Author: Marissa DeCuir

The world was their creation until they sought to destroy it.

San Antonio, TEXAS – As long as there is light, there is hope. This sentiment and more abound in author Mark A. Alvarez’s debut novel, “Dutybound,” (June 22, Books Fluent), in which discovering faith and morality culminate in an epic fantasy where we are encouraged to destroy the beliefs that limit us and our destinies.

Readers will dive into the world Terestria and its Virtues, heirs of nobility forced to face the Sins of their forefathers and bring their world from the brink of Darkness. Among them is Lucia, High Maiden to the province of Moz and chosen of the Light Wings. This ancient relic, bestowed upon a long-forgotten civilization by the Light itself, was forged to harbor the Light’s essence if Terestria’s balance were threatened by the Darkness’ desire to corrupt its most-prized creation: Life. If successful and the long-standing covenant between the Light and its Protectors were ever to be broken, the Darkness would be free to roam Terestria and reclaim the land it had a hand in creating — bringing death and destruction to every corner of the world. With the help of the Light Wings and its power, Lucia must heed its call to assemble the Light’s Virtues and lead them into battle against the very Sins that seek to destroy their world.
“Dutybound” is a journey of self-discovery, as these heroes face conflict both from outside and within themselves. Duty, desire, envy, hope, hate, love, pride and temperance all are challenged within this bold tale that is sure to have readers pondering their own true nature.

“Dutybound: Light Wings Epic Vol. 1”
Mark A. Alvarez | June 22, 2021 | Books Fluent | Fantasy
Paperback | 978-1-953865-10-6 | $16.99 | Hardcover | 978-1-953865-12-0 | $21.99
Ebook | 978-1-953865-11-3 | $5.99

Mark A. Alvarez II is a Hispanic-American born in Houston, Texas. He’s a graduate of Texas State University, where he studied public relations and mass communication. He was an apprentice at the NEW Apprenticeship where he was certified in digital marketing. He is the CEO of Light Wings Promotions LLC, a digital marketing and creative branding agency in San Antonio, Texas, where Mark currently resides.

Follow the author on social media:
Facebook: @maalvarezii
Twitter: @maalvarezii
Instagram: @maalvarezii

In an interview, Mark A. Alvarez can discuss:

• The inspiration behind the story and his 10+ year journey in developing the novel
• Crafting and building a fantasy world that doesn’t rely on magic but rather virtue
• How his passion for music and video games influenced his writing
• Writing heavily on themes of privilege and knowledge — and their burdens — and how they correlate to our social and political constructs as a civilization
• How readers will relate to this coming-of-age story and how its themes have laid the groundwork for a sequel

An interview with Mark A. Alvarez

1. What inspired you to write the novel, and why is the story so personal to you?

“Dutybound,” or the Light Wings Epic more specifically, was inspired by a combination of a young boy’s imagination and a variety of personal experiences that had a profound impact on how I viewed my life and the world I lived in. I had survived a gunshot to the face when I was 4 years old, which embedded me with this powerful sense of duty, despite being permanently scarred by the marks it left behind. I was coping with issues at home and at school, where I was very active academically but never really social. I was often bullied for the scars on my face, but I never let that deter me from having faith in myself or in the purpose I believed in. Light Wings was my escape, a world I could create and be my own outside of the life of which I had no control. With my education being seen as my only true escape, I cultivated this story about knowledge and its power to manipulate, distort and limit the beliefs of others while also being the salvation one needs to escape an ill-fated destiny and find life’s true meaning.

2. What was your creative process behind writing a debut novel?

Originally, Light Wings was conceived through a series of storyboards, comic books and various ideas for what I thought would be the perfect role-playing game. Eventually, I started writing out the series by hand, while listening to scores to my favorite video games. To this day, the easiest way for me to write is by listening to instrumental music, usually classical or EDM, and imagining scenes within my head while focusing on the emotions the song provokes. With that, I use the music to fuel the words I write, placing the song’s context into the scene and borrowing the pacing from its rhythm to help me structure my writing. My focus was always more on how I told the story rather than how I wrote it, which is where I think music helped the most. It brought life to the scenes. I definitely would say “Dutybound” would not exist without music. It was and still is the ultimate muse to my craft and provides me with more inspiration than any other external or internal force could.

3. How did music and video games influence that writing process?

My taste in music evolved over the years, but when I was younger, all I listened to was video game scores and classical music. I was fearful of what people would think of my music taste so I kept it to myself mostly, but when listening to the music, I would always find myself daydreaming and imagining different scenarios. I’d say video games played a lot more into the fighting element in my novel. Each of the characters took on a certain role, used a different weapon and had a distinctive fighting style. The fight scenes in “Dutybound” are extremely focused and detailed to demonstrate each of the character’s unique abilities and are also used to help illustrate their cultural upbringing.

4. Do you find world-building difficult? How did you go about crafting a fantasy world from scratch?

Absolutely not. I definitely feel like Terestria was very much inspired by the world we live in. Growing up, I was fascinated with various world cultures and mythologies. I studied much of their art history and thought to create an alternative world, similar to our own, with provinces within different stages of cultural and societal development. I like to think that each of Terestria’s provinces exists within a different era in history when compared to that of Earth’s timeline. I drew inspiration from those eras and imagined their realms as such. However, I worked to make their cultures distinctively different from those we more commonly recognize.

5. What do you hope readers take away from the themes in the novel?

If any theme is apparent in “Dutybound,” it’s that knowledge, power and privilege are all somehow correlated. Knowledge can always be manipulated, distorted and withheld by those who have it and used to either oppress or empower others. This is how knowledge is used in Terestria to control and hold dominion over the populace of every province, but knowledge is also the source of the virtue’s power.

In “Dutybound,” the quest is about discovering the lost knowledge of Terestria’s creation and the source of each of the forces that threaten it; all so the characters can self-actualize the virtue they embody, by looking past the knowledge they had the distinct “privilege” of knowing and into the truth, which is the very key to discovering who they truly are. This makes you question the morality of the Terestrian world leaders and provides you with an allegory to how leaders in our known world have in the past distorted and manipulated the truth to either gain power or to take power from those who deserve it. Another thing to note is the the of coming-to-age or coming-to-power, where knowledge plays a factor in self-determining your identity. Sometimes, we have to look at the darkest parts of ourselves, or experience misfortunes, in order to define what’s right. What we know shapes us more than we realize, and if we don’t pay attention, we might limit ourselves by conforming into ideologies that lack sincerity, compassion, or virtue.

6. Is there going to be a follow-up, and if so, what can readers expect in a sequel?

“Bloodbound” is already in the works. Much of the epic has already been planned and written out, and the themes expand into a much more expansive world. We have yet to see the desert isles of the island nation of Gracile or tundras of the northern province of Argania. Many characters introduced in “Dutybound” will become more prominent in this sequel, and readers will be introduced to a mysterious set of deuteragonists of which the novel will revolve around outside the core trio of the first. Though Lucia will remain the series’ central character, the other virtues will hold more stake in the story, if not just as much. They’ve still got ways to develop as characters, and their individual arcs and relationships with one another will change dramatically. I would say, “Bloodbound” has a different tone, so expect the unexpected. It will be all about defying and rebelling against the expectations you’re born into, as we see the fall and rise of a noble lineage and a war for world dominance.

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/

CHICAGO, IL–Set in the early 1900s, “Among the Beautiful Beasts” (She Writes Press, June 1, 2021) reveals the untold story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a woman who would become known for her tireless advocacy work in protecting the Florida Everglades.

After spending her childhood in New England nursing her mother, who fades into madness, Marjory marries a swindler thirty years her senior. The marriage nearly destroys her, but Marjory finds the courage to move to Miami, where she begins a new life as a journalist.

Buoyed by a growing sense of independence and an affair with a rival journalist, Marjory embraces a life lived at the intersection of the untamed Everglades and the rapacious urban development that threatens it. When the demands of a man once again begin to swallow Marjory’s own desires and dreams, Marjory sees herself in the vulnerable, inimitable Everglades, and knows she must choose between a life of subjugation or a leap into the wild unknown. Told in chapters that alternate between an urgent midnight chase through the wetlands and extensive narrative flashbacks, “Among the Beautiful Beasts” expertly weaves together suspense and thoughtful reflection.

