A Flickering Light

Secrets are like pennies. Everybody's got one, even the poorest among us. For generations, the Jensens have raised their families in the small Montana town of Moose Creek, where gossip spreads faster than the wind. Yet some secrets need to be told. When twenty-one-year-old Bea discovers she's pregnant on the heels of her husband losing his job, she's forced to admit she needs help and asks her dad for a place to stay. But past resentments keep her from telling him all that's going on. Mitch Jensen is thrilled to have a full house again, though he's unimpressed with Bea's decisions: dropping out of college, marrying so young--and to an idealistic city kid, of all things. Mitch hopes to convince Bea to return to the path he's always envisioned for her, but she's changed since her mom died. And he refuses to admit how much he's changed, too, especially now that he might be losing his mother as well. Grandma June is good at spinning stories, but there's one she's never told. Now that her mind is starting to fade, her time to tell it is running out. But if she reveals the truth before her memories are gone forever, the Jensen family will never be the same. "Powner will be the next big star in Christian fiction."--Library Journal starred review

Returning to her Midwest roots, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick draws a page from her grandmother's photo album to capture the interplay between shadow and light, temptation and faith that marks a woman's pursuit of her dreams. She took exquisite photographs, but her heart was the true image exposed. Fifteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele loves nothing more than capturing a gorgeous Minnesota landscape when the sunlight casts its most mesmerizing shadows. So when F.J. Bauer hires her in 1907 to assist in his studio and darkroom, her dreams for a career in photography appear to find root in reality. With the infamous hazards of the explosive powder used for lighting and the toxic darkroom chemicals, photography is considered a man' s profession. Yet Jessie shows remarkable talent in both the artistry and business of running a studio. She proves less skillful, however, at managing her growing attraction to the very married Mr. Bauer. This luminous coming-of-age tale deftly exposes the intricate shadows that play across every dream worth pursuing–and the irresistible light that beckons the dreamer on.

Without neon, Las Vegas might still be a sleepy desert town in Nevada and Times Square merely another busy intersection in New York City. Transformed by the installation of these brightly colored signs, these destinations are now world-famous, representing the vibrant heart of popular culture. But for some, neon lighting represents the worst of commercialism. Energized by the conflicting love and hatred people have for neon, Flickering Light explores its technological and intellectual history, from the discovery of the noble gas in late nineteenth-century London to its fading popularity today. Christoph Ribbat follows writers, artists, and musicians—from cultural critic Theodor Adorno, British rock band the Verve, and artist Tracey Emin to Vladimir Nabokov, Langston Hughes, and American country singers—through the neon cities in Europe, America, and Asia, demonstrating how they turned these blinking lights and letters into metaphors of the modern era. He examines how gifted craftsmen carefully sculpted neon advertisements, introducing elegance to modern metropolises during neon’s heyday between the wars followed by its subsequent popularity in Las Vegas during the 1950s and '60s. Ribbat ends with a melancholy discussion of neon’s decline, describing how these glowing signs and installations came to be seen as dated and characteristic of run-down neighborhoods. From elaborate neon lighting displays to neglected diner signs with unlit letters, Flickering Light tells the engrossing story of how a glowing tube of gas took over the world—and faded almost as quickly as it arrived.

Juliette Fay—“one of the best authors of women’s fiction” (Library Journal)—transports us back to the Golden Age of Hollywood and the raucous Roaring Twenties, as three friends struggle to earn their places among the stars of the silent screen—perfect for fans of La La Land and Rules of Civility. It’s July 1921, “flickers” are all the rage, and Irene Van Beck has just declared her own independence by jumping off a moving train to escape her fate in a traveling burlesque show. When her friends, fellow dancer Millie Martin and comedian Henry Weiss, leap after her, the trio finds their way to the bright lights of Hollywood with hopes of making it big in the burgeoning silent film industry. At first glance, Hollywood in the 1920s is like no other place on earth—iridescent, scandalous, and utterly exhilarating—and the three friends yearn for a life they could only have dreamed of before. But despite the glamour and seduction of Tinseltown, success doesn’t come easy, and nothing can prepare Irene, Millie, and Henry for the poverty, temptation, and heartbreak that lie ahead. With their ambitions challenged by both the men above them and the prejudice surrounding them, their friendship is the only constant through desperate times, as each struggles to find their true calling in an uncertain world. What begins as a quest for fame and fortune soon becomes a collective search for love, acceptance, and fulfillment as they navigate the backlots and stage sets where the illusions of the silver screen are brought to life. With her “trademark wit and grace” (Randy Susan Meyers, author of The Murderer’s Daughters), Juliette Fay crafts another radiant and fascinating historical novel as thrilling as the bygone era of Hollywood itself.

