This story, Sand Queen revolves around two young women caught up in the Iraq war. Specialist Kate Brady, 19, is a guard at a makeshift prison camp in the desert near Umm Qasr in southern Iraq during the early months of the war. Naema Jassim, 22, is a medical student and war refugee. She and her family fled their upper middle class lives in Baghdad to live with her grandmother in Umm Qasr. But soon after their arrival her father and younger brother were arrested and sent to the prison camp.

The two women meet only a few times at the prison camp when Naema comes to find out information on her father and brother. It is that connection that sets up an interesting juxtaposition of their lives in the midst of a hideous war. Kate comes from a Christian fundamentalist family background and is flung into a hellish life complicated by constant harassment and abuse by fellow soldiers and prison inmates. She is every bit as much a prisoner as the Iraqi men behind the concertina wire. Naema, on the other hand, comes from a family who values education above all else, even religion. The war has destroyed everything in her life and made her a prisoner of circumstances. How each woman struggles to cope with brutality, devastation, and loss is a captivating study in human nature. Although one can’t help but think under different circumstances – as in not war – these two “enemies” could have been friends.

Readers who are strong enough to see beyond the barrage of inhumanity portrayed throughout will recognize that war makes victims of everyone, which explains why Sand Queen reads a lot like a gripping horror story. The ruthless war devil lurks around every corner eager to suck the soul from another innocent life. And, like a really good horror story, this is an unrelenting page-turner that preys on your psyche. — Copyright (c) 2012 by Peggy Tibbetts

If you like this book
you will also like PFC Liberty Stryker.

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Last Thursday when the Pentagon announced it would be opening up more combat missions to women in the military, Republican candidate Rick Santorum expressed his concern over women in combat saying their presence could lead to a “compromising situation where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved” – referring to men’s emotions. However Tibbetts’  PFC Liberty Stryker paints a much different picture. Nineteen-year old Libby Stryker is plucked from her unit and dragged across Iraq on a secret mission without explanation. “Under the current combat rules, women are doing all the compromising,” Tibbetts explained. “Without defined roles in combat, female soldiers have no voice when it comes to strategy and execution. As a result they can be used as pawns on the battlefield – and often are.”

On Sunday, bashing women in the military reached a new low when Fox News pundit Liz Trotta claimed women want to be “warriors and victims at the same time.” Citing a U.S. Army report in January that revealed violent sex crimes in the military have increased 64 percent since 2006, Trotta said, “What did they expect?”

“What military women expect is to be treated like soldiers. Not like pieces of meat,” Tibbetts said. For PFC Liberty Stryker, sexual assault is not only part of her initiation into the Army, it is a never-ending battle for the young soldier.

Just as the Audience Award winner for best documentary at Sundance 2012, The Invisible War exposes the pervasive and insidious cover-up of sexual assault in all branches of the military, Tibbetts said her research on women in the Army revealed the same pattern. “I didn’t set out to expose sexual assault of female soldiers in my book,” Tibbetts claimed. “But my research showed me that’s it is hideous reality for too many women who serve. Women make up 14 percent of the Army ranks, but they account for 95 percent of all sex crime victims. I couldn’t ignore the facts.”

While teens are the target audience, Tibbetts believes her book appeals to all readers who enjoy a story of adventure and espionage in the war zone. PFC Liberty Stryker is published by Sisterhood Publications and available in ebook at Amazon.com.

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Publisher Jerusha Bosarge says, “I have never appreciated the value of a query letter. I will read them if necessary, but if it’s all the same to you, I would prefer to spend my time simply reading a cover letter and the manuscript. Thanks!”

Payment:  Advance plus royalties contract for authors; flat fee for illustrators

Rights:  Authors retain all rights; Character Publishing purchases all rights to illustrations

Submissions:  By mail or email (no attachments)

For more information please read Character Publishing Submission Guidelines

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                                              You saw the book trailer.

Now read the book!

PFC Liberty Stryker is now available in Kindle edition at Amazon.com

This is not your father’s war …

Libby Stryker joined the Army to avenge her daddy’s death on 9-11 but it’s nothing like she expected. Operation Iraqi Freedom takes her on a harrowing journey north with a mysterious Arab through bomb devastation, hot zones, and RPG attacks. A different kind of horror awaits Libby in Baghdad. Her past and present, and why it’s all gone wrong, blow up in her face. Prepare to enter an alternate reality.

