Author Poll: Jo-Ann Vega Wants Your Help With Her Cover

Jo-Ann Vega is self-publishing a book with Outskirts Press, and she wants your help deciding her upcoming book cover.

Book Summary: Moments in Flight – A Memoir

Stunning memoir shares hard-earned practical wisdom, recovers lost history, and brings the immigrant story full circle.


Set in the last half century of transformative cultural change, Jo-Ann Vega’s memoir chronicles personal voyages of discovery beyond traditional boundaries of gender and culture. It begins with an extended eulogy to the immigrants of the south Bronx and the children who played on the streets without parental supervision—with horse-drawn vegetable and fruit wagons, malocchio, bocce, macaroni in numbered boxes, Uncle Dan the bookie, and Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra at Yankee Stadium. Vega details the impact of her famiglia’s relocation to suburbia, and her own coming of age during the relentless cultural upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. She then seamlessly forms a bridge to today and life after work and parents. Crafted from 40 years’ worth of writing and journaling, Moments in Flight also features useful websites, historical timelines, and a Book Club Discussion Guide.

“Conceived in the optimism after the successful conclusion of WWII, I grew up in the 1950s in New York City, the ninth grandchild of immigrants from southern Europe who arrived in America in the first decades of the 20th century. I came of age during the birth of the social justice and anti-war movements of the early 1970s that presaged today’s world. I started writing then, to make sense of my world…”

About the Author:

 Jo-Ann Vega, a proud Italian-American whose roots in America began in 1903, is a published author and dynamic speaker with 30 years of experience presenting to academic, business, and community groups. Jo-Ann lives with her life partner and canine companion.

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Author Poll: Steven Orenstein, Ph.D. Wants Your Help With His Cover

Steven Orenstein, Ph.D. is self-publishing a book with Outskirts Press, and he wants your help deciding his upcoming book cover.

Book Summary:

Unstuck

Unstuck is a fresh look at what’s really been getting in your way. With honesty, humor, and the insights gained from more than thirty years on the leading edge of psychology, Dr. Orenstein offers a unique perspective on the mind-body relationship and the keys to breaking out of old destructive patterns. Unstuck is a revelatory journey into healing and personal growth that offers therapists a powerful new way to understand their clients and everyone an opportunity to find greater balance, joy, and aliveness.

About the Author:

Dr. Steve Orenstein is a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Hawaii. He is licensed in both Colorado and Hawaii. Long on the leading edge of psychology, his professional journey has included psychodynamic psychotherapy, Radix, Gestalt, neuropsychology, Tragerwork, somatic therapy, pain management, and the treatment of eating disorders.

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Author Poll: Glenn Ickler Wants Your Help With His Cover

Glenn Ickler is self-publishing a book with Outskirts Press, and he wants your help deciding his upcoming book cover.

Book Summary:

Louie’s Last Story: A Mitch and Al mystery

Louie Stein has a story to tell—a story so special that Louie believes newspaper reporter Warren “Mitch” Mitchell will want to write a story about the story for the St. Paul Daily Dispatch. Mitch and his photographer buddy, Alan Jeffrey, are vacationing with their wives, Martha Todd and Carol Jeffrey, in the historic little town of Jonesborough, Tennessee, where they are attending the annual National Storytelling Festival. The foursome has been lured to the festival by Louie Stein, an 82-year-old master storyteller from southern Minnesota. They are waiting in eager anticipation for Louie’s special story in one of the festival’s huge tents on Sunday afternoon when the audience is told that, “due to circumstances beyond our control,” Louie will not be appearing. The two couples hurry out of the tent and rush to Louie’s motorhome, where they had joined a group of storytellers at a party the previous evening. To their astonishment, the vehicle is surrounded by yellow police tape, and Al is recruited by the police to enter the motorhome and photograph the bloody body of Louie Stein, who has been slashed and stabbed during the night. A week later, another storyteller, who calls herself Thumbelina, says in her blog that she thinks she knows who killed Louie. Hours later, Thumbelina is also fatally slashed and stabbed, and Mitch and Al find themselves on the trail of a shadowy two-time killer.

