The King of Loss (Paperback or Softback)

This screenplay is based on a true story and memoir, When Angels Fly, and it will take you to the depths of hell and back to barely breathing. It is a gallant saga of two little boys and their mother, with the youngest battling cancer with incogitable courage and resolute determination. The story is compelling, and has young Eli, a child barely out of the toddler-stage, gets affected with cancer but does not let it shred his substance, his spirit, his ebullience. The story is a slice of real life and it shines in its own glory of candor and courage. The story, with its impeccable sincerity, sets in the cascade of emotional pathways and the empathy is momentous and super-instant. Eli suffers and the agony hits you hard on the face; you find Eli vulnerable amidst a sea of medical professionals and paroxysms of protective instinct jolt you and overpower you; you find a febrile bout tormenting Eli's well-being, lassitude automatically grips you hard. The true essence of motherhood, especially that of a mother in crisis, seeps shatteringly through the cellular junctions and mixes with the protoplasm and changes your entire being from 'whoever-you-are' to a mother who fell prey to a wicked attack of the destiny on the most vulnerable spot. The gory tragedies in this real-life story disturb the core of reader's existence - a missed diagnosis of cancer by experts, spread of cancer to vital organs, uncontrolled bleeding due to non-availability of transfusable blood products, catastrophic lung damage due to gross medical negligence etc. The story does a mammoth job of airdropping the reader to a milieu in which the spirit of survivorship calls the shots, galloping courage sets the pace and unfolding of designs of destiny evokes the emotions. The child-like glee thickly layers the narrations of the mischiefs that Eli and Noah (the brothers) indulged in. Their bond is profound and all scattered in the subtext, 'two peas in a pod' as the author sums up. The screenplay substance is knitted with life-sized narration of events that induces a high-definition visual imagery, running on loop, giving a highway ride to the sensory nervous system. Eli's mother comes across as a fiercely protective mother who has eyes in her occiput, a mother who is an angel in the kitchen and a buddy in the playground, a mother who believes in getting slivered into thin ribbons before allowing a shadow consume her child. Various meanings of life pop up from everywhere and coalesce together to create a pattern too frightful, too vulnerable, too indomitable and too undaunted, exactly the way life and its paraphernalia operate together. Nothing is artificial - every element of the story derives its power from the themes of existentialism, belonging, and relationships, culminating in a steadfast scuffle with the bad guys, the cancerous cells. Even in the darkest hours, he bolstered his mother with unheard of strength for a boy of this age. Eli's sage-like wisdom and spiritual sojourn with Jesus point to his deep-rooted connection with the cosmic soul. The crisis is too real and crushing, with a life of its own, and the conflict is at many levels, with entire existence at stake. In the end the exposition is too powerful and surprising and Sammy's heroic fight brings him perpetual glory like a soaring comet leaving a bright trail behind.

Mary Schmidt is a retired Registered Nurse. However, being retired most definitely does not mean that she is inactive. Having grown up in central Kansas, both Mary and her husband, Michael, greatly enjoy finding the time to frequent the mountains of Colorado. They both enjoy traveling, reading together, playing poker, and off road 4-wheeling in the mountains. Back at home, both Mary and Michael are active members of the Catholic Church, where Mary has taught Kindergarten Catechism. She has also worked in various capacities for the American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, and both the Boy and Cub Scouts (where her son, Gene, is an Eagle Scout). She and her husband have also had the wonderful opportunity of sponsoring trips for high school music students. Mary absolutely loves all forms of art, but mostly focuses on the visual arts such as amateur photography, along with traditional and graphic art as her disabilities allow. Both love visiting their two grandchildren.

Joshua Vickery is a professional Christian freelance writer of novels and screenplays. However, he spends a majority of his time now as a Christian copywriter, helping to grown Christian businesses and ministries. As a young man, he was gifted to enjoy the opportunity of playing college baseball. After college, he then traveled much of the Mid-Western United States as a Country Music singer. However, having been raised in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, his love for family has him settled back home in Northwest Arkansas. Having married the woman of his dreams, Christina, in 2003, he was then able to adopt her daughter shortly thereafter. Joshua and Christina have recently had the wonderful privilege of watching their daughter, Madison, graduate from high school and begin her first year of college. However, Joshua received another wonderful gift in 2009 when his wife gave birth to their now, seven-year-old son, Cross. His life mission is that of Christian love, where he defines it as an action or series of actions that cause intrinsic value in others.

Mary L. Schmidt writes under the name of S. Jackson along with her husband, Michael, pen name A Raymond, and Mary L. Schmidt. She grew up in a small Kansas (USA) town and has lived in more than one state since then. At this time, Ms. Schmidt and her husband split their time between Kansas and Colorado (they love the mountains and off-road 4-wheeling). Traveling is one of her favorite things to do and she always has a book or even three books to read, in the same week. She drew paper dolls and clothes for them, and with watercolor as her medium when painting scenes, especially flowers. She continued with art in high school exploring a wide variety of arts and loved it! Her creative side loves to be an amateur "shutterbug" and they have an online art gallery. In college, she went into the sciences of all things and received a bachelor's degree in the Science of Nursing. Her nursing career was phenomenally successful, and she hung up her nursing hat in December 2012.She is a retired registered nurse; a member of the Catholic Church and has taught kindergarten Catechism; she has worked in various capacities for The American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, Cub, and Boy Scouts, (son, Gene, is an Eagle Scout), and sponsored trips for high school music children. She loves all forms of art but mostly focuses on the visual arts, such as amateur photography, traditional, and graphic art as her health allows.She has written sixty-one books with others in various stages of production, and she is included in four anthologies.