What would you sacrifice for one more chance to speak with someone you
lost?
The Book of Ribbner by Ronnie Vergnolle is a sweeping literary adventure that
travels across wild rivers, distant oceans, and sacred landscapes in search of
answers to humanity’s most enduring questions.
At the center of the story is Hannah Ribbner, a grieving adventurer drawn into
a mysterious prophecy involving the legendary Golden Mahseer, the haunting
song of the 52-hertz whale, and a decision that could change the relationship
between humanity, nature, and artificial intelligence forever.
As Hannah’s journey unfolds, she encounters extraordinary wildlife,
ancient wisdom, spiritual mysteries, and the unspoken code shared by those who
understand the water. Each discovery leads her closer to a truth that
challenges everything she believes about love, loss, consciousness, and the
sacred connections that unite all living things.
Blending adventure fiction, environmental themes, spiritual discovery, grief
and healing, and thought-provoking questions about AI, The Book of Ribbner is
an imaginative and emotionally resonant novel for readers who enjoy meaningful
stories set against the beauty and danger of the natural world.
Can technology understand the human soul? Can a machine experience awe? And
can one sacred fish help restore the balance between humanity and nature?
The prophecy is waiting. Hannah must decide how the story ends.
About the Author
Ronnie Vergnolle is the author of The Book of Ribbner, a sweeping literary
adventure inspired by his lifelong connection to fishing, nature, and
exploration. His journeys across some of the world’s most remote rivers
and wild landscapes have shaped his perspective on conservation, spirituality,
grief, human connection, and the mysteries that exist beyond what science can
explain.
Through vivid storytelling and firsthand experience, Vergnolle invites readers
to consider profound questions about humanity’s relationship with the
natural world. His writing explores the healing power of water, the
responsibility people have to protect vulnerable ecosystems, and whether
artificial intelligence could ever experience wonder, love, or awe.
In The Book of Ribbner, Ronnie Vergnolle blends global adventure, sacred
wildlife, emotional discovery, and philosophical fiction into an unforgettable
story about loss, purpose, and the choices that may determine humanity’s
future.
You've been standing in the field your whole life. You just couldn't see
it yet.
If you've spent any time in Texas in spring, you know the bluebonnets. Now
imagine a pair of glasses that shows you what you had been missing: every
ultraviolet the flower had been wearing all along, a field suddenly purple, a
world you had been standing inside without seeing.
That is love, for Richard Smith. That is Zin. Richard is the kind of man who
learned early how to disappear. Quiet. Careful. Brilliant in ways he rarely
lets anyone witness. He writes poetry in notebooks no one is allowed to open
and gives his best hours to work that asks nothing of his heart.
Then Zin walks into his life—sharp, guarded, beautiful, and impossible
to reduce—and does the thing he never prepared for.
She sees him.
All of him.
And instead of flinching, she stays. Together, they help bring a technology
into the world that does for millions what Zin did for Richard: it lets people
see what was always there.
Hidden color.
Hidden beauty.
Hidden power.
A cheap, wearable lens that reveals the spectrum just beyond ordinary sight.
For a moment, it feels like freedom. But a world that profits from keeping
people blind does not celebrate new sight.
It studies it.
Owns it.
Sells it.
Weaponizes it.
What began as wonder becomes surveillance.
What began as intimacy becomes empire.
And as the device they helped create starts tracking faces, movements,
desires, and private lives, Richard and Zin are forced to confront the
difference between being seen, being wanted, being protected, and being
controlled.
The world Richard wanted to open is becoming a machine that watches everyone.
And the woman who first opened him may be the only person brave enough to tear
it down.
The Field of Purple Bonnets is a literary speculative love story about being
seen versus being watched. About a man brave enough to be soft, a woman wise
enough to know what that costs, and a country slowly forgetting the difference
between freedom and possession.
About the Author
Dave J. Brown writes fiction about love, technology, consciousness, and the
strange systems people build to survive themselves. Field of Purple Bonnets is
his most ambitious work to date.
He pays his bills helping organizations navigate enterprise technology
rollouts, building small applications, and consulting on the kinds of complex
implementations that make most people's eyes glaze over. The technical fluency
shows up in his writing… not as exposition, but as texture. When
Richard designs BeeVision, the engineering feels real because it comes from
someone who thinks in systems.
He lives just south of Austin, not far from a field of bluebonnets that looks
exactly the way you'd imagine.
