Mary Lynn Plaisance, Guest Blogger, Shares "Creating to Cope" AND A Halloween Short Story!

Writing and art are ways of expressing yourself. Serenity Creek Beside the Garden

To Create Helps Me Cope

*** Welcome to my Other World ***

Collectible prints of my art are found at Fine Art America. I love impressionism...

I am selling the originals from my home studio, Studio One and on Etsy. All copyrights to any originals are retained by me.  I have over 250 paintings of all sizes in my home where my gallery is located. All of these are my artwork, even Mona Lisa!

!!!

For me, putting a new canvas on my easel and picking my color pallet along with which brush will bring me the best results for the piece of art I want to paint is beyond magnificent. I couldn''t live well without writing, painting in acrylics, and music. I'm an eclectic artist by nature. I created my own style. I have over 250 pieces of art in my studio and just as many books in my library.

I took art lessons in the 80s in oil and pastels--an exciting time in my life. I''ve learned much. I loved coloring in a coloring book when I was a child. I always had one. To me, my coloring book was art. Today, my canvas and brush are my coloring book...

Life is too short to let it pass by without leaving your mark on this planet in some small way. So, I create art in many mediums, mostly on canvas, sometimes wood. I also write novels, creating my own book covers. Anything to bring me happiness and joy, I create it. Hopefully, you, too, will receive just a part of that happiness and joy each time you come across something I've created.

I also create art to bring a message across. I have hidden messages in most of my paintings. And books. I paint my moods.

DO YOU LIKE OTHER ARTS THAT 

HELP YOU COPE?

