Showing results by narrator "Ann Marie Lee" in All Categories

Oak Flat is a serene high-elevation mesa that sits above the Southeastern Arizona desert, 15 miles to the west of the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. For the San Carlos tribe, Oak Flat is a holy place, an ancient burial ground and religious site where Apache girls celebrate the coming-of-age ritual known as the Sunrise Ceremony. In 1995, a massive untapped copper reserve was discovered nearby.

What if you were the worst crime your mother ever committed? Dahlia Waller's childhood memories consist of stuffy cars, seedy motels, and a rootless existence traveling the country with her eccentric mother. Now grown, she desperately wants to distance herself from that life. Yet one thing is stopping her from moving forward: she has questions. In order to understand her past, Dahlia must go back. Back to her mother in the stifling town of Aurora, Texas. Back into the past of a woman on the brink of madness.

Cassandra Zerek is a true innocent in a wild and dangerous place—but her indomitable spirit and gentle soul make her stronger than anyone suspects. The owner of a Colorado mining empire, Luke Taggart's wealth and position can buy him anything, yet he has grown bored with a life of saloons, gambling, and loose women. Nothing soothes his restless inner yearning—until he spies Cassandra, as fresh and pure as a spring morning, and vows he will possess her.

This is not a love story. If it were, we would have the same story. But he has his, and I have mine. In 1916, Georgia O’Keeffe is a young, unknown art teacher when she travels to New York to meet Stieglitz, the famed photographer and art dealer, who has discovered O’Keeffe’s work and exhibits it in his gallery. Their connection is instantaneous. O’Keeffe is quickly drawn into Stieglitz’s sophisticated world, becoming his mistress, protégé, and muse, as their attraction deepens into an intense and tempestuous relationship and his photographs of her, both clothed and nude, create a sensation.

Food has the power to temporarily alleviate stress and sadness, enhance joy, and bring us comfort when we need it most. It's no wonder experts estimate that 75 percent of overeating is triggered by our emotions, not physical hunger. The good news is you can instead soothe yourself through dozens of mindful activities that are healthy for both body and mind.

It starts as a trip to paradise. Sent on assignment to Bali, Jamie, an American adventure guide, imagines spending weeks exploring the island’s lush jungles and pristine white sand beaches. Yet three days after her arrival, she is caught in Bali’s infamous nightclub bombings, which irreparably change her life and leave her with many unanswered questions.

A sadistic killer pushed Chicago cop Marty Hogan past her limits - and it was all caught on video. She lost her job, her sense of self, her entire world until an open detective position in small-town Texas gave her a chance at redemption. Police Chief Clay Settlemeyer knows all about mistakes and second chances - he's still earning his own, so he's willing to give Marty the opportunity to prove herself. But when her ex-partner is murdered, it looks like Chicago is coming to small-town Texas with a vengeance.

It's two in the morning and an aging cargo ship lies off the Port of Los Angeles. Deep in the bowels of the vessel, an important man is dead and the woman who killed him is mortally wounded. On shore another man staggers out of the sea determined to save the woman before she dies or the ship sails. Exhausted and terrified, he goes to the only person he trusts to help, Josie Bates. He brings with him a history she can't ignore, a problem that seems insurmountable, and a plea she can't refuse.

Bella was once a lost dog, but now she lives happily with her people, Lucas and Olivia, only occasionally recalling the hardships in her past. Then a weekend camping trip turns into a harrowing struggle for survival when the Rocky Mountains are engulfed by the biggest wildfire in American history. The raging inferno separates Bella from her people, and she is lost once more. Alone in the wilderness, Bella unexpectedly finds herself responsible for the safety of two defenceless mountain lion cubs. Now she’s torn between two equally urgent goals.

It's 1885, and all Nora Shipley wants, now that she's graduating from Cornell University as valedictorian of the entomology program, is to follow in her late father's footsteps by getting her master's degree and taking over the scientific journal he started. The only way to uphold her father's legacy is to win a scholarship, so she joins a research expedition in Kodaikanal, India, to prove herself in the field. India isn't what she expects, though, and neither is the rival classmate who accompanies her, Owen Epps.

Christmas is coming and the world is joyful for everyone but Josie Bates. A devastating miscarriage, her employer's pending retirement, and her husband's overseas job have left her alone and adrift—until Lily Daye dies and names Josie executor of her estate. Josie has no idea who this woman is, but her will is simple and her possessions meager. In the spirit of the season, Josie accepts the job. Yet behind Lily's seemingly modest existence lies a complex, mysterious life.

Propulsive and lyrical, Texian Exodus transports us to the frigid, sodden spring of 1836, when thousands of Texians—Anglo-American settlers—fled eastward for the United States in fear of Antonio López de Santa Anna's advancing Mexican army. Leading Texas historian Stephen L. Hardin draws on the accounts of the Runaways themselves to relate a tale of high stakes and great sorrow. While Houston tried to build a force that could defeat Santa Anna, the evacuees suffered incalculable pain and suffering. Yet dignity and community were not among the losses

The Buckeye State produced its share of wicked women. Tenacious madam Clara Palmer contended with constant police raids during the 1880s and '90s. Only her death could shut the doors of her gilded bordello in Cleveland. Failed actress Mildred Gillars left for Europe right before World War II. Because she fell in love with the wrong man, she wound up peddling Nazi propaganda on the radio as "Axis Sally." Volatile Hester Foster was already doing time at the Ohio State Penitentiary when she bashed in the head of a fellow inmate with a shovel.

Finan is gone, Jacinta has disappeared, and Lara is holding on by a thread. She will do whatever it takes to recover the other half of her heart, even if it means trusting those most unworthy of her trust. As terrible new threats burst onto the scene, Lara must rely on her Thalia Island family to bring Finan home in one piece—and save the utopia her grandfather fought so hard to create. With the curtain pulled back on incendiary secrets concealed for decades, reckoning comes from all sides: who is telling the truth, and who pays the price for the sins of our forebears?

Although the Dea Vitae cult has been evicted from Thalia Island, Lara J. Clarke and her grandfather’s eco-utopia are still in peril. Rupert’s ongoing lymphoma treatment deposits Lara at Thalia’s helm—with no idea how to navigate the rough waters. Finan is back from the mainland after two tense weeks of silence, but the sting of his unscheduled departure lingers. Lara and Finan must work with investigators, and a few unsavory players, to dismantle the sinister machinations of Dea Vitae before it destroys their blossoming romance—and the sanctity of Thalia Island herself.

World famous at twenty-four, brilliant and reckless, hard-living and scandalous, Stephen Crane wrote The Red Badge of Courage before he ever experienced war first-hand.

Long maligned as a prostitute or a woman of questionable reputation, Mary Magdalene's murky story seems lost to the sands of time. Now a portrait of this enigmatic woman comes to life in the hands of an imaginative master storyteller. Diana Wallis Taylor's Mary is a woman devastated by circumstances beyond her control and plagued with terrifying dreams - until she has a life-changing confrontation with the Savior.

In Emotionally Naked: A Teacher's Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk, trainer, speaker, and suicide loss survivor Anne Moss Rogers, and clinical social worker and researcher, Kimberly O'Brien, PhD, LICSW, empower middle and high school educators with the knowledge and skills to leverage their relationships with students to reduce this threat to life.

Pull up a chair, snuggle under your favorite blanket, gather the kids, and enjoy the charming stories you know and love. This multicast production brings to life all your favorites!

A collection of one-acts by the Pulitzer-winning playwright, including Close the Book, Suppressed Desires, Tickless Time, Woman's Honor, The People, and Trifles.