Catholic priest explains how Lady Gaga made a pact with the Devil

Editing progress

I'm halfway there in edits. It's been interesting, as usual.

In editing, the mind shifts gears to ripping up everything that came out in the writing stage. In writing, the focus is getting the ideas out; and there is some editing along the way. In editing, it's about making it all make sense and read easily, to put it succinctly. All those vague thoughts of things that might be wrong in the first draft rise to the surface and become clear. They drag up other issues with them too that you didn't notice before. This can only happen after time away. Stepping back lets you see the forest through the trees.

For me, the first round is a familiarization round after months away from the particular story. I find some things to fix, but it's more to get back to that story. However, by halfway through the first round on Book 18, I was pretty well shifted into editing mode and caught some major fixes in the later chapters. I also started thinking again about the events of this book when not at the computer and have been making editing notes to apply when I get back to the computer.

I'm in the second round of edits now on Book 18, and this is typically where the rewriting really begins, which it has in earnest. I'll have rewrites in the third round too, but not likely as much as this round. Usually third round major rewrites happen because of seeing how second round edits affected the story. Not all stories have such massive issues. So far, I found an issue with chapter 2 and had a lot of rewriting to fix that this time through. It hasn't been as bad since, but that doesn't necessarily mean the book is ready. It could be that issues aren't getting caught. I'm halfway through this second round right now.

I'll have two more rounds. Typically, I find four rounds of edits is just right. Once I get past major issues in the second and third rounds, the fourth is pretty much all copyedits, which is catching the little mistakes (grammar, typos, double words, missed words, etc.) that get introduced in the rewrites. Sometimes, that copyedit stage doesn't happen until a fifth round, but usually four is sufficient. I do fix minor issues in all rounds of edits, but by the final phase, it's just a minor clean-up process. And by then, I'm past ready to move on.

I've also made some tweaks to the book's description. Summarizing a book into a short teaser is not an easy task, but it's a necessary evil.

In the data stolen from the Issan, Nya discovers her greatest fear about the Ethalian portal research—the Issan have the calculations for portals. In the hopes that the Dirnothril may have more current information, she and her friends decide to investigate the package left for L'Ni on Par Ti'jek. What they find shocks everyone… L'Ni isn't the only former Issan living on the outside.

However, the revelation is the least of concerns. An Inquisitor is ready for L'Ni's arrival, and, unknown to anyone, a more sinister threat lurks on the Cartegos, one that could destroy L'Ni and, through him, Nya.

My goal is to release Book 18 in early November.

Thanks for reading!

What Is A Ghost?

bumps, thumps, and... flowers

This is a little story about signs from heaven.

It started with a picture flying off the wall in front of me... sideways (August 2023). I already posted about that, so I won't repeat the details again. You can follow the link to read that part of this story. To sum it up, however, I took it as a sign that my uncle who died in a helicopter crash in Vietnam 55 years earlier (to the minute of when the picture flew off the wall!) needed prayers to reach heaven. I prayed a rosary novena and never thought of it much until this past summer.

Wondering if I had done enough started to bother me more and more, until August 27 rolled around (the anniversary of my brother's death in 1997--my brother who was absent from the family picture that flew off the wall in August 2023).

That day, I had been in the dining-kitchen area and heard a couple knocks from the dining table and investigated, but nothing was there, except one of the cats sleeping on a chair; she wouldn't have made the sound I heard. Later that afternoon, I was in my bedroom and heard a couple of knocks but dismissed it as the house creaking. That night, I was kneeling in prayer by my bed and nightstand and heard three knocks seemingly from the nightstand. That's when I realized it happened three times that day. It was the anniversary of the death of one of my two brothers, but I had been wondering over the few days prior if I needed to offer more prayers for my uncle, so I started adding my uncle to my rosary intentions and offering daily masses for him.

Then I got sick in September soon after my ten-year anniversary at my day job and took a lot of time off work and worked from home some days, in the hopes of not giving the crud to my boss. I also didn't go to any masses for three weeks. In that time, I offered my suffering as penance for my uncle.

This past week was the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux (the little flower) on October 1; I went to daily mass that day. I had finally been getting back to Sunday and daily masses, although scaring people away with clearing my throat frequently (I'm on antibiotics now, which seem to finally be kicking out the crud). I had asked St. Therese for a sign that my uncle had finally reached heaven after all my rosaries and the masses I had offered up for him. I had wanted to know if I had done enough and could switch to offering masses for my brother and others (aside from the rosaries, which I pray for several intentions).

I didn't know it at the time that those who pray to Saint Therese of Lisieux have been known to receive flowers in answer, usually roses but it can happen with any flowers. Friday morning (yesterday; three days after my request for a sign), I went in to work to find a lovely bouquet from my boss with a note of thanks for 10 years with the organization. I almost never get flowers from anyone, and this was a month after my anniversary date. (I was at work a few days in early September before the first crud hit and in mid-September as I was getting over one illness before the second hit.) I just learned that flowers are the way one gets an answer from St. Therese.

Along with this, I had an incredible joy and good feeling all day that left me puzzled about why I felt so good, and my senses of taste and smell were cranked up high. I found this described as a flower for the soul, also credited to the intercession of St. Therese. That all returned to normal today, but Friday was special.

And today (Oct. 5), the day I realized all this, would have been my brother's birthday. There are no coincidences with God.

The saints are alive in heaven, and to ask their intercession is to honor God's goodness. They are closest to Him and looking upon Him to eternity. From heaven, they help us and bring us closer to God to become saints ourselves. St. Therese is one of many whose intercessions result in miracles and even simple answers like this. 🥰 

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us.

God bless!

Still looking good on Monday
(added 10/7/24)

----------

10/7/24 updates: 

• I added a picture of how the bouquet looked Monday morning when I went into the office. Still beautiful!
• I removed what I had written about completing a 54-day novena because I realized I hadn't yet reached that count. I made one of my stupid math errors that happens on occasion (especially since I was still dealing with some lingering illness crud that affected my sleep). I have two weeks left to finish the novena, but there's an extra sense of gratitude as I am completing it in appreciation of God's grace through the Blessed Virgin Mary.
• I added another detail from Friday, which had puzzled me at the time but I dismissed, and then I learned from some more research of the flowers of St. Therese--the spiritual flowers. I believe I received this gift as well.

ps- for more on purgatory, check out the Uniquely Mary Youtube channel, which is also included on the Faith Resources tab listings.

Symbols of Tolkien's faith within Lord of the Rings

Something many readers either don't understand or choose to ignore is that John Ronald Ruel Tolkien was a devout Catholic. He incorporated that into Lord of the Rings. I once read that when the Novus Ordo mass became the main format (versus the Traditional Latin Mass), he continued to respond in the Latin responses (instead of English).

