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About

As a journalistand author, Maryann Miller amassed credits for feature articles and shortfiction in numerous national and regional publications. The Rosen PublishingGroup in New York published nineof her non-fiction books including the award-winning, Coping With Weapons and Violence in School and On Your Streets,which is in its third printing. Play It Again, Sam, a woman's novel and One Small Victory, asuspense novel, are electronic books available on Kindle, Nook, and othere-book reading devices. One Small Victory was originally published inhardback by Five Star. A mystery, OpenSeason, is a new release in hardback from Five Star Cengage Gale. The youngadult novel, Friends Forever, is herfirst book for BWL Publishing Partners. Shehas also written several screenplays and stage plays and is the TheatreDirector at the Winnsboro Centerfor the Arts. Miller is currently the Managing Editor of WinnsboroToday.com, anonline community magazine for a small town in East Texaswhere she lives on some acreage with her husband, a horse, two goats, fourcats, two dogs, and a variety of wild critters that wander through.

Description

When Jessica Bryant pesters her wealthy parents to allow her to have a dog as a pet, the answer is a resounding "No"; but they soon come to regret their decision when thier home is broken into one evening whilst they are out and their daughter kidnapped and held for ransom. The kidnappers, in the form of four seedy and incompetent characters wearing Disneyland-type masks, take her hostage and keep her incarcerated in a place from which there appears to be no escape. However, they reckon without the resourcefulness of our heroine, and the courage of a wonderful stray dog who comes to her aid and whom she names 'Murdo'. And so begins an exciting and humurous accounting of the couples' adventures together as they consistently foil and outwit the abductors whilst on the run together. This is a lovely story of the friendship between a girl and a dog, bringing out themes of responsibility, camaraderie, redemption, salvation and self-sacrifice. It includes some wonderful dialogue sequences as Jessica teaches her new four-legged friend how to communicate with her, with additional delightful conversations between the animals when a rabbit and a sparrow join forces with them in an effort to outwit the kidnappers and restore Jessica safely back to her parents' home.

Story Behind The Book

One Small Victory Backstory One day while reading the newspaper I happened across a small, four-inch item about a woman who infiltrated a drug ring and helped bring down a major distributor in a small town in Michigan. She was a single mother with several children, had no background in law enforcement, and had just lost her oldest son in a car accident. The news story did not give many details about the woman or how she managed to get on the drug task force. It only said that she did so at great personal risk. I started thinking about the kind of courage it takes to bully one’s way onto a task force, then actually go out and meet with drug dealers and earn their trust. Not much about parenting can prepare someone for that. Then there was the fact that she did all that while enduring the most significant loss a woman can experience. Pretty ballsy, I thought, and I just knew I had to write about this incredible woman. About that same time, I was in contact with Nick Krantz, nephew of Judith Krantz, who was with Paradigm Entertainment in California. I had an “open door” with them based on a screenplay I had submitted. They weren’t able to develop that script, but were open to me pitching other ideas. So right away I called Nick and told him about this story. He told me to send story beats and they’d take a look, so I did. It took a few days to get this written and sent to him, but he called right after he received the material to say he loved it and they were interested in proceeding. He asked if I had the rights to the story. I laughed and reminded him that I was a poor writer. Paradigm needed to acquire the rights. “Oh, right,” he said. “I’ll get the lawyers right on it.” When I didn’t hear from Nick for a few weeks, I called, and he said he’d forgotten to talk to the lawyers. He was very apologetic and said he’d take care of it right after we hung up. Later, he called back to relay the unfortunate news that another company had optioned that woman’s story. Well, crap. So much for being rich and famous. Even so, I couldn’t give up the idea of writing about this woman I had named Jenny. A writer friend suggested that I write a fictionalized version of the story, reminding me that many plots start with a real event or a real person. So I moved the setting to a small town in Texas, changed all of the family details – as well as the details about the drug ring – and started writing the book. That was almost twenty years ago, and sometimes I can’t believe it took so long to get the book finished and sold. I had to do a tremendous amount of research about the various levels of law enforcement personnel involved in a drug task force in a rural setting, and that took about six months. Plus I always had my other writing and editing work that took precedence as it actually paid a few bills. During that time I also studied to be a Hospital Chaplain and learned more about the grieving process. Becoming a chaplain was not actually on my career path, but it was something I could do to earn a regular salary and receive benefits after my husband was laid off. The freelance work I had been doing was just not stable enough to make us feel secure. While I was working at the hospital, I had less time to write, but I soon discovered that my new career was opening a whole new window to the story. When I did find an hour or two to pull up the manuscript, I was able to really explore Jenny’s grief, as well as the grief of the rest of the family, and I realized that it is a major element of the story. It drives many of the actions and emotions of the family members, as well as the detective who is Jenny’s “control.” His wife died a few years before the story opens, and the pain of that loss is still strong at times. One of the most interesting things about grief is how different it is for each person. Sure, we have those standard “stages of grief” but they are experienced at different times and in different ways for each of us when we suffer a loss. One of the stages is anger, and Jenny uses her anger as motivation and determination to do something about the problem of drugs. It was important to establish that in the book so what she does is believable. Now looking back, I see that maybe it was a good thing that the Paradigm deal never happened and the writing of the book kept getting interrupted. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have ended up with a story with so many layers. One Small Victory was originally published in hardcover by Five Star Cengage/Gale and is now an e-book.

