Always Reading

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Book Tour: Under the Norse Star by Cheryl Carpinello

Nothing in their wildest imagination could have prepared Rosa and Jerome for what lay in wait in Ancient Iceland as they search for the 2nd Feather…

Rosa can hear the dead. That gift has already pulled her into impossible places… and deadly danger.

Now, on the Autumnal Equinox, Rosa and her cousin Jerome are summoned again. Their mission: travel to Iceland, the Land of Fire and Ice, and retrieve the second Golden Red Feather of the Phoenix. Because only when all five Feathers are united can Atlantis rise from the ocean depths and its lost people finally return home.

But Iceland isn’t empty.

Ancient guardians still roam beneath the Norse Star… and something far worse has arrived first. A shapeshifting Horseman rides the frozen wilderness, hunting the Feather, and willing to kill for it.

With earthquakes shaking the land, wicked laughter in the wind, and a mysterious Ancient One waiting in the ice, Rosa and Jerome must survive the most dangerous quest yet… before time runs out.

Under the Norse Star (Feathers of the Phoenix Book 2) is available at Amazon and the author’s website.

╰┈➤Book Details

Genre: Time Travel/Fantasy

Sub-genre: Norse Mythology/Legends/Teens & Young Adult

Language:English

Pages: 132

Paperback ISBN: 978-1804401323

╰┈➤Here’s What Readers Have To Say!

“Spellbinding, chilling, and dazzling, Rosa’s icy quest for Phoenix feathers enthralls completely. Highly recommended.” – The International Review of Books

“It’s a multilayered adventure that blends time travel, ancient lore, and danger. It can easily stand alongside Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, which blends modern fantasy with Norse mythology. But Under the Norse Star also stands out in its own way with its rich world-building and its engaging and memorable storyline.” – ReaderViews

Excerpt:

Off in the distance, calving ice trembles and explodes, bouncing off granite, sending ocean waves crashing across the northern fjords of Eyjafjordur. Puffins flee into the cloudless sky. Killer whales expose their white bellies as they leap in the air and dive deep into the reverberating blue ocean to escape. And always the stench of rotten eggs makes its way across the water to the land beyond.

Just beyond the horizon, beneath the ofttimes frozen earth, molten lava courses. Continually through light and dark, it forges a way through millennium old glaciers, melting a pathway through the volcanic rock. Sharp, red hot surfaces create vents the liquid fire rises through, filling the air with odorous sulfur. Gaseous clouds form inches above the ground, fatal to any invaders, and wind their way up my valleys bounded by basalt cliffs

Still further yet across its width, mountains tremble, shake, cry, and break as the Earth-fire comes alive. Thunderous roars fill the air, twisting trees, crashing rocks, splitting the earth. More caustic odors flow from newly missing mountain crowns. Fiery liquids flow down those sides further reshaping the terrain and carving out deep furrows. Immense heat incinerates all it touches: vegetation, trees, and ice. The mountains keep belching, sending scorching lava faster and faster down the slopes. Soon entire valleys disappear beneath hot, red glows. As night approaches, the mountains cough and quietly go to sleep. In the cool of late night and early morning, fires burn out, leaving blackened lava rock on the earth. Steaming vapors find a way through and curl up into small clouds hanging just inches from the burnt ground.

Protecting and watching.

Long before the dawn of civilization, before today’s world took shape, this island stood here. Long before humans set foot on its shores and rocky landscape, beings lived here. Mystical beings which guarded and protected this isle.

Always this isle is guarded. Land Spirits (Landvaettir) watch. In the North, a massive Griffin roams. A Fire Breathing Dragon guards the East. The South sits under the all-seeing eye of a Giant who stands taller than the trees. In the West, an enormous bull watches for danger. My guardians, forever on duty, ensure the safety of our home. I oversee them all.

And above all, long before names were given, long before humans knew of them, heavenly stars lit this northern world. Given names by the Norsemen, these guiding stars brought far away travelers to these shores. Today, some call them by different names, but one is always known by the same name: the Norse Star. This star and others still shine, in the light and in the dark, upon this land adding mystery to the magical. These beings watch closely even over me.

This is my home.

I am the Gyrfalcon. Greatest of Strength and Speed. I am the Land of Fire and Ice.

I am Iceland.

