New Releases by Mark Henry Miller

River Runs Through Me is more than fishing experiences. It offers the realities Mark faced in walking the human landscape.Yes, there are fishing moments, when a tree stump and not a fish was hooked, when the leader pinged and the fish flipped its middle fin before swimming away, when he lost the net into Tillamook Bay?In his journey, metaphorically, Mark describes the full reality of a rose-the beautiful flower, the stem and the thorns. Life cannot be one without the others.In it all, as child, as pitcher of a wicked curve, as university and seminary student, as husband, as father, as minister in local church and judicatory for a denomination, as novelist, Mark shares how life at times reaches up to touch bottom and when life is standing on top of a mountain, personal Rocky Mountain highs.Hopefully his journey, the ups and downs all together, will benefit, so your own steps can dance and not drag.

The title of this novel, Sparkling Waters means nothing. Has no connection with any event in the novel. Truth is I love the title. Came from one of my dearest friends, Art Johnson in San Marcos, Texas. He read a blog in which I talked about fishing on the Sol Duc River out of Forks, Washington, even included the novel cover picture. Art, on his own, which is who he is, always learning and sharing, looked up SOL DUC and learned it means, SPARKLING WATERS. Wrap it. The title though, has EVERYTHING to do with the tone and full measure of love in the novel. My hero, Tricia Gleason and her husband, Nathan Spark walk a sharp learning curve for their infant child, Caleb Yale Gleason Spark. The Yale is the last name of their mentor and dear, dear friend Creighton Yale, known for his wit and cynicism. At times, hes nasty. He asked if Nathan and Tricia would call their son, Yale. For after all, Creighton baptized this lovely and armless child. Tricia smiled and gave it her best Creighton jab, Why yes, we call him Yale when hes fussy and uncooperative! Creighton smiled, sort of. The novel brims over with sparkle, the content has a tone and attitude that refuses to spell wine with an h. Sure, there are shadows and unanswered questions abounding. The main one is would Tamisha, godmother of Caleb, ever find her identical twin, Tanisha, whom she didnt know even existed. And would Nathan stay in ministry? The warmth and caring. almost each chapter, until the final three chapters, bring value and humor and up for almost everyone, even the reader. One reader who wanted to be the first to read, Sparkling Waters, said, Dont let anyone read the last three chapters first. When I finished this 8th Tricia Gleason novel, I laughed harder than I could measure. The ending? What a surprise. A yikes surprise.

A clergy retreat is purposed by good intentions, not a time to tell lies on how well it goes. The exception to that is a retired minister, whose first name is not coincidentally Donald. He shouts down Oregons Interim Conference Minister Nathan Spark and makes it clear that you are rubbish to be dumped in a bin and left. There is not room for both of us on this earth! At which point, he stomps from the room. Nathan learns the rubbish remark isnt new. His predecessor, the irrepressible Creighton Yale, heard the same rant. So Nathan decides its better to see about catching Redside trout out of the Deschutes River near Maupin, Oregon. As he casts, someone walks up to him and holds a fly rod but wears no wading boots. They say the normal greetings. The last thing Nathan remembers is watching Madame Xs fly floating the surface. When he awakens, he cant see, and his hands and feet are bound. It doesnt take long to become rubbish. It was almost a week without water or food, and he was covered in slime from his excretions. Would help arrive in a cabin with no light? When help arrives, dehydration is in control. The battle between living and death is neither academic nor metaphorical. Shit is shit. Months later, no longer reeking with the bad odor, he and his new wife, Tricia Gleason, share with Tricias congregation in Tillamook, Oregon, that they are pregnant. The joy lasts until the fifth month, when a sonogram reveals their infant-to-be-born has no arms. What to do? When they share with their congregation, one member stomps out about the disgrace of having an armless baby. She tirades, God must be really furious with you. What have you done? You must be really bad! Apprehending the culprit who put Nathan in the cabin takes time. The most pressing matter is clear: having a baby with no arms. What should they do? Read on.

