100 Years, 10 Days Until Gifting Time

It's December 2112 during Gifting Time. The name of Jesus and the word Christmas have been removed from permitted speech. Now, someone has broken the silence and Christ will once more be present in people's hearts, thus increasing their Length of Days.  go2     www.lengthofdays.net

What Are We Doing?

The election is over and our focus has returned to how we an make our country the sweet home of the brave once again. Even after all the politicking has finally been exhausted, if one speaks out, they can be accused of any vile attribute that would silence them. Do not allow yourself to be silenced. The result can be a country you no longer recognize.

To get a glimpse of the strange world we could turn into, one hundred years from now, read Length of Days - The Age of Silence. You may not want to live in a world of 2112 when you see what you have willingly destroyed.

How Should I Vote?

“How should I vote? Who should I vote for?” Most have no problem hearing the opinion of those who have already made their decision. Many of us would like to hear less from them. After all the mind-numbing political ads on television, the pundits who wax eloquently about the beauty and correctness of their own expertise, and Uncle Bozo’s fist pounding rants on the family dinner table about the scurrilous background of candidate “A,” there are still quite a number of people who have not decided for whom to vote. That is evidenced by the number of internet searches on October 31, 2012 using the keywords: “How should I vote?” (1,930,000,000) and “Who should I vote for?” (609,000,000).

The election is a few days away. The option of not voting should not be considered by any educated citizens. I include “educated” as a qualifying descriptor since public schools were started to educate the electorate. In Length of Days - The Age of Silence voting has become a thing of the foggy past. Most people have never even heard of the privilage. The hard part is: 1) making a decision and then 2) feeling secure in that decision once it’s made.

Who should I vote for?

To determine who to vote for one might gather their information into several political topics. Broad areas of concern will differ from person to person. Each one knows what is important to them. These suggestions might prompt others based on personal interests.

Personal Needs: Will who I vote for make a positive difference in my personal life?  Will I be better able to find a job based upon the candidate’s proposed budget and/or financial plan? Will my job be adequate to meet my needs, to educate my children, cloth, provide a safe home and have a little money left over to visit Grandma and Grandpa in the summer? Will my children and grandchildren have a better life because of my single vote on Tuesday?

Christiana Applewait, even though a Legacy Citizen, had a very personal reason to want the government totally changed. Her grandparents, two of the Council of Twelve, are almost at their end of their length of days. She had to find an answer.

Community Development: Will one vote elect someone who can get the paper plant open again so our neighbors can find good paying jobs? Will the church be able to put a Holy scene in the yard? Can the children of the community receive a good education in the local schools?

For Christiana, her goal was that the people, her neighbors and friends, would be free from the chemicals that dulled their emotions and drive.

Country Security: Will “my” president keep our country safe from those who would harm us? Will he make sure our debts are paid and we are free to be free? Will he encourage freedom of speech, free from political correctness and full of truth? Will he be honest, open, and transparent? 

Christiana knew that the system had become so corrupt, the people must be kept safe from their own government.

How are decisions made? After the areas of concern are identified, a decision must be made. In order to make a wise choice, there is a process that is often helpful. In Personality Type Theory, such as in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, psychological differences are separated into two dichotomies or four opposite pairs. They help us see how people take in information and then how they make decisions about that information. However, we are usually only good at one of the four abilities, a little less talented in a second, out of touch with the third, and blind to the fourth. To make a decision, learn: “What I do not do naturally, I must deliberately do.”

The Decision Making Process

Now we begin. If one is a perceptive type, they enjoy gathering information and never get around to a conclusion. If one is a judging type, they gather a few pieces of data and rush off to make their decision based on inadequate information.

In an organization, a good conclusion can be found by using a model similar to Type Theory. None of these ideas were still in place in 2112, Christiana's era. Let us keep them alive. The decision making process is considered in four steps:

Gather information (Sensing) . . . Brain storm about those facts (Intuition) . . . Use reality to decide among the most plausible possibilities (Thinking) . . . Then decide if the decision will hurt anyone (Feelings). In an attempt to determine for whom to vote, we don’t need a committee. However, without others to bring their strongest abilities at decision making to the table, we must practice wise choices on our own.

