BOOKS BY MY FRIENDS
JEAN BURGESS, ALEXA GRAVE, LYNN-STEVEN JOHANSON, JOY E. HELD, & BARBARA JEAN MILLER
Thursday, 30 May 2024
Welcome to Books By My Friends! Today we are featuring
JEAN BURGESS
ALEXA GRAVE
LYNN-STEVEN JOHANSON
JOY E. HELD
BARBARA JEAN MILLER
This article may contain affiliate links which may result in the author receiving a commission when readers purchase items through the links.
You are receiving this message because you previously signed up for notifications or participated in a program/course with Joy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
BOOK: That Summer She Found Her Voice: A Retro Novel
AUTHOR: Jean Burgess
GENRE: Women's Fiction
BLURB: Set against a backdrop of the 1970's Baltimore music scene, this
is a story of 23-year-old Margie Stevens as she pulls herself out of a
spiraling, heartbreak-induced depression and begins a journey of
discovery. Clarifying her views of emerging feminism, racial
intolerance, and personal spirituality - all while touring the U.S. as
a singer in King Vido's Swing Band - Margie encounters sexist and moral
challenges that cause her to question her future path. Will she
redefine her own values in order to break away from uncomfortable ways
of thinking? Will she find the courage to conquer fears of intimidation
from the band leader and others on the tour and at home? Finally, will
Margie learn to speak up for herself using herself her newfound
authentic voice?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jean Burgess is an author, editor, playwright, and former theatre educator. She writes both nonfiction and fiction, enjoys presenting writing workshops and presentations, and volunteers as a facilitator with a local Teen Writing Club. Jean holds a Masters in Theatre from Northwestern University and Ph.D. in Educational Theatre from New York University.
BOOK: Dead As Dreams
AUTHOR: Alexa Grave
GENRE: Dark Epic Fantasy
BLURB: Souls chained to the earth scream for release, and nightmares devour dreams.
Aysa, the Shepherd of Dreams, hides in the dream world from a past she yearns to forget. But when the scent of rotting flowers wafts through the Nexus, and multiplying nightmares nip at her heels, she realizes it’s her responsibility as the goddess Muska’s chosen to protect her realm. And then a dreamer notices her for the first time...
Lazarus hates the power the god Lokahn cursed him with – as a spirit seeker, he’s tasked to wander Bodhira, sending off lingering souls to the unknown. In one town, he stumbles across a mass grave and fails to free the spirits, as they’re bound to the earth by another spirit seeker’s magic. Determined to liberate the souls, he seeks help from an unlikely source. A woman from his dream, with blue eyes and feathers in her hair...
Aysa and Lazarus reluctantly make a pact to restore the balance between dreams and nightmares, as well as life and death.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alexa Grave loves to tell stories – it just so happens her characters occasionally take her on an unexpected ride. All of her fantasy, humor and romance included, embodies a bit of darkness.
Alexa’s life isn’t filled with writing alone. In her spare time, she enjoys gaming with her husband. Reading and thinking up large, impossible projects to work on also top her list of fun things to do.
Most importantly, she has two beautiful daughters who don’t give her much spare time to do any of the above.
If you’re interested in her ramblings, consider visiting her blog, Born to Write, at blog.alexagrave.com.
BOOK: Sins Revealed
AUTHOR: Lynn-Steven Johanson
GENRE: Mystery
BLURB: "Detective Joe Erickson is called to investigate a burned-out pickup truck containing the charred bodies of two individuals. The truck's license plate helps identify the victims as a young man and his cousin, who were living in a house owned by the man's father. But when a suspicious area in the backyard is excavated, and skeletal remains are found, the case grows increasingly complicated. Who would burn the two victims beyond recognition? And could the skeletal remains have anything to do with it"
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lynn-Steven Johanson is an award-winning novelist and playwright whose plays have been produced on four continents. Born and raised in Northwest Iowa, Lynn holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He lives in Illinois with his wife, and they have three adult children.
BOOK: The Mermaid Riot
AUTHOR: Joy E. Held
GENRE: Young adult historical fantasy
BLURB: When a young man holds a mermaid in his arms, everything he's ever been told about life, love, and family is almost dragged to the bottom of the sea, but he's saved by a clever friend who has always loved him no matter what.
Best friends Tobias Doyle and Serena Robinson are separated by a family feud over an accident that killed Tobi’s father, and they deal with the depression in their own way. Serena devotes herself to school, and Tobi plans to leave the fictional low-country town of Kingston, South Carolina to become a merchant seaman. Their houses are next door to each other on the banks of the Ainsley River, but the parents have forbidden any contact between them. That doesn’t keep them from seeing one another almost every evening as Serena watches from her bedroom window while Tobi walks along the sandy riverbank where his father died.
It is June 1876-a year after their separation-as they observe from their separate vantage points to witness an unsettling sight. Late one night, they see the local doctor retrieve a body from his fishing boat. Serena swears she saw the top half of a woman and the bottom half of a fish in the doctor’s arms. Tobi thinks he saw long auburn hair blowing in the wind and scale-covered legs. Then he hears Serena’s voice in his head when they were children telling him that mermaids are real.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joy E. Held is an author, editor, book coach, and educator.
BOOK: Fortune’s Folly
AUTHOR: Barbara Jean Miller
GENRE: Regency romance
BLURB: Roxanne Whitcomb plans to spend her London season finding a rich backer for her brother’s inventions until she meets Spencer Tanner and realizes she cannot marry for money. Tanner is attracted to her wit and startled by her lively nature, but assumes that, like other women, she needs protection. Her London debut is ruined by the arrival of her estranged mother and guardian, recalling gossip about her father’s suicide and mother’s untimely remarriage. Roxanne decides to tackle her problems by rescuing her mother and protecting her brother, but Tanner is reluctant to offer help, doubting her theory on why this would be necessary. Then he discovers the independent Rox can also be resourceful and courageous.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Barbara Jean Miller is a widely published fiction author, educator, nature observer, and blogger.
Advertisement
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 (Fire and Ice YA, 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.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX