Area authors tackle health, history, fiction

By: TERRI SHUTE - Staff Writer | Saturday, June 24, 2006 7:38 PM PDT ∞

Health advice, science fiction, and coming-of-age memoirs are some of the recent works by local authors.

Most people think wheat is good for them, but for millions, it is seriously compromising their health. "Living Gluten-Free for Dummies" (Wiley, $19.99) by Encinitas resident Danna Korn provides insight into celiac disease, which she says is the most common genetic disease of mankind. Covering the practical, medical, and emotional aspects of the lifestyle, the book offers hope, guidance, and inspiration to the millions of people adversely affected by gluten.

Jo Ann Galla of Oceanside has written "My Dearest Shah" (www.authorhouse.com, $15.70), in which an American woman and a Muslim man from Afghanistan fall in love. The novel deals with the interaction of their two cultures on a personal rather than political level.

Former Escondido resident Melissa Fritz Paul has written a memoir, "In the Valley" (www.lulu.com, $13.38), detailing her childhood dealing with divorced parents and their personal battles, including her efforts to reconcile her inner childhood conflicts and her relationship with an abusive stepmother.

San Marcos author Don Hayen has written "Moonshine Harvest" (www.booksurge.com, $13.99), a coming-of-age novel set in Kansas in 1948. The book shows a time of change when veterans of the Great War returned home to a time of economic depression.

John Connor of Escondido expresses his views on politics and religion in "The Resistance Manifesto" (www.theresistancemanifesto.com, $14.95). Connor looks at current world events and leaders and ties them into hidden societies and secret cabals.

Escondido's Larry James Stevens has written "Celestial Fire" (www.SoulManLarry.com, $30.95), the story of a Navy flight crew and their experience of a paranormal situation that motivated Stevens to research human behavior, the supernatural and the science of the mind. The book describes Stevens' study of spiritual DNA.

San Diego's Evan Keliher has written "The De-Balling of America" (Pedagogue Press, $12.95), a satire in which the 75-year-old Marine veteran looks at issues of masculinity and machismo in the United States with a hard and humorous eye.

Gary W. Babb of San Diego has written "Earth is Ours" (www.authorhouse.com, $22.95), a science-fiction novel in which an alien invasion has stripped Earth of all technology, and the human survivors must fight the giant intruders in the ensuing battles.

Expatriate Brit and San Diego resident Drew Savage has written "The Deceivers" (www.PublishAmerica.com, $16.95). In the novel, when a tourist board manager and sometime art smuggler meets an ambitious career woman, romance, intrigue and crime ensue in this thriller where no one is quite what he or she seems.

Contact staff writer Terri Shute at (760) 740-3512 or tshute@nctimes.com.