Interview with Geoff Armstrong, Author of Moments That Made America: From the Ice Age to the Alamo

Geoff Armstrong began his teaching career in 1965 after receiving a teaching diploma from McGill University’s Macdonald College. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Montreal’s Concordia University in 1967 where his major field of study was history. Armstrong credits writers such as Bruce Catton, and Thomas B. Costain, as well as the encouragement of his father who had little formal education, but a deep love of reading and of history, as the inspiration for his own life-long interest.

Throughout a 25-year teaching career he taught history at several grade levels and learned quickly that to reach the hearts of his students, history had to be made immediately and deeply relevant and accessible: that some event that took place centuries before those students were born had a direct and profound influence on every aspect their lives. He also learned that talking down or writing down to his students was a recipe for defeat. It is this awareness, shaped by a quarter century of teaching and countless questions by thousands of intelligent young people that has informed and shaped his writing.

You can visit his website at www.MomentsThatMadeAmerica.com.

Where did you grow up?

I was Born in Liverpool, England, but grew up in the East End of Montreal, in Canada. The East End of Montreal was and probably still is a working class area where the belief was that if you wore a suit to work you were rich. My dad wore a truck driver’s uniform and was the most intelligent man I have ever known.

When did you begin writing?

I was fortunate to have a mother who read stories to me and my brother even before I could fully understand my own English language. She and my father also told us stories. With that example, by the time I was in first grade I began making up stories to tell my brother. My parents suggested that I write my stories down. Neither spelling nor grammar stood in my way. I suspect the stories were comprehensible only to me.

What is this book about?

Moments That Made America, as the name suggests is the story of the United States that tells that amazing story by focusing on those pivotal turning points or tipping points that have defined and shaped America. These are events that had they not happened or had the transpired differently, the United States would not exist or if it did manage to come in to being, would be unrecognizable. Too many Americans fail to understand that except for a extraordinary set of circumstances, some of them bordering on the miraculous, their nation shouldn’t exist at all: that in the entire five billion year history of this planet, their nation is unique. It is a lack of understanding and self-imposed ignorance that endangers the very survival of the United States.The first book in the series, Moments that Made America: From the Ice Age to the Alamo is available now, the second book, Moments that Made America: From Civil War to Superpower will be out in June this year. The final volume Moments that Made America: The American Century will be out in the new year.

What inspired you to write it?

For many years I have felt that too many Americans have little no understanding of the miracle of their country. Its entire existence was balanced on a knife edge of termination. Had any one of hundreds of events not transpired at all or not happened the way it did, America wouldn’t be here. I came to that realization many years ago. As I got older, I realized I had to try to explain. Therefore, I wrote what has turned out to be the first of three books on the subject. Book two is now on its way to the publisher with a June 2019 publication date planned.

How is it similar to other books in its genre? How is it different?

There is no shortage of excellent books on American history. Some of the best focus on the American Civil War. Works by authors such as Bruce Catton, Shelby Foote and James McPherson are outstanding examples. It was my reading of books by such writers that inspired my interest in history. What makes my book different is that I have focused on and detailed those specific events that, for better or worse, have made America the nation it is today. One excellent book that comes closest to the concept of Moments That Made America is The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic by Michael Medved. As the title suggests, Mr. Medved focuses on the role divine guidance and intervention played in the fortunes of the United States. He makes a strong case to support the theme noted by George Washington: "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency".

Moments That Made America covers some of the same events, of course, but where Medved goes into great detail in his successful search to reveal the workings of Divine Providence, I range farther afield and cover more history, not all of which reveals evidence of supernatural direction.

The idea that Divine Providence has a taken a personal and guiding interest in the unfolding of the American story is a popular and recurring theme. In Miracles of the American Revolution: Divine Intervention and the Birth of the Republic, author Larkin Spivey states categorically that the hand of God was indeed at work during that pivotal moment in American history. Spivey, a professor of military history and former Marine Corp officer presents evidence that supports the widely held belief that the success of the American revolution was the direct result of that Divine Intervention. Whether one believes Spivey or not, the book is compelling in its provocative account of the unusual events surrounding the Revolution and is well worth reading.

What is the most important thing readers can learn from your book?

That every American has the responsibility to treasure their country and to learn about how it was created.

Where can readers purchase a copy?

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, any online book seller. I’m not sure about brick and mortar bookstores

What is up next for you?

Finishing book three: Moments That Made America: The American Century

Is there anything you would like to add?

If you buy the book, pass it on to someone who doesn’t appreciate this amazing, impossible country.

Book Review: Does Your Vision Need an Engineer? by Rufus Chambers III

Many of us have visions and dreams. We don't, however, always have a practical plan to follow and make them a reality.