About the Author:

Glenn Ickler has had a long career in newspapers as a reporter, feature writer, theater critic, columnist and editor in Minnesota and Massachusetts. He was the leader of an editorial page staff that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and has won numerous awards for his writing. A native of Minnesota, he now resides in the tiny town of Hopedale, Massachusetts, somewhere west of Boston, and spends the summer months in a tiny cottage on the tiny island of Martha’s Vineyard.

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Author Poll: FaL’s Boy Wants Your Help With His Cover

FaL’s Boy is self-publishing a book with Outskirts Press, and he wants your help deciding his upcoming book cover.

Book Summary:

Where is there a book about God?

It you think about it, the Bible, were it a message from God, has been before most every man in history, from its’ humble inception.  It requires focus to understand it, and not experts.  It is meant for all to understand.  Ecclesiastes, in the last chapter sums it up. “… of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh……the conclusion of the matter, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

If I had one wish this treatise would do, it would be to have every African American, Caucasian, Hispanic, and whomever I may have left out, place God on their “Bucket List”.  It takes awhile to get around to Him, but as you can see today, we probably don’t really have anything better to do than find Him.

About the Author:

I was born right before television came to the masses, at least the masses of which I was a part.  When I look back, I can see through my parents how absolutely horrible it had to have been being Black at the turn of the century, during the very early 1900’s.  I received what to them was exceptional treatment, along with many of my peers, because they, our parents,  were elated, empowered, being allowed a tiny modicum of freedom from the tyranny of racism, and they invested their efforts in to bettering their condition, but especially into bettering the lives of their children.  By simply staying in the North, and gingerly tipping around the elephant of racism that stood close by every modicum of Black success, ready and certain to quash any lasting happiness, they quietly hoped to escape the madness themselves, but surely wanted their children to have the opportunities they did not have.  To some degree, (to them a great degree, when they reflected on their parents and their history), their dreams came true.  I went to an all Black elementary school, to a integrated high school, (15% Black), a slightly integrated college, (20 out of 1,000), and a professional school that somehow could never figure out how to graduate more than two Blacks, with the most profound expressions of exasperation on their faces.  Television roared in about 1955, and in only 65 years, is here to document the “Neo, good ole boy, good old days” return, where suburbs, chalets, rural communities receive the best of schools, roads, parks, benefits, and public is the updated version of “Black only”, with outdated books, poor facilities, limited benefits for the “other”.  The return to the days of overt and covert racism, being “reparadigmed” by a nebulous group called White nationalists, complete with its’ own “ism”.  I knew adults who would have still thought that Black people had tales had we not met and come to know each other.  Why they thought that I didn’t know then, but in this modern world of “fake news” that idea, though not particularly harmful, is apt to resurface.  Through all of this, my life is not necessarily noteworthy, but the new research in Biblical history, done by younger scholars, is noteworthy to all, because it states a truth that most likely will never be again hidden.  Just as the God of the Nation of Israel said, “I AM”, to Moses, We, people of color, now say that we “are”.

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Author Poll: Thomas Shipp Wants Your Help With His Cover

Thomas Shipp is self-publishing a book with Outskirts Press, and he wants your help deciding his upcoming book cover.

Book Summary:

Turn boring and bland to outstanding and grand!

Colleges, hospitals, military bases, and many other companies all over the world share one thing in common: a cafeteria that may prepare food for hundreds if not thousands daily. Cafeteria fare can be downright plain and uninteresting, but Cafeteria Cuisine will show you quick and easy recipes and meal pairings created from the precooked food and condiments offered by your cafeteria—and how to turn them into fresh new delights.

