invites readers on an eye-opening, deeply personal journey into the reality of growing older in a youth-centric world. With sharp wit, warm wisdom, and bold honesty, she unpacks how ageism...