PSALM STORIES FREE for Download thru Monday.

Download  PSALM STORIES  FREE at Amazon.com

only through Monday, January 14, 2013.

 

 

A mix of contemporary, ancient, fanciful and fun stories

based on the first 75 Psalms of the Bible.

 

FREE for Kindle from January 10th to 14th.

Click Here:  Link to Amazon.com for FREE Copy of PSALM STORIES

 

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FREE FOR KINDLE! Don't Miss These Excellent Books!

 Don't forget that "Witness, Book One of the Seeds of Christianity Series" is free to download for your Kindle ending at midnight PST, Thursday, January 10.  Link to Amazon.com for WITNESS

  

In case you missed "Genesis People, Book One of the Five Minute Bible Story Series" when it was starting at midnight PST, Thursday, January 10. 

Link to Amazon.com for GENESIS PEOPLE, $3.99


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Download Psalm Stories, a mix of contemporary, ancient, fanciful and fun stories based on the first 75 psalms, FREE for Kindle from January 10th to 14th.

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free, or if you got it and loved it, there's a new free promotion coming up on Amazon.com for Sheila Deeth's Psalm Stories,

DIVIDE BY ZERO by Sheila Deeth

Divide By Zero may sound like an unusual title until you realize that author, Sheela Deeth, is a Mathematician. So how did this left-brained person write a novel? Very well.

Sheela Deeth’s outstanding writing skills, her descriptions and precise attention to detail have always impressed me.

Divide by Zero is filled with realistic portrayals of family dynamics. As the book unfolds, many fascinating characters are introduced and I began to worry whether I’d be able to keep track of them all. Not to worry, Ms. Deeth weaves them together in relationships that work while carefully reminding us who each person is. One special participant is a white cat—a cat some dubbed an “angel cat”—who wanders through chapters seeming to bring about subtle miracles here and there.

These typical people in an ordinary neighborhood experience life from a perspective that makes us stop and consider our own. We get to view the personalities of family members, and the people in their neighborhood, through their thoughts and feelings. Sheila Deeth does this with remarkable ability and insight.

Through four generations of men, we gradually learn of their self-destructive behaviors and, for some, their redemption. We sympathize with one whose childhood was dreadful, but then later learn how he hurt others. Will his son or grandson do this too?

We watch a daughter sacrifice her happiness to care for an ailing mother. And, although she was stricken by a stroke and unable to successfully communicate, we see through the mother’s thoughts how much she appreciates and cares about her daughter and grandson. She is a human being with feelings and definitely is not useless.

We watch the mother of an autistic child cope and adapt. We fear for some characters and cry for others. There is death and there is love. And, in the end, there is hope and joy.

Ms. Deeth manages to enter the heads of many characters and successfully portray their thoughts in ways few authors attempt. She brings us insights into the thoughts of all kinds of people and does it extremely well.

I highly recommend “Divide By Zero.” —Gail Lewis

Product Details:

Paperback: 254 pages

Publisher: StoneGarden.net Publishing (August 20, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1600763405

ISBN-13: 978-1600763403

 

MARTYR by E.G. Lewis

 At last, the final novel in Ed Lewis’s Seeds of Christianity series has been released, and it’s well worth the wait. A fitting conclusion to this well-researched and deeply intriguing set of novels, Martyr creates a wholly plausible and enthralling picture of ancient Rome in the time of the first Christians. Favorite characters from earlier tales undertake the perilous journey by sea from Antioch while waves crash and timbers creak. Filled with the sights and smells of ocean and harbor, the hustle and bustle of market and the curious wonder of ancient feast day and procession, the novel’s worth reading just for this. 

Soon the family reaches Rome, where characters cope with trials and tribulations of decrepit buildings and corporate greed. History comes alive with real people in situations not so different from those of today. The obnoxious woman next door annoys. The Christian heroine forgives. And the rest of the Christians think she’s just as mad as they would in the present day. A church united by faith threatens to splinter under pressure. And a world united by powerful subjugation begins to fall apart. 

The horror of a city in flames, the panicked flight of civilians, the madness of a fallen emperor, it’s all in here, well-researched, beautifully portrayed, and even illustrated with truly engaging pictures at the end of each chapter. Did you know what an ancient amphora looked like or what it was used for? 

The author uses (and explains in his notes) just the right amount of poetic license to bring the familiar and unfamiliar of this time and its people into focus. History, geography, science and Bible research combine convincingly. The whole makes beautiful, tragic sense, setting the scene for the present day in well-drawn visions from the past, and building up to an awesome conclusion for a series of awesome scope. I almost wish it wasn’t over, and I’m ready to start reading Witness again and repeat the whole journey. 

