RECOMMENDED READS

Imagine a Door: A Writer’s Guide to Unlocking Your Story, Choosing a Publishing Path, and Honoring the Creative Journey, Laura Stanfill

If you want to get your manuscript published, read this book.

There’s no secret handshake or golden key in these pages, but Imagine a Door offers a more equitable and empowering prize: information delivered with gentleness. Author and publisher Laura Stanfill started working on this project in 2016, ultimately interviewing more than seventy-five authors and industry experts, including Wendy Chin-Tanner, Tove Danovich, Omar El Akkad, Erin Harris, Ari Honarvar, Juhea Kim, Dan Lazar, Fonda Lee, Emme Lund, Daniel A. Olivas, Rosanne Parry, Keith Rosson, Amy Stewart, Sonja Thomas, Addie Tsai, and Lidia Yuknavitch.

Is a writing routine worthwhile? How do you pinpoint the why behind your storytelling? What exactly is distribution? Can we reframe success in a less capitalistic way than defining it by sales numbers? While prioritizing genuine community over platform building, Imagine a Door intersperses case studies, sidebars, and checklists with personal stories about writing, revising, and the emotional complexities of sending your work into the world. Foreword by Beth Kephart, author of Handling the Truth.

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IN THE BEAUTIFUL DARK, Melissa Payne

A woman investigates a friend’s long-ago murder in a haunting and hopeful novel about the weight of secrets and regrets by the bestselling author of The Wild Road Home and A Light in the Forest.

At Sunny Pines Retirement Community, where the “Sixty-Two and Better!” share their golden years, secrets abound. Some scandalous, some haunting, and some dangerous. For Birdie Allen, a retired business owner and grandmother, her secret is the only thing she’s got left. Getting old isn’t the hardest part about life. It’s the memories from more than fifty years ago of the death of her unrequited love. And Birdie’s abandoned quest to root out the killer.

With retirement comes a lot of time to revisit old ghosts, so when Birdie ties together a string of recent murders, and a woman disappears, she’s drawn into the same chase she gave up decades earlier. But this time she has the help of an eccentric community of eager new friends. And they’re not alone. Restless souls are watching, including Birdie’s lost love, and they sense the danger that lies ahead. They’re not leaving Birdie’s side until she finishes what she set out to do. But will Birdie’s pursuit of a killer finally free her of regrets and allow her to embrace the beauty of the life she’s created?

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COUNTING BACKWARDS. Jacqueline Friedland

A routine immigration case, a shocking legacy. Jessa Gidney’s quest for justice draws her into the heart of an abhorrent conspiracy. As she uncovers her personal ties to a heartbreaking past, her life takes a dramatic turn, in this emotionally riveting novel inspired by true events.

New York, 2022. Jessa Gidney is trying to have it all–a high-powered legal career, a meaningful marriage, and hopefully, one day, a child. But when her professional ambitions come up short and Jessa finds herself at a turning point, she leans into her family’s history of activism by taking on pro bono work at a nearby ICE detention center. There she meets Isobel Pérez–a young mother fighting to stay with her daughter–but as she gets to know Isobel, an unsettling revelation about Isobel’s health leads Jessa to uncover a horrifying pattern of medical malpractice within the detention facility. One that shockingly has ties to her own family.

Virginia, 1927. Carrie Buck is an ordinary young woman in the center of an extraordinary legal battle at the forefront of the American eugenics conversation. From a poor family, she was only six years old when she first became a ward of the state. Uneducated and without any support, she spends her youth dreaming about a different future–one separate from her exploitative foster family–unknowing of the ripples her small, country life will have on an entire nation.
As Jessa works to assemble a case against the prison and the crimes she believes are being committed there, she discovers the landmark Supreme Court case involving Carrie Buck. Her connection to the case, however, is deeper and much more personal than she ever knew–sending her down new paths that will leave her forever changed and determined to fight for these women, no matter the cost.