“An atmospheric and engrossing story about the experiences that shape us, the passions that move us, and the discoveries that bring meaning to the rest of our lives.”
— Laura Munson, bestselling author of Willa’s Grove

“Among the Beautiful Beasts”
Lori McMullen | June 1, 2021 | She Writes Press | Historical Fiction
Paperback | ISBN: 978-1647421069 | $16.95

Lori McMullen grew up in unincorporated Dade County, outside of Miami. Growing up, her family took an annual trip to the west coast of Florida. McMullen was inspired by the scenic drive along Route 41, a two-lane, pot-hole ridden stretch of road that bisected Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve. South Florida found its way into her heart and into her writing, even after she left Miami to attend Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. McMullen currently lives with her husband and three daughters in Chicago. Her short stories have been featured in the Tampa Review and Slush Pile magazine. “Among the Beautiful Beasts” (2021) is her first novel. For more information on her life and work, please visit: https://www.lorimcmullen.com/

In an interview, Lori McMullen can discuss:

• What inspired her to write about Marjory Stoneman Douglas
• How Stoneman Douglas’s life in the early 1900s is relevant to our contemporary culture
• Her thoughts on the tragedy that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in 2018, and the hope that still remains
• What she hopes readers will take away from Marjory’s life story
• Resources for those looking to dive deeper into environmental activism
• Her plans for the future

An Interview with Lori McMullen

1. What inspired you to write about Marjory Stoneman Douglas?

In the writing classes and fiction workshops I’ve taken over the years, I’ve always been told to write what I know. When I decided to plunge into creating a novel, I reinterpreted that advice a little so that it became write what I know I’m passionate about. I know I am passionate about the stories of norm-breaking women, about the utterly unique and fragile beauty of the Everglades, and about fiction that is transformative for the reader. These passions all seemed to point in the same direction: to Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a South Florida icon whom I’d learned about as a child in my Miami elementary school. When I began to dig beyond the well-known facts of her late-in-life achievements and learn about the person she was before becoming an environmental activist, I knew I’d found a truly remarkable woman whose early story I needed to tell.

2. Why is it crucial to keep Marjory’s story alive? What can we learn from her early activism and her accomplishments?

If you look at the arc of Marjory’s life, what you find is that the tragedy, hardship, and trauma of her early years gave her the empathy and the impetus to advocate for something greater than herself in her later years. More specifically, Marjory understood, through experience, what it felt like to be vulnerable, to be used, to continually sacrifice herself for the benefit of others, so when she became familiar with the Everglades in the midst of the South Florida land boom of the 1920s, Marjory understood that the wetlands were facing the same kind of fundamental threat to their existence that she had faced. She knew she could be their voice because their cry was the same.

We need a similar call to action now, as humanity faces threats as existential as climate change. Marjory provides an example of how individuals can draw on their own life experiences to transform enormous global issues into personal causes. Then, when we’re all moved to action, change can really happen.

3. In 2018, a deadly event took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. What do you make of the tragedy and how does it relate to Marjory’s own life?

There is an extraordinary parallel between Marjory’s experience advocating for change before the Florida legislature and the experience of the Parkland survivors doing the same almost one hundred years later. In the spring of 1916, Marjory traveled to Tallahassee to argue before a joint committee of the state legislature in favor of women’s suffrage. Her testimony was completely ignored. By Marjory’s own account, the male legislators did not even listen to her, and Florida was one of the last states to ratify the 19 th amendment – in 1969.

Parkland students had a remarkably similar experience in 2018. Less than a week after the mass shooting at the high school that bears her name, one hundred survivors traveled to Tallahassee to urge state legislators to enact stricter gun control laws. The state legislators knew the survivors were coming, yet by the time the teens had arrived at the capital, the legislative body had already voted along party lines to reject advancing a bill that would ban large-capacity magazines and assault rifles.

Even beyond this parallel, however, there is profound significance to be found in the fact that this particular high school is connected to Marjory. Like Marjory, the Parkland survivors have been shaped by the horrific events of their young lives, and for many of them, this will lead to a lifetime of impassioned advocacy and activism. I have no doubt that Marjory Stoneman Douglas would be proud to have her name associated with these determined young people.

4. “Among the Beautiful Beasts” is told in a compelling writing style that blends thoughtful reflection with urgency and suspense. Why did you choose this style of narration?

This style of narration both serves the story and indulges my guilty pleasure as a writer. In terms of serving the story, the short, recurring chapters that urgently track a midnight chase through the Everglades drive the narrative forward. The reader isn’t sure who is chasing Marjory, or why, and as the details of her life unfold in the reflective chapters, the chase chapters take on new meaning. This continues until the threads merge and the story reaches its climax. In terms of indulging me as a writer, I love to write prose that verges on poetry. I love creating scenes that are sensory and palpable. I don’t think this style of writing is sustainable, however, for an entire novel, so by inserting the urgent and suspenseful chase chapters in short bursts throughout the book, I was able to give in to these poetic impulses without weighing down the whole story.

5. For those interested in learning more about Marjory’s life, or about conservation efforts in the U.S., where should they look?

Friends of the Everglades is a fantastic organization whose mission is to “preserve, protect, and restore the only Everglades in the world.” The group was formed by Marjory in 1969 and continues to be a forceful advocate for the environmental health of South Florida.

I’d also encourage people to read “River of Grass,” which is Marjory’s masterpiece. Published in 1947, the same year the Everglades became a national park, the book is an essential part of the environmental literary canon. The book is also, I believe, a love story – only someone who is utterly besotted could write about a place with such nuance and compassion.

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/

ALLEN, Texas – D. Hale Rambo combines personality and fantasy to create a carefully crafted, character-centric story about finding your true happiness. Tools of a Thief: A Series of Decisions on Kairas (May 25, 2021, Fiercewood Press) takes readers on an unforgettable adventure with characters they’ll love from the first page.

How do you stop being a thief? Zizy assumed quitting her job, stealing from her boss, and flitting magically across the continent was one way to give it a go. Getting in and out of sticky situations is typically Zizy’s specialty. A little spellwork here, a pinch of deception there, and she’s home free. Quick-fingered, fast-talking, and charming the gnome knows traveling across a shattered continent won’t be easy. Still, she has the skills to keep herself from getting killed.

Too bad she was followed on her one-way trip. Pressed into a mission she can’t say no to, Zizy feels desperate, out of place, and as lonely as before. But when she meets a charming book hoarder with bold curiosity, Zizy can’t help but want to bring her along on this one last job. She’ll just hide her past, her present, and complicating info about herself. What could go wrong?

Either she finishes the job and protects those she loves, or it all falls apart. Is this journey the final key to unlock a new path or just another sticky situation she has to run from? She’ll use every tool she’s got to get what she wants.

“Tools of a Thief: A Series of Decisions on Kairas”
D. Hale Rambo | May 25, 2021 | Fiercewood Press
Paperback | 978-1-7361281-0-7 | $9.99
Ebook | 978-1-7361281-1-4 | $2.99
Fantasy

D. HALE RAMBO: D. Hale Rambo is an avid reader, Pathfinder/Dungeons & Dragons player, bubble bath connoisseur, and author. She has been writing and creating other worlds since she was old enough to mark them on her bedroom wall. As a dungeon master and in life, D. Hale Rambo believes in the fun of morale bonuses, inspiration, and always using cover. Get updates on the series, say hello, or debate with her about the versatility of gnomes at www.dhalerambo.com.

Follow D. Hale Rambo on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dhalerambo
Twitter: @therambogeeks
Instagram: @therambogeeks

In an interview, D. Hale Rambo can discuss:

• Developing an idea based around an origin story for her characters
• Writing a lesbian protagonist
• Creating a character-centric fantasy
• Writing during a pandemic
• The influence of fantasy books and role playing games on her, personally and professionally

An Interview with D. Hale Rambo

1. How did you come up with the idea for Tools of a Thief?

I started with the deities first. Beginning with them was not the easiest thing to have started with, but I love a good creation myth. Their personalities and desires shaped the world, the inhabitants, and conflicts. I drew on my inspiration from classic fantasy and Greek and Egyptian mythology.

I knew I wanted to do two things. I wanted to hang out at the beginning of this world with these deities as their powers grew and I wanted to hang out after everything went horribly wrong for them. I outlined the first part, built the world, and set it aside to use as a campaign setting (for Dungeons and Dragons). Then I sketched what the world looked like after a massive upheaval. I asked myself who would be the most entertaining person to explore the “Oh shit” timeline of the world with. Anyone who asks that question and doesn’t pick a thief is really missing out.

