Encante Press, LLC

26/11/2024

Do you want to give someone a super-cool holiday gift? What could be cooler than a signed copy of a novel that won’t be published until January? I have a limited supply of my hilarious new novel, “The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles,” available for $18.95 + $5.00 shipping (U.S. only). To snag a copy for the book-reader in your life, send an email to [email protected] with your mailing address and who you would like the book signed to. I will then send you a PayPal invoice that you can pay via PayPal or with a credit card.

And if you’re wondering if the book is any good, just look at these early reviews!

“A smart, funny tale of a Good Samaritan crime spree.”—Kirkus Reviews (Recommended)

“The Silver Squad is an antic caper that proceeds from one wacky interlude to another, leading to a satisfying conclusion. . . . Recommended for a feel-good read.”—Reedsy

“The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles by Marty Essen is a delightful and daring story that redefines adventure in the golden years. (It’s) perfect for readers who enjoy a blend of comedy, crime, and adventure, all centered around characters who defy stereotypes about aging. With its lively characters and uplifting message, Marty Essen’s novel is an enjoyable and thought-provoking read that will leave readers cheering for Barry and Beth’s unique brand of justice.”—Carol Thompson, Readers’ Favorite Reviews (5 Stars)

“Nothing is predictable as these silver-haired vigilantes adopt the guise of guardians, spies, superheroes, and celebrities, but their best role is as two friends reconnecting after a lifetime apart. Warm, wild, and a little naughty, The Silver Squad is a hopeful, life-affirming novel that can impart the courage needed to tackle old age.”—Indies Today (5 Stars)

“A delightful mix of observational humor, introspection, and respectful affection for the older generation, The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles is a scenic road trip through the country with a gratifying destination.”—Indies Today (5 Stars)

07/09/2024

“This is a wonderful book—a labor of love—that describes in soul-stirring language what it is like to live with the people, the animals, the birds, the snakes, the insects, the jungles, the treacherous rivers, the gorgeous scenery of seven continents. It is the best travel and exploratory work I have yet encountered. Marty Essen and his wife, Deb, are two highly intelligent, imaginative, and brave people.”—Senator George McGovern (1972 Democratic nominee for president)

Available in paperback and Kindle formats. Order by clicking below:

Ingram (Click for special sale price): https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?Rrxv0NJCIDYUfizYq4Y2VZebVcGjxACfT28W63NWMqp

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGLS1BI

02/09/2024

Available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook formats!

Ingram (Click for special $2.00 discount): https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?mKHbXQ1TpWng8uq0V0rQ2tsjaxw8sAOaa16aZOFlHLU

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VHP6N2F

02/09/2024

Available in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook formats:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079P9YLKW

Ingram (Click for special sale price): https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?yDQGlcPlwJ72OwX0JiuWi9Dey8U46vnYcqI4RRBHr06

16/08/2024

The tentative release date for “The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles” is January 17, 2025. I’m already setting up reviews and press with media outlets that require lengthy advance notices, but I really just want to get on with it. This is going to be my most accessible book ever. It’s still liberal, but not so liberal that right-wingers will feel obligated to go out of their way and “review bomb” it as they have done with my previous novels. It’s going to be a hit!

Here's the plot summary:

The Bold, the Brave, and the Wrinkled: Retirement Just Got Rowdy

Barry and Beth, high school sweethearts separated by time and circumstance, find themselves reunited at the Blue Loon Village senior living center in Minneapolis. Now both seventy, they rekindle their relationship only to discover how differently time has shaped them. Beth has blossomed into a free spirit with a goth flair, while Barry has transformed into the curmudgeon he swore in his youth he’d never become.

Despite their differences, neither senior is content to settle into a quiet life at the Blue Loon Village. As they reminisce about their unfulfilled teenage dream of changing the world, Beth convinces Barry that it’s never too late to make a difference. In fact, their age provides them with an advantage—the minimal consequences they’d face if caught doing something illegal. Inspired by their past and emboldened by their age, they set off on a daring road trip across America as Silver Squad vigilantes with nothing to lose.

Soon joined by Jenny—a woman in her forties on the run from her abusive cop-husband—the Silver Squad’s humorous, sometimes perilous escapades include robbing the prosperous to feed the homeless, rescuing drowning kittens, challenging unethical alligator hunters, and confronting a mass shooter with only a can of SPAM.

And sometimes, when a woman tires of running, she turns around and fights. As Jenny’s fear turns into courage, she vows to seize control—and give her husband the surprise of a lifetime.

The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles is a comedic novel that celebrates living life to the fullest while tackling the serious issues of spousal abuse, animal cruelty, mass shootings, and homelessness.

