⭐Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tour Kick Off⭐She Forgot She Was Free by Giselle Mascarenhas #selfhelp

She Forgot She Was Free is a powerful invitation to remember who you were before fear, expectations, and survival convinced you to forget.


She Forgot She Was Free is an invitation to remember the woman you were before fear, expectations, achievement, disappointment, and survival convinced you to forget.

In this deeply personal and transformational book, two-time best-selling author and founder of The BECOME Method™, Giselle Mascarenhas, shares the lessons, questions, and revelations that led her back to her truest self. Rather than offering quick fixes or another self-help checklist, she invites readers into a journey of honest reflection, identity, healing, and intentional growth. Through compelling stories and practical insights, readers are challenged to release limiting beliefs, reconnect with their authentic voice, and rediscover the freedom that has been within them all along.

Rooted in the principles of The BECOME Method™, She Forgot She Was Free equips readers with a powerful way to move beyond simply surviving and begin living with clarity, courage, and purpose. Whether you’re navigating a season of transition, rebuilding after loss, or simply sensing there is more waiting for you, this book will remind you that the life you long for doesn’t begin by becoming someone new, it begins by remembering who you have always been.

Because the person you are searching for has never been lost.

She has simply been waiting for you to remember her.

╰┈➤Book Details

Title: She Forgot She Was Free
● Author: Giselle Mascarenhas
● Genre: Self Help
● Sub-genre: Inner Child Self Help/Transformational Self Help/Motivational Self Help
● Language:English
● Pages: 132
● Paperback ISBN: ‎ 979-8234125965
● ASIN: B0H6M1PSHT
● Publisher: Mija Media House
● Publication Date: June 23, 2026
● Price: Hardcover $37.99, Paperback $25.81, Kindle $9.99
● Amazon: https://a.co/d/04aiKYWO
● Purchase Signed Copy: https://signedcopy.netlify.app/

Excerpt:

“Beat It”

If you grew up in the 80s, you understand what Michael Jackson meant.

Not as a celebrity. Not as a pop star. As a feeling.

My bedroom walls were covered in him. Floor to ceiling. Every page I could tear from every magazine that had his face on it, I put it up. I would climb on my dresser drawers and stand on chairs just to reach higher, just to fit one more. My brother John knew this. And because brothers are built to find the exact thing that will undo you, ripping one of those pictures was his most effective weapon. That was the deal, unspoken but understood, touch my Michael Jackson pictures and I stop raiding your Little Debbies and cereal. We had a whole economy built around it.

But Michael Jackson wasn’t just decoration on my walls.

He was proof that you could be fully, completely, unapologetically yourself, and the whole world would not just accept it, they would lose their minds over it.

Third grade. The school talent show.

I signed up to dance to Beat It. I borrowed a dress. Black tights that were slightly too small. I was not nervous. Not even a little. I was a great dancer and I loved Michael Jackson and the combination of those two facts felt like more than enough reason to get on a stage in front of the entire school.

When the music started, I stopped thinking.

I just danced.

I hit every move. I got lost in it, the way you only get lost in something when you are doing exactly what you were made to do. No performance. No awareness of being watched. Just a little girl and the music and the complete and total freedom of a body that knew what it was doing.

When it was over, the cafeteria stood up.

The whole cafeteria.

Elementary kids on their feet, cheering, for me, for little Gi who had just danced her whole heart out in slightly-too-small tights without a single moment of self-consciousness.

I remember that feeling. I want you to feel it with me for just a second before I tell you what happened next.

That feeling, of being fully yourself, fully alive, and being met with that kind of love, that is vitality. That is exactly what this book is about. Not the applause. The aliveness that came before it.

I signed up again the following year.

I was going to dance again. At this point I was certain, certain, that I was either going to be a ballroom dancer or a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. It was not even a question in my mind. It was just a matter of which one.

Then I got called to the principal’s office.

Mrs. Champion sat across from me and told me that before I could perform in the talent show, I would need to audition privately for her. Because last year, she said, and I still remember her tone more clearly than her words, my dance moves had been vulgar. And I would not be allowed to perform if I did anything like that again.

I was in third grade.

