PROMO: Branko - Smokejumper Extraordinarie

 

Children's Book

Date Published: March 30, 2026

Publisher: Trela Mela Press

A brave little dragon. A forest in danger. A powerful story about friendship, courage, and protecting the world we share.

Little Branko lives high above Dragonville in Zmajograd, a city of dragons controlled by rules - the Dragons’ Code. Under this code, dragons cannot put out fires and dragons cannot be friends with humans. But Branko has never understood why. Unlike the other dragons, he does not want to start fires—he wants to put them out.

When Branko questions the Dragons’ Code in school, he is told to “learn” and not “think”. When he persists, he is banished from his community. Determined to follow his heart, he travels to the human town below and dreams of becoming a firefighter. But the humans are afraid of him, too. Caught between two worlds that refuse to accept him, Branko must decide whether to give up—or keep believing that kindness can change everything.

When a dangerous wildfire threatens the forest shared by humans and dragons, Branko finally gets his chance to prove that courage is not about following old rules. It is about doing what is right.

Branko: Smokejumper Extraordinaire is a heartwarming children’s picture book about friendship, bravery, community, environmental responsibility, and the importance of questioning division. With themes of inclusion, cooperation, wildfire awareness, and respect for firefighters, this inspiring story encourages young readers to look beyond fear, challenge unfair rules, and discover the extraordinary power of helping others.

Perfect for children who love stories about dragons, firefighters, friendship, nature, and unlikely heroes, this meaningful book is ideal for family reading, classrooms, libraries, and conversations about courage, compassion, and caring for our planet.

Great for readers interested in:

• Dragon picture books

• Firefighter books for kids

• Children’s books about friendship and acceptance

• Stories about courage, kindness, and standing up for what is right

• Environmental books for children

• Climate books for children

• Wildfire awareness and forest protection

• Social-emotional learning and community-building stories

A beautifully imaginative tale for young readers who believe even the smallest voice can spark big change.

 

About the Author

Alexandra Arneri is an author, attorney, producer, and human rights advocate whose stories explore courage, connection, and the power of questioning the rules that keep people apart.

Born in Belgrade, raised in Belgrade and Sydney, and shaped by formative years in New York City, Alexandra brings a global perspective to her work. Her writing often features unlikely characters—from mushrooms and fax machines to thunder, lightning, flowers, Beeps, Honks, and dragons—who discover that difference does not have to mean division.

Her debut children’s book, Branko: Smokejumper Extraordinaire, introduces young readers to a brave little dragon who challenges tradition, reaches across fear, and helps unite humans and dragons in the face of an unprecedented and fierce wildfire. Inspired by themes of friendship, environmental responsibility, community, and courage, the story reflects Alexandra’s belief in the importance of compassion, cooperation, and protecting the world we share.

Beyond children’s literature, Alexandra’s creative work spans genres and platforms, including Gravity FM, a deep dive podcast exploring planetary health and human rights, the satirical Degenerate Carrot cartoons, and impactful storytelling through Apocryphal Pictures. She is also a practicing attorney at Cittone Demers & Arneri LLP, where she maintains a robust human rights practice, and serves as President of the Global Witness Foundation.

Alexandra lives in San Francisco with her family. When she is not writing, practicing law, producing stories, or advocating for human rights, she enjoys painting, yoga, and creating imaginative tales about the courage it takes to reach across what divides us.

Contact Links

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

TikTok

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

B-A-M

Walmart

Blog Tour: A Boy Becoming

 

A Renewed Vision for a Kinder, Gentler World

Coming of Age Memoir

Date Published: May 14, 2026

Publisher: MindStir Media

What if the most important lessons in life came from the ordinary moments we often overlook?

A Boy Becoming: A Renewed Vision for a Kinder, Gentler World is an inspiring coming-of-age memoir that invites readers into the private journals, drawings, reflections, and life experiences of young author Eddy Yang. Compiled from diary entries written between the ages of ten and sixteen, this powerful memoir chronicles the journey of a young boy learning how to navigate family, faith, friendship, sports, responsibility, and personal growth.

