Thursday, August 13, 2026

Christian Living Spotlight: Grab Another Gear by Wayne Williams

A stalled life does not always look like a failed one. It can look productive, established, even successful while the person living it knows something has stopped moving. In Grab Another Gear: Disrupt the Norm. Ignite Your Passion., Wayne Williams uses the language of shifting gears to examine that uncomfortable space between what has worked before and what needs to change next. His perspective is rooted in leadership, entrepreneurship, relationships, faith, and the experience of having to reassess direction when simply continuing in the same gear is no longer enough.


Disrupt the norm. Ignite your passion.

Business / Leadership / Religion / Christian Living

Date Published: April 15, 2026

Publisher: Lucid Books Publishing

ISBN-13: 9781632969262

༺ ABOUT THE BOOK ༻

 

Coasting feels comfortable until you realize it’s costing you everything. You weren’t built to settle, to grind through the motions, to let fear and exhaustion call the shots. But somewhere along the way, you got stuck. Stuck in routine. Stuck in expectations. Stuck in a version of yourself that plays it safe instead of stepping fully into who you were meant to be. 

 

This book is your invitation to grab another gear. To stop waiting. To start moving. To rediscover the strengths, passions, and relationships that make life rich and meaningful. Because your life isn’t meant to be endured. It’s meant to be lived fully, boldly, and with impact. 

 

In these pages, you’ll discover how to:

*Break free from the patterns that keep you stuck
*Step into your strengths and uncover what truly drives you
*Build relationships that fuel your purpose and legacy
*Stop coasting and start living with intention, passion, and courage
 

You have more to offer than you realize. More influence. More purpose. More fire in your soul than you’ve dared to believe. This is about unlocking your potential, making a difference in the world around you, and discovering life as it was intended for you to live. 

 

The road is open. The next gear is yours to take. Will you join me on this journey?


༺ WHY READ THIS BOOK ༻

 

Williams builds his message around a useful distinction: changing gears is not simply another way of saying “work harder.” The idea is to recognize when the gear that carried you through one season no longer fits the terrain ahead. Grab Another Gear applies that question to identity, legacy, relationships, and decision-making, giving the familiar language of personal growth a more concrete framework. 

 

The perspective also comes from someone who has had to navigate significant shifts himself. Williams built a multi-million-dollar telecommunications company, guided it through near-death moments, and ultimately through a successful exit. That background matters here because the book’s challenge to examine success, purpose, and direction is connected to lived experience rather than presented only as theory. Readers interested in the intersection of leadership, faith, personal responsibility, and meaningful change have several avenues into the conversation.


༺ WHO WILL LOVE IT ༻

 

Grab Another Gear is particularly suited to people who have already built a career, business, ministry, family life, or other substantial commitments and are questioning what should come next. Its focus on getting unstuck without reducing change to greater speed or effort should also resonate with leaders facing transition and people reconsidering the habits and expectations that have been directing their choices. 

 

The Christian-living dimension will matter to readers who want questions of purpose and calling considered alongside practical concerns such as leadership, relationships, legacy, and decision-making. Williams’s entrepreneurial background adds another point of connection for business owners and leaders who know that outward achievement does not automatically answer the more personal question of whether they are still moving in the right direction.


༺ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ༻

Wayne Williams is a guide, coach, and activator who unlocks growth in people and organizations. He's a devoted husband to his wife, Terina, and a father and grandfather who makes sure his family feels deeply loved. Wayne’s entrepreneurial drive took him from building a multi-million dollar telecom company, guiding it through near-death moments to a successful exit, to launching ventures shaped by innovation, integrity, and risk-taking. His love for the wilderness fuels his commitment to preserving traditions of pioneering, hunting, fishing, and land stewardship, while his heart for people drives him to restore lives and relationships. 

 

Known as a disruptor at heart, Wayne leans into stuck systems and unspoken tensions, not to create chaos but to spark transformation. He thrives in complexity, cuts through noise to find what matters most, and fights to surface ideas that release others into their calling.


༺ CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR ༻

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༺ BUY THE BOOK ༻

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༺ LAST WORD ༻

 

The most interesting question behind Grab Another Gear is not how much more a person can accomplish, but whether continuing in a familiar pattern is still serving the life being built. Williams approaches change through the vocabulary of movement, yet his premise leaves room for a shift to mean something more deliberate than acceleration. Identity, relationships, legacy, faith, and the decisions that connect them all become part of deciding which gear actually belongs to the road ahead. 

 

That makes this a timely choice for established leaders as much as people standing at an obvious crossroads. A life can need recalibration before it looks broken from the outside, and recognizing that difference may be precisely where a meaningful change begins.



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Urban Fantasy Spotlight: Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned by Ashley Capes

Reed Lavender has an unusual advantage for a detective: the dead can tell him their last words. The trouble is that one final sentence rarely provides a tidy answer. Ashley Capes builds the Reed Lavender series around that complication, giving Reed one life as an investigator and another as a reaper while steadily tangling the two together. 

 

Beginning with a dead teenager whose case the police consider closed, the series moves through missing family members, captured reapers, troublesome gods, and questions surrounding Reed's own parents. Melbourne provides the urban backdrop, but Reed's ability to listen to the dead gives these mysteries their distinctive pulse—and sometimes leaves him with more questions than he had before.


Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned

Reed Lavender Book 1

by Ashley Capes

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Mystery

Goodreads


༺ ABOUT THE BOOK ༻


He can speak to the dead. But will giving them justice get him killed?

 

Reed Lavender lives two lives—one as a detective and another as a reaper. Hearing the last words of the dead is a handy skill in his line of work, but magic can’t solve all his problems. While investigating the case of a teen runaway, he learns his cousin is missing. Racing against the clock, Reed soon finds himself trapped in a vast conspiracy.

