Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Bewildering Stories and Beyond Imagination. When not writing each morning at his favorite coffee house, he supports his writing, reading, and book reviewing habit working as an IT application support analyst. He is a former Captain in the US Army. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs in 2010. You can visit him at http://www.jimmiekepler.com.
Month: December 2015
Family Reunion
Family Union
The setting was an old wood framed church house.
Built on the crest of a gently sloping tree-covered hill.
Its wood siding all faded and weather-worn.
The brass church bell for years had been still.
He walked up the hill to the church house.
With each step, old long-past years reappeared.
Soon in his mind, he could hear the congregation singing.
Then down his cheeks streamed the warm, wet tears.
Once again, the old song leader was his grandpa.
His young Mama on a pump organ played.
Packed on the third pew were his mischievous boy cousins.
Standing by the back door to the music his dear daddy swayed.
And old remembrances flooded his being.
A grand family reunion was well underway.
Hearing again the stories of King Jesus,
He couldn’t hold the tears at bay.
Then he moved from the little wooden church house.
Walked down the hill on the path just ahead.
The music and memories slowly fading in the distance.
He arrived at a cemetery with the graves of his family long dead.
There will be a great reunion in heaven in the future,
They’ll all be reunited one wonderful day.
They were all Believers in Jesus,
He’s the Light, the Truth, and the Way.
Jimmie Aaron Kepler
December 2015
Picture Credit: Jarek Tuszynski / CC-BY-SA-3.0 & GDFL [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons
Merry Christmas From Me to You:Free 12/15 to 12/19/2015
The below books and short stories are free through December 19th on Amazon. They are my Christmas gift to you.
Charlie’s Bells: A Short Story Anthology
by Jimmie Aaron Kepler
Charlie’s Bells — A family with a teenaged son with Down-Syndrome moves to town. Life is never the same for Jackson Smith. A story with the feel of Hallmark Movie.
The Prairie Dogs Get Coal Miner’s Helmets With Lights — The residents of Wheeler County Texas have new neighbors. They are prairie dogs who just happen to wear coal miners’ helmets with lights. Who are they? What do they want? From where did they come? Why are they here? Join Billy Bob and his daughter Nancy Jo in their adventure with the prairie dogs. Just north of Shamrock in Wheeler County, Texas, they learn the answers to these questions and that change and letting go is hard.
The Cup — Imagine what can happen when you buy a ceramic coffee cup at your local coffee shop, and it cries out in pain every time it is filled with a hot beverage.
The Paintings — How can a man survive an entire winter snowbound in a high elevation, mountain cabin? The answer is found in “The Paintings.”
Miracle at the Gibson Farm: A Christmas Story — Cancer takes young mother. The bank calls in the note on the family farm. Only a miracle can save the Gibson family farm. But is a miracle possible? An inspirational story from the depression era shows that miracles can happen for some, but not for all. A story with the feel of a Hallmark Movie.
Plus two more– Grits for Breakfast and She Lives on a Busy Street
Available on Amazon
The Cup
by Jimmie Aaron Kepler
The Cup … Imagine what can happen when you buy a ceramic coffee cup at your local coffee shop and it cries out in pain every time it is filled with a hot beverage.
Available on Amazon
The Paintings
by Jimmie Aaron Kepler
How can a man survive an entire winter snowbound in a high elevation, mountain cabin? The answer is found in “The Paintings.”
Available on Amazon
Gone Electric: A Poetry Collection
by Jimmie Aaron Kepler
In Gone Electric, Jimmie Aaron Kepler uses imagery and feelings. He transports us from Bob Dylan, the summer of love, through the popular culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s to present day. He confronts many issues faced by the Baby Boomer generation. Whether reflecting on the music of his youth, the Apollo missions to the moon, the draft and war or his haunting themes of loneliness, Kepler uses imagery and feelings to define of our daily experience.
Available on Amazon
Miracle at the Gibson Farm: A Christmas Story
by Jimmie Aaron Kepler
Cancer takes young mother. The bank calls in the note on the family farm. Only a miracle can save the Gibson family farm. But is a miracle possible? An inspirational story from the depression era shows that miracles can happen for some, but not for all. A story with the feel an of Hallmark Movie.