In this video is an interesting discussion about the ways that aspects of Tolkien's faith are incorporated into LOTR and some of the deeper symbolisms we don't necessarily think about when enjoying the story.

I write Starfire Angels, especially Forgotten Worlds, from the perspective of my own Catholic faith. I have a special affinity for angels and all that they do for us, especially our guardian angels. Like Padre Pio suggested, I thank my angel every day for taking care of me and helping me. In my deepening faith, I've developed an ability to hear him more clearly, and the outcome of obeying God's will as shared by one's guardian angel (whose job is to bring us to God) is far more rewarding than ignoring Him. (I'm not talking about earthly rewards but spiritual benefits, although often there are more tangible benefits in our lives too.)

The Starfire entities in my Starfire Angels are much like our real guardian angels, the reason they are alternatively known as Guardians. They only provide what is needed when it's needed. This helps the story but it is also based on the Keeper needing to have faith and obeying the Starfire. Keepers have to give up themselves in order to serve the will of the Starfire, like we are asked to give up our free will to love God by complete obedience through the virtues, especially faith, hope, and charity (divine virtues) and the many other virtues He expects from us (which counter sin).

We can choose not to obey, but that way lies damnation and slavery, as described in the discussion in the video above. There is freedom in virtues and absence of sin, which is obedience to God - "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Like only those souls who perfect the virtues will be allowed in the presence of God (no stain of the least sin is allowed, the reason for spending time purging ourselves of the stain of sin before entering heaven), so too will only those Keepers who are virtuous be accepted to bear the power and responsibility of the Starfire shards. The Starfire entities (Guardians) have been known to destroy worlds where evil is too entrenched, just as God throughout the Bible and events since the last letter of the Bible and continuing throughout history has unleashed punishments when humanity has become so evil that a chastisement is necessary.

There are more subtle aspects to the Starfire Angels universe that are based on Catholic theology, but the Pints with Aquinas video started me thinking about this aspect of my world.

God uses each of us to help others; we just need to listen and obey. This song has always been one of my favorites about angels and even describes how we need to be loving to one another, to be angels to others.

You don't have to be Catholic to enjoy it (just as you don't have to be Catholic to enjoy Lord of the Rings or Starfire Angels).

ps--In the Catholic church, October 2nd is the feast day to celebrate our guardian angels.

Book 20... Done

One more book is complete. I finished Book 20 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds yesterday at just over 41,000 words for the first draft. That will change with rewriting and general edits.

Now, I'm giving the reading more attention and will edit Book 18 for publication. I hope to have that ready by early November.

I have Book 21 pretty well outlined, and it should be easy to jump into writing when I'm ready. (I say that now but when the time comes, I'll struggle... 🙄 Never fails, but I always get past that.) A new character that comes in Book 18 has brought a new set of talents and has added some new things I can do with the cast, which made the planned events of Book 21 more interesting.

Now, it's time to shift gears. I won't be saying much here for a while, but I'll try to peak in with some updates or videos I find interesting. I have finished the read-through of Book 2 and uploaded the update with some minor changes. I can definitely see the improvement of the writing that happens after the initial excitement of the first story of a series when I, like any author, settle into the setting and characters.

Before I go, I'll leave this:

I only have five more books to write in this series to finish it. The series is 4/5 written. 🥳

Thanks for reading!

Back into the swing of things

Two viruses in a row, back-to-back is an awful way to be sick. Just as I was recovering from one, including my sleep, I had the second to contend with. Now, that's passing by, at last. On a good note, I'll have immunity for those illnesses at least through the winter. I'm glad to get those out of the way now, because winter is always very busy for me.

Writing

And this winter, I expect to publish Book 18 and write Book 21 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds, so I want to be able to get that done. I have just a few hundred words left of Book 20 to finish a scene, although I could add another if I want, but I'm not sure if that's needed. It will end up right around 41,000 words, at least in the first draft.

I also have the reading project of my previous books in this series.

Gardening

And now that fall is here, we're coming to the end of the growing season. Since I've been feeling better, it's been time to catch up on a few items. One of those was the rhubarb. It was getting out of control again. It's been 4-5 weeks since I last harvested. The stalks were pretty thick, but there were still a lot of them. I left a good 1/4-1/3 on the plants to keep them viable through winter. We're not expecting a hard freeze this week, but the lows are getting close to that first freeze or frost of the season. Below is the final harvest of rhubarb cleaned and drying on the kitchen counter. This is about the amount I end up harvesting each time from the two plants. It should fill 4 or 5 gallon freezer bags (left as stalks) about 2/3-3/4 full each. That's about the right amount for a good rhubarb crisp. Since I'm the only one in my house who likes rhubarb, some of this will go to friends.

I don't have pics of the peppers and cucumbers. Those have been pretty steady for the last month and plenty of them. Hubby's been putting them away, at least the bell peppers. He's kept some of the chilis but he has so many serranos that we're giving those to friends too. And there's lots more to come before they freeze off for the season. To extend that, we have some plant blankets, so on the cold nights, we'll cover those and the tomato plant.

I also had one final little handful of strawberries from my growing strawberry patch. The garden spider has moved off, thankfully. (I almost ended up with him on my arm a few weeks ago before I noticed him there.) The strawberry patch has been growing and producing all summer. I just have to keep the birds away with a fence. It's going to be bigger next year as they spread out even more; and I haven't seen any bugs eating on the plants, although I found a caterpillar on them this afternoon. I've provided plenty of room for expansion so I can get a good strawberry patch in that section of the garden. And they're super sweet. 😋 Once I start getting enough, I'll be able to make strawberry-rhubarb deserts. There's a method to this madness. 😉

Last of all, the grapes are done. The birds took some of those, but we had a good amount of grapes this year from the one plant and were able to enjoy our fair share. Since the newer plant grew eight feet this year, I expect it to produce plenty next year, so double the grapes. Both plants reached the top of the trellis and I look forward to them reaching over it next year; the newer plant already is somewhat. With all the leaves, they're a pretty decoration even without fruit.

Back to the rest of life

Soon, I'll get back to my horse. It's been a month, because I've been too sick to get out. Today was a gardening day, however. There's only so much one can get done in a day. And it's a warm day with lots of boxelder bugs and wasps around buildings, so not sure I want to contend with that at the barn.

At least I could get back to church this morning. That was much-needed. And I wasn't the only one recovering from being sick. A few Saturday mass-goers were clearing throats and coughing once in a while like me. I was worried about standing out, but I fit right in.

This crud is making its way through the local community. When my daughter said all her friends were sick and she probably got it from them, I had thought she meant the cough that hubby and I started out with, not the crud she actually gave to the rest of us (with a fever, fatigue, and sinus congestion) after we were recovering from the cough. At least that's all done now.

Anyway, it's good to get back my health and into the swing of things again. I get cabin fever too easily and don't like TV anymore. There's only so much I can tolerate.

