Category Archives: Contemporary

Nobody’s Angel

by Melissa McNallan

Nobody'sIt's hard to be a Munson in Harmony, Montana. Even harder, being an Indy in Ma Sue's house where margaritas, cigarettes, and microwave meals reign. Independence Angel Munson lucks her way out of both Harmony and her grandma, Ma Sue's house when her dad brings his girlfriend Lydia home for a visit.

After her mom passed on, her dad left town for the open road. On occasion, he'd stop on home with stories of his adventures. Indy couldn't wait to get out into the world and live some stories of her own. Indy's dad and Lydia invite her to join them on the road, she jumps at the chance. Her days become filled with pool hustling, magazine and romance novel reading, and boy meeting.

Out on the road, Indy learns that some stories cost more than others. In order to get by and make a life, there are some things she'll have to abandon.

"I'm ready to leave his too long glances and the broken tiles of Hotel Bradenton behind."

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About the Author

Melissa McNallan is a columnist for the Post Bulletin and a journalist for several publications. Her short stories and poems have appeared in The Green Blade and The YellowJacket Review. In 2010, she earned a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant in Prose for an early draft of Nobody's Angel (then titled I.A.M.). She was a finalist in the 2015-2016 Loft Mentor Series in Poetry and Creative Prose.

Nick Meets the Man in the Wheel Chair

by Rich Noll

NickWhat would happen when a young old boy goes to the book store and is surprised to meet someone ...someone his height? ...someone unique? ...someone disabled? Nick thought he knew a lot about the real world, but when he crosses paths with Sam, who is disabled, Nick learns a big lesson and makes a new friend.

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About the Author

Hello my name is Rich Noll. I am 37 years old. I have been in a wheelchair my entire life as I was born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida.

Additionally, I was hit by a drunk driver while returning to campus while at college in Marshall, MN. Consequently, I received an brain injury from that incident.

Nonetheless, I am married and we have two beautiful girls age 6 and 4 and a half months old. I have lived most of my life in Rochester, MN.

I am a big sports fan; NBA, college basketball and football, tennis. I love to fish.

I of course love to write stories, most of my story ideas come from my own personal experiences in life.

Stone Ridge

by Nick Hupton

StoneSince Zach Sutton's last fateful trip to Pine Ridge, his life has been relatively quiet. But one year later he begins to see visions of his nemesis, Victor Leppla, which drags him back into the villain's nightmarish world. Zach's first brush with evil was simply a dress rehearsal for what awaits him now. How will he ever face Victor again? Will he find his missing brother, Chris? Find out in this thrilling sequel to The Ridge.

Publisher

Published by: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.

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About the Author

Nick Hupton received his BA from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1999 and his MA from Hamline University in 2008. He teaches high school English in Bloomington, MN. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Tara, and two children.

The Ridge

by Nick Hupton

TheZach Sutton's little brother has been missing for over a year. His parents have divorced. The police have found no clues. But it isnt until Zach takes a field trip to Minnesota's north woods that the mystery really begins. Faced with supernatural visions and ghostly images, Zach finds himself in a scary adventure he couldnt have dreamed.

Publisher

Published by: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.

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About the Author

Nick Hupton received his BA from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1999 and his MA from Hamline University in 2008. He teaches high school English in Bloomington, MN. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Tara, and two children.

If I Know It’s Coming

by Nick Hupton

IfThirteen-year-old Tim Hansen lives in a quaint little neighborhood in South Minneapolis. For the most part, he leads a normal, preteen existence. He is concerned about friendships, girls, sports, and even schoolwork from time to time. But when his mother, who is a nurse in the United States Army Reserve, is deployed to Iraq, Tim’s relatively normal and happy existence gets flipped upside down. How will Tim cope without his mother? Will his family ever be the same? Middle school was unpredictable enough, but when Tim faces this sudden dose of mortality, the adventure is just beginning.

Publisher

Published by: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.

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About the Author

Nick Hupton received his BA from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1999 and his MA from Hamline University in 2008. He teaches high school English in Bloomington, MN. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Tara, and two children.

Loon Child

by Joanne Vruno

LoonTom Jackson follows the call of a loon to find a small boy alone on an island in the middle of a northern Minnesota lake. They need to figure out who the kid is, why he was left on the island, but the real issue seems to be that a loon led him to the boy. Tom's father-in-law, a full-blood Native American mystic, hints that the loon might be the spirit of his dead wife.

Publisher

Published by: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.

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About the Author

Joanne Vruno was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe), to very adventurous parents who were missionaries at the time. She spent her childhood in Maplewood, Minnesota, houses away from Battle Creek Regional Park. Her childhood introduced her to a love of nature by exploring and hiking the woods, camping with her family, and gardening.

Summer of Elves

by Joanne Vruno

SummerSummer of Elves is an enchanting fantasy about a twelve-year-old girl thrust into a magical world she knew nothing about. Trained by her grandmother, Aly must learn how her new-found talent and embrace the responsibility of seeing a mythical world that most humans never will see. In this coming-of-age novel, our heroine needs to embrace these powers so that good conquers evil.

Publisher

Published by: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc.

