Books

The Awakening is Here

In an age lost to myth, all human life nearly vanished from the Earth. War erupted between men and demon. The Blood Rain fell from the skies, the land was scorched and torn. The waters came and completed the ruin of the world.

In time, people ceased believing in such tales. This the Darkness wanted. It waited until it was forgotten, a time when most thought it foolish to listen to the warnings of their ancestors. Among the shadows malice lurked, and signs from the Light were ignored. Centuries passed.

A shadowmancer arose to launch a new Scourge. Evils unseen since the ancient wars returned from the Abyss. The modern world would soon fall. No men could stand against them. So they thought.

Six Watchers, gifted by the Light, stood to meet the Darkness and destroyed the Dark One’s legions.

While the world had been unaware, all had nearly been lost. Now the shadows had receded, their terror extinguished. The Followers had been burnt by the Light.

Except one.

If a lost land could be raised, if the ageless weapons restored, she would have her revenge. New hordes would be brought through the veil. The final merging of both worlds completed. Ancient tales of the end of days no longer legend.

An Awakening.

Will the Watchers, who had turned back what emerged from the shadows, be able to stand against a new onslaught? One that would leave every land in desolation and enslave all whom survive?

They will not fight alone. More of their kind, wielding gifts of great power, have also come forth. The Light surges in us all, but among the Watchers it is untamed and unbound. Only the can turn back what is coming.

In these last hours, they are our only hope.

Awakening, Watchers of the Light Book 2 Coming Soon.

Book1, Among the Shadows is out now. #ChooseASide #DarknessIsComing #WhoIsTheNewShadowmancer?

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The Coming Energy Disaster

What if everything the politicians and activists have told us about green energy is wrong?

What if fossil fuels have so improved our quality of life, negating negatives, that abandoning them would condemn us to a dark age?

Alex Epstein‘s Fossil Future is a rare combination of science, intellectual analysis, and critical thinking so absent in discussions about energy and climate. It’s one of the few books deserved to be called paradigm changing.

Many have received their knowledge about climate and energy issues comes from anointed tv experts, activists, and politicians. Unfortunately, these sources are completely bankrupt of science. Epstein’s book is a major effort in returning reason to the discussions and debates. His identifying the current energy policies as leading us into a new dark age may be surprising, but it is rooted in fact. As an engineer, I can confirm the alleged miracle benefits of green energy are mythical. Unreliable, low-output, intermittent sources like solar and wind can never replace high-output, constant sources from fossil fuels or nuclear. It’s not a matter of making solar or wind better, or building more of them. There are limits dictated by physics radically handicapping these sources.

Abandoning fossil fuels (and nuclear) will put our society, and everything we take for granted, in peril. The headlong dive into unscientific energy policy is disturbing and dangerous.

Who we elect as our leaders will determine if humanity continues to rise upward, or spiral backwards into a time of scarcity and oppression.

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What Lies Beneath the Sands?

Egypt’s fabled Labyrinth, well, was never a fable. Ancient historians visited and wrote about it. Then it was lost, buried under the sands. In 2008, explorers believe they found evidence of the Labyrinth’s location, but the Egyptian government shut down their operation, and haven’t allowed any further exploration. Perhaps they are afraid of what may be found, locked away for ages.

In Awakening, Book 2 of the Watchers of the Light, the Labyrinth may hold the key to humanity’s survival.

Or its ruin.


Awakening, coming soon.

#WarIsUponUs #WhoIsTheShadowmancer #ChooseASide

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Are Readers an Endangered Species?

I hope not, for as Jeff Minick writes, “When we make readers of our children, when we ourselves read books, we help keep our culture and our civilization alive.”

Read the whole story here.

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When Hercules Nearly Died

Hollywood is like anywhere else, full of the good and the bad. Recent years have strained the public’s tolerance of the entertainment industry. Pandemics of abuse and cover-up, people trying to social engineer the rest of us, and those isolated in their elite bubbles trying to tell others how to live.

That’s why Kevin Sorbo’s book True Strength is a refreshing departure. Sorbo was a midwest guy with no special connections. He put in the time trying to get noticed in the acting business. He finally landed every actor’s dream: A role in a show — Hercules: The Legendary Journeys — that would become a world-wide hit. He had made it.

Then he knocked on death’s door.

True Strength is his story of three strokes nearly ending his life, and the struggle back to health he nearly lost. His story is inspiration to those who find themselves in a place of darkness and despair. If you think there is no way out, there is. If you think you can’t make it, you will. It’s also a story of commitment and love. Kevin’s wife Sam Sorbo never left his side or gave up on him, and put her career aside to help him. For those couples who want to throw in the towel when hitting the smallest speed bump, you may want to read this.

Darkness may derail you, but it doesn’t have to destroy you.

