Uncategorized – Page 39 – M.C.V. EGAN ❧Defining Ways❧

Nontraditional Plot Structures for Neurodiverse Writers

Published on April 17, 2025 by mariacatalinaeganLeave a comment

by Margie Pignataro

Genre: Nonfiction Literary Theory, Writer’s Guide

Check out the cover reveal for this free ebook that introduces neurodiverse writers (and neurotypical) to plot structures beyond the commonly used hero’s Journey. These plots are emotionally accessible, highly creative, and more “traditional” than you’d expect.

Nontraditional Plot Structures for Neurodiverse Writers

by Margie Pignataro

Genre: Nonfiction Literary Theory, Writer’s Guide

Born from a rejected dissertation proposal and reworked over the course of 15 years into a compelling exploration of narrative, Nontraditional Plot Structures for Neurodiverse Writers challenges conventional storytelling norms. This free ebook delves into how nontraditional plot structures resonate with neurodiverse writers, offering creative frameworks that align with their artistic and intellectual strengths—traits often mislabeled as obstacles.

Through engaging diagrams and dozens of links to free resources, this book examines storytelling across diverse mediums, from Oedipus the King to Squid Game, spanning novels, poetry, visual arts, television, film, theater, and even commercials. The Mona Lisa and Little Red Riding Hood provide illustrated and textual examples of each plot structure. Whether you’re a writer seeking fresh approaches or an artist questioning traditional narratives, this guide provides valuable insights into storytelling beyond the expected.

This ebook lays the groundwork for a forthcoming second edition, arriving next year, which will expand upon these ideas with deeper textual analyses, practical exercises, and hands-on guidance to help you craft your own unique narratives.

**Coming May 1st – and it’ll be FREE!!**

I have been writing with serious intent for thirty years. I’ve been published and produced multiple times. My education has focused on literary theory, theater history and criticism, as well as creative writing. I also sell my collage art in a Redbubble store.

I have been published as a playwright. I had articles about Shakespeare published, as well as blog pieces. I’ve self-published several novels and one book of poetry under the name Lady Ristretto. I have also worked as a freelance erotica writer with individual clients.

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The Pot of Gold at the Rainbow Cafe

Published on April 17, 2025April 12, 2025 by mariacatalinaeganLeave a comment

by Dan Chabot

Contemporary Fiction

Date Published: April 1, 2025

In a time when too much emphasis is on our past sins, instead of our many celebrated successes, The Pot of Gold at the Rainbow Café is a breath of fresh air. It’s a story that looks at what’s right with America, its big heart, and its kind and generous people. It is an inspiring, touching, humorous story about main-street America, still the land of opportunity and exceptionalism, where fairy-tale endings are still common. It’s a place where neighbors look out for each other, help each other, then pay it forward, pass their good fortune along. Just look around you. It still happens every day.

About the Author

Dan Chabot is a retired newspaper editor and columnist for a major metro daily, the Milwaukee Journal (now the Journal-Sentinel). For many years he presided over the paper’s most popular section, the Green Sheet, a daily compendium of entertaining feature stories, nostalgia, history, humor and whimsy. He is the author of several other novels and now lives in Florida.

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Cowboy Watch

Published on April 16, 2025April 2, 2025 by mariacatalinaegan2 Comments

The Watchers Book 1

by Petie McCarty

Genre: Paranormal Small-Town Romantic Suspense

Someone—or something—wants Kellen out of town . . .

Kellen Brand’s inheritance comes as a monumental shock—

a rundown farm she doesn’t want and one paroled Watcher all her own.

Cowboy Watch

The Watchers Book 1

by Petie McCarty

Genre: Paranormal Small-Town Romantic Suspense

The Watchers Series—

Fallen angels cast out of heaven by the archangel Michael for coercing with Satan to gain control. Some of these turncoats—duped late in the game by Satan’s lies—doubled back to seek redemption for their unwitting betrayal. Offered parole in exchange for penance, these Watchers are given the toughest bodyguard missions with little leeway for success.
One last chance.
These are their stories . . .

Someone—or something—wants Kellen out of town . . .

Kellen Brand’s inheritance comes as a monumental shock—a rundown farm she doesn’t want and one paroled Watcher all her own. Kellen’s eccentric mother believed Watchers to be fallen angels seeking penance by guarding individuals who had lost their way. Seriously? A Watcher?
Only her mother . . .

