If you think that the brilliant writer Susan J. Kroupa has a special insight regarding the minds of teenagers and dogs, you are only partly correct. She also has an amazing knowledge of indigenous American spirituality and Irish lore and is an impressive mystery writer. All these elements make her newest book, TreeTalker, the masterpiece that it is, a book that not only middle-graders will enjoy, but also much older readers.
TreeTalker is a mystery, a crime drama, a fantasy, and a bit of Irish folklore shown from the viewpoint of the teenagers who get dragged into the action. The crisis begins with a shapeshifter who usually, but not always, displays the shape of a dog.
While the main characters are the teenagers and the shapshifter, this multifaceted, multilayered story will captivate all readers.
The teenagers, as usual, are the first to recognize evil when they encounter it. The surrounding adults are a little slow on the uptake, if not absolutely clueless, but they display good will and courage when the teenagers show them what they need to do.
While escaping captivity and bringing criminals to justice in the material and magic worlds, the teenagers also deal with their real-world issues, tensions in a patchwork family, migrants’ economic fears, bullies at school.
The supernatural challenges overcome, the teenagers return to their lives in the material world. At the end, the teenagers are able to forgive their imperfect parents and recognize that the adults who love them are doing the best they can under imperfect circumstances. The adults are able to recognize what they need to do.
TreeTalker is an exciting book, a thriller with a satisfying and happy ending. Do yourself a favor and buy it for yourself and everyone you know.
More or less in reverse order, here are my online and print publications again so far:
“Pink on Pink”, the trials and tribulations of a modern witch on Mars, is now published in Dark Horses, the Magazine of Weird Fiction, Issue No. 12, January 2023, available at all online bookstores in electronic and print format.
“Red, Blue,. Green, and Yellow” has its own history. First of all, the most important information:
I am overjoyed, thrilled, and so grateful that “Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow” is now online at 4StarStories
The Editor of Four Star Stories, David Gray, was kind enough to write his acceptance of this story beginning with: “I loved it. I thought it was one of the most original stories I have read in a long time.”
Some stories just show up and demand to be written. However, I owe the existence of this story to three amazing writers, T. Thorne Coyle, Dayle Dermatis, and Annie Reed.
After the tragic death of Kip Ward, the owner of the Historic Anchor Inn in Lincoln City, Oregon, writers T. Thorn Coyle, Dayle A. Dermatis, and Annie Reed suggested that we write stories for a charity anthology in honor of Kip Ward called “Tales From the Anchor”. During the Anthology Workshops in Lincoln City, many of us had had the good fortune to stay at the wonderful Anchor Inn. The stories for the anthology were to be inspired by items there. Proceeds would be donated to Kip Ward’s favorite charity. My story, “Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow” was inspired by the multi-colored, glass lamp above the doorway between the restaurant and bar in the Anchor Inn. As happens sometimes, this anthology didn’t come about, and so my story found a home in Four Star Stories.
“October Mardi Gras” is published in Dark Horses, the Magazine of Weird Fiction, Issue No. 4, May 2022. It is inspired by memories of various teachers at Miles High School in Miles, Iowa, back in the 1960’s. It is also available at all online bookstores in e-book and print formats
Steven Lester Carr, kindly published “Iowa Summer”, my story that I wrote for an anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon in his online magazine, Short Story Town, unfortunately no longer available on the Internet.
My story “Gargoyles of the World, Unite!” inspired by the gargoyles of the Freiburg cathedral and featuring Annegret Gumpert, one of my somewhat homicidal alter egos, to my endless delight, is published in The Lost Librarian’s Grave, a wonderful anthology available as an e-book and in print from Redwood Press https://redwood-press.com/, and at every online bookstore.
I wrote “Endless Horizons”, a joyful story about exploring the universe, for the 2019 Anthology Workshop and was overjoyed and eternally grateful when editor Leah Cutter accepted it for her anthology “Explorers, Cutter’s Final Cut: Issue Three“, which of course if available in e-book and print form at all online bookstores and at https://cuttersfinalcut.com/book/explorers/
Steven Lester Carr, kindly published “Rescuing Sparty”, my story inspired by the three years that I spent at Michigan State University in his online magazine, Short Story Town, unfortunately no longer available on the Internet.
My story “Christmas in the Ruins”, a fictional account of Christmas in Freiburg in 1944, appeared as part of WMG Publishing’s Winter Holiday Spectacular 2020. I am so grateful to Kristine Kathryn Rusch for including it in her anthology, even though it was perhaps darker than what she was looking for. It is available as e-book and in print at all online bookstores as well as at WMG, https://wmgpublishinginc.com/project/mysterious-christmas/
I wrote “It’s Lechtenbrink, Libby Lechtenbrink” for a science fiction writing workshop in January of 2020. My story features Libby Lechtenbrink, a librarian on Mars, one of my more homicidal alter egos. I am so grateful to Barbara G. Tarn for including me in this wonderful anthology, Sci-Fi Stories Earth Colonies, published in July, 2021. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/sci-fi5
I wrote “If You Lead an Earthling to Water, Who Gets To Drink?” during Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020. Martian colonists have to deal with the dilemma of possibly endangering alien life in order to keep their Earth colony running. I am thrilled that Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine chose to publish it in its online magazine, Issue 1, June 2021:
During Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020 I wrote a story I titled “Herr Gehrke, Why Is Everyone Lying to Me?” that took place in an archdiocesan chancery office of a mid-sized German city. In the hopes that it would fit Blaze Ward Presents 5 Crime and …, which was published in June, 2021, I renamed it “Bishops”. I am incredibly grateful to Blaze Ward for accepting this story. Naturally it is completely fictional, but some of the characters are inspired by people I have known. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
I wrote “Slim Pickings on Mars” for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. A detective on Mars literally stumbles onto an object at a crime scene that has multi-universal consequences. It was my immense good fortune that Blaze Ward was willing to accept it for his Blaze Ward Presents 4 anthology which was published in November, 2020. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
“Father Otto” is a story I wrote in 2016 for the 2017 Anthology Workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon. Thanks to kind editor Dayle A. Dermatis, it became my first professional sale, appearing in the Fiction River issue 33 Doorways to Enchantment, published in August, 2020. “Father Otto” is an homage to one of my favorite people at the chancery office of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Naturally all figures are mere figments of my imagination, but inspired by real people. The story itself takes place on the second floor of the historic chancery office building in Freiburg, Germany. It is available, electronic and print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/u/4NLWMo and of course at WMG Publishing: https://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/p…/doorways-to-enchantment/ Tangent Online wrote a kind review of my story:
“Sagan in the Past” is science fiction story I wrote for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. Sagan, a cat, plays an important role in a time-travel story that begins on a university campus that has certain similarities with Michigan State University. Barbara G. Tarn, was kind enough to include this story in her anthology Future Earth Tech. published in July, 2020. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/sci-fi3
Russ Crossley was kind enough to include “Efficient Engineering”, a story I wrote for the anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon, in 2017, in his Rocketpack Adventures anthology in October, 2018. An engineer on Mars decides to build her own rocket and leave for parts unknown. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/rocketpack-adventures
Shivers, Scares, and Goosebumps by Vonnie Winslow-Crist
This is such a wonderful book, perfect for its preteen readers who won’t be able to put it down once they start reading it!
