Tuesday, September 29, 2020

10 True Things About Leonardo da Vinci That May Surprise You by Brian McPhee #10Things

9:00 PM 0 Comments

 


Brian McPhee lived in Glasgow, Scotland until he was 21, when he moved to London. In his early 40s, he emigrated with his wife and daughter to Maryland, USA. After a successful career in IT marketing and management, he and his wife moved once more, to Monpazier in southwest France. All Visible Things is his third novel.

WEBSITE: https://www.ententepublishing.com/


10 True Things About Leonardo da Vinci That May Surprise You

All Visible Things is set in the world of Leonardo da Vinci, the greatest all-round genius to ever live. Here are ten true things about Leonardo that appear in the novel that may surprise you.

 

1. There is a strong probability that Leonardo was an animal-loving vegetarian.

2. Leonardo was strikingly handsome and a rather vain dandy.

3. He probably spent more time and made more money from designing pageants and spectacles than from painting.

4. In his day, he was considered a superb musician and singer.

5. He was accused of the crime of committing homosexual acts, but not punished.

6. Leonardo and Machiavelli were good friends

7. He is thought to have dissected over thirty corpses

8. Leonardo and Michelangelo were rivals and even enemies; but they were each commissioned to paint a huge mural in what is now the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. This high-profile contest between the two greatest artists of all time resulted in … nothing. Well, they both made designs and even started work, but neither completed his commission.

9. The only complete version of Leonardo’s masterpiece, The Last Supper, is in London, in the Royal Academy.

10. It’s really OK to call him ‘da Vinci’. Yes, it means ‘of Vinci’ but it was how he was addressed, even as ‘Leonardo da Vinci of Florence’. It isn’t any more wrong than calling that other famous Leonardo, ‘DiCaprio’ – in fact, it is exactly the same, just with a space.


 
About the Book:



All Visible Things is a dual-timeline novel moving seamlessly between modern-day and Renaissance England and Italy.

When Lauren Patterson discovers the diary of a young assistant to Leonardo da Vinci, we are immediately immersed in the personalities and intrigues surrounding the archypical Renaissance man–and animal lover, vegetarian, dandy and bearer of grudges. When not executing the commissions of ungrateful clients, Leonardo juggles finances, apprentices, friends and rivals, all the while making time for his true passion–his pioneering scientific enquiries.

The diaries document a series of dramas–extortion, murder, defamation, betrayal and bitter artistic rivalries–played out against everyday struggles to extract money from clients, manage a hectic studio and, amidst the chaos, create timeless masterpieces, in particular the Mona Lisa, whose complex saga weaves through the narrative. The enthusiastic diarist is Paolo del Rosso, endlessly captivated by the vibrant life of Florence and enamoured of Chiara, Leonardo’s beautiful goddaughter and the model in some of his greatest paintings. Their tender, decades-long relationship is the constant thread through the Renaissance tapestry, as their lives are unwittingly unravelled by a devastating intrigue that unspools down the years.

The discovery of the diaries is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Lauren, but one threatened by academic jealousies, unwanted media attention and personal insecurities. However, a partnership and friendship develops between the young American researcher and an English art dealer as they come together to find the final pages of the diary and track down Paolo’s charming portrait of Chiara, drawn with the encouragement and assistance of Leonardo–a trail they follow from Renaissance Florence to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust to a thrilling dénouement when the portrait gives up its astonishing secret and our protagonists embrace their future.

While All Visible Things is a work of fiction, its themes and settings are based on extensive research into the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci and everyday life in sixteenth century Italy. It combines the sweep and drama of Irving Stone’s The Agony and the Ecstasy with the intimacy of Tracy Chevalier’s The Girl with a Pearl Earring.

