Books

Life has a way of disappointing, humbling, and even humiliating you. If it hasn’t happened yet, it’s probably because you haven’t lived long enough. None of us is immune to being hurt. Pain in all its forms does not discriminate. Eventually, it finds everyone ignoring the color of your skin, the condition of your soul or any other factor, whether real or imagined. Perhaps the only difference is how we respond when we find ourselves in the lowest and darkest places of our lives. What do we do when we are suddenly in an environment that only our greatest fears and worst nightmares could have conjured?

For Poe Thorne, the response was simple. It was time to turn things around. Tired of being a victim, he vowed to create them instead. As a result, he felt a surge of power and control that, for now, compensated for his history of pain and misfortune. The citizens of Destiny were his chosen people. Like the lab rats of a mad scientist, he manipulated them for his personal experiments and entertainment. He provided the stimulus and wallowed in pleasure as he watched the predictable responses.

“What are we doing, John? Are you with us?”

“Turn the car around. We need to go back to Molly’s house.”

“Are you crazy? You want to go visit Molly while our friends are about to be killed?”

“We don’t have any time to waste. I’ve got that feeling. Get us there as quick as you can!”

I woke up one morning knowing I had to do something I’ve never done before—write a book. The night before, I experienced a multitude of depressing thoughts. The depressing thoughts began when we received news that my wife would need surgery for her second round of cancer. I was in an evil place and when I tried to pray, it actually got worse. God knew there was so much hate and anger in my heart that I wasn’t ready to listen to anyone, not even Him.

The next morning changed everything. Writing was not only personal therapy for me, but a way to realize the relevance of God’s Word in our corrupted world. Defying Destiny’s Demon, the subtitle, best describes the story. Love, Truth, and Power, the title, is what the book is really about. Realizing God’s love and learning His truth will provide us with the power to survive all of life’s storms.

I felt compelled to write a book about a protagonist who saves people.

I thank God for my blessings every day. My wife is cancer free and I pray that someone will benefit from reading my book as much as I did by writing it.

Are you looking for wisdom in our troubled world? The timeless message in the poetry of this book provides answers to life’s most important questions.

Do You Know Him

I had a walk in the onward way,
With whom I don’t have to say.
He is closer than a brother,
You find this true one way or another.

He will walk with you; He will talk with you,
This I know ‘tis true.
I have read the old, old story,
How he came in the brightness of glory.

He came upon a midnight clear.
His birthday we celebrate year after year.
He brought with Him the trust of love,
Given Him by His father above.

As a writer and Christian, I felt a connection to my father-in-law. God blessed me with three strong male role models. My father-in-law was the last to enter my life. He reinforced what I learned from my first two role models—how to be a good husband and father. It wasn’t until his later years that he shared the Christian poems he had been writing for much of his life. Now he’s enjoying his eternal rewards, as I’m realizing what he experienced by sharing Christian values through writing. I only wish I would have published his poems while he was still with us. I look forward to the day when we meet again and we can share the ultimate love that motivated us to write.

Who wouldn’t want to read the greatest book ever written? If you were only going to read one book in your life, wouldn’t you want it to be the greatest one? The greatest book ever written includes everything we need to know in life, along with the accompanying wisdom of that knowledge.

The target audience includes all people. Relevance of the book is timeless, as it applies to any period of human history. The compelling stories and detailed information apply to people of all ages and backgrounds.

The book can humble the proud and lift the humble. It can provide hope for the hopeless, joy for the joyless, and love for the unloved. It contains the answer to every question worth asking. The revealed knowledge and wisdom are complex enough to challenge the mind of the greatest scholar, yet simple enough to captivate the mind of a child.

Once again, I must be clear. John is not Jesus, a second coming of Jesus, or even a prophet announcing his coming. I was looking for a hero we could relate to. He had to be vulnerable to human weaknesses while striving to attain the ultimate good. For me, he became both a role model and someone I could challenge everyone to emulate.

