“Full of heart and impassioned insight . . . Creatrix Rising empowers and inspires midlife women with the author’s hard-earned wisdom, providing a framework for readers to come into their own revolutionary power as a Creatrix.”
—BookLife

“The disparity between the cultural perception of midlife women and how women actually see themselves has opened the door for a new archetype, the Creatrix. In her new book on the theme of positive aging, Creatrix Rising, Stephanie Raffelock offers a reimagining of midlife as the most powerful and creative time in a woman’s life, celebrating her strengths and redefining her beauty. This is a book that shifts the paradigm of what’s possible as women age and ushers in a much-needed cultural transformation that benefits everyone.”
—Joan Borysenko, PhD, New York Times best-selling author and founding partner of Mind/Body Health Sciences, LLC

“The perfect topic at the perfect time, Stephanie Raffelock’s self-help memoir, Creatrix Rising, identifies a new archetype, the Creatrix, that transcends the old archetype of Crone. Her stories and insights about how far women have come is nothing short of inspirational. A must-read for any woman who wants to embrace the strength and creativity of midlife.”
—Marci Shimoff, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Happy for No Reason and Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul

“Poetic and philosophical, Creatrix Rising will inspire readers to claim the courage and confidence that already lives inside of them. An intimate story of transformation, of journeying through life on your own terms without apology.”
—Richard Blanco, 2013 Presidential Inaugural Poet and author of How to Love a Country

“The new archetype Stephanie Raffelock assigns to midlife women underscores the assets and wisdom older women bring to our culture and to the greater good. Creatrix Rising is an affirmation and celebration of the feminine story taking place in leadership and creativity throughout our country.”
—Gabby Reese, volleyball legend, Nike’s first female spokeswoman, and New York Times best-selling author

“Prompts for reflection, journaling, and action-taking are amply provided in Stephanie Raffelock’s Creatrix Rising—an eclectic, personable, encouraging, deep-pondering, and potentially life-changing ode to ladies coming into their own.”
—IndieReader

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“Diamonds and Scoundrels is a fascinating story about an extraordinary woman, whom I know personally and admire greatly. She started her own company, naive but full of courage, and was truly ahead of her time, navigating the cutthroat business world in ways that were uncommon for women of that generation. The story is a pleasure to read and proves that success can come to all who persevere.”
—H Dayan, manufacturer, importer of fine jewelry and rare diamonds

“If Diamonds and Scoundrels weren’t real, it would be a romp of a fiction novel! Rubin’s revealing life in the jewelry biz is both an entertaining and informative narrative, from primer to master class on how to create a business, with a lexicon of pitfalls and successes. Adrienne clearly underscores that often we learn more from our failures and misjudgments of character than from our easy wins.”
—Barbara Lazaroff, Designer, Restaurateur, and cofounder of the Wolfgang Puck brand

“Steeped in women’s empowerment and behind-the-scenes candor, Diamonds and Scoundrels is an entertaining memoir about entrepreneurship. . . . Adrienne Rubin’s gutsy and arresting memoir . . . details her shift from a placid, 1960s homemaking life to an adventurous career, capturing thirty-five years of wisdom and growth.”
—Foreword Clarion Reviews

“Beautifully written memoir by a Los Angeles housewife who has it all . . . Her story involves working day and night in a man’s world, evading robbers, fending off sexual advances, and traveling all over the world in search of uniquely designed handmade jewelry. All in all a great adventure that reads like fiction.”
—Robert T. Altman, Superior Court Judge for California (ret.)

“The book begins as a seemingly prosaic story—a bored housewife starts a small business as a way to enrich her placid life. But don’t be fooled. Soon you are on the journey and rooting for Adrienne as she encounters and overcomes her challenges. At every turn she is underestimated by competitors and potential partners. The book adeptly interweaves the human side with the business side, and it brims with lessons on entrepreneurship, trust, and how to defend your interests as a minority shareholder.”
—Professor Marvin Lieberman, UCLA Anderson School of Management

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“With courage and heart, Susan Hadler embarks upon a difficult journey to find the lost and forgotten members of her fragmented family. Along the way, she uncovers the family’s decades-old pain and sometimes shame―all with the hope of healing and reconciliation. Her story shows how loss, denial, and stigma can drain us, and also how forgiveness and compassion can restore us. Her unique blend of talents―equal parts writer, psychologist, and bloodhound hot on the trail―make for highly engaging and relatable reading. No one who reads this book will ever look at his or her own family history the same way again.”
—David A. Lande, National Geographic senior researcher and author of I Was with Patton

“If you don’t believe it’s possible to miss someone you never knew, Hadler’s quest-based memoir will convince you otherwise. The Beauty of What Remains dovetails the search for her hero father who never came home from war with that of her mysterious aunts. In seeking them, she gradually finds herself, but will leave you pondering the secrets we keep.”
—Megan Smolenyak, author of Who Do You Think You Are?

