The president's power to pardon federal crimes is immense, with roots in ancient notions of mercy and amnesty. However, this power, seemingly boundless under the Constitution, lacks clear constraints, inviting concerns about abuse. Recent discussions in the U.S. Supreme Court have raised alarms about the potential for presidential abuse of pardons, highlighting the need for accountability within the pardon system to uphold the foundational premise that no one is above the law.

Pardon Power: How the Pardon System Works-- and Why, Kim Wehle explores the historical context and contemporary challenges surrounding the presidential pardon. Wehle contends that any pardon undermining the principle of accountability before the law, including self-pardons, cannot be constitutionally justified. Urgent recognition of the necessity for guardrails around the pardon power is essential to safeguard American democracy.

Winner, 2021 Foreword INDIES award

Brilliant, time-tested and clear advice that will help writers at all stages, in all genres, write their very best book--and then make it better. As a freelance editor for more than a decade, Williams has shepherded books from rough draft to polished manuscripts bought by Big Five houses, university and literary presses, and for independent publishers. Now, she distills everything she's learned from editing hundreds of drafts, coaching writers past creative blocks, and navigating authors through querying and publication, into this useful guide for every step from idea to book.

Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book divides writing and revision into distinct stages, with a new focus in each draft. Williams' frank, funny voice encourages writers to tackle even big editing tasks with a sense of humor and a feeling that someone who understands is on their side.

With plenty of fresh examples, insider wisdom, and snappy footnotes, Seven Drafts teaches story, character, elements of writing craft and structure, how to seek and use feedback, and the publication process.

With her debut novel, Till We Become Monsters, Amanda Headlee raises the genre to a chilling new level. I recommend reading this one with all the lights on. --Phil Giunta, author of Like Mother, Like Daughters

Monsters exist and Korin Perrin knew this as truth because his grandmother told him so. Korin, raised in the shadow of his older brother Davis, is an imaginative child who believes his brother is a monster. After the death of their grandmother, seven-year-old Korin, blaming Davis for her demise, tries to kill him. Sixteen years following the attempt on Davis' life, racked with guilt, Korin comes to terms with the fact that Davis may not be the one who is the monster after all.

Past wrongs needing to be righted, Korin agrees to a hunting trip with his brother and father. But they, along with two friends, never make it to their destination. An accident along the way separates the hunters in the dark forests of Minnesota during the threat of an oncoming blizzard. As the stranded hunters search for each other and safety, an ancient evil wakes.

What do Sylvia Plath, Mae West, Taylor Swift, Shirley Chisholm, Helen Keller, Sally Ride, Toni Morrison, Dolores Huerta, Lizzie Borden, Billie Jean King, and Eleanor of Aquitaine have in common? They're all stars in 2024's FAST FAMOUS WOMEN: 75 Essays of Flash NonFiction, the latest volume in Gina Barreca's FAST WOMEN series. As in previous titles, brilliant well-known writers and columnists with established voices are joined by a chorus of emerging writers from diverse backgrounds, some of whom had never before seen their work in a book with with an ISBN. New works by Jane Smiley, Caroline Leavitt, Mimi Pond, Molly Peacock, Phillis Levin, Darien Hsu Gee, Cheryl Della Pietra, and Ebony Root offer provocative and deeply personal reflections on the women in the public eye who shaped their own visions of a woman's life, talents, role, and possibilities. FAST FAMOUS WOMEN is, in effect, the most glamorous of great dinner parties, welcoming all readers to the world of women's lives lived in public view. Some guests whoop it up over champagne and oysters while others weep in corners; a few dance on the veranda and while others set out plates or, hands on hips, face the mess. Fast Famous Women is a literary event you won't want to miss.

Woodhall Press is proud to once again to showcase incredible writers from all over the state of Connecticut. The 2024 Connecticut Literary Anthology features new writers, old pros, and writers that fit somewhere in between. Returning editor and prize-winning author Victoria Buitron and guest editors Summer Tate and Christine Kandic Torres have constellated together the best poetry, nonfiction, and prose from Connecticut writers.