Since Kellen vows no sane woman would choose to live in Riverside, she’s on a mission to dump the old farm fast and to the first buyer who comes along. Unfortunately for her, the only buyer is a resort developer, spurned by a townful of objectors and one handsome cowboy—her neighbor, Luke Thornton. Luke must block Kellen’s farm sale or risk exposure of his own family’s secrets. He can ill afford his immediate and compelling attraction to his new neighbor.

Someone is watching Kellen, but not who she thinks. Someone deadly and intent on scaring her out of town. Or worse. Luke has a hellish choice to make—step in and rescue Kellen from her threats, or to protect his family, stand by and watch . . .

**On Sale for Only $1.99 for a limited time!**

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Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—”The Most Magical Place on Earth”—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her “day” job to write her stories full-time.

These days Petie spends her time writing new Cinderella series tales, her new The Watchers series, sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and more contemporary romance standalones to go along with her two previous releases—Any Fin For Love and Ambush in the Everglades.

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming Book 2 of The Watchers series, Christmas Watch.

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Thea

Published on April 15, 2025April 15, 2025 by mariacatalinaeganLeave a comment

by Genevieve Morrissey

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Poverty, prejudice, her mother’s addiction…in her quest for an education, 15-year-old Thea tries to navigate them all. But will a secret ultimately undermine her efforts?

Thea

by Genevieve Morrissey

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Oklahoma City, 1925

Fifteen-year-old Thea Carter lives in a small garage apartment—Thea’s seventh “home” in four years—provided by her alcoholic mother’s employer, the morose and enigmatic Dr. Hallam.

School is Thea’s refuge and she’s an excellent student, but the parasitic Mrs. Carter’s instability continually threatens her dream of getting a high school diploma. In an effort to keep her mother employed and the two of them housed, Thea secretly takes on much of her mother’s work while at the same time navigating adolescence, friendships, and first love.

Dr. Hallam, impressed by her drive and intelligence, becomes Thea’s unexpected ally, but in addition to wealth and position, the doctor also has a secret that could ruin him, and shatter his bond with Thea.

“Thea is a coming-of-age tale with a lot of heart and charm. Author Genevieve Morrissey has written a moving story about a young girl’s journey of self-discovery…. Morrissey’s characters truly leap off the pages….. It’s a fantastic coming-of-age story for young adults and even older readers!”

– Reader’s Favorite Review

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Thea is the new historical novel by Genevieve Morrissey, author of the award-winning Marriage & Hanging and the popular Antlands science fiction series. She is an avid student of British and American social history who, through one of those strange little quirks of fate, spends most of her days talking with scientists. In addition to writing, Genevieve enjoys reading obscure books, travel, and solitude.

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Warpath

Published on April 15, 2025April 12, 2025 by mariacatalinaeganLeave a comment

by Bill Runner

An Axel Blaze Crime Action Thriller

Action Adventure; Military thrillers; Vigilante justice

Date Published: April 10, 2025

A cartel kingpin. A botched raid. A blood-soaked vendetta.

When Mexico’s deadliest cartel, La Manada, spills blood on American soil, Delta Force Captain Axel Blaze gets the call. His mission: capture cartel boss Javier Salazar and crush his empire. No red tape. No half-measures.

But when an ambush forces Blaze to pull back stateside, the cartel takes the fight across the border—hitting civilians, targeting officials, daring him to respond.

Now, it’s personal. This time, it’s not about taking prisoners—it’s about ending threats. Blaze is coming for Salazar, and he won’t stop until La Manada is nothing but a smoldering memory.

About the Author

Bill Runner cut his teeth as an investigative journalist, plunging into the gritty underbelly of crime, before turning to writing edge-of-your-seat thrillers. Raised on a steady diet of westerns and lone ranger sagas, Bill’s real-life encounters with rogues and heroes shaped his electrifying protagonist, Axel Blaze. An adrenaline junkie at heart, Bill is a seasoned mountain climber and paraglider, and also a lifelong student of martial arts. Working the crime beat and studying the art of fighting honed his skills to craft pulse-pounding thrillers, renowned for their razor-sharp action sequences. You can find out more about Bill at his FB profile under the name Bill Runner Author.

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Shattered Compass

Published on April 14, 2025April 12, 2025 by mariacatalinaeganLeave a comment

by Lenore Greiner

A Memoir of Loss, Escape, and Renewal

Memoir

Date Published: June 11, 2025

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

How does a young woman cope when she cannot speak the truth?

When nineteen-year-old Lenore experiences sexual assault while studying abroad in Italy, her entire world shifts. Survival becomes the focus of her daily life, physical illness grabs control of her body, and no one can free her from her pain. A ghost of herself, she takes the path of denial, believing it’s the only way to protect her loved ones and herself from her harsh reality.

