Blog Archives
Passion and Commitment
Creciendo Juntas: Narrativas de Empoderamiento de las Mujeres is an anthology of stories by women sharing their struggles, losses, revelations, and how they have rebuilt their world after significant challenges and changes in their lives. What was the process you used to collect the stories for this collection, and how did you decide which ones to include?
We came into this anthology with a spirit of openness. We were looking for diversity and honesty—to portray women in the rawness of their lives, with no intention other than to state that they are here and that their lives are valuable and rich. In that sense, we allowed the manuscripts we received to shape what the anthology would become. We did not want to preassign any boundaries that might prevent writers from crafting their work from the truth of their own experiences.
In most of the anthologies we’ve produced over our twenty years as publishers, there are specific criteria that must be met for a story to be included. This project was different. Here, it was the writers who shaped the anthology, not us. We deliberately gave up control and entrusted it to those who have lived the experience of being a woman in Latin America, as it should be. The guiding questions were simple: Are you a woman? Are you a writer? Do you understand that literature carries an ethical responsibility not to harm the reader? If so, you were in.
Have you received any feedback from readers that surprised or moved you?
Not directly, but the authors themselves have surprised us with the passion and commitment with which they have embraced, endorsed, and promoted the anthology. I think this speaks volumes about what the project has meant to them and, in turn, to their readers. It has been deeply moving to see how this book has differed from our other publications—it feels like a must-read for everyone.
The promotion of the anthology has not been directed toward a single type of reader, as is often the case with most books. Instead, it has reached across audiences, reinforcing the sense that this is an important work—one readers recognize as necessary. Seeing that response has been incredibly rewarding.
Will you be compiling a second collection of inspirational and motivational stories sharing the enduring spirit of women?
If the context allows for it, and if it once again feels like a necessity—as it did this time, when the first woman president in Mexico was about to assume office, and it felt essential for women to speak about the experience of being women—then it would be both lovely and exciting to do so.
At the same time, we are also interested in pursuing other projects. Women are always present in our work—talented women, talented writers—and that talent extends far beyond inspiration or motivation expressed only through stories explicitly about womanhood. The enduring spirit of women, like any enduring human spirit, is also revealed through creation, through writing, whether fiction or nonfiction, whether the work is about womanhood or about any other aspect of the vast human experience.
So in that sense, yes—we are planning to compile many collections that share the enduring spirit of women. They may not always be explicitly about the experience of being a woman, but they will be a testament to it nonetheless.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Estas son las historias de las mujeres que sustentan el cambio en cada palabra, en cada acción. La revolución también se hace en chiquito, en la cotidianidad, en las victorias y en los errores. En esta antología está escrita la historia del cambio, de cómo nuestras vidas, juntas, se convierten en una epopeya moderna.
Estas escritoras tejen una lucha en el tapiz de la libertad. Escribiendo juntas crecen con sus lectoras, quienes encontrarán en estas páginas una razón, aunque sea sólo una, para seguir adelante, pues todas compartimos, cada quien a su manera, el mismo arduo camino.
Remaining True to Oneself
Carnage in D Minor follows an RN from her days as a piano prodigy to a military veteran with PTSD, who goes on a quest to discover a new, and ethically questionable, treatment for mental illness. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The story came to me during a time when my brother, an Army war veteran, was dealing with severe depression—intensified by chronic pain from an injury he received in Iraq. His struggle inspired me to write about determination and perseverance in the face of soul-crushing obstacles. The frustration he experienced attempting to get anyone to listen to him about his chronic health issues—the direct result of his service to this country—was excruciating to listen to. The time it took for him to ultimately get treatment was a burning thread for me. During the long waits between phone calls, referrals, and appointments, he resorted to self-medicating with alcohol and prescription drugs. I was worried that he would become a forgotten statistic. But he persevered, and I’m beyond happy he’s still with us today. After a successful surgery, his pain is manageable, and he has quit drinking. Fun fact: his wife is also a career Army veteran. They are both huge inspirations to me.
