In his highly anticipated debut novel, Baltimore native Art Young invites readers on a thrilling journey to the beach, capturing the spirit of summers “downeyoshun.” Drawing inspiration from the beloved local phrase, Young weaves a compelling narrative that follows Sally, a precocious child genius, as she navigates her formative summers in Ocean City, Maryland.

Through vivid storytelling and memorable characters, Young paints a nostalgic yet exhilarating portrait of seaside adventures, making his novel a must-read for anyone longing for the magic of summers on the shore.

“This book strikes a perfect balance of nostalgia and adventure, creating a story that truly connects with readers,” said Kevin Atticks, director of Apprentice House Press.

Mark your calendars for April 22nd, 2025 to grab your copy of Art Young’s Downeyoshun—available on Amazon!

Description:

Little Sally is a genius. When she grows up, she wants to be a mathematician, a carpenter, a teacher, and an Olympic Gold Medal swimmer. Her mother has other plans, and will emotionally and physically abuse her to fit those plans. After all, she only wants what is best for her child. But Sally has a friend named Marie and others who love her, and their goal is her happiness. They are all at the little resort destination of Ocean City Maryland. “Downeyoshun” is a not-always sentimental vacation to the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Bring your swimsuit.

About the author:

Baltimore born, the author is a U.S. Navy / Vietnam / Agent Orange veteran and cancer survivor. He was once “with it” as a carny in a traveling gadget show, and has worked as a fire extinguishing systems installer and serviceman, route delivery sales for a brewery, flexographic press operator, licensed boiler plant engineer, and storyteller. He much prefers the last.

About Apprentice House:

Apprentice House is the nation’s first and largest entirely student-managed book publisher. Students at Loyola University Maryland are responsible for every aspect of the publishing process, from acquisitions to design and publication of every book. Our mission is, first and foremost, to educate students about the book publishing process.

As a program within the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland, it is driven by student work conducted in four courses: Introduction to Book Publishing, Manuscript Acquisitions and Development, Book Design and Production, and Book Marketing and Promotion.

Students in these courses serve as staff in Apprentice House’s acquisitions, design, and marketing departments, respectively. 

All kinds of emotional stories are in David Metz’s first collection, Nick and Lorraine Were Lovers.

With compassion, humor, and a clear understanding of the human condition, Metz shows moment of crisis in different perspectives with all different kinds of people with their own stories.

“I couldn’t put this down for a second; it was truly eye opening and emotional. This is a wonderful release,” said Kevin Atticks, Apprentice House director.

This book is available on Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, and wherever books are sold.

The book will be available on April 22nd, 2025.

Description:

There are no superheroes in Nick and Lorraine Were Lovers, just ordinary people caught in moments of crisis as they get on with their lives. A middle-aged corporate lawyer confronts a painful childhood memory in the wake of the George Floyd protests. A college student is on a mission to rescue his former lover from herself. A single mother is haunted by the suicide of her daughter. In a small Midwest town in the 1950’s, a boy plays “Army” with his friends and discovers the meaning of loyalty. These are some of the characters you will meet in these stories by David C. Metz. People whose stories—funny, sad, poignant—Metz tells with compassion, humor and a clear understanding of the human condition.

About the author:

David C. Metz’s stories have appeared in several literary magazines, including The MacGuffin, New Plains Review, Bull, Valparaiso Fiction Review and Perceptions. Originally from Illinois, he lives with his wife in Damascus, Maryland.

About Apprentice House:

Apprentice House is the nation’s first and largest entirely student-managed book publisher. Students at Loyola University Maryland are responsible for every aspect of the publishing process, from acquisitions to design and publication of every book. Our mission is, first and foremost, to educate students about the book publishing process. As a program within the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland, it is driven by student work conducted in four courses: Introduction to Book Publishing, Manuscript Acquisitions and Development, Book Design and Production, and Book Marketing and Promotion. Students in these courses serve as staff in Apprentice House’s acquisitions, design, and marketing departments, respectively.