Now, time to get back to work on the stories. I have been writing, but now that I'm finishing Book 20 this weekend, it'll be time for editing.

Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday, Bilbo and Frodo!

Lord of the Rings day

It's September 22nd, the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. I didn't realize it until after I put on Lord of the Rings this morning. I'm too sick to go to church and I'm tired of bingeing Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, or sort of bingeing. I slept through most of those yesterday while dealing with a 104 F fever at its peak (no Tylenol). Needless to say, I didn't get any writing done, or maybe a sentence worth, yesterday.

Today, I'm feeling better--lots of Tylenol and liquids later. Yesterday I lost my sense of taste, so that kind of confirmed what this nasty crud is, at least this second go-round. I was just getting over whatever I had last weekend and Friday night flared up in misery that is letting up somewhat today. I still have a fever, but it's been coming down (102 between Tylenol doses this morning). My sense of taste is improved too.

I was going to put LOTR on yesterday but figured it was easier to put on Pluto TV and let Stargate just play through while I rested and wasn't paying much attention anyway. So, today, Lord of the Rings day, I ended up putting the first movie on without thinking about what day it was until after the opening text showed the date of the start, Bilbo's birthday party... today.

Since I'm feeling better today, I'll try to get back to writing, when I'm not resting. Book 20 of Forgotten Worlds is currently just under 36K words. It's very close to being done. I expect to finish by the end of this month. I also expect that it will be the shortest or second shortest of the books in the series.

Stay healthy!

Thanks for reading!

divine guidance and writing

dreamstime image

I've had one of the nastiest colds of the last two years this past week. For a few days, I didn't get much of anything done. I was mostly resting and coughing. I'm still coughing, but I think I'm on the tail end of this after it started with a sore throat on Tuesday. I took off the rest of the week from the day job to rest, but the cold has persisted. Today, I have more energy and am coughing less, but there's still lots of crud draining down my throat from the sinuses. (Like you needed to know that.)

I'm hoping for a good night's sleep tonight and to be ready to get back to the day job tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I've had to sleep on the recliner loveseat to be partly sitting up the last few nights because of the crud. I couldn't lay flat in bed or the coughing fits were worse.

While I've been sick, I've been surprised at the ideas flowing for writing when I wasn't resting, considering how fuzzy my head has been from the fatigue. I actually had some good writing, but this weekend I realized something wasn't right about what I had written. I've mentioned that I've also been putting in reading time of the series that's already written and published, but I had set that aside to recover from being sick. And as my devotion to my faith has grown, I've been offering my work to Our Lord in my morning prayers and throughout the day. This afternoon, I had a sudden prompt like I was being told to read, just read (my previous books). It was a strong push against my plans, because I thought I should be writing; but I listened, and not a whole page into reading from where I had left off, something I read struck me with what applied to a small issue in the current WIP (Book 20). I realized what I needed to do, fixed the issue, and was able to move the story forward again.

The prompt to read faded after that, but I know I should get back to that more fully. My focus is on finishing the first draft of Book 20, but I need to make time for reading The Rule of Yonder also. (I finished A New Beginning and uploaded a minorly updated version for the ebook already.) I need to finish reading what I had written in that first introduction of Zaer and Shen for Book 20.

And on that note, Book 20 is up to nearly 33,000 words and things are looking pretty dire for the characters. It'll be interesting to see how they get out of this situation.

Thanks for reading!

Exorcist Fr Dan Reehil Talks About HOPE In These Desperate Times!

If you're living in fear in this world, Fr. Reehil has some good advice for that:

Back to the beginning

It's been six years since I started writing the first book of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. I went back to it a couple of years ago, intending to fix any issues I found, but that's as far as I read. I was too focused on writing.

Now that I'm nearly 4/5 done with the series (will be once Book 20 is done), I think it's time to go back and read everything straight through. Along the way, I'll fix any editing issues that arise, although the books shouldn't require much. Mostly, I need this as a refresher. It's hard to keep it all straight after writing nearly twenty books in six years, even with a wiki file (aka series bible) and these being short novels.

Another reason for the re-read is that I write for myself, so I can go back and read the work and enjoy the journey again, although I also want to write for an audience besides myself, so that is at the back of my mind in writing. Mostly, I want to write something that I'll enjoy going back to, something that's fun and exciting and even clean, a series that harkens back to the days of that type of science fiction series, before sex and vulgarity took over our media. Before the 2000s, certain things weren't allowed in entertainment and a good story had be told above all else. Back then, good stories were told without the shock value of graphic violence, gore, and sex that we have so much of in our entertainment today. That only detracts from a good story, in my opinion. If you need those elements to keep your audience, you're not telling a compelling story. (Star Wars had none of those but became a force to be reckoned with... until it started to modernize.)

I explain a lot of what inspired this series in the foreword of the first book, A NEW BEGINNING, and why I am writing it, so I won't repeat it here, but this has turned into a more fulfilling project than I could have anticipated. I've started reading and don't want to quit, which means I'm not bored with it. 😁 That's good, because I still have a bit over five more books to write. It also means that it's been so long since I started this project that I see it with fresh eyes. In that, I've caught a few things to tweak. I'll update ebooks as I go. The print books will require a bit more work to update the interiors.

I still have a couple years of writing before the series will be completely finished, since I write it all myself--no AI and no ghostwriters--and I am not a full-time writer. This is a good point to reread it all. I've done that with some of my longer novels in the past at about the same point to refresh my view of the story flow so the climax would bring all the necessary pieces together with the right pacing. This is no different, just much MUCH bigger! (In relative size, so far, I've published somewhere around 800,000 words total in Books 1-17. Compared to a series of eight 100,000 word novels (aka "doorstoppers"), this has many more distinct plots and subplots in the overall arc.)

In the meantime, I'm also working on finishing the final segment of Book 20. It was because of this that I decided to reread--I need a refresher on what I've written about Zaer and Shen since I'm finally expounding on their past together in this episode, DARKEST DEPTHS. That made me realize I need to get an overall view of the entire series so far, before moving into the final segment of it.

I hope you're enjoying the series as much as I am.

Thanks for reading!

My blog, my way

Anyone reading my book series will be familiar with one of the characters' mantra of "My ship, my rules."

The same can be said of my blog. I write what I feel like sharing in this space, just like anyone else does with their blogs. If you wish to know who I am, you will learn that here.

My faith influences my writing to varying degrees. I don't preach in my fiction, but I do include aspects of my faith in the characters and the settings. My Catholic religion has been a saving grace for me in our deteriorating world. Before you criticize, I invite you to explore the truth of what the Catholic faith really is, not what you believe it is. You might be surprised at what you discover, such as I've shared on this blog. Try listening to any number of exorcists and Catholic apologetics, or even the conversion stories or archeological proof that the Bible chronicles real history that I have included in the listings on the Faith Resources tab.