On her journey toward peace, she assumes the expected roles of mother and wife, but a traumatic diagnosis puts her at a crossroads. She must start living the life she wants or roam her days as a victim in the chaos of fear. Lenore’s escape through travel allows her to reconcile the imprisonment she’s suffered over the years.

However, when another family tragedy strikes, Lenore understands she must finally come to terms with the silence she’s kept. But what if one incident that happened decades ago is too destructive, too deep to be excavated? Will she be able to find herself in the rubble? Or will she be lost forever?

About the Author

Award-winning travel writer Lenore Greiner grew up in Marin County where, at thirteen, she began her writing journey as a lifelong journal keeper.

At nineteen, her passion for adventure led her to Italy’s heart to study at the University for Foreigners in Perugia and immerse herself in the language and culture. There, the seeds of her memoir were sown.

Lenore has garnered eight prestigious Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing and was honored in Best American Travel Writing 2013, edited by Elizabeth Gilbert. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Fodor’s travel guides, and three volumes of Shaking the Tree, an annual anthology curated by the International Memoir Writers Association.

A graduate of UC Davis, Lenore married her college sweetheart, and they now call Southern California home. They share two kids, two kayaks, and too many rambunctious grandkids.

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Revary

Published on April 11, 2025April 11, 2025 by mariacatalinaeganLeave a comment

by Abigail Linhardt

Genre: YA Epic Fantasy Adventure

What if we could be the heroes we pretend to be?

Revary

by Abigail Linhardt

Genre: YA Epic Fantasy Adventure

In a small Midwestern town, Celeste and her friends find escape from the pressures of senior year through their tabletop roleplaying games. But when Celeste stumbles upon a way to actually enter their imagined realm, fantasy becomes a reality.

Suddenly, the friends find themselves living out their greatest adventure. In Revary, they can be anyone they want: brave warriors, powerful mages, or cunning rogues. But as they explore this magical world of their own creation, they discover it is threatened by a mysterious force that is causing the fantastic world to vanish into darkness.

With Revary in peril and tensions rising in their world, Celeste and her friends must navigate the blurring lines between imagination and reality. As they fight to save their creation, they’ll confront fantastical dangers and the real-life issues they’ve been avoiding.

“Revary is a spellbinding journey that explores the power of friendship, the courage to face reality, and the magic of storytelling.” –ARC Review

**NEW RELEASE!!**

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Abi works part-time as a freelance ghostwriter, editor, audiobook narrator, and is one half of the partnership that owns Altered Reality Magazine. She hopes to one day make these passions her full-time job while she hunts for the next bohemian adventure.

She has published works of fiction, poetry, academia, and even won awards for her short stories in science fiction and horror. Her novel, The Trial of Two, was named an Honorable Mention in the Writer’s Digest 2021 self-publishing awards and won first place in the dark fantasy category in The BookFest Awards. Abi is also a proud mom of ferrets. She currently resides in Kansas.

She is one of nine children–all of whom share the creative spark.

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Stone of Doubt

Published on April 11, 2025March 17, 2025 by mariacatalinaeganLeave a comment

Stones of Iona Book 5

by Margaret Izard

Genre: Time Travel, Paranormal Romance

In the absence of doubt, only faith is found.

Stone of Doubt

Stones of Iona Book 5

by Margaret Izard

Genre: Time Travel, Paranormal Romance

A human with Fae powers living like an oddball has its ups and downs until Evie MacDougall’s dream Fae boy pops back into her life after she thought another was “the one.” One dark and devilish, the other her long-lost love. Evil forces trap her for a magic Fae stone, but which man can she trust?

As a teen prophesied to be Fae king, Aodhán viewed the girl of his dreams through an Eye of Ra. Once, he risked all to help Evie MacDougall find a magic Fae stone, only to end up imprisoned. Kept from his true love for years, he finds her at risk from an evil Fae hunting a magic stone.

Is a single vow strong enough to save true love, to save the human and Fae realms?

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**Don’t miss the other books in the series!**

Previous books in the series, Stone of Love, book 1, Brielle and Colin’s 18^th century Scottish story. Stone of Fear, Book 2, Marie and John’s 13^th century Scottish story. Stone of Lust, Book 3, Ainslie and Rannick’s Viking tale. Thistle in the Mistletoe featuring a couple in the past from Stone of Love.

