Bøger af Bob Perry

Spiritual Renewal: Transforming the Mind offers innovative and fresh perceptions into developing purpose and meaning to your life. These timeless and timely insights into the transformed mind offer unique perspectives about spirituality, success, contentment, ethics, and religion. By learning to think differently and more positively, anyone can achieve more peace of mind, more energy, and have more satisfaction in life. The ability to be spiritually renewed is within you right now! You have the power inside you to transform the mind. The concepts and contents of this book can help show you how. Spiritually centered people are better equipped to adapt and overcome life's challenges. They are more self-assured and more positive. They make better life choices and consistently do the right things. People who know how to rekindle their spirit and inner-strength have the energy to tackle problems, overcome disappointments, and handle success. Transforming the mind to think beyond the constraints of the physical world and toward the promise of a more meaningful existence involves the power of belief, the responsibility to choose, and the opportunity to change. The transformed mind is full of optimism, hope, tolerance, and contentment...because thinking positively is a choice.

Mimosa Lane, a destroyed Georgian plantation, lives only in memory for young Rachel. Three generations of family misfortunes leave the girl in poverty on the hard-luck streets of Tulsa. When Rachel encounters an old, black woman, once enslaved by her grandmother, life teeters on the brink of despair. Forced by her stepfather to marry a crusty, backwoods moonshiner, Rachel escapes a rundown cabin in the isolated hills, but finds escaping her past more challenging. Finding refuge at a seemingly peaceful farm, she meets three brothers--each with the potential to provide Rachel a happiness she thought lost. The conflicts of her past lead Rachel into the real-life drama of the Tulsa race riots of 1921. Set against the backdrop of Tulsa's rise from a rowdy town in Indian Territory to the sophisticated Oil Capital of the World, Rachel learns life-changing influences come from unlikely places, and discovers tomorrow is rooted in today.

Stories from the Heartland is an eclectic compilation of short stories demonstrating that sometimes ordinary people have extraordinary tales to share. Stories include: - Josephine Knew - Grandma's Hatchet - A Confusing End - The Father Road - The Letter - The Sanctuary - Confession of a Salesman - Jack Fuller's Understanding - The Tombstone - Tale of Two Cats - The Woman They Called Mom - A Titanic Destiny - The Book Cover - The Generations - The Preacher - The Bully - The Old Pear Tree - The Diary of Nurse Amber - Kelly's Quest Bob Perry is a novelist and playwright who has authored several historical fiction novels including: The Broken Statue, based on the real-life legacy of oilman E. W. Marland, Mimosa Lane set during the tumultuous rise of Tulsa, Oklahoma from a small settlement to "The Oil Capital of the World", Brothers of the Cross Timber about the Great Railroad Strikes of 1922, Guilt's Echo set in Chandler, Oklahoma about the National Guard's involvement in World War 1, and Return From Wrath about the journey of two women from California to Oklahoma during the Great Depression. Other fictional works include: The Nephilim Code, Lydie's Ghost, For the Greater Good, Abigail's Story, Redemption, and The Beast of Chatsworth. Plays include: The Broken Statue, Working Girls, and A Cross Timber Adventure. He has also written three non-fiction books: Leadership Dynamics, Spiritual Renewal: Transforming the Mind, WOBs: The Wisdom of Bob, and The Great Railroad Strike of 1922: A City in Crisis.

Buried in the red soil of the Oklahoma prairie is a stone statue of a striking young woman broken into a hundred pieces-a broken statue representing shattered lives and crushed dreams. The story of the statue is one of love, greed, power, and lost aspirations. The statue symbolizes what was and what could have been-a tale of a great oil empire betrayed, destroying the lives of the family who built it. The Broken Statue is an intriguing story based on the real-life legacy of the Marland Mansion and the statue still located within its walls. E.W. Marland's spectacular rise to power and the tragic legend of Lydie Marland featured extraordinary characters representing opportunities and opportunities lost during the gilded age of the early oil industry.

Byron Lattimore, a legendary lawman from the Osage Hills of Oklahoma, travels to the English countryside with his oilman friend looking for relaxation and a fresh outlook on life. On their transatlantic ocean crossing the year after Titanic sinks in 1913, they hear a story of a savage and cunning beast terrorizing the Peaks District around the grand Chatsworth house. The beast has killed three-all attacked under a full-moon. An area priest stokes hysteria about a man-beast and possible werewolf, but the focus of the mystery is the enchanting Katherine Headley, her relationship to the victims, and her proximity to the attacks. Some mock Byron's reluctant but practical approach, but he finds help from a boy traveling with him who enthusiastically reads Sherlock Holmes novels while urging Byron to use the master detective's techniques. The western lawman has his own ways and in the end discovers the secret about The Beast of Chatsworth.

