About Cosmic Queries

• Publisher: National Geographic (March 2, 2021)
• Hardcover: 312 pages

In this thought-provoking follow-up to his acclaimed StarTalk book, uber astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles the world’s most important philosophical questions about the universe with wit, wisdom, and cutting-edge science.

For science geeks, space and physics nerds, and all who want to understand their place in the universe, this enlightening new book from Neil deGrasse Tyson offers a unique take on the mysteries and curiosities of the cosmos, building on rich material from his beloved StarTalk podcast.

In these illuminating pages, illustrated with dazzling photos and revealing graphics, Tyson and co-author James Trefil, a renowned physicist and science popularizer, take on the big questions that humanity has been posing for millennia–How did life begin? What is our place in the universe? Are we alone?–and provide answers based on the most current data, observations, and theories.

Populated with paradigm-shifting discoveries that help explain the building blocks of astrophysics, this relatable and entertaining book will engage and inspire readers of all ages, bring sophisticated concepts within reach, and offer a window into the complexities of the cosmos.

For all who loved National Geographic’s StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos: Possible Worlds, and Space Atlas, this new book will take them on more journeys into the wonders of the universe and beyond.



#CosmicQueries,  @tlcbooktours @startalkradio.


Purchase Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Review:
Cosmic Queries expands on Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk and aims to answer the big questions about the universe.  Tyson has a way of making these very big and difficult concepts easy to understand, bringing the universe down to earth.  Beginning from how we know what we know in space, measurements and some of the scientists who have led to these discoveries we are then led to ask questions of how the universe got to be how it is, what the universe is made out of, what life is, if we are alone, how this all began and eventually, how it will end. 


Whenever I read a book about space I am always amazed about how much I do not know. I revel in being able to learn and understand more about our world and what is beyond.  Cosmic Queries not only gives me a good foundation to begin to understand the questions posed in the book, but reminds me of how much we don't know about what we don't know as well as the fact that "the most interesting questions are the ones we don't yet know to ask."  As I read through each chapter, the knowledge from previous chapters was slowly built upon, helping to expand my thinking and ask further questions. In addition, I learned about some of the pioneers of astronomy and the risks they took in order to get their knowledge out into the world.  Overall, Cosmic Queries is an excellent read for any curious mind.


This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

About Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History, host of the hit radio and Emmy-nominated TV show StarTalk, and the New York Times best-selling author of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military. He lives in New York City.
Follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

FOLK SONGS BY TRAUMA SURGEONS
by Keith Rosson
RELEASE DATE: FEB 23, 2021
GENRE: Collection / Speculative Fiction / Magical Realism / Literary

BOOK PAGE: https://meerkatpress.com/books/folksongs/

​SUMMARY:
With Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons, award-winning author Keith Rosson delves into notions of family, grief, identity, indebtedness, loss, and hope, with the surefooted merging of literary fiction and magical realism he’s explored in previous novels. In “Dunsmuir,” a newly sober husband buys a hearse to help his wife spread her sister’s ashes, while “The Lesser Horsemen” illustrates what happens when God instructs the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to go on a team-building cruise as a way of boosting their frayed morale. In “Brad Benske and the Hand of Light,” an estranged husband seeks his wife’s whereabouts through a fortuneteller after she absconds with a cult, and in “High Tide,” a grieving man ruminates on his brother’s life as a monster terrorizes their coastal town. With grace, imagination, and a brazen gallows humor, Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons merges the fantastic and the everyday, and includes a number of Rosson’s unpublished stories, as well as award-winning favorites.


​BUY LINKS: Meerkat Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble


Review: 
Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons is a short story collection that combines the everyday mundane with the fantastic and extraordinary.  Like all short story collections, there were stories I loved, and stories I could live without.  Most of the stories in Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons were strong for me, taking everyday events and adding unexpected details to create something exciting.   

The first story of the collection, The Lesser Horsemen caught my attention with three out of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse sent on a cruise to work on their team building.  This unexpected scenario combined with such a commonplace work task created an interesting and amusing story.

Baby Jill another favorite story of mine creating an emotional rollercoaster with the tooth fairy and what seems like run-of-the -mill workplace dynamics.  

Yes, We Are Duly Concerned With Calamitous Events creates a humorous look at the kind-of end of the world through a group of dysfunctional office coworkers.  

Homecoming is a heartfelt examination of the choices we make in life and the consequences we face after.