Next in the series: Holly and Ivy, a Christmas companion book. Stone of Faith, book 6. Stone of Destiny, book 7. Evergreen Evermore, a Christmas companion book.

This series leads into another connected series, Dragons of Tantallon, a dragon-shapeshifter series revolving around the magic Iona Stones.

Find them HERE!

Margaret Izard is a multi-award-winning author of historical fantasy and paranormal romance novels. She spent her early years through college to adulthood dedicated to dance, theater, and performing. Over the years, she developed a love for great storytelling in different mediums. She does not waste a good story, be it movement, the spoken, or the written word. She discovered historical romance novels in middle school, which combined her passion for romance, drama, and fantasy. She writes exciting plot lines, steamy love scenes and always falls for a strong male with a soft heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and adult triplets and loves to hear from readers.

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Downeyoshun

Published on April 10, 2025April 2, 2025 by mariacatalinaegan1 Comment

by Art Young

Genre: Recent Historical Family Fiction

A not-always-sentimental vacation to the ’50s, ’60s, ‘and ’70s. Bring your swimsuit.

Downeyoshun

by Art Young

Genre: Recent Historical Family Fiction

Sally Osterhoff is a genius. When she grows up, she wants to be a mathematician, a teacher, and a carpenter; and she plans to swim in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.

Her mother has other ideas, and will emotionally and physically abuse Sally to fit them. After all, she only wants what is best for her child. But between her father trying his best, the family next door who practically adopts her, and her Aunt & Uncle down in Ocean City where she spends her summers, Sally just might have the support and love she needs to make all of her dreams come true.

Set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights struggles, the Vietnam War, and the early Feminist movement, the story explores the power of found family, and how unconditional love can come from the least expected places. Downeyoshun is a not-always-sentimental vacation to the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Bring your swimsuit.

Praise about the book:

“Arthur Young will introduce you to a special world, East Baltimore, and its vacation spot, Ocean City, with his warm Downeyoshun. Not that life is perfect – not all mothers are kind, and the VietNam war casts a shadow. But you’ll feel as if you’ve met new friends as you follow his characters through the challenges of growing up. In his skillful telling, the fabric of a family and a neighborhood comes to life. You may even find yourself becoming a Baltimore Hon!”

–Pamela Zerba, Contributor Atheists in America, Writer, Creative York Contest Winner

“Be prepared to fall in love with one of the most endearing literary characters of the century thus far. Ultimately, this is a book about family, the one you’re stuck with and the one you make. By the end, Sally will feel like part of yours. You will thoroughly enjoy your trip Downeyoshun.”

-Robert Akridge, Writer

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Art Young is a Baltimore-born U.S. Navy / Vietnam / Agent Orange veteran and cancer survivor. He was once a carny in a traveling gadget show, and has worked as a fire-extinguishing-system installer and serviceman, a brewery’s route delivery salesman, flexographic press operator, licensed boiler-plant engineer, and a storyteller. He much prefers the last.

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Shadowed Skies

Published on April 10, 2025March 27, 2025 by mariacatalinaegan2 Comments

by Haley Cavanagh

Genre: YA Clean Dystopian SciFi Fantasy Romance

His mountain solitude shattered.

Her lab prison escaped.

Together they’ll find refuge or die trying.

Shadowed Skies

by Haley Cavanagh

Genre: YA Clean Dystopian SciFi Fantasy Romance

Hunted for their blood. Fighting for their future.

River

He’s the last of his kind, a winged warrior hidden in the mountains. River Shaw has lost everything: his sanctuary, the only shield from a world that fears and hunts him. When Delene, another of his kind, crash-lands into his life, wounded and on the run, his solitude is shattered.

Delene

She’s a fugitive with a secret, escaping the clutches of dark forces that took everything from her. Delene Fairborne’s flight to freedom leads her to River and the spark of a bond neither can deny.

In a landscape scarred by betrayal and danger, River and Delene must navigate their growing feelings and the sinister scientist who will stop at nothing to harness their power. Shadowed Skies is where love takes wing, hope soars, and destiny entwines. Dive into a world where every heartbeat is a rebellion, every glance a promise, and every flight a taste of freedom.

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Haley Cavanagh is a military veteran, wife, and mother. She was awarded the League of Utah Writers 2020 Silver Quill Award for Retaliation, the second novel in her Oceanstone Initiative series. Haley is an alumna of Columbia College, a musical theater nut, and she loves to dive into any book that crosses her path. Haley resides with her family in the United States and enjoys spending time with her husband and children when she’s not writing. She loves to hear from her readers and encourages you to contact her via her website and social media.

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