You and No Other - Jane Weiss and Bonnie Zahn

You and No Other


by

Jane Weiss and Bonnie Zahn

You and No Other, a book co-authored by Jane Weiss and Bonnie Zahn, tells the story of two women, in the 1980’s, living traditional lives as wives, mothers and working professionals, juggling their careers with homes and families. But within a year and a half their worlds changed drastically as they began a journey together, filled with both deep love for each other and painful family divisions and rejection.

You and No Other chronicles this journey and transforms the pain of their past to healing, thus giving the writers – and their readers – access to larger truths about themselves, the individuals in their families, and perhaps most importantly, the broader social context of non-acceptance that made the journey so poignant. The book challenges readers to rethink their values and to hopefully close the gaps that divide our churches, schools, and communities around same gender relationships.

BIOGRAPHIES

Bonnie and Jane are both mothers of four grown children, and step-mothers to each other’s four grown children. They left their respective traditional marriages of 15 and 20 years when they became partners. Their eight children then ranged in ages from four to eighteen years. In the nearly thirty years of Bonnie and Jane’s partnership, they’ve traversed many of the issues faced by GLBT parents with children, from attempting to merge their families (with little success initially), through high school and college graduations, weddings, births, baptisms, etc. - to now sharing the joys of co-grandparenting fourteen grandchildren.

Bonnie holds a bachelor’s in nursing from Marycrest College in Davenport, IA, and two master’s degrees from the University of MN – one in medical-surgical Nursing, and the other in healthcare administration. She is now happily retired from a healthcare career that spanned bedside nursing, college nursing instructor, nursing administrator, hospital education director, hospital administrator, and corporate senior vice-president.

Jane has a Registered Nurse diploma from West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, IL, and has a bachelor’s degree in healthcare communications from the University of MN. She also is retired from a healthcare career that included hospital nursing, nursing home education director, senior services director, and corporate operations vice president.

SIGNINGS
September 17, 2011
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Chanhassen, MN
Library Writers’ Group
Chanhassen Library

WEBSITE
http://youandnoother.com

BLOG
http://youandnoother.com/bonnie-and-janes-blog.html

PURCHASE
Order online or ask for the book at your favorite bookstore.

True Colors Book Store in Minneapolis, MN

Amazon.com

North Star Press
http://ourbooks.myshopify.com/products/you-and-no-other

PUBLISHER
North Star Press
http://ourbooks.myshopify.com/products/you-and-no-other

Emily's Run - by David Holmes

Emily’s Run

by David Holmes

Emily Parkhurst is running to save her and her daughter’s life. Roger, her unstable ex-husband, is on a murderous rampage to eliminate his family as witnesses to the despicable things he has done. His carnage and outrageous acts bring devastation to the North Shore of Lake Superior in his quest to remove anyone who gets in his way ‒ or who can implicate him.

STORY HISTORY
Emily’s story has been out since September, 2010, and is gathering attention from more and more people. The overwhelming comment I get is: “I couldn’t put it down” and, “I found a part of myself in it.”

Before it was published I sent a copy of the manuscript to Judy Pearson, director of the Pearl Crisis Center. She read it and loved it enough to offer an endorsement. Judy and I have worked on fund raisers for Pearl putting the story in front of people with the message, “The abuse needs to stop.” Because of my interest in women’s rights and the elimination of abuse, I am now sitting on the Board of Directors for Pearl.

I put a request on Reporter Connection asking for stories from women who were victims of abuse to put into a real-life story. I received comments from all over the country and some from abroad. However, an overwhelming number of women asked that their story not be put into print. They were afraid of recrimination and some just couldn’t bear to see it all over again. Respecting those wishes, I put Emily’s story into a fictional format. It is a compilation of many different events, but hidden behind the fictional shield.

In my marketing and signing tours, one event took place that I will never forget. I was signing books when a woman came to the table and literally froze in place. She looked at the cover, put her hands to her face, and burst out in tears before running away. She was a victim that was living in pain. I pray that I will meet her again someday and at least talk to her.

Emily’s story doesn’t delve into the actual physical abuse. People know what happened to them and don’t need to go into it again. Instead, I have tailored the story to follow Emily while she is running and what she needs to do to protect her daughter. She develops relationships while running; some are good, and some are bad. The story has a positive ending and I am proud to say that the effect will stay with you. The message of the book is clear, and if it bothers anyone—it probably should.

The last pages of the book show the National Hotline numbers for abused, run- aways, and victims of crimes. It also pays homage to Jacob Wetterling, Jaycee Lee Dugard, Elizabeth Smart, and others.

One note I am compelled to add is that my son, Jeff Holmes, did the amazing cover art. The picture alone is a story narrative.

WEBSITE
www.davidpaulholmes.com

PURCHASE
Amazon.com