Welcome to My Books!

Welcome to My Books page. Each book will include the back cover blurb, links to the Big Kahuna (Amazon), as well as a Universal Link from Books2Read where you will have a plethora of ebook vendors from which to choose. Though most readers use Amazon, quite a few readers prefer other options.

I, nor my publisher sell books directly because of tax collection issues and all the blasted paperwork and sales and tax filings that go along with it. No, thank you! We’ll let the professional sort all that out.

THE EM SUITE SERIES

A Woman Like Eve

The Em Suite—Book Five

All is well with Em Martín. Things couldn’t be better. After helping Dot get back on her feet in Palm Springs, Em and her family are back home in Bel Air, CA, embracing their new roles. Happy and beyond content, Em feels lucky she’s found “the one.” Life is good—exceedingly good… until it’s not.

As if on cue, the good turns ugly. Prairie’s Montana family is dealing with a health crisis, Dot experiences a devastating loss; and, in the blink of an eye, everyone’s favorite and seemingly unbreakable couple is on the verge of broken.

Eve’s past—one she’s buried for two decades—has inconveniently bubbled to the surface. A dark past that, when fully revealed, has the potential to blow up her perfect life with Em. What is the line that cannot be crossed… the bridge too far… the things that cannot be undone that threaten to unravel a solid relationship? Will Eve’s secrets prove too terrible, sordid, and unforgivable? Will love win?

In Book 5 of The Em Suite Series, A Woman Like Eve, Eve reveals her painful and sordid history, taking readers on a not-so-nostalgic trip back to the hedonistic Seventies and Eighties.

Meanwhile, Em seeks to relocate and create the perfect domain for her growing family.

“As always, Brava!! A nice, deep exploration of Eve. Really dug the epilogue!! I NEED to know what happens next!!!”—BFS
“Lots of fun. I loved it! A heartfelt story about love, pain, hurt, and reconciliation, focusing on what’s important in life, especially in our more mature years.”—AB
Djuna Shellam’s books have so much more substance than any novels in this genre I’ve EVER read.”—TM
“Page-turning sapphic odyssey of life in California in the 70’s and 80’s! The descriptions are excellent, the storytelling is unique and cinematic. It definitely reads as a stand-alone work.”—AK

EXCERPT

—Books2Read

—Amazon

********************

The Incredible Transformations of Alice Hollywood

The Em Suite—Book One

In the mid-1970s, long before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Californian girls and best friends, Alice Hollywell and Em Martín, are stationed on a remote military base in West Texas. After a long, forced absence from the base, Alice returns with unresolved issues. Soon, Em and Alice’s friendship blossoms into something they never expected. Too quickly the military becomes a very dangerous place for them. Finding themselves in the middle of a rabid witch hunt, decisions are made with disastrous consequences.

EXCERPT

—Books2Read

—Amazon

********************

Mackenna on the Edge

The Em Suite—Book Two

Nearly twenty years have passed since a fiery crash changed Em Martín’s life forever, in Mackenna on the Edge, this sequel/prequel to The Incredible Transformations of Alice Hollywood. Now living in Los Angeles, and known as Mackenna, a recent life-altering tragedy has her in an emotional tailspin. Memories and regrets previously buried and ignored have been churned up.

In a desperate effort to stop her downward progression, Mackenna turns to her writing for emotional support; as well as a vehicle for getting to the root cause of her current mental and emotional frailty. While culling through her life for clues, the Southland is rocked by a devastating earthquake, further complicating her difficult self-exploration. Enter Eve, an earthquake refugee and an uncomfortable reminder of a past Mackenna has spent many years trying to ignore—and forget. A delicate dance of avoidance ensues until a devastating secret is exposed, driving Mackenna to the edge of disaster. Will Eve be the last straw, and push Mackenna over the edge? Or will she be the one to save Mackenna from the lower depths?

Mackenna has always been quiet on the quiet side—almost an awkward kind of quiet. She’s a keen observer and not one to talk too much about herself or her life. But she has a secret she’s been keeping for nearly twenty years that’s eating her alive. Since the untimely death of her parents and the subsequent inheritance of unfathomable proportions, Mackenna is sinking and sinking fast. She’s a writer who finds it easier to express her feelings with words, and so she begins to self-explore her downward spiral before it’s too late. Before she does something she can’t undo. Shellam takes us back and forth in time in a seamless fashion to tell the story in a story. Prepare yourself for a stunning twist that will take your breath away.