Zizy and Laysa came to be because I wanted to explore the world and see what had happened to it after the “Oh shit” cataclysmic part. A gnome who has more wits than sense and really just wanted a break. A Brix (earthy creatures with a natural knack for agriculture) who just wanted to learn everything she could about the wonders of the world. They’re just both parts of me fleshed out as characters.

I wanted to explore what it was like to start something new mid-way through your life. When you’re on a path already, good or bad, and you really want to be doing something else. It mirrored where I was several years ago. I was over my perfectly lovely job in my perfectly fine life that was, in my mind, exactly where I should’ve been. And I hated it all. But I’ve always believed you can do anything, start anything new at any age. I have had some really great mentors in my life who have stoked that fire of thinking.

2. How did you incorporate Zizy and Laysa’s budding relationship with the adventure elements of their journey?

I wanted to make sure the story I was telling wasn’t just a fun adventure travel story but also a story of new beginnings through and through. An origin story of these characters’ adventure together is also one of a romantic relationship that could become the brickwork to utter joy and happiness.

Anytime Zizy had a doubt about herself or felt like running away, Laysa is there to support her or give her a reason to try. Laysa absolutely believes in Zizy and is clearly smitten with her, and it sort of breaks Zizy’s walls down how open she is about it. And Zizy has a lot of walls up. You would too if you hadn’t been able to really trust anyone for years and years.

I kept Laysa open and loving and curious. If Zizy backs away, Laysa asks her questions and gives her room to answer in a safe space. They start to trust and depend on each other and it sorta changes the whole nature of what Zizy has to do to change her life. And those changes become a rockslide that tweaks how each adventure moves on until you get to an ending that in no way could’ve happened without Zizy loving Laysa. Wanting to be worthy of Laysa’s love. There’s no will they, won’t they here.

3. How did your personal experience as a dungeon master influence your novella?

Poorly. Haha, it’s nice to have characters who will take the bait you leave out because you’re literally writing them to. Ultimately though it kinda ends up the same way. They do stuff you didn’t think of at all, and it takes you in a new direction. Having played games like this for years with various people has helped me broaden my horizons, stretch my imagination, and try to think of new twists on things people expect.

ToaT is a pretty light-hearted novella. It’s not about killing things or gaining XP. I leave all that to the campaign setting for the pre-cataclysm portion of the world.
— The setting is open to Patreon subscribers

4. As an avid reader yourself, what types of books do you tend to read?

Currently, it’s fantasy that satirizes like Orcanomics or character-focused works like Silver in the Wood. I love AU spec fic, sci-fi comedy, and of course, romance novels outside of fantasy. If I need something to read but just want a comfort book, I’ll re-read Jane Austen’s books for the 450th time. Now that I’m older Persuasion is my go-to.

5. What’s next for Zizy and Co.?

The second book in the series, Components of a Caster, leaves right off where ToaT ends but from Laysa’s POV. She’s been searching for her own sort of power for a while now, and she may have finally found a way in. I’m looking forward to exploring what it means to feel valuable and needed. Also, to showcase what it takes to do spellwork in the complex world that is Kairas.

6. Why is creating diverse characters important to you?

Creating characters who look like me or share my worldview is important because I grew up reading and watching characters who looked nothing like me. They had grand adventures while people like me were background characters. It took a few dozen years to even contemplate that I could change that by starring women or POC in the adventures that I always wanted to be on. So it’s literally a post-it on my monitor as a reminder that I can include all different types of people! And now I have these stories to share with people like my little sister, and she knows she’s in there and I’m in there and that really matters.

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/

“[Closer to Fine] will resonate for anyone who has ever struggled to find their place in the world” – Idit Klein, president and CEO of Keshet—for LGBTQ Equality in Jewish Life

PHILADELPHIA, PA –Debut novelist Jodi S. Rosenfeld revels in the humor that marks the new adult experience with this romantic and whip-smart coming-of-age tale. “Closer to Fine” (She Writes Press, May 25, 2021) is the story of Rachel Levine, a twenty-something Jewish, bisexual woman finding her adult footing in a world full of uncertainties and possibilities.

A student of clinical psychology, Rachel has much to learn, and many teachers along the way―a stubborn grandfather, a progressive rabbi, a worldly girlfriend, a wise supervisor, and an insightful therapist. In the end, however, it is her own anxiety that is the best teacher of all. As Rachel learns to embrace uncertainty and accept what she cannot control, she finds herself connecting more deeply with the people who matter most in her life.

“This book radiates goodness. It’s warm and smart, funny and brave. It has deep, particular knowledge of people, while at the same time embracing the great, wistful messiness of being human.”
—Leah Hager Cohen, author of Strangers and Cousins

“Closer to Fine”
Jodi S. Rosenfeld | May 25, 2021 | She Writes Press | Literary Fiction, New Adult
Paperback | ISBN: 978-1647420598 | $16.95

JODI S. ROSENFELD: Jodi Rosenfeld is a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety and acceptance-based therapies. She is a graduate of Tufts University and the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (now William James College). She lives with her husband and two teenage children in the western suburbs of Philadelphia and plans to enter rabbinical school in the very near future. Closer to Fine is her first novel.

To learn more about her life and work, please visit: https://jodirosenfeld.com/

In an interview, Jodi S. Rosenfeld can discuss:

• The inspiration behind “Closer to Fine”
• Why several unique milestones mark Rachel’s personal growth – finding romance, coming out, and learning from therapy
• The importance of therapy, and breaking the stigma surrounding mental health discussions, particularly regarding anxiety and OCD
• How identity is explored in the novel, touching on the complex relationship between Judaism and feminism
• What she hopes readers will take away from the novel

An Interview with Jodi S. Rosenfeld

1. What inspired you to write “Closer to Fine”?

While it’s not strictly autobiographical, “Closer to Fine” is definitely inspired by my own experiences. Like Rachel, the protagonist, I too came out as bisexual and learned about feminist Judaism in college. I, too, went on to a graduate program in psychology. I struggled with a lot of the same issues she does. Like Rachel, I grew a great deal in my own therapy. I’m now almost 50, and looking back on that time, I realized I had a story to tell.

2. Often, coming-of-age novels focus on the teenage years. Yet, Rachel’s own coming of age takes place later, during what many refer to as the “new adult” years. Why did you choose to focus on personal growth at that age? Do you think one’s “coming of age” can occur at any age?

I suppose I think of coming-of-age as the transition from childhood to adulthood. While I certainly thought of myself as an adult in college (we called ourselves “women” not “girls”) I really didn’t experience the first challenges of adulthood until my mid-twenties. There is something that happens to women in our mid-twenties (at least this felt true to me in the 1990s) where every romantic relationship we enter is saddled with the unspoken question, “is this the one?” I think this is true in heterosexual and same-sex relationships, especially if a woman envisions herself having children one day. We want certainty; we want to know if our partner will stay forever. It is similar with our jobs at that age—we ask ourselves, “is this the right career for me? Am I a fraud? Can I be respected as a professional when I feel like a child inside?” There is a scene in “Closer to Fine” where Rachel gets together with some of her college friends and they talk about their experiences as young adults in the world. They are remembering how much easier it was in college to define and express identities. Rachel says, “I mean, if you were a vegetarian, you lived in the vegetarian house. If you were musical theater geeks like us, you hung out in the box office and your room was covered in show posters. It was just easier to say to the world, ‘This is who I am.’” I think that it’s after college that one begins to build a truly adult identity and sometimes struggle with how to be that person in the real world.

3. “Closer to Fine” supports meaningful discussions surrounding mental health and therapy, particularly in relation to anxiety and OCD. Do you still see a stigma surrounding mental health? Is fiction an area where we can work to improve this?

I think that there is absolutely still a stigma around seeking professional help for mental health issues. While that stigma is far less than it once was, it is still a significant reason why people don’t seek treatment. OCD and other anxiety disorders can be very serious but also can be treated. What better place to destigmatize therapy than in fiction?

4. “Closer to Fine” examines the intersection between the various aspects of Rachel’s identity, as a young, Jewish, bisexual woman. Can you speak to the importance of showcasing the intersection between her Jewish identity and her identity as a bi woman?

Rachel’s expression of her Jewish identity and her bisexuality both represent a generational shift in her family. She “does Judaism” and “does romantic love” differently than her parents and grandparents did, and this creates some challenges for her, especially living with her grandfather. For Zayde (Rachel’s grandfather) and for her mother, Judaism and romantic love are about adhering to tradition. In both arenas, Rachel is exploring new ground, and this leads to conflict as well as secret keeping.