After the urgent topics have been identified, now we begin. If one is a perceptive type, they enjoy gathering information and never get around to a conclusion. If one is a judging type, they gather a few pieces of data and rush off to make their decision based on inadequate information.

First gather all the information about each of your topics as can be found. If one tends to make quick judgments, when all of the data necessary to decide has been gathered, find at least twelve more points to consider. If one loves researching and two milk crates have already been filled with related articles and facts, it is probably time to stop gathering and move on to the next stage.

Next brainstorm about all the pieces of information one has gathered. Find as many possibilities one can conclude about the data. There are no right or wrong answers at this point, only ideas, plausible or not. For those who tend to be concrete and unable to opening brainstorm, get silly. Ask a twelve year old what might happen if this or that decision is made. Shoot the moon. Ideas can develop out of the strangest scenarios.

Then, use logic to separate the good ideas from the bazaar. “If Candidate XYZ were elected based on my vote, what might he decide to do about those issues that concern me based upon my understanding of the candidate’s background, personal ethics, experience,  and the people he gathers around him?

Finally, use feelings. “Who might be hurt by my decision to vote for Candidate XYZ and the programs he would promote as surmised by all the information that has gone into my decision making process?”

That is all we can do. People were not given crystal balls along with their first baby rattle. Our great nation was based upon the belief that the people of this country are wise enough to elect our own public servants. Will each of us always be right? Of course not or we would have an election with one-hundred percent of the populous voting for the same person. But, it has worked for over two-hundred years and every election may decide if that election process will continue.

Decide what is important. Research to find out what the candidates have said and/or have done to show they intend to do something about the concern. Brainstorm, think logically, and then decide if the decision is in the best interest of this country and the promotion of liberty and freedom. Then, go vote.

Christiana and her friends will escape the Central Zone to help bring back the privilages, such as voting, that will restore their country to the nation it had been before the great crisis. Vote now to make sure the life Christiana lives does not become our own reality. Read Length of Days - The Age of Silence - available as an eBook at www.amazon.com and www.bn.com.

Myers, Isabel Briggs (1980). Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type. Davies-Black Publishing; Reprint edition (May 1, 1995). ISBN 0-89106-074-X

STOP THE LIES!

Stop the lies and inflammatory speech! In less than two weeks, the United States will elect a president who will serve the people of our country for the next four years. Some of the rhetoric is hostile and prejudicial. It sounds ignorant and dismissive.

" . . . speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ." Ephesians 4: 15 (NIV©1984)

Some dialog is honest and loving but labeled hateful by others to discredit and defame the one who has merely spoken truth, as they see it, in love.

The people of our nation have been silenced so as not to offend someone who may have a different opinion. Do not silence truth, but speak it in love. We know "they" will lie and call us names in order to silence us but we must speak out, if for nothing more than to hear all opinions spoken without being yelled or laughed at.

In Length of Days - The Age of Silence, the people of our country have closed their mouths and minds to truth for one-hundred years (2112). Then, someone breaks the silence and the hope of a free society is kindled in the hands of Christiana Applewait and her friends.

Learn what happens when people are silenced. Read the eBook: Length of Days - The Age of Silence, available at www.amazon.com or www.bn.com. No eReader? No problem. Barnes and Noble have free apps to read on your computer, Nook, or android.

Also posted at www.prayertherapyrapp.blogspot.com

RECLAIM THE AMERICAN DREAM

Since hard work and talent are not responsible for success, according to our President, I would like the Hollywood elites to liquidate all their assets: homes, cars, investments, all accounts on and off shore, and turn the money over to the state of California. The Golden State is near bankruptcy and needs the money. After all, it was the infrastructure and hourly wage earners who really made your movies and television programs. Yet, it is the Entertainment World’s “stars” who continue to shamefully display their unearned gluttonous wealth. Give it back to the people who really worked for it.
That is the thinking that led to a society with no ambition, no dreams, and controlled thinking and emotions that appear one-hundred years from now, in 2112, in my novel, Length of Days – The Age of Silence. With the government controlling more and more of society and voices are silenced that point out the truth, we may have already entered the Age of Silence.

In my novel, there was one who was brave enough to break the silence and one who was inspired enough to follow the truth. Will you stand up and speak out for our great nation? Will you claim the American Dream or let someone fundamentally change it into a nightmare of dependence like the society in Length of Days – The Age of Silence? The time is now.

Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.

Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp
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www.bn.com

THE AGE OF SILENCE

Today is Flag Day, a day to honor our flag that represents Freedom. Too many of us are willing to give away our Freedoms by not being aware of the cause and effect relationship between the limits placed on our people today and the effect or outcome that may come to all of us in the future. If we are bullied into not speaking our mind, in love, we are sounding the last toll for the beginning of The Age of Silence. Where truth needs to be spoken, we must step up and be that voice.

My book, Length of Days - The Age of Silence, is a novel about what life in our wonderful country could be one-hundred years from now, in 2112. It is available at www.directbuybooks.com in hardback and paperback form, and as an eBook at www.bn.com and www.amazon.com. Remember, you do no need an eReader to enjoy an eBook. Both Barnes & Noble and Amazon have free apps so eBooks can be read on your computer, net book, Android and others.

Today, for Flag Day, I am offering one free hardback Length of Days - The Age of Silence to the 50th person who sends an email with your name and mailing address, dorisgainesrapp@gmail.com The 50th person represents the fifty stars in our beautiful flag.

The drawing will end Sunday, June 17, 2012 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. I will announce the winner on this blog and on Facebook on Monday morning. Good luck!

To hear that last toll, follow this link:  www.authorstream.com/Presentation/DorisRapp-1207656-length-ofdays-the-age-silence/

BEGINNING OF THE AGE OF SILENCE

It matters not your politics. When former President Clinton cannot speak truth to the serious issues of our day, we have started the clock toward The Age of Silence.

First, President Clinton gave proper recognition to Mitt Romney for his excellent work at Bain Capitol. Then, he pointed out the need to extend the Bush tax cuts. Next, he was silenced. The former President of the United States had to walk-back his comment on taxes and then he had to apologize for his statements. This is a former President, forced to humbly himself and lie about the truth. There has even been an excuse offered, "You know, he is 65." A massive insult!

We are all beginning to be silenced for speaking truth. Will we tolerate it when we are forced to wear a heavy, cumbersome muzzle? Stand up---grow a backbone---and speak truth to lies!

NOTHING IS FREE

How deep is the well of free water and how long does it take to empty it? The well is as deep as the last person's thirst and will last until the thirstiest soul has drank their fill. The only way to insure fresh water is to dig your own well, with your own strength and trust God that water is at the bottom of the hole.

When we lose the will to dig our own well, we lose the freedom to do so. Stand up, my friends. Let your voice be heard---now. If you don't, we may begin the Age of Silence.

LET NOT SILENCE PREVAIL

"He started the whole world singing a song . . ." (1) The beautiful words, written by Gloria Gaither, were singing within me when I woke up this morning. When the Word of God is grounded in your heart and the songs of praise to Him share the same space, they sing in your soul even while you are sleeping.

We are tethered, by an unbreakable golden thread, to the source of all Love, Peace, and song. When we ignore or refuse to accept that connection, it is not God who cuts the cord, we simply let the rescue ship sail on past because will not get in the life boat. We condemn ourselves.

When you were in school, how did you learn a passage of Shakespear? And, how did you memorize your Math Facts in Elementary School? You rehearsed, you practiced, you spoke and wrote them over and over until they were buried deep within you.

That is how we grasp the tether line. First, we ask the Holy Spirit to enter our heart and take up residence there. Then, we flood our mind with His Word and songs of praise. The Holy Spirit will help us understand the meaning of the words and seal their presence in our lives when we have put forth the effort to read, study, pray and sing.

Christiana Applewait, in my futuristic novel Length of Days - The Age of Silence, lives in 2112. In the one-hundred years between then and now, society has managed to forbid the name of God to be spoken or written in any form. All Bibles have been confiscated and all music has been banned. Babies are tagged at birth to determine their Length of Days and the water supply has been laced with drugs that block everyone’s ability to feel emotions. A reverence for life has faded away on the dark wind of fairness, civility and control.

Where can Christiana turn for hope and comfort with no God or Scripture to guide her? Then, a spark is lit that fans the Spirit of God within her. She races through the city in the Central Zone of what had been a United country, in search of a way to over turn the Length of Days policy and save her grandparents, members of the Counsel of Twelve. She is reminded of a spiritual indwelling she had as a child and prays to God, whom she has just come to know, for help in her quest.

