Guardian Angel Part IV

Part IV

           

The SUV reaches a small one room shack twenty miles out of town in the middle of nowhere. The dark figure slipped out of the SUV and carried the unconscious couple into the shack, locks the door, then climbed into his SUV and heads back into town. He arrived at his apartment, stumbles into his apartment, and slams the door. He sank to his knees clutching his head as if he were in immense pain. He screamed out in pain, “I did what you asked me, please take the pain away.”

The pain suddenly increases and his skull felt like it was about to explode. He glanced over at the mirror and his reflection appeared to be laughing at him. “Fool, you haven’t completed everything I have for you to do.”

His words were barely audible, “What more would you have me do my master?” The pain subsides and a thought enters his head. An evil smile finds its way onto his face as the Evil One’s plan becomes clear in his mind. “I understand and your will be done Master.”

***

Michael awakens and found him and Samantha in a small one room shack. He ran over to Samantha, “Are you alright Sammie?”

“I think so Mike, what happened?”

“I’m not sure, the last thing I remember was picking you up at your house, and then we somehow ended up here.”

She looked up at him with fear in her eyes, “I’m scared.”

He took her in his arms and whispered, “I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you.”

She smiles and lays her head on his chest, “You know Mike; I’ve never been able to outrun you. I always thought there would come a day when I didn’t regret telling you goodbye. Looking back, I should have realized that I can’t outrun you.”

“I don’t know what to say, Sammie.”

She smiles, “There’s a part of you in every part of me. It’s like your ghost is chasing me, and I can’t outrun you. I have moved around, and no matter where I go, you always seem to be with me. I’ve had a chance with other guys, but I only ever saw your face. I’ve prayed that the memory of you would fade, but I guess God knows better. I guess what I am saying is that I am so sorry for breaking your heart and if you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I would like the chance to love you again. This time I would love you right.” A tear finds its way down her cheek as she looked into his eyes, “I love you Michael.”

Michael placed his hands on her chin and tilted her head up and kissed her gently, then whispered, “I love you too Samantha, I always have and always will. Now we need to get out of here and find out who took us.”

He took her hand and went to the front door, finding it lock he put his boot to it and kicked it open. Samantha looked at Michael, “My hero.” They both chuckle and run out the open door. Soon after they left the cabin, they found themselves lost in the surrounding forest. The sun started setting and still they found themselves lost in the forest.

They stopped to rest for a moment or two, and suddenly Sam had an idea, she closed her eyes and silently pleaded with whoever was listening, “Please help us God, if you are there. I think you are… please help us out of this forest.” A moment later, she heard a voice in her mind, telling her the way out of the forest. They head off in the direction she was told Michael trusting her that she knows where she’s going.

As they race toward the edge of the forest, the trees begin to move, ever so slightly, moving them in the direction the Evil one wants. They soon come to a clearing and once out of the cover of the trees they see that they are back at the cabin where they started. They saw the dark figure standing on the porch. He points a boney finger toward them and they are surrounding by a pack of wolves with glowing red eyes. He laughs at them, “Did you actually think you could get away from me? It will take more than just a prayer to get you out of this.”

The dark figure started to make his way toward the couple when a bright white light comes out of nowhere and blinds the dark figure. As the dark figure staggered back, a figure stepped out of the white light with a flaming sword and shield. “You will not have these people Evil One.”

The dark figure just laughs, “Whose going to stop me? You? I think not… no, no one can stop me. I have the power of the Evil One, I am unstoppable. I will kill you and then I will continue with the Evil One’s plan.” With that said the dark one pulled out a sword that was black at pitch. The two combatants begin to circle…

***

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Guardian Angel Part III

Finally...the next part to the exciting short story Guardian Angel. Remember to check out all the other short stories. Just click the link at the bottom. Till next time.

Guardian Angel (Part III)

The mysterious man glances down at his watch, seeing the time, he exits the car and makes his way around to the back of her house and tests the door knob. An evil smile spreads from ear to ear as he discovered that the door is indeed unlocked. He rubs his hands together as he slowly opens the back door and slips into her house. He saw the head lights of a car coming up the street, and knew he needed to hide so he slipped into the hidden passage way, only he knew about, being the previous owner of the house.