5. What do you hope readers will take away from this novel?

Ultimately, “Closer to Fine” is a feel-good novel. I want people to come away appreciating the ways in which growth, while sometimes scary, is always worth it. I want readers to understand that being present with the uncertainties in our lives is hard work, but that it is work we do in relationship to others and that by supporting one another, we can truly experience openness to all of life’s surprises.

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/

“Maximum Compound time doesn’t flow; it pools around you, goes stagnant. Each day is similar from the view of a locked world, a day hard and long to get through, and the years flying away.”

NEW YORK – Perpetrator. Bystander. Victim.

Longtime author Stephanie Dickinson straddles the lines of true crime and memoir in “Razor Wire Wilderness,” (June 1, 2021, Kallisto Gaia Press) as she examines the lives of those affected by violence in this immaculately assembled account that takes readers directly inside incarceration and face to face with inmates.

Krystal Riordan watched as her boyfriend beat a teenage Jennifer Moore to death in a vermin-infested New Jersey hotel room. Could she have stopped it? Or could she be his next victim? Now, Krystal is serving a maximum 30-year sentence, while the man who beat Jennifer to death received only a 50-year sentence. So what does it take to survive in a maximum security lockdown for 30 years? Is it possible to thrive?

The answers only lead to more questions in Dickinson’s raw and emotional look into the criminal justice system and how it’s failed not just one but countless victims of violence. And what unfolds is a beautiful depiction of moral ambiguity, loss and redemption within the confines of the prison walls and beyond.

“Razor Wire Wilderness”
Stephanie Dickinson | June 1, 2021 | Kallisto Gaia Press | True Crime Memoir
978-1-952224-04-1 | Paperback, $21 | Hardcover, $26.45 | Ebook, $8.99

Praise for Stephanie Dickinson

“In the ‘Razor Wire Wilderness’ of Stephanie Dickinson’s exquisitely lyrical portrayal of female incarceration — intimately researched by becoming pen pals with many inmates over many years — she reveals her own dark attraction and identification with Krystal Riordan. … It is not, There but for the grace of God go I,’ but because of Dickinson’s grace and amazing god-given talent that she is able to take us into the heart, mind, memory and imagination of Krystal, passive accomplice to a nightmarish crime. In prison where there is no weather, Dickinson manages to encompass the great Outside; her rendering of Maximum Compound is the opposite of a claustrophobic read. Like Hamlet, bound in a nutshell, Dickinson is king of Infinite space, Infinite empathy, and the Infinite beauty of bad dreams.”
— Jill Hoffman, on “Razor Wire Wilderness”
Mudfish editor and author of “Black Diaries,” “The Gates of Pearl,” and “Jilted”

“Part memoir, part true crime, and part meditation on the resilience of the human spirit, ‘Razor Wire Wilderness is penned with precision and grace.’ Due to Stephanie Dickinson’s unique ability to identify and magnify the personal details that are often unknowingly or willingly overlooked, this book transforms the way we see not only the complexities of a tragic crime but also the way violence becomes embedded in our lives and collective social systems. At its core, this is a story about friendship, but it is also about survival, what happens to us, and what we get to decide during our brief existence. It is about the way we live when we are caged, be that literally or figuratively, and the beckoning light of genuine human connection.”
— Jen Knox, on “Razor Wire Wilderness”
author of “After the Gazebo” and “Resolutions: A Family in Stories”

“Stephanie Dickinson writes with the beauty of a wounded angel. The protagonists in these eleven stories are achingly real, so natural that they craft their own lives. Most, but not all, are women; most, but not all, are young. Each has met humanity’s dark underbelly—through war, predation, neglect, the crueler vagaries of family—and felt the jagged elbows of alienation. And yet, like the ‘Flashlight Girls Run’ of the title, they power on with a particular awkward grace that makes these stories hard to put down, and impossible to forget. Gorgeous, heartbreaking, empowering stuff!”
— Susan O’Neill, on “Flashlight Girls Run”
author of “Don’t Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Vietnam”

“Despite the haunting beauty of Dickinson’s language, naked is possibly the best way to describe her prose. Naked emotion. Naked observation. The warts and the pimples of living presented with the same intensity and honesty as the finely curved hips and thick auburn hair that give life its pleasure. No one writes like Stephanie Dickinson, except maybe God.”
— Alice Jurish

Stephanie Dickinson, raised on an Iowa farm, now lives in New York City with the poet Rob Cook and their senior citizen feline, Vallejo. Her novels “Half Girl” and “Lust Series” are published by Spuyten Duyvil, as is her feminist noir “Love Highway.” Other books include “Heat: An Interview with Jean Seberg” (New Michigan Press); “Flashlight Girls Run” (New Meridian Arts Press); “The Emily Fables” (ELJ Press); and “Big-Headed Anna Imagines Herself” (Alien Buddha). She has published poetry and prose in literary journals including Cherry Tree, The Bitter Oleander, Mudfish, Another Chicago Magazine, Lit, The Chattahoochee Review, The Columbia Review, Orca and Gargoyle, among others. Her stories have been reprinted in New Stories from the South, New Stories from the Midwest, and Best American Nonrequired Reading. She received distinguished story citations in Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays and numerous Pushcart anthology citations. In 2020, she won the Bitter Oleander Poetry Book Prize with her “Blue Swan/Black Swan: The Trakl Diaries.” To support the holy flow, she has long labored as a word processor for a Fifth Avenue accounting firm.

In an interview, Stephanie Dickinson can discuss:

• How the criminal justice system has failed victims of violence — particularly with women and women of color — and what steps can be taken to correct course
• The stigmas surrounding sex work and those who experience sexual violence
• The process of corresponding with inmates in federal prison and the emotional ties formed from connecting with them
• The research conducted for the book and what she learned about U.S. incarceration

An interview with Stephanie Dickinson

1. Can you describe how you first connected with Krystal and when you knew you wanted to tell her story?

In July 26, 2006, Jennifer Moore, age 18, was abducted after a night of underage drinking and taken by small-time pimp, Draymond Coleman, to a seedy Weehawken hotel room that he shared with his sex worker/girlfriend, 20-year-old Krystal Riordan. When I saw Krystal’s arrest photograph, which appears on the cover of “Razor Wire Wilderness,” I knew I wanted to understand her and explore the lethal collision of the worlds inhabited by two young women close in age. I didn’t realize when I first wrote Krystal at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey, that I would tell not only her story but that of life and love in Maximum Compound.

2. How does Lucy’s story connect and intertwine with Krystal’s?

Lucy and Krystal met when they were assigned to the same medical unit work detail that involved caring for a disabled inmate. They were simpatico, Connecticut girls, whose personalities meshed as they worked together, laughed together and eventually bunked together. Corrections officers and inmates alike looked upon them as a package deal. Their pasts mirrored each other: Lucy’s mother abandoned the family when Lucy was 4 years old, (after an aborted kidnapping of Lucy and her brother), while Krystal’s sex worker birth mother neglected her daughters and turned a blind eye to their molestation. And ultimately, both of the women became sex workers.

3. What was the research process like as you were writing the book?

I approached the world of Maximum Compound as a friend and correspondent, primarily interested in Krystal Riordan, and in the process, I learned much about how the corrections facility operates, the thicket of rules I had to negotiate when trying to send a book, the invoices required, the designated months for art supplies. I learned about work details, the pay scale, the Counts, Mess Hall, the Yard, about lovers and friends. My contact with other inmates organically evolved, and I interviewed Lucy Weems at length for months by phone, email and letters. Her keen observation and communication skills were invaluable. Every writer is their own investigative reporter, and research feels like filling the tank and immersing yourself in the place, the lore, the texture, more intimate than the hammering down of facts.

4. In the book, you describe a personal experience with gun violence. How did that encounter affect you, and how do you think it affected how you told these women’s stories?

The tabloids had a field day with the story of Jennifer Moore’s rape and murder: the underage victim, the ex-con assailant, his sex worker girlfriend. I was stunned by the utter waste of it and filled with grief for teenage Jennifer, inebriated, doubly vulnerable, who made the fateful decision to walk off into the night, and grief for Krystal, 20 years old, mesmerized by a violent man who demanded obedience. I, too, made bad choices at age 18, hitchhiking to a distant state to attend a party where a 19-year-old boy brandishing a 12-guage shot me in the neck and face, paralyzing my left arm. So I am aware that the impulsive teenage years are crucial with consequences, and mistakes can last a lifetime as my disability has. I approached Krystal and Lucy’s stories from that perspective.

