The Books
of Blank Slate Press
By Brad R. Cook
Since we talk about books and writers here on
The Writers’ Lens, I thought I’d take a minute to introduce the books that made
me want to partner with Blank Slate Press.
Blank
Slate Press is an
adventure in the future of publishing with a focus on discovering,
nurturing, publishing and promoting new literary voices.
Slant of
Light
By Steve
Wiegenstein
David J Langum, Sr Historical Fiction Prize
2012 Honorable Mention
With the nation moving toward Civil War,
James Turner, a charming, impulsive writer and lecturer, Charlotte, his
down-to-earth bride, and Cabot, an idealistic Harvard-educated
abolitionist are drawn together in a social experiment deep in the Missouri
Ozarks. Inspired by utopian dreams of building a new society, Turner
is given a tract of land to found the community of Daybreak. But not everyone
involved in the project is a willing partner and being the leader of a farming
community out in the middle of nowhere isn’t exactly the life Turner
envisioned. Charlotte, confronted with the hardships of rural life, must mature
in a hurry to deal with the challenges of building the community while facing
her husband’s betrayals and her growing attraction to Cabot. In turn, Cabot
struggles to reconcile his need to leave Daybreak to join the fight against
slavery and his desire to stay near the woman he loves. As the war draws ever
closer, the utopians try to remain neutral and friendly to all, but soon find
neutrality is not an option. In the wake of a deadly bushwhacking, Turner
discovers that he too has the capacity for ferocious violence. When war finally
breaks out, Missouri descends into its uniquely savage brand of conflict in
which guerrilla bands terrorize the countryside while Federal troops control
the cities, and in which neither side offers or expects quarter. Ultimately,
each member of Daybreak must take a stand—both in their political and
personal lives.
Never Hug
a Nun
By Kevin
Killeen
Ben Franklin Award Silver Medalist for Humor
From falling for a girl with
no-good-for-sports stick arms and beautiful penmanship, to jumping freight
trains, smoking cigarettes, projectile vomiting, and robbing the local Ben
Franklin, first grade at Mary Queen of Our Hearts parochial school changes everything
for Patrick Cantwell. By the time Patrick graduates second grade, he’s
practically a grown-up, complete with a broken heart, a police record and
memories of the Beatles at Busch Stadium.
Written with the keen sense of comic timing
Killeen brings to radio station KMOX’s “A Whole ’nother Story” and the annual
Holiday Radio Show, Never Hug a Nun is a sweet, laugh-out-loud look at the
innocence of childhood in the leafy Webster Groves suburb of 1960s Saint Louis.
Counterfeit
By Scott L
Miller
Social worker Mitch Adams is asked by a St.
Louis Homicide Detective JoJo Baker to counsel Lonnie Washington, a man
arrested for counterfeiting and armed robbery. It’s a sensational case pitting
the suspect, a disabled man from north St. Louis, against the federal
prosecutor, the heir apparent of a prominent West County family. But the
more Mitch learns about Lonnie–and JoJo–the more convinced he is that the true
counterfeiter is not the man behind bars, but the man who put him there—a man
with out-sized political ambitions, the adoration of the public, and his very
own Secret Service detail. With millions in fake $100 bills up for grabs and in
a city rife with racial tensions, Mitch discovers nothing is just black of
white.
Off the
Leash
By Jean Ellen
Whatley
Off the Leash is an evocative, often
comical, but always inspirational read for anyone who has ever had to deal with
the loss of a loved one, financial hardship, family secrets, or the bitterness
of betrayal. Backed by Kickstarter and cheered on by the thousands who read her
blog posts from the road, Whatley chronicled her adventures as she reconnected
with the people and places she held most dear. Off the Leash is raw,
funny and fresh, and told with rare honesty. Whatley’s voice is an American
original, yet she echoes some of the most commonly shared fears and deeply held
hopes.
Dancing with Gravity
By Anene
Tressler
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Best book of 2011
Father Whiting is asleep in his own life. As
a St. Louis priest and the head of Pastoral Care at a local teaching hospital,
he’s already on edge wondering if he’s up to the job and wondering how far his
predecessor’s–and now his–secretary will go to sabotage him. He is fatigued by
his mother’s increasingly erratic behavior, fears he is incapable of
ministering to an old friend and fellow priest stricken with cancer, and
secretly longs to share everything about his confused, mixed-up life with the
very attractive Sarah James, the hospital’s head of public relations. When he
overhears a heated argument between the Chairman of the Board and the Abbess
who runs the hospital, he fears his job will soon be history. Instead, he finds
himself tapped to minister to a small Central American circus bequeathed to an
order of aging nuns in St. Louis. Through his deepening relationship with
Nikolai, the enigmatic trapeze artist, Whiting wakes to his loneliness,
realizes he has been living a half-life, and finally finds the courage to be
the man he was meant to be.
In Dancing with Gravity, Anene Tressler,
an Emmy Award-winning writer, paints an unforgettable portrait of the grand and
petty motivations of the human heart. Her poignant exploration of lost,
unrecognized and courageous love will prompt you to consider your own journey
toward purpose and fulfillment.
Plus a sneak peek at one of Blank Slate Press’
upcoming titles
A Matter
of Mercy
By Lynne
Hugo
Coming in August 2014!
Blank Slate Press is open to submissions! To
learn more about any of these titles visit www.blankslatepress.com
Thank you for taking a look at the books from
Blank Slate Press. More great titles are coming this year!
Brad R. Cook, author, publisher at Blank Slate
Press, and President of St. Louis Writers Guild. Please visit www.bradrcook.com
or www.blankslatepress.com for more information.
Follow me on Twitter @bradrcook https://twitter.com/bradrcook,
@blankslatepress https://twitter.com/blankslatepress,
@stlwritersguild https://twitter.com/stlwritersguild,
or my tumblr page Thoughts from Midnight http://bradrcook.tumblr.com/
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