Shivers, Scares, and Goosebumps includes stories, poems, and drawings. Vonnie Winslow-Crist is an amazing artist and brilliant writer!
These unforgettable works (whether stories, poems, or drawings) are scary, but they are scary fantasies, often with a new take on fairy tales and folk tales. The horror fantasies don’t describe the scary reality that so many children can neither avoid nor influence (i.e. the evening news information about what is going on in the real world). Instead, this book is a welcome escape into a frightening, but completely imaginary world.
What to look forward to when you read this book, in addition to the masterful writing style that will keep you reading and sorry when the book ends far too soon:
A drawing of amphibians with teeth.
The story: A ravenous mudpuppy and its equally gluttonous offspring devour a clueless, well-intentioned little girl who only wanted to help.
A drawing of a goblin with elongated fingers who peeks out from under something.
The story: When a little boy neglects cleaning his room, the goblin residing in the mess under his bed takes him to the cold, dark, smelly basement where he is devoured by the goblin family that lives there.
A sketch of a cross-eyed canine in front of the moon.
The poem: A poem reflects on stages of the moon from the perspective of the wolf.
A drawing of watchful dogs, all with blank, dead eyes.
The story: Undead dogs rise from their graves and kill people who deserve to die, like the one who killed a kind man who took care of dogs.
A drawing of a giant toad emerging from the water.
The story: Ignoring their aunt’s warnings, a brother and sister venture too close to the ocean where the boy is pulled under the waves by the evil undertoad.
A drawing of a teenage girl in front of a bakery window.
The story: The ghost of girl just killed in a traffic accident visits her cousin, who is working in her mother’s bakery, in order to say good-bye.
A drawing of the head of an antlered deer with the rest of his skeleton bones hung on a wall.
The story: At a family reunion a so-called great hunter shows off the trophy heads of animals he has killed, all decorating the walls of his cottage. On Midsummer’s Eve the heads come alive and reunite with their bodies. The next morning the head of the hunter hangs on the wall.
A drawing of a black ghost and a vampire bat in a cemetery.
The poem: In a touching poem a vampire bat with black wings looks for a window he can enter.
A drawing of a man with a scary face stands behind a fence of twigs. In the background, children seem to be frozen in motion.
The story: Around Easter in Helsinki children bring twigs to houses, knock on doors, and ask for candy. Behind the door of one home, they see statues of children. One girl enters the house and the other runs away, followed by the man from the house who touches her shoulder and turns her to stone.
A drawing of birds with long beaks and happy eyes.
The story: A boy feeds feral cats. Soon, there are no more other small animals who used to frequent the yard. Instead, vultures perch on the railing and steal the cats’ food. The boy then feels threatened by vultures who arrive when he is alone.
A drawing of a young person sitting on a stone block surrounded by bushes and a tree.
The Story: A girl talks to her uncle at the cemetery even though he has been dead for twenty years, but she sees him.
A drawing of a scary doll in front of a fairy.
The Story: The tooth fairy brings a doll to life who rats on a girl’s little brother because he has stolen the girl’s tooth money from under her pillow. The tooth fairy then takes her pliers and extracts two teeth from the little boy even though he is wide awake but paralyzed and mute from the fairy’s spell.
A drawing of a man wearing a threadbare shirt and bib overalls, holding a shovel and a trowel.
A woman with little money stops at a tidy, white farmhouse in the hopes of buying some flowers for her mother. The farmer gives her four azalea plants for free. Upon leaving she sees that the farm has long since been abandoned with the buildings now in disrepair. But four holes in the ground are where the azaleas had been.
A drawing of a woman wrapped in a robe with a hood in front of ghosts.
The Story: A boy walks past a cemetery late at night, smells corpses and decay. He sees Kalma, the Goddess of Death and Decay. She and other ghosts rise from their graves.
A drawing of scary, alien figures and a happy little dog.
The Story: A girl babysits for three little boys and their rambunctious dog. Aliens burst into the house. The girl flees with the boys and dog into a bedroom, locks the door, and calls the police while she wonders what will burst through the bedroom door.
A drawing of a scarecrow standing in a field with mice scampering at his feet.
