My Coming of Age Novel OURAY’S PEAK recently received a lovely review on Amazon from Jacqueline Bryant.

Many on GoodReads might know me as the author of the mystical/occult mystery series STONE QUEST that contains the two books DESERT CHIMERA and GALLOWS ASCENDING.

Currently I am deeply immersed in completing book Three of the series: NEURI SHAPE-SHIFTER.

The STONE QUEST series features psychic tracker Luke Stone and his nemesis the black magician Armand Jacobi in a classic struggle, both physical and psychological, of good versus evil.

Armand was largely absent from GALLOWS ASCENDING as Luke leaves the desert and wanders to New England, his first wife having died in Death Valley. In New England he is drawn into a mystery that reaches back over 250 years and involves witchcraft and the brutal hanging of a beautiful young woman. Luke must solve the mystery in order to save his new beloved, Beth Rutledge.

In NEURI SHAPE-SHIFTER, Luke’s nemesis Armand returns.

OURAY’S PEAK, follows the journey of Kristin Tabor as she crosses the country and treks deep inside the Rocky Mountains in search of the mother who left when she was still a child.

I have re-printed the review below.

Please visit my Amazon page for more information on all my books:

http://amzn.to/YomRl1

or my web site:

www.VioletHillsProductions.com

All of my books are available free if you are an Amazon Prime user.

Jacqueline Bryant -

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This review is from: Ouray’s Peak (Kindle Edition)

This is one of the best novels I have read of late. Kristin, a teenaged girl of partly native American descent (Ute), leaves the home of her brother and alcoholic father to search for her beloved mother, Christine, who has left the family to answer her true calling as a healer to the Ute people. This story so clearly portrays the adolescent longing for an estranged mother, the loneliness of separation from family, and the desperation of a search that at times feels near to hopeless. But Kristin has a strong spirit and unquenchable determination to find her mother and her true heritage as a native American. The hardships and obstacles she encounters every day of the journey hardens and also matures Kristin as she stands at the threshold of adulthood, but what will she do when she meets the love of her life and must learn to trust and surrender her heart again? Leigh Podgorski paints a scenic picture of the Colorado mountain country and the Indian reservation in this beautiful, memorable, coming of age story, which I consider excellent for young and older readers alike. I applaud her unique storytelling talent and look forward to more from this author. Thank you Ms. Podgorski, I didn’t want the story to end!

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My Kindle Select Novel Desert Chimera, the first book in the Stone Quest series introduces the reader to psychic tracker and visionary Luke Stone will be offered free on April 14th.

Desert Chimera was first envisioned as the play Desert Wolf, and presented at the Interact Theatre Company, directed by Dave Florek, and starring Dave Florek (Prince of Belle Aire, Grace Under Fire, Captain Ahab, Audi among countless other television and film roles) in the role of Luke Stone with Greg White as Armand Jacobi, Tina Carlisi as Mack Starr, Ivonne Coll as Consuelo Arroyo (later replaced by Denise Blasor due to Ivonne’s demanding schedule), Bette Rae as Eppie Falco, and Jeris Pondexter as Leo.

After a very successful performance at the Interact, I decided to adapt the play to a novel to delve more deeply into the tantalizing relationship between Luke and his nemesis the black magician Armand Jacobi, the man who picked him up off the streets of New York City as an urchin run-a-way, healed him, and tutored him in the occult arts.

Desert Chimera explores the complicated relationship between these two men, Luke Stone and Armand Jacobi, and more deeply, the complicated relationship between good and evil.

When I first began developing the material, I read biographies of Scientology creator L. Ron Hubbard as well as biographies of Church of Satan leader Anton LeVay. Both of these larger-than-life figures inform the character of Armand Jacobi.

I was also reading Tom Brown’s books about the Cherokee Grandfather who lived in the woods of New Jersey and lived by his preternatural tracking skills. Mr. Brown’s work influenced me greatly in the development of the character of Luke.

Desert Chimera delves into Luke’s paranormal universe, his psychic visions, and his power of healing. But balancing the metaphysical aspect, the book explores Luke’s budding romance with one of the fellow travelers he finds at Eppie Falco’s Desert Inn and Cafe: the beautiful Consuelo Arroyo. These fellow travelers have gathered at Eppie’s Desert Inn in the midst of a torrential rainstorm. Now, with the arrival of Luke’s nemesis Armand, they are held hostage as the mercurial Jacobi exerts his will and power over Luke to gain his ultimate desire.

