LIGHT HIDDEN BY DARKNESS -- Stranger in a Funny Hat!



Books by John Bradford Branney [click link]

Light Hidden by Darkness is about a man named Mr. Bud who wakes up and finds himself in a strange land with no recollection of his whereabouts or his past. He is completely lost and confused. What Mr. Bud could use is some help, but so far, no one in this strange city has been able to give him the answers that he needs. Unable to find help, Mr. Bud decides to escape the city and starts out by walking...and walking...and walking some more. In the following passage from Light Hidden by Darkness, Mr. Bud walks for what seems to be an eternity without seeing another living soul. Finally, he meets a person on the street who could possibly help him. The initial encounter follows;        

After walking further, Mr. Bud was worried that he was lost. He was alone on the street and the emptiness in the city frightened him. He was contemplating turning around and heading back to his building when he saw a lone man standing on the sidewalk in front of him. As Mr. Bud cautiously approached the stranger, he studied the man’s mocha-colored face. The stranger smiled and Mr. Bud stopped just a few feet away from him.

“Hello, friend,” the stranger greeted Mr. Bud. “Are you taking a little stroll?”



Trilby hat.

“Yes, I am,” Mr. Bud replied, “but, I might be lost.”

“Aren’t we all, sir?”

“Pardon?”

“Perhaps, I can help you, sir,” the stranger offered.

“Perhaps,” Mr. Bud replied. “I am not sure where I am heading.”

“That is not unusual,” the stranger declared. “Many of us are not sure where we are heading.”

“Are you lost as well?”

“No, but I have been lost many times,” the stranger recalled, “I somehow always find the right path.”

Mr. Bud looked at the tall stranger. If Mr. Bud was any closer, he would have had to crane his neck backwards just to look the stranger in the eyes. The stranger appeared as thin as wallpaper, but it was hard to tell because of the raincoat the stranger wore. He also had a funny little hat on his head. Mr. Bud had seen this style of hat somewhere before, but he could not remember where. The hat was brown-colored wool with small yellow squares in the fabric, giving it a tweed look. It had a yellow hatband for accent and the stranger wore the hat with the brim turned down over his ears.

The stranger noticed Mr. Bud staring at his hat and asked, “It is a nice one, isn’t it?”

“Pardon me?” Mr. Bud replied.

“My hat,” the stranger said, “I saw you admiring it.”

“Yeah, I have seen one like it somewhere before.”

“It is called a trilby.”

“What is?”

“My hat,” the stranger replied and then asked, “So, where are you heading, sir?”

Mr. Bud thought about the answer to the stranger’s question. Mr. Bud did not have a direct answer for the stranger since he did not know where he was and he did not remember where he was from.

“Anywhere,” Mr. Bud replied after a long pause, “away from this goofy city.”

The relationship between Mr. Bud and this 'stranger in the funny little hat' continues to evolve throughout the book. However, no reader could ever guess in an eternity how their  relationship ends up. Let me just say that the relationship between Mr. Bud and the 'stranger in the funny little hat' is quite unique.

Light Hidden by Darkness is available in paperback and e book from Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and many other better booksellers.  Books by John Bradford Branney

Books by John Bradford Branney (click link)

New Novel By Author John Bradford Branney Challenges Assumptions On The Nature Of Faith And Karma

Light Hidden by Darkness (Click Link)

The latest novel by the author of the bestselling ‘Shadows of the Trail Trilogy’ confronts head-on the accepted ideas surrounding Faith, Karma, and Afterlife

In his latest novel, Light Hidden by Darkness, Branney presents his ideas on the nature of the afterlife and redemption through the struggles of one Seamus Winshell who awakens one morning only to find a stranger’s face staring back at him in the mirror.

From this book’s startling beginning, author Branney weaves a satirical tale rich in philosophical ideas and peopled by a diverse range of characters, including a potentially dangerous doorman and an ex-prostitute named Gloria. Together, they piece together the full magnitude of Seamus’s predicament. Seamus eventually realizes he is in this place to atone for his transgressions during his prior life. Can Seamus Winshell find his family and right the tremendous wrongs they suffered at his hands? Will he be prepared to pay what may be the ultimate price?

“This is quite an unnerving book and a definite change of direction for John,” said Sarah Luddington, Mirador Publishing’s Commissioning Editor. “It is a brave author who is willing to tread a new path when it would have been very easy to stay with a popular series a while longer.”

