what the heck is going on? Picking on the sistahs

I was over at my ebuddy's website Her name is Erica and her post was about T-Pain's Chopped and Screwed. So of course I went over to check this video out.

As luck or fate or gestalt would have it, another ebuddy --this one a black guy-- had also sent me an email about a youtube video.

Uhm...so it looks as if black women are the devil now. All these black guys bewailing our meanness.

Okay, I'm the mother of sons so maybe that will make me distrust a few girls. And I DO tend to think that Black guys are pretty sweet. But hey, we black women can't all be that bad.

I really have to do some pondering though because I've been watching The Real Chance of Love on Vh1 and I DO kinda find myself thinking the non-black girls are a might more polite and sweet than the black girls. Thank God for Rabbit, though. She looks sweet. I hope black women haven't really gone overboard with their toughness.

-C

Stephen Baldwin's fiction book

Okay, I'm reading Stephen Baldwin's Book, "The Life and Death of Gabriel Phillips." It's the first book I'll be reading for the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance since I joined them. Okay, let me admit it: I like Christian films, the kind of stuff you see on Lifetime which is all rural and nostalgic. Heck, I'm a black girl but I'm American. I like country boys. I like sweet corn fed guys with decent rural natures. I like a guy in flannel and denim sitting behind the wheel of a pickup truck. But, okay, those are movies.

When it comes to books, I really have a problem with Christian fiction because like much of Christianity, Christian fiction tends to be sentimental, preachy, nostalgic about Caucasian ways. And honestly, some of the folks I see in Christian fiction are folks who would probably think I'm a sinner or at least not Christian enough. Their tolerance for non-normal behavior just isn't there. And some of these folks would probably have "reasons" to dislike me...ranging from politics to race to my interracial marriage. It's very hard to root for a character when she reminds you of racist folks you've dealt with and when you're saying, "Heck! This woman would be totally racist against me in real life." (Yeah, I think that when I watch old thirties heart-felt films like Grapes of Wrath too. I'm a cynic; I just can't help it.)

So imagine my joy when I got what seemed like a dark novel from a Christian company. If you've followed this blog of mine, you'll notice that I seem to have a dark streak. I'll post books but the ones I actually read or review for curledup.com or compulsivereader.com or blogcritics.com are books like Somaly Mam's autobiography of her life as a child prostitute. I just feel better with the darker side of life.

So then, up comes this book and dang, if it isn't well-written! Toooo well-written, I think. Heck, I don't write that well! Stephen Baldwin co-wrote it with Mike Tabb. So, what exactly does co-write mean? Did Stephen do the plot and Mike write the actual book? Call me a cynic but the book is so well written I just don't think a new writer could write this well. Unless Stephen's been secretly practicing writing all these years.

Anyways, some Christian folks are actually squirming about the bad words in this book. I love my Christian brothers and sisters but sometimes I want to scream: "Stop acting as if you have all these rarefied emotions. Are you really going to get all bent out of shape over the F-word? or the d-word? or the h-word?" ::rolling eyes:: come on, folks! I (generally) don't use the words. Once or twice a year, maybe. But I will say that people who seem so pristine and unworldly kinda turn me off.

I don't want to talk about the review, though. Will write the review and post it to blogcritics over the weekend. But the book has a premise I really find hard to swallow...and it better prove itself -- believably-- to me by the end or else I will scream about how preachy it is.

Enough said.

Dexter, Dexter, Dexter

Well, on HBO's Dexter -- Dexter is a serial killer who has managed to hold himself to killing only bad folks-- Dexter killed a Catholic woman who was dying and who needed euthanasia.

So then...
Oh brother, they are really fooling around with moral issues, uh? Slippery slope city. Remember the third aliens. All these issues pop up and one sees the need for moral relativity. Like when Ripley gets pregnant with the alien and has to abort herself. I'm wondering about the moral issue in the Dexter stories. First, can/should a serial killer kill other serial killers if that serial killer only kills bad folks and folks in need of death? Who knows?

Next, Catholic woman has been failed by her faith and finds a way out of the crisis put on her by her faith by getting someone else to kill her. No thought of maybe a miracle healing her because God is dead or at least seriously missing and the woman is following her religion's doctrine but it has betrayed her. Who knows? Very scary. Stuff for greater minds than mine to figure out. But it seems to be very well done. I've seen stories by moral folks which are so crappy that the moral or doctrine comes off preachy and doesn't exactly challenge the slippery slopes. Is there a stalwart type with black and white morality in Dexter? And -- probably, because it's hollywood-- I bet he's an asshole. Isn't it interesting when you find yourself totally disliking everything a character believes in but still liking a show or a character? It's such a moral quandary. Moral quandaries are good, I suspect because it shows that we are empathetic character and at the same time we want some standard of behavior. What to do?

The lady asked Dexter to kill her, out of desperation – she was in constant pain, and had been told by the doctors that her tumor had slowed its growth, so she was actually doomed to live and suffer even longer. And after asking him she regretted it, and apologized to Dexter. The regret and apology is all part of what's expected alas. She has asked and that is what matters. I always like seeing how these things are handled. We the audience think "pain is a terrible thing and yes, let's free her from her sorrows." Very difficult morally to disagree with empathizing with another person's pain.

The closest the series came to a stalwart type with black and white morality would be an FBI guy from last season but then there was the hanky-panky with someone under his command.

So no black and white types. I wonder if that's a good thing. I like varying shades of gray but I also like total black/immoral and total white/moral. The nearest thing we have to total black, it seems, are the baddies Dexter kills. Moral folks on TV tend to be really smarmy, though. Or innocently naive. Or idealistic and young. Or hypocritical. Or assholes. The trouble is that in real life the types who consider themselves moral are usually not so moral. Everytime I hear a right wing politician defend his views on abortion by saying they value the sanctity of life, I tell myself I would believe them if they weren't so keen on the death penalty and if they weren't so greedy or so imperialistic. Hey, I'm a pro-lifer but I'm pro-life all the way. And I don't go around pretending to be so holy and pious.

