The Summer Of Crud

-Eric Hoffer Award Finalist, 2018 “A slender, fast-paced, fever-dreamed excursion . . . undeniably addictive.” -Kirkus Reviews, Recommended Review The summer after graduating from college, 22-year-old Danny Wolinski takes a cross-country US road trip with his friend, Ian Perez, hoping to find the inspiration to reach his songwriting potential, start a band, and avoid student teaching in the fall. Danny is tormented by intense physical and psychological pain and sees music as his only relief, but the more he searches for this inspiration in an America filled with endless parties, heavy drugs, and lost souls, the more he questions whether it exists. A deeply disturbing and psychological coming-of-age novel, The Summer of Crud explores the complexities of friendships, masculinity, sex, mental illness, and addiction, and shows how the quest to unlock one's creativity can both inspire and destroy a person. *The Summer of Crud is the second book in a loosely-linked series with Hammond, Understanding the Alacrán, Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story, and The Soul City Salvation as books one and three-five. Each novel can be read independently of the others.

-Winner of 2015 Stargazer Literary Prizes (Visionary and Metaphysical Fiction category) -Bronze medal winner of 2016 FAPA President's Awards (Adult eBook category) -Recommended by Kirkus Reviews Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story follows a group of recent college graduates who struggle with feelings of alienation and their addictions as they try to survive a year of teaching at two dysfunctional Miami public schools. A poetic and insightful coming-of-age novel, Developing Minds is centered on 24-year-old Luke Entelechy, an aspiring writer who sees his creative output suffer when he begins teaching at one of Miami's most challenging middle schools. As the year progresses, however, Luke begins to relate to the neglect and abuse his students suffer, and is faced with a "haunting" decision: continue to let his dark past destroy him, or rise above the struggle to realize his potential as an artist and a "real" human being. Equal parts disturbing and humorous, Developing Minds offers a brutally honest look at the American public school system and the extreme measures many teachers take to cope with working in it. *Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story is the fourth book in a loosely-linked series, with Hammond, The Summer of Crud, and Understanding the Alacrán as books one-three, and The Soul City Salvation as book five. Each novel can be read independently of the others.

"Earnest . . . Compelling . . . successfully captures the anger, frustration, and freedom of kids on the brink of adulthood." -Kirkus Reviews, Recommended Review A group of troubled but charismatic boys in a tough Buffalo, NY neighborhood play basketball at a local park and dream of winning a state high school championship. Driven by raw talent and killer instinct, they dominate the court, but everywhere else, they feel like losers. Hammond is told through the eyes of James Lombardi, a precocious but mentally ill boy who believes winning a championship will ease his "Evil Thoughts" and save his family, long haunted by generations of substance abuse, uncontrollable rage, and suicide. A dark but humorous coming-of-age novel, Hammond offers a poetic and disturbing look inside the complex mind of an adolescent boy as he slowly learns that having the heart of a champion can sometimes be more burden than blessing. *Hammond is the first novel in a loosely-linked series with The Summer of Crud, Understanding the Alacrán, Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story, and The Soul City Salvation as books two-five. Each novel can be read independently of the others.

-Recommended by Kirkus Reviews "A philosophical story of growth, insight, and discovery . . . which offers rich food for thought long after Jay’s story concludes.” —Diane Donovan, California Bookwatch Ten months—that’s how long twenty-six-year-old writer and aspiring actor Jay Sakovsky decides to stay and teach in the bohemian beach town of Soul City, California, to save up cash and overcome his anxiety before moving on to Hollywood. But after several “friendly chats” with the vice principal about hangover sweats and black eyes from barroom brawls, Jay sees a therapist who helps him connect his self-destructive tendencies and artistic blocks to his undiagnosed OCD, setting him on a ten-year healing journey that drives him to near madness as he explores the limits of his heart, creativity, and psyche. A surreal, darkly comic, and psychologically epic novel, The Soul City Salvation explores mental illness, friendship, aging, masculinity, modern love, the creative process, spiritual awakening, and fighting for respect in an uncaring world. *The Soul City Salvation is the fifth book in a loosely-linked series, with Hammond, The Summer of Crud, Understanding the Alacrán, and Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story as books one-four. Each novel can be read independently of the others.

-Silver Medal Winner of the 2017 FAPA President's Awards (Contemporary/Literary category) Trying to escape the oppression leading him to drinking, drugs, and despair, 22-year-old William James rejects a teaching position offer at a prestigious Buffalo high school and moves to Mexico to find freedom in its beaches, mountains, and culture. But soon, this freedom becomes oppressive as well as William finds himself unable to avoid the pull of the wild party scene in the small town of Lila where he lives. He continues a downward spiral until he meets a complex and compassionate Mexican woman whose love inspires him to face the question he's been avoiding: Is this trip a desperate search for life or a slow death? A dark but humorous coming-of-age novel, Understanding the Alacrán explores many of the questions that haunt young people searching for love and their place in this world, and offers a poetic look at the raw beauty and healing power of Mexico. *Understanding the Alacrán is the third book in a loosely-linked series with Hammond and The Summer of Crud as books one and two, and Developing Minds: An American Ghost Story and The Soul City Salvation as books four and five. Each novel can be read independently of the others.

The Outsiders-with giant monsters and transforming robots! You know that book about the poor kids and the rich assholes who mess with them all the time? The one where the main poor kid (C. Thomas Howell) and his best friend save those kids from a fire, and then the best friend (Ralph Macchio) dies and croaks out, "Stay gold, Pony Boy." And there's that rich girl, Cherry, who totally leads Pony Boy on the whole time? This is that! But with giant monsters and robots fighting in the rumbles. And it's in The Hamptons. In a dystopian future. It's crazy! Giant monster fights, touching love with sexbots and stinky women, extreme body modification, and Boogers, the guy who's sorta like Pony Boy, but gross and perverted-it's all right here. Stay gold.