Disclosure: The author sent me a free ecopy in exchange for my honest review, and I can only count myself blessed to have had the chance to read all four of these books.

—Sheila Deeth

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Product Details:

Paperback: 330 pages

Publisher: Cape Arago Press (February 20, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 098259495X

ISBN-13: 978-0982594957

Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches

MAKE IT STAY by Joan Frank

Love in an age of freedom, friendship at an age when years begin to count, loyalty in a time of suffering, and hope in the face of despair, Joan Frank’s Make it Stay has it all. A feast for the senses, it combines the wondrous scents of Neil’s culinary expertise with the sea-salt spray of a boat and fear of rogue waves. Northern California green contrasts with the bold sun of Arizona. And a loyal wife takes her place in the present, her love contrasted a spouse's other loyalties born of his past.

Bold brash Mike stands beside the shadowed Tilda, and readers immediately share Neil’s wife Rachel’s curiosity. But Tilda is curious too, and sometimes questions unanswered are better than healing balm to relationships. Time changes priorities and relationships. Meanwhile change alters the measuring of time. Ingredients that tasted wrong on their own can mix to a glorious feast, and holding too tight is sometimes the saddest way to make things not stay.

In Make it Stay Joan Frank takes readers from staying to leaving to staying again. Telling a story of genuine people, gently touching their hurts, she creates a story guaranteed to touch and stay in the reader’s heart.

Disclosure: I was given a bound galley of this novel by the publishers, the Permanent Press, in exchange for my honest review.  
--Sheila Deeth 

PRODUCT DETAILS:

Hardcover: 160 pages 
Publisher: The Permanent Press (March 30, 2012) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1579622275 
ISBN-13: 978-1579622275

FIRST SNOW by Christine Cunningham

I feel old. When a character mentions digital music in Christine Cunningham’s First Snow I think of CDs, but “Who uses CDs anymore?” Still, feeling old doesn’t stop me enjoying this tale, nor does the way my stomach lurches in dismay at the thought of a “cup of hot chocolate and a plate of fries.”

First Snow is a delightful Christmas tale of a young woman who also feels old (and listens to CDs). Nell’s dreams of spouse and family seem to recede with the passing years, but it’s not clear if she’s driving suitors away or simply waiting for the right man. When he appears, will she ever let him close?

Nell works in a bakery where she meets the handsome Hasan, but it’s her interest in writing that throws her more closely into his company, and the author builds a pleasingly gentle romance between the two. Clearly made for each other, they tread carefully and warily on the slippery snows of relationships while Christmas weaves its spell. Meanwhile sister Sydney plays matchmaker in all the wrong places, but true love will surely win through.

One final obstacle threatens all Nelly’s dreams, but there’s a surprise in store that turns frost to Christmas beauty. The artificial dance of romance has some intriguingly pleasing twists, making this a good short tale for Christmas or any cold dark day.

—Sheila Deeth

Disclosure: I received a free ecopy of this novella from WoMen’s Literary Café in exchange for an honest review.

Format: Kindle Edition 

File Size: 159 KB
Publisher: Eternal Beginning Publishing
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B006DA006A
Text-to-Speech: Enabled 
Lending: Enabled

LOST by E G Lewis

E.G. Lewis's Lost starts with a very personable man giving his personal recollection--"It's high time someone set the record straight," he says, and proceeds to do just that. We meet Vietnam vet Tom, high-flying Claudia who's busy in New York, and Derek who's left the country, and we know there's grief and mystery to be resolved in the small town of Pine Crest, Oregon. Then the story begins.

Lost is a character-driven mystery with touches of high-finance, science fiction, love and ethics adding to its depth. Set solidly in the years leading up to the millennium (2000), in beautifully described countryside with forest, pine and ocean, rain and sun, with a plot uniting elements from Indian mythology to the local Chinese restaurant, it's a wonderfully evocative telling of high-jinks on the high seas tempered with human care and concern.

In Delhi, an Indian scientist introduces his latest invention. "What does it do?" asks the American visitor. Maheshwari replies, "You would not believe me if I told you." Maheshwari is a wonderful character, his wisdom woven from delightful stories of tradition, his language built on sweet misunderstanding and humor, and his heart, though tempted, securely in the right place. As the battle for the lives of the missing heats up, the Indian's science and humanity will share center stage with Tom's courage and determination, Claudia's honesty, and a host of other equally memorable characters.