Jaded city planner Townsend Meadows looks out across Evermore Valley
with the ghost of his dead friend by his side. “Do you ever
wonder,” Fen asks, “what this city will look like five hundred
years from now?”
Their city is teetering on the brink of collapse, and the mayor’s answer
is a gleaming new auto mall at the valley’s edge. For Townsend,
it’s the death of everything a city should be. Struggling to regain his
passion and forced to choose between compliance and conviction, he must risk
his career to fight for a more hopeful and verdant future.
From an
architect’s vision at the dawn of the twentieth century, to a
rancher’s dynasty scarred by violence and greed, to a city
founder’s hidden message of hope, this story about the rise, fall, and
reawakening of an American city reaches far beyond the present. A timely,
sweeping novel of memory, corruption, and resilience, Death and Life in the
City of Dreams asks, “What legacy will we choose to leave for our
children?”
About the Author
Nicholas Deitch is a writer, architect, and advocate for social justice whose
fiction explores the intersection of cities, history, and human resilience.
His passion for storytelling began when a colleague recognized the emotional
depth of his nonfiction work. Since then, he has honed his craft, publishing
short stories in Litro Magazine, Club Plum, and Santa Barbara Literary
Journal. His short story “Grace Eternal” won Best Fiction at the
Santa Barbara Writers Conference (2019).
Death and Life in the City of Dreams, his debut novel, is deeply influenced by
his experiences in nonprofit leadership and the design of inclusive
communities and urban places.
Originally from Los Angeles, he now lives in Ventura, California, with his
wife and creative partner Diana.
A WALTZ ACROSS TIME spans 500 years of New Mexico's history, inspired by
family ancestral records and lore; interweaving a contemporary ghost story,
bibliomystery and romance with fictionalized accounts of ordinary people
navigating extraordinary times.
Lucinda, a clairvoyant Santa Fe bookstore owner, promises the ghost of a
one-eyed Marine she will return his family's 500-year-old Spanish Bible to his
descendant and rightful heir, using clues stashed within its pages to guide
her search.
Each clue opens a window to the lives and loves of Franciscans and Indigenous
peoples, Spanish-Mexican colonials, mixed-race settlers creating adobe
homesteads and fighting slavery with the Union Army, forbidden lovers eloping
amidst a hail of bullets, midnight fugitives being quietly fed, and WWII
soldiers prevailing over devastating injuries. But Lucinda's search for the
Bible's heir goes dark with the plight of a Marine who lost an eye at Okinawa
and imagined a raven-haired angel just before his world, too, went dark. How
can she trace the thread of his life to the present day and keep her promise
without losing sight of her own hopes and dreams?
Praise for A Waltz Across Time
"Complete perfection word by word. Your interpersonal dialogue among the
characters seems so real as to almost have been recorded on tape as it
occurred. This book has great pathos, as well as hopefulness." - Reg Olson
"... a historical novel blended with adventure, romance, mystery, suspense,
and a paranormal touch ... Jiron interweaves two stories: a modern-day romance
and the history of New Mexico from the fifteenth to the twentieth
century...Through well-researched historical exposition and cinematic
depictions...The prose effortlessly shifts between historical times and the
contemporary era. " - K.Mbuya (Readers' Favorite)
About the Author
I am a Midwesterner from America’s corn belt, but have lived in 7 states
(18 different cities) and Austria. As a travel agent and tour operator, I got
my first chance to do creative writing in the form of travel brochures for
places I'd never been:). Eleven years with Hughes AirWest/Republic/Northwest
airlines were fun because aircraft had actual legroom back then (!) and I also
worked as a recruiter. But after too many "dumb stewardess" jokes, I earned my
Ph.D. in Clinical Neuropsychology and worked with neurodivergent individuals
of all ages in many settings (clinical and educational) for 20 years, which
involved writing detailed clinical assessment results and treatment programs.
All of that culminated in my first published book, "Brainstorming: Using
Neuropsychology in the Schools." Anthony Girard at Western Psychological
Services taught me the priceless value of a good editor:).
But the most fun career I ever had was running elementary school libraries for
6 years! I redesigned the physical setup to display kids' book covers facing
out at their eye level, and developed a curriculum that allowed for coaching
cognitive and social skills through read-aloud. After six years, students'
scores on standardized reading tests improved significantly, and I keep a
basket of Thank You cards from parents who said Library was their child's
"favorite class."
