Subconscious Life Experiences
Longer Than A New York Minute follows a former FBI profiler leading a quiet life on a reservation who finds herself entangled in a case involving a mysterious death labeled as a suicide. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
A series necessitates the task of keeping characters the same but evolving, enhanced, so to speak, but always familiar (relatable) to the reader. They, the characters, should be like us, experience the complexities of real-life issues, new challenges (cases, crimes, and life issues for Sam to solve). Work, love, family, kids, friends, your tribe – these are the small engines that run the big engine of Sam’s work, who she is.
Inspirations from dreams or vice versa come from a subconscious place where everything we’ve experienced during life is filed away, just waiting to be set free. This is the third book of a seven-book series, so the story continues with the same core set of characters – but evolving and being touched by transitional characters that come into their lives, whether personal or because of Sam’s job as Tribal Advocate. These characters become familiar, and their journey reflects real life, unfolding real life similarities – depth. This suspicious death is a dear friend, family, in the deepest emotion. The setup of the story is to show how every day we can be with people, have conversations, laugh with them, really know who they are, and at any moment they can be gone; the fragile life we sometimes take for granted. As a former profiler, Sam feels something is not right and must find out the truth to make sure her friend’s legacy is not tarnished. This is her motivation for truth, justice, and letting her friend rest in peace.
The novel blends crime fiction with romance and domestic life in a way that feels seamless. Did you always envision the mystery and the love story as equally important parts of the narrative?
From the moment I experienced the first dream of this series, I knew the crime/mystery/thriller/multicultural/ romance parts of Sam and Will’s Story were conjoined, and the story had to be told that way. It is also written in first and third person. The consequences always had to be high, the cost higher than what other protagonists have, making her cases have an urgency that balances because of her personal life. The crossover of genres empowers each character; there is no ignoring who they are, what they contribute, and what support they offer Sam in her pursuit of justice, but also what Sam gives them in return. I wanted a crime story that had heart, substance, and one in which the reader can’t wait to see what happens next in the characters’ lives.
Sam’s work counseling survivors of abuse gives the novel a strong emotional and social dimension. What motivated you to explore this issue through her character?
Well, here is where those subconscious life experiences pop out, sometimes pulled out by the very characters I write – they reel in and cull motivation from me. There is so much in the news about abuse, there are people in the Native Community experiencing abuse, Will has a fear of being like his abusive father, though he isn’t, and having been a victim myself, Sam became my flashlight to shine through her work with another look at the problem. But life has many layers, and abuse can be one that triggers others: fear, grief, haunting memories, and can affect relationships by what we are willing to reveal or not reveal. Support from family, friends, and tribe is what gives Sam a foundation to confront all types of heinous things that humans do to each other, but she knows she has a powerful weapon to keep her strong – she has people in her life. Sam also has a wonderful sense of self-deprecation with humor to soften it, as it softens the stories of the crimes she solves. No one can be a person in a vacuum; it does take a village – in this case, a tribe.
What can readers expect from Samantha’s journey in Book 4?
A real in-your-face look at fear and several plots intertwining to take your breath away.
Author Links: Website
Desire, Love, and Respect
Brighter Than the Sun follows an ambitious performer dreaming of opening a club and a cautious business student learning to trust desire as they build a romance and a community where dignity and passion share the spotlight. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
One of the first images that came to me was Blake as a young boy, singing and dancing for his mother and dreaming of being a star. Because he struggled in school with undiagnosed learning disabilities, he grew into a man who reached for the performance venues that felt accessible to him – adult entertainment and exotic dancing.
I wanted to explore what happens when a man who has been celebrated for being sexually desirable starts to wonder whether people can see the artist underneath. Could he be admired for his body and still be taken seriously as a performer?
I drew a lot of inspiration from the TV show Girls5Eva. Like the girl group at the center of that show, Blake’s story is about reinvention. His evolution doesn’t involve rejecting his past as a sex worker – it’s about integrating that experience into his performance style. His burlesque club allows him to showcase all his talents: singing, dancing, costume design, theatricality, humor, and sex appeal. He creates a venue where he can be sexy on his own terms, while finally building the kind of stage he always dreamed of having.
Ethan’s journey involves shame, family expectations, and learning to trust his own desires. What did you want readers to understand about his growth?
I wanted readers to understand that Ethan isn’t prudish or judgmental. His caution around sex comes partly from his father’s belief that Ethan has to be “respectable” to succeed as a gay man, and partly from self-preservation. When he met his friend Zane and tried being more sexually adventurous, he was hurt by a disrespectful hookup. That experience reinforced his father’s message that sexual freedom and self-respect were at odds with each other.
