ONE ANCIENT PROPHECY, TWO HEARTBROKEN LOVERS, AND A WORLDWIDE SCAVENGER HUNT FOR THREE MIRACULOUS PAINTINGS.
After her husband’s death, New York artist Claire Lucas has baffling dreams and waking visions as she channels an enigmatic and healing painting of a holy man in India at the deathbed of a young woman.
When widowed antiquarian Richard Markson announces that Claire’s canvas is one-third of three paintings prophesied by the Angel Scroll, a recently discovered Dead Sea parchment, she is pulled into an international scavenger hunt to find the stolen scroll and the paintings it predicts.
As she pursues the paintings with Richard across historic and holy sites in America, Israel, and Europe, Claire encounters a series of remarkable teachers.
A Buddhist, a Benedictine monk, and a professor of early goddess worship all provide rich explanations for the artist’s compelling and perplexing psychic experiences — until she assembles the incredible triptych and deciphers its inspirational message for the modern world.
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Excerpt:
Richard looked at the beautiful young woman who strolled beside him, the sun picking up copper highlights in her rich dark curls and catching golden flecks in her green eyes. She had been through a lot.
He wanted to put his arm around her shoulder and draw her close, hold her, and protect her. Instead, he pressed his hand for a moment on the small of her back, allowing himself to feel her warm skin through her white cotton artist’s blouse before he let his hand drop.
His touch caught Claire by surprise. The gentle pressure on her back felt so intimate and filled her with unanticipated pleasure that stirred sensations in her groin.
She felt an aching need to lean into him. Instead, she wandered away from his side to regain her balance. Looking in a shop window, she let herself be distracted by the display of distinctive, hand-painted pottery.
Richard felt chastened. She was so light and free with me on that amazing afternoon we spent together in Jerusalem, he thought.
She seemed to love exploring the old city and markets, but since London, she’s been cool. Whenever I get close, she tenses up. I should keep some distance and not crowd her.
It’s a bad idea to push unwanted affection on her when she’s obviously still grieving for Jake. It’s too soon for her to think about being with another man. And then there’s the lie I told her about Hilde.
About The Author:
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Penelope Holt was born and educated in England and now lives in New York. She is a novelist, playwright, business writer, and marketing executive, whose work has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, York Arts Center, and New York’s American Folk Theater.
In addition to writing fiction, The Angel Scroll, and The Apple, based on the controversial Herman Rosenblat Holocaust romance, Holt is a prolific writer, editor, and co-author of non-fiction, including Business Intelligence at Work A Personal Operating System for Career Success, Singing God’s Work, the story of the Harlem Gospel Choir, and many other works.
I was a day pupil at an all-girl Catholic convent school in England run by nuns from the Order of the Cross and Passion. I ran with a gang that included Margaret, Claire, Tammy, and Helen.
We talked boys, movies, fashion, and celebrity crushes. We gossiped and moaned because we were forced to wear restrictive uniforms.
What are you passionate about these days?
I’m experiencing a renewed passion for writing with so many ideas flowing, and not enough time to bring them all to fruition.
My other career is in marketing and advertising, and I’m currently helping to build a mentoring platform to support young people in career exploration. Working with a founding group on a passion project offsets the solitary pursuit of writing.
If you had to do your journey to getting published all over again, what would you do differently?
I’m not sure. Publishing is so dynamic these days. Initially, self-publishing was considered vanity publishing, but now it’s preferable in many ways.
Self-published books are often excellent and well-received. They make more economic sense for authors, especially since there are so many great low-cost marketing tools out there.
Writers must decide when it serves them to secure a publishing house to represent them, and when to self-publish.
My only regret is that my career in marketing often left little time for creative writing, even though it always gave me daily opportunities to undertake creative writing tasks for business.
Ebook or print? And why?
Both because target readers embrace one or the other and it’s important to reach as many as possible.
What is your favorite scene in this book?
Announcing my favorite scene would give away the ending. I do love the early dream sequences where Claire sees a Christlike figure at the deathbed of a beautiful young woman in India whom he does not save.
The scene is so powerful that Claire channels it into a healing masterpiece that is one-third of the miraculous triptych that the Angel Scroll prophesies.
