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Can you actually fall down in space?

Luke Umble and his Amish family are going to find out the hard way. Things continue to go from bad to worse with each new revelation. The bad news is that the Adam Corp deep space ship, the Corinthian, has not even made it out of our solar system yet.

Could something worse be waiting for them?

Promise of Tomorrow is an ongoing short story series that asks the question, "How far would you go to save your faith?"

Luke Umble believed he was a man of God. One fateful decision could test all of his beliefs. With the support of his wife Annie, they uproot their family in an attempt to save the ones they love. Luke is challenged on all sides by his cantankerous father, his oldest son’s rebellion and even his youngest daughter’s Muscular Dystrophy.

In Volume 5: Downfall, Luke Umble has to face the truth. First he faces it in the rude, condescending behavior of the Englische Captain. Then Luke learns more harsh truth from the young, but sincere, Lieutenant that has also expressed an interest in his daughter. The promise once offered by their ship, the Corinthian, seems to be falling from their grasp. Things are made worse when eight-year-old Henry decides to skip school and explore the ship. Everything collides and causes Luke to doubt his faith.

The one question he asks himself is “How far would you go to keep your faith?”

The only answer Luke can find lies in God’s Promise of Tomorrow.

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Shakespeare is turning over in his grave when I put the Defective Amish Detective in the same post as MacBeth!

See Lady MacBeth had a little problem with a stain and so does our fearless detective. What happens in Volume 7: The Hung Laundry Has a Stain is far less sinister than the old Bard's play.

The hung laundry has a stain and, of course, there is only one man to get it clean.

The Defective Amish Detective heads back to Lancaster County to solve a mystery that feels more like a set up for someone else's entertainment. He decides this one calls for a disguise. Under cover, complete with matching sandals over his socks, G meets up with the Amish blacksmith. Together, there is nothing that can stop them, so discovering the cause of the unusual stains and finding the culprit take no time.

The only real question is how and when will G end up in the muck?

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Plenty of my posts have to do with my new releases, so let's get that out of the way upfront...

Now, if you are still reading and haven't clicked off to Amazon to get an incredible story for a great price (each volume is only $0.99), I have a serious question.

How far would you go to keep your faith?

This is the tagline for the series, but it is also a serious question. I have four children and it is sometimes a question on my mind. The answer seems obvious. What would you do to protect your children? Isn't that a lot about faith? You have faith that your actions will benefit your children. You also try to teach them your own spiritual faith for them to pass on to others.

In my story, the Umble family is faced with the possibility of losing their faith entirely. They are cast into the unknown and everything is a challenge. In Volume Four, it is revealed that things are likely becoming worse. Can they keep their faith when it seems their faith has left them?

I would appreciate a few comments below about your faith - when you were challenged and how you came through it. Sometimes, I feel like my faith is tested on a daily basis. With four kids, I know my patience is!

Thanks for reading!

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Author: Serena B. Miller
Publisher: Howard Books
Genre: Amish fiction / Romance
ISBN: 978-1-4516-6035-7
Pages: 368
Price: $15.00

Author’s website
Buy it at Amazon

Claire Shetler thinks about the man she nearly married with fond regret. Killed the night before the wedding, Matthew never got to meet the son they had conceived only a few days prior. But Tobias, the man responsible for Matthew’s death, runs from home and joins the Marines, hoping to permanently block this tragic reminder of his past.

Now, twenty years later, Claire is widowed with a household full of children and a busy Amish midwife practice. Tobias has returned to Ohio to make peace with Claire and his father, but finds it difficult to reveal his true identity. Will he only make the situation worse by letting them both know who he is?

Hidden Mercies is a wonderful tale of family, love and redemption. The characters are warm and real, and their emotions are so true to life. As the story unfolds, the reader can’t help but wish for their happiness together. I highly recommend this well-written and engaging Amish romance.

Reviewer: Alice Berger

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The newest offering of the Defective Amish Detective is available now! You can get Vol 6: The Sausage Log Implosion on Kindle here: http://amz.to/11MckpP

I have to say this whole experience has been a lot of fun. When Giovanni approached me about this series, I was a little hesitant. I have always known him to have an outrageous sense of humor and I knew the Amish were handled with a great deal of respect. I did not know how we would blend the two.

