Is where we introduce listeners to people who have found their way out of the dark shadows of life and back to light and those who lead others on their journey from darkness to light.
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THE STORY BEHIND KOKOPELLI’S SONG by Suzanne J Bratcher 9/26/2020 1:30:00 PM BY Patti Shene
FEATURED BOOK:Kokopelli’s Song
AUTHOR:Suzanne J Bratcher
PUBLISHER:Scrivenings Press
GENRE:Clean Fantasy
SERIES OR STAND ALONE:Stand Alone
TARGET AGE:teen-adult
IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME AUTHOR SUZANNE BRATCHER TO PATTI’S PORCH. SUZANNE SHARES HOW A BOOK TITLE IDEA AND A TRIP TO A NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK LED TO THE BULDING OF A NOVEL.
SUZANNE IS OFFERING A GIVEAWAY! SIMPLY LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TO ENTER THE DRAWING FOR A SIGNED PRINT COPY OF KOKOPELLI’S SONG.
THE STORY BEHIND KOKOPELLI’S SONG
by
Suzanne Bratcher
Stories begin in all sorts of ways. A vivid character badgers her writer into discovering plot. A nagging conflict forces the writer to search for characters. Even a setting can grab hold, refusing to let go until the writer tells the stories that haunt that place. The most difficult stories to write begin with a title, leaving the author to uncover plot, characters, and even setting. Kokopelli’s Song started that way.
Kokopelli, a flute player that appears on carved on rock faces from South America all the way to the pueblo ruins of Utah and Arizona, is a popular icon throughout the Southwest. He appears in flashing neon, on letterhead, on T-shirts, and in scholarly works. As familiar a figure as he is, no one knows what song he plays on his red cedar flute.
One afternoon the title Kokopelli’s Song popped into my head. It remained just a title for a couple of years—until the first time I visited Chaco Culture National Historic Park in New Mexico. As I hiked through the ruins left by an advanced civilization that flourished between the 900 and 1150 AD centuries, I could hardly take in what I was seeing. I had visited the pyramids in Mexico and read about Machu Picchu in Peru, but I had no idea anything like these massive ruins existed in the United States.
I bought a book, which led me to more books. I learned that instead of being a residential center like Mesa Verde, Chaco was a ceremonial center. People came from all over the Four Corners region (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado) for ceremonies at different times of the year. The archaeological record showed that the ceremonies stopped abruptly. But, unlike most ancestral Puebloan (sometimes called “Anasazi”) centers, Chaco was not simply abandoned. Instead, the keepers dismantled the kivas (ceremonial rooms) with the same care used to build them, deliberately burning each kiva after it was dismantled. Archeologists knew burning was a purification ritual, but they didn’t know the cause of the desecration.
The more I read, the more intrigued I became. I returned to Chaco. On my second visit, I joined a ranger talk and learned about macaw feathers, seashells, and copper bells found in the kivas that proved trade between Chaco, South America, and even the west coast of North America. I hiked more of the ruins and saw a petroglyph that accurately tracked the complicated cycle of the moon, a path not discovered by any other civilization until the advent of computers.
The third time I visited Chaco, I camped under the stars. Early the next morning I heard the haunting strains of a Native American flute. I followed Kokopelli’s song, but I couldn’t find the flute player. As I left Chaco Canyon that day, a plot began taking shape in my imagination, a hero’s journey to keep ancient cosmic forces of evil from re-entering our world.
I found the journey on an antique rug in a home behind a trading post on the Hopi Reservation. The swastika, woven into the rug long before Hitler ever commandeered the ancient symbol for his evil empire, represented the legendary journey of the pueblo people to each of the four cardinal directions.
In my story West was Old Oraibi, a pueblo founded about the same time Chaco was closed. South was El Morro National Monument, the site of another prehistoric pueblo. East was Cochiti, a contemporary pueblo near Santa Fe, New Mexico. North was Chimney Rock National Monument, the ruin of a lunar observatory from the time of Chaco. Chaco Canyon was the Center. Since I had already visited Old Oraibi and Cochiti Pueblo, I made a trip to see El Morro and Chimney Rock.
