Top Ten List: Reasons for Buying a Copy (or Several Copies) of 'Litany of Secrets'

On my regular and author Facebook pages, I've engaged in a running top ten list of reasons to get a copy of my debut novel, Litany of Secrets. For those of you who are interested, here's the full list of items. And please, when you get through this, share the reasons, and the book information, with others.

(10) Downloading it to your Kindle is cheaper than a frapuccino from Starbucks, a ticket to a ball game, a gallon of milk (in most places), a gallon of gas, or a box combo from Raising Canes. Think about something you'd give up this week for a great story.

(9) Main character, Detective Cameron Ballack, is the sleuthing prince of paradoxes. A fiercely independent spirit in the body of a physically disabled person; a minister's son with an agnostic streak a mile wide; critical thinking threading side-by-side with intuition rising from a photographic memory. Think about a character you'd want in a great story, and get to know Cameron Ballack.

(8) If you believe religious communities can be profoundly beautiful and powerfully stained entities, the setting of the first Cameron Ballack mystery is for you. St. Basil's Seminary combines high church tradition with roiling evil, and the bodies keep piling up.

(7) If you love a well-constructed fictional setting within an actual area, Litany of Secrets is for you. The fictional St. Basil's Seminary sits in Defiance, Missouri, near Missouri wine country, but all other sites other than St. Basil's are spot-on. If you know and love St. Louis, you'll enjoy the references to the Katy Trail, Highways 40, 94 and 270, not to mention Fitz's Restaurant with its famous root beer. Getting the itch?

(6) The big publishing houses do not have a complete lock on quality literature and great stories. Litany of Secrets is the first crime fiction novel publishing by Dunrobin Publishing, headed by Mark Sutherland, who is everything an editor, publisher, and literary shepherd could be. Litany of Secrets is not only a great story; it is one of many great stories and books that have been published by Dunrobin. Check out great authors like Mark, as well as Glynn Young, David T. MacFarlane and others at http://dunrobin.us 

(5) Clean shock value: The story and language are decent enough to appeal to many. Yet the shock value is high-voltage without being gratuitous. Murder at an Orthodox seminary? Yes! A rural, bucolic environment awash in mistrust and murder? Yes! Yes! Yes! 

(4) You never know when you'll bump into someone who shows interest in getting a copy themselves. The Orthodox church storyline is a different niche for murder mysteries, but it came in handy days ago when I was doing sermon prep for this upcoming Sunday at the local public library. A guy named Garrett struck up a conversation about what I was doing, and in the course of our talk, I found out he was Orthodox [I think it freaked him out that a Presbyterian like me knew what an iconostasis was!], and eventually the subject came around to Litany of Secrets. Using your everyday contacts can get the word out about the story…be willing to follow the angles!

(3) Admit it: We all judge a book by its cover--literally and metaphorically. A cover can either obscure a book's message or enrapture the reader by amplifying the story to another level. Juxtaposed themes of darkness and hope, mystery and clarity, disability and determination are all brought out beautifully by Ciarra Peters, my former student and the cover artist for Litany of Secrets. Ciarra is a brilliant scholar who has won prizes for research in white brain matter, yet her artistic soul pours forth with beautiful redesigns like the Litany of Secrets cover image. She literally has to image a scene in her mind and she cane raw it without batting an eye. Want to draw someone you know into the world of Detective Cameron Ballack? Show them the front cover of Litany of Secrets, and you'll seal the deal.

(2) It's worth a look when one of the best English teachers in the universe gives it a five-star review. Deborah Harbaugh Clarke--my ninth and eleventh grade English teacher at Westminster High School in Westminster, Maryland--always had high standards but never stopped pushing and encouraging me toward those lofty expectations. She, more than anyone else, is responsible for turning me into a writer, and so she knows what she's talking about when it comes to heating up the composition soul.

(1) It's real, because Detective Cameron Ballack is a real person. Not real as in non-fiction, but drenched in realism. Ballack is afflicted with X-linked myotubular myopathy, the same disorder that our son Joshua has and the thing which took our sweet little Jordan from us. Ballack consistently shows himself to be handi-capable rather than handicapped, and that courage and determination can come from a wheelchair with the force of a howitzer. Ballack experiences love, loss, hope, despair, fear, and bravery and always manages to move forward through every wall, even though he can't walk through them on his own two feet. Resourceful and realistic, Cameron Ballack is a hero we've been waiting for.