What came out of it was a story with lots of heart and its own kind of zaniness. I think we manage to show the proper amount of respect to the Amish. Much of the slapstick falls on the Defective Detective, who is not Amish. What is he? Something of a repentant hitman. Both of our main characters have mysterious pasts that give them unique skills to handle the cozy mysteries we throw at them.

In the end, this series is about friendship and understanding. It is about two men coming from two different worlds and overcoming their differences to work together for the greater good. It is a pleasure to write and I hope you have as much fun reading it!

About The Sausage Log Implosion: “Muck is Muck,” Eli the Blacksmith says.How does the Defective Detective go from having a near perfect day to one of the worst? Simple – someone stole his sausage log. Everyone has something in life that makes them happy. For G, it is the culinary delights of the Amish, including whoopie pies and sausage logs. When his favorite market is sold out, G wants to know why. The charming, but innocent, counter girl tells him that the butcher’s meat grinder has been stolen. When something goes awry in Amish Country, G can’t let it go. He joins his stalwart companion Eli and the two of them are on the case. They have two questions to answer. What happened to the meat grinder? And, how much muck is too much muck? This is one explosive implosion!

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100% of the author’s proceeds will be donated to Bridge to Ability Specialized Learning Center, a not-for-profit organization serving the educational and therapeutic needs of fragile children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities. www.BridgeToAbility.org. The authors, creator and publisher are in no other way affiliated with this organization.

Mark Miller’s One 2013 is a spiritual anthology examining True-Life experiences of Authors and their Faith. As the series evolves expect to discover what it means to have faith, no matter what that faith is and no matter where they live. Remember that we are all part of this One World.

In Story Five, best-selling author Murray Pura takes us to a fantastical world known as the 1970’s. As a college student in Canada, the author and some friends embark on a journey of body, mind and spirit. A road trip that begins with curiosity and idealism ends in death and self-discovery at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Sometimes, it takes great things for us to realize the simple things in our faith. For a bright-eyed, long-haired college kid, he had to re-evaluate his own beliefs when he saw the world through the eyes of Native Americans making a last stand for their beliefs. They showed him a different way to look at the White Man’s God.About Murray Pura: Murray Pura is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books, including the novels The Rose of Lancaster County, The Wings of Morning, The Face of Heaven and the devotionals Rooted and Streams. He is published by Zondervan, Barbour, Baker, Helping Hands, Harvest House and Harper One San Francisco. Six new titles are expected in 2013.

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Promise of Tomorrow Volume 2: Discovery reveals some secrets.

My new Amish serialized novel started with the destructive forces of nature, sending the Umble family running for their lives. They boarded a transport as a tornado destroyed their home.

In Discovery, the transport arrives at their destination. I'm not going to spoil where they are going. However, when they step off the transport, they probably see something like this...

This is the entrance to Captain Nemo's Nautilus (one of my favorite movies and Disney World extinct attractions). I can tell you my main character Luke did not take his family on a submarine. The question that Luke has to answer is "How far will you go to keep your faith?"

It is a literal and metaphorical question. He has to answer with both his heart and body. Volume 2 shows the first steps of the journey that will answer that question.


Thanks for reading my post today! Please be sure to like me on Facebook.

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Volume 3 of the 2013 series of One comes from our friend Crystal Linn and Barbara Geer McCoy.

A portion of the author’s proceeds will be donated to World Concern, a Christian global relief and development organization. World Concern’s efforts reach deep into the most remote corners of the planet, where climate and geography, societal instability and scarce infrastructure create incredible challenges to the people living there, including disaster response, clean water, education, food security, child protection, microfinance and health. Visit WorldConcern.org for more information. The series creators and publisher are in no other way affiliated with this organization.

Mark Miller’s One 2013 is a spiritual anthology examining True-Life experiences of Authors and their Faith. As the series evolves expect to discover what it means to have faith, no matter what that faith is and no matter where they live. Remember that we are all part of this One World.

Story Three begins in the late 1950s as Jim McCoy, a pharmacist, and his wife, Barbara (Kenoyer) McCoy, a pharmacy technician, joined forces with several doctors and local businesses to start an organization to stop waste and to help the less fortunate.

As a team, they collected leftover pharmaceutical samples and over-the-counter drugs, along with other health related products and bundled them in large shipping barrels, cushioning the items with blankets and baby clothes. These barrels where then shipped overseas to the mission fields.