I have laughed and cried reading all the featured work, which is a testament of the fruitful and praiseworthy work that the Nutmeg State continues to churn out. I did not merely examine these pieces or collaborate with the wonderful contributors throughout the editing process. My stomach did leaps after a cartwheel gone wrong; I cupped my heart along the trails of backwoods, and I withstood the cold of rainy mornings. I did not read these pieces-- I felt them in a visceral way. May you take flight with each of them, and I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did.

-- Victoria Buitron, Series and Nonfiction Editor

Connecticut is home. It is where we return after finding stories in other people's neighborhoods and countryside. It is where we build our nests.

-- Summer Tate, Poetry Editor

The stories in this year's anthology demonstrate commitment to community in all its complexity: from a working-class school auditorium in Waterbury, to the power-hungry Foxtail Condo Homeowners Association; from the crack-haunted streets of Fair Haven, to the highly manicured lawns of Darien, to London, to the Vineyard, and beyond. So many tackle the question of home-- that is, wanting to escape home; to control it; to protect, to renovate; even to seek unlikely refuge in an abandoned one. These short stories captured different, though perhaps uniquely Connecticut perspectives from across the state.

-- Christine Kandic Torres, Fiction Editor

Kathryn Lasky has written an exciting new adult amateur sleuth mystery set in New Mexico in the 1930s. The sleuth is Georgia O'Keefe, who actually did suffer a nervous breakdown in 1933 when her husband Alfred Stieglitz had a somewhat public affair, was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment, and then traveled to the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico to paint. O'Keefe was approaching the peak of her fame and success, having just sold a painting for a record price.

The narrative begins when she discovers the slain body of a priest in the desert. The plot includes several other murders, Georgia's burgeoning romance with the local sheriff, an international espionage plot involving Charles Lindbergh (who is staying at the ranch with his wife Anne), and lots of intricate twists and turns leading to a thoroughly unforeseen denouement.

The strength of this story is how Lasky's elegant writing captures the emotional depth of this artist's turmoil and so stunningly reveals O'Keeffe's perception of the landscape that moves her to paint. More than a who-dunnit mystery, this is a narrative of healing and resurrection of spirit.

Clouds Are the Mountains of the World is a suspenseful novel-in-stories set in a surreal, dystopian near-future. In beautifully written, spell-binding prose, it dramatizes the heroic quest of three women-mother, daughter, granddaughter-to reunite in a post-apocalyptic future filled with gun-toting bands of militias, corrupt police, crazy radio talk-show hosts, racism, and economic and political chaos. This is the story of their determination to survive with resilience, love, and stoic humor. Mixing terrifying suspense, riveting slice-of-life episodes, terrifying encounters, heart-warming scenes and splashes of dark humor, Davis narrates a gripping, powerful literary thriller about our human need to connect and endure.

A REMARKABLE PIECE OF WRITING...This novel is a SUCCESS IN EVERY WAY --S.T. JOSHI, Bram Stoker winner

American Fiction Award - BEST HORROR OF 2024
Independent Author Award - BEST HORROR and BEST DEBUT ACROSS ALL GENRES
International Book Award - BEST HORROR FINALIST
Hawthorne Prize - SHORTLISTED

A terrifying nightmare sets off a series of attacks on Deena Bartlett's five senses, and her eighty-year-old Aunt Agatha is responsible. But the old woman is not alone. She's made a monstrous bargain with the Sensu, a malevolent entity whose stock in trade is attacking a person's senses, one by one. It has promised Agatha health in return for one evil act--the killing of her niece. Deena has remained loyal to her bitter aunt for years--her self-imposed penance for having neglected her now-dead parents. But Agatha is dying and her insults will soon end... until a string of inexplicable incidents. A sound so piercing Deena's nose bleeds. A smell so vile her breathing suffocates. And against all reason, after each attack her aunt's health improves. With mounting dread, Deena discovers the bargain her aunt has made. When the Sensu thrusts her into its realm, she must battle not only the power of her aunt's long-held secrets but her own guilt as well.