“The story behind Light Hidden by Darkness crept into my subconscious mind at a very young age, at a time when I began to question a few concepts raised during my religious upbringing,” author Branney said, “I wanted to know specifically how things worked in the afterlife and what these places looked like. Since it was impossible for me to obtain a round trip ticket to these places to find out answers, I wrote my own version of the journey. Of course, I have added what I believe is an intriguing, and sometimes lighthearted, story with enough twists and turns to keep the reader on his or her toes.”

Light Hidden by Darkness is John Bradford Branney’s fourth novel. In 2011, Branney finished his career in the oil and gas industry where he held several senior and executive management positions. He holds a B.S. degree in geology from the University of Wyoming and a MBA from the University of Colorado. John currently lives in Houston Texas with his wife, Theresa.

Mirador Publishing continues their support of new authors and are proud to present John Bradford Branney as an author to watch out for.

For more information, visit the author at John Bradford Branney, Author on Facebook and at this blog at http://johnbbranney1.blogspot.com/.

Light Hidden by Darkness is available in all good bookshops and online retailers both in paperback and eBook formats. Mirador Publishing may be contacted via their website at www.miradorpublishing.com

Purgatory .... The Almost Final Frontier



Light Hidden by Darkness, a new novel by John Bradford Branney. 

Purgatory…what does that word conjure up in your mind? Some people may think of a ski area in Colorado or a golf course somewhere they know about. Others may think of that mythical place the Roman Catholics came up with as the afterlife waiting room somewhere between heaven and hell.   

The afterlife place called Purgatory has been a controversial subject between Roman Catholics and Protestants for a very long time. Roman Catholics created the concept of Purgatory eight to nine hundred years ago and Protestants have found ways to ignore it ever since. Roman Catholics created Purgatory to accommodate those people who committed lesser sins and those struck down by death prior to baptism, the sacrament assumed to rid a person of their original sin or the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden.  

I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church and I remember vividly the first time a nun explained Purgatory to us. It frightened the hell out of me, excuse my intended pun. She told us pre-teens that it was a place of suffering where souls waited to be freed from their sins. According to this nun, who will remain nameless, Purgatory was a place of suffering, gnashing teeth and torture. She explained that it was a stopover on the way to either heaven or hell. From the nun’s description, it did not sound like a fun place, but it gave us all another get out of jail free card. I now knew I had another option besides Hell in case I got caught pulling my sister’s braids or shooting BBs at the neighbor’s cat. I also remember the nun telling us that we could actually save a soul in Purgatory by giving spare change to the church or lighting a prayer candle. Huh, how does that work or how does that resolve a person’s sins? I thought to my confused self. So, if everybody prayed for a soul in Purgatory, they could all be saved.   

It was not until I was older that I began thinking about how Purgatory could possibly work. I

have always been curious about how things work and Purgatory was no different. Since the Catholics and Protestants could not even agree on the existence of Purgatory and since no one had ever made a round trip from there, I was not going to find out much information on the process. That was when I decided to write my own version of how Purgatory works. In an upcoming book, you will be able to read my version of Purgatory. You may have a different view and I welcome all input, since the bottom line is that no one knows how it works. Do you believe in Purgatory? If so, how does it really work?

          ORDER LIGHT HIDDEN BY DARKNESS BY CLICKING THIS LINK

Saving Miguel! Boy Saves World from Brink of Disaster!!

 

This Link Takes You to Saving Miguel

The theme of the novel Saving Miguel capitalizes on the oft discussed topic of a global economic crash or as it is often referred, Global Economic Armageddon. The novel Saving Miguel paints a vivid picture of life in the aftermath of a devastating global economic crash when the world is ruled by a few billionaire Oligarchs who have created a feudal system that rivals the Middle Ages. Once poverty and despair extinguish people’s hopes and dreams of a future, there is nothing the Oligarchs and silver-tongued politicians can do to reignite the workforce they need to maintain their world. The flames of hope return to the people when a small boy by the name of Miguel challenges the feudal system that the Oligarchs have created. 

In the words of an American western, this story is a fight between good and evil, it is a 'Fight at the OK Corral'! 

Check out Saving Miguel! Available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and better booksellers everywhere.  

Click to Order Saving Miguel