Fearless or Not? A Fearless Friday post by Randy Overbeck

FEARLESS FRIDAY

We are lucky to have Randy Overbeck back on Discover... He's not sure he's fearless, but I'll give him that description when it comes to leaping into writing...and succeeding. Enjoy his post!

I’m not sure I’ve ever been fearless.

Fearful, yes, brave, probably, foolhardy, most likely, but fearless?

At this point in my life, I have a considerable amount of lived experience and somewhere along those years, I must have shown courage—though at the time, it hardly felt like it. I served children for forty years as a teacher, a college prof and a school leader and during that time pushed through quite a number of challenges including stepping between very angry teen girls fighting, facing down a student with a gun and managing bomb threats. But I don’t know if I’d describe my actions as fearless.

In analyzing these years, I believe I possibly approached “fearless” twice. In my position of assistant superintendent—a role I held for more than 20 years—I was, for lack a better term, second banana. I was not the ultimate decision maker, but the person charged with providing final input and raising concerns. Most of these years this relationship was a harmonious one and my counsel was welcomed and sought. On two occasions, it was clearly not. I raised questions the superintendent and the board did not want to face—“Why would we do budget cuts at the expense of the students with the greatest need?” and “What you’re planning to do is not ethical and may not be legal.” I recognized I was treading in dangerous water and, as the saying goes, “speaking truth to power.” Both times I paid the price and both times my objections cost me my position. Was this fearless or foolhardy? Looking back, I’m still not sure but I know I did the right thing.

After I retired from education, I jumped into the world of writing and publishing and haveenjoyed a modicum of success. With six published novels, two bestsellers, more than a dozen national awards, hundreds of five-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and book sales of more than 12,000, I count myself fortunate and blessed.

And then I messed with success. The previous six titles all reside in the mystery and thriller genre, a genre I’ve become quite comfortable with. I’ve developed characters readers can relate to and appreciate, even cheering for them—from Darrell, the OCD history teacher haunted by ghosts to Stacy, the fourth grade teacher who would do anything for her students even get framed to Erin, Darrell’s rock steady wife and confidant. Why would I abandon all this?

And yet I did. My newest novel, ABIGAIL TRENCH, a Novel of Washington’s Spy Ring, was released just this week, published and distributed by Diversion Books and Simon & Schuster and it is quite a departure from my earlier work. It is a historical suspense about the Revolutionary War and the key role the Culper Ring—Washington’s personal spy ring—had in winning the war. Though  it has been extensively researched so readers will feel like they are walking the streets of 1776 New York, ABIGAIL TRENCH is a work of fiction. And, like my other works, my hero is again a dedicated teacher, well in 1770’s a tutor.

Will my readers make the jump with me to historical fiction? I’m not sure but I’m certain, if they do, they will like what they find. They will have a chance to meet famous figures from the Revolutionary War like George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Nathan Hale and even Benedict Arnold and learn what they were really like. More important, readers will experience the dangers and horrors, the tragedies and triumphs of our fight for independence through the eyes of an everyday woman.

The early reviews have been astounding and I can’t wait to see what my readers think. ABIGAIL TRENCH, a Novel of Washington’s Spy Ring is available everywhere you buy books in both print and ebook. The audio version is coming soon.

“With an eye for remarkable detail clearly anchored in deep historical research, master storyteller Randy Overbeck delivers a rousing, top-notch tale of courage amid our nation’s struggle for independence.”—William Kent Kreuger, author of the Edgar award winner This Tender Land and the NYT bestselling Cork O’Connor series

“ABIGAIL TRENCH is an accessible, vivid piece of historical fiction that blends Revolutionary War intrigue with a personal story of survival and self-invention. What I liked most…was the book’s sense that history is lived at street level by people who are frightened, resourceful, wounded, stubborn, and often underestimated. It’s a story with grit, momentum, and real affection for the people history usually leaves at the edges.★★★★★--Literary Titan GOLD AWARD Winner 

Purchase Link : https://books2read.com/Abigail-Trent

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, bestselling author, popular podcaster and speaker in much demand. After serving children for almost four decades as teacher, college prof and school leader, he used those experiences and skills to craft captivating mysteries, thrillers and historical suspense. His novels have earned more than a dozen national awards including Thriller of the Year, Best Book Award, the Gold Award and Mystery of the Year and have garnered hundreds of five-star reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and BookBub.

His newest novel, ABIGAIL TRENCH, is a historical suspense about the Revolutionary War, released June, 2026 by Diversion Books and distributed by Simon and Schuster.

Dr. Overbeck is also the host of the popular podcast, Great Stories about Great Storytellers, which reveals the little known backstories of famous authors, directors and poets and ranks among the top 50% of all podcasts in the US. When he is not writing or podcasting, he is in much demand as a speaker, sharing informative and entertaining programs to more than 300 groups all over the country.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTACTS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorrandyoverbeck

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/randy-overbeck-41965446

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorrandyoverbeck/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/randy-overbeck

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Randy-Overbeck/e/B07QQHW7DM

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4825632.Randy_Overbeck

Love, Mystery, Danger

It's The MacKenzie Chronicles month. In between moving, having Mom move into our new place, doc appointments, and being the summer taxi for my granddaughter I'm teasing up a new story for the series. Finding the time to get it onto the page is the kicker. In the meantime, if you haven't read the series, here is a good place to check it out: N. N. Light's Book Heaven

SECRETS OF THE RAVINE 

Lies can haunt, but the truth will kill. 