This is my blog, my story. My religion is a part of who I am, and for readers who want to know what inspires my writing, my deepening closeness to Jesus Christ through Our Blessed Mother is a big part of who I am. I have found peace and joy and experienced increasing knowledge of who God really is; and I wish that more people could see what I now see. I share what I find helpful in the hopes that others will begin to see truth, and I pray that people's eyes are opened to the incredible reality that hides from those who don't know of or don't accept their blindness to the spiritual realm.

Along with writing updates and tidbits about my stories, I will continue to share on my blog personal items that interest me, including videos and expressions of my religion, my faith, which is a part of me and is infused into my stories. I will no longer hide my Catholic faith, my love of God, in the shadows like it doesn't exist.

In my virtual house, I do things my way. My blog, my rules.

God bless!

Cats and more

Just for fun, because I haven't done something like this in a while...

the oldest two (12 & 13+ years)

the old man - my prayer buddy
and writing buddy

peekaboo! (the youngest - 9 yrs old)
a rare brown tuxedo (not black)

a dragonfly at the window - they've exploded
in numbers in the last month

a wild turkey family crossing through our backyard after
some heavy rain

All three enjoying a nice day
in their catio from Habitat Haven

Now that I have your attention with all the cats, dragonflies, and turkeys, I'll just say that the writing is progressing, although I'm hitting one of those points of stumbling on the plot a bit. Book 20 is over 27K words and I am having to reconsider some ideas to make this work. I'm planning on editing and publishing Book 18 this winter. I would prefer to finish the first draft of Book 20 before doing that; but, even if I don't, I will get Book 18 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds out before Christmas.

A new book trailer

I didn't get much writing done today, but I've been wanting to create a new book trailer for a while. Actually, I wanted to create a series trailer, but what I'd like to do for that would take a lot more work than I have the time to complete presently. So, I focused on a book trailer for the upcoming Book 18 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds.

Since Google is being a butt and not allowing me to post my videos from Vimeo, I'll have to link to it. Sorry; not my preference, but I refuse to give Google any more business than minimally required, such as this blog (I hate Wordpress worse than Google). It's on my website at melanienilles.com and directly at https://vimeo.com/1004968992.

My skills with After Effects are improving, partly because these templates require learning to customize, and finding the right images and music and deciding on the text requires time and testing. In the end, I'm happy with it. (Premiere Pro is easier to work with, but there's a lot more than can be done with After Effects, which is specialized for animations.)

I have a love-hate relationship with book trailers... I hate figuring out what to do but love it once I get going and create an end product that looks great.

This ate up my day, but it was worth it. Tomorrow, back to writing.

Enjoy your weekend!

Catholic priest explains: When the concerts are nothing more than devil worship

The above ties well into the below video also posted today:

Writing progresses...update on Book 20

I hope everyone has a good weekend coming up.

I thought I'd post an update on the writing tonight. I've been making good progress on Book 20 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds. It's currently at 25K words, almost 2/3 done.

This book is focused on the small team of Zaer and Shen, mostly Shen. In it, I'll reveal his past, how they met, and some of their adventures (in flashbacks). I don't like to tell a story in flashbacks, because it's too easy to do it wrong, and then it hinders rather than helps a story, but it can work. I used flashbacks for L'Ni's backstory in Book 13, SOUL SHADOW, when Nya was searching his memories to help him escape being trapped in sleep by the dark creature he once served. I did it a bit for Nik's backstory in Book 3, VAULT OF THE CELESTIALS, and Zaer's far back story, before her smuggling days, in Book 12, MESSAGES. The rest of the characters' pasts mostly gets spread throughout the series rather than concentrated. Piling on too much flashback in a book is something I only like to use when I've made sure it makes sense to the story.

However, I wanted to give Shen the attention he deserved. While there is a present trouble taking place, he and Zaer are remembering things about their adventures together related to how they're resolving the present conflict. The story has action, but it will be the last story in this series that might be considered partially unrelated to the main series plot. I say partially because they are on a Starfire world for Nya's mission when they encounter trouble. So, the main plot of the story is essential.

I've been waiting to tell this because I wasn't sure about specifics and Zaer and Shen are not the main focus of the series. However, they are part of the series and I wanted to take the chance to add to what is known about them. It's kind of a reader treat in that way (I hope). For those who might have wanted to know more about how these two became friends, this will hopefully provide that satisfaction.

I also thought I had a cover for this but then realized the image I had didn't really fit what the story had become, so I've redesigned it. It needs a bit of tweaking and a cover blurb yet. When it's ready, I'll post that.

In the meantime, that's all I can say without giving away specifics.

Thanks for reading!

The Conspiracy Against the Shroud of Turin | With Timothy J. Gordon

The Miracle of Vistula, Poland... Our Lady of Victory

The Mother of God comes to the aid of the church of Her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. She even intercedes in battle to save us from the temporal military forces of those who oppose God (in this case, communists). I just learned about the Miracle of the Vistula. See more here: https://catholicinsight.com/the-miracle-on-the-vistula-an-untold-story/ and https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/what-was-the-miracle-on-the-vistula/. Contemporary history never reports the full truth but distorts the good of the original church, the Catholic Church, discounting the power of God (because it's usually secular history by atheists, who are wrong about God--just because they don't want to believe He exists doesn't mean He doesn't exist). I wouldn't even know where to start with all the lies.

Oh, wait... Brian Holdsworth took those on pretty well:

Anyone blaspheming the Blessed Virgin Mary is deceived by Satan. She comes to our aid to defend her spiritual children, the followers of her son, the Son of God, just as She did at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and who knows how many other battlefields not reported. The rosary is a sword against the temptations and attacks of the devil. Pray to keep communism at bay in this age when it seems to have taken over the world.

Pray the Rosary every day and you will receive graces you never knew were possible. It is the ultimate weapon against temptation and helps us grow in virtue and resist sin so that we grow closer to Christ by conforming our wills to His, just as Mary's will is perfectly conformed to God's will (see the Magnificat from Luke 1:46-55).

Other saints come to our aid also, as is reported of St. Padre Pio during World War II, while he was alive on this world (before his body died and his spirit took on new life in heaven, where he can intercede even more for our prayers). He was devoted to Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

If you are interested in learning more about devotion to the Blessed Virgin and how She brings us closer to Jesus Christ, I recommend reading Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort.

ps--The Bible actually does suggest praying to saints in several places. They are living in heaven closest to God, especially the most honored among them, the Mother of God. By dispensation from God, they hear our prayers and intercede for us to offer them to God. They are the purest souls and are closer to God than we are. After all, souls are alive in heaven, right? (They aren't "dead".) And the church and tradition existed before the new testament of the Bible was compiled by the early Catholic Church.