ORDER YOUR COPY

Amazon → US: https://www.amazon.com/All-Visible-Things-Brian-McPhee/dp/1983563374/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1983563374

 


 

Back Story: Surviving Hiroshima by Anthony Drago

9:00 PM 0 Comments

 


 Back Story: The Inspiration Behind Surviving Hiroshima

By Anthony Drago 



     On January 29,1950, I was born in Camden New Jersey. Due to both my parents working I spent a lot of my time at my grandparent’s home and attached neighborhood Italian grocery store. Growing up, my mother Kay Drago (Kaleria Palchikoff), told me various stories about her life. At the time, I didn’t really understand the impact it would have on me.
     In my teens, I remember my mother telling me about how important family, education, music and the remembrance of history was. She would impress upon me that Russian and Japanese cultures were necessary for me to learn. Especially, my family’s involvement in that history.
Through the years, I learned a great deal from my mother. How her family fled the Russian Revolution and their final escape to Hiroshima, Japan. I learned about her life in Japan as a child and her love for music and school athletics. She excelled in both. She also never forgot about telling me about the importance of Christian faith and to always rely in God.
     I realized quickly that having faith in God was extremely important to my mother. My mother’s life in Japan was full of joy while growing up early in life but that suddenly changed when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. Like all wars, the civilian’s lives are tragically altered. Theirs was a constant fear of bombings and threats of arrest. This was due to my family being stateless and not being Japanese. And then, on August 6, 1945 the Atom Bomb was used on Hiroshima. My mother was 1.5 miles from the epicenter, when over 70,000 Japanese were instantly killed. She and her family survived but what now.
     All these detailed experiences I keep in a special place in my heart for many years. I had my mother write her experiences down and I asked many questions about her experience. Between starting a new life with my wife Kathy, raising three children a a law enforcement career, I hardly had time to think about my mom’s experiences.

     There were many times that I would dream of possibly writing a book or at least looking into the possibility. Many times, I would tell friends and colleagues the story of survival in Japan and people would just stare at me in awe saying it’s unbelievable.
     Retiring from the police department after thirty years of service, I started to think about making my book a reality. After many dead-ends and people saying it can’t be done, I was introduced to author/historian Douglas Wellman. Doug was intrigued with my story and we both set our sights in completing this amazing work. After thirty years, I finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel.
     Surviving Hiroshima A Young Women’s Story is a story that I needed to tell and the world needs to finally hear after 75 years.

Enjoy the book!



 

Anthony “Tony” Drago was born in Camden, New Jersey and spent much of his early childhood at his paternal grandparents Italian grocery store. From a young age, his mother, Kaleria Palchikoff Drago, would tell him the captivating story of her journey from Russia to Japan and then to the United States. It created Tony’s foundation for his love of history—especially his family’s history—bringing him to write this book.

After retiring in 2006, Tony doubled down on his passions—flying his airplane, restoring his classic car, and traveling the world with his wife, Kathy. Tony and Kathy have been married for forty-five years. They have three adult children and enjoy spending their days on the beach in their hometown of Carmel, California with their eight grandchildren and dogs, Tug and Maggie. For more information about Kaleria and the book, visit http://www.survivinghiroshima.com.

 



 

From Russian nobility, the Palchikoffs barely escaped death at the hands of Bolshevik revolutionaries until Kaleria’s father, a White Russian officer, hijacked a ship to take them to safety in Hiroshima. Safety was short lived. Her father, a talented musician, established a new life for the family, but the outbreak of World War II created a cloud of suspicion that led to his imprisonment and years of deprivation for his family.

Then, on August 6, 1945, 22-year-old Kaleria was doing pre-breakfast chores when a blinding flash lit the sky over Hiroshima, Japan. A moment later, everything went black as the house collapsed on her and her family. Their world, and everyone else’s changed as the first atomic bomb was detonated over a city.

After the bombing, trapped in the center of previously unimagined devastation, Kaleria summoned her strength to come to the aid of bomb victims, treating the never-before seen effects of radiation. Fluent in English, Kaleria was soon recruited to work with General Douglas MacArthur’s occupation forces.

ORDER YOUR COPY

Amazon → https://amzn.to/2DHTSue

Monday, September 28, 2020

Delilah in America by Patrick Gallagher @patrickg_author #guest

9:00 PM 0 Comments

 


DELILAH IN AMERICA

By Patrick Gallagher

One of the famous stories in the Bible is that of Samson and Delilah, found in the 16th chapter of Judges.  The story is so famous it has been made into movies at least seven times, has been portrayed in opera, in art by the great masters, in

 sculptures and in various other forms, including music and television.

What is it about this story that is so intriguing?  Is it because we find it so difficult to imagine an evil, conniving woman who would use her sexuality and the love of her man against him, to his destruction?  Or is it because we cannot understand a man who is so mesmerized by his lover that he fails or perhaps even refuses to see her obvious attempts to destroy him?  For whatever reason, the compelling drama of Samson and Delilah has been used to exemplify foolishness by both parties for over three millennia.

