Changing Planes [Large Print] [Paperback]

Laurie J. Brenner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2008

Madison Reeves ran from a dark secret she's kept hidden for more than 10 years. She's buried it so deep--she's forgotten it herself. But when her plane lands in a world hung between Heaven and Hell--she can no longer run. Thus begins Madison's journey into a world beyond our own and into the secret depths of her heart.
 
A young, hip urban professional with a good job and quiet life, Madison Reeves lives alone and without a man in her life, decides to get away from it all. But when her plane passes through a series of mysterious lights in the sky, odd things happen on the plane and a little girl who calls her "mommy," magically materializes and starts talking to Madison.
 
When her plane lands, Madison is greeted by her long-dead grandfather at the airport terminal. It is here she finally realizes that something is going on. After checking in for her stay on the other side of the curtain, her grandfather takes her on a journey through this world. She travels the edge between Heaven and Hell and takes lessons from her fellow passenger's experiences in this other-worldy place.
 
She discovers that she must face what she has long kept hidden from herself and those she loves--can she do it and will she ever learn to forgive herself? Journey with Madison as she learns that you can run, but you can never hide from what is deep inside.
 
"The young, tenacious VP of a high-end department store, Madison Reeves seems set on a steady, rather predictable path...little does she know, though, her life will soon take quite the unexpected trajectory...as a series of strange occurrences begins to unfold, Madison is ultimately faced with two fateful choices: continue living a life of limited returns, or open her mind and spirit up to a transformative new reality..." Apex Reviews

"What would you do differently? is a question so often asked of people. "Changing Planes: A Metaphysical Fiction" is an exploration of many metaphysical concepts through fiction. Author Laurie J. Brenner uses her story to offer many profound ideas and will give readers much entertainment with their enlightenment. "Changing Planes" is a top pick for the spiritual fiction reader."  Midwest Book Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Changing Planes" is an exploration of many metaphysical concepts through fiction. Author Laurie J. Brenner uses her story to offer many profound ideas and will give readers much entertainment with their enlightenment. "Changing Planes" is a top pick for the spiritual fiction reader. Midwest Book Reviews

FIRST PLACE FINALIST 2009 National "Best Books" Awards - USA Best Books: New Age Fiction

"...A profoundly enlightening tale with quite the surprising ending, Changing Planes is a sobering reminder of the underlying spiritual undercurrents that guide us all through life. A highly rewarding read...." Apex Reviews

...A movie your HEART reads..." John Doyle, former WSB-TV & WAGA-TV Georgia weatherman.

From the Author

I'll be the first to admit that I'm no literary genius. But what I am is a storyteller. I believe in the power of story to touch and change lives--in a way that is personal and interpretive by the reader. It is not my job to tell you what to feel or believe, but hopefully, I can help you find out what you feel and believe.

Like Joseph Campbell, I believe in following my bliss when I share my stories.  I love myth, I love symbology and enjoy these things can and do have different meanings to each and every one of us.

Everything starts with self-love.  Without the ability to love and forgive yourself deeply and completely, you walk through life crippled from within unable to see the beauty that life truly holds. What we often think of self-love, is actually its opposite. From my experience as a human being, a writer and an author, I have come across too many people in the world who simply don't believe "they're good enough."

Without self-love we struggle and look to the outside of us for some kind of fulfillment that never comes. We may experience a temporary filling, but it never lasts. In my world, life teems with possibilities if we but learn to love and forgive ourselves first.

Writing Changing Planes was a big deal for me--because I had to face my own internal fears of deep criticism from those who say they follow Jesus and what He stands for, but don't--because if they did they would never hurl a hateful insult to another human being again.  Christianity, unfortunately, has gone the way of many religions of late--finding a need to make everyone fit into the same box and pigeon hole and condemning those to hell who don't.  That is not the God that I know. The God of a Old Testament was a vengeful God. But the God Jesus brought to the world was not. Jesus taught two laws: Love God and Love Your Neighbor As Yourself. In that part about "Loving God" is you -- for God dwells in every man, regardless of their faith, their religion, their creed or deeds. Too much hatred abounds here--and it's killing everything.