A car came to a screeching stop in front of Samantha’s house. She looks out the window trying to find out what the noise was about when she saw Michael jumping out of his car and rushing up to her door. She opened the door just as he got there. Samantha smiled and greeted him, “Hey there Mike.” He got to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her over, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine Mike, what’s wrong?”

“Stay right here, I need to check out something.” With that said, he rushed into her home and started looking everywhere. He finished going through Samantha’s house, and went back to where she was standing on the front porch.

“Everything looks fine.”

“Well of course it does Mike, what were you looking for?”

He thinks a moment, trying to decide if he should tell her about the feeling he had. He decides that being honest would probably be the best course. “I was getting ready for our date when a feeling came over me that you were in some kind of danger.” He thought back to the moment when he got the feeling and realized that it was more than a feeling. “Actually it was more than a feeling; it was more like a voice in my head or something. I know it sounds crazy Sam, but it did happen.”

Sam takes his hands and looks into his eyes, “You’re not crazy Mike. There are many instances where people have heard voices or have gotten a feeling not to do something, or to do something. It’s more common than you think. And besides, I would rather have you be here and be wrong, than not to have you here and have something happen.”

“I suppose you’re right Sam, I am just glad you are safe.” He smiled at her as they continue to talk about this and that.

A hidden door in the other room silently opened and a dark figure slipped out. He made his way over to the couple and knocked both of them out. He moved them both to his SUV and heads out of town, smiling to himself and congratulating himself on a job well done.

***

Gabriel stormed up to his Father, “Father, I was too late. I warned Michael, but he didn’t get there in time and now they have both been taken. How am I supposed to call myself a Guardian Angel, if I can’t do anything right?”

“Son, have no worry, things will work out. You have not failed.”

“How can you say this, I have not kept Samantha out of the clutches of the Evil one.”

His Father smiles at his son with a warm fatherly smile, “She isn’t alone, and you can’t take away their agency, they still have to choose.”

Gabriel starts to get frustrated, “What does that have to do with me messing up?”

“You will see in time. Have faith that Samantha and Michael will do the right thing.”

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World Building Blog (Guest posted by Stephen B Pearl

 Hello everyone. This is the next Guest post. This one is done by Stephen B. Pearl. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Till Next Time!



World Building
    Hi everybody, I’m Stephen B. Pearl and I’ve been invited to bend your eyeballs for a few moments. This is a writing blog, so I suppose I should list my published works. These are:

Nukekubi: Available March 1, 2012: A paranormal, detective novel, ISBN 978-0-9867633-6-6 - eISBN. 978-0-9867633-7-3 Available in paperback and e-book formats from Dark Dragon Publishing: www.darkdragonpublishing.com
Tinker’s Plague: A post-apocalyptic, science fiction, medical and political thriller, ISBN 978-1-933157-30-6 Available in paperback and e-book formats from Draumr Publishing: http://www.draumrpublishing.com/store/cart.php?target=main
Slaves of Love: e-book: A futuristic detective story of love and madness.
The Hollow Curse: e-book: A centuries spanning tale of love and obsession
Available from Club Lighthouse Publishing: www.clublighthousepublishing.com

 PWP Sabbath Anthologies: Contributing author: Collections of stories, pomes and articles focusing on the Pagan Sabbaths as they are celebrated throughout the year. Available in paperback and e-book formats from the Pagan Writers’ Press: http://paganwriterspress.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

    Well with the pedigree somewhat established I’ll move onto the body of this piece. I’ve been given an extremely long rope so the opportunity to hang myself if pre-eminent. Kidding aside, I’d like to talk about world building and how it relates to writing fiction in general. I’ll be specifically discussing my process for world building as it is illustrated by my published works. Let’s look at the needs I have to fulfill as a world builder.

