Pete Fanning

The Note Lily thinks my dream girl is a total snob. She says Madison Prewitt doesn’t even know I exist, which is not true. Sure, I may only exist in Madison’s world the way a piece of furniture exists…

For the first time in his life, Levi finds that he’s good at something. Really good. In no time he’s winning sparring matches, building stamina, and his confidence is soaring. His instructor even waives his fees and wants him to fight in a statewide tournament. Levi trains every night, wanting nothing more than to repay the man who’s done so much for him. As Levi overcomes his insecurities and starts to believe he can accomplish something extraordinary, his home life has a way of reminding him that sometimes, life is harder outside of the ring.

Levi Rocco only wants to protect his mom from his abusive father. His father’s last visit left Levi and his mom driving to the Med First center, where Levi decided to check out the Kick City karate studio across the street. Looking in on class, he ends up meeting the instructor and walks away with a free pass for thirty days. Since there is no money for karate, thirty days will have to be enough.

Cody Anderson is struggling. Recruitment and sales at Kick City are lagging. His Maple Ridge studio is last in money and profitability. The instructor only wants to teach karate, but everything else is getting in the way. But when he sees a boy outside his window, kicking like he was born to do it, Cody is taken by his raw talent and instincts. He offers the boy a pass, and vows to do everything he can to keep the around.

For the first time in his life, Levi finds that he’s good at something. Really good. He’s already winning sparring matches, building stamina, and his confidence is soaring. His instructor even waives his fees and wants him to fight in a statewide tournament. Levi trains every night, wanting nothing more than to repay the man who’s done so much for him. As Levi overcomes his insecurities and starts to believe he can accomplish something extraordinary, his home life has a way of reminding him that sometimes, life is harder outside of the ring.

Preorder is live!

“30 Day Pass is a gritty and inspirational middle grade novel that will appeal strongly to the target readership, especially adolescent boys, although girls will be able to relate as well. The novel does include references to physical and mental abuse (spousal violence, child abuse, and student bullying), and although there are no explicitly graphic scenes of abuse, parents, teachers, and other guardian adults should be aware that these incidents could be traumatic triggers for some readers. Having said that, the novel is truly empowering and inspirational in the way Fanning provides detailed descriptions of the karate skills Levi (the main character) learns as the story progresses, which help him gain confidence in himself and to face up to the bullies in his life.

The characters are well developed, and I really like how Fanning emphasizes the respect and character-building that karate and most martial arts instill in its practitioners. I also like that Levi learns, as will readers, that past trauma doesn't define one's future. Readers will also learn how one person truly believing in you can make a major difference in your life.”

- Goodreads Review

30-Day Pass 30-Day Pass

From award winning middle grade to heart-stopping thrillers, these titles offer something for everyone. Grab your Walkman and take a trip through the eighties. Hop a bus on a three-state journey to find the roots of your family tree. From magic spells to messy spills, political rivals and summer crushes, pick a spot in the shade and find your groove. Sports, music, family, friends, history, and romance, from 9 to 99 they’ve got you covered.

We LOVE great stories!

That's why we are committed to publishing only fantastic books! And just look at these covers!

Summer of Mud by Rebecca Bischoff
One Quarter Villain by Cori Cooper Author
Home Town by Pete Fanning
See Me As I Am by Cheryl Wanner Author
The Mummy of Monte Cristo by J Trevor Robinson, author
And the Sky Full of Stars by Sabine Berlin, Author & Editor
And out NEXT Tuesday, July 9th is Whisper by Kay Ross

These are only *some* of the brilliant books you can find at Immortal Works!

Here’s a sneak peek at 30-Day Pass, coming in August!

—

That was another thing about sparring. Here, he wasn’t regular Levi, the kid in worn clothes. In his gear, he looked like everyone else on the mat. But he could stand out in other ways. He could throw his kicks harder, his punches crisper. He could defend himself, dodge and weave like his life depended on it. And so he did.