The Story: Walking past her grandparents’ cornfield, a girl feels uneasy, although she only sees mice and owls. A scarecrow climbs down off his post, grabs the girl and forces her to dance with him. Her grandparents find her the next morning next to the scarecrow’s post with holes worn in the soles of her shoes and her lap full of mice. No scarecrow is to be seen, but the corn leaves whisper for her to come and dance.
A drawing of pumpkins with eyes, unhappy expressions on their faces, and long, clawed fingers.
The Story: A girl doesn’t like watching her father and sister carve the jack-o-lantern. She feels for and with the pumpkin. She leaves. The next morning her father and sister are found strangled with pumpkin vines.
A drawing of the head of Frankenstein’s monster.
The Poem: A poem describes Frankenstein’s monster’s feelings of unrequited love.
A drawing of two hands with long fingernails that emerge from the soil.
The Story: A boy wants to scare his sister and her friends while they go trick or treating. He hides in an old cemetery along their path and gets pulled into a grave by rotting hands.
A drawing of two cats and a jack-o-lantern.
The Story: On Halloween boy sees a girl pet a stray, black cat with green eyes. He leaves, but when he returns, the girl is missing and two black cats with green eyes look at him, the smaller one mews for help, visibly unhappy and desperate.
A drawing of a multi-layered fountain with snakes wrapped around the poles, surrounded by brambles.
The Story: Two girls take a forbidden shortcut through the woods, go behind a stone wall and see a fountain surrounded by rose bushes. The woman there says they have to drink from the fountain while snakes slither over their hands. Back at home, they see snake birthmarks on their arms, rose bushes around the house face them, and a snake-like voice hisses that it will see them soon.
A drawing of two spooky, boney hands in front of a church.
The Story: Two children enter an abandoned church and discover corpses. An animated corpse growls. They run, and a corpse zombie follows them. One of the children stumbles.
A drawing of a nature spirit surrounded by little wrens.
The Story: A boy refuses to kill a wren so that three brothers can parade it through town and beg for money, supposedly to bury it. Later the three brothers are found dead in the woods.
A drawing of an old woman in front of a tree with mittens hanging from its branches.
The Story: A witch, trying to do without witchcraft, is annoyed by inconsiderate, unkind neighbors. She knits mittens, each with one of her own hairs knitted into the strands. She gives the mittens to the neighbors and now has power over them and their surroundings.
A drawing of scary branches and trees in front of the moon.
The Story: A boy has to watch his younger sister and goes for a walk with her into the woods. Because there is a full moon, his grandmother, who believes in fairies and goblins, insists that they each take a nail in their pockets and watch out for the ogerhunches who look like dead trees, fallen branches, and piles of leaves. The ogerhunches pursue them when the girl loses her nail. The grandmother rescues them with a flaming torch which scares off the ogerhunches.
A drawing of a girl along the road.
The Poem: A poem describes a lonely ghost who seeks company. She causes an accident and death, after which she is no longer lonely.
A drawing of a bird with a long beak.
The Story: A girl is afraid of the night ravens that her grandfather told her about. The night ravens snatch children. Her father doesn’t believe this. When a night raven comes to her bedroom, she is kind and polite, and the night raven leaves her alone, saying that she is a good child, that they are now friends, and that he will visit her often. He sings her a lullaby to put her to sleep and then leaves to snatch bad children.
Co-Editor of Four Star Stories, David Gray, was kind enough to write his acceptance of this story beginning with: “I loved it. I thought it was one of the most original stories I have read in a long time.”
Some stories just show up and demand to be written. However, I owe the existence of this story to three amazing writers, T. Thorne Coyle, Dayle Dermatis, and Annie Reed.
After the tragic death of Kip Ward, the owner of the Historic Anchor Inn in Lincoln City, Oregon, writers T. Thorn Coyle, Dayle A. Dermatis, and Annie Reed suggested that we write stories for a charity anthology in honor of Kip Ward called “Tales From the Anchor”. During the Anthology Workshops in Lincoln City, many of us had had the good fortune to stay at the wonderful Anchor Inn. The stories for the anthology were to be inspired by items there. Proceeds would be donated to Kip Ward’s favorite charity. My story, “Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow” was inspired by the multi-colored, glass lamp above the doorway between the restaurant and bar in the Anchor Inn. As happens sometimes, this anthology didn’t come about, and so my story found a home in Four Star Stories.
“October Mardi Gras” is published in Dark Horses, the Magazine of Weird Fiction, Issue No. 4, May 2022. It is inspired by memories of various teachers at Miles High School in Miles, Iowa, back in the 1960’s. It is also available at all online bookstores in e-book and print formats
Steven Lester Carr, kindly published “Iowa Summer”, my story that I wrote for an anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon in his online magazine, Short Story Town, unfortunately no longer available on the Internet.
My story “Gargoyles of the World, Unite!” inspired by the gargoyles of the Freiburg cathedral and featuring Annegret Gumpert, one of my somewhat homicidal alter egos, to my endless delight, is published in The Lost Librarian’s Grave, a wonderful anthology available as an e-book and in print from Redwood Press https://redwood-press.com/, and at every online bookstore.
I wrote “Endless Horizons”, a joyful story about exploring the universe, for the 2019 Anthology Workshop and was overjoyed and eternally grateful when editor Leah Cutter accepted it for her anthology “Explorers, Cutter’s Final Cut: Issue Three“, which of course if available in e-book and print form at all online bookstores and at https://cuttersfinalcut.com/book/explorers/
Steven Lester Carr, kindly published “Rescuing Sparty”, my story inspired by the three years that I spent at Michigan State University in his online magazine, Short Story Town, unfortunately no longer available on the Internet.
