Category: Books

ICYMI: New Illustrated Haiku Book Explores Housing Discrimination Law in 5-7-5

ICYMI: New Illustrated Haiku Book Explores Housing Discrimination Law in 5-7-5

Fifty years ago, civil rights reached a turning point when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law on April 11, 1968, exactly one week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Fair Housing Haiku: Learn About the Law Through Verse / With Illustrations honors the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act by presenting a unique look at housing discrimination legislation in the United States.

Written by an attorney in 5-7-5 syllabic form with original full-color drawings, charts, and more, Fair Housing Haiku explains how the law protects you against discrimination when enjoying your home or searching for a new one.

Fair Housing Haiku: Learn About the Law Through Verse / With Illustrations is available now on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0989291154/

Visit www.fairhousinghaiku.com today for more information or watch the book trailer below.

New book presents fair housing law and its many protections through full-color illustrations and haiku.
About the Author/Illustrator:

Ron Leshnower is an attorney, fair housing trainer, and author of five books, including Fair Housing Helper for Apartment Professionals, which has helped many landlords achieve compliance with housing discrimination laws. A graduate of Yale University and Boston University School of Law, Ron has written extensively on government, civil rights, real estate, and the law, and he has appeared as a legal expert in media outlets such as CBS News, NBC News, and The New York Times.

Hillocrian Store Launches With Inaugural Line of Products Promoting Fair Housing

Hillocrian Store Launches With Inaugural Line of Products Promoting Fair Housing

Book and music publisher Hillocrian Creative LLC is pleased to announce the launch of the Hillocrian Store, which will feature apparel, accessories, housewares, office gifts and other unique products mainly inspired by the company’s books and music.

The inaugural product line, “Fair Housing Matters,” draws inspiration from Fair Housing Helper for Apartment Professionals by Ron Leshnower. Featuring a colorful logo designed by the author and available on products ranging from T-shirts and iPhone cases to golf balls and baby bibs, Fair Housing Matters is a way to show support for housing equality.

fhproducts
Show your support for housing equality with a Fair Housing Matters spiral notebook or mug.

“The abolishment of slavery following the Civil War opened the door to civil rights legislation aimed at protecting people against housing discrimination. These efforts culminated in the passage of the Fair Housing Act in April 1968,” explains Leshnower. “Today, this law protects people based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status, while several state and local governments expand coverage with additional protected classes such as source of income and sexual orientation. April has since become known as Fair Housing Month, a time to appreciate the right to equal treatment under law when looking for and living in a home. Launched in April to coincide with the 49th anniversary of the landmark law, the Fair Housing Matters line of products offers a meaningful way to display pride in this hard-fought American civil right.”

Visit the Hillocrian Store today and check this blog for updates on new product lines.

President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella Named 2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist

President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella Named 2016 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist

This past week, I was honored to learn that my book, President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella (Hillocrian Creative 2016), was chosen as a finalist in the 19th Annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards. The book will now be considered for an award in the “Adult Fiction: Humor” category. The winners will be announced during the 2017 American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago on June 24, 2017.

The idea for this book came a year ago, when Donald Trump was one of several candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination. After attending a Trump rally in Bethpage, N.Y., as a fan of politics, I decided to write a book imagining what it would be like if Mr. Trump were to become pptmcovershotresident. The result was a work of satirical fiction in an epistolary form. I created a series of “official” documents (executive actions, presidential proclamations, transcripts of speeches, and more) that I present in chronological order for the reader’s inspection. President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella presents its plot through this narrative vehicle, portraying a presidency that is driven by Mr. Trump’s unique personality and controversial statements and that emphasizes bold, executive action. As the book’s title implies, President Trump’s term is mysteriously and satirically abbreviated (for reasons that may be revealed in a sequel).

After I finished writing the book, Donald Trump went on to win the GOP nomination and then become the 45th president of the United States. Although my book was written as fiction and satire, it has been fascinating to compare my imagined Trump presidency with the real one. For example, it was interesting to discover that both my fictional President Trump and the real one made the same decisions when it came to Oval Office wall decor. (See “As Predicted, President Trump Embraces Childe Hassam, Evicts Edward Hopper from Oval Office,” Hillocrianblog.com, January 23, 2017.)

For more information about the book, please visit presidenttrumpsmonth.com or view the latest trailer (“We’re Gonna Straighten It Out“).

To purchase the book on Amazon.com, please visit this link.

Here is information from Foreword about the INDIES Book of the Year Awards, including a link to the full list of 2016 finalists:

As part of their mission to discover, review, and share the best books from small, university, and indie publishers (and authors), independent media company Foreword Reviews hosts its annual awards program each year. Finalists represent the best books published in 2016, and submitted to Foreword Reviews for award consideration, and were narrowed down by Foreword’s editors from over 2,200 individual titles spread across 65 categories. A complete list of finalists can be found at:

https://awards.forewordreviews.com/finalists/2016/

“Choosing finalists for the INDIES is always the highlight of our year, but the choice was more difficult this time around due to the high quality of submissions,” said Victoria Sutherland, publisher of Foreword Reviews. “Each new book award season proves again how independent publishers are the real innovators in the industry.”