FILM: A Good day to be black and sexy

I'll recommend this because it's black and I have to support black arts. Alas I DO wonder about the morality of some of our people. One of these stories is about adultery. Sharing men seem to be pretty overdone in the black community. But that's all I'll say.

A Good day to be black and sexy

Official Selection: Sundance Festival
Nominee for Breakthrough Director: Gotham Independent Film Awards
Official Selection: AFI Fest

written and directed by dennis dortch
produced by layla mashavu, dennis dortch, adetoro makinde
cinematography by brian ali-harding
editing by dennis dortch, tangier a. clarke
casting by adetoro makinde
original music by henry "lukecage" willis
executive producers angela flowers-dortch, ben ramsey, jonathan cutler, paula parsons
site curator/fotographer miss numa

Here's a bit of the blurb from their myspace page :

I set out to make a relationship film updating the theme of "Black is Beautiful." Even though the stories are not necessarily directly on that theme, it's all there in the imagery and composition. A film with soul. The Blackness. I was purposely looking to approach each vignette with a slightly different approach, style, and tone. It was a chance to be creative with film language and music in multiple directions in the same film that spoke to the same goal. The result is a 'Mixtape on Film.’

-d. dortch
writer/director

Here's the youtube video


For more information contact them at blackandsexymovie (at) gmail.com

CFBA: One Holy Night

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
One Holy Night
Sheaf House (April 1, 2008)
by
J. M. Hochstetler


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


J. M. Hochstetler writes stories that always involve some element of the past and of finding home. Born in central Indiana, the daughter of Mennonite farmers, she graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Germanic languages. She was an editor with Abingdon Press for twelve years and has published three novels.

One Holy Night, a contemporary miracle story for all seasons, released in April 2008. Daughter of Liberty (2004) and Native Son (2005), books 1 and 2 of the American Patriot Series are set during the American Revolution. Book 3, Wind of the Spirit, is scheduled for release in March 2009. Hochstetler is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Christian Authors Network, Middle Tennessee Christian Writers, and Historical Novels Society.



ABOUT THE BOOK

In 1967 the military build-up in Viet Nam is undergoing a dramatic surge. The resulting explosion of anti-war sentiment tears the country apart, slicing through generations and shattering families. In the quiet bedroom community of Shepherdsville, Minnesota, the war comes home to Frank and Maggie McRae, whose only son, Mike, is serving as a grunt in Viet Nam.

Frank despises all Asians because of what he witnessed as a young soldier fighting the Japanese in the south Pacific during WWII. The news that his son has fallen in love with and married Thi Nhuong, a young Vietnamese woman, shocks him. To Frank all Asians are enemies of his country, his family, and himself. A Buddhist, Thi Nhuong represents everything he despises. So he cuts Mike out of his life despite the pleas of his wife, Maggie; daughter, Julie; and Julie s husband, Dan, the pastor of a growing congregation.

Maggie is fighting her own battle--against cancer. Convinced that God is going to heal her, Frank plays the part of a model Christian. Her death on Thanksgiving Day devastates him. Worse, as they arrive home from the gravesite, the family receives news of Mike s death in battle. Embittered, Frank stops attending church and cuts off family and friends.

By the time a very pregnant Thi Nhuong arrives on his doorstep on a stormy Christmas Eve, Frank is so filled with hate that he slams the door in her face, shutting her out in the bitter cold. Finally, overcome by guilt, he tries to go after her, but driving wind and snow force him back inside. With the storm rising to blizzard strength, he confronts the wrenching truth that what hate has driven him to do is as evil as what the Japanese did all those years earlier, and that he needs forgiveness as desperately as they did ...

Frank doesn't know that what God has in mind this night is a miracle. As on that holy night so many years ago, a baby will be born and laid in a manger--a baby who will bring forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing to a family that has suffered heart-wrenching loss.

If you would like to read the first chapter of One Holy Night, go HERE.

What it means to support our troops

Great speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ZvgId7Ux4

RIP: Miriam Makeba

CFBA: Until We Reach Home

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Until We Reach Home
Bethany House (October 1, 2008)
by
Lynn Austin


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

For many years, Lynn Austin nurtured a desire to write but frequent travels and the demands of her growing family postponed her career. When her husband's work took Lynn to Bogota, Colombia, for two years, she used the B.A. she'd earned at Southern Connecticut State University to become a teacher. After returning to the U.S., the Austins moved to Anderson, Indiana, Thunder Bay, Ontario, and later to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Lynn resigned from teaching to write full-time in 1992. She has published twelve novels. Three of her historical novels, Hidden Places, Candle in the Darkness, and Fire by Night have won Christy Awards in 2002, 2003, and 2004 for excellence in Christian Fiction. Fire by Night was also one of only five inspirational fiction books chosen by Library Journal for their top picks of 2003, and All She Ever Wanted was chosen as one of the five inspirational top picks of 2005.

Lynn's novel Hidden Places has been made into a movie for the Hallmark Channel, starring actress Shirley Jones. Ms Jones received a 2006 Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of Aunt Batty in the film.

Among her lastest books are A Proper Pursuit and A Woman's Place


ABOUT THE BOOK

Life in Sweden seems like an endless winter for three sisters after their mother's and father's suicide. Ellin feels the weight of responsibility for her sisters' welfare and when it circumstances become unbearable, she writes to her relatives in Chicago, pleading for help.

Joining sixteen million other immigrants who left their homelands for America between 1890 and 1920, Ellin, Kirsten, and Sophia begin the long, difficult journey. Enduring the ocean voyage in steerage and detention on Ellis Island, their story is America's story. And in a journey fraught with hardships, each woman will come to understand her secret longings and the meaning of home.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Until We Reach Home, go HERE

Illegitimate: How a Loving God Rescued a Son of Polygamy

Illegitimate: How a Loving God Rescued a Son of Polygamy
By: Brian J. Mackert, Susan Martins Miller
Hardcover
320 pages
Vendor: David C. Cook
Publication Date: 2008
ISBN: 1434766918
ISBN-13: 9781434766915

Here's the blurb:

Brian J. Mackert was raised in a splinter group of the LDS church that endorsed polygamy. He later embraced a true relationship with Christ and became a licensed Baptist minister. In addition to his profession as a telecom engineer, Brian regularly speaks to church groups about the realities of radical Mormonism. In Illegitimate, Brian Mackert shares his testimony of growing up on a Fundamentalist Mormon compound in Utah. As a son in a family of one father, four wives and 31 children, Mackert experienced firsthand the devastating realities of polygamous cults. He reveals a world of loving mothers and abusive fathers, deceptive religion and the truth that he eventually found in Jesus Christ. His amazing story of healing and redemption demonstrates the incredible love of God, and His ability to bring light into the darkest of places.

