Douglas Corleone – Now Write!

The holiday season has arrived and it’s a wonderful time to enjoy the work of fellow and sister writers. Great writers make great readers… and vice versa! There’s something here for everyone including literary fiction, creative nonfiction and mysteries. See also the recently updated: **Writing Books by Now Write! Contributors** for gift ideas for writers and a chance to win a FREE GIVEAWAY.

Voyage of Strangers audio book by Elizabeth Zelvin (Now Write! Mysteries contributor)
Lake Union Publishing (Sept. 2014)

The year is 1493, and young Jewish sailor Diego Mendoza has returned from Columbus’s triumphant first voyage with tales of lush landscapes, rivers running with gold, and welcoming locals. But back home in Spain, Diego finds the Inquisition at its terrifying peak, and he must protect his spirited sister, Rachel, from betrayal and death. Disguising herself as a boy, Rachel sneaks onto Columbus’s second expedition, bound for the new lands they call the Indies. As the Spaniards build their first settlements and search for gold, Diego and Rachel fall in love with the place, people, and customs. Still forced to hide their religious faith and Rachel’s true identity, the brother and sister witness the Spaniards’ devastation of the island in their haste to harvest riches.

Pat Boone Fan Club by Sue William Silverman (Now Write! Nonfiction contributor)
Univ of Nebraska Press (March, 2014)

A one-woman cultural mash-up explores identity among the mishmash of American idols and ideals that confuse most of us—or should. Pat Boone is our first stop. Now a Tea Party darling, Boone once shone as a squeaky-clean pop music icon of normality, an antidote for Silverman’s own confusing and dangerous home, where being a Jew in a Christian school wasn’t easy, and being the daughter of the Anti-Boone was unspeakable. And yet somehow Silverman found her way, a “gefilte fish swimming upstream,” and found her voice, which in this searching, bracing, hilarious, and moving book tries to make sense of that most troubling American condition: belonging, but to what?

The Escape of Malcolm Poe by Allison Burnett (Now Write! Screenwriting contributor)
Writers Tribe Books (Sept. 2014)

For the past ten years, Malcolm Poe has dreamt of escape. His plan is simple: The day his youngest child starts college, Malcolm will leave his devoted wife to resume the creative life he abandoned for marriage. As the hour of his departure nears, Malcolm buys a blank notebook to chronicle the riot of his memories, passions, regrets, and aspirations – an ascent into the deluded imagination of a middle-aged man who believes it is never too late to start over.

Mothers and Lovers by **Maria Flook (Now Write! Fiction contributor)**
Roundabout Press (Dec. 2014)

College professor April O’Rourke is in over her head when she moves next door to a family in trouble, including a teenage son, who has returned home from reform school. She is mesmerized by her young neighbor but his unorthodox bond with his mother has earth-shaking consequences for everyone. This sweeping novel overturns sacred traditions and maps the scissoring boundary lines of family ties and carnal attraction.

The Armor of God, Vol. 1 the first book in a trilogy by Diego Valenzuela (Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror contributor)
(Oct. 2014)

A once-beautiful planet razed by a malignant alien virus shields itself from the wreckage of the world: one remaining human settlement is a domed city, where the last humans live comfortable lives, awaiting their inevitable extinction.

Eighteen-year old Ezra Blanchard must take part in military service, but when the army discovers Ezra’s blood possesses extremely rare qualities, he is trained in Zenith, a top secret facility where Ezra discovers humanity’s last glimmer of hope.

Quiet Dell by Jane Anne Phillips (Now Write! Fiction contributor)
Scribner; Reprint edition (July, 2014)

In Chicago in 1931, Asta Eicher, a lonely mother of three, is desperate for money after the sudden death of her husband. She begins to receive seductive letters
from a chivalrous, elegant man named Harry Powers, who promises to cherish and protect her, ultimately to marry her and to care for her and her children. Weeks later, Asta and her three children are dead.