Sadly, Samson and Delilah weren’t the last couple to act so foolishly.  This scenario has been repeated in various generations and in various places throughout the world.  Woman seduces man.  Man loves woman.  Woman preys on that love.  We read about it in history and we see it played out in the news.  But we never can fathom what motivates the woman, nor what causes the man to overlook what seems so obvious.  Such a scenario took place in California, Idaho and ultimately Oregon in the late 1940’s.

‘TIL DEATH DO US . . . A True Crime Story of Bigamy and Murder published by WildBlue Press tells the true story of Gladys Broadhurst and her prosperous chiropractor husband, Dr. W. D. Broadhurst.  It reveals her dark secret past and chronicles her seduction of the doctor and of his young cowboy employee.  The book tells the story of not one but two men whose lives are destroyed by falling in love with Gladys. 

Yes, Gladys is Delilah personified, and sadly the doctor has way too much in common with Samson.  I invite you to read the book and decide for yourself if this uncanny resemblance to Samson and Delilah is as chilling to you as it is to me.

 



Many have set about in life to tell stories that amaze others. Patrick Gallagher had no such ambition. However, some stories grip us by the collar and demand they be told to the world, and this is what Patrick has been challenged to do. He has been a “jack of all trades, master of one,” the “one” being a U.S. Customs Broker and logistics specialist. But over the curse of a lifetime Patrick has worked as a farm laborer, forest fire fighter, process server, retail store manager, preacher, ware-houseman and dishwasher. However, founding and managing a business in international logistics was the career he loved.

Now retired, Patrick and his wife enjoy their four children and twelve grandchildren, and their home at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Denver, Colorado.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: https://wildbluepress.com/patrick-gallagher-author-bio/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickg_author

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Patrick-Gallagher-Author-103720531387732/

 


 

In August 1945, Gladys Lincoln of Sacramento contacted prosperous Dr. W. D. Broadhurst of Caldwell, Idaho, and rekindled a romance from twenty years earlier.  After many passionate letter exchanges and several sexually-charged meetings, they were married in Reno, Nevada on May 20, 1946.  After a passion-filled three-day weekend together, the doctor returned to his home in Idaho, and Gladys returned to Sacramento … and to her husband, Leslie Lincoln! But Gladys was much more than a bigamist.

Gladys needed something even she didn’t understand.  She married her first husband when she was 20, and her second husband only 14 months later.  The second marriage lasted only two years, the third less than 16 months.  Leslie Lincoln was her fifth, and Dr. Broadhurst became her sixth. But what desperate need drove her to go from marriage to marriage?

Then what dark mindset moved her and her young cowboy chauffeur to commit murder? Find out in ‘TIL DEATH DO US …’ the gripping new true crime from WildBlue Press author Patrick Gallagher whose grandfather was Gladys’ lead defense attorney during her sensational trial.

ORDER YOUR COPY

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089K62JXT/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=true+crime+murder+bigamy

B&N:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/til-death-do-us-patrick-gallagher/1137187978?ean=9781952225161

WildBlue Press:

https://wildbluepress.com/til-death-do-us-patrick-gallagher-true-crime/

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Back Story: MY FATHER'S VOICE by Janice Elizabeth Duval #guest #backstory

9:00 PM 0 Comments

 


Back Story: The Inspiration Behind My Father's Voice

By Janice Elizabeth Duval

 

After being a Christian for many years I began to attend Christian groups that encouraged me to pursue a Father who loved me, not just be subservient to a demanding God.  The more I read and studied the bible I saw God’s mercy toward His wayward people Israel.

 

I never really felt that the New Testament was as interesting as the exciting stories in the Old Testament, therefore, I did not realize the inheritance I had received from Jesus Christ. My new Christian teachers and friends helped me to understand that the fulfillment of the promises God made in the Old Testament were culminated in Jesus’ life, death, burial and most importantly His resurrection.

 

His words began to live inside of me, and I learned that I can call God, Abba, Father and that I am His beloved daughter! From that point I had a new perspective when I read the Bible. I knew that Father God was speaking to me and telling me the family history and my heritage.

