Mountain of Silver Dust

Science fiction story about a new mother searching for the truth about her husband's disappearance.  What Zipporah discovers could save life on all the worlds, but at what cost?

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I.

Each grain of azurcose was a truncated icosahedron.  She remembered this from school as thousands of them avalanched into her crystal mug of dark brown coffee, “like a million tiny footballs,” she whispered.  Only these had flat faces, whereas the tiles on a football were convex, giving it its smooth rounded shape.  “Thirty-two faces…  Twelve pentagons, twenty hexagons, sixty angles, ninety lines.  Remember that the next time you slurp your darn SyraNova drinks,” she mimicked her Chem teacher’s gravelly voice.

Someone snorted a few booths away, the group of punks she’d clocked on her way inside, only other people in the diner besides the cook, the server, and herself.

She wasn’t going to make him stay in her life if he didn’t want to, baby or no.  How could she?  Korratrea was still a free country, unless there’d been a coup she hadn’t heard about yet, which was unlikely.

The short one slid in beside her, and two more across the table, while the cautious one sat lightly at the adjacent table to her right.  Clack-clack-clack, the man’s knuckles tapped on the hard plastic surface beneath her chin.  Clack-clack-clack.

“Did you order yet?” he asked.

“Nope, just trying to enjoy this coffee.”

“Nice ring.  Where’s your husband?”

“He said he was on his way.”

The man smiled to his friends, who laughed.  “Yeah, well, I think he’s crazy to leave you alone like this.  Middle of the night, strange neighborhood…  Uncivilized company.”  His friends laughed again.

“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”

(Read full story...)

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Intended Consequences

Available at Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com

Intended Consequences is a collection of short essays about faith, life, and Christianity in America.  The range of topics includes charity, art, patriotism, addiction, freedom, gratitude, and Bruce Lee.

Robert Lampros is an author of Christian poetry, essays, and fiction who lives in St. Louis.  His books include Fits of Tranquility, Afternoon, and Last Year's Resolution.

William Faulkner

                                                   * hosted by Debdatta Sahay, http://www.b00kr3vi3ws.in
                                                                                         

An American writer of novels, short stories, essays, and screenplays, William Cuthbert Faulkner was born on September 25, 1897, and is best known for his novels and stories about the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, which is based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where he lived for much of his life.  Three of his novels, The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, and Light in August made the Modern Library’s list of the top one hundred English-language novels of the twentieth century.  Surprisingly Faulkner remained mostly unknown to the public until winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949.  Two of his books, A Fable (1954), and The Reivers (1962), won Pulitzer Prizes for fiction.

His most popular, and what many consider his greatest work, The Sound and the Fury, was published in 1929 when William was only thirty-two years-old.  The story progresses through stream of consciousness narratives in four different sections.  Three of them feature first-person narrators, each a member of the Compson family, recounting events of both the present and the past in highly stylized, overlapping layers of brilliant prose.  The fourth section uses a third-person omniscient narrator to follow Dilsey, the Compsons’ faithful servant and a strong African American mother.  This book reigns as an indisputable masterpiece and towering achievement of American Literature.

The title, The Sound and the Fury, comes from a monologue in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, when the despairing king finds himself overwhelmed by fears, sins, and dangers.  “She should have died hereafter/There would have been time for such a word./To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow/Creeps in this petty pace from day to day/To the last syllable of recorded time/And all our yesterdays have lighted fools/The way to dusty death.  Out, out brief candle!/Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/And then is heard no more: it is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/Signifying nothing.”

The passage echoes the words of King Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “All is vanity,” and reading Faulkner one feels the apparent futility of the characters’ struggles, yet can’t help caring for them as they fight for hope and dignity while also fighting among themselves.  He wrote his first novel, Soldier’s Pay, in 1925 in New Orleans, after Sherwood Anderson (Winesburg, Ohio) urged him to start writing fiction.  Anderson helped with the publication of Soldier’s Pay and his second novel, Mosquitoes, by recommending the books to his own publisher.

