I had the pleasure of reading a wonderful high octane science fiction story that left me wanting more. The Lancaster Rule is a wonderful blend of action/adventure, sci-fi, time travel and more. This is from a new to me author, TK Toppin and she does a great job in creating a cast of characters so life like, they felt like they would step off the page & into my living room.
Now onto my personal review for THE LANCASTER RULE (available at Champagne Books HERE)
Josie Bettencourt never anticipated going into her father’s suspension pod would last longer than the sixty days she thought it would be. The world is changed from when she remembers it after waking up and the people who populate this time think people like Josie aka Pod survivors, are to be arrested and destroyed. Saved by a rebel group, Josie finds herself running from the leaders, The Lancaster's', who have tyrannically run the last fifty years. Now Josie has to fight for her freedom and her life as she finds that her past is inexplicably linked to surviving in this new future. Can she find a way to stop the Lancaster's' from taking over the world while figuring out the secrets that haunt her every waking moment?
I got to admit, Ms. Toppin delivers one pure adrenaline rush while I was reading THE LANCASTER RULE. It was pure adventure from the beginning and frankly I could not put it down. The characters are well written and dominate the story. I love character rich stories and this one is written so well, I felt like I could be friends with Josie as she tries to flee the Lancaster’s. It almost had me feeling like I was along side Josie as she tries to figure everything out and who is the bad guy & the good guy. Ms. Toppin is a talented author who kept me riveted the entire time I was reading this latest story. The writing was tight, action packed and the romance flowed seamlessly within the pages to give it that added punch to the storyline.
Meet Josie Bettencourt. She thought that by helping her father with his latest project for sixty days was a piece of cake. What happens is something out of a futuristic/Science fiction movie. She goes to sleep and wakes up three hundred years later! I absolutely adored Josie. She was feisty, determined and though missing her family, she was determined to survive in this weird and strange new time. The characters are multi-dimensional, captivating the reader from the beginning and fairly brim with life while reading it. There were a few twists I didn’t even see coming and a few light hearted moments to give the reader a break on all the action.
THE LANCASTER RULE delivers a strong story that will grab you from the beginning and keep you riveted until the very end. I loved every minute of this wild science fiction story and hope this author comes back to Josie and her new world. I would love to see what happens next for all the characters I met here. If you enjoy high octane science fiction stories, then try THE LANCASTER RULE. It will surely be one adventure you don’t want to miss out on. Ms. Toppin is a ‘new to me’ author and one I plan to keep an eye out in the future.
Why don't you start with telling us a little about yourself? What genre do you write in and why?
I usually stick with writing science fiction short stories and novels, simply because I like the freedom that comes from creating my own worlds, my own species, all from scratch. Granted, there has to be enough realism so that people don’t toss a story aside, but from that point on, the sky (and beyond) is the limit.
Were you an avid reader as a child? What type of books did you enjoy reading?
I read a lot of books growing up, but I wouldn’t say I was an avid reader. I enjoyed science fiction, but I think the Hardy Boys series (both the original and the “Casefiles”) were my favorites. Character-driven stories were (and are) always big in my book, which likely explains how my own stories turned out the way they have.
Tell us a bit about your latest book, and what inspired you to write such a story.
My latest, Seeker, involves my series character and space pirate Aston West facing off against a female mind-reader. Well, mind-reader is a bit of a misnomer. This woman can actually invade a person’s mind to find all of your inner-most secrets and demons. Aston’s been around a while, and has been part of plenty of nefarious schemes. For someone to be able to discover all the misdeeds he’s done, and turn him in for reward money, would be a disaster.
My inspiration for this story actually came from a publisher’s call for novellas. Unfortunately, they were looking for a bit more romance than I was able to provide, but ultimately, the story I’d developed was one that struck a chord with me and so I stuck with it. Now, I can share it with my fans and new readers alike.
Did your book require a lot of research? How long does it take to write a book for you?
As I mentioned, part of the beauty of writing the stories I do is the freedom to explore. There isn’t that much research that I need to do, other than maybe a refresher through my past material to avoid discrepancies and the like.
The time it takes for me to write a book varies. Seeker was actually one I finished in about six months or so (total working time). Some of my other pieces have taken a little longer. My third full-length Aston novel, for example, has been in the works for about six months, and is still just on the second draft. Life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes. Seeker was helped by having a deadline imposed upon me upfront. Maybe I need to find some way to have people impose a deadline on me for all of my material? *smile*
What do you see for the future of publishing and e-books?