5. Why do you think the true crime genre has become so pervasive in American culture in the past decade?

In our era of the artificial versus the authentic, sensationalism is fed to us digitally as a substitute for the senses — the taste, touch, hear, see, that evolution gifted us with. We explore cyberspace and grow more removed from the visceral physicality of lived life. The documentary resonates mightily today as does true crime, whether in podcasts, Netflix specials or books. There is an obsession with the real, the actual, and with killers and victims. As human beings, we have a blood lust that at a remove fascinates us, and while we’re glad we’re not the victim, we are drawn to the violent spectacle.

6. Why was it so important for you to tell the world this story?

We tend to judge others in a limited binary fashion, sorting people into categories of good and bad, victims and perpetrators. I’ve inserted myself into “Razor Wire Wilderness” to illustrate the blend of good and bad and the mixed ethical essence in most of us. We are not purely one or the other. In telling Krystal’s and Lucy’s stories, I felt it important to portray their humanity and all of their imperfect stumbling toward the light, even in the darkest of places like prison. To avoid exploitation in my treatment of a real-life crime, I worked to transform the raw tabloid material into a more multilayered narrative.

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/

EDINA, MN – Payal Doshi offers young readers a new world in her debut novel, “Rea and the Blood of the Nectar” (June 15, 2021, Mango and Marigold Press). This fast-paced middle grade fantasy is full of adventure, excitement, and unforgettable characters fighting together for family and freedom. Doshi’s lyrical, quick-witted writing is sure to leave every reader yearning for more!

It all begins on the night Rea turns twelve. After a big fight with her twin brother Rohan on their birthday, Rea’s life in the small village of Darjeeling, India, gets turned on its head. It’s four in the morning and Rohan is nowhere to be found.

It hasn’t even been a day and Amma acts like Rohan’s gone forever. Her grandmother, too, is behaving strangely. Unwilling to give up on her brother, Rea and her friend Leela meet Mishti Daadi, a wrinkly old fortune-teller whose powers of divination set them off on a thrilling and secret quest. In the shade of night, they portal to an otherworldly realm and travel to Astranthia, a land full of magic and whimsy. There with the help of Xeranther, an Astranthian barrow boy, and Flula, a pari, Rea learns that Rohan has been captured. She also discovers that she is a princess with magic. Only she has no idea how to use it.

Struggling with the truth her Amma has kept hidden from her, Rea must solve clues that lead to Rohan, find a way to rescue him and save Astranthia from a potentially deadly fate. But the clock is ticking. Can she rescue Rohan, save Astranthia, and live to see it all?

Rea and the Blood of the Nectar is Payal Doshi’s heartwarming and thrilling debut novel about learning to make friends, fighting for what is right, discovering oneself, and understanding complex family dynamics.

“Rea and the Blood of the Nectar: The Chronicles of Astranthia”
Payal Doshi | June 15, 2021 | Mango and Marigold Press
Hardcover | 978-1-64543-763-5 | $19.95 | middle grade fantasy

Praise for Rea and the Blood of the Nectar

“A highly inventive, magic-filled fantasy.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“An extravagant and rewarding fantasy novel involving floral world building and childhood bravery.”
— Foreword Reviews

“With a spunky pari and eccentric creatures like a ‘cow-monkey dressed in jewels reciting poetry,’ Doshi kicks her series off on a high note.”
— Booklist

“Rea and the Blood of the Nectar is a gateway into pure imagination, with a fast-paced plot that will hook you and characters that will endear you. A wonderful debut.”
— KACEN CALLENDER, National Book Award winner for King and the Dragonflies and bestselling author of Hurricane Child

“From the tea plantations of Darjeeling to the flower-filled land of Astranthia, Rea and the Blood of the Nectar is an adventure filled with mythical monsters and marvelous creatures, magic and mayhem, friendship and family struggles. Rea is a fierce heroine whose courage and determination carry her forward to save her twin brother even when the path seems dark.”
– RAJANI LAROCCA, author of Midsummer’s Mayhem, Red, White, and Whole, and
Much Ado About Baseball

More about Payal Doshi

Payal Doshi has a Masters in Creative Writing (Fiction) from The New School, New York. Having lived in the UK and US, she noticed a lack of Indian protagonists in global children’s fiction and one day wrote the opening paragraph to what would become her first children’s novel.

She was born and raised in Mumbai, India, and currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and three-year-old daughter. When she isn’t writing or spending time with her family, you can find her nose deep in a book with a cup of coffee or daydreaming of fantasy realms to send her characters off into. She loves the smell of old, yellowed books. Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, Book 1 in The Chronicles of Astranthia series is her debut middle grade novel.

For more information, visit her website, www.payaldoshiauthor.com, or follow her on Instagram: @payaldoshiauthor and on Twitter: @payaldwrites.

In an interview, Payal can discuss:

• Writing as a South Asian author and her experiences getting her book published
• Championing joyful stories about diverse voices
• The process of writing during a pandemic
• How Darjeeling inspired settings in her book
• Growing up without seeing herself represented in literature
• How she created the magical world of Astranthi

An Interview with Payal Doshi

1. What was your inspiration for Rea and the Blood of the Nectar?

I wanted to write a fantasy story rooted in Indian culture and setting that had kids from India who went off on thrilling adventures and became heroes. I wanted to write a story I would have loved to read as a kid and one in which I saw myself in. I also wanted that story to portray these diverse characters having joyful and empowering experiences since often times that narrative gets overlooked when writing about underrepresented minorities. At the same time, I wanted to write a story that all kids would love. So, there’s a mystery that needs solving along with an exciting quest, a ticking clock, dark family secrets, unforgettable friendships, a fantastical world, and my favorite, magic!

I love reading books in which the setting feels like a character in itself and I knew from the beginning that I wanted to portray a region of India that was beautiful and underrated with respect to its landscape and people. The city of Darjeeling is a stunning hill station in the northeast part of the country ensconced within hills, the view of the majestic Himalayas and rolling tea plantations. I was inspired by its unique beauty and knew instantly that’s where I wanted to set my book.

2. Why is it important to you to write stories for diverse voices?

When I first drafted this book, all my characters were white, and they lived in the English countryside. It wasn’t until my writing teacher pointed out my lack of Indian characters that I realized how the books I had read (and loved) growing up had subconsciously trained my mind into thinking those were the only types of stories people wanted to read. I was a voracious reader as a kid, but I’d never read a children’s book with a protagonist who was Indian or South Asian. I simply never saw myself in the books I read and loved. So, when I decided to write my book, I wanted to change that statistic. I wanted South Asian kids to not only see themselves in books but also see themselves as the main characters of the stories they read. Diverse representation is incredibly important because kids from underrepresented minorities should grow up knowing that their stories deserve to be shared and celebrated and that they, too, can be the heroes of novels. It is equally important to show kids from other countries that they can relate with characters from different backgrounds since they, too, share the same hopes, dreams, and fears as them.

3. What is your favorite thing about Astranthia and why?

What I love about Astranthia is that you can’t pin down exactly where, or in which culture I’ve rooted the fantastical land in. Astranthia is an East-meets-West utopia where people from all cultures, races, and lands live together in harmony. I drew from my experiences growing up in Mumbai, India, where I was surrounded by Indian culture and tradition but also exposed to pop culture and media from the West. So, the reader will find several references to Indian, British, and Celtic folklore.

Astranthia is also steeped in the magic of the Som, a sacred and immortal flower, in which flows the elixir of nectar that keeps the realm alive. I love nature and I wanted to weave that lushness into the history and descriptions of Astranthia. I hope that readers will find Astranthia immersive, beautiful, and a magical escape.

4. How is the first draft of the book different from the final draft?

Oh, night and day! Especially the first chapter. I’ve probably rewritten it at least fifteen times! The first draft was a loosely held story in which the characters meandered their way through the plot while the final draft is a fast-paced adventure with complex characters and an exciting adventure. My mantra when tackling drafts is ‘Rewrite, Revise, and Repeat!’ It is true what they say: Writing is rewriting.