While writing my first book, I kept notes documenting Biblical references in the story. I wanted the reader to see the God connection. The problem was many are not familiar with God’s word and the ones who were may miss them in the book.

I actually created a spreadsheet to keep track of every instance of a Biblical reference. When I finished my first book, there were enough references to write another book showing the connection.

I’ve always enjoyed stories that taught a positive moral. Without making it a conscious goal, that’s exactly what I did in my first book. If fact, it was the ultimate one—the one that leads to eternal salvation.

Gabe is about to go bankrupt. He solicits the services of a ruthless bank robber. Gabe owns the building that houses the bank and would benefit from the insurance money.

Following a bank robbery, an explosion destroyed the building. It looked like an accident. Everybody wins—so they think. Something went wrong. Gabe discovers the woman who was involved in his time travel experiments was likely in the building when it exploded.

This presents the perfect opportunity to test his time machine on humans. Bill, his faithful and naïve employee, would make the ideal test subject. Gabe sent him back in time to find that special woman and bring her back. Should that fail, his orders were to extract the part of her that Gabe really needed.

Has Gabe’s experiment crossed the line? Are there some things that man was never meant to explore? Will the God who created time intervene when man attempts to manipulate it according to his own will?

Michele almost immediately decreased her speed to the legal limit. It was 9 a.m. Sounds like grinding gears accompanied by glowing lights centered on her passenger. Glancing to check on Bill, she could not believe what she was seeing. Except for the disturbing sound, she thought she was seeing an old Star Trek episode where someone was disappearing in a transporter. Within seconds, the sound stopped and the countless flickering points of light that had just consumed Bill disappeared.

I’ve always enjoyed the science fiction genre. My first writing of my original book (Love, Truth, and Power) blended science fiction with the genres of Christian fiction, crime drama, and romance. During the editing process, I rewrote the science fiction sections of the book. A Christian explanation seemed more appropriate as a source of power than the influence of little green men from Planet X. As an interesting side note, I named my characters after friends and acquaintances I knew from my childhood to my high school days. This provided a pool of first names I could use while easing the challenge of finding names for my characters.

Chase Wright is exactly what this world needs. He is a man like no other. Although human, Chase possesses skills and talents that would make superheroes jealous.

He begins his legendary career as a field agent for the FBI. Later, Chase pursues a unique career path.

A mysterious woman introduces Chase to The Patriots for People. They share his personal code of placing human life above the completion of the mission. Soon he works for them as a spy fighting another organization, the American Activists. Like the Patriots, the Activists want to take over the country. Unlike the Patriots, they have no regard for human life.

Chase moves from mission to mission, continuously dealing with life and death situations. Although he excels in every imaginable way, he is not without his personal handicaps. Between his absent-mindedness and obsession with finding his perfect woman, he is often his own worst enemy.

Things become very personal for Chase as he meets a variety of characters, and becomes obsessed with finding that mysterious woman.

The one thing Chase may desire the most seems to be the least likely for him to achieve—a normal life and family.

The next book in the series Chase Wright is Finding Mrs. Wright.

“Now it’s time to fulfill your end of the bargain,” said Lisette. “I stopped talking about dying. Now you have to help me kill an asshole.”

“I’m tired. Don’t you think we can kill better after a good nap?” Chase forced an exaggerated yawn.

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with James Bond movies. As a young man growing up, I enjoyed watching the hero who saved the day in the most suspenseful, action packed ways possible. However, Bond’s questionable morality, combined with his inability to save the damsel in distress, overshadowed any good he had done. If fact, it’s because of the Bond girl’s relationship with Bond that she often meets with an unfortunate end. My book aims to change all that. The rush of seeing a life saved needs to be greater than the thrill of seeing one lost. My counterpart of the lost Bond girls in the movies will have an alternate fate in my books.

When assigning first names to my characters, I used a reverse alphabetical order as a starting point. I also used the names of close family members. At one point, I used the first names of my wife and me as we briefly appeared in the book.

