Stories, Images, and Magic from the Piano Literature will stimulate the imagination of pianists as they study and perform the great works of the piano literature.  This book brings together for the first time under one cover, for the delight and edification of the musician, a plethora of programmatic, poetic, or imaginative musical images and stories on piano works from the classical literature.  Many images originate with the composers themselves, the pens of their acquaintances or contemporaries, while others derive from pianists and authors of distinction from later generations, as well as from translations of poetry on which a piano work is based.

The caregiver’s journey is often bittersweet, combining feelings of exhaustion, reflection, love, frustration, delight, shock, connection, and loneliness. Many caregivers understandably feel overwhelmed and find themselves wishing for someone to take their hand and guide them on their twisting and emotional journey. Take My Hand is that guide.

Written by Tia Amdurer, a Licensed Professional Counselor with a professional background in hospice, bereavement, and loss, Take My Hand is divided into chapters that serve as a practical resource while you navigate different aspects of caring for a loved one in their final years.

Interspersed with the educational chapters are insightful, witty, and heartfelt commentaries from a caregiver’s perspective. Pages for note taking and journaling are formatted to encourage self-reflection along the way.

Mogadiscio was not always the sprawling jerry-built urban landscape we see today. Until 1991, when the government fell and clan militias, in a civil war, reduced it to rubble, Mogadiscio was a lovely, vibrant city. Tales of Mogadiscio describes a time, during the 1960s, when Mogadiscio was the capital and center of a newly independent Somali Republic. The stories portray individuals and the city’s various communities. Mogadiscio is observed and reflected upon by the author, who lived among its people and loved the city.

“Mike Huff addresses a serious issue in the basketball culture changing from an emphasis on the team to an increased focus on the individual. He calls coaches to lead the way in returning the focus where it belongs, which is on the team first. Teamwork: Rediscovering the Essence of Basketball will help any coach who is interested in teaching the game of basketball and important life lessons through basketball.”
– Mike Kryzyzewski, Head Coach, Duke University Basketball

Basketball was originally designed to be a team game, but today’s players are growing up in a culture that focuses on the individual. In Teamwork, Mike Huff calls coaches and athletes to return to basketball’s essence, by focusing on The 7 Essentials of Teamwork:

• communication
• leadership
• humility
• roles
• team spirit
• a winning attitude
• collective responsibility

The lessons in this book will enable coaches to teach life lessons that help players become winners on and off the court.

Much evidence from both sides of the Pacific indicates that people from Asia reached America at very early dates. It also appears that at least occasional trips were made back to Asia.

This book, by Hendon M. Harris, Jr. and edited by Charlotte Rees, explores some of the early Asian accounts about voyages to a beautiful land to their east called Fu Sang. It explains how that trip was possible. Included are photos of an ancient Asian world map that show the location of the fabled Fu Sang -right where America should be.

For fans of World War II fiction and historical mysteries, the Beatrix Patterson Mysteries are sure to keep readers turning pages. Beatrix has a particularly gifted memory that often gets her into trouble while giving her the means to help others. Follow her through World War II and the following years.

"Nicole Graves is a charming and straight-shooting heroine."
– Foreword Reviews

"Boyarsky’s weightless complications expertly combine menace with bling, making the heroine’s adventures both nightmarish and dreamy. "
– Kirkus Reviews

Nicole Graves, still reeling from her London kidnapping in The Swap, is struggling to balance work at L.A.’s most prestigious law firm and a long-distance romance with her English lover. Things go sideways when she tracks down a missing colleague. The murder of the firm’s in-house investigator, his mysterious wealth, and his inexplicable bequest make Nicole a target for the police, the paparazzi, and the killer. When Nicole’s life takes an unexpected turn, she uncovers evil and corruption among the city’s most powerful people. The fast-paced mystery unravels against the backdrop of L.A. with its peculiar mix of balmy weather, the celebrity-crazed media, and a corrupt power structure hidden by the veneer of glamour and wealth. This second in the Nicole Graves series is a stand-alone novel.

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, or so they say.

P.I. Nicole Graves arrives early at work, just as Los Angeles is hit with “the Big One,” a long-predicted, devastating earthquake. When the building stops shaking, Nicole finds Jerry, her boss, in his office dying of a gunshot wound. It appears to be suicide.

Nicole is shocked to learn that the police have decided Jerry’s death was murder and even more shocked that she’s their only suspect when there’s no shortage of people with motives. And there’s the question of why the detectives are pursuing this one case when all city workers, including the police, are in an all-out search and rescue operation for survivors. All she can do is evade capture long enough to prove her innocence and catch the real culprit.

Nancy Boyarsky's writing has been praised as "well-crafted, tautly-written" by James Lilliefors, author of the Amy Hunter novels The Psalmist and The Tempest, and "thoroughly entertaining and unforgettable" by Dave Edlund, USA TODAY bestselling author of the Peter Savage Novels.