Logical
    First, my world / universe must be a place that the action I want to play out can logically occur. This seems obvious but it is all too easy to try to place a story in a world that really doesn’t support it.
 Taking Tinker’s Plague as an example, this story cannot be told in anything but a post-apoplectic world. I require a world where high technology exists but is only available to the few. There must be a smattering of failed technology, and limited resources for dealing with a plague. This made the quarantine hard to enforce and set up the situation that led to my central conflict.
So the world must fit with the story told within it. If I tried to tell the story of Tinker’s Plague in let’s say the present day, logic flaws would occur such as why wouldn’t the CDC descend on mass. Where are the news crews making everything public? Why don’t they mobilise the military to keep order? So the shortages of a post-apocalyptic world were vital to my telling of the story. One obvious thing that being in a post-apocalyptic world allowed for was the isolation of my protagonists which really ups the dramatic tension.

Internal Consistency
The world must be internally consistent.
In Slaves of Love, I have a high tech urban society set about a hundred years from now. This has several implications, for one the cities have largely been converted into “Towers”. These structures reach kilometres into the air. The suburbs, or low towns, form what can be called the wrong side of the tracks.  To make the Towers I had to advance materials technology, thus poly-carbonates, super-strong, log chains of carbon molecules, are used for many things we use steel for today. This also means that space launch technology has advanced with super-light, super-strong, space shuttles. It is a hundred years in the future so gasoline is a bad memory, instead people drive electric cars. Using electric cars meant that I had to have recharge stations reminiscent of parking meters at each parking space because of the poor mass to power storage ratio of batteries when compared to chemical fuels. The pressure differential between the bottom and the top of a kilometres high Towers will result in hurricane force winds. It makes sense to harness these to supply power. This is but one consequence of people living in these towers that has to be examined to keep the book’s internal logic. The answers to these problems echo out into the world in general.
The idea is to look at the elements you put into the world and think of how they would affect that world, not just in the ways that are convenient to your story. This will make your world seem real and may even present you with some interesting elements to use in the book that you hadn’t thought of before.
Character Impact
The people in the world must reflect their world. No one lives in a vacuum. We are all affected by the society we live in, the things we grew up with and the things we deal with everyday.
 In Nukekubi, my paranormal detective story, I have a structured, urban society, ours, where rationalism has largely eroded a belief in magic. This results in Ray, my wizard, having to have a day job. The business of people not believing in magic forces the practitioners of magic to be circumspect about things. Imagine going into your boss and saying, “I need a few days off so I can hunt a Japanese goblin that is scaring people to death.” Getting canned might be the least of your troubles. The logic of a world, where magic is only slightly more demonstrative than ours, is that mystics are as closeted as they are in our own world. Keeping this kind of secret influences a character. An other aspect is there are simply things your characters can’t talk to people at large about. This will create friction in interpersonal relationships. The sense of being an outsider looking in is likely to make the character a little judgmental when looking at the rest of society. Another aspect of this is if your character has a way they could strike out at people, and not risk retaliation, what does it say about their moral nature that they don’t?
    What you need to do is think about how things have influenced you and extrapolate how the elements of your world will influence your character. Will they rebel, conform, not care? The world your characters live in is as much a part of them as their hands and feet, so be careful how you sculpt it.

Sub-worlds
    My final point is to remember there are many worlds in your world.
    In The Hollow Curse, my two leads experience a series of past lives. Okay, to make the story work my characters need to believe in reincarnation. They also should be people pre-inclined to recalling past lives so I made than practicing Druids.
Some of you are probably scratching your heads and saying what’s a Druid, others are thinking, “weren’t they killed off?” The answers are that they are the Priests of the Ancient Celtic Religion, and there are still several Druidic churches and societies in operation today. This is the point though, they are a world within our world that many people have no contact with. Have the modern Druids been affected by the modern world? Definitely, who’s going to pass up indoor plumbing? Do they form a world within the world with its own unique influences that will affect the characters? Definitely. You have to look at the sub worlds that your character moves through and how they influence them.
 A character may move between several sub worlds in a book. In The Hollow Curse, Alysia is part of the worlds of a university graduate student, a Druid or Dryad, a term some use for a Druidic Priestess, a jogger, and a budding police consultant. All of these sub worlds will influence her although she may be their only crossover point, and she may keep them all very distinct.
Another great source of conflict is to have a person slip and apply the norms of one sub-world they live in to another sub-world that they live in. If you want to see the result of this just look at a high school kid who is into science and sports. If he slips up and describes the flight of a base ball referencing the laws of physics how well is he received by the other jocks? It can range from good natured teasing to down right hatred and ostracism.
So at another level of world building you must be aware of the sub-worlds that inhabit your story and allow the pertinent ones to leek in and influence your character. No one completely turns themselves on and off when they move between these sub-worlds and conflicts between the various worlds your character inhabits can add spice to the book or even be the central theme of the book.