Now my story needed compelling characters. As the plot and setting developed, I had Kokopelli, Chacoan witches trying to re-enter our world, and four shamans (one from each direction) determined to keep them out. I found the heroes in a Hopi legend about twins, a boy and girl, who were given special powers to survive a difficult journey. The twins in my story had one foot in each world. Separated because of their mother’s death when they were five, Amy grew up in Virginia; her brother Mahu (another Hopi word for Kokopelli) grew up on the Hopi reservation. It all began when Amy and Mahu were about to turn eighteen—on the day the thousand-year-old Tokpela Moon would open a door for the witches into our time.
When seventeen-year-old Amy Adams finds her father’s family and a lost twin brother on the Hopi reservation in Arizona, she stumbles into a struggle between shamans and witches that spans a thousand years. After Mahu is attacked and a Conquistador’s journal stolen, Amy and her new friend Diego set out on a dangerous quest to find and perform the ceremony that can stop ancient evil from entering our world.
But Amy and Diego are not alone as they race against time measured by a waxing moon. Kokopelli’s song, the haunting notes of a red cedar flute, guides them along the migration route sacred to pueblo peoples: West to Old Oraibi, South to El Morro, East to Cochiti Pueblo, North to Chimney Rock, and finally to the Center—and the final confrontation—in Chaco Canyon.
Note: Kokopelli’s Song will be FREE on Amazon TUESDAY (9/29). One day only!
DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE PLACED IN THE DRAWING TO WIN A SIGNED PRINT COPY OF KOKOPELLI’S SONG BETWEEN NOW AND TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6TH AT MIDNIGHT MDT.
BY LEAVING A COMMENT, YOU GRANT PERMISSION FOR YOUR EMAIL TO BE REVEALED TO THE AUTHOR IF YOU ARE THE WINNER TO FACILITATE RECEIPT OF YOUR BOOK.
Professor Emeritus, Northern Arizona University, Suzanne J. Bratcher lives in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains of central Arkansas with her two rescue cats, Scamp and Mini Pearl. A passionate reader since her first encounter with Dick and Jane, she delights in spinning adventures set in the majestic, mysterious Southwest. She is the author of The Copper Box, The Silver Lode, and Kokopelli’s Song. When she’s not writing, she reads, quilts, and watches the many birds that come to her feeders. Visit Suzanne online:
BE YOURSELF by Linda Wood Rondeau 9/23/2020 12:40:00 PM BY Patti Shene
FEATURED BOOK: Second Helpings
AUTHOR: Linda Wood Rondeau
PUBLISHER: Elk Lake Publishing House, Inc
GENRE: Short, humorous contemporary novel
SERIES OR STAND ALONE: Stand alone
TARGET AGE: 40-65 women
IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME AUTHOR LINDA WOOD RONDEAU TO THE OVER 50 WRITER. WHAT DOES GOLF HAVE TO DO WITH WRITING? LINDA EXPLAINS!
LINDA IS OFFERING A GIVEAWAY! SIMPLY LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TO ENTER THE DRAWING FOR WINNER’S CHOICE OF AN EBOOK (OTHER THAN SECOND HELPINGS) FROM HER AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE.
BE YOURSELF
by
Linda Wood Rondeau
I couldn't understand it. I had mimicked her golf stance to perfection. Her drives rarely missed the fairway. I reasoned that if I did everything exactly as she did, then I should be as good a golfer. Committed to my false assumptions, I struggled the entire season with poor results. Then on a hot and sunny day, when our shadows stretched across the fairway, the reason for my failed swing became clear.
All a matter of height. I stood half a foot taller than my mentor. She had developed her perfect swing to fit her five-foot-two frame. The truth hit me like a fast flung nine-iron. No golf technique is designed as universally applicable.