I did not fully understand the word she used. But I understood her face. I understood the disgust in it. The way she looked at me like my aliveness, my joy, my freedom, the very thing that had made every child in that cafeteria rise to their feet, was something to be ashamed of. Something that needed to be contained. Auditioned. Approved before it was allowed to exist.

I went back to my homeroom teacher and told her I had decided not to perform.

She asked why.

“I just don’t want to anymore,” I said.

And I sat down.

I did not have the language for what had just happened to me. I did not know that a grown woman had just looked at a little girl on fire and made her feel like her flame was a problem. I did not know that the thing I did most naturally, the thing that made people come alive, had just been handed back to me with a note that said too much.

What I knew was the feeling in my body.

The same body that had been lost in the music, free and uncalculating, was now sending a different signal.

A warning.

A familiar click.

When the light shines too bright on you, move it.

Point it somewhere else before someone decides your brightness is the problem. Before they call it vulgar. Before your heart gets shattered by someone else’s discomfort with your aliveness.

I had already learned the light switch.

Mrs. Champion just gave me the first real reason to use it.

– Excerpted from She Forgot She Was Free by Giselle Mascarenhas, Mija Media House, 2026. Reprinted with permission.


About the Author

Giselle Mascarenhas is the founder of BECOME™, creator of the BECOME Methodology™, and author of She Forgot She Was Free. An entrepreneur, speaker, and transformational guide, she has dedicated her life’s work to helping people reconnect with who they were created to be so they can live with greater purpose, freedom, and intentionality.

After years of building businesses, leading organizations, and walking through seasons of personal growth, Giselle recognized that lasting transformation does not begin with external success, it begins with remembering one’s authentic identity. That realization became the foundation of the BECOME Method™, a proprietary methodology designed to guide individuals through a transformational process of self-awareness, healing, alignment, courageous action, and embodied growth. Unlike a framework that offers guidelines for achieving a specific outcome, The BECOME Method™ is a comprehensive method of personal advancement that can be applied across every area of life, leadership, and purpose.

Her debut book, She Forgot She Was Free, is both a deeply personal memoir and an invitation for readers to embark on their own journey of remembrance. Through honest storytelling, reflection, and faith, the book explores the universal experience of losing ourselves beneath expectations, fear, pain, and performance, and the courageous journey of rediscovering the freedom, identity, and purpose that have always existed within us. Rather than simply telling her story, Giselle invites readers to see themselves in its pages and begin writing the next chapter of their own lives.

The book became the catalyst for the broader BECOME movement, an expanding ecosystem of transformational experiences designed to help people move beyond inspiration into intentional action. Through immersive workshops, retreats, leadership development, educational programs, community experiences, publishing initiatives, and speaking engagements, Giselle equips individuals with practical tools to create meaningful and lasting transformation. Every experience is grounded in the belief that personal growth is not about becoming someone different but remembering and embodying the person God uniquely created each of us to be.

Known for her ability to blend heartfelt storytelling with practical application, Giselle creates spaces where people feel seen, challenged, and empowered to take meaningful action. Her presentations combine vulnerability, strategic thinking, and actionable guidance, allowing audiences to leave not only inspired but equipped with a clear path forward. Her work resonates with entrepreneurs, leaders, professionals, educators, faith-based communities, and individuals seeking deeper purpose and authentic fulfillment.

Beyond her work as an author and speaker, Giselle is passionate about developing leaders who create ripple effects within their families, businesses, organizations, and communities. She believes transformation is contagious, that when one person remembers who they are and chooses to live courageously, they give others permission to do the same. This philosophy continues to shape every initiative within the BECOME movement.

Through future books, collaborative publishing projects, leadership academies, retreats, and global speaking engagements, Giselle’s mission is to help millions of people reconnect with their God-given identity and become the fullest expression of who they were created to be. She envisions BECOME as a worldwide movement that empowers individuals to live intentionally, lead authentically, and create lasting impact for generations to come.

Giselle lives in Texas with her family and continues to write, teach, speak, and expand the global reach of the BECOME movement. Whether on stage, in the pages of a book, or through transformational experiences, her message remains the same: the person you are searching for has never been lost, you have simply forgotten who you are. Remember. Rise. BECOME.

Visit her website at www.thebecomemethod.com.

