Overview

I have edited 50+ books of fiction / non-fiction and have 20+ years of experience writing, editing, and designing marketing and communications materials for authors and businesses. I am a co-founder of Blank Slate Press, now an imprint of Amphorae Publishing Group, an award-winning small press, as well as co-owner of Blank Slate Communications along with my daughters Amira and Elena. I am also the author (under the pen name Marie Savage) of ORACLES OF DELPHI and the co-author of THE SEEDS TRILOGY, a YA sci-fi dystopia alongside my two daughters Elena and Amira. THE SOWING, the first book in THE SEEDS TRILOGY, has been optioned for film.

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Amphorae Publishing Group is an award-winning small press with imprints Blank Slate Press, Walrus Publishing imprint, and Treehouse. Our books are distributed through Midpoint Trade and we're based in St. Louis, MO and Tucson, AZ

The Reaping (The Seeds Trilogy) (Volume 2)

K. Makansi

Remy Alexander wants justice. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Sector only to watch her world burn around her, she will defy everyone to find her revenge. Valerian Orlean wants truth. After learning what evils the Sector is truly capable of, he must confront his past in order to create a better future. In a world where deadly secrets lurk around every corner, and the food you ... read more

Remy Alexander wants justice. After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Sector only to watch her world burn around her, she will defy everyone to find her revenge. Valerian Orlean wants truth. After learning what evils the Sector is truly capable of, he must confront his past in order to create a better future. In a world where deadly secrets lurk around every corner, and the food you ... read more

The Harvest (The Seeds Trilogy) (Volume 3)

K. Makansi

Remy Alexander wants revolution. After watching Vale fall back into the hands of the Sector, she will stop at nothing to reveal the corruption in Okaria. When she joins a secret Outsider network in the underbelly of the capital city, she must use all her skills as a fighter and an artist to show the people the truth. Valerian Orlean wants emancipation. When he wakes up in Okaria as a political... read more

Remy Alexander wants revolution. After watching Vale fall back into the hands of the Sector, she will stop at nothing to reveal the corruption in Okaria. When she joins a secret Outsider network in the underbelly of the capital city, she must use all her skills as a fighter and an artist to show the people the truth. Valerian Orlean wants emancipation. When he wakes up in Okaria as a political... read more

Oracles of Delphi: A Novel of Suspense (An Althaia of Athens Mystery)

Marie Savage

All Althaia wants on her trip to Delphi is to fulfill her father's last wish and enjoy time away from her tiresome new husband. Finding the body of a young woman on the altar of Dionysos in the theater of the Sacred Precinct on her first day in town is not in her plans. Neither is getting involved in the search for the killer, falling for the son of a famous priestess, or getting pulled into t... read more

All Althaia wants on her trip to Delphi is to fulfill her father's last wish and enjoy time away from her tiresome new husband. Finding the body of a young woman on the altar of Dionysos in the theater of the Sacred Precinct on her first day in town is not in her plans. Neither is getting involved in the search for the killer, falling for the son of a famous priestess, or getting pulled into t... read more

Slant of Light: A Novel of Utopian Dreams and Civil War (The Daybreak Series)

Steve Wiegenstein

Set during the brink of the Civil War, this beautifully written novel traces James Turner, a charming, impulsive writer and lecturer; Charlotte, his down-to-earth bride; and Cabot, an idealistic Harvard-educated abolitionist as they are drawn together in a social experiment deep in the Missouri Ozarks. Inspired by utopian dreams of building a new society, Turner is given a tract of land to fou... read more

Set during the brink of the Civil War, this beautifully written novel traces James Turner, a charming, impulsive writer and lecturer; Charlotte, his down-to-earth bride; and Cabot, an idealistic Harvard-educated abolitionist as they are drawn together in a social experiment deep in the Missouri Ozarks. Inspired by utopian dreams of building a new society, Turner is given a tract of land to fou... read more

This Old World: A Novel of Utopian Dreams and Civil War (The Daybreak Series)

Steve Wiegenstein COLUMBIA

The community of Daybreak survived the war. Can it survive the peace? After the war, James Turner and the other men of Daybreak return home to find that war has changed their Utopian community forever. Charlotte Turner, Marie Mercadier and the other women they left behind survived raiders and bushwackers, raised up children, and survived on little more than dogged determination. Now that the m... read more

The community of Daybreak survived the war. Can it survive the peace? After the war, James Turner and the other men of Daybreak return home to find that war has changed their Utopian community forever. Charlotte Turner, Marie Mercadier and the other women they left behind survived raiders and bushwackers, raised up children, and survived on little more than dogged determination. Now that the m... read more

