Books published by Lettra Press LLC

The Beaver That Lived in Trees is an educational book about beavers and other wild animals, but it is also a fairy tale. About 6 months ago I got astory about a beaver that lived in trees. So I started to write the next thing I knew I had a short story. Because I knew a few things about beaver and had tried to break open a beaver dam nearly lost my life because we were camped near that damn the beaver cut a large tree down that night right in our camp. My Dad and I were moose hunting in the area. I saw a beaver slap their tail on the water because I was there. I also jumped up and down on a hut it bounced up and down and the beaver swam out. The hut was solid as a rock.

John Jaykyll, professor at a small college in southern Appalachia, is having a mid-life crisis resulting from his conflict with the new college president, who hates his mountain origins, and dislikes Jaykyll because he is defending mountain literature and culture and the young professor in charge of this program who is accused by a crazy French professor of having an affair with his wife. His jealousy leads to seeking the murder of his neighbor, the young English professor. The French professor supports the malicious and crooked president of the college. Jaykyll undergoes treatment by a psychologist, who uncovers the source of the professor's problem in his fear of a loss of love from conflict with his lovers. Jaykyll enlists many supporters, uncovers the illegal dealings of President Malmuth, and defeats his enemy.

Everett "Moon" Lunamin returns from battles in Vietnam determined to gain wealth and social status mining coal during the coal boom of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Moon struggles with his cousin George Landsetter, a reclamation officer, and surface mining competitors whose greed exceeds their ethics. He succeeds and marries his high school sweetheart, whose family accepts him because he is now wealthy. Moon becomes unhappy that his wife Susan enjoys his money but is unhappy with his efforts to obtain it. They both neglect their son and seek companionship outside their marriage, but Susan refuses divorce to keep her lifestyle. Moon returns from a trip to Africa with his lover and finds Susan murdered with his shotgun. Beset by the IRS, an ambitious prosecutor, and several jealous cousins, Moon struggles to save his business and his life.

It is an odd little story that describes an otherwise "normal" Irish family and their eventual encounters with people and things beyond them. That is a tough topic to tackle if you know the Irish! This story does not end the way one might think it would but a warm smile there is guaranteed. No dragons or robots were harmed in the crafting of this tale. There is your second guarantee!

In Visiting Heaven, the main character Tori after losing her grandmother falls into a deep despair and loses complete control of her life. With the help from her grandmother and three visits to heaven, she is able to get her life back on track and even find love.

On a flight to a birding tour in Australia, Margaret Smith develops a friendship with Hammond ("Porky") Frank. On the first part of the tour, they become close friends, although Margaret ("Maggie") becomes suspicious of Porky. On the northern part of the trip, they are joined by a new assistant leader, Jameson Kanger, who begins a scheme with Porky. Left to herself, Maggie spends time with other tour members, especially Patricia Shaper, a young Olympic Women's Trap Skeet champion. Kanger drugs Shaper and rapes her. Patsy confides in Maggie and they avoid Kanger and Porky the rest of the tour, although Porky renews his relationship with Maggie when she returns to Galveston, Texas. She arranges a meeting for him with Mackensie Craft, a wealthy birder willing to pay to see a rare and supposedly extinct Eskimo curlew. The proposed sighting goes awry as Shaper intrudes and, in the confusion, Craft kills Hammond and Kanger. Two local policemen try to solve the murders. They eventually do even though they are also working on a case involving a serial rapist, but Craft disappears. So, the murder mystery becomes a manhunt during which the policemen are married by women who help them apprehend the serial rapist.

Bizarre Events is an "out-of-the-box" thriller featuring Ragetti & Smitty, two FBI Special Agents. The first case covered in this book portrays an imaginary trip to the USA by Pope Joseph. When mayhem strikes the law agencies are scrambling, fearing it could be the work of terrorists. The second part of the book examines the mystic of Sedona, AZ, where besides the beautiful red rock scenery it introduces you to some of the more colorful and yet horrifying characters who call Sedona home. This is the third book in the Ragetti & Smitty crimes, please check the others out also.