Welcome to my site

What can I say? I'm so pleased that you've come here. I've spent 5 years blogging, more than that building websites and have been writing "professionally" since 2003. I'm here to help writers with their writing, encourage people through this life, and point them to Jesus. That's the most important thing. So stay tuned. Check this site regularly as "some of the features" may change. I'll need help from time to time, because I'm not perfect. If you're perfect, please go to another site. I'm pretty sure you won't fit in here.

Unbalanced Scales

I'm sure everyone in the U.S. already knows that we are in danger. The problem is that so much of the rhetoric and the old rules are just antagonizing things.

For instance, only weeks ago all the media could do was talk about going over a fiscal cliff. Now, however, that cliff seems to have disappeared and they are talking about spending ceilings. I don't know about you, but this tells me that the people in Washington (D.C) don't know what they're talking about.

Then comes the IRS looming on the horizon. It's hard enough to get around with their hands in our pockets year round, but they expect an extra-special bonus via our Income Tax. We've been gritting our teeth and baring this for years, but now it's becoming harder and harder to find the forms to fill out, even if you can understand them, so you can send them in and pay that tax. I'm of the inclination that if they want my money they should come and fill out all the forms and make it easy. I'm not one of these people who expect freebies. It's just that the founding fathers didn't get paid, and if they did it was by their district, and probably in feed or livestock. I say we go back to that. You want to get out of our $15 trillion debt, then stop paying the people who aren't listening to us when we say, "No taxes."

I know, that's idealistic, but this country was built on ideals, and hard work made it work. That is until the government decided to pay for those who didn't want to work. Take a good idea and present it to Congress or the Senate and the first thing they do is appoint a special task force to investigate the problem. Oh, and all those tax problems we face, they do not face. How'd that happen. Whatever happened to "We the People..?"

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Special: This Weekend ONLY

THIS IS A FLASH SALE! THIS WEEKEND ONLY. OFFER EXPIRES SUNDAY NIGHT 4/25/10 If you ever wanted to get a copy of The 3rd Covenant (or any Publish America book) now is the time to do so.

This is their email to me:

This weekend only.

All books at PublishAmerica sell for only $4.99 .

No coupons, no minimum purchase volumes. Just $4.99 for any book, in any quantity. Need copies of your own book on hand? There is no better deal than this!

Check it out at All books at PublishAmerica sell for only $4.99 .

This weekend only.

No coupons, no minimum purchase volumes. Just $4.99 for any book, in any quantity. There is no better deal than this!

Check it out at www.publishamerica.net. Hardcovers are excluded.


Be super quick. Offer expires Sunday night.

Thank you,
PublishAmerica Author Support Teamt. Hardcovers are excluded.


Be super quick. Offer expires Sunday night.

Thank you,
PublishAmerica Author Support Team

Monday, April 19, 2010

LADY CARLISS: And the Waters of Moorue, by Chuck Black



I'm late with this review, sorry. This book deserves a lot of credit. In fact everything I've read of Chuck Black has been just amazing. A teenage girl finds herself in the service as a Knight of the King and the Prince in Arrethtrae. She really wishes to dedicate her whole life to the Prince, without the problems a relationship with men would cause. Yet as she matures her feelings for Sir Dalton begin to cause her some inner conflict. After a stint in training other young knights she sets out for a place she calls home, a place where she is sure to run into Sir Dalton, and her inner turmoil. Lady Salina joins her as they ride off, but on the way they find a nearly dead Sir Dalton. Seeking help they find that there is only one cure, and unfortunately that cure is surrounded by some rather bloodthirsty creatures. That's all I can really tell you about it other then she must make a choice about saving the people of the nearby towns or saving Sir Dalton. This is not an easy choice to make, and she goes to the Prince for guidance.

Chuck Black has this amazing way of teaching Biblical things in such an entertaining way you don't realize you are being taught. Lady Carliss, although a knight, is better with bow and arrow than with a sword, she's also quite young for a knight. She's basically the least person you'd expect to be a hero of any book, especially when placed in the situation Mr. Black places her. And yet, that is the point of the story, or one of them. "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;" (1st Cor. 1:27) comes to life in a full-blown, action-packed adventure. Just how does God use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, or the weak things to confound the mighty? Ah, there's a story in that.