My story “Christmas in the Ruins”, a fictional account of Christmas in Freiburg in 1944, appeared as part of WMG Publishing’s Winter Holiday Spectacular 2020. I am so grateful to Kristine Kathryn Rusch for including it in her anthology, even though it was perhaps darker than what she was looking for. It is available as e-book and in print at all online bookstores as well as at WMG, https://wmgpublishinginc.com/project/mysterious-christmas/
I wrote “It’s Lechtenbrink, Libby Lechtenbrink” for a science fiction writing workshop in January of 2020. My story features Libby Lechtenbrink, a librarian on Mars, one of my more homicidal alter egos. I am so grateful to Barbara G. Tarn for including me in this wonderful anthology, Sci-Fi Stories Earth Colonies, published in July, 2021. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/sci-fi5
I wrote “If You Lead an Earthling to Water, Who Gets To Drink?” during Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020. Martian colonists have to deal with the dilemma of possibly endangering alien life in order to keep their Earth colony running. I am thrilled that Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine chose to publish it in its online magazine, Issue 1, June 2021:
During Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020 I wrote a story I titled “Herr Gehrke, Why Is Everyone Lying to Me?” that took place in an archdiocesan chancery office of a mid-sized German city. In the hopes that it would fit Blaze Ward Presents 5 Crime and …, which was published in June, 2021, I renamed it “Bishops”. I am incredibly grateful to Blaze Ward for accepting this story. Naturally it is completely fictional, but some of the characters are inspired by people I have known. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
I wrote “Slim Pickings on Mars” for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. A detective on Mars literally stumbles onto an object at a crime scene that has multi-universal consequences. It was my immense good fortune that Blaze Ward was willing to accept it for his Blaze Ward Presents 4 anthology which was published in November, 2020. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
“Father Otto” is a story I wrote in 2016 for the 2017 Anthology Workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon. Thanks to kind editor Dayle A. Dermatis, it became my first professional sale, appearing in the Fiction River issue 33 Doorways to Enchantment, published in August, 2020. “Father Otto” is an homage to one of my favorite people at the chancery office of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Naturally all figures are mere figments of my imagination, but inspired by real people. The story itself takes place on the second floor of the historic chancery office building in Freiburg, Germany. It is available, electronic and print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/u/4NLWMo and of course at WMG Publishing: https://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/p…/doorways-to-enchantment/ Tangent Online wrote a kind review of my story:
“Sagan in the Past” is science fiction story I wrote for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. Sagan, a cat, plays an important role in a time-travel story that begins on a university campus that has certain similarities with Michigan State University. Barbara G. Tarn, was kind enough to include this story in her anthology Future Earth Tech. published in July, 2020. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/sci-fi3
Russ Crossley was kind enough to include “Efficient Engineering”, a story I wrote for the anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon, in 2017, in his Rocketpack Adventures anthology in October, 2018. An engineer on Mars decides to build her own rocket and leave for parts unknown. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/rocketpack-adventures
My story “Gargoyles of the World, Unite!” inspired by the gargoyles of the Freiburg cathedral and featuring Annegret Gumpert, one of my somewhat homicidal alter egos, to my endless delight, is published in The Lost Librarian’s Grave, a wonderful anthology available as an e-book and in print from Redwood Press https://redwood-press.com/, and at every online bookstore.
I wrote “Endless Horizons”, a joyful story about exploring the universe, for the 2019 Anthology Workshop and was overjoyed and eternally grateful when editor Leah Cutter accepted it for her anthology “Explorers, Cutter’s Final Cut: Issue Three“, which of course if available in e-book and print form at all online bookstores and at https://cuttersfinalcut.com/book/explorers/
My story “Christmas in the Ruins”, a fictional account of Christmas in Freiburg in 1944, appeared as part of WMG Publishing’s Winter Holiday Spectacular 2020. I am so grateful to Kristine Kathryn Rusch for including it in her anthology, even though it was perhaps darker than what she was looking for. It is available as e-book and in print at all online bookstores as well as at WMG, https://wmgpublishinginc.com/project/mysterious-christmas/
I wrote “It’s Lechtenbrink, Libby Lechtenbrink” for a science fiction writing workshop in January of 2020. My story features Libby Lechtenbrink, a librarian on Mars, one of my more homicidal alter egos. I am so grateful to Barbara G. Tarn for including me in this wonderful anthology, Sci-Fi Stories Earth Colonies, published in July, 2021. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/sci-fi5
I wrote “If You Lead an Earthling to Water, Who Gets To Drink?” during Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020. Martian colonists have to deal with the dilemma of possibly endangering alien life in order to keep their Earth colony running. I am thrilled that Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine chose to publish it in its online magazine, Issue 1, June 2021:
During Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020 I wrote a story I titled “Herr Gehrke, Why Is Everyone Lying to Me?” that took place in an archdiocesan chancery office of a mid-sized German city. In the hopes that it would fit Blaze Ward Presents 5 Crime and …, which was published in June, 2021, I renamed it “Bishops”. I am incredibly grateful to Blaze Ward for accepting this story. Naturally it is completely fictional, but some of the characters are inspired by people I have known. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
I wrote “Slim Pickings on Mars” for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. A detective on Mars literally stumbles onto an object at a crime scene that has multi-universal consequences. It was my immense good fortune that Blaze Ward was willing to accept it for his Blaze Ward Presents 4 anthology which was published in November, 2020. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
“Father Otto” is a story I wrote in 2016 for the 2017 Anthology Workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon. Thanks to kind editor Dayle A. Dermatis, it became my first professional sale, appearing in the Fiction River issue 33 Doorways to Enchantment, published in August, 2020. “Father Otto” is an homage to one of my favorite people at the chancery office of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Naturally all figures are mere figments of my imagination, but inspired by real people. The story itself takes place on the second floor of the historic chancery office building in Freiburg, Germany. It is available, electronic and print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/u/4NLWMo and of course at WMG Publishing: https://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/p…/doorways-to-enchantment/ Tangent Online wrote a kind review of my story:
“Sagan in the Past” is science fiction story I wrote for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. Sagan, a cat, plays an important role in a time-travel story that begins on a university campus that has certain similarities with Michigan State University. Barbara G. Tarn, was kind enough to include this story in her anthology Future Earth Tech. published in July, 2020. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/sci-fi3
Russ Crossley was kind enough to include “Efficient Engineering”, a story I wrote for the anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon, in 2017, in his Rocketpack Adventures anthology in October, 2018. An engineer on Mars decides to build her own rocket and leave for parts unknown. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/rocketpack-adventures
“October Mardi Gras” is published in Dark Horses, the Magazine of Weird Fiction, Issue No. 4, May 2022. It is inspired by memories of various teachers at Miles High School in Miles, Iowa, back in the 1960’s. It is also available at all online bookstores in e-book and print formats
The late Steven Lester Carr, kindly published “Iowa Summer”, my story that I wrote for an anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon in his online magazine, Short Story Town, unfortunately no longer available on the Internet.
My story “Gargoyles of the World, Unite!” inspired by the gargoyles of the Freiburg cathedral and featuring Annegret Gumpert, one of my somewhat homicidal alter egos, to my endless delight, is published in The Lost Librarian’s Grave, a wonderful anthology available as an e-book and in print from Redwood Press https://redwood-press.com/, and at every online bookstore.
I wrote “Endless Horizons”, a joyful story about exploring the universe, for the 2019 Anthology Workshop and was overjoyed and eternally grateful when editor Leah Cutter accepted it for her anthology “Explorers, Cutter’s Final Cut: Issue Three“, which of course if available in e-book and print form at all online bookstores and at https://cuttersfinalcut.com/book/explorers/
The late Steven Lester Carr, kindly published “Rescuing Sparty”, my story inspired by the three years that I spent at Michigan State University in his online magazine, Short Story Town, unfortunately no longer available on the Internet.
My story “Christmas in the Ruins”, a fictional account of Christmas in Freiburg in 1944, appeared as part of WMG Publishing’s Winter Holiday Spectacular 2020. I am so grateful to Kristine Kathryn Rusch for including it in her anthology, even though it was perhaps darker than what she was looking for. It is available as e-book and in print at all online bookstores as well as at WMG, https://wmgpublishinginc.com/project/mysterious-christmas/
I wrote “It’s Lechtenbrink, Libby Lechtenbrink” for a science fiction writing workshop in January of 2020. My story features Libby Lechtenbrink, a librarian on Mars, one of my more homicidal alter egos. I am so grateful to Barbara G. Tarn for including me in this wonderful anthology, Sci-Fi Stories Earth Colonies, published in July, 2021. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/sci-fi5
I wrote “If You Lead an Earthling to Water, Who Gets To Drink?” during Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020. Martian colonists have to deal with the dilemma of possibly endangering alien life in order to keep their Earth colony running. I am thrilled that Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine chose to publish it in its online magazine, Issue 1, June 2021:
During Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020 I wrote a story I titled “Herr Gehrke, Why Is Everyone Lying to Me?” that took place in an archdiocesan chancery office of a mid-sized German city. In the hopes that it would fit Blaze Ward Presents 5 Crime and …, which was published in June, 2021, I renamed it “Bishops”. I am incredibly grateful to Blaze Ward for accepting this story. Naturally it is completely fictional, but some of the characters are inspired by people I have known. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
I wrote “Slim Pickings on Mars” for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. A detective on Mars literally stumbles onto an object at a crime scene that has multi-universal consequences. It was my immense good fortune that Blaze Ward was willing to accept it for his Blaze Ward Presents 4 anthology which was published in November, 2020. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
“Father Otto” is a story I wrote in 2016 for the 2017 Anthology Workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon. Thanks to kind editor Dayle A. Dermatis, it became my first professional sale, appearing in the Fiction River issue 33 Doorways to Enchantment, published in August, 2020. “Father Otto” is an homage to one of my favorite people at the chancery office of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Naturally all figures are mere figments of my imagination, but inspired by real people. The story itself takes place on the second floor of the historic chancery office building in Freiburg, Germany. It is available, electronic and print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/u/4NLWMo and of course at WMG Publishing: https://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/p…/doorways-to-enchantment/ Tangent Online wrote a kind review of my story:
“Sagan in the Past” is science fiction story I wrote for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. Sagan, a cat, plays an important role in a time-travel story that begins on a university campus that has certain similarities with Michigan State University. Barbara G. Tarn, was kind enough to include this story in her anthology Future Earth Tech. published in July, 2020. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/sci-fi3
Russ Crossley was kind enough to include “Efficient Engineering”, a story I wrote for the anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon, in 2017, in his Rocketpack Adventures anthology in October, 2018. An engineer on Mars decides to build her own rocket and leave for parts unknown. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/rocketpack-adventures
My story “Gargoyles of the World, Unite!” inspired by the gargoyles of the Freiburg cathedral and featuring Annegret Gumpert, one of my somewhat homicidal alter egos, to my endless delight, is published in The Lost Librarian’s Grave, a wonderful anthology available as an e-book and in print from Redwood Press https://redwood-press.com/, and at every online bookstore.
