Words from Pep

A Walk Toward Awakening

 A dream had awakened me. Losing the battle to return to sleep I put on my clothes and stepped outside. Now, in another surreal dreamscape, before the moon surrendered the night to the sun, I ventured alone in a monochromatic world where my vision was opened to the unity before me. My state of reality altered and I saw harmony in all things. . . . . In the surf’s roar and silent movement of mists, in every act of love and kindness, in the heart of Sequoia and every creeping thing is His habitation. He floats through grass and rides the whirlwind. He fashions ocean wave and chisels mountain crags. In the breath of Vesuvius and collapse of St. Helen, in the whispering grace of the lily, the Answer to All Mysteries is revealed. In you, in me, in friend and enemy, within sentient and inanimate dwells One Designer. . . . . . I looked into the sky and asked myself, “How is it that this Truth is so unmistakable, yet so often hidden? How is it that I should walk in blindness before the Artist, deafness in the company of the Conductor, as zombie in the presence of Life?” . . . . . This knowledge of the heart is heaven itself. This knowing, that we are immersed in the Great Caring, lifts us to wonder and holy carelessness, frees us to live. . . . . Here in the divinity of this night I had fallen into this One Who Is Always There, my Beginning and My End, my Comfort, Peace and Lover. He is the fire in the forest and its rebirth from dark ash. He is in the beauty of tender compassion, in hunting wolf and broken bones of caribou, in Solomon’s temple and the Pyramids of Giza. . . . . . Though we are often distracted, deceived; though, in fear we needlessly struggle for survival and approval, around us at every moment is our All Parent – Father/Mother, the Loving Anchor of Reality and I, we, all things are safely, forever embraced. . . . . . In this night, now standing near a solitary elm whose umbrella like canopy sealed off the sky, it occurred to me – beyond what obscures my vision is that which is actual, that which transcends what I think so real. . . . . My stroll in the night was not a dream, but a walk toward awakening.

www.theteacherwithin.com

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

The best review ever on The Man Called Brown Condor!

The Man Called Brown Condor. 293p by Thomas E. Simmons. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. 2013.

Being an Air force brat who grew up in Debrezeit on fumes of aviation fuel, I am embarrassed to say that I never heard of this man they called the ‘Brown Condor”. It was during one of my aimless wanderings in the aisles of the local library that I came across this book. Titled ‘The Man Called the Brown Condor”, the book is a result of three decades of research and details the “forgotten history of an African American fighter pilot” in whose debt Ethiopians will always remain.

This thrilling biography traces the life of a seven year old black child from segregated Mississippi in 1910, afflicted with the love of flying. It chronicles his incredible journey against impossible odds in white America, the tortuous path he took to make his dreams of flying come true for himself and for many others and excel in it in more ways than one… his own plane, his own airfield, his own flying school!!. His story is not just about flying; it is about tenacity, perseverance and creating doors where there were none. For the motivated it is inspirational. Every few pages the gripping account left me exclaiming… No way! Really? Ere Betesekelw !!!. The story should particularly resonate with those of us of Ethiopian extraction who straddle two continents and have the misfortune of being called by the now unflattering term “Diaspora”. Us and ours who have chosen to make home outside home are faced daily with challenges that are not much different.

A third of the way in the book, the life of John Charles Robinson would intersect that of “Ras Taferi” the twenty-six-year old “regent to Empress Zauditu ruler of an ancient, unconquered Christian nation….the first to serve the second, the second to place his life in the hands of the first.” It goes on to a fascination exposition the life and times of this man who is the un-lauded father of the Tuskegee air men, who became a commander of the Ethiopian Air corps and served during the Italian occupation, wounded three times who later became the personal pilot of Emperor Hailesilassie, rebuilt the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force, set up a school and trained the very first crop of pilots and technicians and helped to found the Ethiopian Airlines. The book provides priceless nuggets of information on some of the heroes of a forgotten era. Memorable personalities like Mulu Asah the Ethiopian pilot, Ras Mebratu, “ the weizero’, Julian the opportunist, Corriger the reckless French man, the adventurer von Rosen whose aunt was married to Hermann Goring (Goring of the Luftwaffe !!!) are resurrected. Robinson’s relation with the King and his court, the geopolitical forces that were at play as well as life in Ethiopia in the 1930s are vividly described.

I hope it would not be presumptuous of me if I am appreciative of the fact the author took the trouble to avoid anglicization of Ethiopian names of people and places. In addition to the wonderful photo inserts, I found the placement of the two full color roundels of the old Imperial Air force on the back cover particularly touching. I extend my sincerest gratitude to Mr. Simmons for bringing to light the story of this remarkable man though now he has added one more item to my bucket list… to visit the final resting place of Colonel John C. Robinson at ……

Compatriots! Let’s give tribute to the ‘Brown Condor” by getting to know about his life and his service to Ethiopia.

By Daniel Assefa
July 30, 2013

Project Keepsake by Amber Lanier Nagel is now available in paperback and ebook!

Amazon

B&N 

BAM

Fish Pond 

Book Depository 

Smashwords (the ebook)

Amber Lanier Nagle’s anthology, Project Keepsake, is a collection of short stories told in first-person by both writers and aspiring writers about their treasured keepsakes and mementos.  From buckeyes to pocket knives to pound cake pans to rings to fishing lures, each keepsake—and each story—is unique, yet each reveals common attributes that bind us together and celebrate the glorious human experience.

Amber Lanier Nagle is a Georgia girl through and through.  In 2006 after working for eighteen years as an engineer, she reinvented herself as a freelance writer specializing in nonfiction articles. Her work has appeared in GRIT, Mother Earth News, GEORGIA Magazine, Atlanta Life, Points North, Chatter, Get Out Chattanooga and many other magazines and newspapers.

