BOOK EXCERPT FROM SEVENTH DIMENSION - THE KING: A Young Adult Fantasy, Book 2, by Lorilyn Roberts

\\\

 

ISBN Number 978-0996532235

2014 Literary Classics Book Awards Winner for faith-based YA fiction 

Finalist in the 2014 USA Book Awards for religious fiction

Winner in 9th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards for spirituality

Finalist in the 2015 International Book Awards.

Silver winner in the 2015 Readers' Favorite Book Awards for YA

Finalist (fifth) in the 2015 Best Indie Book Award for YA fiction

After a series of devastating events, Daniel Sperling, a gifted seventeen-year-old Israeli boy, becomes the focus of a wager between good and evil. Marked by one, he travels to first-century Israel and meets a doctor who becomes his mentor.

When he unwittingly makes a pact with the devil and the girl he loves is betrothed to another, his life takes a different course, until his eyes are opened. 

Trapped in the seventh dimension, how far will God go to save him?

EXCERPT FROM 

CHAPTER ONE 

DEATH

 

“Please, God, don’t let him die!” I cried.

General Goren’s face turned blue as the medic and nurse rushed into the room.

The nurse barked orders. “Start chest compressions. One, two, three, four—” seconds passed.

“No pulse,” the medic said.

After applying gel, the nurse placed the defibrillator pads on his bare chest.

“All clear,” she yelled.

We stepped back and waited.

The heart monitor remained flat.

“Again,” the medic said.

On the second attempt, General Goren’s eyes fluttered open.

A faint hope stirred in the room.

The death cat stood in the doorway. The nursing home mascot had never been wrong—maybe just this once. I wanted to yell at the cat to go away.

“Daniel,” a voice said faintly.

I leaned over and squeezed the General’s hand. “Yes, I am here.”

His eyes met mine. I drew nearer, avoiding the wires leading to the equipment. His breathing was labored. I was thankful the nurse and medic didn’t insist I leave.

“There is something I need to tell you,” he said faintly.

I shook my head. “No, save your energy. You don’t need to tell me now.”

“I must,” he pleaded. “You must know.”

I glanced at the medic and nurse. He was in no condition to talk. “Know—what?”

He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “You saved my life at Synagogue Hall.”

“What?” The man must be hallucinating.

The General continued. “May 1948—hospital in Jewish Quarter.”

“No. It was someone else. I’m Daniel Sperling, son of Aviv, a volunteer at the Beth Hillel Nursing Home. I’m seventeen years old.” 

“Let him talk,” said the medic. He lowered his voice, “In case he dies.”

“Don’t say that,” I whispered.

The cat stood in the doorway—watching.

General Goren pulled me closer. “No, Son. It was you. They carried me in on a stretcher. I had a collapsed lung. The Arabs had burned everything but the hospital. The flames—cries of children—horrible. Mothers and fathers—all gone. The children—” he stopped, unable to continue.

I reassured him. “You did the best you could. Everyone did.”

General Goren flinched. “Dr. Laufer and Dr. Riss had a flashlight. Nurse Tzviah tried—” his voice cracked again. “I told them not to waste any more time on me, to help the others.”

I’d never heard this story. The war hero rarely talked about those weeks in Jerusalem. Despite his success many years later, he apparently never forgot that night.

“The reinforcements didn’t arrive in time. We held out as long as we could.”

“Forgive yourself.”

Tears welled up and he coughed. His eyes stared and the medic shocked him again.

“We have a heartbeat, a faint one,” the nurse said.

Should I leave so he could save his strength or stay and let him finish?

General Goren said, “I must tell you this before I’m gone.”

“I’m listening.”

The room became quiet. The only sound was his weak, raspy voice.

“You had a scar on your forehead. You walked over and touched me. The pain left. I cried out to the nurse—I wanted to know who you were—but you were gone.”

My hero had mistaken me for someone else.

“Thank you for saving my life,” the General said. “I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t think you would believe me.”

I squeezed his hand.

“God has great plans for you. You’re an angel.” The old man stopped breathing.

“He’s gone,” said the medic.

We checked the monitor. The war hero who had survived so many battles was no longer with us.

I ran out the door, tripping over the cat. I stopped and turned to face the poor creature. “Sorry,” I muttered.

His gray eyes stared into space, but the cat’s purrs reached my ears. 

I reached down and picked him up. Stroking his head gently, I leaned over and kissed him. Couldn’t the blind animal have been wrong just this once?

 

 

*~*~*~*

 

To order from Amazon in Kindle, print or audiobook format, click here.

