A delusional prison patient warns Dr. Brian Heiser, Marriage and Family Therapist, of enormous impending disaster. Dr. Heiser and his best friend, a lauded Forensic Psychologist, find themselves entangled in a 72-hour deadly race to stop an AI bill being fast-tracked through the Texas state legislature.
Patricia Reigns, an elite developer of artificial intelligence, teams with them, thus cementing the trio as a viable threat.
Unbeknownst to Fred, however, Brian and Patricia had a secret past. That past soon rekindled feelings in Patricia towards Brian, and vice versa. And this woman was not one to play coy.
The more they uncover, the more the deadly power of Artificial Intelligence is unleashed on them at every turn from unseen top tech billionaires all vying for the same AI state contract.
What follows is a three-day frantic sprint toward truth that none of them could have possibly fathomed: a secret plot funded by the world’s wealthiest tech giants, an AI bill touted as a massive “progressive” leap forward for Texas, assassins funded to the gills in blood money, politicians bought and paid for, and a media that couldn’t care less.
Last, buckle up for an intense final stretch that’s simply impossible to foresee.
Dr. Brent Bradley is a well-known couples therapist. He’s treated over a thousand couples in therapy and supervision of therapists. His books and articles are read internationally. He holds a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy, an MA in Christian Theology, and a BA in English Literature.
Brent brings an expert focus and depth to emotion and relationship dynamics in his fictional writing. His style radiates with intelligent plots, suspense, romance, and mystery – all delivered within a relentless pace.
Brent is married with one twin daughter (and one that passed away in the womb). They live in League City, TX. He is an avid fan of the Astros and Texas A&M baseball.
Ziva the Great is a heartfelt picture book for older children about a Maine Coon cat learning to trust again and a quiet girl named Elsie who understands gentle things. Ziva is loving with her family but startles easily around new people-until Elsie arrives. The girl moves softly, speaks softly, and never frightens her.
Their friendship grows through small moments of closeness and calm. Together, they show young readers that healing takes time, trust can return, and even quiet hearts can find comfort again. Perfect for ages 8-12, this emotional animal story supports social-emotional learning (SEL) and is ideal for parents, teachers, counselors, and classrooms. Themes include emotional healing, resilience, friendship, overcoming fear, and the bond between children and animals.
REVIEW
The children’s book has all of my heart and I’m not ashamed to say I teared up reading it. When I was in college, I fostered a main coon kitten found on the street and fell in love when the little guy. So much that I convinced my parents to adopt him. So I knew when I saw the cover, I had to read and review this children’s book.
This book is the perfect mix of short and sweet. The art alone is mesmerizing and I absolutely loved just observing each page. This art style is one of my favorites and absolutely motivated me to pick up my own art and start sketching. Ziva’s expressions were so good and emotive. The illustrator uses a great sense of shadow and color grading to set the mood of each page. The warmth grows visually with the story and fit very well.
I loved the meaning behind this. Acceptance, respecting boundaries, and common healing. Those stood out to me most. I’ve taken in (and adopted) cats with trauma and have learned patience and time is everything. It also perfectly shows how perceptive cats are to people and their mood. When Ziva silently stays with Elsie and they bond, it was very touching. I think would be a great addition to read and teach to kids about understanding other emotions and needs.
Cindy J. Vanous is a Texas children’s author who writes heartfelt picture books filled with vintage charm, hope, and imagination. Her stories, from a lost puppy at the North Pole to a little ghost in Terlingua, Texas, celebrate courage, belonging, and the magic found in everyday moments.
Ziva the Great is a heartfelt picture book for older children about a Maine Coon cat learning to trust again and a quiet girl named Elsie who understands gentle things. Ziva is loving with her family but startles easily around new people-until Elsie arrives. The girl moves softly, speaks softly, and never frightens her.
Their friendship grows through small moments of closeness and calm. Together, they show young readers that healing takes time, trust can return, and even quiet hearts can find comfort again. Perfect for ages 8-12, this emotional animal story supports social-emotional learning (SEL) and is ideal for parents, teachers, counselors, and classrooms. Themes include emotional healing, resilience, friendship, overcoming fear, and the bond between children and animals.
