Literary Fiction
City in the Sky
“Freedom. Must. Fall.”
For Ryan Kendrick, being mugged on the way home from work is the perfect end to another terrible day. So when a stranger appears just hours later with a job offer from a mysterious organization, Ryan accepts without knowing anything more than the company’s name: Atlantis Technologies, Inc. But Atlantis is no ordinary company. In fact, it’s not a company at all—it’s a civilization.
Atlantis, thought to be long lost to legend, has been hiding in plain sight for millennia, and Ryan has been offered a chance to be part of it. Now, Ryan must adapt quickly to life on a city floating thousands of feet above the Atlantic Ocean, where telepathy and flying soldiers are commonplace. But even as he makes friends and strives to build a life for himself in this new world, Ryan soon realizes that Atlantis is not quite the utopia it claims to be.
And far worse, an ancient enemy known only as the Order has finally emerged from the shadows, vowing to destroy the Atlantean way of life. The Order sank Atlantis once before, thousands of years ago. Now, Ryan must do what he can to protect his new home and stop the Order from doing it again—this time permanently.
Desperate Endeavor
If only Humanity knew what sense to make of the fight with AranthChi, the future would be less bleak.
Thirty-five years after the only interstellar war Humanity has ever fought—with the only aliens Humanity has ever met—one man has wondered his entire adult life why the hell that war happened. As part of the peace, the AranthChi hired Humanity to do scientific research for them, and Mikail's job is to ensure the safety of Humanity's secrets. But the AranthChi's long-term conspiracy is beginning to unravel, and Mikail knows something is very wrong. He sets out on a quest to find answers and soon learns that Humanity is in more danger than ever before . . . and time is running out.
Fireflies and Zeroes
February 2018, Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Generation is back—finally. Over the course of a yearlong hiatus, the pop-punk trio has seen their beloved hometown rocked by racist violence and endured months of radio silence from their brilliant yet volatile front man, Max. But guitarist Jason is ready to put all of that behind him when a late-night call from Max reconnects the lifelong friends and reunites the band.
At a party on the eve of the band’s reunion tour, Jason watches in horror as Max is thrown to his death off a balcony. Or so he thinks. In the chaotic hours that follow, two things become clear: the victim on the balcony was an imposter, and—as usual—there are no simple answers when it comes to the real Max. He’s just . . . gone.
Troubled by the emotional storms that drove Max away even before his disappearance, but desperate to bring him home, Jason resolves to find Max himself. In the long winter shadow of Virginia’s Blue Ridge, Jason sets out on a race against time to save his friend. In doing so, he unravels a series of surprising personal truths about the people and places he cares about most.
Folly
Ezra Magee has worked hard to make a good life for himself as a professor, husband, and father. He’s even made peace with the fact that he can’t remember any of his childhood in the small town of Folly, Alabama, before a traumatic event at the age of twelve erased it from his memory.
But when his own son turns twelve and exhibits symptoms of an illness Ezra thought long-gone from his life, Ezra is suddenly caught between the lies he’s told and the events of his past he was grateful to forget. For the sake of his son and his marriage, he returns to Folly to search for answers: for the truth about his eccentric father, his own history of mental illness, and the harrowing event that robbed him of his family and his childhood.
A Little Rebellion Is a Good Thing: Troubles at Traymore College
When David Pritchard is hired to teach political science at a remote women’s college in 1969, he anticipates a quiet year before moving on to bigger things. However, it soon becomes apparent that all is not well at Traymore College. President Barton and his administration curtail basic academic freedoms, harass tenured professors, and impose tight constraints on students’ personal lives. Appalled, David engages in intimate alliances with sympathetic faculty and several members of student leadership to stand up to the school’s administration. Together, they aim to ignite the press and spark far-reaching legal action. But Barton will not go down without a fight.
The Man Called Jesus
by T. F. Lloyd
The Romans rule Israel with an iron fist, and young Hanan is angry and conflicted. The soldiers murder his father and take their livestock, and he becomes sole provider for his mother. Yet without the cattle that had been his family’s livelihood, Hanan turns to a secret life of thievery. He manages to care for the family while keeping his ways hidden—until he pilfers a valuable Roman necklace and becomes a wanted man. Riddled with guilt and fear, he believes his fate is sealed. Only one beacon of light shines to give Hanan hope for removing his guilt and cleansing his soul: the man called Jesus. Hanan follows the teacher, feeding on his every word and miracle, hoping to find the salvation he craves, before it’s too late.
Papa's Obsession
“Papa,” the Santo family’s protective and eccentric patriarch, is a man of many obsessions. As he struggles for control in the lives of his loved ones, he’s driven to meticulously collect the items that make up the world around him. But no amount of obsessing can give him what he desires most: a grandson to carry on the family name. Or can it? When Papa’s carefree son Ricky finds himself the beneficiary of a beautiful girl’s indiscretion, he soon learns he might be the father of Natalie’s growing child. The possibility sparks a high-stakes game in which Ricky and Natalie are pawns to Papa’s ambitions. The Santo legacy hangs in the balance, but so do the futures of all involved.
Raptors in the Ricelands
In the twenty-first century fictional community of Georgetown, SC, a story unfolds revealing family secrets and conflicts that challenge cultural beliefs. With bighearted intention, newlyweds Florence and Chadwick Wineglass attempt to promote economic legacy, but their unconscious motives often ensnare those they assist. The Wineglasses become raptor-like in their generosity at a moment when other community members’ intentions also prove to be menacing.
Conveyed in four acts and with chapter names that follow the production stages of Carolina Gold Rice, Raptors in the Ricelands spans the future, the present, and the past, and fosters a message of connection with African diasporic communities around the globe. Historical accounts include the Orangeburg Massacre; Black church life, particularly in Oconee County, SC as begun during slavery; the launch of White supremacy in Fort Mill, SC; the Reconstruction Era; and the Universal Negro Improvement Association.
Verities: A Journey by Tracks
written by Randy White
“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.” Take a ride down the train tracks in the small town of Verities, and you’ll see one young man’s quests for meaning in his troubled life. Follow Sam’s journey as he grows up facing ugly truths about love and loss on the wrong side of the tracks. Verities is a hopeful story of rising above one’s circumstances, even in the cruel face of social injustice.
PRAISE FOR VERITIES:
“What’s important in life? No, what’s really important? Is it material possessions; what others think of you? Or, what at the end of much searching leads you to real happiness and contentment? Through a tornadic life, Sam faces questions about family, friends, trust, love, and the price to be paid for securing his dream. Fast-paced, with unexpected but clever plot twists, Verities carries the reader along with its stand-out characters every inch of the way. It also spotlights, in an era of receiving information in short bursts, the enduring value of books that make you think and see things you might never have seen.”
—Rich Garon, author of Felling Big Trees and Lee Fitts