Books published by Owl Canyon Press

Owl Canyon Press is pleased to announce the winners of the Owl Canyon Press Hackathon #4:FIRST PLACE ($1,000)"The Beauty Way" by Sally Brower SECOND PLACE ($750)"Graveminder" by Tanya Aydelott THIRD PLACE ($500)"Burying the General" by Elana Rubin

A gifted but naïve sculptor from Canada settles in Lake Worth, a neighborhood near Palm Beach, attracted by the palm trees and content to sell his work at a nearby flea market. He''s joined by his brother, who is attracted to Palm Beach by the money. The brother sells three of the sculptor''s pieces through a local art dealer, who creates a market for the work among his wealthy clientele at absurdly inflated prices. When a claim is filed after one of the pieces is stolen, the insurance company''s investigation threatens to expose the dealer''s questionable tactics and his clients'' gullibility.The artist resists temptation and maintains the integrity of his work. He also refuses to create sculptures to order, even if they might fetch far more money than he receives for the pieces he creates for himself. But in an insular world of sordid corruption, where contacts matter more than friendship, money buys acquiescence to corruption, and everything and everyone has a price, he questions the value of his integrity and wonders if he hasn''t deluded himself into thinking that there are more important things in life than money.

The Termination Clause is a comedy about the nature of art, success, and ambition. A young writer of promise is given an advance of sorts to finish his first novel free from outside pressures. An eccentric app millionaire who knew him in high school wants to "invest in the arts," though Randolph J. Simper''s motives become increasingly mysterious as a series of bizarre developments, culminating in the appearance of an assassin, sabotage protagonist Clay Turner. Trying to save his own life, marriage, and reputation while sorting out the mystery, Clay also wishes he''d spent more time reviewing the lengthy original contract, which apparently contained a clause allowing Randolph and three other patrons to purchase life insurance on their investment.After growing up on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa, Tom LaMarr lived and worked in Council Bluffs and Des Moines, then Jacksonville, Florida (where he met his wife), and the District of Columbia. He studied at the University of Iowa Fiction Writers Workshop and has called Colorado home for more than two decades. He is the author of  Geezer Dad as well as two acclaimed novels, October Revolution, and Hallelujah City" and the young adult novel Zero Gravity.

NoLab is a novel with a comic bent; it's a crime story, a buddy "flick," an art world commentary, a love story. NoLab might be what happens when Lethal Weapon is crossed with My Dinner with Andre.Artists Ray Lawson and Victor Florian search for NoLab, a collaborative of artist provocateurs that has gone missing. Their search becomes a romp through the art and ideas of a progressive, conceptually oriented subculture of the art world. They investigate Carter Wilkinson, creator of The Institute (a shadowy, futuristic cultural institution with an unusual collection). Though seemingly inept as detectives, Ray and Victor eventually succeed in finding the members of NoLab. Murder intervenes. Ray, Victor, and NoLab are harassed and threatened by various individuals attempting to dissuade NoLab from implementing its ill-advised plan. From the presumed safety of home, Ray and his newly acquired family watch the gory ramifications of NoLab's self-destructive act unfold in the media.

The 27 Stories fiction anthology features the winning entries from the Winter 2018 Owl Canyon Press Short Story Hackathon challenge. The collection contains 27 stories chosen from over 950 entries, a mix of both seasoned and emerging writers whose astonishing and entertaining works span the wide ranging landcape of emotions from happiness to grief.

The NO BARS AND A DEAD BATTERY fiction anthology features the winning entries from the 2018 Owl Canyon Press Short Story Hackathon challenge. The collection contains 26 stories chosen from over 900 entries, a mix of both seasoned and emerging writers whose astonishing and entertaining works span the wide ranging landcape of emotions from happiness to grief.

Cassidy is a long-haired, Choose Your Own Adventure author and part-time bartender. In an attempt to escape the haunting memory of an abortion, he and his wife Phoenix, a once free-spirited, pot-smoking poet trapped in a job as copywriter for a public relations firm, leave Los Angeles and move to the East Coast. Phoenix can barely function. Cassidy drinks too much and takes refuge in long-distance phone calls with his friend Cliff, still living in Los Angeles. When Cassidy shares his idea for a whiskey jelly donut, Cliff makes it his goal to build a donut franchise. Secretly, he hopes to lure Cassidy and Phoenix back home. Cassidy's childhood friend, the ex-fashion model Aunika, owns a burgeoning artisan donut shop. One afternoon, drunk on chardonnay, she does her best to win Cassidy's heart and derail his marriage. When Phoenix finds out, she leaves her husband and returns to Los Angeles, where Cliff and his brother have partnered with a gang-affiliated drug dealer to raise money for the first "Mustard Brothers Donut Shop" featuring their flagship Whiskey Jelly Donut. Cassidy ends his affair with Aunika, leaving the east coast behind, and reunites with Phoenix. He arrives home to a fresh start with the woman he loves, an eclectic donut shop, and the support, love and booze-infused comradery of his best friends.

Rebecca Griffin has everything she could ever want – or so says her big-hearted, opinionated Italian-American family. But now her marriage is unraveling and her teenage daughter is hurtling toward self-destruction. While Rebecca struggles to hang onto her husband and save her daughter, she learns of the mysterious death of a young woman long ago at a local prison. As Rebecca’s mother, Eva, reveals their family’s connection to the girl, Rebecca is drawn into the story – it haunts her. A search for answers takes Rebecca from her small idyllic New England town, to the congested streets of East Boston and the tight-knit Italian neighborhood where most of her family still resides. As she tries to dig up the facts of the young girl’s life and violent death, the puzzle pieces in Rebecca’s life begin to take shape and she faces the difficult truth about her husband, Drew. Rebecca, her troubled daughter, Dana, and an enigmatic figure from the past, unknowingly embark on a collision course one desperate autumn night when the answers they seek come to light in the most forgotten of places from the most innocent of messengers.