 

A cult is capturing reapers to siphon their powers and his current case is somehow connected. But the deeper he digs, the more dangerous and convoluted the trail becomes. As his two lives get tangled, Reed realizes if he can’t solve the case and save his cousin, the man who listens to the dead will end up joining them.

 

Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned is the first thrilling urban fantasy novel in the Reed Lavender series. If you love snarky heroes, twisty mysteries and plenty of magic, delve into Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned!

 

**Get it FREE!**


༺ WHY READ THIS BOOK ༻


Reed's supernatural ability does not replace detective work; it complicates it. The dead can offer him their final words, but those words may be cryptic, mundane, or nearly useless without the investigation needed to understand them. That limitation gives the paranormal element a particularly good fit with the mystery structure: magic can provide a clue, but Reed still has to determine what the clue means.

 

The opening case also gives the larger supernatural conflict a human center. Reed begins with Elise, a teenager whose death might otherwise be dismissed, and his determination to find answers for her pulls him toward a conspiracy involving captured reapers. Add the disappearance of his cousin and unresolved questions about his parents, and Reed's professional investigations become increasingly difficult to separate from his own history.



༺ WHO WILL LOVE IT ༻


The Reed Lavender series is suited to urban fantasy readers who want the mystery to matter as much as the magic. Reed's ability to retrieve a dead person's final words gives crime-solving a supernatural edge without handing him an easy solution, while reapers, cults, Spirit-Worms, gods, and divine artifacts steadily expand the world around the investigations.

 

Readers who appreciate a snarky protagonist carrying a stubborn sense of responsibility should also find plenty to work with here. Reed keeps pursuing answers for people who can no longer demand them for themselves, even as those investigations lead directly into dangers involving his family and the supernatural forces operating throughout his city.


༺ read an EXCERPT ༻


Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned (Reed Lavender: 1)

 

Chapter 1

 

In the bright moonlight, Reed Lavender inserted his best crowbar into the pine box where the top met the sides and wrenched the steel down. Wood squeaked and he shuddered. Worse than fingernails on a blackboard. He lifted the lid free, resting it against the freshly turned earth – which, unlike the sound of an opening coffin – was an almost pleasant thing. A pungent scent, but real. Honest. Worms and bugs, minerals and secrets lived in the earth; when you got right down to it, grave dirt wasn’t really any different to regular dirt.

 

And he was certainly down to it now, about to be elbow-deep in a coffin.

 

Again.

 

But for what they’d given Elise, the word ‘coffin’ was a stretch. A pine box wasn’t much of a final resting place – dignity hardly came cheap in Rikerton’s funeral home and unclaimed bodies were lucky to avoid the incinerator. Or maybe that would have been better. Dust to dust and all that.

 

“But then you’d be out of work,” he told himself.

 

Elise the runaway – that’s what the police thought she was – lay in her dirty jeans and the same faded Pink Floyd t-shirt she wore when she walked into the cafe two days back. Her arms lay at her sides, cuts on her palms mostly hidden. Her face had been covered... by a used napkin. “Jesus, Jennings, that the best you could do?” Reed growled. At least the napkin was in one piece; the undertaker had been known to be far more slipshod at times.

 

Reed lifted the napkin... and ground his teeth.

 

She’d been beaten blue. Deep bruises swam across her cheeks, one eye swollen shut and the other just as blackened, torn skin at her temple. Jennings had cleaned her face up well enough but there were still leaf fragments and dried blood in her hair. The pallor of death had washed out Elise’s freckles, mere suggestions crossing her bent nose. God, what is she, fifteen? She looks so small.

 

Reed tossed the napkin aside and unwound his scarf, folded it and placed it over her face, standing still a moment, shaking as he blinked. The night air ran chill fingers across his now-exposed throat and the back of his neck. Finally, he took a breath and leant over the coffin, where he lifted her arm. “Sorry, sweetheart,” he said softly, twisting her silver bracelet up to the moon. Only the letters ‘Elise’ engraved there. Really, there was little he could learn from a perfunctory glance at her clothing and jewellery that the police wouldn’t have already catalogued. He’d check that later, of course – but Elise deserved more.

 

No, he’d have to wake her up – sort of.

 

Her last words would maybe be enough of a clue. Most folks didn’t have much to say, right before the end. Sometimes it was a scream or a grunt if he was unlucky. Other times, they addressed their killer. Or a loved one, perhaps, if the death was peaceful. Not that I’ve heard a lot of those in my time.

 

There’d been a man out west, he couldn’t recall where - so many cities and towns blended together - whose last words had been an apology for burnt toast. After that, the poor guy hadn’t said a thing before being t-boned at an intersection by a bus an hour later, two blocks from his office.

 

But sometimes, a person’s last sentence held a clue.

 

“Come on, Elise, tell me something I can use.”

 

If she didn’t, he had no other supernatural tricks up his sleeve either, since he couldn’t simply call upon her spirit. It would have made things much easier and allowed him to stop violating peoples’ graves but sadly, he wasn’t that lucky.

 

Reed removed the scarf a moment, took her cold hands and closed his eyes, sending his awareness down through her mute fingertips, pushing his way along quiet veins until he reached her chest, still echoing with the memory of a million heartbeats, then at last up the throat to the tongue; the tongue which remembered everything.

 

But it would move only once more.

 

“In the name of Mors, speak any that you might,” he whispered. “I’ll help you if you can.”

 

Her body resisted.

 

Not unusual. It meant reliving the pain and shock – why wouldn’t her body want to fight that? It was at rest now, if not at peace. But he had to know. Reed pushed harder, pouring both his hope and anger into the request. “Please, Elise.”

 

A flicker, a tiny sound as her jaw shifted.

 

He opened his eyes and leant close. Would it be a scream? A clue? Nonsense? Her voice was little more than a rasping whisper, such as might easily be mistaken for a breeze, but he caught the words.

 

“Wow, what a beautiful view. This is some place; you can see half the city from here.”