The Nephilim, a mystic and ancient order, will go to any length to protect their mysteries and the greatest secret of all-the very knowledge of their existence. Ty Roland, stuck in an unsatisfying and routine job, spends his life avoiding responsibility. Life changes suddenly for Ty when his estranged grandfather dies, leaving him and a forgotten cousin Debbie, an unlikely inheritance-and a mysterious note with a cryptic code they must decipher. As they unravel the mysteries of their grandfather's past, a bazaar world of knowledge, power, and deceit threatens everything they believed to be true while bringing Ty and Debbie dangerously close to the shadowy secrets of the Nephilim.

Life in depression-era California has always been difficult for Raquel. When she must flee her drunken stepfather's abuse, the young woman finds herself without a home or family. Raquel finds new hope with her husband and his family near the oilfield town of Taft, California, as she adjusts to her new life and her pretentious mother-in-law. In the midst of the Great Depression, tragedy strikes the family leaving Raquel and her mother-in-law, Naomi, with few options besides returning to a drought-plagued farm in Oklahoma. Raquel's former hard-luck life in the fields and squatters' camps of California proves valuable as the women struggle to find their way home and adapt to their new realities. On their journey, the two women discover genuine love requires sacrifice, but can be rewarded with uncompromising loyalty and a second chance at happiness.

Fourteen years ago, Espen fled Emporia leaving his sister Abigail behind. Espen has few regrets until his daughter faces a problem that can only be solved by going back. Abigail controls secret information from her family's past to secure a position of power and influence in the city. Abigail, however, has become the very person she once despised and loses the one person she ever trusted, Edmon. Her one-time love now conspires to destroy her. Abigail seems to be in control of everything, but feels she is left with nothing. Espen, Abigail, and Edmon are forced down divergent paths to learn redemption comes from within. Each of them face their own demons, but in the process discover hope has more power than fear. THE WORLD OF EMPORIA Emporia, the greatest city left on earth, is operated by an immense corporation managed by the mysterious Nephilim who saved the technology of the old world and administer the resources of the new one. Life in Emporia is a shining symbol of progress built from the ashes of a ruined world. Emporia values efficiency, influence, and celebrity. The Corporation controlling Emporia is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever present. "For the Greater Good" is the city's motto, but the incredible splendor of Emporia comes with a price that all of its citizens must pay.

The Great Railroad Strike of 1922 became the fifth biggest labor strike in the nation's history. United States Attorney General at the time, Harry Daugherty said, "Agitation of railroad strikers at Shawnee is at as high a pitch as any point in the United States." Shawnee, Oklahoma became the epicenter in the battle between workers and railroad management. Between July 1, 1922 and January 16, 1923, the town saw massive meetings and demonstrations, shootings on the streets, the invasion of over a hundred deputy marshals, robberies of strikebreakers, and six explosions caused by dynamite within the city limits. By the end of March 1923, twenty-five men had been arrested related to the violence. One of the young men arrested in the strike, James Overstreet would become a notorious bank robber credited with over 15 bank robberies, including one in his hometown of Shawnee, Oklahoma. This book surveys newspaper articles from the Shawnee Morning News, The Daily Oklahoman, the New York Times, the Associated Press, and other periodicals between July 1, 1922 and December 31, 1924.

Abigail believes her life ruined when she is violently kidnapped and taken to the city of Emporia. However, when she arrives in the great city, Abigail learns that secrets from her past put her in a position of celebrity in the magnificent city. The luxuries and comforts of Emporia exceed anything she could imagine. While unraveling the intrigue and mystery of this place, Abigail begins to hope for a better future. To survive and protect the people she loves, Abigail sacrifices what she is to become the very thing she despises. Her greatest fear is losing herself in the process. Abigail's Story, is a paraquel-a story with the same timeframe and plot but from a different point of view-to For the Greater Good. This perspective shows the trials Abigail faces outside the bloody spectacle called the Corporate Challenge. THE WORLD OF EMPORIA Emporia, the greatest city left on earth, is operated by an immense corporation managed by the mysterious Nephilim who saved the technology of the old world and administer the resources of the new one. Life in Emporia is a shining symbol of progress built from the ashes of a ruined world. Emporia values efficiency, influence, and celebrity. The Corporation that runs Emporia is all-knowing, all-powerful, and always present. Emporia's motto is "For the Greater Good," but the incredible splendor of the city comes with a price that all of its citizens must pay.

