Some moments come along and your world—your life—changes. Something shifts inside and everything’s the same yet somehow different. Sometimes someone comes into your life and helps you to breathe for the first time, to think with clarity and to give you truth and joy.
Often, we never see it coming. But it also happens when we need it the most and, usually, when we don’t realize we need it.
For Joseph Bailey, life has come to a standstill; existence, living, call it what you will, have stopped moving, stopped flowing, stopped growing. Those he knew while growing up seemed to have gone down the right path, creating a so-called normal life. He’s not sure if he followed.
Spending lonely nights writing comic book scripts and hazy afternoons watching cartoons brings him to his knees, and he needs something—maybe even someone—more. One Friday, while at a coffee shop working on a new comic script, Joseph is interrupted when a quirky girl with long black hair and smooth-as-marble gray eyes sits down across from him, seeking sanctuary from her controlling boyfriend, Dan.
Her name is April.
All seems under control even when Dan follows her in to the coffee shop, looking to patch things up. At least, that’s what was supposed to have happened. Once Dan leaves, Joseph figures his work is done and April will be on her way, never to be seen again. Instead, she stays, removes her sweater and orders an apple cider. Just then something slips inside Joseph, something good, right and pure.
Their weekend begins.
From a quiet night in an old railway car to seeking the undertones of humanity at the art gallery, to bringing to light the tender commonalities that we as humans share, April is a story of how a simple chance meeting can hold you and protect you, and give you what the human heart is continuously after—
When Duncan and his son Kyle are arrested for their faith, they are subjected to bloody and horrific torture that brings them to sanity’s edge and death’s door.
Physically broken and emotionally spent, the real threat is if they will finally break spiritually.
His eyes removed by his tormentors, Duncan is blind, and it’s only when he asks God to see again is it revealed to him what is really going on beyond the natural realm.
Amidst all the blood, the pain, and the hissing of demons, will Duncan break, or will he prove that Jesus is Undeniable?
Recommended for fans of Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker.
Look, Up on the Screen! The Big Book of Superhero Movie Reviews
Superheroes have invaded film more in the past decade and a half than they have in their entire history. From major blockbusters like Man of Steel and The Dark Knight Trilogy, to DC Entertainment’s line of fantastic direct-to-video animated films, to other super-flicks like The Incredibles, superheroes are enjoying a major resurgence in popular culture and fans have now entered a golden era of superhero cinema.
Lifelong superhero fan and author A.P. Fuchs has made it his mission to see every superhero movie that’s been brought to screen. Collected here are his first one hundred reviews, covering the major blockbusters of today to the lesser-known super flicks of yesterday along with everything in between.
Reviewing such classics as the original Christopher Reeve Superman films to the jaw-dropping Marvel Phase One series that include Iron Man 1 and 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, to the movies that arguably started the current age of superhero cinema: The X-Men franchise, he’s got this amazing genre covered. Also included are a multitude of animated features, superhero movies that didn’t quite hit at the box office, pulp heroes and more.
Look, Up on the Screen! is a collection of reviews for the serious superhero filmgoer from a diehard fan who’s seen nearly all of what the superhero motion picture field has to offer. Whether your theatre is at the cineplex or in your own home, this is one collection that’s a must-add to your bookshelf of behind-the-scenes goodies, movie guides, superhero film novelizations and graphic novels.
First Night Out (The Axiom-man Saga, Episode No. 0)
The messenger has fled, leaving Gabriel alone with mysterious abilities he knows little about.
The things he can do, the powers–the options are limitless.
But only if he knows how to use them.
As he embarks on the path of discovery, Gabriel must try to understand why he was chosen to receive the most powerful of all gifts and, with the help from no other, come to a decision as to what to do with them.
Even if it takes the death of an innocent to convince him.
Welcome to First Night Out (The Axiom-man Saga, Episode No. 0).
If only relationships were simple. While debating whether to reveal his secret identity to Valerie, Gabriel’s personal plans are put on hold when darkness descends upon the city, each building, street and alley covered in a strange black cloud akin to those from the Doorway of Darkness. Only these clouds didn’t descend from the sky. They came from a mysterious shadowy being known as Bleaken.
With the city under the tyrant’s control, pandemonium ensues and violence erupts on the streets. Screams, gunshots and sirens fill the air; fires are lit, blood is shed and people begin to die.
Axiom-man must navigate the darkness and put an end to Bleaken’s reign of terror before the entire city is destroyed under a veil of black clouds and violence.
Meanwhile, having grown closer as friends, Valerie races into the dark, trying to find Gabriel to make sure he’s safe, only to succumb to a band of madmen on the way that take her down a tunnel of torture and despair that threatens her sanity and soul. If she doesn’t escape, her fate will be sealed and she will meet an end worse than death.
With all hope lost and the city covered in a sea of black clouds, Axiom-man must learn what it takes to truly shine as a light in a dismal place and stand strong against the tides of darkness emanating from all sides.
Underground Crusade (The Axiom-man Saga, Episode No. 2)
After exploring the city’s underground in order to get a better feel for the criminal fraternity, Gabriel—under the guise of “Mike”—meets a young woman—Katie—who is more than what she seems. What first starts out as a night of mere surveillance and intelligence-gathering soon forces Gabriel to re-examine his approach to crime fighting, discover his strengths and shortcomings, all while trying to keep up with Katie, who is bent on seeing through her own private crusade.
With danger lurking at every turn and Gabriel being forced to keep his identity—and abilities—as Axiom-man a secret, he soon discovers he isn’t the only one hiding something. There are other players at work in the city, those who would soon misuse a secret weapon for their own purposes.
As the clock ticks down and the violence escalates, Gabriel must try and recover the weapon while also keeping Katie safe.
The city is under siege and people are dying. Brutal murders are being conducted from the shadows, with always one survivor deliberately left to tell the tale.
And all are saying the same thing: Axiom-man has gone rogue.
Now wanted by the law, Axiom-man must find out who is masquerading as him and destroying the reputation and trust he has strived so hard to build, while at the same time flying beneath the radar in a city where everyone is looking for him.
Soon the city is locked down and death stalks Axiom-man at every turn as the Special Force Unit and the Winnipeg Police try and bring him to justice while he fights to clear his name against an enemy who will stop at nothing to destroy him.
Canadian Scribbler: Collected Letters of an Underground Writer
Bringing together letters from 2005 – 2013, Canadian Scribbler: Collected Letters of an Underground Writer is a look into the world of independent publisher, author, editor and cartoonist, A.P. Fuchs.
Topics include: self-publishing tips and tricks, writing advice, the C4 Lit Fest short story critiques, Fuchs’s superhero epic The Axiom-man Saga, book reviews and commentary, the Second Coming, thoughts on the comic book market, the gray areas of modern day society, and much more.
Includes letters to such literary notables as Stephen King, Dave Sim, George Clayton Johnson, Piers Anthony, Brian Michael Bendis, Kevin J. Anderson and many others.
Always insightful, often witty and consistently inspirational, Canadian Scribbler: Collected Letters of an Underground Writer is a thoughtful collection of letters from one man whose passion for the creative industry—and trying to survive in it—shines through on every page.
