Michael Schmicker's Blog

I'm honored.

BBC radio/documentary producer Keith Parsons recently named "Best Evidence" one of the 10 most influential books dealing with the afterlife question.

I wrote it Best Evidence 18 years ago, but it's still selling modestly.. Why? My guess: aging Baby Boomers wants to know -- is there any hope?. Based on the scientific evidence I uncovered researching the book, there is indeed.

Don't be surprised if your consciousness surtvives death.

The French philosopher Voltaire said it first (1764).

His celebrated Dictionary both defined and deified dogs: “It seems that nature has given the dog to man for his defense and for his pleasure. Of all the animals, it is the most faithful: it is the best friend man can have.”

Hear, hear!

In the centuries since, the millions of us have personally experienced that truth. Mine was a mixed yellow Lab rescued from the town dog pound. “Boot Dog” had a huge heart and soulful eyes. I loved him fiercely, and cried when he died. He made bad days bearable, and good days perfect. I don’t have a dog now, but the moment I retire and can spend my day at home, I will.

Writer/publisher Jon Beecher (under the nom de plume J.R. Archer) suggests a fresh take on a dog’s purpose and benefit to humans in this wise, philosophical meditation masquerading as a novel. An endless parade of sad sack humans (drugs, alcohol, depression, physical infirmities, selfishness, mindless materialism) wrestle with their lives, surrounded by canine observers Rags and Rosie who boast unexpected inner lives and a talent for telepathy.

The plot is uneven, but the insights are fresh, genuine, authentic. When I finished it, I spent supper thinking about it. I’ve since Kindled a copy to my son Chris, who last year rescued a sweet Rhodesian Ridgeback pup named Atlas. Atlas keeps him sane in New York City.

At the heart of Beecher’s clever debut novel lies a sneaky, fun “what if” – what if dogs were put on this earth to help us miserable humans evolve spiritually?

Anyone who’s ever owned a dog has experienced their default state: unconditional love towards their owners. What if that’s why they’re here – to remind us “more highly evolved” humans that such a beatific state really exists, and can be shared with others?

Along the way, Beecher works into his plot a parapsychology dictionary’s worth of musings on everything from near death experiences and subtle energy fields to the nature of consciousness itself. It’s in his DNA – he’s personally experienced the paranormal, and boasts a savant’s grounding in Western metaphysics: he’s the quiet publisher behind UK’s White Crow Books (www.whitecrowbooks.com) which offers a fat catalogue of once forgotten but now resurrected spiritual wisdom.

If you’re one of the millions of us frequently struggling to discover the purpose of life, why not turn to man’s best friend for a little advice?

All you need is love. Can it be that simple?

Maybe!

The “wheel of history” is an ancient concept, embedded in Hindu, Buddhist and other philosophies worldwide. Civilizations rise and fall and rise again, history endlessly repeating itself. Instead of humanity evolving inexorably higher (the Western view), we repeat the same errors, suffer the same consequences, are forced to start over. Progress is an illusion.

After finishing Helena Schrader’s finely-crafted Crusades novel, "Envoy of Jerusalem," the third in her Ibelin trilogy, I found myself sympathetically pondering the Orient’s morose view of history. The ‘Holy Land” suffered through nine Crusades (1095-1291). During those 200 years, cites are captured, lost, recaptured; fortunes are wasted; thousands perish on both sides, their lips praising their respective gods. And in the end, the wheel of history revolves one full turn, bringing us right back to where we started. Popes and kings tire of the conflict, turn their attention elsewhere, and status quo returns to the Middle East.

But we experience history as individuals. If the Crusades turned out to be a monumental waste of money and life, they still provide a dramatic stage for an unforgettable life.

Biographer Helena Schrader rescued the fascinating but largely forgotten Balian d’Ibelin -- knight, warrior and diplomat -- from the amnesia of time with her debut novel “Knight of Jerusalem” (2014), knocking the dust off his bones and bringing him back to life for thousands of delighted readers, including myself. http://bit.ly/2kJqEvX

Book two, BRAG medallion winner "Defender of Jerusalem" (2015), swiftly followed, the tale ending with Balian’s humiliation and the dramatic fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187.

