After his sister’s death sends him into the loving arms of God, Paleontology Professor Travis Perego fights to reconcile the career he’s devoted his life to with his fragile new faith. His struggle between evolutionary theory and the Bible soon attracts the attention of the dean who makes at least one thing clear in Travis’s life. If he doesn’t figure things out soon, he’s fired. Then a former student tells him of an experiment designed to prove … [Read more...]
Author Janice Boekhoff: When Dealing with Writers …
Do you think us writers are just a little bit weird? You wouldn’t be the first. We spend hours behind a keyboard figuring out how best to torture dozens of people who don’t actually exist. It’s no wonder that many writers turn to alcohol to cope with the horrors they’ve put on the page. But don’t worry about me, alcohol is not my problem. Like many sober authors, I’m addicted to story. And there’s no denying that God made me this way. So … [Read more...]
Setting Spotlight: Costa Rica
One of the biggest perks an author gets is visiting the location where a novel is set. For Book Two in the Earth Hunters series, Created, I had to hunt for the perfect location. The plot required several special conditions for the setting: Plenty of room for a mysterious dinosaur-like creature to run around and cause trouble, yet stay hidden. A volcano and jungle close to each other so I could bring together my main characters, … [Read more...]
Is it Wrong to Manipulate Human DNA Like It’s Computer Code?
What makes us human beings? My 3rd grader could give the correct scientific answer—DNA. It gives all of our cells instructions and makes each of us individuals. Based on my heritage, I have blue eyes, brown hair that started going gray in my twenties, skin that tans easily, and a second toe that is slightly longer than my big toe (My sister and I used to tell our friends it was a sign of royalty. I think they might have even believed … [Read more...]
Janice Boekhoff: One Writer’s FAQ
When people find out I’m an author, I get two reactions. One: “Wow, that’s great!” Followed by many questions of what and how I write. Two: “Oh.” Followed by a subtle eye roll and somewhat condescending questions about how easy it must be to use my writing to get rich without doing much work. Thankfully, the first reaction is much more common, so I thought I would write up the answers to the questions I’m most often asked. That way the … [Read more...]
Readers Need To Fasten Their Seatbelts For Les Abend’s Aviation Thriller PAPER WINGS
When a boat and its grisly cargo are found adrift off Fort Lauderdale ... ... the investigation leads to more than “just” murder. In fact, the evidence points to a connection of an in-flight emergency that resulted in passenger fatalities and forced a diversion of Patriot Airlines Flight 63 to Bermunda. As the accidents investigation chairman of the pilots’ union, Captain Hart Lindy will find himself reluctantly drawn into the National … [Read more...]
Pilot Les Abend Discusses Why He Wrote PAPER WINGS
Except for the grey clouds that I might fly through on any given flight, as an airline pilot I deal with a world that is mostly black and white. Checklists. Procedures. Protocols. The cockpit is not an environment for a philosophical discussion. If an engine chooses to catch on fire, pilots are not apt to have an open conversation about the merits of shutting it down. We follow strict guidelines for flying the airplane and strict guidelines for … [Read more...]
Aviation Thriller Author Les Abend
At the age of six, in my hometown of Syracuse, NY, I boarded an American Airlines Lockheed Electra with my spirited mom. After receiving the obligatory tour of the cockpit, I was handed a certificate, a pilot’s hat silhouetted in the background. The certificate, signed by the captain, promised me an interview with the airline’s chief pilot 20 years from the date. Thinking that the notion of becoming an airline pilot would fade over time, my … [Read more...]
LOCKOUT’s John Nance: On The Same Page
Ah, harmony! When you’re sitting in the cabin of a jetliner zipping through hostile atmosphere at 39-thousand feet, legally and effectively at the mercy of your flight crew, the last thing you want back in 42B is a reason to worry about your crew having relational problems. You know, not playing well together. Sometimes the stress of keeping several hundred people fed and watered begins to show on the flight attendants and the passengers … [Read more...]
Author John Nance On The “Writer’s Curse”
I have to laugh when someone looks at my list of books written over the past few decades and jumps to the conclusion that I am incredibly disciplined. Okay, as a pilot, I AM disciplined to a reasonable degree, but life around our household does not include watching me goosestep to my office each morning at precisely 5 am with coffee in hand only to emerge 8.5 hours later having produced exactly 10.2 pages. I wish I was capable of such … [Read more...]