Guest Post: Robert Michaels

Today's guest brings us a little excerpt from his family-friendly book Gazpacho.

Prologue

The Arrival

Oh what a glorious light it was, so brilliant, bold and white. The light was so magnificent and powerful that I struggled in vain with my yet unopened eyes to gaze directly upon it. At first, with only but a glance and then with only a glimpse, I attempted to shield my newborn sight with the aid of the tiny hands and fingers that appeared there before me all aglow and bathed by the radiant light.

I quickly learned that each precious digit was mine to command. And, once I did, every one of them was sent out on the same mission of exploration, toward the light, filled with the hope and desire to touch it. Floating mere inches above me from where I lay, the light hovered ablaze, in all of its divine splendor, just out of reach. I soon came to understand that the light was never meant for me to touch in that way, but it was there for me to feel in a different way, instead. From somewhere deep inside myself I felt the incredible presence that was within it and it reached out to me with a message of love. As my eyes adjusted and grew more accustomed to the light, I marveled to behold a multitude of colorful rays on display. They danced, flickered and sparkled out from its center in every direction possible. All to a dazzling effect that filled me with joy.

Not a sound did it make, but even in the first few moments of my life, I knew that, somehow, the light had come to greet me and to help see me into the world. And I loved the light, almost as much as I felt the presence within it love me. Soon after I had made the connection with it, however, the light pulled away, faded and left. I didn’t like to see it go, but I was so very glad for the time that it had come to be with me. Even more than that, I was ever so grateful for the experience it left me with, to have known, felt, and witnessed something that was that good.

As those moments faded away, all of my physical senses took on a greater awareness. For the first time I heard soothing and comforting voices around me. At first the voices were faint, but before long, I could hear the sound coming from somewhere near me. Although I couldn’t understand exactly what they were talking about, I could feel that they were saying all kinds of nice and wonderful things just for me to hear. Love is also what I felt from them. And even though it was somehow different from the love that I felt from the light, the feelings were unmistakable and I loved them very much too!

So… this is what it’s like to be alive. Well hey, this certainly feels great! I really like it here!

About the Book: Gazpacho , a "Rarus Nimus Foetidus Loquaciatis Rauca Mollis" is a newly discovered species of worm that has the ability to communicate with most every living creature. But what his species is most known for, throughout the bug and animal world, is their highly toxic glands that produce a considerable amount of stink whenever they are stressed or in danger. This toxic "handicap" or stinky "gift", depending on how it comes to be used, sets the stage for Gazpacho's early years just as it serves to enrich his life experiences and fuel his grand adventures. From his birth in the northern forest glen to his plan of becoming the next great singing star and idol sensation, Gazpacho learns of love as he overcomes the many obstacles and prejudices against him to finally summon up the courage to leave home and live out his dream! This is the first book in a series of four that tell Gazpacho's amazing life story!

About the Author: Robert Michaels (Robert A. Nicpon) was born in Chicago, Illinois and he lived there until the age of 7. It was during Robert’s high school years that he discovered his passion for art, and it was in his last year of high school that he decided that he wanted to produce art for a living. In 2006 Robert learned that what really matters the most when producing a work of art is telling “The Story” and telling it well. When this was discerned, Robert received the inspiration to write the story of Gazpacho. With the help of his beloved coauthor Aurora Rose, Gazpacho’s story has grown into a four book series that chronicles Gazpacho’s amazing life.

Visit the author on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/robert.nicpon.1

And buy the book on Kindle:

http://amzn.to/1d6Xqih

As usual, you can find Mark at www.FB.com/MarkMillerAuthor

Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Post: Katherine Holmes

Today's guest comes to us from the wilds of Alaska and back again. Katherine Holmes makes a stop on her blog tour with some background info on her novel The Swan Bonnet.

