The Sandbreeze Escape - summer special only 99¢! Kindle edition by Peter M. Wallace. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

The Sandbreeze Escape - Kindle edition by Peter M. Wallace. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.



The Sandbreeze Escape - Kindle edition by Peter M. Wallace. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.



Summer special! Only 99¢ for limited time. Download Kindle edition at Amazon.



They're a normal family trying to cope with the increasing stresses of life. The Vaughan family of Atlanta, Georgia (Mark and Cassie; Scott, 12; Sherry, 9; Shane, 6) just need a vacation--an escape. But Mark Vaughan's job responsibilities and the family's lack of funds seem to preclude such a getaway...until a vacation at a luxurious Florida resort called Sandbreeze is offered free of charge in a perplexing letter that is obviously not a sales ploy. Who is their benefactor?

After a frustrating drive to the Florida coast, the family is ready for their relaxing week in the sun. But when they arrive at Sandbreeze, they discover an abandoned, unfinished construction project with no one around--except for a strange man lurking in the swampy cattails nearby--and a note with instructions to check into room 37.

Exhausted and frustrated, they decide to spend the night and find another place the next day. It's a night they'll never forget. And they're only just beginning on a shocking and life-threatening adventure that can only bring them closer and increase their faith--if they survive.

The Sandbreeze Escape is a thrilling family adventure that reveals the importance of love and faith to survive in the world. Through humor, excitement, and a crackling plot, author Marsden Wallace takes you on an escape you'll never forget--one that can change your own life as well.

John Sayles' A Moment in the Sun - Book Review

A Moment in the Sun by John Sayles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an unforgettable book about America at the turn of the last century. Skillfully told and breathtaking in its scope.


I must say that the first half was totally engrossing, but it got a little tougher in the second half. I think whole chapters could have been left out. And yet the breadth of it is amazing, it's like you are soaking in the era. Gold rush, Spanish American War, yellow journalism, Cuba, the philippines, African American culture post Reconstruction, the white overthrow of the elected government of Wilmington, NC,  the early days of movie making, Mark Twain, the assassination of McKinley, on and on, yet woven into a compelling narrative. I learned some history for sure.


This book is getting rave reviews (the one in the NYTimes caused me to buy it) but I don't hear much about it otherwise. It is a rough read, and you have to wrestle with it in more ways than one, but well worth the effort. Like reading a cinder block, it's so fat.


It takes dedication to read this, and it's not for everyone, but I admire it greatly.


View all my reviews

Two Men in a Bar: A True-Life Poem

I'm in a Minneapolis hotel bar

Slick, dark and red lit

Sipping a husky tempranillo

Mindlessly checking email on my phone

Reading the latest headlines.

I'm aware of three men at the other end of the bar

Engrossed in an NBA playoff game

Because they are making noise.

It's Chicago and some other team.

The man at the end of the bar, young,

With dark frame glasses and short slick black hair,

Is especially loud.

He is a Chicago Bulls fanatic.

He offers a running commentary

In a clear voice that sounds as though

He's a color commentator on a sports station.

Two other men watch with him

And comment in softer tones

But the young man with glasses

Repeatedly proclaims his allegiance to the Bulls

Exulting with each goal,

And one especially dramatic dunk elicits a whoop

For which he apologizes

To the rest of us at the bar.

Murmured conversation among the three men

Continues during commercials.

And then the other two men settle up their tab

And leave.

The young man at the end of the bar

Must now watch the game in silence.

But only for a few minutes.

There is another young man at the bar

Seated midway between me

And that Bulls fan.

This young man has been chatting with the bartender

And they must be old friends

Perhaps in high school years before.

Just enough of a conversation to make it sound so.

The game continues.

The man at the end of the bar

says something about Chicago

To the man in at the middle.

They realize they are both from Chicago.

The man at the end of the bar says something

About Rahm Emmanuel.

The man in the middle disapproves.

Sporadic friendly conversation continues.

The big Bulls fan at the end of the bar asks the man in the middle

What do you do in Chicago?

I don't catch his answer,

But he says that his husband teaches at the university.

His husband.

The Bulls fan doesn't blink.

He asks the middle man more

About his husband.

And they keep talking.

It is as natural a conversation

Between two strangers

As you could ever overhear

In a bar in Minnesota

With a basketball game on the big flat screen.