Through honest reflections and meaningful life lessons, Eddy explores what it means to build character in a world that often values achievement over integrity. Along the way, he learns that becoming a better person is not about perfection—it is about practice.

As an ice hockey goalie, Eddy discovers courage, resilience, humility, discipline, and the ability to recover from failure. Through conversations with his parents, guidance from teachers and coaches, experiences with service, and moments of self-reflection, he learns that true strength comes from within and that growth happens one choice at a time.

Filled with wisdom beyond his years, A Boy Becoming explores timeless themes including:

✔ Character Development and Personal Growth

✔ Kindness, Compassion, and Empathy

✔ Family Values and Faith

✔ Self-Reflection and Emotional Growth

✔ Discipline, Responsibility, and Resilience

✔ Youth Leadership and Positive Decision-Making

✔ Sportsmanship and Life Lessons from Hockey

✔ Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Humility

✔ Identity, Purpose, and Self-Discovery

At the heart of this reflective memoir is a simple but powerful truth: character is built slowly through ordinary moments. Every mistake, every challenge, every act of kindness, every lesson learned, and every effort to improve becomes part of the process of becoming.

Perfect for teens, young adults, parents, educators, coaches, mentors, and anyone interested in personal development, A Boy Becoming offers encouragement, insight, and hope for readers navigating their own journey of growth.

Inside You'll Discover:

●      Honest diary reflections from childhood through adolescence

●      Life lessons from family, faith, sports, and service

●      Thought-provoking insights about character and self-improvement

●      Inspirational messages for young people facing challenges and uncertainty

●      Practical wisdom about becoming someone you respect

Memorable Quotes from the Book

"Kind is more important than smart. Logic has no moral. We must be nice no matter what."

"Forgiveness frees you more than it frees the other person."

"Possessions should not possess you."

"A distracted driver misses exits. A distracted life misses destiny."

"Remember: you are not your trophies. You are not your mistakes. You are the daily effort that nobody sees."

If you enjoy inspirational memoirs, coming-of-age stories, personal growth books, youth leadership, family-centered nonfiction, or books that encourage reflection and character development, A Boy Becoming will resonate long after the final page.

Because becoming a better person isn't a destination—it's a lifelong journey.

 
 

Excerpt

When I first started writing, I didn’t know I was writing a book.

These were just diary entries. Sometimes I wrote because I was upset. Other times, I wrote because I learned something, or because a parent, teacher, or moment made me think deeply. I didn’t write every day. I didn’t always know what I was trying to say. But now, looking back, I see a path. A trail of thoughts, drawings, struggles, and questions.

From age 10 to now, 16, I’ve changed a lot. But some things have stayed the same: I still want to understand life. I still think about who I am and who I want to be.

Ice hockey, especially goaltending, has been a huge part of that journey. It taught me to face fear — literally — as pucks flew toward my body. It taught me patience, repetition, and how to fail in front of people. But more than that, it forced me to balance ego and humility.

This book isn’t about being perfect. It’s about practicing — not just with your talents, but with your thoughts, your choices, your character. It’s about growing, slowly and painfully sometimes, into someone you respect.

If you’re someone who’s growing up, too, I hope something in these pages speaks to you. Whether you're in the classroom, with your family, or just trying to figure things out, you’re not alone.

About the Author

 

 Eddy Yang is a student, writer, ice hockey goalie, and young author whose work focuses on self-reflection, personal growth, family values, faith, discipline, and character development.

His passion for writing began long before he imagined becoming an author. Throughout childhood, Eddy kept journals, diary entries, drawings, comics, and reflections that documented his experiences, thoughts, challenges, and questions about life.

Over time, these personal writings evolved into something larger—a record of growth from childhood into adolescence.

The Beginning of a Writer

Eddy never started writing with the intention of publishing a book.

He wrote to understand himself.

