Rick E. Norris's Blog, page 2

Book Review--None of this is True by Lisa Jewell

None of this is True by Lisa Jewell was a fun book. I suggest you hear the audio version because it is produced as a radio drama with different actors and minimal music.

The book is similar and probably inspired by the "Serial" True Crime drama.

The author carefully crafts the story taking care of the details. We can only find a few details in the story that could be non-sequiturs. One of them was the omission that one of the characters should have been charged as an accessory before the fact (to use a USA legal charge. Not sure what it would be called in the UK.)

We enjoyed the story and the twists and turns with characters and plot.

When on a road trip, fire this one up!

Book review--A Dream of Christmas by Erin Stevenson

I received a review copy courtesy of the author through Interviews and Reviews for an unbiased and objective review. I did not alert the author of my review.

Erin Stevenson’s novel, A Dream of Christmas, brings the real spirit of Christmas to the reader any time of year. This novel isn’t the typical Christmas story like It’s a Wonderful Life or White Christmas, where Christmas lights and trimmings take center stage. Instead, this wonderful romantic novel illuminates the Christmas spirit of love through the actions of individuals who really care for each other.

The central story begins when Charity Sullivan walks back into the life of Finn Donovan after a seventeen-year absence. She was the only person that he had ever loved, and he couldn’t forget her. But this reunion wasn’t one of laughter and sharing of funny memories. Instead, Charity returned to Finn, the only person she could trust, with her complicated, dangerous, and mysterious life—and four kids. Finn, who wears Christian empathy on his sleeve, couldn’t say no to her request to stay with him because the family had nowhere else to go.

Erin Stevenson does two things very well in this book. She quickly and very carefully sets the stage and introduces the protagonist's (Finn Donovan) character. Second, she peels away the story like an onion merging past and present into a well-organized narrative. She masters the craft of flashbacks and foreshadowing and never loses the reader. She also often switches point of view between scenes, illuminating the private thoughts of the characters without “head hopping.”

The author is not shy about invoking Christian values. She focuses on characters’ motivations for choosing Jesus Christ as their last resort when confronted with trauma. The traumas and situations in the book may resonate with readers, making this novel more relevant to what they have (or are) experiencing.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it and its author.

Next movie about C S Lewis

We had a great time at the Fellowship for Performing Arts' Donor's Retreat in West Virginia last week. They raised a lot of money for the next movie about CS Lewis. The title is "The Most Reluctant Convert, Further Up and Further In." Right now, part of is in play form. Check out their other plays, which are amazing.

Radio interview with Parker J on my latest book, Angelic Wars: End of the Beginning

I had fun at my interview, yesterday, with Parker J on the Wright Stuff Radio Show about my latest book, Angelic Wars: End of the Beginning.


Angelic Wars: End of the Beginning https://www.blogtalkradio.com/pjcmedi...

NYC Big Book Award Winner of 2022 Best Christian Novel

I'm happy to announce that the 2022 New York City Big Book Awards listed my book, Angelic Wars, End of the Beginning, as the winner in their Christian Novel genre. Angelic Wars: End of the Beginning

Come by and say "hello" at the San Diego Festival of Books

https://youtu.be/XDPOs76ebyA

Here is a video of me going through a dry run of setting up the Angelic Wars musical "Heaven" castle at the San Diego Festival of Books held at the University of San Diego on August 20, 2022. If you want to see the finished product with the my music of the Angelic Wars musical novel, watch here--> https://youtube.com/shorts/TS23tGwC-e...
Drop by and visit the castle. We have fun things in store and free giveaways.

Creatively Christian Podcast/Youtube Interview

Check out my guest appearance on the Creatively Christian Podcast by Theophany Media, hosted by Andrea Sandefur. You can also find it on Youtube at https://youtu.be/YXcJtCnEm9Q. or just the audio podcast here: www.theophanymedia.com/rick. #TheophanyMedia

Angelic Wars, End of the Beginning is out!

After 18 month of writing, editing, composing music and many hours in recording sessions, my next musical novel is out! Angelic Wars, End of the Beginning. You don't need a CD to read the book. Just scan the QR code in paperbacks and hyperlink in the eBook to hear the angel characters sing. The opens up another dimension to characters and the effort to connect them to the readers.




Angelic Wars: End of the Beginning

End of the Beginning coming soon!

Well, there has been some delays in getting the next book and music released. The five songs for the book took longer because of the pandemic. Each musician had to record their parts separately, and not in a central recording studio. As of today, the last of the five songs is in production and will be on sale by the end of the year. In addition, my wife had to get her Sociology book to press which took her away from finishing the illustrations on my book. She should get back to those this week. This book is also about sixty page longer with an interactive map of Heaven and Satan's battle plan. That entails more editing and formatting by the publisher. So, it won't be much longer that I anticipated. I hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed writing it.

Angel wings

Thank you to the readers who have contributed to the cover design of my next book, Angelic Wars: End of the Beginning. We struggled for three months in trying to design angel wings. I think we finally got it. We will see what the Publisher comes up with on the final concept.