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If you attended our 2000 National Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor Reunion, you'll remember our guest speaker and author Jeff Minerd and his insightful, forward-looking presentation about "21st Century Families."
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Now, 16 years later, Jeff has published his first book, a fantasy adventure novel named The Sailweaver's Son (Silver Leaf Books, 310 pages). The work has been well-reviewed and is available in hardcopy, Kindle, Nook and iPad formats. In a summary of the book, the publisher states that The Sailweaver's Son:
...combines epic fantasy with a dash of steampunk and creates a world unlike any other - Etherium. A world where mountains rise like islands above a sea of clouds and adventurers travel the sky in sail-driven airships. When fifteen-year-old Tak rescues the survivor of an airship destroyed by one of the giant flammable gas bubbles mysteriously appearing in the sky of Etherium, the authorities react like a flock of startled grekks. Admiral Scud accuses Tak of sabotage and treason. Tak's father grounds him for reckless airmanship. Rumors spread that the bubbles are weapons devised by the Gublins, a race of loathsome but ingenious underground creatures. The King's advisors call for war, hoping to win much-needed Gublin coal. To prove his innocence and prevent a misguided war, Tak must do what anyone knows is suicide - visit the Gublins and find out what they know. When the wizard's adopted daughter, an oddly beautiful and irksomely intelligent girl from the Eastern kingdoms, asks Tak to help her do just that, he can't say no. The adventure will take Tak from the deepest underground caves to a desperate battle on Etherium's highest mountaintop. It will force him to face his worst fears, and to grow up faster than he expected.
Jeff has spent much of his career as a science and medical writer for the National Institutes of Health, MedPage Today, The Futurist magazine, and the Scientist magazine and has had his fiction published in the prestigious North American Review. He and his parents Tim and Gerry Minerd reside in Rochester, NY. He is the grandson of William Melvin and Hannah (Guzzy) Minerd and the great-grandson of Rev. William Mullen and Violet Pearl (Johnson) Minerd of Westmoreland, Armstrong and Somerset Counties, PA.
Here, he and his family promote the book at a publication party -- left to right: brother in law Chuck Ruffino, father and mother Geraldine "Gerry" and Tim Minerd, Jeff, sister Laura Ruffino and nephew Stephen Ruffino. Learn more about the book on Amazon.com and Goodreads.
 The Pittsburgh
region has been the epicenter of our family's growth and development since 1791. In 2016, the City of Pittsburgh celebrates its 200th anniversary as an incorporated entity. This is an oppoortunity to acknowledge the Steel City's triumphs, from innovations that created
permanent institutions to world class medical and educational facilities
after overcoming severe economic challenges. More>>>
and Burgh Nation>>> |
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Copyright © 2016 Mark A. Miner |
