Team A.N.G.E.L. Series:
Strength From Within; 5 Grace Restored Books; 3 Holy Flame Trilogy Books); 4 Divine Legacy Books

My books are Christian/Fiction, but, “They’re not your mama’s Christian/Fiction.” In my books, the spiritual realm crosses into the physical. Where there is dark, there is light. Where there are angels, there are demons. The underlying group is called: A.N.G.E.L. (Available to Nurture God’s Eternal Love). They get assignments from Michael, The Archangel, and then sh out into the world to help people. Some of the characters cross-over storylines within these series. This enables you to get more of another character’s storyline in another series! A portion of the proceeds from these books go to charities, so you get a good read, and help a charity at the same time!

What makes these books different from other books?

These are not your mama’s Christian/fiction. There is action, adventure, and suspense. Men and women have equally enjoyed the series. Strength From Within, Grace Restored Series, and Holy Flame Trilogy all take place at the same time. The Divine Legacy Series jumps forward twenty-years, where the next generation takes over the divine legacy from Team A.N.G.E.L.! These edge-of-your-seat adventures will challenge your heart and mind.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

There are many messages within the pages of the books. What you pick up depends on where you are in your life. For those who say the Bible is too old to apply to life now, I do my best to give a different perspective of how to apply the Bible to modern life. Take the challenge and see what you may learn.

What qualifies you write these books?

I always write from the heart. I have a myriad of life experience that I translate to these pages. I write what God lays on my heart. He takes care of the rest.

Basically, there are two kinds of writers – planners and pansters. I am a pantser. This means I basically write by the seat of my pants. When I start a story, I never know how it will end. Many times the characters took over, taking the story a completely different way than I thought.

‘Tis The Season, A Holiday Anthology: 2020 Season

Anthologies run the gamut of themes or specific genres. The requirement for this anthology was it had to be a holiday themed story. My sister and I run Texas Sisters Press. We initiated and published this anthology, choosing a unique group of authors to include, with the idea readers would get an interesting mix…and it worked! Each story had an individual cover at the front, and a little something about each author at the end of their story.

The diverse group of authors each brought their unique perspective to the holiday season. This book is a huddle on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy type read. Authors wrote their own stories, with their own spin. My story, Christmas Wish, like most of my stories, has a Christian bend to it. Nothing supernatural about this one, just a lot of heart!

Cruising (Adventures of Chief and Sarge, Book 1)

Children’s books have their own classification, with as many types as adult books. As for the Chief and Sarge books, multiple things make them unique. First off, are Chief and Sarge themselves. I grew up military brat in a family with a general bend toward the Navy. My husband, a retired Navy Senior Chief, was a Navy Corpsman. He worked closely with the Marines as their doc. We found Sarge on a military base, wearing a USMC kerchief, so we named him Sarge, after the Marine side of things.

People fell in love with Sarge, and because of that, we felt Sarge needed a brother. We got him a big brother – Chief (named after Navy Senior Chief). Sarge is a stuffed monkey and Chief is a stuffed koala. We take them on real trips, taking photos along the way. People fell in love with Sarge because he is a naughty little monkey, often getting into places he shouldn’t go. This allowed kids to travel with Sarge. When we added Chief, it added another element of fun! We have taken them to military bases, on cruises, to the Grand Canyon, drag racing, etc.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

The Chief and Sarge’s books stand out because: 1) The pictures and story in the book are photos of the people we meet and the experiences we’ve had. These pictures are on their web page and social media; 2) Not many children’s book authors have this unique spin. It is kind of like the idea of the grade school ‘flat Stanley’; 3) Fun facts! I always enjoy adding fun facts to the back of the books for all members of the family to enjoy! One family told me they use them for a game! I love that idea!

I hope this book gives kids some adventure and exploration of our world! Some kids lack the benefit of traveling while young. These books (there will be more) allow little ones to momentarily take a trip with Chief, Sarge, and the Serenity Acres crew to places around the globe! I hope this sparks the imagination of children everywhere to explore our world, and realize the world is bigger than their home or school! Adventure is out there!

