Blog Archives
Sacrificial Lambs
Keith A. Thomas, Jr.’s Sacrificial Lambs is an audacious blend of religious thriller, apocalyptic fantasy, and supernatural war story, anchored in Vatican City and propelled by a “sacred key” described as the Trinity’s “secret recipe…a genetic code” for creating supernatural beings, now stolen and in the wrong hands. The premise is immediately grand in scale. A dark figure, Natas Christopher, rallies monstrous followers under prophecy and the shadow of the fallen angel Nero.
The novel’s most distinctive feature is its voice. The story leans into elevated, scripture-inflected diction. Characters speak in ceremonial rhythms (“ye,” “thou,” proclamations, edicts), which gives the story an operatic, mythic flavor that feels intentionally larger than life. For readers who enjoy biblical cadence and high-stakes spiritual conflict, that tone is a feature, not a bug. It makes the world feel governed by rules older than humanity.
Sacrificial Lambs moves with the momentum of a cinematic set-piece sequence. Divine warnings, secret councils, strange portals, and escalating confrontations that repeatedly widen the scope from personal peril to world-ending consequence. Darr, the archangel sent to intervene, provides a powerful structural spine, functioning as both protector and relentless timekeeper, pushing the Pope and selected clergy toward action. The Vatican setting, paired with supernatural intrusions, creates a satisfying pressure cooker. Faith becomes less an abstract institution and more a battlefield.
Where the book lands most strongly is in its imagery and spectacle. The author has a talent for staging moments that feel designed for a screen. The sense of “prophecy” made physical, and the feeling that sacred spaces can become arenas without losing their awe. The climax delivers on that promise, with Darr and throne guards arriving as judgment is rendered, and Natas Christopher’s threat forcibly contained. The closing beat is also intriguingly sharp. After the supernatural crisis, the story pivots back to human accountability. That final turn reframes the title in a pointed way, suggesting that “sacrifice” is not only cosmic, but institutional and moral.
For fans of theological horror, end-times fantasy, and Vatican-centered intrigue, Sacrificial Lambs offers a confident commitment to its big ideas and an unapologetically maximalist style. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy supernatural/religious epics with prophecy, angels and demons, and high-drama moral reckonings, especially those who like their thrillers soaked in mythic language and spiritual stakes.
Pages: 356 | ASIN : B0DLDFZ7P1
Heart & Soul of Marketing
Heart & Soul of Marketing lays out a clear and practical roadmap for charities that want to strengthen their marketing efforts and understand their audiences more deeply. The book walks through a 10-part framework that starts with clarifying context, moves into idea generation, planning, testing, and evaluation, and eventually arrives at long term impact and integration. It blends real-world examples, simple tools, and reflective exercises to help charities link their marketing decisions to strategic goals. The tone is warm, supportive, and grounded in lived experience, with the author drawing on more than a decade of work across charities, foundations, and community groups to guide readers toward purposeful, confident communication.
I enjoyed how down-to-earth the writing felt. Nothing came across as academic or stiff. Instead, the author speaks with a kind of gentle honesty about the confusion charities often face and the sheer volume of noisy advice out there. The sections on context and audience were especially strong because they focus on real people and real conversations rather than abstract models. I liked how the author kept returning to the theme of clarity. It made me feel like he genuinely wanted readers to cut through the clutter and trust their own instincts rather than chase the latest marketing trend.
I also appreciated the book’s rhythm. It moves between practical worksheets, reflective prompts, personal stories, and examples from well-known charities in a way that kept me engaged. It felt personal and relatable. Some of the ideas were thought-provoking, especially the reminder that inspiration often shows up when you stop trying so hard to force it. The writing has a relaxed quality that makes you feel as if you’re talking with someone who has been in the trenches and simply wants to help you avoid the mistakes he’s already seen too many times. That sincerity gave the framework more emotional weight.