Then Ethan meets Blake, a man who is the opposite of everything his father considers respectable, and discovers that Blake is clever, sensitive, generous, and caring. That forces Ethan to confront the beliefs he’s internalized. He finally realizes he’s been making himself smaller in order to earn his father’s approval.
Ethan’s growth is about rejecting the idea that there is one “correct” way to be gay. He gets to decide what desire, love, and respect look like for him. In the end, he learns that true respect doesn’t come from performing an acceptable version of yourself – it comes from living honestly.
The transformation of The Firehouse into Siren gives the romance a strong community-centered backbone. How did the club storyline evolve as you wrote the book?
When I began writing the novel, The Firehouse was mostly the launchpad for Blake’s dream. It was where he honed his skill as a dancer, and where he got his first taste of performing for a live audience. When the club was threatened by a developer, it gave Blake something concrete to fight for: a beloved space he could transform into Siren, the burlesque club he’d always wanted to open.
As the story developed, though, The Firehouse became a character in its own right. At one time, it had been the beating heart of a vibrant gay community. But as dating apps changed the way men met and socialized, the club fell into disrepair. Although the building is a little worse for wear, it’s alive with a rich history stretching back over a century. Blake’s vision for Siren honors the building’s historic role in the gay community while giving the club a future: a place where men can once again gather to watch a show, have fun, and maybe fall in love.
The men Blake works with also came into clearer focus as the story progressed. Although they began as incidental side characters, they eventually became a quirky found family: a ragtag group of men with big personalities who love Blake and support his dream of opening Siren. Virgil, the salty owner of The Firehouse, surprised me the most. He started as more of a comic relief character, but as my understanding of the club deepened, he became a father figure to the dancers – someone who loves his boys, even when he’s grumbling at them through a cloud of cigarette smoke.
Blake’s dyslexia is woven into his daily life without defining him entirely. How did you approach writing that aspect of his character?
Because he struggled in school, Blake spent most of his life thinking he wasn’t smart enough for the things he wanted. Over time, he became very good at using self- deprecating humor as a shield. He beats people to the punchline so they can laugh with him instead of at him. Playing the himbo hurts less than letting people see how much he struggles.
But he’s also charming, sexy, funny, and resourceful. Ethan sees that right away. Ethan doesn’t try to “fix” Blake. He recognizes Blake’s struggle, and gives him the language to understand something he’s been experiencing his entire life. Blake’s diagnoses of dyslexia and dyscalculia don’t change who he is – they change the story he tells about himself.
I wanted his diagnosis to feel less like an impairment and more like a door opening. Once Blake understands that his brain just works differently from other people, he’s free. He can finally stop making his dreams smaller to fit inside his old, limited idea of himself.
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | BookBub | Facebook | Website | Amazon
By day, Blake’s a mild-mannered bartender. By night, he’s porn legend Dirk Slocum, heating up the runway as an exotic dancer at The Firehouse, San Francisco’s hottest club. When a developer threatens to gut the building and erase everything he loves, Blake makes a daring counteroffer: he’ll take over the lease and transform The Firehouse into the burlesque club of his dreams.
There’s only one catch – Blake can sell a fantasy, but he has no idea how to run a business.
Enter Ethan: a brainy business student with boy-next-door charm who has no idea who he just asked out. Ethan likes taking things slow – cuddling on a blanket under the stars slow – the kind of sweet, get-to-know-you romance Blake hasn’t had in a long time.
As they throw themselves into saving The Firehouse, their business partnership deepens into something more. Blake wants to come clean about his past, but the truth might cost him the first man who’s seen him as more than a hot body and a pretty face.
Can he risk losing the love he never thought he’d get to have?
Brighter Than The Sun is a spicy, opposites-attract romance about found family, big dreams, and the kind of love that asks you to step into the light… even when you’re afraid of what it will reveal.
Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is let yourself be seen.
(Brighter Than The Sun is book 2 in the San Francisco Sex Gods series. Each book follows a different couple and can be read as a standalone story.)
Forgiveness Can Help Us Heal
Binny and Dash: The Wild Between Us follows a grieving house cat drawn into a dangerous conflict between pets, raccoons, and humans, where she must learn that courage sometimes means choosing mercy over fear. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The story began with my own cat, Binny. I adopted her on a snowy day when she appeared at my door. She had been a stray farm cat looking for safety and a new beginning.
In the story, Binny’s grief over losing her kitten reflects my own grief after losing my beloved older cat to cancer. As I watched Binny adjust to her new life, I was struck by her quiet courage and her willingness to trust again and become part of our family.