Leeza’s story is one that readers can relate to or find pieces of themselves in, making it easier to connect to her character and become invested in her story. Were you able to achieve everything you wanted with Leeza’s character in the novel?
Yes. Carnage in D minor is an adaptation of a screenplay. In the original screenplay, the protagonist was a white male. As a writer, I had an urge to change that character to a Black female for the book because, over the years, I have had so many friends from underrepresented minority cultures, genders, sexual orientations, etc. I jumped in with both feet and wrote her character without holding back. I wanted her successes to rise to the level of a superhero. Judging by many of the reviews I’ve read, I think I came quite close.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The core themes I explored were the absolute refusal to give in or give up, and remaining true to oneself even when others have given up on you. Self-doubt is a major roadblock for so many.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
The Last Lily of Savannah – a novel. Late Summer, 2026. The story delves into a successful New York businesswoman’s seemingly perfect life. But beneath the carefully cultivated facade, she is tortured by the fact that she was adopted, and that the truth surrounding her biological family’s past has been hidden from her all her life. This story explores the primal need for adopted individuals to understand their origins. Unfortunately for our protagonist, sometimes it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie.
Incidentally, I am also writing a screenplay for a production company in L.A. It is a horror flick set in a war zone. Fingers crossed—it may be in a theater near you soon.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Leeza followed in her mother’s footsteps as a nurse, relying on Army ROTC for her education. During her early career as an RN and a commissioned officer, she endured a deployment in a war zone that left her with severe PTSD and a battle with addiction.
Twenty years later, Leeza is a married mother of two and a successful neurosurgical nurse practitioner. She is also a passionate activist. Driven by her own mental challenges and a deep desire to help others, she embarks on a desperate, ethically questionable quest to discover a revolutionary treatment for mental illness. Her goal: “mental conflict remission” and a global shift to destigmatize mental illness.
Though the journey is fraught with danger and illegality, Leeza’s passion and strength ultimately carry her though, culminating in a powerful story of global triumph.
Convey Emotion
Tracking Ariana follows a legally documented Afghan immigrant mother torn from her family by ICE, and the desperate race by her husband and unlikely allies to uncover the truth behind her disappearance. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
A common question for many authors is “How do you come up with Ideas to write about?” For this book, it was the topic of news reports that had raised my awareness and ire. Witnessing unfairness triggers emotions in most of us, at least it does me. Those emotions were my motivation for Tracking Ariana.
How did you balance portraying political systems with keeping the emotional core grounded in family and character?
Something I’ve had to learn as an author is to convey emotion to my readers. Writing is not just telling a story, it’s giving the readers a reason to become invested in the story. I’m getting better at it, I hope. In the case of Tracking Ariana, the political aspects were just the vehicle to take them there.
Ariana’s internal fear and self-blame feel especially intimate. What guided your approach to writing her interior life?
I think all parents share a love for their children, and it is this love that makes us question our actions when caring for them—to do better. In Ariana’s case, she realized, too late, that by wearing a hijab in the United States, she had endangered her family. Reflecting on that, she uses prayer to regain her footing.
What do you most hope readers carry with them after finishing Tracking Ariana?
I’d hope they find empathy for those having their human rights taken away from them. As Mia said in the book, “You know, we’re all orbiting the sun together on this tiny blue ball. We should be trying to get along, not hating one another.”
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
When Ariana Wilkinson—a lawful U.S. resident and Afghan-born wife of an Air Force Colonel—is wrongfully detained by ICE during a religious festival in Westchester County, her disappearance sets off a desperate search that exposes the darkest corners of American immigration enforcement.
Returning home from deployment, Colonel Joseph Wilkinson finds his house empty and his wife and children missing. When he learns that Ariana has been taken into custody, he turns to attorney Seth Bodner for help. Together, they fight to get his children back—but Ariana vanishes before her immigration hearing ever takes place.