Here is the youtube video

Who am I? Myself

Well, the election is over. Mercifully! I suppose I'm glad Obama won (as opposed to the other one). It's historic. It's good for the African-American soul.

But I was for Nader. I'm always for Nader. Hence my problem. I am also so myself, always have been, and yet I've never been at peace being myself.

The last two years have been interesting and burdensome. My Christian evangelical friends -- mostly the white and hispanic ones-- kept expecting Christians to vote for McCain. Good lord, the way they were acting it was as if Obama was the anti-christ himself. In fact, I remember getting an email to the effect that someone had dreamt that Obama was indeed the anti-christ. Nah, I don't think so. (Of course I could be wrong, but who knows?) I just think Obama wouldn't like me as a friend. I think he'd think he was better than me. I think he'd scorn me -- in much the same way atheists scorn me.

Then there were my black friends. Whether Democrat or Republicans, most of them assumed I would vote for Obama. But why exactly should I vote for him?

Honestly, I'm 48 -- soon to be 49. I've spent a great deal of my life being treated badly by Christian and atheist whites and by rich and poor blacks. I could tell you stories but I won't go on. I tend to go through life on the borderline. The way I figure it, I live in God's kingdom. To the white christians, America is an extension of that kingdom. And to the black christians Obama's success is some kind of joyous enthronement of good.

A part of my problem is that I've been so wounded by every side that I'm a bit of a curmudgeon. I just don't give much of a damn about what certain herds to which I ostensibly belong do or have or praise. Besides, as I have said, I don't really believe Obama would include me in his herd. But the other part of it is that I always think that Ralph Nader speaks deeply on the issues. When I say this, folks say, "You're throwing away your vote!" So? If my integrity says to do something I do it. My integrity is not dependent on who will win. I'm a Christian, after all. If I knew Jesus would have been crucified I still would follow him. I have no great need to win. Besides, voting for Nader helps the guy pay for his campaign and helps to establish the third party system.

In the meantime, I have returned to myself. And I am brave enough to say it here. Hopefully this bravery will help remove the woundedness I often feel when I get rejections from those who think I should be more herdlike. Truly for someone who walks the borderlands and who has integrity I care way too much what people think of me. And that isn't good for one's health. But at least I'm being a tiny little bit brave. On this day after the historic election, I dare to say that I voted for Nader. Life's fine. And perhaps I'm learning not to care what either of my herd thinks.

Part of the situation is this: I have never been able to be swept away or carried away by anything earthly or human. It's probably not exactly the best of traits but alas that's the way I am. I didn't get all swoony when Mel Gibson created The Passion. I don't go into paroxysms of grief when some great leader of the black or Christian or whatever community dies. And if I get all carried away about anything or anyone, it's usually about someone no one else in the world would have liked or thought twice about. And it's often about someone the world has hated. In short I save my extreme joy and my extreme grief for God and for those very like Jesus. I don't try to do it. That's just the way I am. It takes a lot to rock me; what can I say?

Wow!!! Mattilda also posted on not being too excited about Obama. Nice. We folks who battle fibromyalgia are definitely fighters against the norm...even when we seem to be fighting those normal expectations of those who are supposedly on our side.
-C

Safecracker

Am presently in geek heaven. The studio hubby works for also does a magazine that reviews PC games. So, of course yours truly ends up with one of these games. Am totally enjoying it. I love puzzle games and this one is very sweet, kinda remininicient of Myst although not as beautiful. But it's innocent and no guns or sex in sight. (Okay, so I'm trying to figure out puzzles in order to crack safes and steal someone's will, but hey that's relatively harmless when we're in the realm of computer game crimes.) Definitely a book an old-fashioned goodie-two-shoe puzzle-loving Christian would love. It's very intuitive, especially if you understand puzzles. So yeah, safecracker is super fun. You KNOW I'll be spending my thanksgiving playing this thing. And I'm super-grateful it fell into my hands. Little things like this just make my day.

Plus I'm totally addicted to Estate of Panic on SciFi channe1. It's a great put painfully scary (vicariously) scifi reality game. -C

CFBA: Rain Song

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Rain Song
Bethany House (October 1, 2008)
by
Alice J. Wisler


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alice sold her first story to David C. Cook for a take-home Sunday School paper called Sprint. The year was 1988, this was her first submission to a paying market, and the check sent to her was for $125.00.

She was on her way!

Since then, Alice has sold articles and devotions to the Upper Room, Alive Now, Standard Publishing, ByLine magazine and others.

In 2006 she sent her novel Rain Songto Bethany House...and the rest is history! She signed a two -book deal and the second, How Sweet It Is will be out in 2009.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Nicole Michelin avoids airplanes, motorcycles, and most of all, Japan, where her parents once were missionaries. Something happened in Japan...something that sent Nicole and her father back to America alone...something of which Nicole knows only bits and pieces. But she is content with life in little Mount Olive, North Carolina, with her quirky relatives, tank of lively fish, and plenty of homemade pineapple chutney. Through her online column for the Pretty Fishy Web site, she meets Harrison Michaels, who, much to her dismay, lives in Japan. She attempts to avoid him, but his emails tug at her heart. Then Harrison reveals that he knew her as a child in Japan. In fact, he knows more about her childhood than she does.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Rain Song, go HERE

CFRB: Leaps of Faith

This month, CFRB presents Leaps of Faith, an anthology edited by Karina and Robert Fabian.

About the Book:
Believe in a future where science and faith live side-by-side? Leaps of Faith contains 15 stories exploring space, time and faith. Can an ancient religion bring hope to first-line explorers for whom each trip is potential suicide? What does it mean when a physicist finds God's face in the stars? Is there a "saint gene" and can it be reproduced to create miracles? What happens to your soul when your body is shattered into quantum elements and reassembled on another world? How will the Christian faith transform alien thoughts and traditions?