Connect with her on social media at:

╰┈➤Twitter: https://x.com/giselleempowers

╰┈➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/giselleempowers

╰┈➤Instagram: https://instagram.com/giselleempowers

╰┈➤Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21957760.Giselle_Mascarenhas




Sponsored By:

⭐Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tour Kick Off⭐EVAN'S STORMY VOYAGE by Karen Charles #children

 

Eight-year-old Evan leaves New York aboard a freighter bound for West Africa, beginning an adventure of a lifetime across the Atlantic...


Eight-year-old Evan has never crossed an ocean before. Leaving behind the familiar streets of New York, he boards a massive freighter ship with his parents, bound for West Africa, where his family will live for the next four years. Excited yet uncertain, Evan watches the Statue of Liberty fade into the mist and wonders what waits for him on the other side of the Atlantic.

Life aboard the freighter feels like a floating world of its own. The ship carries only a handful of passengers, and Evan quickly befriends Mateo, another boy his age who is traveling to Ghana to live with his grandparents for a year. Together, the boys explore the ship’s narrow passageways, climb to the bridge where Captain Morales lets Evan help steer the vessel, and spend long afternoons in the ship’s library building model kits and solving puzzles while storms churn across the ocean outside.

As the days pass, their friendship deepens. Evan learns that Mateo misses his family as much as he does, and the two boys discover what it means to trust someone far from home. But when Evan’s prized airplane model kit suddenly disappears, suspicion and hurt threaten to destroy their friendship. Angry and confused, Evan must decide whether to hold onto resentment or search for understanding.

Meanwhile, the voyage itself grows more dangerous. A hurricane drifts far off its usual course, slamming the freighter with towering waves that leave passengers frightened and seasick. In the middle of the storm, Evan witnesses courage from the crew, compassion among strangers, and the quiet strength of his own parents as they face uncertainty together. Through the chaos of the sea and the heartbreak of betrayal, Evan begins to mature in ways he never expected.

When the ship finally reaches the bustling ports of Liberia, Ghana, and ultimately Lagos, Nigeria, Evan is overwhelmed by sights and sounds unlike anything he has ever known—towering cranes unloading containers, humid air thick with salt and diesel, crowded harbors alive with movement, and vibrant new cultures waiting beyond the docks. Yet the hardest moment comes when Mateo must leave the ship in Ghana. Their emotional goodbye forces Evan to confront how deeply friendship can change a person, even in a short time.

Filled with adventure, heart, humor, and emotional depth, Evan’s Stormy Voyage is a middle-grade coming-of-age novel about courage, kindness, forgiveness, and finding home in unfamiliar places. Inspired by the author’s experiences growing up in Africa, the story offers young readers a vivid journey across the Atlantic as it explores universal themes of friendship, empathy, resilience, and cultural discovery. Fans of heartfelt adventure stories will be swept into Evan’s unforgettable voyage as he learns that the greatest discoveries are often the ones made within ourselves.

Evan’s Stormy Voyage is available at Amazon.

╰┈➤Book Details
➺Author: Karen Charles
➺Genre: Children’s Series
➺Language:English
➺Pages: 72
➺Publisher: BookBaby
➺Publication Date: ‎ August 24, 2026
➺Formats: Paperback
➺Paperback ISBN: ‎979-8317844738

Excerpt:

Evan stood at the railing of the enormous freighter ship, his sneakers planted wide as the deck trembled beneath him. The engines rumbled low and deep, like a giant clearing its throat before speaking. New York Harbor sparkled in the morning sun. Restless seagulls wheeled overhead, crying out sharp and wild. Tugboats puffed along like busy little beetles, guiding the massive ship toward open water. And there she was. The Statue of Liberty stood tall against the sky, her torch glowing gold in the light. She appeared brave and steady, her torch raised high as if she were waving goodbye just to him. Evan raised his arm and waved. “Goodbye,” he whispered. The wind pressed against him harder now, flattening his shirt against his chest. It felt different out here, stronger, wilder. The water slapped against the ship’s sides with a hollow boom… boom… boom… like a drumbeat echoing from somewhere far below. Behind him was everything he had always known. He would miss this place. Ahead of him was Nigeria, West Africa, a place of bright sun, red earth, and tall palms that rustled like whispers of secrets. His parents had new jobs there, and he would be going to an American boarding school. He imagined classrooms filled with maps, new accents, new games, and nights under stars bigger than he had ever seen. Excitement fizzed inside him like fireworks. But underneath it, something else moved. A twisty feeling. Like clouds gathering where the sky had just been blue. He watched as the Statue of Liberty grew smaller and smaller, her torch shrinking to a tiny spark against the horizon. 1 The sky above the harbor shifted. A bank of gray clouds stretched low over the Atlantic, dark and quiet and waiting. The freighter pushed forward anyway. Evan gripped the railing tighter. The ocean ahead looked wide and endless, like a giant blue blanket that could shake itself awake. He took a deep breath. Adventure was calling. But far out on the horizon, where the ocean met the sky, something darker was rising. And it was coming their way.