Alternating between the past and present, and deftly tackling timely-yet-timeless issues such as reproductive rights, incarceration, and society’s expectations of women and mothers, Counting Backwards is a compelling reminder that progress is rarely a straight line and always hard-won. A moving story of two remarkable women that you’ll remember for years to come.

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TOUGH TRAIL HOME, Mary W. Watts

“Tough Trail Home is a delightful read about a family coming to terms with each other and their new lives.” –Pamela Stockwell, author of A Boundless Place

The Dunwhitty family is flying high until their carefully choreographed life falls apart during the 2008 Great Recession. Lisa’s firm goes belly-up while Michael’s shuts down after selling faulty heart valves. Desperate, Lisa insists they regroup by seeking refuge in rural Central Texas on land she inherits from a distant relative she barely knows.

It’s not the ranch Lisa remembers, but a ramshackle money pit. Michael and their teenage son, Andrew, despise the place. Only their young daughter, Jessica, is happy. After a bitter argument, Michael moves to the city. As his job search drags on, Lisa begins to plant roots; friendships develop for her and the children. With the help of Michael’s parents, her neighbor, and the remains of her savings, she begins to return the ranch to its former glory. The couple continues to drift further apart, Michael turning his attention to another woman.
A call from the sheriff’s department that their son is in custody jolts the couple to the core. Can they repair their relationship for the sake of their son? Or is it too late?

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EVERY PRECIOUS AND FRAGILE THING, Barbara Davis

A mother and daughter try desperately to reconcile just as a decades-old secret threatens to shatter their relationship forever in this powerful story from the bestselling author of The Echo of Old Books.

For social worker Mallory Ward, working with at-risk youth is a calling. But when one of her clients is tragically killed, she finds herself at a crossroads. Despite long-held resentments toward her distant mother, Mallory retreats to her childhood home on the Rhode Island coast to contemplate her future. Instead, she’s confronted by her past, not only in the renewed tensions with her mother but in the unexpected appearance of a familiar face—and the wrenching losses that drove her away a decade ago.

Helen Ward’s home is filled with precious keepsakes from her patients, a testament to decades spent caring for the terminally ill. Her work has always come first, though, leaving little time to connect with her daughter. Over the years, the rift between them has become a chasm, so when Mallory appears unannounced, Helen sees it as an opportunity to repair their broken relationship.
But hidden among Helen’s mementos are the keys to her past…and a terrible secret that threatens to destroy the fragile new trust between them forever.

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A CONCOCTION OF LIES, Patsy Robertson

After Chance Moore, a former FBI cyber-security specialist turned cybercriminal, hacks the bank account of a notorious Guatemalan cartel member, he’s kidnapped and smuggled into Guatemala. After escaping and trying desperately to reach the Belize border, he crosses paths with Vonnie Hollister, a depressed prescription addict and alcoholic, who is in Belize to sell her family’s 150-year-old banana plantation. Vonnie is sinking deeper into addiction, and a love affair with an unscrupulous businessman puts her life, her friends, and her plantation in jeopardy.

Chance and Vonnie’s lives become intertwined when Chance is found close to death on Vonnie’s plantation and is moved into her house to recover. While Vonnie struggles to overcome her addiction and solve her problems, Chance is impatient to leave the plantation before the cartel discovers where he is. But covert intelligence has led cartel soldiers illegally across the Belize border – and they know exactly where to find him.

A Concoction of Lies is a multi-cultural, fast-paced thriller with mature characters navigating a maze of love, loss, deceit, and murder.

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CHICK SINGER,  Lorraine Devon Wilke

Rock & roll stardom is something you dream about when you’re young, but for Libby Conlin the ‘80s and all their wild promise are ancient history. What pulls her attention now is the unexpected arrival of Bridget, her newly divorced daughter, home again despite their historically fractious relationship and the chaos it inspires. Life quickly turns upside down when Bridget’s application to a local art school involves anonymously posting Libby’s old music online, music that’s good enough to garner the attention of industry gatekeepers.

