Hello friend. Today’s Indie Recommends Indie post features author Chelsea DeVries. I have had the pleasure of working with Chelsea many times and if you are an author and haven’t read her interview about being a publicist, you need to get it out. Today, we are going to focus on indie titles that Chelsea loves. Let’s meet her and dive in!
Chelsea, thank you for joining me for this series! It was a lot of fun to learn about being a publicist from you when you were on here last. For those of my readers who may not know you, can you please them a bit about yourself. 🙂
Hello Kriti and her readers, my name is Chelsea DeVries. I’ve been a professional writer since I was fourteen years young and published two YA novels while still in high school. I gave up writing while in college in a sense to pursue a career that both honed into my creativity and colorful personality, I got a degree from Saint Leo University in 2015 in Marketing with a minor in International Hospitality and Tourism. I started my PR firm in 2016 as a book and music review blog called The Smart Cookie Philes, then launched my PR firm in 2017 after finding that my audience grew with much fervor, and indie authors were desperate to find an advocate for their books. Now, after spending ten months working in a toxic work environment in my first full-time job outside of college, I sat and ended up writing a mental health poetry collection titled Sticks and Stones: Full Story edition that details what happened at that workplace including all the feelings and emotions I experienced while working there and upon leaving there and suffering symptoms of complex PTSD. Following working there and writing the collection, I kept my journey of self-discovery open to learning more about why I am the way I am, and was diagnosed with ASD in October 2020. I currently live 40 minutes North of Tampa, FL with my squad of two goldens and enjoy currently working a day job as a grocery cashier.
Do you primarily read indie books or big publishers books as well?
In high school, I was obsessed with reading books everyone was reading but I noticed that as a reader I always thoroughly enjoyed lesser known authors. One I was obsessed with in high school was Janette Rallison. She wrote YA books that had a funny sarcastic tone to them and then began writing fantasy under a new pen name when I was in college but I used to email with her for a while because I was so obsessed with her books. It probably makes sense that I became a publicist because emailing and talking with authors has always been something I’ve never not done. Now as an adult, I find I read all indie books but recently was forced to read a Colleen Hoover book by my sister and didn’t hate it. I actually decided I should read more Colleen Hoover books in my future.
Chelsea’s Indie Recommendations
Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Fiction
2017
Strong Heart #1
One stormy May night, just as Tom Olsen is about to leave with his Native American friends to visit his grandfather’s grave deep in Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula wilderness, he answers a knock at his door to find an abandoned thirteen year old girl.
The girl announces her name is Sarah Cooley and that Tom is her grandfather. She tells Tom he lives at the end of the earth. All she sees is dripping forest, tall trees, rain and wind. Astonished, all Tom sees is trouble. He knows he should cancel the trip and deal with Sarah, but when his friends suggest bringing Sarah along, Tom reluctantly agrees, hoping a backpacking trip might teach Sarah some sorely needed lessons about character, responsibility and grit.
All too soon, Tom and his friends have reason to wonder – are they taking Sarah Cooley on this journey, or is she taking them?
Adventure, scientific inquiry, a tinge of mystery, and a hint of the unexplainable infuse this meticulously-imagined tale. In a story matching the breathtaking scope of its Pacific Northwest and North Pacific setting, Sheldon’s tale startles, yet challenges us to think.
Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is a beautiful story that tells of the healing power of nature, the love between family, and the ties that bind our ancestry. Tom Olson is heading out on a backpacking trip in the Olympic Peninsula Wilderness in Washington State with his friends when a knock sounds at his door. On the other side of that door stands Sarah Cooley, an abandoned thirteen year old girl. Come to find out, that thirteen year old isn’t a runaway or a foster child but his long-lost granddaughter. Along this trip comes a story that is a coming together of both Hatchet and A Call In the Wild as the story proves that no matter where you go, it’s what you’re made of that shows when your only choice is to survive.
While reading the book, I found myself instantly enthralled with Sheldon’s writing style. How it sweeps you in like a breeze along a hiking trail. I reminisced about reading books that had similar storylines and plot points in my youth, and what it felt like to escape inside a book again. Reading this book made me love reading again, and for that was the biggest aspect of all. There are few books that I read as an adult and thoroughly enjoy but this one kept me reading, I enjoyed learning nature and geological facts while reading as well as being swept up in the storytelling of the Native American ancestral stories.
