Synopsis

 

Perestroika overthrows communist regimes in Europe.

In the People’s Republic of Slavia, the former leaders are trying to survive the new times while their victims seek revenge.

Former President Alfred Ionescu is placed in an asylum he himself built. Zut Zdanov, the head of culture, is confronted with his child abuse. Helena Yava, responsible for education, wants to avenge her lover’s death. Igor Olin, responsible for the economy, fights for his disabled son to have a dignified life. Art historian Silvia Lenka wants to know who her parents are. Lia Kirchner, the daughter of a painter who died in a re-education camp, wants to know the truth.

Having as a binding element Pilate’s question to Jesus, “What is truth?” Perestroika is a novel of revenge, redemption, and catharsis inspired by recent European history.

 

Winner of the 2023 Historical Fiction Company Book of the Year
Bronze Medal in the 2023 Latino Book Awards
Finalist in the 2021 Eyland Awards
Finalist in the 2021 Fiction Factory
Excerpt nominated for the Pushcart Prize 2023

 

 

Amazon

 

Read for Free via Kindle Unlimited

 

 

 

Excerpt

 

Introduction

 

Slavia is a country with an area of 40,000 square kilometres, situated between Poland, the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Austria. Its capital is Tiers. It has four million inhabitants, and its main resources are natural gas, copper, and timber. Founded in the thirteenth century, it was ruled by a succession of monarchs until 1940, when the Nazis invaded it. After its liberation in 1945, Slavia became part of the Eastern Bloc dominated by the Soviet Union.

Since 1950, on the death of the former president, Alfred Ionescu has governed Slavia. His most important cabinet ministers are Pietr Schwartz, the Chief of the Secret Police, Igor Olin, the People’s Commissar for the Economy, Zut Zdanhov, the People’s Commissar for Culture and Propaganda, and Helena Yava, the People’s Commissar for Education.

The regime controls the economy, the courts, and the forces of law and order. It uses social media, cinema, theatre, art, and sport as propaganda tools for its citizens’ indoctrination. The regime banned religion and closed the churches. Elections are not free, and neither freedom of expression nor any individual initiative is permitted, nor even the publication of books and newspapers unless a committee of censors has approved them. Citizens receive ration cards with which they can purchase goods in the shops, and they need a visa for permission to leave the country. Dissidents are persecuted and sent to labour camps for re-education, turning them into enslaved people.

 

 

About the Author

 

João Cerqueira holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Porto.

He is the author of nine books, which have been published in eight countries: Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, England, the United States, Brazil, and Argentina.

He won the 2020 Indie Reader Awards, the 2014 Global ebook Awards, and the 2013 USA Best Book Awards.

 

Website * Facebook * X(Twitter) * LinkedIn * Goodreads

 

 

TO THE REPUBLIC

 

The Republic Series, Book One

 

By Bruce Clavey

 

 

Publication Date: October 26th, 2020

Pages: 394 pages

Categories: Hispanic American Fiction / Political Fiction

 

 

Scroll for Giveaway!

 

 

 

 

A novel for our times. A saga for the ages.

 

On the eve of passing landmark immigration legislation, the entire Texas Senate and its native Tejano leader, Diego Reyes, vanish suddenly from Austin. When news of the disappearance hits West Texas, cowboy Del Woodward isn’t shocked. He knows exactly where the lawmakers are, but he’s not telling. Woody’s been down on his luck, and a shady bargain he’s made puts him tight in the squeeze of Marcos Cepeda, north Mexico’s ruthless drug lord. And Cepeda’s furious with this new stall in the bill. It’s got a loophole he can exploit to add another quarter million square miles of exclusive turf to his cartel—but that territory goes back up for grabs if leader Reyes can’t pass the bill before the Senate session expires in mere days. The brutal kingpin wants what he’s bought and compels Woody to step up. How the cowboy swings the vote isn’t important to Cepeda, but this sure is: if Woody breathes so much as a word of reluctance, it’ll be his last. The prize is Texas, nothing less. It’s real, and it’s on.

The Republic Series launches from true pages of the Lone Star frontera story into a hauntingly modern arena of trade, trafficking, and tradition on the Rio Grande in To The Republic: BOOK ONE.

