Amazon Meaningful Writings hosted by Monica Brinkman Meaningful Writings Category:  Mainstream Publisher: allthingsthatmatterpress ISBN-10:  0984615466 Type: Fiction Pages: 206 Copyright: August 5, 2010 ISBN-13: 9780984615469 "What goes around, comes around." Truer words were never spoken, as evidenced by the complex interactions and fates of the characters in "The Turn of The Karmic Wheel." When the residents of Raleigh begin to hear music and voices that aren't "there", and to receive frightening messages from no discernable source, it soon becomes apparent that changes must - and will - be made: to their everyday lives, to their relationships, to their bodies, and, most importantly, to their souls. The Turn of the Karmic Wheel Why should you live your life performing acts of charity, caring about others, doing the right thing, when - Many individuals are feeling the pressure of the economy...taxes...shelter...food...utilities.  It may seem the rich continue to grow richer each year and they  seem to reap such grand rewards in life. Many are corrupt. Enter into the small college town of Raleigh, MO where the force of universal law takes hold! Where no man or woman is safe from scrutiny of the deeds and acts committed. Once well hidden, the true self - the soul - exposed for all to see. Could you undergo such inquiry?   Excerpt She twisted the left faucet at full force and the right at medium. Rosie felt the water change from ice cold to lukewarm. While the water ran, she began humming a song, a bit out of tune,but recognizable. 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.' Silencing herself, she brought a jar of cream makeup remover and twisted the cap enjoying the faint aroma of vanilla and almond. Daintily she dipped her right hand into the cream and proceeded to smear it over her entire face and neck. She rubbed the thick, white creamy lotion deep into her pores, making an oval with her mouth so as to get into every nook and cranny, her eyes nearly bulged out of her face. Puzzled, she hesitated and realized the more she rubbed, the darker in color the white makeup remover became. "Sweet Jesus, what is this stuff and where in the world is that disgusitng smell coming from?" It couldn't be the remover. Hell, she'd used this same jar for the last three days. Yet the deeper and harder she massaged the cream into her face, the more revolting the stence became and the darker the cream turned; there was now a brown colored face looking back at her in the mirror. "I'm getting this goop off me right this instant," Rosie stated hysterically. She frantically searched for a washcloth and finally located one behind her, hanging from a rail, and began rubbing the brown foul-smelling gunk off her face. With each rub erupted huge red and white boils and welts where the cream had touched her skin. "Oh, my Lord." Rosie exclaimed, "this can't be real. This just isn't happening. My face...my face!" She screamed in utter terror. Rosie grasped her face and pressed her palms into them as spiders, beetles, ladybugs, ants and caterpillars exited each boil and welt, falling onto her breasts. They traveled down the length of the gown and onto her once pink slippers, slippers that wre now a murky, muddy brown. Rosie tried her best to swat and wipe them away, yet the more she swatted and wiped, the greater they multiplied, untl they covered her entire face, neck and body. The reek of them made her sick to her stomach. She turned toward the toilet to expel the vomit surging in her throat. Upon heaving and hurling her guts up, she grew exhausted and lapsed into unconsciousness, sliding onto the dense pink rug beneath her feet.

The Readers Corner Bookstore
It's difficult to limit Brinkmans' writing style to just once genre.

Like a well made gumbo, her work isn't limited to one single flavor...blends the taste of horror, suspense, mystery and fantasy in one rue of 'you get what you give'.

Thankfully, we haven't seen the last of Monica Brinkman's Karmic Wheel series. ..I want another helping!

Larry Bowen, Owner, The Readers Corner Bookstore


The Turn of the Karmic Wheel - Reviewed by L.C. Danley- PP&B Member
I read "The Turn of the Karmic Wheel" with much enjoyment from the opening paragraph on. The characters took on a life of their own for me as each one was introduced with just the right amount of detail so that I knew just what each individual was all about and how they related to the other people in the story.

I had my favorites, of course, as everyone does when reading a book...but I can honestly say that each one of them became very dear to me as I continued reading. The story line was intriguing and made me want MORE when it was over. I loved all the interaction between the characters...the plot was well laid out...and the setting made me feel as if it was in my own backyard.

It was a book that I loved from beginning to end and one that I could not wait to get back to after putting it down for more pressing things like work. I look forward to a sequel!!


Review by Jesse S. Hanson
Monica M. Brinkman’s novel, The Turn of the Karmic Wheel, describes a series of personal battles with morality. Small-town Missouri villains as well as the more kind-hearted find themselves confronted with the results of their own actions.

With a jab at the modern day moneylenders and other parasites of society, the author addresses the problems and concerns of every-day people.

Supernatural forces come into play in this condensed, up close and personal, play of the law of karma.

Surely will satisfy the appetite of the masses and may answer the question – Why do good in life when the corrupt seem to get the rewards?

Jesse s. Hanson, author of Song of George/Portrait of an Unlikely Holy Man