The idea of all this is that world building should be as important as character and plot to your story. In a sense, your world should be a major character present in every scene affecting every action, influencing, but never overshadowing, the other aspects of the story.

    Thank you very much for reading, and I would like to thank Kerry for giving me this chance to pontificate.

    If you want more information about Stephen B. Pearl or my books you can also visit:

Blog: www.draumrpublishing.com/forums/blog/stephen_b__pearl.
Website:  http://www.stephenpearl.com/
YouTube Readings: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlMDmlb-Los
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Stephen-B-Pearl-writer/172076419488163
PolkaDot Banner: http://polkadotbanner.com/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=528
Author’sDen: http://www.authorsden.com/stephenbpearl
Good Reads: http://bing.search.sympatico.ca/?q=Good%20Reads&mkt=en-ca&setLang=en-CA

Speak out against bullying--Spread love not hate!

Bullying is never a good idea. It affects people in a most personal way. The old saying "Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." The person who said this was probably never bullied and didn't know how much names actually can hurt and leave scars which never heal.

On a personal level, I have been asked to share a personal experience I had with bullying and since I feel strongly about it, I agreed to do it. When I was younger, in elementary school, I was bullied almost every day. It didn't matter what I did, or who I talked to, it always happened. I was called names and even got in fights almost every day. The one thing I wish I would have had back then were friends who actually considered me a friend. Sure there were people who acted like my friend when it suited them, but no true friends. Sure the teachers and principal tried to get it to stop, but in the end there wasn't much they could do. It was a hard 6 years of my life to say the least.

However with every good story, this one also ends on a good note. I attribute my undying loyalty to my friends from knowing what it's like not to have any friends. I made myself a promise all those years ago, that if I were to ever get some true friends, I would always be their friend for life. And I have never broken that promise either. I think those rough years have shaped me somewhat into the man I am today, along with some wonderful friends I have had for 20 plus years.

I don't hate those kids who picked on me and bullied me all those many years ago, in fact, some of them have actually apologized to me for that, and of course I accepted it. The thing that helped me the most through all of that, and that helped me not hate them was the knowledge that my Savior Jesus Christ loves me just like he does everyone else. I realized that I was not alone, even though I felt like it many times.

Please if you see anyone who is being bullied help them and continue to help them. Do whatever you can to let them know that they aren't alone and that they don't have to go through it alone. At the bottom of this post is a link that will take you to more stories like mine. Please take a moment and read them and remember to Spread love not Hate and Speak out again bullying.

http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=126056

Part II of Guardian Angel

Here is part II of the short story called Guardian Angel. Be sure to check out the link at the bottom for more.

Guardian Angel (Part II)

As the sun rose on a new day, a soft beam of light filters its way through the window, softly land on Samantha’s face, warming her skin. She slowly opens her eyes while stretching out the remaining sleepiness. She makes her way into the bathroom to shower. As the warm water wakes her up, the same words that were spoken to her the previous night, comes back to her mind. A smile slowly creeps onto her face as memories start to flood into her mind and the love of God enters her heart.

She finishes her shower, gets dressed, picked up her cell phone, and dialed a number she hasn’t called in a very long time. She four rings and then a message starts, “Hey you have reached Michael’s cell phone, leave your name and number and I will be get back to you as soon as I can.” Beeeep.

Samantha paused, thinking to herself, “Saved by the beep.” and trying to find the strength to say what she needs to say. “Mike, hey its Sam, how are you doing? I hope you’re good. Hey, I was thinking and maybe we could get together. Let me know. Um, okay…bye.”

She hung up the phone, wondering why she even called him. It’s not like they have spoken in a year. He probably doesn’t even remember her. She puts this out of her mind and heads off to work and then school, just like every other day. Samantha is busy at work when her cell phone rings, unfortunately it’s on vibrate and she doesn’t here it ring. The call goes to voicemail, where the caller left a voicemail. She leaves for her lunch break and saw that she had a voicemail. She calls her voicemail and puts in the code, hoping the message is from Michael. Her hands start to shake as the voicemail starts.

