Saturday, February 5, 2011

Experiencing New Life

Most of us, male or female, work or plod our way through the life we were born with. Some of us virtually zip through life with a snappy, cheery attitude that allows us to see everything through the proverbial "rose colored glasses". Others see our lives as dreary, mundane, that which cruelly chains us to an existence we barely can tolerate, let alone cope with. For those people life ceases to be anything other than a necessity until we "shuffle off the mortal coil", leaving this world and all we hate about it behind. Still others look at the hand they have been dealt and cry out, "This is not what I was supposed to be and I refuse to accept it!" These are the people who strive, push, prod, and do everything they possibly can to change that which they began this life being, no matter what the cost may be to them personally. Their goal is worth whatever it costs them.

New Life is a book that deals with exactly this last view, the one which determines that the cruel hand of fate is not going to have the final word on how this life will be pursued, or even in what type of body - or gender - this life will continue on with. For Brooke McKellogg, born Robert "Bobby" McKellogg, the gender assigned at birth is seen as a gross mistake. Brooke knows she was supposed to be a girl and finally, at the age of twelve, confides this knowledge to her parents, telling them that she wants to change her body, her gender, her life, in order to be the girl she was always meant to be. Like most parents, the McKelloggs do not take well to this revelation, or at least Don McKellogg doesn't; his wife Amanda receives the news somewhat better. Eventually, even Bobby's father comes around to seeing his son's view and together these understanding and loving parents agree to let their youngest child, their second son, begin living as the girl she desires so strongly to be. Bobby becomes Brooke, still the youngest McKellogg child, but now the second daughter of this family that has to re-learn how to cope with the changes Brooke brings upon them.

Family life isn't the only change Brooke has to wade through, for life at school brings along an entirely new set of obstacles for this now thirteen year-old girl who is just learning what most girls her age already take for granted. Does she kiss this boy in her new school who greets her on her first day of school as she publicly displays herself as Brooke? When she begins dating boys, how far is she expected to go? How far dare she go before someone discovers this petite blonde with the constant smile is in reality still sporting all the plumbing she was born with as a male?

Brooke quickly learns that her new life brings with it many new and unique challenges, but with her family's support - at least most of them - and her new girlfriend who is willing to help her learn what being female is all about, she finds all problems can be overcome if she is willing to tackle them head-on and keep her eye fixed solely on the goal ahead - that being to show the world that even a person born in the wrong body with the wrong gender, can correct what fate has bollixed.

And then she changes it all up once more when she turns eighteen and undergoes the gender reassignment surgery which alters her physical form completely so that even under the closes scrutiny, no one who later meets her is able to tell this gorgeous, perky, cheery blonde packed in five feet-one inch of dynamite is anything other than the real girl she appears. Then the question becomes to Brooke, who, if anyone, does she reveal the truth to? Is there a moral requirement to tell-all to the man she meets and falls in love with? If she does, how will he take this shocking revelation?

In New Life, author Jackson Williams gives a thoroughly provocative account based upon true-to-life events of the girl you will meet and fall in love with in the pages of his book. Though Jackson Williams wrote this story as a fictionalized account, do not be deceived - the girl whose life he wrote about is all too real and her experiences wrought daily in many stages and modes of success or looming failure by hundreds of thousands if not millions in the world today.

Whether you agree with or despise the views set forth in this dramatic novel, there is no doubt that Jackson Williams has written a story that will bring tears to your eyes and laughter to your heart with his first full-length novel - New Life


"...and Remember that I Am a Man." by John Bushore. $4.99 from Smashwords.com
In 1800, twelve-year-old Moses Grandy is put on the auction block for the first time. Hired out yearly, he experiences the cruelty and inhumantity of slavery, forging his character and faith in God. In adulthood, his wife and children are sold away and he is twice swindled out of money he earns to buy his freedom. His life and struggles uncannily parallel those of the Biblical Moses.


"ESCAPE!" a bridge thriller by Carl Coppolino. $3.99 from Smashwords.com
ESCAPE! is a story of a bridge-playing convict who escapes from prison under dire circumstances to search for a treasure by following a series of bridge based clues. Along the way he finds companionship and exacts revenge upon his enemies.



"HER" and Other Extremes by Jack Turley. $6.99 from Smashwords.com
The reflexes have softened and diffused. The eyes no longer have it, at least not without reading glasses. That lean, taut, youthful body I misused so well has retired to Memory Lane. Look, I'm still a man, I still have these vital, lusty feelings. I want to reach out and touch and take and have. But when I reach out, there's nobody there.


"My Best Friend is Schizophrenic" by Tom Hodgins by Burl Barer. $1.00 from Smashwords.com
When Tom Hodgins' best friend is diagnosed with schizophrenia, he faces an important life decision -- does he stick by his pal, or walk away? He decides to stay with his friend through it all, and it's a decision he has never regretted. This little book is packed with humor,insights and information for anyone who has a friend or family member with schizophrenia. By Tom Hodgins (with Burl Barer)


"Two Scoops" Is Just Right by Alex Carrick. $7.99 from Smashwords.com
This book contains more than just stories about the family. Some entries are dappled impressions of modern life. Some are comedy bits, with the odd gem of a punch line. Others are lighter than air and rise up like whimsy. Others still have a slightly more serious intent, with surprising twists. These funny, short original stories first appeared on the website: www.alexcarrick.com.



"Where Were You?" by Bob Cornell. $15.99 from Smashwords.com
By taking a slightly different approach to the assassination of John F. Kennedy we have discovered serveral heretofore undisclosed facts. Facts that we would like to share with you in order that you digest them and reach your own conclusion. This event is nearly 50 years old and it still had a tremendous impact upon current political events.

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