Swanya

In seventeenth-century Russia, Tsar Alexei’s rambunctious, headstrong daughter has a tendency to scare off potential stepmothers. When at last the Majordomo delivers a candidate of sufficient maturity, the new tsarina is slow to produce a male heir. Will the two women be each other’s salvation or demise? Or are they fated to be pawns in the games of men?

Delivered with wit and dusted with magic, this retelling of the classic Snow White is in turns light as a feather, brittle as an eggshell, and elegant as a swan.

Froelich's Ladder

Uncle Froelich nurses a decades-old family grudge from his perch atop a giant ladder. When he’s discovered missing, his nephew embarks on a rain-soaked trek across a nineteenth century Pacific Northwest landscape to find him, accompanied by an ornery girl with a most unfortunate name.

In their encounters with Confederate assassins, European expatriates, and a general store magnate, this fairytale twist on the American dream explores the conflicts between loyalty and ambition and our need for human connection, even at the highest rungs.

The Space Between Two Deaths

In ancient Sumeria, only a thin veil separates the living from the dead.

The lives of Ziz, her mother, Meshara, and her father, Temen, are disrupted when a mysterious crevasse rends the earth. Temen becomes obsessed with the mystery and, capturing a crow to guide him, he follows a path to the netherworld where he hopes to gain wisdom from his dead father. Yet he soon finds that ancestors don’t always provide the answers we need.

In his absence, a grisly accident occurs on their farm — Meshara and Ziz are forced to flee. Friendless and alone, they must find a way to survive despite the brutalities of their landlord and devotees of the religious nation-state. Will the women revel in their new companionship or seek to find freedom elsewhere?

About the author

Jamie Yourdon, a freelance editor and technical expert, received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Contact him at [email protected].

Upcoming events

A recording of the book launch for The Space Between Two Deaths, hosted by Annie Bloom’s Books, is now available to view on YouTube!