Author: Marissa DeCuir

Perfect for fans of “Everything I Know About Love” by bestseller Dolly Alderton

Santa Barbara, CA – Organized through the cycles of the moon, Jenna Tico’s personal humor essays and poetry collection, “Cancer Moon: How I Survived the Best Years of My Life” (She Writes Press, September 17, 2024 – a full harvest supermoon!), vulnerably and jovially guides readers through the turbulent twenties – aka the “age of wallowing.” Jenna invites women to embrace this necessary phase of life, helping them understand their self-worth, sexuality, and empowering them to become who they want to be in the world. “Own your weird!”

“It is so much, this human thing.”

Growing up in Santa Barbara, California, way too close to the Hollywood dream machine, Jenna Tico’s self-esteem wanes to invisibility when her identity becomes enmeshed with validation from celebrities and spiritual F-boys . . . until she claws her way back to empowerment. Here, Tico shares vulnerable personal essays, stories, and poetry—all grouped following the cycles of the moon—chronicling her journey from late bloomer to full grownup. Observing the world of twenty-something relationships from perspectives as diverse as a bachelorette houseboat, a music festival afterparty, and the airplane ride to a death bed, she validates the experiences of women who feel like they have been abandoned by the generation that came before them. Her self-reflective stories encourage healthy life choices for young women without telling them where, what, or how to live their lives—and always with a healthy dash of humor on the side.

“Cancer Moon”

Jenna Tico | September 17, 2024 | She Writes Press | Memoir/Humor Essays 

Paperback | 978-1647427627 | $17.95 

“Before you freak out and burn all your bridges; before you throw your phone in the ocean and pierce your nose in the name of Satan and fuck that guy with a pet snake who doesn’t chew his food; before you throw away every item of clothing you own and then max out your only credit card on nail polish and oven fries; and before you decide that now is the time to tell your mother every single thing she has ever done that has bothered you, and then quit your job and go back to snake guy’s house, please ask yourself the following question: Do I really desire the end of society, or am I just dehydrated?”

– Jenna Tico, “Cancer Moon”  

Early Praise for “Cancer Moon”

“Fun, witty, hilarious, and refreshing! Jenna Tico has a way of transforming seemingly everyday events in extraordinary and insightful ways. “Cancer Moon” is a diverting, surefire cure for boredom and a welcome balm for the ridiculous, embarrassing and completely absurd moments in life.”

—Qin Sun Stubis, author of the multi-award-winning historical memoir “Once Our Lives: Life, Death, and Love in the Middle Kingdom”

“Tico has put her heart and soul into crafting a delightful and thought-provoking memoir, filled with candid and humorous storytelling . . . a refreshing perspective on the challenges and triumphs of young adulthood in a strong voice with a clear attitude. The structure, organized by the cycles of the moon, added an intriguing layer of symbolism and resonance to Tico’s narrative, mirroring the ebb and flow of life’s experiences. “Cancer Moon” is sure to leave readers feeling inspired and empowered to embrace their own journey with humor, self-compassion, and authenticity.”

—Readers Favorite, FIVE STARS

“A fever dream of genre and memory, reading “Cancer Moon” is like sitting barefoot and cross-legged late into the night with your wisest and funniest friend.”

—Ellen O’Connell Whittet, author of ‘What You Become in Flight’

“In contrast to many women’s memoirs reflecting on life experiences, “Cancer Moon” offers a supercharged atmosphere with its engrossing foray into action, reaction, and transformation. Sexual explorations, attitudes and ironies, and especially candid, revealing insights about relationships and personal growth permeate an evolutionary story filled with vivid encounters with all kinds of people.”

—D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Jenna Tico’s book perfectly captures the humiliating, exhilarating, and painful experience of surviving your twenties. Her writing is relatable, poetic, nuanced…if you’ve been twenty, if you’re going to be twenty, if you never want to remember being twenty, this book is for you.”

—Zoë Schiffer, author of “Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter”

“This unique cocktail of memoir, self-help, and essays offers a captivating and bitingly comic journey through a California coming-of-age . . . Her crack comic timing and eye for the killer detail never come at the expense of hard-won wisdom . . . Tico’s form is bold, as “Cancer Moon” mixes straight-ahead memoir with pages of intimate blank verse that dig deep into ideas and feelings . . . Rousing, bold, funny story of growing into one’s power.”

—BookLife Review, Editor’s Pick

More about the Author

Jenna Tico survived the best years of her life by incessantly journaling, scribbling poetry, and distracting herself from her questionable choices with potato chips and excellent friendships. Jenna is a multi-disciplinary artist, group facilitator, and ninth-generation resident of Santa Barbara, CA. She graduated with honors from Scripps College, and spent the next ten years working as a dance instructor, grant writer, and occasional, terrible waitress. She earned her counseling certification in 2016, and is passionate about creating spaces for the intersection of art and healing. She is the founder and host of Backbone Storytelling, a platform for true, body-centric stories told live. She lives in Santa Barbara with her family.  Find out more about her at her website.

Follow Jenna Tico on social media: 

Instagram: @jennaticowrites  

In an interview, Jenna Tico can discuss:

• Embracing your turbulent twenties, a period of time that is often marked by intense emotional highs and lows, self discovery and significant life transitions
• How we as women feel the need to be “allowed” to authentically live our lives, but how important it is for us to be able to express our feelings without the need to apologize and get permission 
• Taking back your power by breaking free from toxic relationships and decentering men from your life
• Healing from emotional abuse with the support of strong friendships
• The distinctive rhythm and structure that emerge from writing a book in harmony with the phases of the moon
• Choosing to title the book “Cancer Moon” and its connection to your astrological and spirituality journey
• Her choice to keep many of the writings in the present tense, as opposed to doing everything in retrospect –”knowing better” – or editing the writing to be more reflective of her current skill or voice
• How many of the pieces in the book were created for performance, and have been performed as pieces of spoken word and/or dance – the transition from page to stage or vice versa

An Interview with Jenna Tico

1. How did your personal experiences shape the themes of the book and what do you want young women to take away from your experiences?

It’s impossible to separate the themes of “Cancer Moon” from the personal experiences that shaped them. Even the book’s structure, grouped around the cycles of the moon, reflects the ebb and flow of each lived state. The choppiness of the language, too, reflects the chaos of the experiences being described. Nothing is neatly wrapped up at the end, and the book itself is not chronological—because it took me the whole of my twenties to realize that growth itself is not straightforward, and while there was a lot of posturing around adults having it all “figured it out,” I found that to be rarely (if ever) true. “Cancer Moon” is messy, non-linear, slightly emo, occasionally unhinged, hopefully colorful, and very much still in-process—because that is what my twenties felt like. I’m still processing and learning from them.

2. How did you learn to walk away from toxic relationships and create a supportive network?

In all honesty, it’s something I’m still learning to do. I believe that the same lessons keep showing up until we have fully learned them—and while I’m no longer struggling to recognize toxicity in romantic relationships, I’ve had opportunities in recent years to learn from the same dynamics in my work life. My network of support was both the result of and the reason BEHIND my ability to make better choices and respect myself. Surrounding myself with people who aren’t afraid to tell me the truth, and who love me unconditionally, has emboldened me to trust my gut and walk away from what no longer serves.

3. Can you share a pivotal moment in your life that really shaped the narrative of “Cancer Moon”?

The narrative of Cancer Moon is itself a collection of pivotal moments—some of them small, some of them large. Some of the more obvious moments were related to breakups, because I was cracked-open enough to turn to writing to help me process my feelings. Even though those moments were incredibly difficult, they were also precious, because I was less defended—and more open to experience the raw beauty of life as well as the hardship. I hope both come through. 

The birth of my first child was also a huge impetus for collecting the pieces, and writing the ones that were still outstanding. Suddenly, I had way less time— but I also had this tiny human inspiring me to keep learning about myself, pushing me to model continual growth in my own interests and passions. In many ways, he made this experience more challenging, but I also don’t think I could have done it without him.

4. How did you decide on the title “Cancer Moon” and how was it written in conjunction with the phases of the moon? Are you a fan of astrology?

My Grandma Lu was an astrologer, so I have been fascinated with the stars since I was a child—but it wasn’t until I was twenty-seven and enrolled in a psychological astrology course that I really began to see the connection between my life themes and the position of the planets. When I was born, the moon was in the sign of Cancer—its home sign—and one of notoriously big feelings, watery emotions, clinginess, you name it. Learning about astrology coincided with a larger period of inquiry, and ultimately the result was a better understanding of (and appreciation for) the emotionality that I had previously tried to reject within myself. My Cancer Moon felt like the perfect umbrella for unpacking the decade of my life that was spent so deeply in relationship with my emotions, learning to accept them without attaching to them.

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

A two-time winner of Georgia Bar Journal’s annual fiction competition, lauded attorney and judge Lori B. Duff was fed up with novels detailing unrealistic courtrooms scenes with settings that misrepresented the South. So the acclaimed humor author pivoted from essays to fiction to pen “Devil’s Defense,” (Nov. 12, She Writes Press), a gripping courtroom drama full of personal discovery and the first in her Fischer at Law series. Duff is a true voice of authority: Her lengthy legal career in a small southern town (not unlike the novel’s setting) gave her the experience to produce thrilling, authentic legal drama and client interactions, which are based on her real-life experiences. 