“The Beauty of What Remains is a heartfelt memoir that reads like a good mystery. Susan Hadler shares the process of uncovering her family’s history, including how meditation supported her along the way. A wonderful book!”
—Sharon Salzberg, author of Lovingkindness and Real Happiness

“Hadler’s search for her father as an adult, a journey that took her to the last places on earth that he walked, serves as a prelude in this meditative memoir to her quest to discover what happened to her mother’s estranged sisters. What she discovers is a legacy of loss and mental illness, with repercussions for the generations that followed. Her years as a psychotherapist are evident in her measured, sympathetic treatment of the struggles faced by those in the family who used silence to cover tragedy. Both an exploration of loss and a celebration of discovering connections, The Beauty of What Remains is a moving account of one woman’s efforts to make her family whole.”
—Booklist

“This book is about the power of absence. Can we miss people we never even knew? . . . This book is also about the power of silence. Why did Hadler not know anything about her father or her aunts when she was growing up? Why was her mother so secretive about her first family, actively rebuffing Hadler’s requests for information . . . . compelling.”
—The Isthmus

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“In Adele Holmes’s debut novel, a white herbalist and her Black best friend challenge a slick conman and the KKK in 1917 rural America. The strong characters and vivid sense of place lingered in my mind long after the last page. That’s my measure of a darned good book.”

—Marcia Preston, Mary Higgins Clark Award Winner and author of The Spiderling and The Butterfly House

“Adele Holmes’s Winter’s Reckoning is a beautifully written story that reminds America of our unresolved sins against humanity and our struggles to place value where it’s due. Protagonist Madeline Fairbanks and her protégée Ren Morgan represent our hopes of resolving our fears of the other and erasing old hates.”

—Janis F. Kearney, author, publisher, and personal diarist for President Bill Clinton in the White House   

“A spellbinding narrative that brilliantly captures both the price of standing against segregation and how bold action paves the way to unexpected healing. Holmes’s beautifully developed characters allude to our inevitable connection to the past in a story that resonates to the bone. Simply unputdownable.”

—Cara Brookins, author of Rise: How a House Built a Family

“Set in the brooding rural South, and for a good portion of the novel in the challenging and crystalline world of a deep snowstorm, Winter’s Reckoning is rich in storyline and character with plenty of mystery woven throughout. Simply put, here’s a story that takes on issues whose harm remains with us today. With a climactic pulpit scene that’s not to be missed – and one novel we can highly recommend!”

 —Chanticleer Reviews   

“Brimming with all the feels—friendship, passion, hatred, prejudice. A remarkable debut.”

—Julia Daily, author of No Names to Be Given   

“Tear out a page of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, add in a mix of Deliverance and The Apostle, along with a dash of Nell… and you have yourself a die-hard Appalachian story set so far back in the woods and so backwards in their thinking, that Madeline Fairbanks, the local healer, must find an inner strength to fight the racial and misogynistic prejudice permeating the town.”

—Historical Fiction Company Review

“A timeless story of kinships, friendships, and secret legacies born of good and evil. With a keen eye for detail and an intricate plot leading to a satisfying conclusion, this tale is sure to enchant readers.”

—Donna Everhart, author of The Road to Bittersweet and The Saints of Swallow Hill

“Holmes’ satisfying conclusion offers a twist to the tale. . . . [and] the novel’s explorations of the horrors of misogyny and racism have powerful contemporary resonance. Along the way, Holmes constructs a vivid and believable historical setting and populates her novel with well-developed characters who are flawed and relatable as they seek to triumph over evil. A notable tale that offers the hope that even small actions can lead toward greater good.”

—Kirkus Reviews

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“Fans of meant-to-be romance stories will not be disappointed.”
—VOYA

“Leora Krygier weaves an eloquent story about two star-crossed lovers. I absolutely loved this heartbreaking but uplifting tale.”
—Linda Schreyer, author of Tears and Tequila

“A riveting, complex tale of adventure and love. Maddie and Aiden, both unmoored by loss, make their way—together.”
— Sarah Lamstein, author of Hunger Moon

“A flood, a drought and saving endangered ocean animals are gently woven into Leora Krygier’s new novel, Keep Her—a beautifully told tale of Maddie and Aiden, who discover themselves while navigating the magical world of meant-to-be love.”
—Jackie Hirtz, co-author of Lola Zola and the Lemonade Crush