I’d recommend Heart & Soul of Marketing to charity leaders, small teams, volunteers, or anyone who feels overwhelmed by the idea of marketing but knows they can’t ignore it anymore. It’s approachable and forgiving, and it respects the challenges charities face. If you want a guide that’s practical without being pushy, structured without feeling rigid, this book will serve you well. It’s also a great fit for people who prefer advice that feels grounded in real experience rather than theory.
Pages: 256 | ISBN: 9781763680135
Soldiers in the Sandbox
Soldiers In The Sandbox by Scott G. A. Metcalf follows Sergeant Alex Vance through a deployment to Iraq, opening with an immediate immersion into the physical weight of gear, heat, and dread before violence snaps the “sandbox” into focus. Early chapters lean hard into sensory, boots-on-the-ground realism like dust, diesel, and muzzle flashes, and the book doesn’t flinch from the suddenness with which a unit’s routine becomes a fight for survival, or from how quickly loss can hollow out a squad’s shared life.
What gives the novel its emotional spine is Vance’s private notebook: a secret practice that becomes both a coping mechanism and a moral ledger, capturing not just firefights and procedure, but the quieter aftershocks like grief, numbness, guilt, and the way beauty (like sunsets) can feel almost offensive against the day’s brutality. Metcalf repeatedly returns to the idea that war is fought twice, outside and inside, and the writing foregrounds “invisible wounds,” blurred ethical lines, and the need to remember the fallen as more than statistics.
The book’s strengths are its sincerity and its insistence on complexity: it pushes back against a tidy hero narrative and instead emphasizes messy psychological reality, including anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and survivor’s guilt, while also making space for small acts of kindness and the bonds that keep people upright. Stylistically, it often aims for a lyrical, reflective voice, and it even acknowledges the tug between spare, report-like directness and more poetic description, an approach that I think fits the subject matter.
By the later portions, the focus widens to what happens after the deployment: the disorienting return, the struggle to translate experiences to civilians, and the long, uneven work of rebuilding a sense of self, framed less as a neat recovery arc and more as an ongoing practice of meaning-making. The inclusion of a glossary and supplementary, veteran-support-oriented material underlines the book’s clear aim: not only to tell a war story, but to build understanding and offer a handrail for readers who’ve lived some version of it. For readers interested in reflective military fiction centered on camaraderie, loss, and reintegration, Soldiers In The Sandbox is earnest, intense, and impactful.
Pages: 403 | ASIN : B0G7MZCHR2
Encouraging Emotional Openness
Anxious Amy: Calming the Worries Within follows an anxious young teen who appears cheerful but feels overwhelmed inside, and how her mom and counselor help her learn to manage these feelings.
The book emphasizes that asking for help is a sign of strength. Why do you think that message is especially important for young readers today?
Strength is especially important for young readers today because many children struggle with self-doubt and a lack of confidence when it comes to expressing their thoughts and feelings. Young people often feel pressure to handle challenges on their own or worry about being judged if they speak up. By emphasizing communication and the importance of asking for help, the book encourages emotional openness, builds confidence, and helps children develop healthy coping skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. By reinforcing this idea early on in youth, the book aims to strengthen a quality in them that may have been lost along the way—the understanding that vulnerability and communication can be powerful, not weaknesses.
The use of color plays a powerful role in Amy’s emotional journey. How did that concept develop?
Color is used to visually reflect Amy’s emotional journey and make her feelings easy for young readers to understand. Amy’s character begins in black and white to represent confusion, isolation, and the heaviness of anxiety. As Amy learns to understand her feelings, communicate, and receive support to manage her anxiety, color gradually fills the pages as Amy becomes more visible, symbolizing growing confidence, healing, and hope. This shift shows children that progress takes time and doesn’t happen all at once and that brighter moments are possible, even after feeling overwhelmed.
How can adults use this story as a conversation starter with children or teens?
This story offers a gentle, non-threatening way for adults to start meaningful conversations with children or teens about emotions. Its short, visually inviting format makes it easy to read together at home, in classrooms, or in therapeutic settings. By discussing the character’s feelings first, adults can ask open-ended questions that encourage children to reflect without feeling pressured or singled out.
