Category Archives: BOOKS

by Jennifer Reed/ bookjunkiez | July 31, 2023 · 5:00 am

Hel Blitz

Horror, Dark fantasy, psychological thriller, fiction, occult

Date Published: July 17, 2023

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After losing his job at a genomic research company, Joel worries about his
ability to provide for his family, especially during the holiday season.
Even more concerning is how his unemployment may affect his perfect image
within the extremist community he has lived in since birth. Lured by the
idea of a quick fix, he impulsively books a flight for himself and his
family to Europe when the offer of a large inheritance arrives in his inbox.
Confident that he knows best, Joel blindly trusts a stranger’s invitation to
return to the village of his ancestors to collect his birthright. But rather
than wealth, they quickly discover that their lineage only possesses
monstrous truths with deadly consequences.

About the Author

Brigitte, “Gitte,” Tamar was born in a small rural Oregon town.
Growing up, she was enthralled by scary tales featuring poetic tones and
consistently gravitated towards writing darkened narratives. In the
different storylines, Brigitte explores the harsh realities of social issues
faced by today’s generations. This includes the dark outcomes brought on by
peer pressure, addiction, homelessness, mental illness, childhood trauma,
and abuse. She feels it is essential to share narratives that refrain from
sugarcoating the topics society tends to shy away from.

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by Jennifer Reed/ bookjunkiez | · 5:00 am

Indiscernible Elements: Calcium Virtual Book Tour

Arts & Photography, Nonfiction (Adult), Reference

Date Published: May 30, 2023

Publisher: The Black Hat Press

i am in your teeth, your bones, you r nails. i help your muscles contract.
i help your heart beat. you need me. I am in every brick in the colosseum
and in the walls of caves. I am in soil, sand, and statues. every living
thing requires me to function. when the living die, when a building
crumbles, i will continue on. i have many jobs, i live many lives. you call
me Calcium.

indiscernible elements: Calcium explores the path a molecule can take
through various stages of life and death – from the perspective of Calcium
itself. through the use of detailed illustrations, poetry, and dialogue,
author Korynn Newville creates a discussion around how humans can change the
way they create the built environment to be more conscious of the wondrous
systems at work in nature. if the same Calcium in a femur bone can be used
in concrete to build a cathedral, a house, a sidewalk or can be recycled by
a nearby plant or tree, how can humans purposefully help that process along?
what would Calcium design if it had the choice? what would Calcium say if it
could tell you its story.

EXCERPT

in humans… Calcium is in organisms… Calcium makes up the earth… limestone is Calcium… limestone is used for building materials… the built environment is created by Calcium! i was so excited, i woke up my partner to tell them what i had just connected and the story i was going to create. i imagined myself as Calcium – moving through the earth, building bones, living inside the coral, being taken as limestone and baked into concrete. i became empathetic for an element’s journey. i combined my areas of study with architecture, death, claiming territory, and climate change. now it’s the story you see today.

everything within the drawings is intentional, it was important for Calcium to stay connected throughout. for example, the buildings that are within the story are of the brutalist era which have been torn down. even the buildings have a life and death of their own. in the beginning, i struggled with transforming the idea i had into a story. i had a lot of people holding me back, telling me to do different things, trying to make their ideas shine through mine, and always pushing for me to find a solution. as a result, i isolated myself to protect my creativity. while being obsessed with and enveloped in a story like this was sometimes lonely and depressing. i was being pulled many ways by people that could not see where wanted it to go. the climax, plot, and emotions that lead the storyline are a depiction of how i experienced grieving. to start, i created an abstract drawing of my experience with grieving. this drawing included grieving a loss of many kinds: animals, humans or a relationship. during my time with those drawings, i had to put myself back in the moment to remember and understand what the process had been for me. the state of a loved one being sick, the agony and fear of the unknown, by their bedside in the moment of passing, the moment of relief which is often followed by guilt. the guilt, the gutpunch that can make you crazy. it isn’t linear, a pattern, or even a cycle. it is messy. it is up, down, chaotic, beautiful, and ugly. with acceptance and time, there is opportunity to heal. i used this process as the base of the Calcium storyline because i feel it resembles what we are going through with the planet. Covid had a huge impact on this story. two months before the final presentation, we could no longer go into school. our inperson presentations were canceled. i basically stared at the ceiling for a month in a depressive state. for me, the storyline of Calcium was aligning with reality. the whole world was sick, grieving together, and the earth had a break from human rampage to have a moment to itself. the birds were singing, there was no noise of traffic, and the skies were clear. i decided to go to minnesota to stay with my parents and get out of the city. after that month, i went outside to approach the project in a different way. i had spent so much time on the computer and realized i needed to touch material with my hands. i started building sculptures in the woods. i created a city out of cmu blocks and gypsum (products made from Ca) to allow myself to heal in order to understand how this story ends by growth, by giving ourselves back. afterwards i came across a different site of concrete ruins within the woods that i knew it needed to be the site of the story. i immediately saw the boulders of concrete as a city of life in the same state as our reality. i found decaying (living) Calcium within the concrete of the site, and it was so beautiful. my niece and nephew helped me sculpt with gypsum as if Calcium was growing up the sides of the building.

