Everything’s a Two-Step but a Waltz: The Reluctant Texan Comes Home
Chick Morgan
Memoir
Mezcalita Press, LLC
April 2024
294 pages
EVERYTHING'S A TWO-STEP BUT A WALTZ: THE RELUCTANT COMES HOME is a "coming of aging" story of a late-life collision between New York Class and Texas Sass, the idyllic life Chick Morgan was living that crashed and burned on a single day with an unimaginable double heartbreak, forcing her to return to Texas after swearing she'd never live there again, and wondering how she got to this point so late in life when she's certainly old enough to know better.
Eileen S. ("Chick") Morgan, PhD, is the author of three books, ranging from international business with the Soviet Union, cross-cultural business ethics, and her first memoir. Chick is a singer-songwriter, cabaret performer, podcast host, radio host, Arts Entrepreneur. Chick produces music, storytelling, and writers' events both in Wimberley and internationally.
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Juan Tejeda
Memoir / Biography
FlowerSong Press
February 2024
330 pages
Utilizing interviews with family and close friends, plus, 127 photos, documents and newspaper articles, Mi Carnal Frank chronicles Frank’s early years being raised by poor Mexicano parents on the southside of San Antonio, through his Marine Corps service and combat duty in Vietnam, college education, and 20-year career as a politician and elected public servant, first as a Texas State Representative, then a Texas Senator and U.S. Congressman. During these twenty years, Frank was a fierce advocate for social, educational, economic and environmental justice, the rights of the poor and his Mexican American community, and the people he represented. This book also tells the tale of how Frank developed and was the leader of a grassroots political alliance of elected officials in San Antonio known as the “Southside Coalition” (who some called a “political machine,” while others called it the “Brown Mafia”), and in the process became one of the most powerful Mexican American/Chicano politicians that San Antonio and the State of Texas have ever known.
Juan Tejeda retired in 2016 as a professor of Mexican American Studies and Music at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas. A writer, musician, educator, arts administrator and activist, from 1980 to 1998 he was the Xicano Music Program Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center where, among his many duties, he founded and directed the annual Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio. He is the button accordionist for the Conjunto Aztlan, and he and his wife, Anisa Onofre, are the publishers of Aztlan Libre Press, a small, independent publishing company based in Yanawana that is dedicated to the publishing, promotion, and free expression of Indigenous/Xicanx literature and art.
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The Pink Dress: A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen
Jane Little Botkin
Memoir
She Writes Press
September 2024
277 pages
Growing up in West Texas, Jane Little Botkin didn’t have designs on becoming a beauty queen. But not long after joining a pageant on a whim in college, she became the first protégé of El Paso’s Richard Guy and Rex Holt, known as the “Kings of Beauty”—just as the 1970’s counterculture movement began to take off. A pink, rose-covered gown—a Guyrex creation—symbolizes the fairy tale life that young women in Jane’s time imagined beauty queens had. Its near destruction exposes reality: the author’s failed relationship with her mother, and her parents’ failed relationship with one another. Weaving these narrative threads together is the Wild West notion that anything is possible, especially do-overs.
Having scoured the West for firsthand sources in family, library, and museum collections, award-winning author Jane Little Botkin melds personal narratives of American families with compelling stories of western women, labor radicals, miners, lawmen, and outlaws in settings rich with a history that transitions into the New West.
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Savoring the Camino de Santiago: It's the Pilgrimage, Not the Hike
Julie Gianelloni Connor
Travel Guide/ Memoir
September 30, 2020
Bayou City Press, LLC
276 pages
Are you interested in the Camino but afraid of the walking? Do you like art, architecture, history, and culture? Does learning about one woman’s Camino journey appeal to you? Would you like tips on designing a unique Camino trip? Then this book is for you.
Pilgrims have traveled the Camino de Santiago in Spain for over a thousand years, and a recent resurgence in walking this storied route now brings more than 300,000 travelers a year to Santiago de Compostela.
After thinking about making a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela for more than 40 years, Julie Gianelloni Connor set out on the French route. She followed her 49 days on the Camino with visits to Madrid and Toledo. Julie’s philosophy differs from that of most other authors since she believes in emphasizing the joy of this adventure by taking the time to savor its delights, rather than just walking as quickly as possible along the route.
Julie Gianelloni Connor is the owner and editor of Bayou City Press in Houston, Texas, which specializes in travel writing, Houston, and international affairs. The Bayou City Press website (BayouCityPress.com)carries columns on travel and on Houston.
Julie founded Bayou City Press after spending 33 years as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service, working on a variety of areas, ranging from nuclear non-proliferation to international women's issues.
She has one son, James, and two cats, Halloween and Mimi.
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Suddenly Jewish: The Life and Times of My Jewish Mother
Joan Moran
Memoir
October 15, 2024
288 pages
From the bustling streets of Odesa to the vibrant cities of London, Montreal, New York, and San Francisco’s Jewish Fillmore District, Joan Moran’s captivating historical memoir of her mother weaves a vivid portrait of one woman’s quest for identity and freedom against the backdrop of a rapidly changing world. This story blends history and religion as it takes the reader through an engaging saga about what it means to deny one's Jewish identity.
Suddenly Jewish is not just one woman’s story — it's also the story of a family torn between tradition and rebellion, and the secrets that shape their lives: Rose, the matriarch, Esther, her rebellious daughter, and Joan, Esther’s daughter who learns the secrets of her family on the eve of her wedding.
The backdrop is San Francisco, the Jewish Fillmore district and the time in 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Meet Esther, a young Jewish woman struggling to find her place in the world and escaping from antisemitism in America. From her humble beginnings in 1911, she embarked on a journey in pursuit of reinvention, to hide her Jewish identity and to be accepted in to a gentile world.
Joan Moran worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter and producer, and eventually wrote her memoir 60, Sex & Tango: Confessions of a Beatnik Boomer. She is the author of An Accidental Cuban, optioned for a streaming series, and Once a Homecoming Queen.
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Todd Allen & Heath Hamrick
Political Memoir / Humor
TCU Press
September 2024
318 pages
In contemporary American politics, where absurdity often overshadows reality, Worse Than You Think emerges as a refreshingly candid and witty account of what happens when ordinary individuals, fueled by a blend of idealism and frustration, leap into the political arena. This narrative dives into the real-life journey of a high school teacher, Edward "Todd" Allen, who took the bold step of running for Congress in 2018. Along for the ride was his best friend and fellow educator, Heath Hamrick, who had a simple job: make everything work out in the end.
Todd and Heath embark on a quest to fix the "crazy circus" of our partisan divide, only to find themselves in a series of comical and eye-opening situations, encountering bizarre characters that could only arise deep in the heart of American politics. Worse Than You Think offers laughter, surprises, and perhaps a spark of inspiration to those contemplating their role in democracy. Whether you're seeking validation for your political cynicism, a guide on what not to do in a political campaign, or just a good laugh, this book promises to be an engaging read.
Todd Allen and Heath Hamrick are award-winning educators, creative consultants, and just possibly the most naive, idealistic, and clueless political neophytes in the long history of American politics. Both Todd and Heath graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with degrees in political science, and by 2004 both were in Texas classrooms, facing the surprising knowledge that they were born educators. In 2018, Todd Allen ran for US Congress in Texas CD-24 as a Democrat, with Heath as his campaign manager, media guru, and wartime consigliere who dispensed the kind of idealistic advice that only works on television shows scripted by Aaron Sorkin.
