Award-winning author
Unusual times, remarkable places

The "Standard of Ur" from ancient Mesopotamia

The "Standard of Ur" from ancient Mesopotamia

Books



Novella- and Novel-length Fiction



The Moon God's Wife: A Novel of Enheduanna 


historical fiction


Inspired by the true story of Enheduanna...


Ancient Mesopotamia, 2300 B.C.E. Can Esh achieve her destiny despite being a political pawn in the world’s first empire?

Spirited, clever Esh is devoted to her family’s patron goddess, Inanna, and is determined to be Her priestess one day. But girls, even a princess like Esh, have little say in their futures. Her father, Sargon the Great, uses her for political gain. Despite her wishes, she becomes the Enheduanna, the human wife of the moon god and the most powerful woman in the Akkadian empire. Now, Sargon gives Esh a mission: use her religious authority to unite the fractious cities of the empire. Over decades, aided by her lifelong friend, Ninsha, and torn between duty and destiny, she struggles to stay faithful to Inanna against a background of rebellions, assassinations, and treachery.



Log Cabin: Erikka

Debra Holland's Montana Sky World

Western sweet romance

Impulsive, exuberant Erikka can only tolerate living on her family’s farm by going to her quilt group and constantly reminding herself that when her father can spare her, she’s moving to a city.

Genteel, reserved Chicago widower Haywood seeks to evade grief and reinvent himself by moving West.

When Haywood decides to learn how to farm by helping Erikka’s father, Erikka sees that her chance to leave has arrived. Unfortunately, she’s fascinated by the sophisticated Haywood, who is so different from the rough cowhands and grimy miners she’s used to. Haywood in turn is charmed by down-to-earth Erikka, who speaks her mind, is surprisingly well-read, and best yet, is healthy, unlike his late wife.

A delayed letter containing a surprise holds the key to force each to decide what they really want from life.

Purchase here: Kindle ebook

Montana Sky Publishing 2019



Ice Magic, Fire Magic

fantasy with romantic elements

* Finalist in the 2016 Virginia Romance Writers Holt Medallion Award in the "Novel with Romantic Elements" category


* Finalist in the 2016 Southern Magic Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence in the "Paranormal, Fantasy & Science Fiction" category 


The sentient land of Veridia chooses Fila as its new Servant of Enchantment. As Servant, Fila must protect Veridia and its two peoples, the magic-gifted Guardians and the nonmagical Toilers. Jealous relatives want her power at any price ... even her death. Can Fila trust her only allies, a scholar who has renounced magic and an ancient spirit of pure evil? Can she survive if she doesn't?



Purchase here:  Amazon.com paperback   Kindle ebook   Audible ACX audiobook Barnes and Noble paperback   Nook ebook 

Hadley Rille Books 2015


Claimed by the Enemy
 
historical fiction with romantic elements

Winner of the 2014 National Readers Choice Award for Novel with Romantic Elements

* Winner of the 2015 Romancing the Novel Published Author Contest in the "Ancient/Medieval/Renaissance" category

Crown Princess Nindalla knows the terrifying power of Sargon of Akkad’s army: Ten years ago, it destroyed her home city and killed her parents. 

Now the nightmare is happening again. The Akkadians conquer her new home, Susa; make her a widow; and strip her of her rank. Nindalla vows to protect her children from her enemies by any means necessary, including marrying whoever can shield them best. With plots and subplots swirling around her, can she trust her instincts to tell friends from foes? 

Farm boy Ur-sag-enki was forced to become a soldier in the Akkadian army ten years ago after it destroyed his home and left him with nothing. When the Akkadians conquer Susa, he is awarded its governorship. He looks forward to settling down to the normal family life he craves. First, though, he must keep control of Susa despite enemies who exploit his inexperience, and he must gain legitimacy by persuading beautiful former princess Nindalla to marry him. But can he win her heart when it was his hand that struck down her husband?


Nicobar Press 2014




The Hunt

science fiction novelette (~10,000 words)

In a run-down spaceport, assassin Thadow hunts for a bag of stolen pearls to prove his worth to the head of the Guild of Transmuters.
 