Focusing on the story helps normalize conversations about anxiety, emotions, and asking for help. This indirect approach encourages open meaningful dialogue amongst young readers, at their own pace while fostering understanding, emotional awareness, and connection.
Author links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
Messy and Imperfect is Still Meaningful
In Rainbow Gold, you share your losses, lessons learned, and the long-term effects of making meaningful choices as you transitioned from struggling restaurant owner to building a thriving aviation insurance group. Why was this an important book for you to write?
Rainbow Gold was important for me to write because it captures the philosophy that has shaped every stage of my life, that you can build something valuable and meaningful at the same time. During my early struggles owning a restaurant and retail business in South Africa, I made many missteps and got some hard lessons in business and leadership, and success seemed elusive and distant. Over time, I realized the real reward isn’t at the end of the road; it’s woven into the journey; the relationships, resilience, impact, and identity you build along the way.
When my teams surprised me one holiday season with deeply personal notes about why they loved working at our company, it crystallized what I now call Rainbow Gold: the belief that fulfillment doesn’t need to be deferred. You can build it into your business and your life right now.
I wrote this book to show entrepreneurs and leaders that the process of building something, or learning how to build something, even in its messy, imperfect stages, can be just as meaningful as the outcome.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
The hardest parts to write were the chapters where I had to revisit failures, missteps, and emotionally heavy moments, both from my early ventures in South Africa and later, from navigating sensitive family partnership dynamics in our current business. Those years were formative, but they also involved painful mistakes and setbacks that I hadn’t revisited in a long time.
As a leader who values responsibility and clarity, admitting where I fell short required vulnerability. But leaving those moments out would have made the lessons less authentic. Readers don’t benefit from a polished highlight reel; they benefit from the full picture, including the chapters where the stakes were high and things didn’t go right.
Those candid moments ended up being some of the most resonant for readers, which affirmed why they needed to be in the book.
Did you learn anything about yourself as you wrote this book?
Absolutely. Writing Rainbow Gold reaffirmed that resilience is built in the small, daily choices you make when no one is watching, those “butterfly effect” moments, not in dramatic turning points. As I revisited years of experiences, I saw that it wasn’t one brilliant strategy or one lucky break that moved me forward; it was consistency, perseverance, and staying anchored to my values even in uncertainty.
I also learned that people, my teams, clients, mentors, and family, have always been my true driving force. I learned from my father and I’ve said for years that relationships matter more than anything in business, but writing the book helped me understand how deeply this principle has shaped my identity and my approach to leadership.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from Rainbow Gold?
If readers take only one idea away, I hope it’s this: You don’t have to choose between building a successful business and building a meaningful life.
When you invest in people, relationships, and values-driven decisions, financial success will follow organically and it will be financial success that is sustainable and legacy building.
Rainbow Gold is about rejecting the idea that fulfillment comes only at the end of the journey. Instead, it shows that the “pot of gold” is much broader than profit alone. Making money and being financially successful is certainly an important part of it, but equally important is the legacy you create, the people you grow, the impact you make, and the pride you can take in the work you do every day. When you get your business to the point where you can both fill your wallet and fill your soul, you’ve struck Rainbow Gold!
If this book encourages someone to build a business with purpose instead of pressure, with sustainability instead of scale, and to enjoy the journey instead of waiting for one perfect moment, then it will have been a success from my perspective.