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About the Author

Joanne Vruno was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe), to very adventurous parents who were missionaries at the time. She spent her childhood in Maplewood, Minnesota, houses away from Battle Creek Regional Park. Her childhood introduced her to a love of nature by exploring and hiking the woods, camping with her family, and gardening.

The Guardian, A Sword, & Stilettos

The Enlighten Series #1

by Kristin D Van Risseghem

TheZoe Jabril could be just another 17-year-old girl attending parties with her friends and checking out cute guys—except her best friend is a Guardian Angel, and the boy she crushes on is a Nephilim, half-angel, both sent to Earth to protect her. A high school classmate happens to be a trendsetting shopaholic fairy. And now there’s a new werewolf in town.

Zoe has to deal with her feelings toward Shay, who spreads a strange electrical current through her body every time he touches her. Now Zoe is under constant attack from demons, trying to kill and stop her from fulfilling the Prophecy: a girl will be born who will unite the Enlightens to battle evil. Then on top of that, between boring homework and drama with girls at school, she has to control new found talents if she’s to prevent the devil from escaping Hell.

In order to do so, Zoe must devise a kick-ass plan ASAP or watch everyone die, because she’s running out of time. She turns eighteen in two months—the date Armageddon kicks off.

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About the Author

Kristin D. Van Risseghem grew up in a small river town in Minnesota with her parents and older sister. And after receiving a double Bachelor of Science degree from Winona State University in Paralegal and Corrections, she worked as a Paralegal for various law firms around the Twin Cities for 14 years. Then she left the legal field and is now a Senior Buyer for a technology company.

Currently, Kristin lives in Eagan with her husband and two Calico cats. She also loves attending book clubs, going shopping, and hanging out with friends. She has come to realize that she absolutely has an addiction to purses and shoes. They are her weakness and probably has way too many of both.

In the summer months, Kristin can usually be found lounging on her boat, drinking an ice cold something. Being an avid reader of YA and Women's Literature stories, she still finds time to read a ton of books in-between writing. And in the winter months, her main goal is to stay warm from the Minnesota cold!

Kristin's first book, The Guardian, a Sword, & Stilettos, will be published in May 2015 by Kasian Publishing.

Girls in Ice Houses

by Linda Morganstein

GirlsMaxie Wolfe is on track to becoming the most notorious female paparazzo of all time, a dubious goal that reflects her flight from the past. One scorching summer night, outside the Bad Mama Supper Club on Sunset Boulevard, Maxie scuffles with Fisher Jacobs, a celebrity female sports agent. They're both arrested and sentenced to anger-management classes. Things go from bad to worse for the pair in Hollywood, until they flee to Fisher's family in Minnesota.

In the heartland, Maxie begins to bond with the Jacobs family and to use her suppressed talent to take photos that aren't ugly celebrity exposes. While in Minnesota, she begins to uncover secrets about the Jacobs family. Secrets that could destroy them.

Girls in Ice Houses is a thoughtful yet humorous exploration of complex family dynamics, the nature of art and creativity, and the relationship of comedy and tragedy in a tentative world.

Publisher

Published by: Regal Crest Enterprises

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About the Author

Linda Morganstein is an award-winning, overeducated writer of who also happens to be the product of a Borscht Belt childhood in the Jewish hotels of the Catskills. In the seventies, she dropped out of Vassar College and drove a VW van to California, where she lived in Sonoma County for many years. Later, she studied with Jane Smiley in Iowa. She currently resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota with her understanding spouse Melanie and her exceptional dog, Courage. In addition to writing, Linda is avid golfer and sourdough bread-baker. In short, she has a phobia for boredom. Due to her Borscht Belt background, she has a distinct interest in humor as an antidote to the complications of life. This includes an arsenal of jokes supplied by her late father, a master comedian.

Until Tomorrow

Shore Leave Cafe #7

by Abbie Williams

UntilA devastating fire and unanswered questions have left Tish Gordon reeling. With her true love in critical condition in a Montana hospital, and secrets from both past and present continuing to threaten her, Tish is more determined than ever to prove just who is responsible for this destruction in her life.

Tish's family has come from Minnesota to be at her side, including her younger sister Ruthann, who Marshall Rawley has secretly loved for years. Ruthann, a step away from being engaged to her boyfriend back home, wants only to help Tish discover answers. What Ruthann is not expecting to find is a mysterious, dangerous link to the past and a powerful love that not even time can destroy.

Publisher

Published by: Everheart Books

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About the Author

I am writer Abbie Williams, and I have been addicted to love stories ever since first sneaking my mother's copy of The Flame and the Flower; since then, I've been jotting down stories of my own in notebook after spiral-bound notebook. Well, that is until I got a computer that was equipped with Word, one fine day.

I spend my days with my own true love, our three daughters, and a very busy schedule. I am most happy when I can sneak in a few hours to write and thereby indulge in visiting the characters in my stories.

When I'm not writing, teaching or spending time with my family, you can find me listening to my favorite musical groups of all time: Alison Krauss and Union Station, the Wailin' Jennys, and The Be Good Tanyas. If there's time in the evening, I might watch a few episodes of Hell on Wheels and eat a jar of crunchy peanut butter.