REVIEW
The children’s book has all of my heart and I’m not ashamed to say I teared up reading it. When I was in college, I fostered a main coon kitten found on the street and fell in love when the little guy. So much that I convinced my parents to adopt him. So I knew when I saw the cover, I had to read and review this children’s book.
This book is the perfect mix of short and sweet. The art alone is mesmerizing and I absolutely loved just observing each page. This art style is one of my favorites and absolutely motivated me to pick up my own art and start sketching. Ziva’s expressions were so good and emotive. The illustrator uses a great sense of shadow and color grading to set the mood of each page. The warmth grows visually with the story and fit very well.
I loved the meaning behind this. Acceptance, respecting boundaries, and common healing. Those stood out to me most. I’ve taken in (and adopted) cats with trauma and have learned patience and time is everything. It also perfectly shows how perceptive cats are to people and their mood. When Ziva silently stays with Elsie and they bond, it was very touching. I think would be a great addition to read and teach to kids about understanding other emotions and needs.
Cindy J. Vanous is a Texas children’s author who writes heartfelt picture books filled with vintage charm, hope, and imagination. Her stories, from a lost puppy at the North Pole to a little ghost in Terlingua, Texas, celebrate courage, belonging, and the magic found in everyday moments.
Dr. Peter Palma joins the medical team of the Paradise to treat passengers for minor ailments as the cruise ship sails across the Atlantic. But he soon discovers that something foul is festering under the veneer of leisure. Deep in the bowels of the ship, a vile affliction pits loved ones against each other and shatters the bonds of civil society. The brig fills with felons, the morgue with bodies, and the vacation becomes a nightmare.
One by one, the chaos claims Peter’s allies. His mentor spirals into madness and the security chief fights a losing battle against anarchy. No help comes from the captain, who has an ego bigger than the ocean.
With the ship racing toward an unprepared New York, the fate of humanity hinges on Peter’s deteriorating judgment. But he’s hallucinating and delirious…and sometimes primal urges are impossible to resist.
The Regression Strain is a fast-paced medical thriller laced with psychological suspense, perfect for fans of Michael Crichton and Blake Crouch.
Kevin O. Hwang, MD, is a professor of internal medicine in Houston where he sees patients and teaches residents. His academic work has appeared in leading medical journals. Nothing excites him more than chicken enchiladas, index cards, and appropriately sized packaging. The Regression Strain is his debut novel.
Genre: Inspirational Nonfiction/ American Social History
Publication Date: 4 November, 2025
Pages: 241
SYNOPSIS
Some acts of courage never make the news, but they keep the world turning.
In every community, there are people who keep things moving simply by showing up. Quiet Valor: Everyday Americans opens with this familiar truth and builds a clear, steady narrative around it—highlighting the men and women whose everyday decisions hold families and neighborhoods together when it matters most.
Larry Nouvel brings forward stories that feel close to home: the workers, neighbors, teachers, and caregivers who operate without fanfare but whose actions hold real impact across families, streets, and local systems.
This volume reads like a portfolio of lived experiences, each one capturing a moment when an ordinary individual stepped forward because responsibility called for it. A teacher sprinting through a storm to guide anxious children. A bus driver managing an evacuation with near-perfect timing. A construction worker shielding a stranger on the subway tracks. A deputy diving into deep water to bring a lost child back to safety. An airman refusing to stop until every family in a flooded town was accounted for. These moments underscore a timeless point: communities endure because everyday people choose to act.
Nouvel’s style is measured and respectful, reflecting long-standing values, commitment, steadiness, and the quiet work ethic that has always shaped American life. Each vignette is lean, focused, and designed to show how character carries real operational weight. These aren’t headline-chasing stories; they are reminders of the reliable hands that keep families supported and neighborhoods functioning.
Following Quiet Valor: Unsung Architects of the American Promise and Quiet Valor: Children Who Cared, Endured, and Inspired, this third volume turns the lens toward the adults who sustain communities one steady act at a time.