From stuffed croissants to lemon-buttered crab legs, Thomas Shipp created unique meals in the Army’s dining facilities while stationed in Kuwait—using anything he could find to make his precooked meal taste better. Now he shares these recipes with you. Whether you rely on cafeteria cuisine or prefer to cook at home, Cafeteria Cuisine will open your eyes—and appetite—to new possibilities. Let’s eat! Bon appétit!

About the Author:

Thomas Shipp, born and raised in Byhalia, Mississippi, is the proud father of two beautiful young daughters—Maleah and Meilani. He has served as an active duty soldier in the U.S. Army for 19 years and is a self-taught cook. His popular Instagram account showcased some of the meals he created while deployed in Kuwait (2016–2017) and led to the creation of this book.

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Author Poll: Peter DeLorenzi Needs Your Help With His Book Cover

Peter DeLorenzi is self-publishing a book with Outskirts Press, and he wants your help deciding on his book cover.

Book Summary

Every life has a unique journey; some life paths are brilliantly illuminated by explosions of insight sparked by war, wanderlust, prison, and pain…as well as love, joy, celebration, and delight. Paper Airplanes and Serial Lovers shows you the bleeding and beating heart of one man, whose personal experience becomes yours as you see the world through his eyes and speak his words aloud with your own voice. From the failings of government to the frailties of mankind, from the brutal forces of nature to people’s deliberate cruelty to one another, from childhood memories to adult revelation, this confrontational, exhilarating book will challenge you to see life from a broader and deeper perspective.


About the Author

Peter DeLorenzi lives, works, and writes on San Juan Island, Washington. He is a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War. He has spent most of the past thirty years painting houses he could never afford, loving women he could never have nor keep, and doing his best to be a good human being.

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Author Poll: Fr. John Francis Kamwendo, D.Th. and John E. Koenig, Ph.D. Need Help Choosing a Cover

Fr. John Francis Kamwendo, D.Th. and John E. Koenig, Ph.D. are self-publishing a book with Outskirts Press, and they want your help deciding the book cover.

Book Summary:

The thoughts, discussions, and research presented in this book are principally focused on the responsibility mankind and the Church in its mandated diaconal role, are obligated to carry out in serving others, particularly the poor, and in addressing poverty through selfless acts of διακονία (diakonia) or service. In doing so, we discuss the importance and significance of incorporating transformational development in the decision-making process by including those most directly affected by poverty and its harsh realities.

A case study, based on Fr. Kamwendo’s doctoral dissertation, with editorial and professorial assistance from Dr. Koenig, concerning diakonia and transformational development conducted in four parishes in the Diocese of Lindi in Southern Tanzania is included.

The study was principally interested in assessing the question of whether mankind, the Church and the Diocese of Lindi leadership is providing philanthropic diakonia (διακονία) and implementing transformational development processes to others, particularly the poor.

The research also focused on the extent to which those mentioned above are engaged in empowering others to: “develop their own capacity and skills so that they may become competent decision makers with the confidence to act on their choices.”  (Roy and Hartigan)

Every effort was made to study poverty from the experiences of the poor.  The case study, beginning in Chapter 5, was conducted in the Diocese of Lindi, Tanzania where Fr. Kamwendo was born and raised.

This book is a thoughtful reminder that all things do work together for the good of those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

About the Authors:

Fr. Kamwendo, Th.D. holds a Doctorate in Practical Theology and Missiology (D.Th.) Degree and was raised by loving and caring parents in a poor rural area of Lindi, Tanzania.  He worked with the poor and special needs children in Tanzania and the United States.  Fr. Kamwendo is Associate Pastor of St. Michaels Catholic Parish in Brookville, Indiana, USA.

Dr. Koenig holds a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Degree in Educational Leadership and spent 20 years as an administrator and professor in higher education; 14 in secondary education; and eight as a business executive. Dr. Koenig a consultant, retired from Indiana University in 2011, and was raised the eldest of six siblings, in Effingham, Illinois by loving and caring parents of meager means.

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