Some men are born brothers; others become brothers through experiences. Arty, Lance, and Gill share a bond that seems unbreakable until tested by their competition for the attention of Gwendolyn Peaudane-a woman of charm and beauty, but with secrets that will challenge their camaraderie. Their boyhood adventures soon turn into adult challenges as each tries to find his way. The three boys forge their friendship in the Cross Timber, an ancient forest separating the vast plains of western Oklahoma from the wooded hills of the east. The thick woodland was described by Washington Irving as "The Cast Iron Forest" because it was so difficult to traverse. Indians native to the plains called it "The Emerald Wall." The rugged country became an ideal place for bootleggers to hide and illegal speakeasies to operate. Set against the backdrop of the battle for the county seat of Pottawatomie County and the Great Railroad Strike of 1922, Brothers of the Cross Timber shows the challenges of migration from the farm to the city. As the "brothers" find their place in a changing and uncertain world, they learn trust is the enduring element to friendship. Bob Perry, author of The Broken Statue, Mimosa Lane, Guilt's Echo, The Nephilim Code, and Lydie's Ghost captures the rugged and unique characters that fueled the explosive growth in Oklahoma during the early 1920's. A lifetime Oklahoman, Bob has experienced the eclectic nature of the people making Oklahoma a distinctive and interesting melting pot of cultures and personalities.

Samantha Harvey lives on the outskirts of town and feels as if she exists on the fringe of everything else. Whispers about "That Harvey Girl" from strangers she has never met are impossible to ignore, and remind Samantha that something about her is different. Walking past the prestigious homes on Silk Stocking Row each day, Samantha wonders what life is like in the part of town where whispers do not matter. When Samantha meets an officer in the National Guard, he promises her happiness and security she has not known since the death of her mother, but the young man's prominent family disapproves of her for reasons she does not understand. Her family's secrets threaten to take away any happiness she hoped to have. When her fiancé goes to the Great War in Europe, Samantha knows her chances for happiness are bleak. Guilt's Echo describes American innocence before The Great War in Europe, as the nation transforms into complex modern life. Changing ethics, flawed morals, and human selfishness conflict with time-honored virtues to cause the characters to yearn for a nostalgic past that no longer exist for them.

Jordan Bennett's life rages with uncertainty when her mother and brother move to the small house on 13th Street. The twelve-year-old girl does not understand her life and everything she once trusted seems to be slipping away. When Jordan goes to find her brother at an ominous old mansion a few blocks away from their house, Jordan meets a mysterious old woman named Lydie with secrets of her own. Lydie tells Jordan extraordinary stories about the mansion's past, but the young girl wants to know more about the mysteries behind the now vacant mansion, and the secretive woman. As Jordan struggles to determine what is real and imagined, she learns things-and people-are not always what they seem. She discovers friends can come from the most unlikely places to make anyplace home.

"Cross Timber Adventures" is a play with a cast of eight and a run time of approximately 90 minutes. Arty, Lance, and Gill are friends who are closer than brothers. The three boys find adventure in their own backyard as they search for hidden treasure, attempt to impress local sweetheart Gwen Peaudane, and try to keep out of the way of Leland Holiday-the town's marshal and part-time bootlegger. "Cross Timer Adventures" is based on characters from the novel "Brothers of the Cross Timber" set in rural Oklahoma in the years preceding World War I.

Leadership Dynamics presents innovative methods of looking at driving forces and controlling forces to examine complex interpersonal interactions. Leadership Dynamics presents practical and effective lesson on dealing with difficult people, building influence, managing strategic planning, improving group communication, resolving conflicts, focusing on customer service, implementing change in an organization, creating vision, and establishing purpose for a group. Leadership Dynamics is divided into four modules: Creating Vision and Influence, Transforming Ideas into Results, Solving Problems While Managing Change, and Dealing with Difficult People. Each of the 16 chapters can be taken as independent lessons making Leadership Dynamics a valuable tool to address many team building issues.