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Be Sure Not to “Follow the Science” Over the Cliff

If any one age really attains, by eugenics and scientific education, the power to make its descendants what it pleases, all men who live after it are the patients of that power. [They will be] weaker, not stronger…a few hundreds of men [ruling] over billions upon billions of men. The final stage is come when Man…has obtained full control over himself. Human nature will be the last part of Nature to surrender to Man. – C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man , 1947

C.S. Lewis, best known for Narnia and books like Mere Christianity, was nearly prophetic in his warnings on what the abuse of science could become. Even the horrors of World War II and not cured people of turning science into a religion, or of the belief that humans could be altered and improved to the point of creating a new species. Here, in our own day, eugenics and transhumanism threaten once again to cross from helping humanity, to replacing us.

The Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society is a collection of essays on C.S. Lewis’ thoughts and writings which are all more relevant today. They are warnings we should not ignore. Some of his works best expressing his insight not only include The Abolition of Man, but his sci-fi trilogy, collectively (and uncreatively) known as the Space Trilogy

Warnings from seventy-four years ago, about the abuse of science, its replacement by scientism or scientific materialism, as contemporary as if they were written today. Will our ignorance of the past, and distraction from the present, deliver us right over the edge?

Unfortunately, history often repeats itself. Because we let it.

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Patrick: Son of Ireland

Slave, soldier, lover, hero, saint,—his life mirrored the cataclysmic world into which he was born. His memory will outlast the ages.

St. Patrick’s Day comes and goes every year with its parties and parades, yet very few spend any time getting to know the holiday’s namesake. Why is one man, centuries later, so remembered?

This is where Stephen Lawhead’s novel, Patrick: Son of Ireland, paints a vivid picture of Patrick’s world long lost to us. It is true what little we know of Patrick comes from a few surviving writings by his hand, and from others passing down traditions. Lawhead uses this framework to fill in the details of Patrick’s slavery in Ireland which shapes his life to come. We also witness his escape back to Britain, and in Lawhead’s version, travels to Rome. Everything in Lawhead’s vision of Patrick’s life is detailed and plausible, transporting readers to these ancient eras. You will travel the stark contrasts of Celtic Ireland to the fading glory of late imperial Rome. We don’t get to see Patrick’s triumphant transformation of Ireland — we know that part of the story. This is the origin story on how he became that saint, that legend.

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Want a Free Book?

This is the first in a series on marketing.

That got your attention. Everyone likes free stuff, but authors hate giving away their work. I saw one writer get visibly upset when she saw me give away a book. I get it. Writing is hard work and most authors want to make a living telling stories. However, when you are just starting out, you need to invest in marketing your book.

Giving away free stuff is Marketing 101.

How many times has a retailer lured you in with BOGO offers or deeply discounted products (“loss leaders”)? They do it all the time, every day. It’s hard to see your book as a product, but you’re on the hunt for readers, right? Readers are your customer, and your book is your product.

I’m not saying you should give away all your books for free all the time. It should be part of an overall marketing plan. Free book contests. Donate them to local libraries. Have you ever see those little community book exchanges in parks and other locations? Keep copies in your car. You never know when the opportunity may arrive to give out your book, free or otherwise.

Running sales, just as all other businesses do, should also be part of your plans. Once you have multiple books published, deeply discounting the first — or making it free — gives a no-risk invitation to new readers.

Giving away your books shouldn’t be the only freebie in your arsenal. Think about what other free content you can give out such as excerpts of your books, or short stories set in the same storyverse. Consider putting these together in a low cost book format (paper or electronic) and give them out at events or on-line even to those who haven’t bought your book (especially to people who haven’t bought your book).

As authors, we don’t see ourselves merely as a business, or our readers as customers. We are looking for a deeper connection (and we will get into all that in future posts). Ultimately, getting your book out there requires a business mindset.

Most importantly, keep telling stories. Don’t stop until you Find Your Purpose, Find Your Story.

Contact and connect with Darrick here. Watch for newsletter sign-up coming soon. Get your copy of Among the Shadows and choose a side. Will it be on the side of Light? Or Darkness?

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You Have Been Warned

Totalitarian Fiction. Only one of these I haven’t read, the rest multiple times. A few hundred pages can get you quite an education.

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How Many Times Must We Fight the Book Banners?

A school district in California has banned To Kill a Mockingbird, The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnOf Mice and Men, among others. How many times must we fight this battle?

Each of the books in question deal with difficult subject matter from our country’s complicated and painful history, including systemic racism. Blocking engagement with these important books is also avoiding the important role that schools can and should play in providing context for why these books inspire and challenge us still today. – Tom Ciccotta

And over at Penguin Random House, employees try to get Jordan Peterson’s new book banned — based on lies about the author. In fact, grown adults were crying that the book is being published. Johnathan Kay writes:

People are dying from Covid, losing their businesses, and these spoiled brats transform into babies because their employer is publishing a book they don’t like.

Indeed, the fact such people work at a publisher — supposed protectors of the freedom of speech — is disturbing.

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