I just produced another book trailer for “The Release – Escape From Torment”.
Let me know what you think about it.
Here’s the link to Amazon for the book: The Release – Escape From Torment

BTW: you can follow me on twitter @NorhternOvation
You can follow me on Facebook https://facebooks.com/ralphnelsonwillett

I’m playing around with some video editing software. Put together this trailer for my latest book “The Release – Escape From Torment”.

“The Release – Escape From Torment” tells the story of a young woman under a generational curse. Women in her family have been severely abused for as long as anyone can remember. Now a Chicago gang wants her silenced. Can she escape the curse that has been passed down to her, a curse she has suffered from her entire life?

I finally finished my latest project “The Release – Escape From Torment.” (On Amazon, Paperback and Kindle) I have to say that completing it is a bittersweet moment. On the one hand it’s good to be finished with it and have it published, but on the other hand, I had grown to love the book. Taking the main character, Carrie, from giving up hope and resigning herself to dying to having the hope of everlasting life through Jesus Christ gave me a sense of fulfillment you don’t often have when writing. (I created a video trailer for the book here)

The book itself seemed to have taken a life of its own. I’ve read the final book a couple of times even after all the edits, and I find that I’m amazed that it was me that wrote those words. I still find myself tearing up in several places. It truely is some of my best work.

Before the final book went to press I had Denise Moore, Board Secretary of the Van Buren Domestic Violence Coalition read a prerelease copy of the book. Here’s what she wrote about it:

“This story is captivating from beginning to end. The author presents a realistic case of a woman trying to escape the man that abused her, something we see happen all too often. At one point I was so caught up in the story I had tears in my eyes for Carrie, and a few times I had to remind myself that this was fiction! The story goes on to show us how big our God is and how big His mercy and grace are.
I can hardly recommend this book enough.”

That is quite the recommendation and one I’m most proud of.

Domestic violence is one of those things that are difficult for people like me to think about. Writing about a victim of domestic abuse forced me to think about things I’d rather not. The pain, the grief, the loss. And as an example, why do women stay in an abusive relationship? There are many answers to that question, one of which is that they have nowhere else to go. When I spoke with Denise Moore, I discovered that there are no shelters in my county for abused women to go. In the book, I wrote that there was, but the truth is there isn’t. So where is a woman to go? Denise told me that their vision is to create a place that can shelter women and their children right here in the city where I live. But all that takes more resources than is available at the moment. So women and children suffer. It’s a hard thing to think about, but it’s also something that must be addressed.

In the book, I introduce a character named Chi (pronounced Chai, as in the tea). Chi has a lot of secrets that are hinted at, but one thing for certain is that he’s a stone cold killer trained by the military. He struggles to reconcile that fact with his Christian beliefs. He resists carrying a weapon even though he is specifically requested to by local police. There’s a dark history with Chi that I never fully explain in the book. In the end, he his approached by a representative of a secret government agency. Having recently been married, Chi rejects the attempts to recruit him, but the appeal to his patriotism and the fact that his actions will ultimately save lives is a powerful incentive. In the end, I leave the reader hanging a bit as to what he’s going to do.

I came to love the character, Chi. I wrote a lot of myself into him. When I needed to understand what Chi would do under certain circumstances, I asked myself what I would do. I know that under physical attacks I would do exactly what he did. Perhaps not as badly as he did but still, it would not be pretty. But what about pulling a trigger? I don’t know if I could do that or not. I’m just not ‘that guy.’

Now I have to decide if I’m going to take Chi further. Does a secretive government agency recruit him? Do I take him on adventures that are thrust upon him? Or do I simply let the character go and never tell the rest of his story? I’m still thinking that through. Hopefully, I’ll have some feedback from readers. What would you like me to do with Chi?

Ralph Nelson Willett
Facebook
Twitter
Blog
Get Ralph’s Free Books

Are you interested in knowing when I give away some of my books? Sign up for the mailing list and I’ll let you know when you can get my books (and others) for free. Get Ralph’s Free Books

I can’t help it. I’m proud of this video I put together. I touches me somehow. But then, I’m a pretty emotional guy.

You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Yesterday, December 17th, 2016, I was at a book signing event for my new book “The Summer Tourist“. It was held in South Haven Michigan at The Living Room Cafe, 520 Phoenix St.

I was able to sell almost all of my book inventory and raised over $400 for We Care I.N.C. of South Haven, a local charity sponsored by several churches in the area.