On the off-season, I studied golf magazines especially for women and watched more women’s tournaments. I discovered even among the greats, a swing was personal. The end desire might be the same—longer fairway drives and putts that sink—but everything else about the swing seemed catered to that golfer.
Some players used visualization techniques—seeing the ball in action before they hit. Others used approach techniques that were one of a kind. From left-hand players, tall players, and overweight players, the whole approach to the game varied according to their individual tastes and practices.
Once I developed my own unique approach to the game, my scores improved.
So what does this have to do with writing?
Everything.
Be yourself.
As an acquisitions editor for Elk Lake Publishing House, Inc, too often I find submitted manuscripts that are not authentic. For example, some sci-fi/fantasy/speculative submissions are mostly rehashes of tried and true classics. The authors balk when I tell them their giant rodents were a rip-off of the Princess Bride’s ROUSes—rodents of unusual size. Or some like to insert a classic Aslan (from Chronicles of Narnia: The Witch, the Lion, and the Wardrobe.) The problem is not so much that their plot is similar. The story is only a rehashed plot of something that has gone before rather than a tale told from within the author’s understanding of humanity.
Whether you write in a particular genre only or, like me, write in multiple genres, authenticity is vital.
What then makes a book authentic?
Relatable characters/anecdotes
The Over-Fifty Writer has a distinct advantage in developing characters who resonate since we’ve lived longer and have met a host of interesting humans from which we can draw real characters, rather than reinvent a character from a classic. In non-fiction, this is true for anecdotes or examples to expound your points. Be unique and draw from the heart.
Know who you are as an artist
Authors are artists. We create a picture from words. On the show American Idol, the judges will often encourage contestants to decide who they want to be as an artist. This does not mean they can only sing one kind of song. But their style will be identifiable. Many of the famous authors of yesteryear could be identified without their name attached to the book because of their unique presentation.
Be true to your message
Even before you write your first word, know the kernel of what you hope your reader will gain from spending time in your manuscript. If your hope is to entertain, your message might be, “laughter is healing no matter what your circumstances.” If you know your message, all the elements of your manuscript—whether fiction or non-fiction—will come alive in a thoughtfully created project.
The adage, “Write What You Know,” merely means to be true to yourself.
Back Cover Blurb for Second Helpings
Today is Jocelyn Johnson’s 45th birthday. Unhappy with her marriage of 22 years, the parenting talk show host has planned a noonday tryst with her cohost. A phone call from her college daughter, a peek into her teenaged son’s journal, a sick preschooler, a Goth daughter’s identity crisis, a middle-school son’s prank, and her husband’s inflamed suspicions, not only interfere with her hopeful birthday plans but throw her family into more chaos than a circus on steroids.
In desperate need of counsel, Jocelyn invites a Christian to dinner, her guest from her morning talk show segment. However, the evening holds little promise of calm. In the midst of bedlam, a forgotten faith rekindles causing Jocelyn to rethink her life and her marriage.
You will laugh and you will cry from the first page to the last as you journey through the day’s events and Jocelyn’s search for Second Helpings.
DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE PLACED IN THE DRAWING TO WIN A COPY OF AN EBOOK (OTHER THAN SECOND HELPINGS) FROM LINDA’S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE BETWEEN NOW AND SATURDAY OCTOBER 3RD AT MIDNIGHT MDT.
BY LEAVING A COMMENT, YOU GRANT PERMISSION FOR YOUR EMAIL TO BE REVEALED TO THE AUTHOR IF YOU ARE THE WINNER TO FACILITATE RECEIPT OF YOUR BOOK.