Tricia Gleason rarely finds a situation where her hats remain in the closet. Yes, she could choose. Always her choice. She balks when anyone pushes her with a should-upon list. She gives new meaning to staying in the closet. Has nothing to do with sexual orientation; everything to do with function. A preacher? Yes. A fishing guide? Yes. A detective solving homicides initially considered suicides? Unfortunately, yes. But a new hat to wear? Not on her head, but in her heart. A hat for falling in love. No, nothing about falling and everything about jumping. Complications, she knew, are never avoided. She starts a new church ministry in Tillamook. The previous minister committed suicide. She doesnt think so. The church secretary disappears the week before Tricia gives her first sermon. A librarian defends against a self-pleasing minister before he grabs her. Not fake news. #METOO very real. The romance/love hat is worn, but the closet empties of hats for preaching and fishing and detective sleuthing. She laughs about being a 3-hat person. The laughter stops when the revolver is pressed to her forehead. She isnt ready to not preach her second sermon, not take her lover fishingand other activities. But then she believes she doesnt have a choiceher tears wont stop a bullet

The Lemon Drop Didnt Melt A Tricia Gleason Novel Mark Henry Miller Tricia Gleason, about to start a new ministry in Snoqualmie, Washington, knows that good ministry includes preaching that doesnt cure insomnia, a caring presence with members especially when they hurt, and helping people grow in their beliefs. She takes a good first step toward each of these goals. She comforts a woman abused in marriage, she consoles an engineer whose boss demeans her, and her first sermon was the topic at the Snoqualmie Coffee Shop. What she didnt know made a difference and it was not for the good. She didnt know that every confidential conversation was not private. She didnt know the unseen listener wrote notes of the confidences and shared them in the church and with the neighbors. Trust was replaced by betrayal. Affirmation became rejection. A church member at worship one Sunday shouted at Tricia for being untrustworthy. Two days later the irate member was shot dead. The revolver was found in Tricias closet. Tricia is charged with murder, and the future is bleak. Her shadowed menace is delighted how he has orchestrated the charges and triggered doubt and mistrust everywhere. Homicide charges push her to the end of her rope. She tries to hang onbut may not make it.

Randall Foster prefers to preach sermons, teach classes, raise funds, recruit members and make sure he visits church members before their surgery. Wants to be known for that, if anything a caring minister you can trust. Dreamer. Alas, if anything can go wrongit does. Not a short list of the wrong goingsexual misconduct chargesdivorce...congregational meeting to throw him outdouble-homicide indictment when a church member is found slumped dead in churchs front sanctuary pew. Didnt help the woman, four months pregnant, is his misconduct accuser and a noosed rope around her neck is from his pulpit robe. He has to reach up to touch bottom. Then the surprises begin. Not everyone is against him. Some figure shadows are evidence of light somewhere. He is sinkingfast. But not all is lost. An irascible secretarya dont let them get you church membera new fishing guideand a salmon-stalking sea lion make for the most unpredictable sliver of hope. Hell take it. Sinking? Yep. Drown? Not sure.

Easy Street, USA. Tricia Gleason figures it originated in Frisco, Colorado. No fuss, no sweat, no worry: the combination for a smooth summer. All set to be a summer intern minister following her first seminary year, she would not be challenged as she was to read Sunday worship scripture, teach church youth to fly-cast and visit hospitals when asked. That changed with one sentence, "Tricia, forgot to tell you, but my wife and I are leaving Frisco for the summer; you''re in charge." She could only stare. You can''t be serious. The minister was. Before she could think or count to ten Tricia is THE SUMMER MINISTER IN FRISCO, COLORADO...to preach each Sunday, to coordinate all church activities and handle any "surprise events." She wonders if she and her fly rod will ever have a relationship. The surprises are like fire-crackers exploding. Happens fast...a church college student is arrested for armed robbery of a 7/11, is harassed at his university and then disappears. A couple in the church are found, deader than dead according to the county sheriff. Figures it is murder/suicide. Church members rant Tricia only works three hours a week on Sunday mornings—can never find her during the week. The minister comes back earlier than he said, but not to take over. Comes back to defend sexual misconduct charges. And, as Tricia learns, that isn''t even a glimpse into other "ways of ministry." The county sheriff and detective ask her help. They know she has solved murders before. She''d rather put on a fishing hat but it doesn''t happen enough. Soon discovers no suicide but a double-murder. Tricia has hunches but they are a cul-de-sac, leading in circles. When the who murdered this couple is learned, down deep Tricia isn''t sure. And then, the one arrested states, "Do you think I did this by myself? Well, folks, guess again." Tricia thought it was musing about another. She was wrong. So wrong. And, in it all she never finds Easy Street in Frisco, Colorado.