Christmas comes but once a year; chaos never ends! Happy Halloween, merry Christmas and joyful Lumpy Rug Day. That’s real, by the way.
Lumpy Rug Day is celebrated every May 3, though “celebrated” might be too strong a word.
It’s the American way to create a celebration for everything, then turn it into a chore or worse, a nightmare.
’Tis the Season to Feel Inadequate is a collection of humorous essays about how we let our expectations steal the joy out of Christmas and other holidays and special events.
It’s understanding for those who think Christmas form letters can be honest—or they can be interesting.
And it’s empathy for anyone who’s ever gotten poison ivy during Nude Recreation Week or eaten all their Halloween candy and had to hand out instant oatmeal packets to their trick-or-treaters.
Excerpt:
Excerpt from Essay: The First Year of the Rest of Your Life
… I’ve studied the topic of New Year’s resolutions. And from my extensive research, I’ve gleaned the following tips for keeping them:
1.Write them down. The simple act of putting your resolutions on paper will make them seem more doable and make you feel more committed to them.
Also, if you fail you’ll have your list ready when it comes time to make resolutions next year.
2.Frame your resolutions in a positive way. For example, instead of saying “next year I will stop being a couch potato,” say “Next year, I will become a couch asparagus, which has fewer carbohydrates.”
3.Don’t let setbacks discourage you. If you fall off the wagon get right back in the saddle! Tomorrow’s another day. Never say die. Then next year resolve to stop using clichés.
4.Keep a journal of your progress. It could look something like this. January 1: I resolve to walk the dog daily.
This is going to be so fun! January 2: Spotty and I walked four blocks. We are bonding and getting fit at the same time!
Tomorrow we’ll do five. January 3: Spotty and I walked four blocks again. It’s okay once we’re walking but I hate getting up early. January 4: Spotty and I walked just two blocks today.
It’s so cold this time of year. January 5: I forgot to walk Spotty. January 6: Spotty isn’t my dog. We got him for the kids. Let them walk him.
Giveaway
The author will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
About The Author:
Dorothy Rosby is an author humor columnist whose work regularly appears in publications throughout the West and Midwest.
Her humor writing has been recognized by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, the National Federation of Press Women and the South Dakota Newspaper Association.
In 2022 she was named the global winner in the Erma Bombeck Writers Competition in the humor writing category. She’s the author of four books of humorous essays.
The number one piece of advice I’d give new authors is to believe in yourself. You will get many rejections, and if you don’t I hate you. Not really!
What I meant to say is, if you don’t get rejections, you’re probably not submitting enough.
But as an author, you have to have an unshakeable belief that you’re good and getting better at what you do no matter who tells you otherwise.
You can pout now and then. You can even fall into despair for a day or so. But you can never give up.
But the “getting better” part of that statement is as important as the “belief that you’re good” part.
And maybe more important. Consider the comments or criticisms you get about your book. You can dismiss them if they have no merit. But you may be able to learn something from them.
Secondly, I’d say network. Of course, the most important thing you can do as a writer is to write. But if you want what you write to be read, there is so much to learn.
The members of a supportive writers group may have knowledge about your particular genre, marketing, publishing and the business of writing that you can draw on.
They also understand you and can support you in a way you’re nonwriting friends and family cannot.
Writers conferences provide learning opportunities in all of the topics I just mentioned.
Plus they give you the chance to meet agents and publishers as well as other writers who can partner with you down the road.
I’ve written book blurbs for many authors I met at conferences and others have done the same for me.
My work is included in anthologies published by writers I’ve met at conferences.
We buy each other’s books and write Amazon reviews of each other’s books. And we share knowledge and follow each other on social media.
Having said all of that, I have to add that it’s easy to spend a lot of time doing writing-related things that aren’t actually writing. It’s definitely a balance.
A mountainous thundering bull breaks up battling tribesmen, summoning three struggling youths, as an insidious unseen enemy turns tribes against tribes—pitting rich against poor, sons against fathers, and men against gods. Its insatiable hunger for division threatens to plunge mankind into a dystopian realm ruled by man-eating wolves.
