Topic: Arts & Literature

A new illustrated children's book, The Dragonfly Door, follows two young insect friends and the struggles one of them endures when her friend disappears. In the process, the surviving friend learns about loss and change.

This poem is written for all those that are adopted, adopted a child, or have given a child up for adoption. I especially dedicate it to my birth mother and son. Hopefully one day he will follow my steps and find me, as I have found mine.

The mid to late sixties were a magical time. Everything was changing. What was once popular was now “in,” the new word to describe what was current and fashionable. Mini skirts and Nehru jackets were in. Also in: the birth control pill, anything from London's Carnaby Street, long hair on on men, and plastic clothing. Oh yes, so were the Mamas & the Papas – although many of us weren't to realize this fact until after the groups demise.

Combining fantasy with "real witches", Durk Simmons’ new novel, Strings of Connection - Book One of the Witches in America Series (now available through AuthorHouse), invites readers to enjoy contemporary fantasy magic through the eyes of a family of modern-day witches.

What if you were born on a deserted island with no one to pass their spiritual beliefs down to you? That’s how Steven Stromp approaches his short novel, "Cracking Grace." It tells the story of Mary, a gregarious statue frozen in place inside a small-town cemetery.

Associated Television, producers of "The Spirit of Princess Diana" and "The Spirit of John Lennon," has demonstrated interest in a new kind of "ghostwriting" - a novel channeled by four women over their good, old fashioned Ouija Board. The project began 17 years ago in Washington DC, and 90,000 transcribed words later, the Sunsisters are proud to be optioning The Pyramid.

Ever wondered what it looks like on our dark days to others? Let this poem take you into the depths a souls darkness when it is out to destroy.

New Book Bridges Gap between Mayflower and 1776 Few realize the enormous impact of the Salem witch hunt. Had it not been for the backlash against what happened in 1692, New England might today be a theocracy with Puritanism as its official religion.

The remarkable sales achieved by Nathaniel Philbrick's "Mayflower" and David McCullough’s "1776" indicate the high level of interest that currently exists throughout America in the history, events, and attitudes that came together to shape this nation. But an important event that propelled many of our forefathers to embrace the Age of Reason, as well as the enormously important concept of separation of church and state, falls in the gap between the history recounted in these two best sellers. That event was the Salem witch hysteria which took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Now, a new book by prizewinning author Stephen Hawley Martin called "A Witch in the Family" bridges the gap.

Who hasn’t read Dan Brown’s best selling novel The Da Vinci Code? According to Brown, Mary Magdalene left Egypt on a boat with friends to land in Provence, with Sarah her daughter, whom she conceived with Jesus. For the past several years we have seen on the silver screen picturesque and controversial interpretations of Jesus and the resurrection, and even of an assumed affair between him and Mary Magdalene. After reading over and over the texts written by Brown and friends, and watching movies by Pasolini, Scorsese, Spielberg, Gibson and Howard, among others, are we to question the bloodline of the Merovingians, the fear of the Catholic Church to face a possible take over by a descendant of Jesus, or the finding of the Holy Grail, which seems to obsess so many, including Indiana Jones? One thing is certain. Some are finding the thrill, and the naivety of the masses, very lucrative.

Okay, I admit it. I was prepared to simply hate Marlo Thomas' new tome, the second volume of The Right Words at the Right Time. I was planning on writing a scathing review, which was already partly written in my mind even before I received a copy from the book’s publicist. I would compare this with Conversations With God, or anything by Shirley MacLaine. I would say that this is exactly what's wrong with most entry level New Age books, being all white light without a healthy dose of darkness, or all sugar and saccharine with no nutritional value.