Book review: ‘In Service to Love: Book 1: Love Remembered’ by Darlene Green

inservicetolove
‘In Service to Love: Book 1: Love Remembered’ is the first in a series of three books by Darlene Green. Courtesy photo, used with permission. 

A healer, teacher and empath, Darlene Green began studying vibrational healing in 1992 and has written and led programs on living consciously beginning in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. She left her practice as a massage therapist in 2012 to answer a deeper calling and at a sacred site in Southern France, she connected powerfully with her Council of Light and returned to her ancient heritage as a Scribe. On December 26, 2017, Darlene received an invitation by the Council of Light for divine collaboration in a body of work title “In Service to Love.” It began as a journal for her own spiritual journey and includes daily entries for Day 1 through Day 366 and as a whole is divided into three books: “Book 1: Love Remembered,” “Book 2: Love Elevated” and “Book 3: Love Now.” “In Service to Love Book 1: Love Remembered: A Dynamic Experience of Consciousness, Transformation and Enlightenment” ‘offers a pathway for shifting your awareness from the de-stabilizing chaos of the external world to the ever-present, potent, multi-dimensional, innovative expression of Love this is your authentic nature.’

“In Service to Love” is Darlene Green’s deeply personal guide that helped her to realize and live her divine nature.  When she deducted  that it is also an invitation for other people to live up to their potential in a way that makes a difference in how they live their lives, she started sharing the daily writings with a close group of friends and family. It is the collaboration between Darlene, the Scribe and the Council of Light. Composed of Masters, the Council of Light includes the voices of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Archangel Michael, Archangel Gabriel, Melchizadek, Infinite Oneness, Isis, the Elohim, Buddha, Sanat Kumara, Metatron, the Hathors, Gaia, the Grandmothers, the Grandfathers, St. Germain, Legions of Light, and many more. The speaker in charge shifts, depending on the subject, and the Egyptian god Thoth, the “Patron of the Scribe” is the mediator of frequency in light.  It begins with a Welcome from the author where she explains the purpose of this project: [it] ‘provides a rich environment where your frequency will increase, your perspective will broaden and your next steps become illuminated.’ Book 1: Love Remembered includes Day 1 through Day 122 and is divided as such and is a collection of daily affirmations complete with mental exercises and meditations to help readers live an authentic and fulfilling life.

While it is easy to dismiss books written by healers or new age masters, “In Service to Love” is basically a self-help guide filled with positive affirmations, meditation guides and helpful visualizations meant to enrichen lives. Regardless of where the advice comes from, its intent is to help readers become the best self they can be. Every reader is different, so each will get something different from these daily writings. It can be read all at once and then return to specific days to reexamine important topics or it can be read a day at a time, similar to a ‘reflection of the day’ series. Standouts include Day 15: Presence and Conscious Choice where the emphasis is on being fully present in the day’s daily tasks, one at a time, giving each full attention and then moving on to the next one; and Day 6: From Past and Future to Now where it stresses the importance of not getting stuck living in the past; that if you are getting out of life what you have always gotten it is because you keep doing the same thing. Written in easy to understand language, it is filled with positive and encouraging messages that, considering how divisive and hate-filled our world can be, it does not hurt to take these messages to heart. “In Service to Love: Book 1: Love Remembered” offers readers a way to connect with their authentic self and live a more meaningful life and is recommended for anyone honestly looking to create a more positive vibe in their lives.

*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.

Texas Book Festival announces dates for this year’s festival

2019 Texas Book Festival
This year’s Texas Book Festival is set for November 7 and 8. Photo: Texas Book Festival, used with permission.

After a successful 2019 connecting authors, readers and book lovers, the Texas Book Festival is excited to announce that this year’s festival will be held on Saturday November 7 and Sunday November 8, 2020. The 25​th​ year of the Texas Book Festival, one of the largest and most prestigious book festivals in the country, will once again be held throughout the grounds of the Texas State Capitol and along Congress Avenue in downtown Austin. (Texas Book Festival, 2019)

This year, everything fans know and love about the Festival will return. There will be acclaimed and emerging authors, book signings, cooking demonstrations, author panels, live music, a Saturday night Lit Crawl and more yet-to-be announced events and programming for the Festival’s 25​th anniversary. Submissions to participate in the 2020 festival will be opening soon.

