THE GIRL IN THE TIME MACHINE - excerpt 2

THE GIRL IN THE TIME MACHINE

excerpt:

It was one in the morning and I had a golden opportunity for revenge. I couldn’t help myself. I took her to the lab. She was not too drunk to walk up to the third floor, but she was definitely too out of it to realize that my telling her to lie down on the ‘massage table’ was not going to end well for her.

I chose that day’s date and some random coordinates close to what was already on the screen. What did I care?

Poof, the bitch was gone. And nobody was going to think anything other than that she ran away from home.

I locked up and stepped outside. The dark monastery in the middle of the woods was creepy enough after midnight, but before I could open the car door I heard far off shrieks, like the sound a rabbit makes when a bobcat pounces. The screams were faint at first, then frantic. And human. I grabbed the flashlight from the car, pushed the gate all the way open and ran for the path to town. Between the ghastly moonlight and the fairly strong beam in my hand I followed the trail to the rusty car. The cries were growing less frequent.

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My Best April Fool's Joke Ever

This is Walter.

Walter is ... uh, was ... a porcupine.

We watched Walter slowly devour one of the trees on our property. Occassionally, when we’d go snowshoeing in our woods we’d come across him on the ground. He’d scurry to the closest tree to avoid us. Of course “scurry” is a relative term for porcupines. Even I could easily outrun a porcupine.

Good Friday and Easter - explained by a 4 year old

I once listened to a four-year-old tell the entire Easter story in about five minutes. She had been given an egg carton at Sunday School filled with 12 plastic eggs. Each egg popped apart and held small things that the teacher had inserted. This precious little girl opened them one by one for me and explained the objects inside such as a blade of grass that signified the palm branches and a tiny felt cut-out of a coat, both objects thrown down as Jesus entered Jerusalem. There was a plastic donkey like the one he rode in on, a piece of bread from the last supper, a thorn from his crown, a nail that they used to "pin" him to the cross. She continued on explaining in simple pre-school English ten of the eggs. I listened to the perfect story from a child who doesn’t even read and write yet. 

When she got to the eleventh egg she showed me a stone and told me of the rock that was rolled away from the tomb. I had already guessed that the last egg would be empty, as the tomb was. She opened it slowly and with great expectation. The animation on her face showed hope and mystery and awe as she revealed the empty egg. She whispered the grand finale with more skill than a practiced actor: "Jesus died for US, so we can go to Heaven, too."

Sneak Peak at THE GIRL IN THE TIME MACHINE (1st page)

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Here's the first page:

Chapter 1

What did we (two nervous, frantic girls) do with a dead body while a storm brewed outside, the lights actually flickered, and the minutes ticked closer to the moment when my car would drive up—with me driving? You would have thought we’d discussed the subject before. Because in less than five minutes of rational, scientific debate we settled on burying Megan, time machine style, in the hill out back. It sounded cold and callous, but really it was the best thing for everyone.

Mack made agitated chimpanzee howls when we dragged Megan down the hall, past his cell. The steps were the worst. Her toes smacked every stair tread with a dull thump. It was heart-breaking.

***

I hope you’re reading this, Skylar. Or Emily. Or whatever you’re calling yourself in your new reality. (I’m still going by Laken Mitchell, by the way.)

Sorry.

Sorry about leaving you in the past. I’m writing this down—a totally complete explanation and apology—so you’ll understand. And so when, and if, we meet up again in some future or past you’ll have already forgiven me.

Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure we’ll never be best friends again where I am now. Never finish high school together. Never have another sleep over where we dye my hair black and bleach yours blond. Never giggle over you-know-who’s cute butt.

Never.

Anybody who did what I did—what we did—would eventually lose someone. Kill someone. Accidentally … or not so accidentally. And sometimes you can see death on someone’s face. There’s nothing you can do then except move on. Right? Right?

I’m going to leave this diary at the pump house in hopes you’ll find it. That seems to be the only place that didn’t change. I can only hope that maybe an earlier version of you or me will find it, read it, and figure out a way to restore things. After all, I seem to be getting smarter with every time jump. It’s the hibernation that’s the killer.

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Cool Stuff in 2nd Kings, the 12th book of the Old Testament

In 2nd Kings we find the prophet Elijah at the end of his life. We’ll take a close look at chapter 2. Here is 2nd Kings 2: 1-18:

1 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel."  But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.

 3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?"
 4 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho."

THE GIRL IN THE TIME MACHINE - Kindle Releases Today

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A desperate teen. A faulty time machine. A rising body count.

Laken Mitchell has been bullied one time too many, but using a time machine to make her tormenters disappear means putting her own future—and her past—at perilous risk. THE GIRL IN THE TIME MACHINE is science fiction at its complex best. If you’re looking for a new twist to time travel, a heroine who dodges parallel universes, and a story that makes you think, then you’ll love this dark and mysterious tale.

Click the link to get THE GIRL IN THE TIME MACHINE now and enter a world that will challenge your concept of time.