It's been a wet week

If you're only reading this post because of innuendo, you have a dirty mind. Now that I have your attention...

This morning just killed all my momentum. I'm more numb than mad at this point. I was leaving for work and saw the upright freezer door open in the garage.

Imagine the horror--all the hard work of two years of patient garden growing and processing the fruits of that garden (and veggies), only to find it all thawed.

I had just been in that freezer the night before, but so had someone else, after me. One of the kids took ice cream out and put it back (both garden goodies and ice cream have been kept in the same freezer... but no longer). Unfortunately, that kid wasn't careful. I made this mistake once but caught it after a few hours, so there wasn't anything to worry about. I learned to push the door shut after it was shut--it became a habit for me. My kids apparently didn't learn from that.

All we could salvage was whatever I can eat over the next week of the 18 cups of sweet peas I had stored up from this summer, not counting what I ate already (all that work picking and shelling to store up and enjoy until next summer's growing season, gone in a week instead of a year 😭); and whatever of the cut bell peppers that hubby could fit in his dehydrator. Once food thaws, it's not supposed to be refrozen because of the increased risk of bacterial growth.

All the ice cream I had bought on sale just a couple of weeks ago... gone. 

The freezer was a sopping mess.

I guess our freezer wanted to imitate the heavy rains we had the last couple of days that made our yard a sopping mess. (We needed the rain, but it came hard and fast, creating rivers through the valleys, refilling ponds, and flooding roads and some homes and businesses in town.)

---------------

On writing...

On a good note, I had been making good progress on the writing. Book 20 is over 13K words (1/4-1/3 expected first draft final word count), plus when I haven't been writing, I've been working on the remainder of the series planning. Book 21 has consumed me. I think I'll stick to my original working title of ARMOR for that. It seems to fit the story outline that has filled out with ideas over this past week. I know the book 25 title too -- FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS -- but books 22, 23, and 24 are basic ideas yet and their titles uncertain. Those will require some intensive planning since they will be the homestretch to the series climax I have planned in book 25.

Thanks for reading!

Book project status

I have a couple of items as updates: 1) I'm getting closer to having a print book omnibus ready for Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds Collection 3 (Books 11-15); and 2) Writing on the latest WIP, Book 20 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds, is well underway.

Book 20 will keep its working title that I had planned -- DARKEST DEPTHS. I even have the cover figured out, just not the cover blurb, or I'd be ready to reveal that already. That's going to take some time to write. I need to get further into the story. Right now, it only has about 6000 words, so just getting going into trouble for the characters.

Also, while I had the idea for this generally summarized, I started without knowing exactly how it would work. That came to me in an evening inspiration earlier this past week so that I have a more detailed synopsis. So, it's pretty well fleshed out. I just need to write the rest of the story. 

This episode will detail how Zaer and Shen met and reveal Shen's past. The poor guy hardly gets any attention... except when he's spicing up racing ships for Zaer's "business associates". He's such a tolerant, quiet little guy that he never steals the show. It's time he got some highlighting, although he doesn't have disasters in his past. He's... Shen (short for his full name of Shenu'oa'h'malani). He's just in the background a lot of times minding his own business or keeping Zaer grounded. Yes, Oolans are water creatures, as was made note of in Book 3. I'm hoping to work in a reason that Zaer hates deep water, besides that she can't swim. With her background, I have a lot of ideas I can use.

As you might have guessed now, this one will feature some water settings.

I'll post updates as this progresses.

Thanks for reading!

Guadalupe The Miracle and the Message (2015) Documentary Exclusive TV

Our Lady's apparition in 1531 converted 9 MILLION South American natives from human sacrificing (demon) worship to baptism and faith in Her son, our Lord Jesus Christ in seven years!! We do not worship Mary but venerate her as the Immaculate Conception and ever virgin mother of God the Son, Jesus Christ. She leads us to Him aka "To Jesus through Mary" just as He came to us through her womb.

That is NOT the work of Satan but exactly what he hates. What's more, this occurred shortly after the protestant reformation of Martin Luther (1517), whose pride (from Satan) got the best of him and whose disobedience and heresy led many souls away from the true church of Christ and into hell.

For more on Our Lady of Guadalupe:

For more of an explanation of Mary's veneration as the Mother of God (the Son), daughter of God (the Father), and spouse of God (the Holy Spirit), go to my Faith Resources tab under the Marian Devotion section.

Writing time!

I'm back at it... writing on the next book of the Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds series--Book 20. So far, I have 2300 words. It's been a slow start, but I've had a busy week.

Book 17 was released just over two weeks ago, and I took time to read through books 18 and19 and make some notes for when I officially start editing each of those. Now, I'm starting the writing on Book 20. I have 25 books planned (actually more but am limiting the series to 25 books), so the homestretch is in sight.

Here we go again!

Naming characters

Naming characters is always a bit of a challenge. I try to derive from real nationalities that fit the culture of the characters. However, I do make some changes and set up rules.

In the Starfire Angels universe, there are some rules I established when it came to cultures. For instance, Inari names do kind of have a mash between Japanese and biblical names. There's also a general ending of male names of -is, although that's not a rule, just a general style. Their names are also backwards ordered from western names, which the Ethalians copy--familial name then individual name, or what we would consider last-name first-name order. They also are a matriarchal culture, so the mother's familial name is assigned to children.

For other fictional cultures, I used different styles. Since Feri don't use hard consonants (c/k, q, t) their language is softer in some ways, but I wanted it to be a language of beauty, an irony for their warrior and cultish religious discipline. Their name order is another that's unique, a first-name middle-name [of] father-name [and from] mother-name at their fullest. You'll see this in Book 13, SOUL SHADOW, when L'Ni is identified by his full name in his memories.

And sometimes, I name things after real life. The name Zaer was inspired by a real last name I saw and I thought that had just the right sound for the character. 

And in an upcoming book - ALL THE KING'S MEN - I have a horse named after a real horse I knew.

Red (aka Blood) bay horse - red body
with black mane & tail, ear tips, &
lower legs, often the muzzle too. 
(ID 28896658 © Virgonira
- Dreamstime.com)

In this case, the character is an animal and I didn't hesitate to make him identical to the real life namesake. In the case of the horse in the story, Quint was the real name of a Quarter Horse ridden by the men in my stepfamily when I was a kid. Quint was the meanest gelding I ever knew and I kept my distance from him. He would only respect men, until he was a senior and slowed down. He was cowy through and through, though, which means he could turn any cow and went after them like the devil he was.

In the story, the fictional Quint has very little page time but has a big presence like his namesake. I made him a red (blood) bay like his namesake too and just as mean, but a stallion instead of a gelding (the real Quint was a gelding and still as mean as any stallion might be). The fictional horse, however, has a touch of intelligence such as I've seen on some horses who can seem nuts but turn docile when a particular situation requires it. I once had a half-Arabian that did this--completely forward and ready to go for me but absolutely deadhead on a loose rein when a child rode him.