“Krygier writes like she knows the characters personally…the sentiment behind the characters pasts is remarkable. I have never read a story as filled with passion and regret as this book.”
—Teen Reads

“This compelling fall book will have readers glued to the page and rooting for Maddie along the way.”
—SheKnows

“An outstanding adventure about teenagers who heal through love and shared passions, Keep Her will leave you mesmerized until the last word is furiously devoured by your heart. Oh, and whale lovers, you’ll want in on this one.”
—Bookstr

“This vibrantly dazzling literary cocktail on the restorative powers of love will leave ever reader’s heart renewed this Fall.”
—Popsugar

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“When the ineluctable past catches up to the present, the stakes are raised, and Among the Survivors, mordantly witty from the first pages, becomes a disturbing and consequential story. Ann Z. Leventhal is an astute and surprising writer who has really hit her stride with this long-awaited second novel.”
—Katharine Weber, author of True Confections and Triangle

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“Dr. Orenstein makes an important contribution to early childhood teachers by sharing practical, meaningful strategies for building constructive staff relationships in the uniquely emotion-laden world of early care and education. Dr. Orenstein’s years in early childhood classrooms taught her about the pressures and misunderstandings that challenge teachers’ working relationships, and her subsequent work in clinical psychology taught her how to recognize and understand those feelings. Increased self- awareness builds empathy, ultimately improving the experience of every person in the center; teachers will discover that using these reflective tools and communication skills will expand and improve their interactions with children and parents as well.”
—Claire Bainer and Lisa Hale, co-directors of Blue Skies for Children in Oakland, CA, authors of Second Home: A Day in the Life of a Model Early Childhood Program

“Este libro ayuda a contribuir al lector a través de las experiencias de vida y métodos que se pueden utilizar para mejorar el comportamiento de las personas y su calidad de vida. Estos procesos son fáciles de aplicar a situaciones que confrontamos día a día y nos ayuda a tomar decisiones correctas para mejorar nuestro comportamiento y controlar nuestras emociones se puede aplicar en cualquier nivel de trabajo y en el hogar. Es un libro sencillo para entender, claro y preciso en su mensaje y lenguaje.”
—Minerva Perez, project director of Centro VIDA-BAHIA in Fremont, CA, education specialist at CAPE Head Start in Livermore, CA

“Grace Orenstein offers her wisdom, gleaned from a life devoted to teaching about, consulting on, and caring for young children, about the ways that adults can communicate with one another that best benefits the children in their charge. Steeped in, and exquisitely sensitive to, the stressors and struggles that arise daily in the lives of those caring for young children, Orenstein eloquently translates her experience into practical training tips. Recognizing that adult relationships in early care settings are integral to how children are treated, Building Blocks for Reflective Communication reminds us to reflect on our contribution to those interactions and the tone we set for the children in our lives.”
—Kadijah Johnston, Director of the Infant-Parent Program at the University California, San Francisco, CA

“Building Blocks for Reflective Communication is a book about sorting the personal from the professional in the childcare workplace. The unique format and content of this book makes it an ideal tool for promoting self-reflection for individuals seeking professional development, and for improving workplace interactions. Dr. Orenstein has produced an excellent resource that childcare professionals will find relevant, useful, affirmative, acknowledging, insightful, and comprehensive.”
—Katrina Ross, Director of Rising Star Montessori in Alameda, CA

“This book is a great gift to our community of teachers. I truly believe that teachers need at least one year of coursework in communication. We just get snippets of it until a book like Building Blocks for Reflective Communication puts it all together with these pearls of wisdom.”
—Beatriz Leyva-Cutler, executive director of Bahia Inc.

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“A hilarious spoof of academic intrigue, Slipsliding by the Bay mirrors the societal turmoil and follies of the seventies.”
―Independent Publisher, Notable July Indie Book Release

“With a sharp eye for detail and a complement of perfectly peculiar characters, Barbara McDonald has devised a wonderful satire of the academic world. Her portrait of a small liberal arts college―its lecheries and larcenies―exactly conjures the atmosphere of that unique modern institution where absurdity and logic are married so closely: the campus.”
―Louis B. Jones, author of California’s Over, Particles and Luck, and Radiance

“Intriguing. You got me hooked with the moving plot and interesting characters. I was curious to see what mischief Gudewill and Stein would cook up. Magdalena and Lucy continued to surprise.”
―Louis Owens, author of Sharpest Sight and Bone Game

