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A tale of Divine Destiny by Albert T. FranklinDebut fantasy author, Albert T. Franklin introduces us to his deep fantasy story, “Searching For Zen": In a world where Earth intertwines with realms of fantasy and science fiction, a humble boy is bestowed with a divine destiny, thrusting him into a journey of self-discovery and perilous adventure. Our story begins on Earth, but an Earth with a past steeped in fantasy, myths, and legends. From humble beginnings, a boy is given a divine destiny, a chance to make his mark on human civilization, but he must embark upon a life-changing journey. Our hero struggles to understand what he has been given and what to do with it, losing himself in doubt and loneliness as he confronts the dark side of humanity. Coming of age, Zen finds strength in himself, builds a family from a motley collection of strangers, and discovers love. His newfound friends help him open up, learn to trust others, and eventually understand his reason for fighting. The trials he faces throughout his quest amplify as his power increases, and he even sparks the ire of those in the spirit realm, who doubt any human can wield such power successfully. As Zen grapples with the weight of his purpose and the sacrifices it demands, he learns that the true power lies not in his abilities alone, but in the bonds of love, friendship, and the resilience of the human spirit A classic trope in fantasy, the quest, is explored with care and thought. I enjoyed the story quite a bit, but occasionally a character would break out in very modern speech forms and that jolted me out of the story a few times. I recovered quickly. Spiritual beings, guides and semi-gods brought an interesting dimension I don't see very often in fantasy stories and I enjoyed that. I need to look harder for stories in that vein. There was also a nice variety of non-human creatures that added a pleasant flavor. No spoilers from me but some of the minor characters are very evil and some are not. 4.6 stars from me. I am hard to please. You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Searching-Zen-Tale-Divine-Destiny-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/-searching-for-zen https://www.barnesandnoble.com/searching-for-zen-a-tale-of-divine-destiny You can connect with the author: https://twitter.com/Lost7310 https://alberttfranklin.com Copyright ©2024 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction
43 Comments
Mark
4/8/2024 08:00:25 am
You are welcome, Albert, I enjoyed your story.
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Frank tether
4/9/2024 05:06:10 am
Im a huge Jets,mets,knicks, Rangers fan which of course means im cursed lol.
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Mark
4/9/2024 09:13:29 am
Many are fans of one team or another.
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4/9/2024 08:14:37 pm
Well I run two businesses so i would say part time writer. It woul dbe cool if i could be just popular enough so i could do it for a living but im nowhere near that at the moment.
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Mark
4/9/2024 08:33:29 pm
Your book is better than the average first book. So, you have a promising literary future. Your next books will be better than the previous ones. The learning curve is steep for beginning authors.
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4/9/2024 08:46:09 pm
I love Sci Fi the best but i also love reading biographies i think Walter Isaacson is awesome! His books just flow so nicely and tell the story of someone life in a way i think is masterful.
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Mark
4/9/2024 09:03:11 pm
Romance is the most popular genre on amazon. It has many subsets and committed fans. They know what they like and expect the goods to be delivered. With your wife's help, I am sure you will do well. Personally, I think writing in multiple genres and having more than one WIP is a good idea.
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4/10/2024 08:31:11 am
I have always wanted to tell stories and did in school and entered some contests and some teachers told me I should go to college for it. However, I doubled up the last two years in high school and got out a year earlier. I got a job for a year then inherited a small amount of money and traveled as much of the world as I could into the early 30s.
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Mark
4/10/2024 08:43:58 am
Congratulations on making your goal! Half of a century is a notable accomplishment.
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4/10/2024 01:07:54 pm
Ray Bradbury was the first person overall as I found him very young and he still to this day is my favorite author.
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Mark
4/10/2024 01:19:05 pm
Bradbury was one of my early favorite authors also, along with Asimov, Herbert, Anderson and others. Sci-Fi is my favorite genre followed closely by fantasy and historical fiction. The LOTR was my introduction to fantasy, I read the trilogy three times before graduating from high school.
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4/10/2024 04:28:33 pm
I broke up with someone and so I decided to drive across Canada alone in a crappy car with like 300 dollars to my name. I listen to Beck's Sea Change album for the first 20 hours but then felt the need to break out of the mindset.
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Mark
4/10/2024 04:34:14 pm
That sounds like something I might have done in my younger years. That kind of pain can cause a lot of reflection.
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4/10/2024 07:20:09 pm
Yes, I have once and have no idea what is really was. I was living in northern NY by the Canadian border when I and two other people driving down a lonely highway saw a light streak across the sky, we thought it was a falling star, but it turned and headed toward us then shot straight up.
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Mark
4/10/2024 07:35:25 pm
My sisters tell me we saw a UFO when we were children, they swear I was there. I have no recollection of the event.
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4/11/2024 07:48:14 am
@doverandpopplin is her twitter handle her name is Valisha Arnold and she did a great job on the cover, I think.
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Mark
4/11/2024 08:40:04 am
Thanks for sharing about the cover designer. It is beautiful.