As a horseperson, it was fun for me to feature an equine minor character, and it kind of made up for being chased by that mean gelding I grew up fearing.

The horse in the story has a small part, but he became a big personality within the story and gets to kick some Issan in armor. And the reason there are horses on a planet in another galaxy is explained in the series--transplanted from Earth like the humans, same as the Ethalians.

Now, I just need to write the description for ALL THE KING'S MEN. In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to share some of the background on it.

Thanks for reading!

PILOT EPISODE: The Promised Land Series

I came across this and am enjoying it more than I expected. Imagine the story of the Exodus from Egypt... The Office style. 🤣

(It helps to have read the Bible to have some background.)

I recognize some of the actors and actresses in this.

For Such a Time as This...

After what happened Saturday, I have debated on sharing this, but feel that now is an appropriate time, given my faith posts and my blog page with the hundreds of links of faith videos, articles, and YouTube Channels. There is a divine providence in the miraculous circumstances that saved the life of Pres. Donald Trump that was pre-ordained for such a time as this:

"And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” 

- Esther 4:14

---

And for something else to help people realize why we need God more than ever, an excellent presentation about eliminating our sins so that we can grow closer to God:

It's here... HOMECOMING

The book is finished, uploaded, and already reaching some of the major bookstores.

I finished last night but had some reservations about publishing and waited until this morning, after letting myself sleep on it. I had to be absolutely certain that the book was really ready. Part of that was giving myself a chance to think of any more details like I had done already--things come to me when I'm not actively editing but in that mindset doing something else like household chores.

The other part was debating a couple of places in the book, whether I wanted to keep some sections of backstory (aka info-dump/flashback narrative) in the story about some of the side characters. However, these were characters from the earlier parts of the Starfire Angels series (Dark Angel Chronicles and Revelations). I decided that these characters and their past interactions were worth explaining, because it highlights something more about the Starfire, which readers will know is a key to defeating the Issan deity, and because it offers something about the past of the characters and touches on their links to one another. Those who read the other two series will appreciate the updates more than new readers, but it will help new readers too.

I finally decided that I could either edit it to death or just publish. It's the same old battle. As I get further along on this series, I get a bit more paranoid about missing things or messing up a detail, but I did go back to Remnants and reviewed bits of the Nepur'din information there.

In the end, I feel that HOMECOMING is as good as it could get and any more editing would probably detract from it. It's a fine line between editing enough and over-editing.

It's now available. I'll send out the email notice tomorrow. (I'm still waiting on a couple of retail links.) You can find all the links on the book page as I update them at https://www.melanienilles.com/books/homecoming/.

Happy Reading!

About forgiveness... helpful advice (don't let it drag you to hell!)

If you're wondering why I've been sharing more faith videos on this blog, it serves two purposes, one selfish and one in charity: 1) selfish--to keep this blog active in the long gaps between writing updates and 2) charity--to help others discover the fullness of the faith that has transformed my life and brought me closer to God.

Since my writing contains bits and pieces of the virtues and values of my faith, this isn't in opposition to my writing but, rather, a complement to it. My books are written so that all can enjoy them, whether you believe in God or not. They don't preach, or at least I don't think they preach; I try not to preach, but sometimes characters do exert their beliefs, whether I agree or not, just like real people, because it expresses a part of who they are. Preaching the faith is not the purpose in my fiction; the primary goal there is just to tell entertaining stories, but stories without glorifying sin. I simply include heroes/heroines that share my values in some form or another, often deficient in ways that allow for growth, just as we are in real life deficient and (should be) seeking growth. 

I'm sharing this because I found another excellent video in my feed. This is about forgiving others of their transgressions (even politicians, entertainers, and other public figures--pray for their conversions rather than holding grudges or hating them). I needed this and know that everyone can benefit from this. Fr. Reehil's advice is so beautiful in this video that I had to share it and add it to my growing collection of resources on my Faith Resources page. 

There's also some excellent advice at the end of the video about confession. I have to say that it's one of my favorite (although most difficult) sacraments, because I feel like I've had a bath afterwards--my soul is renewed in the cleansing from reconciliation that comes from the confessional. The effect isn't as dramatic as you grow in virtue, which leads to less serious sins and greater sensitivity to the smallest sins. True life is about conforming your will to God's (which can be very challenging--giving up what you want to conform to God's law). You can't rely on feelings for that; rather, it's a matter of reason over feelings, keeping God's commandments in all the minutiae of our lives, down to the least condemnation of our thoughts. It's not easy, but it's so worthwhile! And the confessional is one of the greatest ways to grow in loving God. (Here's a link to help with the examination of conscience.)

Aside from that, I'll be finishing HOMECOMING, Book 17 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds, in the next few days. 🥳

Watch for an announcement post on that.

God bless!

upcoming print book

I have one more round of edits for Book 17 before it's done, but after finishing the latest edits last night, I decided today to take a break to complete a more tedious job... formatting. 😵

I've been working most of the day on formatting for the print version of Collection 3 (Books 11-15) to set up a hardcover on Barnes and Noble and a paperback with Amazon. Editing is difficult, but formatting is tedious.

And while formatting the file for the interior, I discovered a few formatting issues from the ebooks of these, so I'm going back and cleaning up those files to be sure the ebooks don't have any hidden issues (extra spaces, tabs, returns, etc.). I'll finish these five, then go back to the first ten and give those another pass.

There's always something, but the good thing about being indie is that I can easily make these changes and upload a new file... when I have time, because this is a tedious, time-consuming process, which is why many indies hire it out to others. It's also why I hate setting up print books--a LOT more steps to clean up and then reformat into a clean PDF and upload. Ebooks are just a matter of the DOCX file being directly uploaded. I don't have to worry about where a print page ends and a new chapter begins or where a section break ends and a new book begins (applicable to omnibus editions) or messing up my table of contents with page numbers of each book's starting page in the omnibus collection.

This is why I don't just make print books for all the books I have. I could, but it's also cheaper for readers to buy a 5-in-1 omnibus than individual print books. I can sell the paperback omnibus editions on Amazon for $19.95 versus $5-6 per individual book; and since these are 5-book omnibus editions, that's like getting one whole book free. For a hardcover, it's an even bigger savings. However I do have to keep them exclusive to specific stores to keep the prices as low as possible.

So, if you're waiting on a print edition of the next five books of the Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds series, it's in the works, as I had mentioned this past winter. These are the projects that I work on when I need a break from writing or editing. They require a different set of skills that's more process-oriented than creative in nature. It's a way to switch gears for a while.

