September is a great time to read cozy mysteries, atmospheric fiction, and exciting new autumn book releases.
Our highlights below include new releases, contracts signed, notable reviews and PR events, new authors to the agency and other news of note by clients and agents.
Releases
Congratulations to Bonnie Kristian and Forum Books for the September 1st release of In Defense of Evangelicalism: A Response to Its Cultured Despisers.
Evangelicalism is a favorite scapegoat of American public life. Christianity Today deputy editor Bonnie Kristian argues that the most common attacks fall apart under scrutiny, issuing a bold call for evangelicals not to be ashamed of their tradition and, instead, to preserve and deepen it.
Evangelicals are subjected to a steady stream of criticism about what they believe and how they live out their faith in public. This isnāt new: Evangelicals have felt slighted and misrepresented for a century. But in the current political era, a cottage industry consisting of podcasts, essays, and dozens of books has arisenāall dedicated to criticizing evangelicalism. The question is not whether evangelicalism has faults but whether the accusations are fair, coherent, and a path to destruction or reform.
Drawing on research, original reporting, and a lifetime in the evangelical movement, author and deputy editor at Christianity Today Bonnie Kristian addresses five serious criticisms of evangelicalism, offering a deeply informed and theologically sound defense. Kristian engages with the work of influential critics of evangelicalismāincluding Kristin Kobes DuMez, Beth Allison Barr, and Tim Albertaāas well as interviews with theologians, pastors, and thought leaders, to deftly dismantle bad-faith critiques while acknowledging where reform is necessary and desirable.
In Defense of Evangelicalism demystifies and humanizes evangelicals, demonstrating irrefutably that evangelicals are not the menace theyāve been made out to be. In fact, Kristian maintains, the evangelical movement is a force for good that every American should want to preserve.
Congratulations to Jamie Sumner and Atheneum Books for Young Readers for the September 1st release of Wish You Well.
From the acclaimed author of Roll with It comes a āwinning, cathartic joy rideā (Publishers Weekly, starred review) of a middle grade novel about three kids with big diagnoses, bigger personalities, and one outrageous plan to team up and scam a wish-granting foundation.
Violet Marino doesnāt want sympathy. And she definitely doesnāt want friends. She just wants to play soccer and deal with the whole slowly-going-blind thing on her own terms.
Then she witnesses a boy choke on a hot dog at a hospital picnic. Enter Wyatt: dangerously charming and full of terrible ideas, especially for a kid with a newly transplanted heart. Add sharp-as-a-blade Noor, who is always armed with excellent snacks she canāt eat, thanks to chemo. Other than their illnesses, the three donāt have much in commonāexcept for the fact that a wish-granting foundation keeps calling.
Ever the optimist, Wyatt has a plan: team up to game the foundation, even if it means faking friendship. One wish is fine, but three sick kids on three epic adventures? Thatās history-making. The scheme starts off as a distraction. But soon the stakes feel real. Because when you finally let someone in, thereās more to lose.
Congratulations to Jerry Jamison and Bloomsbury Academic for the September 3rd release of Behind the Beehive: The Triumphs and Trials of Dusty Springfield.
An incredible whirlwind of talent, transformation, and turmoil, the British pop icon’s life is detailed in this sensitive and heart-rending portrait.
For most of the early 1960s, Dusty Springfield was the most popular and best-selling female recording artist in Britain, becoming the first bonafide British star to follow the Beatles. In 1966, she was named as the top female singer in the world after a string of chart-topping hits including āYou Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.ā Even Elton John ā who had her posters covering his wall as a teen ā idolized her. With her signature peroxided platinum beehive hairdo and heavy black eyeliner, she became the poster girl of the swinging 60s.
But behind all of this, Dusty was struggling with severe mental illness, erratic public behavior, violent mood swings, multiple personalities, drug addiction, and the terror of being exposed as a lesbian. However, even in her darkest moments, Dusty’s star shined bright, remaining a force of charisma and humor. Follow the soaring highs and devastating lows of Dusty’s career in this sympathetic, narrative-style biography based on meticulous research, peer accounts, and contemporary perspectives.
Included is a foreword by Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits.
Congratulations to Noelle Mering and Forum Books for the September 8th release of No Contact: How a Seductive Ideology Broke Families and Friendships and How We Can Repair Them.
From the acclaimed author of Awake, Not Woke comes this incisive exposƩ of the widespread, politically motivated no-contact movement that deconstructs the ideology behind this trend and equips readers to avert estrangement and repair broken relationships.
āRefusing easy villains or easy redemption, this book honors the difficult terrain between injury and reconciliation.āāJoshua Coleman, author of Rules of Estrangement
A new form of relationship estrangement is afoot. Whereas, in the past, relationships tended to rupture over issues like abuse, today, people are increasingly estranged because of politics. More than sixty-eight million Americans are currently alienated from close family members. Though going no contact is frequently framed as an act of empowerment and self-care, behind the numbers are millions of hurting peopleāand an ideology that threatens not only relationships but the entire fabric of society.