Quiet Valor: Everyday Americans is a meaningful resource for readers who value tradition, continuity, and the steady presence of people who do the work because the work matters. It reminds us that valor is often quiet—and greatness is measured by the willingness to keep showing up.
Larry Nouvel is the author of Quiet Valor: Unsung Architects of the American Promise, Quiet Valor: Children Who Cared, Endured, and Inspired, and Quiet Valor: Everyday Americans— three books that celebrate individuals whose quiet actions shaped lives, communities, and sometimes nations.
An inventor and entrepreneur, Larry has developed and registered more than 100 health-related products worldwide and holds over a dozen patents. As founder of LNouvel Inc., he has spent decades quietly advancing innovations in pet, livestock, and household care. His latest venture, UnRuffled Pets, launched in 2024 with calming products for cats and dogs, and is now sold across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Brazil.
Larry’s writing reflects his belief that quiet dedication—whether through caregiving, invention, or daily kindness—can drive lasting change. His stories highlight people who didn’t seek attention but made a difference all the same.
The author’s own feelings can be seen most acutely in the startling clarity of such lines as “history is not nostalgia. It is instruction,” “it is the courage to say This still matters when others have moved on,” and “to revive language is to confront the violence that tried to destroy it.” Each account is accompanied by a reflection, as well as a list of references that makes the thoroughness of Nouvel’s research clear.
Pintsized Pioneers at Play: Homemade Frontier Fun and Danger explores the forgotten world of how kids lived, laughed, and sometimes limped through their childhood years in the Old West.
While their parents settled the land, these pintsized pioneers explored it, creating their own adventures with homemade toys, daring games, wild animal encounters, and risky escapades. This engaging sequel to the award-winning Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time shines a spotlight on the joys and perils of play in a land still being tamed.
From exploring the prairie and wrangling critters to celebrating frontier holidays and watching traveling circuses, this book reveals how children carved out fun and entertainment in a rough-and-tumble world. Learn how railroads and mail-order catalogs brought new toys, how schools and churches doubled as social hubs, and how a simple game could end in laughter or injury.
Written for young adults but fascinating for readers of all ages, Pintsized Pioneers at Play is packed with history, heart, and a hint of danger. Written at a tenth-grade reading level perfect for curious minds, Pintsized Pioneers at Play includes a glossary of related terms.
Perfect for fans of Western history, educators, homeschoolers, and lovers of untold American stories!
Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis co-authoredthree books in the “Magic Machine Series” published by Bariso Press: Devotionals from a Soulless Machine, Jokes from a Humorless Machine, and Recipes from a Tasteless Machine. They reside in San Angelo, Texas.
Preston Lewis has published more than 50 fiction and nonfiction works. The author and historian’s books include traditional Westerns, historical novels, comic Westerns, young adult books, and historical accounts. In 2021 he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his literary accomplishments.
His writing honors include two Spur Awards from Western Writers of America and three Elmer Kelton Awards from the West Texas Historical Association. He has received ten Will Rogers Medallion Awards, and in 2024, he earned an inaugural Literary Global Independent Author Award in the Western Nonfiction category for Cat Tales of the Old West.
He is a past president of Western Writers of America and the West Texas Historical Association, which named him a fellow in 2016.
Harriet Kocher Lewis is the award-winning editor and publisher of Bariso Press. Titles she has edited have been honored with Will Rogers Medallion Awards, Spur Finalist designations, and Independent Author Awards.
Lewis concluded her 26-year physical therapy career as the inaugural clinical coordinator for the physical therapy program at Angelo State University, where she taught technical writing and wrote or edited numerous scientific papers as well as a chapter in a clinical education textbook.
In the enchanting ghost town of Terlingua, Texas, Maddie isn’t your typical ghost. She’s a friendly spirit on a heartfelt quest to discover her own special superpower just like the ones her parents and the other resident spirits proudly possess. As Maddie experiments with their ghostly gifts, she learns that each superpower is unique and can’t be borrowed. Still, she holds close a passion that fills her days with whimsy and warmth, a secret hobby that brings back precious memories of time spent with her mom. Through her journey, Maddie uncovers not only her true talent but also reminds her ghostly family that the most magical gifts come from the heart.