Read as time travelers seeking to change Biblical history and space travelers harvesting "angels" are brought to faith by their experiences. Experience tender romance and heart-pounding adventure. Laugh at the foilables of man.

A 2002 EPPIE finalist for Best Electronic Anthology, Leaps of Faith promises the best in Christian sci-fi.

Purchase Leaps of Faith at The Writer's Cafe Press.
Check out the YouTube Video.
Visit the Leaps of Faith Website.



Check out these other member blogs this week for more info.

First Nations/Native American heritage speculative fiction

The CARL BRANDON SOCIETY recommends the following speculative fiction books by writers of First Nations/Native American heritage for American Indian Heritage Month (November):

THE WAY OF THORN AND THUNDER trilogy, Daniel Heath Justice
This trilogy speculatively re-imagines the Cherokee history of removal and relocation and redefines European fantastical tropes using Cherokee-centered imagery and worldviews.

GREEN GRASS, RUNNING WATER Thomas King
One of the best books I've ever read: a funny, sad, gorgeous story that ties together a contemporary narrative about 
Indians living on Canada's prairies with slightly skewed creation myths and accounts of the historical horrors endured by First Nations people during the continent's European colonization

THE BALLAD OF BILLY BADASS AND THE ROSE OF TURKESTAN, William Sanders
A wry love story that also incorporates critiques of nuclear testing and dumping on Native lands.

EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF FORT SMITH, William Sanders
A collection of short stories from Sanders' entire career. You can see some of his best here, including the alternate history "The Undiscovered," in which a shanghaied, shipwrecked Shakespeare is trapped in 16th Century Appalachia and must stage his plays among the Cherokee, and the near-future "When the World is All on Fire" when climate change and toxic waste have caused Indian reservations to become prime property again.

ALMANAC OF THE DEAD, Leslie Marmon Silko
Silko uses magical realism to chronicle numerous characters' journeys toward the prophetic, violent end of white dominance in the Americas.


TANTALIZE, Cynthia Leitich Smith
A departure from Smith's previous, realistic Indian YA stories, this YA novel jumps onto the vampire bandwagon, this time in a vampire-themed restaurant in Texas.

THE BONE WHISTLE, Eva Swan (Erzebet Yellowboy)
The Bone Whistle is about a woman who discovers her true heritage. She is the child of a wanaghi, one of the creatures of Native-American folklore.

THE NIGHT WANDERER, Drew Hayden Taylor
A gothic young adult vampire story.

THE LESSER BLESSED, Richard Van Camp
A coming-of-age story of a native Canadian boy obsessed with Iron Maiden. Has elements of magical realism.

BEARHEART: THE HEIRSHIP CHRONICLES, Gerald Vizenor
Perhaps the first Native American science fiction, this is a journey through a dystopian future United States destroyed by the collapse of the fuel supply.

October posts from across the web that made me smile

Ah! To belong to so many different sub-groups. Christian, Black, Spec-fic lover, Minority

The speculative fiction lover part of me loved this post from Galaxy Express

Although I'm not really decided about Obama (I might vote for Ralph Nader cause yeah, he seems way more humble) this post from Electronic Village made me laugh. Hey! I'm black, I totally get it.

This was on the APOOO -- a place of our own-- blog. It's a black folks' blog but pumpkin butts always make me laugh.

Tia over at Fantasy Debut had a great post on why vampires aren't sexy for her. I totally agree.

Gospel Blog had some cute stuff too from a classic Christian humor book.

A blog over at Bollywood to Hollywood really made me smile. Although it shouldn't have. It's a post about the tragedy that affected Jennifer Hudson. And yet it's on an East Indian blog. I liked that. Multiculturality. To think that East Indians actually might care about what happens to black movie stars. Well, it was good for my soul.

Fantasy Magazine had a great list of steampunk movies, anime, etc. Okay, so I love Steampunk in film and I just can't read it in books.

This made me smile: Jeff Rivera's book is doing well. I remember hearing about him back in the day. Nice to see a brother doing successfully in specfic...and being blessed after being self-published.

A WTF? moment when this Japanese woman was arrested for killing another player's avatar when that other player -- who was her virtual husband in a shared world game-- divorced her without asking.

Another in the WTF? category: From the Salt Lake City newspaper by way of museum of hoaxes

And last but not least, by way of Angry Asian Man is this vid First Asian Boy

Here it is but the youtube url is above:

CFBA: An Irishwomans' Tale

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
An Irishwomans' Tale
Kregel Publications (July 8, 2008)
by
Patti Lacy


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:




Patti Lacy graduated from Baylor University in 1977 with a B.S. in education. She taught at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois, until she retired in 2006 to pursue writing full time. She has two grown children with her husband, Alan, and lives in Illinois.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Far away from her Irish home, Mary Freeman begins to adapt to life in Midwest America, but family turmoil and her own haunting memories threaten to ruin her future.

A shattered cup. Cheap tea. Bitter voices asking what's to be done with the "little eejit." Mary, an impetuous Irishwoman, won't face the haunting memories--until her daughter's crisis propels her back to County Clare. There, in a rocky cliffside home, Mary learns from former neighbors why God tore her from Ireland forty-five years earlier. As she begins to glimpse His sovereign plan, Mary is finally able to bury a dysfunctional past and begin to heal. Irish folk songs and sayings add color to the narrative.

Watch the Book Trailer:



If you would like to read the first chapter of , go HERE

Directory of Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense Post

Wow, I was so glad when I saw this.

If you have ever had to deal with verbal attacks, get the book The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense. But if you can't go to this site. Wow! A real trove. I have the book. Definitely helps on the human linguistic cruelty games and body language stuff. She also blogs about political linguistics. It's just really helpful...Now if I could only commit to actually being tough enough to use it when some person verbally attacks. -C

CFBA: Dangerous Heart

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Dangerous Heart
Avon Inspire (October 14, 2008)
by
Tracey Bateman


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tracey Bateman published her first novel in 2000 and has been busy ever since. There are two other books in the Westward Hearts Series, Defiant Heart (#1) and Distant Heart (#2)

She learned to write by writing, and improved by listening to critique partners and editors. She has sold over 30 books in six years.
She became a member of American Christian Fiction Writers in the early months of its inception in 2000 and served as president for a year.