Baylor University graduate student Olivia Taylor will release her debut novel, Welcome to the Paradise Motel, with Apprentice House Press on April 22nd, 2025.

A modern twist on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Welcome to the Paradise Motel follows Beatrice Bright, an ambitious young journalist whose world is turned upside down when her high school rival, Ben Constant, returns to their hometown in Florida.

“A light, charming story of best friends in a small Florida town who navigate conflicting relationships, careers, and values on their journey to love.” —Kathleen Anderson, author of Jane Austen’s Women: An Introduction

Available wherever books are sold.

Description:  

Welcome to the Paradise Motel is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing set in Florida. Quick-tempered Beatrice Bright has carved out a niche for herself as a small-town reporter for the Paradise Post. Unfortunately, the biggest news in her tiny beach town is that her old rival, Ben Constant, is moving back and bringing his depressingly successful video game company along with him. After Ben’s arrogant re-entry into Paradise, Bea is convinced he hasn’t changed for the better. She and Ben reignite their rivalry in the midst of parades, interviews, holiday parties, and hurricanes. Fed up with the years of romantic tension between them, their friends at the Paradise Motel try to trick them into revealing their feelings for each other. But when one of their friends is slandered, Bea and Ben must face up to their feelings and work together to reveal the truth.

About the author:

Olivia Taylor grew up in Fernandina Beach, Florida, which has a healthy population of pirates and community theatres. In college, she lived in a motel-turned-dorm that inspired the Paradise Motel. She now lives in Waco, Texas, where she is a graduate student at Baylor University and one of the editors of the Mark Twain Journal. She enjoys painting, cozy videogames, and exploring local coffee shops. Her poetry has appeared in The Avalon Literary Review, The Lamp, and Living Waters Review.

About Apprentice House:

Apprentice House is the nation’s first and largest entirely student-managed book publisher. Students at Loyola University Maryland are responsible for every aspect of the publishing process, from acquisitions to design and publication of every book. Our mission is, first and foremost, to educate students about the book publishing process.

As a program within the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland, it is driven by student work conducted in four courses: Introduction to Book Publishing, Manuscript Acquisitions and Development, Book Design and Production, and Book Marketing and Promotion.

Students in these courses serve as staff in Apprentice House’s acquisitions, design, and marketing departments, respectively. 

Sometimes, we know the least about those we love the most.  

When Virginia DeLuca’s sixty-year-old husband walked out saying he wanted babies, everyone had a theory. He already knocked someone up. Nervous breakdown. Brain tumor. 

DeLuca, a psychotherapist, spent decades helping clients cope with sudden losses and dramatic changes—and now it’s happened to her. She was left with the mystery of the ending and the need to forge an unfamiliar path. 

If You Must Go, I Wish You Triplets is an unflinching exploration of love and relationships from a woman who ultimately found that life can expand in unanticipated ways. 

The book will be available April 22nd, 2025.

About the author: 

Virginia Deluca is a writer and psychotherapist. She is the author of the award winning novel, As If Women Mattered. Her essays have appeared in the Iowa Review, The Writer, and The Huffington Post. She lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts. 

About Apprentice House: 

Apprentice House is the nation’s first and largest entirely student-managed book publisher. Students at Loyola University Maryland are responsible for every aspect of the publishing process, from acquisitions to design and publication of every book. Our mission is, first and foremost, to educate students about the book publishing process. 

As a program within the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland, it is driven by student work conducted in four courses: Introduction to Book Publishing, Manuscript Acquisitions and Development, Book Design and Production, and Book Marketing and Promotion. 

Students in these courses serve as staff in Apprentice House’s acquisitions, design, and marketing departments, respectively.  Learn more at apprenticehouse.com. 

Painter and former art professor Peter Gooch will release his debut novel, Seren, with Apprentice House Press on April 8, 2025.

Inspired by Detroit’s Cass Corridor, Seren brings readers into the world of renowned gallery owner, Fairchild Moss, as he embarks on a journey to uncover the mystery behind one famous painting and the muse who inspired it.