My version of Van Gogh's GARDEN AT ARLES

~~~ 

Halloween Horror

On this Friday morning Betty woke up at 3:33 from a nightmare about a vampire. She despised vampires, but in her dream, she was fixing a lady’s hair in her beauty salon on main street. When she sprayed her thick black hair, the lady turned around, looked at her, and quickly bit her on the neck as fast as a serpent's strike. She woke up sweating and out of breath.

Compose yourself, Betty. It was only a dream. She thought. Take deep breaths.

Deep breathing always helped her anxiety. She looked up and saw her "Bride of the Dead" costume hanging from the closet door and laughed. "Oh! Today's Halloween. That has to be why I dreamed about a darn vampire. Macy and I are dressing up for all of our hair and nail appointments... and giving out candy in front of the salon tonight. Time for ghoulish things, and ghosts and goblins... bats and rats. 

A chill went through her body. She feared bats and rats. Getting out of bed she said, now continuing to talk to herself! "What the hell is it about Halloween that makes it fun? I don't like vampires, bats, and rats... and more?" She thought for a while... "It has to be the costumes," she giggled. "I love costumes and mounds of makeup."

Getting dressed to go to work, she looked in her dresser mirror. Taking her white cake powder makeup, she slapped it all over her face. The Bride of the Dead had to look dead, and she sure did. She added a dab of black lipstick under her eyes and smeared it around. Then, she added a lot of black on her lips. Her long white wig finished her costume and she was off to work.

Opening the front door to the salon, she turned the sign to OPEN. After turning all of the lights on, she went straight to the coffee pot, and soon the smell of fresh coffee filled the beauty parlor. Outside the shop, on the sidewalk, she had a small table for four. She decided to sit there and wait for Macy to come to the salon. There was a fresh cool breeze that passed in front of her face... only her face... as one young girl whizzed by in front of her. As the breeze passed by, she saw Macy coming down the sidewalk.

"Good morning, Betty. Ready for Halloween... with all of the bats and rats you don't like?"

"Yes, I'm ready. Like my Bride of the Dead costume?" She got up to twirl her dress around so Macy could see the total look.

"Yes indeed. I love your white face, Betty. It looks like someone just sucked all of the blood right out of you."

"Well, I woke up feeling like that. I had this dream about... 

Macy interrupted her, "Oh! Good morning Miss McVeil. Look at you with your cute witch outfit on. Want some coffee with us before I do your hair?"

"I'd love some, Macy." She went inside to get her a cup of coffee. "How you doing, Betty?"

"Well, I woke up from a nightmare about..."

Miss McVeil interrupted her. "Oh, Betty, it's also Friday the 13th. In my 70 years on earth, I can’t remember the last time Halloween was on a Friday the 13th. How about that? Extra spooky things will happen all day long. And there's a full moon out tonight, too."

"Yeah, how about that? Odd huh?" Betty smiled but wanted to laugh. Miss McVeil was eccentric and now the beginnings of dementia was setting in. She couldn't bring herself to tell her there was no Friday the 13th for Halloween, so she drank her cup of coffee and went inside to begin her day. Apparently, no one wanted to hear about her vampire dream.

The day went by smoothly. They completed their list of appointments and had fun telling ghost stories and giving each customer an orange popcorn ball. It was time to close the shop and add Halloween decorations to the table in front of the shop on the sidewalk. All of the shops gave candy to the children who passed by. Every year there was a parade of children who lined the streets in every costume imaginable.

Eight o'clock was approaching and that was the time for everyone to clear the streets and go home. The candy was all gone and Macy helped Betty bring the decorations and the empty candy bowls inside. Suddenly, Betty saw Miss McVeil coming towards them at a fast pace for her advanced age, her long black wig flying in the cool breeze. She looked like a real witch flying low on a broom. Trailing behind her long black dress, was a young girl who would not stop following her, dressed like Dracula's bride.

"Betty... Macy... Help me!"

 "What's wrong Miss McVeil?"

"That girl behind me has been following me for two blocks. She says she's a little vampire. I don't like vampires."

Betty immediately ran for the shop door to hide but everyone went inside, including the young girl. Betty got a broom to stop the girl from advancing towards her, but it didn't help.

Miss McVeil yelled, "Don't hit that girl with a broom! She's harmless!"

"I'm not going to hit her. I just want her to stay away from me. Tell her to get out of my shop. Now!"

Miss McVeil changed the tone of voice from fear to sounding like a sweet old lady. "Oh, she won't hurt you, Betty. All she wants is a little bite of your skin. Just an ounce of your blood will do just fine, my dear."

Betty backed away and bumped into Macy. "NO! I had a dream about a vampire this morning, but none of you wanted to hear my dream. I don't like them. Macy, help me get them out of the shop."

She turned around to look at Macy and she took hold of her waist, smiled, and showed her fangs.

"Macy! Is this a joke?"

"No Betty, it's not a joke. The young girl is mine and she needs some of your blood."

"You never told me you had a daughter Let me go and all of you get out of my shop. Now, or I''ll call the cops."

Betty’s heart was beating so hard it felt like it was going to pop out of her chest. "Get out!" She was struggling with Macy to get loose of her grip around her waist. The young girl came closer and closer to her.

"Macy, get your little monster away from me!" she yelled as she struggled to get free of Macy's hold on her. Macy wouldn't let go of her waist.

Slowly the young girl came in front of Betty. A cool breeze passed across her face, and like the strike of a snake, the girl stuck her fangs into Betty's neck. Betty SCREAMED with fear and then stayed quiet for a whole minute, her long white wig over Macy's daughter who was sucking the blood from her neck. When she had enough, she backed away with her lips full of Betty's blood.

"Thanks Mama. This was the best Halloween I ever had."

"Good darling. I'm glad you had fun. Now go home with grandma and I''ll close up this shop for the night."

Macy propped Betty in one of the hair styling chairs and cleaned up the fang marks on her neck.

The next morning the police were called by her first client when she saw Betty in the chair through the window, not moving as she kept banging on the door.

Her death was classified as a heart attack. The police questioned all of her shop neighbors on the block. Everyone said she was alone on the streets giving candy for Halloween and looked fine in her Bride of the Dead costume.

No one ever saw Macy, her Mama, or her daughter. 
 

(c) Mary Lynn Plaisance / 10/2018

