Historical Fiction At Its Very Best

Price, Eddie. Widder’s Landing: Life & Love on the Kentucky Frontier. Mosley, Missouri: Acclaim Press, 2012. ISBN 9788-1-935001-99-7 (alk. Paper) 1-935001-99-X (alk.paper)  Harback: $26.95.

Craig Ridgway leaves his well-educated home at the age of fifteen because he cannot imagine being in school another year. He moves from Philadelphia to Lancaster where he apprentices himself to the master-gunsmith Jakob Wetzel. When Jakob dies in January of 1811, twenty-year-old Craig loses his mentor. Grieving Wetzel’s death and the end of his job and his home, he decides to move west to Pittsburg.

There he stokes coal in one of the town’s new foundries. Craig needs the wide open spaces he fell in love with as he made his way over the mountains of Pennsylvania in the snows of January. He moves on down to the Ohio River to the rich farmlands of Kentucky. He disembarks at Widder’s Landing deathly ill with pneumonia. The Widder nurses him back to health exacting his promise to continue through the planting and harvesting seasons. So starts ten months of back breaking labor. Craig has much to glean from one of Cotton Bend’s infamous outcasts.  He can do little more than notice, Mary, the beautiful daughter of the neighbor whom the Widder curses.

Setting the life and love on the Kentucky frontier in the years 1811 to 1814 provides a full time in American history. The years of initial statehood for Kentucky, Haley’s Comet, the New Madrid Earthquakes, and the War of 1812 provide the backdrop where Craig, wins and loses, and hopes to win again. In the process, he grows to love the land and its people. Farming suits his restless spirit. Catherine McDonnell suits his tender spirit. Life and love rest on a few hundred acres on the edge of the Ohio River. The small town of Cottonwood Bend bears intentional resemblance to the small town of Cloverdale in Breckenridge County. 

Price’s vivid descriptions draw on all the senses and paint a vivid picture of a vivid time. His characters are each unique and will continue with the reader long after the 586 pages have flown by, like the great flocks of geese and passenger pigeons that show the change of seasons on this edge of the frontier. The characterizations are all well-rounded as the author develops them in the ways they relate to one another, and to the times in which they live.

http://www.campbellsville.edu/10052012eddieprice

Eddie Price’s love of history and the scope of his research will cause the reader to want Price to have been their history teacher when they studied the Great Westward Expansion, The War of 1812, Andrew Stonewall Jackson, crops of Kentucky, and the mighty river systems that were the first roadways of America. Starting with a real farmhouse built in 1802 on the western edge of Breckenridge County, Price helps us visualize, taste, smell, hear and feel “What stories this old house could tell!” His research is well-grounded and presented in the Introduction and Acknowledgements. This book makes history come alive. 

Readers will match Price’s book with renowned epic novels like Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth, Morgan Llywelyn’s Brian Boru, or Mary Renault’s epic historical novels of the 1960’s. The reader will come away not only with a book they will need to share and read again, but one that will stand the test of time, and teach more history than one could understand any other way.

I received a .pdf copy of Widders' Landing from Readers Favorite for my unbiased review.

Follow Your Heart

Humphrey, Sandra McLeod. They Stood ALONE!: 25 Men and Women Who Made a Difference. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2011

From Christopher Columbus to Margaret Meade, from Cady Stanton to Jackie Robinson, They Stood Alone! By Sandra McLeod Humphrey shares, in a few pages each, the stories of twenty-five men and women. People from the past, and people from the present who chose a path that forced them to move out, away from the crowd. Men and women who chose to stand alone against the beliefs and expectations of their culture or times. They all became people who changed their world and ours.

Each chapter begins “Imagine this… Your name is…”  following is the story of one of twenty-five real-life heroes and heroines any of which anyone would be glad to have their child trust as a strong role model. Taken from the pages of science, sociology, sports, and adventure, these stories will provide insight to children, teachers, and parents.

The last chapter is an inspiration to today’s youth to discover and develop their passion, to have the courage to follow their hearts, to follow their dreams, to step out onto a path, away from the crowd, to stand alone and change their world.

Sandra McLeod Humphrey provides notes for each piece taking readers to broader pictures and a bibliography to expand the stories she has told, and stories yet to be told. Readers will need to get copies of this book that won the Mom’s Choice Award, for each child in their classrooms, for each child in their home, or for each grandchild they love.

A retired clinical psychologist, Humphrey has written other books focused on moral education for children including Hot Issues, Cool Choices, If You Had to Choose, What Would You Do? and Dare to Dream!