During those years, writing time was scarce, but I enjoyed a one-month
writers' retreat at Vermont Studio Center in 2014, where I drafted a family
drama/speculative fiction then titled "The Well," which won the 2015
Chanticleer Paranormal Award, and was a Finalist for the 2015 Indie Book Award
(since then updated and retitled, "Voices from the Well.")
After retiring in 2017, I was able to garner enough concentrated time to work
on the five stories that had been cavorting in my head for years. A Waltz
Across Time was one of those books. I also authored a spiritually-oriented
self-help book, "Living the Real Tree of Life," and collaborated on two plant
medicine books with a 2-tour Iraq war veteran turned ayahuasca healer, Drew
Bankey.
On a more personal level, due to a mild spinal curvature, I started doing yoga
at age 16 and have practiced several different styles, but focused on
Kundalini yoga for the past 40 years. I've taught that practice in a variety
of settings, including churches, recreation centers, and a maximum security
prison. My husband and I currently reside in wondrous New Mexico, where the
skies are a panorama every moment.
Jaded city planner Townsend Meadows looks out across Evermore Valley
with the ghost of his dead friend by his side. “Do you ever
wonder,” Fen asks, “what this city will look like five hundred
years from now?”
Their city is teetering on the brink of collapse, and the mayor’s answer
is a gleaming new auto mall at the valley’s edge. For Townsend,
it’s the death of everything a city should be. Struggling to regain his
passion and forced to choose between compliance and conviction, he must risk
his career to fight for a more hopeful and verdant future.
From an
architect’s vision at the dawn of the twentieth century, to a
rancher’s dynasty scarred by violence and greed, to a city
founder’s hidden message of hope, this story about the rise, fall, and
reawakening of an American city reaches far beyond the present. A timely,
sweeping novel of memory, corruption, and resilience, Death and Life in the
City of Dreams asks, “What legacy will we choose to leave for our
children?”
Excerpt
City of Evermore
Stop the Bleeding
At the civic center, Townsend rides his bike through the parking court,
past rows of cars arrayed between the building’s stucco wings. He locks
his bike and slips his helmet off, and his phone begins to vibrate. He takes
the phone from his pocket and looks at the screen. Dad. The vibrations
persist.
Townsend doesn’t want to answer. He knows the call will be difficult.
Everything with Dad has become difficult. He swipes the screen with his thumb.
“Hey, Pop. How’re you doing?” He braces himself.
“Townsend? Townsend? It’s me, Dad. Are you there?”
“Hi, Dad. Yeah, I’m here. Everything okay? I’m about to go
into a meeting—”
“I can’t find your mother. Is she there with you?”
Ugh. “Dad, mom’s been dead for thirty-five years—”
“She was here this morning. She woke me. She was here . . .”
“Pop, we’ve talked about this. Sometimes you see her in your
dreams. It’s okay. It’s nice that you see her.”
“Well, I just thought she might be with you, and—”
Townsend glances toward the building. A gathering is pressed at the entrance,
troubled by something he can’t see.
“Dad, I have to go into this meeting now. But I’ll call you when
it’s over, all right?”
“I can’t find her, TomTom. I can’t find her. She was here,
and we were—”
A woman’s voice intrudes on the call. “Mr. Meadows, it’s
Dorthea Wickem. Your father woke this morning very confused. More than usual.
We’re taking good care of him, but he’d like to see you when
you’re able.”
“Of course, of course. I’ll be there this afternoon. And thank
you.” Townsend ends the call with a long, guilt-ridden sigh. He glances
toward the entrance. Something isn’t right, but the sun is in his face,
well above the valley’s rim, hot and dry. He grabs his water bottle and
takes a swig. He pours the rest over his head, letting the water trickle down
his face and back. A moment of tepid relief. He closes his eyes and considers
the opportunity, to ditch the meeting and see his dad. The meeting will be
difficult. Time with his dad will be difficult.
He mops himself with his shirt and makes his way toward the entrance, where
gawkers press close to stare at a grim warning scrawled in red paint across
the automatic doors, which slide open and shut, open and shut, pulling the
words apart and pushing them together.
Stop the bleeding—motherfuckers!
A woman turns to him with a pained look. “What does it mean?”
Townsend stares at her, searching for an answer. He has no idea. “It
means somebody’s angry, and they wanted us to know.”