In No Contact, author Noelle Mering weaves together interviews with historical research to identify five major factors that have given rise to the no-contact movement: identity politics, demythologization of the family, therapeutic culture, infallibility of victimhood, and cultural narcissism alongside spiritual decline. By laying bare the forces behind this destabilizing movementāand how they affect us on personal, familial, and social levelsāMering helps readers see clearly what is happening, confront it, and work with their families to heal, repair, and strengthen relationships.
More than just a critique, this book is a call to action. By bringing light to an experience that is often shrouded in shame or presented far too reductively to a cheering online audience, No Contact empowers readers with a clear-eyed and compassionate perspective that rejects the pernicious ideology undermining our most intimate and necessary relationships. The stakes are high. If we cannot hold fast to one another in the face of disagreement, we risk losing not only our most intimate bonds but also the foundation of a free and humane society.
Congratulations to Michael Phillips and Fidelis Publishing for the September 16th release of Freedom Manifesto: Tribulation Cult Book 4.
Freedom Manifesto opens in the summer of 2051 with a leaked news story that Charles Reyburn and former presidential candidate Harvey Jansen are planning a bid to unseat Jefferson Rhodes in the 2052 election. A resurgence of Christianity is the one factor Rhodes cannot control and he becomes obsessed with the threat he perceives Christianity represents. Mike Bardolf begins working on a secret document called Freedom Manifesto which outlines massive changes to turn the United States into a country unrecognizable from its historic roots. Christianity is one of the manifestoā s primary targets, forcing a Christian remnant with the reality the true Church of Christ many face a season of being an ā undergroundā remnant.
Congratulations to Lavender Vroman and West Margin Press for the September 22nd release of Not Death, But Love: The Strange, Supernatural Story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Deeply researched and strikingly illustrated in Victorian style, Not Death, But Love puts an eerie, romantic twist on the true story of the poet who wrote the iconic Sonnet 43, which famously begins āHow do I love thee? Let me count the ways.ā
An invalid since childhood, poet Elizabeth Barrett is famous throughout Victorian England, despite a hermit-like existence in the household of her tyrannical father. Opium makes the pain of her mysterious illness more bearable, but she lives in constant expectation of death. To her surprise, she instead finds love with dashing fellow poet Robert Browning, who whisks her away to freedom in Florence, Italy. Captivated by her new home and the revolutionary spirit of the Italian Risorgimento, Elizabeth basks in the glow of a happy marriage and reinvigorated health.
Haunted by lingering griefs, however, Elizabeth is drawn into a shadowy world of sĆ©ances and mediums as the supernatural craze known as spiritualism spreads from America to Europe. On a visit to London, she witnesses the otherworldly feats of celebrated medium Daniel Dunglas Home, who claims to conjure the spirits of dearly departed relatives. While Robert takes an immediate disliking to Home, sparking a bitter rivalry, Elizabeth falls under the spell of enchanting Boston heiress Sophie Eckley. The two women embark on a series of spiritual experiments that threaten Elizabeth and Robertās status as soulmates.
Laced with hints of the supernatural, this graphic novel retells Barrett Browningās story while exploring the timeless tensions between passion and repression, faith and skepticism, hope and despair.
Congratulations to Craig Chapman and Osprey Publishing for the October 6th release of Javelins in the Half-Light: The Schnee Eifel Battles, 1944-45.
A compelling history of the savage combat that turned a single forested ridge into the scene of a disappointing attack, a humiliating surrender, and a final grinding victory.
In the bitterly cold forests along Germany’s western frontier, the 8-mile ridge of the Schnee Eifel became the unlikely site of three brutal battles. A harsh, unforgiving landscape, it offered little strategic advantage yet became the focal point of a desperate struggle between US and German forces. Historian Craig S. Chapman chronicles these overlooked battles that raged across this desolate terrain.
This is a gripping account of the US 4th Infantry Division’s ill-fated assault in September 1944, their months-long stalemate with German forces, and the catastrophic consequences of tactical misjudgments that led to one of the largest American surrenders of the war. The narrative shifts to the winter of 1944ā45, as the Germans launch a massive counteroffensive in the Battle of the Bulge, only for the Americans to return in February 1945, determined to retake the Schnee Eifel. Extensive archival research and personal testimonies create a blow-by-blow description of combat teams penetrating defensive lines, destroying pillboxes, and diving for cover as shrapnel rained down.
Discover the gritty realities of combat and the leadership decisions that shaped these battles.
Congratulations to Eric Clayton and Loyola Press for the October 6th release of Where Wonder Leads: Finding God Through Fairy Tales, Myth, and Contemplative Prayer.
