Spotlight: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.

With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years.

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About the Author

Ocean Vuong is the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds, winner of the Whiting Award and the T.S. Eliot Prize. His writings have also been featured in The Atlantic, Harper’s, The Nation, New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he currently lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is his first novel.

Spotlight: The King's Mercy by Lori Benton

For readers of Sara Donati and Diana Gabaldon, this epic historical romance tells of fateful love between an indentured Scotsman and a daughter of the 18th century colonial south.

When captured rebel Scotsman Alex MacKinnon is granted the king's mercy--exile to the Colony of North Carolina--he's indentured to Englishman Edmund Carey as a blacksmith. Against his will Alex is drawn into the struggles of Carey's slaves--and those of his stepdaughter, Joanna Carey. A mistress with a servant's heart, Joanna is expected to wed her father's overseer, Phineas Reeves, but finds herself drawn instead to the new blacksmith. As their unlikely relationship deepens, successive tragedies strike the Careys. When blame falls unfairly upon Alex he flees to the distant mountains where he encounters Reverend Pauling, itinerate preacher and friend of the Careys, now a prisoner of the Cherokees. Haunted by his abandoning of Joanna, Alex tries to settle into life with the Cherokees, until circumstances thwart yet another attempt to forge his freedom and he's faced with the choice that's long hounded him: continue down his rebellious path or embrace the faith of a man like Pauling, whose freedom in Christ no man can steal. But the price of such mercy is total surrender, and perhaps Alex's very life.

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About the Author

LORI BENTON was raised east of the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by early American history going back three hundred years. Her novels transport readers to the eighteenth century, where she brings to life the Colonial and early Federal periods of American history. When she isn't writing, reading, or researching, Lori enjoys exploring and photographing the Oregon wilderness with her husband. She is the author of Burning Sky, recipient of three Christy Awards; The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn; Christy nominee The Wood's Edge; A Flight of Arrows; and Many Sparrows.

Cover Reveal: Wrapped Up In Christmas by Janice Lynn

A gift of warmth to heal two hearts…

Sarah Smith in Pine Hill, Kentucky has had her heart broken in the past. She pours herself into her work at church and into special projects―like making a quilt for a wounded warrior.

Bodie Lewis is lost. All he’s ever wanted was his career as an Army Ranger, but he was injured in an explosion that killed his brothers in arms. In the hospital, he receives a handmade quilt. Later, he sets out on his final mission: to find and thank its maker.

Bodie expected Sarah to be an elderly lady, not a lovely young woman. When she mistakes him for a handyman, he doesn’t immediately set her straight. Instead, he sets about repairing the home she’s turning into a bed and breakfast. Sarah’s presence and the spirit of the small town bring Bodie something he thought he’d left far behind on the battlefield: hope.

This heartwarming sweet romance includes a free quilt pattern from the Quilts of Valor Foundation and a new original Hallmark recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

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Audio Spotlight: Another Broken Wizard by Colin Dodds

Synopsis: Jim Monaghan really didn't want to go back to Worcester, when sudden unemployment and his father's surgery forced his hand. Drifting into a dubious ICU romance while he tends to his father, Jim seeks out his childhood best friend, Joe Rousseau, who has problems of his own. Joe's in a feud with a local gang, and his plan to resolve the matter only makes things worse. Nonetheless, Jim follows his friend into the Worcester nights defined by drugs and violence. As the danger escalates, he makes a painful choice to try to save Joe. And then he has to live with the consequences.

A book about the threshold of childhood and adulthood, about straddling the expectations of a fading industrial home and the attenuated promise of an information economy, about reconciling the love for a friend with self preservation, Another Broken Wizard is, above all, a portrait of Worcester, Massachusetts.

“Exceptionally vivid characters, a story which sneaks up on you at first, then gathers pace, and the book has tight writing which keeps you turning the pages right until the profoundly moving denouement. Simply put, Another Broken Wizard is brilliant. Read this book!” (David Gaughran, author of A Storm Hits Valparaíso)

“Dodds gets Worcester and shows it in all of its glories and cracks.... He runs through the streets of and takes the reader with him...capturing all of the said and unsaid...so full of waiting, of pain, and of hope that never reaches past the next day.” (Worcester Pulse Magazine)

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About the Author: Colin Dodds

Colin Dodds is a writer with several novels and books of poetry to his name. He grew up in Massachusetts and lived in California briefly, before finishing his education in New York City. Since then, he’s made his living as a journalist, editor, copywriter and video producer. Over the last seven years, his writing has appeared in more than three hundred publications including Gothamist, Painted Bride Quarterly, and The Washington Post, and praised by luminaries including Norman Mailer. His poetry collection Spokes of an Uneven Wheel was published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company in 2018. Colin also writes screenplays, has directed a short film, and built a twelve-foot-high pyramid out of PVC pipe, plywood and zip ties. One time, he rode his bicycle a hundred miles in a day. He lives in New York City, with his wife and daughter. You can find more of his work at thecolindodds.com.