But once, from centuries far removed, a simple golden red Feather floated down and hid itself here. And now danger threatens all.

– Excerpted from Feathers of the Phoenix: Under the Norse Star Book 2, Silver Quill Publishing, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Cheryl Carpinello is a retired high school English teacher. Her Tales and Legends appeal to readers of all ages, particularly those who have struggled with reading. Through her 25 years teaching diverse readers, she’s found that stories from the Ancient Worlds and Arthurian Legend draw in readers of all abilities.

She writes Arthurian Legend focused on these cornerstones: Courage, Honor, Loyalty, & Friendship. Her tales from Egypt & the new series Feathers of the Phoenix meld the ancient/medieval worlds with today. The Atlantean Horse and Under the Norse Star, books 1 &2 of Feathers of the Phoenix, brings the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse out of the Bible & into the modern world.

Her Grandma/Grandpa’s Tales, short illustrated nature stories, help the youngest readers build their reading skills. At the 2nd grade reading level, these stories are suitable for readers aged 4 and up.

She also does classroom & zoom visits where students can create their own Illuminated Poetry.

As retired teachers, Cheryl and her husband love to travel. They attend college football games around the US each year and also travel abroad for fun and research. They’ve been to Egypt, the UK, Iceland, Norway, Mexico & the Caribbean.

Visit her website at https://www.cherylcarpinello.com.

Connect with her on social media at:

╰┈➤X: https://www.x.com/ccarpinello

╰┈➤Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.carpinello1

╰┈➤Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccarpine1/

╰┈➤BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cheryl-carpinello

Book Tour: Fighter Pilot's Daughter by Mary Lawlor

The story of the author as a young woman coming of age in an Irish Catholic, military family…

Fighter Pilot’s Daughter: Growing Up in the Sixties and the Cold War tells the story of Mary Lawlor’s dramatic, roving life as a warrior’s child. A family biography and a young woman’s vision of the Cold War, Fighter Pilot’s Daughter narrates the more than many transfers the family made from Miami to California to Germany as the Cold War demanded. Each chapter describes the workings of this traveling household in a different place and time. The book’s climax takes us to Paris in May ’68, where Mary—until recently a dutiful military daughter—has joined the legendary student demonstrations against among other things, the Vietnam War. Meanwhile her father is flying missions out of Saigon for that very same war. Though they are on opposite sides of the political divide, a surprising reconciliation comes years later.

⤷Read sample here.

⤷Fighter Pilot’s Daughter is available at Amazon.

*****

╰┈➤Book Details

Genre: Memoir
Sub-genre: Women in History / Military Leaders Biography
Language:English
Pages: 323
Paperback ISBN: 978-1442222007
Kindle ISBN: 978-1442222014
Publisher: Rowman and Littlefield
Format: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook

*****

╰┈➤Here’s What Readers Have To Say!

“Mary Lawlor's memoir, Fighter Pilot's Daughter: Growing Up in the Sixties and the Cold War, is terrifically written. The experience of living in a military family is beautifully brought to life. This memoir shows the pressures on families in the sixties, the fears of the Cold War, and also the love that families had that helped them get through those times, with many ups and downs. It's a story that all of us who are old enough can relate to, whether we were involved or not. The book is so well written. Mary Lawlor shares a story that needs to be written, and she tells it very well.” ―The Jordan Rich Show

“Mary Lawlor, in her brilliantly realized memoir, articulates what accountants would call a soft cost, the cost that dependents of career military personnel pay, which is the feeling of never belonging to the specific piece of real estate called home. . . . [T]he real story is Lawlor and her father, who is ensconced despite their ongoing conflict in Lawlor’s pantheon of Catholic saints and Irish presidents, a perfect metaphor for coming of age at a time when rebelling was all about rebelling against the paternalistic society of Cold War America.” ―Stars and Stripes

*****

╰┈➤Read if you love…

✎ᝰ.📓🗒Memoirs

=✪=Military Family

🎖️Life as a Military Brat

🗺️⁀જ✈︎Travel

✌️The Sixties and the Cold War

✈️Fighter Pilots

Excerpt:

The pilot’s house where I grew up was mostly a women’s world. There were five of us. We had the place to ourselves most of the time. My mother made the big decisions—where we went to school, which bank to keep our money in. She had to decide these things often because we moved every couple of years. The house is thus a figure of speech, a way of thinking about a long series of small, cement dwellings we occupied as one fictional home.

