SPR | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Opium and the Red Rose by Michael Rogers

Revisiting the war-torn land that scarred his youth, a filmmaker cooperates in international espionage and finds love and atonement, in Opium and the Red Rose, a wide-ranging thriller by Michael Rogers.

It’s 1982. Danny Summers is working with a film crew recreating scenes of combat, when his life suddenly changes in the face of two unrelated incidents: an accidental death during the filming, and a stranger inviting him to meet with a senator on a matter of extreme confidentiality.

The accident takes Danny back to his Vietnam years when he served the military as a member of a cinematic […]

The Mills Kept Grinding by Martin Smallridge

The Mills Kept Grinding by Martin Smallridge is a harrowing depiction of World War II that fleshes out characters in stark detail – both the good and the brutal – in which readers can eerily see themselves on every side of the conflict. By the end, it is hard to imagine such a brutal and sadistic Europe, which acts as a grim recollection of the past, and a reminder of what humans are capable of in the present and future.

Written as a creative literary exploration of the time period, Smallridge weaves family history, personal narrative, and fictional events into […]

SPR2021-09-22T03:02:02+02:00September 22nd, 2021|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, World War II Book Reviews|

Skinny House by Julie L. Seely

Julie L. Seely’s Skinny House is a true American story, one of perseverance and struggle, of poverty and the graft it takes to pull one out of it. So much more than a memoir of a black family’s journey through the Great Depression, this memoir is a reflection on past generations, as Seely revives her ancestors’ stories with emotional grace and literary clarity. With a wonderful selection of old photographs, newspaper clippings, and other archival images, Seely adds vivid color to the past that for so many of us exists in stark monochrome. Indicative of a rich and storied upbringing, […]

SPR2021-09-20T08:20:29+02:00September 20th, 2021|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

American Tax Trivia by Mike Kowis, Esq.

American Tax Trivia: The Ultimate Quiz on U.S. Taxation by Mike Kowis is filled with over two hundred questions about the often tedious, usually confusing subject of tax law – a dry topic to be sure, but one that manages to be highly readable in this comprehensive guide. Presented with an easygoing and downright hilarious voice that guides readers through each section with a pertinent introduction and a summary of the topic at hand, this quiz book will both entertain and inform, whether you’re a novice, or think you know everything there is about filing your taxes.

[…]

SPR2021-09-20T06:51:41+02:00September 20th, 2021|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

An Interview with Mark Howard: Author of Godfrey’s Crusade

Mark Howard is a newly published fantasy author. He studied medieval and ancient history at the graduate level, and his short story, “The Joust,” won an honorable mention at the Writers of the Future Contest.

Tell us about your book.

Godfrey’s Crusade is the fantasy novel I always wanted to read. I wanted to get certain things right about medieval battle tactics, the lord-vassal relationship, feudalism, and crusading that most other fantasy writers I’ve read didn’t seem overly concerned about. Many aspiring fantasy writers I’ve talked with appear content to dress up twenty-first-century issues in chrome breastplates and wizard robes, […]

SPR2021-09-02T05:30:10+02:00September 2nd, 2021|Categories: Interviews|

An Interview with Ian V. Conrey: Author of Hælend’s Ballad

Ian Conrey is both a teacher and student of history and theology, who actively fights against human trafficking and is working toward an M.A. in Religion. In his free time, he enjoys reading biographies and ancient mythology, discovering early American folk songs, and exploring the Cohutta Wilderness. He lives with his wife and three children in the North Georgia mountains.

Tell us about your book.

Without restating the blurb, I’ll simply say that Hælend’s Ballad is a story about what happens when the world around us falls apart. Several MC’s have to rethink their purpose when they realize that their […]

SPR2021-08-26T03:30:43+02:00August 26th, 2021|Categories: Interviews|

Review: Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Morgan, KCB by John D. Gazzelli

The massive strategic plan known in the annals history as Operation Overlord, which resulted in the final defeat of Nazi Germany, was the vision of a man who, author John D. Gazzelli insists, has been largely overlooked and almost forgotten by those same annals, as chronicled in Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Morgan, KCB: The Planner Who Saved Europe.

By 1943, Hitler’s forces had assumed increasing control of Europe, and it rested on the British and American armies to resist and overcome German domination. However, the two nations were not in agreement about how this could and should be accomplished. […]

SPR2021-10-13T03:13:37+02:00August 25th, 2021|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Biography Book Reviews, History Book Reviews, World War II Book Reviews|

An Interview with Lance Lee: Author of Orpheus Rising

Lance Lee’s poetry is published widely in American and English journals. Elemental Natures (2020), his seventh poetry book, includes a selection of work spanning more than thirty years of poetry, art, and essay. Seasons of Defiance (2010), placed as a finalist in the 8th National USA Book Awards. Orpheus Rising (2021) is the first of a series of children’s works he has planned for the near future.

He has also published The Death and Life of Drama and A Poetics for Screenwriters, plus plays and a novel, Second Chances. A past Creative Writing Fellow of the National Endowment […]