"Like John le Carre, Boyarsky portrays a world of espionage that’s more grit than glamour and where it can be a struggle to distinguish the good guys from the bad. A real page-turner with a satisfying resolution." –Mally Becker, author of The Turncoat’s Widow (Praise for The Moscow Affair, Nicole Graves Book 6)

Each book in the Nicole Graves Mysteries is written as a stand-alone. Readers do not need to read every book in the series to follow along.

Fans of Jana Deleon's Miss Fortune Mystery series and Tonya Kappes A Camper and Criminals Cozy series will fall hard for the colorful characters and exciting misadventures in the Blanche Murningnan Mysteries, now available in a convenient three-in-one boxed set.

Saving Tuna Street

After Blanche "Bang" Murninghan's grandmother left her a cabin on Tuna Street, life starts looking up for the part-time journalist. But when a development company moves in from Chicago, Blanche must fight tooth and nail to keep her new-found inheritance. Matters only worsen when her friend is found murdered in the parking lot of the nearby marina. The harder Blanche pushes against the source of trouble, the more she is sucked into the vortex of greed, murder, drug runners, and kidnapping (hers).

Trouble Down Mexico Way

When Blanche “Bang” Murninghan visits an exhibit of ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico City, she sees that all is not ancient. One of the mummies has a pink hair clip embedded in its hay-like do, and the texture of the skin is not quite right. Blanche digs for answers and gets tangled in the mystery of the mummy at the Palacio Nacional, a murder with more complexity than anyone at the museum expected.

Mission Improbable: Vietnam

Blanche's amateur sleuthing skills have become local legend, and Jean McMahon needs her help. It’s not a simple favor Jean asks: Will Blanche go to Vietnam with her and look for Jean’s mother? As they trace Jean’s mother’s steps, they meet more than one shady character who thinks it better to let things lie. Against her better judgment, Blanche beats down the doors of the past. She is looking for Jean’s mother and following her father’s trail. He left without a trace. Or did he? Does anyone?

These cozy mysteries are perfect, light-hearted, world-traveling fun from the comfort of your own couch.

In his quest to become an Immortal, Elathan seeks the Emerald Crown of the World, which holds a magic so ancient and powerful that its been hidden from all realms. As Earth’s rightful Protector, only Brendan stands a chance to stop the golden god, to save the Earth and her inhabitants. But when Brendan falls under a curse that poisons his mind, Lizzie, Dorian, Frank, and their friends must band together to save him while Elathan grows in power.

When two brueggen stones are dropped

Over Shagger’s dreary rock

Gefcla’s evil will be stopped.

Lynn’s life isn’t interesting, until she falls on a Chicago sidewalk and sees yellow, orange, and green lights flitting past. The next time she opens her eyes, she’s in a forest that has huge roots coming out of the ground. A man with tennis ball-sized eyes howls at her—and that’s just the beginning.

Chell and the other Stalli warriors are on a hopeless series of raids against a ruthless enemy who outnumbers them. Keshua has given them a foretelling rhyme, but they have no idea how to fulfill it. They feel deathly ill anywhere near a brueggen stone.

When black magic threatens to obliterate humanity and overtake the magic clans of the Celtic Isles, destiny forces 17-year-old American, Brendan O’Neal, and his younger sister, Lizzie, to intervene. Joining the desperate princess of the Leprechauns, Dorian, and her two loyal companions, Rory and Biddy, they embark on a dangerous and wondrous adventure across Ireland and Scotland to thwart evil and save mankind. Read all four books in the Celtic Mythos series in one set.

"In his beautiful new book, Milton Brasher-Cunningham shares arresting thoughts on grief, grace, and gratitude. He claims that we are all shaped by our sorrows and generously tells his own stories of loss. All the while, he leads us toward hope. The Color of Together is both poetic and instructive, relatable and deeply philosophical. It awakened my heart to read this book; I hope it will do the same for you."
– Jennifer Grant, author of A Little Blue Bottle

When his father died, Milton learned that grief was a primary color of life. That truth is as old as the human story, but was new to him. The Color of Together explores the metaphor more fully, looking at the primary colors of life, which he names as grief, grace, and gratitude, and then expanding the palette to describe some of the other hues that make us human.

The book is a conversation between his personal stories, authors who have been mentors from the page, biblical accounts, and a variety of metaphors that allow us to see the colors of life in different lights and contexts. It is a story that started in grief and continues in hope.

After losing his father to Elathan, Brendan and Lizzie are forced to regroup, recover, and come to grips with the immense responsibility that has been thrust upon them. Faced with the golden god's aggressive plans to free his powerful allies and seize control of Otherworld, Brendan and his friends must seek their own power and enlist the help of the wise goddess Bibe.