 

An Amazon #1 New Release in History of U.S. Immigration

 

 

Amazon * Author Website

 

 

 

 

Prologue, Part Two from

 

TO THE REPUBLIC

 

By Bruce Clavey

 

Read part one of the Prologue at All the Ups and Downs

 

The waitress, a girl made-up to seem more than fifteen, edged through the packed cantina and deposited his two cold Carta Blancas in front of him. The cowboy slid one of the bottles across the table top to the empty chair beside him, then tipped the other to his lips. A couple Americans in their twenties, good old boys, ogled the girl as she squeezed past them on her way back to the register. The Mexican men sitting nearby shrugged off the rudeness as a tariff on the economic lift, microscopic as it had become, that the American dollar brought to the border. Tourists just weren’t coming like they used to.

The cantina—a rest-room sized dive with barely enough wall space to retain a kitchen, bar, sixteen patrons, and incessant transistor radio hiss—had two doors, and the cowboy watched them both intently. He’d entered from the street through one of them just a moment ago, and now a couple of poor minstrels with hardly the skill or garb to be thought true mariachi came in through the other that connected the bar to a courtyard of souvenir tiendas. He fished a five out of his wallet to reward them for a gritty rendering of Guantanamera.

When he turned back to his table, a Latino, rail-thin and dressed for casual business, stood beside the vacant chair. Eyeing the cowboy, the dark stranger took a draw on the spare beer and thunked the bottle down. In fluid motion, he donned Giorgio Armani shades and ducked out as smoothly as he had appeared, past the mariachi and into the court. The cowboy dropped another five on the table and slipped out behind.

Caught in the updraft of the smaller man, he hastened across a quadrangle of shops that hawked wares of ceramic, onyx, and hemp—trappings of Old Mexico destined for display in hallowed gringo halls. He continued through a narrow alley past grungy pay toilets and out onto a side street off the main avenue. The stranger could only have walked on air to gain such distance, as he was half a block in front by the time he rounded the next corner.

Moments later the cowboy made the same turn and halted abruptly. The man stood right before him.

“Buenas tardes,” the Mexican said. Though polite, he was quick to action, gripping the cowboy by the upper arm and leading him to a vintage car parked at the corner. “Both hands there, please?” he said in broken English, pointing at the car trunk.

“A’ight.”

The cowboy leaned his fingertips to the lacquered finish, admiring the total refurbishment of the vehicle. The man patted him down quickly along the arms and ribs, moved respectfully along the inner thighs. Another stood near: black buttoned shirt, dark jeans cinched with an oval belt buckle, gawdy and gold, boots tipped in polished metal lace, shaved bald. Pure welterweight.

“’59 Rambler,” the cowboy quipped. “You believe I used to have one of these?”

“Maybe it was this one,” the first stranger said in dry humor. He hoisted the cowboy back upright and clapped his shoulder. “Get in.”

His muscled partner opened the back door, waited as the cowboy bowed inside, then piled in beside him.

The stranger ducked into the driver seat. He tossed a small cloth wad into the back.

“Put this on.”

The muscled one untangled a stringed item with his meaty fingers and handed it to the cowboy: a blindfold.

Moving his De Soto to his lap, the cowboy wrapped on the blindfold, and his world darkened. His head jiggled as a ski mask got socked over it all. As the car lurched off, the world of sound came suddenly to life.

They bounced a bit on the unimproved side roads. At times he felt the wheels hit a patch of pavement, then return to pitted alleys. The car made frequent turns, an obvious attempt to twist their location to the cowboy’s reckoning, a totally unnecessary exercise.

“Call him Maracas,” the stranger said after a while. “You don’t use his name. He don’t use yours.”

“Do you have a name? ”

“El Flaco.”

“Skinny?” The cowboy smiled under his hood. “Wonder why that.”

Flaco snickered. “And he—El Apestoso.”

The cowboy stuck out a palm out blindly. “Pleasure, Stinky.” It went unclasped.

“He don’t speak English.”

The car had exited the labyrinth at the pueblo’s center and zoomed free for minutes; now they slowed again and resumed the lattice driving pattern. Suddenly, they braked hard, and Flaco killed the engine.

