MAY 12, 2022
We have launched the web page and are in the early stages of starting various promotion campaigns on social media. Mark continues to write, and the book is currently at five completed chapters. We have released the link for the first two chapters and hope many of you will help spread the word and share the link to the free two chapters page.

The first five chapters are completed and cover Joseph's escape across the Mississippi into Iowa. In flashbacks, Joseph recalls his first interest in treasure digging and using Sally Chase's stone to see a vision of his stone. We also take perspectives from Hyrum and Emma as to what is happening in the final week of joseph's time on the earth. 

Writing a full-length novel like this will be a long process. Anyone who has written knows the time needed to put out a polished book. By the end of the project, we will have spent thousands of hours researching and writing. We want this to be historically accurate and, at the same time, engaging to read. Anyone who has good church history knowledge and would like to help us with proofing and content should contact us via the contact page. We hope to enlist a few qualified people to read and verify each chapter's contents as each is completed.

Comments on this page are public and can be seen by anyone that visits the page. If you would like to make a comment or suggestion directly to the author, use the contact page on this site.

MAY 20, 2022
I have finished Chapter Six, covering Joseph's call back to Nauvoo by his wife and others. I also cover Joseph's first attempt to recover the gold plates in a flashback. Joseph didn't write about this part of his life until long after it happened, and as was often the case, he retrofitted the facts to fit his current narrative. We cover it as it most likely happened at the actual time, without the retrofitting.

June 12, 2022
More progress. I have completed Chapters Seven and Nine. I cover Treasure Digging in a lot of detail which I believe many will find fascinating and absurd simultaneously.

I skipped Chapter Eight for the moment and moved on to Chapter Nine while some of the research was fresh in my mind. Chapter nine covers the lost pages of the translation, and I am excited about how it turned out. I cover JS finally allowing Martin to take the pages back to Palmyra to show his wife and then the delay encountered by Joseph following him there because of the birth and death of their firstborn child. By the time he gets to Palmyra, Martin has already lost the pages. It is a fun chapter and covers all the problems associated with the lost pages. I delve into the fact that neither God nor Joseph could use their special powers to recover them.

I am currently back on chapter eight, which is tentatively titled Guilt and Marriage. It will cover the glass-looking trial and then on to the whirlwind romance and eloping of JS to Emma.

The book is currently over 28,000 words and counting. I am starting to worry about how long it may end up as I am not even to the church's founding yet. So many details to cover, and I am doing my best to hit the most important ones, but that is a difficult decision at times.

July 09, 2022
The project is moving along on schedule. The book is now at over 48000 words. I now have fourteen chapters basically completed. I wrote a new chapter one as I decided we needed the beginning to be stronger. The first chapter now covers the murder of Joseph and Hyrum at Carthage Jail. I decided to start with the end so to speak. Chapter two shifts to five days before that fateful day and starts moving forward from there. Because of the major change to the beginning, I am now offering the first three chapters for free as a download.

I have introduced a fictional couple to the book  to help with the storyline. This couple is a mixed faith couple. The wife converted to the church in Kirtland shortly after Joseph moves there. Her husband is skeptical and well read. I will use him to be the protagonist in the story as he tries to reason with his wife of all the shortcomings he discovers as he investigates this new religion. I think this really adds to the story line and gives me the opportunity to show a non member perspective contemporary to the timeline. I amd very happy with the way their story is unfolding.

October 30, 2022

It has been a while since I updated anything about the book. I continue writing, and the book is now over 70,000 words. I have undertaken a significant restructuring of the book as it was getting too confusing with the number of flashbacks between the various characters. It took a lot of work to keep track of what you were reading and keep it all synced up.

After much thought and discussion with my wife, I am changing chapters and reorganizing the timelines to make them easier to follow. Unfortunately, it is time-consuming, and it takes some time to pull it back together. In the end, the book will be stronger for it. I have added a new free download that covers parts of the chapter covering the 1826 trial. You can access that here. I am happy with how things are developing, and it will be a fun read for anyone who wants to dive deeper into this man's life.

December 4, 2022
The first draft is complete! It has been a long and slow journey, but I have finished the novel's first draft. It currently sits at over 115,000 words. There is still a lot to do; I need to start at the beginning and fix typos and grammatical errors. I need to check for redundancies and bad transitions from rearranging the chapters. But the preliminary work is finished. It turned out well, and I hope people will give it a chance once it is completed and published. It tells a moving story about a man that has affected millions of lives for good and bad.

January 11, 2023
The book is in final editing stages and we have designed the cover. I am really pleased with the storyline and look forward to the next steps. We will be looking for beta readers soon. Selected readers will receive a digital copy in advance of the release. If you are interested in being selected, contact us using the contact page.

February 10, 2023
The book has completed two levels of line editing and proofreading. We are now looking for Beta Readers. If you are interested in being chosen to be a Beta Reader, you can fill out the form by clicking HERE.

We hope to have the book completed by March and will offer special pricing via this website before it is publsihed on Amazon. You can sign up on the website to receive notifcation of that event on the free three chapters page.