When Libby’s mysterious past—and all its dark secrets—comes roaring into the present, the reconfiguration of everything and everyone in her orbit is both bittersweet and life changing. Chick Singer explores a complex mother/daughter relationship against the backdrop of music, dreams, and love—and the art of redefining all three.

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BARELY VISIBLLE,Kathleen Somers  Mothering a Son Through His Misunderstood Autism

For any parent who has ever struggled with a child’s difficult or peculiar behavior, this candid and compelling memoir about raising a child on the spectrum offers reassurance that you are not alone—and a path forward is possible.

Although Asperger syndrome is considered a form of autism, few people are aware of its existence and even fewer can recognize it. Barely Visible is not a series of helpful hints and best practices, or a heroic tale of a champion parent. It is a relatable story of one mother’s struggle with the gray space between her son appearing normal on the surface and being not quite normal beneath it.

Walking that fine line between when to say something and when to bite your tongue, hoping your child can handle life on his own, requires tremendous discernment and energy. How do you convince others to “cut your child some slack” when the kid they see looks like every other kid they know? How do you explain away behavior that, at face value, looks like the result of bad parenting? And how do you prevent others from discriminating against your child once you do disclose their disability?

Chronicling a journey spanning twenty-three years, Barely Visible is a mother’s admission of guilt for choosing to ignore her son’s diagnosis initially; acceptance of defeat, for rarely knowing the right thing to do; and an acknowledgment of love—not only for her son, but for herself.

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LOOK UP: GLOBAL STORIES OF RESILLIENCE, Heidi Siefkas

How do you survive and thrive when life throws you devastating curveballs
or overwhelming challenges?

Heidi Siefkas discovered that no matter what obstacle or challenge we face, we have a choice that can make or break us. Heidi suffered two life-changing tragedies, but despite a broken neck and a broken heart, she learned the key to surviving and thriving. Heidi’s secret is tapping into the power of perspective and Look Up.

This led Heidi to wonder how others cope with monumental adversity. She talked with individuals from around the globe who have faced immense obstacles and found the strength to persevere and flourish. Herein are their powerful stories, which tell of loss, betrayal, and disease, the ravages of fire, hurricane, and war, of situations that severely test the human spirit. Yet the thread that unites them all is resilience.

How did these people endure and triumph? How did they turn their wounds into wisdom? Even in the darkest moments, they maintained or resurrected hope. These real-life sheroes, heros, and badasses chose to Look Up and expand into a new life. Read their stories and be inspired.

What people are saying about Look Up:

Look Up is more than just a book; it’s a movement towards embracing life’s difficulties with a new perspective. It encourages readers to find their inner resilience and transform their trials into triumphs.

– Quinn Baker, Independent Reviewer

It’s a message that will resonate today. Look Up’s highly recommended notes of positivity, adaptation, and transformation are just what the world needs in times of trial, whether struggles are personal, community-wide, or engulf the world.

– D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review

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JOURNEY TO EVERLAND BAY, Lynne Shaner

“A beautifully engaging fantasy teeming with dragons, fae, magic, and the importance of family and friendship. A joy to read from beginning to end!” -Julie Boglisch, author of the Elifer Chronicles, the Requiem of Stones series

Jemma Avalon is the daughter of a gentle part elf-fae mother and a father with fiery dragon blood, an unusual combination even in the magical world.

Ten years after her mother’s sudden death, Jemma is working at a major museum in DC, where magic is all but outlawed. Her father wants her to assimilate and live without magic, but Jemma is determined to fully embrace her heritage. She longs to return to Everland Bay, the enchanting world where her Grandmother Annalyn lives, and find a way to join the renowned magical research institute there, like the women in her family before her.

An ordinary day at the museum takes an extraordinary turn, rocketing Jemma to an Everland Bay Institute under violent siege, where dark-arts mages threaten everything important to her. She and her companions work feverishly to overturn their foes, knowing that it may already be too late.

