2018 Self-Published

Se lf-P ubl ished Adult Fiction Adult Nonfiction Cover/Jacket

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FIRST

Adult Fiction

JOHN L. LOEB JR. REFLECTIONS, MEMORIES AND CONFESSIONS

272 2018 New York Book Show

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John L. Loeb Jr.: Reflections, Memories, and Confessions John L. Loeb Jr.

C H A P T ER T W ELV E

On My Own: The Siren Song of Politics, 1974–1981 For people like me, politics is addictive, much like the smell of greasepaint and the roar of the crowd are to an actor. I worked like the proverbial beaver for the GOP during the next few years, but I also made time in late 1978 to found a nonpartisan movement called Voice of the Electorate, or VOTE. Part of my motivation was that I knew VOTE would be an enormous boost for my political visibility across the state.

I was appalled that an astonishing 37 percent of registered voters in New York had not voted in the previous election. VOTE was based on the idea that disenchanted New York voters would become more engaged if it were possible to repeal unpopular legislation and add their own propositions to election ballots. That kind of referendum existed in twenty-three states, and citizens were free to put an issue on the ballot if they got enough signatures. VOTE’s most important mission was lobbying for an enabling amendment to New York’s constitution. An amendment would require passage through two successive legislatures and subsequent voter approval in a referendum. Over the months, we met the opposition of powerful vested interests, as well as that of Governor Carey and Senate Republican Majority Leader Warren M. Anderson. But we also gained warm and fervent support from the influential United Taxpayers of New York, the League of Women Voters and the Conservative Party.

We drew wide media support, most notably from The New York Times. Radio and TV stations were particularly receptive to running public service announcements for us. I

I tried my best to emulate California’s hugely successful Howard Jarvis helping to pass Proposition 13. Jarvis stabilized everybody’s property tax in California. When campaigning for VOTE, I imitated his vigorous fist-bump.

305

SERVICE PROVIDER/PUBLISHER

TRIM SIZE

TEXT STOCK

Scout Books & Media

8½" x 11¼"

PUBLICATION DATE

TYPEFACES

80# Anthem Plus Satin White, FSC-certified

12/22/17

Warnock Pro, Univers

COVER/JACKET DESIGN

Andrij Borys Associates, LLC Self-Published 273

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MERIT

Adult Fiction

274 2018 New York Book Show

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By Any Means: From the Beauty for Ashes Saga Sharon L. Polk

Sharon L. Polk

CHAPTER 1

Darkest Before Dawn

T

he sky was black, the clouds ominous. Lightning strikes painted the heavens with a temporary glow, providing light in the darkness. The wind blew so intensely the trees bowed and touched the ground before them.

While the sound of thunder shook the ground fiercely, the earth beneath opened and formed a great chasm. Amidst the chaos, a woman in a red dress stood directly above the newly formed gulf. She slowly fell into the darkness of the deep pit. Plummeting into what appeared to be a never-ending black abyss, she extended her hands, grasping upward towards the light. She screamed as she fell, but no sound was heard. Eventually, she came to rest atop an object. It was cold, both the object and the environment. Her teeth chattered as she turned to see what was beneath her. A small bolt of lightning from the surface revealed a man’s lifeless body under hers. He lay in what appeared to be a sea of blood.

She was terrified. Emotionally paralyzed, she was unable to move. Suddenly, she realized the man’s body was on top of another body. In fact, it looked as if hundreds of bodies lay beneath her. Their pungent smell was unbearable. She incessantly vomited until nothing was left in her. Out of nowhere, a bloody hand grasped her neck, a moan and then mumbling, “Save me.” Before she could react, a firebolt exposed the face of the man that gripped her in the dark, rank space. She looked into his very familiar eyes. Then looking past him, she quickly realized the man that lay beneath him looked exactly as he did. Actually, all of the bodies beneath them appeared to have the same face. She screamed and fought to escape his grip. Clutching the bloody fingers that were snuggly wrapped around her throat, she pulled until she removed the appendages one by one. Then she frantically reached for the side of the pit, hoping to grab hold

of something she could leverage to escape. This entire time the man was grappling for her foot, trying to get a firm hold on it to pull her back to the center of the cavity. She finally grabbed hold of something and began clawing her way out of the pit. After climbing just a few feet, she fell back into the bloody goo.

Surrounded by the bloody bodies again, she fought her way from the center of the pit. Then she gripped the wall and started to ascend once more. As she climbed higher, the bodies climbed higher, propelled by the sea of blood. They continued to reach for her, to drag her back into the darkness. When she finally reached the surface, one of the bodies grabbed her ankle to pull her back into the pit, but she fought and he released his hold. Finally, she emerged on the surface, away from the bloody bodies. It appeared she had narrowly escaped.

A child was sitting atop the opening with her head down. The child’s hair was long. It covered her face and extended to her feet. As she raised her head, her eyes illuminated from beneath her hair, and she said, “My mother deserted me. She left me here, alone, beside my father’s dead body. I cried for her, but she didn’t come. I needed her, but she stayed away.”

The child pointed to the body beside her. It was entirely covered with a white cotton sheet. As the woman turned to look at the corpse, the man’s arm fell from beneath the sheet. On his arm was a bracelet. The woman stared at the bracelet for a while and then stared into the child’s eyes. Tears begin to run down the woman’s face.

The child grew until she morphed into a woman. The newly formed woman shouted, “YOU…YOU left me. YOU failed me. YOU lied. It was YOU!” Suddenly, the man under the sheet arose, grabbed the woman in the red dress and started to choke her. He compressed both carotid arteries in the woman’s neck, causing her to lose consciousness. Her lifeless body slowly fell to the ground.

Fannie awakened, screaming and frenziedly crying from her nightmare.

She sat up, grasping her neck, trembling, as she stared into the dimness of the room. She closed her eyes again and firmly pressed her lips together. Her entire body was tense. Moments later, with her eyes still shut, she groped the other side of the bed several times, searching for Joe.

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SERVICE PROVIDER/PUBLISHER

TRIM SIZE

TYPEFACE

CreateSpace

6" x 9"

Perpetua

PUBLICATION DATE

01/23/17 Self-Published 275

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FIRST

Adult Nonfiction

276 2018 New York Book Show

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One Dominion: Celebrating Canada—Prepared for a Purpose Bob Beasley and Paul Richardson

SERVICE PROVIDER/PUBLISHER

TRIM SIZE

TEXT STOCK

Friesens/Bible League Canada

12" x 10"

80# matte white FSC-certified white

PUBLICATION DATE

TYPEFACES

COVER/JACKET DESIGN

05/01/17

Monoton, Upper East Side

Graf-Martin Communications

Self-Published 277

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MERIT

Adult Fiction Cover/Jacket

By Any Means: From the Beauty for Ashes Saga Sharon L. Polk SERVICE PROVIDER/PUBLISHER

CreateSpace PUBLICATION DATE

01/23/17 TRIM SIZE

6" x 9" TYPEFACE

Perpetua

278 2018 New York Book Show

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MERIT

Adult Nonfiction Cover/Jacket

Live Small, Live Big: The New Guide to Modern Success Heath Lampee SERVICE PROVIDER/PUBLISHER

Indigo/IngramSpark PUBLICATION DATE

11/07/17 TRIM SIZE

5⅛" x 7⅞" TYPEFACES

Monoton, Upper East Side COVER/JACKET DESIGN

Olivia Croom

Self-Published 279

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