We tend to absorb the history of our environment As it was for many, Alaska was romantic to me as a frontier, romantic while living in the city. Of a sudden someone would leave Minneapolis for Alaska. My brother went there to do legal work after he had worked with Indian Legal Aid in Duluth While he was on the south coast, I thought of moving. I read up on the state and became caught up in its history. The near extinction of swans in the United States had me thinking about settings and soon I was planning a story.

Learning about Alaska was like learning grammar through a foreign language. I've never read a history book about Minnesota though I have Midwestern ancestry going back to the mid-1800s. Mining hopes in Alaska were very similar to those on Minnesota's Iron Range in the early 20th century. The influx of people in Northern Minnesota had similarities to Alaska’s new population. Sometimes they were the same people. Like Alaska, the fur trade began Minnesota history. I'd heard much about the 1920s on the Iron Range from my mother. Boomtowns and sudden wealth mapped the region.

After being fascinated with two books of Alaskan history, I researched swans. I read how warehouses with thousands of swan pelts were discovered, more than 10,000 at a time. Eventually hunting laws were enforced and a successful environmental chronicle was documented. I began my Alaska story as a shorter fiction about an Irish immigrant couple who bought shore property where swans migrated. But soon the story led to a coastal town and characters emerged.

When I thought of the swans being killed in masses, I knew that few women were part of such a money-making venture. How much did women help such an environmental campaign in a lone setting when a particular species were illegal to hunt? It is known how women responded to Prohibition then.

I posted the book at Authonomy.com in 2009 while I began to re-work the historical detail. I was afraid the swan hat would seem far-fetched. But it wasn't historically. The West established its own dress. I actually hadn't seen Chaplin's The Gold Rush and later, when I watched the VHS, the women's fur hats were part of the entertainment.

Not until I was rewriting the book did I realize the inspiration for the swan hat. Of course, it was meant to be the white hat of the western. But I remembered from my grade school years the pheasant pelts one of my brothers brought home after hunting. He hung the pheasant pelts on the wall of his room and then in the basement. These pelts fit neatly on the head so that, with my friends, I wore a pheasant hat - until my mother found out and scared us about lice. There is some kind of method to storytelling after all.

About the author: After stints in publishing and as a reporter, Katherine L. Holmes obtained an M. A. in Writing from the University of Minnesota. Her poems and short stories have been published in many journals. In 2012, her short story collection, Curiosity Killed the Sphinx and Other Stories, was published by Hollywood Books International. She has also published a children’s fantasy, The House in Windward Leaves.

Visit the Katherine on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katherine.l.holmes

As usual, you can find me at www.FB.com/MarkMillerAuthor

The Swan Bonnet is available in eBook and paperback.

Get it on Kindle here:

http://amzn.to/197RXFg

Thanks for reading!

Revealing

Plenty of my posts have to do with my new releases, so let's get that out of the way upfront...

Promise of Tomorrow

Volume Four

Revelation

Click here to get it on Amazon Kindle: 

http://amzn.to/16mKOR5

Look for it on BN Nook and Kobo too!

Now, if you are still reading and haven't clicked off to Amazon to get an incredible story for a great price (each volume is only $0.99), I have a serious question.

How far would you go to keep your faith?

This is the tagline for the series, but it is also a serious question. I have four children and it is sometimes a question on my mind. The answer seems obvious. What would you do to protect your children? Isn't that a lot about faith? You have faith that your actions will benefit your children. You also try to teach them your own spiritual faith for them to pass on to others.

In my story, the Umble family is faced with the possibility of losing their faith entirely. They are cast into the unknown and everything is a challenge. In Volume Four, it is revealed that things are likely becoming worse. Can they keep their faith when it seems their faith has left them?

I would appreciate a few comments below about your faith - when you were challenged and how you came through it. Sometimes, I feel like my faith is tested on a daily basis. With four kids, I know my patience is!

Thanks for reading!

Setting the Stakes a Little Higher

The faith driven series ONE returns with a story by Christian movie-maker De Miller.