That None May Be Lost is the biographical story of Jim and Barbara McCoy’s involvement in the founding, and the early days, of Medicine for Missions before leadership was transferred and it became the world-renowned World Concern

Here is a fond retelling of the story of World Concern. A vital organization that is committed to serving the world were it is needed most. As a first time author, Ms. McCoy delivers glimpses into major and minor events of the organizations history almost as if we were looking at her memories. The gentle flow from one encounter to the next makes this a touching memoir.

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At least, in my writing.

My new story is available now.

I've written in the Amish genre before. Some of you may have read the Defective Amish Detective series. It is sometimes silly and sometimes sweet. We are currently working on Volume 4, but if you have not read it, you can find part 1 for Kindle here: http://goo.gl/UuI5v

While the Defective Detective is fun to write, I am taking a more serious turn with Promise of Tomorrow. That's not to say there won't be humor, but it will not be outright slapstick. In this new series, I am excited because it gives me a chance to explore my own faith. I am not converting, not packing up to head to Pennsylvania. I put a little more of myself into this one and, at the same time, taken it far beyond where I could ever physically go.

I like the quote from Joss Whedon, "I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I'm afraid of." I feel like that on this new story. Funny thing, my writing music for this one was the Firefly soundtrack (and that was before I read this quote).

You can find this first part of my 10 part series on eBook.

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Okay, maybe not me (that sounds needy), but I do have something for you to listen to.

I've been working on a new series called the Defective Amish Detective. It is a humorous, without making fun, look at the misadventures of an Amish blacksmith and his Non-Amish friend. The defective detective is admittedly a repentant man with a questionable past. He has reached an age where certain parts (eyes, ears) don't work as well as they did. Through travels with his wife into Amish Country, the detective has become friends with Eli, who also happens to have a shadow over his past. Together, they work to help those that cannot help themselves. Things don't always go as expected and both of their pasts may come back to haunt them. These stories are full of slapstick, but they also share a message and have heart.

Now, it is a special treat for me to share with you that my publisher, Helping Hands Press, has taken a big leap in putting Volume 1: The Whoopie Pie Affair on audiobook.

You can get more information on Amazon: http://amzn.to/13PgsSR

Another treat is the voice you will hear on the audiobook. It is none other than Big Daddy Abel. Also known as BDA, he is the frontman for a band called the Amish Outlaws and a talented author in his own right.



If you enjoy audiobooks, I do hope you will give mine a listen.

Thanks for reading and please visit me at www.FB.com/MarkMillerAuthor

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Well, my blog has been a little quiet so far this year.

Lots of things going on behind the scenes. Exciting things coming up for 2013!

Authors in the Park is growing fast. We are planning an event for March 30th. If you have not already, please give our page a "like" to stay informed.

Besides event planning and booking my calendar for the whole year, I got to spend a week visiting classes at a local elementary school. We celebrated National Literacy Week by reading from some great books (including mine) and talking about how a young avid reader became an author (me).

Oh, and I've done some writing too.



I am having fun with this series and I think it is starting to take on a life of its own. Maybe I'm not an Amish author, but I am learning fast. My approach to this is taking the POV of the G-Man, a non-Amish, who befriends and Amish blacksmith. It is an outside look at the Amish and their special way of life. I like that the reader can travel along with the main character as he walks the line between a worldly path and a spiritual path.

T’was the night before…wait, that’s not right. But you know Dash…no, you probably don’t know him.
Put it this way, a repentant fixer, an Amish blacksmith with a mysterious past and a Christmas party. That is a recipe for fun on any holiday!

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You know, the small town in Amish Country, Lancaster PA?

What did you think I meant?

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Recently, I started a new series with my friend, Giovanni. It was a relatively new experience diving into the world of Amish fiction. I did not quite know what to expect, but we ended up with something totally unique and outrageous.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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I have known Giovanni Gelati for quite some time. He's interviewed me more than once on The G-Zone BlogTalkRadio Show. We've written together (A Prince in Trenton, Seriously?). Our latest collaboration is The Defective Amish Detective - Volume 1 - The Whoopie Pie Affair. It is a humorous story, that one might call a cozy mystery. Both of us had the goal of telling a fun story, while holding the Amish with utmost respect. With the "defects" of our main character, it ended up being a story with a lot of heart.

Now for the first time, it is my turn to interview Giovanni. Some of the questions pertain to the story, so if you haven't read it, you can get it here: http://goo.gl/UuI5v

If you haven't, don't worry, there's no spoilers.

MM: How many Hawaiian shirts do you own?

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