EXCERPT

—Books2Read

—Amazon

********************

Prairie Fire

The Em Suite Series—Book Three

Angry, debilitated, and depressed, Em would rather just give up and die after surviving the fiery crash that destroyed her life, but Dot Baverstock has other plans for her. Enter Prairie Vaughn, aka ‘Wonder Woman.’ In this third installment of The Em Suite series, we meet Prairie—the red-headed, female Casanova. She’s the physical therapist Dot finds to take on the monumental task of bringing a stubborn and unwilling Em back to life.

Secrets, drama, heartbreak, and passion offer a similar page-turning and satisfying experience readers have found in the first two installments of The Em Suite—The Incredible Transformations of Alice Hollywood and Mackenna on the Edge. Djuna Shellam has once again created characters you love to love, wrapped up in an entertaining and addicting story.

Don’t be surprised if you find yourself laughing out loud, spontaneously crying, or perhaps standing in the shower with the cold water on full blast—again. It’s just how Djuna Shellam rolls.

EXCERPT

—Books2Read

—Amazon

********************

Dot in the Weeds

The Em Suite—Book Four

Much beloved and fan-favorite Dot Baverstock is back in this fourth installment of The Em Suite—but not in a way you’d ever expect. Dot and her son Waverly have a deep, dark secret they’ve been keeping for years. When Dot suffers a traumatic fall, they make a difficult and daring decision to expose themselves to their extended family. Waverly has orders to report for Air National Guard duty which would leave Dot, seriously injured, on her own or in the care of strangers.

Em, Eve and their son Liam rush out to the Palm Springs desert to the rescue. Along for the ride is Prairie Fire Vaughn. Dot and Waverly’s secret—the “Big Mystery” and the true reason the family is needed—is revealed soon after their arrival. It appears far more will be needed from them than expected, while also putting them in peril. There’s no question. They love Dot. They’ll do anything for her—even if it means breaking the law.

Love, tragedy, humor, heartbreak; adventure, mystery, and danger all deliciously intertwine in this fun, yet heart-tugging installment of The Em Suite. Though Dot in the Weeds is part of a series, it is also a story that firmly stands on its own.

EXCERPT

—Books2Read

—Amazon

********************

THE TRUE LIFE ADVENTURES

of DJUNA SHELLAM

Nom de Plume—An Extraordinary Life—Vol 1

NDP

For as many reasons as there are days in a year… a century… or millennia, some novelists choose to write incognito. By using an alias, pen name; or, as the French so beautifully say, nom de plume, they’ll cloak their true identities. The nom de plume, while convenient, does present a bit of a conundrum for the writer. Whose backstory or biography should an author employ to introduce themselves to their reading public? Their own, or their literary double’s. Enter the creative mind. The very nature of a fiction writer is to write fiction, is it not? Indeed, it is.

And, so…Shellam’s story begins in Australia as Siobhán Aoife O’Shea, the only child of Irish-born parents. Growing up on a remote farm, her young life is idyllic. Though isolated from everything beyond the farm, Siobhán’s life is filled with the love of her parents, work, and her books. As a young teen, tragedy ensues. Siobhán must survive on her own, learning to live in a strange and mysterious world. In this coming-of-age story, Djuna Shellam—nom de plume—author of The Em Suite Series, shares the early years of an unconventional life in Vol 1 of her memoir series, The True-Life Adventures of Djuna Shellam.

Beginning in the Victoria countryside, her story continues to Melbourne, VIC. Siobhán enters uncharted territory that’s fraught with challenges, discoveries, love, and heartache. As she gains a footing in her new world, solved mysteries and shared secrets create lifelong bonds in the gripping story of an extraordinary life.

This book is the first installment of my new series, The True-Life Adventures of Djuna Shellam. I have one more installment planned with perhaps a third. This first book covers the first 25 years of the nom de plume known as Djuna Shellam. The second book will tell of the 2nd 25 years. The possible third… well, I’ll just say I’d like to wait and see on that one. Though readers are already pestering me for the second installment, I won’t start writing it until 2024 as I have been working on Book 5 of The Em Suite Series—A Woman Like Eve.

This book is quite a departure for me, written mostly in 2020. Frankly, I think it’s a miracle of sorts I finished it at all, given the extraordinary year 2020 was. It was a difficult book to write, but heaps of fun, as well.