"The Flickering Light" is a 2019 poetry and prose collection book from Scars Publications (http: //scars.tv) of the January through June 2019 issues of Down in the Dirt magazine (http: //scars.tv/dirt), plus bonus chapbook releases. Writers and artists in this issue collection book include A. Elizabeth Herting, Alberto Montero, Aleks Pandyra, Alexander Wijangco, Alistair Forrester, Allan Onik, Amanda Steel, Ana M. Fores Tamayox, Andy Schenck, Anita G. Gorman, Annette Gagliardi, Annin Brothers, Armine Zohrabian, Ben Brown, Ben Rasnic, Bill Butler, Bobby Horecka, Bonnie E. Carlson, C. Angelo Caci, C. D. White, Caitlin Cherniak, Carolyn Poindexter, Charles McFadden, Charles S. Manuel, Chella Coutington, Chery Speaks, Christian Fennell, Christine Blaisdel, Christine Seery, Conjeevaram J. Nandakumar, Corrina-Corinna, Cristina Bresser, Daniel David Sapp, David Estringel, David Francis, David Rodriguez, David Russell, Denise O'Hagan, Denny E. Marshall, Dev Pati, DL Shirey, Don Stoll, Don Tassone, Doug Hawley, Doug Van Hooser, Edward Michael O'Durr Supranowicz, Eleanor Bennet, Eleanor Bennett, Eli Tomitch, Eric Robert Nolan, Erica Marchant, Fabrice Poussin, Grant Guy, Gregg Dotoli, Griffin Silver, Harrison Jackson, Helen Bird, Ian Mullins, Iftekhar Sayeed, J. Ray Paradiso, J.B. Stone, Jake Ryvicker, Janet Kuypers, JD Langert, Joan McNerney, John (Jake) Cosmos Aller, John F. McMullen, Joseph S. Pete, Josephine Sourgnes, Judi Dettorre, Julie Henderson, K. Shawn Edgar, Kat Croswell Katrina Croswell, Keith LaFountaine, Keith Mark Gaboury, Kelleye Robinson, Kevin Richard White, Kody Ford, Kyle Hemmings, Kyle Shultz, Lanette Sweeney, Larry Lefkowitz, Linda Wolff, Lino A.K, Lisa Gray, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, Lydia Flores, Marc McMahon, Marianne Brems, Mark Antony Rossi, Mark Ryan, Marlon Jackson, Mary Bargdill, Mert Feyzioglu, Michael Lee Johnson, Mike Nichols, Mike Schneider, Milenko Zupanovic, Natalie Aydin, Nick Smith SeaChompy, Norm Hudson, Oliver Fox, Olivier Schopfer, Patti Harris, Paul Burnham, RC deWinter, Rhiannon Bird, Richard Sensenbrenner, Robert E. Remillard, Sam Evans, Sam Provenzano Samuel, Sarah Conklin, Scott Thomas Outlar, Shamar English, Sharon Frame Ga, Susie Gharib, Taylor Stuckey, Thom Woodruff, Thomas Cannon, Tom Ball, Tracey Underwood, Travis Green, Valeri Paxton-Steele, Vaughan Wesley, Vern Fein, Victoria Otto Franzese, Vincent Bennett, Westley Heine, Winston Derden, and Wyeth Renwick.Writers and artists included in this book are also listed with their writing at the Scars Publications book link (search for the book title in the books section at http: //scars.tv).

Desperate to find respite from her father's verbal abuse, his various affairs, and her step-mother's psychological torment, Gina spent hours doing Jane Fonda's workouts, smoked cigarettes instead of eating food, and became obsessed with her thinness... with the notion of fading away. She found solace in restlessness-drinking hallucinogenic mushroom tea and inhaling crushed pills and powders-perching herself on the periphery of danger again and again. Gina soon glimpsed a better life for herself when her grandfather, a man who was a surrogate father to her, became terminally ill. She soon fell in love with John, a stranger who was utterly familiar, but who was addicted to heroin. She moved from New Hampshire to California, crossing the country in an attempt to alleviate her self-destructive tendencies, but found herself pulled back to New Hampshire, to John, a man with whom, despite his struggle, she could not deny the sense of home she felt. What would it cost for a girl to run wildly and recklessly into womanhood, making instant, temporary homes?

The Colorado Senator offers “a sweeping diagnosis of the nation’s political ills . . . stitched together with assurances that room for redemption still exists” (New York Times Book Review). In The Land of Flickering Lights, Senator Michael Bennet lifts a veil on the inner workings of Congressional politics to reveal, in his words, “a series of actual stories—about the people, the politics, the motives, the money, the hypocrisy . . .” each of which demonstrates “the pathological culture of the capital and the consequences for us all.” Bennet unfolds the dramatic backstories behind the highly politicized confirmation battles over judicial nominations at all levels; the passage of the Trump tax law; the shredding of the Iran nuclear deal; the pervasive corruption unleashed by the influence of “dark money”; and the sabotage by a congressional minority of the “Gang of Eight’s” bi-partisan deal to reform America’s immigration policies. With frankness and refreshing candor, Bennet pulls the machinations behind these episodes into full public view, shedding vital new light on today’s political dysfunction. Arguing that each of us has a duty to act as a founder, he calls on Americans of all political persuasions to demand that the “winners” of our political battles be all the American people, nor one party or the other.

A singularity which knows no equal rules the Earth. Life is perfect. Efficient. Monitored. You can be anything, do anything…in the VR worlds of the Nexus. For M@ti, that isn’t enough. She wants to tear it all down. An experiment from birth, M@ti sees the Manhattan Preserve differently than the teeming millions who inhabit the city. With her eyes to the stars instead of hidden behind VR gear, she uncovers their caretaker’s secret plans for galactic expansion. But when a deadly hunter finds out she's hacked the networks, M@ti must decide if her unique skills are a curse or a blessing and choose sides in a centuries-old war which pits hackers against their AI overlords. Can she cling to her humanity long enough to deliver the world from AI domination? Or will old wounds finally bring the human race to extinction?