I wrote “Endless Horizons”, a joyful story about exploring the universe, for the 2019 Anthology Workshop and was overjoyed and eternally grateful when editor Leah Cutter accepted it for her anthology “Explorers, Cutter’s Final Cut: Issue Three“, which of course if available in e-book and print form at all online bookstores and at https://cuttersfinalcut.com/book/explorers/
My story “Christmas in the Ruins”, a fictional account of Christmas in Freiburg in 1944, appeared as part of WMG Publishing’s Winter Holiday Spectacular 2020. I am so grateful to Kristine Kathryn Rusch for including it in her anthology, even though it was perhaps darker than what she was looking for. It is available as e-book and in print at all online bookstores as well as at WMG, https://wmgpublishinginc.com/project/mysterious-christmas/
I wrote “It’s Lechtenbrink, Libby Lechtenbrink” for a science fiction writing workshop in January of 2020. My story features Libby Lechtenbrink, a librarian on Mars, one of my more homicidal alter egos. I am so grateful to Barbara G. Tarn for including me in this wonderful anthology, Sci-Fi Stories Earth Colonies, published in July, 2021. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/sci-fi5
I wrote “If You Lead an Earthling to Water, Who Gets To Drink?” during Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020. Martian colonists have to deal with the dilemma of possibly endangering alien life in order to keep their Earth colony running. I am thrilled that Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine chose to publish it in its online magazine, Issue 1, June 2021:
During Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020 I wrote a story I titled “Herr Gehrke, Why Is Everyone Lying to Me?” that took place in an archdiocesan chancery office of a mid-sized German city. In the hopes that it would fit Blaze Ward Presents 5 Crime and …, which was published in June, 2021, I renamed it “Bishops”. I am incredibly grateful to Blaze Ward for accepting this story. Naturally it is completely fictional, but some of the characters are inspired by people I have known. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
I wrote “Slim Pickings on Mars” for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. A detective on Mars literally stumbles onto an object at a crime scene that has multi-universal consequences. It was my immense good fortune that Blaze Ward was willing to accept it for his Blaze Ward Presents 4 anthology which was published in November, 2020. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
“Father Otto” is a story I wrote in 2016 for the 2017 Anthology Workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon. Thanks to kind editor Dayle A. Dermatis, it became my first professional sale, appearing in the Fiction River issue 33 Doorways to Enchantment, published in August, 2020. “Father Otto” is an homage to one of my favorite people at the chancery office of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Naturally all figures are mere figments of my imagination, but inspired by real people. The story itself takes place on the second floor of the historic chancery office building in Freiburg, Germany. It is available, electronic and print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/u/4NLWMo and of course at WMG Publishing: https://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/p…/doorways-to-enchantment/ Tangent Online wrote a kind review of my story:
“Sagan in the Past” is science fiction story I wrote for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. Sagan, a cat, plays an important role in a time-travel story that begins on a university campus that has certain similarities with Michigan State University. Barbara G. Tarn, was kind enough to include this story in her anthology Future Earth Tech. published in July, 2020. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/sci-fi3
Russ Crossley was kind enough to include “Efficient Engineering”, a story I wrote for the anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon, in 2017, in his Rocketpack Adventures anthology in October, 2018. An engineer on Mars decides to build her own rocket and leave for parts unknown. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/rocketpack-adventures
I don’t manage to write very many book reviews, except when the book is so good that I don’t want to keep it to myself.
Dragon Rain by Vonnie Winslow-Crist
Keeping things honest here, I have to admit that I love dragons, stories about dragons, anything about dragons. And so I expected to love this book.
However, the book turned out to be even more wonderful than I hoped (and assumed). Dragon Rain, the collection of the stories (the last story also has the title of Dragon Rain), is a brilliant, thoughtful, and entertaining compilation of stories about all kinds of dragons, old dragons, young dragons, scary dragons, revengeful dragons, kind dragons, humane dragons, insightful dragons. Their interactions with humankind make for unforgettable stories. You end up wishing more people behaved like these dragons.
A girl brings milk to an ancient dragon just as her grandfather, a dragonslayer in his youth but later reformed, had taught her. The dragon, having enjoyed many different shapes in his stages of dragonhood, lives in a nearby pond and loves the girl from afar. When he asks her, she decides to accept dragonhood and become his bride. Together their love brings rain to a parched land.
A sad, lonely girl weeps seven tears into the castle moat, which summons a dragon from the water who promises her happiness if she weeps seven tears into the moat every year. After that she meets the love of her life.
A princess tells her executioner the story of how she was sentenced to death, due to her evil father who refused a dragon’s offer of marriage to her, which would have required a fair dowry of treasure. However, since she is secretly married to the dragon, she assumes the shape of a dragon and saves herself,
With the help of a vampire friend of his grandfather’s, a young cabinet maker frees an imprisoned dragon, kept enslaved to provide heat and fire for a blacksmith. On Midsummer’s Eve they use the distraction of the celebrations to free the dragon and get him his revenge.
Two boys think they have discovered the body of a young woman. However, she is well cared for by her dragonflies and transforms into a dragon. Because she is feeling generous, she lets the boys go although she says they will meet again someday.
At the oracle of Delphi the dragon created by Mother Earth has a vision of her own death. She asks to have children of her own and Mother Earth makes this possible. The dragon loves mothering her children. In return Mother Earth later asks the dragon to do her a favor which results in the dragon’s allowing the birth of the creature who she realizes will later kill her.
A woman calls up a demon after her husband is murdered. The demon in the shape of a dragon devours the woman’s murderer in front of her and then assumes the shape of a panther while noting the woman’s scent for later. It reminds her that it will watch her for the rest of her life. She decides to learn about healing and magic while hoping to get a message from her dead husband through the portal of her mirror.
A man in Kyoto falls in love and marries but is unhappy about being poor. He chooses to abandon his wife and marry a wealthier woman which will enable him to take a good job far away. When he returns, his first wife still loves him but explains that she is a dragon. She dies and crumbles into dust. A magic dragon then appears and tells him she will kill him, but doesn’t tell him when.
A girl rescues a wyvern and raises a dragon who calls itself Wolfbane. Her evil father has it killed. Her parents die; she gives away all her possessions and rejoices because she can fly away with the no longer dead dragon.