That experience inspired me to imagine a larger adventure. I wanted to explore how loss can shape us, but also how compassion, friendship, and forgiveness can help us heal. Although the novel is a work of fiction, its emotional heart comes from a very real relationship with a remarkable cat.
The story challenges the idea of “enemies” by making Dash and the raccoons more complex than they first appear. Why was that moral gray area important to you?
I wanted young readers to question the idea of who an “enemy” really is. We often judge others too quickly, pointing fingers based on appearances, fear, or stereotypes. In reality, there is usually more to the story.
I believe it is important for children to gather the facts before making decisions about people—or animals. Understanding another person’s perspective can lead to empathy instead of conflict. Through Binny and Dash, I hope readers see that courage is not only about facing danger, but also about looking beyond first impressions and choosing compassion over prejudice.
Nature, scent, weather, and animal instincts play a major role in the book’s atmosphere. How did you approach writing the sensory world of the animals?
I grew up with pets, so I spent countless hours closely observing their behavior. As a child, I often imagined that I was one of them, trying to see the world through their eyes. That childhood curiosity stayed with me.
Playing freely in fields with my cats and dogs gave me a deep appreciation for nature—the changing weather, the smells carried by the wind, the sounds of birds, and the textures of grass, trees, and soil. Those memories helped me imagine how animals experience the world primarily through scent, instinct, and heightened awareness rather than words.
When I wrote Binny and Dash, I wanted readers to step into that sensory world and experience nature as the animals do.
4Lucy is secretive but not simply cruel, which complicates Binny’s assumptions. What do you hope young readers take from that relationship?
Lucy and Binny’s relationship grows out of events in my first book, Binny and the Moon Girl. In that story, the veterinarian, Dr. Andreas, tries to capture Binny’s adopted daughter. Because Lucy works at the veterinary clinic, Binny assumes she has betrayed her family and cannot be trusted.
As the story unfolds, however, Binny discovers that Lucy has been secretly helping a mother raccoon protect and save her babies. That revelation forces Binny to question her assumptions.
I hope young readers learn an important lesson: don’t rush to judge others or jump to conclusions. We rarely know the whole story. It is important to observe carefully, ask questions, and gather the facts before making a decision. Understanding the truth often requires patience, empathy, and an open mind.
But when a mischievous raccoon turns the neighborhood upside down, she’s pulled into a chase she never expected.
Through gardens, alleyways, and deep into the forest, Binny follows the trail—only to discover this isn’t just about stopping a troublemaker. It’s about secrets from her past she can’t escape.
With her friends by her side, Binny must face her fears and decide what truly makes a hero.
Binny and Dash: The Wild Between Us is a powerful adventure about courage, friendship, and the strength it takes to understand instead of fight.
Sometimes the greatest courage isn’t fighting—it’s understanding.
Life Life To Its Fullest
Tales From the Texas Timberlands, Volume 2 is an anthology consisting of five stories rooted in East Texas life, family memory, faith, work, and community. What was the inspiration behind this anthology?
I have lived in East Texas for 69 years. Over that period of time, stories accumulate in a person’s life. Many of them are unique and add a special flavor to the human experience. I wanted other people to hear these stories. They have made my life richer.
Many of your characters are teachers, coaches, public servants, veterans, or church members. What draws you to writing about everyday people rather than larger-than-life heroes?
That has been my experience. I’m a former teacher and coach. I had a planning and management consulting business for thirty-eight years that worked with local governments throughout the state of Texas. During that time, I was also a bivocational minister of music in my church. Larger-than-life heroes are sometimes unrealistic. These everyday people are true heroes doing what it takes to help them and their community live life to its fullest.
Of the five stories in this volume, which one was the most personally meaningful—or the most challenging—for you to write, and why?
When We All Get to Heaven. I have sung that song since I was able to sing. It has always resonated with me as the complete life experience. We journey through this world, then shed this body and move into everlasting life. It’s a very human and joyful song.
What do you hope readers, especially those unfamiliar with East Texas, come away understanding about its people, history, and way of life after reading Tales from the Texas Timberlands Volume 2?
I still believe in hero stories. I know there is some very good anti-hero literature out there, but frankly I’m tired of it. I believe most people want to do the right thing for themselves, their families and their neighbors every day. They need heroes to lead them. We have those people in East Texas. East Texans lack stories about their heroes. I also believe that people from other places need to read about heroes, and I invite them to read this book.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website
In the years after World War II, East Texas became a battleground of ambition, survival, love, and legacy. Sawmill owners fight to build a future from nothing. Families struggle to hold themselves together. And strong-willed men and women are forced to make choices that will shape generations.