– Excerpted from Evan’s Stormy Voyage by Karen Charles, BookBaby, 2026. Reprinted with permission.


About the Author

Karen Charles grew up in West Africa and traveled across Africa, the Middle East, Central America, and Europe. Her rich background and lifetime experiences are reflected in the depth of her writing. In her stories, she transforms real-life narratives into gripping thriller fiction. Her novels intricately weave threads of truth into a tapestry of suspense, intrigue, and riveting storytelling. She is the author of three children’s books in the “Evan’s Adventures in Africa” series, including Freeman Earns a Bike, Evan’s Gift, and Evan’s Stormy Voyage. Her three thrillers include Fateful Connections, set in the aftermath of 9/11, and Blazing Upheaval, set during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles and the Northridge earthquake. A Glimpse Too Far offers the mystery and heart-pounding suspense of a psychological thriller and is based on a true story. Karen Charles has two businesses—a global company that trains international teachers to teach American English and an Airbnb on a beautiful bay in Washington State, where she and her husband currently live.

Karen’s latest book is Evan’s Stormy Voyage.

Visit her website at www.weaveofsuspense.com.

Connect with her on X, Facebook and LinkedIn.


Sponsored By:

PUYB Author Talks: ⭐A Bookish Conversation with 'The Dance We Shared' David Tindell⭐ #interview

 

 

David Tindell was born in Germany and grew up in southwest Wisconsin. Together with his wife Sue, he’s traveled the world, seeking new locales for his novels. He trains in the martial arts, dabbles in radio and joins Sue in the never-ending search for the perfect chai tea latte.

His latest book is The Dance We Shared (Book 3 in Men of Honor). Other books include The Heights of Valor (Book 1 in Men of Honor) and The Man In the Arena (Book 2 in Men of Honor.

Visit his website at www.davidtindellauthor.com

Connect with him on social media at:

╰┈➤ X: www.x.com/davidtindell1 

╰┈➤ Facebook: www.facebook.com/DavidTindellAuthor 

╰┈➤ Instagram: www.instagram.com/djtindellauthor 


 

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Are you a full-time author?

I retired from Federal service several years ago, but continued to work part-time in radio, my first profession. I’d written some short stories and an unpublished novel while in college, but then real life intervened, so they stayed in my files. Then one evening my wife was reading a paperback and tossed it aside. “You can write better than this junk,” she said. I decided to prove her right. The result was The White Vixen, my first published novel.

Can you tell us about The Dance We Shared (Men of Honor Book 3)?

The series is about men placed in situations where their personal honor is tested. How will they respond? Will they take the easy way out, as so many people do these days? Or will they do what it takes to meet the challenge?

In The Dance We Shared, we meet Ben Fletcher, radio announcer, age 54. He’s been single for a long time, has a good job, lives alone, trains in the martial arts, and tries not to think of Vernoica Starr, the glamorous TV host he loved — and lost — 20 years ago. Ronnie walked out on him after he made a foolish choice. She married another man and moved away.

One day, Ben is cleaning out a file cabinet in his office when he discovers an envelope. Inside is a card, with a phone number and a short message, in Ronnie’s handwriting: “Please help me.” Then he looks at the envelope and sees that it was postmarked five years ago…just before Ronnie disappeared.


 

Can you tell us a little about the characters?

Ben Fletcher was the top-rated radio announcer in La Crosse, Wis., when he met Ronnie. Recently divorced with two small children, Ben fell hard for the TV morning news anchor when they co-hosted a charity telethon. Things went well for a year and a half. There was talk of marriage and a child together, and then one night when Ronnie was out of town on assignment, Ben made a selfish choice.