5. Did your writing process change during the pandemic?

To be honest, my writing process changed ever since I had a kid! I no longer had hours at my disposal. In that way, the pandemic has been similar since my husband and three-year-old are at home with me and between managing them and the household, I get pockets of time where I can squeeze in my writing. Before I had my daughter, I would sit at my laptop and ponder over how to approach the next chapter or scene. Nowadays, as soon as I get a chance to write, it’s go, go, go! Most of my rumination happens right before I fall asleep, while I’m cooking, or when I’m in the shower!

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] relatable and emotional saga” – BookLife, by Publishers’ Weekly

Minneapolis, Minnesota–After Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s passing in September, social media instantly flooded with posts mourning and honoring Ginsberg’s life and legacy. Yet the newly vacant Supreme Court seat also caused concern, with many women wondering if, how, and when their access to birth control would be impacted. At a time when reproductive rights are still being contested across the country, novels like “Lemons in the Garden of Love” (She Writes Press, May 11, 2021) should be required reading.

In “Lemons in the Garden,” it’s 1977 and Cassie Lyman, a graduate student in women’s history, is struggling to find a topic for her doctoral dissertation. When she discovers a trove of drawings, suffrage cartoons, letters, and diaries at Smith College belonging to Kate Easton, founder of the Birth Control League of Massachusetts in 1916, she believes she has located her subject.

Digging deeper into Kate’s life, Cassie learns that she and Kate are related―closely. Driven to understand why her family has never spoken of Kate, Cassie travels to Cape Ann to attend her sister’s shotgun wedding, where she questions her relatives about Kate―only to find herself soon afterward in the same challenging situation Kate faced.

A moving portrait of two women, whose stories shed light on the life-changing power of the ability to determine one’s reproductive future.

“Lemons in the Garden of Love”
Ames Sheldon | May 11, 2021 | She Writes Press | Historical Fiction
Paperback | ISBN: 978-1647420482 | $16.95

Praise for the author…

Lemons in the Garden of Love is “part feminist history, part journey of self-discovery… Sheldon’s evocative prose and compelling sense of the sweep of history grabs attention from page one.”
–BookLife, by Publishers’ Weekly

“Don’t Put the Boats Away is chock-full of well-researched historical details about political events, medical advancements, and even food trends of the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, and it also offers important commentary on professional opportunities for women during these decades. The author creates believable characters with complex interior lives. Overall, it’s a touching tale that examines the ways in which grief, regret, and unmet expectations can reverberate through generations.”
–Kirkus Reviews

“The world needs more novels like this.”
–Louisa Hall, The Carriage House, Speak, and Trinity

“Don’t Put the Boats Away is a timeless portrait of life’s loves and losses…the novel has raw and dark undertones…Sheldon explores the furtive topics of mental illness and social conflicts with modern clarity…Her characters are empathetically real.”
–Minnesota Monthly

“Ames Sheldon’s remarkably assured debut novel Eleanor’s Wars takes place in 1940s New Jersey and provides the reader with a fascinating view of the Second World War from the home front stage…The novel is a steadily-deepening web of secrets and revelations, something that kept me reading intently right to the last page.”
–Teresa Devine, Historical Novel Society

“Women’s History Sources is monumental… It is a magnificent contribution, and .. sets a standard that will not soon be equaled, let alone exceeded!”
–Frank B. Evans, Archivist of the United States

AMES SHELDON: was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in Wayzata, Minnesota. After graduating from Northrop Collegiate School, she attended Bryn Mawr College, where she majored in English. After graduating, she worked in the legal department of a chemical company, as a reporter at two newspapers, as office manager of a start-up auto salvage business, and eventually as a grant writer and development officer for a variety of nonprofit organizations, ranging from the Sierra Club in San Francisco to the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minneapolis Public Library. She has an M.A. in American Studies and was lead author and associate editor of the groundbreaking Women’s History Sources: A Guide to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States (R.R. Bowker, 1979). In the process of working on this monumental reference book, Ames discovered her love of women’s history and of using primary sources for research. Her debut novel, Eleanor’s Wars, won the 2016 Benjamin Franklin Gold Award for Best New Voice: Fiction. Her second novel, Don’t Put the Boats Away, was published on August 27, 2019, by She Writes Press. Her third novel, Lemons in the Garden of Love, will be published in 2021. For more information on Sheldon’s life and work, please visit: http://amessheldon.com/

In an interview, Ames Sheldon can discuss:

• Which elements of her own life influenced part of this historical fiction novel
• The true story of Blanche Ames Ames, co-founder of the Birth Control League of Massachusetts, which inspired her character, Kate Easton
• Why it’s important to remember the early years of women’s history relating to reproductive rights, especially in our current political climate
• How she conducted the research for this historical novel
• Why women’s accomplishments have historically been overlooked

An Interview with Ames Sheldon

1. What was the research process like for this novel?
I love to do research using primary sources and published sources from the period I am studying but I also enjoy interviewing people who can give me insight into their experiences as they relate to my subject matter. Libraries and librarians in Massachusetts and Minnesota have been enormously helpful in providing a great variety of resources. All my research provides grist for the mill as I work on getting my characters to inhabit a particular time and place in such a way that the reader will find them extremely credible, informative, and interesting.

While I was working on drafting Women’s History Sources with my colleagues in 1976, I received a packet of questionnaires that had been completed by one of the project’s fieldworkers for the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College. One of the questionnaires described the Ames Family collection (which contained approximately 119 document boxes at the time) with particular emphasis on Blanche Ames Ames and the Birth Control League of Massachusetts. As soon as I could, starting in 1978, I traveled to Smith and spent many hours perusing primary sources in the archives, reading and having copies made of cartoons and drawings, correspondence, notes, speeches, newspaper and magazine articles, meeting announcements and minutes, flyers, academic papers about Blanche Ames and suffrage, and a history of the birth control movement in Massachusetts by an unknown author. I went back to Smith twice more over the years, most recently in 2018. Because I’m related to Blanche Ames, I could ask questions of the people in my family who are most interested in history, and thus I learned much more about Blanche. I was taken to visit the home she built with her husband in Easton, Massachusetts, and her grandson gave me a self-portrait Blanche had drawn of herself as a young woman. I obtained copies of booklets and books about Blanche and her husband Oakes and copies of photos of her. I probably met her briefly once when I was ten years old.

Visits to the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Radcliffe College and the Nursing Archives at the Mugar Memorial Library at Boston University provided information about the New England Hospital for Women and Children, where Blanche served as president of the board from 1952-54.

As part of my work for a master’s degree in American Studies at the University of Minnesota, I took a graduate course on the Progresssive Era—the period during which Margaret Sanger invented the phrase “birth control” in 1915. The Birth Control League of Massachusetts was founded in 1916, with Blanche Ames as its president. I read widely in the literature of the Progressive Era, including books like Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class, Robert Henri’s The Art Spirit, diaries and poetry and novels of the period, as well as biographies of Margaret Sanger, Linda Gordon’s Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right, and many journal articles and books by other scholars of women’s history. I attended the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians.

I did research on the founding in 1928 and early years of the Minnesota Birth Control League, including the Constitution of The Motherhood Protective League of Minneapolis, clinic reports, a 1931 history of the League, flyers, newspaper articles, and the article “’Motherhood Protection’ and the Minnesota Birth Control League” by Mary Losure from Minnesota History (1995).

Besides research on birth control, I also studied leaflets, political ads, journal articles, and books about the suffrage movement in the United States. Eleanor Flexner’s book Century of Struggle: The Woman’s Rights Movement in the United States is a classic resource on the subject of suffrage. Barbara Welter’s article “The Cult of True Womanhood 1820-1860” from the American Quarterly provided important context. So did “The Female Animal: Medical and Biological Views of Woman and Her Role in Nineteenth-Century America” by Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Charles Rosenberg from the Journal of American History. As I focused on the 1915 referendum campaign in Massachusetts, I found Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s History of Woman Suffrage to be enormously helpful, for it contains a great deal of detail on that initiative. Pamphlets by the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Extension of Suffrage to Women were also illuminating.

Research on the women’s movement of the 1970s included re-reading books like The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, Personal Politics: The Roots of Women’s Liberation in the Civil Rights Movement and the New Left by Sara Evans, and Our Bodies, Ourselves: A Book by and for Women by the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective. Issues of Ms. Magazine from the 1970s were also helpful.

