Life With Cockatiels: Book Descriptions and Links

Cockatiels make life better. Ever since 1996 when my budgerigar Frodo was murdered by my then boyfriend, I’ve lived with and loved the cockatiels with whom I’ve shared my home and my life. The Life with Cockatiels series is grounded in real, first-hand experiences, the sort of things that don’t make it into traditional guide books. Over 40 years raising parrots (budgerigars, then cockatiels) go into these books. Successes and failures on my part both taught me what works and what doesn’t. To these lessons I add research into specific topics – like traveling by air with birds or foods that help address age-related health issues. Veterinarians know the physiology. They know about diseases and how to address injuries (like the time Frodo broke one of his wings). But the day to day stuff that is life with cockatiels? That comes from living with birds and letting them into your heart.

Amazon, Smashwords, and Audible each list the Life with Cockatiels on a special series page.

The Life with Cockatiels series is:

Preparing for My First Cockatiel

Preparing for My First Cockatiel is a guide book for you and your children to help you know what it takes to get ready for bringing home your very first cockatiel.

Unlike most books about cockatiels out there, this one doesn’t try to cover everything, but stays focused on what you need to be ready for your new life with your bird.

Full of personal stories and photos, you will get to know what life with cockatiels is like from my many years living with and loving them. A fun book for anyone who loves animals!

Topics covered include:

• Cockatiels as cockatoos
• Primary cages
• Travel/hospital cages (including cages for domestic & international air travel)
• Play spaces
• Food
• Toys
• Perches
• Food dishes
• Communicating with a new or shy cockatiel
• Preventing psittacosis (the main disease that transmits between humans and birds)
• Games to play with your new bird

Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you. Also available in audio edition at Apple and Audible.

Preparing for My Senior Cockatiel

Cockatiels are amazing birds! With an average lifespan of twenty to over thirty years, cockatiels are a life investment offering some of the most rewarding relationships you will ever know. In this guide book and sequel to “Preparing For My First Cockatiel,” author Laurel A. Rockefeller explores how to enhance your birds’ lives so they live well beyond the “senior bird” threshold of ten years old. Diet is covered extensively along with how to improve your birds’ home environment for the challenges older birds face. As with “Preparing for My First Cockatiel,” “Senior Cockatiel” is filled with personal stories and science, exploring what a cockatiel is and how to live a long and very happy life with your best friend. Includes detailed nutritional data on popular bird food brands, including ZuPreem, RoudyBush, and LaFeber’s Nutri-berries.

Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you. Also available in audio edition at Apple and Audible.

Mithril and Me, A Love Story

Mithril and Me is the true story of the special bond that forms between human and bird. Beginning with her first bird, a budgerigar (parakeet) named Luke and across the decades since, Laurel A. Rockefeller takes you on a special journey as only she can, learning and growing as a person along the way and loving each bird that comes into her life. Heartfelt, affectionate, and honest, “Mithril and Me” will warm your heart, make you cry, and inspire you along the way. Filled with personal photos from forty years of life with birds. Perfect for the animal lover in your life.

Available in digital, paperback, hardcover, and audio.

Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you. Also available in audio edition at Apple and Audible.

Show Me the Pretty Bird

Cockatiels are amazing birds. Beautiful, social, and never predictable, they make life fun for those blessed with their presence. In this two act comedy play, Laurel A. Rockefeller shows moments in her life with her birds in Act I and with people in Act II to show everyone what life is like as a bird person in a world that isn’t. True to Laurel’s habit for singing, there’s plenty of music and poetry celebrating the beauty and wonder that comes each day when you give your heart to birds.

Perfect for educational and community theater settings, especially those seeking material for a strong female lead.

Available in digital and paperback at a library (including Hoopla) and retailer near you including Apple, Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Everand, and Kobo.

Book Descriptions and Links for Books Not in a Series

Not every book works within the confines of a series. Some books are stand alone for any number of reasons. For “Lady Biya’s Guide to Medieval Aviculture,” the book is stand alone because the book encompasses parrot species other than cockatiels; Life With Cockatiels is specific to cockatiels. The Arban and the Saman is a traditional historical romance novel and as such is fiction. His Red Eminence focuses on a history-making man; the Legendary Women of World History only looks at women.

You get the idea!

Here are the books by Laurel A. Rockefeller who do not fit into any book series.