Jessica knew that in the town of Ashton, Georgia, the order of worship was first Jesus, second America, and third the high school football coach, with the second two interchangeable if it were a winning season. It was often a winning season. 

Jessica Fischer wants nothing more than to break into the male-dominated legal scene and build her law practice in small-town Georgia. And she’s well on her way when the local town hero and football coach, Frank “Tripp” Wishingham III, hires her to represent him in a paternity suit. The coach is everything Fischer despises: arrogant, sexist and entitled. But it’s her job to make him look good in public, which is made doubly difficult when her burgeoning relationship with a local reporter gets in the way of telling the truth.  Are things as black and white as Jessica thinks? And can she find a way to succeed without compromising her own personal values or her personal life? 

Fans of “Miracle Creek” by Angie Kim and “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens will be intrigued by “Devil’s Defense.” And the book will appeal greatly to Southern readers hungry  for authentic stories set in the South, as well as professional women desperate for a relatable protagonist — it’s only the beginning for Jessica Fischer.

“Duff scores with a winning protagonist and a captivating courtroom procedural.”

“Devil’s Defense: A Fischer at Law Novel”

Lori B. Duff | Nov. 12, 2024 | She Writes Press | Legal Fiction 

Paperback, 9781647427368, $17.99

“Sweet, savvy, and sharp, Devil’s Defense is a pitch-perfect beach read about gender and sexual politics in a small town. Duff writes with an authentic and witty hand, creating multi-faceted characters and a timely plot that will have readers questioning preconceived notions of right and wrong. Perfect for fans of Katherine Center and Meg Mitchell Moore.” 

— Marisa Rae Dondlinger, author of “Come And Get Me” and “Gray Lines”

“A fast-paced plot with deft and effortless dialogue, Devil’s Defense will have you rooting and wondering late into the night. It’s a damn fantastic read.” 

— V. C. Chickering, author of “Twisted Family Values”

“Devil’s Defense is a funny, warm, and wise study of a small southern town and culture, wrapped in a legal mystery and love story. Lori Duff writes with great empathy and heart. She finds the depth and complexity of even the most problematic characters, while making you laugh out loud and think.” — Sheri T. Joseph, author of “Edge of the Known World”

“Lori B. Duff deftly manages to invest thirty years of legal experience into Devil’s Defense. In this well-balanced debut, she proves that her writing chops are first-rate. No doubt, Duff will be a force in the legal fiction genre moving forward.” 

— Joseph Reid, bestselling author of the Seth Walker series

“A page-turner that’s both playful and provocative, Devil’s Defense grabbed me from the jump. I had to find out if Jessica, a smart attorney who’s still learning on the job, would ultimately prevail—in the courtroom and the bedroom. As a lawyer herself, Duff’s insider perspective enriches every page.”
— Jude Berman, author of “The Die and The Vow”

“Lori Duff delivers a compelling tale about the intersection of the football field, the courtroom, and the heart. ‘Peyton Place’ meets ‘Friday Night Lights.’” 

— Lance McMillian, author of the Atlanta Murder Squad series

About the Author

Lori B. Duff is a two-time winner of the Georgia Bar Journal’s fiction competition and a popular humor blogger. Her humorous essays have earned multiple awards, including the Foreword Indies Gold Medal for Humor, as well as first place in the National Society for Newspaper Columnists annual contest in the humor category.  In addition to her writing, Duff is a graduate of Duke University and the Emory University School of Law. She serves as the Managing Partner of Jones & Duff, LLC, and is also a municipal court judge. Duff has been president of the Georgia Council of Municipal Court Judges and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and has served in various leadership roles in those and other legal and writing organizations. Learn more at her website loriduffwrites.com.

Facebook: @loribduffauthor | Threads: @loriduffwrites  | Instagram: @loriduffwrites | Twitter: @loribduff

In an interview, Lori B. Duff can discuss:

• How her passion for depicting accurate yet equally thrilling courtroom scenes and cases led her to writing her own courtroom drama
• The real-life cases and client interactions over her 30+ years in law and how she decided on what details, if any, to include in the series
• How the novel touches on the #MeToo movement and addresses the outsized power that men hold in many communities despite their obvious shortcomings
• The book’s appeal to viewers of female-centric courtroom shows like “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight,” as well as popular legal dramas like “Law & Order”
• How the novel satisfies those looking for small-town drama displayed in media such as “Friday Night Lights” and Fredrik Backman’s Beartown series.
• Her transition and “slow retirement” from attorney and municipal court judge to writer and published author
• The misconceptions of small towns in the rural South and how she’s addressing and breaking down those tropes
• How she plans to develop Jessica’s character across the series and a sneak peek into book 2

An interview with Lori B. Duff

1. You’ve had a long and successful legal career as an attorney and municipal court judge. How and why did you transition to writing?

I had to even out my karma somehow. Lawyers wage war all day and bring turmoil — even when you win a battle, you still come away with battle scars; writers entertain and bring joy. I also find great personal satisfaction in living a creative life. 

2. Most of your previous books were collections of humorous essays, as were most of your columns and blog posts. Why did you decide to pivot to writing fiction?

After my children left the house to go to college, I had more time to focus on myself and what I thought about the world. And I realized I had more to say. I could explore ideas that weren’t my own through fictional characters. Why do people think such things? Well, let me get into their heads and find out. 

3. What were some of the difficulties you encountered when writing fiction? Were there some things that came easier than with nonfiction?

It’s a lot easier to write and edit a 500-800 word first-person opinion essay than a 95,000 word book. Keeping everyone’s personalities intact — and remembering that they didn’t think the way I do — was a huge adjustment. Oddly enough, I found that the people I disagreed with the most were the most fun to write. 

4. What sets “Devil’s Defense” apart from other courtroom dramas or legal thrillers?

The author is better looking and smarter. Ha ha ha. Seriously, I think it’s more true to what the actual life of a lawyer is like. You don’t have one case at a time. Cases take months, if not years, to resolve. More often than not, you don’t get to represent the good guy, and your client doesn’t often do what you want them to do. They keep secrets from you. You have to make arguments in public that make you sick to your stomach. You get emotionally involved when you don’t want to.  And you can’t talk about the details of what’s upsetting you to the people who are closest to you.  I wanted to write a novel that reflected that.  

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Debut author pens empowering story of one woman’s journey to catharsis

 Brooklyn, NY – A woman returns to her hometown to uncover the truth and confront the perpetrator of the childhood sexual abuse she endured 30 years earlier in Melissa Connelly’s gripping debut novel, “What Was Lost” (October 8, 2024, She Writes Press). Kirkus Reviews calls it “a vivid examination of how troubles from the past affect an unfolding future.”

Melissa Connelly’s debut novel comes after a long career in education. A finalist for the 2019 Montana Prize and at 60, she’s ready to share her first novel; a story about a 40-year-old woman who returns to her old hometown in Vermont and faces the past she was so desperate to forget.

In a world before Roe v. Wade, young Marti is fourteen and pregnant by her 27-year-old art teacher. In desperation, she looks for ways to abort the baby. With the help of her friend, Peter, she hitchhikes across state borders to seek the procedure out. Soon after the abortion, she runs away. Thirty years later, Mari is confronted with disturbing memories from her past and returns for the first time to her small Vermont hometown. She drags along her unwitting and unwilling teenage daughter, heightening the tension between them. Encountering her old friend Peter she learns how the lies she told impacted his life. Together they concoct a plan to find her abuser. Marti is seeking forgiveness for lies told, and revenge for secrets held.

Exploring the vast social change from 1970 to 2000, What Was Lost unfolds in times before language such as #MeToo helped give voice to these all-too-common occurrences. It is a raw, powerful tale of one woman confronting the ghosts of her past. Publisher’s Weekly says “a strong sense of humanity and compassion powers the novel.

“What Was Lost”

Melissa Connelly | October 8, 2024

She Writes Press | Literary Fiction 

Paperback | 978-1647427849 | $17.99

Ebook | B0D3FKK4SQ | $12.99 

Melissa Connelly dropped out of high school at age fifteen. Despite this, she went on to receive a BSN in nursing, an MA in special education, and an MFA in creative writing. She’s had a long career working with children in various roles in schools, hospitals, psychiatric clinics, and daycares. Her work has been published in American Heritage Magazine, Ruminate Magazine and the anthology It’s All About Shoes, and she was a finalist for the 2019 Montana Prize. Connelly has a home in the mountains of Western North Carolina but lives most of the year in Brooklyn, New York. Find out more: https://melissaconnelly.com/

Follow Melissa Connelly on social media: 

Website: https://melissaconnelly.com Facebook: @melissaconnellywriter | Instagram: @melissaconnellywriter

In an interview, Melissa Connelly can discuss:

• How she uses multiple timelines to show the social changes between 1970s and 2000s
• How she came about writing Marti’s story of childhood sexual trauma and the help she receives to overcome her past demons
• Why her fictionalized story is an all too common occurrence in real life and how it helps bring light to those who can’t speak up
• How the alienation of childhood grooming and sexual abuse pushes Marti away from her friends and family
• How Marti’s inability to connect with her teenage daughter stems from her past trauma fracturing their mother/daughter relationship
• How she’s publishing her first novel in her 60s and the inspiration to become an author

An Interview with Melissa Connelly

1. What inspired you to write and share Marti’s story? Do you know people who may have experienced similar circumstances?

When I originally came up with the idea, I thought it was almost exactly what had happened to someone I knew when I was 16. I’d lost touch with this friend but while I was near the end of writing the novel, out of the blue I heard from her. However, I had the details of her story all wrong. So in fact, I did create the story. That said, I’ve known many people who experienced sexual abuse and I’ve dealt with it professionally as a child psychiatric therapist.

2. Part of the book is set in a world where abortion wasn’t readily available everywhere. What did you want to convey by setting the story in the 1970s?

I completed the book before Roe v Wade was overturned. I wanted to show how hard it was before Roe. Now, of course, I feel it’s even more relevant. It could easily be set today.

3. How do you believe this novel resonates with current social movements, like #MeToo? 

The shaming that victims feel goes very deep. It’s why I say she felt “complicit” in her abuse. I grew up in a time where these things were never discussed— even among people going through it or people who knew about it. So the more light that is shed, the better. (Please answer in 2-5 sentences. If this is an area you can expand upon more fully, let me know as that may be a good guest article topic for you)

4. Aside from Marti’s reconciliation with her past, there’s also an underlying theme of mother/daughter relationships. Why was it important to include Marti’s relationship with her daughter Tess? 

Tess’s adolescence is the catalyst for Marti’s awakening memories. She’s terrified for Tess. And like all parents, Marti parents either as she was parented, or as a reaction to it. Each generation makes their own mistakes; essentially, all parents are fighting the last war.

5. Writing Marti’s story must have been a careful process. How did you approach sharing her story with sensitivity while also creating a balance with hope and resilience? 

Some of the darkest sections of the book were not planned at all, an example being the hitchhiking scene. They just flowed out of me and I went “uh-oh” but knew I had to go with it. Ultimately, I am an optimist–as James Baldwin said, it’s your responsibility to be so if you are alive. And I knew Marti was a survivor and I rooted for her.

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Romance, academia, and Filipino deities dial up the intensity inYA paranormal fantasy

  LAS VEGAS, Nevada – A demon  has possessed an 18-year-old girl and believes the hard part is over–only to discover college can be hell–in this thrilling YA fantasy continuation of The Girl inspired by Filipino mythology and gods, “The Demon” (BookBaby, Oct 1, 2024).

Victory Witherkeigh was longlisted for the CIBA Ozma Award and a bronze winner at the 2023 Spring the Bookfest Awards. Now she continues to explore Filipina/Pacific Islander heritage by combining pre-colonial myths of gods and demons, the history of colonization in the Philippines, and all-too-relatable experiences of entering college to create an absorbing modern fantasy that first-generation American teens in particular will see themselves in.

About the book: After finally possessing the Girl’s body, the Demon is ready to execute the carefully laid plans by her former master, Death. But with no memories of the plan and only a few vague memories of a deal with Filipino warrior LapuLapu, the Demon faces punishment in the form of mortality, leaving her imprisoned in the former Girl’s university life: freshman year at UC Berkeley. Can a demon have an identity crisis?

“The Demon”

Victory Witherkeigh | Oct 1, 2024

BookBaby | YA paranormal fantasy

Paperback | 979-8350951110 | $15.99

Ebook | B0CYJQXC9Q | $4.99

VICTORY WITHERKEIGH is an award-winning female Filipino/PI author from Los Angeles, CA. Her debut novel, The Girl, was published in December 2022 with Cinnabar Moth Publishing. The Girl has been a finalist for Killer Nashville’s 2020 Claymore Award and was long-listed in the 2022 CIBA OZMA Fantasy Book Awards. The Girl won Third Place for YA Thriller in the 2023 Spring The Bookfest Awards. Her creative content creation for her Author TikTok also won First Place in the 2023 Spring The Bookfest Awards for Creative Content. She has short story print publications in horror anthologies such as Supernatural Drabbles of Dread through Macabre Ladies Publishing, Bodies Full of Burning through Sliced Up Press, In Filth It Shall Be Found through OutCast Press, and Nightmare Fuel’s 2022 Edition: Objects of Horror, etc. Find out more about her at: https://victorywitherkeigh.com/

Photo credit: Kat Goodloe 

Follow Victory on social media: 

Facebook: @victorywitherkeigh | Twitter: @witherkeigh | Instagram: @victory_witherkeigh

Learn more about The Girl

2020 Killer Nashville Claymore Award, finalist

2023 CIBA Ozma fantasy book award, longlisted

2023 Spring the Bookfest Awards, third place winner for best YA thriller

The parents knew it had been a mistake to have a girl. At birth, the girl’s long, elegant fingers wriggled and grasped forward, motioning to strangle the very air from her mother’s lungs. As she grew older, she grew more like her father, whose ancestors would dream of those soon to die. She walked and talked in her sleep, and her parents warded themselves, telling the girl that she was evil, unlovable, their burden to bear only until her eighteenth birthday released them.

The average person on the streets of Los Angeles would look at the girl and see a young woman with dark chocolate eyes, curly long hair, and tanned skin of her Filipina heritage. Her teachers praised her for her scholarly achievements and extracurricular activities, from academic decathlon to cheer.

The girl knew she was different, especially as she grew to accept that the other children’s parents didn’t despise them. Her parents whispered about their pact as odd and disturbing occurrences continued to happen around her. The girl thought being an evil demon should require the skies to bleed, the ground to tremble, an animal sacrifice to seal the bargain, or at least cause some general mayhem. Did other demons work so hard to find friends, do well on their homework, and protect their spoiled younger brother?

The demon was patient. It could afford to wait, to remind the girl when she was hurt that power was hers to take. She needed only embrace it. It could wait. The girl’s parents were doing much of its work already.

In an interview, Victory can discuss:

• How her identity as a Filipino-American inspired her writing process
• How she includes Filipino culture, mythology and history into her story
• How her portrayal of the Demon in real life plays as a metaphor for the inner demons young people face 
• How the Girl subverts the stereotypical “golden” girl heroine and how the Demon’s morally gray anti-heroine is a resistance from the likable female characters
• Why it’s important for Victory to keep diversity among her characters, especially in a niche genre like YA horror 

An Interview with Victory Witherkeigh

1. This is the companion chapter to your award-winning first novel, The Girl. What are some of the challenges you faced when writing this second half?

Writing The Demon was a more significant and structured challenge than my initial experience writing The Girl during NaNoWriMo. It is very different tackling writing a novel with set deadlines for drafts and having review sessions for the manuscript. When writing my first novel, I could pace myself and show it to others only when I felt ready. Therefore, tackling this novel with set deadlines for drafts and having review sessions for the manuscript introduced me to an entirely new experience of following more structured writing schedules and making adjustments to the manuscript based on feedback.

2. The Demon explores more of the Filipino mythology. How did you incorporate more of that into the story?

Since I knew this novel would have a much more direct viewpoint from The Demon, I had to prepare for writing this novel by doing as much research into the deities and mythology I heard as a child. While I love the stories I heard as a kid, I knew that time and my memories of the tales could drastically differ from what modern researchers have discovered with new translations or discoveries. As an adult, conducting a thorough analysis of the deities and their origins made it easier for me to create rich backstories for the other characters, including specific details about their appearances and the specializations of Death’s generals.

3. One of the underlying themes of this book is facing your inner demons. Why was it important to include that in your story?

So many coming-of-age stories end just as the character is graduating high school and going off to college. I often feel that the actual nitty-gritty growth occurs at this point because we usually don’t even confront our inner demons in their proper form until we’re on our own for the first time as legal adults. I wanted to include this struggle because it’s a universal battle we all have at one point or another. It’s often a harrowing journey because you slowly realize that getting what you think you want is not the solace it once was. I wanted to show that one’s mental health journey is valid. There will come a time when mental health and its discussion aren’t so terrifying or lonely; we are not alone in struggling with some of these darker emotional discussions. 

4. Another major theme of this book is the legacy of colonization left in The Philippines. What was your intention in sharing that history with your readers?

The legacy of colonization is so messy and complicated to unpack. Still, I wanted to include the discovery of those ramifications because I felt it’s an essential part of growing up – being able to challenge the worldviews of one’s parents or ancestors and decide one’s own opinion. As children, history often comes from only one source or one viewpoint, and it can be jarring to realize the inherent biases that trickle into our lives. I hoped that by showcasing a character realizing their view of the world shifted and discovering the good and bad elements in the legacy of their homelands’ colonization, readers could identify their struggles in that journey.

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Loyalty and identity go to war in historical fiction debut inspired by author’s true family history

Santa Rosa, CA– Whisk away to India in this compulsive novel of two unlikely people who discover hidden truths about a high-ranking British official set against the backdrop of  colonial rule. Sleeping in the Sun (October 22, 2024, She Writes Press) transports readers to the past where a young American and his Indian servant must face the reality behind a faithful family friend and the consequences of knowing this truth. A must-read for fans of The Poisonwood Bible and The Inheritance of Loss.

While originally a part of her MFA thesis at Pacific University, this explosive novel dives into the author’s own grandfather’s story of living as a Christian missionary in British India. Through her extensive research on the British Raj, the work of her grandfather’s missionary group, the effects of colonization in India, and the rich descriptions of India in the early 20th century, Joanne’s story weaves a cinematic tale of discrimination and privilege showcasing the enduring impact of imperialism and the spark of revolution.