Throughout the book, throughout his journey both in the physical and on the metaphysical plane, Luke struggles with the concept of good versus evil, and ultimately with the even larger question: why should he choose good?

Not unlike the question ordinary people face every day, but on a rather magnificent scale. Luke struggles in the heart of Death Valley as torrential rain strikes, and as Armand Jacobi holds the fate of fellow travelers and his newly beloved in his powerful twisted grip. As the battle builds between the rivals, Luke is confronted with the full horrors of his past, horrors he’d thought he’d escaped from seven long years before.

But, Luke learns. no one can run from his past.

No matter how far or how fast you run, your past will always be there– whether it be just around the corner up ahead, at the tip of the next rocky mountain peak, or in a cafe in the heart of Death Valley– to slam right up against you.

Please visit my Amazon page: http://amzn.to/YomRl1

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B8Xe36U

Those of you who follow my blog my have seen my guest blogger Richard Stephenson’s post last week. His best-selling novel Collapse will be offered free on Kindle on April 14th as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-New-Americaebook/dp/B008HYUFWO

http://amzn.to/M9U67Q

 

 

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REMEMBERING RUTH BLAY WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

March 21, 2013

March is  Women’s History Month, and this month I would like to remember a very special young woman, someone who perhaps very few people might remember or have even heard of outside of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a young woman who was brutally and coldly hanged on the 30th of December in 1768 for the crime [...]

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DESERT CHIMERA FIRST BOOK IN NEW METAPHYSICAL SUSPENSE/MYSTERY SERIES STONE QUEST FREE FEB 17-19

February 12, 2013

My Kindle Select Novel introduces psychic tracker and visionary Luke Stone; the book also explores the same relationship as the Oscar nominated film The Master. The book will be offered throughout the day for three consecutive days beginning Sunday, February 17th, and continuing on Monday, February 18th, and all day on Tuesday, February 19th. Desert [...]

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Violet Hills Productions Announces Three New Titles

February 2, 2013

Since the debut of The Women Debrowska, I have embarked upon a very busy writing season. In the summer of 2011 I published my historical fiction book Ouray’s Peak, the coming of age tale of fourteen year old Kristin Tabor as she journeys across the country and deep within the Rocky Mountains in search of [...]

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A CALL TO ACTION

March 8, 2012

It looks as though Rush Limbaugh will not lose his premiere spot on the air waves where he freely spreads his hate speech and misogyny and misinformation daily to a vast audience of over 56 million listeners. And perhaps, as Bill Maher has recently tweeted, this is as it should be. Don’t get me wrong. [...]

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Native American Scholar Cahuilla Historian Katherine Siva Saubel Dies at 91

February 3, 2012

Known as one of California’s foremost Native American leaders and educators, she died Tuesday peacefully at her home on the Morongo Indian Reservation, her nephew Kevin Siva said. By Guy McCarthy November 2, 2011 Katherine Siva Saubel, a Native American scholar, Cahuilla historian, co-founder of the Malki Museum, and one California’s most respected tribal elders, [...]

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Desert Wolf and Act of Grace Available Now

September 14, 2011

Desert Wolf and Act of Grace explore the intriguing paranormal universe of Luke Stone as he battles his nemesis, black magician Armand Jacobi in the heart of Death Valley, tracks lost children, and solves a 250 year old New England mystery swirling with murder, witchcraft, and retribution to save the life of his newly beloved [...]

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Ishi’s Untold Story

June 15, 2011

ishi blog Anthropologist Richard Burrill has just released his book ISHI’S UNTOLD STORY IN HIS FIRST WORLD: A BIOGRAPHY OF THE LAST OF HIS BAND OF YAHI INDIANS IN NORTH AMERICA Customers can also go to www.ishifacts.com to download their own “hard copy.” Residents outside CA can deduct $2.02 from the $31.47 fee. Tony Jonas, [...]

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The Making of We Are Still Here

May 5, 2011

In 1999 I was co-producing a festival called CelebrateWomen that brought plays by and about women to libraries, museums and cultural institutes throughout Los Angeles. We were in our second year and had produced plays that covered a wide variety of ethnicities though I found one voice was lacking, a Native American voice.  earching for [...]

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