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This excerpt is from book 6 in the Crow’s Lake series, titled PAPPY’S GOLD.

PROLOGUE September 1865

He’d only been back from the war for a week and had been eating most of his meals at the café in the little town where he’d grown up.  That first meal had been served by this sweet little auburn-haired beauty queen and he was immediately smitten.  He resolved that he’d eat all his meals here until he ran out of money and truth be known, he had quite a stash.  He wanted to get to know her and even more importantly, he wanted her to get to know him.

The war had been anything, but a pleasant experience for him and she was the beginning of hope.  Dare he believe that she’d even give him a second look?

At barely 16, he had lied his age when he’d signed up and, although the recruiting sergeant had raised his eyebrows and given him that look, he didn’t call him on it. The war hadn’t been going well, and new recruits were in great demand, they didn’t have the luxury of being too choosy. He was a live body and he had his own horse, didn’t seem as thought they could ask for much more than that.

They had given him a weapon and a gray rebel hat, then sent him off to fight the Yankees.  Since he had his own horse, they assigned him to the Calvary, and over the next three-plus years he went through a living hell.  He’d been wounded on three different occasions and he’d seen more of his fellow soldiers killed than he had been able to keep track of, but he’d killed his share of Yankees too.

The war had changed him, but he didn’t figure any man could go through something like that and not come out of it a changed person.  He’d been young and naive when he signed up.  Had he known then, what he knew now, he’d never have been that stupid.

He’d joined up with visions of heroics and acclaim in his head, but it hadn’t taken long for him to realize just how bone-headed that had been.  There ain’t nothing about war that you’d call a pretty sight. 

Its days turning into weeks then months and eventually into years of constantly being hungry, dirty, wet or cold.  Most times all four of them at once and always being on the move.  

He’d witnessed hundreds of deaths and he’d seen the devastating effects of minnie-balls and bayonets.  No, war definitely ain’t pretty.

He still had bad dreams when he’d swear that he detected the smell of blood mixed with burnt powder and human waste.  Sometimes he’d awaken and set there in deep thought, remembering the sound of flies buzzing around dead bodies and the nauseating sight of dull hazy looking dead eyes staring up at him. 

There just ain’t nothin about war that brings pleasant memories.  Oftentimes, it was shoot or be shot, run or be run down and, most of the time, eat slop er go hungry.  Day after day there’s nothin to look forward too except more of the same.  After a fashion, you’re just tryin to make it through the day and you can’t wait for this to be over. 

…Eventually it was.

It was a few months shy of 4 years after he enlisted when they discharged him.  He’d gone in as a barely 16-year-old greenhorn wannabe hero, but he came out as a decorated 19-year-old, going on 40, sergeant who just couldn’t wait to put it all behind him.

Having made it through that 3 plus years, he felt certain that there was nothing that life could throw at him that he couldn’t handle…

He soon found that he still had a lot to learn.

The rest of this story is detailed in the pages of PAPPY’S GOLD, click on the link below.

http://www.amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

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Gramps use’ta say ©R.L.King2012 #524

About: Personal Grooming  
“Them that can’t grow a decent beard,
… shouldn’t.”

Dick and I have been at our computers every morning for months writing, correcting, and then writing some more.  Somedays the ideas flow so quickly that it’s difficult to get them down on paper.  Other days, a blank screen seems to be mocking our efforts.  All the starts and stops are worth it though, when the finished product is sent off to the printer.  Even then our minds fill with thoughts of changes that we could have made. 

Our most recent writings have finally come together, gone to the printer, and we’ve been able to hold the finished book in our hands………PAPPY’S GOLD is the 6^th of The Crows series and we know you will enjoy it even if you haven’t read the first six.  As a matter of fact, each book in the series could easily be a stand-alone book with its own excitement and piece of history.

PAPPY’S GOLD is the story of Thomas Adams, who later is given the nickname Pappy.  He becomes orphaned at the age of 16 and, lying his age, joins the confederacy to fight in the civil war.  During this time of killing or be killed, Thomas leaves his youth behind and faces hard truths about adulthood. When the war finally ends, he returns to his burned-out ranch to try to rescue not only the property but also himself.  Secretly marrying, causes his father-in-law to threaten imprisonment for rape and forces him to turn his ranch over to his bride and quickly leave the area.  This leads to discovering his gold mine and, 17 years later, to his partnering up with Vern Johnson, who convinces him to write to his long-lost wife.  After re-connecting with her, they’ll will sell their gold mine, later joining together to turn Vern’s cattle ranch into a successful operation.

