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Like The Moon, Mr. Purple
Price range: $3.99 through $39.99God creates the human families and grants them the ability to weave stories of their own existence. The Morada Clan of Bicol, therefore, as any family in the world, cannot claim a monopoly on life’s blessings and crucibles. But let me tell our peculiar stories just the same.
We are neither perfect, nor are our stories grandiose, but it’s our imperfections and their simplicity that make our stories more compelling and relatable. Even before the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, we told ourselves that someone had got to narrate them, or they could lapse and fade into insignificance and oblivion. That’s how and why my role came into being.
At work in Texas, they called me Mr. Purple. from an obscure corner of the Third World came this educator with his bio, love affair, work exploits, bittersweet memoir, and family history replete with actual events and genuine people, rolled into one. With the pandemic as standpoint, here is a look-back at the itsy-bitsy events that form the collective tale of my family and me – and my pursuit of the American Dream.
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God Shall Wipe Away All Tears: A Mother’s Journal of Caregiving, Tragedy, and Hope
Price range: $3.99 through $27.99“God Shall Wipe Away All Tears is a fascinating look into the life of a courageous woman who suffered unimaginable personal tragedies. Readers will find insight, inspiration and strength from Colleen’s faith-based perspective on confronting difficult life problems. To those who have a loved one with an immunodeficiency, her story will show that you are not alone. Her non-sense chronology sheds light on very rare medical condition.”
–Ulrike Ziegner, M.D., PhD., Allergist/Immunologist
“Thank you for your wonderful book! Your insight into life and death, and your terrible experiences from which you have learned patience and understanding, will help us all to become better people.”
–Paula Bjornn, Registered Nurse
It was dusk as my husband and I entered the small cemetery to place flowers on the three graves-Jonathan, our firstborn son who died at eight months from a rare pneumonia; Michael, our violinist son who left us at age sixteen due to pancreatic cancer; and Seb, a loving son who trained hawks and suffered blindness and neurodegeneration after thirty years of immunodeficiency. As the sun set with crimson colors. I placed bright summer flowers on each grave. ‘Help me to do what I should do with my life,’ I said to my sons. It was clear what my path should be. I could not let their lives be lost in vain! I should write stories of struggle, love, and faith. “They are doing work now in heavenly spheres, and I must do mine while I still have time!” I said to myself. It all seemed so clear.
This powerful memoir describing Colleen Openshaw’s frequent encounters with illness and death will convey important insights when we experience these unwanted sorrows in our own lives. Losing her parents to cancer and old age, a sister in a car accident, her husband to organ failure and Alzheimer’s, as well as her three precious sons to hyper-IgM Syndrome-has given Colleen unusual understanding in facing end-of-life issues. Relying on her faith in God as well as her own grit and determination, her experience can give us a unique comprehension of how to confront these inevitable trials common to all mankind.
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Unusual Attitudes: Flight Instructor Memoirs
Price range: $3.99 through $26.99Captain Ed (Edwin D. Armbruster) lived a fascinating life as he flew thousands of hours over the jungles of Panama and the Caribbean in single engine planes. Over seven hundred students called him their instructor as he piloted them from Atlantic to Pacific over and along the Panama Canal, through Panama, Central and South America. Beginning with the halcyon days of Canal Zone life and navigating more troubled times as the drug wars escalated, adventure calls on every page.
As exciting and spell-binding as the tropical background is beautiful, “Captain Ed” regales and inspires with his stories of crashes and near-misses, student antics, hair-raising escapes and unusual friendships, all as the glory days of the Panama Canal slowly faded into memory.
For those who fly and those who long to fly — this book soars with adventure. -
Turtletoes: Following the Steps of An Angel
Price range: $3.99 through $25.99Life seems to always provide the experiences and people we each need for our development and maturity, even happiness. Turtletoes is about one of those people, a daughter born with birth defects, whose influence helped raise the author, her father, to become a better man than he could have on his own.
The book is about Tracy Purles, who was born with congenital heart disease and intellectual disability. Tracy endured being different. Physical, and mental challenges became a life-light for her family and friends. Her faith in God, determination to “be like everyone else,” resilience, and enjoyment of life’s little pleasures blessed the lives of her family and many others throughout her 20 years of life.
