And the Flowers Turn Their Faces Toward the Sun is a collection that speaks directly to the heart. Through poems that explore presence, resilience, and the quiet miracles woven through everyday life, Stephan invites us to pause, reflect, and rediscover what it means to be fully human.

We’ll talk poetry, parenting, and the creative journey with all its joys and challenges. And we’ll invite you, our community, to join in, ask questions, and share your own stories.

The dogs barking are a metaphor for the nature of all things—the rhythm of life, the letting go of the illusion that we have any real control.

We take on roles and jobs that slowly suffocate the creative spark we were born with. The juice. The muse. The quiet, insistent voice that says, This is what you’re here to make.

The seasons of a creative business aren’t measured only in launches and sales—they’re measured in the people, projects, and risks that quietly reshape what’s possible. For me, 2025 has been a year of meaningful growth and transition across the Brooklyn Writers Press, AVANTHAM, and Book Biz Hub. Behind the scenes, a few milestones stand out: Brynn Sherry joined me as Production Assistant and Editor, strengthening how we support authors through every stage of the publishing pro

I reserve 5 stars for books that move me beyond the craft—books where the characters and humanity shine through on every page. Theo of Golden  earned every one of those stars. This is a life-changing masterpiece. I stumbled across it by chance, and it far exceeded anything I hoped for. With every chapter, I found myself asking questions that begged to be answered while feeling inspired to think and live in a bigger way. Theo of Golden  will make you consider who you are and h

TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT: Lessons In Dry Drowning by Sarah Marine Sarah is AVANTHAM's debut author and proof that exceptional young writers don't have to wait for "someday."

At the heart of writing or sketching or creating anything is the desire to connect or to better see and understand the world we live in.

Bukowski lived in a world where truth stung but once it landed what more could we do but print it? Absorb it.

Magic and irony all rolled up into one. My daughter singing a song about running from the daylight as I, her mother wrote a memoir titled 'Running Into the Night.'

This is one of the hardest truths to write: achievement doesn't heal childhood trauma. You can build a beautiful life, earn degrees, create a family, and still feel like that displaced child inside.

We can either succumb to the adversity or decide not to give in. Decide and declare that adversity will not win.

You need enough separation from your story to write about it without retraumatizing yourself. If you're still in the thick of the experience, you're not ready. Memoir requires the ability to dive into painful memories and resurface intact.

Then there are times when music takes you to where you've been, kind of like on a train ride. You just watch the years that came before. Who you were, the people that came and went. How you used to wear a scarf or a hat or high-heeled shoes and now you're all about understated comfort.

You can be factually accurate and emotionally dishonest. You can also have imperfect memory and be deeply, powerfully honest.

When you write about being an "easy target," you risk becoming one again—to critics, to trolls, to people who don't understand. But that vulnerability is also what makes memoir powerful.

To be truly alive, we must mourn joyfully all things that reach an inevitable end: seconds, minutes, hours, heartbeats, embraces, kisses

When authors dig into the inspiration behind why they write what they write they'll discover a treasure trove of interesting things to share

Meeting one of my favorite thought leaders, Simon Sinek was the highlight of Monday's Innovation & Future of Work Conference

Bookshops, especially the indie ones, have their own set of rules for what they accept from indie authors. And one other consideration will