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FINE, I AM A TERRIBLE PERSON, Lisa F. Rosenberg

This funny mother-daughter caper story stars 73-year-old, overweight former beauty, Aurora, who is a perpetually broke, eccentric divorcee living in the wealthy enclave of Marin County. When Aurora discovers her father’s widow has died, she decides to drive to Los Angeles to see if this means money for her.

Enter Aurora’s high-strung and estranged daughter, 43-year-old Leyla, who spends her days keeping up with the other Marin uber-moms, manically pursuing perfection. When she overhears a conversation and suspects her husband is embarking on an affair, she decides to sneak into a Cannabis business conference he is attending, also in LA, to spy on him.

Aurora and Leyla’s separate quests simultaneously intersect and enmesh in Los Angeles over the course of a weekend provoking hijinks and chaos, and yes, even some healing.

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EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER WANTED, Jess Ames

Jenna Mitchell has spent her adult life under the control of her husband, her dreams of owning her own bakery pushed aside. But at twenty-eight, she’s finally ready to reclaim her life and pursue her passion. Well… almost.

With the unwavering support of the Sensational Six—her close-knit group of friends—Jenna can finally envision a day where she is in charge of her own destiny, a big step forward for her. As she works at her friend’s café, Jenna begins to discover the strength and courage she needs to break free from her past and begin focusing on her future.But can she quiet the echoes that keep finding their way back to her? Will the doubts they’ve created make it impossible for her to see—and trust—the path forward before her chance at a better life slips through her flour-dusted fingers?

Fans of Rachel Hanna will enjoy this warm and uplifting story about self-discovery, finding the courage to start anew, and the unbreakable bonds of chosen family.

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UNDER WATER, Rachel Callaghan

“Callaghan’s attention to historical accuracy is impressive throughout… [A]n engaging epic about loss, loneliness, and desire that perfectly encapsulates relatable human struggles.” ~Kirkus Reviews

Submerged beneath layers of history lies a long-ago buried secret.
During the pandemic lockdown, Iris Pearl impulsively relocates her dulling marriage across the country in a bid to revive it. But renovating their Prerevolutionary Pennsylvania homestead gives Iris more than she bargained for when she makes a gruesome discovery, one that hurtles her and Benny’s haunted past to the present.
Iris is desperately consumed by the desire to know what happened on her property over a century and a half earlier. Her search leads her to Irish immigrant Aoife Sprigett, the wife of Union soldier William. The further she digs into the mystery of Aoife’s fate, the deeper she reaches into her own secret history.

While William serves in the Civil War, Aoife struggles to uphold her vow to maintain their livelihood, their farm, during his absence. Aoife’s only companion is their hired help, Thomas Walker, a freeborn black laborer. Aoife and Thomas develop a warm friendship as they toil side by side in the fields. Together, Aoife and Thomas sow deep seeds that bear deep-rooted consequences, which are now coming to light.

Will unearthing the truth behind Aoife’s tragic past, which so closely parallels Iris’s own, free her and Benny from their marriage’s haunted history, or will revisiting that dark time destroy it?

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NEW TOWN LIBRARIAN, Kathy Anderson

Queer middle-aged librarian Nan Nethercott, a wisecracking hypochondriac with a lackluster career and a nonexistent love life, needs to make a drastic life change before it’s too late. When she lands a job as librarian in a seemingly idyllic small town in southern New Jersey, Nan quickly discovers unforeseen challenges.

Nan’s landlady, Immaculata, launches daily intrusions from below. The library, housed in the former town jail, is overrun by marauding middle-schoolers. A mysterious reader leaves distressing messages in book stacks all over the library. Thomasina, the irresistible butch deli owner, is clearly a delicious affair and not the relationship Nan craves.

There’s no turning back though. Nan must come up with her own wildly unorthodox solutions to what the town and its people throw at her and fight for what she wants until she makes a shiny new life—one with her first true home, surprising friends, a meaningful career, and a promising new love.

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SECRETS IN THE MIRROR, Leslie Kain

Family. The same people who destroyed Gavin’s self-esteem are the ones he must save.

