About Beagle Bay Books & Creative Minds Press

Beagle Bay, Inc., which publishes under the imprints Beagle Bay Books and Creative Minds Press, is a small but rapidly growing publishing company based in Reno, Nevada. The company’s fiction line specializes in women’s historical adventure. The non-fiction features titles that empower and inform. Beagle Bay’s catalog has grown from one title to 13 in less than seven years.

Additionally, Beagle Bay has become a distributor of several other fine small publishers. The company adds one quality title every two-three months--so watch our website for new arrivals. As of Winter 2007, we have 36 titles (our own plus distribution clients).

Robin and Jacqueline Simonds started Beagle Bay in 2000 with their very barky beagle, Bertie—thus the name Beagle Bay. Their first title was Jacqueline’s first novel, Captain Mary, Buccaneer  about a woman pirate in the 18^th century Caribbean. Captain Mary was loosely based on the real pirate women Anne Bonny and Mary Read. The Simonds learned so much and enjoyed publishing to such an extent that they decided to make it a full-time business. 

The Simonds and Bertie have been featured in several Reno Gazette Journal articles and in Reno Magazine and Reno News & Review. Jacqueline Church Simonds has made many contributions to publishing and other types of media.

The Beagle Bay Books titles are:

Captain Mary, Buccaneer (ISBN: 0967959179; historical fiction; 300 pages; $16.95) This adventure of greed and romance will carry you to a distant time when violence was the norm, and the difference between the good and the bad was the flag they flew from the masthead. Captain Mary is more than an ordinary pirate; she is both principled and ruthless, a robber baroness and a generous patron. She is as much loved by her allies as she is hated by her enemies who will stop at nothing to destroy her and her empire. But those seeking Mary’s head best watch out for their own, for in Captain Mary they will find a worthy adversary and deadly foe. Soon to be published in Italy.

Gudrun's Tapestry (0967959136; 269 pages; Hardcover; Historical Fiction; $24.95) by critically acclaimed author Joan Schweighardt, is a powerful, enchanting and vivid tale of one woman’s quest to eliminate Attila and his Huns, bearing only the cursed sword of Wodan. Along the way Gudrun unexpectedly discovers the capacity to love a man who may be a mortal enemy. In finally confronting her true self, she finds that she must embark on an inner journey to cope with adversity in the outer world. Gudrun's Tapestry takes the reader on a quest of self-discovery in a tale of magic and courage that resonates through the centuries to touch the reader’s heart and soul. This title received a silver in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award for historical fiction and was a runner-up for an IPPY award in the same division. Published in Italy and soon in Russia.

Happy Sails: The Carefree Cruisers Handbook (ISBN: ISBN:0-9679591-8-7, Trade paperback; Travel/ Cruise Travel; 184 pages; $14.95) Going on a cruise? Wondering whether cruising is right for you? Pam Kane, author of hundreds of cruise-related magazine articles wrote Happy Sails with cruising tips and seagoing lore, interweaved with her hilarious stories. If you’re considering a cruise—be this your first or fiftieth—then you’ll want to read Happy Sails. Praised by Library Journal and Cruise Travel Magazine.

How to Love the Job You Hate: Job Satisfaction for the 21st Century (ISBN: ISBN:0967959110, Trade paperback; Business/career; 208 pages; $17.95) by executive coach Jane Boucher. Can’t stand your job? Scared of your boss? Suspect your co-workers are talking about you behind your back? You’re not alone! Half of all American workers experience job dissatisfaction. Internationally respected author and business coach Jane Boucher can help with her book: How to Love the Job You Hate. Boucher shows workers how to cope with keeping their jobs in this difficult economy. How to Love the Job You Hate will change your attitude from TGIF to TGIM (Thank God It’s Monday). Recommended by radio host John Tesh; featured in Forbes.com (and radio), Guideposts Magazine, Pink Magazine, The National Enquirer, excerpted in Fair Lady Magazine (South Africa). Available in Russia, Thailand and Taiwan!

Mahalo, My Love (ISBN:0967959128, Trade paperback; historical romance; 269 pages; $14.95) by Ida Hills, Readers will thrill to this double romance, set in the time when the Kingdom of Hawai`i was losing its freedom. Mahalo, My Love was given 4 Stars by Romantic Times Magazine and recommendations from both Booklist and Midwest Book Review.
 

Monster Lies : A Woman’s Guide to Controlling Her Destiny (ISBN: 0967959160; Hardcover; Self-help/Self-esteem; 323 pages; $25.00) by motivational speakers Sally Franz and Jennifer Webb with a foreword by Linda Bloodworth-Thompson (creator of Designing Women) is a life changing book that helps you change the negative "Monster Lies" that are holding you back so that you can succeed! This book has already received a rave endorsement from Mark Victor Hanson, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series and a Publishers Weekly review. This title received an IPPY award in the Women's Issue's division.

Ursula's Maiden Army by Phil Griffin (ISBN: 0974961019; $14.95 Trade paperback, Fiction: Historical fantasy; 288 pages + maps). When the men of Britannia go to the Continent to prop up the crumbling Roman Empire, Princess Ursula creates an army of women--the First Athena--to defend her homeland against marauding Saxons and Picts. But then the men get tangled up in the politics and war--and it looks as if they might not return. Desperate to be reunited with her beloved Constans, and afraid that the men of her country will be swept away, Ursula takes the bold move of increasing her army and going to the Continent. Her aim, to rescue the men and wed her army to Constans's--thereby forcing a return to Britain. She takes her 20,000 women across the Channel, but events unfold in a way Ursula never would have imagined. In the end, she is the only western army left to defend Cologne from  ... the Huns! Says Library Journal: "Historical fantasy at its best!" This title available in Germany and soon in Russia. Winner of a Bronze IPPY Book of the Year Awards.

The Witch from the Sea (ISBN:0967959152, Trade Paperback; YA/Adult; historical adventure romance; 301 pages; $16.95) by Lisa Jensen. is an adult historical adventure/ romance novel with heart-pounding action and blazing romance set against the background of 19^th century Caribbean Sea colonialism. Early readers characterize it as Jane Eyre goes to Treasure Island. The Witch from the Sea has received praise from Booklist and Romantic Times.

Creative Minds Press is an imprint of Beagle Bay Books. It was created to publish quality non-fiction that was outside of the scope of Beagle Bay’s regular line. Creative Minds also produces custom books for businesses and organizations (none of which are shown below).

European Menu Translator (ISBN: 0967959144; Paperback; 120 pages; $8.95; Travel/Reference) by Whitney H. and Anne T. Galbraith is a handy pocket-sized guide  designed for the English-speaking traveler who may not be familiar with menu terms in French, German, Italian and Spanish. Dictionaries and laptop translators are too bulky to drag to dinner, PDA translators are too limited, but the European Menu Translator is easy to tuck into pocket or money-belt. Praised by the Bulletin, the Australian insert of Newsweek, Kiplingers and Crain's Business News.

Do you love tennis? I mean, really love it—enough to start wondering what those balls are doing after their fuzz has worn off? Judi Hein does. With her trusty camera, she captures the secret lives of tennis balls—from birth to death—and brings you the revealing shots in Tennis BALLS! (ISBN: 0967959195; Paperback; 80 pages; $12.95; Sports/Humor)
 

Washoe Seasons of Life: A Native American Story (ISBN: 0974961035; Library binding w/ dj; 44 pages; $19.95; Juvenile fiction: 7 to 11) by Washoe County teachers Diane Domiteaux and Karen Wallis presents the life of one little Washoe girl in pictures and story as she and her people work and play through the seasons. Pictures showing the beauty of the Lake Tahoe region and the strength of these Native American people were painted by Lea Saling, who also works in the Washoe County School District. As an added bonus, the major nouns are translated into the Washoe language in a separate box on each page. Praised by School Library Journal.

Ever fall for the lure of expensive, exotic moisturizers promising impossible anti-aging miracles? Ever receive one of those happy, sappy New Year’s letters from someone you barely remember from fourth grade? Can’t decide whether to stay friends with a size two woman who won’t eat a carrot because of its high-carb content? If so, you’re in good company. Award-winning humorist and Bikram yoga dropout Judy Gruen copes with all this and more in The Women’s Daily Irony Supplement.  Nominated ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award (humor)
 

Jan Goff-LaFontaine’s original photography exhibit, called Out of the Shadows, started in rural Door County, Wisconsin, but eventually led her to subjects across the nation as she sought to complete Women in Shadow and Light: Journeys from Abuse to Healing (0974961051, $35.00 Library binding w/ dj; Photography / Women's Issues
160  pages). Each woman helped create her own portrait as a personal symbol of healing, often focusing on one aspect of her body she felt was most affected in the healing process. Winner 2006 IPPY award! Finalist for a Nautilus Award!

See our Forthcoming Titles page for exciting books planned for 2007! 

Distributed Titles

Aeonix Publishing Group

If you are a writer working with a publisher (large or small) or if you are a small or first time publisher, Book Design and Production (ISBN: 0966981901; Aeonix Publishing Group; $29.95, 320; trade paperback; Publishing/Design) will help you understand the book production process and the principles of good cover and interior book design. It will allow you to look at a book design and immediately see the common errors and to see that a book is following the traditions of good book design that gives credibility to your message. Whether you do the work yourself or hire it out, Book Design and Production will help you get your book done right. Use this book to guide you through the book design and production process. Praised by self-publishing guru Dan Poynter and Midwest Book Review, Book Design and Production  was a finalist for the 2006 IPPY Book of the Year (Writing). Winner BAIPA Award.

Alacan Press

Comic Mnemonics: A Fun Easy Way to Remember Spanish Verbs (ISBN: 0974909637; Alacan Publishing; $16.95, 240; trade paperback; Language: Spanish) by Jim Sarris For 2500 years mnemonics (memory devices) have helped students learn better. Maybe you use a mnemonic to remember the number of days in each month ("Thirty days hath September..."), which way to set your clock for Daylight Savings Time ("Spring forward, fall back). Now Comic Mnemonics combines lighthearted visual and mnemonic cues to learn Spanish faster and more easily. For instance: the verb comprar means to buy. Our mnemonic key is: "My tutor buys a computor." Praised by every major homeschooling magazine!

Aromas y Sabores Press

Food and Drink in Argentina: A Guide for Tourists and Residents by Dereck Foster and Richard Tripp (ISBN: 0977217604; $14.95; Aromas y Sabores Press; Trade Paperback, Travel: Argentina/Culinary; 132 pages with Appendix and Index) gives a dictionary of food, beverages and menu items; advice on where to eat and drink; information on Argentina's wine country and vintages to look for; regional recipes, tips for those traveling with children or on special diets--all in a fabulous book with full color illustrations. If you are traveling to Argentina or planning to move there, this book is a must have! Praised by Library Journal and PBS personality Rudy Maxa.

AWM Books

Shel Horowitz says that not only can honest, ethical businesses survive—they can thrive! In his startling new book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First (ISBN 0961466669; AWM Books; $17.50; 160 pages; trade paperback; business ethics) from AWM Books, the Hadley, MA author of five previous books demonstrates well-known examples of ethical companies that succeed. Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First  has been praised by over 50 well-known business people such as former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and Jack Canfield. The book has received kudos from Publisher's Weekly and ForeWord Magazine and won a 2004 Apex Award. Now published in India and Mexico!

Azure Alive

26 Gorgeous Hikes on the Western Côte d'Azur is an illustrated guide that invites you to slow down to the rhythm of your footsteps, and soak in the Western French Riviera's natural beauty. With detailed trail descriptions, hiking maps, hiking data such as time, distance, difficulty and elevation profiles for twenty-six hikes. This is the first in a planned series. Received a fine Library Journal review.

Context Audio Guides / Jane's Smart Art Guides™

The Jane’s Smart Art Guide™ to Fra Angelico at San Marco (ISBN: 9780976905233; Context Audio Guides.; 1 CD: 90 minutes; $19.95) describes the frescoes and tells of the central role that the artist-friar’s work played in the daily lives of his fellow Observant Dominicans. Between 1440 to 1452 Fra Angelico and his faithful assistants graced the walls of the convent with more than 50 elegant frescoes that still today, well more than 500 years later, convey the profound piety and humility that characterized members of the Observant Dominican order. Winner National Best Book Award, Audio Book: Travel

Under construction for more than 200 years, Antwerp’s Our Lady Cathedral (ISBN: 0976905205; Context Audio Guides.; 2 CDs: 150 minutes; $19.95) endured a catastrophic fire, was gutting by French revolutionaries in the 18th C. and wrecked by wartime bombings in the 20th C. Join Jane with this Smart Art Guide as she tells you about the wonders of this renovated chapel.

In Jane's Smart Art Guide™ Raphael’s Stanza della Segnatura (ISBN: 9780976905240; Context Audio Guides; $19.95; audio book; Travel: Arts/Italy; 110 minute cd + booklet) narrator Jane McIntosh describes Raphael’s magnificent frescoes in the Stanza della Segnatura at the Vatican. These paintings are among the greatest achievements in the history of art. Now visitors can contemplate these spectacular paintings guided by the scholarship of a well-known art historian. Raphael’s Stanza della Segnatura is the exclusive audio adaptation of the popular book in The Great Fresco Cycles of the Renaissance series, written by James Beck, Professor of Art History at Columbia University, and a renowned Renaissance scholar. Finalist National Best Book Award, Audio Book: Non-Fiction: Unabridged

The Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica (ISBN: 0976905213; Context Audio Guides.; 3 CDs: 220 minutes; $24.95) was inevitably at the center of the ebb and flow of Western Christendom’s political, social, religious and cultural development. Join Jane with this Smart Art Guide as she shows you the wonders of this magnificent structure. Winner Communicator Award and IPPY finalist.

Sta. Maria del Popolo (ISBN: 0976905221; Context Audio Guides.; 2 CDs: 115 minutes; $19.95) is an extraordinary—but often overlooked—art site. Hidden behind its unassuming façade is a trove of celebrated art treasures and unique architectural features. Jane’s Smart Art Guide walks you through this hidden treasure. Best Travel Book Award from USA Book News. Finalist PMA Ben Franklin Award.

Gagliardi Photography

A Turning Point: Images to Words (ISBN: 0971268703; Cloth; 156 pages; 11" x 12"; Photographic Essay/ Coffee Table book; Suggested Retail Price $65) by internationally regarded fine art photographer Victor Gagliardi is a collection of seventy extraordinary photographs selected to harmonize with brief philosophical writings by the finest minds of the last three millennia. A Turning Point blends aesthetics with philosophical wisdom and encouragement for the celebration of life. 

See also a beautiful set of matching notecards to A Turning Point

Follow Your Desire: Images to Words (ISBN: 0971268703; Cloth; 64 pages; 9" x 9"; Photographic Essay/ Coffee Table book; $30; release date 11/15/06) by internationally regarded fine art photographer Victor Gagliardi is a collection of extraordinary photographs selected to harmonize with brief philosophical writings by the finest minds of the last three millennia.

Illustrata Press

The Actor's Guide For Kids: A Comprehensive Handbook for Parents (ISBN: 1-885436-80-7; Illustrata Press; $17.95; 86 pages; trade paperback; Entertainment: Acting; Juvenile) by Jan Kelley and Brenda Krochmal. This guide will take you step-by-step toward establishing a successful acting career for your child. From finding an agent to booking his or her first job, The Actor's Guide For Kids is filled with invaluable information, hints and insights.

The Actor's Guide Southeast: An Introduction to the Regional Film and Television Market (ISBN: 1-885436-60-2; Illustrata Press; $26.95; 118 pages; trade paperback; Entertainment: Acting) by Nan McElroy and Melissa Ohlman-Roberge) is a comprehensive, concise and realistic introduction to all that is involved in pursuing on-camera work in the Southeast region.

France: Instructions for Use (Illustrata Press) is an illustrated, pocket-sized guide packed with the most current, pertinent, easy-to-locate advice available. Because it’s the only guide that focuses solely on practical information, France: Instructions for Use contains many extra, specific details the other guides simply don’t have the room to include. No art. No history. No hotels. No restaurants. An indispensable companion to any destination guide, this well-organized, in-depth, color-coded compendium keeps invaluable cultural and practical information at hand. The second in the series.

