Super-Powers

Did you know everyone has super-powers?  It’s true.  Take a minute and think about it.  What are the things you can do that nobody else seems to be able to do quite as easily?  For me, I have two super-powers and unfortunately, one anti super-power.  My first super-power is the ability to find empty parking spaces right next to the entrance of anywhere.  This comes in very handy during trips to the airport or during the Christmas shopping season.  My other super-power is when elevators open their doors for me even when I don’t push the button… AND (dun-dun-dun)… there’s nobody inside when it opens.  It’s totally weird and very cool.  Oh, and then there is my anti-super power.  For some unknown reason, I have the amazing and unique ability to sit at any table in a restaurant and inevitably it will be the one that wobbles.

Do you know what your super powers are?

In the first book of the Beniwan series, seven kids go on a wild and crazy adventure; very exciting but very dangerous.  They end up meeting a man whose name is Lyndal.  It turns out he is more than two thousand years old… and he gives them all super-powers.  They can see in the dark, talk without speaking and transport from one place to another.

In my new book, Behind the eyes of Beniwan, some of these same kids discover a new super-power, and it’s greater than anything they could have imagined.  Even Lyndal didn’t know it was possible.  …and it was all because of love.

Love is a very powerful thing.  It’s greater than any other power in the universe.  It’s greater than electricity, or tornadoes, or even the smell of your father’s dirty socks. 

A long time ago, a very wise man said about love, “There is no greater gift than this; that a man lay down his life for a friend.”  That is the ultimate expression of love.  And you know what?  It releases a power beyond our wildest dreams.

Disney figured it out when they made the movie, Frozen.  Remember when Anna saves Elsa’s life? 

It was this very super-power the kids discover in book two.  And they will need it when they are forced to battle dozens of Keeon soldiers and eventually confront the two evil Shallum.

…but now I’ve said too much.  You will have to read the book for yourself to really understand what I’m talking about.  But remember this… ALWAYS use your powers for good.

Ode to Ben

I've been writing a lot of poetry lately and I really like including a "moral" or a "lesson" in the verse.  I always liked Ben Franklin's little quips.  They are so easy to remember and they always have some sort of insight for the reader's life.  So here are a couple I've written recently:

Do your homework every day

In the end, you’ll get an “A”

Or how about this one -

Be thankful and grateful in all that you do

And your heart will be happy, fulfilled and improved

I hope to publish some of my poetry soon.  There is some very fun stuff coming out.

To dream is to live

I had a dream that was amazing.  

I was reading a children’s book to a young girl.  It was full of wild and colorful illustrations.  I turned the over sized pages and saw a picture of a train chugging though a fairytale village.  It was filled with very excited, very happy people.  Surrounding the train were houses and shops painted vivid colors and decorated with Victorian gingerbread detailing.  They were adorned with the most beautiful flowers.  People and their pets were out walking the sidewalks and everyone was having a wonderful time.

But that’s not the amazing part.

As I read the story, the girl and I found ourselves riding on the train I was reading about.  I looked out my window and watched the same buildings, people, pets and glorious flowers pass by, just like we had seen in the picture.

I had read myself, and someone else, into the story.  Totally cool!

It was similar to the movie Inkheart, but instead of reading characters from a book into our reality, I had read myself into the book’s reality; like the story of Mary Poppins - when she, Jane, Michael, and Burt jumped into the chalk art in the park.

Whenever I have these kinds of dreams or visions, it makes me wonder if there are other realities out there; realms where the laws of nature are completely different from what we consider normal.   I’m fascinated with the idea that there might be portals that lead into unknown adventures in undiscovered worlds.  A chalk painting, a doorway, or a children’s book could be the passageway that takes us to somewhere else -somewhere amazing.

Happy travels!