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Thoughts on Shades of Right 1

 I am currently looking for a real job so it is a struggle some days to make time for the author life. People who read Shades of Right have given me so much positive feedback but the book is buried within the seemingly infinite choices these days on the internet. It's a good story, based on a real event that happened in Missouri during the Civil War. The event was so intriguing to me that I wrote the book. Though my main characters are fictitious, I tried to bring them to life in an environment as true to the way life was at the time in Minnesota and Missouri. The Other Civil War occurred at the same time as the War Between the States. The Native Americans had been pushed onto reservations where they were left to starve and the money promised to them was delayed again and again until the tinder box of emotions exploded, which started the Sioux Uprising, the Other Civil War. It occurred at the same time as the Civil War. The event that set Shades of Right into motion was that 38 men

Shades of Right Excerpt

This is an excerpt from Shades of Right: I was five years old when Master Meadows bought me. Master Meadows said he had not meant to buy a slave that day. He had gone to the auction with his old friend, Samuel Taylor, who was in need of a household slave for his daughter’s wedding gift. Master Meadows said he spotted me up on the block and felt his heart stir in a grand way. There I was, five years old, all alone, with the biggest brown eyes and a determined expression. That was what Master Meadows said often over the years when people asked him whyever did he buy a little boy. I stood with my shoulders straight and faced the crowd of buyers with the expression of a condemned man facing his execution with bravery and honor. I don’t remember much of anything before going home with Master Meadows. I guess that means my life started up on that auction block. My memories of my mother were vague even before the day Master Meadows bought me. I was separated from her long before finding mysel
  I am currently working on a story that my brain feels determined must be told. After weeks of being unable to fall asleep because this story decided to play out in my head once that head hit the pillow, I finally decided to dive in. The reason I was not ready to start a new story was because I am in the final steps of another novel. That novel is about a real life romance. You know, the kind where we didn't make the right choices. The kind where we don't get the true love happily ever after. I shall return to that to wrap it up once I get the bones down for the story that has kept me up at night for so many weeks. That story is a suspense thriller about a time in the near future where things go terribly, horribly wrong in the world. A small team has set out to go beyond the line to rescue a doctor who has become trapped in the heart of the area where airplanes drop from the sky, cars or anything electronic dies, and people (who are not zombies) attack anyone who enters the Dr

Words of the Past, Present, and Future

The neighborhood kids are all outside playing since school is closed because of the COVID virus. This weekend was pretty crazy. For some reason mostly boys live in this apartment complex. Or at least it's the boys outside playing most of the time. I don't know if a week off school is getting to the boys or it's something else but they were sure rougher than normal lately. They were scolded by an angry man about throwing rocks at his apartment. I had to yell at one boy to stop repeatedly kicking the generic mail box door where the bigger packages go. There was a lot of yelling. One of the boys had a plastic horn. Oh..my...God!! That was annoying. It sounded like a tuba being played right outside the balcony window. The dynamics of the courtyard in this apartment complex means that all the noise is funneled up to the apartments. This includes people's conversations as well as the annoying hoo hoo hoo of a plastic horn. So today two tween girls entered the dynamic. T

The Swing of a Pendulum

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I try to stay out of political discussions and it becomes more and more difficult with our current leader. Leader. That's an interesting word actually. Normally it would be the word one would use to describe the president of the U.S. I am not sure if it applies right now. I am quite baffled about his agenda. It does not seem to be in the best interests of the U.S. It appears to be more about the best interests for himself. I am a proud American. I thought America was awesome before and had never lost it's awesomeness. I feel like a certain irony is playing out, like everything that man said and implied to get elected and once he was elected have been the opposites. Make America Great Again is swirling down the toilet bowl as he caters and bows to the leader of Russia after treating the Queen of England like an afterthought. I'll bet we never see him walking in front of Putin like he doesn't matter. Saying that he will take Putin's word over our own Informati

Thinking Outside the Box (Or Staying in the Box)

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It's funny how we complicate things in our life. There was a thunderstorm today and the topic turned to lightning strikes. Lightning wants to find the shortest path to the ground, so that's why you are a standing target if you are standing outside and lightning decides that you are the fastest route to the ground. Everyone knows that, right? The discussion triggered someone's memory of being electrocuted during a thunderstorm but they switched to electricity instead of lightning. It was my fault for mentioning that cars are grounded with their rubber tires but the car can still be struck by lightning so if that happens don't touch anything in the car. They had seen some old television show many years ago that stayed with them, about people being trapped in a car by a live wire that had fallen during a storm and went on to talk about how difficult it was to get the people out of the car with that live wire threatening their lives. She described all the compli

The Wild Horses in America

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There are still pockets of wild horses roaming the wilds of the U.S.A. I have the strongest desire to see them. More than see them, I want to embrace them in their environment, drink in their beauty as they traverse the rugged scrub. The stallions challenge each other to determine who gets to own the herd. Mating rights. Yes, it's all about mating rights. I follow a FB page that posts the most amazing photos, videos, and news about an area's wild horses in Colorado. North Dakota and Idaho also have herds of wild horses but this is the page I stumbled upon and watch avidly. I don't even know if other FB pages exist for those other regions. Look at this lovely photograph by Nadya Rider. She is an amazing photograph and contributes to their FB page often. There are a lot of paints at this area. Crazy Horse and her foal. When I look at these images of these majestic animals I have the strongest desire to visit the area. Nay, I have the strongest desire to live there