Raphael's Village

Regular contributor Jeff Gardiner has had his contemporary novel, MYOPIA, published by Crooked Cat Books.

MYOPIA explores the themes of bullying and prejudice. Jerry has to respond to being bullied in creative ways, discovering that being short-sighted is not a disability but just a new way of seeing things. He learns a lot about himself and the boy who is making his life such a misery. It is a novel about friendship, growing up and learning the hard way.

For more information please visit www.jeffgardiner.com or http://jeffgardiner.wordpress.com/ 

MYOPIA can be purchased at Amazon.

Frequent contributor Heather Gregson has a new middle grade historical fiction novel, A DOG OF WAR, releasing in November 2012.

Farm dog Tierza is devoted to her human boy, Aaron. Their idyllic life is interrupted when the German Army invades. Forced from their farm, Tierza accompanies her family to the Warsaw Ghetto. Together with her boy, they try and live as normal a life as possible under the terrible circumstances. For Tierza, all of that ends when her Aaron is taken by German soldiers and forced onto a train. Relentlessly she follows the traintracks. During her journey, she meets different people and tries her best to aid them any way she can, but she never stays for long. Her love for her boy drives her ever onward to the end of the tracks and her boy’s fate.

In the face of unspeakable cruelty, a loyal dog endures an epic journey while witnessing the horrors of war to find her beloved boy. A DOG OF WAR, by Heather Gregson -- available November 2012 from WritersAmuseMe.com http://www.writersamuseme.com/heathergregson.htm

Frequent contributor Bruce J. Berger has a new short collection out -- "Dear Grandpa and Other Stories".

"Dear Grandpa and Other Stories" is a collection of six linked short stories relating the adventures of Gene Steiner, a recent widower as of the beginning of the collection. Gene must overcome depression and the desire to end it all, fight loneliness, and regain his ability to enjoy life's possibilities. An old and very closel friend, Alexis, and Gene's daughter, Emily, connive to get Gene and Alexis together. Will this work?

Get your copy today at Amazon.com! (www.amazon.com/Dear-Grandpa-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B00988NA3Y/ref=sr_1_2)

Pushcart Prize nominee, National Endowment for the Humanities awardee, designated Keeper of the Hibernaculum of Imaginary Hedgehogs, and frequent contributor KJ Hannah Greenberg brings her whimsical and peculiar vision to Bards and Sages Publishing with Don't Pet the Sweaty Things. This collection of seventy flash fiction and short stories will delight, amuse, and, in some cases, pleasantly confuse readers. Regular readers of the Bards and Sages Quarterly and Raphael's Village are already familiar with Greenberg's unique brand of storytelling.

Available in trade paperback and ebook formats: http://www.bardsandsages.com/greenberg

Another one of our regular contributors with exciting news to share! Editors

Regular contributor Jeff Gardiner has a collection of stories, A Glimpse of the Numinous, available now from Eibonvale Press.

A girl born with a number for a name, destined to become a new messiah...a seagull who becomes a household pet and national celebrity... flashing patterns of light as a key to your darkest fears...an impoverished family with a murderous secret... In the fourteen stories of his first collection, Jeff Gardiner shows a startling range of styles and imagination, from visceral horror to lyrical literary prose. Keen psychological insight is allied to a shrewd knowledge of ancient myth and mysticism. Gardiner’s recurring interest is in religion and spirituality and the strange traces these almost outlawed strangers have left on modern urban life. His characters are often dangerous and unreasonable, their actions unpredictable, a far cry from the rational universe we like to think we share. Look again at your world and let Gardiner show the glimpses you’ve been missing of the doors that beckon you to other ways of seeing. The ominous, the luminous… the numinous.

Available from: http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/books/books_numinous.htm or from www.jeffgardiner.com or from http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=glimpse+numinous

Support our contributors and get your copy today!

Another contributor with exciting news to share! Editors

Raphael's Village is excited to announce the Dec. 15, 2011 release of KJ Hannah Greenberg's newest collection of poetry, A Bank Robber’s Bad Luck with His Ex-Girlfriend.