Enter Dan Burnett, a seasoned private investigator with NYPD roots. As Dan and Seth track Ariana through a labyrinth of detention centers from New York to Florida, they uncover a covert federal program of deportation—erasing them from the system before anyone can intervene.
Meanwhile, Ariana must survive the terror and uncertainty of detention, clinging to faith, memory, and the love of her family. But as her captors move her closer to deportation, time is running out—and the truth threatens to ignite a national scandal.
Told from multiple perspectives, Tracking Ariana is a gripping legal and investigative thriller about one woman’s fight for freedom and a family’s battle against a corrupt system. Fans of John Grisham, Scott Turow, and Lisa Scottoline will be riveted by this story of courage, justice, and the power of love in a nation divided.
Moral Imperatives
I, Robot Soldier follows a war-damaged robot soldier who wakes in the ruins of a world shattered by conflict and encounters a traumatized young girl, becoming her protector and companion. I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?
This novel was based on a short story I wrote many decades ago. The premise of a robot soldier awakening to the aftermath of war never left me. When I rewrote the story as a submission to my writing platform—Medium—it received such positive reader responses and encouragement to turn it into a novel, I decided to do just that. Other than that introductory premise, which became the novel’s prologue, the book was not pre-plotted but evolved as it unfolded.
What were some of the emotional and moral guidelines you followed when developing your characters?
The only “guidelines,” emotional or moral, for the characters were that they be credible and consistent. Specifically for the robot narrator, One Shot, the open question was whether he experienced feelings and had moral imperatives beyond those programmed into him. It was never my intention to answer that question definitively.
Where does the story go in the next book, and where do you see it going in the future?
The story is a standalone novel. The Robot Series is not a set of sequels, but rather a series of separate novels told from the viewpoints of unique robots. The second book (also reviewed by Literary Titan) is about a robot alien who comes to prevent humanity from a second devolution. The third book is about a female robot of the future.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | X (Twitter) | Website | Amazon
In a world shattered by war, a lone robot soldier awakens with one mission: to protect the last surviving human – a little girl named Amy.
Together, they form an unbreakable bond in a world where hope is scarce.
But danger lurks in the form of robotic mutations known as wolfhounds.
One Shot’s prime directive is clear: protect Amy at all costs.
On a perilous journey through a devastated world, the bond between a girl and a robot might be the key to humanity’s future. If they can survive.
Inner Enlightenment
Blessings Abound is a short, sweet inspirational guide designed to help readers stop and take notice of the blessings already in their lives and how to identify them. Why was this an important book for you to write?
Blessings Abound takes the reader to a deeper level of gratitude that benefits them and the surrounding world they live in. More than just saying thank you for gifts received, it opens the door to a deeper appreciation for friends, family, and blessings we too often take for granted. A grateful person focuses on goodness, and goodness is what God is all about. The more we focus on appreciating goodness, the more goodness we receive. The more goodness we receive, the more we feel loved.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
The secrets of the universe that evoke a sense of wonder and curiosity.
All life is interconnected.
Profound truths carried down through the ages.
Sacred spaces of quiet exist with vast reservoirs of wisdom.
New pathways to inner enlightenment can be found through gratitude.
What advice do you have for readers who want to shift their mindset from complaining to appreciating but struggle with making the first step?
Reading opens our minds to new worlds.
Understanding is the capacity to interpret, feel, and experience.
Love is the ultimate pathway.
Find one thing a day to be grateful for. To appreciate is to love.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Blessings Abound?
Life is a privilege, a precious journey, and a blessing. Blessings Abound has the potential to inspire everyone to see everything in a new light of love and understanding.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
With this book, Katherine Scherer and Eileen Bodoh serve as our guides to revealing them, glorifying them, and super-charging them. Drawing upon inner experiences and wisdom, from ancient and contemporary sources, including Native American lore and the Christian Bible, and from a diverse selection of many who have gone before such as Wordsworth, Thoreau, Whitman, Tagore, and others, the authors guide readers as they embark on a journey to discover and appreciate their own inner and outer blessings. With a connection to spirit and their personal divinity, Katherine and Eileen empower readers with the truth, magic, peace, and gratitude inherent in the words.
