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At FriesenPress, we celebrate each and every book we help our authors publish. Here are some of our team’s recent favourites – happy reading!


Carbon Copy
by

The backcountry of the Rocky Mountains is a tranquil place. A refuge from the hustle and bustle of daily life. That’s how photographer Earl Warnes sees it, anyway—until he stumbles upon a troubling scene in a mountain glen. A helicopter appears, and a group of men subdue and capture a strange, hairless animal. As Earl snaps off a few shots, the men spot him and give chase. Earl manages to escape, but he is haunted by what he saw. His girlfriend, Elaine Stevenson, is an academic, studying in the emerging field of genethics. Earl shows her the photos he took in the meadow, and they realize that what Earl saw wasn’t an animal at all. It was a woman. As Earl and Elaine seek answers to the woman’s identity, they are surveilled and stalked by shadowy figures. Earl’s photos are stolen, his archives deleted. Someone doesn’t want the world to know what Earl and Elaine know. The closer they get to the truth, the more Elaine realizes that the people she trusts most have been lying to her—and that the secret she and Earl uncover may shake the foundations of her reality.

Once on a Tuesday
by

At first glance, Blue seems like an ordinary transgender girl. Working as the concierge at the Boon by the Lake Luxury Hotel, she enjoys being of service to people and tracking the goings-on of guests. However, deep down, Blue is anything but ordinary; she’s a clairvoyant, and she never knows when a spirit in need might be lurking around the next corner. When Blue meets Avant-garde Bernard, a wretch of a spirit trying to make amends for past wrongs, Blue is shocked to learn that he is her father from another life, and he has unfinished business. Whisking Blue from a vibrant downtown bar, Bernard guides Blue on a journey of discovery—both of his past and her own. Escapades of thievery, secret histories, and hidden tunnels abound, Blue is in for the adventure of a lifetime—one that will leave an undeniable mark on her complicated soul. Yet there is always a new challenge to tackle for Blue—between natural disasters, alien abduction, and deep, introspective self-reflection, Blue is ready to forge her identity and make a positive difference in the world.

Booked
A Strong Start For Your Child Actor by

There are many unwritten rules in the film industry, many of which actors only learn through experience. After years of being her daughter’s manager and greatest supporter, Gloria Iatridis shares her insights on being a parent to a child actor in Booked, combining advice for the parent with a child actor with memoirs of her and Olivia’s experiences in the industry. Although Gloria encourages parents to support their children’s passions, there are many things a parent should be aware of before entering the film industry. Together with Olivia, she shares information from an Indigenous perspective on how to support a child actor through their budding career, covering a broad range of topics such as: • How to stay safe in the film industry • Finding an agent • Auditions and callbacks • Payment and contracts • Representation, diversity, and inclusion • Balancing acting work and personal life for both parent and child The Iatridises write to make sure both parents and children are prepared for the hard work and dedication necessary for a career as a child actor—and to celebrate all the victories that come with acting too.

A Will within a Wheel
Women Racers of the 1890s by

Six-day races, record-breaking rides, and renegade leagues are at the heart of this fascinating short fiction collection that explores women’s competitive cycling in the late Victorian era. Each of the stories contained in this meticulously researched collection focuses on a distinct racing event and the individual “ladies” who competed in them—like the indomitable Tillie Anderson—who mustered every muscle and every ounce of strength to prove that women had a place in the world of cycling. Overcoming constant scrutiny, judgement, chauvinism, exploitation, and even danger, these racers pedaled their way into annals of feminism, freedom, and cycling history.