Meanwhile, two spoiled teenagers, Trilia and Lateron, pass the time while their mothers' spaceship is in port by harassing the locals and stealing things from them as part of a scavenger hunt. Then their paths cross, and life will never be the same again for either Thadow or Trilia and Lateron.  

Purchase here: Kindle ebook   Audible ACX audiobook 

Nicobar Press 2012




Like Mayflies in a Stream

historical fiction


Within the walls of ancient Uruk on the bank of the Euphrates, more than fifty thousand people live, love, work, and play, ruled over by King Gilgamesh and protected by their patron goddess, Inanna. 

But Gilgamesh falls far short as a king. His subjects fear him because he has become a bored and restless tyrant. The priestess Shamhat fears Gilgamesh's growing wildness will attract the wrath of the gods. She wants to protect Inanna and her temple, as well as free the people of Uruk from Gilgamesh's oppression, but she fears the repercussions for her and her son if she acts against the out-of-control king.

 
Then word comes to Uruk of a wild man living in the desert, a man the equal of Gilgamesh in size and strength. The king thinks the wild man can relieve his boredom and restlessness and sends Shamhat to bring him to court. But Shamhat believes the wild man can humble the arrogant king. Enkidu the wild man becomes a pawn in the struggle between Gilgamesh and Shamhat, and the future of Uruk hangs in the balance.


Purchase here: Amazon.com paperback   Kindle ebook   Audible  audiobook  Barnes and Noble paperback   Barnes and Noble hardcover   Nook ebook


Hadley Rille Books 2009



Book-length Nonfiction(under the name Shauna S. Roberts)




Reproductive Behavior of Captive Nicobar Pigeons, Caloenas nicobarica

dissertation (updated 2012)

This book is a scan of a 1984 dissertation on mating behavior among an unusual species of pigeon that breeds in colonies. 


The author researched mate choice, nest building, and other mating behaviors in a captive colony of Nicobar pigeons (Caloenas nicobarica) at the Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens in Chicago from 1980 to 1982. Her research data are supplemented by information from preceding and subsequent years. In addition, this dissertation contains a literature review of previous work on the Nicobar pigeon, an ethogram consisting of a list of Nicobar pigeon behaviors and their description, and breeding histories for all individuals who had ever reproduced. 


The 2012 printing sold here contains a brief update of relevant literature published after 1983. 


Few scholarly reports describe breeding behavior in the Nicobar pigeon, either in captivity or in its natural habitat. In recent years, the Nicobar pigeon has been genetically identified as the closest living relative of the dodo and the solitaire. Thus this dissertation remains as valid as it was in 1984 and is even more important today as scientists try to piece together the likely behavior of the dodo and solitaire and conservationists struggle to keep island birds from extinction.

Purchase here: Amazon.com paperback

Nicobar Press 2012



The Commonsense Guide to Weight Loss for People with Diabetes (with Barbara Caleen Hansen, Ph.D.)

health for laypeople

Weight management—eating healthfully, exercising, and losing weight if necessary—is an important part of diabetes management not only for people with type 2 diabetes but also for people with type 1 diabetes or rare kinds of diabetes. 


This book covers seven crucial elements of weight loss: choosing the right target weight, measuring progress, eating a healthful low-calorie diet, maintaining an active lifestyle, using medical interventions such as drugs or surgery, coordinating weight loss and diabetes care, and making permanent lifestyle changes.

American Diabetes Association 1998 (out of print)



Basic Demographic Observations on Free-Ranging Rhesus Monkeys (with Donald Stone Sade, B. Diane Chepko-Sade, Jonathan M. Schneider, and Joan T. Richtsmeier)

scholarly monograph

This monograph is a compendium of life-history data for the 2,285 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) that lived on the island of Cayo Santiago in Puerto Rico between 1956 and the end of 1977. 


Demographic data include birth date; genealogy; sex; the region, deme, or group of origin; the dates and destinations of migrations; the dates and issue of reproduction; date of death; and cause of death

Human Relations Area Files 1985 (out of print)
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