Doug Dillon's Blog, page 161
February 21, 2013
A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present
A Book Review
Author – Howard Zinn
Before his death, Howard Zinn was a historian, playwright and social activist
Well over 1 million copies sold
Harper Perennial, 729 p.
In this book, Howard Zinn created one of the most readable and valuable descriptions of U.S. history ever written. Told not from the view of the power elite, it is as the title says, a history of the America’s everyday people. This is truly the “flip-side” of history as we know it and long overdue.
These are the stories of Native Americans, women, factory workers, African Americans, the working poor, war resisters and immigrant laborers. The secret bombings, cover-ups, massacres and the suppression of minorities—it’s all there, backed up with statistics and quotations.
I learned so much from this book that I wish I had it available to me in the days when I was teaching history. Yes, 700+ pages is a lot but taken in small chunks over time it makes for fascinating and informative reading.
Click here to find this book online.
February 18, 2013
War Dance at Fort Marion: Plains Indian War Prisoners
A Book Review
Author – Brad Lookingbill
A Native American and Associate Professor of History at Columbia College, Missouri
University of Oklahoma Press, 290 p.
Brad Lookingbill’s book is a gift to lovers of U.S. and Native American history everywhere. Carefully researched and brilliantly expressed, the author details the incarceration of Kiowa, Cheyenne, Comanche and Arapaho chiefs and warriors at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida from 1875 to 1878. Known as Fort Marion in those days, the place has since reverted to its original Spanish name, the Castillo de San Marcos.
This book is the first to fully tell the very personal stories of some of the last Native Americans to fight against the United States. Using Native American accounts and drawings, as well as military documents, the author presents a very honest and balanced view of what happened to these prisoners over a three-year period.
Lookingbill doesn’t pull any punches as he describes the suffering endured by these chiefs and warriors as they struggled to maintain what they could of their own cultures. From their capture to their final release, the author details how the prisoners adapted to white culture, became a tourist attraction in St. Augustine and and eventually ended up as trustees of their own incarceration.
This is a story of human survival and valor in the face of crushing odds. How fitting that is told by a Native American.
Great illustrations, a detailed appendix, end notes, a bibliography and a helpful index speak to scholarly effort Brad Lookingbill gave to this work.
Click here to find this book online.
The Seat of the Soul
A Book Review
Author – Gary Zukov
Author of The Dancing Wu Li Masters
Fireside Book, Simon & Schuster, 356 p.
Gary Zukov’s easy to understand book goes right to the essence of who we are under the surface of our exterior selves. In simple terms, he explores the nonphysical aspects of our beings and shows how we can perceive existence using more than just our usual bodily sense mechanisms.
Our soul is there to be understood and explored, Zukov maintains. The more we recognize it and how it functions, he says, the better able we will be to make effective course corrections in our lives. The following quote from the book sums it up perfectly:
“Rather than a soul in a body, become a body in the soul. Reach for your soul.”
To help readers effectively align themselves with their souls, the author uses simplicity of expression to drive his point home. Even in his chapter titles he use only one of two words such as “Reverence”, “Addiction”, and “Illusion”.
This book is highly useful for anyone wanting to explore themselves and their place in a multidimensional universe.
Click here to find this book online.
February 14, 2013
“It is a Good Read” – Young adult, Paranormal & Historical
The St. Augustine Trilogy: Book I
A review placed on Goodreads by Novenda
“All in all, I would recommend this book to young adult and teenage readers. It is a good read, especially for those of you who enjoy history mixed with paranormal.
Lobo [The character]
“I don’t know why but he was quite likable to me. An ex-shaman, spiritual-but-tough, knows all about various crafts, and Native American culture…well I liked all these traits, and I even warmed up to his grumpiness.
History
“Even if you’re not a big history freak you gotta appreciate the authors efforts to provide us with all the details of the battle and St. Augustine’s overall history. While some books tend to drown their readers in exhausting historical facts, this one was actually pretty easy to read.