At Your Service
Authorized Biography of Eugene "Uncle Gene" Verdu by

Some people spend a lifetime looking for their life’s purpose. Others just know. Eugene “Gene” Verdu had a calling. From the time he was a child, he knew he was meant to help others by any means possible. At Your Service recounts this universally loved man’s extraordinary life as a teacher and philanthropist. From the age of 17, he was a leader in humanitarian outreach. Following years of volunteer work in Central America, he founded the Belize Children’s Project. This organization connects medical professionals, caregivers, and host families with children who have orthopedic disabilities and provides high-quality medical care at no cost to these children. Through his hard work with the Belize Children’s Project, Gene saw firsthand the value that a network of philanthropists and charitable organizations can deliver to the underprivileged, impoverished, and marginalized people of all ages. To this very day, the generations of kids he has helped in Belize refer to him as “Uncle Gene.” Equally as significant are his contributions to elderly citizens through his tireless charitable work, including his role in starting programs that have benefited thousands, including local, regional programs. Gene was nominated by multiple U.S. presidents four times as a voting delegate at the White House Conference on Aging. He also served as Chairman of the Illinois Council on Aging. This selfless man’s lifelong desire and drive to help others were infectious. Family, friends, and even those kids he helped in Belize were inspired by Gene’s love for humanity. Many went on to work in charity in some capacity. Gene passed away in early 2022, but not before sharing his life story with Mike Stith. As this book was being written, his unflagging hope was that this story would inspire others to reach out and find ways in which they, too, can help their fellow human beings. What better legacy could he—or anyone, for that matter—leave behind? All proceeds from At Your Service are donated to Gene’s 501c3 public charity called the Uncle Gene Foundation.

Howling Storm
by

My sister frowns in confusion. “I don’t see why we can’t uncomplicate it. You’ve found your mate, what do you mean ‘she belongs to Jace?’ Is she Jace’s mate?” “No,” I snarl, slamming my fists on the floor, feeling my beast make itself known again. Kayden sighs heavily. “She’s his slave.” Tyler Storm is supposed to lead every werewolf pack on the West Coast into an age of prosperity—but before he does that, he needs to get control of the explosive cocktail of predator blood in his veins. Controlling your inner wolf is hard enough without a vampiric bloodline complicating things. And then one night, he meets his destined mate… and she is at the feet of a rival Alpha. In chains. It’s enough to make anyone lose their head. Meanwhile, Abbygail has just about given up on anything better than trying to please the brute who slaughtered her parents, and hopefully not getting too many ribs kicked in next time he wants to work off some steam. She doesn’t realize that there’s more than sadism behind what’s happening to her: there’s a calculated shot at unseating a king and destroying a peace treaty generations in the making. The curse of a sacred bond that has been twisted and defiled descends on the two of them as Tyler loses control, and Abby discovers that she may have been down, but she wasn’t out. Not for good, anyway.

Camila Boldsky
by

It is 1936, and at fifty-five years old, Camila Boldsky is lost. As she retires ownership of her factory and frets about her estranged son’s emigration to Chile, political tensions in Vienna only grow thicker. But despite being a Jew, Camila feels ambivalent about the need to escape—until she meets Sylvia Rittenschein, who is passionate in her fight against the Nazi menace. The two women are drawn to each other, and their quick friendship develops into something more. At Sylvia’s urging, Camila is convinced to leave Vienna with her and start a new life in Cuba, but it is not so easy to leave behind their home and start anew. Although Camila settles into the unfamiliar country relatively well, Sylvia becomes restless, worried about the adult daughters she left behind. That worry spirals into an obsession that even Camila can’t alleviate, and she has no choice but to watch her lover take risks and return to Nazi-controlled Europe to retrieve her family. Camila Boldsky explores how two women reconcile with the family that World War II had taken from them and reconstruct their lives in exile.

Return
by

It is the year 2312, and the City covers most of the planet. Street kid David North is a “Super,” but his power – moving strings, wires, and similar things with his mind – isn’t entirely under his control. During a violent altercation with one of the City’s notorious gangs, he is saved from near death by a couple of Super teenagers who are students of an underground scientific research and training facility called Project Arete. David immediately feels a curious connection with one of his saviors—Sarah, a young woman with glowing green bionic eyes. During his recovery at Project Arete’s hospital, David is given the opportunity to join PA and, warily, he takes it. Perhaps there, finally off the City’s streets, he could learn more about his power and how to control it . . . and more about Sarah. But there is someone who doesn’t want David to get too close to her. And even though he is making lasting friendships, as David spends more time at PA, he discovers things are not exactly what they seem. An ancient mystery is slowly unfurling, and when David finds himself caught up in a 3000-year-old betrayal, he must confront impossible choices to protect the ones he loves. But will his choices doom them all to repeat the mistakes of the ancient past? The first book in the action-packed Keystone Trilogy, Return takes you deep inside a world where no choice is easy, no answer is the right one, and every step you take comes with great responsibility.