BOOKS BY MY FRIENDS SUSAN CORYELL, SARA HOSEY & DEBORAH L. STAUNTON
February 15, 2024
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Welcome to Books By My Friends! Today we are featuring
SUSAN CORYELL
SARA HOSEY
DEBORAH L. STAUNTON
BOOK: Kiki’s Dream
AUTHOR: Susan Coryell
GENRE: Children's picture book
BLURB: In this age of Asian-American hate crimes and racism, multicultural characters teach children to love, not hate others, especially those historically excluded, under-represented voices with diverse interests and needs. Snow – nature’s exotic creation, magical, beautiful, exciting – is only a dream for Kiki who lives in Hawaii. KIKI’S DREAM, a 377-word, character-driven picture book for ages two-five, explores the fantasies of an imaginative, curious young girl who dreams of a winter wonderland where she plays in the snow. Growing up in Hawaii, five-year-old Kiki romps on the beach all year round. Still, her dream is to experience snow, which will never happen in Hawaii. With excited expectation, Kiki hopes a surprise family trip to Michigan will make her dream come true.
3 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR: I published my first YA novel EAGLEBAIT in 1989 with Harcourt; 34 years later, I am still writing and publishing. I have written books for little kids, teenagers and adults.
BOOK: Dirty Suburbia
AUTHOR: Sara Hosey
GENRE: Short fiction
BLURB: The stories in Sara Hosey's stunning collection, Dirty Suburbia, trace the lives of girls and women struggling to live with dignity in a world that often hates them. Dirty suburbias are working-class neighborhoods in which girls who are left to fend for themselves sometimes become predators, as well as affluent communities in which women discover that money is no protection against sexism, both their own and others'. One young woman sets up her abusive, cheating boyfriend, hoping he'll get arrested so that she can rescue him and win him back. A teenager arranges to meet up with an older man she's met online playing video games; she brings a knife with her, just in case. A middle-aged divorcee attempts to rekindle a romantic relationship with her high school English teacher, who happens to be a former nun. A struggling academic falls in love with a Henry David Thoreau impersonator, and a well-adjusted grad student goes home for Christmas only to be repulsed by her family's casual cruelty. Despite the ugliness and injustice, they face, as well as the failures of their families and communities, these characters often find relief in friendship and connection, and sometimes, even discover meaning and cause for hope. Note from the author: Hosey's stories often tackle difficult themes and topics, including sexual assault and intimate partner violence.
3 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR: I still sleep with my childhood blanket; I love chocolate chip cookies, but hate the chocolate chips; I once made a dress out of newspaper and duct tape (and wore it to a party).
BOOK: Untethered
AUTHOR: Deborah L. Staunton
GENRE: Poetry/Short Prose
BLURB: Untethered tells the story of growing up with a mentally ill, alcoholic father and the experience of raising a mentally ill daughter. It follows the author's journey through multiple miscarriages and the “untethering” of minds, relationships, and pregnancies. Untethered is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit through the author's unravelling world.
3 FUN FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR: I have a background in Theatre Arts and have stage manged and run lights for numerous productions, I am a recipient of a PenCraft Best Book Award, and I have a children's picture book coming out in Spring 2024 with Two Sisters Press.
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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.