Veronica Starr, the city’s most-watched TV news personality, seemed to recover quickly from her devastating discovery. She met an older man, a banker, married him after a short romance and soon moved with him to the Twin Cities, where she quickly rose to the top of the TV ratings again, getting notice from national networks. But as exciting as her professional life was, her home life was dull and suffocating. She often thought of Ben, and what they might’ve had together if she had just found the strength to forgive him.

Ben has moved on as best he can, getting a new job at the local university, spending his spare time weightlifting, swimming and training in taekwondo. Reasonably content, he’s starting to think about retirement, but memories of Ronnie won’t fade away. A day hasn’t gone by without regrets for what he did, but as time passes, so do his chances to make things right…or so he thinks, until the day he finds Ronnie’s five-year-old call for help.

Where is this book set and why did you choose that location?

As a native of Wisconsin, I like to set my stories in my beautiful state and its neighbors. We start in La Crosse, a charming city on the Mississippi, drop in on the Twin Cities, and then move to Wisconsin’s northwest, to the village of Birchwood, near where I lived for more than three decades. The novel then takes the reader farther north, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where Ben’s quest reaches its climax.


 

How can people benefit from reading The Dance We Shared?

Those of us lucky enough to still be with the love of their life, like I am, can remember a time when things were shaky. I don’t know any men who want to wind up like the guy in the Garth Brooks song, looking back on the memories of the dance he shared with the love of his life, knowing that it would end. Writing the novel took me back to a time early in my relationship with Sue, when it looked like we wouldn’t make it. But we did, and remembering those times, as tough as they were, can make us appreciate what we have. And for those who lost their loves, perhaps the story can give them some hope. It wasn’t too late for Ben, and maybe it won’t be for the reader whose dance ended way too soon.

Is this your only book?

Dance is my tenth published novel. I have four in my White Vixen series, which follows USAF special operator Jo Ann Geary through the 1980s into the early 90s. There are three in my Quest series, about middle-aged Wisconsin brothers Jim and Mark Hayes, partners in a security firm, and their adventures with their wives. Last but certainly not least are the first two entries in Men of Honor. In The Heights of Valor, modern-day Army officer Jake Dawson seeks inspiration and guidance from the diary of his great-grandfather Charles, who fought with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War. And then we have The Man in the Arena, set in modern-day Crawford County, in Wisconsin’s beautiful Driftless Region. Air Force officer Scott Armstrong, forced into early retirement after his marriage implodes and a mission goes sideways, goes back to his boyhood home along the Mississippi, where he starts rebuilding his life. He meets beautiful divorcee Beth, and things start looking up, despite the presence of a drug gang which is poisoning the county, staying two steps ahead of the police. But when the gang turns its attention to trafficking, and its first target is Beth’s teenage daughter, Scott decides its time to be the man his late grandfather always wanted him to be.


 

Thank you so much for this interview, David. What’s next for you?

My wife and I are in the midst of a move from Wisconsin’s Northwest down into the Driftless, so it’s an exciting time. I still don’t have radio out of my system, so I’ll be dabbling in that down here. As for writing, I’m already starting to plot out my next novels: Man on a Mission (Men of Honor book 4), Quest for Justice (Quest book 4), and The Black Orca (White Vixen book 5).

Where to purchase the book:

The ebook is on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3T01SNz

Where to find David:

www.davidtindellauthor.com

www.facebook.com/DavidTindellAuthor

www.instagram.com/djtindellauthor


Inside the Book

Ben Fletcher seems to have it all going for him. In his early fifties, he’s in great shape thanks to a disciplined regimen of weight training, swimming and martial arts. He has a job that pays him a good living in the charming Wisconsin city of La Crosse. Divorced a quarter-century earlier, he remains close to his two grown children and grandkids. Ben is content with his life.

But he’s not happy. Twenty years ago, he was, during that glorious year and a half he was dating the glamorous Veronica Starr. They were an “item”: Ben, the city’s highest-rated radio announcer, and Ronnie, an award-winning TV newscaster. They were starting to talk about the future, one that would include marriage and kids. But then, Ben made a stupid mistake, and it all came crashing down. Ronnie broke off the relationship, met an older man and married him. Within a year she was gone, moving with her new husband to the Twin Cities. Ben had no choice but to move on with his life the best he could.

