Everything We Thought Was true

Lisa Montanaro
Book Cover: Everything We Thought Was true
Editions:Audiobook, ePub, Kindle, Paperback

Los Angeles lawyer Lena Antinori has dedicated her career to fighting discrimination, including for the LGBTQ community, but her own family's secret haunts her. At thirteen years old, she made the startling discovery that her father, Frank, was gay and her mother, Teresa, knew. Fearing social stigma, Teresa instituted a code of silence meant to protect their Italian Catholic family—a code Lena adhered to for decades.

Now, Frank plans to marry his partner, and he wants Lena to help plan the wedding. Lena is torn between maintaining loyalty to her mother and supporting her father's newfound happiness. As her father’s wedding approaches, Lena learns her childhood wounds run deeper than she thought, and failing to heal them might sentence her to a life of hypocrisy and the inability to discover the true meaning of coming out.

Told by Lena in the present, and her parents, Frank and Teresa, in the past, Everything We Thought Was True examines how the truth doesn't set you free until you embrace it.

First place winner, LGBTQ Fiction, 2024 International Firebird Book Awards

Honorable Mention, General Fiction, 2025 Los Angeles Book Festival

The Dragon of Ynys

Minerva Cerridwen

Every time something goes missing from the village, Sir Violet makes his way to the dragon’s cave and negotiates the item’s return. It’s annoying, but at least the dragon is polite.

But when the dragon hoards a person, that’s a step too far. Sir Violet storms off to the mountainside to escort the baker home, only to find a more complex mystery—a quest that leads him far beyond the cave. Accompanied by the missing baker’s wife and the dragon himself, the dutiful village knight embarks on his greatest adventure yet.

The Dragon of Ynys is an inclusive fairy tale for all ages.

Audience: The Dragon of Ynys is intended for a wide audience, primarily those, of any age, who love fairy tales, dragons, or stories of acceptance and hope. It was written as the fairy tale the author wished she’d had as a child, but it is intended for adult readers as well. The Dragon of Ynys can be read by adults and children, by adults to children, and in groups or story time sessions of any composition. It should be enjoyed by those desiring aromantic and/or asexual representation as well as trans representation, and those who would enjoy the storytelling of an aro, ace, and genderqueer author. Whatever your reason for inviting our little fairy tale into your life, we hope that you enjoy it.

A Dragon for Christmas

M.D. Neu

Carmen is eleven years old and wants to get her dragon.  Since she was seven years old, she understood two things.  One, she was going to be the strongest Dragon Keeper there ever was. The second was that she was going to marry her best friend, Mattie.

As Christmas approaches the magical charms Carmen has to use to fight off her curse are taking a toll on her health.  But that can’t stop her from taking her finale test to become a Dragon Keeper. If she passes her test she gets her dragon, if not, she has to start all over relying on different magical charms to fight the curse for her. That is something Carmen doesn’t want to have to go through.  The testing is difficult and charms make her sick. Carmen has decided that if she doesn’t get her dragon this Christmas she’s not going to go for a third attempt, even if that means she can’t marry Mattie when she grows up.

The Reunion

M.D. Neu

It’s been twenty years since the quiet Midwestern town of Lakeview was struck by tragedy.  But every year on the anniversary of the tragic event Teddy returns home for ‘The Reunion’. Lakeview, like Teddy, has secrets and not all mysteries should come to light.

The Calling

M.D. Neu

Being nobody isn’t Duncan Alexander’s life goal, but it’s worked for him.  He has a nondescript job, a few good friends, and overall he’s content.  That’s until one fateful trip to San Jose, California, where he is ‘Called’ to meet the mysterious Juliet de Exter.  Juliet is a beautiful, wealthy, powerful Immortal who is undertaking ‘The Calling’ – a search for a human to join her world of Immortals.  Inexplicably, Duncan’s calling is more dangerous than any of the Immortals, even Juliet, ever thought it would be.

There is more to this nobody, this only child of long deceased parents, than anyone thought.  When Duncan experiences uncontrollable dreams of people he doesn’t know and places he hasn’t been, Juliet and the other Immortals worry. Soon, his visions point to a coven of long dead witches. The dreams also lead Duncan to his one true love. How will Duncan navigate a forbidden romance with an outcast Immortal?  How will he and the others keep the balance between the Light and Dark, survive vicious attacks, and keep the humans from learning who they truly are?  More importantly, who is this implacable foe Duncan keeps seeing in his dreams?

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T.A.D. – The Angel of Death

M.D. Neu

Tad loves bouncing around in time and watching mankind grow and change. He loves humanity and helping when he can. However, his job isn’t conducive to helping people.  He’s an Angel of Death.