Some aspects of the book were too overwhelming with geological facts and I found myself not being able to stay focused in those parts. The emphasis of the strong main characters were what would pull me back in and remind me why I began to read this book and fall in love with this story: Tom and Sarah’s bond was definitely something I connected with on many levels, and felt anyone could find a connection with when reading this book.
I rate this book three out of four stars because while it helped me fall in love with reading again because it reminded me of the stories of youth, it also contained a lot of detail within the geological fact parts that made me lose my focus while reading and actually struggle with certain levels of sensory overload.
My recommendation is that those who go to read this book are aware that a good ten to twenty chapters of the book are geological and nonfiction in writing, they do not read like fiction but instead contribute a lot to educate the reader of real life issues with the ecosystem, etc.
I found no errors while reading but am unsure if I would read the follow-up books in this series because of the geological memoir like sections of the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a story with depth, and anyone who enjoys being outdoors because the majority of the story takes place during a nature hike.
Coloring Life by Vicki Alexander
Fiction
2020
It was a standalone but became such a hit, she’s working on a followup story.
Looking at Julie, you would think she has it all. Beauty, a big house, and a successful husband, but everything is not as it seems. Julie’s lifelong search for love and acceptance has led her on a journey of self-destruction. What started as a little girl’s dream to live behind a picket fence has become the beginning of her undoing. “She steps out of her car; her long, lean legs precede her. Her dark hair is perfectly coiffed, and her designer sunglasses hide her bloodshot eyes. She waves at her neighbors while unstrapping her children from the backseat. Leading them by the hands, she whispers to herself, God, I hate them. “
From the first page, you are taken into the life perspective of MC Julie. She’s married with two kids and seems like her life is perfect. But once her story unfolds, you find her canvas to be quite the colorful one due to events that haunted her since her childhood.
Alexander’s writing is so natural and the story unfolds with such ease that you forget you are reading.
There were so many nuances that spoke to me especially as a fellow victim of sexual assault.
I also enjoyed the references to Julie’s younger years in New Jersey as i have a kinship with the place as it is the birthplace and homing ground of both of my parents.
Overall, the Coloring Life by Vikki Alexander addresses the long term affects of PTSD and mental health issues but one message it makes clear is that: no matter the colors that have bled along your canvas, with proper self-love and self-care, the bigger picture still can become a masterpiece.
Anyone who likes fiction with heavy topics, anyone who likes mature content, and anyone who enjoys the story behind a strong female lead.
Cerebral Fossil by Shaye Baker
Poetry
2020
Standalone but I can’t wait to see what he does next.
A fossil is any trace or remains of any once-living thing. This collection reflects desperation. Its tone is set by the unshakeable bond between an international musician who died in a car crash and the aftermath experienced by his little brother. The author kept a journal and, using his love of writing and poetry, created this moving collection. Keep this fossil for centuries to come.
Sometimes in life, without looking, we find all you weren’t searching for. With a unique cadence and story-telling rhythm Shaye Baker’s Cerebral Fossil will have you engrossed from page one.⠀I always go searching for new poets or artists that make me think outside the box, expand my cerebral region if you will, and with his poetry collection, Cerebral Fossil, you get a poem that offers a perspective on a set topic or theme that both resonates with Mr. Baker, and entertains the reader all at the same time.
The collection was inspired by the tragic event, the author’s unfortunate loss of his younger brother. The poems discuss these emotions and all those associated with life, death, grief, and the in-between.⠀
Can, Can, Can, Tethered, Breathe, Garden District, A Fire Pit Story, and God Hates were my favorites yet the poem I personally resonated with was Seeds to Grow.
Recommended to anyone who likes poetry that reads like performance pieces.
Good Brave People by Nicholas Trahdal
Fiction
2020
Standalone
Whenever acclaimed author Jasper Augustine needs to get inspired for his next book, he goes traveling. That’s what he seeks when he books a flight to San Sebastián for a month in the summer—just a little inspiration. In Spain’s Basque Country, what Jasper discovers is a life-changing exploration of culture, food, drink, human connection, and love that causes him to question the meaning of the word “home”.
The culinary and cultural descriptions in Good Brave People will leave you ready to travel.
