Spotlight: Olive's Birthday by Elizabeth & Roger Milbourn

Genre: Children's Picture Book

Olive is very excited about her birthday! What presents will she get? What sort of party will she have? What will her birthday cake be like? Help Olive Choose. In this first book of the Choosy Olive series, the reader gets to decide how Olive's birthday unfolds. See if you can dodge the odd outcomes. Help children feel empowered and learn about the consequences of choice from an early age in a fun and silly way with Olive as she embarks on her day to day childhood journey.

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About the Author

Elizabeth and Roger's children's book, Olive’s Birthday, has been a work in progress for over 5 years. Life got in the way a bit as did running around after their young children. Olive’s Birthday is the first book in the 'Choosy Olive' series, which allows readers to choose how the stories unfold. Elizabeth and Roger wanted to create something a bit different in a picture book and are passionate about giving children choices (within appropriate boundaries!) to empower them. Elizabeth is an avid reader and will read anything and everything but can barely go a day without an Agatha Christie fix. Roger loves children's books and reading to their children and is partial to a non-fiction. Elizabeth is Australian but has called England her home for nearly two decades. Her and Roger (originally from Liverpool) live in the Worcestershire countryside with their two children and quite a lot of pets. When not writing or reading, they spend most of their time washing mud off the children and the dog. 

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Spotlight: The Adventures of Winston the Pig: Meet Winston by Sarah Ambrosia Mulleneaux and Illustrated by Nadiya Lobanova

Genre: Children's Picture Book 

Winston the pig is not like the other animals where he lives. He has big red glasses and loves eating more than almost anything. He also has a habit of getting into trouble. Join Winston on the first of many adventures as he tries to find his place in the world and learns some valuable lessons along the way. 

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About the Author

Sarah lives in Arizona with her husband, kids, and menagerie of pets including Winston the pig. She is a surgical nurse who loves writing and has enjoyed working on this book with her friend and colleague, Nadiya. She and her two sons also run a pooper scooper business called The Poop Fairy.

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About the Illustrator

Nadiya Lobanova is a medical and scientific illustrator with a surgical nursing background. Due to her wide interest in other fields, she is also keen on creating illustrations for children's books and thus teamed up with Sarah to visualize a wonderful story in hopes of bringing a bit more kindness to this world through a growing generation.

Spotlight: Hope and Fortune by Marissa Bañez

Hope and Fortune is a modern-day fairytale, featuring multicultural, multiracial (e.g., Filipina, African-American, Latina, Asian, Muslim, etc.), multigenerational, and multigender (including a boy) fairies of different shapes and sizes who help a sad little child who has lost her way to find her path.  Each fairy represents an ideal - Hope, Innocence and Wonder, Truth and Virtue, Generosity and Kindness, Strength and Courage, Respect and Dignity, Confidence, Imagination, Happiness, Beauty, Wisdom and Intelligence, and Love and Friendship. Although the protagonist is a little girl, the life advice given by the fairies is non-gender-specific and could resonate with anyone facing a difficult situation at any point in her/his/their life.

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About the Author

A first-generation immigrant to the U.S. from the Philippines, Marissa Bañez is a graduate of Princeton University and a lawyer licensed to practice in New York, California, and New Jersey. She has published legal articles for the prestigious New York Law Journal and the American Bar Association, but her true passion is in her children's stories. She currently lives in New York City with her husband and daughter, whose childhood was filled with many original stories and puppet shows made up entirely by her mom. In her free time, Marissa likes to travel, design and make clothes, cook, binge-watch Star Trek shows and Korean dramas, and occasionally strum a guitar.

She is currently working on her second book, Hues and Harmony (How the Singing Rainbow Butterfly Got Her Colors), a story about mixed or multiracial children, self-discovery, and respect for others as told through the life and adventures of a caterpillar. It is scheduled for publication on July 20, 2023.

You can find her online:

Website: https://www.marissabanez.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marissa.banez.7/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissa-banez/

Spotlight: Invisible Trap by John Clay

Release Date: January 3rd, 2023

Publisher: Archway Publishing

This book is a tool to help parents and children become aware of their emotions, why they feel the way they do, and work together to embrace the journey of life.