Magpie MacKenzie doesn’t believe in coincidence. But when a ringer for her long-dead love walks into her life the same day skeletal remains are unearthed, she’s convinced the universe is sending her a message. Fearing her father will be accused of the crime, Magpie will do whatever it takes to find the truth. Even risk her heart on this familiar stranger who may hold critical clues to the unsolved mystery. 

While visiting purportedly haunted Joshua, Arizona, lawyer Zack Peartree is instantly drawn to the free-wheeling shopkeeper. His attraction propels him on a collision course between past and present, where digging up secrets could prove fatal. 

Using decades-old clues and Zack’s déjà vu moments, the couple embark on a treacherous race to prove her father’s innocence before Magpie becomes the next victim. Can they save her from a murderous fate, or will love be the final casualty? 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GPRFJBT/

 

 

MYSTERY ON SPIRIT MOUNTAIN 

The past never sleeps, and the truth never dies.  

Only Harlan MacKenzie can sense the troubled history of the Big Purple House. When he's hired to restore the historical mansion, he doesn't foresee the insidious secrets—secrets that entangle his family in deceit and murder.  

Phaedra is selling the house that has been in her family for decades. As her friends-to-lovers relationship with Harlan escalates, she’s forced to choose between her way of life or his, even though she risks losing him forever.  

After a stranger comes to town, weaving her web of deception, hell-bent on correcting an old grievance connected to the house, dark revelations of the past implode the present. Harlan and Phaedra are plunged into a dangerous mystery, risking their love, their future, and their lives. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CP3BXVG/

 

 

CURSE OF WOLF FALLS 

Secrets can protect what the truth will destroy.  

Elidor MacKenzie has a gift she can't return—the ability to absorb the joy, pain, and suffering of others. She's spent her life running from what she considers her curse. Now, her best friend is dead, and she alone holds the key to an archaeological discovery that could destroy a culture. With newfound inner peace, Elidor has returned home to make amends and guard the secret revelation. But greed-driven scavengers have followed her. Once again, the energies of Joshua will stir the hurricane, with her at the deadly center. 

 Jules never got over Elidor. Twenty years and a famous journalism career later, he's back in Joshua—and so is his first love. If his heart can stand the torture, he'll risk reviving their relationship. But saving Elidor from herself and the secret she won't give up may be the death of them both.  

With Jules by her side, Elidor is determined to outrun the scavengers, guard the secret, and renew their love. But fate is coming after her, and there's nowhere the couple can hide. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B663MY1D

Wicked Without Chaos: The Mind of a Conqueror by Kayelle Allen

WICKED WEDNESDAY

Villains are wicked of course, but a my guest, Kayelle Allen, has a villain with more depth than most. Enjoy her Wicked Wednesday post! 

Pietas, known as the Bringer of Chaos, doesn’t create chaos by mistake. He creates it on purpose.

When we talk about chaotic villains, we often mean unpredictable. Reckless. Destructive for the sake of it.

Pietas is none of those things.

That’s what makes him dangerous.

He doesn’t lash out. He doesn’t lose control. He doesn’t act without purpose. Every decision is measured. Every action has intent. He doesn’t need permission to take control of a situation—he simply does.

There’s a kind of wickedness that comes from excess. And then there’s the kind that comes from certainty.

Pietas knows exactly who he is.

He was born into power, raised to command, and forged in a system where loyalty wasn’t optional—it was enforced. Structure defined everything. Authority wasn’t questioned because it didn’t need to be.

Until it was gone.

Exiled to a world where none of those structures exist, Pietas doesn’t lose power.

He loses the safeguards that kept it contained.

On this world, there are no institutions to enforce loyalty. No systems to define right from wrong. No one to step in when a decision goes too far.

And Pietas still believes he’s right.

That’s the kind of wickedness that doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t roar or burn or destroy everything in sight.

It simply… acts.

And expects the world to adjust.

But power without structure isn’t stability. It’s pressure. And pressure reveals.

Especially when he’s forced into an alliance with a person who has every reason not to trust him.

Because Pietas doesn’t see himself as the villain.

He sees himself as necessary.

And that’s where things get complicated.

Watch Your Six, the last book in the Bringer of Chaos series, releases this August.

If you’d like to see how that kind of power behaves when the rules disappear, you can start the series here, with Lights Out. If you’re already familiar with the story, you can access a sample of Watch Your Six here.

Kayelle Allen is a worldbuilder who writes with a scalpel, a strategist of tenderness, and who understands that the most dangerous thing in any universe isn't power—it's attachment. To sum it up: “Epic scale. Microscopic pain. Absolutely intentional.”

Claim your immortality and enter the Empire https://kayelleallen.com/immortality
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