 

Then silence.

 

“Shit.” Poor girl, she probably never saw it coming.

 

Reed lowered Elise’s hands. Half the city. That hardly narrowed things down – there were only hundreds of such high points available. But it probably put the owner in a certain tax bracket at least. He shook his head. No assumptions. It was his first rule. And that went for murder too – maybe it was an accident. Still, something happened to bring Elise’s life to an unjust end.

 

He had to find out; no-one else was looking and Elise’s grandmother deserved answers. Even unpleasant ones, he supposed.

 

Reed placed the scarf back over the girl’s face and reached for his shovel.

 


༺ BUY THE BOOK ༻

 

Graves Robbed, Heirlooms Returned

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༺ CONTINUE THE SERIES ༻


The Radiant King

Reed Lavender Book 2

 

Things aren’t exactly getting easier for Reed Lavender.

 

Old obligations and new cases are piling up but in the aftermath of Feronia’s defeat, answers are still too thin on the ground. But one clue – his father’s knucklebone – might just lead to something big.

 

To learn the truth about his parents’ disappearance, Reed will have to take the fight to whoever is behind the growing turmoil in his city. And if the rising number of Spirit-Worms, needy Gods, vindictive lawmen and only somewhat-helpful cousins don’t stop Reed, then his sense of duty might do what the others cannot.

 

Because Reed now finds himself caught between two goals – solving the murder of Elise or chasing down whoever stole the Goddess’ hand, an unfathomable thief who might hold answers about his parents…

 

Amazon * Books2Read * Bookbub * Goodreads

 



Summer in the City

Reed Lavender Book 3

 

Reed is about to snap - and this time, nothing is going to stand in his way when it comes to getting answers for Elise, not even a supposedly long-vanished Sumerian God.

 

Or so Reed thinks.

 

But summer in the city isn't going to be like the others. The city itself isn't quite the same either, and even if you're lucky (or cursed) enough to count the children of Gods among your friends, nothing is ever simple...

 

Amazon * Books2Read * Bookbub * Goodreads

 


༺ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ༻


Ashley is a poet, novelist and ex-teacher living in Australia.

 

He taught English, Media and Music Production, he ‘sang’ in a metal band, worked in an art gallery and for a few years, slaved away at music retail. (For a few years, he was also a legal secretary).

 

Aside from reading and writing, Ashley loves (indoor) volleyball, Studio Ghibli and Magnum PI.


༺ CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR ༻


Website * X * Bluesky * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

 

༺ enter the GIVEAWAY ༻


Follow the blitz HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Enter the Reed Lavender Series Giveaway Here


༺ LAST WORD ༻


Reed Lavender's gift is compelling precisely because it has limits. A dead person's last words may point him toward the truth, but they cannot tell him how all the pieces fit together. That leaves room for the detective behind the supernatural ability—and for cases in which justice depends on Reed being willing to keep digging when everyone else has stopped.

 

Across the three books featured here, that search for answers widens from Elise's death into Reed's missing family, divine interference, and increasingly strange trouble throughout his city. For an investigator who makes a habit of listening when the dead speak, ignoring unfinished business was probably never going to be an option.

 



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Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Middle Grade Audiobook: Living at the Edge of the World - Summer by S.J. Barratt

Returning to Papala means another summer of island adventures for twelve-year-old twins Tabitha and Timothy, but this visit quickly becomes tangled in an old Shetland legend and a very modern environmental problem. In Living at the Edge of the World – Summer, S. J. Barratt brings the twins back to the remote island just as Tabitha spots what appears to be a selkie skin floating in the harbour. 

 

According to local legend, failing to return it before midnight could condemn Papala to generations of bad luck. Yet the island already has troubles no legend can explain away: pollution is reaching its coastline, its bird sanctuary is threatened, and Papala itself may soon be sold. Myth, mystery, and conservation meet in a story that asks its young characters to decide what their island home is worth fighting for.


Living at the Edge of the World – Summer

The Papala Island Adventure Series Book 3

written by S. J. Barratt

narrated by Gill Mills

Middle Grade Eco Adventure

 

༺ ABOUT THE audioBOOK ༻

 

When twelve-year-old Tabitha returns to the remote Shetland island of Papala, she expects adventure with her twin brother and friends–not trouble. 

 

As their ferry approaches Papala, Tabitha discovers what appears to be a selkie skin drifting in the harbour. Local legend says the skin belongs to a mythical creature–half human, half seal–and that if it is not returned before midnight, the island will be cursed with generations of bad luck. 

 

But Papala is already under threat. Pollution creeps along the coast, the bird sanctuary is at risk, and the island’s owner plans to sell. With time running out, Tabitha and her brother must uncover the truth and convince the islanders to protect their home. 

 

A lyrical eco-adventure for those who enjoy atmospheric island stories like The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle, with the adventurous spirit of Malamander by Thomas Taylor.

 

“Educational storytelling doesn't come any better than this.”  Dieter Korger, Science fiction author for adults.

 

This story has a little of everything that 9-12+year-olds love to read: ocean life, adventure, animals, science and suspense. The list goes on and the pages keep turning!" - Janet Ashmore, children’s writer

 

“The fast pace and beautifully vivid descriptions add to the richness of the story. Judy Wollin, Writer Fun Fast Reads”

 

“I am still as thrilled with this third volume of the Papala Island Adventure Series: the writing is top-notch, the plot is gripping, and we are getting attached to the characters. This time, the main themes are environmental conscience, and whether it's even worth fighting against a global problem.

 

An uplifting and important read for young people.” - Anne-Chat – Amazon 5 star review

 

༺ WHY READ THIS BOOK ༻

 

Papala’s selkie legend and its environmental troubles create two mysteries for Tabitha and Timothy to untangle. One carries the warning of an old island curse; the other can be seen along the coastline, where pollution threatens wildlife and the bird sanctuary. Placing those concerns side by side allows Living at the Edge of the World – Summer to explore how stories inherited from the past and problems unfolding in the present can both shape the way a community understands its home. 

