Long Island Author Releases New Novel

Kara Thomas has mesmerized critics and fans alike with her bestselling psychological thrillers for young adults—The Darkest Corners, Little Monsters, The Cheerleaders and That Weekend, a Barnes & Noble YA Book Club Pick. Her expertly crafted novels of suspense featuring young adults have also led to significant cross-over appeal with adult readers.

Now, Thomas makes her adult novel debut with Out Of The Ashes, her darkest, grittiest, and most compelling work to date.

Having grown up on Long Island, a notorious hotbed of unsolved crimes and corrupt law enforcement, Thomas has been obsessed with unsolved mysteries and conspiracy theories. She became particularly transfixed by the tragic 1945 mystery of the Sodders, a family whose home burned while they were sleeping. While the parents and four children escaped, five other children were trapped and their remains were never found. Imagining what that kind of uncertainty would mean to a family member who survived the tragedy, Thomas created her own story, centering on a fatal fire and a child whose body was never retrieved from the ashes.

In the novel, Samantha Newsom has rebuilt her life after a house fire killed her family twenty-two years ago. She’s certain it was murder, but the case went cold. Samantha returns to her hometown of Carney, NY when a prison inmate claims he saw someone leaving the property carrying her baby sister the night of the fire. What else did he see, and could Samantha’s sister really be alive? It’s up to her—with the help of investigator Travis Meacham—to determine what really happened that night.

Out Of The Ashes features all the juicy ingredients for an unputdownable cover to cover read. Thomas will be lauching her new novel at The Next Chapter, 204 New York Ave. Huntington, NY on Thursday, May 18 at 7pm.

Visit kara-thomas.com to purchase Out Of The Ashes and learn more about Thomas.

—Submitted by Thomas & Mercer Publishing

10 Million Handshakes Highlight Eastern New York’s Spring Season

The first round of the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup playoffs has now ended. Much is going to be made of the fact that players and coaches line up in the sporting gesture of shaking hands at the conclusion of each hard-fought best-of-seven playoff series. There will be approximately 6,000 handshakes in total after the 15 playoff series.

But that pales in comparison to what is happening in the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), where the ideals are sportsmanship, safety, fun and fundamentals. Our 100,000 players, both boys and girls from the East End of Long Island to the Canadian border, plus their coaches and match referees will participate in approximately 10 million handshakes during this Spring Season.

“Now that the pandemic has faded and youth soccer has returned to normalcy, it’s important that teams have started shaking hands and bumping fists after every game once again,” explained ENYYSA President Richard Christiano.

Shaking hands is not just a spring thing, as it occurs throughout the year. It is estimated that 25 million handshakes will happen after Eastern New York soccer games in 2023.

The non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 10 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. ENYYSA is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer.

—Submitted by Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association