New FREE eBook anthology: Life, Death, and Something Else

Just added a revised and updated Edition of my Life, Death, and Something Else anthology to my growing (Hey from 1 to 2 eBooks is a growth rate of 100% (lol) but more coming) collection of eBooks available for download from
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_3ClonPVorvY0Q2X1hBc1dGTUk?usp=sharing

It is available from the above URL in Apple iBook, Amazon's Kindle, and PDF formats.

Here is the write up:-

Twenty four beautifully flowing, image filled poems that invites the reader in to gently unfold the fabric of our being and to ponder the deep and amazing gifts of God we find wrapped therein. That leads the reader on an intriguing exploration of the reality they live in that is not ruled by life and death but - by something else.

That answers the question why we mourn not the passing of those who die in Christ as the caterpillars Mourn Not The Butterfly:-

"To those who dwell upon the Earth,
Weep not for those of second birth,
Who in cocoons of flesh and blood reside,
A new life growing, changing deep inside.

For what we were will fade away,
And in the ashes and dust of Earth will lay.
But what we become will never die,
In joyful metamorphous we will fly.

So to you who dwell upon the Earth,
Weep not for those of second birth.
Cry not for those who in Christ die,
As the caterpillar mourns not the butterfly."
D.J. Ludlow, Author

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa

Updated FREE eBook available: The Party at the End of the World: And Other Short Stories

Just done a bit of tweaking to bring the Back Cover info up to date and added the eBook metadata info to the Google+ file info system. (Like other eBook publishers I use the metadata field to add useful info and "write ups" so they perform like normal eBooks). The revised eBook can be downloaded from here:-

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_3ClonPVorvY0Q2X1hBc1dGTUk?usp=sharing


Here is the write up for The Party at the End of the World. (The pic is the front cover image file)

"A collection of 8 engaging short stories that lead the reader down some intriguing yet "less travelled" paths to places unexpected.

Who is the "crazy old man" too busy to join the insatiably bored people at the party at the end of the World? What - and who - was it that kept him so busy?

In "Lastborn" who were the strange crowd milling through the corridors of a local hospital, eager to catch a glimpse of a mother and her newborn child? What was it that made this child so special to them?

In "The Perfect Alibi" it seemed an open and shut case - until the handcuffs came out.

Then there is the intriguing question of how a person can get embarrassingly caught up in the "Crosstalk" between the hearing and the hearing impaired?

It is well known that beauty is "In The Eye of The Beholder". But what happens when you add a blind man to the equation? And what happens when somebody who cares about people's special needs is humourously reminded that they have "Common Needs" also?

Other intriguing questions you will find here include:- What is the most valuable gift you can give to an old lady spending her last days alone in a hospital bed? Do the Irish share their luck or do they take it in turns?

If you are looking for a common theme in these stories chances are you will not find one. The closest I have ever come is the "moral" that while no life is perfect every life has something that makes it worth the living. But I would prefer that you spend more time just enjoying them than analysing them. The simple pleasure of sitting back and reading a good story can never be underestimated. So if you find yourself sitting back and just enjoying them that is great. If you unearth any hidden treasures in them I can only say - thank You Lord.

And thank you kind reader, for allowing me to share these stories with you. Please feel free to share them with others using the Small Gifts Ministry Special Permission you will find under the Copyright notice in the front of the book.

D.J. Ludlow
Author"

(Provided as a Small Gifts Ministry to the profit and glory of the Lord alone. - #smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa )

eBooks of a Certain Calibre!

Sorry for being AWOL for a little while. Rest assured it has not been slackness. Quite the opposite actually, a little too busy sorting some things out.  One of the more exciting things keeping me busy (among a lot of mundane things) has been playing with a new FREE (for the moment at least) software package that allows me to convert my .docx WORD files into – REAL ebooks, not just PDF files that can be read on eBook readers.

Until now the only way I could get my books into a format that could be read by eBook readers without having them “go commercial” was to print them as Adobe PDF files that most eBook readers can at least display. But creating actual eBooks seemed destined to remain a dream on the shoestring of a budget I have to work with. (more like a strand from a shoestring really). Then I came across a rather cool richly featured FREE Open Source package called Calibre eBook Management. Among a whole lot of very useful eBook editing and management tools, Calibre is also capable of taking WORD .docx document files and quickly converting them to .ePub files, - the things eBooks are made of.  From there, they can edited and converted to any number of eBook reader file formats suitable for most current eBook readers. If anybody is interested the Calibre website is here”- https://calibre-ebook.com/  .

My first “guinea pig” has been my short story collection The Party at the End of the World: And Other Short Stories. After a bit of trial and a lot of error I seem to have produced my first proper eBook in both an Apple iBook format and Amazon’s Kindle format. I can produce other formats but can’t test them as I only have iBook and Kindle apps on my phone at the moment. Might need some volunteers with other eReaders who are willing to test other formats for me before I can include other formats in my download offerings. At the moment my eBooks will be available in iBook, Kindle, and PDF formats only until I can get people to help me with other formats I don’t have eReader apps for.

One of the downers I discovered is that the major eBook publishers/distributors like Apple, Amazon, Lulu.com, etc. don’t seem to be set up to distribute non-commercial (free) eBooks. Understandable, as they are businesses rather than charities and ministries. But I am hoping some Christian publishers/distributors might take on some of those whose motivation is ministry not money and, where they are able to afford it, embrace the Small Gifts Ministries’ motto of “To The Profit And Glory of The Lord Alone”. But mainly I am hoping my readers after downloading my eBooks might email them to or otherwise share copies with friends and colleagues and others they think might be interested in them. Perhaps even put copies on their own websites for downloading by others. (Perhaps I might have just invented and named the concept of “onloading”. Sounds kinda cool - feel free to use it if you want.).

Initially I have made the ebook files available and downloadable from my Google+ website here:- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B_3ClonPVorvY0Q2X1hBc1dGTUk?usp=sharing . 

Sorry I couldn’t make it shorter but I seem to be stuck with the URL Google assigned to it. But along with the different format folders for the eBook files I have included a folder with image files of the front covers (something else Calibre does) that you can use as the link if you know how. As I create new eBooks I will add the various format versions to each of the format folders you will see there and let everybody know they have been added. I will also add the front cover image to the front covers folder. After downloading the relevant files there should be several ways for you to upload them or send them to your particular eReader device or app including via email or syncing.

In addition to converting my books I will also be taking the opportunity to upgrade them with new covers, added content, new images, etc. so expect them to look a little different and perhaps a little thicker than they were before. They will also have an upgraded special copyright / permission notice hopefully with better and clearer wording. It may sound a bit “legal” but sadly in order to give you special permission to use and distribute my works as a Small Gifts Ministry I also have to protect the copyright ownership and control that allows me to do it and stops anybody else from preventing it.

I hope you will find them enjoyable and easy to read on your various eReader devices and software apps. But do let me know if you experience problems with them as I can only test them on the particular eReader apps I have here. I do not know how they will go on other devices and software versions I do not have.

Back soon.

#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa