Showing results by narrator "Marni Penning" in All Categories

American roots music, also known as Americana music, can be challenging to categorize, spanning the genres of jazz, bluegrass, country, blues, rock and roll, and an assortment of variations in between. In The Downhome Sound, Mandi Bates Bailey explores the messages, artists, community, and appeal of this seemingly disparate musical collective. To understand the art form's intended meanings and typical audiences, she analyzes lyrics and interviews Americana artists, journalists, and festival organizers to uncover a desire for inclusion and diversity.

Just in time for Halloween 2025, it’s Shadow Lab, Volume Two! Find these and more horrifying tales in the second Shadow Lab anthology from Blackstone Publishing.

In love with one twin, bonded by fire to the other. Welcome back to Arcturus Academy. I survived my first semester, but it's not getting easier. I adore Gage, so why do I share a mage-bond with Ryan, a bully who keeps trying to blackmail me and might get both of us killed? He's like a hydra. Whenever I diffuse one plot, another springs up in its place. How long can this go on before he gets what he wants?

School’s out for summer, and all Saxony wants is a few weeks at home to recuperate from the roller-coaster ride of her first year at Arcturus Academy. Apparently, that is too much to ask, as a promise she made to protect the innocent comes back to haunt her. Venetian crime boss Enzo Barberini has called in his chit. Saxony finds herself on a chase through (and beneath) the gritty ancient streets of Naples, hunting for not one but two men she hoped never to meet again. Her only back-up? A couple of fellow students.

In all his years of bounty hunting, not one injury could rival the pain Lou Prophet felt when he thought he’d lost his old partner Louisa Bonaventure. Now that he’s rescued her from the brink of death in Mexico, they’re seeking a fresh start in Juniper, Wyoming, which had once been called Helldorado before Lou’s friend, “Hell-Bringin’” Hiram Severin, cleaned it up. Or thought he had.... 

An all-access ticket to the celebrated and wholly original mind of Mark Leyner, “one of the smartest and funniest humans since Aristophanes” (Jay McInerney) Praised as “chaotic and vibrant” (Charles Yu), “visionary” (Sam Lipsyte), and “supremely original” (John Cusack), the work...

At first, Erika Bolstad knew only one thing about her great-grandmother, Anna: she was a homesteader on the North Dakota prairies in the early 1900s before her husband committed her to an asylum under mysterious circumstances. As Erika's mother was dying, she revealed more: their family still owned the mineral rights to Anna's land—and oil companies were interested in the black gold beneath the prairies. Their family, Erika learned, could get rich thanks to the legacy of a woman nearly lost to history.

Meet Lara Dominguez—a troubled Creighton cops reporter obsessed with the city's debonair vigilante—The Black Ghost. With the help of a mysterious cyber-informant named LONE, Lara's inched closer to uncovering the Ghost's identity. But as she searched for the breakthrough story she desperately needs, Lara will have to navigate the corruption of her city, the uncertainties of virtue, and her own personal demons. Will she have the strength to be part of the solution—or will she become the problem?

As Lara Dominguez settles into her new role as the Black Ghost—the corrupt city of Creighton's last defense—she finds herself face to face with a monster borne out of the city's own dark past. Can she handle her new foe while trying to balance her own shaky personal and professional lives?

Dr. Asante Argueta's life has just been shattered into a thousand unrecognizable pieces. One minute she is a self-assured, highly driven, accomplished surgeon and the next moment, she is being tranquilized and kidnapped, only to wake up in a mental health facility. As the mysteries of her tragic childhood unfold, a hidden world of miraculous abilities, secret factions, and the power of the now are revealed. When the truth behind the veiled reality known as normal life is exposed, the fight for the fate of the human mind begins. Asante is the last hope against the tyranny that has enslaved the collective conscience if she can realize There’s Only Right Now.

Federation takes close encounters to a whole new level. A galactic empire of a quarter of a million worlds stumbles across the earth. When they ask, "take me to your leader", the world is thrown into panic. We have no world leader, only many who might like to be. With elements of a political thriller, there is an intriguing storyline which addresses the environmental and myriad social problems faced by the world today.

Alien university professor and author, Yol Rummy Blin Breganin, continues his research on the planet Earth. He introduces, into this final volume, some stories from the distant past of the Federation, which provide a greater insight into the vast alien empire. In the only free and independent part of the planet Earth – the United States of America – the populace is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the growing authoritarianism. With California in revolt, can the USA retain its own independence in this rebellious climate?

Roots, once suffocating under cement, tear through the streets of London to throttle buildings. Vegetable homunculi hold up banks with automatic weapons. There is a green and blooming world beyond our own, fighting back against the human pollutant. We will launch a rescue mission to this Otherworld. But it is cruel and unknowable, and should we become tangled in its vines, more than cities will fall.

After the dramatic and unexpected turn of events at the end of the first book, planet Earth is left with several factions trying to resolve the situation. The new president of the USA is trying to secure his hold on power, while a new group - who have named themselves Free America - is taking steps to overthrow what it considers an illegitimate regime.

When Lacey's friend is haunted by a nighttime prowler only she can hear, it's up to Lacey to decide if the prowler is imaginary or not - a life-altering decision. 

Enjoy rest for your soul and focus on the true meaning of Christmas with devotions that fix your heart on Christ. Devotions for Christmas gives you 31 hope-inspired devotions along with seasonal Scripture and prayers. We all know that Christmas is a time to celebrate Christ the King born to us...

A smart, poignant novel perfect for fans of Lessons in Chemistry “An incredible STEMinist read.”—The Honey Pop Mathematical genius Dr. Meg Brightwood has just completed her life’s work—a proof of a problem so impenetrable it’s nicknamed the Impossible Theorem. Reclusive and burdened...

From award-winning actress, audiobook narrator, and performance coach Marni Penning comes a powerful new tool for calming anxiety and nerves for actors and presenters! The Penning Method for the Panicked Actor™ introduces performers of all disciplines—whether stage, television, film, public speaking, or musical—to 10 simple markings that can help you analyze your script in record time so you can relax and play in your auditions.

Lane Haviland can’t seem to catch a break. She’s dead broke, barely functioning as an adult, and completely alone in New York City. Her so-called “apartment” is a six-by-nine cell in a Brooklyn basement. And her new boss hasn’t ever met a personal or professional boundary she can’t bulldoze through.

Wild Monsters Dance About is a collection of 21 short stories that will take into author M.J. Sewall’s unruly mind. These finely tuned tales jump through genres, concepts and characters, predicaments, adventures, and conundrums. Whether about everyday-science going terribly wrong in "Unintended Science" to animal evolution suddenly speeding up in "It Finally happened" or the prickly family politics of road trips in "Sibling Warfare", these stories will thrill, delight, and discombobulate your imagination.