 What qualifies you to write this book?

Honestly, as you can see from above, I am generally not a children’s book author. However, I do love to travel, and I enjoy the imagination of littles! What qualifies me is that I was a little kid once, so I understand traveling, adventure, and exploration. Sometimes that is stifled in children, and they lose their zest for life before they graduate from high school! I hope and pray this ignites a passion for reading and travel in the kids who receive these books!

My sister, LM Mann – of mannwrites.com, is a children’s book author. As I wrote the book, I had her review it multiple times before we agreed it read at an appropriate age level. Finding just the right illustrator, Waleed Ahmad – skyitservices.com, was a challenge. He did an amazing job converting real-life photos into cartoon form!  I’m grateful I found him!  

What advice do you have for other authors?

Write from your core – whatever that may be. You were given a story to write. Write it from your heart. Write the book you want to read. Do not write to the latest fad. Write from your heart and core.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I am an author, blogger, podcaster, and farmer. Life is never dull around us! We own an apiary (bees), with a garden and orchard. We talk about this in the blog: The Journey To Fruitfulness on my website. I talk about our joys, mistakes, successes, and epic failures. I apply the lessons we learned to our spiritual walk. I also have a podcast: The Journey Is Real where I talk to real people about their passions, and the journey that brought this passion to their heart. As for the author portion, there are always stories bouncing around my ADD brain! LOL! Life is honestly never dull!

Where can people get your book?

Everything mentioned above can be found on my CJPetersonwrites website. Sign up for my bi-weekly email, which allows you to stay connected with my insane world! I love to hear from my readers. Feel free to email me as well. Thank you for allowing me to invade your blog for the week, Kathy. And, thank you for taking the time to read about my work! I look forward to hearing from you!

God bless, C.J.

“While the stories are fiction, the journey is real.”

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He was born in 1581 in Upper Clatford, Hampshire, England. By 1604 he was living in Hursley, Hampshire and married to Mary. Their first child was daughter Elizabeth. The next child was also a daughter, Constance, followed by their son, Giles. We know he was still in England when the Separatists refugees fled for the Netherlands because he was fined in May 1608 in England, though for what we do not know.

A New Career and a Long Voyage

About that time Pastor Richard Buck with the Virginia Company hired him to serve as his clerk and do the readings for Sunday Services. Accepting the position meant leaving Mary and three young children behind in England. He sailed for the Jamestown Colony from Plymouth, England in June 1609.

People in England had heard that after two only years the settlers in Jamestown faced famine, Indian attacks, and mismanagement. Understandably, people were discouraged and some refused to work. The Virginia Company sent a fleet of seven ships and two small pinnaces to assist them. Thomas Gates, the newly appointed Jamestown Governor, was one of the passengers.

After about six weeks at sea the ships encountered a ferocious storm. The ships in the fleet got separated.  Hopkins, Governor Gates, and the fleet’s Admiral George Summers sailed the Sea Venture, along with about 140 other men and ten women. Sea Venture Captain Christopher Newport had delivered the first settlers to Jamestown in 1607.

Way Off Course

For nearly a week the storm raged about them, threatening to swamp the ship. Men worked in shifts, bailing water for an hour, sleeping for an hour, and returning to bail water for another hour. Finally, when things seem most desperate and hopeless, Admiral Summers called out, “Land!”

The crew put up full sails and ran the ship aground. Using the ship’s longboat, they moved everyone safely to shore, where they remained shipwrecked in the Bermuda’s, on an island known as “Isle of the Devils.” In September two men left to go for help from Jamestown. They never returned.

Discontentment spread like a contagious disease. In January Hopkins was charged with mutiny for insisting that, since they were not in Virginia Company territory, they were not obligated to obey the Virginia Company authorities. Though he apologized, he was none-the-less sentenced to death. He threw himself on the mercy of the Governor and the court, begging for mercy for the sake of his wife and children left behind in England. He lived to see other adventures.