In this multi-award-winning psychological drama about finding self in a dysfunctional family, Secrets In The Mirror grapples with the imperative to save others versus the struggle to save oneself. Gavin tries to salvage his self-esteem from Dad’s bullying and from narcissistic abuse by his identical mirror twin, while Mom resists spousal abuse to assert sanity into the clan. But when Devon gets into drugs and trouble with the Mob, people die. Gavin flees far away to protect himself and his new family, but he can’t escape his sociopathic brother, or the Mob. Yet inextricable bonds tie him to Devon, and Gavin vows to rescue his twin from his self-destructive path. But he is warned: You can’t save anyone until you save yourself.

“The novel provides a thoughtful consideration of a disorder that has the capacity to devastate relationships.. A somber, absorbing coming-of-age tale.” – Kirkus Reviews

“A psychological thriller that brilliantly portrays how psychological disorders can affect lives and even destroy families.” ―Literary Titan, Gold Medal Winner Award

“The characters are complex and layered, for a compelling dynamic. Highly recommended.” ―Readers Favorite (5-star review)

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A GOLDEN LIFE, Ginny Kubitz Moyer

Embark on a journey to 1930s California in Ginny Kubitz Moyer’s spellbinding historical novel in which a woman must choose between friendship and her own secrets.

It’s 1938, and twenty-five-year-old secretary Frances Healey is ready for a fresh start. Hoping to forget her painful past, she takes a job working for Hollywood producer Lawrence Merrill. She quickly becomes absorbed in VistaGlen Studios’s biggest project: a movie about Kitty Ridley, the legendary stage actress who disappeared from the public eye in 1895. The movie will be the making of Belinda Vail, a beautiful ingenue who is hungry for a breakout role—and also happens to be Mr. Merrill’s love interest.

But the real Miss Ridley has other ideas. Now ninety years old, she writes a scathing letter insisting the studio halt production of the film. Hoping to change her mind, Frances and Mr. Merrill embark on a trip to find the actress—only to land in a Victorian farmhouse in the Napa Valley. But as she learns the truth of Miss Ridley’s life, Frances finds herself confronting the very past she’s been trying to forget. And with the arrival of the ambitious Belinda, loyalties will be tested, bonds will be forged, and Frances will learn where true happiness lies.

Set in Hollywood and the sun-drenched Napa countryside, A Golden Life explores friendship, forgiveness, and the power of honoring your own story.

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SUMMONS TO BERLIN, Joanne Intrator

On his deathbed, Dr. Joanne Intrator’s father poses two unsettling questions:
“Are you tough enough? Do they know who you are?”
Joanne soon realizes that these haunting questions relate to a center-city Berlin building at 16 Wallstrasse that the Nazis ripped away from her family in 1938. But a decade is to pass before she will fully come to grasp why her father threw down the gauntlet as he did.
Repeatedly, Joanne’s restitution quest brings her into confrontation with yet another of her profound fears surrounding Germany and the Holocaust. Having to call on reserves of strength she’s unsure she possesses, the author leans into her professional command of psychiatry, often overcoming flabbergasting obstacles perniciously dumped in her path.

The depth and lucidity of psychological insight threaded throughout Summons to Berlin makes it an attention-grabbing standout among books on like topics. As a reader, you’ll come away delighted to know just who Dr. Joanne Intrator is. You’ll also finish the book cheering for her, because in the end, she proves far more than tough enough to satisfy her father’s unnerving final demands.

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THE BREAKS, Ellen Barker

A contemporary literary novel about an unlikely friendship between two very different women, The Breaks will appeal to fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

Waking up in the emergency room with a broken arm is not one of the ways Marianne imagined her first date with Carl, if it is a date, ending up. Nor was driving up to the entrance of a women’s prison a few weeks later anywhere on her radar. But here she is. At least I’m on this side of the gate. She picks up newly released Stephanie, as a favor to a nun she barely knows, returns to her East of Troost home, and finds herself immersed in a whole new drama.