In Does Your Vision Need an Engineer? author Rufus Chambers III helps teach readers how to attach a plan of action to their divinely inspired vision.

This resource uses the story of Nehemiah's vision to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, to inspire you to create a strategic plan to execute your vision. Listing a series of "vision characteristics," you learn about the need for accountability, how to realize your vision is bigger than you, that a vision requires resources and protection, and more traits that are important before moving forward.

After these vision characteristics, the author shares a series of steps to follow to advance your vision, like the importance of identifying resources, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, assembling your team and creating a timeline, followed by implementation, evaluation, and expansion and more.

This faith-based resource challenges as of us to become Vision Engineers™. It's a unique way of looking at strat planning and accepting God's vision for your life. It's a quick read, but you'll want to refer back to it often.

File Size: 2736 KB
Print Length: 125 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1795624744
Publication Date: March 24, 2019
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English

I received a digital copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinion, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - April 29

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's a great post to organize yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.

Hard to believe that the end of April is here. We are heading into the busiest month of the year for us filled with two birthdays, three wedding anniversaries, a concert and a dance show, prom, graduation, and the end of school. Both my girls will be done with school by May 31. What the heck will they do with that extra month off?

As far as reading goes, it's been slow. I was sick and I've been working like a dog. I managed to finish these three books.

I've got several to review, including:

If I can control myself and not request any other books for review, I might even be able to choose what I want to read when we go on vacation. 

How is your TBR pile looking? Does vacation time mean catching up for you or do you bring books you want to read without the need to review them? What is a good book you've read lately? 

Book Review: Phoenix by Jessica Goody

A moving collection of transformation poems can be found in Phoenix by Jessica Goody.

The beautiful cover of Phoenix opens up to dozens of poems in a variety of styles that capture the resilience of the human spirit. Though a variety of subject matter is covered--nature, animals, emotions, special places and people--they are all connected by the theme of transformation.

What I most enjoyed about the Phoenix collection was the author's unique word choices. The writing is deep and emotional, and then you come across an unexpected use of a word that fits perfectly but you may not have thought of in that particular way before. It gives you a real moment to let the poem linger in your mind a while.

Goody is new to me, but I am sure I'll be wanting to read more from her soon.


Paperback: 102 pages
Publisher: CW Books (March 1, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1625493061
ISBN-13: 978-1625493064

I received a copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Book Spotlight: The Company Files: The Naming Game by Gabriel Valjan (Giveaway)

Whether it’s Hollywood or DC, life and death, success or failure hinge on saying a name.

The right name.

When Charlie Loew is found murdered in a seedy flophouse with a cryptic list inside the dead script-fixer’s handkerchief, Jack Marshall sends Walker undercover as a screenwriter at a major studio and Leslie as a secretary to Dr. Phillip Ernest, shrink to the stars. J. Edgar Hoover has his own list. Blacklisted writers and studio politics. Ruthless gangsters and Chief Parker’s LAPD. Paranoia, suspicions, and divided loyalties begin to blur when the House Un-American Activities Committee insists that everyone play the naming game.

EXCERPT


He suggested drinks Friday night at the Cocoanut Grove, with dinner afterwards. The weekend wasn’t quite on the

horizon but the doctor’s voice insinuated he had intentions.


The Cocoanut Grove club was part of the Ambassador; and like most places in Los Angeles it took forever to get

from the curb to the front door of the hotel. Then there was the nightclub. The hotel, like a Henry James preamble,

sat at the far end of a very long cultivated sentence of twenty-four acres off Wilshire Boulevard. The logic was

deceptive but calculated, its geometric lawns and trained trees were way out in front like a mirage of color schemes,

the designs descended from gardeners who created the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It was here Bacchantes of

another day and age descended from the Hollywood Hills or from elsewhere in the desert to have their Award

ceremonies, sexed-up affairs on hearths of Italian stone, their celebrity tantrums, complete with champagne glasses

dashed against tiled floors while the fountain’s water out front pulsed the rhythm of time’s cruel cadence.


The Cocoanut Grove was dedicated to nocturnal decadence. Palm trees were imported inside, stuffed monkeys sat

on top of them, their choreographed arms groping the leafy foliage and their glass eyes forever gazing at a ceiling

painted midnight blue with unmoving stars. Here the desert people came to dance and forget their troubles and

mingle with matinée royalty. Here they dined and here they listened to music beneath Moorish arches and tried to

forget the Crusades and the inconvenience of Christ on the cross. On a grand night they might see ghosts or the

gauzy image of Pola Negri walking her pet cheetah on a long leash through the garden.