 

I had many questions, which I asked, but I did not know how God would get the answers to me.  So, I kept praying to hear a spoken word from the many ministry leaders and visiting prophets.  Nothing extraordinary manifested although each opportunity found me yearning to hear a word from God.

 

One morning as I was spending time with the Father, I seemed to sense words coming at a pace I needed to write down as they were coming faster than I could take them in. I felt that if I did not write them down, I would forget something important.  So I started writing and after I finished, I was blessed by the first words the Holy Spirit stirred in my heart.  I was able to read and savor each one.

 

My caution is, though, God speaks primarily through His written Word, but if you have hidden His word in your heart, His word is what will answer your questions. He does not contradict His written word, so if His word is not in you, you will not know the truth of what you are hearing.





 

Janice Elizabeth Duval (Jan) is a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father changed careers and joined the Army when she was 2 years old, and so she was raised in a military environment.  She met her husband, Aaron, also a military man, at Fort Knox, KY and their marriage allowed her to travel to several countries, which broadened her life experiences. She and her husband of 58 years have a total of seven children, six sons, and one daughter. Growing up as an only child, and an Army Brat, Jan learned early on to be content without having a large group of people around her. She entertained herself with books, listening to the radio and making up plays for her parents. In High School, she excelled in History and Literature and Drama.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website Address: http://www.myfathersvoice.net

Facebook Address: https://www.facebook.com/My-Fathers-Voice-183096021801663



 
 


Many years ago when I became a Christian, I was like many people who did not really know God as he is-a loving and gracious father. When my family and I moved to Kansas and then to Oklahoma, it was right in the midst of the Charismatic Renewal. It was at the point in my life I began to see God in a totally different way. I did not realize that he loved me, Jan Duval. I certainly did not know that he wanted to talk to me personally! As I studied the scriptures and learned more and more about Jesus and his relationship with his father and understood that the Father wanted a similar relationship with me, I was over the moon! Each morning, I could hardly wait for my family to leave for the day so that I could have my time of fellowship with God. It was during these times that I began to write the things I felt God was telling me. I love how tenderly and patiently Father God teaches profound, amusing, and down-to-earth life lessons from everyday events. God is amazing! I hope these writings will encourage, inspire, and add some humor to the reader.

PRAISE AND ACCOLADES:

“Every person I know is in need of encouragement. The problem is that our daily grind and the routine of life sometimes rob us of this precious commodity. Janice Duval has done us all a service by compiling her short stories, antidotes, and heart conversations with God.  I think you will be amazed at how God uses understandable stories to make a profound and lasting imprint on your heart.  No doubt, the encouragement that you receive from this book will cause you to share it with others.”

Bishop Michael Pitts, Bestselling Author


HIGGINS PUBLISHING https://smarturl.it/mfv



For Your Sci-fi Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Reading Pleasure: WEEKS by Jasyn Turley #bookspotlight #weeks

9:00 PM 0 Comments



WEEKS
Jasyn Turley
Scifi/Post Apocalyptic/Zombie

Phil, Tim, and Dakota are three survivors taking refuge in Atlanta, Georgia. The year is 2027, ten years after a nuclear fallout decimated the known world and left it in shambles. With hordes of the undead flooding their once safe home and a city now depleted of all resources and supplies the three must make a daring gamble. To trek across the States and Canada, looking for a new place to call home; safe from the monsters that plague the lands.

In their daring gamble this trio encounters more than just zombies. They are relentlessly pursued and hunted by both an old and new nemesis’. Trying to survive and stick together, no matter the odds, they must rely on their faith, bond, and past experiences to live through their tribulations. In this world, a fool’s chance is usually their only chance.