About the Author
Nicholas Deitch is a writer, architect, and advocate for social justice whose
fiction explores the intersection of cities, history, and human resilience.
His passion for storytelling began when a colleague recognized the emotional
depth of his nonfiction work. Since then, he has honed his craft, publishing
short stories in Litro Magazine, Club Plum, and Santa Barbara Literary
Journal. His short story “Grace Eternal” won Best Fiction at the
Santa Barbara Writers Conference (2019).
Death and Life in the City of Dreams, his debut novel, is deeply influenced by
his experiences in nonprofit leadership and the design of inclusive
communities and urban places.
Originally from Los Angeles, he now lives in Ventura, California, with his
wife and creative partner Diana.
IZON is a company poised for world domination. Its AI and robots can
replace any human worker, any government. Just two things stand in the way of
its CEO. A female programmer out to avenge his greed. And the People’s
Republic of China.
Tima Chelovekova lands her dream job with IZON, the hottest AI and robotics
startup in Silicon Valley. But IZON CEO Jase Vestiger doesn't just want to get
fabulously rich. He wants Tima’s invention to take over rival tech
companies, replace humans with IZON services, corner governments - and run the
world. This puts them on a collision course in a whirl of mega-corporations,
AI prompts and Chinese hackers. Their conflict spans from Vienna to
California, from superyachts to prison cells, from the peaks of technology to
the deepest ethical questions. A striking tale of the AI age, a truly 21st
century masterpiece of speculative fiction.
About the Author
Peter Heavenheld is a neo-classical playwright and poet. A childhood in
Australia, Fiji, Hungary and Japan made him desirous early on to understand
the cultures and stories of the world - especially through the medium of
theatre. Since then, his plays have been produced all over the world. His most
recent tragedy, Cleo's Stratos, received rave reviews durings its season at
the Cracked Actors Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, in November 2023. A
Greek-Australian migrant family's journey through lockdowns, it was cleverly
intertwined with the Greek myth of the sun-god, Helios. Peter's tragicomedy,
Life, Rehearsed, enjoyed sell-out performances during a production by the
MIDAS Theatre, Moscow's main English-speaking theatre. British actor Jonathan
Salway starred as an actor living a bigamous double life, until his lies
unravel - and he finds redemption. True Words from False Teeth, a Monty
Pythonesque sketch revue, ran successfully at the University of Western
Australia in Perth. He has also had public reading performances of numerous
other plays, such as Saga Australis - The Macquariad (a historical drama about
Australia's most influential colonial-era governor) and Freedom Born from
Torture's Fires (a harrowing true story of Soviet spy chief and mass murderer,
Lavrentiy Beria). Peter's poem Concerto for Auctioneer’s Mallet was a
June Shenfield Poetry Award prize winner in Canberra, Australia, in 2021.
Peter published a collection of his verse tragedies, Altar of the Muses, in
2010. Peter lives in Tokyo, Japan. When not writing, he enjoys driving his
classic Aston Martin, experiencing Tokyo's galleries and museums, and
listening to Baroque music. Indeed, he claims he can only write when inspired
by the music of Antonio Vivaldi. The Brain that Breeds all Villainy is his
first published novel.
A biting, satirical thriller about a world trapped in endless Christmas cheer.
Blurb
Matt Daughtry has always felt like he and his parents live in separate worlds—his shaped by the urbane, Northeastern liberal elite, theirs by Southern conservatism, homespun “common sense,” and talk show-fueled conspiracies. His homosexuality remains an open secret, something they sidestep rather than confront, much less accept. When he and his sister return for Christmas, the wrong sibling brings home a boyfriend for the first time.
What starts as a tense but routine holiday gathering takes a surreal turn the next morning. Flights are canceled, pilots and flight attendants mysteriously take time off, and by the following day, an estimated seventy-eight million Americans fail to return to work. Their explanation? They just want to spend more time with their families. Christmas can be every day when you’re with family.
His parents—and millions of Americans—are suffering from a bizarre condition, trapped in an endless holiday loop, determined to celebrate Christmas every day. They make choices that go against their self-interests. Blissfully unbothered by their accumulating debts, economic collapse, or even basic responsibilities, they live in a festive delusion seemingly fueled by an addictive algorithm used by an evangelical shopping app called MerryNet.
