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1. State of Mind: A journey through the hills and valleys of life

   About State of Mind: A journey through the hills and valleys of life:

   PREFACE

   My college religion professor would say, “I have borrowed stories, I have made stories, and stories have made me.” I believe that stories are what keep us connected to the world. Without them, we would be in this world alone and in shame. Our shame would smother us and cause us sadness. Stories help keep us connected to one another. Just knowing that someone else in the world suffers with the things we suffer with, helps us to know that we are not alone.

   However, often times, the process of living can cause us to feel alone. The main reason we feel alone is because when life gets rough, the journey feels lonely and isolating. Often in this journey we face many obstacles. These obstacles are the hills and valleys that life presents to us. During this journey, rather than journeying to find something, we journey to complete something. It is those stories that we hear, share, and create along the way that calms our state of mind.

   When I completed this collection of thoughts, I was 34. I am now 49 and ready to share with the world. Writing poetry (my thoughts), in the words of Alice Walker, saved my life. I find very little reason to be this type of writing now, mainly because God has healed a part of what was missing by sending me a soul mate to share in my journey. But when I was in the midst of completing this collection, I looked at my short (but long felt) journey and knew that everything was going to be okay. Throughout the hurts of losing my mother at age 11, losing many women I thought I loved, battling to overcome the abuse of childhood, finding a turbulent relationship with my father at age 32, and knowing that my sisters would survive, I knew that life was doable. Since that moment, I married my true love and comfort and have three wonderful boys. I have completed my doctorate and have had a successful career, to this point.

   But still I feel that I have not traveled far in my journey. My past sometimes still haunts me, but now it does not shame me. I am not in shame, because I am not alone. I know this, because God told me so. I, however, did at times feel very frustrated about life, God, people, and myself. But somehow, I have accepted my part in these relationships.

   So now it is time to share a moment of my journey through poetry (my thoughts) as an expression of thanks to her for saving my life, as poetry (my thoughts) has indeed been a lifesaver. It has been a sane gift from God. I have to admit that taking my life has never been an option, but confusion, anger, and hope has been a constant. To the world, I share myself with you, in trust, my state of mind.

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   Author Bio:
   Donald Easton-Brooks PhD. grow up in the inner-city of Houston, TX. He lost his mother at the age of 11. He lived a life in which he had to really raise himself. He has escaped various forms of childhood abuse and now finds himself an advocate for children and educational policies. He did not have a relationship with his father until his 11th grade year in high school. However, Donald was about to go to college on a football scholarship. He graduated, later earned his masters in special education, and then his Ph.D. He is now a university dean. He has published works in academic journals and book chapters. He is married with three boys.

   State of Mind: A journey through the hills and valleys of life is a post from Awesome Gang

2. Not Forgotten

   About Not Forgotten:

   Twenty-six years later, Deanna Iris and her son move back to the town she grew up in, back where her secret began and where her life changed forever.
   Unpacking boxes, she receives a call from Officer Bates stating that her sister and son were in a car accident and are in critical condition. Upon arriving at Mendota Community Hospital, she is approached by Officer Bates, who takes her in to see them.
   Sitting with her son Brent, who is unconscious, and her sister Shelia, who suffers from a head injury and is in a coma, Deanna meets their doctor for the first time. Is it Dr. Sheldon’s face that reminds her of someone she knew? Could it be possible that her dead daughter from twenty-six years ago could now be alive?
   After meeting with a friend who knew about her secret and who is later found murdered, Deanna receives a note in her mailbox telling her to get out of town before what happened to her friend will happen to her. What transpired all those years ago and who is this mysterious woman she sees as she drives by her sister’s house? Will Deanna ever allow herself to be loved? Or will searching for the answers to her past lead to her death?

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   Author Bio:
   Donna Zadunajsky Malacina was born and raised in Bristolville, Ohio. She is 41 years old and resides in Homer Glen, Illinois. Ever since she was a teenager, she had an interest and a dream to write books. Six years ago that dream came true. She has written seven children’s books that are about her daughter and all the adventures that she has done in her young life. They are currently on the Barnes and Noble and Amazon website and at www.littletscorner.com, available in eBook and paperback.
   She spends her time writing short stories as well as novels. She published her first novel, “Broken Promises,” June 2012, which is based on her life with an alcoholic and has currently finished her second novel “Not Forgotten” in May 2013, which is fiction and deals with some aspects of her life.
   Besides writing, she enjoys spending time with her twelve-year-old daughter and her husband, their two dogs and two cats. She enjoys collecting Elvis Presley memorabilia, reading, working on crafts, and gardening. She graduated from The Institute of Children’s Literature.

