It was wonderful to meet with readers, sell and sign copies of my novels, The Vampire, as well as The 13th Apostle and its sequel, Divine Providence.  ARIA's 6th Annual Author Expo was a success, and lots of fun.  Over 150 local authors from Rhode Island showcased their books at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet in Cranston.  Not only was it fun to meet readers interested in my work, but also to talk with fellow authors about their passion.  Thank you to family, friends and readers who came out to support me and my books...  

Join me this Saturday, Dec. 1st at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet from 10AM-5PM for ARIA’s 6th Annual RI Author Expo. Over 150 local authors, representing all genres. FREE parking & admission.
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Vampire fans, as well as lovers of religious thriller novels…. I will be meeting and talking with readers, selling and signing copies of my three novels, The Vampire, The 13th Apostle and its sequel Divine Providence.

For my loyal, die-hard fans of The 13th Apostle trilogy series, I have returned to writing the final installment of the series.  The 13th Apostle and its sequel Divine Providence are the first two books of the trilogy, and work I am incredibly proud of.  Both have had readers asking me for the rest and conclusion of the story, for years.  I'd been working on this third and final book of the series for about 9 months, when I took a break from it to write, The Vampire, and I'm glad I did.  The Vampire novel is one of my best and most inspiring works.  A divine creative nudge urged me to interrupt my work, to let it be born.  I couldn't be happier that I listened to my inner voice, which often leads to the highest good.  But the time is now to finish this novel, which is already 1/2 done.  I wasn't sure how long of a break I would take after finishing my vampire novel, but the time has arrived.  I feel it.  As I delve back into this work, I realize how much I've missed The 13th Apostle world, its characters, scenes, plots and interesting storyline(s).  No telling how long this will take to finish, but it is a joy to jump back in and finish it.  The final installment is a dramatic conclusion to the story you and I love so much.

Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends!
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Expressing gratitude for a pivotal Union Army victory at Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln announced that the nation will celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday on November 26, 1863.

The speech, written by Secretary of State William Seward, declared that the fourth Thursday of every November thereafter would be considered an official US holiday of Thanksgiving. 

This announcement harkened back to when George Washington was in his first term as the first president in 1789 and the young American nation had only a few years earlier emerged from the American Revolution.  At that time, George Washington called for an official celebratory “day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” While Congress overwhelmingly agreed to Washington’s suggestion, the holiday did not yet become an annual event.

The Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln from October 3, 1863 reads as follows:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.