           Neale, Michael. The River. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 9/18/2012. ISBN-10: 1401688489 ISBN-13: 978-1401688486 List price for Softcover and Ebook  $16.99

         Neale, Michael. The River. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 9/18/2012. ISBN-10: 1401688489 ISBN-13: 978-1401688486 List price for Softcover and Ebook  $16.99

       Neale, Michael. El río. Nashville: Grupo Nelson, 18/09/2012.  ISBN-10: 602559252 ISBN-13: 978160255925 Prescio de lista del libro de bolsillo y Libro Electrónico Fecho

       Neale, Michael. The River. Oasis Audio, 9/18/2012. Audio, CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged. ISBN-10: 1613752733 ISBN-13: 978-1613752739 List price $19.99

·        Neale Michael. The River. Waterville, Maine: Thorndike Press. ISBN-10: 1410452255 ISBN-13: 978-1410452252 Large Print Softcover (10/5/12) list price $14.99 Large Print Hardcover (11/6/12) list Price $32.99

          Neale, Michael. The River Discussion Kit. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 11/6/12. ISBN-10: 1401677738 ISBN-13: 9781401677732  list price $19,99

          Neale, Michael. The River Experience (Soundtrack) – Digital MP3 Download (320 kpbs) id475948881 $9.99 10/26/11

Already a sermon series and a live musical multimedia experience, The River is about to crash into a waterfall of books.

Stuck in the Denver airport, two men share delay time sitting next to one another. Gabriel Clarke is returning home to Corley Falls, Colorado. He has just run the world’s Top Ten Most Dangerous and Beautiful Rivers for National Geographic. Gabriel shares his story with his fellow traveler, and we experience The River.

Five year old Gabriel watched his father, a second generation river guide; climb down the treacherous rocks to save the man who went over the falls in a yellow kayak. Over the falls into Firewater Gorge on the Whitefire River. He watched it all unfold. His hero disappeared into the white water of the river. All he had left was a bag of old Benington marbles and a hole in his heart.

Gabriel’s mom rented the back room of Mr. Earl and Miss Vonda’s home outside Cairo, Kansas. As he grew up helping on the farm, quiet and sad at home and at school, Gabriel felt like he was “Looking at life through the bottom of a Coke bottle – blurry and ill-formed. He could see laughter and joy of the other side of the thick glass, but he couldn’t hear or experience it.”

As he grows, rivers run through Gabriel’s life. A finger-sized river created by a mysterious marble man at the county farmer’s market to show his marbles at their best. A painting of the river in North Carolina where his second-grade teacher grew up. The Arkansas River on the border of Kansas and Oklahoma where Mr. Earl taught him to fish. Rio, Gabriel’s dog who saved his life. Eventually full-circle Gabriel comes to the banks of the Whitefire when his friend Jimmy invites him on a camping trip.

This coming of age story is intensely emotional and masterfully written. Neale is an excellent storyteller. A Dove Award winning song writer, Neale’s songs are recorded by a who’s-who list of contemporary Christian artists. This is one book the reader will need to get at least two copies of, one to keep, and one to give to another reader. A great book for book clubs or Bible studies to read and share. Neale will make you hold your breath, laugh, cry, all the while healing the hole, not only in Gabriel’s heart, but in yours, as well.

The Unwanted

Carter, Daniel L. The Unwanted: The G-6 Chronicles (Volume 1). CreateSpace (May 10, 2010).  ISBN-10: 1477479724 (sc) ISBN-13: 978-1477479728 (e)

In Chicago, FBI Agent Nick Catlin spent months setting up a sting on Damon Hannah’s business, INYO Industries, that supposedly focuses on high-end medical equipment. It is clear there is a leak in the FBI team.  Twice an enormous explosion has obliterated all traces of genetic manipulation and murdered five babies and ten or more adults. Each time Hannah has moved his operation to a new city.

Now, fourteen months after the Chicago murders, Catlin has traced Hannah’s operation to Poughkeepsie, New York. This time, as the explosions begin just ahead of Catlin’s raid, nurses Janet Renard and Michele Townsend manage to get the five infants under their care into the backseat of Janet’s jeep. Running just ahead of Hannah and Catlin, Janet and Michele transport the children to Oklahoma. Janet’s uncle, Leigh Barrus, her only living relative, has a vast ranch there.  They fix up a cabin, far removed from any roads or houses, and Janet and Michele take on the seemingly insurmountable task of mothering five unwanted children.

Because of genetic manipulation the babies grow at an abnormal rate, at twenty-four days they need solid food, at nine weeks all can roll over in their cribs, and at four months, they speak their first words. Each child begins exhibiting extraordinary gifts. Uncle Leigh teaches Mama, Aunt Shelley and each of the children to keep their eyes on God not on the concerns their gifts cause or on their fear of discovery.

The back of the book says in part: “Born out of vengeance, five discarded children must fight to keep their family safe. Millions of lives stand in the balance as sacrifices are made. This family will never be the same as heroes rise and fall.”* A book where the bad guys are bad and the good guys try really, really hard to be good.

