Historical mystery writer Jess Montgomery's newest book, The Hollows, will be released Jan. 14, but is available now for pre-order. It's the second offering in the Kinship Historical Mysteries. Her first book, The Widows, will be published in paperback on Jan. 7, 2020. The Hollows promises to be another engaging page turner. In the heart of Appalachia in Ohio in 1926, an elderly woman is killed walking along the tracks. The brakeman tells tales of seeing a ghostly female figure dressed al ...

To an observer, University of Dayton graduate Westina Matthews has mastered the art of reinvention, but she begs to differ. "I wouldn't call it reinvention," says Matthews, who traded a fast-paced corporate executive life in Manhattan for a quieter one of reflection, prayer and writing along the Wilmington River in Savannah where she lives with her husband, Alan. "I'm living into the call." Her life's journey has wound through an elementary school classroom in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where ...

Author Marci Rich combines journalism, historical research and memoir to look back at her hometown with love in her new book, Looking Back at Elyria: A Midwest City at Midcentury.  Readers needn't have grown up in Elyria to appreciate her book. "The universal appeal of its writing, and the kinship of its storytelling, will invite readers to engage in their own time-traveling," says the publisher, The History Press. Ilene Beckerman, author of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, writes, "Do y ...

Lisa Tognola's debut novel, As Long As It's Perfect, was published by She Writes Press in October. Kirkus Review calls the book "an entertaining read" and "an enjoyable tale about a wealthy couple who learn that building a house is more than they bargained for." It's also recommended by Parade for television fans of "Love It or List It." SheReads.com lists the novel as one of its "Books to Feed Your Inner Joanna Gaines." Tognola is an author, freelance writer, social worker, wife and moth ...

Lisa Batten Kunkleman, a former guidance counselor turned writer, has published Just Because I Used to Could…Life Stories and Beyond, a collection of wise, witty and heartfelt stories. "If Erma Bombeck had grown up in a small hometown like Whiteville, in eastern North Carolina, moved to a farm in Charlotte, been a middle school guidance counselor, raised a daughter and a set of triplets with her husband, she might have written a book very similar," says Kathy Thorson Gruhn, author ...

Dan Zevin's hysterical book, Very Modern Mantras: Daily Affirmations for Daily Aggravations, features a collection of tongue-in-cheek chants for those everyday moments that drive us insane. For those who can't wait for the book's Oct. 8 release, check out his humorous series of videos on YouTube. "For all of us who've crammed yoga, meditation and self-care into our lives, there's just one thing missing on our daily slog toward serenity: a laugh," says Dan, a Thurber Prize-winning humorist ...

Recently named "Atlanta's Funniest Lawyer," Lori B. Duff is a national award-winning author of four humor collections, including the soon-to-be released If You Did What I Asked in the First Place (Oct. 15, 2019, Deeds Publishing). Foreword Clarion calls her new collection of laugh-out-loud stories "bold and unapologetic" and "light and fun, useful for unwinding after a busy day." Her humorous musings in her newest book run the gamut - from growing up an introvert in a loud Jewish family t ...

Margot Leitman's latest book, What's Your Story? A Workbook for the Storyteller in All of Us, is filled with brainstorming ideas for developing fully fleshed-out stories - whether you want to give a memorable toast, nail a business presentation or perform onstage. A leading expert in the growing field of storytelling, Margot is a five-time winner of The MothStorySLAM. As the Moth GrandSLAM winner in New York, she achieved the series' first score of a perfect 10. She is the founder of ...

The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson has been a must-have book for authors since its 2004 debut as a text for her UCLA Extension Writer's Program class in book marketing. Modern History Press is now publishing the third edition sporting a new cover, a bibliography, a reference and complete update. In its past iterations, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Get Nearly Free Publicity on Your Own or Partnering with Your Publisher was a winner of an Irwin award, was USA Book News ...

Lee St. John's newest book, Teacher Tattletales and Other Southern Shenanigans, debuted at #1 in business and professional humor on Amazon. It will be released Aug. 13. Lee says she tried really hard not to follow in her parents' footsteps to become a teacher, "but she was sucked into the education vortex anyway." The book captures "the ridiculous side of education, from elementary to college." From Amazon: "She gets an A+ in classroom comedy. This is classroom comedy ...

Joanne Brokaw's newest book, Suddenly Stardust: A Memoir (Of Sorts) About Fear, Freedom & Improv, is a quirky recounting of how improvisational theater changed her life. "If there was a land called I Could Never Because I'm Afraid, I would be the queen," writes Joanne. "I would sit on an enormous throne wearing a mighty crown and regal robes and I'd be known far and wide for my ability to come up with excuses to avoid doing even the things I actually wanted to do. But when I turned 50 ...

