Guardian Angel by William McCauley  

 
Middle Grade / Young Adult
Date Published: 6/2013
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Markus Simmons, a 13-year-old 8th-grader, wants to hang with the cool kids. When his social studies class begins a Holocaust project, some A-listers befriend him to get him to work with them so they can have access to his Oma, who was in Auschwitz, and he discovers that there are Holocaust deniers in the world, one of whom is in his class.  Then someone identifies his Oma as having played a criminal role during the Holocaust, and he has to reconcile his love for his grandmother, his desire to work with the cool kids, and his anger at the deniers and the others who attack his grandmother.
About the Author

William McCauley was born and grew up in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, in a delightful little town called Vienna. His B.A. in German and M.A. in English are from George Mason University, and at the ripe old age of 29, he “ran away from home” to do doctoral work in linguistics at the University of Colorado in Boulder. After two years, his Wanderlust attacked again, and he trekked on down to Miami, FL, where he did more doctoral work at the University of Miami. Then the powers that be at The German School Washington, where he had taught English for six years, tracked him down and asked him to come back. That brought him back to the DC area, where he taught at the German School for another eighteen years. He finished his career in education at the end of school year 14-15, retiring after ten years as a Gifted and Talented Education specialist with Howard County Public Schools in Maryland. Now all he wants to do is write – and read.
 
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SKYLINE

Literary Fiction
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In SKYLINE: TALES OF MANHATTAN, award-winning playwright and author William Ivor Fowkes presents stories of New Yorkers—gay, straight, and confused—making startling connections and discoveries. On the West Side, a man approaching his 60th birthday tries a new haircut, with disastrous consequences. On the East Side, a Park Avenue Republican gets a taste of life on the “down low” in Central Park. In the East Village, a struggling writer papers his kitchen wall with rejection letters. In SoHo, a graphic designer takes drastic steps to get the attention of her editor. At MOMA, a woman physically attacks a man examining a sculpture she doesn’t like. Downtown, a transplanted New Orleans cabaret singer deals with life and love in the aftermath of 9/11. There are 19 stories in all—enough to demonstrate that Manhattan’s residents are just as striking as the city’s celebrated skyline.
About the Author

William Ivor Fowkes is a playwright and author based in Manhattan and Connecticut. His short fiction has been published in many literary journals. His plays have been presented in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Several have been published. Several have been broadcast on the radio. His full-length plays include ALL IN THE FACULTY (Dramatists Play Service), SUNSHINE QUEST (Fresh Fruit Festival), PRIVATE PROPERTY (The Players Ring), THE BEST PLACE WE’VE EVER LIVED (Love Creek Productions), COUPLE OF THE CENTURY (Downtown Urban Theater Festival), THE GERMAN LESSON (Great Plains Theatre Conference Playlabs), and others. His short plays include THE DAKOTA (Best Short Play, Downtown Urban Theater Festival), THE BRAZILIAN DILEMMA (First Prize, McLean Drama Company; film version by Collective NY Films), THE NEXT MOVE (Best New One-Act Play, Brevard Theater), THE SESSION (Pushcart Prize Nominee), TABLE MANNERS IN CHICAGOLAND (Winner, Nor’Eastern Play Writing Contest), AN ACCIDENT IN THE PARK (William Inge Theatre Festival), A REMARKABLE MAN (Gallery Players, Brooklyn), and others. He has been a FINALIST for the Reva Shiner Comedy Award (Bloomington Playwrights Project) and the W. Keith Hedrick Playwriting Contest (HRC Showcase Theatre) and a SEMI-FINALIST for the Playwrights First Award (National Arts Club), the Promising Playwright Award (Colonial Players, MD), and the Princess Grace Playwriting Award. He is a graduate of Yale University (B.A., magna cum laude) and Northwestern University (M.A., PhD) and a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Pulse Ensemble Theatre Playwrights’ Lab. He was formerly a philosophy professor and a marketing executive at several media companies, including Showtime and HBO. He is married to Stephen Michael Smith, a music conductor. His daughters, Laura and Julia, work in the fashion industry in New York City.

 
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THE GHOST KING

Welcome! Today I’m helping author Jeff Altabef launch his latest book, The Ghost King!

Who are Aalis, Wilkey & why are they going to war? Will there be more magic & mayhem in this second book? One of the best parts of this release is you can get both books for only 99c right now!

What else is so great about this release? This exclusive excerpt! There are 5 featured excerpts on this tour. One on the Novel Publicity page, one on Jeff Altabef’s Website, and 3 spread among the 20+ blogs that have helped Jeff with this release!

You can also enter this rafflecopter for a chance to win $50, signed paperbacks, or crown necklace!

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Special note for reviewers! If you reviewed the Ghost King or Red Death, email your review links to Naomi@novelpublicity.com & you’ll get entered for a $50 reviewer only prize!

About the Book

An Ancient Prophecy foretold.
An Evil haunts the land.
A battle looms against overwhelming odds.