East of Troost is Marianne’s childhood neighborhood, downtrodden by decades of redlining and a wide swath of destruction to make way for an expressway. Marianne moves back after a reversal of fortune limits her options. She repairs the house and deals with a couple of “incidents”—hence her acquaintance with Officer Carl.
Meanwhile, Sister Colette bought the house behind her and is taking in women who, in her words, need to learn to “just live.” As Stephanie helps Marianne cope with her broken arm, she gradually comes out of her shell and teaches Marianne a thing or two about just living.

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THE TROUBLE WITH POSSIBILITIES, Nancie Abuhaidar

The trouble with possibilities is they are as unexpected as they are infinite.

Del thinks possibilities are the trouble.
When tragedy forces her (literally) to pull the plug on her unhappy marriage, her family is in shambles. Desperate to escape and regain control over her spiraling life, Del boards a flight to Africa.
New continent. New Del.
No more temper. No more impulsivity. Armed with spreadsheets and an impeccable plan, she steps into her future– straight into the world of Ben Mahoney. The celebrity orphanage founder makes her heart stutter. Sure, he’s handsome and charming, he’s a Hollywood heartthrob, after all. Easy for Del to resist.

Except, Ben shares Del’s passion for education and appreciates her bold ideas to improve the school. He also possesses an uncanny ability to catch her off guard.
He’s a living example of her mother’s mantra. What’s worse? In spite of her damage, he seems to like her.

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THE SECRET LIBRARY OF HANNA REEVES, Christine Nolfi

An antiques dealer and an enigmatic heiress embark on a revelatory friendship in a haunting and hopeful novel about family ties, secrets, and belonging by the bestselling author of A Heart Like Home.
Cautious Claire Shelton, employee at a Maine antique shop, is surprised when she’s recruited to catalog the treasures of reclusive Hanna Reeves, sole descendant of the state’s most colorful shipbuilders and industrialists. Hanna’s retreat from society years ago is just one of many mysteries behind the walls of Rose Hill, her fabled estate.

Settling into Rose Hill’s carriage house, Claire finds Hanna, nearing eighty, to be a still-formidable woman. She’s demanding, judgmental, and protective of a mansion that is a veritable shrine to her ancestors. Then, diving into her work, Claire discovers a hidden library that is the stuff of legend among locals. An avid booklover, Claire is in heaven. More enthralling are Hanna’s leather-bound family journals that open Claire up to the past—and soon forge a rich and unexpected bond between two very different women.

A legacy is coming to light. All of Maine is talking. Because the revelations in the journals are enlightening enough to unite old friends, lovers, and families. And shocking enough to tear them apart forever.

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DESPERATE DEADLY WIDOWS, Vanessa Lillie Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, Kimberly Belle

“An 80s romp with big hair and even bigger secrets! Grab your popcorn and settle in for this incredibly fun and twisty read.” — Jeneva Rose, New York Times bestselling author of You Shouldn’t Have Come Here
1985, Rhode Island.
A private jet carrying four partners of a Providence law firm crashes outside New York City, killing all aboard but leaving behind more questions than answers and setting the stage for four widows to find the truth.
Justine: a former fashion model adjusting to suburban life
Camille: a beautiful, young second wife whom some suspect is a gold digger
Meredith: a stripper who was in a relationship with the firm’s only female partner
Krystle: a founding partner’s wife committed to the firm being a legacy for her sons
While the crash is initially ruled a tragic accident, something’s not adding up: the team wasn’t supposed to be in New York that day, and it’s soon revealed there was a very large sum of cash that burned up with the plane.
The scene is as wild as ’80s neon, and the manic chase to uncover the Mafia-laced secrets gives this rip-roaring read a rad vibe that will linger long after the ’80s soundtrack fades and the hairspray falls.
“Young Rich Widows is hands down the most original thriller you’ll read all year. Laugh out loud funny, twisty and full of surprises.” — Wendy Walker, international bestselling author of What Remains

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