The author shows enviable skill in building believable science without weighing down the story. The humorous timing is as enjoyable as the well-drawn action and adventure. My only criticism would be a minor plot-hole that gets neatly stitched together a few pages later--my punishment for reading science fiction with a background in the relevant science, while my reward is that my background just makes the story more fascinating.

A great adventure, some intriguingly imaginative concepts, wonderful characters, and a beautiful sense of Southern Oregon scenery and community (with touches of India, London, and more besides), this is an enjoyable novel which really does satisfy.

LOST is available in both hardcopy and eBook at Amazon & B&N
—Sheila Deeth

Paperback: 324 pages

Publisher: Cape Arago Press (August 6, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0982594941

ISBN-13: 978-0982594940

Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches

The Singular Exploits of WONDER MOM AND PARTY GIRL by Marc Schuster

Wonder Mom Audrey juggles two daughters, a chaotic workplace in need of a workplace mom, and an ex-husband who just might invite her to his wedding, with unending patience and skill and a desperate need to escape. Somewhere between “no one appreciates me” and “let me out of here” is the dull quiet voice of temptation. And after all, how can you really take a stand against something if you’ve never experienced it, just once, just as an experiment, just because you’re tired of being goody-goody and always saying “no”?

Wonder Mom Audrey continues to be a wonder far into her fall, while Party Girl worms her way into her psyche. Marc Schuster’s novel, Wonder Mom and Party Girl is way more fun than it has any right to be, with laugh-out-loud dialog, zany situations, wise daughter and crazy daughter watching while wise mom turns crazy, and nobody that matters seeming to guess what’s going on. Audrey’s life tumbles into chaos while she still seems completely in control. And selling a little cocaine to pay the bills is surely no big crime, not in this American suburbia of excess, excessive demands, and a scent not quite of roses. Still, the reader laughs, though guiltily, till the final blow falls. And then…?

I couldn’t imagine how the author would finish such a book. But when I finished reading I knew the ending was perfect, the pathos just right and a natural antidote to the guilt of earlier humor, the danger achingly portrayed, and the consequences of falling all too real. This book’s almost scarily true to life, witty, biting, and wonderfully balanced, with a female protagonist who every harassed mom will identify with, at least in part.

—Sheila Deeth 

Disclosure: I received a bound galley of this book from the Permanent Press in exchange for an honest review and was, as always, honestly delighted at the chance to read.

Product Details:
Trade Paperback: 279 pages
Language: English
Publisher: The Permanent Press

ISBN 13: 978-1-57962-208-4
Publication Date:  June 2011

BLACK SWAN by Chris Knopf

Black Swan is the fifth of author Chris Knopf’s Sam Acquillo Hamptons mystery series and the first where the action doesn’t actually take place in the Hamptons. As a stand-alone novel it’s a character-driven mystery filled with excitement, sailing, scenery and intrigue, and a great introduction to a really great character and series. Sam is piloting his friend Burton Lewis’s new sailboat home from Maine and takes refuge from a dramatic storm on Fishers Island, NY—a private island whose inhabitants have no great love of intruders. Gale force winds and waves the size of houses are so convincingly portrayed I feel I might really have been on such a boat; I haven’t and never will, since the ocean terrifies me, but the author brings the drama powerfully to life with storytelling as filled with poetry as with excitement. Amanda, a woman Sam has come to love in previous books, and the wonderful Eddie (his dog) share the adventure and the trip, while off-boat are “outsiders” Anika and Axel Fey who, together with their father, hope to make a go of the Black Swan hotel and restaurant despite local disapproval.

The author peoples Fishers Island with well-defined three-dimensional characters, just as surely as he’s peopled the Hamptons in previous volumes. Police procedure is simple, straightforward and dangerous. Death, murder and relationships are closely observed. Landscape and weather form a backdrop as filled with character as the story itself, and the mystery is nicely low-key, perfectly timed and tuned to the parallel mysteries of Sam’s own feelings for his future and past.

Describing computer programs, ship’s steering systems, people, weather and place all with the same sure confidence, Chris Knopf has written another masterful mystery with characters who continue to learn and grow, adding breadth to depth and ever moving forwards to the promise of more. There’s no need to read the other books before reading this one, but if you haven’t you’ll find it hard to resist going out to look for them. Sam Acquillo is a complex wounded soul on a journey that’s well worth following; knocked down by life’s storms, he stands up and finds himself drawn into other people’s fights, thereby redeeming his own.

