Following the invisible thread of connection between people who are seemingly intended to become family, journalist Jennifer Grant shares the deeply personal, often humorous story of adopting a fifteen-month-old girl from Guatemala when she was already the mother of three very young children.

Her family's journey is captured in stories that will encourage not only adoptive families but those who are curious about adoption or whose lives have been indirectly touched by it. Love You More explores universal themes such as parenthood, marriage, miscarriage, infertility, connection, destiny, true self, failure and stumbling, and redemption.

Award-winning religion columnist and author Cathleen Falsani has high praise for Love You More: "From page one of her courageously vulnerable, intoxicatingly funny memoir about faith and family, it is clear that Jennifer Grant listens to her life with great care."

Jennifer Grant is a journalist and freelance writer with particular interests in parenting, family life, and international health and development. She has been a columnist and currently freelances for the Chicago Tribune. Jennifer is a guest blogger for websites including Fullfill and a regular contributor to Christianity Today's her.meneutics blog for women. Her work has been published on britannica.com and in magazines including Chicago Parent, Christianity Today, Draft, and Conscious Choice. For more than a decade, she wrote features, restaurant profiles, and columns for Sun-Times Media newspapers. 

Learn more about narrative non-fiction essay writing as you study the craft, write, discuss, and write some more. Instruction is useful for beginners as well as experienced writers. You'll learn about the narrator's voice, how to structure content, and how to revise for effect.

Enrollment of $95 includes all materials and one follow-up email consultation. Enrollment is limited to ten students, so sign up early. Contact Kathryn at kabajian@gmail.com for details about the location and to enroll.

Kathryn Abajian earned her M.A. in English at San Francisco State University and has since enjoyed helping others find their writing voices and make literary meaning of life experience. She teaches as an emeritus professor of creative writing for Diablo Valley College, facilitates writing workshops in the U.S. and in Italy, and edits manuscripts. Her travel, memoir, and arts essays have appeared in various publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, American Art Review, Salon.com, and Travelers' Tales anthologies. Her book, First Sight of the Desert: Discovering the Art of Ella Peacock, blends memoir and biography.

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is the utterly beguiling tale of a ten-year-old blind orphan who has been schooled in a life of thievery. One fateful afternoon, he steals a box from a mysterious traveling haberdasher -- a box that contains three pairs of magical eyes.

When he tries the first pair, he is instantly transported to a hidden island where he is presented with a special quest: to travel to the dangerous Vanished Kingdom and rescue a people in need. Along with his loyal sidekick -- a knight who has been turned into an unfortunate combination of horse and cat -- and the magic eyes, he embarks on an unforgettable, swashbuckling adventure to discover his true destiny.

Jonathan Auxier, raised in Canada, now lives with his wife in Los Angeles, where he works as a screenwriter. This is his first novel. You can visit him online at TheScop.com.

Check out this book trailer with more info about the book!

Peter Nimble Book Trailer

 In the heart of the densely populated Southern California lies a magnificent 50,000-acre network of permanently preserved open space, which has been designated as a Natural Landmark by both the State of California and the U.S Department of Interior.

As the largest urban open space in the United States, more than 3 million people live less than 30 minutes from the landscape beauty of the Historic Irvine Ranch. Stretching from the coastal mountains to the sea, it is home to stunning features like deeply forested oak woodlands, vast canyons and hillsides that fill with seasonal wildflowers and a unique geological formation known as "The Sinks" in Limestone Canyon, which originated some thirty-five million years ago and has the look of a miniature Grand Canyon.

For over a century these magnificent lands were used by cowboys for cattle grazing. Today, the public has access to thousands of acres of open space and parklands, representing an important chapter of land preservation and conservation.

In this new title, David Stoecklein uses his camera to document the beautiful varied landscape that makes up the Irvine Ranch. He has worked closely with ranchers and cowboys from every Western state. Through his work, he has gained a deep understanding of and respect for cowboys. His quest to keep the spirit of the West alive is heartfelt and uncompromising. David spends every free moment photographing cowboys and all elements of their lives, preserving their heritage and traditions. He resides in Sun Valley with his wife, Mary, and their three sons.