Discover blessings in human and divine love, in unassumed places, in the natural world, in music, and in our everyday lives. The power and awe of blessings comes forth in waves as the book allows us to realize the unlimited nature of all that we encounter, even aspects of our lives we may think of as painful or trite.
Move away from the mundane if only for a few moments as you read these passages and learn to appreciate the joy that all of our blessings contain and proliferate.
Blessings Abound does that for you.
The Secret of Spirit Lake
In The Secret of Spirit Lake, a young adult mystery with a gentle paranormal twist, we follow fourteen-year-old Amy, yanked away from her old life and dropped into a big yellow Victorian on a quiet Virginia lake. She ends up in the tower bedroom, where strange things start happening that point to a girl named Sally who used to live there. The story moves back and forth between Amy’s present-day summer of swim practices, new friends, and family tension, and the late 1930s life of a farm girl named Penny whose path slowly, uneasily, begins to overlap with the lake and the house Amy now calls home. The mystery sits in the space between those timelines, asking what really happened at Spirit Lake and what it means for the people still living there.
I really liked how the book uses that alternating structure. At first I was more invested in Amy, mostly because her voice feels so familiar: grumpy about her parents, irritated by younger siblings, convinced no one understands her, then slowly softening as she gets pulled into swim team life and real friendship. But Penny’s chapters crept up on me. Her world is harder and narrower, full of chores and exhaustion, and then that terrible fire that takes her parents hits with real emotional weight. The mystery works because those two stories start to rhyme. Amy is lonely and displaced; Penny is lonely and trapped. Sally is caught between them as a literal ghost, but also as this symbol of what happens when adults fail kids. The writing itself is clean and straightforward, the kind of YA prose that trusts younger readers to keep up while still feeling approachable. Short chapters keep things moving, and the ghost scenes are eerie without ever turning into nightmare fuel. There is a soft, almost cozy feel to a lot of the pages, even when the subject matter is dark.
What stood out to me most was the way the author chose to center safety and care instead of just creepiness. The ghost is sad more than scary, and the book keeps circling back to the question of who looks out for children when their parents can’t or won’t. You see it in Penny’s encounters with the state worker at the hospital, who is doing her best inside a rigid system, and in how Lucy and Henry neglect and emotionally abuse Hal and Millie behind the façade of a beautiful lake house. You see it again in Amy’s realization that her “annoying” little siblings are actually kind of adorable when she lets herself pay attention, and that her parents, while imperfect, are trying very hard to give their family a better life. As a YA mystery, the book leans more emotional than plot-twist-heavy, and sometimes the coincidences that help the girls solve the decades-old case feel a little convenient, but the emotional payoffs mostly earned my trust. I cared more about Millie hugging her long-lost brother on a sunny balcony than about every logistical detail lining up perfectly.
By the end, I felt like I’d spent a summer at the lake myself, watching Amy grow into her own skin, cheering through swim meets, and then sitting up way too late trying to fit together scraps of diaries and old letters with her and her friends. The paranormal element stays light, but the feelings underneath are not. The Secret of Spirit Lake is the kind of YA mystery I’d hand to a thoughtful middle schooler or young teen who likes ghost stories that are more about healing than horror, or to adults who enjoy warm, character-driven young adult fiction with a bit of intrigue. It would fit well in school and library book clubs, especially with readers who are ready to talk about grief, neglect, and found family in a safe way.
