Ed Protzel’s novel, The Lies that Bind, a darkly ironic antebellum mystery/drama set in Turkle, Mississippi, 1859-61, has been acquired by TouchPoint Press!

Durksen Hurst, aka Dark Horse, a visionary charlatan on the run, encounters a dozen hungry slaves stranded in the Mississippi wilds. Two desperate peoples, both in need of one another, agree to build an egalitarian plantation, with Hurst acting as figurehead “master” to deceive the town after he “wins” the land from a Chickasaw chief, the actual deed holder.

On the adjacent property live the Frenches: a controlling matriarch who manipulates the region’s bankers and cotton brokers, and her frail, rebellious heir-apparent. They “legally” adopt a child from New Orleans to carry on their legacy. Now, Antoinette, the mother, has come for her son and gets much more than she expected.

No one is who they pretend to be and more than anyone can imagine.

The novel is based on Protzel’s screenplay which was recognized by the Missouri Playwrights Association. It had brief Hollywood exposure; was called “a great script” by 20^th Century Fox’s Murray Silverman, Paramount’s Sherry Lansing, and Chelsea Studios producer Stan Zuckerman.

The final two novels of the trilogy include the same major characters as the original: Honor Among Outcasts is set in Missouri during the transition from the Civil War to a violent reconstruction and Something in Madness is set in California as Durksen and Antoinette become the tumultuous state’s embattled first couple while others side with vested powerful interests.

Ed has written five original screenplays for feature film and worked developing film scripts/projects for 20^th Century Fox. He has a Master’s in English Literature/Creative Writing from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a B.A. in English, with a minor in history, from the University of Hawaii. www.edprotzel.com

Published by TouchPoint Press www.touchpointpress.com

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

Buzz Bernard’s BLIZZARD is a “Must Read” in Southern Writer’s Magazine

Wally Avett’s historical, southern fiction Rebel Bushwhacker is now available on selected sites, full release schedule for March 11^th! Published by Argus Enterprises International  Amazon  B&N    Shelfari

Authentically drawn from the sparse written accounts and oral history of the Southern Smokies where Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina meet, the story of Hattie June Rose holds your undivided attention and your heart strings from the first sentence to the last word.

Rebel Bushwhacker is based on true local incidents during the War Between the States. It takes place in the rugged Southern Appalachians where a classic “civil war” raged between Rebel partisans and Union loyalists.

Hattie June Rose finds herself in desperate times as she loses her innocence and her baby along the way, and is forced at a tender age to bury both her father and her brother. She trades sex and her native intelligence to the most notorious bushwhacker of them all, the “red-headed butcher,” Big Tobe Kirkwood, for his help in tracking down the Yankees who killed her father. Together, with his gang of Rebel Bushwhackers, they wreak havoc on Yankees and their supporters…until the day she decides to stop Tobe for good.

Wally Avett is a semi-retired realtor in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.  He lives in the same little town, sometimes compared to Mayberry, where he was editor and chief writer all though the 70’s for the weekly newspaper. His first two novels Caney Fork (2013) and Last Bigfoot in Dixie (2014) are published by BelleBooks. Coosa Flyer, the story of ‘Professor’ Dyer of North Georgia who invented the first aircraft before the Wright Bros., will be released later this year by Argus Enterprises International  www.wallyavett.com

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

RIVERS OF JEWISH BLOOD by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, author of Please Say Kaddish For Me and From Silt and Ashes (both available for acquisition) Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com  https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/rivers-of-jewish-blood/

I believe God wants you to know that perfectionism is the enemy of creation.

John Updike said that, and he was right. He understood that nothing stops the forward march of any creative endeavor like the need to do it absolutely perfectly.

And who is to judge what is ‘perfect’ anyway? What I have judged full of flaws so many others have called terrific. Maybe the definition of Perfection is something that actually gets done. www.CWGPortal.com

Drs. John Flynn and Bob Blackwood’s two nonfiction/pop cultures Future Prime: Top Ten Science Fiction Films and Everything I Know About Life I Learned From James Bond have been acquired by Library Tales Publishing!

John Flynn                                        Bob Blackwood

Future Prime: Top Ten Science Fiction Films – What’s your favorite science fiction film?

At the start of the new millennium, fans who attended science fiction conventions persuaded Flynn and Blackwood—aka “The Film Doctors”—to conduct a survey of the Top Ten Science Films of the 20^th Century.  They then embarked on a ten-year odyssey to gather thousands of fan votes. The result: a list of science fiction films that probably contains at least one of your favorites.

Each film was considered from its inception, to the pre-production period, through production and finally the audience’s reaction, reviews, critical responses and interviews with directors, producers and stars of the movies.

An educational enlightening of the motion picture industry, it shows that it truly all starts with a thought, a vision, which when fed, honed and supported becomes “where no man has gone before.”

There are several more Future Prime books in the works. They have already conducted the poll for the top ten horror films and are composing the manuscript at this time.

***

Everything I Know About Life I Learned From James Bond – The ultimate Bond guide! If you want to know all the little details on the making of the Bond movies—the villains, the Bonds or his girls—this is the book to have on your coffee table. After reading it, you will want to watch every movie from Dr. No to the one just coming out, Spectre, just so you can pick out the facts.

It is addicting…and each Bond has been so hot!

Bond never ages.

Who has not heard the words, “Bond, James Bond” or “Martini shaken, not stirred”? Most of world knows of James Bond and/or has seen one or all of his movies. Some of us are addicted; men mimic him and women dream of being a ‘Bond girl.’  From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, each one has given us thrills and glimpses of the secret world of spies. Saving us all from certain doom dished-out by fiends such as Blofeld or Goldfinger, and just recently Silva, Bond risks all and still gets the girl(s). We line-up at the theatres to see him larger-than-life, hanging on his every word and gesture.