For research on abortion, I read Abortion and Its Treatment, From the Standpoint of Practical Experience by T. Gaillard Thomas, MD (1896), “Contribution A L’Etude Du Curettage Uterin Dans Les Complications de la Retention Placentaire Post-Abortive” by D’ M. Oui in Ann. De Gynec. & D’Obst (1895), Cider House Rules by John Irving, and the Cockle Law Brief of 250 American Historians as Amici Curiae in Support of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania vs. Robert P. Casey, et al, before the Supreme Court of the United States, October Term 1991. I also read “First Trimester Abortion” by Minnesota abortion physician Jane Hodgson, M.D., from Abortion in the Seventies, Proceedings of the Western Regional Conference on Abortion, 1976. I also interviewed several women who had abortions in the 1970s and two who had abortions at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota in 1985 and 2017.

Blanche Ames’s husband Oakes Ames was a world authority on orchids who directed the Botanical Museum and Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University. Wanting to create a similar career for the husband of Kate (the character inspired by Blanche), I made Kate’s husband Del a botanist who specialized in ferns. I read autobiographical writings, diaries, and letters in Oakes Ames: Jottings of a Harvard Botanist, collected by Pauline Ames Plimpton, published by the Botanical Museum of Harvard University. Then I consulted A Natural History of Ferns by Robbin C. Moran (2004) and visited the University of Minnesota’s Andersen Horticultural Library where I learned a great deal about ferns from A Naturalist in Costa Rica by Alexander F. Skutch and Life Above the Jungle Floor by Donald R. Perry. I learned about the fern Oleandra from Rolla M. Tryon and Alice F. Tryon’s book Ferns and Allied Plants and about the fern Asplenium rutaceum from The Field Guide to Plants of Costa Rica by Margaret B. Gargiullo, Barbara Magnuson,and Larry Kimball.

2. Can you tell us about Blanche Ames Ames, the founder of the Birth Control League of Massachusetts, and the inspiration for your character Kate Easton?

After learning about Blanche Ames from my work with Women’s History Sources, I had a dream in which Blanche instructed me to write her autobiography. I took that to mean I should compose the diary of my great-grandaunt, a woman I didn’t personally know. I didn’t find diaries by Blanche in the Ames Collection at Smith College, but I found many letters to and from her.

Blanche Ames was born in 1878 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Her parents were General Adelbert Ames, Civil War general and Governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction, and Blanche Butler, daughter of General Benjamin Butler and Sarah Hildreth, a Shakespearean actress. After graduating from Smith College and the Art School of Smith College in 1899, in 1900 Blanche Ames married Oakes Ames, a friend of her brother’s to whom she was not related despite their both having the same last name. Oakes was an instructor in botany at the time of their marriage. They had four children: Pauline (born in 1901), Oliver (born in 1903), Amyas (born in 1906) and Evelyn (born in 1910). Their home known as Borderland was designed by Oakes and Blanche and built in North Easton in 1911. 

Blanche was strongly committed to women’s rights. In college she wrote that “as long as I can remember I never could see a truly reasonable argument against women’s suffrage.” She and Oakes were members of the Easton Suffrage Association and in 1915 they both took part in a pro-suffrage parade past the Statehouse in Boston. Oakes chaired the campaign committee of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage even though his cousin Mary Ames was one of the leading anti-suffragists in Massachusetts. Blanche and Oakes had an old Cuban slave bell at Borderland rung every night until women won the vote. Blanche created political cartoons in support of women suffrage that were printed in local and national newspapers. President Taft criticized one of her cartoons in The Saturday Evening Post. 

In 1916 Van Kleeck Allison, a young socialist, was arrested when he handed out pamphlets on limiting births among the poor. Blanche and a few others established a defense committee to defend Allison, and soon thereafter Blanche co-founded the Birth Control League of Massachusetts. The defense committee did not succeed in convincing the Massachusetts Supreme Court that laws against distributing printed information about birth control or manufacturing contraceptive devices or drugs should be overturned. In 1917 Blanche made sketches for a panel to represent the plight of women and their need for birth control. The central figure was a woman crucified on a cross. The panel was never completed. Attracting supporters to the Birth Control League of Massachusetts proved to be an uphill battle. When Dr. Antoinette Konikow was arrested in 1928 for exhibiting contraceptive devices, the League gained new life. Blanche served as its president until 1935. The birth control diary entries and some of the letters in my novel follow the actual developments, setbacks, and challenges the League faced.

For more than fifty years Blanche worked as a portrait artist. She was influenced by the Boston School centered around Edmund Tarbell, an Impressionist painter. Blanche’s portraits hang in many public collections at Dartmouth College, Phillips Exeter Academy, Barnard College, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Mississippi Hall of Governors, and elsewhere as well as in private collections. A portrait that Blanche painted in oil of my grandmother when she was in her early 20s hangs in my office today.

Blanche was recognized as a leader in the field of botanical illustration. After using a microscope to study the orchids Oakes discovered in his travels, she created scientifically precise drawings and watercolors. Drawings of Florida Orchids was published by Blanche with notes by Oakes in 1947.

In addition, applying scientific methods to her painting, she developed color theory and color charts unusual in their breadth and complexity. She studied various color theorists writing between 1909 and 1929 and then in her notebooks and journals she recorded her own system of color notations for 4,000 different color variations, which she used to code pencil sketches of subjects she planned to paint.

As well as being a feminist and an artist, Blanche was an inventor. At Smith she tried to invent new hair curlers. In 1939 she sought to patent a hexagonal wood cutter she invented to minimize waste in the processing of lumber at Borderland. She invented a device to ensnare low-flying aircraft during World War II. In 1969 she applied for patents on a device that incinerated fecal matter in toilets.

Blanche’s last major accomplishment was the writing and publication in 1964 of Adelbert Ames, Broken Oaths and Reconstruction in Mississippi, an exhaustive 625-page biography of her father that was prompted by a dismissive paragraph in John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage, where Kennedy described Adelbert Ames as a carpetbagger. Blanche showed that when her father was appointed provisional governor of Mississippi, he took steps to advance the rights of freed slaves and appointed the first Black officeholders in the history of the state. He was elected governor in 1873. Blanche asked Kennedy to alter the reference in his book, but Kennedy declined to make any changes.

When she died in 1969, Blanche was 91 years old. Oakes died nineteen years before her, in 1950.

Blanche’s grandchildren include George Ames Plimpton (1927-2003), a founder and editor of The Paris Review; a sports journalist who wrote Paper Lion, Mad Ducks and Bears, Open Net, and The Bogey Man; an actor as an extra or in cameo appearances in a variety of movies; and a friend of Robert F. Kennedy. George is credited, along with Rafer Johnson and Rosey Grier, with helping wrestle Sirhan Sirhan to the floor when Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles in 1968.

There is a recently produced documentary about Blanche called “Borderland: Life and Times of Blanche Ames Ames” created by Kevin Friend at BCN Productions in Boston.

3. You have been personally involved with women’s rights initiatives for many years. How did you begin on that journey?

My great-grandaunt co-founded the Birth Control League of Massachusetts in 1916. Both my mother and grandmother were ardent supporters of Planned Parenthood too. As a young woman, my grandmother marched in a birth control parade in Boston where she was pelted with eggs and garbage. In the 1950s and early ’60s, my mother stood at the Planned Parenthood booth at the Minnesota State Fair, maintaining her composure talking about birth control while people yelled and spat at her 

Working on the Women’s History Sources book opened my own eyes to the emerging field of women’s history and women’s studies. I joined a consciousness-raising group in 1976, completed a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s history, and started work on this novel. With many thousands of other women, I marched for the Equal Rights Amendment in Washington, DC, in the early 1980s. I became a supporter of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota in the ’80s and continue to this day, joining in on Good Friday demonstrations. In 1984 I became very involved in the political campaign of Joan Growe, who unsuccessfully challenged U. S. Senator Rudy Boschwitz for his Senate seat. 

The inauguration in 2017 motivated me to pull out the original draft of Lemons in the Garden of Love and to rework it. I finished the last chapter on January 20, 2021. That felt  like perfect timing.

4. Why do you think women’s accomplishments have historically been overlooked? Do you believe this can change?

Women’s accomplishments have been overlooked because until the last fifty years, historians were mostly men who focused on the achievements of men who were famous in the military, politics, religion, business, the arts, and other fields.  Historians didn’t think to mention the roles that women, slaves, peasants, colonials, or natives played in establishing the cultures in which they all lived. When women are left out of recorded history, the implication is that women have no history worth recording. As a result, women historically have been robbed of the heroines and role models that could help show them possible new paths for themselves. 

Since the 1970s, women historians and historians of women have helped to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge about the roles and accomplishments of women. 

