PETER MESSMORE IS A RETIRED ACADEMIC. HE HAS PUBLISHED TEN FICTIONAL NOVELS AND A PAPERBACK BOOK OF POETRY WITH AMAZON. SEE A SUMMARY OF EACH OF THEM BELOW. PHILIP & OLYMPIAS: A NOVEL OF ANCIENT MACEDON Philip and Olympias were the parents of Alexander the Great. Now, for the first time, two historical novels chronicle the family's outrageous lives. Meticulously researched for ten years, Peter Messmore prepared for both books with historic site visits in Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, and Egypt. Philip II of Macedon was the architect of the world's first nation state. During his reign, he rose from barbaric obscurity to preeminence in the Greek world. Athenians feared and hated him; yet they eventually came under his domination. He was the only obstacle that stood between imperialistic Persia and the Greek mainland. Philip and Olympias tells the near three-decade story of how Philip rose to power and changed the course of western civilization. Coarse and crude, he deserved the title of Macedonian barbarian. Yet, this intelligent, courageous, and sexually shocking conqueror predominated. His third wife, the beautiful and vindictive Olympias, became his only unconquerable enemy. Here too, are some of history's greatest figures. Philip and Olympias' son, Alexander, is born and comes of age in the stormy Macedonian royal court. Philip's antagonist, Demosthenes, devotes his life to halting the demise of Athenian democracy. Persian Great King Artaxerxes Ochus prepares to invade and dominate all of Macedonia and Greece. The not-yet-great philosopher, Aristotle, becomes Alexander's tutor and attempts to bring civilization to the Macedonian royal family. Alexander becomes monarch after Philip's assassination in Alexander the King and starts an epic journey of conquest. Philip and Olympias will become available as an Amazon/Kindle book in the fall of 2013. ALEXANDER THE KING This novel describes Alexander's rise to the kingship of Macedon and his epic campaigns of conquest. He becomes his own worst enemy and dies an early death, regretting that he has no new worlds to conquer. (Edited and updated February 2020). Peter often lectures on cruise ships around the world speaking about his two historical fiction novels. PETER MESSMORE'S 1ST KINDLE BOOK: EMERGIA: A CHRONICLE OF THE FUTURE. IT IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PAPERBACK. The year is 2041 in America. The nation is hopelessly split with disunity and political rancor. Dangerous, self-centered individuals seek to dominate the national scene. Then mystical and cataclysmic events enter the lives of troubled Americans. Despite heroic efforts by a few patriots to save the nation, America continues its course toward oblivion. Emergia is a harrowing examination of a nation and world on the brink 1. Philip & Olympias: A Novel of Ancient Macedon (See above) 2. Alexander the King: The Sequel to Philip & Olympias (edited & updated 2/2020). (See above) 3. Emergia: A Chronicle of the Future (See above) 4. Pherick Morton: A Life and Beyond Pherick Morton is a brilliant and conflicted man. He is born with innate abilities in science and robotics. His life is replete with challenges, catastrophic events, and unanticipated betrayals. Transhumanism intrigues him for a time and he considers joining the movement. Events after his death take him to a wondrous spiritual realm and an afterlife. 5. Paul of Tarsus, Arkansas. Available as both an eBook and a paperback. Paul Ashton is a young man from rural Tarsus, Arkansas. Early in life he mysteriously shows command of both ancient and modern Greek. Soon, he begins having visions where Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles, (Biblical Paul of Tarsus) speaks to him. Those visions evolve into spiritual commands and Paul's life is set on a path that will eventually take him to the Vatican and testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives. He establishes a Christian Mystical Experiences Institute in the hills of Western Tennessee and his fantastic life commences. Paul of Tarsus, Arkansas is a novel of spiritual mysticism. The book is Peter Messmore's fifth novel. 6. Mariamne: Reimagining the First Christian. Available as both an eBook and a paperback. Mary Magdalene is mentioned only fourteen times in the New Testament Bible. This fictional account of Mariamne (her true Aramaic name) tells the story of a young maiden who marries at 15 and goes to live in a small fishing village on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. There, she is widowed early, gains prominence as an efficient manager of a fish processing business, and encounters a holy man named Yeshua. This man is Jesus of Nazareth. The rest of Mariamne's life is devoted to following and then teaching others about the person she considers the adopted son of the Almighty. 7. Asterism: A Novel of Loving and Hating. Four babies are born within hours of each other in an Omaha, Nebraska hospital. They could not be from more diverse backgrounds. Leon is from a wealthy family, Ashley is the daughter of middle-class parents, Alejandro’s father is an intelligence specialist with the US Air Force, Tamisha’s mother is a domestic worker, and her father is in state prison. Subtle hatred surrounds the children before they leave the hospital. Yet, through a mutual love of chess, the children meet and form a bonding, lifetime relationship. Leon inherits a fortune when he is a young adult and uses it to establish an institute devoted to teaching knowledge, empathy, and love. His three friends join him, as they appeal to American society and the world to help eliminate hatred. Each friend is touched by violence. A lifetime later, their work is honored worldwide, and the symbol of knowledge, empathy, and love propels into the cosmos. 8. Poems and Poetry for Children, 2020 (Paperback book only) Young children love poetry. They revel in its freedom and its capacity to express feelings. They laugh unabashedly at silly poems. A group of children hearing a good poem exhibit a natural attentiveness that is almost impossible for an adult to create. Their eyes grow larger with expectation as the poem develops. During my 25 years of teaching elementary age children, I have never had classroom discipline problems during the reading of an age and grade appropriate poem. The phenomenon seems universal. Something magical happens when a good poem opens children's emerging minds to poetic expression. 9. Summon the Demon: A Novel of AI Ascendance is now available as both an eBook and paperback. A half-century into the future humans are on the brink of extinction. Intelligent machines have decreed their end. The machine entities consider humans violent, vindictive, war-loving, and unnecessary. Seven humans are selected by an aberrant machine iteration to save humanity. This is their story. 10. Yeshuaism: A Novel Fifteen priceless papyrus scrolls and vellum codices, known as the NH-II find, are discovered near Egypt’s Nile River. Twenty biblical scholars and scientists gather on a private Mediterranean Island to study and authenticate them. Early analysis suggests that they are early, first century documents. Some scholars and scientists maintain that they were written by scribes or Jesus followers who lived when he did and may have known him―even heard him teach. The owner of the documents wonders if the analyses will redefine Christianity, rename it after its true founder. With simultaneous hope and dread they prepare for world-wide publication of the NH-II documents. The billionaire owner and many of the scholars studying them propose that a new religion, Yeshuaism, be established, renamed after Jesus’ authentic Aramaic name and history. Other deadly forces oppose even the thought of such action. Some of the world’s established Christian religions work to destroy the documents and the scholars working on them. 11. The Warehouse: An American Allegory The year is 2048. Three prominent Americans, each a strong democracy supporter, suddenly advocate a radical change in the United States' form of government. They begin supporting a monocratic governmental system. What is behind this sudden change? What happened to them at a derelict Kansas City warehouse? The Warehouse: An American Allegory tells the appalling story of how future medical science and behavioral mind shaping can control even the most resolute human being.