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Spotlight: Severance by N.N. Britt

About Severance: 

They say first love doesn’t last. Alana’s ends on the night her boyfriend Dakota dies in a deadly shooting at a Portland club. 

In an attempt to look for ways to deal with her grief, Alana reaches out to Dakota’s older brother Mikah, who’s struggling with moving on himself.

Both damaged beyond repair, neither Alana or Mikah know how to cope with their loss. What’s worse, they have zero idea how to handle the unexpected feelings they start developing for each other.

Exclusive Excerpt: 

I shove away the damp blanket and prop myself against the headboard, my eyes darting around the dark room, searching for something familiar, searching for something to latch on to, but there’s nothing. Nothing except for the package I’m too scared to touch. 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Stay down! Don’t move.

I can’t seem to catch my breath. There’s a scream stuck in my lungs and it desperately wants to come out.

She’s bleeding. Get a paramedic here. 

How many fingers do you see? Can you hear me, sweetie?

I pull my legs up to my chest and rock my body, wanting to stop the noise from getting into my head. 

Is anyone still inside? I’m looking for my brother. 

Sweetie, I need you to let me see your hands. 

Up until now, the memories of the aftermath have been only a shapeless blur. I’m not sure why it’s all coming back to me now, at four in the morning. I remember the police arriving and more gunshots. I remember the paramedics taking me outside. I remember sitting in the van while some woman in uniform is trying to talk to me, and I remember watching Mikah moving through the crowd outside the club. There’s blood dripping down his cheek, but I don’t think he’s hurt. I think the blood is mine. He stops one of the officers and asks him questions, and I can tell by how fast his hands move that he’s panicking. There’s a short exchange and then they’re gone. 

Now I’m in the hospital, and my parents tell me Dakota was shot to death during the attack. That’s all I get. No details. They don’t tell me how many times he was shot or where he was standing when it happened or if it was an instant death or a slow one where he lay there, terrified, watching the horror around him. 

I replay this moment in my head several times, wondering if I should have said or done something differently. Cried maybe. But I didn’t. I just sat there in silence, my hands and my face bleeding. I sat there waiting to wake up, waiting to snap back into my normal life. But it never happened.

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About N.N. Britt 

N.N. Britt is a Los Angeles-based music journalist and photographer whose articles appeared in numerous publications. Her photos have graced t-shirts, billboards, and CD covers. When she is not writing or drinking coffee, she is probably reading or attending a heavy metal show. 

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Spotlight: Defying Gravity by K.K. Allen

Defying Gravity
K.K. Allen
Publication date: July 25th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Our greatest risk was the one we never took …

It was an accidental spring fling three years ago—one week spent in the mountains of Big Sur and no one was the wiser. Ignore the fact that Tobias James was my neighbor and my best friend’s older brother. Or that upon our return his hoop dreams were waiting for him, robbing us of any potential future we could have shared.

Now, I’m fulfilling my own dreams in L.A. and my biggest dream of all is about to come true. The last thing I expected was for my past and my present to collide.

Not now. Not here. Not him.

But he struts back into my life like he never even left. Unfortunately, I’ll never forget what happened after he did.
The ball is in my court, but Tobias isn’t below stealing—my power, my resolve, my heart… When he wants a second chance to reignite our connection, my answer is simple. We can’t.

Not unless we defy the rules our dreams were built on and risk everything.

*Defying Gravity is a STANDALONE sports romance in an interconnected series. You can check out Center of Gravity here ➞ smarturl.it/centerofgravity

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You can also grab the prequel
Falling From Gravity
for FREE!

—

EXCERPT:

We pulled off the Pacific Coast Highway and drove into the small parking lot of a private entrance near Topanga Beach. It was a smaller surfing spot than our peers would normally venture to, with a slim chance of being seen by anyone we knew. Still, I couldn’t help the anxiety that flitted around my insides as I hopped out of the truck.

Tobias grabbed our boards, and I stripped down to my light-blue two-piece, leaving my white board shorts on. He’d already pulled his shirt off and stood there in his black-and-white-striped suit, grinning at me. “Why do you always wear those things?”

I looked at my short-shorts and shrugged. Heat rose in my neck and up my cheeks as I ran a hand down my sides. Would it be awful to admit that while I love my stomach and all my curves, I hate my thighs?