Tracey loves Sci-fi, Lifetime movies, and Days of Our Lives (this is out of a 21 year habit of watching, rather than enjoyment of current storylines.

She has been married to her husband Rusty for 18 years, has four kids, and lives in Lebanon, Missouri.


ABOUT THE BOOK

For the past seven years, Ginger Freeman has had one goal: find Grant Kelley and make him pay for allowing her brother to die. Growing up motherless with a father who leads an outlaw gang, Ginger isn’t exactly peaches and cream. So when she finally tracks down Grant on a wagon train headed west, she figured providence had stepped in and given her the chance she’s been waiting for.

On the wagon train, finally surrounded by a sense of family and under the nurturing eye of Toni Rodde, Ginger begins to lose her rough edges. She’s made friends for the first time and has become part of something bigger than revenge. Not only has her heart softened toward people in general, but God has become a reality she never understood before. And watching Grant doctor the pioneers, she’s realized she can’t just kill him and leave the train without medical care. Putting her anger aside, before long, Ginger’s a functioning part of the group.

But when the outlaw gang, headed by her pa, shows up and infiltrates the wagon train, she is forced to question her decision. Only self-sacrifice and her new relationship with God can make things right. But it might also means she loses everything she’s begun to hold dear.

If you would like to read from the first chapter of Dangerous Heart, go HERE

Christian Film Festival in San Francisco

The Christian film festival created by Christian film producers WYSIWYG Filmworks begins on Nov 5th. Check out his site to see the dream he had about how to pay for this film.

Got the info from Christians in Cinema

SPIRITUAL WARFARE: Defeating the Forces of Darkness

SPIRITUAL WARFARE: Defeating the Forces of Darkness
by Dr Preston Bailey
388 pages
Xulon Press
May 20, 2008
ISBN-10: 1604778962
ISBN-13: 978-1604778960

Wow!!! What a book! Definitely one to get if one lives near haunted houses or haunted people!

Here's the blurb:

SPIRITUAL WARFARE: Defeating the Forces of Darkness is a theological and practical book on overcoming the attacks of the Devil. Christians need to use the many spiritual resources that the Lord of Hosts, the Commander in Chief of the heavenly army, has provided for us to defeat the attacks of the Wicked One. Dr. Bailey describes the nine different types of attacks by demons along with how to respond to each type of attack in order to have victory. He also describes Satan's organizational structure of demons and how they scheme to attack people. Dr. Bailey has appeared on numerous television shows and was the producer and host of a weekly series called "The Christian Counselor." He has trained police departments about Satanic Ritual activities and been a consultant with law enforcement on occult related crime. He was appointed by the Governor as Chairman of the Task Force on Child Abuse and later appointed on the Juvenile Anti-crime Task Force that helped reduce juvenile crime in Florida. Since he has many years of experience in dealing with most types of occult and satanic related groups, he has done numerous seminars in churches and Christian organizations on the subject. Dr. Bailey also has counseled thousands of demonized people and hundreds of people who were ritually abused. Since he has led many Satanists, witches, warlocks, and those involved in the occult to Christ, his insight into the occult has helped him train thousands of Christian counselors in Europe, Canada, and throughout the United States and minister to those who have been demonized. God has given him many unique experiences that he has shared in this book which will enrich your life and reveal startling truths about spiritual warfare and how to have victory over the attacks of Satan.

His website is really a great site and you can download documents on how to pray for demonized folks and houses. It's a great site. Check it out.

Here is the amazon site

Charity: World Orphans

WORLD ORPHANS is committed to rescuing millions of ORPHANED AND ABANDONED CHILDREN, the strengthening of thousands of INDIGENOUS CHURCHES, and the impacting of hundreds of COMMUNITIES with the Gospel of Jesus Christ…through the COST-EFFECTIVE empowerment of CHURCH-BASED orphan prevention, rescue, care and transition programs in the LEAST REACHED AREAS of the world. Go to their website at: World Orphans

Prisoner Alert:Nguyen Van Dai

In May 2008, Nguyen Van Dai, a Vietnamese Protestant church leader and lawyer, was sentenced to five years in prison and followed by four years of house arrest. Nguyen was accused of a wide range of crimes, including "conspiring with terrorists, in their efforts to promote human rights efforts, including religious rights and democracy." He was also accused of compiling "evidence of Vietnam's suppression of the Protestant religion and providing it to the U.S.-based Committee for Religious Freedom in Vietnam and the U.S. embassy."

Go to the Prisoner Alert website to see how you can write Nguyen and encourage him that you're praying for him.

Pray also for the Iraqi Christians. Since the US invasion, they have been persecuted, their women raped and forced to convert, beheaded, and their lands and houses taken away.



Go to Voice of the Martyrs to read up more about persecuted Christians.

Go to persecution.com to find out about other Persecuted Christians all over the world.

-C

CFBA: Less Than Dead

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Less Than Dead
Thomas Nelson (September 9, 2008)
by
Tim Downs


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tim Downs is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University. After graduation in 1976 he created a comic strip, Downstown, which was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate until 1986. His cartooning has appeared in more than a hundred major newspapers worldwide.

His first book, a work of non-fiction, was awarded the Gold Medallion Award in 2000. His first novel, Shoofly Pie, was awarded the Angel Award in 2004, and his third novel, PlagueMaker, was awarded the Christy Award for best suspense novel of 2007. First The Dead, the third book in this Bug Man series came out earlier this year.

Tim lives in Cary, North Carolina, with his wife Joy.


ABOUT THE BOOK


Some secrets just won't stay buried.
When strange bones surface on a U.S. senator's property, the FBI enlists forensic entomologist Nick Polchak to investigate the forgotten graveyard. Polchak's orders are simple: figure out the mess.

But Polchak, known as the "Bug Man" because of his knowledge of insects and their interaction with the dead, senses darker secrets buried beneath the soil.