The Arban and the Saman

What would you risk for love? It is the year 1211 CE. Five years after being declared “khan,” Chinggis Khan and his invading hordes are sweeping across the north China plain, right into the nűzhen heartland. Their objective: conquest of the mighty Jin Empire. Among those sent into Liaoning is a low-ranking officer (an arban) named Mongke Nichan, a spiritual man on a personal quest to find his soulmate and fulfill a prophesy long lingering in his heart. But finding his twin flame and convincing her are two completely different matters in this wartime romance that takes you into the very heart of Asian mysticism and deep into the ranks of the powerful Mongol Horde.

Find The Arban and the Saman in your choice of languages at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you. Also available in audio edition at Audible, and Apple. Music performed on the audio edition by Laurel A. Rockefeller.

Also available in textbook format at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you and as a stage drama at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.

His Red Eminence, Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu.

Priest. Lover. Statesman. Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu is one of the most famous — or infamous politicians of all time. Made a villain in the popular Dumas novel, “The Three Musketeers,” the real man was a dedicated public servant loyal to king and country. A man of logic and reason, he transformed how we think about nations and nationality. He secularized wars between countries, patronized the arts for the sake of the public good, founded the first newspaper in France, and created France as the modern country we know today. Behind the scenes, du Plessis frequently suffered from crippling migraines and malaria. Hidden from view, but ever at his side stood Anne Rochefeuille, his dear friend, nurse-caretaker, and lover. His intellectual equal, Anne worked tirelessly to empower her cardinal to accomplish greatness, their love for each other forbidden by the Roman Catholic church Armand served. Filled with period music, dance, and plenty of romance, “His Red Eminence” transports you back to the court of King Louis XIII in all its vibrant and living color. Includes eight period songs, plus prayers, a detailed timeline, and extensive bibliography so you can keep learning. Winner of the 2019 Godiva Book Award.

Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you in your choice of languages.

Lady Biya’s Guide to Medieval Aviculture

Learning about the past through tourism and through living history recreations, re-enactments, and/or faires celebrating a specific time, place, and/or event in history is a popular and often expensive hobby.

From October 1990 to about the summer of 2012 Laurel A. Rockefeller was part of the largest and most popular medieval history re-creation organization: the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Though originally focusing on European and Asian music as mostly a singer, Laurel A. Rockefeller combined her passion for cockatiels with her passion for hands-on history when she introduced the aviculture sciences to the SCA in 2006. Over the course of the next six years, she researched and wrote about companion birds in the middle ages, focusing on parrots and, as is encouraged in the SCA, honing that research towards her own late 12th century, Jin dynasty persona, “Lady Biya,” the title of “lady” granted to her in 2007 for her ground-breaking work with birds.

Though extensively published by both the Barony of Settmour Swamp in New Jersey and the Crown Province of Ostgardr in New York City, most of Laurel’s works have not survived her exit from the SCA. This book then is what survives of six years of extensive historical research and is of certain interest to anyone who wants to learn about parrot history for both Europe and Asia.

Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.

See also The Legendary Women of World History series.

Life in America series: Book Descriptions and Links

It all began with a Yahoo Voices writing challenge: write a flash fiction western. Though I am known for writing books less than 50,000 words long (hence flash fiction is easier for me than for many authors), I have stayed away from the western genre. Not my thing. But with a challenge in place, I tried my hand at it and came up with a story about Irish immigration to Nebraska. The Life in America series was born: books that focus on USA history and the American experience.

Amazon and Smashwords each have series pages for the Life in America series.

The Life in America series is:

A New Start on the Niobrara for Mr. and Mrs. O’Malley

Darcy and Brigit always wanted a new start for themselves. Hearing that things in the Niobrara Valley of northeast Nebraska offered them opportunities denied them in County Mayo, they eagerly board the train bound for the new town of Randolph Nebraska with hopes and dreams in their hearts.

Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you. Also available in audio edition at your favorite retailer, including Audible, Apple, Chirp, and LibroFM.

American Poverty

In this thought-provoking historical and economic analysis, Laurel A. Rockefeller takes on poverty culture head-on, exploring what it means to poor in the United States while taking a look at how America’s closest and much more economically successful allies (Canada, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom) take care of their poor. From housing conditions to hunger to poverty psychology, Ms. Rockefeller takes on the core issues while offering tangible steps everyone of every income bracket can take today to secure America’s future and guarantee a secure America for our children.