On the Sea Again

By April 1610, nine months after they shipwrecked, they had two pinnaces ready to sail – appropriately named Deliverance and Patience. They arrived in Jamestown on May 21 to discover those still alive were desperate. No one had planted any crops. Their food supplies were nearly gone. Relationships with the Natives had degenerated to the point they were afraid to leave the fort. Governor Gates was preparing to lead them all north to Newfoundland and from there, back to England on a fishing vessel. Before they left, an English ship sailed into the harbor, carrying Lord de la Warr and fresh supplies and labor.

Hopkins stayed in the colony several years, but stories about their horrific shipwreck made it back to England. William Shakespeare told the story in “The Tempest,” which premiered in November 1611.

Mary kept the family going back in England, working as a shopkeeper; and perhaps with help from some of Hopkins’ wages from his position as clerk to the colony’s pastor. She died in May 1613. Word of her death didn’t reach Jamestown until September 1614. Hopkins returned to London to assume care of his orphaned children.

A Second Hopkins Family

In February 1617/18 he married Elizabeth Fisher. Their daughter, Damaris was born about a year later. The harrowing experiences of his first trip to North America did not dissuade him from wanting to return. When he learned a group of Pilgrims planned to establish another colony in Northern Virginia, he decided to go with them. This time he took his entire family, which now consisted of his children Constance and Giles born to his first wife, Mary; his second wife Elizabeth, their daughter Damaris, and two servants, Edward Doty and Edward Leister. His daughter Elizabeth died before this opportunity came along. His wife Elizabeth was pregnant with another child.

Though several of the crew had traveled to the New World before, Hopkins was the only passenger with prior knowledge of the place. His knowledge of both the inhabitants and the land must have fascinated the other Mayflower passengers on the long journey. Elizabeth gave birth to a son while the ship was still at sea. The Hopkins named the child Oceanus, in honor of his birthplace.

Assuming Leadership

Though Hopkins was not a member of the Separatist community, he was an integral part of the community that formed when the Mayflower arrived in Cape Cod, 400 miles north of her intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. He went on exploration trips to find a suitable place to create Plymouth Plantation. When the Wampanoag Sachem Ousamequin (Massasoit) called on the new settlers in March 1621, Hopkins opened his new house to some of them.  Later he traveled with settlers to visit the Natives in their community.

Apparently the community considered him a respected leader, given he served as an assistant to the governor through 1636. That year he got in a fight and wounded his opponent. The next year he was fined for allowing people to drink and play shuffleboard on the Sabbath. In 1638 and 1639 he was fined for selling things at double the normal cost.

He had a maidservant who was impregnated by Arthur Perch in 1638. The community executed Perch for murdering a Native, as per the terms of the 1621 treaty between the Plymouth Plantation settlers and the Wampanoag leaders. The Plymouth Court declared Hopkins financially responsible for his servant until she completed her term of service to him in two years. He refused and threw her out of the house. The situation was resolved when someone else purchased the servant’s remaining time from Hopkins.

Stephen Hopkins’ adventures and troubles ended when he died in 1644 and was buried next to his wife, Elizabeth, in Cove Burying Ground in Eastham, MA.

Information for this blog comes in part from The Mayflower and Her Passengers, by Caleb Johnson, Mayflower History web site, and Mayflower.americanancestors.org. If you’d like to know more about the adventures of Stephen Hopkins you can read all about it in Caleb Johnson’s Here Shall I Die Ashore. You   may also enjoy reading Pilgrim and Native Peace Talks or Mayflower Governor John Carver.

Thank you for taking time to read about Stephen Hopkins’ amazing adventures. I hope you found it interesting and inspiring. How about sharing it with a friend? If you got this from a friend, you can get your own FREE subscription at HowWiseThen. I’m currently giving away tips for recognizing and coping with dementia in memory and honor of my older brother who passed away recently after struggling with dementia issues for several years.

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