Wink

A hilarious and heartwrenching story about surviving middle school--and an unthinkable diagnosis--while embracing life's weirdness. Ross Maloy just wants to be a normal seventh grader. He doesn't want to lose his hair, or wear a weird hat, or deal with the disappearing friends who don't know what to say to "the cancer kid." But with his recent diagnosis of a rare eye cancer, blending in is off the table. Based on Rob Harrell's real life experience, and packed with comic panels and spot art, this incredibly personal and poignant novel is an unforgettable, heartbreaking, hilarious, and uplifting story of survival and finding the music, magic, and laughter in life's weirdness.

The intrigue of The Raven Boys and the "supernatural or not" question of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer coalesce in this young adult mystery, where nothing is quite as it seems, no one is quite who you think, and everything can change on a dime. Every story needs a hero. Every story needs a villain. Every story needs a secret. Wink is the odd, mysterious neighbor girl, wild red hair and freckles. Poppy is the blond bully and the beautiful, manipulative high school queen bee. Midnight is the sweet, uncertain boy caught between them. Wink. Poppy. Midnight. Two girls. One boy. Three voices that burst onto the page in short, sharp, bewitching chapters, and spiral swiftly and inexorably toward something terrible or tricky or tremendous. What really happened? Someone knows. Someone is lying. For fans of Holly Black, We Were Liars, and The Virgin Suicides, this mysterious tale full of intrigue, dread, beauty, and a whiff of something strange will leave you utterly entranced.

In the tradition of Richard Ford, Annie Proulx, and Kent Haruf comes a dazzling debut story collection by a young writer from the American West who has been published in The New Yorker, Granta, and The Best American Short Stories. SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE • 2017 PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD HONORABLE MENTION A construction worker on the run from the shady local businessman whose dog he has stolen; a Custer’s Last Stand reenactor engaged in a long-running affair with the Native American woman who slays him on the battlefield every year; a middle-aged high school janitor caught in a scary dispute over land and cattle with her former stepson: Callan Wink’s characters are often confronted with predicaments few of us can imagine. But thanks to the humor and remarkable empathy of this supremely gifted writer, the nine stories gathered in Dog Run Moon are universally transporting and resonant. Set mostly in Montana and Wyoming, near the borders of Yellowstone National Park, this revelatory collection combines unforgettable insight into the fierce beauty of the West with a powerful understanding of human beings. Tender, frequently hilarious, and always electrifying, Dog Run Moon announces the arrival of a bold new talent writing deep in the American grain. Praise for Dog Run Moon “[An] excellent first book of stories . . . One of the great things about Dog Run Moon is how resilient and funny [the characters] are. They’re at the end of their ropes, but they can still howl about the joy and pain each day brings, as if the young Levon Helm were singing their stories. . . . This is Thomas McGuane territory, and also that of writers like Joy Williams and Jim Harrison.”—The New York Times “Wink is definitely not a writer of half measures; each of these stories demonstrates his ability to lay life bare. A significant collection highly deserving of the spotlight.”—Library Journal (starred review) “Myth and history color these highly satisfying fictions about the way men and women struggle to shape their lives.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “The perils of work and the weight of bequeathal fuel these stories, and each one holds a lasting, unshakable image. Sometimes grace is bestowed upon the characters in a sidewindering, not altogether fabulous fashion; sometimes it’s not bestowed at all. Callan Wink seems to know well the stratagems and delusions of men’s hearts. He also seems born and bred to short-story mastery.”—Joy Williams, author of The Visiting Privilege “Callan Wink’s debut is impressive indeed. Fine, old-fashioned, rich and juicy fiction. Weeks later I’m still living with the characters.”—Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall “Callan Wink’s fresh, urgent stories have an energy and propulsion that set them well apart from the cerebral finger painting of so much literary fiction. Here is a writer with a great big horizon.”—Thomas McGuane, author of Crow Fair “Callan Wink’s stories remind me of expertly tied trout flies—beautifully crafted, true to reality, and barbed. What a fine young writer.”—Ron Rash, author of Above the Waterfall “As in all the best collections, each and every story in Dog Run Moon sings in the essential registers of love and death, work and nature. Callan Wink has the wisdom to write only of the things that matter, and the talent to make these stories as fresh as the literary headwaters from which they come.”—Smith Henderson, author of Fourth of July Creek