Available on Amazon
Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Bewildering Stories and Beyond Imagination. When not writing each morning at his favorite coffee house, he supports his writing, reading, and book reviewing habit working as an IT application support analyst. He is a former Captain in the US Army. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs in 2010. You can visit him at http://www.jimmiekepler.com.
December is a Key Month in My Life
December is a key month is my life.
It was 41 years ago this month I married Benita Beatrice Breeding. That was on December 28, 1974. We are still married.
It was 40 years ago this month I graduated from The University of Texas at Arlington. I still remember the words of then university president Dr. Wendell Nedderman, “Jimmie Aaron Kepler has met the requirements for the degree Bachelor of Arts in history.” He read my name to confirm I had met the requirements and was graduated. That allowed the next December event to occur.
It was 40 years ago this month I was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army. My commission was earned through US Army ROTC. It led to my moving to Fort Benning, Georgia where I reported on December 29, 1974.
It was 37 years ago this month II was released from active duty in the US Army where I could attend graduate school.
It was 35 years ago this month I graduated with a Master of Religious Education degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
It was 33 years ago this month I moved from Decatur, Georgia to Bogalusa, Louisiana.
It was 22, 21, and 20 years ago this month I wrote the cover story for Sunday School Leader magazine. I did it each December for 3 years.
It was 20 years ago this month I resigned my last church position.
It was 16 years ago this month I started working my current day job at Interstate Batteries.
It was 16 years ago this month I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the two-year college honor society. I had completed the core curriculum for an associate’s degree in computer science. Why wasn’t I inducted in Phi Beta Kappa back in 1975 where I graduated university? My college does not have a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.
It was 2 years ago this month that my wife was diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoid.
It was 1 year ago this month that my mother passed away.
And … most important – it was nearly 2000 years ago this month that God sent His son Jesus who was born in the little town of Bethlehem.
December is a key month in my life.
A Writer’s Story
Hello! My name is Jimmie Aaron Kepler. My coworkers call me Jimmie. My father, brother as well as those that have known me from my youth call Jim. My uncles, aunts, and cousins call me Jimmie Aaron. This is my ever-changing website where you can follow my lifelong adventure in writing novels, poetry, non-fiction, and short stories as well as a number of varied other things.
My book, short stories, and poetry are available through Amazon. They will soon be available of iBooks Store and Kobo.
Most mornings you find me at my favorite coffee house where I write from 6:00 until 7:30 AM. I then go into my day job. I have been doing this for years. I have two completed novels doing this as well as numerous short stories.
Besides writing, I am an avid reader, listener of podcasts, and polymath. The most recent books I have read are: In 2015 the book I have read are: The Projection Room: Green Eye Beneath by Carol Golembiewski, The Projection Room: Our Brother’s Keeper by Carol Golembiewski, The Einstein Prophecy by Robert Masello, Armada: A Novel by Ernest Cline, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Enhanced Edition: by Patrick M. Lencioni, Tidewater: A Novel by Libbie Hawker, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, How to Make a Living with Your Writing by Joanna Penn, The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir, Take Off Your Pants!: Outline Your Books for Faster, Better by Libbie Hawker, and Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield. There is a tie for best fiction book I read in 2015. The winners are The Martian by Andy Weir and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. The best nonfiction book I read was Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield. I also read military history books and review them at Kepler’s Book eviews.
Podcasts I listen to regularly are: I Should Be Writing and Ditch Diggers by Mur Lafferty, The Creative Penn by Joanna Penn, The Tech Guy by Leo Laporte, Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing, Odyssey Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing Podcast, and Triangulation. My favorite by far is anything by Mur Lafferty. I have been following her trek in writing for a decade. I listen to them during my daily commute. On average my drive is one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. I also listen while I walk.
In 2015 I completed the manuscript for The Rain Dome on Mars. I had a couple of short stories and poems published as well. I attended the Colorado Christian Writer’s Conference at Estes Park in May and The East Texas Christian Writer’s Conference in October.
I am an active member of Wholehearted Writer’s Group.
Check in regularly to follow my adventure as a speculative fiction writer and poet.