 

The possibility that Papala will be sold raises the stakes beyond solving the mystery of the selkie skin. Tabitha and Timothy must consider what could happen to the people, wildlife, and places connected to the island if its future is decided without them. The environmental message is therefore tied to something tangible for the characters: protecting a place they care about. 

 

This third Papala Island adventure also brings science, folklore, wildlife, and suspense into the same island setting. Young readers can follow the mystery while encountering questions about pollution and conservation through the choices the twins and islanders face rather than through a lesson detached from the story.

 


 

༺ WHO WILL LOVE IT ༻

 

Young readers who like remote islands, local legends, wildlife, and mysteries rooted in the natural world are especially well matched with this adventure. The selkie lore brings a touch of the unexplained, while the pollution threatening Papala keeps the twins’ investigation connected to recognizable environmental concerns. 

 

It may also suit families and educators looking for middle-grade fiction that can open conversations about conservation without leaving adventure behind. Readers already following the Papala Island Adventure Series can return to Tabitha, Timothy, and their island community, while the combination of twins, seals, seabirds, science, suspense, and Shetland atmosphere offers several entry points for newcomers.

 

༺ DON'T MISS THE FIRST TWO PAPALA ISLAND ADVENTURES ༻

 

Living at the Edge of the World – Winter

The Papala Island Adventure Series Book 1

Audible * Amazon ebook

 

Living at the Edge of the World – Spring

The Papala Island Adventure Series Book 2

Audible * Amazon ebook

 

༺ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ༻

 

 

S. J. Barratt is a self-published, professionally edited children’s author whose eco-themed stories celebrate the connection between people and the natural world. Rooted in an English countryside upbringing and shaped by a career in agriculture, she blends a gardener’s curiosity with a storyteller’s warmth to her writing. Now based in Lyon, France, Suzanne creates tales that inspire middle-grade readers to swap screen time for green time—and rediscover the wonders waiting just outside their door.

 

༺ CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR ༻

 

Website * Facebook * Instagram * TikTok * Bookbub * Goodreads

 

༺ ABOUT THE NARRATOR ༻

 

 

A former BBC broadcaster and journalist, Gill Mills brings over 20 years of experience in entertainment to her narration. Known for her warm, resonant voice, she began her voice career while DJing on BBC Radio 1 and has since voiced numerous TV and audio productions. She now runs a content company specialising in podcast and film production from her studio in East London.

LinkedIn * Instagram

 

༺ BUY THE BOOK ༻

 

Amazon * Amazon ebook * Apple * Google * Bookbub * Goodreads

 

༺ enter the GIVEAWAY ༻

 

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Enter the Living the the Edge of the World – Summer Giveaway Here

 

༺ LAST WORD ༻

 

Papala is more than scenery in Living at the Edge of the World – Summer. Its harbour, wildlife, legends, bird sanctuary, and uncertain future are all part of the mystery Tabitha and Timothy must confront. A supposed selkie skin may be what first captures their attention, but the pollution creeping along the coast and the possibility of losing the island turn their adventure toward a larger question: when a place matters to you, what are you prepared to do to protect it? For middle-grade readers, the answer unfolds through twins, island folklore, wildlife, science, and a mystery with Papala itself at stake.

 

 

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Time Travel Romance Book Blitz: Memory of Rivers by Shelley Odendahl

Music becomes a kind of recognition in Memory of Rivers, carrying one love story across three very different lives. Shelley Odendahl moves between a prehistoric cave, gold rush-era Deadwood, and Minnesota in 1972 as Diana begins to question whether her vivid dreams belong to an imagination—or to women she once was. Each lifetime pairs her with a man whose music awakens a familiar connection: Lor and his flute, Sam and his harmonica, and finally singer-songwriter Eric. Rather than treating the past lives as distant episodes, the novel brings their memories into Diana’s present, where she must decide what they mean for the relationship unfolding in front of her.


A Past Life Love Story

Time Travel Romance

Date Published: 09-09-2019

Publisher: Flyway Press LLC

 

 

༺ ABOUT THE BOOK ༻

 

Three Lifetimes, One Love – A Time Travel Romance
 

 

Vivid sensations and images from Diana’s dreams stream into her conscious mind. Are the dreams memories of her past lives? 

 

As Kari, in prehistoric times, she dances in a coming-of-age ceremony in an ancient cave, with wild animals painted on the walls. Captivated by flute player, Lor, they promise to love each other forever, but dangers threaten their plans. 

 

As Rachel, isolated in gold rush era Deadwood, she is mistreated by her drinking, gambling husband but finds comfort with Civil War veteran Sam. His harmonica music enchants Rachel as they draw together to soothe their lonely souls. 

 

Now, in her life in 1972 Minnesota, Diana is drawn to singer-songwriter Eric. His songs and her memories, along with a deep longing for love, connects her soul with his. Is he the man from her dreams? Will they find happiness together at last? 

 

 

“In an age of brief encounters and ‘friends with benefits,’ lasting love is a rare commodity. But you’ll find it here in Shelley Odendahl’s Memory of Rivers. Enjoy.” – Faith Sullivan, author of nine novels including the latest, Ruby and Roland.

 

༺ WHY READ THIS BOOK ༻

 

Three settings separated by thousands of years allow Memory of Rivers to approach its love story through recognition rather than a conventional first meeting. Kari knows Lor in prehistoric times, Rachel finds Sam in gold rush-era Deadwood, and Diana encounters Eric in 1972 Minnesota. The names and circumstances change, but music repeatedly draws the pair toward one another, creating a thread Diana can hear and feel even before she fully understands what her dreams are telling her. 