This is not a book about tragedy, but about the value and beauty of life, no matter at what level it must be lived. It is a story about how one little girl meets the challenge of staying alive with such faith, hope, and grace that her influence invites Heaven’s blessings for all. Her father writes that her passing from this life and going “Home” was one of the most spiritual experiences of his life. If you want an uplifting, “real world” experience that will touch your soul and invite you to thank God for your own life, read Turtletoes, Following the Steps of An Angel. -
To Be a Rose
Price range: $3.99 through $23.99Ed is a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel working for a defense contractor. He has been hired as a Senior Logistics Expert to work with the Afghanistan Ministry of Defense as an advisor and mentor to two senior Afghan officers.
Ed first appears telling an Army Combat Medic he can’t breathe. He is transferred to Camp Phoenix just outside of Kabul for further treatment. Over the next twelve hours, he is treated by a “tag team” of nurses and doctors. During this time he remembers the sights, smells and sounds of Afghanistan and his journey there.
Mr. Mason uses vivid imagery and character portrayals to tell his story from his arrival in Dubai up to the beginning of his eight week dream. Ed describes his day-to-day routine at Camp Eggers, his fellow officers, his family and the dedicated medical teams he encountered on his journey. Ed’s story is straightforward, powerful, yet humorous account of his experiences in Afghanistan and how his battle for survival changes his life forever. -
Freddy B: My Last Encounter With the Law Got Me A Trip for a One Year Stay at a Department of Corrections Facility
Price range: $3.99 through $22.99I believe Freddy B will open the eyes of young men and women-“There are consequences to your actions in life.” My hope is this book will continue his ministry to others. His struggle may help parents realize, no matter how difficult, to find a way to break the wall of silence that teens frequently suffer when they think their parents do not understand.
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Abundant Blessings From My 60 Years of Ministering
Price range: $3.99 through $21.99This book share over 60 years of my ministry in four churches and traveling ministry of 20 years. It is also a look into my 90 years of life which should teach some wisdom as Job 32:7 says. There are many seeds to be sown into your life from these pages which I hope will bring forth good fruit into your life like I have experienced. There will be treasures that will surprise you and bless you.
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USE YOUR MIND OR YOU WILL LOSE YOUR MINDn
Price range: $10.99 through $20.99My name is Felicia Elizabeth Medlock. I am the author of this book {Use your mind or lose your mind}. She is clothed with strength and dignity: she can
laugh at the days to come. (Proverbs 31:25. My book is based on the trail and tribulations from the age of three years old into an adult. I briefly describe
situations from what I can remember as an adolescent to high school as I graduated high school. And, as I survive the struggles and the good days of my life the good days came into my life, when I believed in Jesus Christ, I kept the faith that all things are able. May God that gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had. (Romans 15:5). All you need is the size of a mustard seed so that you will succeed and have all you wish for. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up just in fact you are doing. (Thessalonians 5:11). Overall, material things in life doesn’t matter because without the love of Jesus Christ you will have nothing because the bible says Jesus is love and Jesus died for us on the cross and promised us that if we believe in him, we will not perish. At times when I had no way out, I prayed, and I ask God for guidance as you scroll through my book know he is the way the truth and the life. Remember we all have choices your choice can be to do right, and your choice can be to do wrong, and the wrong way is never the correct choice, so I hope this book does you well and will stay in your thoughts when you decide to do something you know will lead you down the wrong path. Know that God s way is the best way I am a living witness.
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Annabelle’s Baby
Price range: $3.99 through $19.99Seventeen-year-old Annabelle is going to have a baby by a boy who wants no part of it, or her. Unwed and pregnant – the worst catastrophe to befall a middle class, Catholic girl in the 1960’s. Desperate to hide their daughter’s condition from friends and neighbors, her parents send her to live with strangers. When Annabelle gives birth to a boy, her father, a man who has sired three girls but yearns for a son, decides that he and his wife will raise the child as their own. He forces Annabelle to pretend to be the baby’s sister.
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Decisions Matter: Ninety-Three Years of Experiences, Surprises, and Joys Beginning in Poverty on a Primitive Pioneer Farm: Ninety-Three Years of Experiences, Surprises, and Joys Beginning in Poverty on a Primitive Pioneer Farm
Price range: $3.99 through $19.99THE FIRST NINETY-THREE YEARS!
