Melding Family and Immagination: Night of the Cossack

Thomas Blubaugh, Night of the Cossack review

c.2011 Bound by Faith Publishers

Print $15 and Ebook $6.75

ISBN: 978-0982902929

Blubaugh's novel is based on the imagined life of his Jewish grandfather in the Ukraine, as a Cossack, before immigrating to the United States in 1910.

Sixteen-year-old Nathan and his younger brother Israel are wakened by the invasion of their Georgian village, Gagra, near the Caucasus mountains. They feel with their mother, only the clothes on their backs and weapons they can snatch. Kidnapped into a Cossack patrol, Nathan is forced to accept a new name, Stepan Ivanov, and a new faith – Christian Orthodoxy.

For Stepan, learning to become a mercenary extortionist Cossack means full adoption into a new life in their village of Aksay and even a bit of brainwashing in order to learn the ways of the soldiers. But on the eve of the programs and the Revolution, the Cossacks of Aksay are drafted into the Russian army. Terrible choices, tragedy and betrayal cause Stepan to head west to a different fate. When his past catches up to him, trust doesn’t come easy.

With great sensory details and descriptions that tickle your nose and fancy, Blubaugh’s novel will enrich your library as he takes you back to a time of danger and adventure in a culture far, far away.

March is International Ideas Month, with Kathy Carlton Willis

Kathy Carlton Willis Marketing Coordinator CLASS Christian Writers Conference March is International Ideas Month Idea Starters By Kathy Carlton Willis Have you ever wondered where ideas originate? I love cooking up ideas, so it’s a natural fit for me to celebrate International Ideas Month in March. I recently joined Pinterest—a social networking site for members to share virtual bulletin boards. You can pin images and ideas on your board to share a variety of interests. How brilliant! And it all started with an idea to save, share, and swap more ideas. Have you ever asked God to give you an idea? As a writer, I designate time for brainstorming. During some of these think tanks, my thoughts surge so fast and furious, I call them brain tsunamis. Other times an idea hits when we least expect it—and we have to be ready to jot it down. I’ve had ideas strike at red lights, the bank drive-thru, waiting rooms, and during church. I’ve learned to capture the gist of the idea in my idea notebook because just as quickly as ideas appear in my mind, they can disappear. I hate it when that happens! The best evidence of ideas is when I’m speaking to a group and I see faces light up. I can be fairly certain they’ve just experienced an “aha moment.” See why I celebrate ideas? We can miss two important steps with ideas though. First, we have to make sure it’s a God idea if we want to be operating in His purpose and for His glory. How can you be certain it’s a God idea, not merely a good idea? I ask Him to show me a green light in the form of peace if my brainstorm is from Him and give me a red light in the form of doubt if it doesn’t fit with His direction for my life. The final step to ideas that often gets overlooked is fulfillment. Some people have fun conceiving ideas, but have a harder time working the idea through—taking action steps to bring to completion what started as a brilliant concept. Ideas are only wishes until we act on them and see them accomplished. Can you think of those uncompleted projects that seem to hang out forever on your To Do List? Ask God to lead the way. May He: Inspire the idea. Endorse it so you know it’s from Him. Give you the resources to complete the idea. Give you the discipline to stick to it when you’re tempted to quit. Then praise God when you experience the reward of checking off the idea from your list and you can say, “It is finished!” Never forget, God will complete us as one of His good ideas, too. “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 1:6 (NKJV). Kathy Carlton Willis serves as publicist, author and coach at KCW Communications. She shines, whether she's shining the light on her clients, or reflecting God's light during her speaking engagements. See: http://e2.ma/click/f92dd/v5a6i/7ypyx Visit the CLASS website to learn more information about the 2012 Christian Writers Conference. Come meet Kathy and the rest of the CLASS faculty there!

Book Review: George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver

A Christian Encounters series biography from Thomas Nelson

By John Perry
c. 2011
Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN 978-1-59555-026-2 1

During the US Civil War, a childless, Missouri farm couple Moses Carver and his wife Susan, former slave owners, took two orphaned boys to raise when their mother has kidnapped and disappeared. The boys grew up as if blood sons, taking the Carver name. The older boy, Jim, was strong and a hard worker, but George, born premature and never in good health, turned to less physical pursuits, including developing a passion for gardening, education, and the Christian faith.

After finishing grammar school, George moved to Kansas and took work as a housekeeper to save for higher education. He continued to move around Kansas and eventually developed a laundry business, then a stenography business. With a desire to establish a home, he attempted homesteading, but didn’t stick out the harsh weather.

In 1887 he came to Iowa and was accepted in a small college, eventually settling on agricultural sciences and received his degree in 1894. While considering graduate degrees and missionary work, he received more than one offer to teach. He chose to work at Tuskegee University in Alabama, and met Booker T. Washington, whose story is also briefly told here. Although the experience Carver had initially at the college wasn’t what he hoped, he did find success in research and the respected bulletins he prepared on the results were sent to farmers to offer advice for better and economical practices.