And there's your top ten reasons. Now share them--and the story of Litany of Secrets--with others.

And the Preview Run is Over!

Let me say first of all, I've loved doing these Match of the Day mini-previews. It's been a blast going down memory lane in the World Cup and thinking through what might happen in this one. However, after tomorrow's games, I'll be hanging up my prognosticator's hat and enjoying the rest of the World Cup without weighing in on particular games here at Sacred Chaos.

There are several reason for this:

(1) From a strategy perspective, we've already got five teams already in the knockout round, and five teams (including defending champ Spain) eliminated after only two group games. That means that from Monday through Thursday, we have four games each day. If a match could make the difference in a team going on or being out, it's significant. If not, it's not. It's that simple. After a rest day on Friday, we begin the knockout phase on Saturday, June 28th. I might pick up some previews when we get to the quarterfinals, but a rest is in order.

(2) I have a fairly busy family week this week. Joshua has vent clinic at St. Louis Children's Hospital on Tuesday, Lindsay has her orthodontic appointment Thursday afternoon, and I have to take Lindsay to her archery camps on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. 

(3) To top it off, I need to take my laptop in to school so that the IT department can do some mandatory updates on it, thus making it fit and fiddle for the upcoming school year. So I'll part with it on Monday and get it back later in the week. It'll be good to have a break.

So thanks for tagging along for the World Cup ride so far. Probably see you all in cyberspace in about a week!

Match of the Day: Great Nation vs. Greatest Player

I have to preach across the river in Illinois on Sunday, so I'm sending out my Match of the Day preview a step early.

Belgium vs. Russia is an intriguing clash, but I should be shot if I select any other game than the USA vs. Portugal.

On paper, the US seems to have all the momentum. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann is pushing all the right buttons, Tim Howard is playing outstanding in goal, and the timely scoring has taken away a level of anxiety over getting gassed down the stretch against what's turned out to be a strong Ghana team (witness their 2-2 tie against Germany today). But the US is a little banged up. It will be interesting to see how Clint Dempsey plays through his broken nose and if Jozy Altidore can play through the searing pain of his hamstring, which he yanked like you're starting a mower.

Portugal likewise is banged up. Two starters out with injuries, and defender Pepe is barred from the pitch due to a red card for head butting Thomas Muller in the Portuguese collapse against the Germans. Not to mention that the Wonder of the Universe and Gift of the Gods, Cristiano Ronaldo, is facing up to a knee injury that he won't let keep him down. Give him credit, though, for wanting to play through (when I received word of his injury, I thought at first his hairdo suffered a dislocated hair follicle). 

The US finished strong against Ghana, but can they turn up their jets a second straight time? We saw today Germany's struggles in trying to stay motivated for game number two in group. And Portugal never really showed up against the Germans, but facing elimination, they might flash a good bit of anger and come out roaring. 

Bottom line: This will not be a walkover. At the very least, I'm saying no more than a one-goal differential either way.

Torching the Envelope

Toward the end of the school year, I mentioned an innovative group activity we used in my Ethics classes, dividing into clusters of 3-4 students and--in rotating sequences--drawing select words out of cups and writing five different 100-word stories called drabbles about some of the Ten Commandments.

While I mentioned the fun of trying something new, it's only fair to  state that one group managed to pull off a story that was named Best Overall. It's exactly one hundred words, arranged in a hilarious story about theft (the eighth commandment) and done so in thirty-three sentences of three words each, followed by a monosyllabic ending word.

I'm not making this up.

So it's only fair to share the creativity of Johnny Hardin, Elisabeth Harding, and Nate Applebaum. It's entitled simply "8".