Sometimes he wrote after difficult experiences. Other times he wrote after learning valuable lessons from parents, teachers, coaches, teammates, or faith. Writing became a way to process emotions, reflect on mistakes, and preserve important moments.

As he revisited years of journals and drawings, he recognized a story unfolding: the story of becoming.

Hockey and Character

As an ice hockey goalie, Eddy has learned lessons that extend far beyond the rink.

Goaltending taught him courage, resilience, humility, patience, and discipline. It taught him how to handle pressure, recover from failure, and continue improving after setbacks.

These experiences became a powerful influence on his understanding of personal growth and are woven throughout his writing.

Why He Wrote A Boy Becoming

Eddy wrote A Boy Becoming because he believes growth happens through ordinary moments.

Character is not built overnight.

It develops through repeated choices, honest reflection, mistakes, perseverance, gratitude, forgiveness, and love.

His hope is that readers—especially young people—will recognize that they are not alone in their struggles and that becoming a better person is a lifelong journey worth embracing.

Mission

Through his writing, Eddy hopes to inspire readers to:

● Practice kindness

● Develop discipline

● Embrace humility

● Learn from mistakes

● Strengthen character

● Value family and faith

● Continue growing every day

"Kind is more important than smart. Logic has no moral. We must be nice no matter what."

 

Contact Links

Website

YouTube

Purchase Links

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

PROMO: Play Along, Sweetheart

 

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: August 10, 2026

Their relationship is fake. Their chemistry is not.

Chicago social worker, Maggie O’Hara, arrives at the Minneapolis airport where she awaits the arrival of her family to pick her up and take her home with them for Thanksgiving. She’s nervous, due to the surprise she has for them in her arms—her newly adopted baby girl from Korea. With little thought, Maggie grabs a stranger getting off the same airplane, and asks him to portray himself, temporarily, as her fiancé. She knows that her old-fashioned family will disapprove of the adoption because she’s not married. What Maggie doesn’t count on is falling in love with Dr. Nick Capra, who does more than a passable job of posing as her fiancé that day, and over the holiday week.

From the moment Maggie snags Nick, a confirmed bachelor, his gut tells him his single days are over and that she’s the woman for him. While posing as her fiancé he tells her he wants to be a permanent part of her life. While Maggie has fallen in love with Nick, she has a secret that could ruin their chances of being together, though she refuses to divulge the secret to him—until the choice is taken out of her hands.

 

About the Author

 

 Nancy Schumacher is the owner-publisher of Melange Books, LLC, writing under the pseudonyms, Nancy Pirri and Natasha Perry. Being a publisher doesn’t allow much time for the creative process of writing and publishing her own works, but every once in a while it happens.

She is an associate member of Romance Writers of America (RWA). She is also one of the founders of the RWA chapter, Northern Lights Writers (NLW), in Minnesota.

 

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Instagram

BookBub

BlueSky

"X"

BookBuzz

Purchase Links

Amazon

Satin Romance

Blog Tour: No Straight Lines to the Stars

 

An Unlikely Journey from Lifeguard Tower to Launchpad

 

Narrative Nonfiction/Inspirational

Date Published: August 4th, 2026

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

No Straight Lines to the Stars is the inspiring true story of a young lifeguard who dared to believe his life could reach far beyond the horizon.

On the beaches of Southern California, Ken Kisco learned that preparation saves lives. From rip-current rescues to split-second emergencies, he discovered that courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to act in spite of it. Those early lessons in resilience and composure pushed Ken to believe he could accomplish anything . . . including his lifelong dream of reaching the stars.

Through relentless perseverance and unwavering faith, Ken rose into the heart of America’s most advanced space and defense programs, contributing to human spaceflight initiatives and supporting groundbreaking technologies. His unusual start as a lifeguard helped advance his career, distinguishing him from his Air Force and Navy peers. Yet, his toughest challenges were personal—he faced deep disappointment when a space mission was canceled and learned lessons about trust and integrity from a romance-turned-ruse.

