Isle Royale - John Hamilton

Isle Royale
by John Hamilton
Shipwrecks, gangsters, and the mother of all storms. Living in a lighthouse can murder.

The year is 1924, at the height of Prohibition. The place: Isle Royale, a remote island on Lake Superior. Clarence MacDougal, keeper of Wolf Point Lighthouse, stands ready to guide sailors through treacherous waters.

One storm-tossed night, French-Canadian bootleggers arrive. The gang’s leader is Sean LeBeck, a former lover of Collene MacDougal—the lightkeeper’s wife. LeBeck is determined to rescue Collene from her dreary life and rekindle their old passion, even if it means taking her off the island by force.

The lightkeeper’s son, Ian, escapes during the storm, only to stumble upon a hidden cove, home of the last remaining members of the Coast Guard cutter Chippewa. A dark secret forced the crew to banish themselves. Now, given one last chance at redemption, the ancient mariners set out on stormy Lake Superior in a desperate attempt to save the day.

BIOGRAPHY

John Hamilton is a bestselling author and journalist. His work includes books about fantasy and folklore, science fiction, the national parks, and pirates. Lewis & Clark: Adventures West (Sparrow Media Group) was a finalist at the 17th Annual Minnesota Book Awards in 2005. He is a two-time Golden Duck Award winner for excellence in children’s science fiction literature. John can be found most summers hiking along Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. He is also an award-winning photojournalist and nature photographer.

WEBSITE
www.johnchamilton.com

PURCHASE
Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble Nook

Legacies of Faith

by Robert Roscoe and John Roscoe

Photography by Doug Ohman

Scores of remarkable brick Gothic and Romanesque style Catholic churches, perhaps the most significant religious architecture in rural Minnesota, are clustered within the rural core of Stearns County, seeming to be hidden in the wide open spaces of central Minnesota prairie. These remarkably designed churches form the basis of the recently published book Legacies of Faith – the Catholic Churches of Stearns County, written by John Roscoe and Robert Roscoe, and published by North Star Press of Saint Cloud. Renowned Minnesota photographer Doug Ohman’s 180 color images illustrate their magnificent interiors and richly ornamented details. Stearns County’s culturally distinct rural hamlets, many only five miles apart, are similar to their European counterparts. These iconic structures came into form by German and Polish immigrant farm communities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Legacies of Faith – the Catholic Churches of Stearns County brings to light the history of how these magnificent churches came into being from extraordinary circumstances of historical, social and ethnic forces, and why these communities created such great works of architecture.

BIOGRAPHY

Robert Roscoe
Robert’s primary work is Design for Preservation, devoted to residential renovation, with an emphasis on historic preservation. His professional experience includes 36 years of architectural office experience. His education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and five years in the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota. His writing has been focused on architectural aspects of historic preservation-related issues. Robert served as editor of the Minnesota Preservationist, a publication of the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota for 14 years.

John Roscoe

John’s writing and historical research has developed from his educational career, teaching literature and writing for the Aitkin and Albany, Minnesota school districts. His education includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from St. Cloud State University with a major in English as well as graduate studies at St. Cloud State and the University of Minnesota. The research involved in writing this book has led him to an even greater appreciation of the immigrant experience and how it produced the remarkable outcomes embodied in its churches.

Doug Ohman
Doug Ohman is an acclaimed photographer with extensive experience in photography, has produced images from every county in Minnesota, many which appear in a wide array of leading publications and exhibits of historic preservation. These photographs aptly express the architectural attributes of the buildings while revealing the regional characteristics of their setting.

REVIEWS

“A sumptuous visual sampling of awe-inspiring churches, many well over 100 years old.”-- Dennis Dalman, Sartell Newsleader

“Brothers John and Robert Roscoe have combined John’s familiarity with Stearns County and Robert’s expertise in architecture with photographer Doug Ohman’s professionalism to create an intriguing and lovely book.” -- Sue Halena, St. Cloud Times

“Beautifully put together….it should sell like hotcakes.” -- Dave Wood, Pierce County (WI) Herald

LINKS

We appeared on a segment of Life to the Max hosted by Mike Max of WCCO Television. Watching this episode will give the viewer a visual sampling of the churches we wrote about in Legacies of Faith. The link to this segment follows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGZ16kCZ2mQ

We were interviewed by morning host Bob Hughes on WJON Radio in St. Cloud. The link to this interview follows.

http://wjon.com/legacies-of-faith-audio/

PUBLISHER

North Star Press of St. Cloud

www.northstarpress.com

PURCHASE

Amazon.com

WEBSITE

http://www.legaciesoffaith.net

Diet Myths Busted - Ann A. Rosenstein

Diet Myths Busted

by

Ann A. Rosenstein

Diet Myths Busted is a book written by Ann A. Rosenstein that offers readers a look at facts about food rather than nutrition fiction. Rosenstein is a fitness instructor and personal trainer with several certifications. She wrote this book to help the average person decipher misinformation that is currently out on the subject of dieting.

Instead of promoting a certain type of diet or exercise plan, Rosenstein simply gives you facts. With the use of this information, you can make informed decisions for yourself and your family.

Some diet related myths that are addressed include:

If I stop eating sweets I will lose weight


As long as I eat good food, calories don’t count


Low-carb diets are dangerous


I can spot reduce


I can eat foods that will make me lose weight


Low-fat diets are the healthiest and no fat is best


Organic is best at any cost

Diet Myths Busted offers honest information that is helpful for managing diet and weight. There are so many different sources available for diet information, and many give facts only as they pertain to a particular diet. This book can help you sort through the fluff and start losing weight in a healthy way.

BIOGRAPHY

My name is Ann Rosenstein. I am a fitness professional, mother of two and married. I have been a fitness instructor and personal trainer for 22 years and am certified by ACE, AFAA & AEA. I am also an author of 4 water fitness books.

