A KIND OF MAD COURAGE
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.
Samantha Stroh Bailey - “Hide and Seek” * Regina
Cash-Clark - “Autumn's Eyes” * Laura Chapman - “Oh Baby” * Elke Feuer - “The
Sacrifice” * Diana Gliedman - “Love in the Time of Cannibals” * Carey Heywood -
“A Poem for Mommy” * Wendy Janes - “Verity” * Francine LaSala - “Monkey Bread”
* Sheryn MacMunn - “Last Words” * Nikki Mahood - “This Year's Love” * Karen E.
Martin - “Two Thousand Steps” * Heather McCoubrey - “Emily's Promise” * Monique
McDonell - “A Tale of Two Mothers” * Maria Schulz - “Like a Boomerang” * Jen
Tucker - “Heartstrings” * Donna Valenti - “In the Nick of Time” * Julie Valerie
- “LLL” * k.c. wilder - “Lady in Red” * Louise Wise - “Becky's Mum”
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
Claire's
teenage daughter, Emily, goes missing on a birthday cruise, and Claire can only
fear the worst from the lately rebellious teen...
June's
abandonment of three of four of her children, told in alternating points of
view between June, and her oldest daughter, Edwina.
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.
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.
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?
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?
