Book Summaries
Fiction
Shawn Kleiner has it all: money, fame, a skyrocketing career as an international musical phenomenon, his beautiful girlfriend Amy, and all the women he wants-- until the night Amy has enough and leaves him stranded in a Scottish castle tower.
He wakes up to find himself mistaken for Niall Campbell, medieval Highland warrior. Soon after, he is sent shimmying down a wind-torn castle wall into a dangerous cross country trek with Niall's tempting, but knife-wielding fiancee. They are pursued by English soldiers and a Scottish traitor who want Niall dead.
Thrown forward in time, Niall learns history’s horrifying account of his own death, and of the Scots’ slaughter at Bannockburn. Undaunted, he navigates the roiled waters of Shawn’s life-- pregnant girlfriend, amorous fans, enemies, and gambling debts--- seeking a way to leap back across time to save his people, especially his beloved Allene. His growing fondness for Shawn’s life brings him face to face with his own weakness and teaches him the true meaning of faith.
On a misty night in the Scottish Highlands, Shawn Kleiner, a womanizing modern American musician, and Niall Campbell, devout medieval warrior, both fall asleep in the tower of Glenmirril Castle, seven centuries apart. They wake up in each other's time.
In The Minstrel Boy, Shawn's girlfriend Amy resigns her position with the orchestra and stays behind in Scotland to trace Niall’s fate through historical records. What she finds is not answers, but more questions. Niall Campbell, a man larger than life, who recovers miraculously from multiple injuries, walks through walls, and appears in two places at once—fact or myth? The thieving MacDougalls built a gallows to hang Niall—were they used? Why is the cop assigned to Shawn’s case pursuing her long after the files are closed?
And what can she tell the police and everyone in the orchestra? They want answers, and unlike Shawn, she’s not good at lying. But she can’t tell them the truth: they’ll never find him. Because Shawn Kleiner, the notorious twenty-first century musical phenomenon is dead.
And has been for seven hundred years.
World-renowned musician Shawn Kleiner vanished in the night among the ruins of a Scottish castle. While the world searches, one woman, the mother of his child, knows the truth: he is trapped seven hundred years in the past. While they struggle to reunite across the centuries, an unseen shadow crosses their path--an evil that will threaten the life of a child prophesied to protect history.
An evil from the past walks today....
BY
LAURA VOSIKA
FICTION
NON-FICTION
POETRY
MUSIC
THE BLUE BELLS CHRONICLES:
a tale of time travel
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FOOD AND FEAST:
a collection of recipe, history, song, and lore based on the time travel series
GLENMIRRIL GARDEN:
a collection of original and traditional pieces in the style of Celtic jigs and reels
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STARTLED BY NATURE:
a collaborative work of new poetry in traditional styles
221 BC
a race for magical amulets set against the history of ancient Egypt, co-written with Dr. Kendall Price
GO HOME AND PRACTICE:
a lesson assignment book
Two years in medieval Scotland will change a man. A month in the modern world will tempt him back. Some people don’t want Shawn to change, while others can’t believe he has.
Modern life is not the haven he imagined. The orchestra has a new star, and Amy has found new love—he may still lose her to the stalwart Angus. He is guilt-ridden over leaving Niall to an unknown fate while he escaped to safety in Amy’s 21st-century arms.
But his life of music turns dark as he learns a medieval foes stalks Amy and his son. Living and fighting alongside Niall, the Laird, Hugh, Robert the Bruce, and Scotland’s greatest hero, James Douglas, he learned honor, virtue, and strength. Will they be enough to win back Amy and save his son? Because history and the whole world depend on it.
In the gripping conclusion to The Blue Bells Chronicles, just as Shawn is steadily regaining all he feared he had lost forever—his career, his son, and even Amy’s heart—he learns of MacDougall’s vengeance against Niall, for the act Shawn himself committed. He wrestles with a prophecy and an ancient letter that never changes, a letter that details the fate of his own son, if he cannot stop it—and possibly the fate of the world itself, as he learns of Simon Beaumont’s plan to use his knowledge of the future to destroy it.