Perry’s account of Carver continuess to detail his rise in respected research circles. Meticulous detail, dates, places, census records and purchase prices, subsequent letters, known speeches and interaction with other famous people such as Thomas Edison, enrich this account of one of America’s most important and influential personages. Told in a matter of fact report-style, readers of biographies will learn all pertinent facts about George Washington Carver.

Autobiography with a Purpose

The Right Way: A Journey Into the Light

By Robert O Russell

 Belief Books, with SilverWood Books Empowered Publishing, United Kingdom

c. 2011

 ISBN: 9781906236670

$15.00

Mr. Russell’s autobiography is a witness to his life journey to faith in Christ. He shares his story in the hope that it will touch readers who may have similar questions to his regarding matters of faith, failure, brokenness and restoration.

Mr. Russell explains his biography is a foreword and acknowledgments, as well as his favorite Psalm and poem.

We are all shaped by our experiences and influenced by family events, so the author begins with early childhood memories and the family tale of his home-birth. His father passed away when Mr. Russell was very young, and the author draws frequently on the things he was told and believed about his father.

Looking backward, the author analyzes his life choices in both zeal and obedience and risk taking and being raised by a single mother as the foundation for his personality and eventual career choices. Readers can’t help but watch Mr. Russell’s life unfold while both cheering and wanting to delve in and smack him for making decisions we think he should avoid. Mothers shake their heads, wring their hands and pray.

The authors’ vulnerability in how he shares what happened to unravel his marriage with equal culpability, his health issues and emotional instability, and the eventual divorce is a lesson for those who may find themselves in a similar predicament.

Mr. Russell talks openly about the divorce and his reaction, his return to church and the resulting rededication to Christ. This story showcases what the author has done to reclaim and turn his life around, what his faith means to him and how he acts upon it. He offers more of his poetry and a personal invitation to know Jesus.

More than a simple autobiography, Mr. Russell truly desires to share his story for God’s glory as well as offer help and hope to those who need it.

A representative of Mr. Russell requested a review prior to a US tour and provided an advance reader copy.

READ AN EBOOK WEEK IS COMING!!

Join the growing number of readers who love the convenience of those nifty little e-readers!!

March 4-10, 2012 is Read an E-Book Week.

Sponsored in part by: http://www.epicorg.com/index.php

History

Read an E-Book Week was first registered with Chase's Calendar of Events in 2004. Chase's is a day by day directory of special days, weeks and months used by event planners or anyone looking for a reason to celebrate. By having the week officially recognized, e-book authors and publishers acquired a certain extra "legitimacy" during that week to promote the new technology of e-books. The public and media were initially wary of e-books and many doors were closed to promotion. With the week officially recognized by Chase's, authors reported they now had access to television morning chat shows and were allowed to set up library displays during the week-long event.

Purpose

Read an E-Book Week educates and informs the public about the pleasures and advantages of reading electronically. Authors, publishers, vendors, the media and readers world-wide are welcome to join in the effort. We encourage you to promote electronic reading with any event. These could include: public readings, library displays, reading challenges, school visits, newspaper and blog articles, chat show appearances, internet radio interviews, e-book give-ways, and banners on your website.

The Read an E-Book Website is here to provide the latest information on e-books and to act as a collection point where you can list your event or give-away.

What's New at Splashdown Books, February 2012

Kia Ora!

Splashdown Books is ready to dive right into the deep end in 2012. This promises to be one of our most exciting swims yet and we are glad you've decided to join us. The water looks fine and the sun is shining bright. Take off your shoes and stay a while.

To start this year's swim we have Diane M Graham readying from the high-dive.

Open your heart and mind to the simplicity and complexity of a name. I know only my name. Beyond that is confusion, a void where fantasy and reality swirl together. Fairies, Giants, Elves, Dwarves, ancient Keepers, and...Dragons?

A dark soul threatens the Five Kingdoms, but I am powerless to stand against him, overwhelmed by phantom memories, broken and lost.

Somehow, I must live. I must find my purpose. There are friends to love and battles to fight.

I know my name. Perhaps that is enough.

I am Ocilla.
This is my story.

A note from Di: A writer’s life is often said to be a lonely life. But any Christian writer knows this isn’t so. God walks with us from the time He plants the seed of inspiration, through the countless hours of writing, rewriting,editing and then sometimes rewriting again. He sends helpers. We tend to never feel our work is fully complete. Another sweep, just one more time to make sure all the T’s are crossed and all the I’s are dotted. But there comes a time when He tells us it is time to show our work to the world. He holds our hand while we walk to the edgeof the gaping chasm known as publication and He tells us to jump.

Gulp!

You turn right and left and see all the many Saints He sentto help you and you are emboldened and filled with hope. On faith, and faith alone,you jump.

 

So today, I stand at that chasm and look at all those thathave been sent to help me lined for miles in each direction. I may soar. I mayfloat to the bottom. But no matter what, He is with me.

 

I jump.

--

I Am Ocilla is available for purchase at Amazon, Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble, Nook (coming soon), Book Depository (coming soon), and Smashwords. You can just click over to Splashdown Bookshop for more information. We have a wonderful sale going on we will tell you about below.