Another thing I truly enjoy about this is that you can imagine the knights of old sitting around some campfire, or perhaps Robin Hood and his men, or Iranhoe, telling this tale of heroism in the face of obstacles that seem unbeatable. You can feel them, as they tell the tale, taking comfort in the tale, and finding strength to go out and perform their own heroic deeds. There are more tales of Robin Hood and his men than people remember. Basically they were a collection of tales about different men holding onto honor and loyalty regardless of their "outlaw" status. They would have identified greatly with Lady Carliss. Only her story is even richer, more honorable, more challenging at the heart than even those stories, real or imagined. So I give you, Lady Carliss, and the Waters of Moorue. A tale worthy of the courts of kings and around the campfires of heroes. Enjoy.

You can find a short writeup on Chuck Black HERE

To purchase Lady Carliss or other Chuck Black books you can visit the following links. Just click on the logo. You'll find that these books are priced surprisingly low, while the quality is surprisingly high.






















IMPORTANT NOTICE
I received this book free from the publisher so I might write a review. My review is payment for this book. However, I wish to emphasize that this in no way diminishes the quality of this great work.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

RAVEN'S LADDER, by Jeffrey Overstreet


I'm way overdue with this review, but I had other commitments that took precedence. I hope Jeff doesn't take offense at that.
The Story: With the fall of the House of Abascar and King Cal-Marcus, his son, Cal-Raven leads the survivors into the "Expanse" in search of a home for a New Abascar. He is led by a vision and the wise words of one of the sages. Yet this advice flies in the face of the established religions and most social practices. Cal-Raven finds shelter to be something of an illusion. The people are growing weary and in need of rest, but Cal-Raven seeks out the 14th tower of the Tammos Raak's former kingdom. Enticed to seek refuge in Bel Amica Cal-Raven presses on, but things don't always go as planned. He finds himself, and his people in Bel Amica, and in dire need of escape from that place. This is a story about the prince and some stalwart allies found in the most unlikely of places, both high and low.

The Review: It's difficult for me to give a proper review since I'm coming in on the 3rd book of a series, but I'll do my best. I found that his descriptions, even names, so rich that you could feel, sense, smell and almost touch what he portrayed. While I though a "vawn" was another kind of a hores-like animal (it's actually a reptile), I still had an image in my mind that allowed me to continue the story without interruption. The story is told fairly well, although it gets so complicated at times, especially in the beginning for someone who has just started reading him, that it was very difficult to put the story together. While eventually the story does come together and is, in fact, quite a rich story, I felt that there were still some pieces of the puzzle missing or misplaced. If I had to guess I would say that Mr. Overstreet was directed to trim down this novel to meet the word count for Waterbrook's guidelines. That's sad, because you can almost sense he had so much more to say. The parts he chose to remove seemed to be important transitional accounts that would have tied the story together much better.
Okay, now that I have all the bad stuff out of the way, let's get to the really great stuff. We have a wandering prince leading the rag-tag remnants of a once great nation through the most dangerous of places. Their love for him is great, but none greater than Tabor Jan, the chief warrior who stands by his side. You have, in this work, not just good verses evil, but perceived good being unveiled for the evil it is, as well as perceived evil being unveiled for the good it is. You have a troop, a nation of stragglers, finding refuge in a neighboring land, only to find its enticements are stronger than bars of iron on a prison cell. You have internal conflicts, heroism on many levels, weaknesses and outright evil. It is the Keeper against the Seers, and if I were to put it in modern language, to assign this to today's political climate I would mark this as the Lord and His followers against the false prophets and false teachers of our age. For no one holds a greater bondage over another as the one who convinces the other that his prison is a palace hall. This seems to be the bulk of the story, the heart, and the internal conflicts that many of the main characters face make for excellent reading. I'm sorry it took me so long to get this out, but it took me a long time to read it, and, as I said, I had other commitments.
Bottom line, if you like fantasy, good verses evil with lots of action and intrigue this is a book you should look into. However, you may wish to get the first 2 installments of this trilogy so you don't start out lost as I did. God bless and enjoy.

