<p>In July of 2013, authors were asked to write a short story with three highlights: a super hot day, a superstition, and something to do with liberty. The top three winning stories from the JULY HEAT contest were third place winner All In A Day’s Work by Dorthe Moller Christensen, second place winner Sack by Alli Vaughan, and first place winner The Blessing Way by Joyce Shaughnessy. In November of 2013, authors were given another challenge to write a short story, but this time with the following three highlights: a crown, a window, and a powerful woman. Top winning stories from the NOVEMBER CROWNS contest include More Than Just Window Dressing by Connie Flanagan, Forsake Thy Bloodline by Alli Vaughan, and Cassie’s Crown by Lynn Johnston. The short stories in this anthology, Giant Tales: Dangerous Days (Book 4), are fictional. Without any further ado, I invite you to sit back, relax, and enjoy 53 tales of hot days, powerful women, and mysterious crowns. 33 Authors include: Joyce Shaughnessy, Tom Russell, Andy McKell, Todd Folstad, Sylvia Stein, Arlene Lagos, Mike Boggia, Randall Lemon, Glenda Reynolds, J.R. O'Neill, H.M. Schuldt, Gene Hilgreen, Mirta Oliva, Alli Vaughan, Lynette White, Connie Flanagan, Neil Carrol Ellison, D C Mills, Rebecca Lacy, Karen Beck, Shelly Heskett Harris, Lynn Johnston, Mary Agrusa, Karen Hopkins, A.A. Abbott, Craig Teal, Shae Hamrick, Robert A. Strobel, V.J.M. Christensen, Tim Girard, Elaine Faber, and Randy Dutton</p>

Giant Tales Dangerous Days: Tales of Climate Change & Crowns (Giant Tales 3-Minute Stories)

Literature & Fiction

Russell, Tom

Shaughnessy, Joyce

Schuldt, H.M.

Folstad, Todd

Stein, Sylvia

Lagos, Arlene

Boggia, Mike

Reynolds, Glenda

O'Neill, J.R.

Hilgreen, Gene

Short Stories & Anthologies

Giant Tales Dangerous Days

A Healing Place

A Healing Place is an historical novel based on the Great American Depression and WWII in the Philippines.  Evicted from their Oklahoma farm, Amos and Molly and their three children are forced to find a new place to live.  They find their healing place in Texon, Texas, a small oil camp just east of Rankin.  It has everything they've been looking for, especially a welcoming community.  Then when WWII is on the horizon, their son-in-law is in the Army in the Philippines when Japan attacks, forcing the men and women there to finally surrender.  America is supplying the European front of the war first, and the Pacific is left without enough food, medicine, ammunition, or men to fight.  The men are forced to walk the Bataan Death March, and Jed eventually finds himself in Cabanatuan prison camp.  Addie, his wife, stays in Texon with her family.  Jed finds his healing place in the power of prayer.

Genre Fiction

Xlibris

A Healing Place starts in the Dustbowl of the Great American Depression.  It describes in crucial detail the dust and the insect infestations that followed.  One of my reviews on Goodreads.com said he only bought it because he thought it was about the war, but he kept reading and "he could taste the dirt between his teeth."  The family finds a new home in Texon, Texas, an actual place where I lived as a little girl.  Then they were faced with WWII when the son-in-law is caught in the Philippines during the war.  Many people don't realize that they were bombed 9 hours after Pearl Harbor and were meant to do it at the same time, but the bad weather on Formosa delayed the attack.  The soldiers are forced to retreat to Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor, where they starve, get sick and run out of ammunition.  The U.S. is fighting Europe and at the time, the saying was "Hitler First."  They never received any aid from the U.S. for over three years.  Sick and emaciated they were forced to surrender and walk the infamous Death March, in which the Japanese slaughtered for entertainment, 12,500 men in a 64 mile walk.  Prayer becomes my soldier, Jed's healing place.  I hope you will try it out.  I have reviews on goodreads.com

Blessed Are the Merciful

<p>Nine hours after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attack the Philippine Islands, totally surprising it's commanding general, Douglas MacArthur.  It started a war which was to last for four years.  It is historical fiction, based on real facts.  I include letters, documentation, quotes, and even poetry.  The main characters are an Army nurse, Susan, and an Army soldier, Elton, who are separated after the American forces are ordered to surrender.  They are starving, out of medicine, ammunition, and supplies.  America has decided to arm the European theatre first.  They are separated into different internment camps, and both of them join the Philippine Underground.  Elton walks the notorious Bataan Death March, works in Camp O'Donnell, River B'said, Camp Cabanatuan, and even is on two Hell Ships before being rescued by the Underground.</p>

Blessed Are the Merciful, Our Forgotten Soldiers, is about the men and women who suffered on Bataan and Corregidor, in the Philippines, during WWII.  They waited for help from the U.S. which never came.  The U.S. was fighting a war in Europe and didn't have the resources to help.  Then they ordered MacArthur to Australia.  The men are forced to walk the infamous Death March, in which the Japanese slaughtered 12,500 men in a 64 mile walk.  I also wanted to show that women were at the front lines rendering aid when possible and were sent to an internment camp after Corregidor surrendered.  They starved just as the men did.  However, many men were sent on Hell Ships and deposited in Japan and Manchuria and forced, even in the winter to work in their tropical clothing.  Many didn't even have shoes, and of course many died.  The Japanese even set up a medical testing camps much like the Germans did to the Jews.  They were testing spraying death spray on the enemy.  There is a romance in it for romance lovers and many quotes, as well as poems and a very touching letter by a 19 year old poet soldier who died after he sent the home to his parents.  Instead of railing against the cruelty of the Japanese, he praised the heroism of his fellow soldiers.  It is very touching, and I never have a dry eye when reading it. The Forgotten Soldiers comes directly from quotes made by rescued prisoners who kissed the beach and told the Americans, "We thought you forgot we were even here."  It was one of five books chosen during the year to be showcased at the Frankfurt World's Fair.   I hope you will check it out!

The voices in this book are those of the 260,000 Filipino and American men and women who made up the partisan group called The Unsurrendered in the Philippines during WWII. This historical romantic novel revolves around guerrillas who fight to bring the American Army to victory in 1945. Jacob, an American secret agent, and Carla, a Filipina, join other partisans in 1941 to fight behind Japanese lines. The American forces capture the Philippine Islands after the Japanese destruction of Manila. In Manila’s sprawling ruins lay the bodies of more than 100,000 Filipinos who were massacred at the hands of Japanese soldiers. It is estimated that one out of twenty Filipino citizens died during the Japanese occupation. The Unsurrendered is the last book in a trilogy called The Pearl of the Orient. The first is A Healing Place, and the second is Blessed Are the Merciful, Our Forgotten Soldiers.

The Unsurrendered

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Books by Shaughnessy, Joyce

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shaughnessy, Joyce. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Giant Tales Dangerous Days: Tales of Climate Change & Crowns (Giant Tales 3-Minute Stories)

A Healing Place

A Healing Place

Blessed Are the Merciful

Blessed Are the Merciful

The Unsurrendered