Happy release day to Julie Fudge Smith, author of The Beast Keepers!

The Beast Keepers is available everywhere as a paperback and e-book. Find it here, or request it at your favorite local bookstore.

We’ve been taken with the premise of this book from the moment we met Julie. Think C.S. Lewis meets James Herriot!

Jonathan F. St. Roche, a young veterinarian jaded by the wealthy horse world, answers an ad for a job as a small-town veterinarian in rural Carrollton, Ohio. Once there, he soon discovers the town is a safe haven for a menagerie of mythical creatures (including a pregnant pegasus, a flying monkey with a sprained wing, a centaur with Cushing’s disease, and a unicorn with a sweet tooth) who rely on him for their medical care and shelter from the outside world. When a deadly basilisk threatens the town, Jonathan and his new friends must balance the dangerous creature’s needs against the grave risk to the community.

“With a cast of beastly characters, this is a playful consideration of what kindness to animals really means. Fun, inventive, and charming, The Beast Keepers is a delight for animal lovers. I loved it!”

—Zazie Todd, PhD, author of Wag and Purr

“If you love the bond between animals and their guardians, you’re going to love this book. Not only do you meet some fun domestic animals, but you’ll also be captivated by the mythical creatures. A thoroughly enjoyable, well-written story. As a dog trainer, I especially enjoyed the sections about how animals think and learn! Well done!”

—Robin Bennett, CPDT-KA, Co-founder, The Dog Gurus, former president of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers

About the Author

Julie Smith is a writer and an extensively credentialed Certified Professional Dog Trainer living in Galena, Ohio. The idea for The Beast Keepers was born from a visit to the vet:

Several years ago while I waited with my flat-coated retriever Mr. Bingley at the holistic vet for a chiropractic adjustment, I studied the poster showing the acupuncture points for dogs. I wondered if animals such as turtles, frogs, snakes, porcupines, etc., had acupuncture points as well.

While the vet worked on Bingley, I asked him whether he learned acupuncture for animals besides dogs, cats, horses, etc. He replied that there were classes for “other” animals. Although I think he probably meant animals such as goats or sheep, there was something about the way he said “other” that caused me to think:

“You meant griffins? Centaurs? Fauns?” Showing a modicum of restraint, I did not ask that aloud. I did, however, spend the remainder of the day contemplating how you would treat medical issues in mythological animals. If a griffin had a lung infection, would you be treating bird lungs or mammalian lungs? Can centaurs get gout, and if so, how would it manifest? Can unicorns get laminitis?

Thus was born the idea of The Beast Keepers, an adult literary novel with a twist.

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Happy book release day to Andy Kalan, author of Finding the Place Where Everything Lives!

Finding the Place Where Everything Lives is available here as a paperback, hardback, and e-book.

Daniel and Claire Morrow are newlyweds with different pasts–Daniel lived a life of privilege while Claire was born into poverty. But yet, they fell in love. When they move to Manhattan from their Midwestern college in the days leading up to the Great Recession, the disparities in their background become more prevalent. Daniel struggles to succeed in the financial arena as the economy implodes, and Claire questions her ambitions as a dancer. As the foundation of their marriage and the romanticized ideas they brought to the city erode under the pressure, they’re forced to question who they are becoming, both as individuals and to each other.

EXCERPT FROM FINDING THE PLACE WHERE EVERYTHING LIVES

She took my hand, leading me out from the cover and onto the ground. I lay beside her as the flakes tumbled down, piling up around the outline of our bodies.

“If you could give one line to the world,” she said, “what would it be?”

“I don’t know. That’s a hard question.”

“Come on, if someone handed you a megaphone, and it could reach every person in the world, what would you say?”

My mind was blank. I hadn’t ever been asked that before.

On the other side of the street, her friends had emerged from the car. Some of them danced and spun around aimlessly while others threw handfuls of snowy powder into the air.

“You know what I would say,” she said. “I would say that when you love people, you make them human. I once heard Maya Angelou say that forgiveness restores humanity. It breathes life back into what is damaged. That’s what I’d want the whole world to know: how to love.”