A poor man gives up his coat and thereby rescues a snake. He returns it to its pond. The snake reappears as a young girl and takes him to the dragon’s lair in the pond where she and her parents transform into dragons. They reward him with a coat that never wears out, a rice cake that keeps replenishing itself, and a sack of coins and precious stones.
On a planet far, far away a girl and her grandfather, grateful to Anna Tuwa, the spirit that sustains them, harvest bodaway nests from caves, being careful not to damage the eggs which they leave with their bodaway dragon parents. Broth from the nests has medicinal value. Other greedy people in their group, though, aren’t as moral in their behavior and destroy eggs. The bodaways take their revenge, sparing those who treated their nests and eggs with respect.
A boy from the bayou remembers what his grandfather taught him. He helps an enslaved dragon in human form regain her skin, return to her dragon form, get revenge on her captor, and joyfully re-enter her swamp and reunite with her dragon relatives.
A barren queen follows the advice of a fairy in order to have children but doesn’t follow it precisely enough. As a result she gives birth to one healthy girl and one girl covered in dragonskin. The fairy, in the shape of an old crone, takes the little dragon away with her. 18 years later the fairy says that the dragon can regain her human form if a man is willing to marry her. When a good man with a horse’s leg marries her, the fairy makes sure that both lose the curses that changed their appearances.
A woman pays a dragon with her body parts in order to travel back in time and undo a great wrong she committed which resulted in an innocent man being hanged. The dragon then has mercy on her and restores her body parts. Her first child has a birthmark shaped like a dragon.
A young woman helps a dragon colony in a flooded underground city by killing the necromancer who controls the corpses of those who drowned so long ago. She uses common sense, salt, a mirror, and a dagger rather than magic. The woman is then bonded forever with the dragon, and they will seek a new life together.
An orphan boy saves a salamander from an evil cook. A dragon who has witnessed the boy’s actions rescues the boy and incinerates the cook. The dragon then takes the boy to an elderly, kindly magic-wielder who needs an assistant.
Oddvar, an orphan taken in by his grandparents, follows the advice of his grandfather, selects an oak tree, and cuts it down to whittle to a dragon’s head for a ship. Oddvar’s family knows how to imbue timber with the magic of dragons. Alone in the forest, he is confronted by a lindwyrm who wants to eat him and his horse. Oddvar tricks the lindwyrm into being consumed by bonfires and collects the treasure from its lair which he uses to pay the trolls to accompany him home through the dark. One troll advises him on how to make the best use of the lindwyrm skin and tells him his fate is to sail with dragons.
A widowed dragon cares for her wyrmling children. She tells them stories of long ago when dinosaur dragons ruled the world and stories of the present when human beings kill dragons. This was how she lost her mate who comforts her with the vaporous spirit that left his body as he died. Like those of his ancestors before him, her mate’s tears provide rain for his children. She wants to lead her children to the safety of the sea which will protect them from the murderous human beings. The trip is dangerous. They are pursued. One of her daughters is too slow. One of her sons insists on sacrificing himself to save his sister and is killed by the human called George. She sees her son’s spirit lift up from his body as he dies. She is able to lead the rest of her children to the Mediterranean Sea where they are safe. She later longs to join the other dragons in the spirit world in order to bring the dragon rain of her tears to her children. A bolt of lightning grants her this wish.
The stories are unforgettable, and you will never want to forget them. Do yourself a favor and give yourself the gift of this fantastic book.
I wrote “It’s Lechtenbrink, Libby Lechtenbrink” for a science fiction writing workshop in January of 2020. My story features Libby Lechtenbrink, a librarian on Mars, one of my more homicidal alter egos. I am so grateful to Barbara G. Tarn for including me in this wonderful anthology, Sci-Fi Stories Earth Colonies, published in July, 2021. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/sci-fi5
I wrote “If You Lead an Earthling to Water, Who Gets To Drink?” during Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020. Martian colonists have to deal with the dilemma of possibly endangering alien life in order to keep their Earth colony running. I am thrilled that Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine chose to publish it in its online magazine, Issue 1, June 2021:
During Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020 I wrote a story I titled “Herr Gehrke, Why Is Everyone Lying to Me?” that took place in an archdiocesan chancery office of a mid-sized German city. In the hopes that it would fit Blaze Ward Presents 5 Crime and …, which was published in June, 2021, I renamed it “Bishops”. I am incredibly grateful to Blaze Ward for accepting this story. Naturally it is completely fictional, but some of the characters are inspired by people I have known. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
I wrote “Slim Pickings on Mars” for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. A detective on Mars literally stumbles onto an object at a crime scene that has multi-universal consequences. It was my immense good fortune that Blaze Ward was willing to accept it for his Blaze Ward Presents 4 anthology which was published in November, 2020. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
“Father Otto” is a story I wrote in 2016 for the 2017 Anthology Workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon. Thanks to kind editor Dayle A. Dermatis, it became my first professional sale, appearing in the Fiction River issue 33 Doorways to Enchantment, published in August, 2020. “Father Otto” is an homage to one of my favorite people at the chancery office of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Naturally all figures are mere figments of my imagination, but inspired by real people. The story itself takes place on the second floor of the historic chancery office building in Freiburg, Germany. It is available, electronic and print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/u/4NLWMo and of course at WMG Publishing: https://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/p…/doorways-to-enchantment/ Tangent Online wrote a kind review of my story:
“Sagan in the Past” is science fiction story I wrote for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. Sagan, a cat, plays an important role in a time-travel story that begins on a university campus that has certain similarities with Michigan State University. Barbara G. Tarn, was kind enough to include this story in her anthology Future Earth Tech. published in July, 2020. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/sci-fi3
Russ Crossley was kind enough to include “Efficient Engineering”, a story I wrote for the anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon, in 2017, in his Rocketpack Adventures anthology in October, 2018. An engineer on Mars decides to build her own rocket and leave for parts unknown. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/rocketpack-adventures
It’s long since time for me to mention the stories that magazines and anthologies have been kind enough to publish, and so I’ll indulge in a walk down publishing memory lane.