my dad helped me expose the earth with a bobcat. my brother and sister-in-law own the business that brought the concrete. my mom let me use her camera. it became a family project. in may of 2020, i presented this story as a representation of architectural drawings. as if Calcium was the architect and

urban designer.

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by Jennifer Reed/ bookjunkiez | July 29, 2023 · 5:00 am

Phoenix Rising Blitz

Action, Adventure, Techno-Thriller, Suspense, Sci-Fi, Military Thriller,
Conspiracy

Date Published: May 2023

Unveiling the latest sensation in the world of Short Form Novels: Phoenix
Rising by Mark T. Wellington!

This high-octane, adrenaline-pumping thriller will transport you to the
year 2035, where mind-controlled space-age drones reign supreme, and one
man’s quest to save the world takes an intensely personal turn.

Immerse yourself in the gripping story of Tony Simmons, a fearless Air
Force major with the extraordinary ability to control three of the most
powerful drones ever created – the Devastators. When his family is
kidnapped, and he finds himself betrayed and hunted, Tony is forced to push
his powers to the limit in a desperate race against time.

Phoenix Rising is the perfect embodiment of the Short Form Novel,
delivering a relentless, fast-paced narrative that will keep you on the edge
of your seat from start to finish. Mark T. Wellington masterfully weaves a
tale of suspense, intrigue, and heart-stopping action, combining futuristic
technology and geopolitical complexities with raw, human emotions.

In this compact literary masterpiece, every page is packed with tension,
danger, and unexpected twists, as Tony navigates the treacherous world of
betrayal, espionage, and simmering romantic tension with his colleague,
Adrianne. As the line between reality and fabrication blurs, Tony must
unravel the shocking truth behind the conspiracy that threatens his life and
the safety of his family.

Don’t miss out on this exhilarating new addition to the Short Form Novel
revolution! Grab your copy of Phoenix Rising today and join Tony Simmons as
he battles insurmountable odds to save his family and uncover the sinister
truth that lies beneath the surface. Are you ready for the ride of your
life?

About the Author

Mark T. Wellington is a US Air Force Veteran with the Electronic Security
Command who held an SCI/SBI Top Secret clearance—his experience in the
military has given him the tools to tell exciting stories. His expertise in
cyber and electronic warfare, as well as his practices in Krav Maga and
kickboxing, inspired his turbulent and exciting novel, Phoenix Rising.

A citizen of the world, Mark’s passport is a mosaic of global experiences.
He has journeyed from the bustling streets of Istanbul to the steep inclines
of Mount Everest, and from the historic heart of Berlin to the vibrant
culture of Barcelona. Having resided in six different countries, he has
absorbed diverse cultures, engaged with intricate art forms, and navigated
awe-inspiring landscapes.

Despite his technological acumen and AI engineering expertise, he is never
one to be confined within the digital realm. His creativity spills over into
his passion for scuba diving, rock climbing, and racing, each providing
unique inspirations for his storytelling. Moreover, his interests in
cooking, gardening, and painting reveal an individual who fully embraces the
blend of art and science, making his work as varied and colorful as his
life.

With his extensive world travels, deep technical expertise, and unbounded
creativity, Mark is a true renaissance man, promising many more exciting
stories to come.

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by Jennifer Reed/ bookjunkiez | July 27, 2023 · 5:00 am

Hope Surge Virtual Book Tour

Religion / Christian Living / Inspirational

Date Published: June 22, 2023

In this devotional-style book, you will discover that hope is a weapon!
It’s a key God has given us to unlock radical growth, heart healing
and unexplainable peace. Hope is a Kingdom strategy that will cause you to
walk in deeper levels of joy, faith and courage. When you begin to grab a
hold of God’s perspective and the supernatural hope it’s covered
in, nothing can remain the same!

