Author Archives: Nicole Barnett

Christina Loraine

Forget what you know about poetry…we’re counting down to an apocalypse.

On a planet that suffers from two suns above and an overly pragmatic culture below, people have evolved to live underground, eat minerals, and suppress creativity. Their society is focused on supporting a war with an alien race that their soldiers strangely fail to remember. Meanwhile, unexplained phenomena play out in the sky, and a religion is growing around a paleontological find and a group of mystics uncovering more than what’s been buried underground.

Having figured out that the end is near, a journalist is faced with the angst of too much information and not enough power. Collecting and preserving the stories of the planet’s people becomes the Journalist’s focus. Each poem is a different character sharing the details of their job, describing not only the intricacies of their profession but also revealing bits of the larger story as well as their own humanity. Together these twenty voices weave a tale of a civilization concealing smoldering secrets and a hidden intergalactic political agenda, all while using clever scientific, military, artistic and literary references to tie them to our own world in unexpected ways.

You already know what becomes of the planet, but what happens to the people? Will they heed the warnings, revolt, and hop on the next flight-ship before it’s too late? Or will these interviews be all that remain?

Purchase a copy in store or online at the following link to support Rubber Rose:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/interviews-from-the-last-days-christina-loraine/9949887?ean=9781646068357

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Christina Loraine is a fine artist and writer living in Kankakee County, Illinois. She studied philosophy at Western Illinois University and is now the Information Services Coordinator for a public library, leading a creative writing group and instructing art classes. One of her 10-minute plays has been produced, and she has a published novel-in-verse. On the Run Fiction and Eye to the Telescope have published her work online. Christina’s acrylic paintings have accumulated many accolades over her eighteen years of creating. Still, she has a penchant for plein air oil painting and has been known to wander the countryside with a backpack full of gear, pausing to paint the scenery and listen to the earth. Find her on Instagram @citrinesatellite.

Celebrate Banned Books Week!

Banned Books Week 2024 is about liberation. Book bans disproportionately target books by authors of color and LGBTQ+ authors, threatening to further silence already marginalized groups. Books can’t set us free if we don’t set them free first! We will have a special display of brand-new books for sale throughout the week that have been challenged or banned in schools across the nation.

Saturday, September 7 – Book Discussion & Signing with Karol Lagodzki

Karol Lagodzki left Poland at twenty. His non-writing careers have ranged from fixing stucco while dangling from roofs in Paris to sorting through human cadaver heads in Jacksonville. His stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Invisible City, Storm Cellar, Panel Magazine, NUNUM, Streetlight Magazine, and elsewhere. One of Karol’s stories won the 2020 Ruritania Prize for Short Fiction, and he has been nominated for the Pushcart and the Best of the Net anthologies. His novel Controlled Conversations was longlisted for the 2022 Dzanc Books Prize in Fiction and is available from Sunbury Press as of August 20, 2024. He holds an MFA in fiction and gives back by serving as a reader for literary journals. Karol lives halfway down an Indiana ravine with his family and a large dog.

Purchase a copy of Controlled Conversations in store or at the following link:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/controlled-conversations-karol-lagodzki/21429559?ean=9798888192061

Learn more at his website below:

https://klagodzki.com/

Celebrate With Us!

Bookstore Romance Day is almost here! Celebrate in store with us on Saturday, August 17th for a chance to win one of many available prizes (hint hint… free books ). All used romance books will be BOGO FREE, and we will have TONS of brand NEW romance books for you to purchase. I’ve spent time curating a list of diverse romance books that I know you’ll love! The Spin & Win Wheel will make an appearance for your chance to get 10%-50% off your purchase. Everyone gets a spin! Love yourself this Bookstore Romance Day

Audiobook Champions Reading Challenge!

This Prime Day, help our indie take the gold with the @librofm reading challenge 

Read as many hours of audio as you can between July 16 and 26 to receive a free audiobook credit and be entered to win a year of audiobooks and more! * Plus, new monthly members can get THREE audiobooks for the price of one with code PRIMETIME using the link below. That’s about 45 hours of audio right there!

https://libro.fm/membership/new?bookstore=rubberrosebookshop&mp=PRIMETIME 

*While participation is open internationally (including for the participation prize), only US and Canada residents are eligible for the giveaway.

Click here to download the Reading Log

Saturday, June 29th – Book Signing with Tori Barney

Tori is a Columbia College Chicago graduate and has been published in literary magazines such as Hair Trigger and Study Breaks. Her most recent book Rough Draft is a collection of poems inspired by a writing challenge to write one poem a day for twenty-one days. She’s had a love for literature for as long as she can remember and is excited for all the experiences to come within the writing world.

You can check out some of her other work here:

https://studybreaks.com/author/tori-barney-columbia-college-chicago/

Purchase a copy of Rough Draft in store or at the following link:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/rough-draft-tori-barney/21418146?aid=94254&ean=9789360944445&listref=local-authors-history-of-kankakee&

Alan N. Webber

Alan Webber is the owner of a nationwide transportation and logistics company. He is also a newspaper columnist, blogger, and weekly podcast host. When not writing or running his business, Alan spends time futilely honing golf skills, reading, or spending time with his grandchildren. He resides in both Kankakee County, Illinois, and Maricopa County, Arizona.

Learn more about Alan at https://www.webberswhippingpost.com/

Purchase a copy of Roll Me Away to support Rubber Rose at the link below!

https://bookshop.org/contributors/alan-n-webber