We are here to live and love. We are here to share this love with others.

And that love--is completely unconditional or it is not love.

So I took a subject that is at the heart of many battles, even though I feared to do so, and I put it into a story that depicts a world that I know to be real. You don't have to believe like I do, because frankly, I don't need to make you like me for me to accept you for who you are.

So the theme of Changing Planes is self-love and forgiveness, wrapped in a story that is sure to raise the ire of those not enlightened enough to understand the true nature of unconditional love.

With that--I offer you this story and hope that you experience your own "Changing Planes."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace; 1st edition (November 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1438232993
• ISBN-13: 978-1438232997
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,956,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Fiction > Visionary Fiction

More About the Author

At one time a wild and willowy California girl, Laurie J. Brenner was born in San Diego in the early fifties where she spent the first twenty-seven years of her life, living in its east county, at the beaches, in the mountains or the Anza-Borrego desert.

Born with a pen in one hand and a wrench in the other, Laurie loves to write and fix things. At a very young age, she began taking apart kitchen appliances, repairing them and putting them back together. Also an artist, her artistic talents led her to design her dream home, Wildwind, which she and her husband completed themselves in 2003. This land yacht rides the winds astride the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California over the hill from Lake Tahoe on ten acres sliced right from heaven.

Laurie is intimately familiar with spiritual principles and practices as she has been on her spiritual journey for well over thirty years. She's employed spiritual techniques to manifest her soul-mate, her dream house and many other wonderful things in her life.

An avid writer, Laurie's busy at work on several projects writing from her third story office. She helps out her husband on weekend projects (mostly to get the exercise) or soaks in the untamed nature of the Sierra Nevada whenever she can.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A briliant read, October 22, 2010

By 

Alayne Abrahams - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Changing Planes (Paperback)

Laurie is able to take complex metaphysical concepts about space and time and weave a story although fictional, could apply to any and all of us. A must read for anyone exploring their own individual spirituality.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creating Your Heaven, April 18, 2010

By 

D. R. Patrick "Lovestoread" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Changing Planes (Paperback)

First of all, I LOVE the cover image for "Changing Planes." I admit: I'm often truly attracted to a book based on the cover. I'm also attracted to clever titles, and Ms. Brenner nailed it with "Changing Planes." Indeed, she is a clever writer, and has created a story which is simultaneously complex yet simple, appealing to readers from all walks of life.

I immediately identified with the engagingly real main character, Madison. Through Madison and her experience in "Changing Planes," I found myself at times laughing out loud and near tears at other times, though always deep in thought -- without always being aware of it -- as the story pulled me along.

Complex ideas are interwoven throughout the story, yet in a way that leaves you eager to ponder these ideas further rather than more confused than ever, as has often been my experience when reading books delving into spirituality.

I very much enjoyed the writing style of Ms. Brenner; she has a carefree manner of an authentic storyteller which is so rare nowadays. She shares a story but oh so much more in the process. By the time you've finished reading "Changing Planes," she has triggered a desire to write -- or rewrite -- your own life story...on many levels. Highly recommended!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting Visionary Fiction, September 10, 2009

By 

Dyan Garris "voiceoftheangels.com" (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Changing Planes (Paperback)

Laurie Brenner's "Changing Planes" is high quality visionary fiction that everyone will benefit from. An engaging story intertwines with profound wisdom. You find yourself having many Aha Moments. "Madison -- you live in multiple dimensions -- you have multiple selves living right now...if you are unhappy with your life, you have but to change it." It's absolutely brilliant from start to finish. - Dyan Garris, Author of 'Money and Manifesting" and Publisher of "Voice of the [...] Magazine for Multi-Dimensional Living"