One day, he’s cleaning out a file cabinet in his office and finds an old catalog. Before throwing it out, he riffles through its pages, and an envelope drops onto his desk. Opening it, he finds a card. In handwriting he immediately recognizes as Ronnie’s are a phone number and the words, “Please help me.” When he looks again at the envelope he sees the postmark: it had been sent five years earlier…just before Veronica Starr left her husband, quit her job and disappeared. 

David’s latest book is The Dance We Shared (Men of Honor Book 3).

╰┈➤Book Details

● Title: The Dance We Shared (Men of Honor Book 3)

● Author: David Tindell

● Genre: Romantic Suspense

● Language:English

● Pages: 229

● Publisher: KDP

● Publication Date: August 9, 2026

● Price: Kindle $2.99





PUYB Author Talks: ⭐A Bookish Conversation with 'Parallel Universe Saga' Randy C. Dockens⭐ #interview

 

 

Dr. Randy C. Dockens has a fascination with science and with the Bible, holds Ph.D. degrees in both areas, and is a man not only of faith and science, but also of creativity. He believes that faith and science go hand in hand without being enemies of each other.

After completing his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Auburn University he went on to graduate school at Auburn and completed his first doctorate degree in Pharmaceutics. He began his scientific career as a pharmacokinetic reviewer for the Food and Drug Administration and later joined a leading pharmaceutical company as a pharmacokineticist, which is a scientist who analyzes how the human body affects drugs after they have been administered (i.e, absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted).

Through the years, he has worked on potential medicines within several disease areas, including cardiovascular, fibrosis, and immunoscience to seek and develop new and novel medicines in these therapy areas.

He has also had his attention on the academic study of the Bible. He earned a second doctorate in Biblical Prophecy from Louisiana Baptist University after receiving a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from the Internet Bible Institute under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Congdon.

Randy has recently retired from his pharmaceutical career and is spending even more time on his writing efforts. He has written several books that span dystopian (The Coded Message Trilogy), end-time prophecy (Stele Prophecy Pentalogy), science fiction (Erabon Prophecy Trilogy), uniquely told Bible stories (The Adversary Chronicles), speculative fiction (Cities of Light Series), and a combination of science fiction / speculative fiction (Parallel Universe Saga). All his books, while fun to read, are futuristic, filled with science to give them an authentic feel, have a science fiction feel to them, and allows one to learn some aspect of Biblical truth one may not have thought about before. This is all done in a fast-paced action format that is both entertaining and provides a fun read for his readers.

He has also written some nonfiction books as well. One is to show how all humans are connected from God’s viewpoint by looking at biblical prophecy (Why is a Gentile World Tied to a Jewish Timeline?: The Question Everyone Should Ask). This book shows how all scripture is connected and inclusive of everyone. In addition, he and his editor have written two books about writing. The first is on writing techniques themselves and is entitled Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Writing: Creating Vivid and Colorful Stories that Readers Want to Read. This book not only addresses the techniques of writing, but what makes writing unique to each author. It conveys not only how to better hone one’s craft of writing but also the brand an author wants to portray. This helps an author make their writing unique as well as captivating for his/her audience. The second is a companion book to this one entitled Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Self-Editing: Framing Your Colorful Masterpiece to Keep Readers Engaged in Your Story. This is best used in conjunction with the first one. Yet, self-editing, though intricately connected to writing, is a distinct event. The better the quality of a writer’s draft manuscript when it is delivered to one’s editor, the higher the final quality of the manuscript will be for readers, and that is extremely important.

Dr. Dockens still has creative ideas to share so stay tuned! 

Dr. Dockens’  latest books are Retrieving the Future & Resolving the Future (Books 1 & 2 in the Parallel Universe Saga Series)

Visit his website at https://www.randydockens.com.

Connect with him on social media at:

╰┈➤ X: www.x.com/RandyCDockens

╰┈➤ Facebook: www.facebook.com/Randy.C.Dockens

╰┈➤ Instagram: Randy C Dockens (@randydockens) | Instagram

╰┈➤ Goodreads: Randy C. Dockens (Author of T-H-B) | Goodreads

 

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Are you a full time author?