Mary Lynn Plaisance was born in Louisiana and all of her stories take place in “some small town” in La. If the story leads her into a city, it’s always New Orleans. Her writing is simple but her stories are deeply enthralled with drama, same as her life. Drama Mama, wrapped into one big bundle of hope in the end. Always fiction. Always bold. There’s always a story because there’s always something. As an author, she has a magnificent imagination of stories that begs her to take a pen out and put her words on paper. It may have been her love of movies that gave her such an active imagination or her love of reading. But whatever makes the wheels in her mind roll, she keeps them rolling. She says, "An active mind is at peace, no matter if you write, read, paint, have a hobby.... whatever your passion is, keep expressing your self. So, tell your stories and let the pen roll. Tomorrow is promised to no one. Let the words flow from the depths of your soul." This Louisiana Author who’s known as The Drama Mama is also known as The Sha Bebe Lady. She has five fantasy books about a magical doll land and five books of fiction in different genres in The Drama Mama Series. ___________________ You can find her books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble as well as many book stores and other websites online. Google her name.  Books by Mary Lynn Plaisance ~~~ Thanks to Mary Lynn for visiting on Halloween! But I especially wanted to share her article about coping. For me, it's reading and blogging! What is your special "Me Time?" Want to write and share? Then comment on this article to let me know how to reach you! By the way,  I'm hoping I can convince Mary Lynn to be an ongoing contributor! So check back often, you never know what's happening at Book Readers Heaven! God Bless Gabbie

The Blazer of St. Clair by W. Jack Savage - Extraordinary Tale of Childhood Friendship Which Finishes in Military Thriller!

 

It all started in the 70s when a young boy at the St. Clair movie theatre got a job as usher... He was a movie fanatic and figured it made sense for him to try for a job as well. A fun part of how two other students got involved was, quite typical, Terry, who had the job first, had decided to wear a new Blazer and, immediately, the girls were talking to him, sticking around after the movie--you know the game, right? Terry now had a problem, he'd like to date a couple of the girls, but was working every night. So, he talked his two friends into taking turns for evening shows.

Now the manager knew he had a good thing with a nice-looking young man escorting his paying customers to their seats, so he agreed, as long as the other two boys would also wear a Blazer, he approved it. A tight friendship developed with Terry, Ron, and Brett and they would attend movies often and then go out and dissect the plots, remembering specific details to explore and just enjoying good friends with similar interests getting together. They even called themselves "The Fellowship of the Blazer of St. Clair" because initially they were all using the one available Blazer...

It was 1973, and the film, The Day of the Jackal, was showing in St. Paul, Minnesota... Perhaps it was the intrigue of that movie, or, perhaps, as is often the case, life decisions made by the three friends affected how they moved forward as the Fellowship was separated by school choices and career decisions... The thing is, though, these three boys, even as they grew older, considered their friendship a life-long commitment. They knew that no matter what happened, they would always be able to come back into that Fellowship of the Blazer... 

It was the time for the James Bond movies to erupt onto a hungry audience loving the concept that would continue for over a decade after those first movies... Is it any wonder that each of those boys would be greatly affected by those movies, featuring a cool hero and lots of girls! 

Brett, who came from a wealthy family had decided to change his name before he even entered his career, changing his name to Robert thereafter, who became a diplomat traveling overseas spending time moving from place to place as assigned and needed. Terry, also, had a need for that adventure that had captured all three, but he was to make it a career full of dangerous information dealing that kept him traveling the world. Ron, on the other hand, had been the poorest of the three and when his father had died, Ron decided to make his home with his mother for the foreseeable future... Even there, through no initiation of his own, he soon became involved in money laundering! Each man, however, would take time to come back home, finding Ron there to go out for dinner, drinks, and talk about real-life adventures as only they could...

Terry lives in a world of shadows and shadowy people. They deal in arms, services and anything that is cheaper to pay for than to risk life and limb doing by themselves. People who know these people know that they provide similar services for governments and departments within governments. To that extent it is a cooperative effort with all parties agreeing to look the other way while services are provided for others. But governments, in particular, are understandably queasy about dealing with these people directly and so they go through people like Terry, who doesn't actually provide the service but know all the people who do. Overseas, they usually use one of their agents (likely disguised as something else) to contact these shadowy go-betweens when services are necessary. Everyone knows how it works and most of the people who are in the food chain. But if one government wanted to make it appear they were dealing with one of these go-betweens and using a new one in the process, then their regular supplier might be drawn out into looking for and eliminating this unwanted squatting with their clients. 

He liked coffee shops for eating out or chain restaurants and when alone, only ate in the bar. He owned and used RVs but not trailers or in trailer home complexes. For the most part, he seemed asexual but was known to have sex with both men and women. He didn’t have a pet but some accounts had him attending both dog and cat shows. Or was it auto and boat shows? Nobody really knew for sure and that’s the way Terry planned it and managed it. One thing was sure, he wasn’t afraid planting the idea that he liked crowds, which gave his pursuers the idea that perhaps he liked venues where he could watch them. So, they began watching the watchers: stadium security with video surveillance. And it was at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego where his pursuers thought they might have guessed right. A Security Supervisor called in sick one Sunday and was replaced by someone nobody in the company had ever seen, let alone worked with. Since the company was known to promote from within and never before a reasonable apprenticeship of a year or more, his presence was conspicuous: but not for long. They found him in the very narrow walkway to the video monitors next to the broadcast booth. With nothing to suggest otherwise, it was thought he might have had a heart attack. His death was a mystery for a day or so until they found the puncture wound just behind his right ear.

