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J Nell Brown

Her family was to be her legacy until an angry mob murdered her only son.

North Carolina farm owner Gertrude Smith had dreamed of leaving a legacy—raising hardworking and socially-conscious children who would parent her grandchildren to become people who would change the world for the better. But hope faded when her unmarried son died tragically in the racially charged 1960s—then completely vanished when her only surviving child, a daughter, remained childless after marriage for twenty years. 

That is, until Gertrude received a phone call from her forty-year-old daughter: “Momma, next summer you’re going to become a grandmother! And not to just any baby—but one with a divine mission.”

A special child. 

A dreamer.

A baby girl.

But will another tragedy strike and bury Gertrude’s dreams for an eternity, taking with it the seedling of her legacy, erasing the stories of her ancestors, and stopping a quiet Southern woman from leaving her mark on America—and maybe even the world?

Continue The Orphan Dreamer Saga―a transcontinental sweeping story where ANNE OF GREEN GABLES meets THE DA VINCI CODE inside the WAR ROOM when a twist of fate changes Daniela's dreams then impacts the destiny of an orphan and the future of humanity.

“This saga has taken me on a roller-coaster ride.” —J.M. Leech

“It’s the start of something amazing.” —Heather G.

Maeve Smyth

Rogue Reads

Orphan Dreamer Saga

She Laughs Last: An Orphan Dreamer Short Story

Could Earth’s apocalypse really be worse than puberty for Daniela Rose—a depressive schizophrenic girl destined to meet a mysterious orphan boy who haunts her chaotic dreams?

One girl.

One boy.

One mission. To protect their home—Earth—from invasion by the planet’s previous occupants. 

Meet the girl of this unlikely duo in ORPHAN DREAMER and the MISSING ARROWHEAD when destiny chooses a twelve-year-old depressive schizophrenic to bring order to Earth’s chaos. 

Ironic?

Miracles usually are.

Daniela is a spirited girl struggling with isolation, the mean girls at school, and a sick father at home when she is chosen to warn humanity of the impending apocalypse. But who will believe her—a girl who barely speaks and cannot even score a kindred friend? As Earth sits in the crosshairs of a sinister force, Daniela must slip between three realities to find an arrowhead gifted to her by a prince—the missing link that can save her family and Earth.

Listen to the Orphan Dreamer Saga—a seven-novel serial interspersed with seven novellas that intertwines three tales across time and space. This epic story weaves an intricate tapestry of Divine guidance, faith, isolation, hope, and loss as it follows two children from their beginnings to their ends. 

If you knew your ending, how would you have lived your beginning? 

Editorial Review

“Readers of the Orphan Dreamer Saga by J. Nell Brown can expect a superb blend of genres . . . This novel is a suspenseful biblical fantasy that weaves love and the paranormal into the lives of two individuals. This is not only a perfect read for someone wanting an enduring love story, but for anyone wanting to explore profound ideas about spirituality and God.”―Chanticleer Book Reviews

It’s the start of something amazing.” —Heather G.

Orphan Dreamer and the Missing Arrowhead: A Novella

". . . a sprawling nonlinear narrative." ―Kirkus Reviews

One snowflake falls from heaven to quench hell's thirst. I am that snowflake. I am the Orphan Dreamer destined to quench the fiery thirst of an orphan. Told in the style of the hit TV show, THIS IS US, the ORPHAN DREAMER SAGA is a fantastical and modern-day retelling of ANNE OF GREEN GABLES meets THE DA VINCI CODE when a twist of fate alters the destiny of an orphan boy and the future of humanity in this epic journey that defies time and takes the reader from 1018 B.C. into a future of “what if’s." 

One boy. One girl. One mission―to protect Earth from its previous occupants. Where will you live if they fail? Meet the girl, Daniela, a preteen modern-day Indiana Jones, who must come to terms with her destiny, avoid getting committed to the psychiatric ward, endure nightmares about a mysterious boy, and save the world by hunting through the past to uncover clues hidden before the dawn of time. 

Easy, right? 

It would be, if she wasn’t just an awkward thirteen-year-old girl with knobby knees, curly hair, brown skin, and nosebleeds. She’s certainly no one special in the eyes of her classmates, who either bully or remain indifferent to her, and until now, her only quests in life have been to become the youngest medical student at her dream school and to find a kindred spirit. However, her destiny has already been decided, and it doesn’t include friendship bracelets. After her thirteenth birthday, Daniela must juggle going to school, caring for a sick father and solving an ancient puzzle that will protect her friends—and enemies—from a dark, biblical-sized force that seeks to eradicate humans from Earth. 