In the last years of the British Raj, an American missionary family stays on in Midnapore, India. Though the Hintons enjoy white privileges, they have never been accepted by British society and instead run a boarding house on the outskirts of town where wayward native Indians come to find relief. Young Gene Hinton can’t get out from under the thumb of his three older brothers, and the only person he can really relate to is Arthur, his family’s Indian servant. But when Uncle Ellis, a high-ranking British judge, suddenly arrives and announces he’ll be staying indefinitely in their humble house, far from his prestigious post in Himalayan foothills, life as Gene knows it is interrupted. While his brothers are excited at the judge’s arrival, he is skeptical as to why this important man is hiding out with them in the backwaters of Bengal.

Also skeptical is Arthur. Then an Indian woman appears on their doorstep—and, after growing close to her, he learns the sinister truth about the judge. Torn between a family that has provided him shelter, work, and purpose his whole life and the escalating outrage of his countrymen, Arthur must decide where his loyalties lie—and the Hintons must decide if they can still call India home.

“Sleeping in the Sun”

Joanne Howard | October 22, 2024 | She Writes Press | Historical Fiction 

Paperback | 9781647427986 | $17.99 

Joanne Howard is an Asian American writer from California. She holds an MFA in writing from Pacific University. Her poetry received an honorable mention from Stanford University’s 2019 Paul Kalanithi Writing Award. Her fiction has been published in The Catalyst by UC Santa Barbara, The Metaworker Literary Magazine and the Marin Independent Journal and her nonfiction has been published in Another New Calligraphy and The Santa Barbara Independent. She lives in Santa Rosa, CA. Find out more at her website.

Follow Joanne Howard on social media:

Instagram: @joannesbooks

Advanced praise for Sleeping in the Sun

“Sleeping in the Sun is a novel impossible to put down. A cinematic study of imperialism and the scars it has left. An outstanding debut.”—Willy Vlautin, author of The Night Always Comes and The Motel Life

“With meticulous attention to detail, Howard paints a vivid portrait of colonial India through the perspectives of an American family and their Indian servant, skillfully blending historical events with familial moments. Through the eyes of her characters, readers are transported to a world where identities are questioned and the true meaning of home is explored. As the narrative builds toward an explosive climax, Sleeping in the Sun becomes more than just a story—it is a poignant exploration of the human experience that resonates far beyond the last chapter.”—Veena Rao, author of Purple Lotus

“Joanne Howard’s Sleeping in the Sun is a quiet and deeply moving novel, a story of a nation trying to reclaim itself, while one man and one boy try to discover who they are themselves. Howard shows us all this not by looking at the big picture, but at the individuals caught at the center of their sometimes conflicting, sometimes heartbreaking goals. A beautiful story, beautifully revealed.”—Pete Fromm, author of Indian Creek Chronicles

“This is at once a gripping page-turner and book to savor and admire. It will light up your imagination and endure in your mind alongside all the memories from your real life. I was sad to see it end but delighted to welcome this impressive new voice into American literature. Joanne Howard is a writer to watch.”—Valerie Laken, author of Dream House and Separate Kingdoms

“Exquisitely rendered and highly nuanced, Joanne Howard’s debut novel, Sleeping in the Sun, immerses readers into the world of young American Gene Hinton as he comes of age in rural India in the 1930s. Battling inner and outer demons, Gene forms a unique bond with the Hintons’ Indian servant, Arthur, and gains an eye into life’s underbelly. Sumptuously written and detailed, this novel is destined to become a classic. A triumph!”—Ashley E. Sweeney, author of Eliza Waite

In an interview, Joanne Howard can discuss:

• How Joanne uses her own family’s history as Christian missionaries in India to provide setting for the book
• How colonialism, privilege, and imperialism impact the Indian society for generations
• How Christianity plays a major role in the Hinton’s lives and its effects on the people around them
• Why Joanne chose to write a story outside of own lived cultural experiences 
• How Joanne researched aspects of the setting and society to ensure a historically accurate story

An Interview with Joanne Howard

1. What message do you hope to convey about colonialism and identity through the Hinton family’s story and interactions? 

It’s definitely not a favorable portrait of colonialism; even though the main character, Gene, is a young boy with a naive view of the world, I didn’t want it to come off as unserious or easy going on the British Raj. But I also didn’t want history to be front and center to the book, but rather serve as a backdrop for the human story going on between the Hintons, Arthur, and the judge. Even though the novel is influenced by these huge forces of historical events, what I still hope readers take away is the detail of the everyday. 

2. How does the Hintons’ family story relate/differ from your own family’s history?

My grandfather was born and raised in India, and his first language was Bengali, but for the rest of his life he never returned to India because he knew it would have changed so much, and the India of his youth no longer existed. So this idea of “is India home?” I think was a question in real life for my grandfather and for the Hintons. 

3. How does your background as an Asian-American writer influence your portrayal of cross-cultural interactions and historical events in your novel

I was able to draw from my own experience as a mixed-race Asian American to inspire this dual reality that the Hintons occupy, and to a lesser extent the space Arthur occupies as a converted Christian Indian who both works for the Hintons but wants to stay connected to his Indian identity. The novel’s setting where a range of racial identities all interact with each other is a huge aspect of the story, and I’m glad I could bring my personal experience to the work.

4. What are some of the most significant historical and cultural details that you included in the novel to bring the British Raj setting in India to life?

When it comes to bringing the setting to life, it’s all in the little details, from the hand-cranked ceiling fans (punkahs) to the nightly ritual of shaking out the bedding for any critters, all things that I found in our family archives. I also loved including a scene at the Gope Gargh (The Old Gope as the Hintons call it), which is now an ecological park that preserves the ruins of an old fort from the Mahabharata. I visited this park on my trip to India and was inspired by the mythical atmosphere and the way the forest had grown over the ruins of ancient civilization.

5. What did your research process look like when building the world of Sleeping in the Sun?

For Arthur’s character, I just tried to expose myself to as many literary works that matched his background and the time period, and two books especially inspired his character: The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad C. Chaudhuri and Pather Panchali by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. And lastly, I took a 3-week trip to India in 2018 to visit some of the locations that appear in the novel.

6. What advice would you give to a writer who is trying to write beyond their own lived experiences? What is important to remember regarding sensitivity in writing?

Do your research, write with respect, and work with a sensitivity reader who can catch any of your blindspots. Understand that you will never be able to relate 100% to the identity or community you are writing about, and that’s ok. If you have done it well, the work should stand on its own merit, regardless of who the author is.

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

When Ann Lowry inherited an ancestor’s blue travel trunk, she had no idea that this artifact was about to take her on a three-year journey of discovery. She was told that the trunk’s previous owner, a great-great aunt, had been institutionalized for insanity. Despite meticulous genealogy research, she was unable to uncover any facts about her and concluded that she must have spent her entire adult life in an asylum. Lowry was inspired to write The Blue Trunk, (Sept. 10, 2024, Koehler Books) to help reclaim her ancestor’s voice and shed light on these all-too-common institutionalizations. Seamlessly weaving historical fiction with contemporary life, Lowry’s tale explores identity, strength, and connection across decades.

Rachel Jackson’s idyllic life takes a dramatic turn when she discovers a woman’s scarf in her politician husband’s computer bag. But in an election year, seeking answers to questions of infidelity is not an option. When her mother gives her a family heirloom, a travel trunk owned by an ancestor, she finds a distraction. As she immerses herself in its contents, she discovers a woman whose life is vastly different from her own. Or is it? 

Determined to dispel the notion that her ancestor Marit was insane, Rachel sets out to unveil her unknown story. In the interwoven narratives of these two women, who are bound by blood and a shared struggle, The Blue Trunk is a poignant exploration of identity, love, and unwavering strength.

Praise for The Blue Trunk

“Ann Lowry weaves a miracle of storytelling in The Blue Trunk, seamlessly blending past and present and the complications of gender, infidelity, and family battles across Norway and America. As a young woman searches for answers to her troubled, seemingly unfixable marriage, she finds solace and strength in the story of her forebears. This decades-long tale, influenced by figures from gangsters to politicians, finds its heart in the connection between an aunt and niece who’ve never met but whose lives are tightly intertwined.”

– Randy Susan Meyers, international bestselling author of The Murderer’s Daughters and The Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone

“The Blue Trunk is a transformative story that weaves two women’s stories together, pulling you into a journey filled with heartfelt emotion, strength, and transformation. Lowry is an adventurous storyteller who masterfully creates depth within her characters, making us feel like we’ve known them forever. The Blue Trunk is a beautiful and seamless read you cannot put down.”

– Dianne C. Braley, author of The Silence and the Sound, winner of the NYC 2022 Big Book Award

“A gripping story of two women separated by a century, each facing battles that appear vastly different on the surface yet share strikingly similar underpinnings. Lowry delivers a gripping, emotional and beautifully written read, with characters whose journeys will resonate long after you turn the last page.” 

– Rachel Stone, Author of The Blue Iris

“The Blue Trunk carries readers through time in this story of two women whose connection is discovered through a family heirloom in the form of a blue trunk. While Marit’s emigration from Norway to America and into a life laden with hardship unfolds over the course of decades, Rachel’s struggle over modern-day challenges assumes remarkable reflections to those of her late ancestor. Lowry’s protagonists are propelled into their respective relationships and lives, buoyed by the enduring strength of the Sletmo women in this engaging, well-paced novel.”