In Tales from the Texas Timberlands, Volume 2. J. Andrew Rice delivers five gripping stories filled with grit, heartbreak, faith, danger, and quiet moments of humanity that feel painfully real.
A young businessman risks everything to build a sawmill empire while powerful enemies close in.
A widowed mother enters the violent world of professional wrestling and becomes the feared “Red Hammer.”
A city manager returns to the town he once loved… and discovers some ghosts never stay buried.
Inside this collection, you’ll find:Postwar East Texas is brought vividly to life.
Fierce family loyalty and generational struggle
Powerful women fighting for survival and identity
Small-town politics, ambition, corruption, and sacrifice
Emotional conflicts that cut deeper than violence
Characters you won’t forget
Perfect for readers who love:Southern historical fiction
Character-driven storytelling
Multi-generational family drama
Some stories entertain you.
Others stay with you long after the last page.
Impactful Small Decisions
What We Found Last Summer follows a group of friends whose summer turns into one filled with danger when they discover a bag of money tied to the mob. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Childhood experiences and shared cultural memory: shooting off fireworks, building tree forts in the woods, and riding bikes with my friends. Everything we were doing while unsupervised in the 1980s, when the adults weren’t paying attention, which was most of the time. But it’s also influenced by movies like Stand by Me and, for the suburban crime element, TV shows like The Sopranos.
Derek’s bravado and Calvin’s caution create a strong tension. What interested you about writing that kind of friendship dynamic?
I just love that dynamic—the one friend who pushes the other toward the thing he really wants to do but is afraid to—or knows he shouldn’t. Derek is the catalyst, and Calvin is the conscience. Sometimes we need that friend because they push us to experience life. And sometimes that friend gets us into trouble.
The tone shifts between humor and real danger very quickly. How did you manage that balance without losing momentum?
There’s a lot of character work early in the book, and that’s where most of the humor lives. A fair amount of commentary from the characters about each other and their relationships. But when you’re running for your life, you only have time to react, not reflect. I tried to capture that shift as the stakes rise in the book.
If the characters could look back on this summer as adults, what do you think would stay with them the most?
How impactful small decisions are. How final some consequences can be. And how much simpler life felt when you were just playing with your friends.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
But you just don’t know it yet.
When twelve-year-olds Calvin and Derek venture out to an abandoned treehouse at the edge of the woods, they stumble across something they were never meant to see.
What begins as another carefree day—when friendship still feels permanent and summer was meant for fun—quickly turns into something far more serious as the boys realize they’ve brushed up against a world of crime, danger, and secrets that don’t belong to kids.
Some summers you never forget.
Others change you forever.
HIDDEN PROFIT How to Find and Capture $500K–$2M+ in Hidden EBITDA Without Gutting Your Business
In Hidden Profit, David H. Tolly argues that many mid-market businesses already contain substantial recoverable value, not in some glamorous new market or sweeping transformation, but in the quieter places leaders often stop seeing: pricing leakage, procurement waste, working capital, customer mix, overhead discipline, and execution cadence. The book moves from EBITDA fundamentals into a practical diagnostic framework, then through seven “hidden profit” levers and a 90-day execution model, grounding its advice in turnaround cases such as Creative Solutions Group, Renaissance Cosmetics, and Savage Arms. What gives the book its force is its repeated insistence that profit is not found by gutting the business, but by making the economics visible enough that leaders can act with precision.
I found the book most compelling when it stripped away the romance of growth and asked harder, more adult questions about the quality of that growth. Tolly’s point that revenue can rise while margin quietly deteriorates feels simple at first, almost obvious, but the examples make it land with real weight. The $50 million manufacturing company that had rising EBITDA but declining margin becomes a small drama of managerial blindness, and the Renaissance Cosmetics case is even sharper: a company chasing shipments so aggressively that it created its own flood of returns. I admired the moral clarity of that lesson. Less revenue at a real margin is better than more revenue at a loss. It’s the kind of sentence that feels plain until you imagine saying it in a boardroom full of people addicted to top-line growth.
The writing is at its best when Tolly sounds like someone who has actually sat in the room when the lender called, and the spreadsheet stopped being theoretical. There’s a bracing directness to the voice, and the book’s recurring phrases, such as “build the bridge” and “assign the owners,” give the material a useful drumbeat. The prose can become procedural, especially in the checklists and worksheet sections. But I didn’t mind that much. The book doesn’t merely describe rigor; it practices it. Its ideas are not especially mystical, but they’re powerful because they honor the unglamorous truth that businesses usually fail in the seams between functions, not in the slogans on strategy decks.
