Nauvoo: A City Set on a Hill

Brigham Young was the American Moses who led pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Colonizing vast tracks of the arid West, they made the deserts bloom. Few know of the beginnings and the crucibles forced upon early Mormons. And what of the drivings in the east and Missouri? What of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and new revelations from God, spreading across two continents, energizing thousands to leave their homes to build Zion, gathering to Nauvoo for the end of times? 1842 was an axial year. In England, Queen Victoria oversaw the industrial revolution that enriched some but unemployed millions. In America, people wrestled with slavery, Manifest Destiny, relocation of Native Americans, and religious awakening. Principled men and women rose to proclaim their vision, sacrificing reputations, lives, and wealth on the altar of convenience. Milena Stuart and her brother Diomedes were captured in the net of dreams, choosing to immigrate for opposing reasons, witnessing for themselves the turbulence erupting on the broad frontier. Would God allow this Camp of Israel to be driven from the States or would divine protection be manifest? Would that providence come in a timely fashion or in the form of isolating rag-tag refugees from the growing inferno that would soon consume the nation in the Civil War? Nauvoo is a victorious tale of joy and hope, fear and despair, sinners and saints. And the story goes on.

Walking a Duck in L.A.

Secrets! Secrets! Secrets!

Jolene Hartman, a young girl walking a duck in L. A., has a secret she’s unable to share as she grows up during the turbulent 1930s and l940s on the fringes of Hollywood. Despite an unusual and troubling relationship with her parents, Jolene finds wonder and delight in constant adventures as she seeks God and love.

Join Jolene as she grows up with unique relatives, fascinating friends from many cultures, and her pet duck, Oscar.

In this inspirational novel based on a true story, at age 55 in 1985, thinking she has it all; a happy marriage, kids, and a glamorous career, Jolene is stunned to find she needs therapy when demons from her childhood surface, and she seeks treatment.

As Jolene’s sessions in treatment bring clarity, the author hopes they may also open doors to some of your secrets.

Torn in Two: Valor of a U.S. Marine

An emotional ride through the eyes, heart and soul of one Afghan-American Marine’s journey in Afghanistan. Vengeance enticed by the world’s most infamous religious war fighters, the Taliban; one man turns to his extreme thoughts to conquer his own demons. During some of the most gruesome war times, he finds love deep within the shadows of war, only to come home and feel the true effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. An unimaginable roller coaster of a fast and risky life, he later yearns for the spy game. As we live in a time of terror, the unexpected is always around the corner.

The Messengers

After numerous negotiations the Indigenous still remained scattered throughout the wilds of Northern Ontario, Canada. In spite of treacherously cold conditions, they remained steadfast to the land, refusing to give up their lifestyle while trying to survive from Mother Nature’s unpredictable temperament. Captain Jesse Burn’s illegitimate son was among them. Father and son, a pair of strong-willed rival enemies, co-existed in a strange and deadly kinship while getting caught up in a changing way of life that neither would accept.

It was during November 1898. when Jesse had received his orders as a dedicated, respected officer in the Armed Forces. He had a job to fulfill regardless of the number of lives lost during the process. After Colonel McEwan shook Jesse’s hand and walked out, Jesse stared at the closed door for a long time. He glanced at the document containing the list of names he was to apprehend, knowing that most of those men would rather die in battle than be taken alive. Jesse scanned further down the list and suddenly froze. He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey hidden near the back. After many swallows, he leaned back in his chair; his eyes were pools of liquid blue. His son’s name was on that list. 

The Last Vanishing Point

2013

Olivia discovers letters and a painting by her uncle William, an artist and WWII bombardier who vanished after being shot down over France just before D-Day. Inexplicably compelled, Olivia begins a personal quest to discover William’s fate.

1943

William says goodbye to his new wife, Maddie, a concert pianist in New York City, and joins the RAF to battle the Nazis in occupied Europe. He quickly comes to regret the death and devastation wrought by his bombing missions, in sharp contrast to his times on leave, painting landscapes of the English countryside. Unexpectedly, William is recruited as an agent for the Special Operations Executive by a mysterious woman at a manor in the Cotswolds and leaves for the Scottish Highlands. Based on her family connections with the Underground, Maddie embarks on her own treacherous journey that leads her to join the French Resistance in Paris.

The Last Vanishing Point is a compelling love story of mystery and intrigue, and of how the power of art and the enduring bonds of family can heal trauma and loss. The reader is transported through historical details and the author’s cinematic writing style will take you to another time and place where a heartfelt and timeless story unfolds.

The Incorrigible Rogue

Rochdale, Lancashire, England, 1885.

Martha Anne Ashworth is in trouble in school, once again. The precocious and gifted 10 year old daughter of mill owner John Ashworth has, for the umpteenth time, tried school and parental patience and now legal authority with her quick wit, sharp tongue, impudent defiance, and certain determined independence. With her mother dying, and her father drowning his woes in whisky, young Martha Anne’s wildness leads to her eventual arrest as an Incorrigible Rogue; all seems to be spiraling out of control until an uncanny friendship with the village wise woman, Betty Nuppy, helps guide Martha Anne on a path to salvation, if not, at least, redemption.