“Don’t take it off yet,” he advised.

Apestoso climbed out of the car and rounded the back. The next thing the cowboy knew, his door was open and the henchman was raising him out by the arm. He wondered what a hooded captive looked like to anyone’s stray glimpse, or if they were just jaded to such sights. But he heard no noise of humans, just road sounds from what seemed a couple blocks away.

“No te pares,” Flaco ordered softly. “Just stick close.”

And with that, they were off walking single-file in the direction of the low traffic prattle.

They were still in a developed area. Weeds that grew up through cracks in the walk swished against his pant legs and his soles crunched on gritty pavement. From the close sound of his own footfall, he could tell they had entered a narrow outdoor corridor between buildings. His footing was fine, but the heavy hand of his seat mate remained on his shoulder the whole time.

Flaco stopped suddenly before they reached the next corner. The story told itself now: a double-rap on a thin wooden door, the jangle of pocketed keys, a creak of old hinges. The cowboy stifled an urge to chuckle; it sounded like the rickety low door of his outbuilding back in Ruidosa. Whatever the hell he was doing here in Nuevo now, it was the real deal.

Once inside, his hosts wasted no time. He heard the gasp of chair legs dragging the hard mud floor, then one of them guided him a few steps over to it and urged him down. The hood was pulled gently from his head, but the blindfold left in place. Other foot scuffle met his ears, and the door squeaked again. The latch clicked as it was pulled shut.

Dead quiet fell on the room.

 

The story continues in TO THE REPUBLIC: BOOK ONE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruce Clavey of Round Rock, Texas writes with a passion for exploring the Latin heritage tucked in cultural corners throughout Texas, Mexico, and Central America. In 2017, Clavey’s research into perspectives on state history led to his onsite rediscovery of the Mexico City dungeon where the colonial “Father of Texas” was imprisoned, documented in his book “The Inquisition of Stephen F. Austin.” His interest to illuminate compelling historic junctures brought the creation of several feature dramatizations for state museum in-exhibit performance. Clavey’s release of Book One of “To the Republic” in 2020 begins the journey of Texas and Mexican characters who confront the pressure points at today’s vibrant river border, a land that has functioned for centuries as both international gateway and barrier.

 

Amazon | Website | Goodreads | Facebook

 

 

 

———————————————————————————————-

 

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

 

THREE WINNERS each receive a prize pack including:

 

Autographed paperback copy of To the Republic;

 

unisex tee with the “Texas Forever” design;

 

baseball cap stitched with the “Texas Forever” design;

 

ceramic lapel pin with the “Mano de Tejas” design;

 

vinyl 5” decal with the “Mano deTejas” design.

 

US only. Giveaway ends midnight, CDT, May 7, 2021

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

 

 

Visit the Lone Star Literary Life Tour Page

For direct links to each stop on this tour, updated daily,

Or visit the blogs directly:

 

 

4/27/21	Promo	It’s Not All Gravy
4/27/21	Character Interview	Forgotten Winds
4/27/21	BONUS Promo	LSBBT Blog
4/28/21	Author Video	Chapter Break Book Blog
4/29/21	Playlist	Hall Ways Blog
4/29/21	Review	The Clueless Gent
4/30/21	Review	Reading by Moonlight
5/1/21	Excerpt, Part 1	All the Ups and Downs
5/2/21	Excerpt, Part 2	StoreyBook Reviews
5/3/21	Review	Jennie Reads
5/3/21	Promo	Missus Gonzo
5/4/21	Series Spotlight	That’s What She’s Reading
5/5/21	Sneak Peek	Texas Book Lover
5/5/21	Review	Book Fidelity
5/6/21	Review	Librariel Book Adventures
5/6/21	Review	Momma on the Rocks

 

 

 

 

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Book Title: Midnight Black by R. J. Eastwood

 

Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 282 pages

 

Genre: General Fiction, Political

 

Publisher: Indies United Publishing House

 

Release date: April 14, 2021

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

“When plunder becomes a way of life for men, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” Frederic Bastiat, French Economist. 1801-1850

Fifteen years following his imprisonment for committing a brutal revenge murder, former top DEA Agent Billy Russell is paroled five-years early to a world controlled by autocratic billionaires. Armed only with his wits, Billy returns to a society fighting for its very survival and soon finds himself embroiled in the wildest conspiracy he could have ever imagined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Post

 

Before I retired and began writing books, I wrote and directed motion picture screenplays as well as more cable network documentaries than I care to remember—one-hundred & forty hours-worth, to be exact. Eight of my screenplays made it to the big screen.