For me, writing stories of valiant, talented women is my way of inspiring women today to be everything they can imagine.

5. What do you hope readers will take away from “Lemons in the Garden of Love”?

I hope that women born after Roe v. Wade will come to understand how hard it was and how long it took for women to gain legal access to birth control and then to abortion. I don’t want women to take the right to reproductive freedom for granted. In light of a Supreme Court that now includes more judges who are against the “right to choose” than justices who support Roe v. Wade, and many legislatures that have tightened or eliminated access to abortion, we are likely to have many fights ahead of us to protect women’s right to control their own bodies. As Kate said in my novel, I wonder “Why don’t these men mind their own business?”

I also hope that readers will find Kate and Cassie to be characters they can relate to and who inspire readers to live the lives they choose for themselves.

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/

Distant relative of the philanthropist tells her life story for the first time

PRINCETON, New Jersey – No one expected Sarah B. Cochran to push the boundaries of her era’s expectations for women. Born to humble beginnings, she became an unexpected coal and coke industry leader and philanthropist at a time when Pennsylvania women couldn’t vote or serve on juries. Ironically, women were also legally barred from working in and around mines at the time she served as owner and director of successful coal and coke companies. She was an outspoken advocate for education and women’s suffrage, working to ensure that voices like hers were respected and listened to – not silenced.

In 1915, Cochran, who was now a widow, used her powerful position as the “Coal Queen” to open her private estate, where hundreds of men and women gathered to listen to Dr. Anna Howard Shaw speak about women’s suffrage. Cochran’s dedication to higher education showed in her work as a college trustee, Phi Kappa Psi
benefactor and in her quiet financing of young people’s education, including that of author Kimberly Hess’ great-grandmother.

Hess’ “A Lesser Mortal” (May 18, 2021) reveals the little-known story of a woman from American history who was constantly doing the unthinkable – from expanding her company, to becoming a respected benefactor of her community, often rivaling the efforts of more well-known philanthropists such as Andrew Carnegie. A trailblazer who forged her own path, Cochran’s essence is finally captured in this compelling biography.

“A Lesser Mortal: The Unexpected Life of Sarah B. Cochran”
Kimberly Hess | May 18, 2021 | Books Fluent | Nonfiction, Biography
Paperback | ISBN: 978-1-953865-14-4
eBook | ISBN: 978-1-953865-15-1

KIMBERLY HESS: During her business career of nearly twenty years, Kimberly Hess served in volunteer leadership roles at the global and local levels for Smith College’s Alumnae Association and Office of Admission, and she was a trustee of the Alice Paul Institute and a board member of the Chubb Partnership of Women. Her writing has appeared on the websites of Thrive Global, the National Women’s History Museum and the Forté Foundation, as well as on the blogs of the Women’s Museum of California and the David Library of the American Revolution. She has a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Smith College, an M.B.A. in Marketing from Rutgers Business School, and a Certificate in Historic Preservation from the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies at Drew University. An avid genealogist and traveler, she lives in New Jersey with her husband and daughter.

In an interview, Kimberly Hess can discuss:

• What drew her to Sarah B. Cochran’s story
• Why Sarah was left out of the historical narrative, and why it’s critical that we now recognize her life and work
• Why this story is important for the region of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio
• What readers should take away from this book, in addition to learning about Sarah’s life and legacy

An Interview with Kimberly Hess

1. Why did you choose to write the first biography of Sarah B. Cochran? What drew you to her story?

Initially I didn’t set out to write Sarah’s first biography because I felt like that was a job for a historian or someone living in western Pennsylvania. When I took my husband to western Pennsylvania after we were married, he was amazed that he couldn’t find information about Sarah when he Googled her and encouraged me to write a Wikipedia entry for her. I liked that idea because anyone else could add to it. As I did research, I found new information that led me to want to write more about her. I gave a presentation to the Fayette County Historical Society, and the reactions to the presentation made me decide to write a book. I thought about the unique perspective I could offer: I grew up knowing about her, visiting her mansion and church; her putting my great-grandmother through college might have influenced the educational trajectory for part of my family; I had a business background and an MBA that allowed me to analyze the coal and coke industry; and, I had experience with Smith College, a corporate employee resource group, and the Alice Paul Institute that had informed my perspective about the value of Sarah’s story today and even outside of western Pennsylvania.

2. Why is this topic important for the region of southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio?

As a business owner, Sarah is a unique and inspiring person in the region’s history. In
one respect, this is important because Sarah made an impact on the region’s built environment and tried to improve life politically and philanthropically. Being able to better understand the scope of her work, not just what she accomplished in one town or campus, is very impressive. I also think her story is important because as part of the Appalachian region, Sarah’s story is about wealth, philanthropy, and influence that people don’t always associate with the region.

3. You write that, when Sarah’s name is mentioned in historical records, it is usually as a “coal magnate’s widow, not as an accomplished woman in her own right.” Why do you think Sarah was largely left out of the traditional narrative of this time and place in history? Why is it crucial that we tell her story now?

First of all, it’s easy for anyone in that time and place to be eclipsed by Carnegie and Frick, and certainly Sarah wasn’t the biggest self-promoter. But in certain records, evidence of Sarah’s existence or business responsibilities is missing because of the way records were kept and because of assumptions about women’s labor. Pennsylvania mine reports usually named managers, not owners like Sarah; some mining community histories cover women who were miners’ wives, which she wasn’t; and even on the U.S. Census her occupation was sometimes a blank space or the word “None.” So it’s important to tell her story, not only because her story has some universal and timeless elements to it, but because she’s a case study of how someone can become invisible because her reality didn’t fit neatly into expectations.

4. How did midlife experiences contribute to your perspective when writing about Sarah?

When I was researching and writing about Sarah, I realized that we were about the same age when each of our lives changed dramatically. She lost her husband when she was 42 and had to take on the business that he had owned. Then her only child died as she turned 44, and her traditional roles as wife and mother evaporated and her focus shifted. The timing really struck me because I got married for the first time at 40, left a corporate career, and then gave birth for the first time at 42. During my pregnancy, my mother died. For each of us, a new phase in life was beginning in our forties, and certain losses felt like they happened out of sequence. So I started thinking about midlife and the opportunities and challenges associated with it. I see midlife as an opportunity because it’s a time when you’re still relatively young and healthy, and you’ve developed interests, networks, credentials and experience that you can leverage in ways you might not have contemplated twenty years earlier. I couldn’t have written this book in my twenties or thirties because certain personal and professional experiences wouldn’t have happened, yet, to inform it.

5. In addition to learning about the life of Sarah B. Cochran, what do you hope your readers take away from this book?

I hope the book’s existence makes people think about ways to tell the stories of “lesser mortals”–the people who might be historically invisible but whose stories need to be told–in their own communities. There are many ways to make stories like Sarah’s accessible to researchers and the general public. When books and articles aren’t an option, sending artifacts to archives and museums is an option. In the process of writing this book, I sent primary source material to a Methodist archive and sent digital copies of photographs to IUP’s archive.

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/

“Lyrical and heart-wrenching” — Erin Hahn, author of You’d Be Mine

BOSTON, Mass. –In Miel Moreland’s young adult debut, four queer teens realize that sometimes you have to risk hitting repeat on heartbreak.

Eva, Celeste, Gina, and Steph used to think their friendship was unbreakable. After all, they’ve been through a lot together, including the astronomical rise of Moonlight Overthrow, the world-famous queer pop band they formed in middle school, never expecting to headline anything bigger than the county fair.

But after a sudden falling out leads to the dissolution of the teens’ band, their friendship, and Eva and Celeste’s starry-eyed romance, nothing is the same. Gina and Celeste step further into the spotlight, Steph disappears completely, and Eva, heartbroken, takes refuge as a songwriter and secret online fangirl…of her own band. That is, until a storm devastates their hometown, bringing the four ex-best-friends back together. As they prepare for one last show, they’ll discover if growing up always means growing apart.

“It Goes Like This”
Miel Moreland | May 18, 2021 | Macmillan / Feiwel & Friends | Young Adult
Hardcover | ISBN: 9781250767486 | $17.99

MIEL MORELAND: Miel was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With time spent in California and France, she has a Midwestern heart but wandering feet. When not making pop music references and celebrating fandom, she is likely to be found drinking hot chocolate and making spreadsheets. She currently resides in Boston. “It Goes Like This” is her debut novel. For more info, please visit: https://www.mielmoreland.com/

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/