Powder River, 1957

“The year my mother left us, my father found a dog along the highway just outside of Powder River.”

Thus opens the beginning of sixteen-year-old Matthew Christman’s account of his senior year. Reeling from his loss, Matthew struggles to make sense of the adult world into which he has been forced to enter prematurely. He faces other losses, foremost among them his innocence, as he tries to figure out the difference between being a man’s man, or a good man like his father.

The threat of death is ever present for Matthew as he learns the value of love and friendship in his journey to find his way in a world fraught with unpredictable challenges.

Puppy Pals Great Adventures

Zaphod and Cody are best friends. Adventures always get them into sticky situations. They are determined to look out for each other, even in the midst of encumbering circumstances. Can their friendship withstand the test of time? There is a new obstacle they must contend with: affairs of the heart. A new love interest has just moved into their hometown: Myra! She is so beautiful and just might be a diva. Cody is head over heels in love! Cupid has definitely shot him with an arrow of love.

Will their friendship survive and continue to be unbreakable so they can face all the adventures at hand? The River Pirates and the Motley Crew hope Cupid’s arrow will keep Cody in this trance. Will lovesick gazes break down their bond that has been in place since birth? Only time will tell as our Puppy Pals deal with each adventure each day. Maybe Myra will enhance their friendship and make them stronger. A stronger friendship could spell trouble for the River Pirates and the Motley Crew. Stay tuned as the adventures continue.

Purple Cows Are Welcome Here

Does your imagination include a purple cow? If so, you will fall in love with Beatrice and her journey toward acceptance and creativity! There is a place in everyone’s heart for art, and it grows every time you use your imagination, so…

Fasten your seat belt as you follow Beatrice from a farm to Miss Palette’s art room. Only there did she find the acceptance she so desperately sought. Being ‘art smart’ changed her life. And it will change you too!

Puzzled Mysteries

Detective John Grizzley has just 72 hours to find Sarah after she was kidnapped. If he fails to locate her in time, her life hangs in the balance. To find Sarah, Grizzley must solve an intricate series of puzzles that send him racing across the city. With each new riddle, he draws closer to Sarah’s whereabouts – and her merciless captors.

Armed with razor-sharp focus and instincts, Grizzley pushes himself to the limit tracking down every scrap of evidence. Around every corner lies the possibility of a fresh lead… or a lethal trap. To crack the case in time, he’ll need to stay one step ahead and follow the trail wherever it takes him.

With the clock ticking down, Grizzley faces the ultimate test: can he decipher the kidnapper’s web of clues and rescue Sarah before she meets a terrible fate? On this mission, every second will count in the race to save an innocent life.

Puzzles and Paradoxes

Embark on an intellectual adventure with Puzzles and Paradoxes, a captivating book that presents 33 thought-provoking questions spanning history, the physical world, biology, philosophy, specific events, and miscellaneous topics, enticing readers to unravel mysteries and seek profound understanding.

From the fall of Rome to the Golden Age of Greece, from the enigmas of the mind-body problem to the origins of life on Earth, from free will to the problem of evil, and from the invention of spectacles to the Monty Hall Problem and the Voynich Manuscript, this compelling collection explores diverse realms of knowledge, offering possible answers that inspire contemplation and ignite the joy of intellectual discovery.

Quiet Before the Storm

In The Quiet Before the Storm, witness the aftermath of nature’s fury and the resilience of the human spirit. This powerful visual and emotional journey explores the catastrophic aftermaths of hurricanes Ike and Michael, the devastating tornadoes in Garland, Texas (2016), Dallas, Texas (2019), and Mayfield, Kentucky (2021), and the record-breaking flash flood in Wimberley, Texas (2015).

As an Austin firefighter and Texas Licensed Public Insurance Adjuster, I’ve captured the wreckage, miracles, and profound moments of despair and hope through my camera lens. This book is more than just photographs; it reflects on the interconnectedness of our lives and the forces of nature that shape them.

Each photograph, short story, and poem testifies to the enduring impact these events have had on me and the communities I serve. Amidst the devastation, there is beauty and resilience in the faces of those who rebuild their lives and the moments of kindness that emerge in the darkest times.

As you turn these pages, ponder the questions at the heart of our changing world. Is the increasing frequency and intensity of these disasters a result of global warming, human intervention, weather weapons, or ‘Acts of God’? While I may not have all the answers, I hope to spark conversations and inspire action to understand, prepare for, and mitigate the impact of the next rounds of storms.

Join me on this journey and find strength in the quiet before the storm, as we brace ourselves for the storms of weather and the chaos we face in our government.

