Coming in August 2019 from InkSpell Publishing: THE BIRTHRIGHT OF PARKER CLEAVES!
What happens when you're not ready for the power you desire?Revisit the Greek myth of the sun god, Helios, and his son Phaeton -- only this time Helios is Helen, the fiery-haired chief executive of Aethon Power & Light in Chicago and Phaeton is Parker, her hot-headed son and only heir.
The Birthright of Parker Cleaves Playlist on Spotify
Songs with fire
1) Fire and Rain - James Taylor
2) Firework - Katy Perry
3) Set Fire to the Rain - Adele
4) Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys
5) We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
6) What's Up? - 4 Non Blondes
7) I'm on Fire - Bruce Springsteen
8) Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
9) Light My Fire - The Doors
10) Burning Down the House - Talking Heads
11) Holding Out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler
12) While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles
13) I Would Die 4 U - Prince
14) Waiting for a Girl Like You - Foreigner
15) Hearts on Fire - John Cafferty
16) Hook - Blues Traveler
17) I Was Here - Beyonce
18) Rosanna - Toto
19) I Wanna Be Sedated - Ramones
20) St. Elmo's Fire - John Parr
A short excerpt -- Remember: Helen is the matriarch, Parker her problem child. Meg = the observer and either victim or conquerer -- up to you.
Helen leans in, her necklaces clinking softly. I can smell her perfume wafting up from between the layers of silk around her shoulders. “I stopped by to see if you’re clear on your duties while I’m gone, dear.” She rests her hand on my desk, and it looks old, way older than her face, as though she’s aging from the ground up.
I swivel to see her adjusting her thick leather belt. It looks soft enough to fold in half length-wise. “Pretty sure—Parker is filling in for you, so I manage his calendar and affairs just like I do for you until you return, right?” Don’t leave. I don’t want you to leave me. Too.
“That’s right. It could be more challenging than you think.” Helen stands back, removing her hand from my inspection as if she can see what I am thinking. “He can be more challenging.”
“Oh?” I slide my feet back into the flats under my desk. “Parker?”
“I’m well aware of my son’s interest in you, Meg. I’ve told him again and again he needs to keep the office business, but he tends to lack boundaries.” She looks right at me, and I start to squirm. “I do worry you’ll buy into Parker’s image of himself. It’s happened with others before, but you’re made of different stuff, I think. Always remember there’s a difference between liking someone and liking the way they make you feel about yourself.”
THE OBVIOUS GAME (InkSpell Publishing, 2013)
THE OBVIOUS GAME is a 2016 Library Journal Self-e Selection! Ask for it at your local library.
“Everyone trusted me back then. Good old, dependable Diana. Which is why most people didn’t notice at first.”
"Your shirt is yellow."
"Your eyes are blue."
"You have to stop running away from your problems."
"You're too skinny."
Fifteen-year-old Diana Keller accidentally begins teaching The Obvious Game to new kid Jesse on his sixteenth birthday. As she buries her shock about her mother's fresh cancer diagnosis in cookbooks, peach schnapps and Buns of Steel workouts, Diana both seduces athlete Jesse and shoves him away under the guise of her carefully constructed sentences. As their relationship deepens, Diana avoids Jesse's past with her own secrets -- which she'll protect at any cost. Will Diana and Jesse's love survive his wrestling obsession and the Keller family's chaos, or will all their important details stay buried beneath a game?
Praise for The Obvious Game:
"Lovely, evocative, painful and joyful all in one ... much like high school." -- Jenny Lawson, author of LET'S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED
“I couldn’t put down THE OBVIOUS GAME. Arens perfectly captures the hunger, pain and uncertainty of adolescence.” -- Ann Napolitano, author of A GOOD HARD LOOK and WITHIN ARM'S REACH
"THE OBVIOUS GAME is a fearless, honest, and intense look into the psychology of anorexia. The characters—especially Diana--are so natural and emotionally authentic that you’ll find yourself yelling at the page even as you’re compelled to turn it." -- Coert Voorhees, author of LUCKY FOOLS and THE BROTHERS TORRES
"Let’s be clear about one thing: there’s nothing obvious about THE OBVIOUS GAME. Arens has written a moving, sometimes heart-breaking story about one girl’s attempt to control the uncontrollable. You can’t help but relate to Diana and her struggles as you delve into this gem of a novel." -- Risa Green, author of THE SECRET SOCIETY OF THE PINK CRYSTAL BALL
"THE OBVIOUS GAME explores the chasms between conformity and independence, faith and fear, discoveries and secrets, first times and last chances, hunger and satisfaction. The tortured teenage experience is captured triumphantly within the pages of this unflinching, yet utterly relatable, novel. - Erica Rivera, author of INSATIABLE: A YOUNG MOTHER’S STRUGGLE WITH ANOREXIA
Book Information:
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
Release Date: Feb 7th, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9856562-7-0 (ebook), 978-0-9856562-8-7 (Paperback)
Paperback Price: $13.99
Kindle: $4.99
And here's a short excerpt!