I won't finish at this time, but I will work on it again after Book 17 is out. For now, the initial setup is done. I have a final clean-up of the files, then uploading and waiting on approval, ordering proofs and waiting on those, evaluating proofs, likely making changes and going through the approval and proof process again (one more more times), and finally approving the print books for sale. The approval and proof processes, since I like to see actual printed copies, are where the delays really come in.

If you're looking for a more exact time frame, I would expect to see Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds Collection 3 (Books 11-15) print edition available by the time I'm getting Book 18 ready for publishing; in other words, within the next four months.

That's my best estimate. I'll announce when it's ready, and the links will be available from my website at that time. For now, the individual ebooks are available from all major book retailers, and the first two omnibus editions are available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble in paperback and hardcover respectively.

Thanks for reading!

Book 17 editing... one more week

I keep finding the little things to fix.

That's how progress on Book 17 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds is going. I'm on the fourth round but still finding things to fix, although, as my normal editing progress goes, I am, predictably, at the stage of doing more removing than adding or rewriting.

It's cleaning up nicely, although the first chapter required a lot of work. First chapters always do, though. They should set up everything or at least introduce a question/issue that is the sprout that blossoms fully as the story moves along. Getting that set up requires a lot of finesse.

I'm nearly mind numb from editing, but one more round after this should allow me to be sure the other issues that came up are polished. I had almost forgotten a couple of details from the original Starfire Angels series that became the Dark Angel Chronicles, back when I established the rules of this universe. This one has a lot of continuity requirements since it brings back some of the DAC characters. I didn't want to over-explain things to those who started with this series but get just enough to understand the characters brought just over ten years into the future of that series to interact with Nya and her friends. I typically overwrite and have to cut. It's better than not having enough and having a reader that's lost.

I'm halfway through the current editing round and one more should take me into next weekend, after July 4th. I should have HOMECOMING available by the following week. This is about the time of the 15th anniversary of the release of the first Starfire Angels book. Book 17 of Forgotten Worlds will be the 37th story (or book, if you count a novelette and a few novellas as books) in the series. After this, there will only be eight more books to wrap up the series.

Book 17 is coming very soon!

Stupid things I said when I was Protestant. And what I would say now (video title)

Coming soon... Book 17

Edits of Book 17 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds are progressing with the hope of releasing the book before the end of the month, although no guarantees on that; by early July for sure. I'll have the next book in the Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds series out in less than four months since the last book. It's now been about three months, so this is a much better pace than the last few books.

I'm maintaining two books ahead of publishing. This allows a cushion if I develop something or think of something later that I want to go back and add into a book. Experience in the past showed me that when writing a series, that's the best option. Not everything comes at once up front, and series ideas develop and change.  Usually something like that doesn't happen more than two books later.

This series has changed in small details as each book is written and I tweak things from the original outline. Sometimes it's the character development, but most often it's realizing that plot development and/or the science doesn't fit what I had originally planned and I need to make adaptations, which ripple out beyond that book. Of course, if you know how wave physics work, the further out from the source the ripple travels, the larger it becomes, so that requires adjustments in the outline so that ripple flows right along instead of crashing like a wave against rocks.

And then there is the issue of the writing itself. I've had a couple of scenes in this book (like every book) that really needed major hammering to mold them into what they needed to be. Chapter one has a major impact on the whole story; in this, the big revelation that I had mentioned long ago, so certain elements had to be included. This required more than my usual attention, because I've been hinting at this since the first book to prepare readers, unbeknownst to them; but the hints did get more and more obvious (or I thought they did; readers can chime in once they see it come to fruition). I had to reorganize the opening conversation of Book 17 to bring together all the hints that spark the rest of the story and will change dynamics of the whole series. This has been a delicate task. I knew it was a problem after writing it but just wanted to get everything possible for that scene out so it was on the page. It's smoothed out now and everything is in place for the setup of the rest of the book and the series.

As for the rest of Book 17, I'm halfway through this major editing stage with at least two more rounds of edits to go. Chapter one could still see a bit of editing, but nothing like this round of reorganizing and rewriting. I'm finding other places that need a lot of rewriting, but nothing like the first chapter (so far). Opening chapters area always the big ones for me, even when they aren't a big revelation. They should ignite the reader's interest by introducing tension immediately that needs to be resolved (aka the plot). I don't like slow openings.

So, watch for HOMECOMING... coming soon.

Thanks for reading!

God Bless!

-------------------

Pressured by L'Ni's persistent concerns, Nya finally agrees to a medical exam with Nik. Although Nik is surprised by the results. Because of fears to Nya's health and to learn what may be known of the connection between the Inari and Feri, Nya and L'Ni leave friends behind to visit Inar'Ahben in search of answers.

They soon discover that threats against the Starfire still lurk on the Inari homeworld. Although the Shirukan were defeated more than ten years earlier, they're still a threat to Crystal Keepers. No one is more aware than Security Chief Rajeun Leksel, but even he underestimates the determination of the remnants of the former Shirat Empire. When Nya arrives, the Shirukan see the opportunity to retake what was once theirs. They will stop at nothing to obtain a Starfire shard and complete their plans for domination.

Nya must overcome her worst nightmares against an enemy who understands the power of the Starfire too well.

---------------

(Note: I'm still tweaking the description, so it could change by the time the book is published.)

Final scene

I've pretty much finished the first draft of Book 19 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds but might add a small final scene with this book's secondary characters just for fun. I have to see how the read-through goes. Right now, the book is just under 49K words, so the full first draft should be 50-51K words, a bit more than expected.

I looked back at when I published Book 16 and noticed that it's only been 2 1/2 months. It felt like it was longer since I published the last book. Boy, is my sense of time off!

I struggled a lot with this book and am glad that I fixed things along the way. It turned out very good! I posted about some of those struggles since the early stage of writing this, without getting into spoilers. One of the biggest issues was working out why technology wouldn't work on a world without using some artificial neutralizing force. I think I managed a plausible explanation, although it's still a bit of science fiction hand-wavium.

But I have a world where the civilization can't advance technologically and stayed at a medieval setting. It's interesting. And the word Feri can be manipulated in different ways. It's mentioned in Book 17, so you'll get a hint of what's to come in Book 19, but given how the species is described, it's probably obvious.

Anyway. Once I get through this read-through and write that little scene, I'll be off and running on editing Book 17.

Happy reading!

Almost done

Book 19 of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds is nearly done. It's currently at just under 45K words and has a few short scenes to finish. At this point, I can be quite certain that it will not go over 50K words.

However, this is only the first draft. I might expand some things in rewrites. There are a lot of little plot pieces that more fully developed in the second half that may need more setup in the first few chapters. I'll give it a read-through after finishing and make some notes.

If all goes well, I should finish the first draft by this upcoming weekend.

I'm looking forward to getting back to HOMECOMING and getting that published.