William Faulkner pioneered the new form of stream of consciousness prose, simultaneously documenting Southern life in the early twentieth century, and weaving magnificent tales of hardship, faith, and perseverance.  The Compson family along with his other characters face obstacles that would level most families and leave them crying in the dust, but these carry on, forge ahead hoping their promise waits around the next bend.  The poetry of his narratives is breathtaking, the journeys inspiring, fascinating, and heartbreaking.  William passed away in 1962, two days after the 4th of July.  Rest in peace, Mr. Faulkner.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Last Year's Resolution

by Robert Lampros

Giveaway ends July 22, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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Last Year's Resolution Reviews

Available at Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com
“I genuinely liked reading this book from beginning to end. The writing was simple and felt like a classic book I should have read years ago. The characters were well developed and the gentle romance felt sincere and really carried the story well… It is Christian enough to be called Christian romance but it’s also secular enough to pass as a simple love story. One of the things I liked most about this book was that it intertwined the characters’ faith with romance and realistic events… A comfortable cross between contemporary fiction and love.” - Valicity Garris, Author

“I am continually amazed by some of Mr. Lampros' imagery… Thematically, I would say that this novel is about friendship, love, Christ… a real knack for dialogue and characterization through said dialogue, rounding out the characters even if the description of where they are and what they see is subservient to the plot and the overall thrust of the story. Bravo!” - John Morris, Author

“This is a very well-written Christian novel with a plot running in fast pace… The author did a superb job creating characters that are lovable, and the book is definitely a boost to our faith… I recommend this book to the permanent library of all readers who appreciate a well-written novel, very entertaining, with a strong Christian theme.” - Roberto Mattos, BooksAndMovieReviews

“Great writing, great story! I could've read it in just a few days but you kind of want to take your time with it and reflect on some of the passages and things that happen… a great book, fun and exciting and even edge-of-your-seat action at times. I highly recommend it!” B. Hill, Goodreads Reviewer

Fits of Tranquility reviews

Available at Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com

“A great sense of connection with human nature and the human condition which I found refreshing…  A delightful read.  5 stars.”  – Lauren, LivingABookLife.com

“This book made me feel overwhelmingly good.  As a religious person myself, I felt like there were some lines that really resonated with me.  Even if you’re not religious, a lot of the poems deal with nature and the spiritual experiences that being outside can bring…  I definitely recommend.”  – Ashley, What’s She Reading?

“Each poem offers the reader something to reflect on that will lead to other meditative thoughts.  If you enjoy poetry, you will enjoy Fits of Tranquility.”  – Terry Delaney, Christian Book Notes

“Containing over 20 unique poems and short stories, this book ranges in topic from inspiring images of nature to thought-provoking stories filled with charming dialogue and everything in between…  I would recommend giving Fits of Tranquility a try.”  – Prairie Sky Book Reviews

“Ideas of hope, healing, joy, and faith mirrored in poems about family, lightening, life, and wilderness, the second part is comprised of prose about falling in love…  A book for avid poetry readers.”  – Jen Pen, Savurbks.com

“I enjoyed many things about this book, foremost is the author’s tone.  It is understated, but capable of conveying some deep thoughts quite effectively…  There is a religious perspective in this book, expressed with artistry, understatement, that avoids sentimentality.”  – Arthur Turfa, author of Places and Times

“One of my favorites is “Family,” it describes the value in a heartfelt and touching way.  I also really liked “Invisible Arms,” a vivid picture of how God protects us from physical and emotional harm.  I am a hopeless romantic so I appreciated the sweet moments described in the short stories.  I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading smooth thought provoking poetry.”  – Ivory M, Beautyful Word

“Fits of Tranquility contains a variety of styles and structures which makes this collection immediately more appealing to the poetry connoisseur.  Lampros’s poetry contains a sensitivity and emotional eloquence which flows gently through his work…  is a superior collection and I recommend it to those readers who want to read beautiful, family-safe poetry.”  – Karen Jones, The Poetry Bookshop

Ghost Eagle

Ghost Eagle is a graphic novel that is currently being illustrated, available now in a text-only format as a free download.  The story follows Curtis Thompson and his girlfriend Mel as they fight for survival in an increasingly dark and menacing dystopia where police, gangs, and government agents grapple for power over society.  Only Curtis’s own super powers, his faith in God, and the help of Jesus Christ can save them now and set them free.

Link to Ghost Eagle

St. Peter's Speech at Solomon's Portico

From The Book of Acts:

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished.  When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?  The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him.  But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.  To this we are witnesses.  And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.  And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.  In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.  Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.  Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a prophet like me.  You must listen to whatever he tells you.  And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out of the people.’  And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days.  You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’  When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

*  The Harper Collins Study Bible NRSV