“Allusions to telepathy, telekinesis, astral projection, lucid dreaming…
“If you dig all these phenomena, than you’ll find this book quite enjoyable. I personally enjoy contemplating whether such things are even possible or not, so I loved those particular parts of the novel which deal with those issues, although some of them were not stated directly.
“If you’re into history, spirituality, or suspense… go for it!
###
To read the full review on Goodreads, click here.
February 12, 2013
True-Life Paranormal Adventure
Immerse yourself in the psychic and the supernatural.
An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic
The ebook is free on Amazon this week February 12 -16, 2013.
The paranormal has been a part of my life for so long now that I’ve almost forgotten what it was like during the days when I regularly pooh-poohed such things.
To be perfectly honest, it took the death of my father to jump-start my transition from skeptic to believer. When our family lost Dad, really strange things started happening. If you would like to read about one of them, there is a link below for you to follow.
It was those unusual occurrences that led my wife Barbara and me on a long-term journey to understand paranormal events. In the process, we had some fascinating experiences, learned a great deal and wrote about is all in An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic. Published originally by Prentice Hall, the book stirred up enough interest for Barb and me to do radio shows across the United States and in Canada.
These days, I blog extensively about things that go bump in the night and I write paranormal historical fiction for young adults–and for adults young at heart.
Click here for the link to my blog posting on a key event at the time of my dad’s death.
Click here for the book on Amazon.
A Message from a Paranormal Realm, Part 11
In our paranormal nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being, my wife Barbara and I decided to include a chapter channeled directly from another realm of reality. The title of that chapter was, “To the Reader from a Source with No Name”. Actually, we did have a name of sorts. We simply called it The Source.
The idea was to give readers a more personalized, direct link in the unknown. Now, after many years, I am extending that connection to readers of my blog in series of 11 bite-sized portions. Your inclusion into our private network of communications is offered openly, with hopes that you might feel just a touch of your own infinite connections.
If you would like to find the other 10 postings in this series, just look for them in the blog category titled, Paranormal Communications.
“Isolation is not necessary for growth. Those who take on this belief must limit their progress to a finite point of development. If the soul’s choice is to be free itself, within a being, then a multitude of paths are assigned by the soul. Your beings are accelerated through these paths at the wonderment of other souls who obtain a prominence within themselves, but at a varied level. Their needs may be sufficient for their present purpose as yours may be.
“Now, should they be altered in order to accommodate your circumstantial awareness, then, guiding yourself to these alternatives will be of utmost importance for you.
“The physical world must not be placed as a vanishing point from your minds. This also is seemingly destructive, as each must relate to his present surroundings. Your surroundings now were placed by your soul when a choice was necessary. Therefore, your impatience with the physical at times need not be relinquished because of the spiritual knowledge that some people feel they are privy to. They require extreme self-indulgence in that area. Your physical existence, in effect, is actually part of the entire concept.
“Your needs as people are limitless. This I understand. The poverty, sickness and lack of self-attainment are only a few of the neglected ways being provided throughout your lives. The physical realm is not always a pleasant place to be. However, your needs are there.
“Do not suffer unwisely, as you will learn much through each period of sadness. Your needs, again, are important to you, and this is part of your present existence. If you choose to dwell upon negative forms of life, then perhaps you will also choose to dwell within a bubble. You will then not see much growth. Every being has its own level of growth and will provide for it as each lifetime sees necessary.
“The choices of which I have spoken, again, may not be necessary for you as an individual, but as a majority, you will see that next level of growth just beyond your reach. Go toward it and flourish within your physical lives.”
To find our book online, just click on the title, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic.
February 10, 2013
Chapter 4 – Sliding Beneath the Surface
The St. Augustine Trilogy: Book I
Young adult, paranormal/historical
4
Rules
When Mr. Lobo entered the room, his weird-looking eyes instantly locked with mine.
Without shifting that laser-like gaze, he lumbered over to the recliner opposite me on the other side of the coffee table and sat down. Even when he picked up the bottle of water Carla left for him, he kept up that intense stare. Man, I felt like a germ under a powerful microscope—a germ still fighting a headache.
