With all the tragedies in the world from war, disease, and other causes, if we are healthy, with shelter and food aplenty, we have reasons to be grateful. Speaking of Thanksgiving, this end-of-November holiday traditionally gathers family and extended family together for feast and fellowship when they might not otherwise see each other all year long.
FEATURED BOOK
Appropriately, we selected La Bodeguita – The Little Market, to feature in this newsletter. It’s about a family that spends a lot of time together every day, helping customers at their little store, serving them, and making sure that the store offers the finest quality in every department. Too often, those who shop at these little stores are unaware of the dedication and sacrifices the employees endure. We never know what heartache might be just behind their ready smile to customers.
Suggestion: The next time you go to a market – even a large supermarket – and see someone stocking a shelf or displaying fish or attractively arranging fruits and vegetables, stop for just a moment and thank that person. We have done that often, and the smiles we receive are well worth interrupting our shopping experience.
THANK YOU READERS!
We appreciate everyone who chooses to read our books out of millions available in the online marketplace and in bookstores around the country. We thank you for reading them and for letting us know what you like about them.
We take this moment to thank Heather K., an 89-year-old widow living in South Africa. She has embarked on a journey to read all of our books. She started with Pontius Pilate, moved to Animal Court, Legends of Lake Nebagamon, and others. She merits our Reader Award for this month. In addition, she proofreads Pablo’s unpublished manuscripts. My second set of eyes; most appreciated!
ANOTHER 5-STAR LITERARY TITAN REVIEW
AND AWARD
Following the cinematic triumph of Casablanca, whispers of a potential sequel titled Brazzaville buzzed through Hollywood, yet it never graced the silver screen. In a masterstroke of imagination, authors Pablo Omar Zaragoza and Susan Giffin unveil their vision of this elusive sequel in a riveting novel. Picking up immediately after Casablanca’s poignant finale, we are thrust into a world with Rick, Louis, and Ilsa, battling the encroaching shadows of Nazi terror. As Ilsa and Lazslo make their desperate escape to Lisbon, they find themselves not out of danger, but rather delving deeper into its grip. Concurrently, Rick and Louis ally with the resistance, embarking on daring missions to free innocent souls from Nazi clutches.
One of the book’s most captivating elements is its expansion on the theme of “found family.” The narrative showcases the resilience of relationships forged in adversity, emanating warmth even in the darkest of times. The unwavering affection Fletcher harbors for Amalia serves as a bittersweet backdrop amidst the tumultuous events. Rick’s assertion, “Besides, my greatest asset isn’t money; it’s family and friends, and of those, I have plenty,” captures this sentiment beautifully.
Zaragoza and Giffin’s writing style deserves commendation for its incredible realism. The palpable tension as characters hang onto every word from the radio and the meticulously detailed battle scenes make the reader feel ensconced within the narrative. Brazzaville: A Casablanca Sequel interweaves adrenaline-pumping action with heart-tugging emotion, a balance that is all too rare. The introduction of fresh faces to the narrative feels organic, enriching the plot without overshadowing established characters. For fans of the classic film, as well as enthusiasts of action tales, this novel promises an exhilarating journey.
COMING SOON
We Walk on Ash, Pablo sets this fantasy in Japan at the end of World War II when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The story starts when the bomb falls on Hiroshima. Painfully remembering the earlier death of a son and his wife’s suicide, a man joins his daughter to tend the family’s garden at the precise moment the bomb explodes. They are spared a horrific death when a Shinto deity rescues them and sets them on a daring mission to save the rest of humanity.
GUEST AUTHOR – STEVE GOODRICH
Steve Goodrich, Susan’s distant cousin on the English side, recently published his first children’s book, Moses the Musk Ox. Steve, originally from Kalamazoo MI (yes, there really is a Kalamazoo), is a retired attorney. Moses the Musk Ox is based on a real episode in the life of Tim Smith, a friend who was a pilot and wildlife biologist living in Nome, Alaska. Steve pieced together recollections of Tim’s stories and his widow’s remembrances, and added his own memories of Nome.
You can find Moses The Musk Ox on Amazon.