Never Hug a Nun

Kevin Killeen

Kevin Killeen's debut novel, winner of a Silver Benjamin Franklin award from the Independent Book Publishers Association, is written with a keen sense of comic timing, and is a sweet, laugh-out-loud look at the innocence of childhood in the leafy Webster Groves suburbs of 1960s Saint Louis. From falling for a girl with no-good-for-sports stick arms and beautiful penmanship to jumping freight t... read more

Kevin Killeen's debut novel, winner of a Silver Benjamin Franklin award from the Independent Book Publishers Association, is written with a keen sense of comic timing, and is a sweet, laugh-out-loud look at the innocence of childhood in the leafy Webster Groves suburbs of 1960s Saint Louis. From falling for a girl with no-good-for-sports stick arms and beautiful penmanship to jumping freight t... read more

Try to Kiss a Girl

Kevin Killeen

The antics of Patrick Cantwell and his family, featured in the award-winning Never Hug a Nun, return as they head to Grand Haven, Michigan for summer vacation. After another boy reveals the facts of life--complete with pictures from the encyclopedia--Patrick's entire worldview changes and suddenly the idea of spending a week fishing and playing games with the family seems a lot less appealing.... read more

The antics of Patrick Cantwell and his family, featured in the award-winning Never Hug a Nun, return as they head to Grand Haven, Michigan for summer vacation. After another boy reveals the facts of life--complete with pictures from the encyclopedia--Patrick's entire worldview changes and suddenly the idea of spending a week fishing and playing games with the family seems a lot less appealing.... read more

Snow Globes and Hand Grenades: A Novel

Kevin Killeen

Eight long years of grade school and nuns is about to end in freedom. Graduation! But only if Mimi Maloney and her classmates Patrick and Tony can outsmart investigators who suspect, and rightly so, they’re guilty of the worst crime ever in parish history. Mimi Maloney, an average student who never gets in trouble, shows her genius in love and crime in this tale of Catholic school kids endurin... read more

Eight long years of grade school and nuns is about to end in freedom. Graduation! But only if Mimi Maloney and her classmates Patrick and Tony can outsmart investigators who suspect, and rightly so, they’re guilty of the worst crime ever in parish history. Mimi Maloney, an average student who never gets in trouble, shows her genius in love and crime in this tale of Catholic school kids endurin... read more

A Matter of Mercy

Lynne Hugo

Caroline Marcum thought she'd escaped the great mistake of her life by leaving Wellfleet harbor, but is forced to face it when she returns, reluctantly, to care for her dying mother. Ridley Neal put his past-and his prison term-behind him to return home to take over his father's oyster and clam beds. Casual acquaintances long ago, when a nor'easter hits the coast, Rid and Caroline's lives inte... read more

Caroline Marcum thought she'd escaped the great mistake of her life by leaving Wellfleet harbor, but is forced to face it when she returns, reluctantly, to care for her dying mother. Ridley Neal put his past-and his prison term-behind him to return home to take over his father's oyster and clam beds. Casual acquaintances long ago, when a nor'easter hits the coast, Rid and Caroline's lives inte... read more

Agnes Canon's War

Deborah Lincoln

Agnes Canon is tired of being a spectator in life, a small-town schoolmarm and an invisible daughter among seven sisters, meat for the marriage market. The rivers of her Pennsylvania countryside flow west, and she yearns to flow with them, explore new lands, know the independence that is the usual sphere of men. This is a story of a woman's quest for freedom, both social and intellectual, and ... read more

Agnes Canon is tired of being a spectator in life, a small-town schoolmarm and an invisible daughter among seven sisters, meat for the marriage market. The rivers of her Pennsylvania countryside flow west, and she yearns to flow with them, explore new lands, know the independence that is the usual sphere of men. This is a story of a woman's quest for freedom, both social and intellectual, and ... read more

Beneath Still Waters

Cynthia A. Graham

The swamps and bayous around Cherokee Crossing, Arkansas have always been dark and mysterious, but on this summer day two boys stumble across the remains of a baby girl, headless and badly decomposed. Hick Blackburn, a reluctant sheriff with a troubled past is called to the scene. With nothing to go on except the baby’s race and sex, the task of discovering who she is and how she died challeng... read more