For the last year Tricia Gleason shifted back and forth from fishing guide on Tillamook Bay to homicide detective. In the latter role she fished for clues to solve two murders. To celebrate the new day Tricia makes the decision to leave her fishing and detective roles. And, to the voice of her heart, sets the goal to become a minister. Puts her detective hat and her fishing waders in the closet. Closes the door. Hope? To attend classes at Ocean Divinity School in Berkeley, California and learn about the Bible. Hope? To be a good seminary Field Work student at a Palo Alto Community Congregational Church. Hope? To be effective in leading a college church group of Stanford students. But then. Her first night a troubled Stanford student wants to share personal problems. Tricia glances at her watch, the student reads her dismissing body language and leaves. Tricia doesnt see her againuntil she is in the morgue. When the casket closes on this coed Tricias closet door opens. At first she doesnt know the murderer is in her midst, closer than bad breath. On goes the detective hat. Tricia learns she is dealing with more than two women, only distinguished by reddish-orange hair and neon-blue hair. Tricia surmises there is a third person, a primary identity. And then she knew: the murderer actually is someone whose public persona is rational and impressive. This person wears a mask of sanity, hiding the blue and red haired impersonations. As Tricia moves in there is only one problemshe has the wrong sane person in her sights. Would the mask of sanity ever be ripped off?

Blogs. Here and there and everywhere. Yet. Mark Millers Voice of my Heart, blogs hes written since October of 2010, are timeless. Yes, they are truths written on certain dates, but not in any instance or word contained or controlled by the calendar. He takes the common and brings new understanding, provocative thought and more than once in a while, a smile. But, down deep his reflections are neither shallow nor mirthful. Through this book Mark touches each of us with grace and encouragement. And when we least expect it, our souls are touched, hearts quickened and the new day more than abundant in hopeful expectancy. Mark prompts the possibilities of living more fully; its our chance to birth it.

Tricia Gleason buried her career as a homicide detective. As a fishing guide on Tillamook Bay and the rivers around Tillamook, Oregon, her world now consists of trolling cut-plugged herring in the fall for Chinook salmon and bouncing eggs in the winter in the Trask and Wilson Rivers for steelhead. She wanted to leave her previous life behind forever, and on the waters of Tillamook Bay, she seemed to have done just that. Everything changed with a rifle shot. A minister is murdered while fishing on Tillamook Bay. His murder is followed closely by the death of Tricia''s best friend and fellow fishing guide at the hands of a merciless killer. The main suspect pleads his innocence. Laying down her rod, she puts her boat in the garage, and begins her own sleuthing - can she solve the crime before the killer silences her forever?

What others find in CAST YOUR NETS It is said that a good sermon is delivered with the Bible in one hand and the daily newspaper in the other. Mark Miller adds a fishing rod to the mix, salting his wise reflections on ministry, faith, and life with insights that can only come while patiently waiting for the elusive yet exciting tug of the Spirit or a sockeye. John Thomas, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ Mark Henry Miller notices little things that the rest of us often miss: the person in the corner who doesn''t go along with what others see as a consensus, the surprising kind act by the contentious opponent, the fish swimming upstream. And he thinks about what he has noticed and shares what he has learned. He shows us how to reflect in the midst of practice, which is essential to effective ministry. William McKinney--President, Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, CA Mark writes with wit, humor, and grace. His insights will stay with you long after the reading is done. --Jim Thayer, novelist and professor Short, pithy, inspirational stories for everyday ministry--a good source for daily devotional material, provocative meeting openers or sermon illustrations. Each epistle has an easily grasped point that touches a deep spiritual issue or practice of both ministry and everyday life lived with intentional faithfulness. Paul Forman, United Church of Christ Minister Mark Henry Miller''s always insightful, sometimes whimsical pastoral epistles are a delight and a challenge to read - challenging our everyday way of seeing things and letting us glimpse a bit of what might be if we only have eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to love. Joanne Carlson Brown, Methodist Minister