'Raising your consciousness to the 'God Winks' that often go by unnoticed, and recognising them as tremendously personal, will affirm that your existence is not random and that you have a role to play in life's grand plan' Squire Rushnell Have you ever thought about someone who hasn't crossed your path or mind in years and then bumped into them? Are there such things as coincidences? Do they mean anything? According to Rushnell, 'coincidences, like winks from God, are encouraging signposts along your universal path.' In WHEN GOD WINKS he explains that a 'God Wink' is a message of reassurance that comes our way whenever we need it and that coincidences are the best way for God to establish a presence in our lives. Rushnell shows how to retrace crossroads (a new job, a death, change in relationships) that took us in an entirely different direction, showing how to map the turning points made by coincidences that have guided us throughout our lives. Best of all, WHEN GOD WINKS shows us how to create our own coincidences and turn wishes into winks. He explains his compelling theory of coincidences through a series of incredible stories and motivational writing on how coincidences play a role in all facets of our life, including career, love, history, medicine, entertainment, sports and politics with telling comments from Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Streisand, Mark Twain, Kevin Costner and other celebrities. WHEN GOD WINKS is a fascinating bridge to self-discovery.

Enter the world of two high tech nomads, leap job-to-job in their shoes, until finding those who need you more than you want to know... Wink is the humorous yet profound story of two post-dot-com software developers. Prostituted by their placement pimp Sally, the two work only to benefit their bank accounts. Their fickle loyalty catches-up with them when they are offered the opportunity to establish a software development firm for a distinguished gentlemen’s club. Now bosses instead of overly-demanding developers, roles suddenly reversed, they must quickly find bill-able hours for their quirky new staff and build the work environment of their dreams; but one that is actually productive. They soon realize that the company and technology they have created is being used for greed—Even more rampant than their own. Now they must make the first important decision of their otherwise worthless careers, and live or die with the consequences…

A boy coming of age in a part of the country that’s being left behind is at the heart of this dazzling novel—the first by an award-winning author of short stories that evoke the American West. LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE • “August reads like early Hemingway, retooled for the present.”—William Finnegan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Barbarian Days Callan Wink has been compared to masters like Jim Harrison and Thomas McGuane. His short stories have been published in The New Yorker and have won numerous accolades. Now his enormous talents are showcased in a debut novel that follows a boy growing up in the middle of the country through those difficult years between childhood and adulthood. August is an average twelve-year-old. He likes dogs and fishing and doesn’t mind early-morning chores on his family’s Michigan dairy farm. But following his parents’ messy divorce, his mother decides that she and August need to start over in a new town. There, he tries to be an average teen—playing football and doing homework—but when his role in a shocking act of violence throws him off course once more, he flees to a ranch in rural Montana, where he learns that even the smallest communities have dark secrets. Covering August's adolescence, from age twelve to nineteen, this gorgeously written novel bears witness to the joys and traumas that irrevocably shape us all. Filled with unforgettable characters and stunning natural landscapes, this book is a moving and provocative look at growing up in the American heartland.

Key Selling Points In My Best Friend Is Extinct a boy discovers a strange, wounded prehistoric creature and nurses it back to health. A fun imaginative adventure story about bravery and friendship. There are more than 30 fun, evocative b/w illustrations by an award-winning illustrator. The creatures in the book are based on actual prehistoric creatures (short-nose bear and saber-tooth tiger).

Adeelah El-Sayed meets Martin Webster, a Christian-a dangerous liaison for a Muslim woman that leads to a private war. The first battle comes from within. Adeelah knows her relationship with a non-Muslim man is unacceptable in her Islamic world. But she loses this battle. She cannot overcome the forbidden love that invades her soul, and she hopelessly surrenders. Together Martin and Adeelah face more attacks from mosque, church, and their two families, all because they dare to love each other. Then two more unexpected attacks: A kidnapping attempt to force Adeelah into a marriage with a Muslim man and a white supremacist attack. In the Christian New Testament, God winked at the ignorance of Greek philosophers on Mars Hill who worshipped an unknown god. Martin and Adeelah find that God still winks today-a Divine wink at the ignorance that separates two, God-fearing people who take their faith in God seriously-an ignorance that conspires to keep them apart. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at."