Civil War Gold Unearthed!

Is there really lost Civil War Gold as depicted in my novel Treasure of the Diary—Gold Treasure just waiting for someone to stumble upon it or the clue to its hiding place? As Oscar Wilde noted, Literature always anticipates real life. Validating the legends of buried Civil War gold, a Kentucky farmer just unearthed a 150-year-old fortune dubbed the Great Kentucky Hoard. This unearthed bounty is a testament to the time-honored legends of the lost Civil War Gold. It is likely that whoever hid the gold left clues behind as is the case in the novel Treasure of the Diary.

The Great Kentucky Hoard is a historic treasury of seven hundred United States gold coins minted during the tumultuous years of 1862 and 1863. The treasure's denominations range from $1 to a staggering $20. To truly grasp the magnitude of this discovery, consider the value of each 1863 gold Liberty double eagle coin. Depending on its condition, a single coin is likely to sell anywhere from $100,000 to a jaw-dropping $400,000 at auction.

Kentucky, the heartland of several intense Civil War skirmishes between the Union Army and the Confederate cavalries led by Nathan Bedford Forrest and Kentuckian John Hunt Morgan, has always been shrouded in intriguing tales of buried treasures. The theory goes that this gold was buried as a safeguard against advancing enemies. With the discovery, the legends of lost Civil War gold, whispered rumors of riches concealed by those claimed by war or disease, suddenly seem much less mythical. The Great Kentucky Hoard underscores that truth can be as strange - and as captivating - as fiction.

And so it is with Treasure of the Diary—another unearthing of Civil War gold. The story is set in two contrasting timelines that connect the distant past and the present, tracing the quest for a cache of buried gold weighing an astounding half-ton. It weaves Civil War miseries and the lure of hidden gold into an intriguing and educational mystery that is available in print, digital and audio formats.

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Collins’s books are available from neighborhood bookstores and online sources. E-book editions are available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks,  Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes,and directly from Audible.com.

Voice Actor Brings New Life to Opioid Novel

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Award Winning Author, Tom Collins, and Eric Bryan Moore Reunite for the Revised Audiobook Edition of the Opioid Mystery Novel, Diversion.

 Franklin, Tennessee, May 2, 2023—Tom Collins and acclaimed voice actor, Eric Bryan Moore, are reuniting to re-record the audio edition of Collins' thrilling opioid-laden mystery novel, Diversion. This collaboration marks the renewal of a successful partnership that has brought the author's captivating stories to life through Moore's masterful narration.

 In the revised audiobook edition, Moore, who has narrated all of Collins' books except for The Claret Murders and the original audio edition of Diversion, returns to lend his distinctive voice to this suspenseful story of illegal drugs in Tennessee. Collins explained, "The previous narrator did a professional job as a reader. Nevertheless, I thought the story deserved Eric Moore’s voice as a full-time professional voice actor." With over 150 audiobooks to his name, Moore records from his home studio in São Paulo, Brazil, and remains dedicated to the art of storytelling. "I love sitting down in my booth and telling a good story. I take great pride in bringing perfectly nuanced stories to life," he said.

 Diversion, set in the picturesque countryside around Manchester and Tullahoma, delves into the murky world of illegal drugs and their link to our nation’s enemies. In the story, the Middle Tennessee area is fast becoming the primary East Coast source for the illicit diversion of pharmaceuticals through pill mills. The area also includes the Bonnaroo Music Festival, and the Arnold Air Force Base housing the nation’s only propulsion test facilities. Both Bonnaroo and Arnold are threatened by enemies willing to die to harm us.

 The new recording of Diversion promises to provide an immersive and engaging listening experience. The powerful combination of Tom Collins' compelling storytelling and the exceptional narration of voice actor Eric Bryan Moore will surely captivate readers and listeners alike.

For more information go to authortomcollins@i65n.com and https://www.ericbryanmoore.com/

For media enquires contact: Tom Collins, tom.collins@i65n.com or 615-948-1544

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 Notes to editors:

       M. Thomas (Tom) Collins writes from his home in Franklin, Tennessee, where his characters come to life and frequent familiar places in the bucolic middle Tennessee landscape and the majestic mountains of Western North Carolina. A pioneer entrepreneur of the information technology industry, Tom Collins is now retired from the commercial world and devotes his time to creating his mystery series, Mark Rollins Adventures and authoring his short stories about Asheville and Western North Carolina. You will find his books in neighborhood bookstores or online sources. His books are available in print, digital and audio formats.