7pm and early, Leslie saw Ernest at the bar in tailored silk pants and a patterned jacket, white shirt, and no tie. She

might’ve walked fast across the floor to surprise him, but she enjoyed every set of male eyes (and some female ones,

too) on her in a strapless cocktail dress made of plush black velvet and layers of cream tulle. Leslie didn’t believe in

makeup. Simple pink lipstick sufficed. In her small purse she carried cash and a .22 caliber pistol, a gift with a red

Croix de Lorraine on the white grip enamel. Neither the gun nor the caliber punched like a .45 automatic, but at

close range the .22 was feminine and lethal.


“You’re early, Dr. Ernest.”


“Please call me Phillip, or Phil. A drink?”


“What are you having?”


“Stinger.”


Brandy and crème de menthe. Upper-crust choice of either flyboys or college men. She motioned the bartender

over with her gloved hand. He ambled over, a big man in a tuxedo. He offered his clientele cool stoicism while he

made their drinks or dried glassware. He listened, or pretended to. His hand on the counter and the forward tilt at

the shoulders signaled he was eager to take her order.


“An Old Fashioned, please.”


The barkeep smiled when he set down her short tumbler not far from her date’s Stinger. He put in the sugar cube

and doused it with Angostura bitters, added water halfway up the sugar cube before he dropped ice cubes and added

a shot and half of rye whiskey. He hitched a maraschino cherry on the back of an orange wedge.


The jazz musicians in the background burned through a slow number of horns and muted drums. He moved near

her and she smiled. She could smell his cologne. Not bad. Not overpowering. She wore no perfume. Leslie learned

perfume always lingered in the air, or on fabric. It left a trace, a damning signature. Phillip pushed the cocktail to her

on a napkin


“Quite the drink you have there.”


“I can handle it.” Let him think I’m easy prey. “So, Phillip, what do you suggest for dinner?”


“Place up in the Hills, exotic and with a spectacular view of the city if you don’t mind Asian food.”


“I’ll give it a go. That’s what the weekend is for.”


“You’re full of surprises, Maggie. Didn’t figure you for the living type.”


He realized his awkward turn of phrase. She saved him from embarrassment. “As opposed to the alternative?” she

asked. “Don’t worry, I know what you meant. You don’t do so bad yourself.” Awe and flattery always chipped a man

down. “It can’t be easy listening to people’s problems all week. Shows character.”


“Nothing too challenging or anything I can’t handle.”


“You’re saying you don’t feel challenged?” she asked.


“Not at all. My patients are motivated, which is crucial to the therapeutic process, and I enjoy guiding them to

recovery so they can live meaningful, productive lives.”


“Say, ever had a client you couldn’t help? Someone you couldn’t fix.”


“I’ve had my share of difficult cases, but I try to persuade them to see the destructive consequences to their

choices,” he said, between sips of his minty drink.


Leslie drank a small sip of hers. “I never hear frustration in your notes. You’re always clinical, very professional. I

daresay you sound confident. Self-assured.”


“You haven’t seen all my cases, Maggie.”


“Really?” she asked, letting him see her take a hefty gulp drink from her glass, turned so he saw more flesh. He

responded with another sip of his toothpaste drink.


“I’ve had two, maybe three intractable cases. All men. One with inordinate guilt, the other one, a thief, and the last

one was a deviant. The thief and deviant I thought I could cure, but not the guilty one. All three men kept company

with people who exacerbated their conditions.”


The doctor explained all of this as he paced his drinking until he emptied his glass. Leslie left a wee bit of drink in

her glass. There was an uptick to the drums and the soft shudder of cymbals. A piano added light sprays of laughter

from the high keys. Smoke floated over the crowd.


“I’m no clinician, Phillip, but I’m clueless as to what constitutes deviant behavior. As for criminal urges, I’d suggest

an avoidance strategy. Not much I can say about regret. I’ve always thought guilt was a useless emotion.”


“I wish it were so simple, Maggie.”


“It is. The human mind confuses childhood with the responsibilities of adulthood.”


The perplexed expression on his face arrived on time. “That sounds familiar,” he said.


“It should, Phillip. I quoted you.”


Quoting him had worked. He smiled, his shoulders rounded and he leaned forward and intent, relaxed. She savored

that small victory more than the cherry clinging to the orange wedge on her glass.


“Shall we go eat?” she asked and deliberately misplaced her foot as she stepped off the metal chair. He caught her

arm in time. She released that little laugh all women practiced for embarrassing moments. He left a generous bill to

cover the drinks, as the drum kicked the air with a one-two beat and a crash of cymbals.


Ernest drove the roads above Hollywood Boulevard to the restaurant. High up in the hills and under a half moon,

The Mountain Palace rested on a hilltop like a shogun’s castle carved out of teak and cedar. There was a pagoda, too.