Filled with intrigue, Spanish mystique, and a romantic story for the ages, Good Brave People is a classic for this age, and for ages to come. This is one of my favorite poets’ first fiction debut and it absolutely blew me away. It was so good. Nicholas Trandahl is my favorite poet. Ever since I delved into his book Pulling Words, I was entirely captivated by his gift with poetry and words, and knew that his fiction debut would definitely not disappoint. Plus, he has a habit of writing in a way that mimics some of his favorite writers and I knew there would be homage to Hemingway with this one. Trandahl isn’t naturally a fiction writer but a poet but I believe poets truly have an eye for detail that is unlike fiction or nonfiction writers. While some writers succeed in worldbuilding, poets truly can nail a descriptive statement about a person, place, or setting but some could say the flow breathes as easily as water. Trandahl’s fiction reads like that.
Recommended to: Anyone who enjoys Hemingway or Sandra cisneros
Loved Mars, Hated The Food by Willie Handler
Science Fiction With A Humorous Satire Read
2020
Standalone
Dix Jenner, a self-proclaimed slacker, is the first chef to live—and maybe die—on Mars. After an explosion kills his colony companions and leaves him with nothing but his spacesuit, his time on the faraway planet is about to expire… until he’s rescued by friendly Martians Bleeker and Seepa, who smuggle him into their vast underground civilization.
Despite an unfamiliar world of telepathy, strange class dynamics, and really bad food, Dix sets out to make his mark. After opening a cafe—who knew Martians loved espresso?—he starts to notice that responsibility can feel good. Not only that, but he’s got a new romance, and for the first time he actually cares.
Unfortunately, his success attracts the attention of the corrupt and narcissistic Martian Grand Leader. Forced to run to avoid being imprisoned, Dix gets lucky: a NASA rescue mission lands on Mars. But seeing it brings back the dark secret he’s been keeping from himself about the colony’s explosion, and now Dix must choose between returning to Earth or spending the rest of his life in a cell on the dusty red planet where he belongs.
Willie Handler is no stranger to writing books that make you laugh but the second novel from this author is nothing less than an out of this world story that will have you shaking the cosmic dust off your space boots.
Dixon Jenner is a thirty two year old chef who gets recruited by NASA in the year 2039 for a Mars mission that goes terribly wrong to his spaceship explodes and he is the only sole survivor.
Right away, he is high from a marijuana infused brownie and he has to figure out what to do to survive post-explosion. He meets two martians Bleeker and Seepa and from there they hide him from the head martian Cheytno to avoid anyone finding out he is from Earth.
What ensues is a hilarious story that leaves space for countless belly laughs over martians learning more about earth-like customs from an American chef from Toms River, New Jersey.
I was hysterically laughing by page three and I could not find a good reason to put the book down.
Handler’s science fiction is informative, clever, and loaded with quick-witted funny scenarios and one-liners.
It’s definitely a book with a brilliance not yet experienced on this planet but no matter who you are, human or martian, Handler’s writing will keep you hooked from start to finish.
Recommended to: Anyone who likes aliens, books featuring chefs who go to outer space, and satirical humor.
📖 This is a book I enjoyed too! See review here. 📖
Chelsea’s Book Spotlight
Sticks and Stones: Full Story Edition
Poetry, Self-Help
2022, 2020
In Sticks and Stones, DeVries paints a poetic picture of rising above toxicity, love found and love lost, and delves into what it means to find strength in the human spirit. Through poetry, the reader finds a voice of strength and the rebuilding of one’s heart a home with all the sticks and stones thrown upon it. Newly expanded with more full color photos, 41 new poems, and a rewrite of Drowning in An Ocean of No Tomorrows, DeVries shows a full poetic picture of turning pain into poetry in order so you can rise above whatever is pulling you under.
Readers who enjoyed Cerebral Fossil meets Chicken Soup for The Soul would love this book. I hold nothing back as I share my poetic perspective of what it meant to work in a toxic work environment along with poems that also spotlight my issues with mental health, the human feeling of being an outsider, and finding out I was on the autistic spectrum with themes of suicide, love, and heartbreak.
Readers can buy my book in my etsy shop. All the links about my book can be found on this post on my website.
Connect with Chelsea on Instagram, YouTube and her website.
Did you add any books to your TBR today based on this post or did you see any you have already read? Tell us in the comments!
If you are an indie or small press author who is an avid reader and wants to be featured, sign up using the form on the Indie Recommends Indie home page. This is a fantastic way to bring attention to fellow indie authors as well as your own book. 🙂
Thanks for hanging out with us today!
Banner Photo of library by Alfons Morales on Unsplash
Be First to Comment