More or less in reverse order, here are my short story publications so far:
I wrote “It’s Lechtenbrink, Libby Lechtenbrink” for a science fiction writing workshop in January of 2020. My story features Libby Lechtenbrink, a librarian on Mars, one of my more homicidal alter egos. I am so grateful to Barbara G. Tarn for including me in this wonderful anthology, Sci-Fi Stories Earth Colonies, published in July, 2021. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/sci-fi5
I wrote “If You Lead an Earthling to Water, Who Gets To Drink?” during Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020. Martian colonists have to deal with the dilemma of possibly endangering alien life in order to keep their Earth colony running. I am thrilled that Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine chose to publish it in its online magazine, Issue 1, June 2021:
During Dean Wesley Smith’s story a week challenge in 2019 and 2020 I wrote a story I titled “Herr Gehrke, Why Is Everyone Lying to Me?” that took place in an archdiocesan chancery office of a mid-sized German city. In the hopes that it would fit Blaze Ward Presents 5 Crime and …, which was published in June, 2021, I renamed it “Bishops”. I am incredibly grateful to Blaze Ward for accepting this story. Naturally it is completely fictional, but some of the characters are inspired by people I have known. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
I wrote “Slim Pickings on Mars” for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. A detective on Mars literally stumbles onto an object at a crime scene that has multi-universal consequences. It was my immense good fortune that Blaze Ward was willing to accept it for his Blaze Ward Presents 4 anthology which was published in November, 2020. The anthology is available at all your favorite online bookstores, to name a few
“Father Otto” is a story I wrote in 2016 for the 2017 Anthology Workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon. Thanks to kind editor Dayle A. Dermatis, it became my first professional sale, appearing in the Fiction River issue 33 Doorways to Enchantment, published in August, 2020. “Father Otto” is an homage to one of my favorite people at the chancery office of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Naturally all figures are mere figments of my imagination, but inspired by real people. The story itself takes place on the second floor of the historic chancery office building in Freiburg, Germany. It is available, electronic and print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/u/4NLWMo and of course at WMG Publishing: https://www.wmgpublishinginc.com/p…/doorways-to-enchantment/ Tangent Online wrote a kind review of my story:
“Sagan in the Past” is science fiction story I wrote for Dean Wesley Smith’s “Write 30 Stories in 60 Days Challenge” back in 2017. Sagan, a cat, plays an important role in a time-travel story that begins on a university campus that has certain similarities with Michigan State University. Barbara G. Tarn, was kind enough to include this story in her anthology Future Earth Tech. published in July, 2020. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection: https://books2read.com/sci-fi3
Russ Crossley was kind enough to include “Efficient Engineering”, a story I wrote for the anthology workshop in Lincoln City, Oregon, in 2017, in his Rocketpack Adventures anthology in October, 2018. An engineer on Mars decides to build her own rocket and leave for parts unknown. You can find the magazine, electronic or print, at all online bookstores, here a selection https://books2read.com/rocketpack-adventures
Ich schreibe wirklich nicht viele Buchrezensionen, aber manchmal gefällt mir ein Buch so gut, dass ich mein Urteil nicht für mich behalten kann.
„Oskar Saier. In memoriam et ad honorem“ von Wolfgang Sauer ist ein solches Buch.
Erzbischof Dr. Oskar Saier war der zweite Erzbischof von Freiburg, den ich während meiner Tätigkeit in der Ordinariatsbibliothek, später „Erzbischöfliche Bibliothek“ genannt, erlebte. Ich kannte ihn als interessierten, rücksichtsvollen, gelehrten Bibliotheksbenutzer, der meine Arbeit äußerst wertschätzte und dies mir immer wieder sagte. Er war einer der besten Freunde, den unsere Bibliothek je hatte, und hielt eine schützende Hand über die Bibliothek, wenn andere im Ordinariat sie lieber abgeschafft hätten.
Ich bin für dieses Buch von Wolfgang Sauer deshalb so dankbar, weil er mich mit Oskar Saier als Erzbischof und Privatmenschen bekannt macht. Wolfgang Sauer und Oskar Saier waren Freunde, geistliche Mitbrüder und unermüdliche „Arbeiter im Weinberg des Herrn“, beide als Priester: Dr. Saier als Erzbischof und Wolfgang Sauer als Domkapitular und Leiter der Abteilung Weltkirche.
In diesem absolut lesbaren und wirklich unterhaltsamen Buch erzählt Wolfgang Sauer zahlreiche Anekdoten aus der Zeit, in der er mit Oskar Saier zusammenarbeitete, immer mit dem theologischen und historischen Hintergrund, damit der Leser in die Gedankengänge von Oskar Saier kommt und versteht, warum er so gefühlt und gehandelt hat.
Für Historiker der Zukunft wird dieses Buch noch viel wertvoller sein als alle archivierten Dokumente und Akten. Durch dieses Buch lernt man Oskar Saier richtig kennen und, falls nicht längst schon geschehen, wertschätzen.
Die vielen, schönen Fotos von Erzbischof Saier und den Menschen, mit denen er es zu tun hatte, sind ein Genuss.
Meine Bewunderung für diesen lieben Erzbischof wuchs mit jeder Seite, die ich las.
Erzbischof Saier hatte Glück, dass er in Wolfgang Sauer einen so schriftstellerisch begabten Weggefährten hatte.
Also kann ich nur empfehlen: Kauf’ dieses Buch mehrmals, lese es und verschenke es! Sie tun damit sich und anderen ein sehr gutes Werk.
Maryjorabe's Blog 