Amazon → https://amzn.to/2Fw5Jc7

_____________________




Excerpt from Chapter Three – Present Day
2027

He stood there, in the middle of the four-way stop, staring down at the dusky horizon, the growing shadows of the building. There was a reason they had come here, but the beauty of the twilight mesmerized him to the point of forgetting. The fact that nature could still hold its beauty, its color, despite all that has happened, only strengthened his faith in God.
    For ten years they had lived off of faith. Living on what they worked so hard to obtain. All the clues, riddles and puzzles they solved to find and unlock caches filled with supplies; their lifeline. For ten years of survival and struggle they found joy with pain, blood with sweet, rejoicing with suffering, repentance with sinning. It was their faith in Christ that held them together, in the darkest moments when the night closed in all around them and the sky seemed as if it was falling on them.
    There was no sense of weekdays, calendars. All they knew was based off of measuring the months themselves for the last ten years, since 2017. They knew it was at least ten years that they’ve been together.
Thinking back to his memories always put Phil in a trance, and the twilight hours of day only deepened it. He could best be described as “the lights are on but nobody’s home.”
    “Phil. Hey, Pastor Phil!” Tim yelled out louder than he was comfortable with, but he could see Phil was now alert.
    “What?” Phil asked, breaking away from the trance of the twilight.
    “The Humvees? Remember?” Dakota asked from nearby. Her voice sounded concerned as she pointed to the ancient bodies of metal vehicles.
    They were only scrap now, after ten years of rot and decay has set in. All three Humvees sat at the four-way stop, filled with potholes; probably from mortar fire. This was obviously a case of friendly fire as the vehicles too looked like they were hit by mortars. Rubble had piled up on the sides of each vehicle and the area as a whole looked like it had suffered a good deal of mortar fire.
    The three Humvees used to be used by the Army. One had a hatch on its roof, where a mount for a machine gun, now long missing, had been positioned. He had the idea to start searching the city more painstakingly, seeing that the last of their supplies was stretching thin. There were no more caches available and their resources were depleting. So Phil wanted to double check everything… again. He hoped these Humvees would make their day a little more fruitful because so far the only things they had managed to find was two MREs and a bottle of whiskey.
    “Right,” Phil said, looking away from the twilight horizon again, to focus on the task at hand. “Tim, take the center, Dakota the first. I’ll check the rear one,” he ordered, walking away towards to the Humvee ruins in the back.
    Tim and Dakota both shrugged their shoulders casually, but they were both thinking the same thing. Before Dakota parted from Tim, he stepped closer and whispered in a low voice.
    “Do you still think he’s just going through a phase?” he asked.
    “We all do every once in a while.” Dakota answered.
    “In basic, you go through a thirteen-week adjustment period. Guess what, he’s been like this for months now.”
    “Tim, it took me two years to adjust to America when I moved here, and three years to learn English. It has to be a phase.”
    “Ten years after everything went into the gutter, and now he’s going through a phase? I don’t buy it, sis. Otherwise he would’ve been like this from the start,” Tim said, patting her back and turning his attention to the ruins of the vehicle in the center.
    Dakota had the leading Humvee. It felt normal because she always was the one taking point—well, usually she was. Whether it was scouting, reconnaissance or overwatch, her eyes were mostly up front looking ahead. Even when she was in the 75th, she went on frequent scouting missions. Before that she was a field surgeon who knew her way around a needle and the basics of an operation table.
She was no psychologist but she knew something was wrong with someone who was constantly getting stuck in his head. Blaming it on current circumstances was futile: they were all, to a degree, sociopaths. She had shot and killed people within arms reach and still could sleep the same night. Granted, it took some time getting to that point. No, Tim was right. Something else was eating at Phil from the inside.
They would have to worry about that later, right now they only had a little bit of time left to forage what they could from these Humvees and head back to base before other things became more active at night. Though she and Tim both remember that they had already picked these Humvees clean long ago. The whole city was pretty much picked clean. For Phil to forget something as little as that, there had to be something more going on with him; and they couldn’t waste anymore days’ worth of work to let him sort things out in his head.
Phil watched as Tim took to the middle Humvee and started to pull on the driver door. Its long rusted hinges gave way as Tim pulled the door clean off. Of the three, Tim was the strongest. He could overpower Phil in any wrestling match they had. His dark skin was sweating, even though it wasn’t hot or humid outside.
He never knew why but, for some reason, when he was a child Phil was intimidated by black people. It was strange, because just about every black person he met as a child was a nice person, very charismatic.