100% of the author’s proceeds will be donated to Bridge to Ability Specialized Learning Center, a not-for-profit organization serving the educational and therapeutic needs of fragile children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities. www.BridgeToAbility.org. The authors, creator and publisher are in no other way affiliated with this organization.

Mark Miller’s One 2013 is a spiritual anthology examining True-Life experiences of Authors and their Faith. As the series evolves expect to discover what it means to have faith, no matter what that faith is and no matter where they live. Remember that we are all part of this One World.

In Story Six, author and Christian filmmaker De Miller relates some of the inspirational experiences along his cinematic journey. From his early beginnings with a secular comedy to almost twenty years later and two feature-length Christian-themed movies, Miller sees God at work in his life. This is a moving story of miracles happening in the least expected ways.

My Review: Higher Stakes refers to the title of a personal piece of shared history. My father wrote this story recounting his experiences and growth in the world of movie making. Maybe you have him to thank (or blame) for the author I am today. However, hindsight is, as they say, 20/20 and we have learned from our past. Looking back, from a spiritually higher vantage point, it is interesting how things lined up and worked out. This story brings into focus a fuzzy past and paves the way for a brighter future. Aspiring artists, be it film or book or something else, can read this story and look for those moments in their own journey.

Now available on Kindle

http://amzn.to/163WxSq

This Saturday

JLB Creatives, a Lake County business that is Bringing Light to the Literary World, announced a unique author event for its summer offering as Authors in the Park returns to Mount Dora. The event, Picnic with an Author, is set for Saturday, July 6^th from 11 AM to 1 PM. Ten local authors will gather at the Gilbert Park pavilions, located on the northeast corner of Liberty Avenue and South Grandview Street, near the Mount Dora Lighthouse. Mark Miller, Social Media Executive for JLBC, encouraged fans and readers to join in for the full event. Food will be provided by Mount Dora’s Round Lake Christian Church for a small donation, he said.

“We’re serving lunch the entire time,” Miller said. “Fans and readers will have the special opportunity to sit with the author of their choice or visit all of the authors.”  The authors, Miller said, will be reading from their novels, discussing their works, and answering questions for fans and aspiring writers. Genres will range from epic fantasy to local history, and much more.

JLBC Conventions & Events executive and author, Jean E. Lane, mentioned with excitement that JLB Creatives has scheduled talented writers from around Lake County and even as far as Tampa and Jacksonville. 

In attendance will be: 

Janet Beasley - Inspirational Fantasy - http://amzn.to/Yw1Nd3

Lisa DeMarco - Children - http://amzn.to/186z209

Bethany Jett - Christian - http://amzn.to/18RokaG

L.R. Knost - Parenting, Non-Fic - http://amzn.to/190RGWP

Jean E. Lane - Sci-Fi, Children - http://amzn.to/100NFrv

Amy I. Long - Historical Romance - http://amzn.to/1b8KWCQ

De Miller - Mystery, Christian - www.DeMiller.com

Mark Miller - Fiction - http://amzn.to/17rhyuu

Rick Reed - Local History

Linda Wood Rondeau - Christian - http://amzn.to/190TKOz

“We are thrilled how much this has grown,” Janet Beasley, President of JLB Creatives and co-creator of the Authors in the Park event series, said. “Our Facebook page is getting traffic from as far away as England and people are talking about our events at work and school. We work hard to make this very different from your typical author book signing.” Authors in the Park can be found on Facebook at www.FB.com/AuthorsInThePark.

“The goal of Authors in the Park fits right into JLB Creatives' purpose. It promotes authors, both self- and traditionally published,” Janet said. “They have good things to share and great books for sale.” Beasley also noted that anyone purchasing a book from one of the authors on the day of the event will get a free hot dog.

To enhance the picnic atmosphere, there will be face painting by Rachel Clunn and a few other surprises, Miller said. “With summer reading in full swing, this is a great event for children and adults.” He urges readers to follow Authors in the Park on Facebook for updates and future events. 