This is a true and inspiring story of one woman’s quest not only to survive against the formidable odds of her pioneer beginnings but to rise to relative prosperity and is looking forward to the day when she will meet her Savior! She shares her life learnings and adventures, including:
- How she rose from great poverty as a pioneer as an orphan at a young age in extreme backward condition during the great depression in Northern Saskatchewan to relative prosperity and very comfortable retirement years.
- How a child of Canadian immigrants became a successful citizen of both Canada and the United States.
- Why she switched from being a Roman Catholic to becoming a Protestant.
- How she struggled, having married a devout Christian who became an ardent agnostic believing principally in reason; and finally, after fifteen years, returning to his faith.
ENDROSEMENTS OF BOOK REVIEWERS
“You story shows what can be accomplished in spite of great odds when a clear goal is pursued with determination and sincerity and with unwavering commitment to a clear and specific standards.”
“This is fascinating! I love how it’s history, an autobiography, and a testimony all at once.”
“All future generations should read this si they understand how difficult life can be and how one may overcome those difficulties. I can’t wait to read the finished book. I am so proud of you, especially having written this at age ninety-three.”
“I thank you for writing this slice of North American history. Quite thrilling.”
“You story and writing are amazing!”
“My summation of your book: “An inspiring story of faith, struggle, and determination to never give up.”
“Your story is captivating! What you’ve achieved in writing your story is quite an accomplishments! Congratulations.”
“We wonder what will be the next for her.”
“IT’S A PAGE-TURNER. I JUST LOVE IT.”
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I Wanted The Wedding, Not The Marriage
Price range: $5.99 through $18.99I Wanted the Wedding, Not the Marriage is a look at what happens when the fantasy ends and real life begins. Across every culture, men and women are expected to take on certain roles once they say “I do,” yet most couples walk into marriage without truly understanding themselves or each other.
So what do you do when the marriage you imagine doesn’t match the reality you are living? Do you stay and fight? Or do you leave to save yourself?
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No Fear, No Doubt, No Regret: Investing in Life’s Challenges Like a Warrior
Price range: $3.99 through $18.99How many parents can say that they have no fears, doubts, or regrets after having raised a child? We always doubt ourselves and regret some of the mistakes we made. This father looks back on his job of parenting his oldest son with the conviction that he did the best he could do. He believes he learned more from his son than he taught, and he wants to share the nine insights that he realized he’d attained after raising his son. This is a compelling story that leads us to want to be a warrior parent, too!
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BOKI
Price range: $3.99 through $17.99I COME TO YOU AS I AM,
A MAN,
I AM WHO I AM!
LOVE ME! HATE ME,
DON’T MISUNDERSTAND ME,
I AM WHO I AM!
GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY,
I’M A GOOD FRIEND!
I AM WHO I AM!
A MAN!
I COULD BE THAT LOVER YOU NEVER HAD,
A MAN FOR RIGHT, A MAN NOT
AFRAID TO STAND!
I AM WHO I AM! -
Dad Only Tried To Shoot Me Twice
Price range: $3.99 through $17.99To save Dad’s business and control his drinking were the doubly impossible tasks I was burdened with.
The effects of alcoholism tore my family apart. I was shocked by his alcohol consumption. The longer he drank, the less responsible he became.
Facing Dad, with his gun aimed at me, are images I will never forget.
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The Paths of My Life: A Christian’s Journey
Price range: $3.99 through $17.99Martin Dorman was born at Mercy Hospital on the south side of Chicago. His parents sent him and his older siblings to church, never attending themselves, except that his Mom started attending in her late 60’s. He attended Chicago’s Ashland Christian Church in his younger years, taking a break from church during his teen years, attending sporadically until late in his nine-year military career where his older bother introduced him to Mr. Herbert Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God. He remained a member of this church over 30 years, most of that during extreme legalism, and through the time it had a major doctrinal change to Christ-centered worship. He’s now been a member of Mesa First Church of the Nazarene for two years. Pastor Ira Brown and the congregation are very warm and loving. It’s Martin’s second home. His two favorite hymns are, “Oh, How I Love Jesus,” and “To God be the Glory” He presently lives in Mesa, Arizona, and his daily goal is to live according to God’s will and follow His path.