As book three starts, the shocking news has reached Tyre: Islam once again triumphantly occupies the Holy City. The site of Christ’s Passion, the home of the Holy Sepulcher is lost. But the wheel of history is turning, King Richard the Lionheart and an English fleet carrying 650 knights, 1,300 horses, and 1,300 squires are hastening to reinforce the beaten Christian forces and retake the lost city. The surviving Christian fighters are defiant.

“Salah-ad-Din, you have the Tomb.
But it is dark, deserted gloom;
For Christ is risen! And by our side!
We are alive and cannot die;
We will retake Jerusalem!”

Many trilogies today (both book and film) are tired, lazy, artless, commercial-driven disappointments. Three books and 1300 pages in, Schrader’s Balian biography remains fresh, powerful, gripping, the story-telling artful, the pacing superb.

Highly recommended.

A strange thing happened to me today.

Thanks to a big BookBub New Year’s Eve promotion, I find myself on Amazon’s Top 100 List of bestselling Authors in – surprise! -- Historical Romance. Number 24, to be exact.

It’s a bit disconcerting. I view “The Witch of Napoli” as Historical Fiction. Sure, it features a love story, but I don’t pretend to understand women. They remain a mystery to me, even after 40 years of marriage.

Curious, I clicked on the “Amazon Author Rank” link, started scrolling, and found myself at a posh cocktail party filled with literary mega-stars like Danielle Steel and Diana Gabaldon, romance writers even clueless male authors like me immediately recognize. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I searched for other men at the soiree. I clicked through 1-10, then 11-20, then 21-30, then 31-40 before finally finding another male – Irish-born Eoin Dempsey, a Lehman Bros. crash survivor turned Philly teacher. Clicking on, I picked up two more Continentals writing romance: Robert Thier is a satirical German historian and lover of old books; Tweedy English author Winston Graham, OBE, is dead, but his Poldark novels set in 18th century Cornwall, England, continue to posthumously sell well.

So here we are, as New Year’s Day 2017 dawns. A quartet of thorns among 96 roses in the Amazon hothouse of Historical Romance.

If there’s any accuracy in my portrayal of my heroine Alessandra, it comes from a painful youthful encounter I’ll confess to here.

Tomaso, the narrator is me when I was just starting my own journalism career. He’s cocky, curious; handy with a camera and pen; determined to see the world.

In the novel, he falls head-over-heels for an older woman, just like I did when I was a teenager. The Alessandra in my life was a dark-haired divorcee – the mother of one of my high school classmates. I was seventeen and she was thirty-eight. She was sophisticated and funny and sexy in a way only mature, experienced women can be. Italians say when you fall in love with someone at first sight, you’re struck by a colpo di fulmine – a lightning bolt. I can tell you it’s true. She lived down on Long Island Sound, in a grey shingle house on the ocean, and I concocted a stream of ridiculous excuses (embarrassingly transparent to her, I’m sure) to drop by and see her every week that summer. I thought I had a chance; in truth, I was out of my league. I really knew nothing about women. What I remember most was how kind she treated me until I finally figured that out for myself. But no experience is ever lost on a writer. What I learned that summer ended up in my novel.

Alessandra understood Tomaso’s puppy love, and treated him kindly. But in the end, he doesn’t get her. Only Lombardi had a shot.

I like to think I got that right.

A New Year's toast to Alessandra! Amazon has just opened up a free ebook download of the Witch for anyone visiting the site between now and New Years Eve (Dec. 31). If historical fiction with a paranormal twist is your glass of bubbly spirits, you can make a date at http://amzn.to/2hLrTd0

Aloha All:

Our Italian heroine Alessandra is about to find herself surrounded by a fresh, new set of admirers.

Amazon has selected “The Witch of Napoli” to help it launch its new “Prime Reading” service. From today (October 5) through the upcoming Christmas Holidays, Amazon Prime Members can read the Witch – and 24 other Amazon top-selling Historical Romance novels – for free.

If you or a friend have an Amazon Prime membership, and have the Witch on your “To-Read” list, Santa’s knocking on your door.