As a fitness instructor it has become evident to me that most people are thoroughly confused about exercise and nutrition. I get a lot of questions from participants in my classes. I have researched the science of nutrition and exercise the entire time I have been an instructor and have found that if a person understands some basic concepts of nutrition and fitness, it can be fun, easy and enjoyable to eat well and exercise. My family and I enjoy physical fitness and we often workout together. We also enjoy outdoor biking and cross country skiing.

Not only am I a professional fitness instructor, I am also a reference librarian with Dakota County and have been for almost 30 years. BA/MA from the University of Minnesota, ACE, Schwinn Cycle, Pilates Certified, Fitness Instructor/Personal Trainer of 22 years. Teach weight training, indoor cycle (spinning), water fitness, beginning aerobics, aerobics and advanced interval training.

BOOK SIGNING
Wescott Library
Eagan, MN
November 7, 2011 - 7:00 PM

Heritage Library
Lakeville, MN
November 14, 2011 – 7:00 PM

WEBSITE
www.dietfitnessdiva.com

PURCHASE
www.dietfitnessdiva.com

www.iydllarbor.com

Amazon.com

OTHER BOOKS PUBLISHED

Water Exercises for Parkinson's: Maintaining Balance, Strength, Endurance, and Flexibility, Revised


Water Exercises for Fibromyalgia: The Gentle Way to Relax and Reduce Pain


Water Exercises for Osteoarthritis: The Effective Way to Reduce Pain and Stiffness, While Increasing Endurance and Strength.


Water Exercises for Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Effective Way to Reduce Pain and Inflammation While Increasing Flexibility and Mobility

PUBLISHER
Idyll Arbor Inc.
www.idyllarbor.com

Ashes, Ashes - D. J. Rohling

Ashes, Ashes


by

D. J. Rohling

…WE ALL FALL DOWN.

HAMILTON FORD IS ON THE ‘ROAD TO SOMEWHERE’

…Where will it lead?

Mega-church pastor, Hamilton Ford, strapped down to a hospital gurney, is transported to psych lock-up after being hit by a life-changing trauma. Let the therapy begin as Dr. Leslie Swenson leads Hamilton into the world of his night dreams, where he is first haunted and then empowered by apparitions of his family. Throughout his recovery, Hamilton encounters new and invading spiritual realities, as patient and doctor become entangled by what they share in common.

A drama of personal devastation, retching reconstruction, and the hope of redemption.

A battle between spiritual and psychological forces that will destroy or redeem the eminent megachurch pastor, Hamilton Ford.

Packs a spiritual wallop. Full of grit and psychic transformation that emerges from the deepest depths of human pain.

BIOGRAPHY

By day, Darrell (D. J.) Rohling is a father, husband, and psychologist in private practice, and works with individuals, couples, families, adults and teens. He also is a critical incident specialist, going into corporations, schools, and banks, to provide debriefing support after employee or student injury, death, suicide, or bank robbery. Rohling also conducts psychiatric assessments in the emergency department at a twin city hospital. By night, he is a voracious reader and is working on becoming a voracious writer; where his fascination with the mystery of the human language has yet to be quenched. He is presently working on mastering French with hopes of further travel and work abroad, where his passion is to live on the edge without falling into the abyss.

ENDORSEMENTS
"I don't have a religious bone in my body, but as a writer I've always been fascinated by a man's struggle with his faith... and nowhere is that struggle more difficult and more poignant than it is for Hamilton Ford, the protagonist in D. J. Rohling's expertly written debut novel Ashes, Ashes... restores my faith in the art of creating a three-dimensional character with an inspiring story to tell."--Steve Thayer, New York Times best-selling author of The Weatherman, The Wheat Field, and Silent Snow.

"Is it possible to find faith when one’s life has become a nightmarish hell? In the tradition of Dostoyevsky, Conrad and Koestler, D. J. Rohling’s gritty and compelling debut novel brings readers to that existential point where the line between faith and despair becomes razor thin and one is forced to choose out of the depths of one’s soul. Ashes, Ashes is that rare sort of novel that is at once spiritually disturbing and authentically hopeful. A must read!"--Pastor, Greg Boyd, Best-selling and award-winning author of Letters From a Skeptic, Myth of a Christian Nation, and The Jesus Legend (co-authored )

CONTACT
djrohling@aol.com

PURCHASE
DJROHLING.WEEBLY.COM
 
WEBSITE
Facebook.com

First Year - J. O. Salls

First Year

by J. O. Salls

It is Robert Baker’s first year of teaching. It is a school year that jars the tranquility of the fictional town of Blue Lake. It is a year in which escalating enrollment, overwhelmed personnel, and a difficult school board threaten to rip a revered school system apart. In one school year, Robert Baker’s life intertwines with and affects the lives of his students, his colleagues, and even their families. It is a school year in which loyalties are questioned. It is a year in which compassion, hope, and the courage to take action matter more than ever. In one school year, lives can be altered forever.

BIOGRAPHY

Like his parents, J.O. Salls pursued a career in education. He taught English in Wisconsin and Minnesota high schools for 19 years. For another 19 years he taught in Hawaii in classrooms ranging from middle school through community college. His wife taught elementary school for 34 years. They continue to strongly support public education, its teachers and students.

His life-long association with schools brings genuine warmth, affection and a passion for public education to his writing, along with insights into how schools and their inhabitants cope and sometimes prosper between moments of despair and pure exhilaration.

A native of Minnesota, father of two, grandfather of 13, teacher of thousands, John lives with his wife Lila on the shores of Big Stone Lake in Ortonville, MN.

WEBSITE
www.josalls.com
PURCHASE
Amazon.com

PUBLISHER
Birch Grove Publishing