Disclosure: I was sent a bound galley of Black Swan from the publisher, the Permanent Press, in exchange for an honest review.

—Sheila Deeth

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: The Permanent Press
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1-57962-216-9

 

HEAVEN SENT by Xavier Leret

Heaven Sent is a love story, maybe; a coming of age story; a dark and gritty tale of England's dark and gritty streets; a pondering on the meaning of faith, love and forgiveness and the presence or absence of God; and a deeply absorbing read. It's definitely not an easy book to read—and not just because of Daisy’s well-rendered Bristol dialect. It’s not an easy book to put down either. It raises more questions about love than it answers, and leaves the reader deeply glad we’re not Carlo, and deeply thankful that Carlos still exist in a world of broken Daisys.

Carlo is a sixteen-year-old good Catholic boy from an overly good Catholic family in Bristol, England. Strict rules of duty and devotion have separated him from school friends, marking him as permanently different. But he doesn’t belong in his parents’ unquestioning world either. He wonders how God can be so perfectly trusted when He’s already shown us what He might do to His son, never mind a mortal sinner. And how can God be forgiving if there are parts of society too evil to be forgiven?

Daisy is a former foster child. Child prostitute, child of ill repute, she’s as much an outsider on the street corner as Carlo is. And, in her own way, she’s beautiful. Carlo is drawn to Daisy and Daisy finds herself drawn by his undemanding acceptance. But Carlo’s inept attempts first to help her, then to empathize with her, almost threaten their new-born friendship. Still, circumstances intervene and lead to a wild and dangerous chase across Southern England, reminiscent of Thelma and Louise told by English teens.

Does God send us just what we need in time of trouble? Perhaps He’s sent Daisy as a gift to Carlo, to introduce him to the world. After all, her tee-shirt does have the words “heaven sent” emblazoned across it. Or perhaps Daisy’s a gift to Carlo’s mother, to show her the error of her ways. Or perhaps, in the end, Carlo is the gift to Daisy, the one who, like God, sees through to the good in each of us, holding our hands when everyone else has turned away.

Heaven Sent tells of religious fervor masquerading as love, of physical need pretending affection, of familial duty calling itself mercy, and of true love disguised as forgiveness. It spares no punches, goes where no sixteen-year-old should go, and asks whatever questions come to mind. But it’s a powerful tale, heaven sent to take readers out of their comfort zones and make them think—maybe even show them love.  —Sheila Deeth

Disclosure: I received an ecopy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 285 KB
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B004S2CGQW

BLACK WIDOW by Sheila Deeth

Black Widow is an ebook I wanted to read and review because of the character, warrior queen Boudicca, whose historical fame is legendary. I was eager to see how Ms. Deeth would present her. This tale is viewed through the eyes of Boudicca’s mystical sorceress sister, Nimuё, or Nimi.

The novella surprised me. No cold historic facts here. True, the backdrop is of an ancient Celtic culture that finds itself in conflict with invading Roman armies, but the real story revolves around Nimi, and her enchanted lover —her blue man — who goes unseen by everyone else, but plays an eerie role in the evolving story’s many conflicts.

A spellbinding tale of a sorceress whose skills both frighten and delight the people around her. Nimi’s unusual and sensual lover will keep you guessing, as will his interest in the crucified one and the disagreements between Nimi and her blue man.

After the death of Boudicca and her family, Nimi’s life becomes even more outlandish. Her daughter is introduced and eventually a granddaughter. However, all the sorcery and intrigue in that portion of the book is best left untold, to be discovered by the reader. Myth and reality merge faultlessly, creating a story-flow that will have you rushing forward to its unexpected, redemptive end.

Sheila Deeth is a gifted writer who has a magical way with words. She weaves powerful spells with her vivid descriptions…an author definitely worth following!
—Gail Lewis

Product Details:

Kindle: 53 KB

ebook novella:  33 pages
Publisher: Gypsy Shadow Publishing
Language: English
ASIN: B004UN5TO0

EXPIRATION DATE by Sherril Jaffe

What if you knew when you were going to die? For a while it didn’t matter but now… Now the time’s drawing near and there’s so much more still to live for. And what if your mother’s even more full of enthusiastic life as you approach your expiration date?

