Book Recommendation: ECHO OF ESCAPE

I read lots of books and occasionally I recommend an author. Here's a chick lit / suspense novel for adults: 

ECHO OF ESCAPE by Jessica Michaels

The blurb from the back of the book:

Alyssa Burdick spends her days teaching middle-school and her nights battling the psychological oppression of a misogynist husband. He was her knight in shining armor from the day she met him up until the end of their wedding reception.Now she’s humiliated by what goes on behind closed doors. At least at school she can be herself. And after school, behind her closed classroom door … well, she’s humbled, confused, hopeful even, as her department head, Connor, mentors her. Slowly, very slowly, she opens her heart and soul to him. Just when she’s brave enough to leave her husband something inconceivable happens. Followed by the unimaginable.

Find ECHO OF ESCAPE on Amazon

Sneak Peek: HERE WITHOUT A TRACE

HERE WITHOUT A TRACE

IT WOULD TAKE my entire Rock Hills High School volleyball team to stop my forward momentum and get me back into the hypnotist’s chair. But they’re not here. My screams drift in the air, shrill. And my terror. I hover off the floor like a resurrected ghost in a bad dream, unable to sit back down, unable to open my eyes.

“Hailey,” a familiar male voice croons, “I’m going to count down from ten and when I reach one you’ll open your eyes and feel rested and calm.”

Oh no I won’t. My heart is pounding, my body thrumming with frustration.

“You won’t remember what’s made you so afraid.”

But I will. No smooth-talking, pointy-nosed, over weight snake-charmer is going to wipe these images from my brain with a bit of trance-inducing meditation. The scent of stale smoke, strong mouthwash, and my own dried sweat swirl around, biting.

“Ten, nine, eight …”

My eyes roll back in my head and sharp fingernails scratch at invisible scabs.

“… seven, six, five …”

I can’t suck in enough air, but I feel the chair hard against my thighs. I’m sinking back, no longer hovering.

“… four, three, two, one.”

Nothing. Maybe I never was off the seat. The monotonous vibrations of a moment ago have ceased, vanished into uncomfortably thick air.

HERE WITHOUT A TRACE just released

HERE WITHOUT A TRACE

In my latest Young Adult novel 17 year old Hailey hunts for her friend who disappeared “without a trace.” Aided by Logan, a boy who has kept his feelings for her hidden, the two discover a parallel world where they can access the abilities they could only have in dreams. Now one of them can fly. 

Believable Prophecy

What if a thousand years ago when the Viking Leif Ericson sailed to the new continent he brought with him some written lyrics that sang of a tragedy in which huge flying ships would crash into twin 110 story tall buildings? How fantastic would that sound for the next millennium until airplanes were invented and buildings scraped the skies?

But what if that song had a second verse that named the exact number of victims, the time of day, the nationalities of the perpetrators? Would you not decide that the writer was clairvoyant or, perhaps, divine? Apply that logic to the prophetic passages in the Bible and be AMAZED.

It's Almost Christmas. Are you holy?

It's almost Christmas. Are you holy?

Generosity and human goodness are not enough to make us holy.

Now that’s a statement to ponder. This is the time of year when we think that we are generous and good. If we put a few coins in the Salvation Army kettle we think we’ve done our part.

We are generous to our families. We pile on the Christmas presents if we can afford it and even if we can’t. We fill Christmas stockings with goodies and think that we are good.

Generosity and human goodness are not enough to make us holy.

Do we need to be holy? Isn’t holiness something reserved for God, for priests and preachers, for missionaries? Sure, but the rest of us need to be holy, too. And, if we belong to God then we are, by default, holy. Right? So it’s not the generosity or goodness that we show at Christmastime that sanctifies us, not at all. We are sanctified by our belief in Christ Jesus – the reason for the season. We are made holy by belonging to God.

What are your thoughts on holiness?

Updated & Improved with over 300 Puzzles

BRAIN POWER PUZZLES, VOLUME 1, 2nd Edition

NEW AND IMPROVED 2ND EDITION with over 300 puzzles. THE PERFECT GIFT FOR YOURSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE! Entertain yourself and power up your brain while solving a variety of easy, moderate, and difficult puzzles. This activity book includes * Word Searches * Anagrams * Crosswords * Cryptograms * Zig Zag Puzzles * Word Fit Puzzles * Hidden Words * Sudoku * Math, Word, or Letter Sudoku Squares * Riddles & Jokes * Mazes * Boggle Boards * Daisy Puzzles * Neuronyms * Trivia *Coloring pages * Tic Tac Toe * Dots & Boxes * Scavenger Hunt and over 80 bonus puzzles that weren’t in the first edition.