No one spoke, and the silence around us seemed to get heavier somehow, thick like clear syrup or something. I tried not squirming in my chair, but it was hard. I mean all that silence got really uncomfortable, you know? Instead of looking at Carla’s friend directly, I stared at the Tiffany floor lamp next to his chair. It’s glass bowl pointing downward showed little green leaves against an light orange background. What can I say, looking at the thing kept my mind busy
And another thing. It wasn’t freezing in the house, but it sure wasn’t warm—no heating going on that I could tell. Carla had her coat on and I wore a heavy long-sleeved shirt, but old Lobo sat there in that same sleeveless shirt he wore in his workshop. The guy seemed not to notice the room’s coldness at all.
The snapping sound when he opened his bottled water broke the spell, but only when the man chugged a couple of deep swallows did he look away. What a relief not to have those eyes slicing through me for even a short time. In seconds though, he was staring at me again, hard as ever. Still no one spoke. At that point, I figured if nobody else was going to say something, I would—anything, to get things moving. Yeah, I wanted the guy’s help but sitting there facing him in complete silence, especially with Carla watching, wasn’t working for me. “Ah, Mr. Lobo,” I did my best to smile, “Carla thinks that maybe you can—”
“Save it” His deep voice filled the room. “First rule, don’t call me Mr. The name’s Lobo, nothing more.”
“Uh, OK.” I tried to look and sound as relaxed as possible. Actually, I was starting to get irritated.
“Rule number two, Mr. Golden,” he lectured, like I thought he might. “If you want my help, you do things my way. Got that?”
When he said, Mr. Golden, with the emphasis on the word “mister,” I could feel the tension building in the pit of my stomach—the edge of anger. The man didn’t want me to call him mister, but he was saying it to me just to be sarcastic. I knew, because something like that had happened to me before. You see, I had this woman teacher once who used to do the same kind of thing, saying “Mister” all the time to the guys and “Miss” to the girls. On the surface, it sounded respectful, but the way she said those words made people want to smack her. So, there was Lobo doing the same thing, acting the dictator and all. I felt like I was back in school, but instead of saying anything to the old guy, I stole a quick glance at Carla.
She shook her head ever so slightly, warning me to keep my cool. Then she winked and gave me a nice little encouraging smile. That melted at least a little of the resentment I felt.
Before I looked back at Lobo, I took a long, deliberate swallow of Coke instead of responding to him right away. OK, I tried not to show that remaining resentment, anger, or whatever you want to call it, but I also wanted him to know he couldn’t intimidate me.
“Yeah, I got it,” I nodded. You old fart! At least I wasn’t going to let him control my thoughts, right?
Lobo took a sip of water and then studied the air all around me like he did when I first saw him. What he was doing, I had no idea.
“Jeff Golden!” He spit my name out as if he was getting rid of a bad taste in his mouth. “Rule number three!” he barked like a drill sergeant. “If you want help from me, stop feeling sorry for yourself so much and worrying things to death. Instead, pay attention. If you paid more attention to your life, you wouldn’t end up angry all the time and thinking the whole world is against you.”
Right after he said all that, I started feeling cold, like I wanted to put my jacket on or something. I tried to be angry about how aggressive and mean-spirited he sounded, but I think I was too surprised by my body’s reaction to what he apparently knew about me. It was really weird, you know? I mean, other people in my past had told me the same thing, but they knew me pretty well and old Lobo didn’t. On top of all that, the man had said what he did in front of Carla. Before I could sort out my thoughts and feelings any further, Lobo jumped on me again.
“Listen up, young man. If you had been paying attention the right way back in Orlando, you wouldn’t have made yourself so miserable. ‘Poor me,’ you said deep inside your mind over and over again. ‘My teachers are unfair,’ you told yourself. ‘Lots of kids don’t like me because I’m pretty smart and I have a near photographic memory,’ you wailed inwardly. Then down deep, you whimpered, ‘Woe is me. I spent most of my life around adults and don’t really know how to relate to most teenagers.’ You griped that your mom didn’t really care about you. You continually moaned and groaned about not having the nice life style you used to have before your parents went bankrupt. Worst of all, you convinced yourself you were the cause of your father’s suicide. None of that has changed, has it?”