~~~

If you've read Savage before, you'll know that he is a wonderful storyteller who pulls readers into the lives of each character... we watch as internal thinking and decisions are made by each of those boys as they matured and needed to choose careers that would respond to their own personal goals. What we are seeing in today's world spotlights just how dangerous and violent it can be in dealing with those individuals who trade in secrets, needed materials for their own endeavors, and, ultimately, purely for the power and money that can be made... 

Savage has used his experience in broadcasting, as an artist and educator to create a story that easily could be made into a movie--one which is both exciting and thrilling, but, in the end, perhaps, just too much of giving up their own lives? Still, we all love them, the action, the mystery, suspense, finding the truth, finding the bad guys--or seeing if there are any left in the world! I loved the book, If you can remember back to the early Bond movies and other new genre-piercing stories and enjoyed them... Pick up this novel and have a great flashback of who's doing what to whom and will the good guy win?!

As surely as James Bond, as 007, always did! By the way, I loved the first Bond--James Bond--Sean Connery, who became my all-time favorite, but I also loved the gadgets that were developed for this new modern-day military hero! You?

GABixlerReviews

*Note that Jack creates covers for all his books!

Carl Brookins, Ongoing Contributor, Brings Two Recommended Books for Consideration!

FAIL DEADLY       

By John Baird Rogers
ISBN: 9798986244204
A 2023 release from
Gotuit Publishing

Even with the scientific and cultural advances we’ll experience in coming decades, the future, according to this author, will be far from calm and peaceful.

Fortunately creative literary talent abounds in our future reading. In this third adventure with Louise (Weezy) Napolitani and Joe Mayfield, that jewel from the author’s mind, Olegarten rises ever higher. Here is a creation of a fine mind, a group of cyber experts loosely organized to help protect the United States against computer hackers who would destroy the nation. It is an organization with strict rules of engagement.

Weezy is a brilliant computer specialist who often thinks outside the box. Her companion and lover Joe Mayfield is a financial whiz, Together, they form an active protective duo against a complex foreign threat to the nation. It is not a task they look for but are thrown into the conflict by circumstance and proximity.

The thread of this well-written and carefully organized novel take Weezy and Joe up and down the East Coast and through the twisted halls of Washington. The story, from page one, moves apace and will often leave readers breathless. From the careful descriptions of action sites travelers would never visit, through the logic of complex communications system and computer uses, the story never flags. The plot thread never descends so deep into technology that readers will become confused, nor does it ever fray into loss of direction.