As the worlds becomes further marred in darkness, the heroes must work against time if they want to save Otherworld––and themselves. Book three in the Celtic Mythos Series.

"Vibrant street scenes, swift pacing, and Nicole’s steely nerve make The Entitled an entertaining adventure."

– Foreword Reviews

Travel to London and retrieve Abigail Fletcher, a 17-year-old in a study abroad program at the prestigious King’s College in London. The assignment sounds simple enough.

But Abigail’s return is put on indefinite hold when she’s charged with the murder of her boyfriend, a former student at King’s. Nicole believes Abigail has been framed, but the victim’s tight-knit circle of friends and relatives are most unwilling to talk to an American detective. Further complicating the case, is Abigail’s defiant and uncooperative demeanor.

As evidence stacks up against Abigail, Nicole discovers that she herself has become the next target. Nicole’s first solo case abroad as a private detective has just turned a lot more deadly than she ever anticipated.

In the high-octane conclusion of the Alex Pella novels, the brilliant doctor and inventor finds himself racing against the unstoppable ambition of Jules Windsor who now leads The New Reality. When Jules begins to uncover the powerful, long-forgotten technology behind the world’s massive megalithic structures, he sets into motion the same cascade of events that once destroyed the ancient civilization that built them. As the planet heads toward an apocalyptical upheaval not seen since biblical times, Alex and his team know they must stop Jules—and The New Reality—once and for all.

Missing women, a disbanded cult, and a dodgy inheritance put Beatrix Patterson to the test.

Beatrix Patterson wanted to spend a morning organizing her thoughts over a nice cup of coffee and the local newspaper. But her carefully curated day is quickly interrupted when a friend of a friend asks for her help. Their friend is dead, and he wants to make sure there's no foul play. Cases keep piling in, as another family friend seeks his wife. Then a body is found at the base of local cliffs with no one to claim her.

Beatrix is good at finding things—people, the truth, missing evidence. As more Jane Does appear at the base of the cliff, each with similar ceremonial markings, Beatrix grows more passionate.

The deeper she digs, the less the pieces fit together. From a strange, disbanded cult to the drag queen desperate to claim an inheritance, Beatrix is soon stretched thin.

Surrounded by new neighbors with shadowed pasts, she has to wonder: will anyone believe her?

This historical mystery novel is packed with intrigue and beauty, set four years after World War II ends. Follow familiar characters Beatrix Patterson and Thomas Ling as they settle into a new life in Santa Barbara, California. The Finder is the second book in the Beatrix Patterson novels, however, each book can be read as a stand-alone or in order of publication.

Obstacles and challenges are a normal part of married life. Here’s how you get through them.

This book will lead you to understand what happens when two people tie the proverbial knot. The trials and obstacles that inevitably follow are nothing unusual—how they are handled is what helps distinguish a successful marriage from an unsuccessful one.

Specific advice about handling finances, keeping house, sexual relations, bringing up children, and other very important matters will not be found here. Instead, The Good, The Bad, and The Beautiful focuses on the relationship between husband and wife, for from this flows the motivation, energy, and wisdom to deal with the problems and challenges facing married couples. Unless you make this relationship your main concern, all your efforts in other areas of married life will be out of balance and ultimately unsuccessful.

If you are seeking a successful and fulfilling marriage, or the restoration of a failing one, you will find meaning and hope in the joys of learning and practicing God's blessed plan for husband and wife.

 "Their Faces Shone is a riveting, candid and thought-provoking account of one's family journey through fostering. -Erica C. Witsell, award-winning author of the novel Give

“I need help,” I whispered, not sure if I was talking to myself or to God. “I don’t want to let her go.” 

After her daughter was born, Kate Rademacher desperately wanted another child, but her husband did not. Following years of negotiation, the couple decided to become foster parents. What began as an uneasy compromise turned into an authentic calling and a deep love for their two-year-old foster daughter. When the girl transitioned back to her biological family, Kate thought she had learned the lesson in loving and letting go. But when an unexpected crisis occurred, Kate realized the lessons in how to love, accept, surrender, and forgive were only just beginning.

In this poignant story, the author explores the question of where family begins and ends, and how things change when we invite strangers—with complicated stories and baggage—into our lives. For people who have considered becoming foster parents, many worry about the emotional risks involved. Before Rademacher’s foster daughter arrived, she shared these concerns; she was deeply afraid of the heartbreak that seemed likely, and she worried that fostering could threaten her own family’s peace.

Rademacher’s story is an insightful and ultimately hopeful examination of whether it’s possible to love and let go without bitterness. With self-effacing humor and honesty, Rademacher describes how the experience of fostering impacted her marriage and her biological daughter and changed their lives forever.

