A New Journey

Historical Fiction Vella? - Clean Fiction - Free Books

Coming to America!

For the last two years, I’ve been researching my family’s immigration to the United States. I’ll forever be grateful to my late aunt, who spent untold hours doing genealogical research. Some of my ancestors are the original frontier men and women as they settled the plains in the early 1900s with nothing more than a few belongings on their wagon.

I admire the pioneer spirit of that age and have so much respect for people who could build a life from nothing and ultimately succeed. This last week, I started the book, which has the working title of The Crimson Plains. As is my norm, I will be publishing it on Kindle Vella first, so you don’t have to wait to read it, if you use that platform. By the time you read this, the first six chapters should be available there, but you can read the first one for free below. Here’s a photo from one of my friends that is in the running for cover art. Erick and I use to play basketball together and he has an eye for what is beautiful on the plains.

Clean Fiction?

Why write clean fiction of the PG to PG-13 variety? Those of you who have read some of my stories will know I tend to stay safely in this area. That is a personal choice and one that I’m happy to abide to. Many others write adult fiction that would go beyond this, and I enjoy reading many of their works. My decision is based not only on my faith, but the desire to share my stories as widely as possible.

I’m classically trained in literature and as I’ve read the books that are considered classics of world literature, I’ve noticed that there are few books that are extremely profane that have stood the test of time. I like the idea of being able to recommend (and hopefully have others recommend) my books to anyone, without having to warn them about the content.

That isn’t to say that my books don’t deal with serious issues. Another priority of my writing is to channel my background in counseling into my writing so we can see how our characters respond to real stress and traumas and hopefully overcome them through a healthy development process.

This month, I’m cross-promoting with other authors who write in a similar vein, specifically in the areas of fantasy and science fiction. These authors are making free books, sample chapters and novellas available to your, my fabulous readers and I hope you’ll click this link or the picture below to see if there is something you might like to try.

“Free” books on Kindle Unlimited

Currently, I join with thousands of other authors to make my books available on Kindle Unlimited. This is an eBook service provided by Amazon for readers who like to read a lot of books for one low monthly price. I’ve used the service as a subscriber several times in the past and it is a great way to get good value if you read voraciously.

If you’ve never tried Kindle Unlimited before, you may be eligible for a free trial. Just click this link to see. Kindle Unlimited memberships are available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, Brazil, Japan, India, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia. In addition to being able to read all of my books for free, here are some other authors with books on KU for you to try out.

Review of the Month - The Force of Magic

If you haven’t read book one in complete The Force of Magic trilogy, I hope this review will convince you to give it a try. :) Only .99 on Kindle.

Free Preview - The Crimson Plains

September 1882

"Daniel! Where you go?"

It was a hot day in the vineyard and as little George burst out from amongst the vines to enter the apple orchard, he'd lost sight of his brother. Ever since his younger brother Fred was born the year before, the responsibility for George was passed around between his older siblings. With nine of them, four boys and five girls, there was always someone to tag along with on the family farm.

As George looked down the rows of apple trees, he suspected his brother might be hiding behind one.

"Come on Daniel, I wanna go to the river. Gottlieb caught a frog yesterday, but he wouldn't let me touch it. I bet we can find one. I need your help," George called out, hoping Daniel would hear him and come out.

The orchard was empty this time of year, with the apples not ready for harvest for another month. Everyone was busy in the vineyard. September and October were the busiest times on the Gantz' farm, followed by the work that would come after the harvest. Everything must be picked, prepared and stored before winter set in.

The trees above were already starting to fill with the first signs of apples, but George knew from experience it was too early to pick them. They would be too bitter for several more weeks. Still, he loved to look up in the trees and only last week Daniel and he had climbed up one on the edge of the orchard, hiding most of the afternoon among the branches until Mama Margaurette sent Sophie to fetch them for dinner.

George had just come around the trunk of one of the thickest trees when he heard a sound above. He'd just looked up when he heard the yell.

"Aaaahh!" Daniel plummeted down and just missed landing on George's back. George jumped to the side and landed flat on his stomach to avoid him.

"Ah-bah, Daniel! Ya didn't scare me. I heard ya."

Daniel rolled over until he was on top of George. "I gotcha good, my little frosch."

As George tried to push Daniel, the older brother, a big 5 to George's 3, off as he pinned George's arms.

"I'm not a frosch. You're a frosch!" George struggled violently, trying to get one of his limbs free. "Let me up, or I'm gonna tell Mama Margaurette."

