A Life Through Books

An Inspiring Journey into our Better Natures

Date Published: 10-01-2025

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press

Ten-year-old Luz sets out on an overnight camping trip, accompanied by her spiritual mentor. Peering through a canopy of California redwoods, Luz witnesses a council of animals confronting the menace of climate change. Led by a lustrous—and talkative—American Crow named Koro, the animals weigh their options. Some, like Koro, want to collaborate with humans. Others doubt humanity’s good intentions. The conversation compels young Luz, innately in tune with the natural world, to fight passionately in its defense.

At once a work of fact-based activism and a moving coming-of-age, Crows Calling immerses the reader in a richly-drawn family and community who, despite their differences, decide to dedicate their lives to the care of Grandmother Earth. They are not alone. Rather, they are accompanied by a colorful cast of savvy planimals—bears, coyotes, trees, and even chickens—with long memories and ancient ways of healing. However, some damage cannot be undone. Natural disasters, public apathy, and greed threaten everything that Luz and her friends are working for. Can the cross-species alliance find unity and resolve the climate crisis?

A leading player on global peace and security issues at the intersection of governments, business and civil society for over thirty years, McConnell is the former President and CEO of the EastWest Institute. He serves on the board of The Stimson Center, in support of peace, security, justice, and prosperity for all living beings.

From 2009 to 2013, McConnell served in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he was Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity. He was a member of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team. From 2000-2008, he created, built and sold two consultancies that provided strategic advice to clients in the technology, business and government sectors. In 1999-2000, McConnell led the International Y2K Cooperation Center, which was sponsored by the United Nations and the World Bank.

McConnell holds a Master of Public Administration from the Evans School for Public Policy at the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Sciences from Stanford University. He serves as a business advisor to various technology companies.

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Historical Fiction

Date Published: 09-23-2026

Publisher: Echoes Publishing

At the turn of the century, twenty-three-year-old Paul Tietjens is a gifted classical pianist with dreams of greatness and a non-refundable ticket to Europe to study with the master composers of his time.

But when the bank calls in the debt on his family’s Missouri farm, Paul forgoes his dream to save them from financial ruin. Desperate to find a new road to success, he moves to up-and-coming Chicago, where he persuades author L. Frank Baum to collaborate on a comic opera of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, setting the stage for the defining cultural touchstone that we know today.

Paul embarks on his opera with high hopes, but scandal threatens his soaring ambition when he falls in love with his best friend’s beautiful but married sister, and his fears grow as the Wizard of Oz demands not only his talent but his soul.

Inspired by Paul’s 1901 diary, The Lark follows Paul as he journeys from the theaters of Chicago to the streets of Manhattan, from his family’s Missouri farm to the beaches of Michigan, fighting to hang onto the chance of a lifetime, his integrity, and the woman he loves.

From Chapter 27 of The Lark by Laura C. Rader

After lunch, I sat at the parlor piano and ran through some of the songs for The Wizard of Oz, replaying each moment with Katherine in my mind as my fingers played the keys. She sat nearby, silently reading Persuasion, our glances meeting now and again as Daisy played with Lina and Vita in between sorting through the boarding house accounts. I mulled over the sanctity of marriage, the frailties of the heart, and the ominous predictions of the palm reader. My fate was surely sealed, and I only prayed I hadn’t somehow thrown Katherine’s completely off course.

In addition to The Lark, Laura C. Rader is the award-winning author of the historical novel Hatfield 1677, based on the lives of her ancestors in Hatfield, Massachusetts, in the seventeenth century.

When she isn’t writing, you can find her researching history for her books and her family tree and spending time with family, friends, and pets.

A native of southern California, she now lives north of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Please go to www.lcrwriter.com for more info on her books or to subscribe to her newsletter.

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Spiritual, Meditation

Date Published: September 22, 2026

Publisher: Serapis Bey Publishing

Experience a transformative journey of resonance. Pairing 99 activation cards with eight hours of unique vocal soundscapes, this book guides you to remember your innate truth. Discover the power of sound to restore balance, align with the Earth’s natural frequency, and return to a state of wholeness, truth, and love. Immerse yourself in these galactic keys and awaken the voice within your soul.