I couldn’t reply. No words came to mind. My stomach twisted and did flip-flops. My head pounded even more than before. I tried to think of ways Lobo could have gotten all of that information about me. Even Carla didn’t know those things, especially about my dad’s suicide. All I could do was stare at the man with what I’m sure must have been the most idiotic blank look in the world.
“Lobo, come on,” Carla pleaded, “you’re going way too far.”
“The answer is obvious.” Lobo ignored Carla and continued to stare at me. “You’re still sitting on that same little pity potty you’ve been on for a long time now. It’s always somebody else’s fault, isn’t it, huh? Instead of working on your problems, you fight them in silly ways. You even gave your teachers grief because they pushed you to do better and you thought you were being picked on.”
“Lobo! Stop it! What’s the matter with you?” Carla sprang to her feet, and as she did, Spock also jumped up, letting loose a huge bark. I had never heard Carla shout at anybody before and it really startled me.
“Remember rule number two?” Lobo growled, looking first at me and then at Carla. “It goes for both of you. Do things my way or leave. Your choice.”
“Fine!” Carla yelled back at him. “Jeff, I’m so sorry. I had no idea this would happen. Come on, let’s go.” She had embarrassment and hurt written all over her face.
I tried to collect my swirling, confused thoughts. Too much had happened too quickly. At that point, part of me wanted to tell Lobo where he could stick his damned rules and then run out of there with Carla as fast as possible. I was embarrassed, scared and angry, but I had agreed to do things his way if I wanted help with my dream. Sleeplessness and the dread of that nightmare coming back even one more time finally overcame my reactions to the man’s terrible, controlling ways.
“Uh, well … that’s OK, really,” I whispered. Yeah, part of me wanted to shove Lobo’s water bottle down his throat, but a bigger, more exhausted and fearful part of me sensed the guy might really be able to help. With a look of absolute surprise, Carla slowly sat back down, looking at me as if I had lost my mind. I have to admit that I even startled myself.
“Well, well, well,” Lobo said in his rumbling voice. “You have some potential for self control after all.”
“Just get on with it.” I tried sounding tough, as if I could care less. Besides, I didn’t need his empty compliment. Yeah, some of the anger seeped out even though I tried not to give in to it.
“Oh, I’ll get on with it all right.” Lobo’s eyes blazed even more brightly than before.
Crap. Not the thing to say. “Sorry,” I replied, trying not to get things even more stirred up. “That sort of slipped out.” I knew how to play the ‘keep-the-adult-happy’ game until I got what I wanted.
“Uh huh,” Lobo replied in a less intense voice but with an even deeper frown than usual. “Happened all the time back in Orlando, didn’t it? Exactly as you conducted yourself with me seconds ago, you gave a smart mouth to your teachers and other adults to try and keep them off your back. If that didn’t work, you played word games and manipulated as many of them as you could until you got to do things your way.
“With your friends, you covered up your intelligence, used the worst language you could think of, drank beer and got into trouble to show how cool you are. Oh, you ended up with friends all right but what kind were they, huh? I’ll tell you what kind—the dropouts, the deadheads, and the juvenile detention crowd, that’s who. Have I got it right so far?”
I didn’t say a word. Instead, I shrugged and looked down at the white carved ball on the coffee table. Anything was better than looking into those flashing eyes. What he had said was too impossibly close to the truth to deny, but I had no intention of agreeing with him.
Lobo shook his head, downed the rest of his water and then stabbed a big, old finger at me. “As far as your parents are concerned, you try to wipe them out of your mind most of the time, don’t you? It’s easier that way isn’t it? If you don’t think, you don’t have to feel. Well, I’ll tell you one thing, that fight between you and your father had nothing to do with his death. He planned on killing himself long before you argued with him.”
