The Regression Strand: Book Campaign and Giveaway

 THE REGRESSION STRAIN

By Kevin Hwang

Medical Thriller

Publisher: Normal Range Press

Publication Date: May 26, 2025

SYNOPSIS

Dr. Peter Palma joins the medical team of the Paradise to treat passengers for minor ailments as the cruise ship sails across the Atlantic. But he soon discovers that something foul is festering under the veneer of leisure. Deep in the bowels of the ship, a vile affliction pits loved ones against each other and shatters the bonds of civil society. The brig fills with felons, the morgue with bodies, and the vacation becomes a nightmare.

One by one, the chaos claims Peter's allies. His mentor spirals into madness and the security chief fights a losing battle against anarchy. No help comes from the captain, who has an ego bigger than the ocean.

With the ship racing toward an unprepared New York, the fate of humanity hinges on Peter's deteriorating judgment. But he's hallucinating and delirious...and sometimes primal urges are impossible to resist.

The Regression Strain is a fast-paced medical thriller laced with psychological suspense, perfect for fans of Michael Crichton and Blake Crouch.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin O. Hwang, MD, is a professor of internal medicine in Houston where he sees patients and teaches residents. His academic work has appeared in leading medical journals. Nothing excites him more than chicken enchiladas, index cards, and appropriately sized packaging. The Regression Strain is his debut novel.

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AMAZON ◆ GOODREADS 

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Ziva the Great: Book Campaign and Giveaway

 

ZIVA THE GREAT

By Cindy J. Vanous

Children’s Fiction: Ages 6-12

Publication Date: 21 October, 2025

32 Pages

SYNOPSIS

Ziva the Great is a heartfelt picture book for older children about a Maine Coon cat learning to trust again and a quiet girl named Elsie who understands gentle things. Ziva is loving with her family but startles easily around new people-until Elsie arrives. The girl moves softly, speaks softly, and never frightens her.

Their friendship grows through small moments of closeness and calm. Together, they show young readers that healing takes time, trust can return, and even quiet hearts can find comfort again. Perfect for ages 8-12, this emotional animal story supports social-emotional learning (SEL) and is ideal for parents, teachers, counselors, and classrooms. Themes include emotional healing, resilience, friendship, overcoming fear, and the bond between children and animals.

Review

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Amazon 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cindy J. Vanous is a Texas children’s author who writes heartfelt picture books filled with vintage charm, hope, and imagination. Her stories, from a lost puppy at the North Pole to a little ghost in Terlingua, Texas, celebrate courage, belonging, and the magic found in everyday moments.

WEBSITE ◆  INSTAGRAM  AMAZON ◆ GOODREADS  FACEBOOK 

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Quiet Valor: Book Campaign

 

QUIET VALOR: 

EVERYDAY AMERICANS

By Larry Nouvel

Genre: Inspirational Nonfiction/ American Social History

Publication Date: 4 November, 2025

Pages: 241

SYNOPSIS

Some acts of courage never make the news, but they keep the world turning.

In every community, there are people who keep things moving simply by showing up. Quiet Valor: Everyday Americans opens with this familiar truth and builds a clear, steady narrative around it—highlighting the men and women whose everyday decisions hold families and neighborhoods together when it matters most.

Larry Nouvel brings forward stories that feel close to home: the workers, neighbors, teachers, and caregivers who operate without fanfare but whose actions hold real impact across families, streets, and local systems.

This volume reads like a portfolio of lived experiences, each one capturing a moment when an ordinary individual stepped forward because responsibility called for it. A teacher sprinting through a storm to guide anxious children. A bus driver managing an evacuation with near-perfect timing. A construction worker shielding a stranger on the subway tracks. A deputy diving into deep water to bring a lost child back to safety. An airman refusing to stop until every family in a flooded town was accounted for. These moments underscore a timeless point: communities endure because everyday people choose to act.

Nouvel’s style is measured and respectful, reflecting long-standing values, commitment, steadiness, and the quiet work ethic that has always shaped American life. Each vignette is lean, focused, and designed to show how character carries real operational weight. These aren’t headline-chasing stories; they are reminders of the reliable hands that keep families supported and neighborhoods functioning.

Following Quiet Valor: Unsung Architects of the American Promise and Quiet Valor: Children Who Cared, Endured, and Inspired, this third volume turns the lens toward the adults who sustain communities one steady act at a time.