I have always had a fascination with science and with the Bible. I hold Ph.D. degrees in both pharmacokinetics (the study of how drugs work in the body) and in biblical prophecy. While the scientific area became my career, my creative side has always had a way to bubble to the surface. Writing fiction novels, with science interwoven to give them a feeling of authenticity, became a way for me to release that creativity.

After completing my bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Auburn University, I went on to graduate school at Auburn and completed my first doctorate in Pharmaceutics (with an emphasis in pharmacokinetics). I began my scientific career as a pharmacokinetic reviewer for the Food and Drug Administration and later joined a leading pharmaceutical company as a pharmacokineticist, which is a scientist who analyzes how the human body affects drugs after then have been administered (i.e., absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted), and describe this using mathematical formulae. Through the years, I have worked on potential medicines within several disease areas: cardiovascular, fibrosis, and immunoscience to seek and develop new and novel medicines in these therapy areas.

I was also drawn to the academic study of the Bible and earned a second doctorate in Biblical Prophecy from Louisiana Baptist University after receiving my master’s degree in Jewish Studies from the Internet Bible Institute under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Congdon.

I have recently retired from my pharmaceutical career and am spending even more time on my writing efforts. All my books are futuristic, contain scientific elements to give them an authentic feel, and have a science fiction feel to them. I want readers to go on an adventure with my stories and hopefully get an understanding of some type of biblical truth they may not have considered before.

Can you tell us about The Parallel Universe Saga?

The Parallel Universe Saga is composed of two novels. The first is entitled, Retrieving the Future. In this book, the main character, Declan, is a self-proclaimed interdimensional interloper, traveling to parallel Earths to retrieve futuristic cutting-edge technology for his employer. It’s profitable work, and he doesn’t ask questions. Stealing technology from parallel Earths was supposed to make Declan rich. Instead, it might destroy everything.

Declan befriends an amazing humanoid robot, Lyle, on one of this parallel Earth trips and brings him home to create his idea of an ultimate AI (artificial intelligence) android. That’s when everything unravels!

Suddenly, Declan’s coworkers and company leaders want him dead, his girlfriend, Rose, is in danger, and the only way to survive is to discover what his missions were really about — a secret conspiracy linking corporate greed to some of Scripture’s end-time prophecies. To discover that connection, the AI he created sends him and Rose on a parallel Earth mission together, a mission unsanctioned by the company’s Board.

In Book 2, Resolving the Future, Declan discovers the secret to his parallel Earth visits . . . and it’s not good.

This other parallel Earth lies within a time dilation field which severs his and Rose’s connection to their world. Another way to get back must be found. He discovers why his company’s Board sanctions his trips to parallel earths, and this discovery not only puts his life and that of Rose in danger, but basically everyone he has worked with at his company.

Once he and Rose return to their Earth, all has changed. Only his robot friend, Lyle, has remained unchanged. The AI android he created, and who sent him on his off-world mission, is now in control of the company, has his boss and the Board under its sway, has no knowledge of his unsanctioned mission, and now considers Declan enemy number one. Declan now has to convince a company blinded by greed that they’ve created humanity’s executioner — and do that before there’s no future left to fight for.


 

Can you tell us a little about the characters?

Declan Anderson has an outgoing personality and an adventurous spirit. He is employed by Icharus Technologies, a firm which has him go on parallel Earth missions to retrieve advanced technologies that the company can reverse engineer and sell to the public for profit. His personality is the type which tries to be a friend to all and is the reason he even befriends an AI robot on one of his trips.

Lyle is an artificial intelligence robot on a parallel Earth that Declan meets in a clothing store. Over time, their relationship becomes close and Declan treats him as his best friend. Their frequent interactions and discussions cause Lyle’s programming to advance more than it otherwise would have. Because of their friendship, Lyle returns to Declan’s Earth with him and helps him build one of the most advanced AI androids Decan’s Earth has ever achieved.

Rose Mathews becomes Declan’s girlfriend. She was originally employed by a rival company but comes to work at Icharus Technologies where she and Declan fall in love with each other. She is the one who runs the machine that sends Declan on his missions. She originally meets Declan on a parallel Earth when she worked at this rival company visiting the same parallel Earth Declan visits but from a different timeline. Declan doesn’t realize she is from his Earth until he gets back from his mission.

