New Novel & New Audiobooks

This will be the first blog post I’ve done in almost three years! Back in 2016 and 2017, I was burned out from writing eleven novels in four years, so I got stuck on two that I had planned on writing after I had finished with The End Times Saga and Perilous Times series. I promoted my novels a little after that, then it got to barely, and by the end of 2022, I was over the whole idea, or so I thought. I also kind of let my website go for a while, so I have a lot of adding to it to do and freshening it up wherever pictures and links are broken.

So, one the novels I had planned on in 2017, was a sequel (or full series) to The Long Journey, where the next novel has the main character and his family dealing with the Civil War and its fallout. So, I began doing research, but due to the MC being Cherokee, I discovered the Cherokee nation had its own mini-civil war during the main war, so I got discouraged and stopped because I wasn’t sure how to weave the story correctly. At the moment, that’s really far on the backburner and I will revisit it, eventually.

The other novel that I started writing after getting stuck with the other one, is a what-if story about a Gen X man (write what you know, right? lol), this time I have it briefly set during those fun days of 2020. He’s watching YouTube videos about Gen X nostalgia and wishing he could be thirteen again so he could change some things in his life that he had always regretted. I had about four chapters done when I pretty much lost the plot, not really knowing where to go with the plotline since I myself really couldn’t remember things from 87-92 due to my general apathy towards junior & senior high. The novel started meandering and then I just hit a brick wall creatively. So, I walked away from it and writing in general, thinking I was done with sixteen novels to my name.

Then, I lost my job this last July. I’ve been having difficulty even getting interviews/jobs thanks to companies relying solely on checking resumes with ATS (Applicant Tracking System) and using video interviews (one way Zoom/Teams interviews are so stupid when I live in the same city as the company and also kind of intimidating for an introvert like myself), so I began wondering what I should do to keep busy in the meantime. I decided to see if I could restart my freelance proofreading WFH business that I stopped in 2013 due to my dads’ health failing and mom needing a lot of help, which eventually required almost my full attention for a couple years, so I abandoned the idea. I realized as I was trying to figure out what to do that I’m so far behind on what freelancing has turned into thanks to AI and tech in general, that it’s pretty overwhelming.

But, also thanks to AI and updated technology, I realized I could make every one of my novels into audiobooks, so that’s what I’ve done. For The End Times Saga, only the first four novels were audiobooks because it was easy and affordable to get voice actors before Amazon bought Audible and changed the rules, so that’s why there was only four audiobooks, instead of seven, for that series. Now, because those four are exclusive, I could only make the next three novels exclusive to Amazon/Audible, as it wouldn’t make sense to have the last three available everywhere, but not the first four. Anyway, using Amazon’s Virtual Voice, I now have the entire End Times Saga available as audiobooks in just a couple days as I listened to make sure the AI pronounced things carefully, although flatter than I would’ve liked (I’m not sure I could do any better). However, I plan on ending being exclusive to only Amazon/Audible so I can upload the entire series to sell on other platforms, including my own.

For other novels that I could add to my store on Gumroad: the three in the Perilous Times series The Long Journey, The Usurper, Don’t Mess With Earth, and The New Frontier Series, I used Amazon’s virtual voice for Audible, then used the virtual voices from Google Play books to create those so I could use Voices by In Audio for distribution to other platforms, but that takes time. With Google Play, I could have separate voices, which I only did for the female characters in the novels for the Perilous Times. Unfortunately, the female characters almost all sound the same to me, like Siri or Alexa, but with accents. Samples are available to listen to on Youtube or on the Gumroad product pages.

Now the what-if novel. I decided to restart it. I was still not sure what to do with where I was stuck in chapter 4 and my outline not being nearly as laid out as I thought. so I went to ChatGPT and gave it some prompts. It returned with clearer ideas than what I originally had, along with an outline that was laid out better than what I did. It also helped with giving me the slang of the period that I didn’t remember due to me being a nerd who spoke “proper” American English, and other sensory details and pop culture references that I didn’t remember or know either, like hanging out at the mall, since it was too far from my house.

So, now I have clearer vision of where I want my novel to go story wise, which is called, Second Chances. So, look out for that in the coming weeks or months, depending on how long I’m down the rabbit hole of Gen X pop culture videos.

New Release: Times of Harvest

Times of Harvest is a Christian End Times short story collection based off the End Times Saga series of novels. Currently only available as an ebook for $2.99.

Jonathan Tsosie – an Arizona Navajo, who becomes a Christian as a youth while spending a summer with a Christian family in Phoenix. Becomes a law enforcement officer for the Nation as an adult. Helps other Christians as they run from the corrupt federal government.
Laura Hall – A high school student who is the senior class treasurer for her school. Is a dedicated Christian. Ends up at Camp 13 when the government rounds up all the Christians.
Jon Ryan – The family doctor for the Atwood’s in Nebraska. Starts his career around the time the United States Health Service comes into being. Skips around government regulations for many years before the government finds out. Previously published individually.
Xavier Doolittle – The head of the Secret Service at the White House. Is a back-sliding Christian and we read about the back story of what led him in that direction. Previously published individually.