Will Daniela give up and stop fighting for the kindred spirit her heart is destined for—leaving him unprotected and doomed to certain death—or will she rise to the challenge and meet her destiny head-on?

Orphan Dreamer and the Glass Tattoo: A Novel

Austin commits a fatal mistake and births a miracle—a child who could possibly change the trajectory of a small Southern town and even the world.

A GENERATION OF LIGHTED EVERGREENS is a heartwarming and wholesome read. This story will be enjoyed for seasons to come. For readers who treasured the movie WAR ROOM, believe and dream again.

* * *

Guilty, but redeemed …

Austin—a sugar cane field hand

Gus—a nine-year-old yellow Labrador

Jeanette—a small-town school teacher

Chuck—a field hand on a sugar cane plantation in Belle Glade, Florida

What do they have in common? A quest for love

* * *

Before the ORPHAN DREAMER was born, Austin’s journey for love begins.

"If love’s a fish, she must be a pink salmon, swimmin’ up a cold water creek—troubled, tryin’ somethin’ mighty to find her intended."

It’s 1967; Austin is a simple American man—hardworking, loving, and faithful. Hands calloused, he works a cutlass in sugar cane fields in Belle Glade Florida. Mind elsewhere, he’s lost in a dream world as he desires to discover his life’s purpose and find his pink salmon swimmin’ up a cold water creek, troubled, tryin' somethin' mighty to find her intended—a metaphor that Austin equates with love. Unfortunately, a train-wrecked military career and a fatal mistake complicate his quest for love until he stumbles upon the message of a mysterious carpenter.

Austin’s world is about to make a 180 degree U-turn.

Be inspired to never give up on your dreams.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow … one snowflake falls from heave to quench hell's thirst. I Am that Snowflake—unique and fragile yet filled with life-giving water.

A Generation of Lighted Evergreens

One word describes HOUSEGUEST―SCARY.

For readers who enjoy reading Dean Koontz and Stephen King, reading HOUSEGUEST will make you want to turn on ALL of the lights and then look under your bed before you close your eyes. So buckle up and continue reading the ORPHAN DREAMER SAGA—an eschatological fantastical coming-of-age thriller tucked into the stories of children entrusted with a Divine mission and answer: What makes the main villain of the Orphan Dreamer Saga tick in this short story?

It's almost Hanukkah then Christmas. Only a year ago, a Jewish family, the Bushcrofts, escaped Nazi Germany. The date is December 11, 1941.

Asher Bushcroft is twelve-years-old, short, and a social outcast. His sister, Natalia, is sixteen, breathtaking, a gifted violinist, and a dancer. They are inseparable, or so it seems. But, every villain has a beginning, and Asher's villainous beginning starts on the same day that the United States enters World War II. Asher barters with a dark force named Nomed in order to win the affections of a popular girl at school.

Nomed vows to assist Asher in his lustful adventure in return for a favor—murder two children to prevent them from thwarting Nomed's plans for world domination.

Will the children survive? If they don't, will you survive?

If you knew your ending, how would you have lived your beginning?

HouseGuest

OUTLANDER and DOWNTON ABBEY fans will adore LITTLE PEACH LIES―a PG historical (time-travel) romance and the ninth installment of the ORPHAN DREAMER SAGA set against the backdrop of Scotland's famed Saint Andrews University and the Queen of England's Scotland residence, Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Charlotte Cairstine McDonald, the soon-to-be Duchess of the Isles of Caithness, is about to learn that even in 1967, it's dangerous to be born a royal. Especially if that royal—a. k. a. Charlotte—is hiding a secret… one that could end her engagement to a dreamy English duke.

While alone on Saint Andrew's seaside bluff, Charlotte drifts into sleep and is transported from her 1960’s reality to 1567 Scotland―an era when her secret would have guaranteed a trip to the executioner's dungeon.

Charlotte encounters her great ancestor, Queen Mary of Scotland, who sounds a dire warning to her future heiress. But will Charlotte solve the clue before she loses her head no differently than Queen Mary?

The stakes are much higher than Charlotte realizes—beyond her stained reputation or abandonment by the royal family. History might be irreparably changed.

Even if Charlotte survives the Dark Ages, a real and present threat still exists that can derail the future Orphan Dreamer's mission to help humanity and find her essential sidekick—her kindred-spirit Emmaline, Charlotte's future daughter.

Brew your favorite tea and snuggle up with a historical (time-travel) romance: LITTLE PEACH LIES, the fifth short story (episode nine) in the Orphan Dreamer Saga.