This is an excellent novel in every sense and will engage any reader who enjoys good thrillers and intense emotional roller-coaster rides. The autocar awaits.

~~~ 

https://carlbrookins.com/

Jamie Sharpe 

And The Pirates of Barbary 

By Gary R. Bush 

2023 Release 

from Three Oceans Press. 

It’s 1803. The US and several other maritime nations are engaged in armed conflict over control of the oceans of the Western world and sea-borne commercial traffic, both legal and not. 

Like the rest of the fledgling nation’s military services in 1803, the U.S. Navy exists more in name than in reality. Jamie Sharpe is a rising junior officer in the Navy who, along with other crew from the armed schooner Barbara Allen, is captured off the coast of Tripoli. She sailed alone into the range of the criminals then in control of the north coast of Africa. Even then, the Navy was known for its courage. 

This entertaining story follows young adventurous Jamie Sharpe on his journey across the oceans and his imprisonment in Tripoli by the evil Captain Kemal Rais, military leader for the Dictator of Tripoli. Sharpe’s attempts to subvert from the inside and to call in help from across the Atlantic is carefully and interestingly documented in this spirited and engaging novel that will interest readers, young and old, and in the bargain reveals an important part of American History that rarely receives much attention in schools. 

It’s a good story, carefully researched and quite enjoyable. I look forward to the third in Jamie Sharpe’s odyssey in American Naval history.

redcircle.com/shows/the-sisters-in-crime-writers-podcast

A Single Christian Woman - Open Memoir - His Name is Wonderful! Lift Jesus Higher! For Your Name is Holy! Sing Hallelujah to the Lord!

 

Jesus has always been my friend... As soon as I was old enough to understand The Holy Trinity, I identified God as my Father - a father that I had not known here on earth--he was killed while my mother carried me... I saw God as the Most Holy, Yet, He had given me Jesus as my best Friend! Who would speak to me through his Holy Spirit within... No matter what books I have read, or what somebody preaches, I knew these were words I would live by...

And, so, when I'm troubled, I would search words of songs that I had memorized to bring Him closer... Seeing another mass murder in America, the wars  overseas--the continual violence I will sing:

When I was in the throes of my deepest depression from job burnout, I often could not sleep. I would lie there waiting, my mind never stopping of thinking of things at work, this or that, nothing, really, of substance... Finally, if His Spirit could not break through with song, I would say the alphabet

A

B

C

Sometimes if it had been a really bad day, I would go all the way through the alphabet and start over... By using the alphabet, I was able to order my thoughts, each letter had to be in the title of the song. I would sing several verses or maybe just a line I could remember of that particular song, but I would need to have a song to go further... Most nights I would fall asleep...

Now? I find I am falling asleep with medication. Getting older requires some meds being taken at night! Restless Leg! Yikes! Who knew such a thing even could happen.. But, also a different type of anxiety that comes to me. It is hard to understand what is happening around the world. And, yet, as I woke up this morning, the first thought was His Name is Wonderful, followed quickly by Lift Jesus Higher!

You know folks, as I listened, I heard the words, Jesus Wept. I found this amazing portrait by Jordan Douglas. There were others, but I had to see--actually see--the tears that I know He is shedding for all of the lives lost in wars caused by those who have used religion to claim war, violence, hate as the answer.

Love is Stronger than Hate! Love is Stronger than Prejudice! Love is for All of Us! Not Just for this group or that group... God Is Love! Spread the word to the young who are creating beautiful words of God's love, the old who remember the songs I know of My Best Friend... Lift Love Higher...Life Love Higher... God's Love is Stronger that anything else... There is NO Violence within God's Love. There is NO hate within God's Love! Life Him Higher! Lift Him Higher!

Amen and Amen

Prolific Poet and Ongoing Contributor, Regis Auffray Shares Today! A Letter from the Sea... Complementary Limericks...

 

If somehow I have made someone even if only in some small way happy, then it's all been worth it.

Books by Regis Auffray See all Books by Regis Auffray

A Letter from the Sea I know I do not know much but my friend saved me from myself... This is for her. A Letter from the Sea  In a bottle from the sea A letter came to me It is plain enough to see This letter from my love Since I cannot be with my love My head and heart are all asea I miss my love from across the sea A sea that is a dream you see A dream I wish were reality I cannot be with this love I love So I close my eyes and feel and taste Her kiss that I would never waste And that is good enough for me For the now and for the sea Until we two shall see When it all comes to be Selected Complementary Limericks  A Lady Named Donna There’s a lady I know named Donna, Who looks a lot like Madonna; She has a good voice, And it is her choice, To sing with me in my sauna! A Lass Named Raven   There is a lass named Raven, Who seeks some kind of haven; She’s met me somehow, As so it is now, On her heart true love is graven.    © Régis Auffray Find me at Authors Den Facebook!

The Girl Who Sees Angels by Jeffrey McClain Jones - Fascination of Religious Supernatural Still Runs Strong

We've always been fascinated with the supernatural aspects of religion... Movies and books are created more and more. Both recognizing God and those who choose horror and the Prince of the Air... I was a fan of the following three series on television, Highway to Heaven, Touched by An Angel and, then, from a different perspective, Ghost Whisperer. But, as far as I am aware, no other author has created a fantasy full-story of the experience of a young girl, who was born with a gift from God... She sees Angels!

Austin held out his hand. Sophie was quicker to take up the offer this time. “Welcome. So glad to have you join us. Just sit back and let it happen. That’s what I figured out when I first came here.” “Really?” That sounded sort of cultish. Sophie realized she had responded to Austin exactly the way she’d responded to Nola. Surprised. Doubtful, maybe. But she wasn’t as doubtful as her automatic reactions implied. “Thanks for the advice.” She hoped that sounded sincere to Austin. He just kept smiling. Then someone struck a guitar chord up on stage. Sophie had missed the arrival of a full band up there. That was the sort of thing that happened when she kept her head down. Austin, and a glowing white being with him, distracted her for a second more before she turned toward the stage. The glow over that stage was almost blinding. As soon as she allowed that complaint—not really a whiny one—the glow softened a bit. Did she turn it down, or did someone filter it for her eyes? As soon as the singer at the center mic started the lyrics

of the first song, a flock of colorful creatures swooped across the audience and over Sophie’s head. She followed that flight and smiled at the trail of light they left, like sparklers spinning in the hands of a dozen children. She stood when Priscilla did and even followed her in raising her hands above her head. It seemed a fitting reaction to all that music and magic. Priscilla got bouncy again, dancing and pumping her hands in the air. And she apparently did that without seeing the entwining formations of angels filling the

top half of the big open room. For a moment, standing there with the sparkle and splash of sound and sight—so many colors, such glorious light—Sophie was glad she could see it. She even wanted to share what she was seeing. She wanted the world to see, to know how

beautiful it was. But that desire to share called her back to the crazy girl she had always been—the lying girl, at least in the eyes of most people. Even if she was going to embrace this gift, if she was going to consider herself not the crazy girl who no one believed, but the girl who sees angels, she still had to keep it to herself. Priscilla bumped her shoulder and grinned at her. Sophie would keep it to herself and a few of her friends, of course. “You’re seeing, aren’t you?” Priscilla’s eyes sparkled, as if reflecting those explosions of light and color that Sophie could see. She nodded a bit deliriously, and then she looked up again. The song was about a great and awesome king. A king who loved everyone. A beautiful and generous king. And Sophie let the words soak in. When she did, the lights above her arranged into a triangulating network that seemed to pick up some greater light beamed down from above, absorbing it and firing it onward. And all those rays of light focused together in one place. They coalesced into a light more intense still. That great light expanded. Sophie raised a hand instinctively to protect her eyes. But, of course, it didn’t really hurt her eyes. She wasn’t seeing it with her physical eyes. So she let her hand drop. And out of the confluence of those lights, a cross began to form. A bright white cross. And then that cross took the shape of a person, a human being with arms outstretched. A man. A glowing man. For half a second Sophie winced, remembering the bright angel that tried to seduce her and intimidate her. But the fear from that nighttime encounter evaporated just as

quickly. The shining man in the center of the light from those angels was smiling. Smiling at her. Happy to see her. Happy to see her here. Her neck was hurting from the strain of looking up there, so she let herself lie back. Several hands helped her sink to the floor so she could see that shining person better. That loving man. The light collector. When the music stopped, more hands helped her to stand. She didn’t recall wanting to stand, but she didn’t fight it. Priscilla helped her to settle back into her seat. Sophie relaxed. Slumped. Drunken. She couldn’t see that shining man anymore. Unless she closed her eyes. Then she could focus on his image burned inside her. She wobbled even sitting down. Priscilla reached a hand to prop her up. Sophie tried to nod a thanks. Her whole upper body seemed to nod with her head. She tried to speak, but could only communicate internally. “So, this is church.”