At some point, Mr. Tabb emerged from the back. He stood in the front of the room, and Levi could tell he was watching closely, as though he wasn’t convinced about something. Levi thought he could use some convincing.

“Okay, let’s get started.”

Again, the ring was made, four orange cones making a square. Two sparrers were called out. Levi missed their names, but it was clear they were experienced fighters. They clashed immediately, but one fighter—tall and lanky and draped in a silky blue outfit—was the top guy. He was a blur of kicks. The match didn’t last long.

Mr. Anderson smiled at the rest of them. “Who’s going to get a point on Diego tonight? Anyone?”

It didn’t seem that way. Levi had never seen someone so quick and strong. He had the reach, and his kick seemed to stretch across the room. Diego took out Tony, then Emma, then two other challengers before Mr. Anderson called his name.

“Levi, what ’cha got?”

Diego bounced in place as Levi took his position in the ring. He was nearly a foot shorter than his opponent, but Mr. Anderson didn’t seem to notice.

From the start, Levi knew he was sunk. Diego came at him with a flurry of powerful kicks. Two fakes before a foot knocked Levi’s head. Shaking it off, Levi stood before Diego, who took his spot, ready to do it all over again.

“Keep your guard up, Levi,” Emma offered.

Tony mocked her.

Mr. Anderson simply called them back. Again, Diego came at Levi with his leg up, poised to strike. Levi dodged the first kick then ducked another. He got turned around but managed to keep his hands up, which blocked the next three strikes.

As Levi slipped out to safety, another barrage came. Reading his opponent, Levi knew he had to act. He blocked yet another punch and in a desperate heave, managed to throw a backfist that connected with Diego’s forehead.

Mr. Anderson jumped between the two fighters and threw one hand Levi’s way. “Point.”

“No way. I got him first!” Diego cried out. He turned to the other sparrers, who stood on the line, stunned into silence and without expression, arms dangling at their waists. “I got him,” Diego said again.

“Diego got him,” Tony offered.

“I don’t know,” Emma said, her eyes wide. “It was close.”

Mr. Anderson looked to Mr. Tabb, still standing near the front, although he’d edged closer onto the mat. “What do you say, Mr. Tabb?”

“It was close…but, I think you called it correctly.”

Diego shook his head. But he was an experienced fighter, more levelheaded than Tony. Diego kept his composure during a fight.

They lined up again. Diego came in a flash, like lightning striking a pole.

“Point, Diego.”

Again.

“Point, Diego.”

And then it was over.

As Levi took his place back on the line, Emma leaned her helmet close to his.

“You scored a point on Diego.”

Levi nodded. “Yeah?”

“He was southern regional champion last year.”

Levi looked at Diego again, annihilating his next opponent.

“Yeah, but I lost.”

Emma raised her eyebrows. “Well, of course you lost,” she said incredulously. “I mean, you just started karate. But no one gets a point on Diego Martinez.” She shook her head just as her name was called to get in the ring. “You might be really good at this.”

Different kind of people

If you enjoyed Justice In a Bottle, or just want a quick read, here’s a novella within the novel for .99

Off the Record: A Justice in A Bottle Story After befriending Crawford's most notorious ex-convict, Nita Simmons, middle school reporter, is convinced Earl Melvin is innocent. But coming off an epic flop of a story, Nita isn't sure she has what it takes to be a journalist. Besides, before she can think about Mr. Melvin's story, she's goin...

Release Day!

Here’s a sample-

It was entirely too early to be sitting on the front row of the bleachers in the gymnasium under the glare of three different cameras on Thursday morning, as Chelsea Crawford, Virginia’s hometown sweetheart, sat perched before us, armed and ready with questions.

Devin was doing better than I was, smiling broadly as we prepped. He was growing out a scraggly beard, which was driving his pops crazy, but he was pulling it off.