Now, not all motion picture screenplays are created equal. By that I mean some never get made into films. That’s just the nature of the business. That was the case of two of my screenplays, both of which I turned into novels—twice.

The first was In the Realm of Eden, based on my screenplay about what first contact between humans and aliens might be like. Eventually, I added to it and retitled it and published it as The Autopsy of Planet Earth. It went on to win four book awards and is still selling.

The second screenplay that didn’t make it too the silver screen was about a near future society paying a severe price for the failures of earlier societies. That was published as Midnight Black – The Purge. It was written before the events of 2020 and early 2021: the polarized political situation, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the horrible pandemic that spread pain, suffering, and death throughout the world. I was compelled to revise and expand the novel to include those event as well as other events that had occurred since the original book had been published. This time I simply titled it Midnight Black.

Writing screenplays and documentaries bears no resemblance to a novel. For me, the learning curve was at times arduous. Movie scripts, for example, set a location, provide a bit of motivation, and lots of dialogue. The rest is left up to the director’s imagination and the talent of the actors. Documentaries are voice overs and on-camera interviews. Both are visual, books are not. I had to learn to flesh out scenes that readers could clearly visualize in their heads. I also had to show restraint and not spell out everything in minute detail. I had to demonstrate respect for readers, providing just enough information that would allow their imaginations to take it from there. I believe that’s part of the fun of reading. And yet, not so easy.

However, once I got into it, I loved it. For the first time in my writing career, I was able to let my imagination and creativity sour beyond the restrictions of a 120-130-page screenplay or a one-hour documentary. I retained my screenplay storyline and characters just as I had originally written, so the characters, plot, and structure remained the same. Although, once I began, like many first-time novel writers, I tended to overwrite, using far more words than were needed to set the scene and flesh out the characters. I had to learn to tell the story cleanly without trying to emulate Shakespeare. My editor was also a great help in helping me find my voice and not someone else’s.

Now I working on two new novels based not on unproduced screenplay, but on original ideas. I’m ready, I’ve found my “novel” voice, and now the words just flow—thank goodness.

With the April 14^th publication of the revised and expanded Midnight Black, I have now authored nine books, five of which were non-fiction along the way. When I get up in the morning, I can’t wait to get to the computer and begin working. It brings me so much joy. How lucky I am.

 

 

About the Author

 

During his film and television career, Robert J. Emery, who writes novels under the pen name, R. J. Eastwood, has written, produced, and directed feature motion pictures, television documentaries, national television commercials, political campaigns, and industrial films. Some of the highlights of his career include the award-winning ninety-one-episode television series The Directors for Starz/Encore, the award-winning four-part mini-series, The Genocide Factor for PBS, the award-winning documentary For God & Country: A Marine Sniper’s Story for MSNBC, and the award-winning motion picture, Swimming Upstream, for the Lifetime Television Network.

 

 

Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads

 

 

Giveaway

 

Win 1 of 5 copies of MIDNIGHT BLACK (ebook) (5 winners)(ends May 4)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

OPERATION NAVAJO:

 

A Tracker Novel

 

by

 

Anita Dickason

 

 

Genre: Suspense / Political Thriller / Crime Fiction

Publisher: Mystic Circle Books

Date of Publication: August 30, 2020

Number of Pages: 320 pages

 

Scroll down for Giveaway!

 

 

 

 

“Whoever controls the flow of the money supply, irrespective of whether it’s fiat or gold currency is the one to fear.”

The imminent launch of the Feds gold-backed currency triggers more than fierce protests when a note is dropped into Federal Reserve Chairman Frank Littleton’s coat pocket. The cryptic message is a warning someone plans to assassinate him.

