LIVE ONLINE ~ Tuesday, July 22nd at 7pm Pacific!

Selections from MIRACLES: A TRIO OF ISLAND TALES Presented Live in Second Life (c) and on Stream.

I'll be sharing two of the three tales in this collections live online.  The session begins at 7pm Pacific time.  CLICK HERE beginning at 6:50pm to access the stream. Please note: you may need to make sure certain plug ins are equipped to listen to streamed media on your computer.  Check  the "Judy's Stories -  Live!" tab for some links that may assist you.

FIVE STARS for MIRACLES: A TRIO OF ISLAND TALES

"These three tales bring me in and make me one with the Pacific Islanders in the kingdom of Tonga. The stories of peace and faith are uplifting and inspiring. A pure joy to read!"  ~ Reader Review

Available in Kindle and Paperback on Amazon

MIRACLES: A TRIO OF ISLAND TALES is Released!

Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales is now available for Kindle and in Paperback from Amazon!

Belief is crucial to life.  If there is a through-line to most of my work, it is the need for all of us to believe in something beyond ourselves. 

Belief is woven into all three of the stories in this collection. These stories are fictionalizations of Tongan history and family stories shared by my collaborator, Ilaisaane Filikitonga Tome.  She is a native born Tongan: an amazing Polynesian kingdom in the South Pacific known for the friendliness of its people, an exceptionally high literacy rate, and for devoutly faithful Christians. The power of her stories is moving and undeniable.  You may or may not share her belief system, and that does not really matter.  It is hard to hear her stories and not recognize the essential power of them.

Click Here to view the Book Trailer

“An Island Miracle – Earth” re-imagines “tuku fonua” and the journey of King Tupou I to this historic act of dedicating all of Tonga to the Christian God, rather than bow to pressure from colonizing foreign powers. 

“An Island Miracle – Water” recounts how a man of faith places himself, literally, in the path of ongoing sorrow for the residents of the small Tongan island of Falevai.

“An Island Miracle – Fire” faces the reality of life on a volcanic island, where life and creation vividly part of the same continuing cycle.  When a community of believers is charged with a task that seems completely insane, will they have the faith and courage to believe, when even the island itself seems to challenge them?

Interested in learning more about Tongan history and culture?  Here is one of the resources I used in researching this book and these stories - a fabulous video produced by the Brigham Young University Polynesian Center. It specifically deals with "tuku fonua", the act of dedicating the people and land of Tonga to God.  It also features the beauty of the Tongan language.

The “Trio Tales” series are “fiction monographs” featuring three short stories on a single theme, and are intended to be portable, enjoyable. They also make great gifts.

PREVIEW of MIRACLES: A TRIO OF ISLAND TALES live Sunday!

Sunday, June 15th at 10am Pacific, I'll be reading from this collection which will release come hell-or-high-water this month.

If you are a metaverse traveler, I will be live in voice in #kitely.  You can drop into the Seanchai Library homeworld (http://www.kitely.com/search?q=seanchai) and click on the volcano panel in the main landing zone to take you to the story site. 

I have also been asked to present from my works at Noon that same day in #secondlife at DNA Arts - contact myself (Caledonia Skytower) or Luna Branwen to get the location. I may or may not be reading from this collection, but I will be reading from my original works.

For those of you who are determinedly corporeal, I'll also be streaming BOTH sessions live online.  So you can tune in and listen to "Radio Judy" which will either add to the serenity or the hilarity of your Sunday.

To get info for listening via my stream, Click Here

Be sure and check out my first ever book trailer/teaser !

MIRACLES: A TRIO OF ISLAND TALES Is Finally Coming!

This collection has been a journey, and not always an easy one.  Delayed painfully and repeatedly by "life happening" it is now ready to release in the coming weeks.  How fitting that my very first book trailer should be associated with this particular journey.

I'm sure I'll look back in a few years at this first produced trailer and cringe a bit, but right now it is the first and I am incredibly proud of it (and grateful to Shandon Loring for his assistance).

Belief is essential to life.  If there is a through-line to most of my work, it is the essential need for all of us to believe in something beyond ourselves.  It does not matter what.  Simply believe.  By believing in something beyond yourself, you learn to better understand your world: to believe in yourself.

Belief is woven into all three stories in Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.  These stories are fictionalizations of family stories shared by my collaborator, Ilaisaane Filikitonga Tome.  She is a native born Tongan and devout Christian. The power of her stories is moving and undeniable.  You may or may not share her belief system, and that does not really matter.  It is hard to hear her stories and not recognize the essential power of them.

Meet King Tupou I of Tonga.  He was the first in a line of Tongan Kings that has remained unbroken to the present day - through nine generations!  He is  part of Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.

During his near century-long life he transformed Tonga from a collection of bickering, war lords to a unified Kingdom.  He is the King Arthur of the South Pacific.  He was smart, ambitious, and he saw that the only way to combat foreign colonialism in the 19th Century was with one Tonga, under one ruler.  He knew that otherwise, the atoll and the people would be picked apart by outside interests.

King Tupou I of Tonga outside his Palace

In the 1830's he was baptized as a Christian, and he used his faith and beliefs as a tool in building the sovereign kingdom of Tonga.  He was a formidable man, and one of the few Polynesian rulers that was dealt with as an equal by other world leaders.  The Tonga he passed on at his death in 1893 was radically different from the one he was born into. Not only did he build a sovereign nation and develop a constitution, but he made serfdom illegal, secured the land of Tonga for Tongans forever by making it illegal for anyone other than native Tongans to own land, and he built a Christian Church that took its roots from the Wesleyan Church, but was essentially Tongan.

Learn more about this remarkable man and the paradise he dreamed of in Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.

COMING SOON ... "Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales"

Belief is essential to a good life.  If there is a through-line to most of my work, it is the essential need for all of us to believe in something beyond ourselves.  It does not matter what.  Simply believe.  By believing in something beyond yourself, you learn to better understand your world: to believe in yourself.

Belief is woven into all three stories in Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.  These stories are fictionalizations of family stories shared by my collaborator, Saane Tome.  She is a native born Tongan and devout Christian. The power of her stories is moving and undeniable.  You may or may not share her belief system, and that does not really matter.  It is hard to hear her stories and not recognize the essential power of them.

Meet King Tupou I of Tonga.  He was the first in a line of Tongan Kings that has remained unbroken to the present day - through nine generations!  He is  part of Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.

During his near century-long life he transformed Tonga from a collection of bickering, war lords to a unified Kingdom.  He is the King Arthur of the South Pacific.  He was smart, ambitious, and he saw that the only way to combat foreign colonialism in the 19th Century was with one Tonga, under one ruler.  He knew that otherwise, the atoll and the people would be picked apart by outside interests.

King Tupou I of Tonga outside his Palace

In the 1830's he was baptized as a Christian, and he used his faith and beliefs as a tool in building the sovereign kingdom of Tonga.  He was a formidable man, and one of the few Polynesian rulers that was dealt with as an equal by other world leaders.  The Tonga he passed on at his death in 1893 was radically different from the one he was born into. Not only did he build a sovereign nation and develop a constitution, but he made serfdom illegal, secured the land of Tonga for Tongans forever by making it illegal for anyone other than native Tongans to own land, and he built a Christian Church that took its roots from the Wesleyan Church, but was essentially Tongan.

Learn more about this remarkable man and the paradise he dreamed of in Miracles: A Trio of Island Tales.

Don't forget to take the WHICH ARE YOUR FAVORITES Reader Poll!