"Tell her what, that you're a frosch or that you were planning on us sneakin' away to catch a frosch down by the river?"

George pinched his face and stopped struggling. "Wait, does frosch mean frog?"

"Yep, there's a picture book up at the schoolhouse. Has all the animals with their German names."

As George felt Daniel's grip relax, he slipped his hand free and bopped Daniel right on the nose, causing him to roll off of him.

"That's for callin' me frog. You're supposed to learn me German, nad't use it to fun at me. You know Mama Margaurette canna teach me much."

Daniel had just about shaken off the blow and was ready to retaliate when they both saw Eugene walking through the orchard in a hurry. Before Daniel could say anything, George was up in a flash, chasing after his oldest brother. Eugene was in charge whenever their father was away, and they rarely got a chance to talk to him. He was always busy keeping things going, especially during harvest season.

As fast as his feet could carry him, George ran to try and catch up with the long strides of his 20 year old half-sibling. Eugene's mother died giving birth to their oldest sister, Madelaine. Eugene and Madelaine had the golden hair and blue eyes of their late mother, in contrast to the rest of the kids, who all held a darker complexion.

"Eugene, where ya going?"

"Oh, hey George. Must be a fence down somewhere. Neighbor says he has too many sheep and thought some of them might be ours."

"Can I help?"

"I wanna help too!" Daniel called as he caught up to them.

Eugene's pace slowed for a few moments before he pointed back up to the house. "Sure, can you run up the house and tell Mama Margaurette? See if any of the girls are free to come out and help Jake bring what we've picked into the press. They should be done by the time they can get down there."

Daniel raised his hand as if to volunteer. "I can help Jake. He doesn't need no girls to help."

Eugene laughed as he turned and observed his two little brothers, reaching out and putting his hands on their shoulders. He gave their shoulder muscles a pinch. "These arms will see plenty of work in time as you grow to be Gantz' men, but for now I need those fast little feet to get moving towards the house. After you tell Mama Margaurette and ask the girls to help, you can see if Jake needs you as well. Everyone has their job on the farm, and this is yours for now. Comprenez-vous?"

George started to argue, but thought better of it when he looked at Eugene's face. Eugene nodded his head back towards the house to settle the issue and released them, turning back without waiting to see if they would obey. Daniel grabbed his hand and started pulling him along. "Come on. I'll race ya."

That was all it took for the two little boys to take off, tearing through the orchard towards the house. George quickly fell behind and decided to try and cut across the rows to make up ground. The orchard was laid out in perfectly ordered rows. 1500 trees in all, laid out in a grid of 50X30. The orchard ended at the vineyard and there was a path between them that led up to the house.

George was headed for the more direct route, which would involve climbing up the hill that overlooked the orchard, which was much steeper than the gradual slope that led up from the vineyard. He quickly lost sight of Daniel as he raced towards the edge of the orchard. As he flew out between the last row of trees, George could see the hill ahead of him. Nothing but scrub grass grew on the side of the hill, as it was too steep for any of their regular crops.

Without slowing down, George crashed into this grass, which came up almost to his waist. His speed quickly faded as the grass tangled around his leather boots and rubbed against the bare skin between his knees and his boots. All the more determined, George struggled up the hill, believing that the shortcut would allow him to defeat his brother in the end.

It was several minutes before he finally broke free from the grass at the top of the hill, breathing hard from his climb. There was no sign of Daniel and this spurred him on all the more, assuring him that victory was in sight with the house just on the other side of the barn that stood closest to him.

George raced around the edge of the barn and just as he saw the door to the big house standing open, he caught sight of Daniel coming up the path. George was closer, but Daniel put on speed as soon as he saw him. Pushing his little legs as fast as they would go, George focused on the door and tried to ignore everything else. One step after another, his boots slapped down on the beaten grass of the yard, the house drawing ever nearer. When he came near the step, he saw Kate holding the door open for him. He could hear Daniel's feet pounding behind him.

George tore right on past Kate as she exclaimed, "Mon Dieu, George. Why are you in such a hurry?"

As he entered the kitchen, George ran right into the skirt of Mama Margaurette, almost causing her to drop the bowl she was holding. George swirled around just in time to see Daniel himself speed through the open door, bumping into Kate in the process.

"I won! I beat you!" George called out with a triumphant grin on his face that only lasted until he felt Mama Margaurette's fingers grabbing his earlobe.