The Invisible Trap is an allegorical story of a child who leaves the safety and comfort of home. Soon he is overwhelmed by his new reality. Realizing he is all alone, he has to overcome his big emotions to gain clarity.

The Invisible Trap is the effect limiting beliefs have on our ability to function. This book embraces Integrated Psychological Leadership Theory and intends to help people learn emotional intelligence as early as possible.

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About the Author

John Clay served in the US Army from 2011 until 2022. The impact of his service left him angry, frustrated and scared. In 2017, his first daughter was born, and he realized he needed to address his emotional trauma. That's when he discovered his on Invisible Trap.

Connect:

Website: https://theinvisibletrap.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-c-clay

Spotlight: Merlin's Apprentice: The Mage by Susan McCauley

Genre: Epic Middle Grade Arthurian Fantasy

Twelve-year-old Pip must embrace his magical powers to rescue his family from slavery—or help the king save the realm—a decision that will tear his world apart.

Desperate to keep his family together, Pip hides his power so he can be sold with them. But when his father and brother are sold to different mages and the slavers attempt to separate his mother and sister, Pip loses control and injures a slaver with magic. The uproar catches the attention of the southern king’s druid advisor, Merlin, who quickly offers a place to Pip, his sister, and his mother. On the road to King Arthur’s court, bandits attack their camp, and his family is further torn apart. Pip has no choice but to work with Merlin—who may not be the evil mage Pip assumes him to be—to learn to harness his powers so he can help King Arthur stop Mordred. Only then might Pip have a chance to see his family together again. 

Excerpt

Rain slapped Pip’s face and slithered beneath his tunic, running cold down his back and into his britches. These weren’t the usual autumn mists, but bone-chilling rain. Mud churned beneath his feet, sticking in clumps to his tattered, tired boots. They shouldn’t be out trudging the roads today. They shouldn’t be out at all. No one should. But today they didn’t have a choice. Today all the villagers had to attend a summons. 

No one knew what this summons would be about. The magistrate had already issued a proclamation setting a new harvest quota for the ordinarius, and if it wasn’t met, King Mordred would take more than just taxes. He would take flesh. 

So they’d all had to help. Even his little sister, Mary, had worked her tiny fingers raw pulling turnips in the garden. If only they lived south—in King Arthur’s realm—then surely their lives would be easier. King Arthur was supposed to be a fair king. Pip sighed and trudged along behind his parents. Mother and Da had said maybe the taxes would increase, or maybe the rations would decrease. Pip knew that whatever the magistrate had to say, it wouldn’t be good. He was a pig who only cared for himself.

The rain dulled to a heavy mist, and a group of ravens flew and twisted in the sky, their wings nearly blacking out the pale winter sun. One dove toward Pip, its caw shattering the cool morning silence and filling Pip’s belly with dread. He stopped and stared, watching the flock disappear into a smear of darkness. 

“Pip. Hurry up, lad! Stop your daydreaming,” his father bellowed. “We can’t be late for a summons.” 

A shiver of power tingled over Pip’s skin as he watched the last of the ravens disappear into the morning mist and then ran to catch up with Da and the rest of his family. 

“Did you see the ravens, Da?” Pip whispered so his little sister Mary couldn’t hear. 

Da stopped and looked at the sky. He crossed himself and shook his head, his brow furrowed with worry. “I didn’t see any. And I pray to God there were no ravens, lad. There’s too much darkness about already.” 

Pip’s stomach twisted in knots. Da hadn’t seen any ravens, only Pip had. Maybe it was another vision. They’d only come since he’d discovered he was magus, and he still wasn’t used to having visions. Real or imagined, though, surely ravens were an omen of things to come. But the magus wouldn’t possibly take more from the ordinarius families. They’d taken enough already.

“When I’m a mage,” Pip swore to his sister, “I’ll make sure every ordinarius and magus is treated fairly. Then none of us will need to worry about village summons or selfish magistrates.” 