~~~

We meet Sophie when she is a young woman. She's adopted the goth look and manners of a very insecure woman. She keeps her head down the majority of time. She doesn't go to church, has a few close friends about her age, and sees her mother as often as she can. She's a proficient computer designer and is kept busy among a small group of individuals doing the same type of job, partnering on projects, sometimes fooling around with a job by sticking flying pterodactyl  onto a proposed campaign submission.

She has a relatively quiet life, going home to her own apartment, alone most of the time--she doesn't dare invite friends for a sleepover. Because most nights at exactly 3:33 a.m. the huge head floats over her bed, with a severed neck dripping... She knows who it is. She had gone to him for psychic help, one of many who she had visited, hoping somebody would believe what she saw. And help her.

The problem is, that this psychic recognized her great talent and wanted to use it for his own reasons! 

But something had changed. She was seeing not only those creatures who seemed to be formed like pictures she'd seen of angels, but so many other things smaller, even those who sat on the bodies of those with whom she worked or who rode on the same bus she had taken.

Sophie's mother had been asked to remove her daughter from church. How could she explain what she had seen surrounding one of the priests who was now at the Catholic Church where her mother had gone all of her life. Since then Sophie stayed away from any place with large crowds, especially churches, even though she had once thought that they would be wonderful places. But after her young brother died as well as her father, Sophie had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals where nobody would accept what she told them. They called her a liar and a rebellious teenager...

Somehow one friend from early school years, Priscilla, had remained Sophie's friend--her one church friend, with whom she was able to share most of her life activities, including that she could...see... angels. So it was Priscilla who had suggested that she go for counseling with a friend of her mother's, Bernadetta Washington. And a budding relationship began that would change Sophie's life...

Detta was a prayer warrior and counselor related to how Jesus could be a part of your life. When Sophie had met Detta, she had immediately saw what looked to be a snake wrapped around Detta's head, with the head of the snake going into Detta's chest... Together with the vision from Sophie and Detta's command of the words necessary to rebuke evil... what was thought to be pulmonary fibrosis, was gone by the time the next test was to take place. Of course, Detta's doctor wasn't sure what had happened, but had no reason, under insurance policies, to request another exam to prove it was no...longer...there...