07/08/2024

I wrote the following in my first book my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents: “The Catholic Church’s long history of wealth and power was on display wherever I looked. Whether it was a store selling silver scepters, golden chalices, and precious metal accessories for the well-dressed priest or the extreme opulence in the cathedrals, all the gold and silver I’d seen in my life up to that point would be a mere speck compared to what I saw in a single afternoon in Madrid.”

And now, of course, Catholic churches all over the world are declaring bankruptcy to avoid having to pay full restitution for the more than a million children they have sexually molested in the past 70 years. Those grand old churches collectively are worth billions of dollars, and many would make great theaters, museums, or concert halls. They should have to sell them to pay for their crimes.

Get your copy of my six-time award winning book here at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or order it from your favorite bookstore.

02/08/2024

What if you could go back in time to make sure the failing weird orange guy was such a failure that he even failed to be born?

Ingram (Click for special sale price): https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?PeHlDS0yJOhU1HPQTYuhvu440DGstqc2W8z0jAbsJBZ

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFBD2MMP

20/07/2024

Are you enjoying my God’s B Sides series? If so, here’s your summer read! Time travel back to the Sermon on the Mount, with Marty Mann and Nellie Dixon. As the title states, Time Is Irreverent is, indeed, irreverent, as the Jesus they meet is quite different from that other Jesus. Pick up this irreverent, liberal, twisty, time travel comedy by clicking either of the below links:

Ingram: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?yDQGlcPlwJ72OwX0JiuWi9Dey8U46vnYcqI4RRBHr06

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079P9YLKW

26/06/2024

In “Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again!” our heroes make a second trip to AD 31, but when they return to present time, they have a stowaway on their ship—Jesus Christ!

Can Marty Mann and Nellie Dixon save the world and rescue Tina and Chrissie with snark being their only superpower? Can a dark-skinned Jesus with a fondness for profanity and a disdain for religious hypocrisy thrive in the twenty-first century? And who are the Soldiers of the White Jesus, and what will they have to do with any of this? These questions and more will be answered in this unforgettable episode.

Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again! is a hilarious, thought-provoking satire with unpredictable twists, colorful and colorless aliens, the outrageous Holy Smokin’ Hot Nellie, and a juicy role for Jesus Christ, the actual guy!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0977859967

16/06/2024

Last week, I approved the cover for my upcoming novel, “The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles.” The cover was designed by Laura Duffy, former Senior Art Director at Penguin Random House. Thanks to all who overwhelmingly voted for this cover, when I posted a rough draft of it and two other options a few weeks ago. This new cover features multiple improvements from that rough draft, including updating it to the 2011 Mustang GT that is featured in the novel, characters inside the car that more closely match how I envisioned them, and a gecko logo on the front grill (you’ll understand the significance of the gecko if you read the book).

Publication won’t happen until sometime in 2025, but here’s the plot summary to whet your appetite:

• The Bold, the Brave, and the Wrinkled: Retirement Just Got Rowdy

Barry and Beth, high school sweethearts separated by time and circumstance, find themselves reunited at the Blue Loon Village senior living center in Minneapolis. Now both seventy, they rekindle their relationship only to discover how differently time has shaped them. Beth has blossomed into a free spirit with a goth flair, while Barry has transformed into the curmudgeon he swore in his youth he’d never become.

Despite their differences, neither senior is content to settle into a quiet life at the Blue Loon Village. As they reminisce about their unfulfilled teenage dream of changing the world, Beth convinces Barry that it’s never too late to make a difference. In fact, their age provides them with an advantage—the minimal consequences they’d face if caught doing something illegal. Inspired by their past and emboldened by their age, they set off on a daring road trip across America as Silver Squad vigilantes with nothing to lose.

Soon joined by Jenny—a woman in her forties on the run from her abusive cop-husband—the Silver Squad’s humorous, sometimes perilous escapades include robbing the prosperous to feed the homeless, rescuing drowning kittens, challenging unethical alligator hunters, and confronting a mass shooter with only a can of SPAM.

And sometimes, when a woman tires of running, she turns around and fights. As Jenny’s fear turns into courage, she vows to seize control—and give her husband the surprise of a lifetime.

The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles is a comedic novel that celebrates living life to the fullest while tackling the serious issues of spousal abuse, animal cruelty, mass shootings, and homelessness.

11/06/2024

Moments ago, I approved the book cover for my upcoming novel, “The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles.” The cover was designed by Laura Duffy, former Senior Art Director at Penguin Random House. Thanks to all who overwhelmingly voted for this cover, when I posted a rough draft of it and two other options a few weeks ago. This new cover features multiple improvements from that rough draft, including updating it to the 2011 Mustang GT that is featured in the novel, characters inside the car that more closely match how I envisioned them, and a gecko logo on the front grill (you’ll understand the significance of the gecko if you read the book).