A miraculous seven-headed horse, a symbol of unity, assembles the struggling youths of extraordinary origin into a journey of self-discovery.
There Sunu the Saxon Poet, Rufus the Roman Stoic, and Keresaspa the Sarmatian Priestess must overcome pride, aversion, and unforgiveness; there they must learn from historical heroes, philosophers, and amazingly similar gods to battle the unseen monster and its rising wolfmen.
Fated to part ways to face the demons at home, Sunu, Rufus, and Keresaspa must reunite as they bring divided peoples together to fight the source tearing everyone apart.
They must heed the divine wisdom of the seven-headed horse and justly wield the seven magic weapons they’ve mysteriously been given to overcome the unseen enemy and understand the higher purpose of the mountainous thundering bull.
Excerpt
Sunu the Saxon and Rufus the Roman compare their gods (CH 6 of The Fate of Our Union).
“Jupiter is right reason, chief regulator,” Rufus praised he who permeates the air as moisture, knowing he sounded more interesting the way he appeared in poems. “Through the clouds, the Thunderer rides his horse-drawn chariot, followed by power, strength, and victory. With his bolts, he famously slew godless giants and the water serpent Typhoeus.”
“He’s like Thunor!” Sunu lit up with intrigue. “Except Thunor slew giants and a giant water serpent, Jörmungand, with a hammer, and his chariot is drawn by goats.”
“The goat is also sacred to Jupiter, along with the oak, rock, and bull.” Rufus glanced from oak to rock for Amalthaea but only saw Tanngnjóstr. “Still, many think Thunor is more like Hercules, as they are both chariot-riding, cudgel-swinging warriors with a lengthy list of deeds.”
Sunu’s ears perked. “And they are?”
“Hercules slew the Hydra, an enormous water serpent, like Jörmungand, and took oxen from a giant, Cacus in the cave, like Hymir in the mountain; both Hercules and Thunor fought and slew them with club and hammer.”
Sunu imagined the deeds side by side. “Are you telling me the truth?”
“In truth, the parallels are quite striking.” Rufus chuckled as he pretended to swing a cudgel. “For they also have a heavenly father and an earthly mother, who produced a quick-tempered, far-traveling son who can out-eat and out-drink anyone in the cosmos!”
Sunu hoisted a golden brow. “Interesting.”
“Unfortunately,” Rufus’s tone was no laughing matter, “they were also fated to die by the serpents’ poison.”
Hildebrand Hengest Hermannson’s deep-rooted fire for Indo-European culture and Western Philosophy ignites his first novel, The Fate of Our Union, the inaugural piece in a planned series.
His work draws inspiration from the national epics The Saga of the Volsungs (Norse), Mahabharata (Indian), Aenid (Roman), Odyssey (Greek), Táin Bó Cúailnge (Celtic), and Shahnameh (Iranian), weaving these rich cultures into original stories featuring fantasy world-building, dynamic characters, and intricate plots and themes.
His Wild Hunt of thought breathes life into his spiritual, ethical, and cultural interests, inspiring us all to strive for imperishable virtue.
The Rise up trilogy is a coming-of-age story about Hashim, Alex and Maryam, three best friends on the threshold of adulthood.
Before they can find their place in this world, they must come to terms with their past and learn to confide in each other as they are confronted by intolerance, ignorance, and corporate greed that threaten to rob them of their future.
Inspirational, harrowing, intense and deeply moving, this trilogy presents a ray of hope amidst terrible hardship, misfortune and loss.
Book One: Catch You If You Fall
High school best friends Hashim, Alex, and Maryam must confront real-life issues that loom for Gen-Z today, including the climate crisis, corrupt politics, and racial and gender equity.
When Hashim turns eighteen, he receives a grant from his Mosque that will send him to an Ivy League in New York.
His devout Muslim family couldn’t be more proud. And to support their young son on his journey, they arrange a wife for him. There’s only one problem: Hashim is gay.
Hashim’s best friend Alex is struggling with a difficult home life, a non-present father, and financial issues that prove particularly painful when all his friends are planning to go off to college and leave him behind.