At first, Matt sees no reason to get involved. He’s never been able to reach his parents before—why would this be any different? But as the syndrome spreads, paralyzing the country, he stumbles upon evidence linking the outbreak to corporate actors intent on silencing their perceived right-wing enemies. Faced with a choice between complicity and action, Matt realizes that exposing the truth may come at the cost of his career, safety, and sanity. But the country may slide further into a dystopian nightmare if he doesn't act.
With the help of his boyfriend and sister, Matt must not only uncover the syndrome’s cause and cure but also confront the deeper divisions tearing his family—and the nation—apart.
Excerpt
Chapter 1
Matt did the math. This was the fifth year he had flown from Chicago to Charlotte to see his family. Five years. Five flights down. Five more back. Five broken promises. He made the same promise every year after Christmas, usually somewhere between his parents’ driveway and the ticketing counter at the airport to fly back home. Never Again. Yet, here he was, sitting in the driver’s seat of the mid-sized rental car parked outside his parents’ house. Again. At least this year, he’d brought reinforcements.
“I just had my vape a second ago,” Matt said, wedging his hand between the driver’s seat and the gear shift, his fingers fanned out, groping for the one thing that would ease his anxiety.
“Is it in your coat pocket?” Grant asked.
“I checked,” Matt said, using his other hand to frisk his chest again.
“Sweetheart,” Grant said, pointing at him. “It’s in your lap.”
“Jesus,” Matt said. “I should put it on one of those chains like they have for pens at the bank.”
Grant brought his matching vape to his lips and sucked on it. “Spoken like two people who could absolutely quit any time they want to.”
Matt coughed. “Maybe once Christmas is over. Until then, I can’t handle any more anxiety.”
His thoughts turned back to his parents. He could recite their lines like a Broadway play that lingered long after its popularity had waned. His mother would allude to a “war on Christmas.” As a proxy for the Northeastern liberal elite, he could count on his father to hold him personally liable for the perceived collapse of family values and decency. He knew it would usually earn a ceasefire to see him and his sister, except this year, the wrong sibling was bringing a boyfriend home for the first time.
“It’s pretty,” Grant said, craning his neck to look at the two-story house with the white vinyl siding.
Matt scoffed. The home he grew up in was scarcely any different from the other homes on the block. He knew his boyfriend was only trying to help, but he ignored him and took another slow drag on his vape. He exhaled a thin plume of vapor, watching it curl around the steering wheel in a car that grew colder with each minute he procrastinated. He stuffed the vape into his coat.
Matt thought of his vape and figured he wouldn’t be the only one with a concealed weapon at his parents’ house. His father, a proud concealed-carry permit owner, wouldn’t let the family forget his holstered "right to bear arms" strapped under his armpit. Honestly, Matt thought, it barely qualified as “concealed” when his dad worked it into every discussion, from gas prices to his latest election conspiracy.
Matt, by contrast, prided himself on his ability to keep secrets like the one now discreetly tucked into his coat. He’d never been caught, though his frequent trips to the bathroom hadn’t escaped his mother’s relentless curiosity. Her concern for his well-being was as unwavering as his determination to dodge the interrogations she called “conversations.”
Last year, after two clandestine trips to the bathroom in less than an hour, with the earnestness only she could muster, she’d asked if he needed to see a doctor about his prostate. At twenty-nine years old, he knew the suggestion was absurd. Matt resisted the temptation to tell her that if he wanted his prostate examined, he had an app for that.
Ornery Owl's Review Rating: Five out of Five stars
This book grabbed me by the lapels with its unique premise and when it dragged me along for the wild ride, I didn't resist. The story combines a family drama, a legal thriller, and a tale of public-health/political panic. It sounds like a recipe for mismatched cacophony, but it works wonderfully.
What is the source of the "Christmas Virus," a peculiar pandemic affecting many US residents including the President? If you enjoy snarky social commentary, lovable flawed oddball protagonists, and are the kind of person for whom Spinal Tap's Christmas With the Devil is on repeat during the holiday season, you will want to read this book and find out.
The author does an excellent job of balancing dark comedy with genuine emotional connections between the characters. This is the kind of book you'll want to enjoy while sipping wine, eating salted nuts, and listening to Spinal Tap. It has a truly unique flavor! Due to mature subject matter including drug use, the story is intended for adult audiences.