Songbirds are entertaining. Roses smell nice. Most passion, however, resolves as cacophonous and stinky. In A Bank Robber’s Bad Luck with His Ex-Girlfriend, this mess, which we call “love,” gets reduced, poked at, prodded, and eventually pushed over. Don't miss out on this tough, sassy, hopeful assemblage of verse. Press up against its soft concepts of intimate associations. Come slide among A Bank Robber’s Bad Luck with His Ex-Girlfriend’s articulated regrets, muted longings, and rudimentary joys! The tang of real or imagined, but almost always piquant, romantic life has never been as palpable as it is in A Bank Robber’s Bad Luck with His Ex-Girlfriend.

Links to order A Bank Robber’s Bad Luck With His Ex-Girlfriend: https://www.createspace.com/3729088 or
http://www.amazon.com/Bank-Robbers-Bad-Luck-Ex-Girlfriend/dp/193637322X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324641358&sr=1-1

Please support one of our regular contributors and get your copy of this collection today!

Another contributor with exciting news to share! Editors

Regular contributor Bruce J. Berger announces the publication of the third in a series of linked story collections, TO HIDE IN ATHENS,  in which the short story "Therapy" -- first published here at Raphael's Village -- appears. The three stories preceding "Therapy" are set in World War II Greece and track the life of a young Jewish boy -- Nikki Covo -- whose family must send him into hiding with an Orthodox Christian priest to save him from the Nazis.

Get your copy of TO HIDE IN ATHENS from Amazon.com!

Another contributor with exciting news to share! Editors

Richard (Rick) Hartwell would like to announce the publication of his novella, "Flashbacks," as the featured piece in Burnt Bridge's D-Day issue, "Those Who Served."  This issue is in honor of the allied forces of World War II and features work regarding different experiences and perspectives on military service from several different periods in recent history.  This issue may be purchased through Burnt Bridge, http://burntbridge.net/.

Another contributor with exciting news to share!  Fiction Editor

Anita Ensal announces that two of her short stories will appear in two upcoming science fiction and fantasy anthologies from DAW Books.

The science fiction romance short story, "Wanted", will be included in the LOVE AND ROCKETS anthology, releasing from DAW Books (distributed by Penguin) on December 7, 2010.

The urban fantasy short story, "Being Neighborly", will be included in the BOONDOCKS FANTASY antholgy, releasing from DAW Books (distributed by Penguin) on January 4, 2011.

Both anthologies are available in mass market and ebook formats, and both are available for preorder from all major bookstore chains as well as Amazon.com.

It's always exciting to see our contributors doing well! Here's a new humorous parenting book from one of our contributors -- check it out and see if it's for you! Humor Editor

Oblivious to the Obvious: Wishfully Mindful Parenting, by KJ Hannah Greenberg, published by French Creek Press

Where you ever in Quebec? Were you ever responsible for a yard sale, for a bake sale or for the resale of overly ambitious hedgehogs? Even if not, join the celebration taking place in Oblivious to the Obvious: Wishfully Mindful Parenting of junk mail-fashioned sculptures, of hungry, angry, riotous quolls and of shiny, acrylic pantsuits. As you turn this book’s pages, you are invited to sigh, to pout and to otherwise chortle in unison with KJ Hannah Greenberg as she tells tales about raising modern children.

A reminder again for all potential contributors of which forums make up our professional categories.

The NEW New Curiosity Shoppe -- home for short fiction and narrative nonfiction -- the home for all the fiction we love that doesn’t fit in anywhere else. Your story is being rejected because it ‘isn’t quite right for us’? Try Raphael’s Village -- if we love it, it’s in, regardless whether it’s literary, fantasy, anything in between, or impossible to categorize. We are also looking for spiritually-based fiction of any kind for this forum. Word Count: 3,000 words or under preferred, 5,000 words max.

Quiet Contemplations -- home for poetry of all kinds -- poetry can soothe the soul and cleanse the spirit. It can also make us laugh, cry and think. Please send us yours. Line Count: 40 lines or under preferred. Epic poems need to adhere to our word count and should, perhaps, go to the NEW New Curiosity Shoppe.

Healing with Humor -- home for funny of all kinds -- make it funny. No, really. Humor is subjective and we’re open to much of it, but gentle humor will have a better chance of acceptance than negative humor. Humor that doesn’t make any of us laugh will, sadly, probably not be accepted. While we will occasionally post something in public domain from some of the legends of humor, please don’t do so. We want your original humor, so that we can help you become one of the next humor legends. Word Count: 3,000 words or under preferred, 5,000 words max.