Thank for reading!

quick writing update

I'm at 42K words on Book 19 of the Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds series and am at the quiet before the storm point of the story or the eye of the storm, whatever metaphor you want to use. I hope to be done by 50K, but will write until the story is done to my satisfaction. I'm already at the word count that I aim to hit with these, but I have that last stretch to finish. (I figured out what was causing my fatigue and overcame that; and the writing took off.) In other words, it's going a little longer than I expected. This story is definitely different than I expected in other ways, which is always a pleasant surprise.

I'm a plotter/pantser combo writer, especially since much of this series was planned before I filled in details and brought in some surprises for myself. I let the series plot develop in different (but better) ways than I had first imagined, which changes the outcome of those initial ideas. The ideas are still good, but the details change to fit the development of the series.

Once I finish this, I'll edit Book 17 for publishing. Should be ready by early July, if not sooner. If Book 19 hadn't grown as long as it is, I'd confirm June for book 17. It could still happen. We'll see how fast the climax and denouement get written in this first draft of 19. I still have a week to go to the end of May.

https://vimeo.com/931598269?share=copy

Forgotten Worlds Book Series (1-16 available now) from Melanie Nilles on Vimeo.

Writing update - Forgotten Worlds Book 19 status

Getting back to what I've been doing...

The garden is in for the summer.

And Book 19, ALL THE KING'S MEN, has passed 37K words. I've been dealing with some fatigue lately but still writing at those times of day when I'm focused. This book continues to develop in ways I hadn't foreseen. My original outline was based on an idea that had to change after the series evolved from the point where I originally conceived the idea a year or two (several books) before I started writing it. And it also was the type of idea that hadn't taken into consideration certain logic. It was a fun idea, but it really needed more meat to it.

It's getting that meat filled in as I discover the full potential of this plot. I'm always amazed at how a single sentence can completely flip a story (and will inspire me to even more depth based on that single small statement full of massive ideas). That's happened a few times in this WIP. It's part of the writing process.

I can't say much more than I have in a few posts now, but like all these stories, it is a fun ride of discovery. It's even more interesting when I can change up the genre a bit to give it a new twist or crossover, like this with its fantasy setting. It keeps me challenged, and that keeps me interested in what comes next, as I hope it does for the readers.

This series remains what I consider a classic space opera that all ages can enjoy. I hope you're having as much fun reading as I am writing. I continue to work to keep each story interesting and fresh but within the expectations of the SFF genre and adding to the series plot.

After I finish this first draft, I'll get HOMECOMING ready and published. Book 17 has a huge revelation for the characters, although hints have been sprinkled into it since early in the series. Stick around for what's to come!

Thanks for reading!

Forgotten Worlds Book Series (1-16 available now) from Melanie Nilles on Vimeo.

The saints are alive in heaven and bring our prayers before God

I have a couple of events to share that show that the saints are alive in heaven and helping us.

God the Father is the creator of everything. We might think of ourselves as renters. Everything is His, and I offer all that I am back to him, which is why I have taken down some of my books and edited others. I don't want to offend the Lord but to honor Him. (I strongly encourage writers to exclude sex scenes and incitement of lust in readers in any form as well as any expressions using the Lord's name in vain. You are leading others to sin, which is a sin for you that you have to account for in your judgment.)

Sometimes we need help in this life, and like a good landlord, God comes to our aid when we need it, more so when we honor Him and don't put the things of this world above Him. We can go directly to God, but think of the saints like the property office staff who intercede for the renter to the owner of the property--they work more closely with the owner everyday than the renters do. In that, we can ask favors of those in heaven with Him. Those in heaven are referred to as the saints (whether the deceased who have attained heaven or the angels already in heaven). They are the pure, holy* souls who have attained the blessings of the beatific vision. They love us for God's sake and want to help us. It's part of their purpose, part of the way they continue to express their love of God and honor Him.

They are alive in heaven and hear our prayers. According to exorcists, they only hear when God allows it, such as when we address them directly, including the angels. By loving the saints and letting them help us, we are loving God, just as by loving others on this world, we are loving God. The saints are closer to God. We only worship God, but asking the saints for intercession, for the help we sometimes need when we can't do something ourselves or when temptations overwhelm us, is honoring God by acknowledging those He has deemed worthy to join Him in heaven.

That's a bit of an explanation of why we pray to (ask) the saints for help. They are our heavenly customer service, so to speak.

And now for a couple of new stories of saintly intercession, although one is not yet canonized.

The first story is of a request to Blessed Carlo Acutis.

I had trouble with one of the computers I use at work--a program not working--and I had tried EVERYTHING (I know quite a bit about computers--had been the technical person for a couple of small offices and hubby is a programmer). I was so frustrated and needed to use this particular program to update our online training. I had one last option and remembered Carlo Acutis (if his family sees this, thank you). On Monday, I said a little prayer and asked this young man of our modern world for his intercession... The program worked perfectly afterwards! I made the changes I needed to make and uploaded the updates. (Carlo Acutis was a kid who liked computer programming.)

Better than that, one of the backup drives that had been giving me trouble also started working perfectly. I hadn't even asked that in my simple little prayer request. I had almost given up on it and hardly used it because it would take sooo looong to run, but I plugged it in today for an end-of-week backup. I was shocked at how fast the login for the encrypted backup drive came up and it backed up like it hadn't done since it was new.

Thank you, Blessed Carlo Acutis!

Buddy after our ride before untacking and having
his hooves trimmed. The new Wintec 500 saddles
are great saddles at a fair price; it fits us both perfectly.

And while trimming my horse's hooves yesterday, he got a bit fidgety and I asked St. Francis to keep him occupied so I could hurry up and finish (a storm was coming in). St. Francis of Assisi is the patron of animals (among other causes) and even had a horse. My Buddy boy stood still for me after that, and I finished with a little time to spare.

(We had an excellent ride yesterday prior to my trimming his hooves, but I had a little prayer to St. Francis in my heart before getting in the saddle--calming supplements don't always work on Buddy. Much of the time, he stands better for hoof trimming before I ride, although it's generally a better idea to exercise a horse before trimming so they're tired and stand better. Not Buddy. It worked out well yesterday, though.)

Throughout my life, I've prayed to St. Anthony for lost items and have had some true miracles from his intercession, but haven't needed him for a little while. St. Kateri Tekakwitha is another saint who has come to my aid. Of course, I always honor St. Joseph and Our Blessed Mother; Mary goes without saying--the most powerful saint in heaven and greater than all other saints combined, according to demons.

Those alive in heaven are always there to help us before God. Never hesitate to ask for intercession. If they don't lead us to a solution within this world, they can lead to those miracles we need, through their petitions to God on our behalf.

God bless you and keep you!

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* Sanctus, the origin of the word saint, is Latin for holy.