Doug is fun loving and a drama queen.  Despite his witty exterior, he has a dark history and is prone to self-destruction. He’s also an amazing drag queen and hairstylist with big dreams.

When Tad pushes the boundaries of his duties too far, his angel wings are stripped away from him, and he is sent to New York City to live as a human. Lost and alone he ends up meeting Doug, and the two start a friendship that will shape them both and last a lifetime.  But nothing is simple when you’re dealing with a former Angel of Death and a Drag Queen. Could these two cause the fabric of our world to collapse or will they manage to keep the future as it should?

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Conspiracy (A New World Book 3)

M.D. Neu

A little blue world, the third planet from the sun. It's home to 7 billion people with all manner of faiths, beliefs and customs, divided by bigotry and misunderstanding, who have been told they are not alone in the universe. Anyone watching from the outside would pass by this fractured and tumultuous world, unless they had no other choice.

It’s been a little over a year since Todd Landon’s life changed with the arrival of the Nentraee. Continuing his duties as Special Envoy for Terran Affairs, Todd finally feels at home with the aliens; gaining more responsibility and influence with both races. Plans are underway for two Interplanetary spaceports and additional solar exploration. It’s an exciting time for both the humans and the Nentraee.

Not everything is as perfect as some hope. Speaker General Mirtoff and Vice-Speaker Mi’ko of the Nentraee are worried that the Liberi Dei plot additional terrorist attacks and may have inside help. Threats are clear, but who can they trust? Could Todd be helping them unknowingly or worse covertly? Will these new space endeavors continue to bring the human and the Nentraee together or will a conspiracy hiding in the shadows fracture an already shaky alliance?

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Conviction (A New World Book 2)

M.D. Neu

A little blue world, the third planet from the sun. It's home to 7 billion people with all manner of faiths, beliefs and customs, divided by bigotry and misunderstanding, who will soon be told they are not alone in the universe. Anyone watching from the outside would pass by this fractured and tumultuous world, unless they had no other choice.

Todd Landon is one of these people, living and working in a section of the world called the United States of America. His life is similar to those around him: home, family, work, friends and a husband.

After the attack on San Jose, Todd is appointed to Special Envoy for Terran Affairs by the nentraee, a position many world leaders question. Undeterred Todd wants to build bridges between both people. However, this new position brings with it a new set of problems that not only he, but his new allies Mi’ko and Mirtoff must overcome. Will the humans and nentraee learn to work together despite mistrust and threats of more attacks by a new global terrorist group, or will the terrorists win? Will this bring an end to an already shaky alliance between nentraee and humans?

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Contact (A New World Book 1)

M.D. Neu

A little blue world, the third planet from the sun. It's home to 7 billion people with all manner of faiths, beliefs and customs, divided by bigotry and misunderstanding, who will soon be told they are not alone in the universe. Anyone watching from the outside would pass by this fractured and tumultuous world, unless they had no other choice. Todd Landon is one of these people, living and working in a section of the world called the United States of America. His life is similar to those around him: home, family, work, friends and a husband.

On the cusp of the greatest announcement humankind has ever witnessed, Todd’s personal world is thrown into turmoil when his estranged brother shows up on his front porch with news of ships heading for Earth’s orbit. The ships are holding the Nentraee, a humanoid race who have come to Earth in need of help after fleeing the destruction of their homeworld. How will one man bridge the gap for both the Humans and Nentraee, amongst mistrust, terrorist attacks and personal loss? Will this be the start of a new age of man or will bigotry and miscommunication bring this small world to its knees and final end?

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Cailleadhama

J. Scott Coatsworth

Colton is a trans man living in a climate-changed world. He plies the canals that used to be city streets, earning a living taking tourists on illicit journeys through San Francisco's flooded edges beneath the imposing bulk of the Wall.

Tris is an elf who comes through the veil to the City by the Bay - the Caille - on a coming of age pilgrimage called the Cailleadhama. He is searching for his brother Laris, who went missing after crossing through the Caille years before.

The two men find they have common cause, and together they set off to find Laris in a world transformed by the twin forces of greed and climate change. And in the end, they find out more than they ever expected, both about the warming world and their own selves.

Excerpt:
Reviews:Jennivie Wirries on Amazon wrote:

This book is like a two for one- part dystopian novel part fantasy. There’s also some action and romance in the mix as well. Colton is a trans man living in the flooded ruins of what used to be San Francisco- on the poor side of the wall built to keep the ocean from swallowing everything as much as it is to keep the lower class citizens out. Tris is an elf who has come through the veil into the human world as part of a coming of age tradition and in search of his missing brother. He finds much more and less than he could have hoped for. As is the case with several of this author’s titles, this beautifully crafted story is unlike anything I have ever read.