It was my father, however, who turned the wheel, his job that rotated us to so many different places. He was an aviator, first in the Marines, later in the Army. When he came home from his extended absences—missions, they were called—the rooms shrank around him. There wasn’t enough air. We didn’t breathe as freely as we did when he was gone, not because he was mean or demanding but because we worshipped him. Like satellites my sisters and I orbited him at a distance, waiting for the chance to come closer, to show him things we’d made, accept gifts, hear his stories. My mother wasn’t at the center of things anymore. She hovered, maneuvered, arranged, corrected. She was first lady, the dame in waiting. He was the center point of our circle, a flier, a winged sentry who spent most of his time far up over our heads. When he was home, the house was definitely his.

These were the early years of the Cold War. It was a time of vivid fears, pictured nowadays in photos of kids hunkered under their school desks. My sisters and I did that. The phrase “air raid drill” rang hard—the double-A sound a cold, metallic twang, ending with ill. It meant rehearsal for a time when you might get burnt by the air you breathed.

Every day we heard practice rounds of artillery fire and ordinance on the near horizon. We knew what all this training was for. It was to keep the world from ending. Our father was one of many dads who sweat at soldierly labor, part of an arsenal kept at the ready to scare off nuclear annihilation of life on earth. When we lived on post, my sisters and I saw uniformed men marching in straight lines everywhere. This was readiness, the soldiers rehearsing against Armageddon. The rectangular buildings where the commissary, the PX, the bowling alley, and beauty shop were housed had fallout shelters in the basements, marked with black and yellow wheels, the civil defense insignia. Our dad would often leave home for several days on maneuvers, readiness exercises in which he and other men played war games designed to match the visions of big generals and political men. Visions of how a Russian air and ground attack would happen. They had to be ready for it.

A clipped, nervous rhythm kept time on military bases. It was as if you needed to move efficiently to keep up with things, to be ready yourself, even if you were just a kid. We were chased by the feeling that life as we knew it could change in an hour.

This was the posture. On your mark, get set. But there was no go. It was a policy of meaningful waiting. Meaningful because it was the waiting itself that counted—where you did it, how many of the necessities you had, how long you could keep it up. Imagining long, sunless days with nothing to do but wait for an all-clear sign or for the threatening, consonant-heavy sounds of a foreign language overhead, I taught myself to pray hard.

– Excerpted from Fighter Pilot’s Daughter by Mary Lawlor, Rowman and Littlefield, 2013. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Mary Lawlor is author of a memoir, Fighter Pilot’s Daughter: Growing Up in the Sixties and the Cold War (Bloomsbury 2015) and two books of cultural criticism, Recalling the Wild: Naturalism and the Closing of the American West (Rutgers UP 2000) and Public Native America (Rutgers UP 2006). She studied at the American University in Paris, the University of Maryland, and New York University. She divides her time between Easton, Pennsylvania and Gaucin, Spain. Her novel, The Translators, is set in 12^th century Spain and fictionalizes the experiences of Robert of Ketton, first translator of the Koran into Latin. She hopes to see it out next year. In the meantime, she has started a second novel, The Women’s Hospital, set in 18^th century Spain and inspired by the life story of an Irish woman whose family moved to Cádiz, escaping English oppression in their own country.

╰┈➤ You can visit her website at https://www.marylawlor.net/.

Connect with her on social media at:

╰┈➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.lawlor.186/

Book Blitz: Thinking Critically in College by Louis Newman

The Essential Handbook for Student Success

Nonfiction, College Guide

Date Published: April 1, 2026

Publisher: Manhattan Book Group

The Definitive Guide for Success in College and Beyond

Finally, a book that actually prepares you for college! Nearly every first-year college student discovers that college courses are more academically challenging than high school. Professors expect you not just to absorb material but to analyze and synthesize it, to consider multiple perspectives, to evaluate conflicting evidence, and then to apply what you've learned in new contexts.

Drawing on a lifetime of experience teaching and advising students, former dean of Academic Advising and associate vice provost at Stanford University Louis E. Newman explains how to do all this, and more. Whatever your background or academic interest, this book will prepare you for college-level learning. Thinking Critically in College is the definitive guide, not only for those in college, but for everyone who needs a refresher on thinking clearly.