I came away seeing Hidden Profit as a practical, unsentimental, and quietly humane book about restoring agency to leaders under pressure. It understands that numbers are never just numbers when payroll, debt, legacy, and reputation are attached to them. The strongest conclusion I drew is that hidden profit is less a treasure hunt than an act of disciplined attention. I’d recommend this book to CEOs, CFOs, board members, private equity operators, and business owners who suspect their company is working harder than its cash position suggests, especially those preparing for a sale or trying to strengthen EBITDA without damaging the living organism of the business.
Pages: 315 | ASIN : B0GX2QBG9X
In Cruelty and Redemption, you recount the trauma of your early life and the journey that led you to protect young people facing struggles similar to your own. What inspired you to share your story with readers?
I started a journey in counseling. One night I couldn’t sleep, so I started free writing, and five hours later I had my book.
The opening chapters are incredibly raw and unflinching. How did you decide how much of your childhood to share, knowing how difficult those memories would be to revisit?
I really didn’t think about what I was putting into it, but I did keep a lot of the more difficult events back. I wanted to include the moments that truly changed me.
You write honestly about gangs, drugs, prison, and violence without glorifying them. Why was it important to present those experiences with that balance?
I simply tried to show them in the true light. Gangs and drugs are an escape for people who are alone and broken, but they are not an answer.
After sharing such a personal story, what do you hope readers carry with them long after they finish Cruelty and Redemption?
Honestly, my message is simple. You only lose when you quit. Keep working for a better life, and you’ll get there one day.
Author Facebook @doug_vantassell_lionspride
Emerging from prison with nothing but determination, he discovers purpose on the football field and strength in the world of powerlifting, ultimately founding a private gym and a nonprofit dedicated to helping at-risk youth. Yet, the battle never truly ends. Through marriage, divorce, custody struggles, and the daily fight to resist old temptations, his story is a testament to the power of hope and the possibility of change, even when the odds seem insurmountable.
This is more than a story of survival. It’s a call to action for anyone searching for meaning, belonging, and the courage to choose a better path.
Rogue Vengeance
Charles Stewart’s Rogue Vengeance is a muscular military thriller about loyalty under fire, the cost of service, and the long shadow cast when governments use warriors and then try to discard them. Colt Hawkins is trying to build a future with Liberty Starr on the Sabre T Ranch, but peace barely has time to take root before a wedding becomes a battlefield; Jesse remains trapped in a brutal Chinese prison, and Task Force 24 is pulled back into a widening conflict that stretches from Montana to Madrid, Hainan Island, and Taiwan. The novel moves with the urgency of an operation already in motion, blending domestic trauma, covert rescue planning, political betrayal, and geopolitical escalation into one restless story about people who keep answering the call even when the call has taken too much from them.
What stayed with me most was the emotional weight beneath all the tactical movement. The opening contrast between Jesse’s suffering in captivity and Colt’s quiet hope at the Raven’s Nest sets the tone beautifully: this is a book interested in bodies under pressure, but also in what people build when they’re desperate to believe they can still have a life. Stewart lets readers feel the tenderness, and that makes the violence feel less like a spectacle and more like a violation. At its best, the novel understands that survival isn’t clean or triumphant. It’s sore, frightened, stubborn, and sometimes quietly beautiful.
The writing has a hard-edged cadence that suits the material. Stewart favors clipped sentences, procedural detail, and scene cuts that mimic surveillance feeds or tactical briefings, and that gives the novel a cinematic, forward-driving rhythm. I found the operational details convincing and immersive, especially when the book follows intelligence gathering, safe houses, cell structures, and rescue planning. At times, though, the sheer density of names, agencies, acronyms, and moving parts can crowd the emotional space. The story occasionally explains when it could trust the moment to breathe. Still, there’s an authenticity in the worldview that’s difficult to fake. The ideas are clear and strongly felt: duty doesn’t end just because politics shifts, loyalty is heavier than policy, and the people who protect a nation are often least protected by it. I didn’t always need every briefing, but I believed deeply in the ache behind them.
I found Rogue Vengeance intense, heartfelt, and deeply invested in the bonds between warriors, families, and the country they serve. It’s a large, ambitious thriller with a bruised heart, one that works best when its action is anchored in grief, devotion, and the fragile possibility of home. The ending opens the door to an even larger conflict, but it also reinforces the novel’s central truth: Colt and his team may be wounded, but they’re not finished. I’d recommend this book to readers who enjoy military thrillers with detailed operations, sprawling geopolitical stakes, and a strong emotional core, especially those who like stories about brotherhood, sacrifice, and the private costs behind public missions.
Pages: 429 | ASIN : B0GFXJYSQ2
