Kyla, a 26-year old woman, remains undisturbed within the comfort zone of her supportive family, her loyal sweetheart, and close-knit friends. An admitted late-bloomer, Kyla returns for her eighth year as a part-time student at the local university. An unforeseen, yet heart-awakening physical attraction and emotional bond form between Kyla and Steph, another female classmate. An uncertain and fearful Kyla must decide whether to continue the now lopsided relationship with her trusting boyfriend of four years, or submit to unfamiliar passions felt toward another woman.Brace yourself for this passionate journey for an answer to the common question "who am I?" You'll relate to the comical questions Kyla shares with her friends, connect with her thoughts as she silently questions life's everyday activities, and empathize with her as she struggles with the unknown.Hold on tight, and get ready for the ride of your life.

Twenty-six-year-old Kyla is admittedly a late bloomer. She prefers to remain within the comfort zone of her supportive family, her loyal sweetheart, and her close-knit group of friends. When she returns to the local university for her eighth year as a part-time student, she is surprised by a physical attraction and emotional bond that she forms with Steph, another female classmate. Uncertain and fearful, Kyla must decide whether to continue the now lopsided relationship with her trusting boyfriend of four years, or submit to unfamiliar passions felt toward another woman. Brace yourself for this passionate journey for an answer to the common question, "Who am I?" You'll relate to the comical questions Kyla shares with her friends, connect with her thoughts as she silently questions life's everyday activities, and empathize with her as she struggles with the unknown. Hold on tight, and get ready for the ride of your life.

Resenting her parents for refusing to allow her to attend the funeral of her first love, Jerad, Krystal leaves home to seek sanctuary with Jerad's cousins while she struggles to deal with the demons in her life.

Haywood Robinson was just seventeen when she was sent to a behavioral modification program in Montana-a horrible and painful experience. This raw and emotional memoir chronicles Haywood's struggles with mental illness and her lack of a diagnosis until her thirties. It fearlessly tells of her experiences with toxic relationships, abortion, love addiction, eating disorders, and attempted suicides, and outlines her difficult climb back out of the darkness toward recovery. She wants readers to truly understand the agony of mental illness and the many difficulties people with mental illness go through every day of their lives. She hopes parents who read this book will consider dealing compassionately with their child's mental illness rather than resorting to a program that uses attack therapy and brainwashing...because those experiences usually do far more harm than good. Lastly, she wants people like herself to know they are not alone. That their feelings are valid and they are important.

A few fabulous trips. Eight crazy people. Tons of mad drama. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” For the eight members of the Destination: Anticipation Travel Club (DAT Club) — this popular motto doesn’t exactly ring true. The group is sorely reminded that dirt is dirt is dirt, no matter where it happens and eventually folks are going to find out about it, no matter how hard they try to cover up their individual misdeeds. Identical twins Madetra Howard, a frustrated, inner-city hospital doctor and Elantra Evans, a stripper/web-porn operator, start a travel club and along for the ride are: Madetra’s uncaring husband who secretly loves his sister-in-law and is hell-bent on distancing himself from his humble beginnings, a self-absorbed local TV anchorman who develops a thing for every woman he meets, a mysterious psychiatrist who is nuttier than his patients, a female TV news producer whose affair with a fellow travel club member leaves her pregnant and reeling, a reporter whose Sex & The Single Sistah column reveals a little too much about the city’s elite and a petty drug dealer/minor league baseball player who will do anything or anyone to get out of the cut and into the major leagues. For DAT Club, all hell breaks loose following a trip to Las Vegas. With secrets as deep and twisted as the road is long — everyone is in peril when a blackmailer and killer among them makes their presence known. Each of them must learn for themselves there are consequences to be paid for their actions — and when the men start dying off — the women start questioning their allegiances, their safety and their sanity. To put it simply, these folks are TRIPPIN’. So sit back, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy this explosive, drama-filled literary ride.

Fifteen-year-old Johnnie Wise is sold to a corrupt white insurance man named Earl Shamus by her mother, while being pursued by a crime boss who will stop at nothing to possess her in 1950s New Orleans.

The Midwest has produced a robust literary heritage. Its authors have won half of the nation's Nobel Prizes for Literature plus a significant number of Pulitzer Prizes. This volume explores the rich racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the region. It also contains entries on 35 pivotal Midwestern literary works, literary genres, literary, cultural, historical, and social movements, state and city literatures, literary journals and magazines, as well as entries on science fiction, film, comic strips, graphic novels, and environmental writing. Prepared by a team of scholars, this second volume of the Dictionary of Midwestern Literature is a comprehensive resource that demonstrates the Midwest's continuing cultural vitality and the stature and distinctiveness of its literature.