MANA'S SHORT STORY SERIES LIST ON SIDE COLUMN

A Q&A With Martha Freudigman, Author of "Through The Storms"

Martha Freudigman

MarketingNewAuthors.com welcomes Martha Freudigman, author of Through The Storms, a unique book made up of two stories. One is a fictional murder mystery with all of the twists and turns one would expect. The second story is Ms. Freudigman's autobiography! 

The first part of Through The Storms tells the intriguing story of Marguerite (Maggie) Halloran, a single, "almost" 24-year-old bookstore owner. The store hosted a monthly book club whose members enjoyed reading murder mysteries. Little did Maggie know what she was in for after purchasing an old Gothic house in which two gruesome murders took place.

In the second part of the book, Ms. Freudigman, shares the challenges she endured in her many years of living. Readers will enjoy both stories in this page-turning, fast-paced, book that will keep them engaged from start to finish. 

Following up where the first mystery left off, Ms. Freudigman has written, Through The Storms Again—The Sequel: A Mini-Murder Mystery. The book begins with two murderers escaping law enforcement. These felons and their henchmen terrorize the citizens of the small town of Lincoln. The close-knit community, however, rises to the challenge of these revengeful escapees and other criminals. 

Listen to an excerpt from Through The Storms Again—The Sequel: A Mini-Murder Mystery on the audio player below: 



MANA Author Russ Grimes Interviewed On "The Author Inside You Podcast"

Russ Grimes, author of The Adventures of a Middle-Aged Man and the sequel The Continuing Adventures of a Middle-Aged Man: Unsung Hero was recently featured on "The Author Inside You Podcast." (Click HERE to visit "The Author Inside You Podcast" homepage.)

The Adventures of a Middle-Aged Man tells the story of Randy Grames, a 41-year-old electrical design engineer married for 17 years, yet he's depressed with his mundane life. One day while planting a flower garden, he unearths a sliver box containing a silver coin which he later discovers contains magic from Grigard the Wise. Then, the adventures begin...

In the podcast, Mr. Grimes discussed how he wrote his fantasy books from the beginning to the end. He said the hardest part for him was just getting started.  For some inspiration on getting started, listen to this interview with Russ Grimes:





To preview the books below, click on each title: 
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A Q&A With Hilary George, Author of "From War to When"

 Hilary George
MarketingNewAuthors.com welcomes Hilary George, author of From War to When. Although Hilary calls herself a "rookie writer," she has indeed written "80 pages of literary paradise on earth" as one reader so aptly described her collection of poetry.

Hilary was born in Singapore of British parents. After fleeing the Japanese invasion early in World War II, Hilary, with her mother and sister, two tin trunks of possessions and five English pounds, found themselves refugees in a strange, new land – Australia.  Hilary and her husband worked two years as missionaries in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. She has lived in the United States for the past 34 years. Her book, From War to When reflects her experiences.

MANA: Briefly describe to readers what From War to When is about.
Hilary George (HG): From War to When depicts some of my life experiences, how they affected me and what I learned from them. It ends with a letter to my children followed by a prayer for everyone.

MANA: Would you explain to readers what the title of the book, From War to When mean? It's assumed that the war is about World War II but what does "When" mean?
HG: World War II changed my life forever but my story is not finished yet. The "When" will be the fulfillment of lifetime hopes and dreams.

"Dancer & Other Tattered Threads of PTSD Lives: After the Wars" by T. Patrick Devlin

There’s no getting around it, Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) is real and has affected soldiers of various wars. In his latest book, Dancer & Other Tattered Threads of PTSD Lives: After the Wars, author T. Patrick Devlin has taken the challenges of PTSD for veterans and conveyed them into three short stories. 

Although the stories are fictional, Devlin does not approach these challenges in a stereotypical manner. Instead, in the short stories, Dad’s TV, Dancer, and Roadkill the author brings clear insight into the lives of veterans, their family members and others who interact with them.

In Dad’s TV, Devlin gives the reader a first-hand account of a son dealing with the effects PTSD has on his father, a World War II veteran. Set in the 1950s, Dad separates himself from his family by means of his new television set:  

To be honest, at no time did Dad ever seem quite right. There was no real normal for him. He hadn’t totally adjusted. I suppose that it was still too soon after the war. He was silent, remote and constantly appeared to crave distractions and diversions. He avoided any possibility of interaction with his kids. The TV set was just one of those diversions. However, in our house, it cemented the separation. The screaming audio and visual imperatives to pay full attention to it and to ignore every other living thing on the planet, were totally effective. 

In Dancer, a dog is rescued from an abusive experience and is taken to a safe home. Yet, Dancer is having a hard time adjusting to her new environment:

Dancer was in another new place. She had been traumatized by the experience of being imperfectly rescued from the agony of her mistreatment as a puppy. She had experienced some time when she was in a safer place, but the wounds to her little brain were probably only being cauterized and not successfully identified and soothed from the damage that had already been done. In her internal desperation to find refuge from her harassed existence, she clung to Arianna like frost on a pane of glass. Our eldest daughter, though, was not in a position to be a healer. She was already burdened by the usual household duties as well as the advanced coursework of her university studies. The chances for the dog to improve were further compromised by the two male members of the family who were seemingly indifferent to the dog’s presence. They were also, most likely, an unpleasant connection to Dancer’s memory of the past. 

A Korean War veteran-turned sheriff of a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is the main character in Roadkill. Trying to solve one of the biggest crimes the town has ever seen while staving off loneliness and keeping his composure after reliving the nightmares of war are not easy tasks for the ex-Marine:

During the rehabilitation of the lodge, Dukes’ psychological trauma from the war was beginning to heal. The exhaustion from the new job and the fatigue from the labor that he expended on his essential need for shelter, shut out most of the nightmares. As he mended the old lodge, he began to repair the damage caused by the war to his mind while he cautiously reshaped his department.

He took plenty of time to do all three jobs. As a result, he stayed away from marriage. In those few moments of genuine loneliness, he did think of the comfort of having a woman around. “No sane woman would have me” came the instant, unspoken rebuke. The dreams were too violent, too, frequent. When he’d break out from the terrorizing grip of another nightmare dream, he was aware that he was swinging, screaming, or waking up crawling across the floor. “No, this wasn’t something to put a woman through…” he told himself.

Devlin, also author of Redball Mission, engages the reader and places them into the thoughts and feelings of those affected by PTSD. To preview Dancer & Other Tattered Threads of PTSD Lives: After the Wars, go to http://marketingnewauthors.biz/dancer-other-tattered-threads-of-ptsd-lives-after-the-wars/

To read an excerpt from Redball Mission, visit http://manasunriser.blogspot.com/p/redball-mission-by.html. To purchase the book, visit http://marketingnewauthors.biz/redball-mission/