BALLISTER BOOKS
Welcome to Ballister Books
My first website, developed about eleven years ago, served my first book and its sequel. Dreamland Diaries and Orion's Light follow Brad Hitchens and Connie Chappell on a journey that starts in the pine woods of North Florida and travels across the local arm of our galaxy to the Orion Nebula. Their discoveries and new talents will fundamentally change humanity's worldview and its place in the cosmos. Both are good reads and I recommend them. The final part of the four-part series, Pass-Fail is complete and online. This final episode takes on the largest issues we humans may face as we begin to test our fitness to survive beyond the limits of our home world.
Dreamland Diaries began as a novel in two parts. Hence, the second in the series Orion's Light is Part 3 and book 2. (Sorry for any confusion). Dreamland is an adventure/coming of age/sci-fi/man against the machine epic. What started as the germ for a short story grew to become my first novel and takes our protagonist from a junior in high school to a college graduate with plenty of time for him to discover the love of his life, solve the secret of a mysterious presence in his woods, while covering his years-long struggle to protect a secret that will have world changing consequences. Brad and Connie work together to overcome thier challenges and save each other from disaster.
Orion's Light was a logical addition to Dreamland, unanticipated by me, but requested by my readers. It takes the readers to one of the solar system's closest star nurseries where a civilization of similar age and only slightly more advanced technology is having growing pains of its own. Cultural advancement is, perhaps, always slowed down by the baggage of a society's early misunderstandings of it's past. Brad and Connie find themselves in the middle of an uprising against tyranny and oppression. The conflict on the alien planet is rooted in xenophobic hatreds that have split an otherwise peaceful species into warring factions.
PASS/Fail finds Brad and Connie back on Earth struggling with the fame accrued to humanity's first interstellar travelers. They have become infamous as well. Can help from the great civilizations of our home galaxy help humanity move to the next level required to join entry into the galactic trade union?
Retains my desire to instruct my readers on the relationship between humans and our planet while taking on the challenge of informing while entertaining. This planet has evolved over the millennia with no species that had the power to rapidly alter the course of its environment with minor exceptions. Humans have, in the past two hundred years, altered the precious balance of natural forces that have enabled life to prosper in the thin bio-sphere on the surface. Room for Tomorrow takes a (novel) approach to understanding how our individual activities and current social norms need to change if our grandchildren can hope to exist in and pass on a survivable ecosystem.
It's cop talk for next-of-kin. A nineteen-year-old coed has disappeared. A discredited reporter has returned home in the midst of his mid-life crisis and finds himself pinned by the local sheriff as one of his prime suspects. Recently orphaned by the early death of her mother, Lindsey Lawrence's estate is up for grabs with no known next of kin. Can our reporter use his skills to find her abductors to clear his own name? His search to uncover her mysterious family tree uncovers her unknown wealth and much more. The sequel is underway at this time.
It was 'inspired' by my diagnosis of atherosclerosis, common name, clogged arteries in the heart. It is a plain-speak, easy read for someone who is or has a family member in need of the kind of information I found to be lacking. What should I expect from the experience of open-heart surgery? How should I prepare for it? How will I recover from it? How can I prevent a return trip to the OR and the cardiac ICU? I sincerely hope you don't need this book, but if you or your loved one does, there are plenty of tips and tricks for expanding your chances of a much longer and healthier life.
Sci-Fi
You're almost 15, a loner, and you've found a strange metal artifact in your back yard. And you know humans didn't make it. What would you do? Brad Hitchens must face this decision with the help of an extended family he hardly knows, and a stranger in the woods that defies understanding. Keeping his discovery safe until he can make its secret known will lead him to his first love and a change in humanities view of its place in the cosmos.
Cli-Fi
Parker Parrish, approaching middle age, is unhappy with her life's choices. Two chance encountes, one on the Los Angeles freeways, the other in a secluded farmhouse leads her onto a fulfilling, yet dangerous path. She's been given a glimpse of the future and it is a horror show. Can she and her new associates bring about meaningful change? Can the small room in a California farm house make Room for Tomorrow?
Mystery
You return to your home town for the first time in decades to find you're are one of two prime suspects in the disappearance of a beloved local coed. Kiersten has no apparent beneficiaries so discovering who might be a benefit from her estate may be the key to your freedom.
Jason Saylor, a disgraced reporter for the Houston Chronicle, needs to turn his researching skills toward saving his own life.
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Non-Fiction
The Zipper Club's name is a reference to the 800,000 coronary artery bypass proce-dures performed each year. Three years ago I joined the club. In preparation for the date of surgery, I didn't find much more than bullet lists. This book can make your recovery much easier. If you follow my friendly advice, you may find that your chances of a long life after your surgery are much improved.