Finally, the finished product was over 400 pages. This seemed a little long, so I took my wife’s suggestion and split my book into two books.

Next book in the series Chase Wright series is Finding Mrs. Wright.

Chase Wright, the almost perfect fictional spy, continues to save lives by stopping the most evil forces this world has ever seen. What he lacks in popularity, he more than makes up for in integrity and efficiency. His deep-rooted Christian beliefs influence his decisions as he successfully completes nearly all his missions.

Although he excels in every imaginable way, his personal handicaps continue to plague him. Between his absent-mindedness and obsession with finding the perfect woman, he may be his own worst enemy. Now he realized he wasn’t getting any younger and his obsession with finding Mrs. Wright has reached an all-time high. Will this distraction be his undoing? If he never finds her, or worse yet, finds her and then, through his own fault, loses her, will he recover? Will this mark the end of the greatest fictional spy the world has ever known?

The one thing Chase desires the most may be the least likely to achieve—finding Mrs. Wright.

The first book in the series Chase Wright is The Wright Spy

Like a slap in the face, he felt the cool night air of a typical October evening in Cleveland. The mist caused by his breath disappeared behind the closed door and warmth of his condo. Before going any further, he stopped dead in his tracks. I know I forgot something. What is it?

Before he could continue searching his memory, a text message distracted him. It was his mystery woman:

I hope you enjoyed the party. I did.

-X (your guardian angel)

When I took my wife’s advice and split my spy book into two books, I wondered where I would divide them. The reader should feel a sense of closure. There should be unanswered questions as to the fate of the protagonist. About half way through the original book, I found the perfect place. Our protagonist is between missions and is both looking back at his experiences and ahead, wondering about his future.

My second book in this series adds elements of a romance novel. All the suspense and action become the backdrop for our spy’s major quest: find the right girl and maybe settle down. Writing this story reflects my personal life goals. After salvation, I can think of nothing more wonderful than spending my life with the woman I love.

What is Rusty willing to give up for riches and the love of his life? Actually, nothing. This small town detective juggles killers, drug dealers, and scheming deceitful women as he pursues his childhood dreams.

And then there’s the weird problem of a curse associated with his pants. Keeping them clean and keeping them on seems to be more about the curse than any woman trying to know him better.

Rusty is a small town private investigator helping a client find stolen diamonds while fighting his greatest enemy—himself. The idea of keeping the diamonds and cheating on his girlfriend with his beautiful client might be much more fun. All this might have something to do with a guilt-ridden conscience that manifests itself in an imaginary train of death.

If that’s not enough to keep things interesting, throw in regular cat fights between two of his employees, a pet parrot with the vocabulary of a sailor, a slob, and a neat freak. All that pales in comparison while Rusty tries to hang on to the love of his life while pursuing a villain who defies description, although nut house and fruit cake come to mind.

Ultimately, Rusty is looking for peace and fulfillment. Having an ex pimp and dirty cop for best friends may not be the best path to that goal.

I think I knew where this was going as I watched Lindsey pick at a fingernail. The two girls made eye contact and began listing things alternately, starting with Bell.

“We both like nice things,” said Bell while twisting the diamond ring on her finger.

“We both enjoy a good glass of wine,” said Lindsey after taking a sip.

“We both own guns. Lindsey’s gun has a cute pink handle. Why didn’t you buy me one like that?”

I planned my last book as a gesture of love for my wife. It’s only fitting that my love for her motivated me to write my first and last books. This one is based on the type of story she enjoys. Having read a few of those books and finding them thoroughly enjoyable, I was motivated to write my own in the same genre.

Not only did she read the book, but so did her closest friend. In fact, her friend told me it reminded her of other books in that genre. Mission accomplished. I’m not sure if my wife loves me more because of it, but at least it didn’t hurt.

Diamonds, Detectives, and Dummies is a lighthearted take on the crime drama genre. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a change of pace from the seriousness of that genre.