The cover will draw the reader into the manipulation of the DNA of innocent children, the power, the love, and the anger that carries this book.Written as Janet’s journal, here X-men for Christian readers begins. Mystery, science fiction, adventure, romance: something for every tween, teen and adult that has ever felt helpless, unwanted, or alone. Carter has incorporated his love of fantasy and science fiction with his fascination with the spiritual principalities of the Bible and given us a new paranormal fantasy. He gives us a book where the bad guys are bad, and the good guys try really, really hard to be good.

Carter has penned a story that will keep readers up at night wondering what will happen next. The tone is consistent and reasoned, exciting and compelling, the reader will gladly suspend their disbelief. Contemporary social, economic, ethical, and political issues are incorporated while conforming to the reader’s expectations of an adventure in the near future. There are enough unanswered questions and partial possibilities to make the reader look forward to the trilogy and the series to follow.

* The G-6 Chronicles: The Unwanted Trilogy, http://www.theunwantedtrilogy.com/ (accessed September 8, 2012)

For Real Human Writers

Acheson, Carla. Inspire Me to Get Writing (Writing Fiction). Booklet 1 of the “Inspire Me” series. July 2011.

Written for real human writers, Acheson bases her book on two years of weekly writers’ workshops. She gives “uncomplicated guidance, tips, advice, and inspiration for both the non-fiction and fiction writer” regardless of experience level.

The booklet includes three sections: 1) Why write? (both good and bad reasons) 2) What is a writer? (confidence and mistakes) 3) What is your excuse? (time management, inspiration, getting creative.)

Acheson includes exercises, story starting prompts and tips for creative writing. She approaches writers as friends and colleagues rather than students, saying “If you have the time to read, the will and desire to be impressive, plus a decent/moderate command of the English language, you need no more tools in your tool box than your personal creativity and your brain.”

Informally written, Acheson encourages balance, self-discipline reminds us “nothing we do or know is trivial” and “the only way to inspire yourself is to seek inspiration inside or out.” But don’t wait for the muse for motivation.

Acheson is a full-time free-lance writer from Gibraltar. As a creative writing consultant she guides, advises, and encourages new writers every week.

The booklet often felt like a promotional piece for the booklets to follow rather than a well-focused treatise on inspiration. Her story prompts were weak and her writing of sometimes felt disjointed, as if she had so much to say it was hard to get it all down. But lots of good tips and things to think about.

Three Books on Prayer

Round, Carol. Journaling with Jesus: How to Draw Closer to God. Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press: 2012. ISBN: 978-1104497-3661-3 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-4497-3662-0 (e)

A Compilation of Experience and Encouragement

Protestant theologians, both “mainline” and “evangelical,” are currently exploring many of the ancient spiritual disciplines that never entirely disappeared in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Three among these Christian disciplines are praying, reading and journaling.  These Christian spiritual practices are found as far back as the New Testament where the gospel writers, at the encouragement of others, have given us the words and prayers of Jesus now in written form.

Carol Round discovered prayer journaling, as she focused on the pain and confusion of an empty nest and a recent divorce. As the mornings passed, she found healing, growth, and potential in seeking deeper intimacy with God. She draws not only on her own experience, but also on the experiences of other women and saints of the past and present.

Based on those experiences, Round encourages and challenges her readers to record their spiritual journey in a daily prayer journal over a forty-day period. She reminds them: “Prayer is not complicated. We make it that way.”  Praying and journaling are not about word choice, but about being honest with God, inviting Him to be present and asking Him “What now? What lesson would You have me learn?” What message should I carry away to share with others?

Lessons learned over ten years of daily practice are shared in this book. There are also reminders such as “It is not about the tools [the pen or book used]. It is about the journey.” “Don’t worry about His showing up. He will.”  Suggestions are included like use a concordance to find scriptures relevant to your situation, prayerfully read the scripture and ask God how He can apply it in your life.

Journaling with Jesus invites the reader to come as they are and to raise the two questions Paul asked on the road to Damascus in Acts 9: “Who are You, Lord?” “What should I do, Lord?” There is a list of books on prayer journaling and a list of websites, with a proviso that websites and the internet are fluid; however, only one of sixteen URLs led nowhere. The scope of the book will be useful to the new or prospective prayer, spiritual, or Bible-study journalist, and affirming to those who are already practicing the disciplines.

Rather than offering pages of printed scripture and written prayers, this book concentrates on spiritual disciplines themselves. What is prayer? Why will journaling about scripture help to ease my pain? What do I need to get started? How do I talk to God? How do I know if he is listening? How do I prepare to meet God? The author’s style and manner invite and let the reader look over the writer’s shoulder with impunity and promise, with commitment and covenant, with action and accountability.