   Not Forgotten is a post from Awesome Gang

3. Rain is a Song without Lyrics

   About Rain is a Song without Lyrics:

   Rain is a Song without Lyrics is a story that could have happened; the descriptions of physical anthropology and archaeology and the real accounts of Ireland’s entangled history and the Viking world connect this fiction with real events, the traces of which are found by the author beneath the Irish rain.

   The story is born in the mud of cold Ireland in 2003, where the author worked in an archaeological excavation. After a thousand years of burial, he opened up the ground with his hands and what he found moved him so immensely that he began to feel connected to those mysterious skeletal remains that had one day been a person, who loved and was loved, like any one of us.  Rain is a Song without Lyrics is a story that could have been, but wasn’t, although the facts that are invented or discovered along the way do not disappoint.  The truth of events does not matter as much as what we feel, and in a way our feelings can lead us to the truth.

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   Author Bio:
   Ángel Gil Cheza was born in Vila Real, Spain in 1974. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities and a Master’s degree in publishing.  At at age of thirteen he played the drums for the punk bank Mala Hierba.  At fifteen, he founded the fanzine Sátira Coenta and editied the first two editions. At twenty he began singing and playing the guitar.  He made his first cassette, Futuro in 1998, the cassette was pirated so many time that it was difficult to find an original copy.  In 2005, after a long stay in Ireland, he self released his debut album Con la miel en los labios before retiring from the stage.  He has worked as a postman, a forest ranger, an orange picker, a waiter, a publican, a road sweeper, an archaeologist, a builder, a cook, a teacher and a farmer.  Nowadays, he cultivates an orange orchard and he continues to work in the publishing world.

   Rain is a Song without Lyrics is a post from Awesome Gang

4. Thirty-Two Going on Spinster

   About Thirty-Two Going on Spinster:

   Julia Dorning is a spinster, or at least on the road to becoming one. She has no social life, hates her career, and lives in her parent’s basement with her cat, Charlie.

   With the arrival of Jared Moody, the new hire at work, Julia’s mundane life is suddenly turned upside down. Her instant (and totally ridiculous) crush on the new guy causes Julia to finally make some long-overdue changes, in hopes to find a life that includes more than baking and hanging out with Charlie.

   But when the biggest and most unexpected change comes, will the new and improved Julia be able to overcome it? Or will she go back to her spinster ways?

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
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   Author Bio:
   By day, Becky Monson is a mother to three young children, and a wife. By night, she escapes with reading books and writing. In her debut novel, Becky uses humor and true-life experiences to bring her characters to life. She loves all things chick-lit (movies, books, etc.), and wishes she had a British accent. She has recently given up Diet Coke for the fiftieth time and is hopeful this time will last… but it probably won’t.

   Thirty-Two Going on Spinster is a post from Awesome Gang

5. The Check Out

   About The Check Out:

   Failing grocery store manager Larry Prescott just wants a quickie. With a frigid wife waiting at home, Larry decides to have some extramarital fun with an employee named Maxine Watkins. Though he has no way of knowing it, Larry is sowing the seeds for a crime spree that will be dubbed “The MegaSaver Massacre.“

   The Check Out is a satirical thriller that will appeal to fans of Carl Hiaasen and Christopher Moore. It is the story of a $10,000 giveaway, and the employees who independently decide to heist the money on the same night. An ensemble piece, each chapter focuses on the motivations and actions of a different main character. Larry Prescott is an arrogant drunk whose affair quickly spirals towards danger. Maxine Watkins is a scheming liar, determined to claw her way out of indigence. Terrence Claybrook, the assistant manager, is an escaped convict trying to keep his past from catching up to him. Roland Tillman, a blood thirsty fugitive, reunites with his former cellmate during the MegaSaver robbery. Brad, an addiction ridden stocker, tries to turn his life around while picking up the pieces of a broken marriage. They each see the prize money as their only lifeline, and are determined to do everything necessary to grab it.

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
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   Author Bio:
   Richard A. Lester (b 1978) is an American writer/filmmaker. He has written scripts, short stories, and one novel to date. He has also worked on several plays, and directed an independent film.

   His literary influences include Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Moore, and Donald Ray Pollock. His other interests include history, science, and education.

   He also runs a film review blog entitled A Reel Indication.

   The Check Out is a post from Awesome Gang