Follow Your Imagination back to the Divine
Once upon a time, long before the age of AI and smartphones, the world was thick with mystery. Forests hid natural wonders, backyards held endless adventures, and ordinary objects carried sacred weight. We engaged our imaginations and told stories to make sense of who we were. In the exploration and the telling, our souls were formed.
In Where Wonder Leads, award-winning author Eric A. Clayton invites you to reconnect with your soul and rediscover your imagination as a special pathway to God. Drawing from fairy tales, fantasies, and myths, and relying on the Ignatian spiritual tradition of imaginative prayer, these thirty-five guided meditations reveal how enchanted stories awaken deeper awareness and renewed awe for everyday life. Through wizards and dragons, hidden realms and unlikely companions, you are invited to step into the story of your spirit and enter a realm where āwondering is a worthy prayer.ā
Warm, thoughtful, and spiritually rich, Where Wonder Leads is, as the author notes, āa call to adventure.ā This book is for the seekers, the dreamers, and anyone longing to follow their curiosity back to the sacred mystery at the heart of all things.
Congratulations to Jerry Jamison and Bloomsbury Academic for the October 15th release of Deadly Desserts: Grandmother, Pastor’s Wife, Serial Killer.
Deadly Desserts is the incredible but true story of Nannie Doss-the most prolific female serial killer in history. Over a twenty-year period beginning in the 1930s, she murdered husbands, lovers, and family members throughout the country-as well as countless other innocent individuals-with rat poison baked into her delicious desserts.
A Baptist pastor’s wife and grandmother in a small rural town outside of Tulsa, she was the epitome of the gum-smacking āGranny Nannieā persona that she projected…at the same time that her body count was growing. Nannie led the choir, was a favorite of the children, and baked the most delectable treats. Tenderly caring for the sick, watching over her family like a mother hen, while writing letters to the lonely, she was the dearest friend to all-including six husbands-until they aggravated her in some small way. And then they got their just desserts. By the time she was discovered and convicted, sweet Nannie murdered more people than any female in history.
This is an incredible tale that also reads like a page-turning novel, complete with dialogue and a series of mind-bending, unexpected twists. It’s a story of suburban madness, sexual conquest, unfulfilled romantic fantasies, that were expressed throughout a quiet, undetected but unprecedented killing career. Nannie’s incredible story crisscrosses the country, covers several eras and provides a fascinating glimpse into how her gender both protected her from discovery, but ultimately condemned her. The story is meticulously researched and well-resourced with major newspaper reports of the time. The author’s approach includes multiple perspectives-conversations among the key characters, narrative storytelling, and contemporary reports from journalists, court transcripts, psychiatrists, and detectives from the day. It is written to read as a head-shaking novel.
Congratulations to Dr. Alexandra MacKillop and Revell Press for the October 16th release of The Postpartum Check-In: What’s Normal, What’s Not, and How to Advocate for the Care You Deserve.
The new mom’s guide to recognizing what is and isn’t normal after childbirth.
New motherhood changes everything–your body, your brain, your emotions. But there comes a point when fatigue, brain fog, mood changes, hair loss, weight gain, and other notorious postpartum symptoms no longer fall under the category of “normal” and instead signal a deeper health issue. Many common postpartum symptoms are exactly the same as those of chronic health conditions that can be triggered by pregnancy and childbirth. So how do you know when it’s time to seek help?
As a functional medicine doctor specializing in women’s health and hormones–and a mother herself–Dr. Alexandra MacKillop knows how often postpartum struggles go unrecognized, undertreated, or dismissed. The Postpartum Check-In is designed to change that. She helps you:
ā Decipher your symptoms and identify potential diagnoses
ā Trust your instincts and stop explaining away warning signs
ā Advocate for yourself when speaking to your physician
ā Understand natural, alternative, and holistic treatment options
ā Choose the smartest, safest path toward restoring your health
Backed by the most current research available, The Postpartum Check-In is your trustworthy guide to reclaiming your mind, body, and well-being after having a baby. You deserve real answers–and real care.
Contracts
Catherin Ricketts signed Yale University Press with for the December 2027 release of How Do I Find You Now?
Jessica Ruttenber signed with Post Hill Press for the September 2027 release of Hidden Barriers: The Pentagon Fight to End the Systems That Keep Women Grounded.
Laurie Polich Short signed with Baker Publishing for the September 2028 release of The Year of Trusting God.
Christian Keller signed with Savas Beatie LLC for the August 2027 release of Take Aways: The Practical Uses of Civil War History For Citizens and Leaders.
New Clients
Johann D’Souza, Dan Miller and John Grosso recently signed with WordServe.Ā Welcome.
What We’re Celebrating
Congratulations to Katie Powner. Her book When the Road Comes Around has been named a Christy Award finalist in the General Fiction category. It’s always a joy to see a book connect deeply enough with readers and judges alike to earn this kind of recognition.
