My Books
My two novels are featured here. I published HOPE’S JOURNAL as David A. Mitchell and GOD’S BROTHER: THE OTHER BROTHER OF JESUS as Allen David Mitchell. These historical novels are love stories with adventure to stir the heart and metaphysical content to stir the soul.
HOPE'S JOURNAL
A Novel by DAVID A. MITCHELL
Poems by GRACE JOLENE SCHAUBROECK
HOPE’S JOURNAL is set in Eugene, Oregon circa 1980. The protagonists are hard-working hippies who fight fires and plant trees with a reforestation company called the Hoedads. The narrative follows two, forest activists as they travel the West Coast in defense of Mother Nature. Lily and Rad are lovers who lay their lives on the line to protect wilderness areas from development.
Their dramatic escapades lead them to beautiful places and into dangerous situations. The peaceful protesters practice non-violent resistance. They rely on karma, not guns, when they encounter grizzly bears. Suspense and surprises wait around every bend on the Willamette River and on the coast of Alaska where they work and play. The protagonists’ journey is a spiritual pilgrimage as well. The sensitive and inquisitive pair of idealists are searching for life’s meaning while chasing their dreams. Rad is deconstructing from evangelical Christianity and bares his soul in honest inquiry. Tantric sex scenes are portrayed tastefully and poetically.
A subplot revolves around Lily and Rad’s search for Bigfoot. Sasquatch enthusiasts will find compelling stories of Skookum encounters, and Bigfoot skeptics just might be convinced of the cryptid ‘s reality. Hope’s journal is a main component of the tale and namesake of the novel. Hope is Rad’s grandmother who wrote the diary in 1918 chronicling her coming of age during the 1918 flu pandemic. The similarities between the pandemic in 1918 and 2001 are uncanny. She shares intimate insights into her love life and composes prodigious poems. Grace Schaubroeck, the author of Hope's poems, draws from her own mystical experiences to add emotional commentary.
This book is for adults who enjoy lyrical wordcraft and dramatic tales of the heart. Anyone interested in eco-activism, environmentalism, Bigfoot, or 1980’s Oregon counterculture should enjoy this narrative. Everyone who enjoys metaphysics, adventure, and romance will appreciate this love story and find it uplifting.
Reviews
GOD'S BROTHER
The Other Brother of Jesus
A Novel by ALLEN DAVID MITCHELL
In the shadow of Rome's brutal siege, as the Second Temple crumbles and Jerusalem burns, one man's faith hangs in the balance. Eli, a devout first-century Jew, has witnessed the unthinkable—the destruction of everything sacred to his people. The ancient world is dying, and from its ashes rises a new faith that threatens to upend everything he has ever known.
Standing on the front lines of history's most consequential clash between Judaism and the emerging Christian Church, Eli finds himself torn between loyalty to his ancestral faith and the magnetic pull of revolutionary ideas about a carpenter's son from Nazareth. As political upheaval reshapes the spiritual landscape of the ancient world, Eli embarks on a profound spiritual pilgrimage—not just across the treacherous terrain of the Roman Empire, but through the labyrinth of his own soul.
From the smoking ruins of the Holy City to distant lands where new gospels are being written, Eli's journey becomes a quest for meaning in an age of chaos. Along the way, he encounters fellow travelers, dangerous adversaries, and unexpected allies, while a forbidden romance threatens to complicate his already perilous path. Each step forward forces him to confront fundamental questions: What happens when the old gods fail? How do we find truth when everything we've believed lies in ruins? And is it possible that the greatest revelations come not from above, but from within?
God's Brother, The Other Brother of Jesus is more than a historical novel—it's a metaphysical odyssey that explores the birth pangs of Christianity through the eyes of those who lived through history's most pivotal transformation. Rich with adventure, spiritual insight, and the timeless struggle between faith and doubt, this is the story of one man's courageous search for divine truth in humanity's darkest and most luminous hour.