Reviews

“One Small Victory is great Romantic Suspense and a read you won't want to miss.”Victoria Kennedy, Midwest Book Reviews “One Small Victory is not for the faint of heart, but it is an excellent, well-crafted novel. The tension is all pervasive, and heat, rage, sorrow, despair, and all-enveloping terror fill every page.”Carolyn Crisher for Romance Reviews Today “The resolution of these {personal} threads is most satisfying, in that they aren't neatly resolved, much like real life. The undercover side of One Small Victory is exciting and fast paced." Reviewed by Larry W. Chavis for <a href="http://www.crimeandsuspense.com/CANDS_2008JA_Sample.htm">Crime & Suspense</a> "One Small Victory is an engrossing suspense thriller with a hint of romance that is intelligently kept very minimal and mostly off page." Harriet Klausner for Amazon.com ***** FIVE STARS “One Small Victory is an amazing, heart pounding, emotional tale about one mother's love of her children, and the steps she takes to protect them from harm.” Jennifer Lawrence for Amazon.com **** FOUR STARS "A compelling read of a grieving mother's crusade to rid the streets of her home town of drugs, and those who lure our children into addiction." Laura Castoro, author of Icing on the Cake & Love on the Line “One Small Victory is one huge win for author Maryann Miller and her readers. This is a novel that rings sadly true as readers follow a mother's journey from the depths of grief and loss through menacing territory ruled by street gangs and drug lords. Miller's done a masterful job of creating interesting, sometimes quirky but always believable characters and in weaving a story sure to be a favorite among lovers of mysteries and countless other genres.”Paula Stallings Yost, Editor/Author, What Wildness is This: Women Write About the Southwest, Editor, StoryCircleBookReviews, <a href="http://www.storycirclebookreviews.com/">www.storycirclebookreviews.com</a> “One Small Victory is a riveting journey through fear, love, and a woman's determination to make things better.” SlimRandles, author of Sun Dog Days, Raven’s Prey and the syndicated humor column, Home Country. "While the war on drugs may not be winnable, there are occasionally small victories. Not bad." Jack Quick for <a href="http://www.bookbitch.com/BOOK%20REVIEWS.htm">Bookbitch.com Book Reviews </a> "The writing is eloquent, and the story is well plotted, and I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in crime novels and human drama." <a href="http://bcfreviews.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/one-small-victory-by-maryann-miller/">BCF Book Reviews</a>

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