        Recent Awards: Collins’ book Exploring Asheville earned the top spot as the 2022 winner in the regional literature category at both the Independent Press Awards and the NYC Big Books Awards. Also winning in the Big Book Awards was his novel, Beyond Visual Range, as a 2022 Distinguished Favorite in Military Fiction. In 2023, his novel, Treasure of the Diary, received the Independent Press Distinguished Favorite Award for Literary Fiction. Diversion is under consideration for the Independent Press (Spring 2023) Awards.

        Works by the author:

o   Mark Rollins’ New Career & the Women’s Health Club

• Mark Rollins and the Rainmaker

• Mark Rollins and the Puppeteer

• The Language of Excellence

• The Claret Murders, a Mark Rollins Adventure

• Diversion, a Mark Rollins Adventure

• Beyond Visual Range, a Mark Rollins Adventure

• Stories from Applewood Manor

• Exploring Asheville, Its History, Attractions, Mysteries, Ghost, and Tall Tails

• Treasure of the Diary, a Mark Rollins Adventure

Half a Ton of Buried Gold is at the Center of Tom Collins’s New Novel.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 24, 2023

Media Contact:
M. Thomas (Tom) Collins
615/948-1544
Tom.collins@i65n.com

Half a Ton of Buried Gold is at the Center of Tom Collins’s New Novel

A gang of confederate irregulars stormed a Union train carrying gold. Unable to outrun pursuing troops, the surviving train robbers stashed the gold in Western North Carolina where it remained waiting to be discovered.

Treasure of the Diary, the seventh book in author Tom Collins’s Mark Rollins Adventure series, weaves historical fiction and familiar places into an educational and entertaining adventure mystery when three college students discover a 150-year-old diary. The old journal belonged to a Confederate prisoner of war. The reader relives events of the Civil War and the plight of prisoners as the students read through the diary—page by page searching for a secret, one that they hope will lead them to buried gold.

M. Thomas (Tom) Collins writes from his home in Franklin, Tennessee, where his characters come to life and frequent familiar places in the bucolic middle Tennessee landscape and the majestic mountains of Western North Carolina. A pioneer entrepreneur of the information technology industry, Collins is now retired from the commercial world and devotes his time to creating his mystery series, Mark Rollins Adventures and authoring stories about Asheville and Western North Carolina. His book Exploring Asheville—Its History Attractions, Mysteries, Ghosts, and Tall Tales earned the top spot as the 2022 winner in the regional literature category at both the Independent Press Awards and the NYC Big Books Awards. Also winning in the Big Book Awards was his novel, Beyond Visual Range, as a 2022 Distinguished Favorite in Military Fiction.

***

Collins’s books are available from neighborhood bookstores and online sources. E-book editions are available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks,  Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes,and directly from Audible.com.

To request a review copy of this or other books by the author, or inquire about a live or online appearance, contact the author at www.authortomcollins.com.

2020 River Swing Auction

This year the annual fundraising auction for the Harpeth Conservancy will be entirely online. Bidding starts October nineteen, and the final gavel falls on October 25th, 2020. Register as a bidder in advance to look over the fabulous donated merchandise and packages. Once you place a bid, avoid being outbid by checking the status of your offer throughout the seven day auction period. There are two Mark Rollins adventure packages included among the auction items.

• A signed copy of The Claret Murders accompanied by a fantastic French Claret—a 2014 bottle of Château Cheval Blanc— total package value $774.00.

• A signed copy of my new mystery Beyond Visual Range and while you are reading it a two night stay at the historic Applewood Manor Bed and Breakfast Inn in Asheville, NC—total package value $729.00.

The auction is a wonderful way to support the Harpeth Conservancy’s mission to restore and protect clean water and healthy ecosystems Tennessee rivers while taking advantage of some super bargains—so happy bidding!

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For signed copies of books by Tom Collins, go to TomCollinsAuthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available on Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and other online bookstores. Audio editions are available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com. Be sure to check out the latest Tom Collins Novel, Beyond Visual Range on Amazon.
Published by I-65 North, Inc.

PRESS RELEASE

July 30, 2020
Media Contact:
M. Thomas Collins
Tom.collins@i65n.com

  Franklin Author’s Four Star Novel is Now Available on Audible

Franklin, TN – Tom Collins’s seventh novel, Beyond Visual Range, is now available as an audio book. The Audible edition joins three other formats—hardcover, paperback and eBook editions. On June 28, Foreword Clarion Review described the new mystery as “a military thriller with a tinge of political realism” and gave the book four stars. Collins writes from his home in Franklin, Tennessee, where his characters come to life and frequent familiar places in the bucolic Middle Tennessee landscape. What makes Collins’s latest mystery different from other novels in his Mark Rollins adventures series is that his Nashville heroines take the story into outer space. The author explained:

“For more than two years, I've known that I wanted to write about the problems faced by our military drone pilots. That mission was reinforced when I read the New York Times story by Eyal Press titled The Wounds of the Drone Warrior. However, I was missing a compelling plot until real life events supplied the material I needed for my story--the impeachment, the mysterious X-37B space plane, and the migration of retiring military flag officers to the Music City area.  Proving again that real life is the material of good fiction.”  

