Local & Regional

The FluÑthatÕs what everyone called itÑculled the primate population of the planet. It struck hard and fast, wiping out the whole of humanity. For reasons he canÕt understand, Twist is left alive to face the apocalypse alone. Well, not entirely aloneÑhis neighborÕs gassy Labrador, Rowdy, tags along for the ride. Twist and Rowdy are forced to face the new post-apocalypse world together, holing up in the local library and scavenging supplies to outlast a long, cold Wisconsin winter. Twist has to adapt to the emptiness and isolation of an empty world and come to terms with the fact that he might be the only person left alive in the entire world. In a world where boredom and loneliness are the greatest threat, Twist must survive, keeping the hope that others might be alive, as well.

How long does a high school crush last? One year? Ten? Twenty? Forty? Small-college basketball coach Matt Cooper is about to find out as he is faced with an unexpected reunion with Kim Gustafson, the cutest girl from high school.

With warm humor and a light touch, Another Life probes the weighty matters of love, loss, and the passage of time, raising poignant questions about how well we know ourselves or the people we live with, and what we'd do if offered a lost opportunity, all these years later. This is a sweet, soulful story that will leave you thinking about your own what-ifs. Misty Urban, author of A Lesson in Manners

Another Life is a nuanced and poignant exploration of family, loyalty, and the possibility of second chances. Tom McKay writes about the intricacies of the human heart, and life's unexpected challenges and opportunities, with deft assurance. A story that is highly recommended. Kathleen Ernst, author of the Chloe Ellefson Mysteries

Andy Hull has made a promise. He has vowed to care for his nephew, who suffers from a disorder so horrible it has left him a recluse and pushed away everyone he ever loved. But to what lengths will Andy go to fulfill this promise, and at what cost to himself or the woman he loves? ___________________ BEAST is a dark and intimate novel about a man who has made a promise to care for his ill nephew... who just happens to be a werewolf. But not the kind of werewolf you might be used to. Cox's monster is entirely human, cursed not by a gypsy but by biology, suffering from a disease that is completely organic and disturbingly real. "I made a list of everything that's normally included in a werewolf story," Cox says. "And then I deliberately avoided all of them. This helped give the story the kind of grit and realism I knew it needed. This isn't a story set in some dark English castle. There are no moors, and no gypsy curses. And there are certainly no romantic teenagers running around wasting time making googly-eyes at each other. This is my attempt to write seriously about this kind of affliction and, more importantly, how that affliction affects the people around the man who has it." The way the story is told is different, as well. Says Cox: "In many ways there is a story going on in Beast that could be told in a much more conventional way, but that story is in the background. I am interested in turning the camera just slightly off-center, and focusing on what would normally be off-stage in another story. I get bored with the focus always being the heart of the action. When a person is killed by a monster, let's say, I always think of their family. The fact that a monster killed their loved one would, really, be secondary to the simple fact of their loss. It's that background story I find more interesting, the one going on at the outskirts of the main action... or what would more conventionally be seen as the main action." With Beast, another writer might have focused on entirely different characters, and tell an entirely more conventional story. Cox chose to keep that conventional story in the background, and let it come in and out of focus in the reader's mind. The result is a novel of realism and pathos, a character portrait focusing on those who love the unfortunately inflicted soul, with a depth and grit and realism not usually seen in this genre.

Former Chicago cop Selena "Lena" Dane has been going through the motions at her private investigation agency for years now. But then Lena learns that she's unexpectedly pregnant just as she takes on a heartbreaking new client: Nate Christianti, a fourteen-year-old boy in search of his biological father, Jason. Jason's disappearance isn't as clear-cut as everyone had thought, and Lena will need to follow his path of destruction halfway across the country to find Nate some answers. Along the way, however, Lena attracts the attention of a killer who's willing to stalk her all the way back to Chicago to make sure she drops Nate's case. To protect the boy, the baby, and herself, Lena must find the killer - or die trying.

Dr. Lucy Peterman was not built for a messy life. A well-respected surgeon whose patients rely on her warmth, compassion, and fierce support, Lucy has always worked hard and trusted in the system. She's not the sort of person who ends up in a twelve-step program after being caught stealing supplies from her hospital.

But that was Lucy before the accident--before her husband and unborn baby were ripped away from her in an instant, before her future felt like a broken promise. Caught red-handed in a senseless act that kept her demons at bay, she's faced with a choice: get some help or lose her medical license.

Now she's reluctantly sharing her deepest fears with a bunch of strangers, avoiding her loneliness by befriending a troubled girl, pinning her hopes on her husband's last gift, and getting involved with a rugged cop from her past. It's only when she is adopted by a stray mutt and moves her group to the dog park that she begins to truly bond with the ragtag dog-loving addicts--and discovers that a chaotic, unplanned life might be the sweetest of all . . .

Here’s a literary block party filled with both echoes and locations, as more than 100 poets share poems that refer to specific Madison places. Long-time residents live next door to writers who passed through for only a while. Local streets intersect with myth, history, personal narrative and ecology. More than geography, more than chronology, what emerges is something akin to the shifting psyche of a city. Poem by poem, a new map evolves, folds back upon its own stories, and rewrites itself over and over through its sounds and its silences, taking into account a variety of perspectives, a multitude of voices. In the end these poets ask us, How many Madisons are there? This anthology project was conducted by Madison, Wisconsin’s poets laureate, Cowfeather Press, and Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf. Madison has had a poet laureate since 1977, when Paul Soglin named John Tuschen to the volunteer post, now overseen by the Madison Arts Commission. Co-editors Sarah Busse and Wendy Vardaman work together as the current poets laureate (2012-15).Their mission is to integrate poetry into the fabric of civic life, ritual, and the everyday, and toward that end: place poetry before the public in surprising places/spaces; create conversation about poetry; connect poets and groups of poets to each other and to other artists; build bridges between people using poetry. Visit cityofmadison.com/mac/poet.cfm for more information, as well as how to donate to the John Tuschen Poet Laureate Memorial Fund, established by Andrea Musher, the city's second poet laureate. Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf (PoetryJumpsOfftheShelf.com) is a program launched in 2004 by poet and co-editor Shoshauna Shy in Madison, with the mission of bringing poetry out of the libraries, bookstores and classrooms into the general public arena. Calls for submissions are conducted largely via cyberspace. PJOS published ten of these poems on decals that were affixed to Madison B-Cycles in April, 2013, for the riding season. Other projects have included poetry on specific themes published on java jackets, bookmarks, palm-sized books for glove compartments, postcards, and inside jawbreaker capsules. Partnerships for distribution included a wide variety of companies, businesses, and organizations all across the country. Cowfeather Press, founded by Sarah Busse and Wendy Vardaman in 2011, is a two-woman volunteer operation committed to developing a place for poetry in civic discourse, serving others through poetry, and expanding and connecting communities of poets and readers. At Cowfeather Press, we believe poetry matters, and we reach towards an aesthetic that represents the diversity of the upper Midwest. We encourage conversations on the page, the stage, and in public spaces which embrace, challenge, and explore both our differences and our common humanity. Supporting materials for book groups & community reads are at cowfeatherpress.org.