The swamps and bayous around Cherokee Crossing, Arkansas have always been dark and mysterious, but on this summer day two boys stumble across the remains of a baby girl, headless and badly decomposed. Hick Blackburn, a reluctant sheriff with a troubled past is called to the scene. With nothing to go on except the baby’s race and sex, the task of discovering who she is and how she died challeng... read more

Behind Every Door: A Novel (Hick Blackburn Mystery)

Cynthia A. Graham

When a school secretary is found murdered alongside a ditch outside of Cherokee Crossing, Arkansas, none of the usual scenarios seem to fit. Hick Blackburn, a sheriff more interested in finding justice than keeping peace, is compelled to construct the last months of her life to unearth what may have led to her death. With the citizens of Cherokee Crossing increasingly suspicious of the boys wh... read more

When a school secretary is found murdered alongside a ditch outside of Cherokee Crossing, Arkansas, none of the usual scenarios seem to fit. Hick Blackburn, a sheriff more interested in finding justice than keeping peace, is compelled to construct the last months of her life to unearth what may have led to her death. With the citizens of Cherokee Crossing increasingly suspicious of the boys wh... read more

Off the Leash: How My Dog Inspired Me to Quit My Job, Pack My Car, and Take a Road Trip Across America to Reclaim My Life

Jean Ellen Whatley

In this memoir about having the courage to break free from thinking one's life is predestined to be hard, sad, or screw up, Jean Ellen Whatley and her dog Libby set out from St. Louis and drive nearly 9,000 miles across America to revive her life. With a family history of secrets and betrayals, addiction and abuse, survivor solidarity and abiding love, Whatley frees herself from the traps of t... read more

In this memoir about having the courage to break free from thinking one's life is predestined to be hard, sad, or screw up, Jean Ellen Whatley and her dog Libby set out from St. Louis and drive nearly 9,000 miles across America to revive her life. With a family history of secrets and betrayals, addiction and abuse, survivor solidarity and abiding love, Whatley frees herself from the traps of t... read more

The Christos Mosaic

Vincent Czyz

A #1 BESTSELLER IN KINDLE HISTORICAL THRILLERS Ancient scrolls hold the key to the origins of Christianity―but some will stop at nothing to hide the truth A suspicious death in Istanbul leaves one ancient scroll and clues to finding another in the hands of Drew Korchula, a thirty-two-year-old American expat, a Turkish dwarf named Kadir, and Zafer, a Special Forces washout. Drew is desperate to... read more

A #1 BESTSELLER IN KINDLE HISTORICAL THRILLERS Ancient scrolls hold the key to the origins of Christianity―but some will stop at nothing to hide the truth A suspicious death in Istanbul leaves one ancient scroll and clues to finding another in the hands of Drew Korchula, a thirty-two-year-old American expat, a Turkish dwarf named Kadir, and Zafer, a Special Forces washout. Drew is desperate to... read more

The Wrecking Crew: A Novel

Taylor Zajonc

In exchange for his freedom from a secret Moroccan prison, deep-water salvage diver Jonah Blackwell agrees to lead a covert search for a missing research team in the dangerous coastal waters of Somalia, an area plagued by pirates and a deadly red tide killing all marine life within its reach. But when his expedition threatens the ambitions of billionaire industrialist Charles Bettencourt, Jona... read more

In exchange for his freedom from a secret Moroccan prison, deep-water salvage diver Jonah Blackwell agrees to lead a covert search for a missing research team in the dangerous coastal waters of Somalia, an area plagued by pirates and a deadly red tide killing all marine life within its reach. But when his expedition threatens the ambitions of billionaire industrialist Charles Bettencourt, Jona... read more

Red Sun Rogue: A Wrecking Crew Novel

Taylor Zajonc

An unknown enemy wreaks havoc in the South China Sea while blaming the destruction on Jonah Blackwell and the crew of the Scorpion, forcing them to untangle a deadly conspiracy rooted in a lost technology from World War II. May 6, 1945: A German submarine U-3531 disappears en route to mainland Japan, taking with her a weapon that could have changed the course of the war. Present day: Salvage d... read more

An unknown enemy wreaks havoc in the South China Sea while blaming the destruction on Jonah Blackwell and the crew of the Scorpion, forcing them to untangle a deadly conspiracy rooted in a lost technology from World War II. May 6, 1945: A German submarine U-3531 disappears en route to mainland Japan, taking with her a weapon that could have changed the course of the war. Present day: Salvage d... read more