I’d only found out about Good Morning Virginia last night when I got home and Parker nearly tackled me as I walked inside. GMV was coming to Ridgeton. They’d caught wind of the story of how two opposing football players, one White, one Black, had come together to try and make a difference.

Groan.

The only good thing about this sudden interview was how I’d had little time to stress over it. And there was much to stress over, as Chelsea Crawford, who wore her hair like her smile—permanently fixed into a fake, unrelenting curl—set her sights on us.

Devin and I had joked about it earlier, right before we’d gone on. How when you first saw her, blonde, fixed up, tight dress, you thought Chelsea was hot. But once you got up close, saw the tiny cracks in her makeup when her eyes were trained on you, unblinking and crazy, that smile pressed into her face like it had been carved by a knife, well, I wasn’t so sure she was human.

Now, Chelsea crossed her legs and tilted her head. “Devin, Ben, thanks for being here this morning.”

I shot a sidelong glance at Devin who suppressed a grin. We were at school. Where else were we supposed to be?

Devin nodded. “Of course. No problem.”

“Great. So what made you two decide to do this? To take a stand and heal your communities?”

Wow. Chelsea went straight for the cheesy. Devin shot me a you-take-this-one look and I cleared my throat. “Well, it wasn’t exactly a long, thought-out plan. I think Devin and I were both affected by what we saw, and—”

Chelsea’s head bobbed. “Yes, but there had to be some thought for you to switch schools, am I right?”

I glanced at Devin, who shot me the look again. I squirmed. “Well—”

“I mean, your former football team is undefeated and headed for the playoffs,” she said, checking her notes. “That couldn’t have been easy, am I right?”

Such a forceful woman, capable of ripping into the flesh of any story. She seized the talking points from a source, a guest, a victim, and charged ahead. I shot one more glance at Devin, who clearly had no plans to bail me out.

I wiped my hands on my pants. “No, it wasn’t easy. It was probably the hardest decision I’ve ever made. But I…I feel like I’m doing something that will make my mom and sister proud. Hi, Mom. Hey, Park.”

I waved and Chelsea nearly bit my hand off. She composed herself in a flash, turning her Botoxed brow on Devin. “Okay, so, Devin. You were close with Reggie Watts, how has his death affected you?”

Devin took a breath. “Well, I wouldn’t say close, but his death has had a big impact on my life.”

“Can you explain?”

He shrugged. “I shouldn’t have to explain. A guy was murdered on a football field, during a game in which I was playing.” He motioned to me. “We witnessed a guy get stabbed to death—as did our teammates. Over what, a statue?”

“Oh.” Chelsea’s smile faltered but remained in place. Devin’s use of the word murder had her simultaneously uncomfortable and salivating. She shifted in her chair while consulting her notes. “About that, I hear there’s plans for a Heritage March in a few weeks. A pro-monument rally of sorts. Any thoughts on that?”

The pickup truck convoy the other night had littered the downtown streets with flyers about it. Devin glanced at me. “I hadn’t heard.” Maybe it was nerves, but we both started cracking up.

“Oh. So tell me about this?” she said, changing gears, gesturing at us. “The two of you seem to be really close. What was it about that night that brought you together?”

At school the other day, Devin had played me an old song on his phone called “Ebony and Ivory.” To be honest, I’d taken some offense when he talked about how White people loved this angle, but now, as he shook his head, I could only smile. It seemed the more I got to know Devin, the more I learned about myself.

Devin glanced down to his lap before he answered. “I’m hoping what happened will bring a lot of people together. Not for marches or rallies, but…as humans. I’m hoping what transpired, as well as our response, will get people’s attention. Otherwise, what’s going to happen? We keep doing this? Keep fighting each other? More violence, more rage. Where does it end?”

Chelsea crossed her legs again. “Ben, and you?”

I shrugged, picking up where Devin left off. “I went to Stonewall all my life, and looking back, I guess it was easy to close things off and only worry about what was happening in my own bubble. But during that game, when I looked out and saw a noose in the stands… It kind of popped that bubble. It went beyond football, beyond schools or towns or rivalries or disagreements. It went beyond human decency.”