Secrets that could derail the senator's presidential bid.

Secrets buried in the history of a quaint Virginia town.

Secrets someone is willing to kill to protect.

With the help of a mysterious local woman named Alena and her uncanny cadaver dogs, Polchak sets out to dig up the truth.

But with a desperate killer hot on his trail, he'll be lucky to wind up anything less than dead.


If you would like to read the first chapter of Less Than Dead, go HERE

CFBA: Murder on Ol Bunions

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Murder on The Ol' Bunions
Barbour Publishing, Inc (2008)
by
Sandra D. Moore


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

SAndra has been writing for years with historicals being her main focus. By the time she had a polished manuscript in hand, historicals were unpopular. She didn't give up though and decided to try her hand at writing a mystery. A cozy mystery.

Her first book, Murder on The Ol' Bunions , released in April of 2008. Book two of the LaTisha Barnhart Mystery series, Polly Dent Loses Grip, and book three, Eat, Drink and Be Buried will follow in April 2009 and 2010, respectively.

She's almost always running a contest, so drop by her Website, you just might win a free gift!



ABOUT THE BOOK


LaTisha Barnhart’s bunions tell her something’s afoot as she delves deeper into the murder of her former employee, Marion Peters. When LaTisha becomes a suspect, the ante is upped, and she is determined to clear her name and find the culprit.

She’s burping Mark Hamm’s bad cooking to investigate his beef with Marion. . .getting her hair styled at a high falutin’ beauty parlor to see what has Regina Rogane in a snarl. . .playing self-appointed matchmaker between the local chief and a prime suspect. . .and thinking Payton O’Mahney’s music store lease might be the reason he’s singing out of tune when discussion of Marion’s murder arises. LaTisha’s thinking she just might use the reward money to get her bunions surgically removed. But she’s got to catch the crook first.

Small town intrigue, a delightful, vivid cast, and a well-crafted mystery make S. Dionne Moore’s debut novel a must-read! I loved it!~Susan May Warren~Award-winning author of Reclaiming Nick

“S. Dionne Moore has the rare quality of pulling together great characters and compelling plots.”
~Kelly Klepfer~ www.novelreviews.blogspot.com

If you would like to HEAR the first chapter, go HERE and click on the bookcover trailer box!

If you would like to READ, the first chapter of Murder on The Ol' Bunions , go HERE.

Cinetic

Cinetic is part of youtube's new screening program.

Here's their blurb.

Cinetic is here to bring audiences the latest, greatest, and classic festival favorites from around the globe. From award-winners by veteran filmmakers, to up-and-coming talents telling new stories, Cinetic prides itself at being on the forefront of quality indie film for the digital space. Cinetic brings the festival and arthouse experience to audiences, on demand.

Website: http://www.cineticmedia.com

I highly recomend subscribing. One could see a lot of art and foreign films that would never come to your neighborhood. (Okay, there'll be issues with subtitles sometime if one really has to get work done, but for the most part, this'll really be fun!! You know how I love movies.)

Their first full length film is the princess of Nebraska, a film about an Asian transfer student who finds herself pregnant.

BLOG ACTION DAY: Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System

Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System.
by Raj Patel

Today is world food day. It probably should be called world starvation day.

RAJ PATEL, former policy analyst for Food First, a leading food think tank, has worked for the World Bank, WTO and the UN, he has protested them on four continents.
Here is a review of the book. And here are part one and part two of an interview he did with Amy Goodman.


If blogger and google have issues, go directly to youtube



If blogger and google have issues, go directly to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDqNTP2JHuY

Please check out the transcript of how the food crisis and debt crisis is affecting African-American and latino farmers
and check out this documentary on the disappearance of the black farmer.



or go to youtube to check it out

Very scary stuff...and to think my worries were that bananas were going extinct
For more on Global food day see blogactionday.org

The Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Lives of Bees



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRoRncC3Zcc

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, based on the New York Times best selling novel by Sue Monk Kidd and set in South Carolina in 1964, is the moving tale of Lily Owens (Fanning) a 14 year old white girl who ends up lilving with a black family and the trouble it causes in those racist times. Find a synopsis here

It also received a great review from Roger Ebert

Yes, yes, I know...I haven't been reviewing anything cause I've been working on my novels. Will get better. -C

Throwback Thursday: Tru Rez I'm the Lucky One

NDN hip-hop from the Six Nations -- find more from the band at

Video by Big Soul Productions
Lucie Idlout from Nunavut sings the hook. I looked everywhere for her song, High Heels on a Gravel Road. That is one great anti-domestic song.

NCAI Native Prayer Breakfast

The first ever National Congress of American Indians National Convention Prayer Breakfast is due to take place next Thursday, October 23rd in Phoenix. It will be hosted by Richard Twiss of Wiconi International. It's the first time the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) has allowed a prayer breakfast. Bill Miller is coming to share his music, Lael Echo-hawk, Wendell Berkland, Larry Anderson and others will be sharing during our one hour breakfast.If you live in the Phoenix area and want to attend the prayer breakfast you can call our office for registration details ($25.00 cost). Please be praying for this historic first ever, ANNUAL, NCAI Prayer Breakfast!!!

And I mean definitely pray! Native American believers and Messianic Jews often have a lot of struggles within their communities because, well, let's not forget what white Christian folks have historically done.

He states in his monthly newsletter, Smoke Signals,

My new favorite poet, Hafiz, writes, “Everyone is God speaking. Why not be polite and Listen to Him?”

Then he goes on to say:

"You know, at a fundamental level it is God who initiates communication with people. Johannes Henrici says, “Communication is deeply rooted in God’s nature and it is this nature he imparted to humanity when he created us in his own image.” To paraphrase Viggo Søgaard, communication is an ability God gave to us little images and “is the only way to be fully human.”

Before Europeans arrived here, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Bible…Jesus – was communicating to the Lakota, Pawnee, Apache, Navajo, Cherokee, Mohawk and hundreds of other tribal people here in Turtle Island – North America. The scripture says in Romans 1:19 "since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.(NIV)" And in the NKJV "because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them." (NKJV)

So then, God was communicating with us Injuns through Creation, revealing his divine nature/attributes to us, while we were still in darkness, savagery, paganism and lostness. Holy cow!