“Barbara McDonald’s Slipsliding by the Bay is an absorbing novel. A comedy both dark and light, it recounts an often wild search for survival of an embattled small college in 1970s San Francisco. The battle is within: a new president recruited to save the college, diverse students, faculty and alums, and most engagingly, a famed artist Sister Magdalena, whose sculptures embody a fierce war against corporate America, notably the college’s chairman of the board. McDonald’s gift for lively dialogue carries the college from one crisis to another, the denouement in suspense until the very end. An intriguing read from start to finish.”
―John Boettiger, author of A Love in the Shadows

“I am always cautious when approaching a novel written by a published poet but Barbara McDonald made reading Slipsliding by the Bay easy for me. Enticing and entertaining, I read it with mounting pleasure.”
―Chester Aaron, author of About Us

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“. . . darkly comic. A fun crime tale with creepy cult elements.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Mixing multiple genres of science fiction, fantasy, romance, and crime, author Susan Ritz creates the perfect adventure that may keep the reader awake at night. Perfect for fans of intrigue, suspense, and murder stories!”
—Readers’ Favorite, 5 star review

“Susan Ritz has crafted an original and compelling murder mystery that will keep you up late turning pages as you’re sucked into a world of dreams and dreamers, mystics and bartenders, artists and cops. With a wonderfully intriguing cast of characters and a richly atmospheric small-town setting complete with its own cult, A Dream to Die For is a tangled web of a book you won’t want to tear yourself away from.”
—Jennifer McMahon, New York Times Bestselling author of Burntown and The Invited

“A perplexing crime, a rural setting, a cast of quirky characters, and a reluctant amateur sleuth are staples of the cozy mystery genre, and everything comes alive at the tip of Ritz’s pen. Ritz keeps the tone light and amusing—there are powerful messages that ring through the story.”
—OnlineBookClub.org

“What if the small town where you live turns out not to be the sweet place you thought it was? What if the people you thought were your friends aren’t? Worse yet, what if your dreams are not your own? These are the questions that come to haunt Celeste (or Miss) Fortune, the reluctant yet dauntless heroine of Susan Ritz’s spellbinding debut novel.”
—Kathryn Davis, author of Duplex and The Thin Place

“With intrigue and humor, Susan Ritz has created an arresting novel that strikes at a core fear: what if your dreams were not safe? This psychologically compelling mystery about the murder of a therapist-cum-cult leader proves Ritz a natural storyteller. . . . Ritz is masterful at leading readers through a small city’s best and worst instincts with finesse and wit. Hold your own dreams close, but be sure to share A Dream to Die For, a most tangible tale of virtual reality that stays with you long after every secret is revealed.”
—Shelagh Shapiro, Vermont author and host of Write the Book podcast

“A small-town crime caper with plenty of action and a cast of quirky, unforgettable characters. Ritz’s comic timing is flawless, and her rollicking plot is expertly balanced against a sobering premise: That last bastion of personal privacy—our own dreams—may no longer be secure. The idea has an alarming ring of plausibility, adding a shivery edge to this entertaining mystery.”
—Kathryn Guare, award-winning author of The Conor McBride suspense series

“Susan Ritz’s A Dream to Die For is a deft debut mystery that will appeal to anyone who loves a good puzzle with a feminist twist. The heroine, Celeste, is torn between her male therapist and the man she has begun to love. When the therapist is murdered, many suspects emerge from the cult of his patients—as well as a technological twist that will surprise you.”
—Mary Fillmore, author of An Address in Amsterdam

“Susan Ritz’s A Dream to Die For exposes our universal human need to identify ‘us’ and ‘them,’ and the confusion that can come when group dogma no longer lines up with experience. Her dialogue rings true, and her lively small-town characters make sore subjects fun. Her mystery embodies crises we all face in a new world of techno fake news and resulting divisions. What’s real? What truly matters? Who can you trust? There’s nothing like a murder or two to clarify purpose, community, and one’s deepest identity as a blood-pounding, passionate woman with a brain.”
—Rickey Gard Diamond, author of Screwnomics

“Ritz does a brilliant job of making us care about what happens to her characters and is a master of detail. Impossible to put down!”
—Michelle Cox, author of the Henrietta and Inspector Howard series

“A gripping Gothic whodunit featuring obscure clues muttered by a dying man, strange encounters in foggy cemeteries, car chases on lonely roads, and clairvoyant dreams.”
—Bernie Lambek, author of Uncivil Liberties

“Oh, what a wonderful book! It’s everything I want in a mystery! A wild imagination that made me believe every word.”
—Abigail Thomas, author of A Three Dog Life

“A Dream to Die For stays true to the hallmarks of a classic murder mystery, yet offers a unique story that seamlessly blends in fantasy and science fiction. This merging of what’s real and what isn’t quite real turns the narrative into an immersive experience. . . . a wild psychological mystery brimming with intrigue, humor, and female empowerment.”
—IndieReader

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