Where to buy:

Other Retailers (Books2Read link)

If you haven’t yet, please check out The End Times Saga seven novel series, which is available as ebooks and paperbacks. Also available as a box set.

10 Exciting & Suspenseful Works of Christian Fiction

Hey, everyone, my novel The Falling Away was chosen as one of the “10 Exciting & Suspenseful Works of Christian Fiction” at the Ezvid Wiki.

A little background on Ezvid: They were founded in 2011 as the world’s first video wiki, and is now among the top 3,000 websites in the United States. Their YouTube channel has over 425,000 subscribers and 250 million views since founding. So, check it out, along with the other 9 Christian authors and their novels the site has chosen.

Update on what I’ve been doing, since I’ve been silent for a while. At the end of 2017, I finally managed to find a full time job, so I’ve stepped away from writing fiction for the time being. My current job is writing descriptions for muscle/performance car parts, such as Corvette, Camaro, Challenger, Charger, etc. and I write upwards of 10k words a day, or up to a 50k novel a week. This pretty much satisfies my writing itch for the time being, but I do want to have 20 novels written at some point.

Between 2012 and 2016, I wrote 10 novels, so I was burned out, but I did try to write a sequel to The Long Journey. It involved the Cherokee family going through the Civil War, but I found out that issue was complicated after doing quite a bit of research on the subject, so I decided to step away from that for a while to figure out what to do next. Then, I started writing a what-if novel about a Gen Xer who wanted to go back and change what happened in his life starting from when he was a teen. I actually wrote almost 18k words before I hit a creative brick wall, so I set it aside for the time being. One of these days, those will get finished.

Anyway, check out the above link to the Ezvid Wiki and have a great week.

The Long Journey: Historical Fiction

The Long Journey is Christian historical fiction and the first novel in An American Journey series.

In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law authorizing the removal of southern tribes to Indian Territory in the west. In 1838, the Trail of Tears occur when the remaining people are forcibly removed and marched a thousand plus miles on foot.

George Massey, a twenty year old Cherokee, finds himself being force-marched to Indian Territory during the winter of 1838. Eventually, he gets lost in the Kentucky woods and finds a family who takes him in. The novel follows his adventures as he travels west and gets involved in all sorts of historical events from the 1840’s to 1850’s.

Where to buy:
Paperback
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Books a Million, Createspace

eBook
Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, BN Nook, Kobo, Scribd, Smashwords

Audiobook:

My store, Audible, Kobo, B&N Audio, Apple, Google Play

Want to learn more about the historical events depicted in the novel? Then please check out these links:The Cherokee Nation website

The Trail of Tears on History.com

The First Emigrant Train to California (PDF) by John Bidwell

The Bidwell-Bartleson Emigrant Party on The California GenWeb Project’s website

The Emigrant Parties to California 1841-1846 (PDF)

Mexican-American War on History.com

Bear Flag Revolt/Republic on History.com

The Gold Rush of 1849 on History.com

Updates

Hi all, hope you’ve been having a great new year so far.

Well, I decided to come back to my wordpress hosted site, since the self hosted site doesn’t seem to be working out very well after trying it for nearly three years. Since leaving this site, I’ve finished The End Times Saga, which is a total of seven novels and two short stories. I’ve also written two more series, one is another end times series, called The Perilous Times, consisting of only three novels. The other series is historical fiction, called An American Journey, currently consisting of one novel, The Long Journey. For the second novel of the historical fiction series it was (or still is) going to be based during the Civil War. Since the main character is Cherokee, I was thinking of basing the story around the Cherokee Nation being involved in the fight, but due to what I’ve researched so far, they seemed to have mostly fought amongst themselves and what few engagements with the Union they did have, they were neither successful or unsuccessful campaigns. They were mostly hampered by lack of supplies and being cavalry mounted instead of infantry. I have no idea when I’ll have that novel finished. I’m also currently working on a what-if story, which will be standalone.

Right now, I’m redesigning this site, creating new pages, and updating all the links to where my books are being sold. I’m also in the process of having all my novels go wide instead of being exclusive to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, so I’ll be basically relaunching the novels with accompanying blog posts in the next few weeks, so please stay tuned for that.

Thanks and God bless.

New Release- Xavier Doolittle: An End Times Short Story

Xavier Doolittle is the second short in my End Times Saga. It’s going for $.99 on Kindle, Smashwords, and Kobo currently, while the other sites will get the short story when they’re distributed to those stores.