So what does the voice of God sound like to you? What expression of his divine nature is God communicating to you in the midst of bad news headlines? Does he sound like a conservative republican or liberal democrat? Is he white, black, brown or earth tone? Is he a socialist, capitalist or environmentalist? Is he speaking English, Spanish, German, Chinese or Lakota? Or maybe he is just “speaking in tongues” all the time? Holy smokes! Maybe Hafiz is right, “Everyone is God speaking. Why not be polite and Listen to Him?

Now what do we do when Jesus does not appear to prefer to speak to humanity through one language, political ideology, economic policy, musical form or liturgical style? Holy cow! Maybe God “does not show favoritism, but accepts all people equally…” (Acts 10:34). But hey, we all embrace a favored “biblical” political platform, social agenda and church preference ….. and of course Jesus in on our side. So how do we befriend, and love our neighbor when they hold opposing views from ourselves.

NATIVE LEADERS SUMMIT IN VANCOUVER

Sixteen First Nations men and women who give leadership to networks are meeting for 2 ½ days to begin exploring new possibilities for the next generation. They covet your prayers for God-inspired outcomes!

CFBA: A Beautiful Fall by Chris Coppernoll

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
A Beautiful Fall
David C. Cook (October 2008)
by
Chris Coppernoll


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Chris Coppernoll is the founder of Soul2Soul Ministries, with his interviews with Christian artists airing weekly on 650 radio outlets in thirty countries. He has conducted hundreds of interviews on faith issues with personalities such as Amy Grant, Max Lucado, Michael W. Smith, and Kathie Lee Gifford. He also serves as a Deacon at The People’s Church in Franklin, Tennessee, and is currently working toward a Masters in Ministry Leadership degree through Rockbridge Seminary.

His "Inspirations" column is published monthly in the mid Michigan newspaper, The Jackson Citizen Patriot.

Chris Coppernoll is the author of four other books including Soul2Soul, Secrets of a Faith Well Lived, and God's Calling. Providence, his first novel, is his fourth book.


ABOUT THE BOOK

High-powered Boston attorney Emma Madison is celebrating her latest courtroom victory when she gets a call from a number she doesn't recognize. Area code 803 home. Juneberry, South Carolina eight hundred miles, twelve years, and a lifetime away from Boston. Emma's father has had a serious heart attack. Emma rushes to his bedside, and a weekend trip threatens to become an extended stay. She has to work fast to arrange the affairs of his small-town law practice so she can return to her life and career in Boston.

And then Michael Evans shows up. They'd shared hopes, dreams, and a passionate love as young college students during a long-ago summer. But Emma walked away from Michael and from Juneberry to finish college and start a new life. Michael has never forgotten her.

Enveloped in the warmth of family and small-town life and discovering that she still cares for Michael Emma knows she'll have to make a choice between the career she's worked so hard to build and the love she left behind.

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Beautiful Fall, go HERE



Chris Coppernoll's website

CFBA: Home Another Way by Christa Parrish

Publisher: Bethany House
October 1, 2008
ISBN-10: 0764205234
ISBN-13: 978-0764205231
Paperback: 352 pages

The Christian Fiction Blog Alliance are doing a blog tour of Christa Parrish's Home Another Way. I just joined the group so I didn't get a chance to read it. Nevertheless, it looks like a book I would have liked to read. Hey, any book that talks about the rural parts of NY state makes me happy. NY DOES have a large rural population. I'd love to have read it.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Home Another Way
Bethany House (October 1, 2008)
by
Christa Parrish


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Christa Parrish graduated high school at 16, with every intention of becoming a surgeon. After college, however, her love of all things creative led her in another direction, and she worked in both theatre and journalism.

A winner of Associated Press awards for her reporting, Christa gave up her career after the birth of her son, Jacob. She continued to write from home, doing pro bono work for the New York Family Policy Council, where her articles appeared in Focus on the Family’s Citizen magazine. She was also a finalist in World magazine’s WORLDview short story contest, sponsored by WestBow press. She now teaches literature and writing to high school students, is a homeschool mom, and lives with her family in upstate New York, where she is at work on her second novel.



ABOUT THE BOOK

After her mother’s death and her father’s abandonment, tiny infant Sarah Graham was left to be raised by her emotionally distant grandmother. As a child she turned to music for solace and even gained entrance to Juilliard. But her potentially brilliant music career ended with an unplanned pregnancy and the stillborn birth of her child.

In an attempt to escape the past, Sarah, now twenty-seven, is living life hard and fast–and she is flat broke. When her estranged father dies, she travels to the tiny mountain hamlet of Jonah, New York to claim her inheritance. Once there, she learns her father’s will stipulates a six-month stay before she can recieve the money. Fueled by hate and desperation, Sarah settles in for the bitter mountain winter, and as the weeks pass, she finds her life intertwining with the lives of the simple, gracious townsfolk. Can these strangers teach Sarah how to forgive and find peace?

A story of grace, of God’s never-ceasing love and the sometimes flawed, faithful people He uses to bring His purpose to pass.

If you would like to see a video book trailer of Home Another Way, go HERE.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Home Another Way, go HERE

Here is the trailer or you can go directly to youtube

This is Christa's website
You can read an excerpt here
Here it is on Amazon
This is the Christian Book Distributors url
And this is Barnes and Noble

Resist Africom

Africom is a new US government militarization of the Aid to Africa program. In the past, USAIDS would give food and aid to Africa but now all aid to Africa will be channeled through the military and the state department. This means the ones giving food to African countries will be wearing military uniforms. This means military power will be allowed to align itself with charity (so-called) in order to protect American oil companies and challenge local rule.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1552/t/5717/signUp.jsp?key=3094


http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/2983.cfm

Miracle in the Forgotten Land

Miracle in the Forgotten Land (From the Killing Fields to New Life in Christ)
by Randa Lee, Terry Hill Setan Lee (Author)




Here is his part of his testimony:

One day his student ID, hidden in a small pocket, was discovered and the Khmer Rouge sentenced him to death along with three other young men. He was blindfolded, heard the screams of his friends as each one was hacked to death. When it came to his turn, Setan cried out to "The Lord of the Universe, Whoever You Are," and a male voice yelled "Stop"!! saying, "We must investigate this man further."