BOOK TRAILER AND BOOK AWARD: SEVENTH DIMENSION - THE KING: A YOUNG ADULT FANTASY, BOOK 2

-Winner of the 2014 Literary Classics Book Awards for faith-based YA fiction 

-Finalist in the 2014 USA Book Awards for religious fiction

-Winner in the 9th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards for spirituality

-Finalist in the visionary category for the 2015 International Book Awards.

-Silver winner in the 2015 Readers' Favorite Book Awards for YA

-Finalist (fifth) in the 2015 Best Indie Book Award for YA fiction

After a series of devastating events, a gifted seventeen-year-old Israeli boy becomes the focus of a wager between good and evil. Marked by one, he travels to first century Israel and meets a doctor who becomes his mentor. When he unwittingly makes a pact with the devil and the girl he loves is betrothed to another, his life takes a different course - until his eyes are opened. Trapped in the seventh dimension, how far will God go to save him?

To learn more or see all the places it's available for sale, click here.

BOOK EXCERPT: SEVENTH DIMENSION – THE PRESCIENCE: A Young Adult Fantasy, Chapter 1: “Sneak Peek.”

A LOUD EXPLOSION shook the ground as dust blew in my face.

“Run!” Daniel shouted.

Blinding light lit up the night sky. If only these were celebratory fireworks, but they weren’t.

I stared. My feet felt as if they were entombed in concrete. This couldn’t be happening—not now.

Daniel pulled on my hand. Seconds ticked by as I imagined my body being blown to bits. Sirens faded in and out. Swishing knives cut through the air, followed by rumbles. Each one got closer. Multiple alarms sounded as transformers blew across the city. I felt something burning and slapped my arm.

“Ashes!” Daniel exclaimed. “Hurry.”

I wiped off the soot. How could this be? My ears rang from the dinning across the deadly landscape. Were those people I saw in the distance? They looked like zombies.

I couldn’t believe this was happening. One minute we were celebrating our first kiss, and the next we were running for our lives. I brushed back my long dark brown hair with my fingers. Another missile whizzed by.

Daniel nudged me as grass sizzled underneath our feet. Minutes later, he found an enclosure that reminded me of a bus stop.

I struggled to catch my breath. “We’re going to die.”

Daniel’s brown eyes reassured me. “We’re in a bomb shelter.”

For the uninitiated like me, I never dreamed I would need one. We didn’t have such things in America.

“You’re shaking,” Daniel said. He wrapped his arms around me. I didn’t want to think I’d taken my last breath.

A thousand thoughts supplanted that one. Was my mother still alive? 

When I returned from time traveling to the first century as a young teenager, I never told her where I had been. She would have taken me to that psychologist who wrote that stupid report. The wretched principal would have expelled me.

Why couldn’t this attack have waited a few more days? Jesus told us to marry, but we had just returned to Jerusalem.

Daniel whispered in my ear, “I love you, Shale.”

I broke into sobs.

A dog barked.

I touched Daniel’s shoulder. “Did you hear it?”

Unperturbed by my unusual gift—after all he had his own—Daniel’s eyes met mine. “What did he say?”

Now the sirens drowned him out. I stepped toward the shelter entrance, but Daniel blocked me.

“I’m not going to let you rescue a dog.”

“The dog needs help for an injured child.”

Daniel stared. “No, can’t be.”

“We must go.”

“You stay here and let me check.”

“You don’t understand dog talk. I must go.”

Daniel grimaced. “Let’s hope he keeps barking. Watch your step. There could be unexploded bombs.”

The only light came from fires burning in the distance. Shadowy embers floated from the sky.

The dog barked again.

“What’s he saying?”

I translated. “Hurry.”

Straight ahead, a shadowy four-legged figure appeared that reminded me of my friend, Much-Afraid, who’d guided me back in time. She was now safely at home with my mother. The brown furry dog that resembled a border collie wagged his tail.

Another bomb screeched by. The boom nearly broke my eardrums.

The dog took a few steps back and lowered his head.

Then I saw two bodies. A small child was stroking a young woman with mangled hair. I stumbled over bloodied shoes.

“Mommy.”

I knelt beside the child. “Thank God, she’s alive.”

“Her mother and father aren’t,” the dog said. “She has no one. God sent me to find a rescuer.”

My vocal cords went dry as numbness filled my throat.

“I must go rescue others. Take care of Shira.”

“Wait.” I reached over and touched the dog’s head, focusing on his crusty eyes. “What do you mean?”

“You are the ones God called.”

“I understand animal speak, but I don’t know this poor child. What was her name again?”

“Shira,” the dog replied.

I tried to pick the child up, but she clung to her dead mother.

“Others need my help,” the dog said. Then he took off, disappearing into the darkness.