Fans of Kate Morton and Susanna Kearsley will welcome Nancy Wakeley's literary novels. Catch the first three Kate Tyler novels in one convenient combined edition.

Heirloom

Healing secrets and a battle for survival await in Eden Springs

Kate Tyler is already in a life crisis when she inherits Howard’s Walk in Eden Springs, North Carolina, after the sudden death of her twin sister, Rebecca. When she learns that a powerful and vengeful man who was denied ownership of Howard’s Walk in the past is determined to finally own it at any cost, Kate must decide what Howard’s Walk means to her and whether she has the strength to battle for its survival as well as her own.

The Legend

Legends clash with reality at the Calloway House

Kate Tyler isn't sure she's living the life she was meant to live. Desperate for a change of pace, she packs her bags and heads to the ancient town of Rye, England where she hopes she'll find inspiration for her new travel blog. The deeper Kate digs into the truth of what happened to Arabella back in 1766, the more she learns that the present may not hold the answers she needs. When legends cross with reality, Kate must find the truth before history repeats itself.

Secrets at Deep Lake

The Secrets of the Past are Buried at Wingate Winery

When Kate Tyler learns that her brother may need a kidney transplant, she has no choice but to unravel the mystery of her biological parent's health history. Using her travel blog as a cover, she inserts herself into the Wingate family's wine festival, hoping to quietly confirm her suspicions of her father's identity. But as the Wingates close ranks to protect their own, painful secrets come to light with devastating consequences. Only the truth can lead these broken families to forgiveness and healing. Desperate to help her brother, Kate must press on no matter the personal cost.

"In the city, sitting in a squad car made you an easy target, but in the country you were a shield." –The Kill Floor

Frank "Flash" Gordon knows it's a detective's duty to speak for the victim, even when the world would rather they turn their back.

When the brash CEO of a huge swine factory is found dead on the property, most of the rural town wants to say "good riddance" and let the world move on one billionaire fewer. Frank can't shake the feeling that something is off. How can he solve the murder when the whole town seemed to want the victim dead? To make matters more complex, most of the clues point to a dead man.

As the case twists and turns, Frank struggles to maintain his marriage to local environmental activist Stephanie. Frank's hunt for the truth puts him, his marriage, and his career on the kill floor.

Perfect for fans of police procedural novels, this small town murder mystery weaves drama and intrigue among the vibrant midwestern community members and the new industries throwing their way of life off balance. 

You follow instructions when assembling furniture, you follow tutorials when learning a new software, and you follow a recipe when you bake a pastry for the first time. What if there was a recipe you could follow that would help develop you into the leader you've always wanted to be?

No matter your ambition—whether you want to lead your department well or an entire organization as CEO—the components of leadership presented in this book are designed to help you grow into the best leader you can be.

Follow along with Mark, a young professional seeking to someday become CEO of the company where he works, as he learns the Leadership Recipe from his mentor, William, and applies it with his team. This allegory offers a refreshing way to help leaders at all levels understand the ingredients of successful leadership for themselves and others.

Kate Tyler isn't sure she's living the life she was meant to live. Eden Springs has been wonderful, but she can't deny the wanderlust tugging at her heart. Desperate for a change of pace, she packs her bags and heads to the ancient town of Rye, England where she hopes she'll find inspiration for her new travel blog.

But when she arrives, mysteries follow her everywhere she goes. Strangers seem to know her, a book of ancient legends contains her mirror image, and Virginia Calloway is insistent that Kate come over to discuss the Legend of Arabella Courbain. Hoping to solve one of the many mysteries of this spontaneous trip, Kate agrees.

But the deeper Kate digs into the truth of what happened to Arabella back in 1766, the more she learns that the present may not hold the answers she needs. When legends cross with reality, Kate must find the truth before history repeats itself.

"Chavez is an exciting new voice in our LGBTQ and Latinx literary community.” –Emanuel Xavier, author and activist

In this semi-autobiographical novel set in mid 20th century Cuba, Lorenzo Chavez reveals the moving story of a boy determined to stay true to who he is and find happiness against all odds.

Told in a series of first-person vignettes, Martín's story covers a wide swath of the Cuban landscape and people, taking us from the lush greens and fertile soils of the countryside to the dark underbelly of a Havana as full of depravity as it is neon lights.

After suffering a series of heartbreaking abuses, Martín struggles to find his way and claim his identity as a young gay man in an impoverished neighborhood. When the Revolution slowly begins to claim everything Martín holds dear, he takes a desperate leap of faith—one that could cost him his life.

Martín's coming of age story is one of courage and the rebirth of a brave young man who refuses to hide his light.

This novel is perfect for fans of Achy Obejas, Cristina Garcia, and Carmen Maria Machado.