Welcome to the world of Mary Keating, a quick-witted, fun-loving paraplegic. (Note, however, that she cringes at being labeled.) Fifty years ago, Mary's wide-open world instantly contracted at age fifteen when a teenager drove her into an oak tree at maximum speed. With a wheelchair as a permanent accessory, she was no longer seen as hot or one of in crowd. She found herself transported into an alternate reality-defined now by her disability.

When life becomes overwhelming, Mary jokingly pretends she's trapped in a bad B movie waiting for a new director. Her poetry collection reminds us, no matter how hard life may seem-grace, love, and humor will save us from despair and allow us to live our best life under any circumstances.

Miskin's searing memoir about her experience with a mysterious mental illness during and after her pregnancy provides a haunting window into the state of health care in the United States.-- The Washington Post, 10 Noteworthy Books for June 2024

A Poets & Writers Magazine Page One New and Noteworthy Book

A Write or Die Magazine Most Anticipated Book of June 2024

A Mom Egg Review Bookshelf Pick for June 2024

In the summer of 2016, Barrie Miskin faced a pivotal moment when her pregnancy prompted the discontinuation of a decade-long antidepressant regimen, setting off an unforeseen chain of events. By January 2017, she had become a stranger to her family and herself, navigating the complex and often unforgiving landscape of mental healthcare in the United States. Through encounters marked by compassion and cruelty, Barrie's family embarked on a desperate quest for a diagnosis, ultimately uncovering the rare condition of pregnancy-induced depersonalization and derealization disorder.

Hell Gate Bridge not only brings to light these seldom-discussed mental illnesses but also unveils the flaws in our maternal and mental healthcare system. Barrie's journey, marked by resilience, became a relentless climb out of the abyss, all while balancing the challenges of motherhood, maintaining her teaching career, and preserving her marriage. The narrative serves as a testament to the power of determination in overcoming the darkest of challenges and fighting fiercely to save those we hold dear.

It's as if they are living in a country music song.

When the mill closes, Edgewater's economy and hope collapse. Hunter's father starts drinking and becomes an embarrassment and liability to Hunter, who's trying to balance his high-maintenance girlfriend with life on the basketball court. Luna, attending in-person school for the first time in her 17 years, has no friends and hides behind her hoodie to escape her peers' vicious ridicule.

A tragic accident sends the town spiraling further into despair. In its wake, Luna and Hunter are forced to work together as the unlikely leaders of a fundraising project, one that attempts to make meaning of the senseless disaster. Many of Edgewater's residents jump on board to help. But some are fiercely opposed to the project, and their defiance becomes sinister. When Hunter and Luna stumble upon dark secrets and are forced to keep them, they realize the terrifying risks they are taking to knit a broken community back together.

And just like in those songs, not everything that's broken can be fixed.

A word of caution: be prepared to laugh until you cry, to gasp with surprise, and most of all to lose yourself in the strange, wonderful world of Grimwell. You may never want to come back! --Chris Belden, author of Shriver

Embark on an unforgettable journey into the enchanting realm of Grimwell, where books wield an unexpected power to shape destinies. Meet Derek Winnebaker, a spirited barista with a penchant for literature and a taste for strong coffee. When Derek stumbles upon a novel detailing the whimsical adventures of a fantasy creature known as a grimkin, he finds himself irresistibly drawn into its fantastical world.

Using the book as his guide, Derek bravely navigates through life's twists and turns, transforming from a downtrodden bystander into a courageous protagonist. From mustering the courage to ask out his crush to standing up to his tyrannical boss, Derek's journey mirrors the epic saga unfolding within the pages of his newfound literary companion. Yet, just as Derek begins to master his narrative, the whims of fate take a dark turn reminiscent of Kafka's surreal tales, challenging Derek's agency in his own story.

In this captivating blend of comedy, romance, and twisted fairy tale, Grimwell prompts readers to ponder the profound influence of literature on our lives. Will Derek seize control of his destiny, or will he remain ensnared in the machinations of an unseen narrator? Prepare to be enthralled and enlightened as Grimwell invites you to reconsider the power of storytelling and the choices that shape our realities.