Author Website
“David Hampson has written the antidote to startup culture’s obsession with quick exits and venture capital. Rainbow Gold presents a compelling case for building businesses that become life’s work-sustainable, profitable enterprises that provide both financial rewards and deep personal fulfillment. Through his journey from restaurant owner in South Africa to aviation insurance entrepreneur, Hampson demonstrates that the real treasure isn’t reaching the end of the rainbow, but enjoying every step of the journey while building something lasting for your family and community.”-J.J. Hebert, Founder & CEO, MindStir Media; USA Today, WSJ, and #1 Amazon Bestselling Author
In Rainbow Gold, David Hampsonshares his journey from a college student immersed in science courses—with no formal business education—to becoming a successful acquisition entrepreneur and recognized industry thought leader. This book is for aspiring and seasoned entrepreneurs alike, offering a candid look at the challenges, triumphs, and transformative lessons of finding and building a business that is not just a stepping stone but the ultimate destination. Central to the narrative is the “butterfly effect”; the idea that small, decisive actions can create monumental shifts in your life and business. Through David’s story, readers will learn how embracing opportunities and acting decisively can lead to extraordinary outcomes, often in unexpected ways. Rainbow Gold shows what the real “end game” looks like: not an exit strategy, but a deeply fulfilling business that doesn’t need to be sold because its value goes far beyond dollars. It’s about creating a business that represents the pot of gold at the end of your rainbow, one that provides both tangible and intangible rewards. And once obtained, rainbow gold doesn’t trade in fiat currency! With humor, honesty, and practical advice, Rainbow Gold inspires readers to see entrepreneurship not just as a career path, but as a calling that can transform their lives and the lives of those around them.
Armando and Maisie
Armando and Maisie is a tender collection of poems that tells the story of a man who lives mostly in the woods of Central Park and the dog who adores him. The book moves through small encounters between the narrator, his dog Maisie, and Armando. Each poem gives another glimpse of Armando’s gentle philosophy, his odd wit, his hardships, and his unwavering affection for animals. The story grows quietly and steadily. It becomes a portrait of friendship, aging, loss, and the strange joy of showing up for another creature again and again.
As I read the book, I kept stopping to feel the weight of its simple lines. The poet uses plain talk, almost casual, yet the emotion sneaks up on you. I felt pulled in by the mix of sweetness and ache. The writing is warm and steady. It never tries to impress. It just speaks. I liked that. I liked how the poems let small moments breathe. A dog leaning her weight on a man. A red cap in the rain. A squirrel sitting like a regular at a bar. These little things hit harder than I expected. They felt honest and felt close to life.
Armando’s thoughts on time, change, or space might sound whimsical at first, but they left me thinking long after. I could feel the poet wrestling with affection for a man who is both joyful and worn down. I could feel his fear as Maisie ages. I could feel that sinking sense when someone doesn’t show up to their usual bench. The poems made me laugh at one moment and swallow hard the next. That swing in feeling gave the book a raw, authentic quality.
By the end, I cared about these two figures in the woods. I cared about the man who feeds the birds and the dog who looks for him, whether he’s there or not. I’d recommend this book to readers who like quiet stories with a lot of heart. Dog lovers will melt. City walkers will recognize the strange intimacy of passing friendships. Anyone who has lost someone, waited for someone, or loved someone in a simple daily way will find something here that settles in and stays awhile.
Pages: 67 | ASIN : B0FPDP4PKL
Within The Hearts And Minds
Morning of a Crescent Moon follows a young nurse-turned-teacher who arrives in an Illinois mining town on the brink of violence and discovers how ordinary lives, relationships, and quiet courage shape history. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for the very beginning and for the aeronaut descending into the town of Virden was to bring the reader down from the twenty-first century into this town in 1898. It’s my metaphor for bridging the distance between what we know from the academic articles and newspaper accounts to what was really going on within the hearts and minds of the people who lived through this event. I recently posted a blog that explains why I chose to write the Battle of Virden as historical fiction. https://njschrock.com/2026/01/13/why-historical-fiction/
The reason I chose the character of Cate Merry and her arrival as the setup is that the reader learns about the town through her experiences rather than me, the author, adding exposition. As Cate learns about the brewing trouble and becomes emotionally entangled with the people and events, so does the reader.
At least a couple of the characters were inspired by my family members. Cate’s Aunt Alice had qualities of my grandmother Mary, a coal miner’s wife, and Harry was based on my father as a young boy.
Why was it important to tell the labor struggle through relationships and daily routines rather than focusing on the events themselves?
