Introducing… 2021 Long List
Introducing our long-listed titles of the 2021 Shelf Unbound Competition for Best Independently Published Book.
3 a.m. Austin Texas
“3 a.m. Austin Texas” is based on a true story of the author, Klecko. In 1982, when he was a young Minnesota man, still in his late teens, he threw away his life only to reclaim it while hitchhiking to Texas in the dead of winter. Long before the days of cellphones, this journey, made in abject solitude, save for a few people he met along the way, taught him how to be resilient and gain confidence.
About the Author
Klecko
Klecko is a 40+ year master bread baker and the 2020 winner of a Midwest Book Award for his book of poetry, “Hitman-Baker-Casketmaker: Aftermath of an American’s Clash with ICE.” He lives in St. Paul.
Artifacts and Other Stories
Artifacts and Other Stories explores the exhilaration, disappointments, and surprises of love and connection. These fourteen short stories portray relationships-between lovers, spouses, parents and children, and friends. Desire, longing, memory, secrets, marriage, betrayal, adultery, loss and fresh starts dominate lives. Men and women navigate their feelings and domestic struggles, wrestle with the shifting tides of affection, aging, and illness. Past and present weave together, spilling into the future, as these vibrant, memorable characters face unexpected changes in their lives and in themselves.
About the Author
Ronna Wineberg
Ronna Wineberg is the author of Nine Facts That Can Change Your Life, a collection of short stories, which received Honorable Mention for the Eric Hoffer Book Award; On Bittersweet Place, a novel, winner of the Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition; and a debut collection of stories, Second Language, winner of the New Rivers Press Many Voices Project Literary Competition, and the runner-up for the Reform Judaism Prize for Jewish Fiction.
Blood and Silver
What is a twelve year old girl to do when she finds herself in the silver boom town of Tombstone, Arizona, in 1880, and her only home is a brothel and her only parent is a drug-addicted mother? If she is Carissa Beaumont, she outsmarts the evil madam and figures a way out.
After tricking the madam, Miss Lucille, into summoning a doctor for her mother, Lisette, she discovers that Miss Lucille has been drugging her. She and the kind doctor make a plan to try to save Lisette by dosing her down on the drug.
Doctor Henderson tells Carissa that the only source for the drug is a Chinese immigrant named China Mary, who lives in Hoptown, at the other end of Tombstone. Carissa has no choice but to go to the powerful woman for help.
China Mary admires Carissa’s brave spirit, and uses her influence to get her a job at the new Grand Hotel, which will free Carissa from her many duties at Miss Lucille’s. She will work along with Mary’s twelve year old niece, Mai-Lin. The two girls become fast friends.
Then, disaster strikes, and the two girls must work together to stay alive.
About the Author
Vali Benson
Vali started and sold two successful businesses before she decided to pursue her real passion of writing. She published several articles in a variety of periodicals, including History Magazine before she decided to try her hand at fiction. She grew up in the Midwest and now lives in Tucson with her husband, two sons and two grandchildren.
Chatterhat
His name is Bob and he delivers the milk. He doesn’t need the money. It’s just something to do.
One night, Bob hears a story. A story about a mass shooting and a girl too good to be true. A story he can’t let go.
Next thing you know, Bob’s doing a deep dive into the suburban weird. Along the way he’ll encounter a cat-munching goat monster. A possibly mythical criminal mastermind. A half-faced man who’s a whole lot of trouble. Some curious neighbors. A masked typist. And the clues to a mystery Bob may lack the imagination to define, the courage to pursue, and the acuity to solve, assuming a solution exists.
About the Author
Matt Ingwalson
My most recent mystery, Chatterhat, which my friends have compared to rambling, paranoid comedies like Big Lebowski and Inherent Vice.
Probably because I got my start with the novellas, I’ve never really hunted for a traditional publisher. Maybe I ought to. But it seems like a lot of work, when what I want to do is just write whatever I feel like writing. Hopefully, somewhere along the line, I turn out something you love.
Life in the Chastity Zone
Thirty-year-old Chastity (Chase) Morgan has always dreamed of her fairytale life—the perfect career, wedding, marriage, family, and on and on. A structural engineer, Chase is brilliant in her line of work, but keeping to her moniker, she is as chaste as they come. Although she doesn’t know the first thing about love and dating, everything changes when she meets Grant Stevens. Wedding bells appear to be right around the corner until he unceremoniously abandons her for another. Derailed but determined, Chase has to find a way to move on.