Will our God Blessed Land be stripped of everything that makes us American due to our own silence? Perhaps 2112 is not the Age of Silence. Maybe it has already begun and Christiana only lives in a future time when it is fully implemented. Could it be that we are living in the early stages of The Age of Silence?

What can we do to stop the coming Change, the approaching Silence? We must remain silent no more. God does not speak up for Himself. We are His witnesses and when good people remain silent, all manner of evil can overtake the good and drive us into darkness. We must pray for the Holy Spirit to enter our lives so that we can understand the approaching silence and speak out before it engulfs us all in a deafening void

Many people have never prayed with hope and faith that their prayer will be answered. Like Christiana, this may be their first time. Such a prayer might sound like this:

"Father God, you have kept me by your side since I lived near my mother’s heart. Holy are you and I praise your name. I ask in this very moment, that your Holy Spirit will live within me that I may learn the truth of you and feel your comforting presence at all times. Forgive me when I have chosen to remain silent and pretend you are not here. Today, I turn my life toward you and home. I accept your Grace and ask that you teach me how to speak out for you and pass your love and strength on to others. In the name of Jesus, your son and my Savior, I pray. Amen."

Doris Gaines Rapp
Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp

Length of Days - The Age of Silence - Doris Gaines Rapp - hardback is available at: www.directbuybooks.com
Length of Days - The Age of Silence - Doris Gaines Rapp - eBook is available at:
www.amazon.com and www.bn.com.

1. (Copyright 1982 Gaither Music Company)

CATHERINE MARSHALL AND I

"I’m sorry, I have no gas. I can’t move my car away from the pumps until you reopen," my husband, Bill, explained. There wasn’t enough gas in the tank to turn the engine over to restart it.

We had come to the Washington D.C./Virginia area for my interview with the Christian writer, Catherine Marshall. It was during the summer of gas rationing. We had coasted on fumes all the way down the off ramp and around the curb into the station driveway.

"Well, okay," the service station attendant agreed and pumped enough gas to carry us out of town. By the time our tank was full, there was a line of thirsty cars out across the station drive and down the block. We felt badly for the kind service station attendant.

All of the angst and threatening gas gage were soon forgotten. My morning with Catherine Marshall was inspiring.

Catherine was shorter than I had imagined, but looked like her pictures with dark hair and smiling eyes. Even though she had been meeting with a Bible Study group in her basement, she took the time to answer all of my questions with grace and patience. The material I gathered was for an article I was to write for a new national magazine. The company’s decision to not launch the new periodical took absolutely nothing away from my trip to the beautiful rolling hills around Evergreen Farm in Lincoln, Virginia.

Before I left, Catherine invited me to take a tour of their new Chosen Books Publishing building in a former, eight-room, two-story red brick schoolhouse. There were two "classrooms" on each side of a wide center hallway, both upstairs and down. The old hardwood floors gleamed in the afternoon sun. The building stood just down the road from the home Catherine shared with her husband, Len LeSourd. My tour there was another priceless experience. I asked Catherine if she was involved in the publishing business in any way.

"Oh my no," she answered. "Writing and publishing are two entirely different talents in the book business."

Chosen Books was started on prayer, inspiration and a faith in the Lord’s Guiding by John and Elizabeth (Tib) Sherrill. The Sherrills invited their friends, Len and Catherine LeSourd to experience the dream and great adventure with them.

The June I was there, they had been thrilled by a recent addition to their small staff. A young man had contacted them with a proposal. He would come to work for them for one year at no salary, just for the opportunity to learn the publishing business from the ground up. The only thing he asked was that they might have a room in the building in which he could live so he wouldn’t have to pay rent somewhere else. The Sherrills and LeSourds thought they had caught the brass ring and the young man believed he was the one who was blessed. It was a win-win situation in a world of win-lose, or lose-and-lose-some-more.

It is with that kind of faith and trust that I have decided to offer my novel, Length of Days - The Age of Silence in hardback on the website www.directbuybooks.com. It is already available as an e-Book on www.amazon.com and www.bn.com and others, so why not offer it in a real-as-life, hand-held paper form? I had been reluctant to take that next step. I could hear Catherine Marshall’s words, "Writing and publishing are two entirely different talents in the book business."