"Thinking Critically in College details and exemplifies the differences between high school and college. Students who read this book before coming to college will have an advantage over those who don't." -LEE CUBA, professor emeritus of sociology, Wellesley College, and author of Practice for Life: Making Decisions in College

"Even students who have taken college-prep and AP courses are unprepared for the type of learning that will take place in college. Thinking Critically in College is poised to help all students at all types of institutions develop the dispositions and skills necessary for success in college." -LYNN PASQUERELLA, president of Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

About the Author

Contact Links

Website

Purchase Links

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Release Blitz: Not a Gentleman by Lani Lynn Vale

Title: Not a Gentleman

Series: Don't Date Him #7

Author: Lani Lynn Vale

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Tropes: Marriage of Convenience

Grumpy (Her) / Sunshine (Him), Enemies to Lovers

Release Date: July 14, 2026

BLURB

Gentry found Sage on the worst day of her life.

He saves her from a fate worse than hell, and in return, she ruins his life.

Not on purpose, though.

No, the men who think to rule her life don’t like that she has a champion on her side and realize the best way to get back at her is to go through him.

They find a really great way to do it, too.

They frame him for a crime he didn’t intentionally commit and sentence him to spend thirteen years in prison. As an added bonus, they take his child—the one thing that matters most to him— just to remind him that they hold all the power.

But Sage will never let them have any power over her.

That’s why, the day before he’s sentenced to prison, Sage offers the only protection she can think to give him. Her hand in marriage.

For seven years, Sage fights to get her husband-in-name-only free.

Just when she thinks she’s close, she gets the news. Her husband has died in a prison riot, leaving her free to marry another.

That’s when she decides to run.

And where does her running take her? Right into the arms of a man who was supposed to be dead.

ADD TO GOODREADS

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS

UNIVERSAL

ALSO AVAILABLE IN THE

DON'T DATE HIM SERIES

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS

COMING SOON

Releasing August 4

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS

UNIVERSAL

AUTHOR BIO

Lani Lynn Vale is an American author of humorous romantic suspense novels. Born in the Great State of Texas, she has lived the majority of her adult life in East Texas where most of her novels are based. She’s married to her high school sweetheart whom her readers refer to as “LLV’s Bearded Half.” She published her first novel, Boomtown. in the summer of 2013 after the birth of her third child. She’s gone on to publish over 100 novels, with most of them going on to become USA Today Bestsellers.

AUTHOR LINKS

AMAZON

BOOKBUB

FACEBOOK

PROFILE / PAGE / GROUP

INSTAGRAM

WEBSITE

TIKTOK

Book Tour and Giveaway: Death and the Social Climber by Winnie Simpson

Ann Audrey Mystery, Book 2

Cozy Mystery / Mystery & Detective

Date Published: 06-30-2026

Publisher: Mission Point Press

Murder Is the Ultimate Power Move

When a beautiful Atlanta woman is widowed twice under suspicious circumstances, Ann Audrey Pickering finds herself drawn—once again—into someone else’s trouble.

A former lawyer who once helped the FBI convict her own husband for fraud, Ann Audrey has settled into a reclusive life, until her longtime friend Flynn Reynolds asks for help. His elderly aunts are convinced that another nephew was murdered by his wife, Kathryn, whose second husband is now also dead. Ann Audrey is skeptical. Still, she owes Flynn, and there are some odd questions. Complicating matters is Kathryn’s latest mother-in-law, a woman who rose from an impoverished background into Atlanta’s upper circles and recognizes a kindred spirit in her dead son’s ambitious widow. She doesn’t believe Kathryn is a murderer—but she has heard rumors, and she wants them stopped.

Set in Atlanta in January 2000, as the city buzzes with anticipation for the upcoming Super Bowl, Ann Audrey searches for the black widow through the city’s frenetic bar scene, private clubs, high-rise offices, and beloved local institutions like Mary Mac’s Tea Room and The Varsity. With help from Flynn and her friend Theo, along with the return of sexy detective Mike Bristol, she pieces together a twisting story of social climbing, carefully managed appearances, marriage, and murder. As the Super Bowl kickoff draws near, the case reaches a climax when an ice storm shuts down Atlanta’s roads and power, leaving secrets and murderers with nowhere to hide.