Part one: essays exploring five facets of poverty in America: a lack of empathy, complacency about poverty, poverty shaming, public housing, and rape culture.

Part two: analysis on how each of us can and should address each facet of poverty, no matter how old or young we are.

Part three: a look at poverty and public policy towards poverty in Germany, France, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Comparative analysis between these US allies and the United States and the impact of poverty on foreign policy and national security.

Sources include: American Express, Forbes, CNN Money, The New York Times, Feeding America, The Shriver Report, Herald Scotland, BBC News, The Joseph Roundtree Foundation, The Huffington Post, and The Toronto Star.

Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you. Also available in audio edition at Audible and Apple.

American Patriarchy

Women’s experiences of patriarchy – from a historical point of view. Focusing on European and United States history, American Patriarchy explores life in the United States for women. Seven essays on the American experience of patriarchy become the discussion topics for the analysis in part two.

Topics explored:

• Patriarchy in the work place

• Hostess as the American Ideal for Women

• Patriarchy and Education

• Mansplaining

• Domestic Violence and Rape Culture

• Patriarchy and Money

• Patriarchy and Abortion.

From the history of women’s legal rights to the contributions made by Dolley Madison, Dr. Jill Biden, and other innovators, this thought-provoking analysis is sure to stimulate fascinating conversations at your next gathering.

Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you. Also available in audio edition at your favorite retailer, including Audible, Apple, Chirp, and LibroFM.

Founding Mothers

The life stories of twelve of the most influential women in colonial and early American and Canadian history come together in this fascinating book that will leave you inspired. From first ladies Martha Washington, Abigail Smith Adams, Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, and Dolley Payne Todd Madison to writers Mercy Otis Warren and Margaret Bayard Smith, these twelve ladies will have you rethinking the foundations of the United States and Canada. Jewish Founding Mother Abigail Minis, Thomas Jefferson’s slave concubine Sally Hemings, Matoaka (aka Pocahontas) of the Powhatan Confederacy, and Nahathaway(Cree) explorer Charlotte Small Thompson also have their stories told in this diverse collection.

Music appendix features songs popular in Colonial America, including “Heart’s Ease,” “Chester,” “We Gather Together,” “Hail Columbia,” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” For ages 6+.

Available at Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, Everand, Barnes/Noble, and at a retailer near you.

Audio edition available at a retailer near you including Apple, Chirp, Spotify, Barnes/Noble, and LibroFM.

See also The Legendary Women of World History series.

The Peers of Beinan Series: Book Descriptions and Links

My writing career began in 2010 when I discovered Netflix had a cherished show from my childhood available for rent: Benji, Zax, and the Alien Prince. Starring Christopher Burton, the series followed a boy-prince from the planet Antars on his adventures on Earth – aided by a protective droid and Benji, the dog.

Excerpt from Benji, Zax, and the Alien Prince. This favourite episode, “Good-bye Earth” had a particularly strong influence on The “Peers of Beinan” series, especially in its earliest drafts.

In 2011 I started a fan fiction novel. As the story progressed, I knew I wanted to publish it – but the show is under Joe Camp’s copyright and I couldn’t figure out how to secure permission for my novel.

That led to changes in the book and transformation of core details to not conflict with Joe Camp’s copyright. The single novel expanded into a trilogy. Two prequel novels were added and the “data files” which I wrote down to keep all the world building details straight were published as a companion book.

Amazon, Smashwords, and Kobo each list the Peers of Beinan books on series pages.

Here is the Peers of Beinan Series in full and presented in the story’s chronological order:

Good-bye A672E92 Quintus

What would you do if you knew your world was about to end? With war tearing society apart and preventing evacuation, two delegates assigned to the peace talks find romance tinged with the supernatural in a relationship that will make them the stuff of legends as they strive to say good-bye to A672E92 Quintus and set out in search of their new home: planet Beinan.

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you in your choice of languages. Audio edition available in English (Apple, Audible) and French (Apple, Audible).

Flash fiction “The First King available in audio format at Apple, Chirp, Spotify, LibroFM, Hoopla, and a retailer near you.

The Poisoned Ground

CORPORATE GREED. CORRUPTION. PLAGUE. All was well for the southern city of Nanli — until a mysterious plague filled the city with fear and agony. Duty bound to discover the cause, Lady Abbess Cara races against time to find a cure only to be caught up in a dangerous conspiracy that may claim her life and the lives of billions for generations to come.