About the Author
Evan is a member of the LGBTQ community who fancies himself as a playboy socialite, living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between work and lucid moments of sobriety, he writes a little. His debut novel is a light-hearted work that still manages to confront religious hypocrisy and contemporary LGBTQ struggles to balance their loss of culture with new-found civil rights.
Speculative Fiction; Visionary and Metaphysical; Christian Fiction
Date Published: September 17, 2025
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
How far will a man go to save his very soul?
Derek Hollinger has walked a long, hard road since a fateful encounter with an
Indigenous shaman woman turned his life upside down. Now married to Kendal,
his angel and savior, Derek desperately wants to be the man she deserves. But
his obsession with his tattoos—what they mean and how to get rid of
them—is tearing down everything they’ve built together.
Paralyzed by depression and self-loathing, Derek is convinced that only one
person can help him now: the granddaughter of the shaman whose power inked him
from head to toe. Enlisting the aid of his loyal friend and spiritual advisor,
Father Mike, Derek treks deep into the heart of the Amazon jungle, where a
final reckoning between good and evil awaits.
But God’s plan for Derek isn’t what he expects. And coming back
alive—whole in mind, heart, and spirit—will require every ounce of
his fortitude and faith.
About the Author
Monica Broussard
Writer, speaker, and certified life coach Monica Broussard is passionate about
writing fiction that contains fantasy elements and keeps the reader intrigued
about the lead character’s motives. She also writes an occasional
article for her hometown’s magazine, SeaCliff Living. She belongs to
American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and enjoys attending national
writers' conferences.
Born in North Carolina on a Marine Corps base, Monica now lives in “Surf
City,” Huntington Beach, California, with her husband of thirty-nine
years. She has enjoyed various occupations, but her favorite job is the one
she’s doing now—writing.
The 6th Heaven is book 3 in the 21 Tattoos Series.
Speculative Fiction; Visionary and Metaphysical; Christian Fiction
Date Published: September 17, 2025
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
How far will a man go to save his very soul?
Derek Hollinger has walked a long, hard road since a fateful encounter with an
Indigenous shaman woman turned his life upside down. Now married to Kendal,
his angel and savior, Derek desperately wants to be the man she deserves. But
his obsession with his tattoos—what they mean and how to get rid of
them—is tearing down everything they’ve built together.
Paralyzed by depression and self-loathing, Derek is convinced that only one
person can help him now: the granddaughter of the shaman whose power inked him
from head to toe. Enlisting the aid of his loyal friend and spiritual advisor,
Father Mike, Derek treks deep into the heart of the Amazon jungle, where a
final reckoning between good and evil awaits.
But God’s plan for Derek isn’t what he expects. And coming back
alive—whole in mind, heart, and spirit—will require every ounce of
his fortitude and faith.
Excerpt
But then, one morning, the tattoos appeared after he had a vivid
nightmare of a swirling spiderweb that seemed to move and change as he tried
to escape. He had awoken with a start, his heart racing and his body drenched
in sweat. He remembered every detail—the grotesque spider with its
sharp, black legs and beady eyes, looming over him as he struggled to free
himself from its web. In his dream, he had been half-paralyzed with fear,
unable to escape the creature’s grasp as it taunted and tortured him.
Now, as he lay in his bed, still trembling from the intensity of the recurring
dream, he realized that the spider was not just a figment of his imagination.
It was a manifestation of his deepest fears and insecurities, a symbol of the
overwhelming challenges and struggles he faced in his waking life.
The tattoos covered his body from head to toe—even his face.
He had tried to subconsciously resist the spine-chilling transformation, to
hide by going back into a deep, fitful sleep that night, hoping it was only a
nightmare. But the tattoos seemed to have a mind of their own, and soon, his
entire body was covered in a symphony of ink, intricate and detailed, each
telling a story he could not understand.
Derek became a spectacle, a mystery, and a work of art. People would point and
gawk at his tattoos. He nearly lost his medical practice.
He could not explain the disturbing dichotomy, but he felt an intense
connection to these markings. He intuitively realized they were a part of him
and he would never be alone again. After experiencing the vicious beating when
he was a teenager that almost took his life, Derek struggled with feelings of
unworthiness, believing that he somehow deserved what had happened to him. He
had been selfish that day, not listening to his mother and not wanting to
visit with his grandmother. Then she died suddenly; he never saw his
grandmother again. It felt like there must have been something inherently
wrong with him if the universe was willing to use its power against him in
such cruel ways.
