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The second volume of Reviews and Reflections on Books, Literature, and Writing is now available at numerous retailers. Pick up a copy by clicking on one of the links below.

From the author’s introduction:

Preparing the second volume of Reviews and Reflections on Books, Literature, and Writing has caused me to think about the role not only of reading books but also of writing book reviews in my life. To write about the thoughts and impressions brought about by a book is as valid as writing about a physical journey that I take to another location. The author of the book serves as my traveling companion.

Because of the inevitably profound effect that books have on me, I have to be careful about what books I read. If you are what you eat, physically, then you are what you read, mentally. I try to select books that entertain me and also nourish and strengthen me mentally and emotionally.

Among the multitudes of books I have read in my lifetime, some of my particular favorites have been books about books. Why? Because they make the task of finding new reading material easier. I read them eagerly, pen and paper nearby, and make new lists of books I have not yet discovered, realms of thought I have not yet explored. That’s one of the delights of this present volume, part two of Reviews and Reflections. Consider it a guidebook to point the way on your own journeys of discovery.

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Aliens attack Earth, or so world governments believe. In the aftermath of global warfare brought on by the crash of an alien spacecraft, Adriana wakes up in a hospital-like facility with no memory of who she is or how she got there. The administrator tells her she has family on the outside that she needs to find. When she leaves, she begins to hear whispers in her mind that draw her to a disparate group of strangers that she instinctively feels are her brothers and sisters. After discovering that they all share an astonishing connection to the alien arrivals, Adriana resolves to protect her family members from a sinister organization intent on tracking down and annihilating them.

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A woman doomed to fall endlessly backwards in time unexpectedly finds an unusual and enigmatic romance. An elderly homeless man’s debit card becomes a magical fountain of money. As predatory aquatic aliens invade the Earth, a formerly disabled young woman obtains the power to fight back. A terminal cancer patient discovers a dark fantasy world where he embarks upon a quest towards a tantalizing yet ephemeral goal.

In these fast-paced but subtly-wrought tales you’ll find time travel, alien invasion, fascinating devices, dark fantasy worlds, revelries of the undead, and other wonders. Prepare to strip off the shackles of the mundane, abandon preconceived thought patterns, and step into worlds unknown.

Includes: “The Woman Who Fell Backwards, “The First One Through the Door,” “Fly Me Away Home Silver Hummingbird,” “Tripping the Dark Fantastic,” “Sylvia’s Wake,” “Hive Minds,” “The Yearbook Entry,” “At a Shotgun Wedding, Shots Fired,” “Spirit Girl and the Stolen Souls,” “Turn Me On,” “The Magic Debit Card,” “Afterword.”

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After his grown children move out, a divorced writer faces the prospect of living alone in a small apartment in Seattle. Instead, he buys a camper van, dubs it Good Fortune, and sets out on the road full time. As he journeys down the U.S. West Coast, he experiences ostracism, acceptance, harassment, and unexpected romantic encounters. In his youth, he spent years wandering around the world, and he begins to reconnect with his road roots, regaining the rhythms and metaphysical realities of the free nomadic lifestyle. His first destination? A science fiction convention in San Diego.

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Heroes aren’t always as they seem; often they are ordinary people reacting to circumstances beyond their control or pursuing the only option open to them.  In this eclectic collection, reclusive old folks take on powerful cyborg bodies to combat ferocious invading aliens; a man near death uses cutting-edge psychiatric technology to journey into his memories and come to grips with crucial decisions from his past; a dead woman travels halfway around a bizarrely mutating world to keep a promise to an old friend; a young woman in the frozen northlands rescues a centuries-old creature with an amazing tale of survival.  These and other stories upend traditional concepts of courage, honor, love, death, enchantment, and terror and present mind-boggling alternatives.

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Content is being siphoned from libraries and replaced with half-truths and lies.  Weather, time, and distances are distorting like images in a funhouse mirror.  People are discovering the ability to morph into animals.  At first it all seems idyllic and magical until a dark power begins to manifest itself, assert control, and demand obedience.

Ethan is a university student caught in the midst of a kaleidoscopic confusion he cannot understand.  After journeying into the wilderness seeking answers, he realizes he has to ally himself with the beasts of the Earth and venture into a bizarre, mutating, peril-filled city to rescue his lover and attack the source of the evil.

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From the author’s introduction:

The books have always been there. They have added nuance, depth, and richness to my life. When I speak of reading I am not talking about an expediency but a glorious adventure. The reading to which I refer is like a drug rush, a phenomenon. Reading is a much more vital experience than watching films or playing video games. The author’s words ignite your psyche and create a multidimensional, multisensory experience which can be totally fulfilling, totally absorbing.

Because I cannot imagine a life without books, book reviews are an essential part of radiating who and what I am. Reading is a voyage of discovery. And though a true reader wants the freedom to discover new worlds without restriction, a map with a few landmarks is a useful tool to save time. All I can do is point out what paths I have followed and what those paths mean to me. Reviews are one way of fine-tuning your discernment, to ensure that your reading experience is time well spent. We are each of us microcosms in the great vastness of the larger universe, and reading is one way we have of closing the gap.

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In early 1970 a new era, the Age of Aquarius, is dawning. Penny, who adopted the name of Sunflower on the way to the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, attends another rock concert touted as Woodstock West, at Altamont Speedway near San Francisco. Seeking to enhance the transcendent experience, she instead comes away covered in the blood of a man brutally stabbed to death in front of the stage.

Has the new youth experience descended from idealism to anarchy? Confused and disillusioned, Sunflower embarks upon an odyssey across an America torn by violent anti-Vietnam War protests, racial tension, and gangs of hard drug dealers. From a search for a shared social experience it becomes a personal quest for fulfillment that leads her on a journey across continents.

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It is the late 1960s…

In this sequel to “The One Thousand” a team composed of humans and benevolent aliens hunt for murderous, alien-possessed convicts with enhanced powers who have escaped from prison.  They discover that this fellowship of psychopaths is preparing an elaborate party for hippies and other street people in a remote mansion built to simulate a Medieval castle, and that they are planning to slaughter everyone who attends.  Now the seven are faced with the task of locating the mansion and stopping the killers…

In print and for Kindle here.

At Smashwords in various electronic formats here.