An architect plotted, a landscaper tilled the California hill into an enigmatic kōan with trees, shrubs, numerous

gardens, and waterfalls. Koi fish meandered through ponds. The only thing missing was the plucking sound of the

koto asking for rain.


Excerpt used with permission by author and publisher, Gabriel Valjan and Winter Goose Publishing (May, 2019)

Purchase Links: Amazon | Goodreads

Gabriel Valjan is the author of two series, The Roma Series and The Company Files, available from Winter Goose Publishing. His short stories have appeared in Level Best anthologies and other publications. Twice shortlisted for the Fish Prize in Ireland, once for the Bridport Prize in England, and an Honorable Mention for the Nero Wolfe Black Orchid Novella Contest, he is a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime National, a local member of Sisters in Crime New England, and an attendee of Bouchercon, Crime Bake, and Malice Domestic conferences.

Catch Up With Gabriel On:

gabrielvaljan.com, Goodreads, BookBub, Twitter, and Facebook

GIVEAWAY

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Gabriel Valjan. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on April 22, 2019 and runs through June 24, 2019. Void where prohibited.


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Book Review and Giveaway: The Ambitious Barrister and the Maid by Marianna Green

If you like your historical romance on the steamy side, then The Ambitious Barrister and the Maid by Marianna Green might be what you're looking for.

Having lost everything, Sarah-Ann must find work to support herself and her brother Jim. She ends up as a junior housemaid for an ambitious barrister named Alfred Grand.

Though her work is tough under the critical eye of Mrs. Carr, she catches Mr. Grand's eye. Sarah-Ann and Alfred enter into a practical arrangement where he pays her to be his mistress while he searches for a rich widow to marry and save his house from financial ruin. It's not long, however, before they develop deeper feelings for one another. So, when Alfred begins suffering from a mysterious illness, Sarah-Ann is eager to investigate.

The Ambitious Barrister and the Maid is a quick and easy read. It's the typical formula of two people getting together for a physical relationship, but then falling in love. It's a popular theme in romance, and it's always interesting to see each author's take on it. Especially in the beginning, there is a lot of bedroom time, but it does lessen up some as Alfred's mysterious illness evolves.

At fewer than 100 pages, there's not a ton of room for plot development, which is probably why the mystery was a bit lacking for me. I would have liked to see a couple more twists and turns before the culprit and reason came to light. My preference also would have been to end the story once Sarah-Ann and Alfred settled the status of their relationship instead of wrapping up all the character's lives at the end and giving the reader a glimpse into the future. Dragging it on weakened what was a satisfying ending.

That said, this was a fun read and I'm glad to have indulged myself in this steamy historical novella.

EXCERPT


The man’s eye fell on me. I would have liked to think that he was wholly moved by pity at the sight of the tears welling in the eyes of the scrawny creature that I then was. There was indeed a spark of sympathy in his, but also some calculation.

That might seem to be a long word for a housemaid, but I had been educated to be a young lady.

Mr Grand was a man who thought ahead. He saw something in me that interested him. It wouldn’t do for now, for though sixteen, I had much filling out to do. He was ready to wait, just as he was prepared to wait for the right chance to further his career. He was a man who saw potentials closed to those with a less penetrating gaze. In pursuing his goals, he was patient.

“She will do very well, Mrs Carr,” he gave that cold smile he sometimes used. “That solves your little problem. Now, as to mine –”

The housekeeper was indignant enough to do what servants, even the higher ones, should never do. She cut him off, which was bad enough, and then she contradicted him. “Hardly, Sir. I have no time to train her, and -”

He drew back. She could not have done more to ensure I got the post. He looked down his well shaped nose at her and cut her off in turn. “I just hired the girl, Mrs. Carr. That makes an end to the matter. See about her box and the rest.”

Later on, I was willing to bet, he would see about my box himself.

Marianna Green will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via 

rafflecopter during the tour.

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I received a free copy of this book from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Pre-order Now: Wyoming Baby Blessing by Jill Kemerer

She’s pregnant on his doorstep…

Saddle up for this Wyoming Cowboys novel

When his childhood friend Kit McAllistor shows up, widowed and pregnant, rancher Wade Croft offers her a place to stay…but he can’t offer her his heart. As old feelings begin to surface, past tragedies force Wade to ignore them. But on the brink of losing his ranch, will he also risk losing the woman he’s beginning to love…or can he cowboy up in time?


Series: Wyoming Cowboys (Book 4)
Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Love Inspired; Original edition (April 16, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1335479155
ISBN-13: 978-1335479150

Pre-order from:

Christianbook
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Books-A-Million
iBooks
Kobo
Google Play