“Sam…this is a surprise to say the least. I never expected to hear from you again.” Then the message went silent for a few seconds, and her heart skipped a beat, he then continued, “I would like to see you again, and catch up. How about we meet tomorrow at the old café off 5^th street? Call and let me know what you think. Bye for now.” Samantha hit seven to save the message, looks around, sees that there isn’t any one around, and does a little happy dance. She finished up work and on her way to work; she called up Michael, hoping he was home.

She heard two rings, and then a young man picked up the phone, “Hello?” Samantha almost lost her nerve right then, but took a deep breath and answered, “Mike?”

“Yes, this is him.”

“Hey, this is Sam, how ya doin’?

“Oh hey Sam, I am good, how are you doin’?

“I’m good, thanks. I was calling to let you know that tomorrow would be great.”

“Great, I get off work around 8pm, how does 8:30 sound?”

“That’s perfect.”

“Alright, I will pick you up at around 8:30pm.”

“Okay, see you then Mike, Bye” Samantha hung up the phone before he could even say good bye. Through the rest of the day, she kept looking up at the clock; wishing time would fly by so she could see the only man who had ever loved her. Memories and mistakes from long ago fill her mind. She finally could stand no more of this slow clock she put her desk in order and then left the office. Her boss would understand, she hoped.

***

As Samantha left work to go home and change for what she hoped was the first of many dates with Michael, a black Dodge Charger with tinted windows pulled out and began to follow her. The driver of the car looked in his rear view mirror and saw the fire in his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair which was black as coal. He had been told that he had a look that could hypnotize anyone.

The mysterious man in the black car pulled over across the street and watched as Samantha went into her house to get ready. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. As he talked to the person on the other line, he kept an eye on Samantha’s house. He hung up the phone and pressed a button on the dash of his car and it opens to reveal three monitors. As these monitors turn on, he sees Samantha getting ready for her date. A satisfied smile made its way onto his face as he continued to watch her.

***

As Michael was getting ready to go pick up Samantha, the being appears behind Michael and whispers in his ear, then disappears again. All of a sudden, a feeling that Samantha is in danger flashes into his mind, he finishes up and ran out his door, jumped into his car and raced off to Samantha’s apartment, hoping the feeling he had was wrong.

http://tuesdaytales1.blogspot.com

A short story.

Here is another short story I wrote for the Tuesday Tale Group I am involved with. Hope you enjoy. Till Next time.

Guardian Angel

Samantha was just a normal young woman, in a normal town, living what she thought was a normal and somewhat boring life. She was living on her own, having moved out of her parent’s house when she was 20 years old. She worked two jobs and she was going to school to get a degree so she could make something of herself. She told herself that she didn’t have time for a serious relationship and besides, she knew what she wanted out of life.

            She arrived at work, 10 minutes early like she always did. It never hurt to make a good impression with your boss. She was the legal assistant to the best defensive attorney in the city. She kept his schedule organized, pretty much kept his life organized.

            “Sammie…” as he liked to call her, probably because she really didn’t like that nick name very much, “Lets run over my schedule before the first appointment arrives.”

            She stopped trying to get him to stop with the nick name. He had been using it that nick name for her for the past few years. “Yes Mr. Sampson, right away. Let’s see, your first appointment is at 9:30am with a Mr. Duckworth. He is charged with Grand Theft Auto and resisting arrest, along with carrying a concealed weapon without a license.” She continues to run through his schedule, telling him when his appointments are and when he is scheduled to be in court.

            Mr. Sampson dismisses her and she returns to her desk to man the phone and to type up the forms and things that he needed for the day. The day passes by with not much excitement. When 6:00pm finally arrives she, shuts down her computer and turns on the auto answer on the phone. She pokes her head in Mr. Sampson’s office to say goodnight, then leaves the office, hoping she will be able to catch the 6:30pm bus.