Where are these two books set and why did you choose that location?

These two books take place on two different parallel Earths and on our Earth. The city and state where they leave from and arrive on the other worlds are not mentioned because is it the parallel Earths that are the main focus. For the storyline of the novel to progress, technology currently not available on our Earth is needed. Parallel Earth travel allows the story to obtain advanced technology and build an android with sophisticated AI programming which can look extremely human.


 

How can people benefit from reading your series?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a very hot topic in our newsfeeds today. There are some who are happy with how quickly this technology is advancing while others are very skeptical, and fearful, of such technology and feel it is advancing too quickly without enough safeguards in place. Our society needs to grapple with this concern of such new technology arising quickly in or world. One of the main concerns is how to avoid human bias in a technology that needs all types of information in so many different areas to derive answers and provide information that is required of it. It is my opinion that if we are going to rely on something giving us information that we are going to assume is valid, it should have access to all information and not just information some human decided to supply to it. Only then can it come to valid and unbiased conclusions using all information at its disposal.

Are these your only books?

I have written several books that span dystopian (The Coded Message Trilogy), end-time prophecy (Stele Prophecy Pentalogy), science fiction (Erabon Prophecy Trilogy), uniquely told Bible stories (The Adversary Chronicles), speculative fiction (Cities of Light Series), and my current release of a combination of science fiction and speculative fiction (The Parallel Universe Saga).

I have also written some nonfiction books as well. One is to show how all humans are connected from God’s viewpoint by looking at biblical prophecy (Why is a Gentile World Tied to a Jewish Timeline?: The Question Everyone Should Ask). This book shows how all scripture is connected and inclusive of everyone. In addition, I and my editor have written two books about writing and editing. The first is on writing techniques and is entitled, Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Writing: Creating Vivid and Colorful Stories that Readers Want to Read. This book not only addresses the techniques of writing, but what makes writing unique to each author. It conveys not only how to better hone one’s craft of writing but also the brand an author wants to portray. This helps an author make their writing unique as well as captivating for his/her audience. The second is a companion book to this one entitled, Mastering the ABCS of Excellent Self-Editing: Framing Your Colorful Masterpiece to Keep Readers Engaged in Your Story. This is best used in conjunction with the first one. Yet, self-editing, though intricately connected to writing, is a distinct event. The better the quality of a writer’s draft manuscript when it is delivered to one’s editor, the higher the final quality of the manuscript will be for readers, and that is extremely important.


 

Thank you so much for this interview, Randy. What’s next for you?

My main focus going forward will be on marketing this series and my other series as well. I have additional ideas of where my creativity could take me but have not decided which direction to take as yet.

The Parallel Universe Saga (including Retrieving the Future Book 1 & Resolving the Future Book 2) is available at Amazon and the author’s website.


Inside the Books

In Book 1, Retrieving the Future, Declan befriends an amazing humanoid robot, Lyle, on one of his parallel Earth trips and brings him home to create his idea of an ultimate AI. That’s when everything unravels!

Suddenly Declan’s coworkers and company leaders want him dead, his girlfriend Rose is in danger, and the only way to survive is to discover what his missions were really about—a secret conspiracy linking corporate greed to some of Scripture’s endtime prophecies. To discover that connection, the AI he created sends him and Rose on a parallel Earth mission together, a mission unsanctioned by the company’s Board.

In Book 2, Resolving the Future, Declan discovers the secret to his parallel Earth visits …. and it’s not good.

This other parallel Earth lies within a time dilation field which severs his and Rose’s connection to their world. Another way to get back must be found. He discovers why his company’s Board sanctions his trips to parallel Earths and this discovery not only puts his life and that of Rose in danger, but basically everyone he has worked with at his company.

Once he and Rose return to their Earth, all has changed. Only his robot friend, Lyle, has remained unchanged. The AI he created and who sent him on his off-world mission is now in control of the company, has his boss and the Board under its sway, has no knowledge of his unsanctioned mission, and now considers Declan enemy number one. Declan now has to convince a company blinded by greed that they’ve created humanity’s executioner— and do that before there’s no future left to fight for.