✨FREE ebook Dec. 25-29✨

I began writing Stick & Stones in January of 2017 and finished it in September of the same year. It took 9 months to write, which is significant because I see all my books as my kids. Conception, gestation and birth; this is the writing process in a nutshell… The most PG-13 of all my novels, Sticks & Stones is dedicated to my nephew Jude who has a lethal form of skeletal dysplasia known as RCDP. Jude is a Rhizo kid. At the time I wrote the book there were fewer than 100 Rhizo families in the world. And no child with the condition had lived past age 20. I wanted to love him and his momma with more than just thoughts and prayers. So I dedicated this novel and 100% of all future profits to Jude and his parents. Every year I send my niece a royalty check for about 60 bucks. Not much. But if any one of my books ever takes off, they will all benefit. And now that I’m able to actively connect with readers and industry people, I anticipate success. We’ll see. But in the meantime, this beautiful little Christmas book is available as a free download on Dec 25-29 at Amazon. Check it out. It’s about a guy fresh out of prison after serving 30 years trying to make sense of a technological world he does not recognize. A story that mirrors what I happen to be going through right now. Download it for free now through 11:59pm PST Dec 29. Momentum! And Merry Christmas.

✨FREE ebook Dec. 2-6✨

My 3rd and most popular book—On the Shoulders of Giants—is being featured in BookFunnel’s ‘Noir Novels’ book promo for “stories that don’t flinch.” Follow the link below to learn more about Giants. Paperback and free ebook links are also provided on the promo page… At the risk of sounding arrogant, this 138,000-word story is timeless, urgent, beautiful, and heartbreaking. I still get excited when handing it to someone to read for the first time.

✨As always, reviews and feedback are highly appreciated! Wishing you momentum. —IV

The last time Izzy saw his mother’s trailer was through the rear window of a Dodge Aries driven by a social worker with the Florida Division of Children and Families. He was four years old. He spent the remainder of his childhood bouncing around the state foster care system. Always the outsider, introverted and awkward, he assumed he was exempt from things like friendship and love… until he met Scarlett McGhee.

Pharaoh Sinclair was born in a women’s correctional facility. The illegitimate child of an unknown father and a crackhead mother. He grew up on the sidewalks of the Azalea Arms housing project, where gunshots and police sirens were as commonplace as the stench of the neighboring landfill. Molded by hustlers and pushers, with the dope game in his DNA, the lone soft spot in his concrete heart was reserved for his baby sister, Symphony. But could he protect her from the same streets that raised them?

From the sugar-white sand dunes of Pensacola Beach to the murderous Arthur G. Dozier reform school, from strip clubs to emergency rooms, from trap houses to courthouses to prison cells, On the Shoulders of Giants chronicles the intersecting journeys of a foster kid and a project kid as they battle and stumble their way through adolescence into adulthood.

An exploration of race, part memoir, part coming-of-age, part thriller, part love story, this transcendent novel defies genre. A book within a book. More than a story, a living organism. A legacy. The only child of Ezra “Izzy” James.

AWARDS:

✨1ST PLACE WINNER of the 28th annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards, Mainstream/Literary Fiction category (2020) • Shortlisted for the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards

REVIEWS:

✨Judge’s review, 2017 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards:

“The setting descriptions are poetic, devastating, and really well done… The ending is hugely moving and the epilogue is a welcome surprise. This is an enormously well done book. With a keen eye for detail, for social commentary, and a principled stand on various issues, Ivey has presented a dramatic story that brings today’s headlines home.”

✨Judge’s review, 2020 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards:

“On the Shoulders of Giants contains two distinct, equally-heartrending stories… The writing is exceptional, with two well-defined voices written in first and third person. Foster homes and crack dens, strip clubs and emergency rooms, reform schools and prison cells: the setting for Izzy’s and Pharaoh’s stories are gritty, harrowing and raw. The author balances such darkness with likable, engaging characters and insightful prose to create a satisfying, thought-provoking read.”

✨Reviews on Amazon:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Captivating Read! A wonderful mix of suspense, humor, and drama. —G.W.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A PAGE TURNER! What an amazing novel! The book had me hooked from the very first page. —S.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amazing story that you can’t stop reading! Such a great story that was so well written. This book is impossible to put down. Can’t wait to read the next one! —M.M.