The book contains a rags-to-riches story, gold mining failures and success, injury and healing, war, love, friends and foes.  It is now available on Amazon.com in paperback or e-book.  You can also purchase a signed copy here on our blog by going to our BOOKS page.  Once you’ve read the book, please let us know what you think, leave a review on Amazon and follow us for more interesting articles and more exciting books.   

  

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Gram use’ta say

Be tolerant of others but don’t allow yourself to be used as a doormat

The following is an excerpt from one of the books in our CROW’S LAKE series which I recently discussed on this site. If you enjoy reading, we think you’ll find this seven-book series very entertaining. 

Not to give away too much of the plot, but the first two books in reality are the ending of the series. We’ll be presenting them here in Chronological order, not in the order in which they were written.

The saga begins with the BROTHER’S ADAMS (book 7 yet to be published) and PAPPY’S GOLD (book 6) in the Civil War days, when the three Adam’s brothers decide to join the Confederacy in the fight against the Yankee’s.  It will pick up after they have discharged, as two of the brothers, (Luke the oldest and Darvin the middle one) in their search for gold, will join a wagon train heading for California.  Meanwhile the youngest brother Thomas (a/k/a Pappy) heads back to the old, burned to the ground, family homestead to attempt to resurrect it.  

There will eventually be wives for each of the three brothers and the stories detailing how that all comes about are detailed in that portion of the series.  There will be some murder mystery, but all in all its mostly about getting along in life during the trying times our country endured between the Civil War and our eventual landing on the moon.

Probably the lead character of the entire series is Vern Johnson, who enters the series midway through book 6 when he comes to the aid of Pappy (the youngest Adams brother) who has broken his leg on an icy mountain trail and has been abandoned by his mules.  Pappy and Vern will then form a partnership in their search for gold and will both eventually become wealthy men.

Vern’s life and times are covered in books 3, 4 and 5 as he purchases the ranch of his boyhood dreams and brings Pappy along for the ride, eventually marrying Pappy’s daughter.  Their short-lived marriage, however will end in tragedy, much the same as did his first encounter with love several years earlier.  Life goes on however and he has a lot of living yet to do as his ranch prospers until his murder in the mid 1970’s when his niece Lindsey Johnson Hanks inherits his ranch in  books 1 and 2.  

Lindsey will join with Vern’s protégé, Timothy (Bo) Hasbrook in an attempt to bring to justice the culprit who murdered the man who had taken him in as a 15-year-old orphan boy in the mid 1960’s.

The entire seven book series consists of over 381,000 words and is a little over 2100 pages in length.  The books are available, or in the case of the last one, soon will be, here on our blog or on Amazon.com.  Here we offer discounts for autographed copies of the paperback versions, however on Amazon you can purchase the books in the Kindle format.   Eventually, we hope to have the Kindle version of the entire seven book series available to purchase for only 99 cents.

This excerpt is from Book 7, release pending, in the Crow’s Lake series, titled BROTHERS ADAMS.

PROLOGUE – August 1861

The big, strapping Sergeant bellowed NEXT!!!  an since I’s the next man in line, I figured that meant me.  I stepped up to him and offered him my hand saying, “hi, I’m Luke Adams.”

“Well, Luke Adams the first thing you need to learn is that you don’t speak, unless you’ve been spoken to.  Got it?”

“Yes sir, I think I got it.”

“Well, then, the next thing you need to learn is that I’m not Sir, I’m Sergeant, got it?”

“Yes sir, I think I got it.”

“Are you trying to be a smart ass with me, Luke Adams?”

“No sir, I ain’t.  I jist come here to enlist in the confederacy, Sir.”

“Didn’t I just tell you that I’m not Sir, I’m Sergeant?

“Yes Sir, you did.

“Then why do you keep calling me Sir?” Are you a dunce?”

“I’m sorry Sergeant, Pops always insisted that we say Sir and Ma’am an I’m afraid it’s going to take some time to break the habit.”

“Well, time is one thing you ain’t got a lot of right now.  Tamarra morning ya’ll be drilling with yer Drill Sergeant and the first time ya call him Sir; he’ll reward ya with extra work.  Might be push-ups or maybe ya’ll have to run extra-long.  More’n likely, ya’ll be digging holes for privies, but ya’ll get extra duty of some kind, count on it. 