Ken’s journey reveals that success is rarely linear. Setbacks became launchpads, adversity became refinement, and purpose became a compass. Part memoir, part inspiration, and part behind-the-scenes look at America’s quest for the stars, this is the unforgettable story of a man who proves that bold dreams, combined with grit and heart, can launch an ordinary life into an extraordinary one.

 

Excerpt

California Ocean Lifeguarding — Where Responsibility Meets Purpose

Some lessons in life are taught in classrooms. Others are learned where the stakes are real, the margin for error is gone, and the outcome rests in your hands.

For me, that place was the shoreline.

While attending San Diego State University, I was encouraged to apply for the California State Lifeguards. What began as a challenge quickly became something more—a calling. The training was relentless, designed not just to test strength, but to reveal character. It demanded discipline, resilience, and the ability to remain calm when everything around you was not.

When I earned my place and stepped onto the beaches of San Clemente, I began to understand what it truly meant to be responsible for another human life.

From a lifeguard tower overlooking the Pacific, the ocean can appear calm, almost inviting. But beneath the surface, it is constantly changing—shifting currents, unseen hazards, and moments where everything can turn in an instant. Our role was not just to react, but to anticipate. To see what others could not. To act before hesitation had a chance to take hold.

And sometimes, despite all preparation, the unexpected arrives.

One call brought me face to face with a reality no training can fully prepare you for—a fatal accident near the beach. As we secured the scene, a grieving family member arrived, desperate for answers, desperate for one final look. In that moment, I realized that being a lifeguard was not only about saving lives, but about protecting people from pain when saving them was no longer possible. It was about compassion under pressure, and judgment when emotions ran high.

Another day, responding to a multi-victim accident along the highway, I found myself in the middle of controlled chaos—injuries everywhere, voices calling out, seconds slipping away. Training took over. You move, you prioritize, you act. Later, when the noise fades, you reflect—not on what you did, but on what it meant.

Because those moments stay with you.

Yet, some of the most powerful lessons came not from emergencies, but from quiet acts of leadership. One morning, a supervisor asked us to step down from our towers and clean the beach. It seemed simple—almost insignificant. But his message was clear: no task is beneath you when you are part of a team. Leadership is not about visibility; it is about responsibility.

Over time, I came to understand that lifeguarding was never just a job. It was a proving ground—a place where discipline was tested, character was revealed, and purpose began to take shape.

The ocean taught me to remain steady when conditions turned unpredictable. It taught me that preparation creates confidence, and that confidence allows you to act when others cannot. Most importantly, it taught me that the decisions you make in a single moment can change the course of someone else’s life forever.

Those lessons did not stay at the water’s edge.

They carried forward—into every challenge, every opportunity, and every dream that followed.

And this is only the beginning—discover the full journey from lifeguard towers to the frontiers of space.

About the Author

At ten years old, Ken Kisco dreamed of becoming a rocket scientist, a goal that shaped his life. He earned multiple degrees, including master's degrees from the University of Southern California in systems management and from San Jose State University in industrial psychology.

As an aerospace systems engineer for NASA, Rockwell International, and Boeing, he developed new technologies and earned recognition as an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow.

Ken now shares his passion by mentoring USC engineering students, inspiring them to dream boldly. When not traveling, he and his wife enjoy San Diego's beaches, where they live.

Contact Links

Website

Instagram: @Kennasaman

Purchase Link

Amazon

 

PROMO: Peanut Butter and Donner - A Curious Chorus

 

Children's Picture Book

Date Published: July 14, 2026

Peanut Butter & Donner: A Curious Chorus is a heartwarming rhyming picture book about friendship, kindness, and learning to understand one another. This updated second edition features refreshed illustrations, a smoother read-aloud flow, and the same gentle heart readers loved in the original release.

Peanut Butter is a shy rabbit who loves quiet spaces. Donner is a cheerful parakeet who loves to sing. When these unlikely friends come together, they learn that listening, adapting, and caring for one another can create true harmony.

