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Sounds of Yesterday is about a romantic relationship during COVID as experienced by an autistic man.

For five years, Rob and Ana overcome career challenges, achieve emotional stability, and survive a global pandemic. Though they each achieve successes, Ana ends their relationship. 

Rob’s world is shattered. He blames himself. Traumas are reopened, and forgotten insecurities play center stage in his thoughts.

As he mourns, he comes to see that Ana worked in an abusive workplace and had a harsh, demanding mother. Unable to share about the pains in her life, she slowly falls into a depression, and becomes unable to give or receive love.

SDWEG member, Peter Shaw, has released his debut novel, Murder on the Way. 

A bag of money has gone missing and the Italian mob wants it back. Joey, who found the cash in a cave, intends to make a new life, beginning with a Camino pilgrimage from France to Spain. The mob sends a hitman, Max, who poses as a pilgrim. On his way, he learns about the Camino and the history of its sites. Meanwhile, Joey hopes to evade detection with plastic surgery. Will he escape Max’s notice?

Long-time SDWEG member, M. Lee Buompensiero [we know her as Marcia] has released an award-winning novel, Sumerland. The story is full of romance, unusual hauntings, and heart-warming dog crises and mishaps.

Kate Post inherits the San Diego historical Liebersohn mansion after her mother, whom she rarely saw and barely knew, dies. Kate doesn't want the house, nor any reminder of her mother's abandonment. Leaving with every intention of returning to San Francisco, Kate stumbles and falls in front of the house. An odd inscription etched in concrete beside a garden pathway catches her eye that haunts her dreams and changes her mind. She will do a period restoration on the house and make for a quick sale. This will take it off her hands for good.

Francis and Marie-Claire Liebersohn have unfinished business—they want someone to set the record straight seventy years after their deaths. Their hauntings reveal family secrets and awaken Kate to paranormal realities. Prompted by her friend, Lulu, Kate adopts a new mission to set matters right for living relatives, including herself.

Kate’s romance with her dog’s vet seems real to life. The dog that pulls Kate into committing to a totally new life is endearing. The melting of Kate’s heart by the dog is realistic and heartwarming. The disturbing hauntings that Kate witnesses turn out to have a positive purpose. I loved this story. I couldn’t put it down.

Award-winning SDWEG member, Bob Riffenburgh, has written a charming historical fiction novel about Appalachia, 1939-40.

Thirteen-year-old Ronson Allen, stays hungry after dinner because there isn’t enough food to go around. Nevertheless, he feels carefree, loves his family, and is happy playing with his best friend, Harry. Everything changes when Ronson’s beloved sister is assaulted.

The book focuses on the stark realities of social class. The Allens are poor and fear retribution by the town’s wealthy because members of the privileged  victimized their daughter. When his parents don’t seek justice, with Harry’s help, Ronson takes that goal upon himself.

The boys slowly evolve a risky plan. Though scared, they pursue their scheme to exact revenge.

The story is written in the dialect used by the poor; however, the book is readable and optimistic. Rich with life lessons, the story Riffenburgh tells is a gem.

In Harm's Way is an action-packed historical story set during America’s War of Independence. Wing says he based his story on actual naval battles. The details Wing provides about those times are interesting and compelling.

The main character, Captain Jonas Hawke, returns home to Norfolk after several months of trading in the Indies and the Caribbean. Norfolk, and other Atlantic colonial ports, are blockaded by the British. They take Jonas’s ship and its contents, belonging to Jonas’s father-in-law. Suffering personal losses due to British abuse of power, along with their haughtiness toward colonists, Jonas repairs his own ship, the Resolute, and serves the colonial congress.

 Living as a privateer meant that Jonas and his crew lived like pirates. They attacked British vessels in the seas south of Florida, made trade friendships with local islanders, and lived off their booty. In time, Jonas successfully challenges the British’s naval dominance in the area.

 In Harm's Way has interesting characters that draw the reader into a heroic story. I loved how Wing weaves his story while showing the rise of conflict between the colonists and the British. The descriptions are spellbinding, and the narration paints a vivid picture of the terrifying challenges ships and sailors faced in sea battles and in turbulent waters.

Wing wrote In Harm’s Way from a desire to explore the topic of America’s early sea warriors and how they struck fear into the hearts of British shippers around the globe. Wing’s award-winning first novel, Against All Enemies, was released in 2023.

The author will mark the release of In Harm's Way at a public launch party aboard HMS Rose/Surprise at the Maritime Museum on June 14 at 1 p.m.; a signing at Barnes and Noble, Encinitas, on June 21 at 2 p.m.; and a signing at Bay Books in Coronado on June 22 at noon.

Living on Earth, nineteen-year-old Carmen has no idea she carries the soul of mighty Phoenix's son, Anka. Legend has it that the Phoenix bird was born on the planet Crictus. He granted the Queen of Crictus's wish and gave her two sons: Anka and Inca.