These are just a selection of my favorites from the collection. These stories made me think and all had deep emotional connections.  Many had open endings creating a world of imagination for the characters when I was done reading

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ​

​THE LESSER HORSEMEN
 
 
Call Him whatever you want: The Good Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh, The Beginning and The End, God; we loved Him and we feared Him, and perhaps it was intentional but when He was in human form, we were also a bit disgusted by Him. Disgusted because He seemed, in all honesty, like a cad. A scumbag. Seemed, in fact, to revel in it. To become so abjectly the type of man who sucked his teeth and followed with his small and shiny doll eyes as young girls passed by on the street, his hand in his pocket; the type who relieved himself at bus stops and shouldered old ladies aside for a better seat somewhere; a man who when in restaurants left very small tips, in coins, as some kind of statement. A man who stank of cheap cologne and had hair, probably, riding up his back in the shape of a Spanish moss.
Our palaver had long become toxic.
The handouts He gave us featured a smiling cruise ship amid a cobalt sea, a smiling sun perched above, and smiling clouds scattered around. There was even, I saw, a smiling seagull perched on the deck’s railing. He sold it to us as part vacation, part team-building exercise. He used those exact words. His office sat across the street from the methadone program they ran out of St. Joe’s, and you could see the clusters of addicts hanging out, bullshitting out front after they’d gotten their dose, people loose-limbed in the sun and happy now to be alive again.
It was a five-night, six-day cruise from Portland to Glacier Bay, Alaska, He said. “Real nice. All the amenities. Shuffleboard, Wi-Fi, breakfast buffet. They even got a little paintballing gallery below deck. You guys can get some of your aggressions out, shoot each other in the beanbags and whatnot.”
“This an optional trip?” I asked, and the Good Lord laughed.
Famine said, “Death isn’t coming, I take it.”
“Don’t worry about Death,” He said.
There were four of us, of course, but you’d never know it—Death for millennia now on his own trip, the three of us continually left in his wake.
War said, “Don’t worry about him? And that means what, exactly?” and the Good Lord fixed him with a warning look. Quick enough, but filled with that terrible distance that none of us, not even Death on his best day, could come close to matching.
He pointed a finger at the three of us. “Listen. Death isn’t the problem here, okay? You dicks got me?”
Was I pissed, hearing this? I mean, do I even have to say it? When had Death ever been a problem, right? No, the impetus was always on us, the fractured thirds. This trio of recalcitrance.
War couldn’t help himself; he snorted contemptuously, exhaled a cloud of anthrax that settled on his shoulders like dandruff.
The Good Lord popped a butterscotch candy into his mouth, cracked it like a femur between his teeth. He shook His head. “Nah, it’s you three I have issues with. The sniping, okay? The constant infighting. It showcases a serious lack of cohesion as a department, is what I’m saying. Even now? Handing Me this attitude? It’s bullcrap, is what. So here’s the deal: you go on the cruise, you eat some tacos, play some bocce ball, whatever. And do these team-building exercises. Learn to trust each other again. Talk it out. Because as it stands now, you’re just straight up screwing the brand, okay? You’ve become ineffective.”
“Except for Death,” Famine muttered, toeing the carpet with a duct-taped high top.
“You’re goddamn right except for Death!” the Good Lord roared, and slapped his desk hard enough to make his coffee cup jump. The addicts across the street, without knowing why, suddenly remembered pressing engagements and drifted away. All of them unanimously stricken with unease. This one little outburst and I could imagine all too well a mine collapse in some crumbling shithole town in Kentucky somewhere, a tsunami or mudslide enveloping some poor third-world enclave, thousands of bodies snuffed to lifelessness within moments. It wasn’t a heartlessness—you could say a lot of things about Him, but the guy felt everything very strongly, was seized at times with feelings—but there was, what seemed to me at least, an unawareness of environment or consequence that could sometimes be construed as cruel or uncaring.
Then again, he was the Divine Creator and I was but one quarter of the Great Cessation—and a low-ranking one at that—so what the hell did I know?
He said, “Enough about Death already,” glaring at us again while he sopped up his coffee spill with napkins. He ran a pudgy hand over the errant hairs on his dome and smoothed down his wrinkled tie. “Now I want you to get on that boat, and I want you to relax. Look at how pretty the water is and shit like that. But above all: Drop the attitude and learn to work together. Because if you don’t, what’s the saying? How’s the saying go?”
“We perish alone?” Famine offered weakly.
The Good Lord leveled a stubby finger at him. He smiled at us for the first time that day, showing rows of butter-colored teeth. “That’s it. Exactly. You work together or you perish the hell alone.”
 