Inspired by real rescued pets, this beautifully illustrated story gently explores emotional regulation, sensory sensitivity, empathy, confidence, and trust in ways children can understand.

Perfect for ages 4–9, bedtime reading, classrooms, counselors, therapists, and families who value kindness and connection.

If you're looking for a children’s book about friendship, feelings, and compassion, Peanut Butter & Donner: A Curious Chorus will sing its way into your heart.

About the Author

Erin Rosenblum is a licensed therapist and children’s book author who creates heartfelt books that help young readers understand emotions, build confidence, and form language for those big feelings we all feel. With more than 15 years of experience in private practice, she brings therapeutic insight, compassion, and emotional warmth to every story she writes. Her books are especially valued by parents, teachers, caregivers, counselors, and therapists seeking gentle resources that support social-emotional learning.

Her debut picture book, Peanut Butter & Donner: A Curious Chorus, is the first title in the Peanut Butter & Donner series—a collection of rhyming children’s books inspired by a real-life animal friendship and the desire to give language to big feelings in little bodies. Through lyrical rhyme and memorable animal characters, Erin’s stories help children navigate emotions in developmentally appropriate ways.

Inspired by her own rescued rabbit and parakeet, A Curious Chorus tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a shy bunny and a bold bird, showing how kindness, patience, and understanding can bridge differences and build lasting trust.

For this lovingly revised second edition, Erin thoughtfully refined the story to create a smoother read-aloud flow while preserving the heart, warmth, and emotional message readers loved in the original release. This updated edition offers families, educators, and caregivers an even more engaging reading experience, paired with refreshed illustrations and timeless themes of connection, empathy, and compassion.

Across the Peanut Butter & Donner series, Erin explores topics such as friendship, bravery, grief, envy, emotional resilience, anger, frustration, and learning to feel safe, seen, and understood. Her stories are designed to open conversations, encourage empathy, and help children recognize that all feelings are good even when they feel too big and too hard to handle.

When she is not writing or working in her private practice, Erin enjoys spending time with family and friends, surrounded by the beloved animals who inspired her stories including the real Peanut Butter and Donner. She believes in finding magic in everyday moments and hopes her books leave children with a better understanding of the big feelings that are part of our everyday lives.

 

Contact Links

Website

Instagram

Threads

BookBuzz

Purchase Links

Amazon

BookBaby

Blog Tour: Storms of Crick Road Bridge

 

 

Crime Thriller

Date Published: April 8, 2026

Publisher: MindStir Media

Eden Valley is a quiet town in northwestern Pennsylvania still healing from a dark chapter in its history. Two years ago, the community was shaken by a kidnapping and a series of murders. Tom Stallings, the celebrated town hero, solved the crimes and identified the evil demon responsible. In an effort to revitalize the town, Tom's son, Josh, has purchased the town's orchard, naming it The Stallings Orchard at Crick Road Bridge.

However, Tom is soon informed by the local sheriff that he and his family are the targets of a threatening letter, mysteriously signed "The Avenger." The unknown author accuses Tom and Josh of being land-grabbers with blood on their hands and vows to seek revenge.

Against this tense backdrop, three individuals-each driven by their own pain and misguided sense of justice-embark on separate journeys of revenge. While the first merely seeks to resolve personal grievances and jealousy through minor acts of vandalism, the other two harbor far more sinister intentions, representing both physical and metaphorical storms on a path of chaos and destruction.

 

Excerpt

Summer was in full swing, and the good people of Eden Valley spent lazy days basking in the warm sunshine and delighting in their clover-covered hillsides. Fathers toiled in the fields while mothers hung the family clothes outside to dry, and children ran to catch iridescent dragonflies that darted across the tall grasses. They lived a life completely detached and unaware that far away, time and events were beginning to form two impending and threatening storms. By day, the hot winds from the west and south would soon be blowing across the dry plains and over the forest-covered mountains, and by night, enshrouded in darkness, they would continue to become more and more forceful as they moved forward on a deadly path of death and destruction toward their intended destination and unsuspecting victims. These were storms that had been in the making for decades, and like all life-changing storms, they would be assigned individual names.

