u/JohnLynchAuthor

---doesn't that tell us something about God?

WARNING: This is a self-promo. I wrote this book.https://mybook.to/BZ3HJ

Darkness Comes unravels the tumultuous life of Ted Bailey, a 73-year-old man with a criminal past who, after suffering a heart attack, finds himself in an out-of-body experience facing a trial for his immortal soul. In an earthly courtroom that somehow feels supernatural, Ted confronts his past deeds through the testimonies of key figures from his life, many of them long dead, offering a unique exploration of redemption, the nature of the divine and the complexities of moral judgment in the afterlife. What becomes clear is that, whoever or whatever God may be, He/She/They/It is/are nothing like the gods humans have created for themselves over the millennia. And divine justice does not work in the way we imagine.
Darkness Comes is an intriguing supernatural thriller. If you like flawed protagonists, thought-provoking storylines, and unique takes on age-old figures, John Lynch’s riveting tale is for you.

I posted two days ago about how I’d become an indie after being traditionally published since 1989 when my publisher sold up. The publisher I was talking about was Robert Hale Ltd and the other of the two books that I first published as an indie was A Just and Upright Man, Book 1 in the James Blakiston series set in the north-east of England and the American colonies in the 1760s and right up to American independence. Robert Hale had already bought A Just and Upright Man, which they had described as “a wonderful book,” and I’d had the first third of the advance – but then Robert Hale was taken over by a company who wanted nothing to do with fiction. They told me I had to reduce A Just and Upright Man from 85,000 words to 50,000. Naturally, I wasn’t going to do that and I’m sure they didn’t expect me to – what they wanted was to get rid of all Robert Hale’s fiction authors. Like other writers, I’d been concerned about the experience of Timothy Mo, a great writer who’d got into a battle with his publisher, decided to go it alone and found the whole bookselling industry ranged against him. But in 2013, indie publishing wasn’t like that anymore and A Just and Upright Man did okay, thank you very much. I write historical fiction about people at the bottom of the social pile: farm labourers, miners, domestic servants. The people most of us are descended from. If you like the sound of that, give the series a try.

Hi. I'm new to this group; to introduce myself, I was first published in 1989 and I didn't go Indie till 2013 when the publisher who had just accepted my latest went out of business. I'm in the UK; I've lived and worked all over the place including the Caribbean, the US and Africa, but now I'm back where I started. Zappa's Mam's a Slapper is one of the two books I published when I went indie; there have been quite a few more but this one is dear to me and it's the one I'd like to start with. Innocent but imprisoned at the age of fourteen for the murder of his stepfather doesn't make Billy McErlane’s life easy. Nor does having a harlot for a mother. But when he is reunited with his childhood sweetheart, peace enters Billy's heart. Then fate deals a wrecking blow and Billy can see only one way out. The last thing he needs is Dillon, a four-year-old with a background as unpromising as his – but what chance will Dillon have if Billy jumps? A bittersweet story of love, loss and one young man's refusal to accept the bum deal life offers.