•  •  •
 
We stepped outside as knives of sunlight winked off every glassed thing on the street. The stink of exhaust enveloped us. Sewage warming in the gutters brought out the scents of the human soufflé: piss, heated blacktop, burnt plastic.
Famine hiked his jeans up—we had our trappings, each of us, our strange cosmic shortcomings that kept us tethered here, not nearly human but certainly more than ideas, and Famine’s was, obviously, his constant hunger. Not so obvious was that he could never find a fucking belt that fit him. He took off down the avenue muttering something about an all-you-can-eat bouillabaisse shop on Mississippi, the cuffs of his pants scraping the ground, arms wrinkled and red at the elbows, striding along with one hand bunching the acid-washed fabric at his waist.
War folded his cruise handout and sighed, squinting at the empty street. “We leave in three hours? Man, He’s not dicking around.”
“He’s not known for that, is He?”
“True. Guess I better go grab my gear,” he said, and then paused. He seemed poised for some comradely dig, but we were long past it. Centuries, at least. “See you on the boat,” he managed.
The Good Lord certainly had a point. I could admit that. We’d long since become fractious, four different arrows arcing toward four different targets at four different times. No harmony, no shared intention. There had been a time when that was not the case, but now? Only Death was constant.
The Good Lord was staring at me through the window, his hands cinched over his little stovepot of a belly. He raised a hand and shooed me along, the look in his eyes absolutely flat, dead as deep space.
I went home to pack.

About the Book: 
SACRED MOUNDS
BY JIM METZNER
Publication Date: June 16, 2020
Adelaide Books, NY (print);
Skyboat Media/Blackstone (audio)
Paperback, eBook & Audiobook
Genre: Historical Fantasy


Cyclonic hordes of insects, a telepathic despot, body-swapping sex – just a few of the surprises Salvador Samuels encounters when he finds himself swept back to pre-colonial times walking in the moccasins of a blind Indian – who, in turn, has been transported into Salvador’s body in present day America. Four hundred years apart, they’re bound by a common mission to rescue our world, aided by the mysterious presence of the mounds. Thousands of these ancient earthworks once dotted the landscape of North America. We still don’t know why they were created. Sacred Mounds suggests they are as important today as when they were made over a thousand years ago.
Sacred Mounds, a first novel of magical realism and historical fantasy, weaves the stories of two men, each a stranger in a strange land. With the help of two remarkable women, they must find a way to save our planet and return home.
From Jim Metzner, producer of the Pulse of the Planet series and podcast, with a foreword by Hutke Fields, principal chief of the Natchez Nation.

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | INDIEBOUND

Praise

“This is a rollicking, thought-provoking, rollercoaster of a novel. It’s time traveling on steroids, but it asks big questions. Bravo.” – Ken Burns, filmmaker

“After decades of most American fantasy writers echoing European fantasists and using European myths, it’s refreshing to see an extravagantly imaginative writer go into the history and myths of the Natchez nation… We have a chance to see our own culture through the eyes of a native of the Natchez civilization, so the view is double — us seen by them, them seen by us. It’s amazing to read something so fresh and vivid tying us back into the roots of this land and the people who knew it first.” – Orson Scott Card, author “Ender’s Game”

“Jim Metzner’s Sacred Mounds draws you right into the action with high energy prose, strands of mystery floating in the wind, and lively characters. A great read, with Metzner’s usual deep insights into the amazing workings of the natural world seeping into you while you are caught up in the flow. Enjoy!” – Robert Thurman, President, Tibet House US

“Metzner’s time-bending style is interwoven in a well-researched novel about the great Natchez Nation and the mysterious mounds across the midlands of America. This is a witty and inventive historical fantasy that seduces with twists and turns accompanied by lively street wise contemporary dialogue. It will keep you magnetically amused right up to the surprise ending.” – Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Member, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, MT

“There are not enough words to fully outline the rich, complex and historically and culturally accurate setting of this tale of supernatural heroism. The novel folds ancient traditional wisdom into the seams of its story with the author’s well-honed narrative skills, delivering the tastes and flavors of its mingling times and cultures with ease and aplomb. One ends up feeling not like an onlooker, but an active participant in the events. The book is hard to put down. It’s a page-turner, but an intelligent one; one that asks more questions than it answers and left, for one, this reader hoping for a sequel.” – Lee Van Laer, Senior Editor, Parabola Magazine

