An Owl's Tales

Life is a trail of crossing paths, some barely noticed, others with profound impacts. Did Santa bring that special football or the right Barbie doll? Did you pass that tough high school teacher’s course? Remember your first love? Was the pound puppy with sad but hopeful eyes ever chosen? Was the homeless beggar on the corner worth helping? The paths of Santa and teachers and loves and others who need help influence the course of our path, some for good, others not so much. But all of your paths make you, you.

Is it better to know or to feel what we should do? Maybe it doesn’t matter as long as the trail is guided by the heart. One man’s journey through a lifetime of crossed paths is portrayed in An Owl’s Tales. Some paths will sound familiar; some will challenge; some will motivate, while others will touch your heart. The wise old owl who sleeps with one eye open observes everything, reacts to little, but remembers. When your race is run, what will have been your important paths?

Angela's Letter

They say one never forgets his or her first love. So, what does a man do when he receives a letter from his first love – over 40 years after they last spent any time together – suggesting they reunite now that both are single and in their 60s?

Angela’s Letter is about two people and the challenges and joys they face trying to see if they can rekindle the love they shared many years earlier. Jack is a successful, retired widower just beginning to think about restarting his life 15 months after his wife’s death. Angela is his high school sweetheart, recently widowed, and an independently wealthy businesswoman. Angela has decided to live her remaining years to the fullest, and part of her plans include the letter she sends to Jack to see if he might be interested in renewing their relationship.

While genuinely intrigued by Angela’s proposal, Jack’s interest is tempered by his adult daughter’s attitude. Seemingly not yet over her mother’s death, her overbearing ways are poisoning everyone around her. Unbeknownst to Jack however, she is actually haunted by a foolish act from years before. Now Jack must do all he can to avoid having his daughter destroy her own life, as well as his opportunity for a new life with Angela.

Are You Free?

The Morettis are a Sarasota family of Cafeteria Catholics, (rejecting some Vatican doctrines—mainly pelvic issue ones). Widower Dante goes to his first Confession in decades. He confesses gossip: telling his two daughters of his brother Nick’s fling with the caterer for his wedding vow renewal with Nick’s then-wife Rosemary. An unusual Penance surprises Dante. Tantrums of Nick’s ex-wife Rosemary impact events. Dante wants another good woman to love, but dating yields only stories that amuse his girls.

Dante’s gossip is repeated, changing with each teller. Floridians talk about freedom (yet yearn to mate). An undreamt-of source for finding love and fulfilling Dante’s Penance offers challenge and hope. Her name is Abigail.

Soon they’re doing everything in a pandemic. How could anything go right?

Are You Free? offers a witty rumination on family, religion, and the search for love in many forms – grief, longing, regret, surprise.

Attachment Patterns

Is the artist, Robert Boone, crazy? As his daughter, aspiring novelist, Isolde tells us, he sure doesn’t think so. Okay, yes, he recently found himself in the hospital loudly declaring he wanted to die, but that was a moment of unexplained weakness, of post-pandemic exhaustion. He’s fine now, calm, and self-possessed as always. Only the doctors don’t believe him. They’ve insisted he enroll in a three week, out-patient, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy program. Which is? “Psychotherapy in which patterns of thought are challenged in order to address unwanted behaviour patterns.” With no choice now, Robert Boone will reluctantly look at his life. In lectures and group sessions, he will examine his past, his unspoken fears and grief and his relationships both old and new. As his daughter, Holdie says: “Anything I tell you from this moment on was disclosed to me, remembered by me, surmised by me and in some cases (okay, more than some) was totally and completely made up. (By me.) Still, all of it is the God’s honest truth.” Is Robert Boone crazy? Isn’t everybody? We’ll find out.

Basa, Swords, and Mayhem

The world fades as dragons, having turned on their human masters, seek to destroy civilization and rule supreme. Dragon Slayers – a cursed family with the power to steal dragon souls and abilities – stand as humanity’s last defense.

Basa Alkire emerges from hiding to join the Fallen Embassy, dragon-fighting warriors. But he soon discovers his uncle, their leader, is a dangerous zealot. Deception and betrayal lurk around every corner. Amidst the chaos, an even darker secret comes to light. Goddess Vulpecula deceived them all when she created Ashwick, a mighty sulfur dragon birthed pregnant with a vile demon child. Now, the moon goddess favors only darkness, and humanity’s days are numbered.

As the end nears, Basa must battle lethal foes from without and within. Will this world belong to dragons and demons, or can Basa turn the tide before all is consumed by death and deceit?

Below

Drawing inspiration from a chilling, real-life enigma of an airline crash in the Gulf of Mexico, this thriller plunges deep into the heart of the southern U.S.

What dark secrets did the passenger on the ill-fated flight harbor, and what unspeakable terror was he transporting?