 

The different periods also change what stands between the couple. Kari and Lor face the dangers of their prehistoric world; Rachel’s marriage to a drinking, gambling husband complicates her bond with Civil War veteran Sam; and Diana must make sense of memories that suggest her connection with Eric began long before either of them entered their present lives. That structure lets the question of lasting love play out under three very different sets of circumstances. 

 

Rivers and music are particularly meaningful recurring elements. Odendahl has written about her lifelong connection to rivers and described them as a metaphor for life, while the novel uses music to link its lovers across time. Those recurring images suit a story concerned with what continues, what changes, and what might find its way back to us.

 

༺ read an EXCERPT ༻

 

As Eric continued to sing, I stared into his soul. Somehow then, I knew for certain that he was the man I loved, since my earliest memories, since pre-history. We met in a cave, and I danced to his music. Immersed in the past, I felt the dense smokiness of the cave’s enclosed space as the flute player captured my body and spirit. We were alone. Together. 

 

With a slight shake of my head, I pulled myself back to the present, into the enclosed space of a bar, where the smoke of cigarettes hung in the air. My face and neck had grown prickly and hot, as if a mild electrical charge played on the surface of my skin. I focused on Eric, every bit of him, especially his eyes. I inhaled a quick breath when he stared back at me, as if my spirit had summoned his. Still singing, his voice was sensuous, velvet, as it caressed my body and settled into my being. 

 

If, from the other we are ever lost,

Draw me in with your force of life

Somewhere inside, the truth resides,

My elusive woman of the wilds.

 

 

Our fates are entwined now and forever,

My dancer, my muse, my river nymph,

My elusive woman of the wilds.

 

 

His voice quietly held the last note of the song, as his fingers picked the final chord. We maintained eye contact, sharing a moment that began with our encounter at the cave ceremony, and traveled the spectrum of time and place, bringing our emotions into the present. Right now. We were seeing all of each other without ever before having met in this lifetime. 

 

Eric broke eye contact and looked down at his guitar.

 

“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes,” he told the crowd, as he put the guitar in its rack and stood up. He made his way toward the people at his table up front and sat down with them. 

 

My hands trembled as I dug in my purse for a tissue, using it to dab my tear-filled eyes. What had just happened here? My heart over-flowed, incredulous that I had met my love. I still didn’t know what it all meant to my life today. Would he remember me, from our lives so long ago? What if he didn’t?

 

༺ WHO WILL LOVE IT ༻

 

This is one to consider for readers intrigued by reincarnation romances in which the relationships between past and present matter as much as the romance itself. The movement from prehistoric life to Deadwood and then 1972 Minnesota should also appeal to those who like a story that changes historical settings while retaining the same emotional connection between its principal characters. 

 

There is another natural audience among readers who respond strongly to music, dreams, and recurring imagery in fiction. Lor’s flute, Sam’s harmonica, and Eric’s songs are not incidental details; music accompanies the lovers in each lifetime. Readers interested in stories about memory and the possibility that certain attachments survive beyond a single lifetime will find plenty here to contemplate.

 

༺ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ༻

 

 

Shelley Odendahl is the author of Serendipity and Other Travel Adventures – stories that cover forty years of touring the world with her husband Cliff. 

 

This book brings readers along as they travel across the USA by motorcycle, and to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Bali, and Patagonia, experiencing breathtaking highs, and lows that challenged the couple to create solutions along the way. 

 

Shelley also wrote an inspirational book, Realize Your Dreams – Create an Action Plan for Life Transformation, and a time travel novel: Memory of Rivers – A Past Life Love Story. 

 

She lives in Minnesota, USA, with her husband Cliff, where 10,000+ lakes, scenic rivers, majestic white pines, wildflowers, swans, and eagles nurture her spirit.

Her passions are traveling and writing about traveling, creating watercolors, appreciating art of all kinds, and baking her own Sourdough bread from a starter she created over 5 years ago. She enjoys hiking in National Parks, going to musical performances, and being on a lake in a boat. 

 

Shelley is happiest when in the company of her husband, family and friends, with perhaps some food and wine involved.

 

༺ CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR ༻

 

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༺ BUY THE BOOK ༻

 

Amazon

 

༺ GIVEAWAY ༻

 

 

༺ LAST WORD ༻

 

The most intriguing question in Memory of Rivers may not be whether Diana has lived before, but what she will do with the possibility that she has finally encountered the same love again. Kari, Rachel, and Diana inhabit very different worlds, yet music, longing, and memory keep drawing their stories toward one another. Odendahl’s use of rivers alongside that recurring musical connection feels particularly fitting for a novel about lives that change course without entirely losing what came before. For readers willing to entertain the possibility of love carrying its own memory, Diana and Eric’s meeting has centuries behind it.

 

 

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Historical Fiction Book Blitz: Cain's Chameleon by Mark G. Bearss

A newspaper obituary is supposed to close a life, but for Dan Driscoll, seeing his own death in print looks remarkably like an escape hatch. Buried in gambling debt and caught in the aftermath of violence, he has every reason to disappear—and suddenly the world is prepared to believe he already has. In Cain’s Chameleon, Mark G. Bearss follows the consequences of that decision from the shores of Lake Michigan into the upheaval of World War II, where secrets carried from home refuse to remain safely in the past. 

 

Behind the fiction is an equally intriguing piece of history: Bearss developed the story after finding separate newspaper accounts of an attempted murder near his family’s summer cottage and a drowning victim discovered on the beach where he once played. He wondered whether the two events might have been connected, then turned that unanswered question into a novel.


Historical Fiction

Date Published: 01-27-2026

Publisher: BearssLair Books

 


༺ ABOUT THE BOOK ༻

 

If the newspaper reported your death and no one questioned it, would you correct the mistake... or take the lifeline? 
 

Dan Driscoll is consumed by gambling debt, cornered by bookies and loan sharks, forced to bet on one last scheme. When things turn violent and two people are shot, his best friend, Stan Neumann, swallows what he suspects. He can't risk divulging a closely-held family secret. 