A new Tracker agent and financial crimes expert joins forces with an undercover Interpol agent to infiltrate the inner sanctum of the Federal Reserve. The case turns deadly when the agents become the target for an assassin’s bullet.

Stalked by a killer, can they survive to stop the assassination and prevent a global financial cataclysm?

 

 

 

 

Amazon US│ Amazon Canada │Amazon UK

 

Kobo│ Barnes and Noble

 

Book Depository

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operation Navajo–Book Trailer #2 by Award Winning Author Anita Dickason from Anita Dickason on Vimeo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXCERPT, PART TWO

 

FROM OPERATION NAVAJO

 

BY ANITA DICKASON

 

(Watch Part 1 of the Video Excerpt on That’s What She’s Reading)

 

 

 

Operation Navajo Excerpt-Part 2 by Award-Winning Author Anita Dickason from Anita Dickason on Vimeo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Award-winning Author Anita Dickason is a twenty-two veteran of the Dallas Police Department. She served as a patrol officer, undercover narcotics detective, advanced accident investigator, tactical officer and first female sniper on the Dallas SWAT team.

Anita writes about what she knows, cops and crime. Her police background provides an unending source of inspiration for her plots and characters. Many incidents and characters portrayed in her books are based on personal experience. For her, the characters are the fun part of writing as she never knows where they will take her. There is always something out of the ordinary in her stories.

In Anita’s debut novel, Sentinels of the Night, she created an elite FBI Unit, the Trackers. Since then, she has added three more Tracker crime thrillers, Going Gone!, A u 7 9, and Operation Navajo. The novels are not a series and can be read in any order.

As a Texas author, many of Anita’s books are based in Texas, or there is a link to Texas. When she stepped outside of the Tracker novels and wrote, Not Dead, she selected Meridian, a small community in central Texas for the location.

 

 Website  ◆  Facebook  ◆  Twitter

 

 Amazon ◆ Goodreads

 

Pinterest ◆  LinkedIn  ◆ Vimeo

 

 

—————————————

 

GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

 

 THREE WINNERS 

 

GRANDPRIZE: All four of the TRACKER novels

 

2^ND PRIZE: Copy of OPERATION NAVAJO

 

3^RD PRIZE: e-book of OPERATION NAVAJO

 

Giveaway ends Midnight, CST, January 30, 2021

 

(US only)

 

 

 

 

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Visit the Lone Star Literary Life Tour Page

 

For direct links to each post on this tour, updated daily,

 

or visit the blogs directly:

 

 

1/20/21	Guest Post	Hall Ways Blog
1/21/21	Review	The Clueless Gent
1/22/21	Review	Tangled in Text
1/23/21	Excerpt	That’s What She’s Reading
1/24/21	Excerpt	StoreyBook Reviews
1/25/21	Review	Forgotten Winds
1/26/21	Guest Post	Chapter Break Book Blog
1/27/21	Series Spotlight	All the Ups and Downs
1/28/21	Review	The Obsessed Reader
1/29/21	Review	Reading by Moonlight

 

 

 

 

 

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A VOTE IS A POWERFUL THING

 

By CATHERINE STIER

 

Illustrated by Courtney Dawson

 

Children’s Picture Book / American Historical Fiction / Elections and Voting

Ages 4-7

Publisher: Albert Whitman and Company

Date of Publication: September 1, 2020

Number of Pages: 32

 

 

Scroll down for the giveaway!

 

 

 

 

Callie knows there’s a presidential election coming up, and people will soon vote to decide the country’s leader.

Her class is having an election too, about an issue that affects them all–the class field trip. Should they choose the cookie factory or the wilderness park?

Join Callie as she campaigns for the wilderness park she loves and learns how people have organized, marched, and protested for the right to vote. And find out how a vote–even just one vote–can make a difference!