I’m gonna let this one slide, cause ya didn’t know no better, but you better straighten up and pay attention or it’s going to be a rough couple of months a training fer ya.”

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Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #526

About: Success

“The harder is is to achieve,
The more you’ll appreciate it.”

 

Once again, I find myself needing to apologize for ignoring this blog.  I beg for forgiveness.  It’s been a while.  There’s no need for you to hear any of them, but I have lots of excuses.  Suffice it to say that both Donna and I have been writing a lot however, it’s been in the form of books rather than posts for this site.

Several years ago we moved away from writing poems and into fiction writing with our first novel, titled: THE CROW’S NEST (February 2018).  Although that book was credited to me, Donna was very involved in its content.  We followed that up with another novel titled: ADVENTURES OF GIZZY (July 2018), a children’s book of which we are very proud.

Since March of 2019 we’ve published seven new books, with number eight very near completion. All of them are now available on this site.  If you’d be interested in checking them out, simply click on OUR BOOKS and you can read a short preview of each book.

Most of these books have been in what we refer to as THE CROW’S LAKE SERIES.  The original book, mentioned above, came out in February of 2018.   After that book went to the printer, we felt that those characters had more to say which led us to the second book in the series, titled CROW’S LAKE, (3/2019).   

We followed that book up with several prequels, titled BEFORE the CROWS FLY (6/20), THE CROWS (9/2020), THE CROW’S FINALE (12/2020) and PAPPY’S GOLD (7/2021) which we just got back from the printer this past week. 

The seventh and probably the last book in that series, titled BROTHERS ADAMS is nearly complete, but it likely won’t be to the printer before October 2021.  In the meantime, we’re attempting to publish episodes of it on Kindle Vella, which is a brand spanking new format on Amazon. I would encourage you to check that out.  It’s so new that, although I posted my first episode two weeks ago, I haven’t yet seen it appear.  The site just days ago opened for the public.

During the last two years we’ve also put out two private detective novels titled CLOSED CASES (Stony Johnson, P.I.) books one (7/19) and two (4/20).  A third book in that series is in the works, but it’s likely to be a year or more before it’s ready for printing.  If all goes well, it’s likely that it will also appear on Kindle Vella before it goes to print.

Beginning with my next posting, we’ll be sharing excerpts from our CROW’S LAKE SERIES.

By: Donna Hale Chandler

The sign ahead reads “Right Lane Ends” which, to me, means Get Yourself Over to the Left Right Now This Minute – which is exactly what I do.  This always takes me to a stop and go – mostly stop – lane.  As I sit, comfortable in the knowledge that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, other cars whiz by on my right.  Wait you shouldn’t be there.  Didn’t you see the sign?

Of course, that driver saw the sign, just like I did.  To him, it did not mean, Get Yourself Over to the Left Right Now This Minute.  It meant, Drive as Fast as You Can and Get to the Front of This Line, Then Squeeze Your Car into a Space Left by Someone Who Probably is Daydreaming.   Perhaps the driver in the left is not daydreaming but actually being polite — No, that can’t possibly be it.  This was a silly suggestion.  This driver is daydreaming for sure.

As I continue to inch forward, with extra stopping due the ‘line jumpers’, I finally am at the front with a car to my right edging slowly closer and closer to my front bumper.  Now, the question, do I let this car in, or be a total jerk and pretend I don’t see him there.

Finally, I give in, more from fear of losing my front end, then from courtesy and let him in the front of the line —— but all you angry people behind me, I only let in ONE.  That is always my limit.  I will let in ONE.  So, if you are car number two trying to merge in front of me, forget about it!

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Grams use’ta say

Don’t worry about who doesn’t like you, cherish those who love you.
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THE HINTS BOOK ALMANAC
By: Donna Hale Chandler and Richard Lee King

USES FOR ALUMINUM FOIL, cont’d

16. Jewelry – Line a small bowl with aluminum foil.  Fill the bowl with hot water and mix in one tablespoon of bleach-free laundry detergent (not liquid). Put in the jewelry let it soak for a minute. Rinse well & air-dry.

17. Moving – Place a small piece of aluminum foil under each leg, (dull side of the foil down.)  The furniture should slide easily across the floor.

18 Flashlight batteries – When the springs that hold the batteries in place lose their tension, fold a small piece of aluminum foil until you have a pad that’s thick enough to take up the slack.  Place the pad between the battery and the spring.

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