The snow continued to fall, but it seemed to be gentler as it kissed our faces and the ground next to us. I closed my eyes and thought about her question. I couldn’t stop thinking about her friends and how unbridled they were in their enjoyment of the snow. And that’s when it hit me. I said, “I think I would say that we were meant to be free.”

She turned her head toward me.

“I like that,” she whispered, “I like that a lot.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ANDY KALAN was born in upstate New York, grew up in the Midwest, and returned to New York with his wife and two kids. His work has been published in a handful of local publications. This is his debut novel.

Learn more about Andy here: www.andykalan.com.

It’s release day for The Return of Jason Foxx by Kevin Lavey!

Nab your copy of The Return of Jason Foxx here!

AN ADULT COMING-OF-AGE NOVEL

THIRTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD JASON FOXX FINALLY–FINALLY–KNOWS WHAT HE WANTS.

He wants to get his damaged brother, Brian, back on his feet. He wants to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend Adele and be a dad to her son, Stephen. And after nine years of teaching, he wants at last to set aside his own traumas-his imprisoned conman father, a mother who abandoned the family years before she died-and become a principal at a high school for troubled kids. Kids he can save, like his teachers saved him.

But things don’t always work out the way you want.

When his observation lesson is sabotaged by Mr. Rastik, a fellow teacher with his own agenda, Jason finds his plans slipping from his grasp. With a number of teachers due to be excessed next year, Rastik is ruthless, ready to do whatever it takes-manipulation, even blackmail-to keep himself at Central South High School.

Then there’s Jason’s father, locked away in West Virginia, holding onto the power of attorney Jason needs should something go wrong with Brian. He’ll give it up, he says, if Jason will fl y to Florida into a life he never knew his father lived.

If Jason is to build the home he wants with Adele and Stephen–if he’s to maneuver past Rastik’s machinations and at last step out from the shadow of childhood–he’ll need to understand that things are not always as they seem. Maybe he’s not the only one struggling. He’s not the only one growing. And whether brother, son, father, partner, principal, or teacher, he still has quite a lot to learn.

Praise for The Return of Jason Foxx

What William Kennedy did for Albany, Kevin Lavey is doing for Baltimore. Mr. Lavey’s characters are not the down-and-out denizens that Kennedy serves up, but they are no less searching in their attempt to bring meaning to their troubled lives. The Return of Jason Foxx is a marvelous tale, and spiritual, that points us toward a path of success that comes through compassion, education, persistence, and self-awareness. May Mr. Lavey continue to reveal his immense talent to the world. Baltimore has fostered another writer of significance. —T J EDWARDS, TWO-TIME HELEN HAYES AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT AND FOUNDER OF THE WASHINGTON SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Jason Foxx reveals the hidden details of all the small tragedies and victories that are real life in education. Any teacher will recognize the satire and hilarity of the school scenes depicted. —JENNIFER M., VETERAN PUBLIC EDUCATION TEACHER

Dedicated social studies teacher Jason Foxx is beleaguered by a reckless brother, unknown saboteurs inside of his school plotting his demise, and a fragile romance that seems impossible for him to enjoy, given the odds. Lavey’s writing elevates the machinations of Foxx’s complicated life into Shakespearian tragicomedy. His writing is distinguished by economy of expression, insightful probing into the human psyche, and deft touches of refreshing humor. —KIM ZANTI, CREATIVITY SPECIALIST

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Lavey is the author of Rat and numerous short stories published in literary magazines. He has been recognized for his writing including awards from the Maryland Writers Association and the Maryland State Arts Council.

He began his lifelong love of writing while at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan. Now a retired teacher from Baltimore County Public Schools, he has other novels and short stories in the works.

He is inspired to write stories that help him make sense of the world. He believes writing provides a singular way to explore what it means to be a human being. As a writer, he finds resonance in a judgment from the I Ching, “Perseverance Furthers.” Write with enough devotion and authenticity and you just might get to the heart of things.

He taught in Baltimore City public schools for ten years and in an alternative school in Baltimore County for fourteen years, during which time he became a national board-certified English teacher. 

He is a trained mediator and a practitioner of that elusive martial art, aikido.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, a Master’s of Arts in Reading from Towson University, and a Master’s of Arts in Leadership in Teaching from Notre Dame of Maryland University.

Learn more about Kevin here: www.kevinlavey.com.