“The tribe’s descent from late prehistoric mound builders connects the Natchez people to one of North America’s most intriguing puzzles. Archaeologists know how the earthworks were built, but excavations cannot reveal what these monuments meant to the native people who built them. With Sacred Mounds, Metzner embraces the mystery to weave a story across time and cultural boundaries.” – Jim Barnett, author “The Natchez Indians: A History to 1735”

“Jim Metzner can really spin a yarn. This story is filled with historical reality as well as spectacular descriptions of what could be. Jump into this book. Feel the challenges of the characters. Join with the Shining Ones. The adventure is yours!” – From the foreword by Hutke Fields, Principal Chief of the Natchez Nation

​Review: 
​​An ancient ritual binds the bodies and spirits of two men living centuries apart.  The souls of Skyfisher, a Natchez living in what would be Mississippi in the 1600's and Salvador, a man in present day New York are switched in order to fulfill a mission to heal the world.  Complete strangers to each other's world and way of life, the two men are helped along by two women who believe their wild claims and help them to understand the world they have found themselves in.

Sacred Mounds is a mysterious journey that connects Natchez traditions and beliefs with the state of our planet today.  The introduction pulled me in with the mystery behind Salvador's memory lapse and tattoo that he does not recollect receiving.  After that, the writing bounces back and forth between Salvador and Skyfisher's worlds creating an almost dizzying sense of place as the two men switch bodies through time.  I enjoyed reading about the Natchez traditions, way of life, religions and use of the mounds. I was surprised to learn that the mounds once extended all the way up through the Northeast as well as the fact that much of the Natchez people's heritage has been erased.  Skyfisher and Salvador were compelling characters, especially once they were in one another's bodies.  Even more captivating were Inez and Tell Me a Story, the women that served as guides for the men in mismatched bodies.  While I'm not quite sure if the men succeeded on the journeys, I feel like there is definitely more in this story to unfold.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

About the Author
​
Jim studied acting at Yale Drama School and enjoyed a brief career working as a singer-songwriter in London, where he opened for TRex, Free and Pink Floyd. He has been producing sound-rich audio since 1977, starting with the ground-breaking short format radio series – You’re Hearing Boston. Metzner’s other award-winning series include You’re Hearing San Francisco, You’re Hearing America, The Sounds of Science, Voices of Innovation, and Pulse of the Planet, which has been on the air since 1988 and is now heard widely as a podcast. He has recorded all over the world and received major grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Grammy Foundation.

Jim has given presentations around the world as a Fulbright Specialist. For more information visit https://www.jimmetznerproductions.com and https://www.sacredmoundsnovel.com. You can also find him on Facebook and Goodreads.

About the Book: 
RHAPSODY 
BY MITCHELL JAMES KAPLAN
Publication Date: March 2, 2021
Gallery Books
Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook; 352 pages
Genre: Biographical/Literary/Historical



One evening in 1924, Katharine “Kay” Swift—the restless but loyal society wife of wealthy banker James Warburg and a serious pianist who longs for recognition—attends a concert. The piece: Rhapsody in Blue. The composer: a brilliant, elusive young musical genius named George Gershwin.
Kay is transfixed, helpless to resist the magnetic pull of George’s talent, charm, and swagger. Their ten-year love affair, complicated by her conflicted loyalty to her husband and the twists and turns of her own musical career, ends only with George’s death from a brain tumor at the age of thirty-eight.
Set in Jazz Age New York City, this stunning work of fiction, for fans of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank, explores the timeless bond between two brilliant, strong-willed artists. George Gershwin left behind not just a body of work unmatched in popular musical history, but a woman who loved him with all her heart, knowing all the while that he belonged not to her, but to the world.

AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | INDIEBOUND


Praise

“Mitchell James Kaplan pens a lilting, jazzy ballad as catchy as a Gershwin tune, bringing to vibrant life the complicated relationship between classically trained composer Kay Swift and free-wheeling star George Gershwin. Their musical bond is as powerful as their passion, and jazz-soaked gin-drenched Broadway is their playground through the tumultuous years of the Great War and Prohibition. Rhapsody will have you humming, toe-tapping, and singing along with every turn of the page.” –Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of THE ALICE NETWORK and THE HUNTRESS

“We all know Gershwin, but how many know he was ‘the man behind the woman,” the conflicted, extraordinary Katherine ‘Kay’ Swift? Mitchell James Kaplan illuminates her in Rhapsody, bringing his impressive knowledge of history, composition, and the heart’s whims to bear on this shining rendition of Swift and Gershwin’s star-crossed love.” –Therese Anne Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Z and A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD

“In Rhapsody, Mitchell James Kaplan brings to lyrical life the romance between Kay Swift and George Gershwin. A gifted musician in her own right, Kay was no mere accompanist to Gershwin’s genius; she was a true partner, unfortunately little remembered today. Kaplan’s vivid prose and empathetic characterization shines a spotlight on this remarkable woman who contributed so much to American music.” –Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue and Mistress of the Ritz

“Mitchell James Kaplan’s Rhapsody shines a blazing light on the celebrated George Gershwin, uncovering the man behind the legend through the story of the woman he loved, Kay Swift, a brilliant musician caught in the swiftly moving mores of New York’s Jazz Age. Rich with history and packed with intricate detail, Rhapsody soars.” –Randy Susan Meyers, bestselling author of THE WIDOW OF WALL STREET and WAISTED

“Mitchell James Kaplan has captured a whole world in his luminous journey through the jazz age in fast-paced New York City with this love story of composer Kay Swift and the brilliant but elusive George Gershwin. Kay first heard him playing his Rhapsody in Blue, but she was married to a wealthy man and Gershwin could be faithful only to his own genius. Through Broadway theaters and concerts, he was rising so fast that neither the Great Depression, nor the darkening rise of Hitler across the sea, nor the impossible difficulties of writing the first black folk-opera Porgy and Bess could stop him. Through their love affair, Gershwin and Kay gave fire to each other’s music until nothing could derail his meteoric success but time.” –Stephanie Cowell, American Book Award-winning author of CLAUDE AND CAMILLE and THE PHYSICIAN OF LONDON



​Review:
In 1920's New York City, Kay Swift, a classically trained pianist plays at the parties for New York's elite.  At one of these parties she catches the eye of James Warburg, the son of a wealthy banker.  Soon, Kay is at the top of New York's social ladder but has not forgotten her dream of playing music.  After seeing George Gershwin perform Rhapsody in Blue, Kay becomes mesmerized with his style of music and the man himself.  Kay refocuses on her musical career with George and finds herself enamored with George as well.  With her music finally making its mark, Kay is pulled between her family and George while trying to carve out her own place in the world. 


Rhapsody is written in a style much like Gershwin's music, familiar yet new with different pushes and pulls to show you what you already knew was there.  Everyone knows the name of George Gershwin, but many people do not know Kay Swift.  Kay was the first woman to write the complete score to a Broadway musical though many only know her for her involvement with Gershwin. Rhapsody entwines the stories of Kay, James and George to create a rounded view on how this odd trio helped to define an era of American music.  Using many historical accuracies, the story of how their music evolved is written in a way that managed to bring the music to life on the page.  I was amazed at Gershwin's abilities as well as his commitment to the communities that he found inspiration from.  Kay's life was double sided as she faced the dilemma of many women, being a wife, mother and having a career.  It was very interesting to see Kay's relationship with her children and husband and her choices to focus on her music and happiness instead.  Along with Kay and George, I also learned about James Warburg.  I had no idea that he also wrote lyrics for Kay's songs.  While Kay's life with Gershwin may have been complicated at best, Rhapsody unravels some of the mysteries surrounding this time of Kay Swift's life. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. re to edit.

About the Author

Mitchell James Kaplan graduated with honors from Yale University, where he won the Paine Memorial Prize for Best Long-Form Senior Essay submitted to the English Department. His first mentor was the author William Styron.
After college, Kaplan lived in Paris, France, where he worked as a translator, then in Southern California, where he worked as a screenwriter and in film production.
He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with his family and two cats.
​
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS

BY IMMORTAL HONOR BOUND
BY DANIELLE ANCONA
Publication Date: November 4, 2020
Kyanite Publishing LLC
Paperback, 400 pages
Series: Of Alchemy and Angels, Book 1
Genre: Historical Fantasy


Intrepid warrior angel Malachi faces the fiercest of adversaries of warfare through the centuries, fighting alongside the boldest of gods to defend humankind from the Seraph Rebellion.
Sent to York in the 1620’s, Malachi unexpectedly falls in love with keen and ardent alchemist Daphne Heatherton.

For Malachi, Daphne’s returned devotion is a tenuous gift of fate.

Dark machinations set into play by the fallen archangel, Gideon-leader of the Rebellion-bring Malachi to the brink of defeat and put him to the ultimate test.

Will he choose a mortal love, or will he remain By Immortal Honor Bound?