The twins possess their father's ability to make their bodies mortal and their souls immortal. When the queen dies, Anka and Inca engage in a war for the Crictus throne that endures for centuries.

Carmen is hunted by her soul's twin, Inca, and discovers the truth—she is the heir to the Crictus throne. With the help of Anka's guardian, Emerald Ron, she travels to Crictus to claim her throne. She faces evil Inca, the last soul hunter who can kill her indefinitely, along with his loyal followers.

Will Carmen succeed in claiming her throne?

Written in first-person, the book reads like a memoir. Ellis Robinson shares her experiences in Baja, Mexico, where roughly built homes have a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean.

Being a sharp, patient, kind soul she tolerates the many conflicts her neighbors experience and sometimes cause. Over time, the presence of the cartel is felt as bodies are found on the camp’s beach. Her time at the camp ends with an astonishing conclusion.

The book is as enjoyable as a vacation. And like life, it has its conflicts and surprising turns.

On Two Legs and Three Wheels is by SDWEG member, Cary Lowe. Multiple sclerosis disabled the legs of the author’s wife twenty years ago, making her rely on a mobility scooter. Lowe shares two dozen tales of their travels, from the Arctic Ocean to tropical islands, from deserts and mountains to urban centers, via planes, trains, cars, buses, and ships.

 Their adventures show the range of reachable destinations. Through the author’s wonderful descriptions of sites, flora and fauna, views, accommodations, and restaurants, the reader vicariously enjoys each trip.

Catherine Pope, EdD writes about her struggle to gain social justice.

As a 19-year-old black college student, Pope set her sights on the Miss America Crown. She began by winning the 1969 Miss Omaha beauty pageant, where she was promised a four-year college scholarship. However, the following year, though she won talent contests, in 1970, Pope did not receive any recognition, let alone receive the Miss Nebraska award. A photo in her book of pageant contestants shows a line of blondes with bouffant hairdos, where Pope and another dark-haired white lady who sit in the foreground, stand out as the most beautiful.

Though Pope’s neighbors showed support, many expressed fears of white backlash as she ran for each contest. Whites called her family and threatened them regularly; often demeaning Pope as an unworthy Miss Omaha winner. However, she wore her crown as she attended civil rights protests and demonstrations. When she lost the Miss Nebraska honor, she experienced it as a personal failure. Nevertheless, she also thought of her loss as a failure of white society to grow and encourage blacks to realize their abilities. Sadly, not until 1984 did the first black woman receive the Miss America pageant.

In every regard, Pope stands out as a winner, personally, professionally, and socially. Her example inspires me to challenge myself and to do more for others.

Long time SDWEG member, Al Converse, departed from his usual genre of humorous who-dunits to write a historical fiction book about his great-grandfather’s experience as he served in Company G of the Thirteenth Vermont Volunteers, Second Vermont Brigade in the Union Army that fought at Gettysburg, PA.

Converse details the way of life for the government’s soldiers during the Civil War. The food was inadequate. Though they had uniforms, the soldiers only had one set, which they wore daily. In addition to being scratchy, their wool pants were hot, and their brogan boots fell apart as they walked. Rarely having a chance to clean their uniforms, the men endured lice most of the time. Only when they stayed somewhere more than a couple of days did they get a chance to boil their clothes and gain some relief from the bugs.

Converse and his troop enlisted for nine months. They spent most of their time walking and camping thirty or so miles outside Washington, DC; probably to protect the capitol city from attack. Only when called on to go to Pennsylvania did the men know they would be experiencing battle. The book depicts all emotions from fear to determination to win, as Converse nears the battle site.

Vermonter depicts the famous Gettysburg battle and gives a sense of its vastness. Details of Converse and his troop during the battle actions are clear and moving. Converse’s troop fought valiantly, and to their relief they found Confederate soldiers raised their hands in surrender to the Union.

Though I have a distaste for battle scenes, Converse won me over. He wrote with such clarity and passion, with meaningful details, I felt breathless from the time Nathan Converse is told that his troop will be packing to go to battle until he returns to his farm and greets his sweetheart.

Since 2012, Converse has published short stories in The Guilded Pen, an anthology produced by the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild. His first novel, Bitch'n, a coming-of-age thriller, set in the 1959 beach town, Coronado, was published in 2012. In his second novel, Die Again, a college student's life changes when he catches a serial killer. His novel, Boston Boogie is an adventure thriller set in 1963 Boston. The Baja Moon was his fourth novel. In 2016 he released News from the East, an action adventure set in 1974. In 2017 he completed Flagship, a novel based on his experience in the Vietnam War. In 2018 he released, Hornwinkle Hustle, a cold case thriller. In 2019, Jack Blue was released that addressed some moral questions as Mo Harris solves a murder.