Quiet Valor: Everyday Americans is a meaningful resource for readers who value tradition, continuity, and the steady presence of people who do the work because the work matters. It reminds us that valor is often quiet—and greatness is measured by the willingness to keep showing up.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Larry Nouvel is the author of Quiet Valor: Unsung Architects of the American Promise, Quiet Valor: Children Who Cared, Endured, and Inspired, and Quiet Valor: Everyday Americans— three books that celebrate individuals whose quiet actions shaped lives, communities, and sometimes nations.

An inventor and entrepreneur, Larry has developed and registered more than 100 health-related products worldwide and holds over a dozen patents. As founder of LNouvel Inc., he has spent decades quietly advancing innovations in pet, livestock, and household care. His latest venture, UnRuffled Pets, launched in 2024 with calming products for cats and dogs, and is now sold across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Brazil.

Larry’s writing reflects his belief that quiet dedication—whether through caregiving, invention, or daily kindness—can drive lasting change. His stories highlight people who didn’t seek attention but made a difference all the same.

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KIRKUS REVIEW EXCERPT

The author’s own feelings can be seen most acutely in the startling clarity of such lines as “history is not nostalgia. It is instruction,” “it is the courage to say This still matters when others have moved on,” and “to revive language is to confront the violence that tried to destroy it.” Each account is accompanied by a reflection, as well as a list of references that makes the thoroughness of Nouvel’s research clear. 

See the entire review here: KIRKUS REVIEW

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Pintsized Pioneers At Play: Book Campaign a

 PINTSIZED PIONEERS AT PLAY:

Homemade Frontier Fun and Danger

By Preston Lewis & Harriet Kocher Lewis

Young Adult / Nonfiction / History

Publisher: Bariso Press

Pages: 218

Publication Date: 4 November 2025

SYNOPSIS

Discover the Wild Side of Frontier Childhood!

Pintsized Pioneers at Play: Homemade Frontier Fun and Danger explores the forgotten world of how kids lived, laughed-and sometimes limped-through their childhood years in the Old West.

While their parents settled the land, these pintsized pioneers explored it, creating their own adventures with homemade toys, daring games, wild animal encounters, and risky escapades. This engaging sequel to the award-winning Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time shines a spotlight on the joys and perils of play in a land still being tamed.

From exploring the prairie and wrangling critters to celebrating frontier holidays and watching traveling circuses, this book reveals how children carved out fun and entertainment in a rough-and-tumble world. Learn how railroads and mail-order catalogs brought new toys, how schools and churches doubled as social hubs, and how a simple game could end in laughter-or injury.

Written for young adults but fascinating for readers of all ages, Pintsized Pioneers at Play is packed with history, heart, and a hint of danger. Written at a tenth-grade reading level perfect for curious minds, Pintsized Pioneers at Play includes a glossary of related terms.

Perfect for fans of Western history, educators, homeschoolers, and lovers of untold American stories!

Bariso Press | Amazon | B&N | Bookshop.org | Books-A-Million 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Preston Lewis and Harriet Kocher Lewis co-authored three books in the "Magic Machine Series" published by Bariso Press:  Devotionals from a Soulless Machine, Jokes from a Humorless Machine, and Recipes from a Tasteless Machine. They reside in San Angelo, Texas.

Preston Lewis has published more than 50 fiction and nonfiction works.  The author and historian’s books include traditional Westerns, historical novels, comic Westerns, young adult books, and historical accounts.  In 2021 he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his literary accomplishments. 

His writing honors include two Spur Awards from Western Writers of America and three Elmer Kelton Awards from the West Texas Historical Association.  He has received ten Will Rogers Medallion Awards, and in 2024, he earned an inaugural Literary Global Independent Author Award in the Western Nonfiction category for Cat Tales of the Old West.   

He is a past president of Western Writers of America and the West Texas Historical Association, which named him a fellow in 2016.  

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Harriet Kocher Lewis is the award-winning editor and publisher of Bariso Press. Titles she has edited have been honored with Will Rogers Medallion Awards, Spur Finalist designations, and Independent Author Awards.  

Lewis concluded her 26-year physical therapy career as the inaugural clinical coordinator for the physical therapy program at Angelo State University, where she taught technical writing and wrote or edited numerous scientific papers as well as a chapter in a clinical education textbook.  

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