“Shhhst,” Mother hissed, eyes like whips, head twisting from side to side to see if anyone had overheard. 

Da grimaced, and Galen glared. Galen. Pip scowled; his older brother always sided with their mother. Pip had never been close to Galen. His brother was old enough to work the fields when Pip was born, and they’d never spent much time together. The only time Galen ever spoke to Pip was to criticize him on his handling of a chore or to try to stop him from using magic. No wonder he was Mother’s favorite.

Pip gazed at the barren field around them. The closest villagers were several paces away. “There’s no one close enough to hear us,” he protested.

“I said not to speak of it.” Mother’s words were clipped, her eyes colder than the morning rain.

Pip held his breath and then let it out slowly instead of speaking his mind. He was glad to be a magus, even if he was new to his power, which had come after his twelfth birthday, just passed. But his family had told no one. Not yet. Mother had been especially strict that no one should speak of it. No one should know. Maybe it was because he’d only discovered his power. Maybe it was because no one else in his family had any magic. Mother was just being suspicious when she should be proud.

Pip wrapped his arm around his little sister and whispered. “When I’m apprenticed to become a mage, I’ll be sure to learn more than a few tricks to keep you safe and happy.” He tweaked her nose and she giggled. 

They made their way along the muddy lane to their village, which lay south of the hill fortress at Etin, a two days’ march north of Hadrian’s Wall. Both magi-soldiers and battle mages sometimes skirted their village, yet they never stayed. It was a poor place, but the local mage lord who oversaw the ordinarius farms was kind enough. It was Mordred’s edicts that were harsh, forcing ordinarius families to cut back on their own rations to provide more to his court and the magus class ruled by the cruel northern king. And all because ordinarius had no magic. Because they were not magus. It was so unfair. At least there were more ordinarius than magus in the world; otherwise, there would be no end to the work they did for the magus class.  

When they arrived at the small muddy square that marked the village center—usually decorated for festivals or alive with peddlers selling their wood or tin or cloth—it was empty of festivities. Armed magi-soldiers dressed in black and blood red, Mordred’s colors, lingered at the perimeter. Their swords gleamed in the pale morning light and their wary eyes darted from face to face. 

Mordred’s soldiers were here. Fear shot through Pip’s veins. He peered around the square taking in the magi-soldiers’ armor, embossed with silver runes. Da had long ago taught him and Galen to identify the magi symbols to stay clear of trouble. He saw none of the plain clothed magi with their green sashes, nor any magi marked with the golden runes or red sashes of a battle mage. Still, they’d never had soldiers here for a proclamation before. Something was different. Something was wrong.

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About the Author

Susan McCauley is an award winning author of paranormal, fantasy, and horror for adults, young adults, and middle grade readers. She first fell in love with the paranormal when she was three years old and scared witless on Disney's Haunted Mansion ride, but begged her parents to ride again and again! Susan has lived on all three coasts of the United States, as well as having spent a few years in the U.K. She loves to travel, snorkel, practice taekwondo, read, try new restaurants, watch movies, and go to the theatre. She’s also passionate about animals and has a special place in her heart for cats.

You can visit her on the web at www.sbmccauley.com 

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Spotlight: It's a Squirrely Life by JP Cawood

Middle Grade Christmas Adventure

Date Published: 11-01-2021

Publisher: HEROmation

Someone has stolen all the nuts from the Oak Creek bank, and George the squirrel must catch the thief before Christmas. He learns what forest life would be like without him and gains the courage to lead his friends on the adventure of a lifetime. It’s a nutty spin on the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, great for kids ages 7+

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About the Author

JP Cawood is an author who has also worked in live-action TV and film, animation, and comics. The screen adaptation of her novel, Love from Mars, was a recent Semi-finalist in both Screencraft and Stage32 screenplay competitions. She was also named Top 50 Screenwriter by the International Screenwriters' Association in 2021.

Connect:

Website: https://jpcawood.com

Facebook: https://facebook.com/jpcawoodbooks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jpcawoodbooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16202670.J_P_Cawood

Instagram: http://www.instragram.com/heromationstudios