BOOKS BY MY FRIENDS JOIE DAVIDOW, SUSANNE DUNLAP & D. M. S. FICK
FEBRUARY 22, 2024
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Welcome to Books By My Friends! Today we are featuring
JOIE DAVIDOW
SUSANNE DUNLAP
D. M. S. FICK
BOOK: Anything But Yes
AUTHOR: Joie Davidow
GENRE: Historical Fiction
BLURB: Anything But Yes is the true story of a young woman’s struggle to defend her identity in the face of relentless attempts to destroy it. In 1749, eighteen-year- old Anna del Monte was seized at gunpoint from her home in the Jewish ghetto of Rome and thrown into a convent cell at the Casa dei Convertiti, the house of converts. With no access to the outside world, she withstood endless lectures, threats, promises, isolation and sleep deprivation. If she were she to utter the simple word “yes,” she risked forced baptism, which would mean never returning to her home, and total loss of contact with any Jew—mother, father, brother, sister—for the rest of her life.
3 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR: I trained to be an opera singer. I live in Umbria, Italy. Before I began writing books, I founded two magazines and a newspaper.
BOOK: The Courtesan’s Daughter
AUTHOR: Susanne Dunlap
GENRE: Historical Fiction
BLURB: New York, 1910. Seventeen-year-old Sylvie and her French-immigrant mother Justine eke out a living doing piecework in a tenement on the Lower East Side, while Sylvie attends school so that she can escape their life of poverty by becoming a teacher. At least, that's what her mother believes should happen. Sylvie, though, has a different dream. She wants to be a star in the new moving pictures, just like the beautiful Vitagraph Girl. When she meets a dangerously handsome Italian boy at church one Sunday and he encourages her ambitions, she begins secretly taking steps toward the career she knows her mother won't approve of. But Sylvie isn't the only one with secrets. Justine has kept her sordid past from Sylvie ever since they came to New York fifteen years before, stitching together a fabric of lies along with the shirtwaists she finishes every day, doing everything in her power to keep the truth from her daughter-that she fled Paris as a courtesan after committing a crime that could still get her arrested, or worse. When Justine's past catches up with her in a single act of brutality, Sylvie witnesses what she thinks is her mother's betrayal and runs away during a freak blizzard, putting them both in grave danger. Ambition, survival, and unexpected alliances combine in this mother-daughter story that proves love can conquer all-at a price.
3 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR: My first novel was published when I was 50; I've published in every way possible: traditional, hybrid, and self-published
BOOK: Lewis Sinclair and the Gentlemen Cowboys
AUTHOR: D. M. S. Fick
GENRE: Mystery
BLURB: A missing brooch. A face set in cement. This is not your average music festival. Lewis Sinclair, a stalwart and tender country musician, is about to take the stage with his band, the Gentlemen Cowboys, at the premier U.S. country music festival when his girl dumps him for the Cowboys’ shifty manager. When that same manager ends up at FallFest’s walk of fame with his handprints—and his head—in cement, Lew finds himself on the top ten most wanted list instead of the music charts. With the help of his loyal Cowboys and the close-knit festival staff, Lew must clear his name before the killer gets away—or strikes again.
3 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR: D. M. S. Fick is an Emmy-nominated graphic designer who has worked on two Peabody Award-winning TV series. She once held hands with The Newlywed Game host Bob Eubanks. She was an extra in the movie Fargo.
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JOY E. HELD is an author, educator, editor, entrepreneur, and literary citizen responsible for this site and its contents. She is the author of
Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2020)
Writer Wellness Workbook: A Guided Workbook and Journal to Accompany Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2023)
The Mermaid Riot (Melange, 2024) Young Adult Historical Fantasy
She writes spicy historical fiction under a pen name.
She is the winner of multiple writing and book awards:
West Virginia Writers, Inc. Annual Writing Contest, Honorable Mention, Novel, 1998.
New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention, Writer Wellness, 2020.
Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Finalist, Writer Wellness, 2021.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, Member of the Year, 2020.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, First Book Award, 2020.
She is an adjunct faculty member in the Southern New Hampshire University Online MFA Creative Writing.
She is a proud graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA with an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction.
She is a member of The Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Joy is the founder and CEO of My WRITEDAY Subscription Box for writers and readers.