Author Interview
Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?
I was born and reared (not raised – My Daddy always said “cattle are raised; children are reared”) in a small town in southwest Mississippi. I left there to go to Duke, and after graduation I headed to Buffalo, NY with husband number 1, a Marxist student radical (who was a Texas trust-fund baby.) I got an MFA in music from SUNY at Buffalo, worked for that University, before heading back south to attend law school at Emory in Atlanta, where I married husband number 2 (an Italian-American jazz musician.) I made partner in a major Atlanta law firm, specializing in corporate litigation, mainly involving securities fraud, before I left to teach at Emory before retiring to write. Along with my legal career, I married husband number 3, a lawyer, now deceased. I hate hot weather, so I relocated to Northern Michigan where I live in a renovated building that once housed the Michigan State Asylum. Make of that what you will.

What genre do you read? Who's an author you read? Name your top 5 authors.
I primarily read mysteries of all kinds. My mother introduced me to the Golden Age British mysteries, and on occasion I still read them—not so much Agatha Cristie (although she’s a great plotter), but Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham. I think they appeal to me now because I like historical fiction, and although they were then writing contemporary fiction, nowadays it’s historical (pre-and post-World War II.) I also like mysteries set in other countries, like Ovida Yu’s Singapore mysteries or Sujata Massey’s India and those with a lot of humor like Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody spoofing Victorian-era adventures in Egypt. Of course you can’t beat Anne Perry for historical/Victorian mysteries. Among my top writers, in addition to those above, I’d have to put Elizabeth George (for character development), PD James, and Charles Todd.
What book are you reading right now, and what do you like about it?
I’ve just finished two series by Ashley Gardner, one a Regency era mystery and the other set during Imperial Rome. I greatly admire her research, to say nothing of her prodigious output!
Favorite sports.
I went to Duke. It’s college basketball, naturally
Favorite thing about your state you live in.
The beautiful woods and water that are accessible with little effort.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve written since I was in grade school—poetry (very bad) and short stories (not too awful.) I started seriously writing with the idea of completing a novel after I left the fulltime practice of law.
2What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?
I’m a bit of both. The books start with an idea, for example, Death and the Social Climber began with a true story of a black widow that happened in Georgia. I couldn’t stop thinking about that, and about why she did it, and what triggered the victim’s families to get suspicious. The plot grew from that, but I confess, things do change as I write.
How did you come up with the ideas for your series?
News reports, stories friends tell me about family members’ escapades, merely observing people and wondering what they are really thinking/plotting. I have too much imagination; sometimes I’m glad people can’t read my mind.
How do you celebrate finishing a book?
I clean everything off my desk, and if the weather is right, go out for a bike ride.
What would you tell a writer who is just starting out? What program do you use for writing? What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book? What’s your writing software of choice?
The old advice is really true: just go to the computer every day. Some days you may only write your grocery list, but if you sit there long enough, you’ll start noodling about that character who’s in the back of your brain. I write in Word, but I also use Scrivener. I’m compulsive, so I keep the document in two different software.
How do you organize everything and finding the time to sit down and write?
This one I’m bad about. I was a lawyer for decades, and I lived and died by court-ordered deadlines. I’m at my best when I have a writing group planned, and I know I must produce pages to read. That spurs me to get it done, so I push my writing group to get together for selfish reasons.
As an author, what would you choose as your spirit animal?
A Jack Russell terrier. High energy, needs exercise, curious about everything, can be trained with a lot of time and effort.
Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing?
My two writing groups—one in Michigan, one in Atlanta—and my brother.
How do you name your characters?
I have a friend who sends me very Southern names that she sees in obituaries in small town Georgia newspapers. I sometimes just open a magazine and scroll down through the contributors for inspiration. Anywhere there’s a list of names will do.
Thank you, Winnie for being here at Always Reading! Melissa

About the Author

Following her mother’s lead, Mississippi native Winnie Simpson was an avid murder mystery reader beginning in the third grade, starting with Nancy Drew and moving through the classics of British, American, and international crime. Winnie studied music at Duke University, later receiving an MFA in Music at SUNY Buffalo, where she worked as an arts administrator before throwing it all over in order to make a decent living. After finishing law school at Emory University, she became a partner in a large firm in Atlanta where her practice focused mainly on securities litigation. Retiring early, Winnie relocated to Northern Michigan where she lives in a renovated nineteenth-century building that served as a former Michigan state asylum. For more than a decade, she has taken writing classes and participated in writing groups. She is fond of opera, hiking, cycling, and Duke basketball, most seasons.