A flash of anger rose in my chest. It climbed to my throat. I tried to shut it down, but I couldn’t. Once it flashed over me, it was too late. “Someone died on that field. Dead. Gone. Never coming back, and now people want to counter protest? I mean, counter what?”

I hadn’t planned on going that far. But the lights were on, and Chelsea sat there, eyes wide and unblinking, almost daring me to say it. So, I did. “Reggie Watts was murdered. I’ve heard all sorts of things being said about him recently. But you know what? He’s not the one on trial. He’s dead.”

Devin turned to me.

Chelsea let the weight of my words sit in the gym until it became almost like a third guest on the show. Finally, three, four, five seconds later, she cleared her throat. “Clearly, this is emotional for you.”

I wanted to wipe my face, my eyes, but those cameras were glued to us. I tried to calm myself, tame my words before I spoke again. “My whole life has been flipped over. And yeah, I’m uncomfortable. I’m experiencing things I never thought about. On top of that, my mom’s getting death threats. Why? Because I don’t want to cheer on someone’s death? Because I don’t want to look the other way and move on? Because I don’t. I can’t do that.” My voice caught and I choked up some. “I want to try and understand why it happened. Maybe find a way to leave my hometown a better place for my little sister. Is that so wrong?”

I was about to get up and be done with this before I started crying on Good Morning Virginia, when Devin nudged my arm. “You asked what brought us together?” He nodded toward me. “That. We share the same beliefs. We refuse to believe that everything and everyone is evil. What happened on the field between us, we saw it together. We got squeezed in by the hate and watched it ignite on the field. We saw blood together. So, if you’re wondering why we’re close, yeah, it’s that. Because of what we went through together.”

Chelsea nodded, eyes blinking as she cleared her throat. “Wow. Okay, thank you, Devin, Ben, thank you for speaking to me today.”

She addressed the camera, wrapping things up before the lights finally clicked off and it was like a gust of fresh air in the gym. Chelsea set the mike down and said something to her crew. She looked down, then back to us. “I just want to say, off the record, I think it’s commendable what you two are doing. Good luck to you, okay? If you need me for anything, please, here’s my direct line.” She handed me her card.

And then she was gone.

Devin clicked his teeth. “You know she’s just trying to get another story.”

I stared o
ff as the crew wrapped. I was so done with the spotlight.

It just wasn’t done with us.

Hometown | Immortal Works Press It was only supposed to be a high school football game, but when racial tensions spill from the bleachers, one person is left bleeding on the field. Senior linebacker, Ben Hoy, is still reeling with emotion when the local news arrives and asks what he’s feeling. His answer changes his life.Ben’s...

Work in progress -

There was a new kid in our class that year, Alex Timoteo. His face was burned something terrible. Not just his face, he had scars down his neck and who knew where else. He’d been homeschooled up until then and now, sitting in class, he never said a word to anyone. He sat behind me and sometimes I’d hear his raspy breaths as he struggled to breathe—especially when the boys were snickering and making fun of him.

At some point I took it upon myself to sit with Alex at recess. Much as I loved to run and jump and climb, when Benjamin Meyers and Andrew Millington started calling him Freddie Kruger (I googled the name to see what they meant), I knew Alex could use a friend.

Alex always pretended not to hear them, but he did, trust me. And then one day, after Alex had started to talk to me some, not much, but he’d told me how he’d been homeschooled and I’d said how home and school didn’t mix, Benjamin came over and asked Alex if his face hurt. Alex was looking off the way he always did when Benjamin leaned over and got right up in his face and made a show of gawking at the burns. That was it, I’d had enough.

I jumped to my feet and shoved him hard in the chest. I told both Benjamin and Andrew to both cut it out. Soon as I did the whole playground closed in, sniffing a fight was about to happen. And truth be told, it was about to happen. My fist were balled tight and I was ready to do what I had to do.