Xavier Doolittle, a minor character from the novel, Times of Trouble, is the Secret Service Chief at the White House. We follow him when he first goes to college and begins abandoning the Christian life. Eventually, he begins working for the government, where they confuse him when it comes to what he believes. When the End Times approach, he discovers his attitude has been completely wrong in this short story in the End Times Saga.

A little over 9200 words and 30 pages.

Sample the Chapter Excerpt

Where to buy the story for $.99

Amazon Kindle (takes you to your store)

Barnes and Noble Nook

Smashwords

Apple (coming soon)

Kobo

Have you read the other story, Jon Ryan yet? Currently available only on Kindle, and going for $.99. Is rated 4.4 stars with 5 reviews so far.

In this short story from Times of Trouble, Jon Ryan dreamed of becoming a doctor his entire life. Before he graduates from medical school, the government takes over healthcare, making him wary about the profession he’s going to school for, but not enough to quit chasing his dream. He practices medicine as medical plagues and disasters occur, all the while the government says they’re on top of things. Eventually, government oppression forces him to make changes to his practice that will affect his life as the End Times approach.

Six chapters, 8300 words, 27 pages.

Book Blast: The Missing Piece (Inspirational Love Story) by Carol McCormick – Plus $25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

Title: The Missing Piece (Inspirational Love Story)

By Carol McCormick

About the Book:

“Fresh dialogue, realistic characters, a powerful message,” The Romance Readers Connection

How does a man pick up the pieces when his world crashes around him? Misplaced priorities shattered his marriage. Problems almost crushed him. Love motivated him to mend the damage, once he found all the pieces.

After only a few months of marriage, Lorraine left Dylan on a wintry night after he’d spent one too many nights out with the guys. Unable to cope with the loss, Dylan escapes the painful feelings by drinking them away. This decision costs him a year-and-a-half of his life after he stops in a little mountain town and ends up in the local jail. When he’s released, he returns home in search of a job to get his life–and his wife back.

THE MISSING PIECE is not only a love story about a man who loves a woman, but is also a love story about a merciful God who loves mankind, even when he falls. The novel is an emotionally-charged journey of hope and redemption with a touch of spunk, a hint of humor, and a few twists along the way.

“Inspiring and encouraging. Anyone who desires a restoration to their spirit should read THE MISSING PIECE,” Myshelf.com

“A wonderful, heartwarming Christian romance. This is definitely a story that I recommend to all lovers of Christian romance,” Escape to Romance

Download on Kindle | Purchase Paperback

Carol McCormick
Carol began writing years ago after reading a ten-page story her grandmother wrote about growing up in the early 1900s. It was then that she began to write down her own stories to share with her daughters someday.

Later, she began to write as a way to draw herself and other people closer to the Lord. Carol writes for Christians to encourage them in their faith. She also writes for those who are unaware of God’s grace, to show them how to connect to Him in order to experience His love and goodness. Her writing is applicable to life with its direct, yet sensitive, and oftentimes humorous messages and lessons.

Carol has been a speaker for Christian Women’s Connection (Stonecroft Ministries International) for over fifteen years. She is also an international bestselling author who has appeared on regional and Christian television programs and has been a guest on over fifty Christian and secular radio stations.

Follow Carol McCormick
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Enter to Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

Enter below to enter a $25 amazon gift card, sponsored by author Carol McCormick!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Book Review of Times of Trial

Christian blogger LaTawnia Kintz has reviewed Times of Trial for me, and gave it four stars on Amazon. She reviewed Times of Trouble last year for me too. I could use more reviews for either novel, so if anyone is willing to review the novels, please contact me and I’ll send you a Smashwords coupon to download it for free. Download the ebook directly from my website or buy the paperback/ebook from other online retailers.

LaTawnia Kintz Book Review Blog

‘Times of Trial can be read as a stand-alone or with Times of Trouble. Like Times of Trouble, Times of Trial is about the end-times and persecution of Christians in the United States.

The president of the United States is a hater of Christians and Jews and will stop at nothing to make sure he remains the president. He and his equally power hungry goons implement Agenda 21. (Now if you don’t know anything about Agenda 21 – which is very real check it out here. There are also lots of other listings about it.)

Cliff has again written a very insightful novel involving end-time prophecy and current events. This is a very easy book to read but don’t let the ease of it detract you from the reality of what could actually take place.

All right, now I have a couple of critiques… though Cliff has done better in filling in the plot with detail, his dialog is still a bit choppy and stilted. I only say this, because I know how difficult it is to write dialog. So Cliff, this is just to encourage you to write your dialog more fluidly. That is probably the only thing I can think of that may be a distraction for the reader.

I appreciate Cliff’s dedication to get his work out for the public to read. Since he is a self-publisher, it can be a bit harder to get the word out. So I am more than thrilled to review for him.

Thank you Cliff for providing me with a free ebook copy for me to review.”

Works in Progress….