Harper Lee -- who turns 85 today -- denies cooperating with upcoming book | Jacket Copy | Los Angeles Times

Harper Lee -- who turns 85 today -- denies cooperating with upcoming book | Jacket Copy | Los Angeles Times: "On Tuesday, Penguin announced that it would publish a memoir of lives intertwined with the reclusive writer, 'The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee,' by Marja Mills, a former Chicago Tribune reporter, written 'with direct access to Harper and Alice Lee [her sister] and their friends and family.'

On Wednesday, the N.Y. Times reports, Harper Lee issued a statement saying that she had not cooperated with the book."

Al Gore's 'Our Choice' App Reinvents Books, Reading

Al Gore's 'Our Choice' App Reinvents Books, Reading: "For Al Gore's book Our Choice, the startup has created an ebook that talks, spins, moves, and folds, featuring video, interactive infographics, maps, and more, all seamlessly interwoven with the text in a way that helps bring the concepts to life."

Real Business - How I got a blank book to the top of the Amazon charts

Real Business - How I got a blank book to the top of the Amazon charts: "Here's how I published a bestseller in just nine days (and made a million authors instantly hate me)."

Grrrrr!

2011 Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductees - Genreville

2011 Science Fiction Hall of Fame Inductees - Genreville: "The 2011 inductees to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame are Harlan Ellison, Vincent Di Fate, Moebius, and Gardner Dozois."

Google to Revamp YouTube With 'Channels' - WSJ.com

Google to Revamp YouTube With 'Channels' - WSJ.com: "Google Inc. is working on a major overhaul of YouTubeas it tries to position itself for the rise of televisions that let people watch online video in their living rooms, according to people familiar with the matter.

YouTube is looking to compete with broadcast and cable television, some of these people said, a goal that requires it to entice users to stay on the website longer, and to convince advertisers that it will reach desirable consumers."

'The King's Speech' gets 12 Oscar nominations - Yahoo! News

'The King's Speech' gets 12 Oscar nominations - Yahoo! News: "The British monarchy saga 'The King's Speech' leads the Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.
Also nominated for best picture Tuesday were the psychosexual thriller 'Black Swan'; the boxing drama 'The Fighter'; the sci-fi blockbuster 'Inception'; the lesbian-family tale 'The Kids Are All Right'; the survival story '127 Hours'; the Facebook chronicle 'The Social Network'; the animated smash 'Toy Story 3'; the Western 'True Grit'; and the Ozarks crime thriller 'Winter's Bone.'"

The Same River Twice by Ted Mooney - Review

The Same River Twice by Ted Mooney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Having read a glowing review in the NYT Book Review, and having just been to Paris for the first time last fall, I was excited about getting Ted Mooney's new novel "The Same River Twice" from the library. It is extolled as a "literary thriller," and Mooney is a master wordsmith. Some of his descriptions are breathtaking.

I jumped into this book and found myself thoroughly immersed in the multifaceted plot and characters. A French woman, a dress designer, is paid as a courier to bring some historic and artistic banners out of Russia to a Paris art dealer, and ends up in a sticky situation in more ways than one. Her American filmmaker husband, meanwhile, while trying to work on his latest art film, discovers that some DVDs of one of his earlier now classic films include an ending very different from his own--yet nicely produced. Why?

There are other layers going on and you find yourself struggling to keep all the loose ends together. But about halfway through the book, the characters start doing surprising and unsympathetic things, and it only gets worse. Ultimately I found it disturbing, or at least unsatisfying. I wondered if I was the only one who felt this way, given the rather positive review I'd read, and checking a bunch of Amazon reviews confirmed my own disappointment in the book. It's not bad as thrillers go, but ultimately it's difficult to believe the characters or what happens with them. And the motif set up by the title (and several deja vu experiences throughout the book) never quite hits home. But it was nice to experience Paris again.


View all my reviews

Real world to collide with heroes & villains | accessAtlanta

Real world to collide with heroes & villains | accessAtlanta: "Marvel — whose characters range from the wall-crawler Spider-Man to mutant outcasts X-Men — said Tuesday that the fear, uncertainty and overarching anxiety that has gripped today's world will play havoc with its fictional heroes next spring as it embarks on 'Fear Itself,' a seven-issue limited series that will reach across numerous titles and leave its characters scarred but smarter."

MLK: A Christmas Sermon On Peace

portland imc - 2003.12.12 - MLK: A Christmas Sermon On Peace: "Peace on Earth...

This Christmas season finds us a rather bewildered human race. We have neither peace within nor peace without. Everywhere paralyzing fears harrow people by day and haunt them by night. Our world is sick with war; everywhere we turn we see its ominous possibilities. And yet, my friends, the Christmas hope for peace and good will toward all men can no longer be dismissed as a kind of pious dream of some utopian. If we don't have good will toward men in this world, we will destroy ourselves by the misuse of our own instruments and our own power."