Contact Links

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/DeathandtheSocialClimb

Amazon

Monday, July 13, 2026

Book Blitz: A Boy Becoming by Eddy Yang

A Renewed Vision for a Kinder, Gentler World

Coming of Age Memoir

Date Published: May 14, 2026

Publisher: MindStir Media

What if the most important lessons in life came from the ordinary moments we often overlook?

A Boy Becoming: A Renewed Vision for a Kinder, Gentler World is an inspiring coming-of-age memoir that invites readers into the private journals, drawings, reflections, and life experiences of young author Eddy Yang. Compiled from diary entries written between the ages of ten and sixteen, this powerful memoir chronicles the journey of a young boy learning how to navigate family, faith, friendship, sports, responsibility, and personal growth.

Through honest reflections and meaningful life lessons, Eddy explores what it means to build character in a world that often values achievement over integrity. Along the way, he learns that becoming a better person is not about perfection—it is about practice.

As an ice hockey goalie, Eddy discovers courage, resilience, humility, discipline, and the ability to recover from failure. Through conversations with his parents, guidance from teachers and coaches, experiences with service, and moments of self-reflection, he learns that true strength comes from within and that growth happens one choice at a time.

Filled with wisdom beyond his years, A Boy Becoming explores timeless themes including:

✔ Character Development and Personal Growth

✔ Kindness, Compassion, and Empathy

✔ Family Values and Faith

✔ Self-Reflection and Emotional Growth

✔ Discipline, Responsibility, and Resilience

✔ Youth Leadership and Positive Decision-Making

✔ Sportsmanship and Life Lessons from Hockey

✔ Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Humility

✔ Identity, Purpose, and Self-Discovery

At the heart of this reflective memoir is a simple but powerful truth: character is built slowly through ordinary moments. Every mistake, every challenge, every act of kindness, every lesson learned, and every effort to improve becomes part of the process of becoming.

Perfect for teens, young adults, parents, educators, coaches, mentors, and anyone interested in personal development, A Boy Becoming offers encouragement, insight, and hope for readers navigating their own journey of growth.

Inside You'll Discover:

● Honest diary reflections from childhood through adolescence

● Life lessons from family, faith, sports, and service

● Thought-provoking insights about character and self-improvement

● Inspirational messages for young people facing challenges and uncertainty

● Practical wisdom about becoming someone you respect

Memorable Quotes from the Book

"Kind is more important than smart. Logic has no moral. We must be nice no matter what."

"Forgiveness frees you more than it frees the other person."

"Possessions should not possess you."

"A distracted driver misses exits. A distracted life misses destiny."

"Remember: you are not your trophies. You are not your mistakes. You are the daily effort that nobody sees."

If you enjoy inspirational memoirs, coming-of-age stories, personal growth books, youth leadership, family-centered nonfiction, or books that encourage reflection and character development, A Boy Becoming will resonate long after the final page.

Because becoming a better person isn't a destination—it's a lifelong journey.

About the Author

Eddy Yang is a student, writer, ice hockey goalie, and young author whose work focuses on self-reflection, personal growth, family values, faith, discipline, and character development.

His passion for writing began long before he imagined becoming an author. Throughout childhood, Eddy kept journals, diary entries, drawings, comics, and reflections that documented his experiences, thoughts, challenges, and questions about life.

Over time, these personal writings evolved into something larger—a record of growth from childhood into adolescence.

The Beginning of a Writer

Eddy never started writing with the intention of publishing a book.

He wrote to understand himself.

Sometimes he wrote after difficult experiences. Other times he wrote after learning valuable lessons from parents, teachers, coaches, teammates, or faith. Writing became a way to process emotions, reflect on mistakes, and preserve important moments.

As he revisited years of journals and drawings, he recognized a story unfolding: the story of becoming.

Hockey and Character

As an ice hockey goalie, Eddy has learned lessons that extend far beyond the rink.

Goaltending taught him courage, resilience, humility, patience, and discipline. It taught him how to handle pressure, recover from failure, and continue improving after setbacks.