INDIES finalists are moved on to final judging by an expert panel of librarians and booksellers curated specifically for each genre and who will determine the books who will be named Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award winners. Winners in each genre—along with Editor’s Choice winners, and Foreword’s INDIE Publisher of the Year—will be announced during the 2017 American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago on June 24, 2017.

About Foreword: Founded in 1998, Foreword Magazine, Inc, d.b.a. Foreword Reviews is an independent media company featuring a Folio:Award-winning print magazine, stable of e-newsletters, and an online platform. Foreword exclusively covers small, university, and independent (non “Big 5”) publishers, the books they publish, and the creators they work with. Foreword is based in Traverse City, Michigan, USA, and has employees and writers all over the world.

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Ron Leshnower is the author of President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella, a short work of fiction that imagines a Trump presidency through an examination of executive orders, presidential proclamations, and other “official” documents.
Follow him on Twitter (@hillocrian) and visit hillocriancreative.com

As Predicted, President Trump Embraces Childe Hassam, Evicts Edward Hopper from Oval Office

As Predicted, President Trump Embraces Childe Hassam, Evicts Edward Hopper from Oval Office

It feels like a long time ago when I attended a Trump rally (as a fan of politics) on a chilly day in April 2016. The experience inspired me to write a satirical book imagining what it would be like if Donald Trump were to become president.

I wrote the book over the spring and summer, and it was published in early August. After I began writing, Donald Trump won the GOP nomination. He then defied pollsters and won the presidency, leaving my fictional book still hanging on as a part of our reality, rather than planted forever in an alternate universe.

But now that Donald Trump’s presidency has begun, my book and real life must start to diverge.

President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella imagines a Donald Trump presidency through a look at a sequence of “official documents,” such as executive orders, presidential proclamations, transcripts of speeches, and more. In the book, President Trump’s term appears to last around a month, rivaling that of William Henry Harrison. However, exactly what happens at the end, including President Trump’s whereabouts and whether the whole thing is his fault, is intentionally unclear and may be addressed in a sequel.

Now that we have entered the setting of President Trump’s Month, I am comparing the events of the book to real life with great interest.

Here is one early prediction that has come true:

According to reports, Donald Trump decided to keep Childe Hassam’s Avenue in the Rain hanging in the Oval Office while ordering the removal of Edward Hopper’s pair of works depicting rural Cape Cod scenes during the Great Depression. (See “Trump Brings Churchill Bust Back to Oval Office,” CNN.com, January 20, 2017.)

President Trump’s Oval Office decor decision is in line with what I predicted last year in my book. Here is the relevant excerpt from Chapter 5, “Statement by the Press Secretary on the President’s Morning Activity (Official Release, January 21, 2017)”, page 26:

trump-hassam-hopper
Excerpt from President Trump’s Month

Visit this blog for more about similarities between my book’s events and real life, as things unfold. In the meantime, for more information about President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella, please visit presidenttrumpsmonth.com. Also, be sure to check out the latest book trailer.

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Ron Leshnower is the author of President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella, a short work of fiction that imagines a Trump presidency through an examination of executive orders, presidential proclamations, and other “official” documents.
Follow him on Twitter (@hillocrian) and visit hillocriancreative.com.

Check Out the New Book Trailer for ‘President Trump’s Month’

Check Out the New Book Trailer for ‘President Trump’s Month’

President Trump’s Month was written earlier this year as satirical fiction back when Donald Trump was one of several Republican candidates vying for the party’s nomination. The book was published just after Mr. Trump became the nominee at the GOP convention.

Now that Mr. Trump has won the presidency, this book has become even more relevant.

A novella, President Trump’s Month imagines a Trump presidency with a term rivaling that of William Henry Harrison. Combining political satire with legal research, the book’s epistolary format presents a narrative to readers through a series of “official” documents, including executive orders, presidential proclamations, transcripts of speeches, and more.

The story doesn’t appear to end well, but is it Mr. Trump’s fault? And where is he?

President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella by Ron Leshnower (Hillocrian Creative) retails for $11.99 (paperback) and is now available for download for only $2.99 (Kindle). Visit the book’s Amazon.com page for details.

Check out the new book trailer for President Trump’s Month, below.

Imagining a Trump Presidency Through a Sequence of ‘Official’ Documents

Imagining a Trump Presidency Through a Sequence of ‘Official’ Documents

Have you wondered what would happen if Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States? I’ve wondered about this, and then I decided to write a book about it.

The book, entitled President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella, takes readers on a satirical walk through an imagined Donald Trump presidency via an unusual narrative form. It tells a story through a sequence of “official” documents, including executive orders, presidential proclamations, transcripts of key press briefings, inaugural and weekly addresses, and more.

The story begins on January 20, 2017, when Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. As he hangs his red cap on the door of the Oval Office, President Trump is eager to show that “we can start winning again, folks.” But his ambitions are cut short, with a one-month term rivaling that of William Henry Harrison.

Find out what happens in President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella, available now in paperback and eBook formats from Amazon.com and other retailers.

Visit www.presidenttrumpsmonth.com today for more information and to watch the book trailer.

ptmcovershot
President Trump’s Month: An Epistolary Novella by Ron Leshnower (Hillocrian Creative) satirically imagines a Trump presidency through “official” executive orders, proclamations, speeches, and more.