The Novel Wrestler (HB) By: Bill Welker, EdD “The Novel Wrestler is a unique narrative about a very creative adolescent who faces the various aspects of growing up and the realities of life. It vividly demonstrates to the reader that one’s true character is defined by how he responds to adversity, both on and off the wrestling mat.” —Rob Koll, NCAA Champion, Head Wrestling Coach at Stanford University Tommy St. Clair was a child prodigy in the literary field and a bestselling author before reaching high school. Tommy also loved the sport of wrestling. His father and older brother were state champions. A student of the game, Tommy strived to accomplish the same goal. It never happened. He lacked the mental and physical toughness his father and brother possessed. That all changed when Tommy’s life was turned upside down. The Novel Wrestler will capture the hearts and souls of those who have traveled similar paths in life. You will be amused, you will cry, and the ending will take you completely by surprise. Without question, readers will be intrigued with Tommy’s “coming-of-age” decisions and how he handles life’s disappointments.

A Wrestler’s Curse By: Bill Welker Jacob Christian is a highly intelligent boy who loves the sport of wrestling. He lives in a middle-class household with parents who raised him to be moral-minded, with strong spiritual convictions and values that respected the rights of others. Diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder at a very young age, Jacob is in a constant battle with his own personal problems, as well as facing strong adversaries in wrestling and during his day-to-day matters. His “coming-of-age” experiences include falling in love, teenage drinking, and making choices that would affect him his entire life. Jacob Christian’s transformation from an adolescent to a college student was by no means mundane. There are twists and turns in the storyline that will keep the reader guessing on the various outcomes regarding Jacob’s challenging road to adulthood. A Wrestler’s Curse will capture the hearts and souls of those who have traveled similar paths in life. Sometimes you will be amused, sometimes you will cry, and sometimes you will be surprised. Jacob’s journey in life is one that often pits good against wicked intentions. You will be inspired and uplifted by Jacob’s unique decisions. Enjoy the read.

Patrick D. Smith, award-winning author of A Land Remembered, Forever Island, and other classic novels about Mississippi and Florida, wrote The Beginning in the 1960s at the height of the Civil Rights movement. He offered an inside perspective on its effect on the people, both black and white, caught in the upheaval of the changing South. Now a new generation of readers can reassess the times and the decisions of those who lived through them. Midvale is an imaginary small town in southern Mississippi in the 1960s. Life moves at a pace set by its long, hot summers and dirt-poor economy. The African-Americans know their place and pretty much keep to it in “the quarters," a dilapidated section of town. The whites, mostly merchants and farmers, know their place too, living quiet, family-oriented lives. A reasonably friendly atmosphere prevails in this segregated society. Then Washington begins passing new laws, and a current of unrest ripples through town as a few blacks, for the first time, register to vote. Angry segregationist Sim Hankins demands that Sheriff Ike Thornton do something to stop it. Sheriff Thornton has his own ideas of what should be done to improve race relations: rehabilitation of “the quarters" with indoor bathrooms, new roofs and paint, and paved streets. But his plan triggers violence between those who would keep the old ways and those willing to make a beginning toward the new. Then the outside world arrives in the form of two young white Civil Rights workers determined to start a “freedom school." The resulting violence and bloodshed carry the story to a climax not unlike the 1960s' newspaper headlines.

From early Spanish myths and Seminole and African-American folktales to the latest descriptions of modern Miami, this anthology includes writings by such authors as Ralph Waldo Emerson, John James Audubon, Zora Neale Hurston, Zane Grey, Wallace Stevens, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Jose Yglesias, and Harry Crews.

Every 3rd issue is a quarterly cumulation.