Three Stories of Strength and Discovery: Journey Through the Heart of Motherhood, Environmental Crisis, and Enduring Love

Don’t Let Me Keep You by Kathie Giorgio

In this ambitious novel, Kathie Giorgio takes the reader on the rollercoaster ride that is motherhood. From concept to conception, pregnancy to birth, and the progression from infancy to adulthood, Hildy Halverson gives birth to a total of seven children and experiences pretty much all there is to experience.

Hildy, brilliant in both math and science, was strongly encouraged by her parents and teachers to gain a STEM education and then step into a male-dominated field and change the world for women everywhere. But when Hildy becomes enamored of the amazing scientific force that is the human body and her own body’s ability to create and sustain life, she decides to go against contemporary expectations and instead get married young and raise a houseful of kids.

The most important goal to Hildy is that her children choose their own life paths, and not feel pressured the way she did. As each child is born, she says to them, “You can be whatever you want to be, and whatever you want to be will be great.”

The struggles and joys, fatigue and exhilaration of motherhood, are captured in the full panorama of family life. The reader will be carried from page to page as Hildy learns over time to lovingly raise her children, and then let them go.

KATHIE GIORGIO is the author of a total of fifteen books: eight novels, two story collections, an essay collection, and four poetry collections. She’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in fiction and poetry and awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association, the Silver Pen Award for Literary Excellence, the Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence, and the Eric Hoffer Award In Fiction. 

Her poem “Light” won runner-up in the 2021 Rosebud Magazine Poetry Prize, and her work has also been incorporated into many visual art and musical events.  Kathie is the director and founder of AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop LLC, an international creative writing studio. She lives in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Three of her adult children, Christopher, Andy, and Olivia, live close by, along with her solo granddaughter, Maya Mae. One adult child, Katie, has wandered off to Louisiana and lives among the mathematicians and alligators.

Bleeding Sea by K.A. Kirtland

When a mysterious organism starts killing off the oceans, can an inexperienced scientist stop the deadly red tide from spreading?

Gulf of Mexico. Diane Nelson has finally achieved her childhood dream. A recent Ph.D. graduate delighting in the chance to work for her hero, the twenty-five-year-old marine biologist is determined to solve why algae are destroying all life in and above the sea. But when a shooting incident in her new lab leaves one man dead, the unnerved woman fears something more sinister could be at play.

Joining her boss and three lab-mates on an expedition to track down the organism’s origin, Diane struggles to know who to trust. But after she defies company orders and uncovers a shocking conspiracy, the naïve researcher’s future could depend on separating friend from foe…

Can she contain the source before her world turns bloodred?

Bleeding Sea is an electrifying eco-thriller that grips you from the first page. If you crave complex characters, heart-pounding drama, and thought-provoking themes, K.A. Kirtland’s darkly powerful tale is a must-read.

“Drawing on her extensive experience in marine science, K.A. Kirtland paints a chilling picture of what can happen when we tamper with the edges of the ocean’s ecosystems. She teaches us that efforts to solve one human-caused problem can result in new problems with potentially catastrophic consequences for life on land as well as in the sea.” —G.S. Kleppel, PhD, author of Marine Organisms as Indicators; Professor Emeritus, University at Albany, SUNY

“Kirtland uses her own background in marine biology and environmental science to spin an intriguing, action-packed tale about planetary ruin and human corruption. … readers are sure to find the real-world science behind this well-paced story fascinating—and existentially terrifying. An engaging mystery about environmental destruction.” —Kirkus Reviews

About the Author: K.A. Kirtland, debut author of Bleeding Sea, draws inspiration from research expeditions she participated in across the Gulf of Mexico and the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic. With an M.S. in marine biology and a Ph.D. in environmental health sciences, Kirtland weaves a gripping narrative about the delicate balance of ecosystems and the catastrophic impact of pollution. Now based in Atlanta, Georgia, she works as a public health professional and continues to advocate for environmental sustainability.

Elizabeth’s Mountain by Lucille Guarino

Going as far back as I can remember, I think I may have been a hobbyist writer for longer than I was an avid reader. I loved coming up with stories and was able to experience a whole gamut of living through reading. But the genre that always seemed to stay with me—long after I finished a book—were the ones where the protagonists overcame difficulties and hardships. The outsider, the resistor, the sufferer. The disheartened, and the griever. Whatever the struggle or sacrifice, I will advocate for my characters so that they can become champions in their own story. For that reason, I am more of a character-driven story writer.

A dream sparked Elizabeth’s Mountain, and I wrote between three and six hours every day and didn’t stop until it was finished one year later. Elizabeth’s Mountain explores enduring relationships through a lens of 1950s American historical and contemporary romance. People who are drawn to stories that span different periods and showcase the complexities of life and love will like this multigenerational romance novel. Elizabeth is ninety when she tells her story—spirited and wise. Her thirty-four-year-old granddaughter, Amanda, is selfless but resolute in her goals. Joe is slightly wounded, yet reliable and conscientious. Jesse is impulsive and driven. Each one of them has to navigate complicated situations and readers will follow their journey and thought process.

Some of the key challenges I faced when I wrote Elizabeth’s Mountain were in writing for the men’s characters. Joe’s was in having to research the Korean War, and Jesse’s was in his gregarious personality while also remaining mysterious. The saying, “men are from Mars, women are from Venus,” is a true one. My other biggest challenge was in writing a dual timeline story. Two women—grandmother and granddaughter, two different perspectives, keeping their voices distinct and realistic to the times. I found that what worked for me was to write Elizabeth’s story first, then Amanda’s—separate and apart from each other—then merge the two. That it worked as I wanted it to is nothing short of astonishing.

My hope is that readers will be entertained, escaping for a few hours or days into another time and place, and will walk away with a sense of knowing my characters as if they are real. When they turn the last page of Elizabeth’s Mountain, I want them to think, “I’m really going to miss these folks.”

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Cover Photo courtesy of Black Rose Writing.

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