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think of the novel – good or bad -- when you’re done. Writers depend on readers to help them become better at their craft.

Mahalo (thanks) everyone!

Michael

PS: I’ve posted a half-dozen new Hawaiian sunset photos on my Google+ page at: www.google.com/+MichaelSchmicker. If you love clouds, like I do, I think you’ll enjoy them!

I'm a very happy writer today. "The Witch of Napoli" just earned it's 400th 5-star review today (Amazon and Goodreads combined). My novel's heroine, Alessandra, would have recognized the sights in the vintage Italian postcard below.

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Mia Darien of Boom Baby Reviews (boombabyreviews.com) had a bit of fun with me on the virtual book tour. In case you missed it, she asked me to answer nine questions about myself:

Q1: One Random Fact about You?
A: I refuse to try an Ouija board. All in the mind? Simply the power of suggestion? I’m not so sure.

Q2. Fictional Character You’d Really Like to Be?
A: The globe-trotting Indiana Jones. I love archeology, foreign languages, and ancient history; I spent three years in Southeast Asia as a freelance correspondent traveling by steam train and prop-driven, World War II DC-3 planes; and I'm fascinated with the Orient’s older gods and cultures.

Q3. Your Authorial Theme Song?
A: The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” There’s more to reality than what we see.

Q4. Favorite Part of Being a Writer?
A: Being a tiny part of that great, glorious, fraternity which includes Dickens and Twain, J.K. Rowling and Agatha Christie, David McCullough and Umberto Eco. True, I’m barely inside the door, but when people ask me “What do you do?” I can honestly answer "I’m a writer.”

Q5. Name of Your First Pet?
A: “Boot Dog” – he was part-Labrador, rescued from the local dog pound. I loved him fiercely. I’ve always had dogs.

Q.6: Music, Television, or Silence While Writing?
A: The sounds of silence. Nature. I live and write high on a mountaintop in Hawaii, overlooking Diamond Head. Outside in the garden, with the door open and the sun shining, I hear a slight breeze in the coconut palms, and an occasional dog bark in the distance.

Q7. Early Riser or Night Owl?
A: Night owl. When I need a break from writing, I walk outside and look at the stars –Orion in the winter, Scorpio in the summer. In The Witch of Napoli, my heroine Alessandra “pointed her finger at the luminous arc of galaxies that glittered above their heads, her finger tracing its majestic sweep across the zodiac.” I do that often.

Q.8. Favorite Season?
A:Fall – in New England. Hawaii is my home, and I will never move, but when I retire I want to spend my Octobers in Connecticut, where I lived during my grade-school years. I traveled one year to Jakarta on a newspaper assignment with a well-known Swiss photographer who had traveled the globe, from Tokyo to Rio, Paris to Deadhorse. He told me of all the places in the world he visited, he always preferred to spend his autumn in New England. The colors!

Q9: Did You Always Want to be a Writer?
A: From birth, haha. I read the newspaper daily as a kid trudging around the neighborhood pushing my bike, delivering the Danbury News-Times. I was writing limericks at seven, and published my first short story at thirteen. National Scholastic Writing Contest. I forget what the plot was about, and I’m sure I’d be embarrassed to read it today, but it put stars in my eyes. My mother still has the photograph -- I’m in the Principal’s office, St. Peter’s School, Danbury, Connecticut, nervous and excited, flanked by Father Hitchcock and beaming Sister Arlene in her starched nun’s coif. A guy is handing me a small gold key and a printed certificate. Mom, bless her soul, kept the clipping for years in a tin box, and surprised me with it when I scored my first op-ed byline in the Asia Wall Street Journal. Writers have always been my heroes.

Aloha all:
Want to hear a witch speak? Tantor Media is teaming with Goodreads to give away 5 Audio CD copies of the Witch of Napoli as part of their official audiobook launch. Enter here to win a copy, and good luck!
http://bit.ly/29bbEqn

I'm blown away -- 33,000 free downloads of the Witch ebook in just 24 hours on Amazon. Thanks, BookBub!
Eusapia, you go, girl!