Prologue
1987
When we were in seventh grade, Amanda and I snuck out of her house one foggy Saturday night to meet her boyfriend, Matt. We spent more time planning our escape than we did actually conducting it.
We’d made a list while pretending to do our homework:
Wrap flashlights with black electrical tape. (check)
Make fake bodies out of pillows to hide in our sleeping bags. (check)
Booby-trap her bedroom door with string across the threshold so we could see if her mom had tried to check on us. (check)
Assemble all-black outfits, complete with stocking caps, so we would blend in with the shadows as we walked. (check)
Arrange the rendezvous point ahead of time with Matt: the third-grade playground at the elementary school. (check)
It wasn’t until we’d successfully shimmied down the fence, jogged the four blocks up the street, and seen Matt sitting there alone on the seesaw that I realized I had nothing at all to do while they giggled and kissed. I’d been so caught up in the planning portion of our escape that I didn’t notice how pathetic my part in it seemed.
I twirled on the swings across the playground and out of view, once again pretending to be totally cool with it. The thing was, though, I wasn’t cool with it. I felt about as important as the guy who wrote the cooking instructions for Pop-Tarts.
We probably would’ve stayed there for hours if I hadn’t finally strode over to the jungle gym, coughing and kicking rocks as I went. Amanda poked her head out.
“What’s up, Diana?”
“Can we go soon? I forgot to bring a book.”
Her expectant smile turned sour. “Okay,” she finally said, disappearing in the darkness. “Just five more minutes.”
I wandered to the edge of the playground, thought about turning back on my own, letting her get caught out there by herself. But I wouldn’t. That’s what friends are for. She knew it. I knew it.
Everyone trusted me. Good old dependable Diana. Which was why most people didn’t notice at first that I was in trouble.
The Obvious Game Playlist
Chapter 1: Pride by White Lion (1987) – When the Children Cry
Chapter 2: Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses (1987) – Welcome to the Jungle
Chapter 3: Scarecrow by John Mellencamp (1985) – Small Town
Chapter 4: True Colors by Cyndi Lauper (1986) – True Colors
Chapter 5: Can’t Hold Back by Eddie Money (1986) – Take Me Home Tonight
Chapter 6: Hysteria by Def Leppard (1987) – Hysteria
Chapter 7: Nothing’s Shocking by Jane’s Addiction (1988) – Jane Says
Chapter 8: Just Like the First Time by Freddie Jackson (1986) – Have You Ever Loved Somebody
Chapter 9: Use Your Illusion by Guns N’Roses (1991) – November Rain
Chapter 10: Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf (1977) – Bat Out of Hell
Chapter 11: Head Games by Foreigner (1979) – Dirty White Boy
Chapter 12: Faith by George Michael (1987) – Monkey
Chapter 13: Cuts Like a Knife by Bryan Adams (1983) – Straight From the Heart
Chapter 14: Double Vision by Foreigner (1978) – Hot Blooded
Chapter 15: Disintegration by The Cure (1989) – Fascination Street
Chapter 16: Poison by Bell Biv DeVoe (1990) – Poison
Chapter 17: Achtung Baby by U2 (1991) -- Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?
Chapter 18: Nevermind by Nirvana (1991) – Smells Like Teen Spirit
Chapter 19: Listen Without Prejudice by George Michael (1990) – Something to Save
Chapter 20: Out of Time by R.E.M. (1991) – Losing My Religion
Chapter 21: The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby (1986) – Mandolin Rain
Chapter 22: Infected by The The (1986) – Out of the Blue (Into the Fire)
Chapter 23: Strange Fire by Indigo Girls (1989) – Strange Fire
Chapter 24: Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos (1992) -- China
Eating Disorder Resources