Cindy J. Vanous is a Texas children’s author who writes heartfelt picture books filled with vintage charm, hope, and imagination. Her stories, from a lost puppy at the North Pole to a little ghost in Terlingua, Texas, celebrate courage, belonging, and the magic found in everyday moments.
An absolute joy to read. I love the colorful display of each illustration. It was especially funny to see the expressions of Maddie that accompanied her experiences. The moral behind the story was really cute as well.
Maddie doesn’t let her quest get her down and stays positive and cheerful while she tells us about the amazing ghostly gifts that surround her. It’s a heartfelt tale about finding what gifts you have in the things you love to do. Her passion of baking comes from happy memories, hers and others. It was nice to see she still had her parents to liven her days and a robust community of other ghosts she could play with.
I thought the story and illustrations of the book were excellent. Maddie immediately introduces herself and take us through her ‘after’ life. She a friendly ghost (which brought me back to my own childhood of a similar ghost) but has a unique and color design and experience that grabs your attention. I think this is an excellent story for children and will be sure to entertain them.
To learn more about the book, look for #LSLLMaddieALittleGhostWithASecret on your preferred social media platform.
March, 1948. Lane Mercer Hayes, and her husband, Zeke, have that post-war life that everyone envies. His winning record as a prosecutor and a scratch golfer, teamed with her finesse in a bookshop puts them on the list of up and coming leaders in Longview, Texas. That is, until Lane is exposed by Senate candidate, Lyndon B. Johnson, for the clandestine role she plays in a Black-owned security agency. Forced to face the cracks in her marriage and the boredom in her life, she can no longer be that “teacup of whiskey” that former Big Inch pipeline associates nicknamed her. Though newspaper headlines tout prosperity and development, Lane can’t get past the emptiness in her soul after the adrenaline rush of working for the Office of Strategic Services during the war.
Longview, Texas, is changing—from LeTourneau Incorporated bringing big manufacturing to the construction of Lake Cherokee and even the massively celebrated Gregg County Diamond Jubilee and the return of the popular Founder’s Day parade. So when an unexpected interview with R.G. LeTourneau appears to give Lane the opportunity to dust off her former OSS skills; she grabs it. To end the vandalism turmoil for LeTourneau, Lane steps out as a private investigator and encounters more than one death befalling families with secrets to hide.
With the clock ticking, Lane grows increasingly unconvinced she has the know-how to discover the truth or make peace with the sheriff who questions her every step. Time and pressure work against her in unraveling the mystery and restoring the good name of those who learned too late that they were innocent. Thankfully, in the course of the investigation, she discovers an unlikely ensemble of residents she can rely on, even when the future looks grim.
Kimberly Fish has been in the writing industry for over 30 years. An amateur historian and fan of cozy mysteries, she weaves history and mystery into her stories of women finding their grit and sweet second chances.
Where is God amidst the mass graves, poverty, drug trafficking, and corrupt officials on the Texas-Mexico border?
Yoltic Cortez, a college dropout and aspiring writer in his mid-twenties, grapples with this question while living in an impoverished colonia. His bedridden father warns him to prepare spiritually for the challenges ahead by returning to their religious traditions and confronting the “Devil in the desert.”
Encouraged by his mentor, the “Failed Poet,” to pursue a literary career, Yoltic struggles to write his first book. His situation is further complicated when a young Mexican woman, fleeing the violence in northern Mexico, seeks his help.
In this Nietzschean world, a secular realm fraught with fear and loathing, where God has been declared dead, Yoltic’s quest for redemption and wisdom unfolds. Pillars of Creation: A Quest for the Great Name in a Nietzschean World by Carlos Nicolás Flores offers a powerful perspective on the crisis at the Mexican-American border through the eyes of a gifted young Tejano.