“A page-turning thriller, a meditation on art, and a touching exploration on second chances, Peter Gooch’s Seren is a novel that does all that.” —Adam Prince, author of The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men.

Available wherever books are sold.

Description:

It’s 1978, and the art scene in the Midwest is booming. Successful Detroit gallery owner Fairchild Moss secretly yearns to return to his first love—painting. When he comes into possession of a mysterious masterpiece, his life takes an unexpected turn. Perplexed by the imprint of a nipple in the thick paint, Moss is determined to unravel the painting’s mystery. So begins a darkly comic quest to uncover the story behind the eerie masterpiece and to locate the elusive muse who inspired it.

About the author:

Peter Gilchrist Gooch is a painter, writer, and former art professor living in New Mexico. He is the winner of the Bosque Publishing Prize for Fiction, and his short fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines and online. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, he holds an MFA from Western Michigan University. His short fiction has been published in The New Guard, Bosque Publishing, Etched Onyx, and Light and Dark Literary Magazine, among other publications. He resides in Corrales with his wife, Dr. Sharon Ransom.

About Apprentice House:

Apprentice House is the nation’s first and largest entirely student-managed book publisher. Students at Loyola University Maryland are responsible for every aspect of the publishing process, from acquisitions to design and publication of every book. Our mission is, first and foremost, to educate students about the book publishing process.

As a program within the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland, it is driven by student work conducted in four courses: Introduction to Book Publishing, Manuscript Acquisitions and Development, Book Design and Production, and Book Marketing and Promotion.

Students in these courses serve as staff in Apprentice House’s acquisitions, design, and marketing departments, respectively.

A book on humanist philosophy, metaphysics, and yes, UFOs, Mike Fiorito is coming out with UFO Symphonic. 

With the assistance of interviews from scholars, Fiorito challenges how we connect through music and journeys us into the collective unconscious, along with showing how sound is just more than something we hear. 

“Out of his other works, this is by far the most interesting and challenging piece of work. I wouldn’t doubt its success,” said Kevin Atticks, Apprentice House director.  

Available on Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, and wherever books are sold. 

The book will be available on February 1st, 2025.

Description: UFO Symphonic explores the language of music and its relationship to the mystery of existence. A collection of many voices, UFO Symphonic sings like a choral symphony. UFO Symphonic suggests that music is a form of highly complex communication, a contact modality. Contact with whom? Or what? There are no final answers, the author submits. Is music one way in which the past, present and future are attempting to communicate with and through us? More than a vehicle for time travel, music can transport us to another realm. UFO Symphonic investigates how the symbolic language of music, of sound, interfaces with the collective unconscious. With the symbolism of dreams, leading us, at times, into the realm of high strangeness. Through a series of personal accounts and other people’s stories, UFO Symphonic takes the reader on a journey into the impossible.    

About the author: 

Mike Fiorito is a freelance journalist and author. His books include For All We Know, Mescalito Riding His White Horse, Falling from Trees, The Hated Ones, Sleeping with Fishes, Call Me Guido, Freud’s Haberdashery Habits, and Hallucinating Huxley. Mescalito Riding His White Horse received the 2024 Independent Press Distinguished Favorite Award in Spirituality. Falling from Trees received the 2022 Independent Press Distinguished Favorite Award in Short Stories. 

About Apprentice House: 

Apprentice House is the nation’s first and largest entirely student-managed book publisher. Students at Loyola University Maryland are responsible for every aspect of the publishing process, from acquisitions to design and publication of every book. Our mission is, first and foremost, to educate students about the book publishing process. 

As a program within the Communication Department at Loyola University Maryland, it is driven by student work conducted in four courses: Introduction to Book Publishing, Manuscript Acquisitions and Development, Book Design and Production, and Book Marketing and Promotion. 

Students in these courses serve as staff in Apprentice House’s acquisitions, design, and marketing departments, respectively.