All our other forums are open to submissions, but are not considered professional. Once accepted as one of our contributors, we would like a short (2-5 sentence) bio, written in present tense, that will reside on our Contributors Pages.

Contributors under age 12 are encouraged to submit to Nicholas’ Corner. Contributors between the ages of 12-18 are encouraged to submit to The Mystic Grotto for the Young Adults. Feel free to let us know how old you are in your bio. Nicholas’ Corner is for children and by children, and The Mystic Grotto for the Young Adults is by and for young adults -- if you feel your piece is more adult, feel free to submit it to one of our other forums. NO adult themes will be accepted for Nicholas’ Corner or on The Mystic Grotto for the Young Adults.

The Editors reserve the right to move any and all submissions into whatever forum/s we feel said submissions best fit. For more complete information on our wants and needs, please review the information on our Writer's Contribution Guidelines forum.

But first, a big thank you to all our Independence Day contest entrants. We hope to see more from all of you, whether you're taking home a prize this time or not. And another big thank you to our five guest judges -- we couldn't have done it without you (again)!

And now, on with the countdown...

The entries are in.

The judges are reading.

Votes WILL be tallied.

And winners will be announced.

The 2009 Raphael's Village Independence Day contest results...coming soon...for your reading pleasure...

Watch this space!

Yes, it's true -- it's time for our next Raphael's Village contest. Again, with no entry fee, but also again with prizes!

This time, we have four categories -- Poetry, Humor, Short Fiction, and Short Narrative Nonfiction -- all with the same theme: Independence Day. That's about it -- our only parameters are the line or word counts. Other than that, amaze us with your take on those two words. Funny, scary, fictional, slice-of-life, fantastic, scientific, patriotic, pro, anti, real -- whatever that phrase conjures up in your writer's mind, we want to see it.

...to let you all know that we've enabled comments on all of our stories. Please be sure to write things that wouldn't make your sainted mother blush, because we'll take them down if your mamma says she's embarrassed by your language. (Spammers, this means you, in particular. Really. Don't bother. We're watching.)

Please let our authors know how you like their pieces. Comments are enabled for our older stories as well.

Now, back to our Valentine's Contest winners!

The votes are tallied and we have our winners!

But first, a big thank you to all our contest entrants. We hope to see more from all of you, whether you're taking home a prize this time or not. And another big thank you to our five guest judges -- we couldn't have done it without you!

And now, on with the countdown...

The entries are in.

The judges are reading.

Votes WILL be tallied.

And winners will be announced.

The first ever, 2009 Raphael's Village Valentine's Day contest results...coming soon...for your reading pleasure...

Watch this space!

Be a part of the first writing contests at Raphael's Village. Contests with prizes! We have competition in our three professional categories -- The NEW New Curiosity Shoppe, Healing with Humor, and Quiet Contemplations. All contest submissions must be noted as such in the submission line (ex: Sub. for A Rose By Any Other Name - Name of your Poem), and must be received by Sunday, February 1st. Winners will be announced on Saturday, February 14th. Any writer may enter any or all of the contests, and multiple submissions in the same forum are allowed, but each must be submitted separately.

Laila Lewis is driving up from Tucson to call the contra dances and The Phoenix Friends of Old Time Music Open Band will be playing the dance tunes. Come on out and dance at the ICC tomorrow evening!

Carnegie Center
1101 West Washington
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Free and open to the public
Light refreshments served
Free parking

For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.  From the Christian Bible, John 5:4.


Raphael’s Village was developed to help our community heal by maximizing our relationships with each other and with you, the reader. Through the years of violence, crime, civil unrest, the wars, pan-demic disease and families being torn apart, many are left traumatized with no where to turn. Sometimes it is unclear if others feel the same way. We hope through this website that we can share some of our experiences, solutions and ideas to help you through some of the rough times. Think of Raphael's Village as a place where you can find a friend. Please feel free to contribute your writings, art, music or photography. Everything that belongs to you or is public domain is acceptable. All you have to do is register and the editors can look at your submission.

Please feel free to use our forums for your general contributions. If you feel like you want to spout off, please go ahead. Try to refrain from naughty language (not always easy, I know - but grab a thesaurus). And please do not contribute porn, spam or other ways of annoying people it will not be accepted and your subscription will be deleted.

Enjoy!

M Campbell
Editor
editor@raphaelsvillage.com