 

 

 

 

The Twig Book Shop ║ IndieBound

 

 

Barnes and Noble ║ Amazon

 

 

Praise

 

“Gets the job done.” ―Kirkus Reviews

 

“A galvanizing read for children interested in politics or parents who hope to instill such interests.” ―Publishers Weekly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catherine Stier is the author of several awarding-winning children’s books. Her titles include If I Were President, If I Ran for President, If I Were a Park Ranger, and the A Dog’s Day chapter-book series. In grade school, Catherine ran a class campaign for student council with handmade signs, and, although she didn’t win, she found the process exciting! She went on to earn an MA in reading and literacy from the University of Texas at San Antonio and has conducted children’s literature research. She now resides with her husband in San Antonio and volunteers at a local wilderness park.

 

 

 

 

Facebook ║ Twitter ║ Instagram ║ Amazon ║ Website

 

 

 

 

———————– 

 

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! 

 

ONE WINNER: Copies of each of the three election-series books;

patriotic socks, button, and pencils; plus a $15 gift card to The Twig Book Shop. 

 

September 4-10, 2020 

 

(US ONLY)

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Visit the Lone Star Literary Life Tour Page for direct links to each post on this tour.

 

 

 

 

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Synopsis

Frank Baltimore is a bit of a loser, struggling by as a carpenter and handyman in rural New England when he gets his big break, building a mansion in the executive suburbs of Hartford. One of his workers is a charismatic eighteen-year-old kid from Liverpool, Dmitry, spending his summer before university in the US. Dmitry is a charming sociopath, who develops a fascination with his autodidactic philosopher boss, perhaps thinking that, if he could figure out what made Frank tick, he could be less of a pig. Dmitry heads to Asia and makes a neo-imperialist fortune as an investment banker, leaving a trail of corpses in his wake. When Dmitry’s office building in Taipei explodes in an enormous fireball, Frank heads to Asia, meets Dmitry’s wife, and things go from bad to worse.

A literary thriller about misogyny, unembarrassed rapacity, and unrestrained capitalism, Born Slippy will appeal to fans of Elmore Leonard, Patricia Highsmith, and Edward St. Aubyn.

 

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * IndieBound * Powell’s

 

Excerpt

2013

 

The blast was felt for blocks. The concussion, the shattering glass, the rip of steel, the roar of falling concrete. The thick, evil odor lasted for days, as crews dug through the rubble and gathered debris-encrusted body parts. Passersby choked on the dust. Frank, when he first saw the images online, felt like he had been there, like the explosion was memory, not a photograph.

He had seen the building, the Credit Lyonnais branch in Taipei, only once, months before, during a brief, very distracted visit to see Dmitry, who was the head of their office there, or head of the region. It had been his first time in Asia. They had stopped in front of the building on Frank’s way out of town, that was all.
But when the Taipei Times website came up on his normal breakfast internet rounds, he immediately recognized the “before” picture. He felt shredded, felt the guilt of all survivors, obsessed with the cruel idea that he could have prevented it.

Which was ridiculous, he knew. Only Dmitry could have.

Something had caught up with him, Frank thought later that day — Dmitry’s voracious rapacity had finally met its match. He didn’t know how, or who, but he knew its karmic inevitability. Al Jazeera turned up some shaky video the next day, accompanied by the idea that separatist Xinjiang Muslims were responsible, which Frank thought unlikely — Dmitry had, by his own account, made many enemies, lots of them much closer to home. The video showed smoke blowing out of what had once been ten or twelve gleaming stories, now not much more than a maw, spewing black and noxious billows.

Did he see it coming? Like sharks and chum, like the Three Stooges with a ladder, like falling in love where you shouldn’t — Frank knew as well as anyone how stories start and how they end. This fiery mess, or something like it, was bound to happen. He had been expecting it for years.

He blamed himself, if not for everything, for not doing better. After all, he was the one who pretended to be Dmitry’s conscience. He was the one not paying attention, the one who had forsaken his duty, the one who had reneged on the implicit bargain he had made those many years earlier, without telling anyone, without telling Dmitry — without even telling himself. He was supposed to fix Dmitry. But he didn’t. He was inconstant.

He was, after all, the one who fell in love with Dmitry’s wife. He’d set some kind of bomb, too.