 – Brenda K. Massman, author of Yet, Here We Are

The Blue Trunk

Ann E. Lowry | September 10, 2024 | Koehler Books | Historical/Contemporary Fiction

Paperback | $21.95 | 979-8-88824-439-5

Hardcover | $28.95 | 979-8-88824-441-8

More about Ann E. Lowry:

Ann E. Lowry’s journey into the realm of storytelling was foretold by a Sedona psychic in 2001. That prophecy became a reality two decades later when Ann discovered a family heirloom, a travel trunk from Norway, which sparked the genesis of her debut novel, “The Blue Trunk.”

A writer her entire life, Ann holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Minnesota.  Her career has been dedicated to teaching and helping others navigate communication and resolve conflicts. Ann is fascinated by the dynamics of relationships, discord, and the intricacies of the human condition.  Ann successfully completed the Loft Literary Center’s Novel Writing Intensive course in 2022.

Alongside her passion for fiction, she has contributed to academic journals, penned thought-provoking opinion pieces, crafted engaging content for online platforms, and provided insights on the federal management of disasters. 

When Ann isn’t immersed in the world of writing, she finds solace in the pool or the lake. She cherishes playful moments with her rescue-turned-therapy dog, Loki, and also enjoys reading, golfing, and indulging in the art of cookie and bread baking. Fly fishing is her newest hobby. Most of all, she savors precious time with her family.

Ann and her spouse, Karen, and fur child, Loki, live in Timnath, Colorado, where they enjoy the beauty of nature daily. Learn more about Ann at: www.annlowry.com 

In an interview, Lowry can discuss:

• Writing a fictional novel inspired by true events in her family’s history
• The research she did into mental institutions in the early 1900s
• The struggles faced by female characters decades apart from each other, and how “crazy” women have been treated throughout history
• Writing about gender identity with care and accuracy
• The importance of keeping history alive, even when it is not flattering
• Completing your novel in a writing intensive course

An Interview with Ann E. Lowry

1. What was your initial reaction when you heard your ancestor Marit’s story? 

I was sad and angry that my family had, essentially, taken away my great-great aunt’s personhood. While I understand that this was typical for the times, these behaviors set up family dysfunction (secrets) that can be carried on for generations.

2. What kind of research did you do to try and discover what happened to Marit, and how did that play into your writing?

I researched her on all possible genealogy sites and also worked with historical societies to find logs of individuals in state hospitals for the mentally ill. Ultimately, I discovered that institutionalized individuals often were not counted in the census and often were not issued death certificates (two ways to find information on ancestors). I found a cemetery in Eau Claire, Wisconsin that was used for the interment of asylum patients. Most of the graves on site were marked “Unknown.”

3. How do you think Rachel and Marit’s struggles are similar? How are they different?

They both want to create a life for themselves, but are faced with significant barriers to doing that. They both suffered childhood trauma with the loss of a sibling and both have unresolved grief around those losses. Even though she doesn’t realize it at first, Rachel has more agency than Marit and has the advantage of living in more progressive times. That said, Rachel is fighting contemporary political battles which threaten current day civil rights.

4. How did you craft Blake’s character?

When I first created Blake, I had planned to have him be a stereotypic cheating spouse. But as he developed, I started to really like him! At the time, I also happened to be reading Love Lives Here by Rowan Jette Knox and decided to add gender identity questions to his character.  I went back and re-wrote scenes with him and ultimately he became a kind, smart, and sensitive character whose struggles are unique but similar to Rachel’s and Marit’s.

5. What made you decide to add gender fluidity to your novel? How did you make sure to approach the subject with sensitivity and accuracy?

As I mentioned, I was influenced by Rowan Jette Knox’s book but also early feminists who advocated for more gender fluidity. I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community, but I am not trans, so I wanted to be very careful with the subplot about Blake to make sure that I wasn’t co-opting someone else’s story. And honestly, this story is not mine to tell. But, it is an important story, so I took a bit of liberty and wrote this. I did research, interviewed some pertinent people, and had beta readers give input into what I wrote.

6. Why were the themes of identity and grief so important for you to explore in this novel?

Here is the part where I admit that some of this is my story. I lost my sister when I was six, and to be honest, I still deal with that loss, all these decades later. When you lose a family member, you no longer know who you are or where you fit in the family system. Grief can be, and often is, complicated, and this compounds questions of identity. In the end, Rachel has a better sense of who she is, but as she notes, her sister will always be by her side.

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

The oldest person alive today is 117 years of age. Which begs the question: in our lifetimes, what will a “lifetime” come to mean?  Could there come a day when the boomers stop dying? When long-term care facilities fill to overflowing, funeral homes and cemeteries begin to close, and Social Security, having flirted with insolvency for decades, finally implodes? When there are half a billion super-centenarians worldwide who should be dead, but live on? 

This is the world of Keith McWalter’s upcoming speculative novel, “Lifers” (October 15, 2024, SparkPress). With compelling action, exotic settings, provocative dialogue, and trenchant social commentary, it follows a multigenerational group of characters living through a global pandemic of radical longevity.  Drawing on nonfiction accounts of advances in engineered longevity such as Chip Walter’s “Immortality, Inc.” and Andrew Steele’s “Ageless,” McWalter forgoes fabulism in favor of gripping plausibility and delivers genre-bending speculative fiction grounded in cutting-edge science.
The novel follows three extraordinary women — an ex-CIA microbiologist, a Washington insider turned advocate for “gray rights,” and a philosopher of death and dying — as they navigate violent ageism, the politics of scarcity, love rivalries, and dreams of a centenarian utopia in a transgenerational struggle to redefine what it means to be mortal. Neural nets, headchip communication, deathwish algorithms, full body tattoos, and slow suicide pills form the backdrop of a near-future world where humankind must decide: do I choose to die, or am I a Lifer? 

“Lifers” is a deep, multifaceted dive into the unintended consequences of the quest for longevity, a searching interrogation of ageism, and a lyrical accounting of the cost of life without end. 

“By the time Marion and Dan turned one hundred in 2049, there were over twenty million people their age or older in the US alone, and close to half a billion worldwide—the size of a major nation—who should have been dead by then but weren’t, who continued to haunt the world. And more coming up behind them, not dying either. Depending on one’s language, they began to be called Lingerers, or the Undead, or Lifers. Or worse things. Because they weren’t just a miracle; they were a crisis.”

–  “Lifers” by Keith McWalter

“Lifers”

Keith McWalter | October 15, 2024 | SparkPress

Speculative/Social Science Fiction 

Paperback | 9781684632763 | $17.95 

Ebook | 9781684632770 | $12.99

Advance Praise for “Lifers”

“If Ann Patchett wrote sci-fi, this is what it might look like. What does it mean to live forever? To you? To your loved ones? To your country? To the world? A great read with a thought-provoking premise, and a sure-fire conversation starter for that dinner party you’re dreading.”

-Arlene Dillon, journalist and former President of the White House Correspondents’ Association

“Keith McWalter has turned in a stunner of a sci-fi novel with a surprising premise that draws on solid science while weaving a story loaded with twists and compelling characters. It’s a powerful combination that explores the unexpected directions ‘solving death’ may take us.” 

-Chip Walter, author of “Immortality, Inc.” and “Doppelganger”

“A stimulating, timely exposition on the political, social and familial implications of a sudden advance towards longevity escape speed. A fascinating read!”

-Avi Loeb, bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial” and Director of Harvard’s Institute for Theory and Computation

Keith McWalter’s first novel, When We Were All Still Alive, was published in 2021. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He’s the author of two blogs, Mortal Coil and Spoiled Guest, which present his essays and travel pieces to a loyal online following. A collection of his essays, No One Else Will Tell You: Letters from a Bi-Coastal Father, won a Writer’s Digest Award for nonfiction. 

Keith is a graduate of Columbia Law School and earned a BA in English Literature from Denison University. He lives with his wife, Courtney, in Granville, Ohio, and Sanibel, Florida.

Find out more: https://keithmcwalterwrites.com/ 

Follow Keith McWalter on social media: 

Facebook: @keith.mcwalter | Twitter: @kgmcwalter | Instagram: @kmcwalter 

In an interview, Keith McWalter can discuss:

• What inspired him to write a novel about the negative implications of longevity.
• How longevity and the toll that age takes have become issues in our current political scene, with the advanced age and diminishing competence of the two main presidential candidates in the forefront of controversy.
• Why, in a novel about the sudden triumph of longevity science, death and mortality are central themes. 
• How the author’s observations and personal experience of ageism informed the writing of this novel.
• The presence of strong female protagonists as the principal movers of the plot.
• How the book straddles genres: it might be called nonfiction fiction, or sci-fi for people who don’t read sci-fi, or political-social satire in speculative fiction drag. 
• The ethical dilemmas of human life extension in a world of limited resources.
• The varied and sometimes exotic locations included in the plot (New York; Munich; San Francisco; Palo Alto; Napa Valley; Lake Garda (Italy); Santa Fe, NM; and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado), and to what extent the settings are drawn from real life.
• The concept in the book that self-sacrifice is expected of the elderly, both in our society, and in the fictional world where a “longevity plague” has taken hold. 