The events themselves can be understood by reading summaries and academic articles. But I wanted readers to really care about this event and these people. I wanted them to become invested in a labor struggle so that they might then empathize with the ongoing labor struggles today. I wanted this event to be experienced by readers.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The power of individuals is magnified by unity. If there is an injustice, the way for the populace to bring about change is to unify. Unity is the main way people who are not billionaires can bring about change. One way we do this is to vote. Other ways are to protest, to strike, to communicate. But all of these require people in numbers to be effective.
The interests of capital often are in conflict with the interests of its laborers. Businesses are under constant pressure to maximize profits, and if publicly held, maximize the return to shareholders. They are not obligated to maximize returns to stakeholders, such as employees, the communities in which they operate, or even the United States. I know this firsthand. I worked for twenty-five years at a large corporation and held a management role, serving on business and product development teams. The push by high-level management to acquire cheaper labor in China and India has parallels with the Virden mine operator’s plans to bring in Black workers from Alabama. I could see history repeating, and I felt there were lessons to be learned from the Battle of Virden. I wanted to broaden the public awareness of this historic event.
What do you hope modern readers take away from this period of labor history and its relevance today?
In Chapter 22, a coal miner and a leader in the 1897 strike, Alexander Bradley, gives a speech that I wrote based on the newspaper accounts of what he told the miners during the 1897 strike and what he says in his memoir. He clarifies for a Virden crowd what the stakes are in their fight: “The battle for workers’ rights, the right to exercise the only power we have, which is the right to organize, will be under threat—again—and again—and again. It’ll be fought in a thousand places: in coal fields, in factories, in railways, in dockyards, and anywhere workers are not paid the living wages they deserve for pouring the hours of their lives into their labors….”
I hope that readers will come to appreciate the sacrifices made by those who came before us and that in some industries, we still face many of the same challenges they faced in 1898. So, we have to “carry the torch,” and work to make this country a place where we want to live. That’s what these miners were fighting for.
Change can be brought about if enough people stand up for what they believe.
Author Links: GoodReads | Threads | Facebook | Website | X | Blue Sky
In Morning of a Crescent Moon, N. J. Schrock renders the tumult of the 1898 Battle of Virden with a storyteller’s grace, fusing historical truth with imagined lives.
Against the backdrop of labor unrest and the gathering storm of violence, Cate Merry-a young woman scarred by war and seeking renewal-steps into a town divided by strikes and shadows. There she encounters Noah McCall, a miner bound by duty to his siblings and by circumstance to the perils of the pit.
As Virden braces for conflict, their stories entwine with the fates of families, workers, and townsfolk caught in the crosscurrents of justice, sacrifice, and survival.
Both elegy and love story, the novel gives voice to the ordinary people whose courage and longing shaped one of America’s fiercest struggles for dignity.
I had time. I had anger. And I was bored.
Mortal Vengeance follows a group of wayward teens who come face-to-face with a horrifying reaper-like being while seeking revenge on a cruel teacher. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
It actually started in a very petty way. During my first month of ninth grade, I came home with a D+ in Spanish on my first report card. It was the first time I had ever received a grade like that, and my parents decided I was too distracted. Their solution was simple and brutal: they removed everything from my bedroom except the lightbulbs.
No TV. No Nintendo 64. No dial-up internet.
I had time. I had anger. And I was bored.
That frustration bled directly into the story. Mortal Vengeance opens with Marcos saying, “That old hag is going to pay,” which perfectly captured my headspace at the time. I was steeped in teenage resentment and heavily influenced by the slasher films of the late ’90s—Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer. With nothing else to do at night, writing became the only way to channel that anger somewhere safe.
What began as a rough slasher script was chaotic, but something interesting happened: people wanted more. I showed a few pages to a friend, and suddenly, classmates were demanding new chapters, threatening me if I showed up empty-handed. I didn’t know it then, but writing helped me process emotions I didn’t yet have the tools to understand. Over time, that raw revenge fantasy evolved into something intentional—a story about how small injustices spiral into something monstrous. What started as anger became craft.