As a prominent plastic surgeon, he performed each reconstructive procedure
with as much focus and precision as if working on his own body. His attention
to detail and excellence in each procedure were an extension of the
reconstructive surgeries performed by Dr. Christopher Casey on him as a child.
When he performed craniofacial surgery, it was, in his mind, a repetition of
the one performed on his face so many years before. A reconstructive
microsurgery on the delicate bones of a hand that might someday perform
life-altering procedures.
In his dreams, he relived moments of profound regret and insecurity. He had
told himself it was for the best when Kendal had left him for a short time
before they married. He was protecting himself from the disappointment and
hurt that inevitably came with a relationship’s dissolution. He had been
able to rehabilitate himself in her eyes.
But now, in this vivid dream, he gripped the steering wheel of his parked
Bentley and felt the familiar explosion go off in his head. He could not deny
the truth any longer. He was a lonely and lost man. The realization was like a
punch in the gut, and he could not help but feel a wave of sadness for what
might have been.
About the Author
Monica Broussard
Writer, speaker, and certified life coach Monica Broussard is passionate about
writing fiction that contains fantasy elements and keeps the reader intrigued
about the lead character’s motives. She also writes an occasional
article for her hometown’s magazine, SeaCliff Living. She belongs to
American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and enjoys attending national
writers' conferences.
Born in North Carolina on a Marine Corps base, Monica now lives in “Surf
City,” Huntington Beach, California, with her husband of thirty-nine
years. She has enjoyed various occupations, but her favorite job is the one
she’s doing now—writing.
The 6th Heaven is book 3 in the 21 Tattoos Series.
Recycled Brain delves into a world where humanity has unlocked the ability to
create custom life forms, including Pegasus or Dragon. The story follows
Hayate Yamano, a guide in a unique "theme park" where visitors can interact
with fantastical creatures.
However, the idyllic setting is shattered when a group of cultists launches a
surprise attack, sparking a conflict that threatens civilization itself. As
tensions rise and hidden truths come to light, Hayate finds himself at the
forefront of a moral and existential crisis.
As civilization teeters on the brink of chaos, Hayate and his friend, Vine,
must grapple with profound ethical questions and make decisions that will
shape the course of humanity's future. "Recycled Brain" expertly blends
cutting-edge scientific concepts with thrilling narrative twists, offering
readers a thought-provoking exploration of the boundaries between science,
ethics, and human nature.
Recycled Brain is a must-read for fans of science fiction and speculative
thrillers, offering an unforgettable journey into a world where the line
between reality and imagination is blurred. Be prepared to be immersed in a
riveting tale of adventure, discovery, and the power of choice.
About the Author
Ph.D. Takahiro Yonemura is a creator and author from Tokyo, Japan. He
founded Inazuma Corporation while in graduate school and earned a Doctor of
Engineering degree from Kindai University Doctoral Program (Completed).
- Takahiro has authored over 68 published works, including technical books,
science fiction, and articles. He has received recognition for his work,
including the Wakayama City Mayor's Award for game design and selection as a
recommended work for the 10th Cultural Media Arts Festival.
- In addition to his creative endeavors, Takahiro has focused on scholarly
work and has a paper on AI that has been published and presented in 2022.
- He is also the author of "The Metallic Dragon and I" and the graphic novel
"Beast Code," which was released in the United States on November 2022. A
second album (under the name A-Rumenoy Musicians) was released in 2023. In
2024, it began publishing online articles about AI technology.
- In 2025, the graphic novel “Recycled Brain Part One” will be
released; Part Two is scheduled for 2026. A contribution on AI was published
in the Journal of the Society of Arts and Sciences. March 2025 : An article
about the author and my book appeared in the newspaper "News Wakayama."
- His hobbies include mineral collecting and tropical fruit gardening.
The year is 2077, the Age of Glory. Humanity lives in harmony, shaped by
an AI merging magnetism and intentions. The Magnetic Intelligence.
An exciting new global experiment atop The Great Pyramid draws in the world to
wake up Elizabeth, a girl lost in a coma. When eyes open.....
....A Dewic word -spoken, forgotten, remembered- fractures Magnetic
Intelligence. Every intention, every twisted emotion, e v e r y d a m n w o r
d s p o k e n i n M a g n e t a, becomes a loaded gun.