A veteran social worker, Linda Wood Rondeau is also a wife, mother, and grandmother. She is no stranger to family bedlam. Her stories of encouragement and hope come from the heart. She resides in Hagerstown, Maryland with her husband of over forty-years. When not writing, the author enjoys the occasional round of golf. She also enjoys theater and is actively involved with her local church. Find more encouraging words in her blog, Snark and Sensibility, found on her website, www.lindarondeau.com. Visit her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
WHAT GRABS YOU by Lynne Basham Tagawa 9/19/2020 12:20:00 AM BY Patti Shene
Featured Book: The Shenandoah Road: A Novel of the Great Awakening
Author: Lynne Basham Tagawa
Publisher: Blue Rock Press
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series: Book One in The Russells series
Target Age: Adult / General (clean enough for teens)
IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME AUTHOR LYNNE BASHAM TAGAWA TO PATTI’S PORCH. LYNNE TALKS ABOUT THE GENRE THAT FASCINATES HER MOST AND WHY.
LYNNE IS OFFERING A GIVEAWAY! SIMPLY LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TO ENTER THE DRAWING FOR WINNER’S CHOICE OF A PRINT OR EBOOK COPY OF THE SHENANDOAH ROAD: A NOVEL OF THE GREAT AWAKENING.
WHAT GRABS YOU?
by
Lynne Tagawa
What is your favorite kind of book? Some like Amish fiction, while others prefer contemporary thrillers. I tend to go through seasons.
For a while it was medical fiction. Then I enjoyed a trilogy by Joel Rosenberg. Later I discovered Pride and Prejudicefor free on kindle. Can you believe I’d never read it?
I love history, so yes, historical fiction is a no-brainer for me, especially if I can find clean but well-crafted stories. I’ve enjoyed a number of Christian authors—some not as well known as others. Frequently I’ll ensconce myself in the past.
But history hasn’t always been my thing. It really started when I wrote a Texas history curriculum for a school at which I taught. You know how textbooks are—boring. As I did some investigation, I discovered that the real people and real events were anything but. So, I wrote the curriculum like a novel. What would it have been like to be in that cabin hearing Sam Houston thunder that he would not take up the sword against Santa Anna unless Texas had its own government? Otherwise they’d be bandits in the sight of the nations of the world! It was 1776 all over again . . .
Fast-forward a few years. After learning how to write “real” fiction on a debut novel, I had this itch to time-travel again. My next project was marinating in the back of my head even before I’d finished the first.
You see, many stories are set in certain time periods. The Civil War. The Revolutionary War. And while those periods are interesting, I had some other things in mind, including the Great Awakening.
What would it have been like to live during that time, when Jonathan Edwards delivered the famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” and George Whitefield preached to multitudes, sometimes in the fields, because ministers denied him their pulpits, or because churches were simply too small?
Of course, not everyone actually heard these men speak. But many were affected. Benjamin Franklin sold printed sermons and Isaac Watts’ hymnbook started flying off his shelves.
Not everyone approved. The more I researched, the more complicated it seemed. Kind of like today. They were real people with real limitations and occasionally, fiercely held opinions.
And in the midst of it all, people lived and suffered, loved and died. My story is about people like that.
You might not always choose historical fiction, or fiction with some pretty obvious “Christian” content, but is it a season for something new? Come with me to 1744!
Back cover copy for The Shenandoah Road
John Russell’s heart aches from the loss of his wife, but the Shenandoah Valley frontiersman needs to marry again for his daughter’s sake. At first, he believes he has found the right young woman, despite their differences in background, but his faith falters when time reveals she isn’t quite what she seemed. Can he truly love her? And what about his own failings?
Unlike her disgraced sister, Abigail Williams obeys the Commandments. At least, she thinks herself a Christian until a buckskin-clad newcomer courts her. He treats her kindly but also introduces her to a sermon by the controversial preacher, George Whitefield. Her self-righteousness is shattered, and she wonders about their relationship. If she confesses her lack of faith, will John continue to love her?
Reviews of The Shenandoah Road
“Lynne Tagawa transports readers into the faith and hope, and sorrows and fears of 18th century colonial America. While other books feature the raw grit of frontier colonial life, this book goes deeper and reveals the heart.” —Douglas Bond, author of numerous books, including War in the Wasteland and Hostage Lands.