I shouted at them to get lost. Benjamin laughed in my face and a fleck of his disgusting spit hit me on the nose. Then he started singing how I was in love with Freddy Krueger. How I was going to have his ugly babies. He made it to the second verse before I hauled off and popped him in the mouth.

He fell to the ground, howling and making a fuss as he rolled over with his hands to his face. Grass and dirt clung to his back as the teachers rushed in and the kids broke apart and Andrew was pointing at me and saying how I’d gone psycho and assaulted his friend. I was so mad I didn’t even explain myself. I told him he was next.

Daddy had to come to the office. I tried to explain. I told Daddy how they’d been teasing Alex, what they’d been saying. Daddy looked up and asked the teacher if that was true. He wanted to know how the principal had let this go on right under her nose. I could’ve told anyone asking it was because the teachers were usually chatting or scrolling through their phones at recess, but it wouldn’t have done any good.

And here’s the thing. The principal believed us, I could tell. But there was a zero tolerance on fighting. I had no right to assault another student.

I smirked, because everyone kept saying assault. Please.

Even as Daddy and the principal had my back, I got suspended for the rest of the week. When I returned to school, everything had changed. One, Alex was no longer there. His empty desk served notice that Benjamin and the bullies had won. Second, the nickname stuck. I was now Crazy Nettie, and no one came within five feet of me on the playground, including our teacher.

By fifth grade, my reputation was set in stone. And what did I care, if they wanted to call me names and be afraid of me? They’d better be afraid of me. Still, in the back of my mind I always told myself middle school would be different. New kids and a new start. And Cole would be there.

Now, only a weekend stood between me and middle school, and I was still letting my temper get the best of me.

“Teens will find much to relate to here; not only from the realistic high school and football culture that permeates Ben’s life, but in the adult issues that pop up to lend new meaning to his endeavors, and bigger-picture thinking to his life.

These added-value elements are why Hometown is highly recommended not just for teen readers and libraries catering to them, but for classroom discussion groups and book clubs seeking material that draws on personal experience to explore social, political, historical and racial precedents and the choices that young people face in modern-day life.”

April 2024 Issue - Donovan's Bookshelf One moment can change your life forever, as senior linebacker Ben Hoy discovers in Hometown. The moment-by-moment tension of a football game, narrated in the first person, introduces an immediacy and power to the story that simmers with action from the start:

Hometown by S.A. Fanning | Indies Today Cuts to the heart in so many ways that are personal and profound. Every sport has its storied rivalries. The Celtics and the Lakers. The Red Sox and the Yankees. The Buckeyes and the Wolverines. High school football has Stonewall and Briggs, a matchup the whole city turns out for. But this year’s ...

Digital preorder up on Amazon!

★★★★★

“The story cuts to the heart in so many ways that are personal and profound. Not only are there many mirrored current events shaping viewpoints in Ben’s town, but peer pressure and heavy expectations settle in like a familiar weight. While contemporary issues drive the story, the compelling cast is the best part of this pointed yet respectful novel. Amid all the social commentary and stereotypes is a really likable protagonist, one who isn’t afraid to speak out against racism while learning from others. Ben is a good kid caught up in a bad situation, and his actions say a lot about his character. An enjoyable read and an accurate reflection of reality, Hometown is a story about the lasting legacy of our most difficult choices.”

-Indies Today

Surrounded by talent

Artist Profile: A Lesson in Unity | Lynchburg Living Charlottesville changed everything for me,” Pete Fanning remembered. “I guess I was naive. I knew it wasn’t perfect, but I wasn’t aware it was so mainstream ...

Preorder coming soon!

Short piece I wrote

The New Guy I was scarfing down Whoppers when death came. Not the burgers–yeck–but the candy, wolfing them down, crunching on the malted milk balls so that I didn’t hear his dainty little knocks. But the…