“We need to find her relatives,” Daniel said. He walked around to the other side and searched the pockets of her father. I looked for a cell phone.

Daniel shook his head. “Nothing,”

“Her name is Shira,” I whispered.

I stroked the child’s back and spoke in Hebrew. “Sweetie, come with me. Your mother and father are sleeping.”

The child turned and focused her eyes on me. After a brief hesitation, she lifted her arms. She was small and light—and couldn’t be more than three.

“Let’s get out of here,” Daniel said.

“Where should we go?”

“Jacob’s. He can help us find her relatives.”

When should I tell Daniel she had no relatives?

📕📕📕📕📕

To order from your favorite website, click here.

JOHN 3:16 MARKETING NETWORK GUEST POST: Lorilyn Interviews Tom Blubaugh About His New Book, “Night of the Cossack”

I (Lorilyn Roberts) met Tom through the John 3:16 Marketing Network, and discovered a most unusual way to be prompted to write a book.  Enjoy this short interview and learn what (or who) a Cossack is.

Lorilyn:  What are your thoughts on self-publishing versus traditional publishing?

Tom:  I have self-published a book, but it was many years ago and was for use in my ministry, but not publically marketed. The Night of the Cossack was traditionally published by Bound by Faith Publishing, a new, small independent. I'm treating Night of the Cossack as a self-published novel. I thought I had a pretty good platform established but found out I was kidding myself. One has only so many friends and family members. Even with Facebook and Twitter, it has been a real challenge.

I will be talking to book clubs and writing groups about the tremendous importance of establishing a strong, deep platform well before a book is published. In my opinion, a well-developed platform is necessary regardless of the publisher, large or small, new or well-established, independent or not. The market has changed with the fast-developing ebook distribution, the economy, and the problems in the publishing arena. The only difference seems to be who finances the publication.

Lorilyn:  What have you found to be most effective in marketing your newest book?

Tom:  There isn't just one particular thing. It takes a lot of activities working together, interviews, Facebook, Twitter, book signings, talking to book clubs, writer groups, creative writing classes, press releases, websites, and the support of other authors.

Lorilyn:  Can you tell us a little bit about your book Night of the Cossack?

Tom:  Both of my grandfathers died before I was born. I had a big hole in my life that most of my friends didn't have. As I got older I felt a longing to have a grandfather so I took what little information I had about my mother's father and started writing a story--actually creating a grandfather for myself.

As the story developed I found myself writing it for my children and grandchildren. An author I met online thought it was worth pursuing publication. I joined a local critique group and they agreed. It wasn't until then that I realized I was actually writing a novel. Even the publisher came to me. It has been a phenomenal journey and I still have a ways to go to get it into the hands of readers. I've heard from readers 12 to 86 who have enjoyed my book.

Lorilyn:  As a homeschooling parent, is this a book my daughter would enjoy as well as learn a little bit about history? What is the historical setting of your book?

Tom:  This is an excellent book for a homeschooling parent. The story takes place in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Italy, and France in the early 1900s. There is fear, separation, adjustment, relationship issues, violence, love, faith, and lots of decisions in the adventure. All of these are talking points for healthy conversations between parent/child and teacher/student regarding real-life and moral decisions. I have considered writing a workbook, but haven't had the time.

Lorilyn:  What is a Cossack?

Tom:  Cossacks were members of any of several groups of peasants, chiefly of Russian and Polish descent, that lived in autonomous communal settlements, especially in Ukraine, until the early 20th century. In return for special privileges, they served in the cavalry under the czars. They were well known for their horsemanship. They raided villages for supplies, women and young men to increase or replenish their ranks. Eventually, they became a part of the Russian army.

                                                        

      📕📕📕📕

Tom Blubaugh is a freelance writer living in Southwest Missouri with Barbara, his wife. They have six children and fourteen grandchildren. Tom has written non-fiction most of his adult life but has recently written a historical fiction titled Night of the Cossack, published by Bound by Faith Publishers.

This is Tom’s first novel. He co-wrote a devotional journal in 2009 for Barbour Publishing titled The Great Adventure. His other writings include articles for a denominational magazine and an insurance publication. He also self-published Behind the Scenes of the Bus Ministry in 1974.

Tom started writing poetry at the age of fourteen. His vision of turning them into lyrics for rock and roll songs for popular artists didn’t develop. He considers writing to be a God-given talent and feels led to develop it. His first novel was published at the age of 69. Tom says it’s never too late. He is now writing a sequel.

Tom spent twelve years as an insurance agent and eleven years as a financial planner. He is the past president of Jericho Commission, Inc., and still serves on the board of directors.


Kindle and print versions are available at Amazon by clicking here.