Publication won’t happen until sometime in 2025, but here’s the plot summary to whet your appetite:

• The Bold, the Brave, and the Wrinkled: Retirement Just Got Rowdy

Barry and Beth, high school sweethearts separated by time and circumstance, find themselves reunited at the Blue Loon Village senior living center in Minneapolis. Now both seventy, they rekindle their relationship only to discover how differently time has shaped them. Beth has blossomed into a free spirit with a goth flair, while Barry has transformed into the curmudgeon he swore in his youth he’d never become.

Despite their differences, neither senior is content to settle into a quiet life at the Blue Loon Village. As they reminisce about their unfulfilled teenage dream of changing the world, Beth convinces Barry that it’s never too late to make a difference. In fact, their age provides them with an advantage—the minimal consequences they’d face if caught doing something illegal. Inspired by their past and emboldened by their age, they set off on a daring road trip across America as Silver Squad vigilantes with nothing to lose.

Soon joined by Jenny—a woman in her forties on the run from her abusive cop-husband—the Silver Squad’s humorous, sometimes perilous escapades include robbing the prosperous to feed the homeless, rescuing drowning kittens, challenging unethical alligator hunters, and confronting a mass shooter with only a can of SPAM.

And sometimes, when a woman tires of running, she turns around and fights. As Jenny’s fear turns into courage, she vows to seize control—and give her husband the surprise of a lifetime.

The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles is a comedic novel that celebrates living life to the fullest while tackling the serious issues of spousal abuse, animal cruelty, mass shootings, and homelessness.

07/06/2024

With summer on the way, road trips are on the agenda for many. And what’s better for a road trip than an audio book? Five of my seven books are available as audio books. Collect them all! You can download the fifth one here:

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. An unconventional, satirical, controversial, time travel comedy! What if you could reach back in time to deport the world’s worst environmental villains to a depository planet before their greed condemns Earth to an ecological apocalypse? What if e...

06/06/2024

With summer on the way, road trips are on the agenda for many. And what’s better for a road trip than an audio book? Five of my seven books are available as audio books. Collect them all! You can download the fourth one here:

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. Everyone has dreams of what they want to accomplish in life. Marty Essen’s childhood dream of becoming a herpetologist gave way to his dream of becoming a popular DJ, which led to his dream of becoming a big-time talent manager, which morphed into ...

06/06/2024

With summer on the way, road trips are on the agenda for many. And what’s better for a road trip than an audio book? Five of my seven books are available as audio books. Collect them all! You can download the third one here::

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. Marty Mann and Nellie Dixon are back for another irreverent, liberal, twisty, time travel comedy! This time they have Noah’s Ark and Ronald Reagan in their sights. Where would you go on a time travel vacation? At the conclusion of their last episod...

02/06/2024

With summer on the way, road trips are on the agenda for many. And what’s better for a road trip than an audio book? Five of my seven books are available as audio books. Collect them all! You can download the second one here:

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. Marty Mann and Nellie Dixon are back for another irreverent, liberal, twisty, time-travel comedy! This time they have Jesus Christ, the actual guy, on their side. The timeline correction Marty Mann and Nellie Dixon accomplished in their first episode wa...

01/06/2024

With summer on the way, road trips are on the agenda for many. And what’s better for a road trip than an audio book? Five of my seven books are available as audio books. Collect them all! You can download the first one here:

Check out this great listen on Audible.com. An irreverent, liberal, twisty time-travel comedy! What if you could make a change to history that would eliminate the Spanish Inquisition, American slavery, World War II, global warming, and an egomaniacal US president who thought he was smart enough t...

22/05/2024

After roughly 4,000 hours of work, the manuscript for my eighth book will be fully written, edited, and ready to go by the end of the long weekend. There is still a ton of work to do before the estimated publication date of early 2025. I’ve mentioned this novel on Facebook before, but that was still under the working title of “Barry and Beth.” The official title will be “The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles.”

In brief, it’s a humorous story about two seventy-year-old, former high school sweethearts, who reconnect at a Minneapolis retirement complex, realize they have much more to accomplish, and cross America on an epic road trip—engaging in vigilante crimes along the way.

I’m posting three first drafts of potential book covers. All were designed by Laura Duffy, the former Senior Art Director at Random House (where she designed book covers for Barack Obama and others). I’d appreciate it if my reader friends out there would give me their opinion on which cover would make them most likely to buy.

We’ll call the covers as follows:

#1: Car
#2: Badge
#3: SPAM.

Please click on each cover to enlarge before making a decision.