The Texas Book Festival connects authors and readers through experiences that celebrate the culture of literacy, ideas and imagination. Founded in 1995 by former First Lady Laura Bush, Mary Margaret Farabee and a group of volunteers, the nonprofit Texas Book Festival promotes the joys of reading and writing through its annual Festival Weekend, the Texas Teen Book Festival, the Reading Rock Stars Title I elementary school program, the Real Reads Title I middle and high school program, grants to Texas libraries and year-round literary programming. The Festival is held on the grounds of the Texas Capitol each fall and features more than 300 renowned authors, panels, book signings, cooking demonstrations and children’s activities.

New release: ‘Scars in Time: A Novel’ by Ryan Gutierrez

scarsintime
‘Scars in Time: A Novel’ is the new novel by Ryan Gutierrez. Photo: Google

Ryan Gutierrez is an American author born and raised in Texas who currently resides in the small South Texas town of Los Fresnos. He graduated from The University of Texas – Brownsville with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and worked as a Child Abuse Investigator with the state of Texas for five years. His debut novel, “Scars in Time: A Novel” is about Brennan Ramirez, a man determined to change his wife’s traumatic past by going back in time. The true question is no longer “What if you could go back to the past?” but rather “What are you willing to sacrifice to change the past?”

According to Amazon, “Scars in Time: A Novel” revolves around family man Brennan Ramirez. What if you could go back and change your life, remove the pain from the past? For Brennan, that question is no longer rhetorical. Brennan wants a break. After quitting his job as a Child Abuse Investigator because of his anxiety and panic disorder, he is feeling useless. What he wants more than anything is to give his loving wife Deidre and his little girl a good life. Brennan is determined that the best and most definitive way to fix their life for the best is to go back and prevent the traumatic abuse his wife suffered as a child at the hands of her mother’s boyfriend. As Brennan test drives The Machine, he begins to experience true power, true control, or so he thinks. With every trip, every choice, Brennan realizes that his newfound control may be an illusion.

‘Wanderer: The Ultimate Hippy Trail Journey’ by F.T. Burke with Steve Reifman

wanderer2
Photo: google.com

F.T. Burke is a lifelong resident of the state of Michigan, where he now lives with his wife, Lorie. He previously enjoyed a prior career in the high-tech sector, serving as a systems engineer and project manager. His debut novel “The Bohemian Adventure” traces the main character’s self-enlightenment journey while traveling with devoted deadheads who followed the psychedelic rock group, the Grateful Dead. In this latest novel “Wanderer: The Ultimate Hippy Trail Journey” he fictionalizes and is inspired by true adventures in the life of Steve Reifman, co-author. (Ascot Media Group, 2019)

Steven W. Reifman is a practicing lawyer and businessman. He took a journey similar in time and place to that of Wanderer’s main character, Woodstock. Steve was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and has three children, two grandchildren and an enduring, love-filled marriage of over 40 years.

In “Wanderer: The Ultimate Hippy Trail Journey,” during the chaotic latter days of the Vietnam War and after the protest march on Washington, D.C., many American youth asserted their rebellious freedom by doing drugs, having sex, sleeping outside and backpacking through Europe, North Africa and Asia. Still living at home was Steve, a young man coming of age, just out of college, with no clear future and unable to pay rent. Envious of the free-spirited revelers, Steve, who adopted the nickname “Woodstock” after attending the music festival in New York, joined the throngs of intrepid youth to wander the world and search for his soul.

This enchanting novel follows Woodstock’s year-long journey to scratch his nomadic itch. Upon beating the draft, Woodstock crosses the Atlantic to the Old World, without any particular itinerary, no set time to return home and not much money. He finds God everywhere no matter how hard he tries to hide and look away. His spontaneous, free-wheeling adventures of raucous, hilarious incidents all weigh heavy against the need to come home and grow up.

Wanderer will appeal to the wanderlust in the souls of hippies young and old. A fast read with a lot of laughs, the story was inspired by the true adventures of the co-author. Come along for this unforgettable adventure of a lifetime.

“Wanderer:  The Ultimate Hippy Trail Journey” by F.T. Burke and Steve Reifman
Purple Whale Publishing
ISBN: 9781733624640 (softcover)
ISBN: 9781733624657 (EPUB)
Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online book retailers