In quasi-comic-book format complete with dialogue in balloons, Billy and Belle is a gently humorous story featuring a modern mixed-race family on an important day. Little Billy and Belle can't wait for Mom to have her baby: Belle already knows how to give a newborn a bottle, and Billy's set to share his pet hamster with a new brother or sister. When Mom goes to the hospital, the kids go off to school for Pet Day (hamster and pet spider in tow) and a little unlooked-for excitement, as all the pets get loose. The family's love and community's support are charmingly portrayed in Sarah Garland's colorful artwork.

Somewhere between a paperboys first cup of chicory coffee and the memories of the Madam who inspired Belle Watling of Gone With the Wind fame, there lies a story of sex, secrets and spiritual redemption. Interweaving portals to the past with the magic of a Spirit Guide called back to his lovers deathbed, Belle Brezing is a haunting love story about a loyal paperboy on a high-stakes mission: To guide his former lover to remember the secret that forged her rise to fame but closed her heart to love. Belle Brezing, the novel, takes a look at the woman who died in virtual isolation in 1940, decades after her business was closed by the Army in 1917. Brezing was a nationally known southern Madam whose obituary appeared on the front of the NY Times as well as Time Magazine. (1863-1940) Belle Brezing was a charismatic woman who brought herself out of poverty and an emotionally and physically painful early childhood. Shedding light on the connections of a wounded past and a life lived in quiet desperation, the award-winning novel Belle Brezing exposes the scandals and secrets of this dynamic woman whose life parallels timely issues in the arena of prostitution and sex trafficking.

In quasi-comic-book format complete with dialogue in balloons, Billy and Belle is a gently humorous story featuring a modern mixed-race family on an important day. Little Billy and Belle can't wait for Mom to have her baby: Belle already knows how to give a newborn a bottle, and Billy's set to share his pet hamster with a new brother or sister. When Mom goes to the hospital, the kids go off to school for Pet Day (hamster and pet spider in tow) and a little unlooked-for excitement, as all the pets get loose. The family's love and community's support are charmingly portrayed in Sarah Garland's colorful artwork.

New Stories from the Midwest presents a collection of stories that celebrate an American region too often ignored in discussions about distinctive regional literature. The editors solicited nominations from more than three hundred magazines, literary journals, and small presses, and narrowed the selection to nineteen authors comprising prize winners and new and established authors. The stories, written by midwestern writers or focusing on the Midwest, demonstrate how the quality of fiction from and about the heart of the country rivals that of any other region. The anthology includes an introduction from Lee Martin and short fiction by emerging and established writers such as Rosellen Brown, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Christie Hodgen, Gregory Blake Smith, and Benjamin Percy.

God's call for each of us is to live every day of our lives...every moment...for His glory. "Called to Live" is about serving Christ through relationships while placing our own relationship with Him as the top priority of our life. In his heart, Billy Coleman is a storyteller, and he brings many of his stories to this book. As an athlete, a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent of education, Billy brings a unique challenge to each of us to serve Christ "in the world", wherever we are. "Called to Live" is for all ages in all walks of life. In Christ, one person can change the world, and it is our prayer each of us can become that one person! As we live each moment of our life, may God richly bless your journey with Him! "Called to Live" is the true account of Billy Coleman's response to Jesus Christ. It is one thing to write a book, quite another to live it out in a day to day relationship with every level of society. Anyone seeking a closer walk with the Master will find Billy's book to be a spiritual road map. I encourage you to find time to live through the real life experiences of one who has and continues to hear and answer the "call to live". Bert Goodwin Minister and Spiritual Director- Walk to Emmaus Community of the Mantle and Spiritual Academy Forum I started reading "Called to Live" one Sunday afternoon and finished it the next day. I could not put it down. What a great book about real life. I thought the chapter on "Living the Moment" was right on the money. The journey is the real learning part the Lord wants us to focus on. "Called to Live" is about our journey with Christ! H. Russell Lester III, National Board of Directors, Youth for Christ 1

Full Length, Drama Characters: 1 male, 3 female, chorus. Interior The early life cycle of a girl growing up with her sister and her mother in a lower class black neighborhood, with scenes switching back and forth in time to show her both as she is now and as she was when a little girl. Her mother was an evangelist, and her father a very likeable but contentious alcoholic. Her sister became a whore early in life. One night after the father has left the family, mother plans a pilgrimage to another town; and so this is the night that sister decides to bring home a white man and initiate the younger girl in the rites of sex. Sensing trouble, however, mother returns unexpectedly and discovers all. Ever since that night, sister has disappeared, and the girl has gone searching for her everywhere, ending up a prostitute herself. Her one remaining hope is her lover, who has made her pregnant. "Complex but moving, well written, compassionate Black play." N.Y. Times.