The line between madness and greatness is as delicate as a golden silk thread.

It's a tricky balancing act to dance upon this fragile line for those seeking greatness. An outsider may perceive the endeavor as wandering a road toward insanity and crumbling dreams. However, in the eyes of the beholder, they don't see themselves as walking a tightrope between genius and insanity but rather paving a road to success-where no expense is spared.

Madness and Greatness Can Share the Same Face is a collection of thirteen dark fiction tales that spiderweb across space and time to explore the line where, with a step, one can be pitched into the realm of greatness or depths of madness.

Come into a twisted universe that follows two women's harrowing lives living with a monster in The Voiceless. Take a boat ride with a lonely lobsterman who rediscovers his son only to lose him again in Of Sharks and Dreams. Understand the depths of a father's love for his daughter during an apocalyptic catastrophe in Carrion Eaters. Watch as a genetic scientist's obsession with a creature in his dreams mutates into a horrific nightmare in The Faunling. And experience the freedom a young woman finds when faced by a God in Where the Elk Roam.

Watch your step as you dance upon the thin line between madness and greatness.

But Cats Don't Talk is a young adult novel that combines elements of romance, tragedy, classical music, auditory hallucinations, a reinterpretation of family, and dogged determination. It is the inspiring story of Rebecca O'Sullivan, a 17-year-old prodigy who has everything going for her: a promising career as a classical pianist, a supportive mother/piano teacher/manager, and a loving pet, Beethoven the Cat (BC), who accompanies her everywhere, even to her concerts where he wears a bowtie and sleeps atop her grand piano while she performs. Becca relies on her mother for practically everything, so when her mom dies suddenly, Becca finds herself ill-equipped to take care of herself or to perform her remaining concerts that season. To make matters worse, BC starts talking to her-- becoming snarkier by the moment-- and convinces Becca she is losing her mind. Even with the help of Cassie, her alcoholic aunt, Dak, her new friend/boyfriend, and Mrs. Fox, her honorary grandmother, Becca is afraid she won't be able to hold it together long enough to perform the last two concerts. And even if she does, she has no idea what she is going to do after the concerts are over.

The Mistake follows Marcus, born into privilege in Sardis, Asia Minor, where his unwed parents vie for his affection and loyalty. He inherits a dual legacy-combat genius from his Roman centurion father, Julius, and a fascination with Jewish learning from Miriam, his mother, born of a prosperous merchant family. When Julius is relocated to Caesarea, Judea's Roman Capitol, Marcus' parents marry. He grows up, amidst rising tensions between Romans and Jews and becomes the linchpin holding his family together.

Enter Yehonatan, Miriam's charismatic brother, who takes Marcus on a trade expedition. Exposed to a society of familial warmth and mysticism, Marcus is drawn away from the military world. As Julius' control intensifies, a destructive cycle ensues, threatening the family. Can Marcus preserve his family's unity amidst the turmoil? The Mistake weaves a compelling tale of a mixed Jewish/Roman family's dynamics, against the backdrop of the Roman world, in a society which is on the cusp of change.

A Body Across Two Hemispheres is a timely book, one many of us need and will be grateful to have read. --Shara McCallum

A Body Across Two Hemispheres is the kind of memoir that makes us more human; the kind written with tenderness about ordinary people with ordinary and exceptional, bitter and beautiful, small and big lives. Like ours. --Adriana Páramo

Always honest and surprising, Buitron's book showcases multiple essay forms to tell a powerful, timeless story. A wonderful debut. --Dinty W. Moore

In this electrifying debut, Victoria Buitron comes of age between Ecuador and the United States as she explores her ancestry, learns two languages, and searches for a place she can call home. It portrays not only the immigrant experience, but the often-overlooked repatriate experience while interweaving facets of depression, family history, and self-love. With the utmost honesty, A Body Across Two Hemispheres encompasses the deep and complex layers of teenage life into adulthood--and the sacrifices made along the way for Victoria to become who she was meant to be all along.