Imploding

The newest offering of the Defective Amish Detective is available now! You can get Vol 6: The Sausage Log Implosion on Kindle here: http://amz.to/11MckpP

I have to say this whole experience has been a lot of fun. When Giovanni approached me about this series, I was a little hesitant. I have always known him to have an outrageous sense of humor and I knew the Amish were handled with a great deal of respect. I did not know how we would blend the two.

What came out of it was a story with lots of heart and its own kind of zaniness. I think we manage to show the proper amount of respect to the Amish. Much of the slapstick falls on the Defective Detective, who is not Amish. What is he? Something of a repentant hitman. Both of our main characters have mysterious pasts that give them unique skills to handle the cozy mysteries we throw at them.

In the end, this series is about friendship and understanding. It is about two men coming from two different worlds and overcoming their differences to work together for the greater good. It is a pleasure to write and I hope you have as much fun reading it!

About The Sausage Log Implosion: “Muck is Muck,” Eli the Blacksmith says.How does the Defective Detective go from having a near perfect day to one of the worst? Simple – someone stole his sausage log. Everyone has something in life that makes them happy. For G, it is the culinary delights of the Amish, including whoopie pies and sausage logs. When his favorite market is sold out, G wants to know why. The charming, but innocent, counter girl tells him that the butcher’s meat grinder has been stolen. When something goes awry in Amish Country, G can’t let it go. He joins his stalwart companion Eli and the two of them are on the case. They have two questions to answer. What happened to the meat grinder? And, how much muck is too much muck? This is one explosive implosion!

What's the Secret?

My friend and fellow JLB Creatives team member, Jean E. Lane, has a delightful book called Lill and Mewe and the Secrets of Mars. Well, I got a chance to read it after a rave review from my 12 year old daughter - she said it was a must read. I wanted to share my thoughts with my own short review.

Charming in its simplicity, yet surprisingly complex. There is a lot going on with this fun little story. The author has some big ideas and writes for her target audience. The secrets of Mars are revealed with a civilization hidden beneath the surface of the red planet. The focus of the story is on Lill, her younger brother and their insatiable curiosity. The story ends piquing my curiosity and leaves me ready for the sequel. Like a good series should, this first book comes to a satisfying end, but leaves the reader with a few questions. This story is perfect for middle grade and some young readers, especially if they are interested in fun and science!

About the book: When Lill, a young Martian girl, receives a telescope for her birthday and locates planet Earth, she and her water cat, Mewe, "borrow" a new space craft called the Whisper 5 and travel to Earth, where they meet a girl named Lily. Back on Mars, Lill looks for her brother Merak, who, also on a mission, has lost contact when his warp drive safety failed and may have left the galaxy. Lill later learns Merak was rescued, but by whom? As Lill watches Mewe's swim race at Frogscry River, where she competes with the other water cats, Lill discovers a glowing orb in the wall of a cave. The orb holds the thoughts of Martians who have died hundreds of years ago, along with ancient wisdom. What will she learn from the orb? Will she find Merak? What are the secrets of the history of Mars? Follow the exciting adventures of Lill and Mewe as they seek answers in a world of advanced computers, androids and artificial intelligence.

About the author: Jean E. Lane is originally from Youngstown, Ohio. She now lives in Orlando, FL with her husband Kenneth, their energetic dog Prancer, and two curious cats: Muffy and Abby.

She has worked most of her life in logistics, financial accounting, and purchasing. Her true interest lies in the almost believable aliens of the classic science fiction stories she enjoyed growing up.

Skygazing is a hobby which led her write her first children's novel, Lill and Mewe and the Secrets of Mars, the first of the Lill and Mewe series.

She uses math, science, discovery, learning, humor, and adventure in her books. But don't be scared...the math and science are great for kids ages 8 -12. Adults appreciate the content being that her writing style is highly entertaining while delivering facts so their children so they can learn while having fun.

You can get the paperback here:

http://amzn.to/18jns12