Urban Fiction Unleashed: How time flies when you're not writing...

Urban Fiction Unleashed: How time flies when you're not writing...: It’s so funny that so much time has passed. I never would have believed that publishing books for others would simply absorb all my time t...

How time flies when you're not writing...

It’s so funny that so much time has passed. I never would have believed that publishing books for others would simply absorb all my time that had been set aside for writing. Who knew?

Oh well, be that as it may, I cannot say that I'm sorry: Frustrated yes, but sorry never. Since I last release a title of my own - or made an entry here on my blog - my company, NCC Publishing, has launched the career of three new authors and currently have three more titles in the workings. Praise God for His favor.

Now to the matter of my own writings, I have informed my partners that I would be taking the summer off from the publishing side of the business so that I could actually finish a manuscript with my own name on it.  For those of you who have been waiting on Kracken, it really is almost done. I'm cleaning up the proofs and waiting on the final cover work. Yeah!

And yes, I have started the new Nate Richards book. It is under the working title of Shades of Blue...cool, huh? This is a continuing storyline in the life of Nate and his friends with some new villains and a couple of old ones thrown in just to make it interesting. So, keep me in your prayers that I will have a productive summer with many hours spent right here, sitting in front of my computer.

The Cave of the Kracken is coming...

The Cave of the Kracken is coming...

As some of you are aware, my latest book The Cave of TheKracken is slotted for a pre-holiday season release. What you may not be aware of is that I am currently looking for 50 pre-readers who are willing to accept a free download of the manuscript in exchange for an honest review to be posted on Goodreads and Amazon when you're done.   Now the kicker is this, of those who actually post the reviews according to your promise --we won't talk about those others guys --you know who you are-- your names will be entered into a drawing for a $25.00 gift card. It's just my way of saying thank you.

In the meantime, I would like to recommend The Lamb in the Stars series by Chris Walley. The first book, The Shadowand Night launches you into a fantastic world of fantasy and adventure while at the same time being undergirded, in the truest sense of C.S. Lewis’s space adventures, with the Gospel truths inherent in the teachings of Christ. If you like  sci-fi adventure then you’ll love The Shadow and Night.

And if you happen to run into Chris, tell him Ray sent you. …Just saying

New Book Release: The Cave of The Kracken

In my last posting I wrote about an exciting new release from NCC Publishing by an exciting fresh new author, B.D. Riehl (The Earth Is Full).  And I stand by the recommendation that if you have not read The Earth Is Full, you have cheated yourself out of a treat. But in today's post, I would like to direct your thoughts to an upcoming release from yours truly, The Cave of The Kracken.

The Cave of The Kracken is a futuristic thriller set in the remains of the northeastern quadrant of the USA. The time is an undisclosed date in the near distant future. The world is ruled by two leading political/economical groups, and in between these two ideas our protagonist, or as his friends like to call him, the hero, Mike Stone is forced to fight for his and the freedom of those he loves. If you like high tech combat and space battles in and around fantastic worlds, all with an under lying message of the redeeming love of Christ, then you will love The Cave of The Kracken.

            

Wow! That sounded like a commercial.

In other news...for the fans of Nate Richards --he's back! Well almost. Book four, Shades of Blue is under construction.  I hope to have it done by the holiday season if not then by the first of the year. But be sure to hit me up for what's going in the world of Nate and Amber.

Until next time, keep the faith and keep moving forward.

Book Review: The Earth Is Full by B.D.Riehl

The Earth is Full, B.D. Riehl's first novel is a hit. The stories of Suchin, a young Thai girl, stolen from her home and sold into slavery, Lydia a high-spirited teen of privileged, and Charlotte a young stay at home mom all collide in Riehl's breakout work about grace, forgiveness and finding hope. The writing is light and fresh, but layered with intrigue and mystery..as well as an air of romance. These all work together to completely make you forget that this is the work of a brand new author.

The story will draw you in, and force you to care about the lives of these three young women, their trials and triumphs, victories and failures will become part of your life as well. I found the book to be captivating and full of the hope and promise of the grace of God, while not being preachy or dusty in any way.

In this work, Riehl captures the spirit of the young at heart and the plain being young in such a way that you will feel their pain and the confusion of youth and life unexplored. Reading The Earth Is Full is like going on vacation with your best friend and finding that the entire trip has already been paid for. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee -or tea-- and be prepared to be thoroughly entertained and thrilled. The Earth Is Full by B.D. Riehl, published by NCC Publishing, LLC, also available on Barnes and Noble for Nook, Kobo.

Out of the Two comes One: Part Thirteen

It wasn’t my first time dealing with death and it would not be my last. 

The first time happened when I, as a newly ordained minister, and was sent to do a hospital visitation. The plan was that I go and visit with an elderly church member and pray with and for her—but when I arrived, I was directed by hospital staff to the basement because my parishioner was downstairs “donating.” 

My first time as a cop was a trip to the morgue. In this room known as the fridge, which was the size of a small apartment, had bodies stacked like cord-wood along three of the four walls from the floor to just shy of the ceiling. This was to be my first autopsy.

While working the streets, I have seen many more bodies in death since those early first days; some a result of violent confrontations, some due to natural causes, and others at their own hands.  The common denominator? They were all dead.  

As a cop, I had to be distant…hold myself back so I could study the event from an objective perspective. As a minister, I have to get close; I need to lower my walls so that I can help the church member get through the difficulty of their time of loss. 

So whether as a cop or a preacher death has often crossed my path. In one vein, I follow the directive of the state and city codebook; while with the other I follow the leading of scripture and the Spirit of God.

The point? We all die—the good guys, bad guys, and the indifferent. So if we all have to die, the question really becomes not how we shall expire, but rather, how shall we live. Think about it….Just saying.  

For what are you willing to die?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once stated that any man who does not have something for which he is willing to die is not fit to live. On face value it comes across as a rather provocative statement, but on closer observation, it is perhaps more so.  Think about it.

Ask yourself, for what are you willing to die? Paul, in his letter to the Christians in Rome, said “…scarcely for a righteous man will one die: peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.”  We couple that with the example of the Japanese fighter pilots that committed themselves to death in the attack on Pearl Harbor; and even the contemporary example of the jihadist that crashed planes on 9-11 and explode bombs in public markets around the world.

However, the question remains, For what are you willing to die? 

As a writer, I explore many concepts and ideas as a regular course of thinking, but when pressed to ask myself what reaches that highest point of self-sacrifice, I too am brought up short and forced to examine what I hold most sacred. Of course, I say like most of my readers, I would die for my wife and children, my mother and siblings, but for the most part these are unasked…or at least un-required offerings. What becomes a more pertinent question, and what I believe to be at the core of Dr. King’s question, rather is, For what am I willing to live? 

What is it that gives your life purpose and cause? What identifies you and will long after you have passed off the scene call to remembrance that you were even here? So my challenge to you is not that you die valiantly, but rather that you live on purpose and with cause. Live each day in such a way that those around you are made better, and in spite of hard times experienced, joy will be the lingering fragrance of your time shared. 

For what do you have to live? Think about it.