Shawn’s selfishness once cost him everything. His newfound selflessness may do the same.
Once upon a time, a boy named Jacob lived in a world of knights and dragons—when he wasn’t going to first grade, learning manners and waltzes, and eating steak tartare.
While his parents’ careers keep them occupied, he befriends the large and rambunctious family next door and explores his new home—the Summit Hill mansion of a 19th century railroad baron. Jacob is used to battling dragons. But even he is surprised to discover a man living in the walls in his basement! Anthony says he is a monk living in the medieval anchorite tradition, sealed in a cell for life to pray, hoping to become a saint.
Mama does not like his friendship with the kids next door. And she doesn’t believe there’s a saint in the cellar. But then, she doesn’t believe in dragons or King Methred, either.
What if she’s wrong….?
An eclectic collection of stories from the Other Side. Cowboys, Cherokee, Ladies, Wolves. All telling us there is more than meets the eye. More than we can perhaps know from our five senses. There are other worlds, thin places, and ghostly happenings. Come in and stay awhile and yet…don’t stay too long! You might get stuck where these spirits are, where darkness is only ever darker, hiding all from what should perhaps never see the light of day.
Set against the backdrop of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in an alternative history linking the power of the pharaohs to magic,
this first installment of a trilogy details the beginnings of a war pitting brother against brother as each races to find the magic amulets that will control the world.
Poetry & Music
Welcome to Glenmirril Garden. The name is taken from a fictional castle, modeled after Urquhart Castle, on the shores of Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. The Glenmirril Garden collection includes traditional folk tunes, original melodies in the style of traditional Celtic music, and a few other songs composed during the same time
On December 29 of 2013, Chris Powell lost his wife of 24 years to a devastating illness, leaving him a widower with a 13-year-old daughter. In some of their last conversations, Bonnie encouraged him to step back into life, to find new love and happiness for himself and their daughter. On Wings of Love and Light tells the story of love lost to death, love found—lost—and found again. It is a story of miracles and faith, told in poetry and essays, as the authors discuss what the heart of love really is. It is a story of stepping back into new life, new love, new creativity, and nine stepchildren!
Gabriel's Horn presents its first collection of new poetry in traditional forms from 29 accomplished poets, featuring Thomas R. Smith and Dan Blum. Grab a cup of tea or glass of wine and enjoy the beauty of language as our poets bring you moments of JOY.
Gabriel's Horn presents its second collection of new poetry in traditional forms from many accomplished poets, featuring Tim Young. Grab a cup of tea or glass of wine and take a poetic walk through NATURE in sonnets, haikus, villanelles, and more.
Startled by LOVE brings you a collection of talented and accomplished poets, established, emerging, and new, in our third annual anthology of all new poetry in traditional forms.
Grab a cup of tea or glass of wine and enjoy our verses on the many faces of love--romantic love, familial love, love lost, and more.
Non-Fiction
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Warning: This is Not a Cookbook!
Food and Feast does, however, contain over two hundred recipes–medieval recipes in their original medieval form, medieval recipes in modern terms, traditional Scottish recipes, modern midwest American, recipes for eating in the wilderness, and even exotic and slightly dangerous recipes, drawn from scenes in the acclaimed Blue Bells Chronicles.
In an eclectic mix, Food and Feast also digs into tasty morsels of history, succulent songs, meaty medieval philosophy, and medieval and Scottish poems, about food and drink. Here be fire-breathing roasts and live bird pies alongside oatcakes cooked on the campaign trail!
Throughout history, philosophers have sought the keys to living well. Many have identified four key activities we must engage in daily, to be healthy and happy and live well. They have been called by many names over the years. Here, we call them the Four Spheres. They are Spiritual, Emotional, Mental, and Physical.
This journal is designed to help build habits that will change your life.
Why Go Home and Practice? Learning music requires practice. But just practicing is not always enough. Focused, intelligent practice is important. This book provides a way to focus that practice, a method that works for all instruments and all levels of playing