More about the story, Beyond Visual Range – Two women drone pilots battle in outer space to defend their country. One is a former fighter pilot who, after a crash, now flies from a wheelchair. This dynamic female drone crew from Nashville, Tennessee, now based in Florida, is drafted to defend the United States from a rogue military element threatening to use force to overthrow the government. Their weapons are twenty-foot tungsten rods. A single rod dropped from orbit would strike Earth at ten times the speed of sound with the impact of a nuclear weapon. As weapons are readied, our heroines find they are Beyond Visual Range.

M. Thomas (Tom) Collins is one of the pioneer entrepreneurs of the information technology industry. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ALM publication Law Technology News for  his contribution to the use of technology in the legal services community.  Citytech, a London-based publication,  called him an "outstanding individual and visionary" when he was named as one of the Top 100 Global Tech Leaders. Although retired from the commercial world, he continues to write and speak on leadership and management as well as pen his series of Mark Rollins Adventure mysteries.

For more information about Tom Collins’s new Novel, to inquire about a review copy, or to schedule an interview, please contact him at tom.collins@i65n.com.

The Audible edition is available on Amazon, iTunes and directly from Audible.com. Signed copies of Collins’s books are available at www.tomcollinsauthor.com. Unsigned print and eBook editions are available on Amazon, Google Books, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble and other online bookstores.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 1, 2020
Media Contact:
M. Thomas Collins
Tom.collins@i65n.com

  Franklin Author Tom Collins’s Sixth Mystery Moves to Outer Space

Franklin, TN – While sheltering in place for the COVID-19 pandemic, local author Tom Collins put the finishing touches on his seventh book and sixth mystery in his Mark Rollins Adventures series. Collins writes from his home in Franklin, Tennessee, where his characters come to life and frequent familiar places in the bucolic middle Tennessee landscape. What makes Collins’s latest mystery, Beyond Visual Range, different is that his Nashville heroines take the story into outer space. The author explained:

“For more than two years, I've known that I wanted to write about the problems faced by our military drone pilots. That mission was reinforced when I read the New York Times story by Eyal Press titled The Wounds of the Drone Warrior. However, I was missing a compelling plot until real life events supplied the material I needed for my story--the impeachment, the mysterious X-37B space plane, and the migration of retiring military flag officers to the Music City area.  Proving again that real life is the material of good fiction.”  

More about the story, Beyond Visual Range – Two women drone pilots battle in outer space to defend their country. One is a former fighter pilot who, after a crash, now flies from a wheelchair. This dynamic female drone crew from Nashville, Tennessee, now based in Florida, is drafted to defend the United States from a rogue military element threatening to use force to overthrow the government. Their weapons are twenty-foot tungsten rods. A single rod dropped from orbit would strike Earth at ten times the speed of sound with the impact of a nuclear weapon. As weapons are readied, our heroines find they are Beyond Visual Range.

M. Thomas (Tom) Collins is one of the pioneer entrepreneurs of the information technology industry. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ALM publication Law Technology News for  his contribution to the use of technology in the legal services community.  Citytech, a London-based publication,  called him an "outstanding individual and visionary" when he was named as one of the Top 100 Global Tech Leaders. Although retired from the commercial world, he continues to write and speak on leadership and management as well as pen his series of Mark Rollins Adventure mysteries.

For more information about Tom Collins’s book, to inquire about a review copy, or to schedule an interview, please contact him at tom.collins@i65n.com.

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From the Editorial Review of "Diversion" by Foreword Clarion Reviews--

“This dramatic thriller reveals many dark truths about the opioid crisis. Fueled by a murder mystery and a missing girl, Tom Collins’s page-turning thriller Diversion explores the opioid crisis and illegal drugs through myriad plotlines…. The book’s many antagonists add intrigue and excitement. Lena and Carlos, two drug-dealing crime lords in Florida’s pill mill enterprise, are crooked and manipulative, and their scheming creates constant uncertainty as to what will happen next. Tom Lewis and Rocco, two other corrupt adversaries, are sleazy and dishonest, and their role in the story results in astonishing developments.” Foreword Clarion Reviews

BOOK INFORMATION

Author: Tom Collins
Publisher: I 65 North, Inc.
Genres Mystery Thriller
ISBN-13: 978-1-939285-90-4
Publication Date: Sep 29, 2017