 

Then a body washes up on the Lake Michigan shoreline, and the lake gives Dan what the bookies never would: a way out. Authorities call it an accident and list him as the drowning victim. For Dan, it's an escape route delivered in black ink. 

 

He becomes a ghost, an imposter, a chameleon. But lies don't stay buried. 

 

As America is pulled into World War II, Stan enlists, choosing duty on his terms before the draft can rewrite his life. In Pearl Harbor, one chance encounter dredges up a name he thought was long buried. 

 

War changes everything, but it doesn't erase unfinished business. And when the truth demands to be heard, how long can a stolen life stay buried before the past comes to collect?

 

༺ read an EXCERPT ༻

 

Lucy wasn’t smiling like she used to when she folded her letter, slipped it into the envelope, sealed it with a kiss, and applied the three-cent stamp. Even the spring in her step lacked the zeal she typically exhibited during her walk to the post office. The words on the paper were true to her commitment. They spoke of the news from the home front, stories that helped Stan’s morale, and made sure her underlying message was being proud, supportive, and encouraging. The words wandering around in Lucy’s thoughts, however, were in stark contrast to this messaging. 



Ever since Stan was assigned to the navy radar training school, Lucy had become more and more unsure in her belief that things would be okay. His work as an Aviation Machinists Mate stateside meant he was safe. And Minneapolis was relatively close to home. Being trained as a radarman for shipboard duties meant it was more likely he would be sent overseas into a combat zone. This caused a higher level of worry. Like everything else this war has put in short supply, her ration of optimism was slowly being depleted, and the resources for replenishing that reservoir were becoming scarce. 



Her quandary was not letting Stan know about this foreboding, even though he was normally her most trusted sounding board. She tried to talk about this with her sister Millie. But Millie’s approach to these heartfelt struggles was to fix them, make them go away, or advise Lucy, “Try not to think about it.” This was not the type of support Lucy needed. 



During her alone time, sitting staring out the window, the overwhelming emotion that prevailed over all others was that she really missed her husband. She now knew what being heartbroken felt like.

 

༺ WHY READ THIS BOOK ༻

 

Cain’s Chameleon builds its intrigue around more than whether Dan can successfully disappear. His false death leaves unfinished business behind, and that deception follows the story from a Lake Michigan community into Stan’s wartime service. What begins with gambling debt, violence, and a convenient case of mistaken identity becomes increasingly complicated as private secrets collide with lives being reshaped by World War II.

 

The novel’s origins are just as noteworthy. While researching his father’s wartime history, Mark G. Bearss encountered two separate reports in The Oceana Herald: an attempted murder near his family’s Lake Michigan summer cottage and a drowning victim found on the beach where he once played. His decision to imagine a connection between those incidents places real pieces of local history beneath the novel’s fictional mystery.

 

The excerpt featuring Lucy also shows that the story is concerned with what wartime separation looked like at home. She writes the reassuring letter Stan needs while privately fearing that his radar training will eventually send him into combat. That contrast between what Lucy puts on paper and what she cannot bring herself to tell her husband offers a quieter counterpoint to Dan’s much larger deception—two characters withholding the truth for very different reasons.

 

༺ WHO WILL LOVE IT ༻

 

This one belongs on the radar of historical-fiction readers who appreciate stories rooted in specific places and surviving documentary traces. The Lake Michigan setting, the newspaper-inspired mystery, Dan’s assumed death, and Stan’s World War II service create a strong fit for those interested in the point where local history intersects with national events. It should also appeal to readers drawn to morally complicated identity stories, wartime home-front experiences, naval history, and fiction that uses research as part of its underlying architecture.

 

༺ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ༻

 

While author Mark Bearss was setting the stage for his retirement, concerned co-workers would ask, “What are you going to do when you’re not working?” He found this question rather curious. It should have been posed, “What are you going to do first?” Mark knew that if travel was involved, he had had enough of commercial flights after 28 years of teaching for the medical device industry. Mark yearned for road trips – to visit those places he only saw from 38,000 feet. Little did he know that wish journeyed down an unexpected fork in the road. He would become an author. 

 

While conducting genealogy research, Mark discovered archived de-classified military documents that revealed the name of a U.S. Navy destroyer his father served aboard during WWII. The reason this was a poignant discovery was because, while growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, his father made no mention of this. Apart from being a U.S. Naval Reserve flight instructor, he knew his father served aboard the carrier USS ESSEX. But in what capacity? That, too, was not revealed. More discoveries materialized the further he dug. In fact, there was a lot more his father didn’t mention. This wasn’t unusual. Many WWII veterans didn’t talk about what happened back then.Because of the pandemic, the National Archives in St. Louis was closed and rendered Lt. Bearss’ military records unavailable. Thus began a project that challenged Mark’s research endeavors for over two years and about 5,000 miles on the road. The biographical sketch was sorted from creative Internet search strings, history books, navy publications, and networking with journalists, librarians, archivists, bloggers, aviation enthusiasts, museum and historical society curators, navy veterans, relatives, and more. One online resource that was instrumental in tracking his father’s journey was the weekly newspaper published in the county where his parents grew up: The Oceana Herald. It included a Local News section where family members and organizations could submit a short blurb about a relative’s visit, a social gathering, or – where a son or husband was currently stationed. 

 

This project culminated in 2022 with Mark’s first publication titled, Undisclosed Stories Discovered: Honoring the World War II Military Journey of Lt. Joseph Ward Bearss, USNR. When asked what was one of the highlights surrounding this story, he described the road trips to seek out and discover places where his father lived, trained and was stationed during the war. What prompted him to write this as a biography took place during a meeting with the curator of the World War II Home Front Museum on St. Simons Island, Georgia. St. Simons Naval Air Station was the site for the U.S. Naval Radar Training Station, where Lt. Bearss was trained in shipboard radar operations, enemy interception, and Fighter Direction.  While the museum had ample archived materials about the facility, it had very little documented about the servicemembers who trained there. 