These experiences became a powerful influence on his understanding of personal growth and are woven throughout his writing.

Why He Wrote A Boy Becoming

Eddy wrote A Boy Becoming because he believes growth happens through ordinary moments.

Character is not built overnight.

It develops through repeated choices, honest reflection, mistakes, perseverance, gratitude, forgiveness, and love.

His hope is that readers—especially young people—will recognize that they are not alone in their struggles and that becoming a better person is a lifelong journey worth embracing.

Mission

Through his writing, Eddy hopes to inspire readers to:

● Practice kindness

● Develop discipline

● Embrace humility

● Learn from mistakes

● Strengthen character

● Value family and faith

● Continue growing every day

"Kind is more important than smart. Logic has no moral. We must be nice no matter what."

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Release Blitz: Rumor Has It by Giulia Lagomarsino

Title: Rumor Has It

Series: The Last Best Place for Love Book 6

Author: Giulia Lagomarsino

Genre: Small Town Romance

Tropes: Opposites Attract; Sworn off relationships; Grumpy/Sunshine; Damsel in Distress; Friends with Benefits

Release Date: July 13, 2026

★★★★★ Goodreads Review - “If you like small-town chaos, stubborn idiots falling in love, enough tension to power an electrical grid, and a healthy sprinkle of "well... that escalated quickly," do yourself a favor and pick this one up.”

★★★★★ Goodreads Review - “Giulia Lagomarsino is wonderful at world-building. More importantly, she creates characters who are fully three-dimensional, and then she makes you fall in love with them.”

★★★★★ Goodreads Review - “Oh boy... another emotional roller coaster from Giulia! Rumor Has It has it all—thrills, humor, a swoony small-town romance, and plenty of chaos.”

The moment I laid eyes on her as she dangled from a string of Christmas lights from her roof, I knew I was in trouble.

Gorgeous eyes, adorable smile, and a tenacity that I found oddly charming.

And so freaking sexy.

No woman should have that much power over a man. Yet, whenever I found myself around her, I couldn’t contain the need to kiss her, devour her…make her mine.

But this town is known for interfering and causing problems in even the smallest situations, which is why this has to stay a secret.

Every kiss, every second spent in her presence has to be between the two of us.

And yet, unforeseen circumstances force me to put myself out there even when I desperately just want room to recover from my injuries and discover who I am again.

I’ve seen the way she looks at me.

I’ve felt the way she shudders in my arms.

Rumor Has It, this isn’t going to turn out like I planned.

★★★★★ Amazon Review for Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart - “Some of her best writing…Holy cow, this book! I was immediately immersed in Murky Falls! I could not put this book down. I'm excited to read the rest of the series!”

★★★★★ Amazon Review for Real Good Man - “When the Grump Finds His Roots (and the Sunshine Refuses to Leave) …the kind of small-town romance that sneaks past your defenses with humor, heart, and a slow-burn love you didn’t see coming—but end up rooting for with your whole chest.”

★★★★★ Amazon Review for How Forever Feels - “Amazing! Felt like coming home again! Another fantastic book from Giulia!This story had it all, love, healing, and found family, not to mention the suspense of a 25 year old mystery to keep you guessing.”

★★★★★ Amazon Review for Shut Up and Kiss Me - “Amazing as always!!! What an adventure!!! It was fun, unpredictable, and full of emotion—exactly what I was hoping for and more. All in all, an easy 5 out of 5 stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐”

★★★★★ Amazon Review for Foolish Pride - “Amazing…Quite a surprise ending. Oh my gosh. Another story that stays with you for a while. I thought we were moving right into the HEA, when it all went sideways. I need the next book NOW. Great writing from an amazing storyteller.”

I'm a stay at home mom that loves to read. Some of my favorite titles are Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Horatio Hornblower. I started writing when I was trying to come up with suggestions on ways I could help bring in some extra money. I came up with the idea that I could donate plasma because you could earn an extra $500/month. My husband responded with, "No. Find something else. Write a blog. Write a book." I didn't think I had anything to share on blog that a thousand other mothers hadn't already thought of. I decided to take his challenge seriously and sat down to write my first book, Jack. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed writing. From there, the stories continued to flow and I haven't been able to stop. I hope my readers enjoy my books as much as I enjoy writing them. Between reading, writing, and taking care of three small kids, my days are quite full.

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