Ra Finds a Kingdom

This story takes place in the year 3,500 B.C. in Africa’s Nile River valley. Princess Akilah rescues a lion cub she names Ra from the river. Ra was floating down the river tangled in a branch. He lives with Princess Akilah until he matures. Ra is courageous and noble. One day, he sets out to find a home in the wild.

God has a heavenly kingdom for you.

Radical Resilience

In this incredible world of diversity, there is a darkness that blinds us from recognizing the beauty and value of all humanity. We are held hostage by our misconceptions, prejudices and fears.

How do we break free?

There is hope in the darkness. Beacons of light shine amongst us revealing the goodness of mankind. These courageous ones are moved by the people before them. They see into the human heart and respond with compassion. They understand their responsibility to partner for justice, creating a Radical Resilience that causes people to rise above their circumstances to thrive.

May the power of partnership create a Radical Resilience that changes the world.

Ralph the Star Elf

Ralph the Star Elf adds a memorable new character to Christmas lore. The story begins when the delivery stork becomes disoriented in flight and drops off Ralph at the wrong Pole. Will he reach the right Pole in time to help Santa save Christmas for children everywhere?

Reconsidering Medicine

This is an original book on the philosophy of medicine. It considers philosophy of medicine as a subdiscipline of philosophy of science. This volume is grounded on an epistemological bottom-up account that arises from the clinical situation, the epidemiologic, and the resulting public health account. It is not a review of the literature, and it is not intended to frame the debates, or to analyze and compare the various number of viewpoints.

Medicine is the human activity, which begins by a linguistic act that identifies the negative norms of health: it begins with a first distinction that splits biological processes into three conventional parts, normal, abnormal and pathologic. Neither of them is a natural kind. Being abnormal is intrinsically bad and admits of degrees, while being pathologic is dichotomous. Being normal is factitious and counterfactual much the same as frictionless planes in physics. Leaving apart the ethical aspects, this book endeavors to uncover the implicit conceptual network, the chief junctures of medicine, should they be found, and their articulations with clinical and community medicine. It results that medicine is pervaded with dichotomous concepts such as scientific vs pragmatic discourse, function and malfunction, abnormal and pathologic, needs and wants, causation and explanation, clinical vs community-oriented care, physical vs psychiatric diseases, mental illness vs deviancy, and so on. Medical thinking has two dimensions intrinsically interweaved, namely a constant amalgam and admixture of biological and normative aspects, so that this essential hybrid nature of the grammar of medicine endorses opposite approaches, naturalistic or normativist, biological or value-laden, realist or instrumental, reductionist or holistic, phenomenological or analytic.

Redemption

Everett’s impossible choice sets off a chain reaction that alters everything. She has unwittingly provoked malevolent forces intent on exploiting human frailties, launching a bold assault on her family, her future, and the fate of humanity itself.

Sandra Steele cannot accept that her daughter has succumbed to a retributive protocol. Her suspicions are confirmed when she uncovers Everett’s link to Jacob Domanso and confronts his parents. Maureen Domanso, a top aide to Dr. Draeger – the notorious leader of the new administration – claims Everett’s death was due to the virus, just as her own son’s disappearance remains a mystery. Maureen is certain Draeger is behind it all, but how and why? United by the mysterious losses of their children, Sandra and Maureen join forces to take Draeger down.

In a frantic race against time, Everett saves Jake’s life, only to realize her return to the beginning is permanent. She grapples with the fallout of her decision as a volcanic eruption decimates the garden. From one crisis to another, it becomes clear that these events are far from natural, pushing them to the limits of their endurance.

The pair receives a glimmer of hope when Everett is sent back to rescue Pedro Ramon from Dr. Draeger’s clutches. Together, the three stand against the beast threatening to obliterate the beginning, while their families struggle to keep the Biodome intact under Draeger’s oppressive regime.

The power of love and hope are put to the ultimate test in this monumental clash between good and evil.

Refrigerator Door

Refrigerator Door!

How one household item became the epicenter for cherished memories.

The refrigerator door – that communal billboard found in every home. Covered in photos, mementos, report cards, and takeout menus, this humble appliance takes on far greater meaning. It becomes a tapestry of everything important to a family.

In Refrigerator Door, author and father Thom reminisces on the refrigerator door of his childhood. This mosaic of fading photos and fridge magnets shaped his upbringing and brought his family together. Now Thom passes along the tradition to his own children, reminding them that even an ordinary door can be transformed into something extraordinary with the memories we choose to display.

Join Thom on this heartwarming journey that reveals how a refrigerator door quietly yet profoundly chronicles the story of a family. More than just a surface for sticking homework assignments and takeout menus, it is a celebration of all that gives our fast-paced lives meaning.