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4/11/2024 10:57:51 am
LOL well that is a long story, the book actually was finished and going thru last edits when the editor finally came up with the name. I didnt like it at first but it grew one me.
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Mark
4/11/2024 12:05:11 pm
I like the title, it is a good fit. The subtitle works well also.
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Albert T. Franklin
4/11/2024 01:32:52 pm
I had originally come up with Zen so I could remember the story's main character's name. I feel I really struggle coming up with names, what I ended up doing on this story was looking into names from other cultures so I could make sure I could be as inclusive as I could be.
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Mark
4/11/2024 01:39:25 pm
You are not alone, many authors struggle with names in all genres. There are many websites devoted to names in many different time periods and nations. There are also websites dedicated to names in various genres. You mentioned that you are writing science fiction at this time, here is a website that generates names for that genre: https://www.scifiideas.com/sci-fi-character-name-generator/ Copy and paste time.
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4/11/2024 07:04:26 pm
No, I started out with Zen, but I have written a few short stories since and was thinking about releasing them as a collection type of thing.
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Mark
4/11/2024 07:11:37 pm
There are a lot of people who write short stories for publications or for contests. There is competition. There are good literary magazines of all genres looking for material to publish and it can be difficult to locate them without some work.
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4/11/2024 07:53:20 pm
Thank you, I will read that. There are definitely lots to be wary of in this industry for sure.
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Mark
4/12/2024 09:01:56 am
That is an amazing result of that campaign. If only 10% leave a review that should be quite a boost on amazon. Congratulations!
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4/12/2024 01:06:45 pm
I am completely against AI in writing but it's coming and I'm sure in the not-too-distant future the writing world will be mostly AI stuff especially movies and TV, I think.
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Mark
4/12/2024 03:28:54 pm
AI is everywhere or nearly so. There are authors who are using AI for writing and covers. The covers have a strange look to them and AI struggles with limbs and extremities, especially fingers. I have seen arms that are too long and too few or too many fingers on different covers. The writing seems uninspired and kind of flat.
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4/13/2024 08:56:54 am
I have gotten some poor reviews. I read them to see if I can learn something but if nothing else, I just let it go.
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Mark
4/13/2024 09:13:19 am
That is wise on your part. Sometimes there is something to be gleaned from poor reviews, especially if more than one reviewer mentions the same thing. It is important to remember that each person reads a book that is different from what the author wrote. Because the reader brings their personal life and frame of reference to the story.
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4/13/2024 12:41:45 pm
I freely gave permission to the ones who put my book on Amazon to give a copy to this website, but they sent the wrong one 🙄. They messed up a lot of things.
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Mark
4/13/2024 12:46:01 pm
Getting that version off the internet sounds like it's going to be trouble. I hope you can find a way to accomplish it.
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4/14/2024 06:38:35 am
Yes, I have actually done a lot of public speaking, a job I had required it and since I was good at it they put me in front of all sorts of people. The biggest I ever spoke in front of was 6500 which is not big for some but was fun.
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Mark
4/14/2024 11:34:04 am
Wonderful. I agree with you, public speaking is exhilarating! Yes, it makes me nervous but when I understand that I am the expert on my topic and the audience wants to hear my message, then my nervousness is transformed into excitement. My delivery is elevated to a higher level.
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4/14/2024 12:01:06 pm
There has only been one, it's V A Dawn (the same person who did my cover) she wrote her book in 2016, I think, and that really got me thinking I would love to do that. She was the one who really inspired me to just go do it and I'm glad I did.
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Mark
4/14/2024 01:52:24 pm
Quite a few authors claim a teacher inspired them, even in the elementary school years.
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4/14/2024 03:34:09 pm
It is an amazing gift to have someone help you open your world. Hopefully we can both pay that forward.
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Mark
4/14/2024 03:47:27 pm
The industry has been in serious turmoil for more than two decades now. The traditional publishing industry has been in serious contraction during this time. Traditional publishers of all sizes have disappeared or have been swallowed up by a competitor. There are only five big traditional publishers remaining, I think.
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4/14/2024 04:41:58 pm
I had some talks with a traditional publisher, but they needed to put my book off till late 2024 and I just didn't want to wait so I tried the indie publishing route. I did it mainly because I had a personal goal to have it out before I turned 50 but that was on me.
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Mark
4/14/2024 04:53:24 pm
You identified one of the major stumbling blocks for authors, the calendar. For most publishers, a book that an author has slaved over and poured heart and soul into is more like a box of cereal on the grocery store shelf than a work of art. The publisher has one thought uppermost in their mind, can I make enough money to keep the lights on?
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4/14/2024 06:14:39 pm
Yeah, I would love for them all to be sales, but I'll take what I can get. lol
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Mark
4/14/2024 06:24:50 pm
The first time for everything presents a considerable learning curve for everyone.
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4/14/2024 07:07:32 pm
Thank you this has been a lot of fun and looking forward to coming back with my next novel
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Who am I?An avid reader, typobuster, and the Hyper-Speller. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. Archives
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