Silence to Singing

For brilliant young physicist Lewis Brahmindura, life is going very well. He is about to marry Deirdre, his true love from another world. Not only that, but his next project—time travel—has received a $2.2-billion grant.

Soon after Lewis’s very happy wedding, trouble begins. The Horned Edge, a worldwide force, raises armies poised to attack the United States. Even at home, Horned Edge sympathizers harass the Brahmindura family. Lewis’s nerdy younger brother Patrick is tormented by a bully who calls him the “N” word and trips him in the school hallways. Lewis’s athletic little sister Gracie is snubbed by some popular girls, who spread false rumors to get her in trouble. Someone sets fire to his parents’ house.

Lewis is determined to do his part to defeat them. He assembles his Time Team: Lark, Anastasia, and Damian. Using teleportation technology, he moves the Brahminduras to the safety of the beautiful, pristine world, Lanthra. On Earth, Deirdre stays by Lewis’s side as his closest adviser … and his beloved wife.

Then a hit-and-run “accident” leaves Lewis bleeding on the street, unconscious. Emergency brain surgery (by a Horned Edge surgeon) causes Broca’s aphasia … He is unable to speak or write.

He’s silenced. Lewis is angry and feels alone and helpless. Deirdre struggles to reach through his depression.

Can Lewis overcome his disability and continue the time travel project to help defeat the Horned Edge—or will they conquer Earth first?

My comments on the new book cover, created by Cynthia Hickey, my publisher (Winged Publications), from feedback by Soul’s Warfare readers:

I love the colors. Readers have suggested that Book 4, Silence to Singing, show a rich blue-green background, similar to The Hot Marble but still unique. I also like the silhouettes. Lewis on the left throws up his arms in frustration. Deirdre on the right, although perplexed, is trying to reach out to him.

Have you been writing, blogging, producing copy? Here’s a perspective for the long haul:

1. See yourself as an author. You may written a blog, an article, a novel, a self-help book … You are an author. The creativity list goes on: devotions, poems, memoirs … I repeat: You are an author.

2. List what you have already done to promote your writing. I’ve taken out ads, talked up my books to people, developed promotional pamphlets and business cards, spoken for groups, had a newspaper interview, developed a website. The list goes on. Affirm your work. Congratulate yourself.

3. Imagine success. What does that “Author Success” look like for you? For me it means finishing Book 4 in the Soul’s Warfare series, then writing a thriller series. And a nonfiction book for “communication about big issues,” titled Both-And America. And a legal thriller, The Judge’s Dilemma, with co-author Xavier DeSoto. If God wills and I live, I’ll continue to produce. I’ll also market and sell my books and articles. I’ll do public speaking about the passion God gave me. I’ll begin to profit from my writing.

”Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.“
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭48‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/59/isa.48.17.ESV

4. I set goals: SAM: Specific, Attainable, Measurable.

For instance, by writing a chapter a week (10 pages), working 3 hours a day for 4 to 5 days a week, I plan to finish Silence to Singing. That’s about a brilliant young physicist, who had a hit-and-run accident, brain surgery, and then … severe aphasia. Can he overcome the disability in time to enjoy his new bride and … enable time travel and stop his archenemy from conquering the Earth?

5. I will do the Next Right Thing. (See the fantastic book by Emily P. Freeman.) Today I can write 3 pages. Tomorrow several more. Tomorrow: Submit the book for peer review in an excellent writer’s group called Word Weavers. (See https://word-weavers.com).

At last, I will reward myself. I still owe myself a bike ride around Audubon Park here in New Orleans. For a quicker reward I will paint a landscape or just a flower this weekend. For a reward today, I’ll enjoy my patio garden.

Let me know what you are working on. I will pray for you.

You may have had a physical condition that forced you to rest. I’ve got one now. Two cataract surgeries. Not the most major of surgeries, but these involve my EYES! I was more nervous about that than having a major surgery.

And I did fine. my doctor is excellent as well as kind.

But I’ve had to rest. No bending down, no sleeping without a pirate-type eye patch. No rubbing the eyes. Can’t lift anything over ten lbs.

This enforced rest has taught me something about myself, which I bet is true of a lot of you, too. I’m a workaholic. Oh, I can enjoy a two-hour nap. But in general, I always feel that I should be DOING something! Something BIG!

The big tasks make me feel like Wonder Woman. W00t, W00t!

But if I fail to do the Big Thing, I fear that something dreadful will happen. Rejection, even—gasp—punishment. The big alien God might send me to …

The above fear is nonsense, I know. So how can I rest with that nagging fear? The Bible verse Romans 4:5 is my personal key:

“Now to the one who does not WORK but trusts Him [God] who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.” What’s “faith”? Not an object or quality like magic. If it were, I’d be a Muggle. What’s “righteousness?” No debt. No punishment or rejection for failing.

Thank you God, that you are not a judgmental, harsh alien. Thank you for reassuring me that I don’t have to work to be good. I—and you, my dear reader, are loved.

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