Italy: Instructions for Use: The Personal, On-site Assistant for the Enthusiastic but Inexperienced Traveler (ISBN:1-885436-30-0; $14.95; 119 pages; trade paperback; Travel: Italy.) by in-country concierge Nan McElroy, is a practical pocket-guide that offers suggestions and solutions for every how-to and what-now travel situation. Compact and up-to-date, this well-organized, illustrated, color-coded guide is logistical Italy from the inside out: an indispensable, in-depth compendium containing the keys to stress-free travel. From preparation to the return flight home, this is the only guide designed to provide you the information you need at the very moment you need it. Praised by Publisher's Weekly as a "boon to first time travelers." Consistently an Amazon.com top 150 travel title

Imaginator Press

In The Dark Dreamweaver: The Remin Chronicles, Book 1, (ISBN: 978-0-9745603-5-9; $19.95; Imaginator Press; Juvenile fiction: Fantasy; 256  pages. Ages 8-12.) by Nick Ruth, David has always dreamed of being a wizard. But he knows that magic isn't real, so he never imagines that he will meet a real wizard in a most unlikely place. Soon David finds himself traveling to Remin, the land of dreams. This is the new paperback edition of the critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning hardback. Due June 2007. A BookSense Pick, Winner: Mom's Choice Award; iParenting Media Award; Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award: Top 20 of 2006; Benjamin Franklin Awards Finalist; Hollywood Book Festival Awards Finalist

Breezes of Inspire: The Remin Chronicles, Book 2 (ISBN: 0-9745603-3-2 ; $19.95; Imaginator Press; Juvenile fiction: Fantasy; hardcover; 263  pages. Ages 8-12) by Nick Ruth. In this sequel to the popular The Dark Dreamweaver, in The Breezes of Inspire, David and his cousins accidentally plunge into the land of Inspire—and become trapped in a world where they aren't welcome. A BookSense Pick; ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award finalist; Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award: top 20 of 2006

Hanbo: The Aiki Way by John C. Goss (ISBN:0-9745603-2-4; $19.95; Imaginator Press; Trade Paperback, Martial Arts; 206 pages, laminated) John Goss Sensei applies his extensive experience with Aiki arts to teaching a dynamic and highly effective method of using the hanbo. The principles of Aiki add a flexibility to the use of the hanbo, which makes it much more effective as a self-defense weapon.

Quindaro Press

Revolutionary Heart: The Life of Clarina Nichols and the Pioneering Crusade for Women’s Rights by Diane Eickhoff (ISBN: 0-9614666-6-9; $14.95; Quindaro Press; Trade paperback, Biography/Women’s Studies 288 pages w/ notes, appendix and index). Clarina Nichols (1810-1885) moved West to the wild frontier of “Bleeding Kansas,” where her sons fought alongside John Brown. She helped shaped the state’s new Constitution to free slaves and give women rights. For the first time, the story of Clarina Nichols comes alive, thanks to Diane Eickhoff, whose meticulous, six-year quest to Nichols’s scattered writings has yielded a richer understanding of this remarkable pioneer. Praised by Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist and ForeWord Magazine, a Kansas Notable Book, ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award (biography); Winner of a Bronze in the IPPY Book of the Year Award,  PMA Ben Franklin Award, an All Lawrence (Kansas) Reads!

Prince Publishing

Travel With Others Without Wishing They'd Stayed Home  (ISBN: 0-9658194-3-4; Prince Publishing; Travel Essay /Travel Etiquette; Trade Paper; $16.95; 245 pages) by travel industry veteran Nadine Nardi Davidson received the Publisher’s Marketing Association’s coveted Benjamin Franklin™ Award for best travel essay book. To help readers cope with traveling with everyone from Bosses to hormonal teenage girls, grumpy spouses to temperamental pets, Ms. Davidson offers strategies and tips on how to negotiate a truce in one’s vacation plans. Rave reviews from USAToday, ForeWord Magazine and Parents Magazine.

Stone Pine Press

They Reached for the Stars: Women Astronomers by Mabel Armstrong is the first in a planned series of "Women in Science" books for Young Adults. They Reached for the Stars covers all the fascinating women who dared to look toward the stars from the first known woman astronomer Hypatia of Alexandria to Astronaut Sally Ride and all the fascinating, brave women in between. Glowing reviews from School Library Journal and ForeWord Magazine. Nominated to Ms. Magazine's Amelia Bloomer Reading List.
 

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