An Interview with

Keith McWalter

What drew you to the ideas of prolonging the human lifespan and its impact on the meaning of living?

Like so many of us, I’m attracted to the idea of living a long and healthy life (I’m in my seventies), so I’ve read fairly widely in nonfiction accounts of longevity science and its practical applications.

Two things struck me about most discussions of longevity enhancement: increased longevity tends to be viewed as a luxury product for the rich and the few; and no one discusses the economic and social stresses that a radically longer (even if healthy) lifespan would impose on individuals, on families, and on society at large.

I wrote Lifers to dramatize those unspoken implications, and to examine ageism from a different perspective in which extreme longevity becomes commonplace and there are so many super-aged individuals that they become a force that must be reckoned with.

How do you envision society’s attitudes toward aging changing in a world with dramatically increased lifespans?

After a brief period of confused euphoria, society’s attitudes might quickly change to resentment, then to fear, then to anger. 

Resentment, first, when it becomes clear that the wealth controlled by the aged is not going to be inherited by their children and grandchildren anytime soon – perhaps never – and that younger generations will continue to live in the older generations’ shadow. 

Then fear, as it becomes clear that the “young” (called “doublers”in the book, for double-digits, or those under 100) face decades more life in a world where youth itself has lost its distinction – that is, its relative immunity to death. 

Then, finally, anger, as the failure of the aged to die in the accustomed timeframe puts enormous strains on housing, social services, and national economies, and new political movements arise in an effort to impose “normative lifespans” and “common-good mortality.”

If there was one lesson or sentiment you would want readers to come away with after reading “Lifers,” what would it be?

The one sentiment that I hope would come out of a reading of this book is empathy. It’s really about the failure of empathy, both across age groups, and across socioeconomic lines. The young can’t imagine what it’s like to be old, and the old too often forget what it’s like to be young. The very fact that we use categorical terms like “old” and “young” is evidence of that failure. That’s the main function of the character Taubin in the book: he loves and learns so much from his grandparents, who raised him, and he’s a victim of progeria, or fast-aging, which forces him to experience what it’s like to be old when he’s still chronologically young.  He’s also a precursor of the utopian state where everyone is the same age, and age itself becomes a meaningless concept. [I can expand on this.]

How has your writing evolved from your first novel to now? What are some key lessons you’ve learned along the way?

My first novel was decidedly “literary” in an old-school way, and I learned a great deal about characterization and dialogue in the process of writing and rewriting it. But it was deliberately episodic and plotless, like life, and I wanted this new book to be more plotted, more provocative, and a lot more fun. The main learning experience was about how to dole out complex information in a way that doesn’t talk down to the reader but also doesn’t overwhelm them. That, and work discipline: that first book took almost ten years of intermittent writing. This one took eighteen months of much greater focus.

Would you be a Lifer if you had the chance? Why or why not?

I’m glad to be able to say that I’d be a Lifer. I’ve had a wonderfully fortunate life and don’t think I’d ever give it up willingly, no matter how long I lived. I also hope I’d be so outraged by some of the backlash against the super-aged that’s depicted in the book that I’d be a Lifer in political terms, too – that I’d ally myself with Marion’s “Lifer Liberation Front” and agitate for change. If they’d have me. 

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

OAKLAND, CA – In this stylishly-ambitious memoir, Janine Kovac blends her personal life with the events in ballet’s most famous show: “The Nutcracker.”

“The Nutcracker Chronicles” (She Writes Press, Nov. 12, 2024) tells the story of Janine’s pursuit of an elusive dream that compels her to endure blistered toes, weekly weigh-ins, second-hand pointe shoes, and constant insults from her directors. Why can’t you just dance like a pretty girl?

Janine Kovac was seven years old when she got a fluttery feeling in her chest while watching her first performance of The Nutcracker. From that moment, she knew she wanted to be a ballerina. It wasn’t long before she herself was dancing the part of a snowflake, flower, mouse, soldier, and Fritz, Clara’s brother, who snatches the nutcracker from her and yanks off its head—all in search of the magic she felt only on the stage. 

Over a twelve-year career, Janine dances with ballet companies in San Francisco, Seattle, Germany, Iceland, and Italy, returning home every holiday season to perform The Nutcracker with Ballet El Paso. Despite the challenges of the ballet world, Janine can’t resist the inner glow and effortlessness she feels on stage, under the lights, dancing to Tchaikovsky in the Land of Sweets, ruled by a sugar plum fairy. That’s when she feels beautiful. 

“The Nutcracker Chronicles: A Fairytale Memoir”

Janine Kovac | November 12th 2024 | She Writes Press | Nonfiction, Memoir

Paperback | ISBN: 9781647427924 | $17.99

Praise for “The Nutcracker Chronicles”

“Smart, vivid, and full of heart, Kovac nails what it feels like to be a little kid with a big dream, then fearlessly leads us to that dream’s realization and–maybe best of all–to what comes after.”

—Sara Nović, New York Times bestselling author of True Biz and Girl at War

“‘The Nutcracker Chronicles’ traces the root of one girl’s dream to dance and reach for the divine while laying bare the hard truths that come with that kind of stretching—the emotional, physical, spiritual and financial costs incurred in the name of relentless artistic callings. This book dazzles with vulnerability and vibrates with the unbridled innocence and energy of youthful convictions, reminding us that certain human needs, like love and confidence and simply being seen, are inside jobs, and while the human body has its limits, the search for that single thing that makes our hearts soar is illimitable. This book is a triumph for our times and a tribute to every one of us who knows what it means to feel more than see the beauty around and in us.”

—Putsata Reang, author of Pacific Northwest Book Award winner “Ma and Me”

“Filled with vivid, transporting descriptions of dance, from the fabric of sumptuous costumes to the fascinating mechanics of balance, The Nutcracker Chronicles is a true insider’s take on what transpires behind the scenes, on and off stage, and in the hearts and bodies of dancers.  Kovac highlights not just the pure beauty of ballet, but the interconnected waves of enthrallment, hard work, setbacks, celebration, and self-possession that shaped her life from childhood lessons to professional fruition and success.”

—Savala Nolan, author of Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body

“A voice as distinctive and moving as they come. Kovac writes from deeply inside the experience and through it all we are privy to what isn’t seen on stage, for she not only knows she tells, ‘exactly what’s happening on the other side of the curtain.’ Janine Kovac has penned a new ballet of prose that will stay with you long after that final curtain call.”

—Toni Mirosevich, author of Spell Heaven

About the Author…

JANINE KOVAC enjoyed a twelve-year career as a professional ballet dancer in Iceland, Italy, San Francisco, and her hometown of El Paso, Texas. Outside of the ballet world, her distinctions include U.C. Berkeley’s Glushko Award for Distinguished Research in Cognitive Science, an Elizabeth George Foundation Fellowship from Hedgbrook, and the Calderwood Fellowship for Journalism from MacDowell. Janine is the author of “Brain Changer: A Mother’s Guide to Cognitive Science” and “Spinning: Choreography for Coming Home,” which received a National Indie Excellence Award. She lives in Oakland, California. Learn more about her life and work at: https://www.janinekovac.com/ 

Follow Janine Kovac on social media:

Facebook: @Janine.Kovac.Writer | Instagram: @Janine.Kovac

In an interview, Janine Kovac can discuss:

• How she finds balance in her artistic life and her role as a mother
• Tips for readers who want to explore their creative side and those who are seeking reinvention at midlife
• How her creative process as a dancer is similar to (and different from) her process as a writer
• Her experience being in a romantic relationship with a creative partner, including how to navigate ego and share ideas
• Little-known facts about The Nutcracker that readers may not know
• Whether or not ballet deserves the “toxic” reputation it is often given

An Interview with

Janine Kovac

1. What was your inspiration for this unique ballet memoir? 

When I was in high school, I wrote an essay about the disasters that befell a small ballet troupe from El Paso on its Nutcracker tour of West Texas. The essay was published in San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker playbill and I have been writing about the dramas that unfold onstage and backstage ever since. But it wasn’t until I married a ballet dancer and we had children of our own dancing in the Nutcracker did I realize that the ballet was like a metaphor for life.

2. Were there any stories that didn’t make it into the book?

Not in the book: all the antics onstage–like the time one of the mice donned skis and glided into the snow scene at the most dramatic point in the music. Dancing fifty performances in a single month gets boring after a while and sometimes the dancers would find ways to make it interesting–from dressing-room decorating contests to practical jokes hidden in plain sight onstage. Many of these stories didn’t make it into the book. And gossip–I left out lots of gossip. 

3. How do you approach writing about people who were unkind to you?

My rule of thumb is to be more generous to them in their depiction than I’d like to be. After all, they won’t be able to give their side of the story. So when I write about difficult relationships or unkind behavior, I examine ways that I, too, might have been unkind. And I focus on the facts that are the most relevant to the story.

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

Award-winning author Francine Falk-Allen’s two acclaimed memoirs have been featured by Buzzfeed and PopSugar, and have received a Kirkus star. A fan of genealogy research, Francine enjoyed uncovering her family’s history, and traced both her maternal and paternal ancestors back to the 1600s. She never imagined that one day she’d discover a jaw-dropping family secret.