Click here to order in time for Christmas.

Prayer for America

This is Billy Graham’s prayer for our nation:

'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!'

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called 'One nation under God!'

These words are pretty strong. What do you think?

Can You Solve These?

The following are taken from a page in BRAIN POWER PUZZLES 10, Christmas Edition

If you want answers I guess you'll just have to get a copy on Amazon.

Only $9.99 on Amazon.

A great Secret Santa Gift or stocking stuffer.

Head Start on Stocking Stuffers and Secret Santa Gifts

Order a bunch of these. Great for family members, young and old, co-workers, friends, and yourself!

BRAIN POWER PUZZLES, VOLUME 10, CHRISTMAS EDITION

NEED A SECRET SANTA GIFT? HERE’S THE PERFECT GIFT FOR YOURSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE! This volume delivers hours and hours of fun. Entertain yourself and power up your brain while solving a variety of easy, moderate, and difficult puzzles. This Christmas themed activity book includes ● Word Searches ● Anagrams ● Word Fit Puzzles ● Scrambled Words ● Sudoku ● Math Puzzles ● Mazes ● Christmas Song Challenge ● Word Fit Puzzles ● Cryptograms ● Pictograms ● Christmas Movie Challenge ● Calcudoku ● Christmas Riddles ● Crossword Puzzles and more. Created by an educator and author (ME!) this book will satisfy young and old. Work alone or play with a friend. NEED A STOCKING STUFFER? There's something to satisfy everyone

$9.99

How Many Ways Are There to Get to Heaven?

Recently a dear friend of mine, active in our church, told me she didn't think God would refuse to let unbelievers into Heaven. Of course I recited the "one way" passage whereupon she said she knew that, but it was her opinion that there was more than one way. Well, her opinion is not Biblical fact.

Jesus says to Thomas, and to all of us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

And hasn't she read John 3: 16 -18?

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Brain Power Puzzles 9 Just Released

Over 325 different puzzles

BRAIN POWER PUZZLES 9

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR YOURSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE! Entertain yourself and power up your brain while solving a variety of easy, moderate, and difficult puzzles. This activity book includes ● Word Searches ● Anagrams ● Word Fit Puzzles ● Tatami ● Sudoku ● Kakuro ● Mazes ● Boggle Boards ● Word Fit Puzzles ● Cryptograms ● Pictograms ● Daisy Puzzles ● Rullo ● Hidden Word Puzzles ● and more.

HOURS AND HOURS OF FUN!

Have You Ever Seen a Demon-possessed Person?

I’ve never seen a demon-possessed person, nor seen the movie “The Exorcist,” and, though I was born on Friday the 13th, I am not the least bit superstitious.

I have an interest in the occult only so far as I have done research into the paranormal for one of my novels, SHELTERED. There is a wealth of information on the internet, of course, but my main source for this subject is the Bible. Everywhere that Jesus preached he cast out demons. It must have been a pretty prevalent phenomenon to be mentioned so often. I found a very good site HERE that gives a thorough covering of the behaviors of demons as presented in the Bible.

I have consolidated what I learned into 3 quick and easy steps on how not to get possessed (laugh if you want):

1) Stay away from the occult and paranormal. That includes astrology, tarot cards, magic, Ouija boards, hypnotism, yoga (yes, yoga), meditation, bio-feedback, and pornography.
2) Do not use recreational drugs, especially mind-altering drugs.
3) Pray and seek God’s will for your life.

Now, why would I, a devout Christian, write a book in this popular genre? Because the paranormal is a popular subject. Because demons are real. Because it gave me a venue to teach a bit about the Bible.

Talents, Money, and Teeth-gnashing

In Matthew 25: 14 – 30 Jesus is still talking to His disciples about the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. He says it will be like a man who goes away and leaves his servants with various amounts of his wealth. He gives one servant 5 “talents,” to another he gives two talents and to the third only one. In the Greek what he gives is “talenton” which is a measure of money. A talent of silver in Israel weighed 100 pounds and a talent of gold weighed 200 pounds. It’s pretty obvious therefore that even the servant who received one talent was entrusted with great wealth.