The publishing world, however, has changed a great deal since the introduction of electronic books. Writers have had to learn to be marketing professionals, self-promoters, publishers, website designers, and more. The eBook is a wonderful opportunity to offer books, but some older readers do not have computers and many want to actually hold the book in their own hand.

For an author, an eBook is uploaded to an online book seller and is then available to anyone who wants to purchase it for their computer, eReader, android, or any other electronic device that has an app for eReading. A paper book must be designed, printed, warehoused until purchase, then boxed and shipped.

You have no idea how different business tasks are (supervising employees in every detail) from creative writing. To me, managing those details is like the hand wringing experience of driving down a D.C. expressway on an empty tank of gas, during an hour when the gas is rationed and the pumps are turned off.

I am however, determined to be obedient and to follow the will of the Lord as I understand it. I am happy to announce that Length of Days - The Age of Silence is now available as a hardback on the Direct Buy Books website.

Enjoy the read. Race with Christiana Applewait through the streets of her city in 2112 as she frantically hurries to find a way to overturn the Length of Days policy and change the fate of her beloved grandparents. She has until after Gift Giving Season to find a solution. Will she make it in time?

Doris Gaines Rapp
Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp

TWO GRANDFATHERS, OTHER TIMES

"Albert, the church trustees and I would like to talk to you," the Pastor called up to the gray haired man in bib overalls who balanced himself near the church steeple.

The old man moved his block and tackle across the steep roof ridge a little further and inched his body into position. "Sure, Reverend, just as soon as I get these shingles nailed down," Al agreed.

"Well, now, Albert," the minister stated respectfully, "that’s just it. It’s the roof we want to talk to you about."

"Can’t stop just yet. I’m losing daylight." Albert Kime faithfully kept at his job.

Al was my husband’s grandfather, a strong, gentle man who began rearing his youngest daughter’s children when they were five months, two and a half, seven and nine-years old. Grandpa was seventy-six and Grandma was sixty-six when the children moved in.

Albert had already retired from the New York Central Rail Road as foreman of the bridge building crew after an accident that cost him the sight in one eye. When he started parenting the second family, he added to his eighty-eight dollar a month pension with his work at the church across the street. Nothing seemed to stop him. Every day, he would carry two, twenty pound buckets of coal ash in each hand, from the furnace in the basement, up the steps and out the door.
        
After the sun set and Albert had finished his shingle repair, the trustees finally met with their busy custodian in the pastor’s study. For want of other words, the chairman of the committee asked, "Albert, you just had your birthday recently, didn’t you? What am I thinking? Of course you did. The whole church celebrated."

"The thing is, Al," the pastor stumbled into the conversation, "some of the men are feeling guilty about you climbing on the church roof. The roofing company had refused the job. They said the slope was too steep for them—and, well, you are ninety-two years old now."

Grandma and Grandpa Kime were different from Christiana’s grandparents in my novel, Length of the of Days - The Age of Silence. Even though Christiana’s wonderful old ones were privileged citizens in 2112, at age seventy-five, they had come to the end of their Length of Days. They would be picked up and driven to the portal chamber under Howard Mountain. Grandpa Kime lived to be ninety-four years old and died at home, surrounded by his loved ones.

Each set of grandparents were loving and kind, good and steadfast people. But, in 2112 the country had forgotten about those qualities. A reverence for life had been driven from the heart of man.

Christiana is constantly pursued by the Chief Inspector of the Blue Guard. Will she be able to shake his stalking long enough to find a way to overturn the Length Days laws and save her grandparents from the never-ending-sleep? Will she be in time?

Doris Gaines Rapp

Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp

Length of Days - The Age of Silence will soon be released in paper form on Amazon. It is already available as an eBook on www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

HITCH THE BULL TO THE BUGGY

"Stop there, Brother. You know you can’t come to services with your horse outfitted with that bridle!" A cluster of neighbor men in black suits and hats gathered around my husband’s great-grandfather and his family and bared the church door. "That bridle has silver medallions all over it!"

