Stephen H. Foreman – författare

The residents of Toehold, Alaska, are an odd collection of eccentric souls reveling in the fierceness of the land and determined to live on their own terms. All of them have stories, some ridiculous, some bordering on the Homeric. Summer Joe has a harem of wives and a weakness for Jewish social workers. Six-foot-three-inch Sweet-ass Sue runs the town's only bar. There's Buddy Barconi, an ex-New York fireman with a raunchy sense of humor matched perfectly by a total lack of propriety. And Mary Ellen Madden, known as Mel to her friends, a cash-strapped vagabond with gray-green eyes and a double-wide smile who's trying her luck as a hunting guide. When her first customer appears, a ruthless Hollywood producer seeking the glory of the kill, Mel and her best friend, Cody Rosewater -- the son of a San Francisco flower child, and now Toehold's taxidermist -- can no longer ignore the tension that's been crackling between them for years. Always in the background is the raw majesty of the northern wild: crazed moose bolt down Main Street, caribou are violently ambushed by wolves, and the eight-month-long winter night is illuminated by the northern lights. Funny and romantic, with a cast of unforgettable characters, Toehold is at once a laugh-out-loud comedy, a quirky love story, and a sublime evocation of the beautiful, rugged wilderness of Alaska.

The residents of Toehold, Alaska, are an odd collection of eccentric souls reveling in the fierceness of the land and determined to live on their own terms. All of them have stories, some ridiculous, some bordering on the Homeric. Summer Joe has a harem of wives and a weakness for Jewish social workers. Six-foot-three-inch Sweet-ass Sue runs the town''s only bar. There''s Buddy Barconi, an ex-New York fireman with a raunchy sense of humor matched perfectly by a total lack of propriety. And Mary Ellen Madden, known as Mel to her friends, a cash-strapped vagabond with gray-green eyes and a double-wide smile who''s trying her luck as a hunting guide. When her first customer appears, a ruthless Hollywood producer seeking the glory of the kill, Mel and her best friend, Cody Rosewater -- the son of a San Francisco flower child, and now Toehold''s taxidermist -- can no longer ignore the tension that''s been crackling between them for years. Always in the background is the raw majesty of the northern wild: crazed moose bolt down Main Street, caribou are violently ambushed by wolves, and the eight-month-long winter night is illuminated by the northern lights. Funny and romantic, with a cast of unforgettable characters, Toehold is at once a laugh-out-loud comedy, a quirky love story, and a sublime evocation of the beautiful, rugged wilderness of Alaska.

GIDEON PICKETT WAS BORN WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO SPEAK. This has never bothered his father, Jubal. He understands his son better than anybody, and though the boy has never uttered a word, the two could be no closer. This Gideon is no ordinary child: His powers of observation, strength, and extraordinary threshold for pain make him almost otherworldly, though to Jubal he's just a moody, hungry sixteen-year-old kid. He would do anything for his boy. So, in 1953, Jubal Pickett makes the decision to buy a red Ford Flathead V-8 truck and travel with Gideon from Mississippi to the desert canyon lands of Utah to strike it rich in uranium prospecting. On their journey, they encounter Abilene Breedlove, a country-girl-meets-femme-fatale. Jubal is smitten. Abilene sees only opportunity, but she joyfully jumps into her end of the bargain and climbs aboard. Things begin to fall apart when they arrive in Utah. While Jubal sets out on what most consider to be a fool's errand, Abilene fi nds herself a job and Jack Savage. Jack is handsome, mysterious, rich, and powerful -- all qualities Abilene fi nds irresistible. He cuts Jubal in on a claim he owns in order to get the man out of town as fast as possible so that he can begin aggressively pursuing the intoxicating Abilene. It's not long before the situation gets out of hand. Watching Gideon is at once a poignant, moving portrait of a nearly supernatural bond between father and son, a snapshot of America's rugged, gritty history, and a fast-paced story of lust, greed, and self-satisfaction. Filled with humor, adventure, sex, and intrigue, it is the textured, incredible, stark tale of the cost of an American dream pursued.

GIDEON PICKETT WAS BORN WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO SPEAK. This has never bothered his father, Jubal. He understands his son better than anybody, and though the boy has never uttered a word, the two could be no closer. This Gideon is no ordinary child: His powers of observation, strength, and extraordinary threshold for pain make him almost otherworldly, though to Jubal he''s just a moody, hungry sixteen-year-old kid. He would do anything for his boy. So, in 1953, Jubal Pickett makes the decision to buy a red Ford Flathead V-8 truck and travel with Gideon from Mississippi to the desert canyon lands of Utah to strike it rich in uranium prospecting. On their journey, they encounter Abilene Breedlove, a country-girl-meets-femme-fatale. Jubal is smitten. Abilene sees only opportunity, but she joyfully jumps into her end of the bargain and climbs aboard. Things begin to fall apart when they arrive in Utah. While Jubal sets out on what most consider to be a fool''s errand, Abilene fi nds herself a job and Jack Savage. Jack is handsome, mysterious, rich, and powerful -- all qualities Abilene fi nds irresistible. He cuts Jubal in on a claim he owns in order to get the man out of town as fast as possible so that he can begin aggressively pursuing the intoxicating Abilene. It''s not long before the situation gets out of hand. Watching Gideon is at once a poignant, moving portrait of a nearly supernatural bond between father and son, a snapshot of America''s rugged, gritty history, and a fast-paced story of lust, greed, and self-satisfaction. Filled with humor, adventure, sex, and intrigue, it is the textured, incredible, stark tale of the cost of an American dream pursued.

Set in the early eighteen hundreds in the wild desert wilderness of New Mexico Territory, Journey follows the lives of three distinctly different characters whose destinies are one: Journey, a fiercely independent, sixteen-year-old of mysterious origins; Reuben Moon, the stoic half Mexican, half Apache hunter who raises her; and Esau Burdock, a brutal, pragmatic, and wealthy slave trader.The story opens on a November night in 1833, the sky on fire with meteors, each character alone, experiencing the storm. The narrative then delves into their individual histories. But Journey, Reuben, and Esau’s stories soon collide in the summer of 1834 when Esau holds a rendezvous of horse racing and trading. Despite being only sixteen, and a girl at that, Journey joins the race. She doesn’t win, but she’s caught the attention of Esau. A year later, a mountain lion is terrorizing the area and Esau comes across Journey and Reuben in the desert as he hunts for it. Journey has tamed a wild colt. The lion had killed its mother then attacked the colt, but Journey rescues it and nurses it back to health. Esau claims the colt is his by the law of the land. Journey refuses to give him up and so Esau threatens to hang her on the spot. Instead, they make a deal: Journey can work at Esau’s stables for six months to earn the horse.And so she does. All the while the mountain lion continues to kill and Esau broods. He is a successful man, but he is a lonely one too, haunted by the death of his first slave and lover, Livy, and by their daughter Lilly Rose, both of whom betrayed him and are now dead. The story comes to a fever pitch when Esau spots a necklace Journey has worn her whole life, given to her by her mother, a necklace once worn by Esau’s dead daughter, Lily Rose. From there, the story races to an end, as Esau, Journey, and Reuben are tested in ways they never dreamed imaginable. Brimming with action and panoramic in scope, in Journey Foreman provides a breathtaking narrative with a heroine you’ll never forget.