Also, if you would like to hear the prologue read by Diane, you may do so HERE on youtube.

 

The wonderful music for Diane's audio recording was provided by friend of Splashdown Books Eleon. For more of his excellent music, you can find his page on youtube right HERE.

Ryan Grabow gives us a double-backflip with a wonderful book trailer for CAFFEINE here: http://youtu.be/meixJW_8UJE

"Supernatural: above, beyond, in excess of nature. If the meaning of life cannot be found in nature, then I must determine if the answer lies beyond it."

Caffeine will also take part in our special sale we will tell you about below, but not just yet.

***************************************************************************

Next we have a the long awaited Sparrow-dive, similiar to a swan-dive but more awesome, from Caprice Hokstad. The e-book will be available on March 1st, with the print copy coming two short weeks later.

What should be a season of rejoicing over Duke Vahn’s newly-recovered son is overshadowed by fear of an uncertain future. Vahn’s brother, King Arx, expands the war with neighboring Ganluc, while enemies at home seek to shatter the Rebono dynasty forever. Strained relations between royal twins harden into cold suspicion and treasonous accusations while a deadly plague sweeps across the land.

As the royal bloodline is torn asunder, two races, the Elva and Itzi, discover that only together can they stop the plague and restore their unraveling kingdom.

Blood and Brine: the exciting conclusion to the Ascendancy Trilogy.

"Caprice is truly a master world builder. This was the first book in her series that I read, but within a few chapters I felt like I’d been reading in that universe my whole life. Now that I finished I’m going back toget the first two in the series!" ~ Tim Ambrose , Managing Editor, Digital Dragon Magazine

--

Avenir Eclectia has its own music. Yes, you read right and the world you have grown to love can now be swirled with the wonderful musical talent of Eleon.

 

 

Michael L. Rogers has created a soundtrack to accompany the online multi-author shared world microfiction site Avenir Eclectia. Hear the songs, read the stories. Published in association with Splashdown Books.
Available now at Amazon in cd and mp3

And please remember you can have Avenir Eclectia delivered to you kindle for just $.99 cents each month.

Also, something very exciting is in the works which we can't tell you anything about yet, but watch this space!

Now, what you have all been waiting for: To celebrate I Am Ocilla's launch, her ebook is on sale at 4.99 for one week only. That is HERE so you may take advantage of this super cool deal.

But wait! There is so much more. In addition, the Splashdown team has rallied and several more are adding to the party by selling their e-books at a discounted price.

 

The Kindle store with all of them is here: http://astore.amazon.com/splasbooks-20

Also for $4.99.
-Alpha Redemption by P.A. Baines
-Finding Angel by Kat Heckenbach
-Faith Awakened and Legendary Space Pilgrims by Grace Bridges

For just $2.99/ You read right...$2.99.

-CAFFEINE by Ryan Grabow

-The Duke's Handmaid and Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Caprice Hokstad. These are the first two in the trilogy and a great chance to get ready for her third.
- The Crystal Portal by Travis Perry & Mike Lynch.
- Tales of the Dim Knight by Adam & Andrea Graham

- Odd Little Miracles by Fred Warren.
- Aquasynthesis by the Splashdown Team.

Please note: if you want a format other than Kindle for any of the titles on sale, just let us know and we'll send you a voucher for Smashwords where all types of files are available, including PDF for computer reading, Epub for Nook, and many more.

Don't go anywhere yet. Tucked over in the corner, behind the seaweed, Keven Newsome, Diane M Graham and Caprice Hokstad have been up to no good. Seems they have been betting in the most ridiculous ways imaginable. All in good spirit, though. Keven and Diane have a plot bet going in which the loser will have to post a video on youtube, dancing, singing and being silly. You can see the details HERE. And Caprice stuck her foot in her mouth...Diane happily helped her cram it down a little more by holding her to it. You can read about how Caprice will channel her inner Disney right HERE. No one can ever say Splashdown Books is a boring place to work. Stay tuned for updates and a chance for all of you to join in on the fun.

As all of you have read, we are busy, busy splashing around these parts. There is never a dull moment. Can't wait until next month when we can tell you more about skirted men and Turtles.

~The Splashdown Team

**This issue was written by a Crazy-Hair Vaulter**

New novel, Second Chance - put life back into your heart!

Read my review here.

Visit Eileen Rife, Healing Words for Hurting Hearts

Book blurb: An empty nest mom wants the life back in her marriage. A teen from the projects just wants a life. Could they be the answer to each other's dream?

Bonus features:
The 21 Day Romance Challenge for married couples
Song of Solomon Bible study for women's groups

You get two books in one!

Themes addressed in Second Chance:

Love between a husband and wife

Love between Christ and the believer

Forgiveness (especially between father and child)

Empty nest

Depression

Purpose in the second half of life

Volunteer work

Unplanned pregnancy

A portion of proceeds goes to support Straight Street, a Christian inner city teen ministry that reaches out to lost and hurting teens with the gospel of Jesus Christ. www.straightstreet.org