Sherril Jaffe’s novel Expiration Date tells of that all-important year in the lives of Flora (almost 60) and her mother Muriel (84). Muriel’s life is delightfully ordered and organized. There’s bridge, with all its attendant rules. There’s dinner, preferably not alone, since that would remind her too much of the absence of Jack after his long illness. And there are trips to San Francisco to spend time with Flora. Just at the time when her life should be winding down, Muriel starts to step out; and however many times the Angel of Death approaches her, she seems to escape unscathed. Meanwhile Flora’s expecting the angel’s visit before her next birthday; but according to her vision, Mother dies first, so maybe Muriel’s staying alive just to cheat the prediction and save her daughter’s life.

Flora’s husband Jonah is a rabbi. His flock includes several elderly people and relatives. They’re familiar with death in its many guises, and Jonah is familiar with the literature, continuing a conversation with rabbis through centuries who’ve left their stories written down to continue the tale. Yes, a time is decreed for each. And no, that doesn’t mean we can’t change the outcome.

Bridge sticks to the rules. Faith bends them. And love fits in between. Approaching ends make the present day more poignant, more needing to be filled. And these characters fill their present quite delightfully, while musing on the past and keeping a constant eye out for the future. Expiration Date tells their story beautifully—a masterpiece perhaps of tell-don’t-show, emotions revealed in thought and story carried forward by contemplation. The game of bridge defines a rigid code where truth lies in well-defined conventions somewhere between speaker and word. Family ties have a code of their own, born of tradition and memory. And love’s simple rule, to touch and be touched, by the world and the people in it, fills Sherril Jaffe’s novel with beauty, humor and hope well-told, then delightfully, wonderfully shown once the code becomes known.

Disclosure: I was given a bound galley of this book by the publishers, The Permanent Press, in exchange for an honest review.
— Sheila Deeth

Product Details:
Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: The Permanent Press
Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-57962-215-2
Publication date: April 2011

INTRODUCING SHEILA DEETH, OUR NEWEST AND 4TH REVIEWER. WELCOME SHEILA!

SHEILA DEETH — Author/Reviewer

Sheila Deeth grew up in the UK and has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Mathematics from Cambridge University England. She started her career writing computer code, moved on to testing and breaking code, and now writes short stories, poetry and novels.

 

She is the author of several Christian books available from Lulu.com, two ebooks published by Gypsy Shadow, and one novel coming soon from StoneGarden.net. Now living near Portland, Oregon, Sheila loves the bookshops and coffee-shops of the Pacific Northwest. She’s a voracious reader, writes reviews of almost everything she reads, and enjoys interacting with other readers and writers through the internet.

 

Read her review of The Ringer below.

THE RINGER by Jenny Shank

A semi-finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Jenny Shank’s The Ringer is proof that such competitions really can bring the best of the best to the public eye. The story centers around lives affected by a police killing—a situation perhaps too easily read about in the paper. But these characters are no paper cut-outs, and when they’re used, by friends, the media, the department, as means to an end, they stand up and stand out. Jenny Shank’s writing makes the reader stand up and listen too, to a mother wondering what she could have done differently, and how she can best protect her kids; to a father wondering what really happened, and why memory and fact never quite coincide; to friends and relatives trying not to burn out or take over while offering support; and to children who play baseball.

The simple solutions of a child out to protect, or hit back, or be noticed, are no less complex in the end than those of adults who try to hide or comprehend. What happens next keeps happening, inexorably. And two families, from opposite sides of town, from different cultures, still meet on the same side of the field. Just as in life, even the cultures aren’t simple in The Ringer. Instead, they’re sympathetically portrayed, and filled with real division, history and complexity. There’s mystery and ethical conundrums in a tale as deep as human life. And the price of a life, or a life lost, in the end might be read in the “seasons to set [the] clock right.”

Jenny Shanks’ novel takes readers from the shock of unexpected violence, through the pain of unexpected loss, through betrayal and sorrow that follow both, and out onto the baseball field. Though I don’t know the game and probably never will, I know the players and feel excitement and fear for the team, and I want them to win. I want the people to win too, on both sides of the divide. And even if winning is complex and never complete, I’m taken to a place where I can stop and say okay; life does go on, and a different hope survives. The Ringer is a complex, compelling, convincing book, gritty and beautifully sympathetic, well-researched and well-plotted, and highly recommended as a really good read.

Disclosure: I was given a bound galley of this book by the publishers, The Permanent Press, in exchange for an honest review.

 

Product Details:

Hardback: 349 pages

Publisher: The Permanent Press (March 2011)

Language: English
ISBN: 978-1-57962-214-5