Although Setan was a medical student with no training in agriculture or engineering, he was given a paper and pencil and told to design an irrigation system. Miraculously, the God who saved him, provided the design and these plans are still in use today.

In 1978, the North Vietnamese attacked the Khmer Rouge, capturing Cambodian land, and they eventually invaded the camps where so many hundreds of thousands were in forced labor. The day they invaded Setan's camp, their captors scattered into the jungle to avoid the North Vietnamese, and Setan, seeing the moment to escape, ran also, hiding in a ditch for hours before he made his way through the jungle. For a month as he headed towards Thailand, he avoided land mines by stepping on dead bodies along the way, eating leaves and fruits, and drinking water from hollows in trees. When he heard soldiers approaching, he laid still for hours at a time. One day, not far from the border of Thailand, a strange man appeared, clothing tattered and he seemed barely alive. He spoke to Setan and asked him, "Do you believe in the Lord of the universe?" Setan remembered calling out to the Lord, whoever He was, and answered, "Yes, I do believe in the Lord of the universe." This strange man then said,
"His name is Jesus Christ." Suddenly, the man disappeared. Setan told us he believed that that man was a messenger from God. He said, I had never heard of Christianity, but that day I became a Christian.

They have a newsletter also:
http://www.kampforchrist.org/page.php?page=Newsletter



The book about Setan and Randa Lee's story "Miracle in the Forgotten Land" finally become available in some churches' book stores throughout the US, or you can order it by:

Sent check or money order payable to:

KFC/Book/DVD Order
P.O.Box 440283
Aurora, CO 80044-0283

We are also have Setan and Randa's story in DVD motion picture "1000 Years In The Killing Fields"

* Miracle in the Forgotten Land = $12
* 1000 Years In The Killing Fields = $10

* Please add $2 for shipping and handling

Or you can order through email below:
kfcusa@comcast.net

Throwback Thursday: Dolla Wine

An oldie but a goodie by the great Mighty Sparrow!


Here it is on youtube if blogger and youtube start having meshing problems

Infowar: Gardasil

Okay, it's me again with my rant against pharmaceuticals. I was losing patience with the gardasil commercials but now I am more than impatient, I'm angry. Probably because in my very paranoid mind I suspect well-intentioned white teachers will tell parents of their black students something like, "well, your daughter is so promiscuous, she might end up with HPV which might lead to cervical cancer so she really should take Gardasil." You know how that goes? We already have tons of kids taking ritalin which is downright dangerous. But teachers are always prone to believing they are missionaries sent out to take care of the world's youth. And who wants to have a vaccine that costs $1000 to take?

Upshot though, I totally consider gardasil a subtle form of genocide. Yeah, but of course this is me. And I'm assuming black women and minorities will be the ones "encouraged to take it.

When will America wake up? The pharmaceuticals make a lotta money and they are linked to governments. And the nerve of these companies wanting to make it a mandate to make every little eleven year old take it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfauI5uXgA4



As of August 2007, a review of the National Vaccine Information Center revealed the following, quite alarming, statistic about this unnecessary vaccine: 2,207 adverse reactions to Gardasil have been reported.

Among them:
5 girls died
31 were considered life-threatening
1,385 required a visit to the emergency room
451 of the girls have not recovered as of July 2007
51 of the girls were disabled

Not to mention those women who were pregnant when they took it and who ended up losing their babies or having children with abnormalities.

Folks, it's a good idea to be distrustful. Especially if you're a Christian. Christians are supposed to be suspicious of this kind of thing.

Check out this article

the cybils -- children and young adult blogger lit awards

Nominations for the third annual Children's and Young Adult Bloggers'Literary Awards (the Cybils) are open now through Wednesday, October 15th. The goal of the Cybils team (some 100 bloggers) is to highlight books that are high in both literary quality and kid appeal.

This year, awards will be given in nine categories (Easy Readers, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Novels, Non-Fiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Poetry, Young Adult Novels). Anyone can nominate books in these categories(one nomination per person per category). Nominated titles must be published between January 1st and October 15th of this year, and the books must be in English (or bilingual, where one of the languages is English). To nominate titles, visit the Cybils blog between now and 15th. A separate post is available for each category - simply nominate by commenting on those individual posts. If you are not sure which category to choose for a particular book, a questions thread will also be available.

Between October 16th and January 1st, Cybils panelists (children's and young adult bloggers) will winnow the nominations down to a 5-7 book short list for each category. A second set of panelists will then select the winning titles for the different categories. The winners will be announced on February 14th, 2009.

The Cybils lists, from long lists to short lists to the lists of winners offer a wonderful resource to anyone looking for high-quality, kid-friendly books. The Cybils team has worked hard to balance democracy (anyone can nominate titles) with quality control (two rounds of panel judging by people who focus on children's books every day). They do this work because they consider it vital to get great books into the hands of children and young adults.

Please spread the word on your own blog (if you have one) and good luck if your book is nominated!

Christian Fiction Review Blog: Higher Honor Book Tour

Higher Honor
Susan M. Kirkland
Category: Military fiction
ISBN: 978-1-934284-08-7
November 2008
$12.95
312 pages

Here's the Blurb:

When Cadet Cassidy Sanders is brutally assaulted, she struggles to carry on as she turns further from the God of her youth. Her
attacker is an acquaintance who has his own struggles to face. God uses their mutual friends to show both cadets the depth
of his grace and mercy.

Higher Honor is set within the sub-culture of America’s military colleges. The novel focuses on the elements of honor,
brotherhood, duty, and the spirit of the characters to face and overcome challenges that grow them into the military’s
next generation of strong, capable leaders. The realism of Higher Honor’s setting and plot is a result of experience,
observation, and much research.

Some others involved in this tour.

Cathi Hassan
Caprice Hokstad
Rae Byuel
www.cfrblog.blogspot.com

Visit her website to learn more about Higher Honor and read an
excerpt of this novel.

Here it is at Barnes and Noble