How NOT to write a book, but have great fun doing so!
Many years ago, a thought for a book appeared out of nowhere and became the first chapter of Discipuli. Over the years it grew until I had the first third of a book written and absolutely no idea of where the story was supposed to go! It wasn't until watching the impact of Covid on the social and economic lives of people around the globe gave me an idea, that I was able to frame a problem that my protagonist could be called on to solve. This is definitely NOT how one is supposed to write a book, but it is also the book I've had the most fun writing. And, for the first time ever, it's a book that three of my grandchildren participated in making possible--Samantha with her artistic cover; Mike, who deserves credit for all of the ideas in part 3, Discipuli Together; and even 5 year old Drew, who unknowingly named one of the characters for me! I hope you, my readers, enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! It is available on Amazon Kindle, along with my other two "for fun" fiction titles.
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON KINDLE:
Fourteen year old Hannah Scholten has a problem. The problem is her father who refuses to recognize she is growing up. Yes, she is afraid of everything. Yes, she couldn't even stay in the room when her baby brother was born and help the midwife. But Papa is the problem, and with her older brother off at war, he is punishing her by making her do all the farm chores. But then the family gets a telegram. Hannah's brother, Jacob, has been shot in a battle right here in Pennsylvania, at Gettysburg. Of course Mama and Papa will want to go care for Jacob and she will be able to prove how mature she is by handling the farm. But it is too soon for Mama to travel. And Papa is cruel in his comments: "Do you think I'd trust you to take care of the farm while I was gone?"
In a moment of anger, Hannah finds her courage and runs away from home to care for her older brother. Arriving at Gettysburg, that courage deserts her when she confronts the stench of rotting, unburied horses on the battlefield, the scavengers picking over the bodies and the horrible smells of the hospital tents. But she manages to control her stomach (most of the time) and take care of her brother. Circumstances finally force her to grow up when she meets a wounded Confederate soldier and becomes his friend. Hannah is changing in spite of herself, learning that the world is more complicated than she had thought. But will that be enough to make her face Papa?
Will is no longer the happy young man he was, in spite of his dad's great gift of a metal detector. His parents' divorce is putting him on the divorce merry-go-round. The solution will come from the most unlikely event when he discovers a Civil War artifact while metal detecting. How can a Civil War buckle help him deal with his very modern problem? Solving the buckle's riddle will give him back his dad.