Based on a true story, Falk-Allen’s “A Wolff in the Family” (She Writes Press, Oct. 1, 2024) is a riveting saga of prejudice, passion, and revenge, perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah’s “The Four Winds.” What mysterious scandals led a father to abandon his five youngest children—and the elder siblings to keep their shame a secret for eighty years? 

More about the book: Railroad engineer Frank Wolff and Kansas farmgirl Naomi Sims were happily married in 1908. Naomi was excited to take up her role as wife and mother and make a life with Frank in thriving Ogden, Utah. Despite Frank’s almost-constant absence due to his job riding the rails, their romantic relationship resulted in fourteen children. The young mother’s life was consumed with caring for her brood, who became helpers as soon as they could fold a diaper. Affection and conflict endured side by side in the humble house, but the marriage ultimately faced insurmountable challenges—just before the Depression took hold of the nation.

“A Wolff in the Family”

Francine Falk-Allen | October 1, 2024 | She Writes Press | Historical Fiction

Paperback | ISBN: 978-1-64742-802-0 | $18.99

Ebook | ISBN: 978-1-64742-803-7 | $12.99

Praise for the Author…

“A Wolff in The Family is an absolute page-turner!  Immediately immersive, readers will be drawn into the hardships and small joys of the Wolff family as they attempt to make a living in rural Utah—Frank as a philandering “railroad man” and Naomi as a suffering housewife and mother of ten children with little emotional support from Frank.  Falk-Allen paints a realistic picture of the West during the early part of the twentieth century with her vivid prose and realistic characters.   An intriguing story about social norms, gender roles, and, ultimately, love.  This is a fast, absorbing story that will keep you up long into the night.  Couldn’t put it down!” —Michelle Cox, author of The Fallen Woman’s Daughter

“‘A Wolff in The Family’ is an absolute page-turner! Immediately immersive, readers will be drawn into the hardships and small joys of the Wolff family as they attempt to make a living in rural Utah—Frank as a philandering “railroad man” and Naomi as a suffering housewife and mother of ten children with little emotional support from Frank. Falk-Allen paints a realistic picture of the West during the early part of the twentieth century with her vivid prose and realistic characters. An intriguing story about social norms, gender roles, and, ultimately, love. This is a fast, absorbing story that will keep you up long into the night. Couldn’t put it down!” 

—Michelle Cox, author of “The Fallen Woman’s Daughter”

“Heartbreaking at its core, Francine Falk-Allen’s ‘A Wolff in the Family’ takes the bones of a long-hidden family secret and fleshes it out to include a large cast of characters who come alive on the page. From abject poverty and a life saddled with a dozen children she’s raising alone, Naomi Wolff is drowning: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Seeking comfort in a forbidden friendship, she is stripped of her children by her abusive and vindictive husband. Kudos to Falk-Allen for taking this project on, making it both compelling and relatable, and shedding light into dark corners of family history. A bold and important read.”

—Ashley E. Sweeney, author of “Eliza Waite”

“Francine Falk-Allen has skillfully accomplished this family-story-to-novel rebirth in ‘A Wolff in the Family.’ Set a century ago in Utah and surrounding states, the hard-scrabble life, children and marriages of Naomi Wolff vividly recall a world of societal rules, privation, race and class restrictions, and the human spirit that can prevail over all of them with love and devotion. Another great read from this author!”

—Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of “Even in Darkness”  and “Hard Cider”

“An empathetic lesson in resilience and forgiveness, ‘A Wolff in the Family’ takes an unflinching look at complex familial ties, gender roles, and the hardships of women in the early 20th century through one family’s story across the United States. With the kind of drama that builds, this captivating book is a multifaceted tale with flawed and human characters and the complicated decisions that make a life.”

—Joanne Howard, author of “Sleeping in the Sun”

About the Author…

FRANCINE FALK-ALLEN: was born in Los Angeles and has lived nearly all of her life in northern California. She had polio in 1951, and has lived her life as a disabled person making an effort to be a “normie.” 

Falk-Allen was originally an art major and later completed her BA in Managerial Accounting, running her own business for over thirty years. She has always sought creative outlets, such as painting, singing, and writing. She began doing extensive family genealogy research in 1999, and has traced both her maternal and paternal ancestors back to the 1600s.

Her first book, “Not a Poster Child: Living Well with a Disability,” won gold and silver awards and was on several best books lists in 2018 and 2019, including Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2018, PopSugar and BuzzFeed, and was nominated to 25 Women Making a Difference in 2019 by Conversations Magazine.

Her second book, “No Spring Chicken: Stories and Advice from a Wild Handicapper,” received a Kirkus star, given to “books of exceptional merit” by Kirkus Reviews, and was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of August 2021. “No Spring Chicken” was also a finalist in Foreword Reviews’ Indie Awards in 2021.

Her third book, “A Wolff in the Family” is a riveting early twentieth century saga set in the western United States and based on scandalous family history.

Francine spends a significant amount of time managing the effects of post-polio. She facilitates a polio survivors’ group as well as a writing group, and volunteers on her town’s Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Committee. She loves the outdoors, swimming, gardening, movies, well-written literature, being with friends and sharing British tea and a little champagne now and then. She resides in San Rafael, California, with her husband. Learn more at: https://francinefalk-allen.com 

In an interview, Francine Falk-Allen can discuss:

• How a long-buried family secret came to light and inspired the writing of “A Wolff in the Family”
• How she blended fact with fiction to create an accurate and compelling rendition of her family history
• How she made the transition from nonfiction to fiction writing
• Why it’s important to portray how gender inequality, racism, and shame affected her ancestors
• What the research process was like for “A Wolff in the Family,” especially considering how historical records of women’s lives and accomplishments are often hard to come by
• Her journey with genealogy and her advice for others looking to uncover lost family histories

An Interview with

Francine Falk-Allen

1. What inspired you to write “A Wolff in the Family”?

At a memorial service for one of my mother’s myriad brothers and sisters, an aunt mentioned offhandedly, “When we were in the orphanage…” and I was taken aback. My mother, long dead and the eldest child, had never mentioned this. I said, “Aunt Dorothy, what orphanage? What are you talking about?” She then gave me two or three more surprising comments which led me to inquire with other family members, and meld it with what my mother had related… and I  thought it was just too juicy a story to pass up. I’m the author in the family, so I felt that it fell to me.

2. How much of the book is true-to-life, and how much is fiction?

The main events of the story, including how the youngest children ended up in an orphanage and some of the events that led up to that, are factual, and most of the resulting repercussions are true as well. I had to surmise how some of these things came to pass, and using census records and family birth, marriage and death records, I pieced together where people would have been, which led me to guess how some of the characters could have met in a particular way or place; so some of that is made up but based on possibility. I also included family vignettes which really happened. I made up nearly all of the conversations, of course, which took place from 1918 through the early 1950’s, but I set everything in places that really existed. All of the characters were real people, some of whom I knew, with most of the names changed.

3. What was the research process like for you?

As a genealogy buff, I loved doing the research. Not only was looking up the census material fun for me, but researching newspapers for bits on a divorce, and how much things cost in those days in the areas where the story takes place. For instance, I learned that my mother’s family would likely not have afforded a vacuum yet but probably used a carpet sweeper. Details like this add realism to the story. My mother loved to sing, and I assumed her mother probably did as well, so I looked up which songs were popular at different points in the story, along with which films and celebrities. I felt immersed in the era from 1918 through the 40’s, especially.

4. What advice would you give to readers who are interested in doing research on their own family histories?

Start with what you know, and ask the people who are the oldest in your life what they remember or know to be factual, such as the dates of your ancestors’ births and deaths, plus any stories they can tell. There are bound to be some myths which are not true (there were in my father’s family as well). Then you can do internet research such as is available in Family Search or Ancestry, but you have to be careful, because many people will insert things they think are true without having seen an actual birth, marriage, christening, baptism, military or death record. I originally went in person to the source, the National Archives, twenty-five years ago, and some other locations, and looked for copies of original documents, as did some of my cousins, especially the Allen cousins, not as much the Mormons on my mother’s side; they have been less careful even though they have a reputation for interest in genealogy. Notation should be made for estimates and unverified stories, but many amateur family sleuths do not do due diligence. In the process you may unearth written newspaper articles or other stories, such as whether a relative’s death record listed slaves as assets, or whether they owned a particular piece of property, which can lead you to their location and more possible stories! Once you get the bug, allow lots of time, because it’s a fascinating tunnel to pursue.

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/

LOS ANGELES – In her latest book, “Talking About Adolescence: Supercharge Your Body and Brain Power,” Dr. Eichin Chang-Lim draws on her impressive academic credentials and award-winning writing to offer inspirational and practical insights to young people.

Confused by changing moods and a growing body?

Embark on an exhilarating journey of self-discovery with “Supercharge Your Body and Brain Power”—the ultimate guide to navigating adolescence with confidence and empowerment.

Unveil the science behind your changing body and harness the secrets to unlocking your brain’s full potential. Learn to manage mood swings, conquer stress, and make healthy choices while building resilience to overcome challenges.

Written in an engaging, conversational style with a fun “PowerPoint” format, this book is not just a read—it’s a toolkit for shaping a bright future. Thought-provoking questions and reflective exercises ensure lasting understanding.

This book is a must-have resource for teens, young adults, parents, educators, and anyone invested in teen development. Don’t wait to unlock your full potential—order your copy today and supercharge your life!