Do you find yourself relating to your characters as you write?
Absolutely—but not in a one-to-one way.
In Mortal Vengeance, the boys were modeled after my friends, with some liberties taken. Alex, in particular, began as a partial self-portrait. His emotional intensity, his insecurity, and the way he uses humor or singing as a coping mechanism—that’s very much me.
Beyond that, I relate to my characters the way a parent relates to their children. You create them, but they are not you. They have their own histories and blind spots. My priority is to give them a reason to be flawed and human. Sometimes I’ll lend them one of my own experiences to ground them emotionally, but ultimately, they have to stand on their own.
What is the challenging aspect of writing a thriller? The most rewarding?
The biggest challenge is pacing—especially in a genre where suspension of disbelief is fragile. I love films like Scream, but I’ve always struggled with how quickly logic collapses once a killer is established. Why aren’t they hiding? Why are they splitting up? In Mortal Vengeance, once the Grim Cojuelo appears, the escalation is relentless by design so the characters don’t have time to question the logic.
The most rewarding part is earning the reader’s trust. When readers are willing to come along for the ride—through fear, grief, and chaos—you know the emotional connection is working. I find the “B-Roll” sections of my book especially meaningful because they offer a quiet intimacy. They give readers space to bond with the characters, so when the danger finally comes, it hits much harder.
Can we look forward to more work from you soon? What are you currently working on?
Yes—very much so. And sooner than you think.
Mortal Vengeance throws readers straight into action, but it only hints at how things reached that breaking point. Mortal Vengeance: A Grim Tale explores what came before: the systems, institutions, and personal failures that normalized cruelty long before the first act of revenge. It’s a different kind of horror—less spectacle, more psychological reckoning.
At the center of the prequel is Julián, a character briefly referenced in the main novel, here brought fully into focus. Through his perspective, the story examines how institutional pressure, moral compromise, and silence converge around a single student. Alongside him is Lucía, his closest friend and emotional anchor, whose loyalty is tested as the darkness deepens. Readers also meet younger versions of Marcos, Fernando, Alex, Enrique, Melissa, and Mónika—before identities harden and choices become irreversible.
The two books can be read in either order. Starting with Mortal Vengeance emphasizes mystery and shock; the prequel becomes an excavation. Starting with A Grim Tale emphasizes dread and inevitability; the main novel then lands as a consequence rather than a surprise.
I’m also finishing the first draft of the sequel, Mortal Vengeance II: To Reel or Not Too Real? It’s a major narrative risk and a necessary evolution for the series. If all goes well, readers can expect it toward the end of the year or early next. I’m excited—and a little terrified—which usually means I’m doing something right.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
In the sun-drenched courtyards of a school in Santo Domingo, a group of friends seals an unbreakable promise: “One for all, and all for one.” With the innocence of youth, they swear to protect each other and stay united, no matter what. But life plays by its own rules, and an act of revenge—fueled by jealousy and old wounds—is about to shatter their world.
What starts as a plan to teach a feared teacher a lesson quickly spirals into uncontrollable terror. Unexplained deaths and brutal attacks begin to haunt their circle, while a shadowy figure known only as El Grim Cojuelo seems to claim victims one by one. Guilt eats away at the friends, paranoia takes hold, and loyalties blur, forcing them to face a reality warped by fear.
Trapped in a nightmare with no way out, the survivors are pushed to confront their own secrets—and the deadly consequences of their actions. With time running out and help far away, will they uncover the truth behind the hooded figure hunting them? Or will their childhood promise be the final thing to break, dragging them all into one last, bloody reckoning?
Mortal Vengeance is a dark, psychological thriller that explores the limits of friendship, the fallout of betrayal, and the razor-thin line between justice and madness. Prepare for a gripping journey packed with tension, shocking revelations, and unexpected twists that will keep you turning pages until the very last chilling breath.
Perfect for fans of psychological thrillers and dark dramas with a Caribbean twist.
If you like:
Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Euphoria, Elite —
you’ll love Mortal Vengeance.