He eyed me for a second then leaned our boards against the side of his truck. After stepping forward, he placed his hands on my waist and pulled me close, so my chest was flush under his. “You don’t have to hide your body from me, Amelia.” He tipped my chin, his gaze burning into mine. “I’ve seen you naked.” My face caught fire at his words. Then the hand at my waist slid over my navel and down to where my shorts were tied. They unknotted with one pull. “And I love every sexy inch.”

My eyes held his as I swallowed and took a step back. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone swimming without the comfort of cloth wrapping my thighs, but I knew I had nothing to worry about with Tobias. He’d only ever appreciated my body—with his hands, with his mouth, with his words.

Like ripping off a bandage, I pushed down my shorts and tossed them in the bed of the truck.

“That’s my girl.” He held my board out to me with a grin. When I grabbed it, he dipped his head low, touching his lips to mine.

Despite the warmth of the sun, chills broke out over my skin. He pulled back, winking and taking my hand in his. “Let’s go catch some waves.”

By the time we reached the shoreline, my nerves had dissolved completely. I was thankful that he’d taken me to a spot private enough that we were the only two in the area. We swam out to the break, lifted ourselves onto our boards, and sat side by side in opposite directions, in no hurry to rush for a swell. The sun had started to dip in the horizon, painting the sky with a yellow to orange to blue gradient. And while there was a flurry of action around us, I focused on Tobias’s silence that spoke volumes.

“You were quiet on the way here.” My voice was so soft against the beating waves, I worried he didn’t hear me. But after a moment, he nodded, then his eyes flickered to me.

“I called social services.”

My chest squeezed at the frustration in his tone. I hated that he was getting doors slammed from everyone he approached for help. No wonder he felt like his life had been a lie. Without knowing where he came from, he would always feel there was a piece of himself missing. To Tobias, that piece was massive. “Did they tell you anything new?”

He shook his head. “Of course not. Except that another letter went out requesting consent from my biological parents. I just want to find them, you know. I have so many questions, and my parents refuse to tell me anything more than what they already have.”

“They refuse? Seriously?”

He shrugged. “They say they don’t know anything more. That it was a closed, private adoption through an agency in LA and there’s nothing they can do.”

Frustration brewed inside me as I thought about his parents. I’d lived next door to them most of my life, but I hadn’t realized how selfish they were until Tobias told me about their reaction to him finding the adoption papers. That they cared more about carrying on with the lie than they did about the son they swore they were only trying to protect. Tobias was certain the lie was more to protect their appearance of being the perfect family, and that killed me inside. “I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is.” He reached a hand out to play with a strand of wet hair that had fallen over my shoulders. “I don’t want to think about any of that when I’m with you, though.”

I tilted my head and smiled softly. Something about having the attention of Malibu’s once-golden boy all to myself lit my insides. I’d always been so focused on dance that I rarely dated in high school. And when I did, no one could hold my attention the same way that Tobias did. I loved being with him. I loved the way he made me feel. I hated that it wouldn’t last.

“C’mere,” he said with a tilt of his lips.

We leaned into each other, but the reach was too far, causing our boards to sway. I giggled as he growled and slapped the water. “Fuck it.”

Before I knew it, Tobias was slipping off his board and onto mine. He shook his head, sending water droplets all around us. Then he leaned forward again, this time with a glint of mischief in his gorgeous blue eyes. “Much better.”

He kissed me with saltwater lips, drinking me in like a starved man lost at sea. I wanted to be his life raft, to save him from his suffering and bring him safely ashore. But the tide was coming. The winds were unpredictable. And the eye of the storm was quickly approaching.

Author Bio:

K.K. Allen is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author who writes heartfelt and inspirational Contemporary Romance stories focused on "capturing the edge of innocence." K.K. graduated from the University of Washington with an Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences degree. She currently resides in central Florida, works full time as a Digital Producer for a leading online educational institution, and is the mother to a ridiculously handsome little dude who owns her heart.

K.K.'s publishing journey began in June 2014 with the YA Contemporary Fantasy trilogy, The Summer Solstice. In 2016, K.K. published her first Contemporary Romance, Up in the Treehouse, which went on to win the Romantic Times 2016 Reviewers' Choice Award for Best New Adult Book of the Year. With K.K.'s love for inspirational and coming of age stories involving heartfelt narratives and honest emotions, you can be assured to always be surprised by what K.K. releases next.

Stay tuned for more information about upcoming projects by connecting with K.K. in all the social media spaces. Or find out first, here --> smarturl.it/KK_MailList

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