Frank Baltimore had first met Dmitry Heald on a building site in the Connecticut hills a dozen years earlier, when the eighteen-year-old Dmitry had come to America — in his Liverpudlian accent it sounded like Ameriker — trailing whatever dusty innocence he might still have had, looking for a little work, wanting to earn some quick money and then wander around for the rest of the summer doing a low- rent grand tour, reeling through the Big Lonesome West, as he always called it. Then he’d fly back to England for university: Leeds or Reading, Frank could never remember which, and didn’t know what the names meant, where they were on the status hierarchy — Ivy League-ish? Loserville? Frank had never gone to college. He had tried once, failed, quit. He had a chip on his shoulder about it, he knew.

He was a kid himself back then, having just turned twenty-eight. Like many people approaching thirty he was haunted by a sense that time was short, that he might remain an irredeemable failure into the flaky, moldy decrepitude that lurked around the bend. This house he was building was his big break, his move up from what he had always called a remodeling business, even though he had been nothing but a glorified handyman. This new house, nestled in the woods at the advancing edge of Hartford’s northwestern insurance-executive suburbs, had been his move into actual contractorland. He never made billions, like Dmitry did, but in the end he did all right. And, he said to himself, looking at the mayhem on his computer screen, he did it without killing or maiming anyone, either.

 

About the Author

Tom Lutz is a writer of books, articles, and screenplays, the founder of the Los Angeles Review of Books, and is now Distinguished Professor at UC Riverside. His books include American Book Award winner Doing Nothing, New York Times notable books Crying and American Nervousness, 1903, the travel books And the Monkey Learned Nothing and Drinking Mare’s Milk on the Roof of the World, and coming on January 14, 2020, Born Slippy: A Novel.

He has written for television and film, and appeared in scores of national and international newspapers, magazines, academic journals, and edited collections. He is working with a Los Angeles-based production company on a television show set in the 1920s, is finishing a third collection of travel pieces, a book on the 1920s (The Modern Surface), and is in the early stages of a book on global conflict along the aridity line.

Twitter * Instagram

 

Synopsis

President Trump has just been inaugurated for the second time. The students at Upstate College are not happy. Led by one charismatic person of color, of African, Indigenous, Pan Asian descent who is a differently-abled Muslim-Atheist, they obliterate the college experience forever.

Wokeistan is a satire: Politics, media, corporations, feminism and the relationships between men and women. In a world where anyone to the right of Fidel Castro is considered a fascist, one college professor will try to save his school.

Read this book before it’s banned because nothing escapes Wokeistan.

 

**This book does not necessarily represent the views of this blog.  All books deserve a fair shake whether the topic falls in our beliefs or not**

 

 

About the Author

Tony DiGerolamo is a New Jersey screenwriter, novelist, comic book writer, game designer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on The Simpsons and Bart Simpson comic books. He has also been a joke writer for Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, a scriptwriter for Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and a blogger for Comedy Central’s Indecision website. He has written the screenplays including Mafioso: The Father, The Son starring Leo Rossi. His novels, Fix in Overtime and The Undercover Dragon are available through Padwolf Publishing. After publishing his own comic books ( Jersey Devil, The Travelers, and The Fix) with SJRP, he eventually got a publishing deal with Kenzer & Company. Kenzer published The Travelers. Tony also wrote Everknights (another Kenzer comic book), as well as the Hacklopedia of Beasts (Volumes 1 thru 8) and Slaughterhouse Indigo (an adventure for the Hackmaster RPG). He also adapted Mark Twain’s Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc for Campfire. Performing in the Philly comedy scene for over ten years, Tony performed and directed such improv groups as Next Line Improv, The Cabal, The Ninjas and Bulletproof Giraffe.

Besides writing for various comedy websites, he had a long running comics review column in Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. He was the marketing director for comics publisher, Silent Devil. He is creator of Tony DiGerolamo’s Complete Mafia for d20, creator/biographer for the online webcomic, Super Frat, the co-creator of the Webcomic Factory and writer for the over two dozen webcomics on the Webcomic Factory site including Lester Crenshaw is Dead, Miserable Comedians and Weird Biker Tales. Look for his book, F*ck You, I’m Italian: Why We Italians Are Awesome, from Ulysses Press. He recently finished a political satire, Wokeistan: A Novel, with Christian Beranek. His current project is a comedy/horror novella series about the hunters of the Jersey Devil called The Pineys.

 

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