Author Melissa Benson offers powerful hope injections to take you deeper in
your connection with Jesus through topics like identity, vision, freedom and
restoration. She also addresses tough but real subjects like lies, offense,
trials and disappointment and brings a fresh point-of-view on each. Even
more important to her than her own writings are the over 100 accompanying
scriptures for you to meditate on and dive deeper into.

Whether you have been living with disappointment and hopelessness or just
want to stay focused on what God is up to and excited about, the Spirit-led,
Bible-based principles in Hope Surge will light a fire in your belly and
bring about a renewed excitement for life.

It’s time to get your hopes up—way up!

EXCERPT

Truth

Hope is the confident expectation that good is coming! It’s believing that your future is going to be even better than today and that you get to partner with Jesus to make it happen. Hope is a key. It’s a Kingdom strategy. It’s a weapon!

Our level of hope is directly connected to what we believe. This battle—in its truest and most simple form—is between truth and lies. We will either live out our days grabbing onto what the enemy, the world, religion or our past says, or we will intentionally make it our mission to find out what our loving Creator-God has to say, and then renew our minds with that over and over again until it becomes our reality.

When we find ourselves feeling hopeless and continually discouraged, it’s because somewhere in our belief system, we have taken a hold of a lie about ourselves, our circumstances, our relationships, or our future. But when you begin to understand what God has to say about every part of your life and start to grasp how much you are really loved and how heaven sees you, it will produce huge amounts of hope. In fact, you can’t NOT be hopeful—and, in turn, more joyful, faith-filled and courageous—once you come into alignment with these truths.

This beautiful freedom-journey is all about starving the lies and feeding the truth. And we’re about to get full on all the right stuff!

SCRIPTURES

“For if you embrace the truth, it will release true freedom into your lives.” John 8:32 TPT

“Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.” Psalm 25:5 NLT

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…” John 16:13a NKJV

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” John 14:6 AMP

Lies

Sometimes we are believing lies without even realizing it because it has simply become a part of the way we operate and survive. But it’s time to expose these things! To help jumpstart that process, here are a couple of common lies many accept as truth, along with what God has to say about it instead. Oh, how starkly different and hopeful His viewpoint is!

One lie you might be believing is that there isn’t a solution for the problem you’re facing. But the truth is, God is in the business of making ways where there doesn’t seem to be one. He said He will show you great and inaccessible things that you don’t currently know and that you will have whatever you ask for in His name. He has the wisdom and strategies for you concerning your situation, and His creative-power lives in you to see it through!

Another lie you may be walking in is that you’re a failure, believing some past decisions you’ve made have “sealed your fate.” But the truth according to your Creator is that your past mess ups do not define you. Neither do they disqualify you from being a person of impact and influence! God can redeem anything and anyone, and it’s His joy to do it. He takes people’s biggest struggles and greatest messes and flips them on their head to become the area of their greatest victory. When God looks at you He sees a Daughter who is seated in heavenly places—an overcomer.

Ask the Holy Spirit today to expose any lies you might be believing and let Him show you how He sees it instead! He is the greatest at revealing, uprooting and destroying lies in our lives with a love and kindness that can’t be matched.

SCRIPTURES

“My people are ruined because they don’t know what’s right or true…” Hosea 4:6a MSG

“We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 NLT

“He [the devil] never stood with the truth, for he’s full of nothing but lies—lying is his native tongue. He is a master of deception and the father of lies! John 8:44b TPT

“Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:24 MSG

Identity

In the very beginning, way back in the Garden, the addition of you brought wholeness and goodness. And it still does today. It was God’s idea that you be here now—in this generation, in this moment in history. You’re not an afterthought; you’re an answer. You’re not inferior; you are necessary. You are God’s solution to a problem.

You are made in the likeness of a loving, mighty God. You were created to manifest His very nature—to rule, reign and subdue the earth. This is your destiny and your portion. Your voice is needed. Your heart is needed. The unique and beautiful way you hear and respond to God is needed.

You are a daughter and a co-heir; you have been given an all-access pass and full authority over the devil and his schemes. You are a citizen and an ambassador; you carry and represent the Kingdom wherever you go and are under its covering and protection. You are a friend, for Jesus lets you in on what He’s up to; He’s chosen and appointed you. You are a disciple and follower; it is your absolute delight to do the will of the One who called you because you know His every intention is that you’d live life to the full.

The simple truth is, you are favored. This is who you are. This is your identity.