 

Only 250 copies were printed. Mark went back on the road in his Class-B motorhome and personally donated those copies to family members, friends and relatives, the librarians, archivists, researchers, museums, curators, historical societies, newspapers, The American Heritage Center, VFW Posts, airport FBOs, and other assorted WWII enthusiasts in 12 states who helped in his endeavors. It was a two-fold reward. Not only did his father’s story finally become told, Mark experienced the pleasure of meeting all these wonderful people who were his resources, advisors, collaborators, and consultants. Up until that point, they were only names in an email contact list. 

 

You’re probably asking, “How is all this relevant to Mark’s new novel, Cain’s Chameleon?” It was the research from The Oceana Herald that planted the seed for this story. While perusing its issues, Mark stumbled on two articles that piqued his curiosity. The first reported an attempted murder in a home close to his family’s summer cottage on Lake Michigan. The second reported a drowning victim that washed up on the beach right where Mark and his friends used to play. Just two more stories never divulged while growing up. He wondered, Were these two events related? Then Mark decided — he would make them related.

 

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༺ LAST WORD ༻

 

Cain’s Chameleon begins with a mistake that offers Dan exactly what desperation has made tempting: the chance to let the world believe he is dead. From there, the premise opens into questions of identity, secrecy, loyalty, and what happens when unfinished business survives long enough to cross into wartime. The novel’s origin in two archived newspaper reports gives that setup another compelling layer—the historical record supplied the separate events, while Bearss asked what might happen if fiction connected them. For readers drawn to historical novels anchored in place, research, and consequential choices, that is an intriguing reason to take a closer look.

 

 

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Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Epic Fantasy Spotlight: Books from The Fractured Arcana Universe by Steven J. Morris

One fractured universe is being approached from opposite ends of its history. Steven J. Morris’s Fractured Arcana brings together the ancient consequences of a world built around magic and a modern Earth forced to confront that magic when the boundary between worlds breaks open. Mother of Trees begins with Elliah, an elf whose complete lack of magic makes her an impossibility in her own society, while The Guardian of the Palace follows former Special Forces veteran Red Hernandez as the impossible arrives in Manhattan. Together, the two series offer different entry points into the same larger conflict—and both begin with protagonists whose worlds have already decided what they should be before events force them to decide for themselves.


Two series, one shattered universe:
an ancient war that forged magic,
and the modern invasion that it made possible.



Mother of Trees
Thaumatropic Roots Book 1
Part of the Fractured Arcana Universe
by Steven J. Morris

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Goodreads


༺ ABOUT THE BOOK ༻


A dying goddess. A fractured prophecy. A magicless elf who shouldn't exist.

 

Elliah has spent her entire life being told what she is—bereft, wrong, a mistake the world would prefer to correct. Drifting from town to town with a mother who won't explain why they keep running, she has no magic, no place, and no future. Then a single misstep draws the attention of those who've been looking for her, and everything her mother was hiding comes apart.

 

She isn't ready for what she learns. But ready was never an option. 

 

Mother of Trees is the thrilling first book in the Thaumatropic Roots epic fantasy series. Enter a world of dangerous magic, ancient powers, and one impossible girl who refuses to stay down. 

 

**Get it FREE!**

Amazon   *   Bookbub   *   Goodreads


༺ WHY READ THIS BOOK ༻


The most interesting tension in Mother of Trees begins before Elliah learns why anyone is searching for her. Magic is ordinary in her world, yet she possesses none, making her difference visible every day and giving the word “Bereft” social weight long before the larger prophecy enters the story. That makes the fantasy conflict personal: the same world whose rules exclude her may also depend on what makes her impossible. 

 

The wider Fractured Arcana concept adds another layer. Elliah’s story belongs to the ancient side of a shared universe whose consequences eventually reach modern Earth, so details about magic, history, and conflict here are not isolated world-building. They form part of the foundation for the separate Guardian League series and its very different confrontation with the same fractured reality.



༺ REad an EXCERPT ༻


Elliah ~ 1

 

My mother told me many times that all adolescents feel like they don't belong, but… I really didn't. So I spent my free time away from other elves, on my own but for the animals… they didn't understand how broken I was. And I was quite pleased with my current find, so I snarled when a noise behind me scared away the drakeling that had settled in my hands. Black with a pattern of red scales along its spine, its body the thickness of my finger, it took flight with a flurry of thin leathery wings and disappeared behind a massive brown trunk. 

 

"The real ones are much more intimidating," said an unfamiliar voice. 

 

Time slowed as I tensed to run, shocked that I'd let my guard down so much that anyone had gotten that close. How many lurked behind me? On the outskirts of town, in the thick of the woods near the river, I had expected solitude. 

 

"Stay, Bereft. I am not afraid," said the voice. His words provoked me. 

 

"No one's afraid of me," I blurted. Bitterness stained my words as surely as the pollen of the bloodcups had stained my ragged clothes. 

 

I turned away from the vanished drakeling to focus on the intruder who'd scared it away. A man. No, I corrected myself, someone my age. Someone not quite old enough for adults to consider one of their own, but too old to call a child. 

 

But not Bereft. No other elf shared that with me. 

 

The newcomer was slightly taller than me with a thin frame, his light hair hanging long, wild, and tangled. He was new to the village—I would have noticed an elf with skin so light. I'd heard whispers of him at school. Kethryllia had called him Salt-kissed, and I'd wondered what that meant, but his light skin answered that question. He'd undoubtedly caught whispers about me, heard of my… condition. Bereft. Yet at that moment, I thought only of the hours of coaxing I'd spent to draw the little drakeling into my grasp, and that the stupid elf had scared it away. I wanted to punch him. 