 

About the Author

Carmen Belle White is a visionary composer and artist who crafts unique, otherworldly soundscapes designed to transport listeners to realms of awakening. By weaving her voice with over eight hours of original, recorded vocal sound activations—each approximately four-and-a-half minutes in length—she guides her audience into spaces of deep remembrance. Her work serves as a bridge, translating the vast, timeless frequencies of the universe into healing resonances for the human soul.

A Book of Cosmic Frequencies: The Galactic Sound Keys is the culmination of this transformative project. Designed to be experienced alongside a set of 99 cosmic activation cards, this book provides a profound way to articulate the sense that when we become "nothing," we become everything. Each of the 99 cards is paired with a specific vocal sound activation, exploring a vast spectrum of cosmic themes—from anchoring grounding Earth-based frequencies to traversing ethereal, celestial realms. Through this journey, Carmen integrates the interplay of voice and sound within each frequency, inviting you to engage with these powerful keys to discover your own unique resonance and inner potential.

Carmen’s unique relationship with sound stems from childhood experiences that heightened her sensitivity to high-pitched frequencies. This allowed her to "tune in" to the Earth’s natural hum—a constant, grounding surround sound that defines her music. This deep connection to resonance has taken her across the globe, from the sacred waters of Southern France to the recording of her debut album, forever seeking locations that hold ancient, sacred memories.

Today, Carmen offers this extensive body of work as a practical tool for your own journey. She invites you to explore these sound activations, starting with the card corresponding to your date of birth, to uncover your innate truth. Her mission is to help us remember our own voices, restore balance with the Earth, and return to a state of wholeness, truth, and love.

We are all waking up to a resonance that requires no words—only the willingness to listen. To explore the full collection of sound activations and resources, please visit the author's website.

 

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Date Published: 09-15-2026

Publisher: Oculus Print

ZOMBIE ZOO is Book 1 in a five-book middle grade adventure series for readers ages 8-13, blending paranormal mystery, zombies, unlikely friendship, and STEAM-powered problem-solving.

To find a cure, Felix must team up with Ninja, a shadow-dwelling orphan who trusts her instincts and never backs down. Intense and razor-sharp, she notices what others overlook and lives up to her name as the island's most mysterious sleuth. With their eccentric mentor Doc Brunne compromised and the town's water supply contaminated by a glowing bioluminescent substance, the two mismatched investigators must combine scientific observation with sharp intuition to stop the outbreak before their island home is devoured.

Featuring diverse protagonists, quirky humor, spooky-but-fun scares, and strong female and male leads. ZOMBIE ZOO is ideal for reluctant readers and fans of Max Brallier's The Last Kids on Earth, B.B. Alston's Amari and the Night Brothers, and Goosebumps. Comprehensive educator resources-including discussion guides, vocabulary lists, STEAM extension activities, and printable maps-support classroom use, library programming, book clubs, and make this title ideal for cross-curricular lessons bridging ELA, STEAM, and SEL.

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Fantasy

Date Published: September 14, 2026

A year after defeating the evil wizard army, the elves of Edira prosper, yet Luma, the Daughter of Starlight, senses something is amiss. Shadows move where light should reign, and ominous whispers fill her mind, hinting that this hard-won peace may be more fragile than anyone realizes.

Soon, attacks by a vicious darkness confirm her fears, and Edira is not the only world under threat. Malicath, home of the wizards, faces the same darkness, which drains and corrupts magic, including Luma’s own powerful starlight.

Faced with a shared enemy, Luma and the elves form a tenuous alliance with the wizards. Together, they search for the Unseen Star, an ancient magical relic capable of restoring balance to both their worlds. But as the darkness grows stronger and time runs out, Luma realizes that all magic demands a price—and this one may be more than she can pay.

Return to the magical world of Edira in this sequel to the multi-award-winning fantasy, Daughter of Starlight.

About the Author

Molly is passionate about crafting meaningful moments and heartfelt narratives in fantasy-adventure stories brimming with magic and mystery. An unapologetic language nerd, she earned a degree in English and Communication, laying a strong foundation for her writing career. Not stopping there, Molly pursued a second degree in American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreting. As an avid runner, Molly often gets her best story ideas while running and remains outraged that those ideas do not then present themselves, fully formed, on the page. When she’s not running, writing, or interpreting, Molly can often be found taking an excessive number of photos of her dog, Bungee, and her two cats, Rose and Clover. Molly lives in the beautiful St. Croix River Valley of Minnesota with her husband and two sons, who bring her joy every day.

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