Led by a powerful witch, a wild invading army threatens to tear the Soulless lands apart. To survive, the three tribes must join together, but old grievances and hatred divide them. Only Wilky can unite them, but when he glimpses the future, he sees only a glimmer of hope; too much of the future remains veiled in darkness.
As the battle approaches, King Dermot orders his brother, Eamon, to stay behind at the Stronghold and defend against a possible siege. Eamon, who took an oath to fight the invaders, defies his brother, risks everything, and plunges into a desperate race with Aaliss and Wilky to unite the tribes.
Enemies from all sides conspire against them. Only together can they hope to succeed against the witch who will stop at nothing to destroy them. Yet even united, they will need magic to defeat this enemy at their door.
As the battle looms, only one chance at survival remains–the Ghost King–but who is he, and what will be the price of their redemption?

About the Author

Jeff Altabef is an award-winning author who lives in New York with his wife, two daughters, and Charlie the dog. He spends time volunteering at the writing center in the local community college. After years of being accused of “telling stories,” he thought he would make it official. He writes in both the thriller and young adult genres. Fourteenth Colony, a political thriller, was his debut novel. Evolved Publishing has published Jeff’s second thriller, Shatter Point, which won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Fall 2014 in the category of Best Thriller.Jeff’s first young adult novel, Wind Catcher: A Chosen Novel will be published in March by Evolved Publishing. He’s extremely excited that his daughter, Erynn Altabef, is his co-author on the Chosen Series. As an avid Knicks fan, Jeff is prone to long periods of melancholy during hoops season. Jeff has a column on The Examiner focused on writing and a blog designed to encourage writing by those that like telling stories.

You can follow Jeff on Facebook, Twitter, or join his newsletter!

Ever wondered about the personalities behind your favorite books? Victoria Danann’s new podcast with Riley J. Ford has an incredible lineup of authors booked through the spring. No question is out of bounds. Check it out!

THIS WEEK’S BEST SELLING AUTHOR…

SHANNON MAYER!


A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I was born into a family of Star Wars nuts. I have a lot of siblings (somewhere I lost count but I think there was more than could be numbered on one hand) and being one of the young padawans I was subjected to Star Wars marathons, on a regular basis. If you’ve read any of my books you’ll see there is often a reference to said movies as a small homage to my upbringing. May the force be with you and all that jazz.
I started writing when I realized I didn’t want to grow up not believing in magic, or not believing in creatures everyone else said didn’t exist. That being said, I have never seen a fairy, unicorn or dragon. I had a neighbour who swore they fed the leprechauns in their garden, but I never caught the little buggers no matter how long I lay in wait. (And consequently had to help the neighbours plant new flowers to replace those I killed waiting for the leprechauns to show their faces.)
Along the way, I found my husband who is the rock that keeps me from floating away into my dreams, and we have a little boy who is the centre of our world. Living on a farm keeps us busy (as if the writing wasn’t enough) and I have more than my share of stories about wrestling with cows, helping birth calves and ending up in the creek during the process, falling in the mud (we’ll call it mud but we all know that on a farm, mud is rarely mud) and chasing escaped livestock in the hopes the four legged convicts don’t make it to the highway.
I’ve taken up archery, and the goal is to move into horseback archery in time (you know, when I can hit the target on a consistent basis) and when no one is looking, I love to bake (this doesn’t happen often as it’s hard to keep the sweet treats in stock with two boys in the house.)
As to what’s coming next for me? More stories (since those never stop inside my head, I might as well share them with all of you!) and more adventures. Pretty much, when the fancy strikes, I’ll jump on it. Leap before you look I’m sure that motto was created for me.
Or was that . . . think big and dream bigger, ready, set, pull the trigger . . . yeah. That one is a good one too. But only if you have a gun. And are hunting elephants. Which is not cool because of so many reasons. Let’s stick with the first one with an addendum.
Leap before you look and let your dreams carry you on their wings. And that, my friends, is me in a nutshell.

THE BONE CHURCH

In the surreal and paranoid underworld of wartime Prague, fugitive lovers Felix Andel and Magdalena Ruza make some dubious alliances – with a mysterious Roman Catholic cardinal, a reckless sculptor intent on making a big political statement, and a gypsy with a risky sex life.

As one by one their chances for fleeing the country collapse, the two join a plot to assassinate Hitler’s nefarious Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Josef Goebbels. But the assassination attempt goes wildly wrong, propelling the lovers in separate directions.

Felix’s destiny is sealed at the Bone Church, a mystical pilgrimage site on the outskirts of Prague, while Magdalena is thrust even deeper into the bowels of a city that betrayed her and a homeland soon to be swallowed by the Soviets. As they emerge from the shadowy fog of World War II, and stagger into the foul haze of the Cold War, Felix and Magdalena must confront the past, and a dangerous, uncertain future.

BONE CHURCHAMAZON THE BONE CHURCH is a Kindle Countdown Deal for only .99 cents! (Act fast, deal ends Monday, July 17 at 8:00 a.am)