BookLife - Resources and tools for book publishers and writers

A Shortage of Angels

by Penny Pickle

A Shortage of Angels By Penny Pickle A Shortage of Angels is set in 1968 in the rural, God-fearing East Texas enclave of Onward. The town is blessed with a side-winking, stick-chewing, ain’t-saying fifth grader at Mirabeau B. Lamar Elementary named Calvinia Jean Prather. “Cal” lives with her granddaddy “Packy,” who is a mortician, in their combination house and funeral parlor. Packy is tall, truthful, loving, and a master at hem hawing about what really happened to Cal’s mother and father.... more

The Things We Need

by Antonio Robinson

"He wasn’t a killer and had no plans of becoming one. This wasn’t a stick-up operation like the bandits from the old American west. Nor was it a smash and grab as jewelry store heist had devolved into. In his mind, this was a take what you need kind of affair that would yield no casualties."

Present-day Charlotte, North Carolina; a thirty-something black man named Reggie Skinter who works as a carpet cleaner making $12/hr; living in a motel called Competitive ... more

Once in a Lifetime

by Suzanne Mattaboni

In 1984, punk is rampant. Andy Warhol rules. And 20-year-old art student Jessica is sick of all the excitement going on without her. Hungry for the life she’s convinced is just beyond her fingertips, she sets her sights on an avant-garde study abroad program in London she can’t afford. Meanwhile, hometown boyfriend Drew wants to see other people if he’s not exciting enough to keep her stateside. Jess and her buddies rent a beat-up apartment, trolling new wave clubs and waitressing double shif... more

Ten Threads

by Richard R Becker

An Idaho farmer who earns a second chance at life finds that the past has a hard time letting him go. A young girl navigates funeral-goers, family, and the unusual circumstances of her grandmother’s death in Pennsylvania. A risk-averse young man must make a bold move after stumbling into a nightmarish government biohazard. An aging alcoholic vigilante is asked to find common ground with a teenager in a secret witness protection program. These and six more short stories continue and intersect ... more

Tangled Violets

by Denise-Marie Martin

Denise-Marie Martin’s debut novel exposes the greatest longings of the human heart: to belong and be loved. Tangled Violets is the shocking, heartbreaking story of an adoptee’s journey to find her biological family long before the days of the internet or consumer genetic testing made such reunions commonplace. A tale of redemption and the healing power of forgiveness, this novel demonstrates that no matter what we have done or where we have been, no one is outside the mercy of God and the healin... more

Antonia of Venice: Premium Hardcover Edition

by Ellyn Peirson

Very few knew Antonia, despite her fame as La Stella di Venezia. In decadent 18th century Venice, she develops from Vivaldi's star pupil into his musical colleague and the pride of Venetian music. After falling in love with Orlando Sagredo - master planner of the Palio - Antonia recognizes the emotional bondage she has never questioned. Antonia of Venice is inhabited by brilliant musicians, avaricious politicians, and ineffectual rulers of the Republic. Through it all, the people and music Ant... more

Coming Apart

by Karen Heenan

A woman who's lost everything. Her sister, who has everything. And a baby who means everything - to both of them. Ava has always been poor, so she doesn't think the Great Depression will change anything. But when her mother dies and her coal miner husband loses his job, Ava's certainty falters. The last thing she needs is a letter from her estranged sister, asking for the impossible. Claire has everything she could ever want, except the child she promised her husband. When her sister's li... more

Secrets In The Mirror

by Leslie Kain

Secrets In the Mirror is a literary multigenerational family saga. It is psychological fiction with domestic suspense; although it follows identical mirror twins from age 16 through 27, it is a story for adults, showing the impact of family dysfunction, abuse, crime and mental illness on each generation. Early reviews: •\tSecrets in the Mirror is a compelling story about Narcissistic Personality Disorder mixed with family patterns of abuse and addiction. Gavin, the hero, wants only to save his... more

Into the Dust - The Virgin - A Burning Man Story

by Jack Lyons

WHAT IS BURNING MAN? A place made sacred by people who need a sacred place. Why are people drawn to Burning Man, and what brings them back again and again? What actually happens at the maligned, misunderstood, an iconic event staged in the middle of a Nevada desert? More importantly, what happens to the people who go? Burning Man is just a hedonistic music festival, a decadent party for burnouts, druggies, and hippies. Or so Diane believes, until an unexpected invitation from her closest ... more

In the Shadow of the Apocalypse

by Dinu Pillat

In the Shadow of the Apocalypse was completed by Dinu Pillat in 1948 and then submitted for review to other writers and literary critics in 1953. Left unpublished, it became the corpus delicti against its author in the 1960 (in)famous trial against dissident intellectuals (the so-called Noica-Pillat batch: https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procesul_Lotului_Noica_-_Pillat, in Romanian). Pillat was found guilty of "plotting against the social order" and sentenced to 25 years detention and 10 years of ... more

Mundanity

by Jonathan Carreau

A young man in an alternate reality Earth moves into a new town and discovers how bigotry and economic inequality shape everything around him. He must learn how to navigate everything around him if he is to prosper.

A Prospect of London

by Julie L'Enfant

It is 1980, and Caroline Landry has arrived in London to do research on a long-forgotten writer. But the last thing she wants is to sit for hours at a desk in the British Library. Eight years ago, she fell in love with London on a college trip, guided by a magnetic teacher, and the city has come to represent everything this bookish young professor loves. But her research will take her places she could never have imagined, into a world far more interesting than she hopes. Caroline is an assist... more

Hello, Old Friend: Awright Auld Mukker

by Joseph Tristan

"Hello Old Friend" is a story of a relationship between a nine-year-old boy and his new adult neighbor from Scotland. The relationship lasted twenty-six years. When Christian learns of the passing of his friend Kian, he begins the journey of reliving and sharing his memories of Kian with his family. Christian wishes that he could see Kian one last time to thank him for his friendship. But he doesn't know how he can make that happen, or does he? It is not a love story, but you can feel th... more

Any Joe

by Maura Lin

Any Joe is a novel about Joe and Cherie, two young people who must negotiate their environment, and family and peer influences in the morally ambiguous, sexually-infused culture of the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Can they stay true to themselves, or will they succumb to the worst effects of adversity? Their story is one we can all relate to on some level: How do any of us navigate the effects of environment and culture when their messages conflict with our values and our own autonomy?

The Newlywed's Window: The 2022 Mukana Press Anthology of African Writing

by Mukana Press

Who are Africa’s most promising emerging short story writers? Mukana Press sought to answer this question by scouting the continent for largely undiscovered talent. The result? This collection! Africa’s stories have largely been relegated to themes of poverty, and war; yet there is so much more brilliance, texture, and layers to our stories. This collection seeks to provide a platform for the rest of the world to become acquainted with the excellence of talent outside of the mainstream, as we... more

Getaway Day

by Ken White

What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others is, and remains, immortal. Mikey Wright is a normal 13-year-old. With normal problems. Until the day he finds out his dad has cancer. Getaway Day chronicles Mikey's journey to save his father's life and learn the meaning of his own. His journey to help his father takes him from the safety and security of his home town of Modesto, California, to Anaheim, Chicago, and back down Route 66. Along the way, he's helped by some ordinary and e... more

Discover Books

General Fiction (including literary and historical)