Standing confidently alongside these two boys is Maryam, a headstrong Muslim girl who bucks her traditional roots by becoming a vegan activist.
It doesn’t take long until certain evil forces start to draw these three even closer, as their futures and the wellbeing of their community and the world is threatened. They are called to act.
Book Two: Merry Farm
In the second installment of the Rise Up Trilogy, best friends Hashi, Alex, and Maryam stumble upon a huge government coverup.
When more people get sicker and sicker, and nothing about the outbreak makes news, it becomes clear the corruption goes up high.
As the three attempt to expose and stop a tragedy that could kill thousands, they end up framed as the bioterrorists responsible for this exact crime, and a team of hitmen is dispatched to hunt them down.
As they grapple with their own growing pains, Hashi, Alex, and Maryam hurry to outrun the disaster, prove that they are innocent, and do what they feel is right.
Book Three: Collusion
Now a well-known activist, Maryam, along with her two best friends Hashim and Alex, is chosen by the President of the United States to draw up a proposal to help fight climate change, mere weeks before superstorm Roxanne makes landfall in the Northeast.
After the President’s Future Rescue Advisory Board hears their climate proposal to set heavy taxes on meat, dairy and carbon emissions, and someone leaks it to the press, chaos spreads across party lines.
A few months since they stopped a deadly virus in its tracks, the three uncover a conspiracy on the highest level of the legislative branch.
While the deadly hurricane wreaks havoc along the eastern seaboard, destroying the U.S. Naval Command in Norfolk, Virginia, and hitting New York City with devastating force, Maryam, Hashim, and Alex grapple with forces beyond their control in the government.
How will their stories unravel? What do their futures hold as they mature into adults in a world that may not accept them? Find out in this last book in the Rise Up Trilogy.
Excerpt:
From CATCH YOU IF YOU FALL
“And it’s going to happen tomorrow,” Hashim said as he crouched on the couch.
Alex drew his brows closer, but soon his forehead smoothed. “Seriously?” he said and studied Hashim’s face. “Wow. We need to get you out of this mess.”
Sharing his predicament with his best friend had calmed Hashim’s nerves. Not that he had told the whole story, like the fact that he was gay. However, that was a piece of information he had only shared with God, though unwillingly, because from Him, you can’t hide a thing.
Alex’s eyes grew wide. “But you’re just turning eighteen, for God’s sake. Isn’t it a little early to get engaged?”
Hashim pressed his lips together and winced. You tell me.
“His mom knows that once Hashim has committed to an engagement, he won’t break it,” Maryam said. She had been following the conversation from the other side of the room, giving the guys some space after she saw how upset Hashim was when he came in. “Without a solid religious reason to back out, that could shame the whole family,” she added. “People won’t greet you anymore or return your calls. You become a nobody.”
GIVEAWAY
The author will award the winner’s choice of an audiobook set via Spotify or a digital book set of THE RISE UP TRILOGY.
Henrik Wilenius is the author of the Rise Up Trilogy, a young adult coming-of-age story about Hashim, Alex and Maryam confronting real-life issues like climate change, corrupt politics, animal cruelty and racial and gender equity.
The Rise Up Trilogy is now available also as an audiobook and a weekly serialized audiobook podcast on all the major platforms.
Previously, Henrik as published two books (an autobiographical coming of age book and a YA novel) by a major publisher (WSOY) in Finland before switching to English and self-publishing.
The Rise Up Trilogy was inspired by his fifteen-year stint as a volunteer in a Red Cross Youth Shelter and by his vegan activism.
I never thought I was going to be an author, although my two older brothers, my sister, my father, my grandfather and my great uncle were writers.
In my early twenties, I founded an art servicing company, selling contemporary art, and after an initial success, I ventured out to real estate development and market researched.
But something was not right. By living the high life, I was neglecting my spiritual needs. I decided to radically downsize and went back to university to study philosophy, because I was obsessed with the question of why it is so hard for us to expand our understanding.
And when I found the culprit, I became a writer. It was supposed to be an essay on Rhetoric by Aristotle, but only after half an hour of writing, I knew it was going to be a full-length manuscript. End of Restlessness, a philosophical study into my own coming-of-age, was published in 2001.