PFC Liberty Stryker is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced …

Available now at Amazon.com

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Salvage the Bones

Brace yourself. Jesmyn Ward pulls no punches in this raw portrait of a poor, rural Mississippi family in the ten days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. Fourteen-year old Esch Batiste is the lone female among three boys and her father. Her mother died during the birth of Junior, several years earlier.

At the core of this story is China, a beautiful white pit bull. She is brother Skeetah’s prize fighter and – it turns out – the family’s great white hope. As the story opens, she births a litter of puppies (her first) worth hundreds of dollars in the local dog fighting scene. Esch holds a special bond with China because she is the only other female in the family, and Esch longs to be as loved and pampered as the dog. Ward draws a striking parallel between these two lives. Just as China is seduced into the dog fighting ring because of her lot in life, so is Esch sexually used and abused by her brothers’ friends who hang out at the “Pit”. When Esch discovers she’s pregnant she keeps it secret, a revelation that in her family puppies are more valuable than another mouth to feed. While Esch observes China’s indifferent, even weary attitude toward new motherhood she comes to terms with her own dilemma.

Overshadowing all of this is Hurricane Katrina. As the storm gets whipped up by warm gulf waters so does the sturm and drang in the Batiste family, all of which climaxes into a powerful, discordant crescendo that is unforgettable in its savagery. Salvage the Bones won the 2011 National Book Award, perhaps because Esch and the rest of the Batiste family are so achingly real they haunt you beyond the pages of the book as you wonder if they will be okay. The one true hope in this story is that we at last comprehend the tragedy of poverty.

Copyright (c) 2012 by Peggy Tibbetts

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Parent company Skyhorse Publishing publishes many books in the fields of ecology, independent living, farm living, wilderness living, recycling, and other green topics, and this will be a theme in their children’s book line. They are also searching for books that have strong educational themes that help inform children of the world in which they live. They are also interested in books with special needs themes, such as autism, ADHD, and food allergies.

To submit a manuscript or proposal to Sky Pony Press, please send an email to:  skyponysubmissions (at) skyhorsepublishing (dot) com

For more information: Sky Pony Press Submission Guidelines

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Open to: All writers

Genre:  Short story

Length:  50 pages or less

Grand Prize:  $2,000 and publication in the fall/winter 2012 issue of Colorado Review

Entry fee: $17 online; $15 by mail

Deadline: March 10, 2012

How to submit:  Submit online here.
Or by mail to:
Nelligan Prize – Colorado Review
9105 Campus Delivery
Department of English
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523-9105

For more info: Nelligan Prize 2012 Submission Guidelines

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Kathryn is drawn to stories that are unique, character-driven, offer a touch of magical-realism and challenge what might be considered to be the norm. For YA, she would love to find a high-concept story that is somewhat dark/edgy, a thriller that forces her to sleep with the lights on, a romance that has her falling in love with the characters, or realistic fiction that evokes her deepest emotions. For middle grade fiction, she is specifically interested in acquiring books for boys.

Kathryn has been a member of the SCBWI since 2006, and in her free time she enjoys working on her own writing. She also loves to travel to new and exciting places and while she grew up in South Africa, she has lived in six different countries. Kathryn currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, her son, a dog and a cat.

Kathryn can be contacted via email: kpattenbee@aol.com
Subject line: For Kathryn Patten

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Letters to Juniper review

Interview with Peggy Tibbetts

Many thanks to Underground Book Reviews!

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Colorado Creative Industries
in conjunction with
Prairie Heritage Association, Old Town Museum,
and Burlington On-Stage presents

Writing/Acting Workshop

Friday, February 3, 2012 – 1:00 to 4:00 P.M.
Saturday, February 4, 2012 – 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Where: Community Center Building, 340 S 14th Street, Burlington, Colorado (163 miles east of Denver near Kansas border)

This two day workshop features a hands-on approach to the creative process.  The writer group will develop and write a play while the acting group begins to build the characters.  Then on the second day the writers and actors come together to refine, rehearse and produce the play!

View the workshop flyer

Featuring Laurie Brooks, award-winning and internationally acclaimed playwright & author of Selkie Girl.  Laurie’s strong connection and success make her one of the most significant writers for young adults today.

Meet Laurie at an informal gathering and book signing on Friday, February 3, 7:00 P.M., at the Burlington Public Library. View the flyer for more information.

Click here for Workshop Registration Form

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