Alchemy, history, passion, myth, science, legend converge in a timeless battle-will love or honor prove to be the most powerful element of all?


AMAZON | BARNES AND NOBLE | INDIEBOUND

Review: 

A war between immortal beings has been raging for millennia. The Seraph, led by fallen angel, Gideon, want to enslave and control humanity.  The Celestials work to undermine Gideon and protect the humans and other beings that the Seraph want to destroy or use for their own purposes.  Malachi is an angel who has been Earthbound, sworn to protect the assets that the Seraph covet.  Through the centuries, Malachi has the privilege of working besides some of history's greatest minds as he protects them.  While protecting the Oak, Isaiah, Malachi is drawn to a mortal alchemist with great power, Daphne Heatherton.  Daphne skills in manipulating the elements amaze Malachi, but also put her in danger in 1600's England.  The Seraph uses Daphne as a pawn to go after Isaiah and use Malachi and Daphne's love to destroy them.  However, with the help of the gods, Daphne may be able to live again.

By Immortal Honor Bound is a unique mix of history, science and mythology over time.  I loved the idea of the war between Seraphs and Celestials throughout time shaping the forces of good and evil within humanity.  The first few chapters gave way to a slow start for me as the author set up this epic battle and introduced the immortal characters on both sides.  I quickly became more invested after Malachi received his assignment to protect Isaiah and Daphne and Dante were introduced.  I enjoyed the focus on women pioneers in science and the struggles they faced through time.  Told mostly through Malachi's point of view, his fierce loyalty, quick thinking and ability to adapt and overcome are amazing.  I do wish that he and Daphne's story was given more time and their love was allowed to grow instead of being an instant connection.  This would have made Malachi's quest even stronger.  Also, while incredibly steamy, the sex scenes seemed more of an aside than a meaningful focus in this context.  The ending was exciting and was able to grow the characters in an entirely different setting.  With more to come in book two, I am interested to see where the characters go next.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

About the Author
Pittsburgh has provided an interesting, vibrant and eclectic place to grow up and eventually become a writer of stories. Stories through which History, Science, Alchemy, Romance, High Stakes, and Mythology are woven.

My writing is also touched by ghostly echoes which greet me as I hike or bike through what were once bustling sites from the age of industry of the region, now reclaimed by nature. These are the ethereal remnants of those who shed their blood, sweat and tears onto what is now sacred ground.

Come dive into the stories shaped by these unique forges. The twists in the path are unexpected, fraught with danger, but always worth the journey.

Where passion and love take root unexpectedly, bloom, and somehow manage to survive against all odds, one surprising way or another.

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS

Review: 
​A shocking email has just been sent to the entire student body at St. Joseph's, a small prestigious high school in Massachusetts.  As lead reporter for the Warrior Weekly, Eden is placed as lead reporter for the ground breaking story.  The email showed the nude pictures of seven senior girls who attend St. Joe's.  Mysteriously, the email was signed by Eros leaving everyone guessing at the identity of the perpetrator.  The school administration jumps immediately to condemn the actions of the email sender, but also does not want word getting outside of the school community.  Since all of the students exposed were over 18 years old, there is no crime committed under state law.  Eden jumps on the story and begins to document how it has affected the girls that are involved.  However, once the first part of her story comes out in the Warrior Weekly, the principle shuts down any further stories about what has been dubbed Nudegate.  Eden, however, can not drop such an important story, especially when it is helping the girls express their views.

Revenge of the Sluts is a powerful and timely young adult contemporary novel about the unfortunate realities of growing up in the digital age.  The story jumps right into the action with the students receiving the email.  As Eden opens the email we are given insight into her character as she chooses not to scroll through all the pictures and go comfort one of the girls instead.  I should have been surprised about the way the school reacted, with its priorities protecting the school and not the victims; however, this accurately mirrors how young women are treated in many situations.  As Nudegate unfolds, I appreciated that the affected group of girls banded together to form their own support group, The Slut Squad, and reclaim their identities any way they could.  As Eden dives deeper into their group and the mystery of the email sender, she discovers the importance of girls supporting one another.  Furthermore, Eden learns how to be brave and connect with other students as she covers the story.  The mystery of the email sender, Eros, was present throughout the story but didn't really take prevalence until the end as Eden and the Slut Squad stop focusing on who they want the perpetrator to be and are able to think about who really had a motive for such a personalized attack.  While I'm glad that all of the girls in the story were able to rise above the attack, revenge porn is still an issue that haunts many today.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.