Jones writes from the POV of Sophie most of the time. We are privy to see exactly what she sees, and learn what might have caused the small creature to be now holding on to the individual. In fact, for the first few pages, we seem to actually experience seeing what Sophie sees--confusion, puzzlement, anger when she realizes what has caused the event. Detta began teaching her, but Sophia soon realized she was now able to understand...

First, she saw angels in Detta's home, and soon, in her own... It's fun watching Sophie, who had had no idea why she was seeing all these creatures, and, not knowing that there were both good and evil ones!

Fascinating, spooky, heartwarming, are great words to describe the plot. But, once Sophie realizes that hundreds of small fairy-size creatures routinely plague practically everybody she knows, she slowly experiments with how she can help her friends get rid of what she learns are, often, bad feelings, sadness, greed, and all those human bad thoughts we have which soon bog us down if we don't deal with them.

Reading this review will not possibly help you in preparing to read what you will read... I saw The Exorcist, and decided I wasn't going to watch any further movies like that one. Believe me, even as a fantasy novel, the reality in this book is well beyond anything you'll see in a horror movie. But, that's the point! It's NOT a horror movie!

It's a book that merely asks, "What would it be like to be born with one of God's gifts? This time, the ability to see angels--good and bad ones. Then, watching as a small child recognizes that she is the only one that sees (like the little girl in the trailer for Ghost Whisperer, above) but that nobody, including her family, understands or believes... To be branded a liar for the first significant part of your life. The writer's imagination is superb, undoubtedly based upon his earlier writings and research. The scope and diversity would prevent an effective movie. But there are certainly many possibilities, especially when dealing with our basic "not okay" emotional feelings!

Excellent writing, superb pacing, outstanding supernatural images! Unbelievable... And, yet, for those who believe in angels and their role in God's world, you will gain a wealth of knowledge about, What if? God gave us a gift* that we quickly decided we didn't want and had no idea what to do with... I loved it!

GABixlerReviews

*Although I was happy to receive the gift of tongues along with the acceptance of His Holy Spirit within me, I am aware that, like Sophie, that even within my family, nobody actually believes this happened to me. On the other hand, I know that I know that I know that God does give us gifts in these later days. May you allow your own gift to be recognized and used for His purpose. Your gifts will be used for those people who are sent to you... That is sufficient for the receiver.

What's Happening at Book Readers Heaven - Fighting for the Soul of America! Big Time Set of God Incidents!

Hi Everybody!

It's 6:38 AM my time, but I've been up for hours finishing a book (God Incident 1)

One of my Favorite Songs was mentioned

(God Incident 2)

While I was listening to the song, 

my eyes were pulled to the right! 

You know, folks, I have implied that I felt that God was leading our President, Joe Biden...

But now I feel like shouting it!

(God Incident 3)

The power of Kindle died which brought me to read online and, of course, blog

Found the Beautiful Cover of the latest book I've been led to (and got the next two of series)

(God Incident 4)

As of Now, the 3rd person to lead America 

has not been named.

If January 6th-like activities would occur again

Who would lead our Country?

Finished the book which brought me to 

info about the author

Followed Him on Facebook; Found his Bio!

List of ALL His Books! Oh My!

God Incident 5

As a small boy in Lincoln, Nebraska, I listened enrapt to my grandmother reading me children’s stories, such as The Little Engine That Could. I also recall the elementary school librarian who read us Winnie the Pooh, imitating all the voices. And I remember the first summer I was allowed to ride my bike to the library on my own.

​Writing started for me in school. Teachers encouraged me to pursue what they perceived as a gift. For me, my imagination was a challenge as much as a gift. I found the real world so much less enthralling.​

In my Christian high school, the English teacher supplied me with unassigned novels. I wrote the senior class play and served as editor of both the yearbook and the school newspaper.​

At Houghton College, I majored in writing, including coursework in poetry and fiction. But I also majored in biblical studies and was persuaded to take my writing skills in a more “respectable” direction—academia and nonfiction writing. Remember that less enthralling real world?