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you.

The Great Succession Crisis

The romantic prequel to Ghosts of the Past and Princess Anyu Returns takes you into the story of Princess Anlei and the succession crisis that sets the stage for the heroes and villains of Ghosts of the Past. The lavish world-building of the series is established here and as such is a valuable read for diving into the Peers of Beinan universe and understanding the history that underscores the main novels. A simple, clean romance story suitable for middle grade and young adults, this is part fairy tale in space and part social sci-fi drama that your entire family can enjoy together.

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you.

The Ghosts of the Past

Terror fills the air on planet Beinan as unseen serial murderers bomb healing centres planet wide and assassinate the mighty and the humble for reasons known only unto themselves. Caught up in the conspiracy is Lord Knight Elendir, the son of two murdered healers whose grief overwhelms him. Will he solve the mystery and stop the killers before everyone he loves dies or will planet Beinan fall to the blood-thirsty terrorists?

Concluded by Princess Anyu Returns.

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you.

Princess Anyu Returns

With planet Beinan firmly under the control of the vicious Lord Yelu Princess Anyu flees Beinan for the distant and hostile planet D425E25 Tertius, a world known to its natives as “Earth.”

But more than just the toxic atmosphere and brutal New England winter awaits the young princess as she finds she is not the only Beinarian living among Earth humans.

What strange terrors await Princess Anyu on that hostile world and what sort of Beinan will she find when she finally returns home?

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you.

The Complete Data Files

The data files from Ghosts of the Past and Princess Anyu Returns and its three prequels is collected into a single, easy-to-use reference volume. Fully integrated glossary puts information at your fingertips. Expanded timeline includes all of known Beinarian history. A must-have guide to the Peers of Beinan Series.

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you.

The Complete Series

Dune meets middle earth in this epic series about a futuristic medieval society in another galaxy. There are no gruesome monsters to fight; the monsters are the ones inside their hearts, the same ones we are fighting in our society and in our lives today. This is a series about greed, corruption, lust, and revenge. It is about terrorism, corporations oppressing the poor, religious extremists imposing their will on others, and about the rich doing anything for power. And it is about good, decent people fighting for love, for liberty, and for kindness against the darkness that would snuff the light out of the world forever. All of this is set in a fantastic world with three moons, silicon-based life that breathes chlorine gas to survive, and its own lavishly created society complete with its own food, drink, and music. There are giant white birds of prey, sea creatures, and very cute long haired rodents. Two religions dominate the culture and, true to our own history, struggle with and against the constitutional monarchy and Great Council for power over the hearts and souls of the people. Take a journey across the stars with me to a distant world that somehow feels just like home.

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you.

The Legacy of Princess Anlei

The Legacy of Princess Anlei comes alive! Begin with The Great Succession Crisis, the paranormal coming-of-age romance about Princess Anlei and her struggle to find herself while caught in the middle of a chess game of noble houses. Then solve the mystery of the Ghosts of the Past. As unseen terrorists target healing centres planet-wide it falls to Lord Knight Elendir of house Ten-Ar to stop the killers before they murder everyone he loves in this thriller where no one is safe. Finally join in the fight for freedom against Lord Yelu’s tyranny in Princess Anyu Returns, the exciting final chapter to the Peers of Beinan Series. All in their original forms from 2015 and reflecting the original vision for the series.

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you.

Songs of the Beinarian Court

The songs and poems from the entire Peers of Beinan science fiction series come together in one collection. From Corann’s “Lady Fairest Queen” about Princess Anlei from “The Great Succession Crisis” to Princess Constance’s lament “Here Lays My Father and my Lord” sung as she finds the body of her murdered father (Ghosts of the Past), to the beautiful poems that never made it into the final versions of the books and previously found only in “The Lost Tales,” this collection has it all. It’s Peers of Beinan – the Musical in all its glory.

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you. Audio edition available on Audible and Apple.

The Lost Tales

Deleted and forgotten stories, songs, and tales from the Legacy of Princess Anlei Trilogy: The Great Succession Crisis, The Ghosts of the Past, and Princess Anyu Returns. Presented uncut and unedited in their original forms, these stories not only entertain, but offer a unique window into the world building process.

Find it on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes/Noble, Apple, and at a retailer near you.