Is writing your full-time profession?
I write full-time, although I’m still involved in some business ventures, but the latter doesn’t take much of my time. For me, writing is a very intensive process, first energizing, and then after an hour, I’m exhausted and famished.
The key question here is how you can do it without becoming an alcoholic, recluse or just generally cynical and bitter person in life. Unlike in the times past, nowadays successful writers share one predisposition and that’s discipline. You need routines to keep yourself in line.
Even when traveling, I still follow my daily schedule and try to write at least in the morning. I start every day with an hour of Ashtanga yoga and follow it up with clear set of routines until after second spurt of writing, I finish with half an hour cardio or intensive kettle bell training.
Rest of the day I spend taking care of practical stuff, doing research, and running errands. During the week I’m a hermit but on weekend afternoons and evenings, I become a social animal, still writing in the morning though. For me, physical exercise is very important for releasing all the inner tension that writing brings on.Without it, I would be stuck in my fantasy world and unable to cope with reality.
How many published books have you written?
I have two books published in Finland in Finnish by a major publisher before I switched to English and self-publishing the Rise Up Trilogy.
Which genres do you write?
My first book was a narrative non-fiction but now I’m happy to write young adult.
What are you working on now?
I have three manuscripts in my virtual drawer, but I might still continue writing about Hashim, Alex, and Maryam. I haven’t decided yet what will be my next project.
What is a favorite quote from one of your own books?
“While the words ricocheted in the grand dome, Hashim kept his head low and said a silent prayer asking for mercy like had done thousands of times since realizing he was gay.” A quote from Catch You if You Fall, book one of the Rise Up Trilogy.
What is your favorite book review from a reader?
It’s from a 18-year-old American beta-reader:
Overall, I loved how the three books each explored different themes and issues and the strong bond of friendship throughout.
I found that I also learned a lot about Muslim culture and faith while reading and I really enjoyed how this aspect was tied into the characters’ identities.
The characters were beautifully crafted and each had a unique identity. I loved the way they complemented each other and balanced the story.
Additionally, I found that each book focused on one of the three main characters, and I really liked this idea. After reading all three, I truly felt like I knew each of them personally.
The first book was probably my favorite of the three only because I could connect to it the most. It really reminded me of the movie “Kill Your Darlings”.
There wasn’t a dull moment and I was eager to read more the entire time. I felt the action was really dispersed well and blended beautifully with the more gentle moments.
The second book really showed the development of the three friends the most I think. I loved to learn more about Alex and also see Hashim become more “himself”.
My favorite character was Alex from the start and I really liked that his story was more concentrated on. I liked that the friends took on more non-personal challenges as they navigated New York.
It felt just as exciting and powerful to read and I was left with a sense of empowerment after finishing this story. At times, I felt there was too much concentration on romance but that could be just a personal preference, as I see how that intertwined with the characters actions and development.
The third book was also a very exciting read. I feel it really completed the trilogy and I felt I knew the characters inside and out by the end.
The plot twist was incredible and I really liked how this story played out. It was a very satisfying end and I found that it perfectly closed out this coming-of-age adventure.
I also want to note that a trigger warning is necessary for all three books due to the mentions of suicide, abuse, assault, etc. For some readers this information can be sensitive and hurtful.
However, I really loved that these very difficult topics were included and addressed in a way that was not overdone and also developed the main plot.
I have never seen topics such as climate change, LGBTQ+ issues, and animal cruelty presented in a book like this trilogy was able to accomplish. It is very common for author’s to glaze over these topics or concentrate on them too much.
I truly appreciated that the characters’ beliefs were presented in the same way that I think about these topics. These books captured both the challenges often encountered and the spirit of activism and for change that I could definitely relate to and I think many readers will as well.
Though each book seemingly focused on completely different issues and was placed in a different setting, the characters and their relationships definitely grounded and unified the books.
I think this series is perfect for YA readers and would likely most be enjoyed by high school age readers. I think this trilogy could definitely be related to and loved by many readers and has great potential to inspire.
Thank you, Henrik, for spending time with us and sharing your story. We wish you continued success and lots of luck with the Rise Up Trilogy.