            Samantha arrives at her apartment at 11:00pm having went to her other job and night school, drops her stuff on the chair, goes to the fridge to get a bottle of water and slumps into the couch, slipping out of her shoes. She turns on the local news and watches it for about five minutes, then turns it off, wondering why anyone can stand to watch such depressing stuff on the TV. She finishes her bottle of water and then heads for a long overdue bubble bath. She was going down the hall when all of a sudden she stops in mid step. She slowly turns and looks back at the way she came, shrugs, and continues to make her way to the bathroom to take that bath. She slips into the nice hot bath and closes her eyes, taking the heat in.

            As she lies there, trying not to think about work, the bathroom door slowly starts to open with an eerie squeak to it. She sits up in the tub with a start, just in time to see her boxer’s wet nose nudge open the door. “Max, you scared me.” Max goes over to her and licks her face, knowing she wouldn’t be able to stay mad at him after that. She shoos him away and finishes her bath. She put on her PJs, called Max to her, and went to bed.

            As Samantha slept soundly, a small white light appeared in her room, it steadily got brighter and brighter until her entire room is filled with this light. As the light gets brighter and brighter, a messenger stepped out of the light, and then the light just disappeared. This messenger steps over to where Samantha is sleeping and softly whispered something in her ear and then left the same way, through the bright white light.

            After the messenger left, Samantha began to dream, and in this dream she found herself at work. She started watching herself work and noticed that she was much older. She also noticed that she didn’t have a ring on so; she figured that she still hadn’t had time for marriage. The phone rang, and she reached over the desk to answer, and her hand passed right through it. Her older self reached over and answered the phone and it was her mom, and somehow she heard both sides of the conversation.

            “Hey Hunny, how are you doing?”

            “I’m doing fine mom. What can I do for you?”

            “I was wondering if you had time to talk for a minute or two.’

            “I really don’t right now Mom, I am swamped at work, but I am glad you called.”

            “Alright, could we go for lunch, I would really like to talk to you and going to your father’s grave site.”

            “Sorry Mom, I am working through lunch today, maybe tomorrow. You know I don’t like to go there, its way too depressing.”

            “Oh… okay Hun, I will call you tomorrow.”

            “Alright Mom, I need to go.”

            “Alright Sam, I love you, bye.” Her mom hangs up the phone without waiting for her to answer, knowing she won’t take the time to go to lunch with her tomorrow. The older Samantha sighs in frustration, speaking to herself, “I really wish she wouldn’t just call me up at work, doesn’t she understand that I have a lot to do.”

            The scene shifts to a graveyard where there is a group of people standing around a grave watching as the casket is lowered into the ground. Samantha moved closer to see whose funeral this was. She looks at the program that one of the people attending is holding. She notices that it’s her mother’s funeral. She scans the area looking for her future self, but she is nowhere around. She turns away from the funeral, with tears in her eyes. She knew deep inside why she wasn’t at her own mother’s funeral. All of a sudden, she found herself in her bed. She lets out a deep breath and tries to collect her thoughts.

***

            The blinding white light flares to it brightest, and then winks out. Standing in place of the light is a large being. He walks over to the other being standing on the other side of the room. The second being spoke first, “How did your mission go Gabriel?”

            “It went well father. The seed has been planted, now we just have to wait and see what she does with it.”

            “She will remember and things will turn out for the best son.” Gabriel sighed, and turned toward his father. “Phase two will happen in a week.”

            “Are you sure she is the one my son, this isn’t a game. You have to be sure.”

            “Yes Father, I am sure.

***

After a relaxing bath, Samantha grabbed her smart phone and called her parents, just to make sure they were okay. She hung up the phone, feeling better knowing her parents are doing fine. The dream she had keeps entering her mind and she wondered about the meaning to it. As the days pass, she thinks about the dream less and less.

A week passes and Samantha gets home after a particular hard day at work, drops everything, and collapses into her bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. As she sleeps, the same being appears from a blinding white light and whispers into her hear again.

“Forgiveness is the road to redemption. Love is the heart and hope of the world. Hope is the soul of the dreamer. Heaven is the home of my God. It only takes one true believer to believe you can still beat the odds. It’s never too late to apologize.”

http://tuesdaytales1.blogspot.com

Cover Art

Here is what we have so far as the cover for my upcoming book. It was done by my wonderful wife, Liz. Let me know what you think and how it can be improved. Thanks. Till next time.