New Release -- In a Flash: Up from the Deep by David L. Johnston -- Giveaway!

Six months after a catastrophic solar flare cracks the sky and bathes Earth in high radiation, killing much of the population and destroying most of humanity’s technology, the starving crew of the USS Colorado, a fleet ballistic missile submarine, is forced to surface and send a party ashore to forage for food. But instead of food, the sailors find a town in shambles, home after home filled with death, disease, high radiation, and bands of evil, violent men. Instead of food, the sailors discover the last thing they thought they would find—forbidden love.

Struggling with his Christian values and his desire to obey Navy regulations about fraternizing, Walter Jacks is blindsided by his own heart when he realizes he is falling deeply in love with smart and extraordinarily beautiful Seaman Sharon Parkers. The shore party’s mission, and Jacks’s grasp of reality, are further complicated when they find a mysterious young girl amoung the ruins—an adorable child with astonishing supernatural abilities.

While fighting to protect his shipmates, as well as his spiritual survival, in a dying world, Jacks is forced to face the question: Is the Bible true? If God’s Word is true, then where in the prophesy does His reality appear?

IN A FLASH: UP FROM THE DEEP is a riveting post-apocalyptic military thriller, the first in a series of truly epic scope from acclaimed author David L. Johnston.

EXCERPT:

In the Americas, which had been shielded by the earth, our astronomers quickly figured out what had happened and reported the awful news to our shocked nations. The people we had been able to speak with—fishermen off Central and South America—said they were sad for the rest of the world, while rejoicing for having been spared themselves.

Then, Mr. Unexpected made the scene.

Well, a handful of survivors did anticipate what would come next, we figured, but they must have been ignored for the vital hours that might have made the difference. But most of us had nary a clue.

Crews on Russian strategic ballistic missile submarines lost contact with their headquarters because the atmosphere over Asia was highly ionized and radio traffic could not penetrate it. Pre-Flash strategists going back to the 1950s had theorized that one goal of a preemptive strike would be to disrupt the enemy’s communications. Therefore, each nation that deployed strategic deterrent forces had developed a protocol for their force commanders to follow in the event of a prolonged loss of comms.

Russian boomer commanders followed their protocol. We learned that our attack boats stopped just two Russian subs from launching their missiles. And, thus, on Day Two AF, almost every US metropolitan area with a population of over a million was destroyed. A few smaller population centers of strategic value also got dumped on.

Colorado had been on a strategic deterrent patrol when the Flash struck. After the Russian attack, we received one badly garbled radio message from the national command authority—the president. He explained what had happened and that the destruction of our homes was a mistake. As nearly as we could decipher, he ordered us to defend ourselves and to search for enemy boomers and determine their intentions. But under no circumstances were we to launch our missiles in retaliation; there was nobody in the target cities to retaliate against, anyhow.

Hooyah, Mr. President!

But that was the last message we received before the radios became useless in the Western Hemisphere as well.

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Inspirations by David L. Johnston

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.  If life has taught me nothing else, I have learned that I am less than what I can be if I do not have others working with me.  So I pray y'all will feel free to suggest how I can improve my story telling, too.

My friends here in the prison frequently ask, "How long did it take you to write a book?"  You realize I am not able to use computers and modern technology.  I wrote the first part of the first draft on a ’40's or ’50's era Smith-Corona portable.  She was sweet but could be temperamental, and I did not realize how slow the machine was until I was blessed with an upgrade to a Swintec electronic machine.  Anyhow, Olive U is not a long story. And my Boss made the writing a real pleasure.  Still, what with prison being prison, I started working on the novel in 2009, had to take a long break when I was transferred to another prison, and finally picked it up and finished it in 2013/14.  All together, I would estimate I worked on Olive U three months.  Many of those days were 16 hours or more, but I loved every minute of it. Drove some roommates nuts and still get a death threat or two (not really), but I had a blast getting out of prison and hanging around with Pastor Best and Brother Eli and the boys.

Olive U was inspired by the testimonies of mighty men of God like Peter Fluer of the Newsboys and Dave Krumpe, a volunteer chaplain at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison at Corcoran, California (CSATF/SP).  Both these men told of serving God before they really knew Him.  We had a great praise and worship team in the chapel at A Facility back in 2008 and had included them in a couple of well-received dramas for the brothers.  We were praying for inspiration on a fresh Christmas play in 2008 when God gave me Olive U, the play.  After that performance, one old timer as he was wheeling out of the chapel in a chair looked up at me and said, "I've been going to church all my life, and that's the best Christmas service I've-ever been to!" Our praise team was phenomenal--they really were.

The next year, I had some time and asked God what I should write next.  He told me to make a novel out of Olive U.  And here we are.

I was a fairly new believer.  --Well, maybe.  I guess that depends on your doctrine.  I had accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior as a child, joined the Navy at 17, then murdered two men in 1986. My first 20 years in prison, I was just waiting to die, really. I did not think I would ever get out.  But then 1 came to my senses or He called me again or He simply called me in 2005. Anyhow, I had been inspired as a young-in-the-faith Christian by the likes of Sheldon's In His Steps.  I loved the evangelistic message and the simplicity of his prose.  In His Steps and other classic Christian novels are beautiful in their simplicity.

                     

#FreeBook -- OLIVE U by David L. Johnston -- Free at Amazon

Free at Amazon Friday, February 13-16.

BLURB

An aging Baptist preacher in small-town Kansas. The members of a band who play contemporary Christian music in Los Angeles. Beyond their love for the Lord Jesus and His people, they have only their struggles with failure and success in common—until tragedy brings them together on Christmas Eve. 

When Paul Knight joins the members of Olive U, the group instantly jumps from local cover band to sought-after opener at concerts across the nation. The problem is Paul may not know the Lord as well as he claims. 

After a tornado of historic proportions rips through Kansas, an elderly Baptist preacher, Ron Best, faces challenges to his doctrinal beliefs and failure after failure in his ministry. But the Holy Spirit keeps pushing him forward. Olive U is the story of how God brings these men together for Christmas Eve on the wind-swept Kansas Plains.

David L. Johnston has been in prison in California for nearly 30 years. He is an elder and assistant pastor (administration) to Dino Cardelli at the Church on the Yard at D Facility, Valley State Prison, outside Chowchilla. He is currently in his fourth year with Harvest Bible University School of Correspondence, Los Angeles, California, where he is studying for his bachelor of ministry degree. OLIVE U is an adaptation of a play Johnston wrote and directed while a prisoner at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison at Corcoran. Johnston is a native of Dallas, Texas, and a veteran of the US Navy. He is 50 years old.

What none of that sales copy tells you is that David Johnston is my cousin. When I was growing up, my grandmother and mother often had family gatherings on Easter and New Year's Eve, and I spent time with David at many of those, watching him hunt Easter eggs, shoot off fireworks, and generally horse around with me and my brothers and the rest of our cousins. He was always a bright, imaginative kid, and it doesn't surprise me a bit that he turned out to be a writer.

Bad choices landed David behind bars early in life, but he's been able to overcome that to change his life and become one of the leading figures in California's prison ministry. Now he's written an excellent novel in OLIVE U that's not only an inspirational story of people changing their lives with the Lord's help, but also a fine tale of the music business and its challenges and opportunities.

Prayers and Promises Publications published OLIVE U to help David share his vision with the world and also because it's a compelling, vividly written novel with a great story. OLIVE U is free for the next four days on Amazon and could really use some reviews. If you're a reader of inspirational fiction, please help us get the word out about this outstanding novel.