Man, I’m telling you, I felt like I was drowning in all of Lobo’s words. The guy somehow knew my history and had gotten deep inside my head where nobody else was supposed to be. As scary as all that felt, what he said about my dad’s death … well … it choked me up a little. Talk about embarrassing. I hadn’t been teary-eyed since my dad died a couple of years before. As much as I hated what gambling did to him, his death hit me like a runaway car.
There was absolutely no way Lobo could have found out about that problem between my dad and me, and nobody in this world could have known what Dad was planning. As logical as that seemed, when Lobo said what he did, this strange wave of relief swept through me. I really did blame myself for my dad’s death, but I never told anybody.
“I’m going for more water.” Lobo abruptly got up from his chair and left the room, his voice less harsh than it had been. His absence reminded me of how it feels when a sudden severe thunderstorm finally goes away.
For a brief description of The St. Augustine Trilogy, click here.
For Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com, click here
For reviews of this book, author interviews and blog tours, click here.
For the Official St. Augustine Trilogy Facebook Page, click here.
© 2011 by Doug Dillon. All Rights Reserved.
February 7, 2013
“Highly recommended: Unexpected Twists and Encounters”
The St. Augustine Trilogy:
Book I
Young adult, paranormal & historical
A review on her blog, named Pages From a Reader’s Journal, Goodreads and Amazon by Indu Muralidharan from India
“When fifteen year old Jeff Golden is troubled by a series of haunting nightmares soon after he moves to St. Augustine, he is confused and frightened by how real the nightmares seem to be, and how deeply they affect him.
“After his father’s suicide, Jeff and his mother are forced to move from Orlando to St. Augustine, the oldest and most haunted city in the United States. Believing that he is responsible for his Father’s death, Jeff has been dealing with suppressed anger, self-pity and teenage angst by drinking, hanging out with juvenile delinquents and manipulating his mother and teachers to get his way.
“But the one person whom he cannot manipulate is his feisty friend Carla, who takes him to the crusty Shaman Lobo to help him deal with his nightmares.
“The story starts when Carla takes Jeff to meet Lobo and takes place over the next twenty four hours as Jeff learns the story of his ancestor Walton who died fighting Major Dade’s battle with the Seminole Indians in 1835, discovers that Walton’s spirit has not left the place and is determined to connect to Jeff and is forced to slide beneath the surface of his existence into another dimension in order to save Walton’s spirit from eternal doom, as much as his own life.
“Guided by wise Lobo and supported by Carla, Jeff evolves from a tensed, scared teenager to a higher level of maturity as he is forced to go through a fantastic journey that is marked by a number of unexpected twists and encounters with alternate realities, which help him realize that ultimately everyone has the power to create their reality.
“This is one of those young adult books that transcend genre and can be read at various levels. It will appeal to all readers who are interested in the genres of paranormal fiction, history, spiritual/ philosophic fiction, inspiration, coming of age or simply a well-written story.
“The rich descriptions take the reader on a tour through the city of St. Augustine with its museums, forts, ancient cemeteries and ghost tours. The characters come alive in the places where they visit, whether it is an ancient cemetery of historical significance, or a battlefield in another dimension.
“I expect that many readers would want to do two things on finishing this book, as I did – 1) plan to visit St. Augustine someday, and 2) check out the next book in the St. Augustine trilogy.
“Highly recommended.”
Click here to see the review on her blog
Click here to see her review on Amazon
A Message from a Paranormal Realm, Part 10
In our paranormal nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being, my wife Barbara and I decided to include a chapter channeled directly from another realm of reality. The title of that chapter was, “To the Reader from a Source with No Name”. Actually, we did have a name of sorts. We simply called it The Source.
The idea was to give readers a more personalized, direct link in the unknown. Now, after many years, I am extending that connection to readers of my blog in series of 11 bite-sized portions. Your inclusion into our private network of communications is offered openly, with hopes that you might feel just a touch of your own infinite connections.
If you would like to find the other 10 postings in this series, just look for them in the blog category titled, Paranormal Communications.
“Your development is actually not as different as you may now perceive it to be. You are again intertwined with each reality. Therefore, your levels of current physical expectations are met beyond your present awareness, through areas unseen. Your development may become a primary source of interest for you, but as I see it, the majority of you will read to enhance your enlightenment only to a point of interaction of daily events, providing basic linkages.