The Brandy Mud

The year is 1840 and the perilous trade of whaling threatens to dash both fortune and sanity against the rocks for seasoned schooner Captain Stanley Knowles. Professionally adrift and beset by passionate entanglements, Stanley charts a course through hazardous waters, seeking to salvage his affairs while clinging to personal morals amidst mounting turmoil.

When ship and shore alike promise danger, every decision carries gut-wrenching risk. Stanley’s path requires outmanoeuvring lethal storms, hostile pirates, political schemes and amorous pitfalls alike with equal dexterity. One false move could reduce all – his principles, his mind, and his crew’s very lives – to flotsam in the winds of fate.

This steamy and exciting historical saga captures the adventures of a desperate captain warring within while struggling to steer crew and lovers toward a better life. Yet time and chance wait for no one. On the waves or in the sheets, one thing is certain: explore forbidden treasures at your own peril, lest the rising tide swallow you whole.

The Allies

This book lay almost half a century at the bottom of an old computer before it was published. At the time, it was considered politically ‘inappropriate’ because it was too ‘anti-Russian.’ It was written in America by two political émigrés, refugees from the communist part of the world, who knew Russia as it really is and always has been, even during World War II, when it pretended to be a faithful ally of the United States.

American pilots, crew members of a B 29 bomber, are hit by anti-aircraft fire during a reconnaissance flight over Japan. They make an emergency landing in USSR territory. It would seem that they are safe on the lands of an ally, but the reality turned out to be frighteningly different.

Although this book is historical fiction and its characters are invented, they are woven into real historical events related to the Manhattan Project infiltrated from within by Soviet spies. During Gorbachev’s ‘thaw,’ Stalin was forgotten, and Russia was to be ‘an example and model of democracy’ from then on. Even then, this book was supposed to be a warning; now it is allmost a wake-up call. Today’s Russia, waging a criminal, aggressive war against Ukraine, Russia of Vladimir Putin, with its troll farms, armed green men, murdering disobedient citizens in labor camps, poses an even greater threat to the entire free world.

Roots & the Remittance Man

In Roots & the Remittance Man, a captivating historical fiction, we follow a diverse family tree as its branches converge in the Carrot River Valley of the Northwest Territories in 1902. From Sweden, Muskoka, and Iowa, these intrepid settlers make their way to homestead near Melfort, Saskatchewan.

A Scottish family, burdened by loss from an epidemic, travels by wagon train, finding salvation in a Cree chief. In Sweden, tragedy strikes, and a widowed wife and her daughters board a cattle ship for Halifax. They arrive in Winnipeg, accept a cook position at a Melfort hotel, and embark on a grueling journey through forest and muskeg.

A young Norwegian man walks 700 miles to the United States-Canadian border, immerses himself in Indigenous history, and follows a freight swing to his homestead. Settlers and Indigenous peoples unite against prairie fires, forging bonds that transcend their differences.

Through decades, the family experiences joys and sorrows, weathering the storms of two World Wars, prohibition, swamp fever, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Great Depression. As technology advances, women gain the right to vote and become legally recognized as persons.

At the outset of World War II, a remittance man from Scotland enters the picture, his life becoming significantly entwined with the descendants of these resilient pioneers. Roots & the Remittance Man is a sweeping tale of perseverance, unity, and the indomitable human spirit that shaped the Canadian frontier.

P is for Pickelhaube

Broken trust. Broken promises. Shame, confusion, and guilt. Unimaginable violence. Then the War came, and the cycle started anew. This is the story of Kurt, a Bavarian infantryman serving somewhere on the Western Front during the First World War. He is like many of his comrades and not a few of his enemies: he fights a war within a war, a singular combat against what he knows of love, hate, sex, addiction, and abuse. A combat against monsters both real and otherwise. Combat in the First World War was a dehumanizing experience.

Gone was glory and individual heroics. Gone too were the fluttering flags and colorful uniforms. Gone was color altogether.

In this alien world death came from afar, the enemy hidden from view. New and terrifying technologies elevated killing to previously unheard-of industrial levels and rendered battlefields into lifeless moonscapes.

Yet while surrounded by this maelstrom Kurt faces an enemy that is still very much human - himself. Which combat will prove more deadly? In war, when men are wounded, they are called casualties. But what are men called when they are wounded before their fight begins?

Opelika Opiate

“Opiate” – to induce sleep; to stupefy; to hijack the brain and change its normal function.

Opelika, Alabama – where cars, men, and race collide to unhinge the life of a young woman. Piecing it back together will require figuring out the role she played, and who she really is – or wants to be.  

No Borders for Truth

Two disparate souls, a young Iranian woman with a promising nursing career, and an American collegiate athlete seeking a career in the intelligence field, meet by happenstance. Realizing their mutual passion to serve others, the two connect intellectually and romantically, not knowing they are both connected to secrets that will force their worlds to collide and reveal truths unknown to not only both of them, but also the world. 

No Borders for Truth explores love and loss within family and country, and the richness of the great people of the enduring nations of Iran and America. Through the characters of Richard Holmes and Shideh Ghasemi, the reader peers through a window of real people sharing human commonalities despite culture differences, transcending current stereotypes and biased cultural assumptions.