A lifelong resident of the Texas-Mexico border, Carlos Nicolás Flores has much lived experience to draw from as a novelist. In Our House on Hueco, he portrays an impoverished family’s struggle to achieve the American dream. “This book feels like a classic to me,” states Naomi Shahib Nye. In Sex as a Political Condition, a satire of the cultural wars on the border, he reflects on the male condition at the end of the Cold War. In Pillars of Creation: A Quest for the Great Name in a Nietzschean (Atmosphere Press 2025), he portrays a young Chicano’s search for meaning in a world torn apart by violence on the Texas-Mexico border. According to Lily Andrews of Feather Quill Reviews, Flores “ably captures what it means to be stuck between cultures by showing how being Chicano isn’t just about language or heritage, but a constant tug-of-war between belonging and not.”
Paranormal Thriller / Fantasy / Magical Realism / Witch-Lit
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Pages: 304
Publication Date: October 9, 2025
SYNOPSIS
The past two years have taken their toll on Arista Kelly. Once an eternal optimist, now she has faced the darkness and must recalibrate what true happiness means for her. Meanwhile, Shane, her ex-boyfriend, is pulling all the right moves to help keep her sane from her heightening paranoia. But it doesn’t help that Iris, her Great Aunt Bethie’s friend, has disappeared.
Still, one additional trial remains. While searching for Iris, Bethie and Arista stumble upon a grand revelation in the eccentric woman’s home. With the discovery, they realize their run of chaos and loss of kin may have roots in a curse that dates back to the 1940s-the time when their family patriarch first built Arista’s cottage in the redwoods and crafted his insightful Ouija table.
This pursuit will not follow their accustomed recipe of adrenalized action, but the high stakes remain. Will the mysterious slow burn of unfolding events finally level Arista’s entire world or be fully extinguished, once and for all?
Sherri L. Doddwas raised in southeast Texas. Walking barefoot most days and catching crawdads as they swam the creek beds, she had a love for all things free and natural. Her childhood ran rampant with talk of ghosts, demons, and backcountry folklore. This inspired her first story for sale, about a poisonous flower that shot toxins onto children as they smelled it. Her classmate bought it for all the change in his pocket. Shortly thereafter, her mother packed the two of them up and headed to the central coast of California. Since that time, she has worked corporate, married, raised two sons, and now writes full-time creating atmospheric paranormal fiction. Her debut novel – Murder Under Redwood Moon – shot straight to #1 on Amazon, holding firm as a Best Seller in the Occult Supernatural genre.
Discover the power of perseverance and the extraordinary potential within yourself in Dare to Dream: The Road to Kona.
As an unlikely athlete born with pigeon-toes, Wade Wilson had a dream to become an elite athlete. With unwavering support from his wife and kids, he sets off to discover the world of triathlons at the age of 39. Over the next six years, Wade navigates the hurdles of any working father, parsing out his workouts in between job duties and family commitments. When faced with setbacks, he perseveres with a steadfast tenacity to succeed. He finally reached his goal to compete at the IRONMAN® Triathlon World Championship race in Kona, Hawaii when he was 46.
With candid insights and inspiring reflections, Wilson reveals that greatness doesn’t require extraordinary talent—just unwavering desire, a solid plan, and relentless willpower. From navigating setbacks to overcoming self-doubt, Wade shows how resilience and the support of a strong team can propel anyone toward success.
Dare to Dream is a testament to the triumphs that come from persistence and courage. Start small, think big, and let your dreams soar.
Wade Wilson has a passion for pursuing his dreams and interests, some of which he has talents for and some not so much. He loves to challenge himself, and the bigger the dream the better. His goal is when God calls him home that he will have nothing left on his bucket list that he is healthy enough to pursue.
Wade’s other interests include studying and teaching God’s word, playing and performing classical guitar music, and traveling with his wife. He has provided motivational and inspirational speeches on his experiences in the sport of triathlon and of having the opportunity to compete on a world stage at the age of forty-six.
Authoring this book was a huge challenge and required all the skills and lessons previously learned about setting and pursuing lofty goals.
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The Page Unbound 