Black Maria–the title is a slang term for a police van as well as a hearse–is a twisting tale of suspicion, passion, mystery, and the city. Young channels the world of detective movies, picking up its lingo and dark glamour in five “reels” of poetry–the adventures of a “soft-boiled” private eye, known as A.K.A. Jones, and an ingenue turned femme fatale, Delilah Redbone, who’s come to town from down south (“Mama bent till dark / tending rows to send / Me to school . . . I wanted / To head on & hitch . . . strike it / Big”). We follow Jones and Delilah through a maze of aliases and ambushes, sex and suspicions, fast talk and hard luck, in Shadowtown where noir characters abound. The Killer, The Gunsel, The Hack, The Director, The Champ, and The Snitch are among the local luminaries and beautiful losers who mingle with Jones and his elusive lady as they stalk one another through the scenes of the poet’s dazzling “treatment.” Charming, funky, bleak, humorous, picaresque, and full of pathos, Black Maria is brimming with the originality and stark lyricism we have come to expect from this remarkable poet.When we met her first request:Got a light?*I only had darkso gave her that instead.*Ashtray full of butts& maybes.*The sound of her heels down the hallto me means reveille.(from “Stills”)Click on the poem titles below to hear Kevin Young read from Black Maria.

    October is a masterpiece."—Mark StrandLouise Glück is the author of nine books of poetry. Her many honors include a National Book Critics Circle Award, a Bobbitt National Poetry Prize, a Pulitzer Prize, the first annual New Yorker Magazine’s Readers Award, an Ambassador’s Award, a William Carlos Williams Award, a Lannan Literary Award, a PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction and a Bollingen Prize for Poetry.

    It was nominated for all three major American book awards: the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and the American Book Award.

    This book is about the girls whose lives were ruined by me. I want to write about my story, for it’s the only way to be immortal. I want you to feel the pleasure of falling in love. The lust, the passion, the desire, and the craving that turns into an unhealthy addiction. And I want you also to feel the pain of losing someone, the ache, the agony, the bitterness, and the grief that cripples your soul forever. This is for everyone. The forgotten souls buried under the melancholy of the past. Yes, I will show you how much you hurt me, I will write. This is what my heart holds for you; half pleasure, half pain.

    In Lovely Things in Ugly Places, he invites us to come with him as he revisits the moments in his ministry (some incredible, some hilarious, and some tragic), that shaped him most substantially. Known for his bold and fearless proclamation of the Gospel, Montgomery writes with vulnerability and transparency, beckoning the Body of Christ into a radical lifestyle of love. He challenges his readers to lay down the labels we use to identify people, and to see them (and ourselves) as God does, reminding us that if we are willing to look, we too will find Lovely Things in Ugly Places.

    Many had high hopes for John but as he grew up it became obvious he was not the mage his father was. Dismayed John agrees to join the army where he learns to control his special type of magic and mixes his fighting style with the sword. The Queen sees potential in John and Knights him as a favor to his father . When the Dragon Knights of Downey threaten Kirby's border they find an enemy waiting for them they had never faced who is far craftier than his father. Join John as he goes from outcast to the Knight Mage.

    A comprehensive collection by one of the most intensely musical and visionary poets writing today.

    But there is one thing Charlotte hasn’t revealed to Grayson that may change everything.Take a deep breath, smell the sweet scent of the sagebrush across the wide open plains and watch the glowing sun go down behind the mountains as you journey back in time to the Old West with Grayson and Charlotte. Love is in the air, but will it drift away?Love, Honor & Keep Her can be read as a stand-alone story without a cliffhanger.Themes: western romance, clean & wholesome romance, historical romance, inspirational romance, western & frontier romance, Victorian historical romance, happily ever after

    Three years have passed since his death, and Clara finds herself working at the Bridgewood Mercantile, unable to forget the loss of her first love. Though she spends her days caring for the store owner’s young ward and seeing to the shopping needs of her homesteading community, she has resigned herself to quiet, peaceful nights alone. When Gabe Holt rides into town with two children in the back of his covered wagon, Clara is unnerved by the handsome young farmer’s forthright, flirtatious manner. She prefers to watch the antics of her neighbour, Mrs. Booth, trying to secure Gabe as a husband for her daughter Sadie. But Sadie has other plans, and thinks Gabe would be better suited to a hardworking woman like her friend Clara. As Clara becomes the unwitting victim of Sadie’s matchmaking schemes, she begins to develop romantic feelings for Gabe. With friends pushing them together, and children determined to keep them apart, Clara must ultimately decide if she has room enough in her heart for someone new.

    His spell isn't able to be escaped so easily. Money Malaya Richardson is able to attest to the fact. “Love, this is a custom Chanel piece. You don’t wear custom Chanel to three-star restaurants. The earrings alone were $2,500. It’s niggas in here wishing upon a star for that $2,500 to fall out of the sky right now and would do just about anything to get it. Here you are, ready to – unknowingly – hand it to them.” Prophet shoved his hands into both of his pockets to keep himself in line. Tittering, he leaned in, again, and asked, “Money, you trying to get me sent back upstate from bodying one of ‘em about you?” “Please,” she sneered. “You’re killing me, Money. I’m standing on half-buffed floors in front of people who don’t deserve either of our presence and you’re as dazzling as I imagined. Walking out of that door will be harder than the two years I just did. However, your comfort will always be the mission and Money will always be the motto.” Reaching his full potential in height, Prophet buttoned the single button that he’d undone upon reaching Money.

    

    

     Richard Letterman is a billionaire that has it all. But when an old lover comes back into his life, everything is flipped upside down. Romii Scarsdale never thought she would see her secret baby daddy again. So when Richard walks back into her life, she is stunned. Although she will never forget her heartbreak, she can't resist her attraction to him. But can she tell him about their baby? Note: Her Billionaire Ex's Unwanted Black Baby is 43k of sexy, steamy passion between a dominant alpha billionaire and a feisty, beautiful woman.

    However there comes a time in every writer’s life when the need to have one’s work appreciated by others overcomes the reticence of their nature. With this book, I have reached the point where I can let you, the reader, enter. See me. Maybe some of the poems here will resonate with you, and that understanding, that secret “yes, I know what she means”, from a stranger, is what I seek.

    The poem started out as a simple observation of the snow in moonlight, and turned into a poem with more to offer. I'm offering it free to my readers. I've had it on my blog, where it's gotten much response, and wanted to give everyone another way to access it.