“The Shenandoah Road is an authentic and engaging journey back to the challenges of settling in the Shenandoah Valley” —Laura Hilton, author of Firestorm (Whitaker House, 2018)
“Raw, realistic, and historically packed, this story will make you think. If you enjoy stories with deep theological themes, you will enjoy this.” —Amber Schamel, author of Solve by Christmas, winner of the 2018 Christian Indie Award
DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE PLACED IN THE DRAWING TO WIN CHOICE OF A PRINT OR EBOOK COPY OF THE SHENANDOAH ROAD: A NOVEL OF THE GREAT AWAKENING. BETWEEN NOW AND TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH AT MIDNIGHT MDT.
BY LEAVING A COMMENT, YOU GRANT PERMISSION FOR YOUR EMAIL TO BE REVEALED TO THE AUTHOR IF YOU ARE THE WINNER TO FACILITATE RECEIPT OF YOUR BOOK.
Lynne Tagawa is married with four grown sons and three marvelous grandbabies. She’s written a Texas history curriculum in narrative form, Sam Houston’s Republic, andThe Shenandoah Road, a story of the Great Awakening, was published in 2018. Lynne lives with her husband in South Texas. Visit Lynne at her website, www.lynnetagawa.com
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FEATURED BOOK: Kokopelli’s Song
AUTHOR: Suzanne J Bratcher
PUBLISHER: Scrivenings Press
GENRE: Clean Fantasy
SERIES OR STAND ALONE: Stand Alone
TARGET AGE: teen-adult
IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME AUTHOR SUZANNE BRATCHER TO PATTI’S PORCH. SUZANNE SHARES HOW A BOOK TITLE IDEA AND A TRIP TO A NATIONAL HISTORIC PARK LED TO THE BULDING OF A NOVEL.
SUZANNE IS OFFERING A GIVEAWAY! SIMPLY LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW TO ENTER THE DRAWING FOR A SIGNED PRINT COPY OF KOKOPELLI’S SONG.
THE STORY BEHIND KOKOPELLI’S SONG
by
Suzanne Bratcher
Stories begin in all sorts of ways. A vivid character badgers her writer into discovering plot. A nagging conflict forces the writer to search for characters. Even a setting can grab hold, refusing to let go until the writer tells the stories that haunt that place. The most difficult stories to write begin with a title, leaving the author to uncover plot, characters, and even setting. Kokopelli’s Song started that way.
Kokopelli, a flute player that appears on carved on rock faces from South America all the way to the pueblo ruins of Utah and Arizona, is a popular icon throughout the Southwest. He appears in flashing neon, on letterhead, on T-shirts, and in scholarly works. As familiar a figure as he is, no one knows what song he plays on his red cedar flute.
One afternoon the title Kokopelli’s Song popped into my head. It remained just a title for a couple of years—until the first time I visited Chaco Culture National Historic Park in New Mexico. As I hiked through the ruins left by an advanced civilization that flourished between the 900 and 1150 AD centuries, I could hardly take in what I was seeing. I had visited the pyramids in Mexico and read about Machu Picchu in Peru, but I had no idea anything like these massive ruins existed in the United States.
I bought a book, which led me to more books. I learned that instead of being a residential center like Mesa Verde, Chaco was a ceremonial center. People came from all over the Four Corners region (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado) for ceremonies at different times of the year. The archaeological record showed that the ceremonies stopped abruptly. But, unlike most ancestral Puebloan (sometimes called “Anasazi”) centers, Chaco was not simply abandoned. Instead, the keepers dismantled the kivas (ceremonial rooms) with the same care used to build them, deliberately burning each kiva after it was dismantled. Archeologists knew burning was a purification ritual, but they didn’t know the cause of the desecration.