All that intimidation would change the day he joined the Army, after graduating high school. Just about all the men with him in boot camp were African American. Even later on during active service, most of his fellow comrades alongside him were black, and were the closest friends he ever had. Maybe the intimidation was, in part, due to his sheltered upbringing. That was why he joined the Army in the first place, to toughen himself and discard that timidity he felt; for he was timid of many more things. It was ironic: since the bombs blew and the radiation created abomination from that of God’s creation, he found even more things to be timid of. There was that fear of combat that never did change, his mind just became calloused to it; and now there were unmeasurably more things to fear than other people. But he thanked God every day that he was no longer intimidated by people who weren’t the same color as he, for Tim always gave Phil a sense of security when present.
He liked Marines too, back in his day, they were always fun to mess around with because they could take what you threw at them and dish it back. Mostly. Tim even dressed the role on a regular basis, though more of a casual sense. There was no reason to dress in anything that wasn’t combat friendly. He usually wore the olive drab, or OD, green shirt with matching battle dress uniform, or BDU, digital camo pants and combat boots. But every once in a while, he would adorn civilian attire and a black leather jacket. Some things you just don’t quit doing after everything’s fallen apart.
Then Phil took a look at Dakota. She spoke excellent English for a Brazilian; save for some discrepancies that were so minor, he hardly ever noticed. Nevertheless you knew what she was saying.
Phil could relate to Dakota a lot more then he could with Tim at times. She was dominantly introverted. You’d really have to force her out of her shell to see any extroverted behavior. Fortunately, after knowing each other for ten years, they were all comfortable with one another, so she had long since come out of her shell. He himself was introverted, but at times extroverted.
Tim was extroverted, enough said.
Dakota had an inner beauty of her that reminded Phil a lot of his mother. For Phil and Tim, she was their rock, who could bear all sorts of weight on her shoulders. She too joined the Army, but later on she became a Ranger; Phil went a different path in his career. Phil often wished that the three of their paths had crossed before the fallout occurred, had he retired later.
Phil had mad respect for the Rangers. Hell, he went through Ranger school himself for the honor of the Ranger tab on his uniform. Ever since, he had the utmost regard for Rangers. But he loved harassing them at the same time, he and his buddies he served with. But it was more like picking on your little brother. Just like with the Marines, he could joke with any Ranger and expect them to return the favor, oftentimes tenfold.
Dakota chose a more practical way into the lead Humvee. The doors would not open for her and she knew she couldn’t rip it off like her dingle-dork buddy did. So instead she climbed on top of the vehicles and worked her way in through the hatch. But upon inspection, she came up with the same result as did Tim. There was nothing here. She looked out the busted back window and saw Tim rub his head as he finished his search.
Like Tim, she wore the same type of pants, except hers was a solid green pair of BDU pants, with combat boots. She sported a dark blue tank top with a dark green overshirt. She kept her hair in a ponytail with her bangs framing the side of her face. Neither Phil nor Tim could ever understand how she could stand to have hair as long as hers; though it wasn’t long at all, just more hair than they had.
It was a bust, the whole day. Two MREs and a bottle of liquor, even though the liquor could be used for quite a few different purposes. It could also help them to stomach these age-old MRE’s too.
Phil felt his foot move something, and a metallic clank followed. Looking down he saw a rectangular piece of metal, bent and twisted. The paint that once was green was now faded save for the last three letters spelling “ave”. He recognized this old road sign; it was still scorched and ruined as when he last saw it.
“Shit,” Phil said rubbing his head as he gently laid the metal back down. He remembered now: they had already searched this site, along with the entire portion of this part of Atlanta, at least four times. This place was long since bone dry of anything to scavenge.
Standing back up he looked towards Tim and Dakota and whistled, loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to echo down the street. He wouldn’t bother looking into the rear Humvee, there was nothing there.
With a wave of his hand he motioned the other two towards their mode of transportation—ironically, a Humvee. There were plenty of vehicles left once the military abandoned the city, the whole state of Georgia for that matter. Dakota had claims on their Humvee, as she was quite fond of it. But that didn’t stop Phil from climbing into the driver seat, knowing she wouldn’t mind; he needed the distraction of driving. He took a glance at himself: his old brown hiking boots, his blue jeans, black shirt and brown, leather bombers jacket were all dusty. It was time to clean them again—which meant dusting them off as best he could.
Tim climbed into the passenger seat and Dakota into the back with her eyes watching the rear.
Hmph, eyes on back. Nice little mix-up on things, she thought to herself.
    “We’ve already been here before,” Phil mumbled, more to himself than to them. He was disappointed in himself.
    “Don’t worry about it buddy, we’ll get it tomorrow.” Tim’s voice was solid and reassuring, but not entirely convincing. How do you make up for a days’ worth of scavenging?
    “Maybe it’s time we started looking outside highway two-eighty-five?” Dakota suggested, but got no response.
    The engine shook and rumbled to life at the turn of the ignition switch before Dakota could finish what she was saying. They all knew what lay beyond the highway encircling Atlanta, and he wanted to avoid another debate—at least for now. Phil took a wide ‘U’ turn and then they were on their way back home.




