Terry Soileau's Blog: TERRY SOILEAU ON WRITING AND LITERATURE

TO DIE BADLY, my short story on the hanging of John Brown, is FREE now through Wednesday, January 6, 2021!!

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072J1ZKBG

The present edition of my civil war novel, A DIFFERENCE OF PURPOSE, will be going out of print soon. I will be revising and expanding it to more than twice its present length. I am also working on two other major writing projects, with a few more waiting in the wings, and a few short stories. So, if you want a copy of the present version of A DIFFERENCE OF PURPOSE, it is going, going, ----

My civil war era short story, TO DIE BADLY, is FREE on the Kindle NOW through Sunday!!!! amazon.com/dp/B072J1ZKBG

My first short story, TO DIE BADLY, was published on the Kindle yesterday. It is about the hanging of John Brown, the abolitionist who raided the Federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry in Virginia. The story features two characters from my previously published civil war novel, A DIFFERENCE OF PURPOSE. https://www.amazon.com/DIE-BADLY-Shor...

LAST DAY FREE!!! The Kindle edition of my civil war novel, A DIFFERENCE OF PURPOSE, is FREE today!!
http://www.amazon.com/DIFFERENCE-OF-P...

Check out the new cover of my civil war novel, A DIFFERENCE OF PURPOSE. I would love to hear opinions on the new cover.

createspace.com/3955492

New 4 STAR review of my civil war novel, A DIFFERENCE OF PURPOSE, posted by Kevin Reis on Goodreads on June 25, 2015:

"Amidst the time of the American Civil War, one extended family is facing the trials of being split between the two sides of the conflict. Jonathan Berkeley is a twelve-year-old runaway who has followed his deceased father and joined a Confederate brigade, only he has found his father's gravestone which has marked his father as a coward and deserter. His step-uncle, Alexander Wythe, is an abolitionist lawyer and captain on a Union brigade, who is working through grief and a crisis of faith upon learning of the death of his wife caused from injuries received during the 1862 Dakota Conflict in Minnesota. They represent two of a small group of connected characters whose lives are upended by the battles and moral conflicts of a civil war. Despite its short 220 pages, this novel proved to be a very complex and intricate tale that in its own way challenges readers to explore the loss of faith and personal questioning of purpose that arise in such a conflict. However, I felt the multiple intertwined stories, which had moments of confusion in the timeline, might have been deeper, taking its time to allow character motivation to be clearer. Still, the historical drama was very interesting and thought-provoking in its telling."

http://www.amazon.com/review/R34SGBML...

Michelle Isenhoff has a new fan in me! SONG OF THE MOUNTAIN is a beautiful story, lushly told in rich, descriptive language that is almost poetic. I am a huge fan of Ernest Hemingway, so forgive me for the comparisons. Robert Penn Warren wrote that Hemingway, citing Hemingway's THE SUN ALSO RISES (my favorite novel of all time), was more of a poet that an novelist. The same could be said for the author of SONG OF THE MOUNTAIN, but she certainly is a good storyteller! This book is so well-written, sentence for sentence.

This is an enchanting story with an ancient oriental background and the myths it makes use of are based on or derived from stories from the Bible and perhaps other religions - stories regarding the Creator, the Fall of Man, the Tree Of Good And Evil, and a saving tree (such as the Cross of Christ). These elements went into this elaborately and ingeniously dreamed up story.

This story features a young boy and the old guru who raised him. Their relationship reminds me of the relationship between the old fisherman, Santiago, and the young boy who fishes with him and keeps him company and looks after him, Manolin, in Hemingway's THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. This book is also, thanks to Michelle Isenhoff, tempting me to read KIM, by Rudyard Kipling. KIM also features a young boy who lives with an old Tibetan lama. Yes, that Kipling book is on my table. That is one thing about really good books - they tend to make you want to read other really good books. So, I guess I am going to have to peruse the Isenhoff bookshelf for other goodies. I have a feeling I won't be disappointed.

I loved SONG OF THE MOUNTAIN, and I highly recommend it for Middlegraders and even older folks.

PARABLES & PONDERINGS, by Lia London, is aptly titled. The "parables" are really anecdotes from the author's own life, which makes it a very personal book, and the author provides her reflections on the meaning of those events.

This book reminds me of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who "pondered" on the meaning of revelations and events regarding her son. She "found favor" with God because of her humility and her "pondering" of the Scriptures.

One word that very much describes this book is HONESTY. The author does not fail to admit to her own faults and imperfections. It reminds me of the journal of St. Pope John XXIII, which is a very honest book of self-revelation and reflection. It shows "Good Pope John"'s quest to become a better person, including his many falls and his attempts to get back up. He claimed his besetting sin was his pride. His efforts apparently bore fruit, because pride is not a fault one normally associates with him. Humility was one of the great aspects of his personality and his soul. Pope John XXIII stated, regarding his journal, "My soul is within these pages." Likewise, Lia London's soul is within these pages. As she stated in a Clean Indie Reads post on Facebook, this book is a "glimpse of my mind/soul".

We should all do more "pondering" in our lives, and this book is a great model for that. I thoroughly enjoyed PARABLES & PONDERINGS and I highly recommend it!

After finishing the book, I took a sneak peak at a novel by Lia London [Almost all her books are on my Kindle For PC, and I intend to read them all!], GYPSY PEARL:CAREN. I think I am going to like that one, too! Don't miss this writer! I think that PARABLES & PONDERINGS, though much different from her works of fiction, is a good introduction to this writer. If you read this book, you will probably want to read more from this writer. I know I do!