Emily Thornhill, one of the few women journalists in the Chicago press, wants to understand what happened to this beautiful family. Determined Emily travels to West Virginia to cover the murder trial and to investigate the story herself, accompanied by a charming and unconventional photographer equally drawn to the case. These heroic characters, driven by secrets of their own, will stop at nothing to ensure Powers is convicted.

River City **(a Jason Colefield Mystery) by Doc Macomber (Now Write! Mysteries contributor)**
Floating Word Press (April, 2014)

As a frozen fog lifts, River Patrol Deputy, Jason Colefield, motors ashore on idyllic Sauvie Island to recover a body. Colefield has a history with the island and any return triggers unpleasant boyhood memories. This visit he comes face-to-face with his childhood nemesis who leads him to the bullet-riddled body of a young boy he claims he stumbled upon while hunting. Colefield suspects the man is lying but it will take more than just gut instinct to prove it. As the story unfolds, with more twists and turns than the majestic Columbia River, island life is disrupted, family secrets exposed and it becomes clear the past isn’t done with him.

Payoff (a Simon Fisk novel) by Douglas Corleone (Now Write! Mysteries contributor)
Minotaur Books/ St. Martin’s Press (Aug. 2014)

When movie studio mogul Edgar Trenton’s teenage daughter, Olivia, is kidnapped during a violent home invasion in Calabasas, California, former U.S. Marshal Simon Fisk is called upon to ensure a smooth ransom exchange. But once it becomes clear that the kidnappers never intended to return Olivia to her parents, Simon must follow a lethal trail that will lead him from the powdery white sand beaches of the Cayman Islands through the wild jungles of Costa Rica, and into some of the darkest and deadliest cities of South America.

Good As Gone (a Simon Fisk novel) by Douglas Corleone (Now Write! Mysteries contributor)
Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press (Aug. 2013)

Former U.S. Marshal Simon Fisk now works as a private contractor, tracking down and recovering children who were kidnapped by their own estranged parents. He only has one rule: He won’t touch stranger abduction cases. He’s still haunted by the disappearance of his own daughter years ago when she was just a child, still unsolved, and stranger kidnappings hit too close to home.

Now Write! contributors sure keep busy. As usual, there’s something here for everyone, including spooky scary short stories in time for Halloween from Elizabeth Eve King, a contributor to Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (Feb, 2014).

MYSTERY/THRILLERS

What A Mother Knows
by Leslie Lehr (Now Write! Nonfiction contributor)
Sourcebooks Landmark (May 2013)

How far will a mother go to protect her child?

An unsettling, emotional and suspenseful novel of the unshakable bonds of motherhood, in which Michelle Mason not only loses her memory after a deadly car crash, but can’t find her 16-year-old daughter, the one person who may know what happened that day. But the deeper Michelle digs, the more she questions the innocence of everyone, even herself. A dramatic portrayal of the fragile skin of memory, What a Mother Knows is about finding the truth that can set love free.

(Read Leslie’s guest blog post Wrecking Ball Revision – about writing the novel)

Quiet Dell: A Novel (hardcover)
by Jayne Anne Phillips (Now Write! Fiction contributor)
Scribner (October, 2013)

Based on a real-life multiple murder by a con man who preyed on widows — a story that has haunted the author for more than four decades.

In Chicago in 1931, Asta Eicher, mother of three, is lonely and despairing, pressed for money after the sudden death of her husband. She begins to receive seductive letters from a chivalrous, elegant man named Harry Powers, who promises to cherish and protect her, ultimately to marry her and to care for her and her children. Weeks later, all four Eichers are dead.

One of the few women journalists in the Chicago press becomes deeply invested in understanding what happened to this beautiful family.

Good as Gone
by Douglas Corleone (Now Write! Mysteries contributor)
Minotaur Books (Aug. 2013)

A former U.S. Marshal, haunted by his own daughter’s disappearance, investigates a child abduction which becomes a terrifying international chase.