John L. Flynn, Ph.D. and Bob Blackwood, Ph.D. have done years of research, enjoying every millisecond. Both have decades of literary and publishing experience and vast knowledge of the cinema. An avid collector, Flynn has a comprehensive cache of memorabilia for all the films in both books.

Flynn’s first novel, Intimate Bondage, was published by BelleBooks. Intimate Disclosure, Intimate Denial and Intimate Affairs, the next three in the series, are available for acquisition. He is also writing the biography of Angelique Pettyjohn, a dear friend during the last ten years of her life.  She was an actress, Las Vegas showgirl and Star Trek siren. Pettyjohn was also mother to Elvis Presley, Jr., Elvis’ son, who was recently granted permission by a federal court to use the name proven through DNA that Angelique was his mother and Elvis was his father. www.john-flynn.com www.blackwood.org Library Tales Publishing www.librarytalespublishing.com/

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

Thomas E. Simmons is the author of The Man Called Brown Condor: The Forgotten History of an African American Fighter Pilot (Published by Skyhorse) and Forgotten Heroes of World War II: Personal Accounts of Ordinary Soldiers – Land, Sea, and Air (Published by Taylor Trade ) He lives in Gulfport, Mississippi. Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com Check back often for new Q&As, and for daily historical factoids about books. On Facebook at www.facebook.com/deborahkalbbooks . Follow me on Twitter @deborahkalb. http://bit.ly/1E9QleF

One on One with D. G. Martin – Sea of Greed, N. C. Court of Appeals Judge J. Douglas McCullough

Sea of Greed, N. C. Court of Appeals Judge J. Douglas McCullough and co-author Les Pendleton tell the real story of how an abortive marijuana smuggling operation on the North Carolina coast led to the downfall of Panama’s dictator General Manuel Noriega and the U.S. invasion of that country. McCullough had a big role in bringing hundreds of drug smugglers to justice. The story, however, focuses on the audacity and careful planning of the smugglers and how their carelessness led to their downfall.

As McCullough takes readers from the smugglers’ off-loading operations in North Carolina, to the marijuana distribution center in Detroit, to the high altitude lovemaking in the private jet of the smugglers, to Noriega’s private estate in Panama, he does something that Tata does not try to do.

His story rings true as it entertains.

Therein lies another story. It is the story of the book, which McCullough wrote and first self-published unsuccessfully several years ago. Instead of giving up, he got help and got a publisher.

The result is well worth his efforts.

D.G. Martin hosts North Carolina Bookwatch, which airs Sundays at noon and Thursdays at 5 p.m. on UNC-TV. Preview the upcoming program on UNC-MX digital channel (Time Warner #1276) on Fridays at 9 p.m.

To view prior programs: http://video.unctv.org/program/nc-bookwatch/episodes/

For upcoming programs: www.unctv.org/ncbookwatch

www.seaofgreedbook.com Published by Deer Hawk Publications www.deerhawkpublications.com Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb

Check back often for new Q&As, and for daily historical factoids about books. On Facebook at www.facebook.com/deborahkalbbooks . Follow me on Twitter @deborahkalb.

Douglas McCulloughis the author, with Les Pendleton, of Sea of Greed: The True Story of the Investigation and Prosecution of Manuel Antonio Noriega. He is a North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge, and during the 1980s he served as a federal prosecutor in Raleigh.  http://bit.ly/1BOdq7W

Words from Pep

Breathing in the Dampness

The rhythm of my oars in the humid night air rippled outward as I glided silently close to shore. Leaving the bay, my eye caught hold of three distant fires, camps of other souls seeking solitude and the elusive fusion of self with the Transcendent. I floated through the night, breathing in the dampness, watching the silhouette of trees against the backdrop of our galaxy. An occasional frog launched itself into the black lake as I invaded its zone of comfort. Suddenly an explosion of water! To my port side a young family of ducks was startled from their sleep in the reeds. A baker’s dozen, distraught and thrashing, madly peeping ducklings surrounded my boat until, regrouping in the safety of open lake, they headed for the island. Adrenaline ebbed, my heart slowed and I rowed on. Nearing the outlet, several lily pads brushed my bow. I settled in their midst and waited. Earlier that afternoon a pike had given follow to my bait, a big fellow, twelve-fifteen pounds, forty inches. Quietly I snapped on a floating midget spinner and cast it along the weed edge. A listless retrieve with occasional jerk, set up a tasty surface noise I knew would draw curiosity for twenty yards underwater. As a fingernail moon rose over my stern I continued working the edge, slowly moving toward the outlet. Just before the lake’s surface began sliding downhill, transforming into the Red Cedar River, he hit. Into the darkness he ran pulling my consciousness with him. I thumbed the spool. Kept a taught line. Played the tension enough to tire this gatekeeper of the river. A lethargic current caught hold of my boat drawing us downstream. He battled, wedged himself to the bottom, tried to run again. My bow struck a rock and lazily spun in midstream. He was wearing out. The distance between spent fighter and my boat was narrowing. I teased him to the surface as his eye caught reflection from the stars above. Considering his strength and beauty, bewilderment and will to live, I reached down with my pliers and slipped the barbless hook from his jaw. He and I were free, and together we gazed upward into a starry universe beyond the comprehension of both our minds. Enveloped in the backdrop of eternity, two individual beings had united themselves through the struggle and wonder of existence. We had lost ourselves in the singularity of the one eternal moment and knew the joy of thankfulness. He swam upstream and left me alone as I began pulling at the oars. In my mind I can still taste the dampness of that night here on the fringe of our galaxy.
www.theteacherwithin.com

—

ONE WORLD  –  ONE FAMILY OF MAN  –  ONE CREATOR OF ALL