When all my academic work led to no great employment breakthrough, I hopped from there onto that rapid conveyor known as the tech industry. Starting in the 1990s, I shaped a new career, eventually starting my own computer consulting firm.​

During those years, I focused on raising two boys and cherished the role of doing the bedtime reading, including attempting all the voices in The Chronicles of Narnia series. I also composed a few stories from scratch for my attentive little audience, usually around a campfire.​

I started writing again in 2006. Following a friend’s suggestion, I meditated on scripture by imagining myself present on a day when Jesus healed an entire multitude. That meditation turned into my first novel, And He Healed Them All. Closing the gap between the sparse descriptions in the Gospels and what must have been a rich miraculous experience enticed me.​

A series of unusual events (ask me someday) prodded me to write my second novel, The Reign: Out of Tribulation. I began self-publishing with those first two books. My third novel, Seeing Jesus, expanded into a series when numerous readers begged me for more. As it turns out, that kind of begging is hard to resist.

In all, I have published fifteen books on Amazon, fourteen of them as installments in one of my series. I am constantly working to improve my skills and to better share my message with the reading public.​

Anyone tracking my address could guess that I’ve had some setbacks in my life. But God has stayed the same, even as I evolve and have to start over again.​

Now I am married and living in Vernon Hills, Illinois, attending a vibrant church and meeting new people. I work part-time on my computer consulting business, and I devote much of the rest of my time to writing and marketing my books, with my wife as my highly motivated marketing director.

In the Book, which I'll share more about soon, there was a church called Rescue House

I have, as you all know, been unhappy with the confusion caused when the Evangelical Christians supported Donald Trump for president...

So many different people shouting listen to us,

we are right...yada, yada, yada (I like this phrase)

So, the thought crossed me mind,

this man, whose book I could not put down,

had referred to a specific church name???

You guessed it!

I found the church online

Spent time listening to the opening and will go back for sermon...Maybe I have found a church...

(God Incident 6)

Rescue House

https://www.youtube.com/@RescueHouseChurch

/featured

Many different videos available!

Looked over and saw a video with what looked to be an angel with a throne!

Had to listen!

So many creative words of worship 

for God and His Son.

(God Incident 7)

(God Incident 8)

You know, folks, I have been confused, afraid, not knowing who to trust, what, exactly, is the Truth of all the rhetoric that comes flying at us from all directions.

During a scene in this book, a young boy was being prayed for by members of a church and during those prayers, they prayed that he would be free from the deception of those who had burdened him with so many lies (and more...)

During that time, I felt the warmth of The Holy Spirit come over me, ending quickly with the word Deception. I believe the entire night was a miracle, as the Lord spoke, finally, that He would make sure I would not be deceived by those who did not speak God's Truth

One of the things covered in the book The Girl Who Sees Angels, was Spiritual Warfare. I had already considered that this is what was happening right now. But, until tonight, or this morning actually, I had never heard President Biden speak so clearly about what America is facing from the MAGA movement... and what DJ Trump has incited--yes, brought all the haters out of the shadows, the darkness into the light, fighting for power, authority over America the greatest democracy in the world...

YOU, yes, you who are reading/listening this post right now. Do you know that something is very wrong in America right now? Even more importantly, do you know that the God of Truth is also fighting for our Souls? I don't profess to know what it is that you should do. I do know, especially after reading Jeffrey Jones' book, that you must pray...More, you must start to listen to God's voice within you. It is there, waiting to be heard... 

Time for voting is getting close. Realize that the MAGA extremists are working at every level. Your children, right now, are being led by those who have but one goal...to gain power over America, above the law, above, in my opinion, even God. In the book, let me share another small excerpt:

“Who are you?” She thought it. She might have said it aloud. “Light. An angel. Of light.” “Angel?” “I have been and am and will be. I am light. I am everywhere. I am in all things on the earth.” She closed her eyes and saw his image burned inside her lids. Was she awake? She opened her eyes. She was awake ... probably. He ... it ... was still there. “Who are you?” “I am the ruler of this world, the prince of the air. I am above all others. And I am available to you.” His breath seemed to fill the room. An odor. An odor like nothing she had ever experienced before. But maybe tinged with sulfur like the breath from Hartman’s decaying head. “Who?” “I am the god of this age.” “Not the God?” “I have the power to give life and to take it. I want to give you a life.” “I have a life.”

President Biden used several quotes spoken by MAGA extremists. One caught my attention since I had just heard these words. "I am your Retribution..." 

You know folks, there are false prophets spoken of in the Bible. If you are hearing words of hate, prejudice, bias, against other people--those who were created in His image, then I hope you will consider that there is only God as Our Savior... If you are hearing promises that could never be fulfilled, then, consider, perhaps, that you are listening to a false prophet... Start reading...listening...allowing His Spirit to guide you!

Watch for Review Next!

MAY YOU HAVE A GOD INCIDENT TODAY!

God Bless

  Gabbie