Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending an on-line release party for a new middle grade fiction novel, Monolith, by author Jess Rinker.

I have known Jess since high school and we have casually conversed during the last fifteen years about our lives and our creative goals. Her youngest child is the same age as my daughter.

Jess now has seven books in print, including two biographical children’s picture books (one on Gloria Steinem and another on the first NYC female firefighter). She has published all of her books via traditional contracts and through her agent… until the pandemic changed the book industry.

Enter Monolith. Amidst some life changes and personal issues, Jess wrote this book and struggled to find a traditional home for it. In part as a project for herself during a difficult time, Jess decided to self-publish the book and venture into the hybrid author realm.

She decided to work with Kathryn Craft, a former Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group member who is responsible for me becoming the group’s president in the mid-aughts and the author of The Art of Falling, the novel she was writing at that time and The Far End of Happy, a fictionalized telling of her memoir about the end of her first marriage. (It’s a captivating novel and features an armed stand-off between a suicidal man and local police.)

So I know Kathryn is an amazing editor and that Jess is a talented writer. Enter Corina Alvarez Loeblich, a designer and illustrator who made Jess’ book come alive.

The event was hosted by Jess’ husband and fellow children’s author, Joe McGee, and he reminded the 20-or-so supporters in attendance that publishing in this arena requires a good team. No matter how good you are– those perspectives are valuable.

For more about Monolith, or to order online and still support local independent bookstores, click here.