Thanks goes out to everyone that supported the both me and We Care. I can’t express my gratitude enough. Have a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Ralph Nelson Willett

~~~~

If you’d like to be notified of my next event, please visit my Facebook page: Ralph Nelson Willett on Facebook

Ralph Nelson Willett at his book signing for The Summer Tourist.

The Summer Tourist available on Amazon

The Summer Tourist has been released on Amazon. It’s currently available in paperback and Kindle formats. The audio book should release sometime in January of 2017. I’m pretty happy with how it’s been received so for and have had some very nice reviews.

The Summer Tourist

Tina reflected on how she had been used by the man she loved. The crushing weight of his deception overwhelmed her anger leaving only her pain. She raised her head toward Chicago and whispered, “I am not your summer diversion.” In a final act of letting him go, she held the bracelet over the water, turned her hand slowly and let it fall away. Could she love again? Would a man who loved her once love her again?

The Summer Tourist is now available here from Amazon.

I’m working on my next book. I’m through the first draft. I have to admit it’s been painful. Not because of the writing process but because of the subject it deals with – domestic abuse. When you’re writing something you actually have to spend some time thinking about it. I don’t like thinking about abuse in any way, shape or form. I don’t happen to live in that world so I’m isolated from it and it’s easy not to think about it. But as a writer, you have no choice.

When you’re a writer you can’t help but put yourself in the place of your characters. You may even come to view them as friends or even your own children. Seeing them in pain is hurts you. Even though you know your story is fictional, you feel the pain just as deeply as your characters feel. Just as when I wrote my first book, The Rose Stone, where I felt the pain of a daughter dealing with addiction and suicidal thoughts, I’m now feeling the pain of an abused woman. What I find most sad it that I know that my ‘Fiction’ is a very real fact of many women’s lives.

One of the things that nearly frightens me is the question of how do I know what I know about domestic abuse. I’m 56 years old. I’ve been around for a while but I’ve never been involved in the lives of domestic abuse victims. How can I then write about these things and have people tell me “you just wrote my life”? I have to ask myself where did I learn about this? My honest answer is: I don’t know. Tucked somewhere in repressed regions of my mind I’ve not know of what it is but also how it happens. Because I’m a writer/story teller I can see things happen in vivid detail as if I stood and watched it happen. What is it in me that allows me to do that? I don’t like it. It hurts too badly.

When I write about these things, abuse, addiction, etc., I often find myself in tears. I feel the pain my character is going through. Then I want to run out and “fix” it. Sure, I can fix it in the story but the problem is, I know for many many people the hurt is too real. Have you ever felt like that? Where you see someone in pain and you want to do everything you can to “fix it”? But I already know I can’t fix it. That isn’t within my skill set.

However, I’ve come to realize that I can help. My skill are in telling a story. Through my stories perhaps I can raise awareness so that maybe it will be better for someone. When I wrote “The Rose Stone” Celebrate Recovery played a big part in the story. I now have a special place in my heart not only for the group and what it does, but also for the individual people in it. My own eyes have been opened if only because I had to think about things as I wrote the book. I talked to people and asked questions. I became aware. But I’ve found that isn’t just me that my stories touch. Many more people have become aware of Celebrate Recovery simply because I told a story. Making people aware of what can help with their struggles or someone they love is, in a way, a way to “fix it”. My prayer is that even though I don’t like thinking about some things, that God will make some good will come of it. Could I ask for more?

I’m still working on the book about abuse. It’s title will be “The Release”. I expect it to be available sometime in the summer of 2017. The Rose Stone is expected to be release the first week in January however (!) the audiobook is already available. You can listen to it here: The Rose Stone

Ralph Nelson Willett
Facebook
Twitter

Here’s something I didn’t know: You can share you Amazon Prime benefits with another member of you family.

Alright, here’s the benefits you can share (Copied directly from Amazon’s website):
The following Prime benefits can be shared in an Amazon Household:

You can invite any family member or “partner” which means you can invite your boyfriend or girlfriend. Now you can share the cost of membership. To me, just having the video streaming makes Prime worth it but tack on top of that the free two-day shipping and it makes it a no brainer.

Here’s how you invite another member of your family to share your Amazon Prime:
Go to your account
Click on Your Prime Membership
Scroll to bottom and click “Share your Prime benefits”
Click on “Manage my household”
From there you can invite a family member to share your benefits.

I think Amazon Prime is awesome. With being able to share it with one of my family members makes it even more awesomer (if that’s a word).

Here’s the link to check out Prime:
Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial

OK, full disclosure here, I’m an Amazon affiliate so if you click any of the links above I may benefit from it, but it’s still a really cool thing.

It took longer than I expected but our latest book “Brianna” is finally released and online, available for download.

We’re giving it away for free.

Here’s a snippet:
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/281807364″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

“Brianna” is about a woman that has lost faith in God and how God provides her signs to show her that he still cares for her.

Due to the tragic loss of her daughters, Brianna’s faith has been destroyed. She is angry with God. Why would God do this to her? Is she being punished for some unknown offense?

Follow the story to see how God demonstrates his love for her in unusual ways.

You can download the MP3 version of “Brianna” by Ralph Nelson Willett, at
NorthernOvationMedia.com/brianna

Please be sure to let us know what you think. As an author I love to discuss my own work. 😉

Ralph