Former U.S. Marshal Simon Fisk works as a private contractor, tracking down and recovering children who were kidnapped by their own estranged parents. He only has one rule: he won’t touch stranger abduction cases. He’s still haunted by the disappearance of his own daughter when she was just a child, still unsolved, and stranger kidnappings hit too close to home.  Until, six-year-old Lindsay Sorkin disappears from her parents’ hotel room in Paris, and the French police deliver Simon an ultimatum: he can spend years in a French jail, or he can take the case and recover the missing girl.

Bad Girls (paperback, kindle and audio book)
by M. William Phelps (Now Write! Mysteries contributor)
Kensington Publishing Corp. (Sept. 2013)

A tale of sexploitation, lust, and betrayal. 49-year-old Bob Dow shot execution-style in his own bed, his invalid mother locked in the next room—and a cache of homemade porn starring the town’s underage girls. The two accused killers—teen lovers Bobbi Jo Smith and Jennifer Jones—were on the run, intent on going out in a cross-country blaze of glory. Were both girls equally guilty of murder? Or was one merely a pawn in the other’s dainty, blood-stained hands?

Lethal Treasure: a Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery
by Jane Cleland (Now Write! Mysteries contributor)
Minotaur Books (June, 2013)

Josie Prescott pursues her newest source of inventory — the contents of abandoned storage units sold at auction. A crowd gathers at the storage facility, including local Henri Dubois, who bids against a man new to the local auction scene. The larger unit won by Henri has some exciting discoveries but when Josie receives a frantic call from Henri’s wife, the next morning, she learns that Henri never made it home after the auction. Police find Henri, dead in the storage unit. Was he killed over one of the objects? Is his wife hiding secrets that led to his death? And who was the stranger who bid against Henri? When the police turn to Josie’s antiques expertise, she discovers more than provenance—she uncovers a murderer.

STORY COLLECTIONS

Another Happy Ending
by Elizabeth Eve King (Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror contributor)
Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing (October, 2013)

A collection of short fiction and a novella – Funny and dark, E.E. King offers a unique perspective on life, love and the meaning of the universe. These tales will have you up all night.

Blackberries, Blackberries
by Crystal Wilkinson (Now Write! Fiction contributor – her exercise is available as a sample here.)
AmazonEncore (November, 2011)

An enchanting, haunting collection of stories by a self-described black country girl and poet from rural Kentucky. The stories explore the joys and pain of the women of “Affrilachia”.

I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse
Edited by Lee Gutkind (Now Write! Nonfiction contributor)
In Fact Books; 1 edition (April 9, 2013)

This collection of true narratives reflects the dynamism and diversity of nurses, who provide the first vital line of patient care. Here, nurses remember their first “sticks,” first births, and first deaths, and reflect on what gets them through long, demanding shifts, and keeps them in the profession. What connects these stories is the passion and strength of the writers, who struggle against burnout and bureaucracy to serve their patients with skill, empathy, and strength.

Youth

Meet Me at the River (hardcover and kindle)
by Nina da Gramont (Now Write! Fiction contributor)
Atheneum Books for Young Readers (October, 2013)

We can’t choose who we love…but can we choose to let go?

Stepsiblings Tressa and Luke have been close since they were little…and when they become teenagers, they slip from being best friends to something more. Their relationship makes everyone around them uncomfortable, but they can’t—won’t—deny their connection. Nothing can keep them apart.

Not even death. Luke is killed in a horrible, tragic accident, and Tressa is suddenly alone. Unable to outrun the grief and guilt and longing, she is haunted by thoughts of suicide. And then she is haunted by Luke himself.

Streetball Crew: Sasquatch in the Paint (hardcover)
by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld (Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror contributor)
Disney-Hyperion (September, 2013)

Thanks to the six inches he grew recently, eighth-grader Theo has lost his invisibility. The basketball coach conscripts him, but Theo’s so uneasy in his new body that he’s uncoordinated and self-conscious on the court. He doesn’t want to quit, though, even when he’s nicknamed Sasquatch during his first game. The more he studies and practices the game, the more he loves it, but “to want to do something you weren’t good at was begging to be let down.” Meanwhile, he’s having trouble balancing other responsibilities, including the academic team that has been a huge part of his life.

Nov, 2014

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