It's finally May and it's time for our thoughts to turn to something very important. Not spring (though after the winter we've had, I say that's mighty important). No, I'm talking about mothers. Mother's Day is coming up on May 11. I don't know about you but I think moms are pretty awesome. My own is amazing. I probably don't tell her enough (does anyone?) but I am in total awe of her. She's great and I can't put into words how much I love her. I'm sure others think the same about their own moms so it's no surprise that a fabulous group of authors have gotten together for an anthology all about mothers, A Kind of Mad Courage: Short Stories About Mothers, (S)mothers & Others. Read on to find out more about this book of short stories!
Nineteen authors from around the world were
given six weeks or less to produce “a story involving a mother somehow.” The
result is a gorgeously eclectic collection of tales that will make you laugh,
cry, and truly appreciate the “mad courage” of motherhood.
Laura Chapman,
Francine
LaSala, Nikki
Mahood, Heather
McCoubrey, and Karen E.
Martin each present unique takes on impending motherhood, while Sheryn
MacMunn, kc
wilder, and Julie Valerie
portray the end of the journey. Samantha
Stroh Bailey, Louise Wise,
and Maria
Schulz show the pride and peril of dealing with teenage daughters, while Elke Feuer, Diana
Shafter Gliedman, and Donna Valenti
demonstrate that a mother’s work is never done, even under the craziest of
circumstances. Regina-Cash
Clark, Wendy
Janes, and Monique
McDonell explore
the impact on lives in which mothers go “missing,” while Carey Heywood
and Jen
Tucker warm your heart and tear it out, respectively.
ABOUT THE EDITORS
Francine LaSala and Samantha Stroh Bailey
have more than 40 years of editorial experience between them. Francine is a
novelist, ghostwriter, and book publishing veteran who's edited New York Times
bestselling fiction and nonfiction. Samantha is a former grammar and writing
instructor, including at the University of Toronto, and a prolific journalist.
She has a Master of Education and has edited countless manuscripts for clients
all over the world. They have also "team-edited" numerous works of
fiction, each lending their singular editorial strengths to create perfect and
polished prose for their clients. The author of Finding Lucas, Samantha (http://perfectpencommunications.com/) is based in Toronto, while
Francine (francinelasalaproductions.wordpress.com),
author of Rita Hayworth's Shoes and The Girl, the Gold Tooth and Everything, is
based in New York.
THE STORIES
Hide and Seek - Samantha
Stroh Bailey
Claire's teenage daughter, Emily, goes
missing on a birthday cruise, and Claire can only fear the worst from the
lately rebellious teen...
Autumn's Eyes - Regina
Cash-Clark
June's abandonment of three of four of her
children, told in alternating points of view between June, and her oldest
daughter, Edwina.
Oh Baby - Laura Chapman
Rocker Tuck and new wife Autumn return from
Chapman's "Ten Drummers Drumming" (Merry
& Bright), now with a baby on the way.
The Sacrifice - Elke Feuer
Melissa learns there isn't anything she
won't do to protect her children from the abuse and neglect of her alcoholic
husband Roger...
Love in the Time of Cannibals - Diana
Shafter Gliedman
Could a zombie apocalypse finally give
rudderless Jessica the direction she needs--and the connection she craves? It
will if her mother has anything to say about it.
A Poem for Mommy - Carey Heywood
In helping his young daughter craft a poem
for Mother's Day, a father beautifully recounts the story of the romance with
her mother that led to them becoming a family.
Verity - Wendy Janes
After an accident means she'll no longer be
able to live on her own, septuagenarian Susan may need to divulge a secret
she's been keeping from Verity all her life.
Monkey Bread - Francine LaSala
Amy and Deck (Rita
Hayworth's Shoes) learn more about having babies than they ever wanted to
know at a madcap family dinner celebrating President's Day.
Last Words - Sheryn
MacMunn
The bond shared between Ruth (Finding
Out) and her mother, Eliza, is revealed, from the time of Ruth's childhood
before the War to the death of Eliza.
This Year's Love - Nikki Mahood
Fallon and Abner are married, mortgaged,
and expecting a baby any minute in this fun, heartfelt mini-sequel to Fallen.
Two Thousand Steps - Karen E.
Martin
With the unsolicited help of a fairy friend
from their childhood, two grown sisters - one with kids, one without - each get
to walk a mile in the other's shoes...
Emily's Promise - Heather
McCoubrey
Even though pregnant Emily's life is
shattered by Jason's infidelity the night before her wedding, she's determined
to give her baby the best life possible.
A Tale of Two Mothers - Monique
McDonell
How do you deal with the mother who
abandoned you when she shows up out of the blue - and what does it mean for the
woman who raised you? Chloe's about to find out.
Like a Boomerang - Maria Schulz
Tess has been stressing out her mother,
Charlotte, since the day she was born. But when disaster strikes during a
campus Halloween party, it could prove the worst stress yet…
Heartstrings - Jen Tucker
Young widow Vicki's no stranger to
loss--and guilt, as another mother's loss helped her daughter live. Will
meeting up help them the two mothers heal? Or make matters worse?
In the Nick of Time - Donna Valenti
Iris may be dead but her insistence on
looking after her children is far from buried. Will her husband Nick get it together?
Or will Iris have to move Heaven and Earth to make him?
LLL - Julie Valerie
In this hilarious yet heartwarming story,
words of wisdom from the game of Scrabble unite a daughter with her aging
mother, a former Scrabble champion whose mental faculties are quickly fading.
Lady in Red - k.c. wilder
Her dying "Gran" is the only
mother she's ever known. But only when Gran is gone does a woman discover the
woman her grandmother really was, and the secrets she hid.
Becky's Mum - Louise Wise
Straight-A student Becky's being pulled off
the straight-and-narrow by her derelict boyfriend Darren. Will her mother's
wisdom sink in before it's too late?
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