For eleven years, she penned a monthly newspaper column focusing on memories, relationships, and unique observations from her lifetime in Georgia.  In 2012, she published a selection of these articles in an ebook titled Southern Exposure:  A Few Random, Rambling, Retrospective Pieces of My Life. She is a graduate of both Georgia Institute of Technology and Mercer University and is an active member of the Georgia Writers Association and the Chattanooga Writers Guild. www.ambernagle.com

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

Published by Native Ink Press www.nativeinkpress.com

Murder at Caney Fork by Wally Avett – release date March 15, 2014

 It’s the trial of the century in a 1940’s North Carolina town.

Rape. Murder. Vigilante justice.

War hero and law student Wes Ross has to save his uncle—but hide the truth.

              Taught to shoot in the rough logging camps of the North Carolina swamps, Wes Ross remembers his lessons well. Dodging hostile gunfire with dozens of other young Marines, he storms a remote Pacific island as one of Carlson’s Raiders. It was the first commando-style attack of World War II.  He blasts several Japanese snipers from their palm-tree hideouts with buckshot before an enemy bullet sends him home.

            The Carolina home front includes a new girlfriend and a new occupation, learning to be a rural lawyer in his uncle’s law office, including courtroom intrigue and what goes on behind the scenes. Wes, like his uncles, is a good man, the kind who takes up for the poor and downtrodden, looking out for the black farmers and others who are easy prey for bullies.

Frog Cutshaw is the storekeeper in the Caney Fork backwoods, a swaggering ex-moonshiner who is deadly with his ever-present .45 auto pistol.  Frog’s daylight rape of a married woman and the brutal killing of her husband bring on Bible Belt vigilante justice, an eye for an eye, life for a life.

Wes is caught in the middle as a participant in the killing of Frog Cutshaw. Soon one uncle is being tried for a murder he planned but did not commit and another uncle defends him, circumstances and witnesses threatening to convict the wrong man.

Wes knows all too well who pulled the trigger of the 12-gauge pumpgun, and knows that the shooter could end up on Death Row.

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

Published by BelleBooks

To order books please contact: Danielle Childers,,Marketing Director,,BelleBooks, Inc.
901.344.9024 DanielleChilders@bellebooks.com

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know…

...that the next step is the most important step.
Take it now. Do not wait.

Life is not going to come down there and sprinkle
glitter dust on your shoulders to let you know that you
are Good…or that you are walking the Right Path…or
that you are making the Best Decision.

Take the next step. Right now. Stop waiting for a “sign”
from the “gods.” Your sign is your intuition, wrapped
in your desire.

Hesitation is not a stopping place on the road to heaven.

www.CWGPortal.com  

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know that desire is a powerful force that can be used to make things happen.

Marcia Weider said that, and she was right. Yet do
not confuse desire with expectation, or with need.
Desire has an entirely different quality to it. You can
desire something without needing or requiring it.

That little difference makes everything work. That
little difference is the whole trick. Desire, do not
Require. To desire propels. To require compels. Life
will not be compelled, but it can be coaxed…

Whoever or whatever you are trying to compel today,
stop it. Just…fall back into the soft cotton of desire.

www.CWGPortal.com  

On this day of your life, I believe God wants you to know…    

that if you’re doing something for someone else’s
approval, you may as well not do it at all.

There is only one reason to do anything: to announce
and declare, express and fulfill, become and
experience Who You Really Are.

Do what you do, therefore, for the sheer joy of it,
for sheer joy is who you are. Do what you choose,
not what someone else chooses for you.

Neal Donald Walsch

www.CWGPortal.com

MY NAME IS BUZZ. I’M A WEATHERHOLIC.

Me, when I actually earned money forecasting weather. At The Weather Channel ca. 2008.

My name is Buzz. I’m a weatherholic. There, I said it. I’m supposed to be retired.  Kicking back.  Taking it easy.  Writing novels. But no.  Every time “big weather” looms, I’m geeking out, studying progs, kibitzing with other “addicts,” and [GULP] making forecasts. Why can’t I get this monkey off my back?  Well, I suppose part of it is just human nature.  Humans generally love competition.  Exhibit One: the Winter Olympics.

So what has competition to do with weather forecasting? I think forecasting is a form of competition.  And it’s not that I’m attempting to one-up my fellow “junkies.”  The real challenge is to whip Mother Nature’s ass.  Since we can’t change or control her, the next best thing is to try to out-smart her.  To predict what she’s going to do. Notice I didn’t use the term “out-guess.”  Weather prediction really is a scientific endeavor . . . laced with experience. Competition, of course, implies a “game.”  And indeed, for us strap-hangers (I don’t forecast for a living any longer), it is a game.  A real-time game where we try to make the right “call” before the buzzer sounds, i.e., before the storm hits.

I’ll admit it: I love it.  Love the thrill of victory.  The cheering crowds.  The multimillion-dollar endorsements.  The–oh, never mind.  I’m hopeless . . . and obviously delusional, too.

Thank me, though, that when the snowstorms and squall lines come a-calling, I try to avoid adding to the social media cacophony with my predictions, but I do get a kick out of trading email discussions with a cadre of fellow “abusers”–reprobate meteorologists that they are–most old Weather Channel buddies.

Also, I’ve apparently become the unofficial weatherguy for the Midtown law firm my stepdaughter works at, and for my neighbors in Willow Springs.  (Note to self: gotta stop wearing that Weather Channel parka when I walk Stormy.)

My name is Buzz.

I’m a weatherholic.

Buy now!

EYEWALL

PLAGUE

SUPERCELL

www.buzzbernard.com

represented by Jeanie Loiacono

published by BelleBooks

www.bellebooks.com