“Talking About Adolescence: Supercharge Your Body and Brain Power”

Eichin Chang-Lim | Oct. 29, 2024 | BookBaby

Nonfiction | Adolescence

Paperback | ISBN: 979-8-35095-992-5 | $25.99 

E-Book | ISBN: 979-8-35095-993-2 | $8.99 

Dr. Eichin Chang-Lim holds a master of arts in psychology, a doctorate in optometry, and a master of science in microbiology. She is a multi-award-winning author of romantic fiction, short stories, memoirs, and self-help books. Her works explore the intricacies of human relationships and the human spirit’s resilience, evolving into inspirational tales that are both multidimensional and thought-provoking. Her books have won numerous awards, including the Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award (first place), the IndieReader Discovery Award (winner), the Readers’ Favorite Book Award (gold medal winner), the BIBA™ Literary Award (winners), etc. 

Chang-Lim is passionate about using her writing to make a difference in people’s lives. “Every human being is valuable; every soul is unique and special,” she says. “I write with my heart and soul. My mindset is that if my writing can make a difference in even one person’s life, it’s all worth it, and that’s what love is all about.”

Chang-Lim lives in Orange County, California, with her husband and their poodle mix, Gabby.

For more information about Chang-Lim and her work, visit https://eichinchanglim.com. 

Follow Eichin Chang-Lim on social media: 

Facebook: @authoreichinchanglim | Twitter (X): @EichinChangLim

 Instagram: @eichinchanglim 

In an interview, Eichin Chang-Lim can discuss:

• Personal Inspiration – Witnessing her own children’s challenges growing up and working with teens struggling with addiction, gangs, gun violence and suicide during her career as an optometrist. Plus, how her own upbringing in Asia and how the lack of open conversations about mental health fueled her drive for helping teens.
• Interdisciplinary Influence – How her backgrounds in psychology, microbiology and optometry helped her understand the intricacies of human health, mind and behavior.
• Parental and Educator Support – Tips for adults to have open discussions and navigate sensitive topics with teens.
• Challenges Facing Teens – Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance addiction, social media obsession and making sound decisions when facing challenges.
• Building Resilience – Practical strategies for self-care, managing stress, avoiding harmful behavior, learning from role models, creating support systems and seeking professional help.
• Empowering Teens – Providing knowledge to help teens stay on the right path, helping them build resilience and making smart choices. Plus, why understanding their development helps promote self-acceptance, better decision-making and empathy.
• Neuroscience Insights – The importance of understanding brain development and its impact on behavior and decision-making.
• Influence of Fiction Writing – Using her skills as a romance and memoir writer to create engaging, relatable self-help books for teens.

An Interview with

Eichin Chang-Lim

What inspired you to write “Talking About Adolescence: Supercharge Your Body and Brain Power?”

As a mother of two adult children, I have witnessed firsthand the struggles they faced during their difficult teenage years. Additionally, throughout my 30-plus-year career in eyecare, I have worked closely with many teens and young adults. It is heartbreaking to see some of them go astray—lacking inspiration for the future, succumbing to substance addiction, joining gangs and losing their lives to violence, or appearing outwardly healthy but ultimately committing suicide or engaging in criminal behavior.

These young individuals never intended to ruin their lives, but the powerful influences of social media and peer pressure often led them astray. This inspired me to write the “Talking About Adolescence” series. My goal is to provide these vulnerable youths with the guidance and knowledge they need to navigate these challenging years and stay on the right path.

Book 2 is “Supercharge Your Body and Brain Power.” This book aims to empower them with knowledge about their body and brain development during critical times so they can build resilience, make smart choices, and confidently navigate the complexities of adolescence. Reach their full potential, have fulfilling lives, and become contributing citizens to the community. 

Can you discuss your diverse and multifaceted academic background? What motivated you to pursue several advanced degrees?

I began my academic journey with an undergraduate degree in medical technology. My passion for microbiology brought me to the USA in my early 20s, where I pursued a master’s degree in the field. Following this, I spent two years conducting research at the UCLA Medical Center. However, my curiosity didn’t stop there. The intricate and essential nature of the human eye inspired me to attend optometry school, leading to a career where I could make a difference in people’s lives.

While practicing as an optometrist, I found myself particularly drawn to the developmental stages of my younger patients. This interest sparked the idea of writing books for teens and young adults. To deepen my understanding and enhance my writing, I pursued a master’s in psychology focusing on developmental psychology. This multifaceted academic path has allowed me to explore and integrate diverse fields, ultimately enhancing my professional and personal endeavors.

How did your background in psychology, optometry and microbiology influence the content of your book?

My background in microbiology, optometry, and psychology has profoundly influenced the content of my book. Microbiology is closely linked to human health and daily life, offering valuable insights into the microscopic organisms that impact our overall well-being. Optometry, which focuses on vision, affects our movements, decision-making, and overall world perception. Psychology explores the workings of the mind, shaping our behaviors, emotional regulations, and behaviors.

Despite their apparent differences, these fields are deeply interconnected and play crucial roles in our daily lives and overall well-being. My understanding of these disciplines has allowed me to present a comprehensive and holistic perspective in my writing. By integrating microbiology, optometry, and psychology, I aim to provide readers with a profound understanding of how these aspects influence their body and mind.

What personal experiences shaped your approach to writing self-help books for teens?

My upbringing in Asia, where strict family discipline often associated physical punishment with success, profoundly influenced my journey as a self-help book author for teens. Aside from harsh discipline, I didn’t always have access to open conversations about mental health or any teen-related issues with adults. This is why I’m so passionate about writing self-help books for teens. While challenging, this experience has given me a unique perspective on the long-lasting effects of childhood adversity. 

Childhood trauma can come in various forms. I addressed them in the book, and some of them are heart-wrenching. Current research supports the notion that childhood trauma can profoundly impact mental health and even echo through generations. This knowledge motivates me to illuminate these issues and promote the welfare of young people. Through my writing, I aim to empower those who have faced adverse childhood distress to seek support and healing. 

How does your newest book promote making healthy choices and building resilience?

“Talking About Adolescence” empowers teens with neuroscientific-based knowledge to build inner strength and foster healthy habits.

The two main elements of resilience are internal and external resources. Adolescents can build their inner strength by encouraging open communication, celebrating growth, and providing safe challenges. Teens learn coping mechanisms and build confidence through goal-setting and problem-solving practice. Adolescents can acquire external resources by building support networks, such as by involving teens in community activities and providing access to counseling and support groups. 

The book emphasizes the importance of self-care in sleep, exercise, and nutrition, as well as avoiding harmful behavior and substance addiction in forming healthy habits. It also encourages teens to learn from positive role models, build a strong support system, and seek help from professionals when needed without hesitation. 

The book is a comprehensive guide, equipping teens with the indispensable tools to navigate adolescence and lay a solid foundation for a healthy future. This will make the audience feel prepared and confident. 

How does your book differ from other teen self-help guides on the market?

In several ways, my book stands out from other teen/adolescent self-help guides:

1. Personal Experience and Engagement: As a parent who has navigated the turbulent waters of adolescence with my own children, as well as someone who has worked closely with youth groups, I have a deep understanding of what resonates with teens. My aim is to engage them in a way that feels genuine and relatable, fostering a sense of connection and understanding.
2. Conversational Style: I steer clear of dense, academic language and the stern, preachy tone often found in self-help books. Instead, I opt for a conversational style that presents research-based facts in a way that is approachable and simple to grasp, making the audience feel at ease and comfortable.
3. Relevant Information: I focus on providing material pertinent to teens and young adults’ lives. The content addresses their specific concerns and challenges, ensuring they find the material practical and applicable.
4. Interactive and Thought-Provoking: My book includes thought-provoking questions and exercises to encourage self-reflection and a more profound understanding. This interactive element helps teens actively reflect on the concepts, internalize them, promote a deeper understanding, and empower them to make informed choices and apply the information to their own experiences.

My book combines these elements to inform, engage, and empower teens, making it a unique and valuable resource in the self-help market for adolescents.

Did your background in writing romantic fiction and memoirs influence your approach to writing self-help books?

Absolutely! My experience writing romantic fiction and memoirs has significantly influenced my approach to writing self-help books for teens and young adults. In both genres, the focus is on emotional connection and understanding.
Romantic fiction taught me the importance of creating relatable characters and navigating complex emotions—both crucial writing aspects for teenagers grappling with their own emotional journeys.
Memoir writing honed my ability to craft personal stories that resonate with readers. This skill allows me to weave relatable anecdotes and real-life experiences throughout “Talking About Adolescence,” making the sometimes complex scientific concepts more engaging and easier for teens to understand.
Drawing on these skills from different genres, I can present information in a way that feels personal and engaging rather than simply technical, dry or prescriptive in nonfiction writing. For me, writing transcends mere words, regardless of genre. It’s a heartfelt exchange, a connection with readers that reflects the spirit of humanity.

How do you hope your new book uplifts those who read it?

Ultimately, I want to inspire hope and show that mental health and happiness are achievable, even in the face of invisible pain. By encouraging teens to seek help and support, the book aims to help them reach their fullest potential through healthy body and brain development.

Download press kit and photos

Marissa DeCuir

A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.

Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.

booksforward.com/about-us/marissa-decuir/