Meet John R. Gunn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John R. Gunn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The Reverend John R. Gunn (August 17, 1877 - November 15, 1956) was first a minister, and then at about age 43 became a columnist whose daily messages inspired readers for over 36 years. After his death, letters to the editor requested that the columns continue, and so they were reprinted daily for 15 more years. A short time later his messages became radio scripts for the Presbyterian Church in the United States. This award-winning program was produced by the Protestant Radio and Television Center of Atlanta for 10 years. And now Rev. Gunn’s work, written and audio, is available at Day1 [1], a ministry of The Alliance for Christian Media transitioning from Facing Life [2]"

Google Launches Google eBooks, Formerly Google Editions

Google Launches Google eBooks, Formerly Google Editions: "After months of anticipation, Google today launched its long-awaited cloud-based e-book program, Google eBooks. Rebranded from its original moniker, Google Editions, Google eBooks overnight becomes the largest e-book provider in the world, at least in terms of its offerings, launching with nearly three million books available for purchase or download, including “hundreds of thousands of e-books” available for purchase and over two million public domain titles available for free."

God, best-selling author and creator of the Universe, to tell all in new memoir | Shelf Life | EW.com

God, best-selling author and creator of the Universe, to tell all in new memoir | Shelf Life | EW.com: "Prepare ye for the words of God. Simon & Schuster announced today that they have secured the rights to a new tell-all memoir by the Almighty Creator, who has also previously written under the noms de plume “Allah,” “Yahweh,” and, until a recent legal tangle with fellow author Stephen King, “King of Kings.” According to a surprisingly funny press release, “God is represented by a burning bush, the Greek letters a and ‡, and, in this case, the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency, the same agency that represents David Javerbaum.” Presumably this Javerbaum fellow, who is the head writer and executive producer of The Daily Show, will be serving in some function as the prime mover’s amanuensis."

BBC goes global with iPlayer subs, launching on iPad first

BBC goes global with iPlayer subs, launching on iPad first: "The BBC's online, on-demand video streaming service iPlayer will launch worldwide sometime early next year. Much to the dismay of expats around the world, iPlayer has been limited to UK residents, who pay a yearly license to watch BBC content. Now, the Beeb plans to launch a subscription-based service available to anyone, anywhere—with an Apple iPad."

Results of '30 Media Heroes' Voting Announced: Maddow Takes Top Spot! | The Nation

Results of '30 Media Heroes' Voting Announced: Maddow Takes Top Spot! | The Nation: "I've been having fun since Wednesday with a response to Salon's popular '30 Biggest Media Hacks' list, sponsoring a readers' ballot to pick '30 Media Heroes.' The response was overwhelming, with over 1,200 votes pouring in via Comments at the end of the original story, via e-mail to me directly and at Twitter (via @GregMitch). Votes obviously came from regular Nation readers, but also from many others, and in any case this is not an official Nation survey.�"

Fox News Joke on ‘The Simpsons’ Pulled from Web Replays On Hulu, Fox.com - WebNewser

Fox News Joke on ‘The Simpsons’ Pulled from Web Replays On Hulu, Fox.com - WebNewser: "For the second week in a row, “The Simpsons” mocked its corporate cousins at Fox News Channel. This time there is an added wrinkle, however, as the joke in question was apparently cut from the online version of the show on Hulu and Fox.com."

Richard Branson unveils Jeff Bridges, cars, and fiddly things for Ipad | Capital New York

Richard Branson unveils Jeff Bridges, cars, and fiddly things for Ipad | Capital New York: "Virgin Group emperor Sir Richard Branson debuts his Ipad-exclusive magazine tomorrow. What will it look like?

Well for starters, the 'cover' (or is this called a homepage? or homescreen?) is about Jeff Bridges' coming Tron. ('BACK IN THE GAME: JEFF BRIDGES REBOOTS TRON' is the main coverline; Bridges faces forward in black tie on a black background.) It's … a video!"

George Clooney Eyeing Lead In Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ > The Playlist

Exclusive: George Clooney Eyeing Lead In Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’ > The Playlist: "Sources very close to the director tell us an A-lister is already in talks with Soderbergh to star in the picture and that star would be none other than “Ocean’s 11-13” actor, George Clooney."

That was one of my favorite programs as a kid. Would love to see this happen!