This is already forming as you have read the material presented here. Showing yourself the mirror of timelessness will result in the outward challenge of facing the self within yourself.
“Your present belief that, only within a system of known realities are physical definitions provided, is seemingly incongruent to your ways here. You see, the areas of developmental patterns are infinite, thereby creating a life force within each spectrum that produces power for interchangeable sources. These sources then become a linkage to each part of mankind’s development as persons. Each of you is linked within your developmental pattern to another part of your soul; that, then, has many other various linkages.
“As you bind yourself to these thoughts, remember that, only through your own development power, will each of you discernibly grow. As your growth here permits an unmistaken identity, your growth there will also provide the same boundaries. Your willingness to be free from any physical boundaries is acceptable. However, your flow of concept must naturally be provided by you in a context of which you are now, or have been, preparing.
“Your permanent delivery within yourself will come partially from this resistance. So, as you turn your visual contact to a point within your spirit’s mind, be placed in an ultimate group of realities whose present source is now yours. You have then achieved a higher point of learning by which you will adapt more readily.
“You will develop quietly, as those who restrain their inner teachings become a quieter source of inner knowledge, simply because their strengths need not be exposed to others, entirely. As a result of this personal solitude, your image will be lessened as the ego shrinks. Becoming indulgent in this practice will help your inner senses grow also.
A stream of consciousness will provide the areas that are open to you at a rapid level. If you choose to further accept their presence as this takes place, your present physical surroundings may take on another look.
“Be interchangeable with yourself. By this, I mean that adaptation to your inner source is always needed as a prerequisite for higher learning. Your physical errors are a developmental stage in themselves. As each of you will find many floating through your life’s years, learn from them and accept them as a position of strength. Therefore, these will remain intact for further reference and usage, by and for, the soul.
“Once you have established a pattern of these errors, become adapt able again to the repetition of your ways. Each pattern has a purpose. Perhaps the ‘negative’ areas of life are seen to be arranged in an illogical way. Your newness of recognition of this may not be as those of others, you know. Accept things you do not know. While obtaining the personal data within yourself, your friends will be learning from you.
To find our book online, just click on the title, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic.
February 6, 2013
Book Editor and Author Support
Mary Ann de Stefano is Mad About Words, books and publishing.
Are you a writer who could use some solid help in getting your work polished to perfection, published and marketed? If so, let me strongly recommend Mary Ann de Stefano and her writing business, Mad About Words.
Before I hired Mary Ann, I already knew her through a meditation group we both attend. For me that laid a wonderful base. Why? Because in her, I saw honesty, integrity and dedication to others. That’s what I wanted and needed in someone who was going to help me further my literary career.
That being said, her impressive credentials also helped tip the balance. With a degree in English and writing, magna cum laude from Rollins College, Mary Ann also had thirty years of experience in the world of publishing and writing. Not bad, huh? You bet.
But when I also found out she could create websites and guide me in social media, I was hooked. Being as old school as I am, I needed all the help in those arenas as I could get.
The end result? Mary Ann did an excellent job in editing my first fiction manuscript, Sliding Beneath the Surface, She also created this beautiful website for me and the newsletter connected to it. In addition, Mary Ann has guided me in book marketing, in becoming a fully productive blogger, in putting together a good newsletter and in effectively using Facebook and Twitter.
This lady not only has a calm and steady hand in her efforts on my behalf but she also tells me what I need to know, not just what I want to hear. And from the creative aspect of my writing, I think I will offer you the quote below from another of Mary Ann’s clients:
“Working with Mary Ann is pure flow and inspiration.”
Oh, also, if you’re a Florida writer, Mary Ann is well connected with Florida Writers Association AND she has a calendar of events of interest to writers on her website.
So do yourself a favor. Click here to visit Mary Ann’s website and consider emailing her for a free consultation. Or, if you would like to talk with me some more about her work, email me, if you like, through the contact form on this website. We can even chat by phone if you prefer.
Best of luck with your writing.