Patrick walked in. He was shifty. He saw novel. Novel looked good. Novel was prayer. Patrick likes novel. Patrick steals novel. Patrick walks out. Godfrey is storeclerk. Godfrey sees Patrick. "NO LIKE THIEVES!" "Hey," Godfrey screams. Godfrey calls police. Patrick runs out. Police tackle Patrick. Patrick breaks leg. Patrick is sad. Patrick visits court. Judge is angry. Jury is unforgiving. Patrick sues police. Leg is broken. Patrick is guilty. Sentenced to die. Patrick attempted escaping. Police tackle Patrick. Break other leg. Patrick is shot. Godfrey feels bad.  Godfrey quits job. Names kid Patrick. Patrick breaks leg. Lives happily forever. Fin.

Match of the Day: Double-G Rematch

What is it about Ghana that they seem to run into rematches?

The Black Stars faced the Americans for the third straight World Cup in their 2-1 loss to the USMNT last week, and now there is no rest for the weary. In a group rematch from 2010, today's game at 2 pm CT features Ghana taking on world number-two (and Davis family number-one favorite) Germany.

In 2010, it was Germany facing a must-win situation. The Mannschaft had suffered a stunning 1-0 loss against Serbia the game before (thanks to a red card on scoring machine Miroslav Klose and a blown PK by Lukas Podolski). With a win over Ghana, the Germans would advance to a knockout round of 16 game against England, and they did by the narrowest of margins. A 1-0 squeaker, thanks to a bullet from beyond the arc by Mesut "Bugsy" Ozil, got the Germans over the line.

Now it's Ghana on the edge and you can bet that German coach Joachim Loew will set out a lineup he knows can crunch down on the flow of the Black Stars' offense. The one wildcard will be who Loew puts in at striker. Ghana coach James Appiah has to be concerned how he will break Germany's defense, especially given how Portugal was frustrated in the Mannschaft's 4-0 demolition last week.

There is very little to say here other than Ghana is in a must-win situation and is facing a short history with Germany that is still lopsided in Prussian favor (two games, two wins, 7-1 scoring differential). But Germany, who dearly wants a World Cup title, views every game as must win, and the talent and Vaterland determination should be enough to give Germany a decisive win.

Match of the Day: Battle in the E Block

Italy and Costa Rica is the lid lifter game today, a battle for control of Group D, but the middle clash--in Salvador--between France and Switzerland for control of Group E is quite intriguing.

France is going for increasing redemption after their 2010 disaster, which saw them melt down with on- and off-field issues in South Africa. (In fairness, it does seem like the French alternate fantastic and dreadful runs in the World Cup…1998, champions…2002, no goals scored…2006, finalists…2010, screwups.) Their 3-0 knockdown of Honduras in their opener was impressive and marked two-goal (and nearly three) scorer Karim Benzema as one to watch.

Switzerland is going into this with motivation of its own. They are coming off a thrilling stoppage time 2-1 win over Ecuador in which Haris Steferovic scored the winning tally with seconds on the clock. Often overlooked when compared with surrounding world powers Germany, France, and Italy, the Swiss want this one badly. They actually finished ahead of France in their group in 2006 in Germany, but fell flat against Ukraine in a knockout phase shootout. They know a tie does them little good for passing France as their neighbors have the edge on goal differential.

The better conditioned, less injured team should have the edge down the stretch in this one. The problem is I have no clue who that should be. But both teams should put a lot of great soccer on display nonetheless.

Trends & Stuff: E-Reading vs. Print Reading

This comes from a UK Telegraph article from last year, but it makes an interesting case for a rebound in print books alongside what you can download on the Kindle or NOOK. I should say that--as a reader and an author--I'm a fan of both approaches. But in the Telegraph article, Louise Gray notes that the preferences of authors for

     a well stuffed book shelf to one slim tablet and admire well illustrated book over a touch-screen. “Ugly adverts” appearing on screens is also a problem for authors.

Alain de Botton, the philosopher, said he soon dumped e-books when he realised the information didn’t really sink in without physical contact with a real book.

"I'm a recent apostate from e-books. I found that whatever I read on my Kindle I couldn't really remember in the long term. It was as if I had never read it," he told the Sunday Times.

Jilly Cooper missed the ability to makes notes on e-book readers in the same way as with traditional books.

"I like to scribble all over [books] and write things and say 'Well done' and 'God how awful' and 'Let's remember that bit'. I always underline good bits and turn over the pages of bits that absolutely knock me out," she said.

You can read the rest of the article here.