Showing results by narrator "Ruthie Bowles" in All Categories

Before she was an author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels, N. D. Jones was an educator. In her essay, she reflects on her 20-plus years as an educator in a field where most public school teachers and administrators are middle-class White women responsible for the academic future of more than 20 million students of color. Jones’ insights come from her years of facilitating cultural proficiency professional development for employees in a White-dominated public school system where all is supposed to mean all, yet racial inequity and disproportionality persist.

The 1960s are bursting with music and movement and love in San Francisco, perfect for a budding artist like Blake. Unfortunately, the art world is not welcoming to people of her gender or her multi-racial heritage, making it tough to land an internship that could put her on the map. That, plus the fact that Blake's family has been notoriously riddled with bad luck, makes her feel like she can't catch a break. Things only get worse when Blake starts to have ominous, confusing visions that grow stronger and more frequent.

The war for the Gate rages on; one army of monsters against another. When a Tituban witch falls into Gabriel's lap, Lucifer thinks she's the siblings' saving grace. But as her feelings for her new lover grow, Gabriel worries about Wendy's safety...and their relationship status.

When you need advice for what is happening in the world right now as it affects your business, you don't have time to take a course and become the expert. You need to tap into the knowledge of those who have already figured out the next steps. This compilation of interviews was taken in the first six months of the pandemic when the world was both at a standstill and changing moment to moment.

Will is a good kid, sweet and thoughtful with a genius IQ and a smart mouth. But when his powers reveal themselves, he’ll have to learn to control them or face the wrath of his archangel aunt. Lucifer’s returned, tracking an emotional escapee hell-bent on wiping out humanity. This new foe spreads disease the likes of which the world hasn’t seen since the Bronze Age. Before all life on Earth is destroyed, Lucifer must seek help from his sisters. With thousands of demons running amok, the siblings will have to do whatever it takes to stop them, even if it means disobeying God.

The Totters of Totown live bright lives in the shadow of Anansi's Peak. Well, all except the Scrooge, who lives on the mountain, throwing snowballs and chasing away all who try to bring Giftmas cheer their way. Merithia knows that, but when her only true friend and their entire family may have to work off gifting debt they can't afford to pay, she decides to venture up the mountain for advice from the Scrooge, who has watched them from afar for decades.

Study Break, a collection of interconnected contemporary Young Adult short stories written by Gen Z authors, explores different parts of "the college experience," from questioning your major to questioning your identity.

Sometimes young women go missing in Moonlight Bay, Oregon, but Dari Jiménez decided the sleepy college there was still the one for her. When a supernatural monster attacks Dari in a dark stairwell, the struggle with everyday drama is swept aside. A tough, tattooed woman with a mohawk rescues Dari and introduces her to the arcane secrets of her birthright as the last member of an ages-old bloodline sworn to combat an invasion of elemental fiends tearing through the veil between their world and ours.

With Grace’s magic in the hands of a stranger, Julia will stop at nothing to take the power for herself. Desperate and out of allies, she’ll turn to a mysterious entity, freeing him from captivity, and using his strength to take from the Tituban what’s rightfully hers. Grace’s coven is without a Priestess. They need guidance and with the discovery of a blood-born Tituban and the great witch’s grimoire, they believe they’ve found the leader they require. But, when Wendy rebuffs their request to join them, she’ll put herself in more danger than she can handle alone.

When the waters rose, first came the plagues, then came the demons, and finally came the angels. But not everything that comes from the sky is heaven-sent. Camila López is determined to hold back the rising tide. But with demons crawling out of the murky waters surrounding Old Nueva York, being half-angel doesn't feel like enough. She battles the darkness alongside her best friends, and finds a powerful ally in a man who tempts her with the safety she’s always craved.

As the Dark Powers and their dreaded champion gather their forces, all of Aerisia holds it breath while Hannah Winters, their long-prophesied Artan, continues her quest in the Underworld. Should she overcome its deadly snares, is warfare against the Dark One all that awaits? Or is there a chance for love with the immortal Simathe High-Chief, and a lasting peace for her adopted homeland? To fulfill prophecy, she’ll have to triumph where other Aerisian champions have failed, which means surviving betrayal by friends and contesting the full might of the Dark Powers.

Stuck with the God of War while aiding her mother in the mending of Greece, Kore thought lessons of drawing life was all she had to worry about. But when she and Ares witness a mortal battle on a near by beach, a power is unleashed and it's more than she could ever control.

What do you do when Nature has decided the time for justice is now, and you’re the one who must pay the price for humanity’s crimes? That’s precisely what Artemisia, the last human alive on Earth, asks when she finds herself before the judge and jury, already found guilty. All that’s left is her sentence. Can Artemisia convince Nature’s denizens that she’s not to blame? Or will she suffer the consequences for the choices made by generations past?