Pages: 335 | ASIN : B0FLM38VSC
9 Habits of Happy Retirees: Discover the Secrets to a Fulfilling Retirement
9 Habits of Happy Retirees offers a warm, upbeat, and very accessible guide to reimagining life after work. The book walks through the emotional phases of retirement, the mindset shifts needed to stay grounded, and the habits that build a joyful and meaningful post-career life. It blends practical advice with simple explanations about mental health, purpose, relationships, physical well-being, and the importance of staying curious and socially connected. The chapters move from preparation to mindset to hobbies to health, then social ties, learning, giving back, and travel. The whole arc forms a picture of retirement as a chance to grow instead of slow down.
This book felt surprisingly personal. I went in expecting a very standard self-help outline, but the writing has a friendly tone that made the ideas easy to absorb. The author speaks plainly, almost like a coach who wants you to feel excited about what’s ahead, and that energy made me lean in. I especially appreciated the focus on emotional transitions. Retirement is usually described as a reward and nothing more, yet the book spends time acknowledging loneliness, identity loss, and boredom. That honesty felt refreshing.
I also found myself reacting strongly to the sections about meaning and purpose. The reminders to try new things, build community, and stay flexible struck a chord. The book made me think about how often people assume retirement should mirror a fantasy rather than a real life with ups and downs. I liked the push to experiment, make mistakes, and adjust. I did wish for more storytelling or real-world examples in some chapters, but the spirit of the message carried the reading experience. The tone is upbeat without feeling sugary, and the steady encouragement made me feel motivated.
9 Habits of Happy Retirees is a strong fit for readers who want a straightforward, positive, and compassionate guide to the emotional and practical sides of retirement. It’s especially helpful for people who feel unsure about what comes next or who want gentle direction rather than technical advice. If you like clear language, simple steps, and a friendly voice that nudges you toward growth, this book will feel like a welcome companion.
Page: 136 | ASIN : B0D78Q1NWD
Fang, Bang and the Midnight Mouse: The Christmas Call
The Christmas Call, the latest installment in J-J Murray’s Fang, Bang, and the Midnight Mouse series, is tailor-made for cozy holiday read-alouds shared with family. Illustrated by Katie Tayler, the story opens on a snug Christmas Eve with the Jollie family, where cat detectives Fang and Bang are reveling in their favorite season. The warmth doesn’t last long. Trouble strikes at the Hill Inn when a prized wheel of Stilton cheese disappears without a trace. Summoned to investigate, the two feline sleuths follow a tantalising trail of crumbs far from home, all the way to Cambridge, where they come face to face with Midnight Mouse and her mischievous crew. What follows is a brisk, festive mystery packed with sharp twists, seasonal mayhem, and more than a few cat-astrophes.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is how naturally it weaves together humor, intrigue, and genuine warmth. The pace is swift and confident, keeping young readers absorbed as Fang and Bang pursue clues through snowy streets, bustling museums, and even a Christmas carol service. The language remains light and approachable, sprinkled generously with cat puns that will prompt giggles from children and knowing smiles from adults. At times, the narrator speaks directly to the reader, posing questions and inviting them to think alongside the detectives, which adds a playful, interactive dimension to the story.
Katie Tayler’s illustrations brim with energy and charm. Every page feels alive with movement and warmth, allowing Fang and Bang’s distinct personalities to shine. The festive settings are richly imagined, and the artwork supports the text beautifully, guiding young readers through the action while deepening the cozy Christmas atmosphere.
Beneath the mystery lies a thoughtful message about generosity and empathy, particularly fitting for the holiday season. Midnight Mouse is not portrayed as a simple villain. Her motivations are handled with surprising tenderness, offering children a nuanced understanding that mistakes do not define a character’s worth. A brief section at the end exploring the history of Stilton cheese adds an unexpected educational touch, enhancing the story without interrupting its momentum.
Overall, this is a delightful choice for families seeking a festive tale that balances entertainment with heart. The Christmas Call is witty, inventive, and warmly inclusive, an excellent pick for young readers who enjoy mysteries, animal heroes, and Christmas adventures wrapped in charm.
Pages: 32 | ASIN : B0FXNP9YC4
LITERARY TITAN 