Odin's Child: Book One of Odd Tangle-Hair's Saga

Bruce Macbain

An old grudge erupts into violence as Odd Tangle-Hair refuses to back down from the men he believes shamed his father and betrayed their heritage by turning away from the old gods in favor of the White Christ. But when the violence escalates and Odd's family bears the brunt of it, he must leave his beloved Iceland behind and find his own way in the world. The golden age of Viking conquest is f... read more

An old grudge erupts into violence as Odd Tangle-Hair refuses to back down from the men he believes shamed his father and betrayed their heritage by turning away from the old gods in favor of the White Christ. But when the violence escalates and Odd's family bears the brunt of it, he must leave his beloved Iceland behind and find his own way in the world. The golden age of Viking conquest is f... read more

The Ice Queen: Book Two of Odd Tangle-Hair's Saga

Bruce Macbain

In this second volume of his saga, Odd Tangle-Hair travels to Russia to take up his post as skald to Harald, the young renegade prince of Norway. Intrigue and danger await him when Odd finds himself ‘caught between two wolves’―the arrogant, bullying Harald and his sworn enemy, Ingigerd, Grand Princess of Novgorod, who schemes against Harald by seducing Odd. While political intrigue swirls arou... read more

In this second volume of his saga, Odd Tangle-Hair travels to Russia to take up his post as skald to Harald, the young renegade prince of Norway. Intrigue and danger await him when Odd finds himself ‘caught between two wolves’―the arrogant, bullying Harald and his sworn enemy, Ingigerd, Grand Princess of Novgorod, who schemes against Harald by seducing Odd. While political intrigue swirls arou... read more

The Varangian: Book Three of Odd Tangle-Hair's Saga

Bruce Macbain

The Varangian is the final entry in Bruce Macbain's Odd Tangle-Hair Saga and brings Odd's challenging adventures to a climactic and satisfying finish. On a secret diplomatic mission to the Emperor's court in Miklagard, the Viking's name for Constantinople, Odd meets the members of the fearsome Varangian Guard whose elite Viking members served as the Emperor's personal bodyguards. Harald, his f... read more

The Varangian is the final entry in Bruce Macbain's Odd Tangle-Hair Saga and brings Odd's challenging adventures to a climactic and satisfying finish. On a secret diplomatic mission to the Emperor's court in Miklagard, the Viking's name for Constantinople, Odd meets the members of the fearsome Varangian Guard whose elite Viking members served as the Emperor's personal bodyguards. Harald, his f... read more

Painting By Numbers: How to sharpen your BS detector and smoke out the "experts"

Jason Makansi

Winner of 2017 Independent Publishers IPPY GOLD and 2016 Foreword Reviews INDIE SILVER BETTER NUMERICAL LITERACY ISN'T JUST DESIRABLE; IT'S ESSENTIAL TO SUSTAINING A CIVIL, DEMOCRATIC, AND FREE SOCIETY In the public sphere, numbers are supposed to be more solid than words, less subjective. They are not. "The numbers don't lie," say experts. Yet they very often do. Numerical results are used to... read more

Winner of 2017 Independent Publishers IPPY GOLD and 2016 Foreword Reviews INDIE SILVER BETTER NUMERICAL LITERACY ISN'T JUST DESIRABLE; IT'S ESSENTIAL TO SUSTAINING A CIVIL, DEMOCRATIC, AND FREE SOCIETY In the public sphere, numbers are supposed to be more solid than words, less subjective. They are not. "The numbers don't lie," say experts. Yet they very often do. Numerical results are used to... read more

An American's Resurrection: :My Pilgrimage from Child Abuse and Mental Illness to Salvation

Eric C Arauz

"Unputdownable" Writers Digest National Judge Review "Compelling, heart-rending, unputdownable all describe Eric C. Arauz's intensely personal battle with brutal child abuse, drug addiction, mental illness and post-traumatic stress syndrome. From the opening paragraphs, which immediately and evocatively thrust the reader into the author's kaleidoscopic perspective while under restraint in a me... read more

"Unputdownable" Writers Digest National Judge Review "Compelling, heart-rending, unputdownable all describe Eric C. Arauz's intensely personal battle with brutal child abuse, drug addiction, mental illness and post-traumatic stress syndrome. From the opening paragraphs, which immediately and evocatively thrust the reader into the author's kaleidoscopic perspective while under restraint in a me... read more

Fail

Rick Skwiot

Exiled to the city's tough North Side, disgraced St. Louis Police Lieutenant Carlo Gabriel wants nothing more than to return to the headquarters hierarchy. To get his wish, all he has to do is track down the missing husband of the mayor's press secretary. Instead he unearths a morass of corruption, educational malpractice, and greed that threatens to consign thousands of at-risk youths to the ... read more