SCRIPTURES

“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” Psalm 139:14 NLT

“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 NLT

“Now we’re no longer living like slaves under the law, but we enjoy being God’s very own sons and daughters! And because we’re his, we can access everything our Father has—for we are heirs because of what God has done!” Galatians 4:7 TPT

“And now, because we are united to Christ, we both have equal and direct access in the realm of the Holy Spirit to come before the Father! So, you are not foreigners or guests, but rather you are the children of the city of the holy ones, with all the rights as family members of the household of God.” Ephesians 2:18-19 TPT

“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Luke 10:19 NIV

“For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6 NLT

About the Author

Melissa writes from a heart that’s been captured by God. Her writings
are birthed out of her own journey—experiencing the freedom of Jesus
from the chains of religion, her connection with the Holy Spirit and deep
love of the Word.

Melissa has been an entrepreneur since 2015, selling her last company in
2022 and transitioning full-time into writing and coaching. She has a
passion to see women thrive in the entrepreneurial space and in life by
partnering with the Holy Spirit for solutions, impact, freedom and
fullness.

Melissa lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her hunk-of-a-husband, Ryan, and
their three energetic world-changers, Jay, Ryder and Ryelle, who they
homeschool. She loves doing life with her family. She is a dreamer, an
adventurer, an unapologetic optimist and her main love language is a cup of
coffee over some quiet time.

For more encouraging and inspirational content, Melissa would love to
connect with you on social media at @melissabenson.co. You can also find
powerful resources at www.melissabenson.CO.

Contact Links

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by Jennifer Reed/ bookjunkiez | July 26, 2023 · 5:00 am

Martial Arts on the Autism Spectrum Virtual Book Tour

Martial Arts on the Autism Spectrum banner

Practical Tips from Three Decades of Training Kids and Adults

Nonfiction / Martial Arts / Autism

Date Published: March 21, 2023

In this book, Al details his decades of experience teaching martial arts,
including various considerations ranging from curriculum to goals and
challenges he overcame. Although Al teaches both neurotypicals and people on
the autism spectrum, this book focuses on the latter. As you read the book,
be prepared to take a walk with the author on a passionate journey.

EXCERPT

Chapter 1:

Introduction

I have taught adults and kids with autism spectrum disorder for 30 years and observed a steady increase in awareness of this condition and the diagnosis rate. During that time, I taught martial arts to persons with various special needs and discovered that it offered an avenue and opportunity for students to learn, grow, move, and express their individuality while attaining meaningful, long-lasting emotional accomplishments and health benefits.

There were students who immediately felt a strong connection to martial arts, experiencing a deep spark that was ignited quickly within them. However, when this is not the case, a genuine interest could certainly be developed over time. There is no exact period of time for this to occur because, as most teachers realize, each student has a different personality.

One of the most important ways to reach students is by offering them a genuine and viable format for participation in martial arts. Whether in a class setting or practicing one on one, this platform must be present for the practitioner to succeed. Ideally, a class environment is helpful for opportunistic social skill development – many students seem to learn, participate, and perform better when they are with their peers during class. The experience of teaching in the classroom gives credence to these benefits. Some students seem to feed off each others’ presence, often encouraging each other to participate and offering sincere and heartfelt enthusiasm to their peers. Knowing that everyone is supportive of and cares about each other is very important for success.

Further, it’s important to realize that martial arts will not immediately resonate with every student presented with this opportunity. Therefore, it is well worth the effort to allow the prospective student time to gradually acclimate to the class before deciding whether to continue. I have witnessed multiple occasions when someone has an initial resistance but, with encouraged determination and consistency, they overcame their personal concerns and gained numerous benefits, including the acquisition of valuable life skills.

How can a young student on the autism spectrum do well in a martial arts class? From an educated and factual standpoint and many years of hands-on experience, it takes much more than just an accomplished and well trained martial artist. It is necessary for a teacher to understand the gravity of what autism is and have an awareness of how each personality can be very different. The teacher must envision the classroom as a great musical concert with them as the conductor, who blends all the instruments and sounds into a beautiful and comprehensive song and performance. When all of this is achieved, the learning outcomes and the class vibrations are magical. This can be a challenge to create due to the potential behavioral issues associated with the participant on the autism spectrum. If you know that there is a teacher out there who is effectively working in this field, hold on to them because they are most valuable and can be somewhat rare.

About the Author

Al Loren is a Martial Arts Master teacher. He has taught over 35,000
classes with thirty-two years of full-time teaching. He is located in Marin
County, California. Al teaches Karate, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, and Aikido and
trains in Ju Jitsu. He has been training continuously for over forty-three
years. Al is highly regarded as an exceptional Martial Artist and highly
skilled teacher.

He is well known for his excellence in teaching the Autism population and
other special needs, including kids and adults. Al Loren is a graduate of
American University in Washington D.C. with a B.A. in the School of
International Service.

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