Bill’s ancestors were Pennsylvania Dutch who settled in the green hills before the Revolutionary War. They were plain people who didn’t draw attention to themselves and modesty was appropriate at all times. But, Great-grandpa had his own ways.

Grandpa was a creative carpenter who was capable of making almost anything, from a new rocker for Ma to the barrels that were one of his specialities. One merchant, long in need and short on cash, offered to swap a number of oaken barrels for the silver bridle.

Grandpas liked to keep a firm, strong grip on the horse and used extra thick leather for his harnesses and bridle. He liked the feel of the sturdy reigns. To his eye, the shinny, polished silver detracted from the farm-looking utility of the strapping. Besides, he was adventurous, mischievous, and loved to impress people with a new practical joke.

That Sunday morning, when he hitched the horse to the black buggy with the new silver bridle and drove his family to church, he had taken things too far. The Elders of the church confronted the family before they could set a foot to the ground.

"Don’t you ever drive to church with that silver bridle on your horse again!" they warned.

The next Sunday, Great-Grandpa loaded his family in the buggy but left the horse in the barn. Instead, he hitched his bull to the bridle and drove leisurely off to services. Not a single church member complained about the flashy, silver bridle again.

Christina, in my novel, Length of Days - The Age of Silence, doesn’t ride in a horse-drawn buggy. She sits in a Public Transit and skims above the city on a ribbon of steel. Grandpa lived in 1712 and Christiana’s world is 2112. As you can see, their circumstances are vastly different. Yet, they are similar.

Christiana lives in an age when the water supply is drugged, robbing everyone of emotion. In spite of her practiced indifference, she rebels against a government that has changed the country from a freedom-loving democracy, to a society controlled by a few. The people have no hope, no joy of living and no reverence for life. But, when her dear grandparents near the end of their Length of Days, her passion to find a solution to overthrow the despicable laws that force people into the never-ending-sleep, rises within her and cannot be put down.

What will she do? What can she do? Christi doesn’t have a silver clad bull, but if she did and that was all she had to take a stand against the authorities of her day, she would have outfitted a whole herd of them in shinny silver.

In 2112, the entire society had turned into mind-numbing, robot-like empty shells. If you were the only one who could save your loved ones, even the whole country, what would you be willing to do? Would you be afraid to stand up? Or, would you be brave like Christiana?

Would you have the nerve to hitch the bull to the buggy?

Doris Gaines Rapp
Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp
Book Trailer:
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/DorisRapp-1207656-length-ofdays-the-age-silence/

Thank You

Thanks to all of you who chose to read on Super Bowl Sunday and downloaded my eBook to your computer, android, or eReader! Don't let the lack of a football game keep you from reading it, however. A nice eTune gift card will download the eBook, Length of Days - The Age of Silence for Valentine's Day. It's an adventure, futuristic, fast paced love-story. See, there's a great way to say, "I love you," and not have to take out a loan to do so. How great is that?
Doris Gaines Rapp
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/DorisRapp-1207656-length-ofdays-the-age-silence/

Super Bowl Sunday or Super Book Sunday

Super Bowl Sunday is in two days! Okay, so I usually do cross-stitch or read on game day. Still, I don't want to hide in the comfy chair in my bedroom this year. The game is right here in Indiana, in The House That Manning Built. Welcome Eli! We love you both! And Tom, we welcome all Patriots too!

For you non-football types, I suggest you purchase and read my eBook, LENGTH OF DAYS - THE AGE OF SILENCE while the game is on. It's available as an eBook at www.bn.com and www.amazon.com and others at a new, friendlier eBook price.

You don't have an eReader? Both Barnes & Noble and Amazon have a free app to turn your computer or android into an eReader.

Even though the book is riveting, you won't miss the important parts of the football game. You can look up from my great book when your family and friends begin to cheer! You'll notice they will yell the loudest when one of the players is running toward an end-goal. I cheer when I see how many of you have found my blog! Thank you!

Our own goal on Super Bowl Sunday is to enjoy the company of family and friends while experiencing the action of Christiana and Jason who, in 2112, try to find a way to overturn the Length of Days laws, which will forever end the Never-Ending-Sleep. Those who have read my book tell me, "I couldn't put down!" Place LENGTH OF DAYS - THE AGE OF SILENCE on the winning side of the goal line in your day! Go2 www.bn.com or www.amazon.com and type in the title and my name.