Dive into a tale where every twist beckons a haunting question, pulling you deeper into the mystery.

Beyond Billionaire

Beyond Billionaire is the fascinating continuation of Scam Seduction, Simon Benjamin's novel based on true events. This sequel is part two of the extraordinary life of Elliot Sterling. From his exclusive life in Beverly Hills to the non-stop action landing him at the most private community on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, mystery surrounds this much-maligned master businessman. This fast-paced, page turning novel is an eye-opening and unpredictable story about the hard-hitting world of big money, powerful politics and complicated human relationships. It is an irresistible chess game of intrigue that includes crime, murder, kidnapping and romance. Beyond Billionaire engages the reader in deep emotions ranging from outrage to clever humor, while enjoying a cast of likeable characters. A joy to read, you will find yourself deeply entertained.

Black Swan Impact

Creative, shocking, and constantly intriguing, Black Swan Impact is a taut geopolitical novel that features a bold but grim vision of a post-World War III future. The thrilling storyline never meanders, instead moving forward with purpose and keeping the reader in eager pursuit of it. Readers will enjoy this captivating, insightful, and detailed crisis that could only be created by an insider with many years of expertise in the subject matter.

A former government employee of the Department of Homeland Security, Helen Hynson Vettori delivers a credible and horrifying tale born from her consternation regarding the United States government’s suboptimal response to SARS CoV-2. Appalled that previous years of planning and preparation for biological incidents, to include pandemics, were overlooked, she wrote this sci-fi political thriller. As a result, readers will find unnerving truths woven throughout this terrifying fiction. Further, with her background as a Senior Medical Intelligence Analyst and paramedic, she provides graphic descriptions with visceral details that compel readers to turn each page with chilling captivation.

Black Switch

Sebastian Sinclair is on his way to becoming one of the greatest spiritual healers of our time. He came down to earth with certain abilities. These gifts he gave himself are an evolution of what normal humans have never seen before in this lifetime. Seeing ghosts and angels are just the preliminary steps of what he will eventually receive in the future.

But he must be careful about the many pitfalls that will arise while trying to fulfill his destiny. Never did he think that Sophia Freemont, the love of his life, would ever become entangled in the extraordinary obstacles that lie ahead of him. Unfortunately, he will have to learn that nothing great ever comes without a price.

In his ambition to succeed, he very well may have taken on more than he can handle. If that happens, it could put him on an altered life course. A path more grim then he could possibly imagine. 

Sebastian is now on the planet Earth living out his existence. He has been alive now for 27 years and is just about to go through his first real painful life lesson as an adult. It is the stepping stone for his enormous transformation to becoming what he was meant to be.

Bless Me Father

This is a tantalizing mystery driven by friendships and secrets. Maria-Teresa Rivera has no idea what’s in store for her when she arrives at her childhood church in Mesa, Arizona for a routine planning meeting with the hot new priest. The effect the handsome Brazilian priest has on the congregation of the St. Francis de Sales Catholic church is nothing less than murderous.

When a dead body is discovered at the church, Maria-Teresa fails to convince the police that, despite her blood-smeared appearance, she is innocent of the crime. As the body count rises in the church community, Maria-Teresa’s tenacious trio of multiracial girlfriends embark on a thrilling cat and mouse chase with a killer using wit, wisdom, and humor to absolve their friend of murder charges.

Through shudder-inducing twists and turns, these amateur sleuths uncover deep dark secrets about a plethora of suspicious characters. These ladies combine who-dun-it foundations with a contemporary empowering driven approach to crime solving only to leave one secret yet to be revealed.

Blood Summer 1862

1862 was the second year of the Civil War and a year when hundreds of European immigrants and settlers from the eastern United States were building cabins and clearing farmland in Minnesota.

It was also the year when the Dakota Sioux were starving on their reservation because the annuity from the federal government was late, and the traders refused to sell them food on credit. In August the smoldering firestorm erupted, and the Dakota Sioux went on a rampage that shook the state and the nation.

This is the story  of a newly-arrived Swedish family who suffered through it, of a devout Dakota Sioux man who helped them and many others survive, and of the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who sought justice for 303 condemned Dakota Sioux prisoners in the midst of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.      

Bluejay in the Attic

Bluejay in the Attic is a captivating, thought-provoking, and highly contemporary read. Throughout Andy’s travels, there is a compelling honesty with his reflections on society and its impact on him throughout his journey. The development of Andy’s character creates a fascination and a compulsion that carries the reader to the edge of their seat beyond the final moments. The authorial voice is transfixing, evoking eras of history, and each layer of this evolving journey further engrosses the reader. Supported by a nuanced and complex cast and a layered narrative, Bluejay in the Attic is undoubtedly a well-written and beautifully crafted novel worthy of attention.