As I’m currently working on the prequel to Times of Trouble, which is taking me a whole lot longer to write than anticipated because of having to replace a computer part, causing me to re-install Windows 7, with everything else on my computer, then not having an updated version of Word, since it was at my brothers’ house (who is my IT guy), and finding out that I’m doing more research than I had originally anticipated, I had an idea pop into my head as I was watching the “Gospel Music Showcase” on Daystar (I enjoy Southern Gospel) the other day. It’s an idea that I have no idea if it’s been done before, so I’ll share it with you, my readers.

Here’s what I wrote down in a notebook I have for such occasions:

The novel starts off with a narrator on a TV show focusing on the life of a once famous musician, I guess like what they do on, I think it’s on VH-1, sort of a “Where Are They Now” kind of thing and how they got to where they were at. Then, the story will go back to the time when this musician was only known to his friends, family, and fellow church members, because he sings in church. He’s discovered, is asked to show up on a national singing competition, sort of like “Star Search” or “The Voice,” and he wins the competition. As he begins recording music with a record label when he gets the contract, the singer begins experiencing various temptations. He also ends up with an agent that will eventually convince him to leave Christian music behind because no one important listens to it and he’ll make more money in secular music (shades of Amy Grant, Whitney Houston, or Katy Perry). So our singer begins recording secular music (not sure which kind of rock yet). At a party, he’s introduced to a girl, who the singer eventually marries, but she is most definitely not a Christian. She introduces him to drugs and alcohol, while his agent gets the singer into all the right parties, eventually giving him enough visibility to win awards, like a Grammy.

He gains the attention of President-elect David Collins, who invites him to sing the national anthem at the inauguration, followed by an invite to the NFL to sing at the next Super Bowl, and an invite by NASCAR to sing the anthem at the Daytona 500. Our singer’s on top of the music charts, along with being the most popular singer on Earth, when tragedy strikes. His whole family dies in a plane crash on the way to wherever he was touring. Unfortunately for him, he had an argument with his wife over his gambling and all sorts of other things he shouldn’t be doing, and he went on tour without apologizing or patching things up. The singer feels guilty, but instead of praying and trying to get right with God, he responds by drinking more and more. His grief and general drunkenness gets to be so bad, he gets dropped by his record label and agent, his expensive cars get repossessed, and house gets foreclosed on. In an attempt to help him, his home church tries to reach out to him, but he angrily rejects their help, because he’d rather rely on his worldly friends, but they reject him. At his lowest point, when he’s living in a broken down car, he prays for the first time in years by asking God to forgive him for going down this path. He feels a peace come over him, when he hears a trumpet sound, and is taken up along with thousands of other Christians.

The novel ends with the TV show saying they hope the singer is happy wherever he is.

So, what do ya’ll think? Would you read something like this? Or back to the drawing board?

Book Blast: Winter’s End by Rebekah Lyn – Enter to Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

Title: Winter’s End (Seasons of Faith)

By Rebekah Lyn

Book Two of the Seasons of Faith Series

Musician Michelle Burton just had the best night of her life. Her band Tangled Web opened for Wonderland in downtown Orlando and the crowd loved them. Too excited to sleep she makes a fateful decision to go to work early. The best night of her life turns into the worst day of her life.

Nearby, at boutique Hotel Lago, Stephen Longbottom, acting concierge manager, is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the board of directors for Silken Pleasures, a multimillion dollar company based in New York and specializing in high end cosmetics, fragrances and lingerie. Their incessant demands before they even arrive are driving him to distraction. Meanwhile Lizzie Reynolds, his boss is on a romantic ski trip in Vermont leaving him to manage his first solo event.

Hope, forgiveness and love are an integral message throughout the book and like a fine tapestry the threads of God’s master plan for the character’s lives are woven into a fabric of great storytelling, conflict and humor.

Readers who came to know and love the characters of Summer Storms will enjoy catching up with Lizzie, Stephen, Michelle, Jeffrey and Ian.

Kindle | PaperbackRebekah Lyn
Rebekah is a Christian with a heart for new beginnings. She is a Florida native and a graduate of Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, Fl. A love of history, research and journaling led naturally to a passion for writing. She enjoys travel and has traveled extensively across the United States and Canada as well as Europe and the Caribbean. Her reading taste run from the classics to light fiction. When she is not working or writing, she enjoys cooking,baking and sharing recipes on her blog, http://rebekahlynskitchen.wordpress.com

Her current works include, Summer Storms and Winter’s End, books one and two in The Seasons of Faith series, and Julianne the first book in The Coastal Chronicle series. She is currently working on the, as yet untitled, second book in the Coastal Chronicles set in coastal Florida during the early years of the space program.

Rebekah currently resides in Florida along with her “attack” cat, Mia. They would enjoy meeting with you on her Facebook page.

Follow Rebekah Lyn
Website | Facebook | Twitter