Have a wonderful Super Book Sunday!
Doris Gaines Rapp
Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/DorisRapp-1207656-length-ofdays-the-age-silence/

TEA PARTY NOVEL OR COWBOY PAPERBACK

“We’ve been invited to a round up at the ranch!” Bill shouted as he ran in the door. Bill Rapp, the misplaced cowboy.

We had moved to New Mexico to go to NMSU. Bill thought he’d died and gone to Heaven. We rode horses in the Organ Mountains at Dripping Springs Ranch as deer frolicked on the hills beside us. It was majestic and awesome.

The ranch adventure would be different. It was Spring. The cattle would be driven from the far expanses of the forty-section ranch, into the corral where the calves would be branded.

To my thinking, Bill was born a hundred years too soon. Reared by grandparents, he has an other-century way of thinking. In his opinion, shoes should be made of cast iron so they’ll never wear out. And, his faith is strong and stable. He believes in God, family, country, and cowboy adventure.

At the round up, the patriarch of the family stayed at the house to fix lunch while calves were lassoed, wrestled to the dusty ground and branded. The cook fixed chili con verde in a pot over an open fire, placed a pan on top and baked a cake. All day, the wind blew dust devils across the dessert floor and into the food.

Cook chuckled, “Just a little fiber.”

Cowboy coffee was fantastic. A large enamel pot was filled with water, placed on the hot rocks, and a generous scoop of coffee was added. After boiling for three minutes, a cup of cold water was thrown in on top to set the process. The grounds sank to the bottom and the brew on top—was coffee. Bill thought it was the best food he’d ever eaten.

To Bill, the “old ways” are best: campfires, camp songs, cowboys, and hot coffee at sunset. His favorite books are paperback westerns, with strong, brave characters.

Christiana Applewait and Jason O’Reilly, in my novel, Length of Days - The Age of Silence, are brave in the face of danger, strong in their resolve to find a way to overturn the Length of Days law, and willing to act on their convictions. But, they don’t have God to call on. His name is forbidden to be spoken. And, their country has abandoned the very principles that made them people of love.

In 2112, Christiana’s life lacks the joy of riding in the mountains, singing over a campfire or reading a good book—since books and music were banned during the crisis of the previous century. But, Length of Days - The Age of Silence, has heros and heroines like those in Westerns.

One of Bill’s adventures in New Mexico was a chance to break a horse. He’d never done anything like that. But, it was an adventure he wouldn’t miss.

After many afternoons, the horse was broken so Bill took her out for an afternoon ride. She was skittish but followed his lead out into the foothills. Suddenly, a noise spooked her and she reared back, but Bill refused to be bucked off. He shouldn’t have forced a stand off, or fall off, with a palomino horse that stood fifteen hands high. The animal reared back so far it lost its balance and fell. At that point Bill decided that it was time to say “Uncle.” He calculated the trajectory of the horse’s fall and tried to roll off in the opposite direction. The horse twisted, rolled over on Bill’s legs and pinned him down.

Bill was finally able to get free but couldn’t stand up. With upper body strength, he pulled on the stirrup until he finally hefted himself across the saddle like a six-point trophy buck.

Bill walked like a crumpled old cowboy for weeks. His further adventures in the mountains had to wait.

What Christiana and Jason found at Howard Mountain was neither majestic nor beautiful. The evil they encountered there was horrifying. Length of Days - The Age of Silence is not a paperback western one reads to pass a few hours. It’s a book of hope, inspiration, love, and one that you can’t put down.

What genre is my 2112 novel? Someone told me, “There is no genre that fits your book. That’s a Tea Party novel.”

Yes, Christiana, Jason, and their friends are trying to find a way to return the country to the original Constitution and Bill of Rights that had been changed a hundred years previous. It’s a love story too, of awakening to a life of feeling and emotion. It’s a book in which Gift Giving Day returns to Christmas Celebration. Length of Days has a Christian outlook in a futuristic setting. Now, that is a fascinating genre!

Book two, Length of Days - Valley of the Keepers © will be released at the end of the year. I’ll keep you posted.

Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp

eBook available @ www.bn.com or www.amazon.com Print book @ www.dorisgainesrapp.com