Little does she know that sinister plans are at work to squash her hopes and dreams. While a psychic medium comes to her aide, it’s uncertain whether or not Chastity will follow the clairvoyant’s advice. Only time will tell if she’ll choose between throwing away her virginity and diving full force into the dating world, or clinging to her fairytale life plan.
About the Author
Holly Brandon
Holly Brandon breaks free from her analytical side to produce Life in the Chastity Zone. Holding a Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Civil Engineering, Holly is best known for her published works in the Journal of Earthquakes, Earthquake Engineering, and Engineering Vibrations and Earthquake Science. Unbelievable as it may appear, many of the scenes in Life in the Chastity Zone are based on true-life experiences. Holly invites readers to follow Chastity on her crazy and hilarious adventures in her search for love and happiness. With more to come, Life in the Chastity Zone is the first in an unforgettable, brand-new Chastity Zone series.
TARO: Legendary Boy Hero of Japan
A B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree
To save an empire from the ruthless warlord who killed his parents, a young samurai must summon the courage to face his past and seize his destiny.
About the Author
Blue Spruell
“Coming of age is not for the young at heart.”
Award-winning author Blue Spruell lived and worked in Japan for several years before returning to Atlanta. A trial lawyer and certified mediator, he runs The Outlaw Firm, specializing in family law and civil litigation. In his “spare” time, he teaches Japanese martial arts at Peachtree Aikikai. His debut novel, Tarō, an historical fantasy adventure is an Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree.
The Image
A naked boy wanders alone through a divided land carrying rocks, and seeks refuge in a cave below a hidden monastery in the mountains. A middle-aged man returns to the home of his youth in Lebanon, to a cave where he confronts a thief with a camera and protects a sacred, centuries-old piece of art. Months later, carrying the treasured face in his briefcase, the photographer faces the utter loss of all he has hoped for. Three stories. Three men. One image: a timeless work of art. The Image is a profound and compelling collection of linked short stories about faith, hope, belonging, and the search for meaning within a holy land.
About the Author
Steven Faulkner
Steven Faulkner grew up in the Sudan and Ethiopia in Africa, and later in Arkansas and Kansas. After dropping out of college, he married, had children, and worked a variety of jobs: driving dump trucks and concrete mixers, carpet cleaning, roofing, newspaper and doughnut delivery, and spent fourteen years as a carpenter. He returned to school and acquired the necessary degrees from the University of Kansas and now teaches Creative Writing at Longwood University in southern Virginia. His previous book Waterwalk: A Passage of Ghosts has been made into a movie starring Hollywood actor Robert Cicchini and has been released across the United States and Canada. Faulkner has published essays in many literary journals and magazines including: North American Review, Fourth Genre, Southwest Review, Shenandoah Review, DoubleTake, and Wisconsin Trails Magazine. His work has been noted in Best American Essays and anthologized in Beacon’s Best.
The Pigskin Heist
The Pigskin Heist is your season ticket to hang with a small college football team through the youthful eyes of idealistic, straight-A student Dylan Mackenzie—who makes the team due to his father’s status on the faculty— and his soccer star girlfriend Charlie, who unexpectedly earns a ‘walk-on’ spot as kicker. Together, they soon learn that the team’s floundering self-esteem and bottom-feeder win-loss record reflects the bigoted coach’s macho, prejudiced leanings and his ham-fisted management. Determined to set things straight from the sidelines, while tempted by career-building gigs and prospects, our optimistic duo join forces with other overlooked players to conjure up unexpected gridiron triumphs and kickstart a winning tradition.
About the Author
Don O. Dyer
Don O. Dyer grew up in Southern California and Oklahoma. After service in the Navy, he graduated from the Letters Program at the University of Oklahoma and worked in numerous vocations, including tall ships, homebuilding, the arts, radio broadcasting, social services, publications, research libraries, and as a grant writer. He lives in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and has authored five novels and a memoir.
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Article originally Published in the December / January 2022 Issue: 2021 Indie Best Award Winners.