Here are a few snippets from book reviewers who received advance review copies:

  "The Girl in the Time Machine will take you for a ride through time and then spit you back out in places and situations you'll never see coming. Hang on to your seats for this one!" —Tifani Clark, author

“This book has such an original story in the time travel genre, I was riveted from the opening line and spellbound all the way through to the incredible conclusion.”—Sue at Bedazzled by Books

Stormi at Boundless Book Reviews: “The Girl in the Time Machine was a unique, captivating, edge of your seat read from the very first page. I was impressed! The story was phenomenal! It wasn't anything like I've ever read before involving time travel. It kept me deeply enthralled from the beginning. It was one big thrill ride with action, humor, and mystery. I absolutely loved this story!”

"The Girl in the Time Machine is a dark, creepy, sleep-with-the-light-on kind of fun. I loved it." - Melissa at EveryFreeChanceBooks

Cover Reveal for THE GIRL IN THE TIME MACHINE

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The Girl in the Time Machine

A desperate girl

A faulty time machine

A paradox waiting to happen ...

Seventeen year old Laken may want to get revenge on the girls who have bullied her, but she also wants to help them. Honest. Secretly using the time machine in her father’s science lab, she sends them one by one into the last century. Poof, problems solved.

Except they’re not.

Now the disappearances are being linked to unmarked graves. Parents are lying about their missing kids’ whereabouts. The police want to search the lab. And Laken is running out of time to retrieve the last girl she sent to 1994.

Available March 8, 2016
on Kindle

The Building of the Temple in 1st Kings, the 11th book of the Bible

In Hebrew the first book of Kings is “Mal-chim” which means “messengers” or “kings”. According to the Jewish Talmud this book was written by the prophet Jeremiah. The major themes are the death of David, the reign of Solomon, the building of the temple, the death of Solomon, the division of the kingdom and the ministry of Elijah. 1st Kings establishes the typology of Christ sitting on the Throne of Glory (2 kaph words). See the graph below for the distribution of the word “throne” in the 12 Old Testament history books.

The Hebrew word for throne appears 32 times!

Now let’s look at the temple that King Solomon built.

The Structure of 2nd Samuel, the 10th Book of the Bible

2nd Samuel was written, perhaps, by the king’s scribes. In this book Saul dies and David is anointed king over Judah and then Israel. The ark is brought to Jerusalem. In 2nd Samuel you’ll find the story of David and Bathsheba in chapter 11. It is a story of lust, love, honor and dishonor and in the end Bathsheba marries David and bears him a son. But we’re going to look at a different family story. Before you read 2nd Samuel 15: 1-12 there are a few things you need to know to understand this passage. There is a back story. Absalom, David’s son, is angry with his father for how he dealt with an earlier situation. Because David had children with many different women there are some interesting, to say the least, family dynamics. Absalom had a sister, Tamar, who was quite beautiful. His half-brother, Amnon, lusted after her until he finally raped her (read all of chapter 13). King David, though furious, did nothing to Amnon. Absalom plotted for two years until finally he killed Amnon in revenge then fled and stayed away for three years, banished. When he finally was allowed to return he went back to his own house, but could not let David see his face. This went on for two years until Absalom did something that resulted in his father accepting him again. Then came his conspiracy:

The Structure of 1st Samuel, the 9th Book of the Bible

We don’t know who wrote 1st Samuel.  It wasn’t Samuel because, though he was the central character, he died before the end.

This book gives us a full account of Samuel’s birth and reign as judge. The first two verses of chapter one get us into a most interesting story right away:

1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.

Oh, can’t you just imagine the problems in that household? Let’s look at the names because they so often help us understand things. Ramathaim means “double high place”; Elkanah means “whom God possessed”, Hannah means “gracious” and Peninnah means “coral” or “pearl”. Now if you keep reading the story you’ll find mentioned in the very next verse the sons of Eli. Now they didn’t have to be named here, yet they are: Hophni (pugilist) and Phinehas (mouth of a serpent). (For cool connections to the Hebrew alphabet see CROSSING THE SCRIPTURES.) The story continues with Hannah making a vow that if she conceives a son she will dedicate him to the Lord for all the days of his life. She prayed so earnestly that unconsciously she was moving her lips and the priest, Eli, saw her and thought she was drunk. After she explains that she had not been drinking, but rather was pouring out her heart to God, Eli tells her to go in peace and may God grant her prayer. Hannah did conceive and bore a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.” The name “Samuel” sounds like the Hebrew expression for “heard of God” or “asked of God”.

Samuel is raised by the priest Eli and during that time the ark of the covenant is captured by the Philistines.

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Innocent adoration.

Deliberate stalking.

Impulsive abduction.

Eddie Burling is a brilliant yet emotionally impaired young man whose elaborate plan to make pretty Rebecca fall for him goes terribly wrong. EDGE OF ESCAPE is a complex journey into the minds of both victim and predator. If you like fast-paced psychological thrillers then you’ll love listening to both the hunted and the hunter.

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The Structure of Ruth, the 8th Book of the Bible

The 8th book of the Bible is Ruth. The name means friendship (possibly) or mercy. We don’t know by whom it was written, but it is generally credited to Samuel as is the book of Judges. (Ruth was originally part of the book of Judges.)

Let’s start with Chapter 1 verses 1 through 17:

1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.
 3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. 6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
 8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law,