 

"Maybe they should be," he said, taking a step back, though it would have taken me two leaps to get to him, and he'd have me pinned in one, if he had any skill with magic at all. But I'd prepared a leap already, only not in his direction. As I sprung away, he continued, raising his voice, "And you're right, they're not afraid of you." 

 

I landed with a tree between us. His magic wouldn't be able to snag me there. Unless he was very good at it. 

 

"They're afraid of what you represent."



Continue the Thaumatropic Roots Series


Magic is as natural as breathing in Elliah's world — except to her. Born without a single spark in a war that runs on it, she has nothing but her will and her refusal to accept the limits everyone else has already decided for her. This is what happens when the world writes you out of the story, and you refuse to leave.

Get them All:

Mother of Trees
Bones of Cenaedth
Secrets of Deara
Shepherds of Truth


The Guardian of the Palace
The Guardian League Book 1
Part of the Fractured Arcana Universe
by Steven J. Morris

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Goodreads


༺ ABOUT THE BOOK ༻


Magic isn’t real.
Red Hernandez is very sure of that.

 

She wants a quiet life after Special Forces—just a steady security job at a half-finished Manhattan skyscraper. 

 

But then a sister tower implodes in a way physics can’t explain.
Witnesses report creatures in the smoke.
And something hunts her in the tunnels beneath. 

 

Red wants answers. What she gets instead is an elf with a sword, a troll with a wry sense of humor, and a dwarf who believes every battle requires an audience. They insist an ancient enemy has crossed into our world—and Red becomes an accidental gatekeeper simply because she’s standing on the fault line when it cracks open. 

 

As a hidden war erupts in the shadows of New York City, Red must decide: run from the past that nearly destroyed her… or fight for a world she’s only just beginning to believe in. 

 

A veteran with nothing left to lose.
A threat born of magic and shadow.
A team she never saw coming.

 

The Guardian of the Palace launches the action-packed Guardian League series—perfect for fans of urban fantasy, modern-world magic, found family, and heroines who refuse to back down. 

 

**Get it FREE!**

Amazon   *   Bookbub   *   Goodreads



༺ read an EXCERPT ༻


Chapter 1

 

Red - Day 20, Sunday, the day after the attack

 

"Ms. Hernandez?" a muffled voice called from a distance, accompanied by a gentle rapping on a door. My consciousness registered the interruption as a nuisance and pulled me back under. 

 

What seemed like seconds later, the rapping came again, more insistent. "Ms. Hernandez." 

 

Ms. Hernandez was my mom… why were they bothering me? 

 

Then a scraping sound, and an alarmed voice. "Ms. Hernandez! Are you okay?" 

 

Some scrambling, some grunts, more scraping… I was going to have to wake up. Why couldn't they just let me sleep? 

 

I tried to answer, but my throat was dry and nothing came out. Coughing, I attempted to sit up, not wholly returned from my trip to dreamland. "I'm here. I'm okay." Was I though? I wasn't sure. 

 

I was in my flat. Not the desert. My door was partway open, and a slightly overweight man had paused in the act of pushing his way in. I recognized him, but his name escaped me. Swinging my legs off my cot, I did a quick modesty check. I was fully dressed, though rather tragically, in some semblance of civilian fatigues—muddied, disheveled, and a little bloody. 

 

The reason came screaming back to me. There had been creatures, unearthly monsters, in The Palace. They'd done things I could not explain by any of the rules I knew. And they'd beaten the hell out of me and then patched me back up in a matter of seconds. I'd blown the head clean off of one of them and fled the scene. 

 

Not my smartest move.



Continue The Guardian League Series!


Earth, through its technological advances, supports nearly eight billion souls; from a cosmic perspective, that makes it ripe for the picking. 'Red' Hernandez, trying to put a questionable military life behind her, finds herself caught in the middle of stopping an apocalyptic invasion of Earth. But to do that, she has to figure out who the good guys are, and how she can combat forces in which she does not believe. 

 

Get them All:

The Guardian of the Palace
Stars in the Sand
We’re Going On An Elf Hunt
The Song Unsung
Get the Box Set Here


༺ WHO WILL LOVE IT ༻


The Fractured Arcana setup gives readers two distinctly different doors into its larger mythology. Mother of Trees fits those who enjoy epic fantasy built around social exclusion, dangerous inherited powers, prophecy, and a heroine whose lack of magic is more consequential than anyone initially understands. The Guardian of the Palace shifts that mythology into contemporary New York, where military experience and practical skepticism collide with elves, trolls, dwarves, portals, and a threat that refuses to obey familiar rules. 

 

The strongest crossover appeal is for readers who enjoy seeing one fantasy universe examined across different eras and styles. One series asks what it means to be born outside the magical order that defines your world; the other asks what happens when a modern woman trained to trust evidence discovers that the impossible is already at war around her.


༺ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ༻



Steven J. Morris writes fantasy where magic runs deep and the consequences run deeper. By day he's an engineer and father of three in Austin, Texas. He's the author of eight novels across two completed series — the epic Thaumatropic Roots and the urban Guardian League — both set in the shared Fractured Arcana universe. 


༺ CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR ༻


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༺ BUY THE BOOKS ༻


Start Thaumatropic Roots

Mother of Trees — Amazon

Start The Guardian League

The Guardian of the Palace — Amazon


༺ ENTER THE GIVEAWAY ༻

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Enter The Fractured Arcana Giveaway Here

༺ LAST WORD ༻


Fractured Arcana is built around a connection that becomes more interesting because Morris does not tell it from a single perspective. Elliah grows up inside a magical world that labels her deficient because she cannot participate in its most basic power; Red begins in a technological world where accepting magic at all requires her to abandon the rules she trusts. Putting those two beginnings beside one another turns the shared universe into more than a crossover device. Each series tests what its protagonist believes reality allows—and what happens when the answer changes.



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