From Chapter 11 of Storms of Crick Road Bridge

 

About the Author

 

 David Kerr grew up in the small, rural community of Enon Valley, Pennsylvania, in the '50s and '60s where the main source of employment was farming or working in the steel mill industry. Surrounded by families who struggled to maintain their middle- class lifestyle and hold tightly to the American values of God, family, and country, little did he realize that these people and places would become the inspiration for his novels.

A graduate of Georgia Southern University, Kerr served as an English teacher and school administrator for forty-four years. Following his retirement, he wrote and published two mystery novels, Secrets of Crick Road Bridge and Storms of Crick Road Bridge.

Today, he and his wife, Lois, live in Woodstock, Georgia, where they enjoy being close to their daughter Paige, son-in-law, Chris, and grandsons, Banks and Ford

Purchase Links

Amazon

B&N

PROMO: The Vote

 

A Story of Political Peril

Fiction

Date Published: 09-10-2026

Publisher: Mission Point Press

A cautionary political tale that shines a light on the danger to our country when the wrong people have too much money and power.

The Vote is a political thriller built around a conspiracy among powerful political actors, billionaires, and party operatives who seek to manipulate the constitutional amendment process in order to permanently reshape the structure of American government. The mechanics of American politics, particularly the Article V constitutional amendment process, is the framework that informs the central premise of the novel. The current political landscape of the country lends credibility to the story and gives the narrative an interesting and timely foundation.

The manuscript opens with a series of interconnected storylines involving political figures, wealthy conspirators, and emerging state-level candidates. These threads gradually reveal a coordinated effort to gain control of state legislatures and Congress as part of a broader plan to fundamentally alter the country’s political system. The concept itself is ambitious and grounded in recognizable political realities.

 

Excerpt

Rudolph Conover fumed as the jet he’d sent to convey Aldon Powers to the Conover compound in Southern Illinois sat idling somewhere in Texas. No sign of Powers. No explanation. No apology. The plane should have left hours ago.

For Conover, meetings such as today’s were a carefully choreographed dance, designed to shape an opponent’s mental disposition and ultimately their amenability to whatever it was he wanted from them. Everyone was an opponent in Conover’s world and everything was meant to intimidate, from the jet’s amenities to the obsessive focus on secrecy to the quirkiness of his compound. When dealing with men like Powers, it was his way of reminding them of his preeminence in the hierarchy of billionaires. On rare occasions when someone dared to play by their own rules, he did not take it well. Today was one of those occasions.

Conover’s wife, Marcia, slipped into the war room where he sat. The meeting was scheduled to begin shortly. “Any communication from Powers?” he asked, irritated.

She shook her head.

“How can he be so disrespectful?”

She put her hand on his shoulder, “You have every right to be upset. I’ll go see if there is any news.”

Conover knew Powers was difficult and unpredictable but it was impossible not to respect him. A modern-day Edison, he was a daring visionary and the most technologically disruptive man in a century. His companies had mastered space, the Earth’s outer crust, and the ocean’s depths. The man had become so indispensable that some feared him as a veritable government unto himself, unfettered by borders and the normal rules of behavior. Everybody needed something from him that only he could give. Conover wanted to be a warlord. Powers wanted to be God.

About the Author

David Swanson was raised on a dairy farm in central Michigan. He received a degree in political science from the University of Puget Sound and an advanced degree in foreign trade from the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management. Between degrees, he served a stint in the United States Navy.

In 1981, he founded Daavlin, a medical technology company that eventually grew into a prominent player in the field of dermatology. As part of his career, he stepped foot on every continent and dipped his toes in every ocean on earth. Reading, writing, traveling, acting, and directing live theater are his favored pastimes.

He’s also a lifetime political junkie. As this book goes to press, Swanson is a candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives.

Contact Links

Website

Goodreads

Purchase Links

https://mybook.to/TheVote

Amazon

Bookshop