The more I read, the more intrigued I became. I returned to Chaco. On my second visit, I joined a ranger talk and learned about macaw feathers, seashells, and copper bells found in the kivas that proved trade between Chaco, South America, and even the west coast of North America. I hiked more of the ruins and saw a petroglyph that accurately tracked the complicated cycle of the moon, a path not discovered by any other civilization until the advent of computers.
The third time I visited Chaco, I camped under the stars. Early the next morning I heard the haunting strains of a Native American flute. I followed Kokopelli’s song, but I couldn’t find the flute player. As I left Chaco Canyon that day, a plot began taking shape in my imagination, a hero’s journey to keep ancient cosmic forces of evil from re-entering our world.
I found the journey on an antique rug in a home behind a trading post on the Hopi Reservation. The swastika, woven into the rug long before Hitler ever commandeered the ancient symbol for his evil empire, represented the legendary journey of the pueblo people to each of the four cardinal directions.
In my story West was Old Oraibi, a pueblo founded about the same time Chaco was closed. South was El Morro National Monument, the site of another prehistoric pueblo. East was Cochiti, a contemporary pueblo near Santa Fe, New Mexico. North was Chimney Rock National Monument, the ruin of a lunar observatory from the time of Chaco. Chaco Canyon was the Center. Since I had already visited Old Oraibi and Cochiti Pueblo, I made a trip to see El Morro and Chimney Rock.
Now my story needed compelling characters. As the plot and setting developed, I had Kokopelli, Chacoan witches trying to re-enter our world, and four shamans (one from each direction) determined to keep them out. I found the heroes in a Hopi legend about twins, a boy and girl, who were given special powers to survive a difficult journey. The twins in my story had one foot in each world. Separated because of their mother’s death when they were five, Amy grew up in Virginia; her brother Mahu (another Hopi word for Kokopelli) grew up on the Hopi reservation. It all began when Amy and Mahu were about to turn eighteen—on the day the thousand-year-old Tokpela Moon would open a door for the witches into our time.
Watch the trailer
Book Blurb for Kokopelli’s Song
When seventeen-year-old Amy Adams finds her father’s family and a lost twin brother on the Hopi reservation in Arizona, she stumbles into a struggle between shamans and witches that spans a thousand years. After Mahu is attacked and a Conquistador’s journal stolen, Amy and her new friend Diego set out on a dangerous quest to find and perform the ceremony that can stop ancient evil from entering our world.
But Amy and Diego are not alone as they race against time measured by a waxing moon. Kokopelli’s song, the haunting notes of a red cedar flute, guides them along the migration route sacred to pueblo peoples: West to Old Oraibi, South to El Morro, East to Cochiti Pueblo, North to Chimney Rock, and finally to the Center—and the final confrontation—in Chaco Canyon.
Amazon Buy Link
Note: Kokopelli’s Song will be FREE on Amazon TUESDAY (9/29). One day only!
DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE PLACED IN THE DRAWING TO WIN A SIGNED PRINT COPY OF KOKOPELLI’S SONG BETWEEN NOW AND TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6TH AT MIDNIGHT MDT.
BY LEAVING A COMMENT, YOU GRANT PERMISSION FOR YOUR EMAIL TO BE REVEALED TO THE AUTHOR IF YOU ARE THE WINNER TO FACILITATE RECEIPT OF YOUR BOOK.
Professor Emeritus, Northern Arizona University, Suzanne J. Bratcher lives in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains of central Arkansas with her two rescue cats, Scamp and Mini Pearl. A passionate reader since her first encounter with Dick and Jane, she delights in spinning adventures set in the majestic, mysterious Southwest. She is the author of The Copper Box, The Silver Lode, and Kokopelli’s Song. When she’s not writing, she reads, quilts, and watches the many birds that come to her feeders. Visit Suzanne online:
webpage https://suzannebratcher.com.
Facebook https://facebook.com/authorsuzannebratcher
Instagram https://instagram.com/suzanne.bratcher.5/
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