Exiled to the city's tough North Side, disgraced St. Louis Police Lieutenant Carlo Gabriel wants nothing more than to return to the headquarters hierarchy. To get his wish, all he has to do is track down the missing husband of the mayor's press secretary. Instead he unearths a morass of corruption, educational malpractice, and greed that threatens to consign thousands of at-risk youths to the ... read more

A Bullet Apiece: Saint Louis Noir

John Joseph Ryan

All is not well in post-World War II St. Louis, and private eye Ed Darvis, a man pegged as liking justice too much, discovers there’s a fine line between solving a crime and being an accomplice. Ed Darvis, a St. Louis private eye, is pegged as a man who “likes justice too much.” Maybe that’s why business is slow; turns out not everyone in St. Louis is looking for justice. Revenge, deceit, and ... read more

All is not well in post-World War II St. Louis, and private eye Ed Darvis, a man pegged as liking justice too much, discovers there’s a fine line between solving a crime and being an accomplice. Ed Darvis, a St. Louis private eye, is pegged as a man who “likes justice too much.” Maybe that’s why business is slow; turns out not everyone in St. Louis is looking for justice. Revenge, deceit, and ... read more

Nowhere Yet

Edward Cozza

When Rex calls after years of being incommunicado, his best friend Grant is hesitant to accept his invitation. Just like the old days, Rex knows the buttons to push. He has invited Annie, the woman Grant thought he was going to marry. Former friends and lost loves reconnect on a long, playful and soul searching weekend in Palm Springs. Each discovering they hold hopes long forgotten, each hold... read more

When Rex calls after years of being incommunicado, his best friend Grant is hesitant to accept his invitation. Just like the old days, Rex knows the buttons to push. He has invited Annie, the woman Grant thought he was going to marry. Former friends and lost loves reconnect on a long, playful and soul searching weekend in Palm Springs. Each discovering they hold hopes long forgotten, each hold... read more

Near Somewhere

Edward Cozza

Townes Mantle has hit the wall in his life and now his lifestyle of endless travel is rapidly making his nerves unravel.He has his dog and he his band partner Zeeder. but he needs more. He needs someone to share his life with-- someone to tell him he is all right, tell him he isn't going to fall apart. He just needs to rearrange, get out the novel he has been writing and the universe will talk... read more

Townes Mantle has hit the wall in his life and now his lifestyle of endless travel is rapidly making his nerves unravel.He has his dog and he his band partner Zeeder. but he needs more. He needs someone to share his life with-- someone to tell him he is all right, tell him he isn't going to fall apart. He just needs to rearrange, get out the novel he has been writing and the universe will talk... read more

Code Name: Infamy (Aviator Series)

Leland Shanle

Together, the ruthless SS Director of Nazi Germany’s nuclear weapons program and an Imperial Japanese pilot who has lost everything commandeer one of Japan’s top-secret submarine aircraft carriers and have two American cities in the crosshairs. Can they be stopped in time? A Nazi’s Nazi, SS Generalleutnant von Bassenheim has no intention of surrendering. And Lieutenant Commander Atsugi, an Imp... read more

Together, the ruthless SS Director of Nazi Germany’s nuclear weapons program and an Imperial Japanese pilot who has lost everything commandeer one of Japan’s top-secret submarine aircraft carriers and have two American cities in the crosshairs. Can they be stopped in time? A Nazi’s Nazi, SS Generalleutnant von Bassenheim has no intention of surrendering. And Lieutenant Commander Atsugi, an Imp... read more

Decker's Dilemma (Subic Bay Mystery)

Jack Ambraw

Subic Bay, Philippines. The navy’s Cold War outpost in the western Pacific. The USS Harvey. A bastion of American sea power in the Far East. But Elliott Decker doesn’t give a hoot about all that. He’s been on board ship a year, relishing the laid-back lifestyle of the tropical locale. It’s not just a job, it’s a dream assignment. That is, until a shipmate, Michael Kippen, falls overboard one n... read more

Subic Bay, Philippines. The navy’s Cold War outpost in the western Pacific. The USS Harvey. A bastion of American sea power in the Far East. But Elliott Decker doesn’t give a hoot about all that. He’s been on board ship a year, relishing the laid-back lifestyle of the tropical locale. It’s not just a job, it’s a dream assignment. That is, until a shipmate, Michael Kippen, falls overboard one n... read more