Zion and Me

‘Zion’ is an imaginary place of peace, happiness, and victory. It has been my life’s ambition and pursuit. It has been a dream. An unattainable dream. Since Adam bit the poison apple in the Garden of Eden, mankind has been under a curse – to work at the sweat of his brow for his bread. This causes all of humanity to moan in existential pain. We long for meaning and for love.

Originally, ‘Zion’ was the hill in Jerusalem upon which Solomon built his temple. Zion since then, has come to mean the holy city. Zion is the party, should there ever be one after the defeat of evil in the apocalypse. To me, it is something to hope for, to strive for. However, as life’s problems obstruct the attainment of such a state, we begin to sink into complacency and misery. There’s poverty, heartbreak, and people who want to put you in a cage. After all that - you die.

Zion and Me is divided into three parts. ‘Haphazard Lines’ is mostly Biblical as I had recently converted to Christianity, and includes some speculation on the divine. ‘This Lovely Day’ is more secular and reflects again on life’s melancholia among other lessons to be learned. Finally, ‘Love Poems’ is self-explanatory and concerns various concepts related to love like longing and sadness. Zion and Me is an attempt to explain the ambiguity that goes with the necessity of discovering life’s secrets and to gain insight and wisdom.

Behold a Pale Horse

“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him” (Revelations 6:8, KJV). One man would blaze such a path of death and destruction across the western frontier that he would be forever associated with this passage. Disowned by his family, betrayed by his commanding officer, and framed for atrocities he did not commit, he was branded a murderer and a traitor. Living life on the run and forced to kill those who would take his freedom and his life, he nevertheless fought to defend, and sometimes avenge, those who could not do so themselves. Labelled a monster by most, he was considered a hero by some. In time his name would be lost to history, but he would live on in legend, known only as the Pale Rider. This is how his story begins.

Digital

Two hackers are involved in cyberattacks in two different geographical locations. Shaun Wilson, an FBI agent, has his work cut out for him. He has been recently assigned to the Cyber Crime Unit, only to find out that he is a victim with no privacy at home; especially when he shares his intimate moments with his lovely wife, Carol. Enrique Hernandez, who lives in New York City and hacks for monetary gain, finds himself in the home of Shaun Wilson, among other things. Mark Sandler, who lives in Miami, slows down, intercepts, manipulates, interrupts, or shuts down PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, just to cause mayhem. Meanwhile, Xeron’s location is unknown. Although he runs an underground operation, he sells everything unimaginable from firearms to drugs laced with fentanyl, bringing in well over $2 million a month. Agent Shaun Wilson must follow departmental guidelines and protocol without violating anyone’s constitutional rights. Time isn’t on his side and, before it’s over, the law may not be on his side either. Simply put, he must work fast. His job will never be over until he brings the evildoers to justice. The cat and mouse games seem to never end. Agent Shaun Wilson discovers that he is not in a battle, but at war: in Cyberspace.

Finding the Bones

Finding the Bones is a dark romance set against the youth rebellion and revolutionary violence of the 1910s—an era not unlike 1960s’ America—where idealistic young men and women seek to create a more just society but often fall victim to retribution or disillusionment. Charlie Everett, a journalist on the make, and Olivia St. James, an ardent feminist and journalist in her own right, find themselves caught in a deadly embrace from which neither can escape. “A fine, sophisticated historical novel from author Avery Russell in which she draws from her family history, especially the life of her journalist father who is Charlie Everett in the novel; her father’s first wife portrayed as Olivia St. James; and their mutual friend Maurice Hadley, in real life the early abstract painter Marsden Hartley. Russell’s omniscient narrator moves deftly among her substantial cast of characters, showing us the lives of bohemians and expatriates of pre-World War I and beyond. If there is any symbol of the partially thwarted lives that the central characters endure, it is in Hartley’s poem ‘Finding the Bones,’ which provides the title for the book, where the bones of a dead bird are found with its wings still on and its feathers attached, the last vestiges of a life and an ardor Charlie himself experienced among the bones he hid from everyone. ‘Fixed were the wings,’ Hartley wrote; now they are stiffened, and life has moved on to a ‘fresh history of stifled things.’” — Townsend Ludington, author of Marsden Hartley: The Biography of an American Artist (1992) and Seeking the Spiritual: The Paintings of Marsden Hartley (1998); Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English and American Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

First Active Shooter

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, life doesn’t go the way we want. We either roll with the punches or go down and never get up. At a young age, Miles had his future all planned out. So when his life started to spin out of control, he accepted the inevitable and kept his eye on his dream. The one constant in his life was the truth. Miles would never lie. Helping those in need and living honestly were values ingrained in him by his late father. But when life and death decisions have to be made, only the smart and strong survive. Like a cornered animal, Miles fights fiercely for his loved ones and their future. In a dramatic turn of events, Miles reluctantly becomes implicated in the First Active Shooter.

Footsteps on Other Shores

Take a series of journeys to other worlds: some close in space and time, others so far removed that they may not be in the same universe. Habitat: What happens when two old friends fight over ways to save people on Earth from the effects of global warming by creating habitats in space? When the two men, now rivals, must work together to save their respective projects, can they put aside their differences? Dragon Redux: How did dragons appear on Earth? Will they be our friends? Or will humans just be food? Castle Erehwon: in which a young prince comes of age and must confront his destiny by going through the Door, leaving behind a family in crisis. Will he go alone? Where will he end up? Prism of Lost Leng: When a man comes back to his fiancé after years of travel with no communication, what did he find? Does it have anything to do with the outré sculptures she has been producing?

Grandma Mouse's Broom

Hearts of Men

Hearts of Men moves with calculated grit and fierce velocity, stopping for rest only when it seems safe. It is a tale of seven unassuming, ordinary young men from all over North America. They awaken separately, one by one, in a vast, uncharted green wilderness. Disoriented and confused, they gradually stumble upon each other within the woods, and through their common plight, quickly grow close. Armed with newfound friendships and relentless perseverance, the group must endure immense fatigue, extreme hunger, psychological torment, and the unforgiving elements if they are to survive and unravel the mystery of where they are and why. These men face unbelievable odds, as they travel the forest in search of freedom, truth, and justice.

It's a Family Affair

Car doors ajar, cars half-parked in the street, traffic is blocked in both directions while sisters hug and greet each other. They hug like they haven’t seen each other in months – though it’s only been about a week or so since they last met. The purpose of this meeting is to determine when they will have the next meeting. In other words, they meet to talk about the next meeting – nothing ever gets accomplished. It’s a family affair, and this is what our family does.

Jack Jack the Cat and the Yellowstone Adventure

Malia the Magnificent

Miss Daisy Weed's Heat Wave Experience

Two Miss Daisy Weed flower fairies appear to love their adventures, traveling around the world at such speed. Their wings ache, and yet always they are helped by wizards and elves but mainly by the fairies that live in Fairy Glen at the bottom of Mr. Hill’s garden. The two Daisy flower fairies send messages through the power of thought, using this incredible gift to help others. Their aim is to create an understanding of wildlife, also flowers and trees. A task made difficult as they experience the dreadful destruction of their planet. Yet, amidst such cruel deeds, there appears always to be some good. The flower fairies never to give up hope, and wherever possible, find humor and love, which they share with their readers. Look close and you too will see them in your gardens.