Darlene's Book Nook: Spotlight Saturday: Guest Post and Giveaway with Paul Rimmasch, author of The Lost Stones

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Spotlight Saturday: Guest Post and Giveaway with Paul Rimmasch, author of The Lost Stones

Hi, everyone!

Welcome to another edition of Spotlight Saturday at Darlene's Book Nook, where we feature authors and their books!

We will be joined today by Paul Rimmasch.

About Paul:

Paul Rimmasch was born and reared in the Salt Lake Valley. He graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor of Science in Criminalistics and a minor in Photography. Paul has spent the last fourteen years working as a Crime Scene Investigator for Weber-Metro CSI and is active in Forensic Science education and Law Enforcement training. He lives in Ogden Utah with his wife and three children and is an avid hiker and gardener.

Paul had parlayed a life long interest in Book of Mormon Archaeology and LDS Church History into this, his first novel.

CONNECT ONLINE WITH PAUL:

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Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, Paul!

Paul has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to him!

Proof versus Faith

by Paul Rimmasch

In my novel The Lost Stones, the main character, Ammon Rogers, is facing a dilemma many of us face in our lives. You see, he is trying to develop faith but is trying to do it by amassing proof first. As the story goes on, Ammon eventually learns that it doesn’t work that way. Faith comes from letting go and trusting in something greater than yourself and not by clearing away obstacles bit by bit, like solving a mathematics equation. Faith is an action word. He also learns that, ultimately, faith is stronger than proof because it emanates from the heart and not from the head. Saints would die for their beliefs long before a scientist would.

This is an important lesson for all of us to consider whether we are religious or not. Many times the thing we need the most faith in is ourselves. This is especially true when it come to writing.

Since The Lost Stones was published, I have had so many people confide in me that they would love to write a book but don’t think they could pull it off. Others have said that they have written a book but they haven’t done anything with the manuscript. I firmly believe that all of these people lack faith in themselves and are waiting for some sign from above that will tell them that it is ok to proceed with their plans. Maybe, they think, the ghost of Charles Dickens will come down and bop them on the head with an original manuscript of A Christmas Carol or something like that. I don’t know.

There is no way to prove in advance that you can achieve your goal to write or be published. You just have to let go of your fear and doubt, and go for it! Are you going to be rejected? Most likely. I don’t know an author personally or by reputation who doesn’t have a few rejection letters to their name. Many of them wear them like badges of honor. It didn’t stop them. Don’t let it stop you.

So, in the end, the advice I always give to people is to hang in there and don’t give up on your dreams and goals. Maybe it will happen and maybe it won’t, but all of us, like Ammon in The Lost Stones, need to discover that first comes the faith, then comes the proof.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Paul!

One lucky winner will win a paperback copy of Paul's debut novel, The Lost Stones!

1600s Mexico- The Aztec Prince Ixtililxochitl writes that the first people to inhabit his land came from the Tower of Babel at the dividing of tongues…Scholars dismiss his writings as myth.
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1800s Mid Western United States- Settlers dig into ancient burial mounds and discover thousands of slate tablets covered with a strange hieroglyphic writing and drawings depicting Jesus Christ…these artifacts are denounced as a hoax.
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1909 Arizona-a newspaper runs a story describing how a cave containing metal artifacts and Egyptian-type hieroglyphics was discovered in the Grand Canyon by a group of Scientists from the Smithsonian Institute…the Smithsonian categorically denies the account.
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These and other amazing facts make up the world of forbidden Book of Mormon Archaeology. It is a world BYU student and Iraqi War veteran Ammon Rogers never knew existed. He is thrust headlong into this world when he asks the enigmatic adventurer John Byrd a simple question. When John is kidnapped in Mexico, Ammon joins forces with John’s beautiful daughter in a desperate attempt to not only save John, but to find his answer…an answer that will change the world…an answer one sinister foe will do anything to suppress.