There is a companion workbook for Journaling with Jesus coming out in a few weeks called The 40-Day Challenge. It is free as a .pdf file until September 6 at her blog: www.carolaround.com. Round also has two books compiled from her faith-based columns syndicated in twelve Oklahoma newspapers and one online publication, http://www.assistnews.net/  She also has two other books:

A Matter of Faith (2005) and Faith Matters (2009), both published by Buoy Up Press.

Martin, Christine Brooks. Pray What God Says Kearney NE:  Morris Publishing, ©2010. available through https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20577

Effective Scriptural Prayer

The intent of the guide is to reintroduce just one of many keys to effective prayer, using scripture to garner the words of God to access divine response and a greater relationship with God the Father, through His Son Jesus Christ, with the enabling assistance of the Holy Spirit.

As we experience various emotions throughout our life experiences there is a “cry” or sound from our spirit that will command or demand a response from something or someone greater than ourselves. “The cry of every man’s heart is for provision, protection, health and well-being. We require direction, revelation, truth, justice and more.” That heart cry can take many forms as they are found throughout scripture; the result of the divine response from God is peace and joy.

Martin follows with the lies of Satan we hear most often, and allows the scripture to speak the truth. “God has made a provision for His creation. It is the words of His holy scriptures. When we choose to read, hear, learn and speak the Word of God it is able to save us, deliver us, and protect us from lies and liars.” She then explores the meanings of “truth” as it is found in the Word of God. Whether we choose to embrace lies or truth, “what we take to heart rules and governs our emotions and affections.”

Communion and union with God through praying His word allows us to get God’s attention and “invites Him to intervene in the affairs of the earth and your life.” “Prayer facilitates the manifestation of God’s will and purpose.” Prayer establishes HOPE: Hearing God through His word, prayer and your experiences. Obedience to His word and the pastor He has designated to shepherd over you. God expects you to pray without ceasing and to expect His response. You will receive HOPE: God’s hearing ear, open access to His presence, peace while you wait for His response to your prayers, and eternal results. She also provides such mnemonics for TRUST.  Praying God’s word allows Him to transform, prepare, build and establish your spirit in His presence.

Praying God’s word can take the form of intercession or meditation. The last chapters of the book provide topical scriptures for preparing oneself to be transformed and consecrated so you can achieve spiritual growth and strength to trust and forgive, and exhibit wisdom and the fruits of the Spirit in your life. There are also scriptures for those things that most affect our personal spiritual lives: family, finances, career, health, and emotions. She also provides scriptures for our relationship through God that affects church growth, nations, leaders and missions. What she calls a glossary contains no definitions, but provides an alphabetical topical index with page numbers

Pirolozzi, Jayna. (2009). The Resolution of Red Tears.

Daniel “Red Tears” Patterson begins this story as an undersheriff in Stake Town, Arizona. The sheriff and the other men who work in the sheriff’s office alongside Patterson are white supremacists. A man of Navajo blood, Patterson works daily beside the men he is certain killed his wife. He refuses to be intimidated until he is nearly beaten to death and his daughter is threatened.

When he is reassigned to the nearby Navajo reservation where he grew up, he leaves Stake Town, primarily to protect his daughter Jessica and the sheriff’s son Tommy who loves her. He returns to his home to face an angry brother, and a grandfather who believes Red Tears is destined to stand before the white fathers to receive their reconciliation for the First Nation People.  Two reasons he left the reservation in the first place. 

But once there, helping his friend Ben investigate a missing clansman, Daniel discovers the sheriff’s plot to raise an Aryan army and to enslave the Navajo men. All this eventually leads Patterson to stand before the Senate of the United States seeking reconciliation between the United State Government and the First Nation People.

Pirolozzi, given a heart for the First Nation People by The Great Creator, worked with Senator Sam Brownback and the people in his office when she was completing research for this project. In the epilogue she reports that Brownback presents a resolution for apology and reconciliation that was passed by the 111^th Congress in 2009, after it had been politely sidelined each year since 2005.  

In 2010 Brownback ran for and was elected as governor of Kansas after he left the United States Senate. Does such a resolution as this exists, or is this, too,  fiction. If so, surely the reporters who cover national news would have announced such a momentous occasion.

However, buried deep in a billion dollar defense appropriation bill, President Obama did quietly sign into law an apology to Native Americans. After years of seeking for bipartisan wording, the resolution states “The United States, acting through Congress … apologizes on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native Peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on Native Peoples by citizens of the United States.” The focus is on reconciliation rather than compensation, an apology extended to another nation living on the same land. An old, yet contemporary social, economic, and political issue, the buried apology is not even the “formal apology by the President” called for in the resolution. Probably not enough, and probably too late; it is too bad that Red Tears is a fictional character in a fictional world where "one apology can change the course of a nation."

A disabled veteran, Pirolozzi attended Bethany College and Lee University. She is a member of the John 3:16 Marketing Group. The Resolution of Red Tears was released on January 11, 2011. 

 

Her next book For God and Country will be published soon by Createspace.