David Brollier
Follow the following Logos to where you can purchase Raven's Ladder



Important: This book was received free of charge for the purpose of reviewing it. However, I wish to state that this does not alter my feelings about the book. I've listed the pros and the cons I saw in this book. This statement is necessary, unfortunately, by new federal laws (and I thought we had Freedom of Speech)

The 3rd Covenant price is back up


I'm sorry to report that the price for The 3rd Covenant is back up to $24.95. For those who missed out on the $5.99 or $7.99 purchase price, you can still buy it from me directly for $20 (I pay S&H) and it will be an autographed copy unless you specify otherwise. I hope a number of you were able to take advantage of the opportunity when the price was lower. The message I received seemed to indicate that the price was going to stay low. I was wrong. I can hardly wait until I get my 2nd book into the hands of a small press publisher so I can at least half the retail price. Pray for me, will you? Thanks.

David Brollier
http://sonburst.webs.com

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

THE MUSE, by Fred Warren


The Christian Fiction Review Blog has is touring a truly fantastic book this month. THE MUSE, by Fred Warren is more than just fantasy, more than just good fantasy. It's something fresh and moving and interesting, comical and humorous at the same time. Seems there's trouble in writer's paradise. Three writers make up a writer's group they call "The Seventh Circle of Hell". For those unfamiliar with the term it's a literary reference to part of Dante's Inferno. Our three writers are Stan Marino, Davos Alexandros, and Jilly Jackson, and they've all run into problems with their writing. Stan wrote himself into an impossible situation. Davos realized that the current propulsion engines on his spaceship won't have enough fuel for the journey, and Jilly is realizing that the market isn't very friendly to her Gothic approach of her vampire stories. Seem silly to you. I can assure you that what may seem as a mild bump in the road for you can seem like an impregnable wall to the writer. I know, I've been there.

To all of this add in the Muse and you have some interesting situations. Be careful what you wish for, sometimes you just might get it, is one of the underlying messages of this book. Oh sure, things may look good on the outset, but gold plated shackles are still shackles. It's a wise person who chooses carefully along the way.

If you think about it there's a lot about spiritual warfare in this novel. It's sweetened up a bit, I admit, but the author wasn't trying to write a piece about spiritual warfare as much as he was trying to tell a fun piece of fantasy. Just remember, sometimes hidden beneath some of the most ordinary things can mask the most extraordinary things. In fact, I really wasn't looking forward that much to reading this book. I mean, seriously, THE MUSE? What kind of title is that? And the cover just shouted to me that this was going to be a bomb. (Sorry Grace). Then I started reading. I'm a slow reader and a novel this size usually takes me at least a week, maybe more. I finished THE MUSE in two days, and wishing I had more to read.

I'm telling you, if you really want a treat you'll get this book. It is one fantastic piece of literature.

Don't forget to visit Fred's site found HERE

You can purchase his book at any of the following sites (although I would urge you to go to Splashdown books and help a wonderful young lady get her new company off the ground)

Splashdown Books

Barnes & Noble

Amazon


Don't forget to check out the following CFRB member's sites for other reviews and insights for THE MUSE.




[Important legal notice: This book was given to me freely by Splashdown books for the purpose of doing a review. My compensation is writing a review of the book. However, having said that I must also state that I don't even bother looking at things I feel may be of inferior quality. The works displayed on CFRB are, and have been, for the most part, exemplary in their quality and content]

Friday, April 2, 2010

The 3rd Covenant, by David Brollier, now only $5.99


Isn't life funny? When my book was published in 2006 the suggested retail price was set at $24.95. At their site, however, the price was $19,95. Then a couple of weeks ago they lowered all books to $7.99. Now I don't know if this is signalling the end for Publish America, but if you want to purchase THE 3RD COVENANT, now is the best time, because they've dropped it down even lower to $5.99. Read below and use the link to go to the site and purchase the book.

Dear Author:
Email your readers, tell your fans, call your friends! This weekend only.
All books at PublishAmerica are priced down to
$5.99.
No coupons, no minimum purchase volumes. Just $5.99 for any book, in any quantity.
Want some copies of your own book on hand? This is your day!
Check it out at www.publishamerica.net. Hardcovers and fullcolor books excluded.
Happy Easter!
PublishAmerica Author Support Team