_____________________



___________________

 


Jasyn T. Turley was born in Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kansas; and lives in Independence, Missouri. He is an independent author and full-time custodian. He holds an Associates in Arts degree from MCC KC Community College. He started WEEKS Book One back in the summer of 2009 and has been continuously working on it, and its sequels, since then. He has more science fiction and fantasy books in the works that he plans on releasing in the future. You can learn more about Jasyn, WEEKS Book One, and future projects at https://turleybookinn.com/.






http://www.pumpupyourbook.com

Monday, September 21, 2020

A Prairie Monster Tells His Story by Alice Kay Hill #guest

5:02 AM 0 Comments

 


A PRAIRIE MONSTER TELLS HIS STORY

By Alice Kay Hill

 

In UNDER A FULL MOON The Last Lynching in Kansas the primary victim is Dorothy Eileen Hunter, an eight-year-old child who never came home. But there are other victims as well: the sheriff from whose custody Pleasant Richardson Read, the fifty-three-year-old perpetrator, was forcibly removed by a raging mob; the farmers and ranchers who watched him hang and who carried that image with them into their graves, bound by silence; the entire northwest Kansas area whose very foundations were rocked by this brutal event.

Perhaps the saddest victim of all was Pleasant Richardson Read.

That is the real story behind UNDER A FULL MOON.

This twist on the sensational headlines of April 1932, headlines that spanned the country and were carried into the homes of America, took fire when I received the intake photo of Richard Read from the Colorado State Penitentiary via the Colorado Archives. His eyes begged me to tell his story.

In April of 1916, Richard Read, a bachelor farmer, was living in Eastern Colorado, Kit Carson County, near a German Russian settlement. His neighbors, the Weisshaars, had a daughter, fifteen-year-old Pauline. In that spring month, when the farming community was watching the prairie grasses return to life after a tough winter, while the Great War took hold of Europe, Pleasant Richardson Read viscously raped and nearly killed Pauline. He barely escaped being hung.

In short order, justice being a simpler thing in those days, Richard Read found himself in the Canon City, Colorado penitentiary sentenced to fifteen to twenty years. Through reforms based on prison overcrowding he only served six before being returned to his hometown of Rexford, KS.

What chain of events placed Dorothy in his path ten years later?

What brought the son of a well-respected Kansas farmer to carry the title of PRAIRIE MONSTER, APEMAN, FIEND?

There is the real story behind UNDER A FULL MOON.

 




 

Alice Kay Hill is passionate about her Kansas heritage. She has published in Hobby Farms magazine and written an instruction manual title GROW TOPLESS: A Modified High Tunnel Design for Headache Free Extended-Season Gardening which is available on Amazon. UNDER A FULL MOON: The Last Lynching in Kansas is her first narrative non-fiction work.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: https://www.akhillauthor.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AKHillauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realhistorynow/

 



 
 

UNDER A FULL MOON: The Last Lynching in Kansas tells of the tragic abduction and death of an eight-year-old girl at the hands of a repeat offender in 1932. This crime stands apart as the last mob lynching in Kansas. Based on true events, this account takes a deep dive into the psycho-social complexities of pioneer times and their impact on this particular crime and the justice meted out to the perpetrator.

Beginning in the year 1881, and written in a chronological narrative non-fiction format, author Alice Kay Hill vividly weaves the stories of the victims and the families involved. She reveals how mental and physical abuse, social isolation, privations of homesteading, strong dreams and even stronger personalities all factored into the criminal and his crimes.

Spanning the years of settlement to the beginnings of the Dust Bowl, historic events are lived as daily news by the seven families whose lives become intertwined. Historically accurate and written with an intimate knowledge of the area, UNDER A FULL MOON is as personal as a family diary, as vivid as a photo album found in an attic trunk, and will remain with the reader long after the book is closed.

Follow Us @soratemplates