Diane Pascoe's second book, Never Argue with a Wiener Dog: You'll Lose!, is filled with 44 true stories guaranteed to tickle the funny bone or touch the heart. "The topics in my new book include stories about our dogs, marriage, secrets, vacation disasters, chocolate cravings, our shag dance lesson, dental nightmares, dodging the hurricane - you get the drift!" she says. " These upbeat, funny, relatable or heartwarming short stories help readers to laugh at the little things in life." Her ...

Bruce Ferber's anthology, The Way We Work: On The Job In Hollywood (Rare Bird Books), provides a window into the skill sets and the insanity that make movies and television tick. "The collection is an often humorous, sometimes horrifying, testament to the talent and grit required of those who choose a career in entertainment. As the 'producer' of this endeavor, my mandate was to assemble a top-notch crew of contributors who, through their individual mini-memoirs, would adeptly represent t ...

Richard Bell has published Life Seemed Good, But.…A Collection of Short, Quirky Stories. A portion of the sales will benefit cancer research. Many of the stories come from Bell's magazine column, "Modern Fables," published in Wassup Local Magazine in Lake County, Illinois. He started writing as therapy in 2004 when he was laid off from his job shortly after his wife was diagnosed with leukemia. Bell describes the collection as "a picture of life, not always pretty, as viewed by a r ...

Reconciliation of the Heart: Memoir of Mary Clista Dahl: A Healing Journey to Joy, Love and Compassion is "framed around a life of joy, love and compassion." In the author's words: "You may just like this book if you grew up in the 1960s, '70s or '80s, have ever been diagnosed with anxiety or a mental illness (or know someone who has), prefer to be treated with kindness, contemplated suicide, thrived as a non-traditional student, use music as an escape, play in or appreciate nature, have ...

Renowned cartoonist and writer Bob Eckstein is editor of the newly published The Ultimate Cartoon Book of Book Cartoons by the World's Greatest Cartoonists. He describes the book as both an "exuberant collection of cartoons" and "an enthusiastic love letter to books and bookstores." The cartoons celebrate and critique the literary world through the work of 33 of the masters of cartoon art, including Sam Gross, Roz Chast, Arnie Levin, Danny Shanahan, Peter Steiner, Mick Stevens, Nick ...

In Barbara Taylor Sanders' newest book, Puttin' on the Dog and Gettin' Bit, she "pokes fun at party poopers, cooking disasters, entertaining mishaps, over indulgence, diet failures, senior moments and never measuring up to Martha Stewart, not matter how hard you try." This is the fifth book for Sanders, who is a motivational speaker and the former president of the Columbus (Ohio) Christian Writers Association. ...

Brian Kiley, head monologue writer for Conan O'Brien, has published his second novel, Maybe Kevin (HumorOutcasts Press). He's also the author of The Astounding Misadventures of Rory Collins. He has been nominated for 16 Emmy Awards and he is the winner of the 2007 Emmy Award for Writing in a Comedy/Variety Series. For 25 years, he's written for Conan O'Brien. In addition, he's appeared numerous times on "Late Show with David Letterman," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonigh ...

For 34 years, Cathy Guisewite bonded with millions of women and their mothers "in our dating, dieting and dreaming years" through her popular, iconic comic strip "Cathy," which appeared in 1,400 newspapers at its peak. With the publication of Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault: Essays From the Grown-Up Years, she fulfills her lifelong dream "to express more than what could fit into the boxes of a comic strip." "These are essays from the heart, soul and stomach of modern womanhood," she say ...

Canadian humorist Colleen Landry, author of Miss Nackawic Meets Midlife, has teamed with Chris Helgason on a new cartoon strip, "Table Talk." "We hope to post weekly and share insights into the life and delusional mind of a middle-aged woman searching for the big time (Miss World obviously!!)," she says. Miss Nackawic Meets Midlife has been described as "a mashup of Ellen Degeneres and Erma Bombeck" as it offers "a slow roast of everyday life as seen through a would-be pageant winner who ...

Linda Tashbook describes her new book, Family Guide to Mental Illness and the Law: A Practical Handbook, as "a clear and handy reflection of real issues that families deal with - just as Erma Bombeck's columns were. It explains common legal issues in plain English and demonstrates how families can help a loved one with mental illness to navigate through legal situations. Tashbook is a law librarian at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and part-time lawyer. A Fulbright Senior Spec ...