I believe that publishing is going to be changing forever, with e-books becoming the prominent editions which most readers choose. I’ve been around long enough to remember when e-books were first coming onto the scene, and unfortunately, the publishing climate wasn’t ripe for them. Now, the entire landscape has changed. Miniaturized electronic devices are commonplace for our entertainment (movies, music, and now books), an entire generation has now grown up knowing nothing but the internet, and probably most importantly, we’re in the middle of an economic crisis that has impacted almost every person on the planet.
The fact that book readers are now comfortable with these electronic devices makes them a prime target to take off as the primary format for reading books. The fact that most e-books only cost a few dollars make it easy for readers to try even more books than they might have when a paperback would be three times as much (let alone hardbacks being even more).
What does this mean for authors such as myself? It means there’s going to be a boom in e-books being purchased, and those who have great books at prices readers are willing to pay are going to reap the benefits. Readers are going to be looking for material to fill their Nooks and Kindles and other e-reading devices (heck, I have a short-story collection available as an app for the iPad and iPhone, who would have figured?). It’s going to be a great time, and I can’t wait to see it all come about.
Do you get along with your muse? What do you do to placate her/it/him when she/it / he refuses to inspire you?
I generally have a decent relationship with my muse. On those rare occasions when the inspiration falls short, though, I usually end up doing one of several activities. Either I go and do some editing (or submission paperwork) that needs to be done, or I put together a list of submission locations that I need to send material to. If nothing else works, I then go and let my mind vegetate through movies, television or video games.
Do you have another book in the works? Would you like to tell readers about your current or future projects?
I do in fact have several projects coming out in the future, and in work both. I’m currently working on edits of my third (in the series) Aston novel. Hoping to have that done and ready to submit sometime this year, after which I’ll go to work on the first draft of the fourth. In the queue already, my short story collection DEAD OR ALIVE is coming out in a print version shortly (and you can see the first glimpse of the cover art here -- the first time anywhere!). On the burners of the stove, I’m actually working with some folks on some comic book scripts from the Aston West universe (which is ready-made for comic and other visual media formats). Hopefully that will come to fruition soon, but we’ll see what happens.
Have you ever experience weird cravings while you write? If so, what kind?
Can’t think of any. Mostly I seem to crave distractions, at least it seems so. Any time I write, I find myself getting on the internet, watching television, or balancing my checkbook. This may explain why it takes so long for me to finish up manuscripts.
Which do you prefer:
Denim or Leather on a man/woman/significant other?
Really depends on the person. I love seeing my wife in denim, even if she thoroughly hates wearing it. She has the figure that denim seems to accentuate. However, there are some people I know whose figures I would prefer seeing in leather. But let’s go with denim, because trying to explain that last sentence to my wife might make for a long, cold and lonely night on the couch.
Front seat or Back seat to make out in?
Depends on the car, I’d say. I’m a big fan of manual transmissions, and despite what some particular websites out there might lead a person to believe, there’s really nothing sexy about attempting to navigate around a stick shift. So, one would think the back seat would be a big winner. Unfortunately, I’ve had several cars that say they have a back seat, only to reveal the fact the manufacturer made the wrong choice between giving us extra trunk space or claiming a passenger capacity of four. Even back in the old days, trying to make out in those back seats made for terrible leg cramps and skull contusions. I vote for the back seat, but only if the car gets single-digit gas mileage.
Coffee or Tea?
I can’t stand coffee unless it’s thoroughly drowned in cream, sugar, and other artificial flavors, so I’m going to have to go with tea. We used to have an excellent tea shop here in town that we would frequent twice a week (the only days it was open). Sadly, they decided to close up the storefront and switch to their internet business full-time. I really miss that place, but I still love their tea. Make sure to visit them at 52teas.com.
Space pirate Aston West has been in trouble with the law before, so thinks nothing of a random cargo check. That is, until the authorities reveal their ace-in-the-hole, a female mind-reader they call the Seeker. She could unravel every illegal deed he's ever committed, putting him in risk of losing his freedom or even his life.
Excerpt:
My senses were assaulted with an overwhelming aroma of honey. The mixture was a rare delicacy out here in the depths of space, something I’d only had a few times in life. I looked off to my left as the lieutenant started off in the opposite direction. A woman faced me, shimmering black dress brushing along the floor, her breasts jutting out against the fabric. A hand-crafted shawl was draped across her shoulders, the same color as her fire-like tresses, making it hard to tell where the garment ended and her hair began. Her eyes were two milky white globes against a face of smooth, pale skin. Her petite frame seemed as though it would break just by looking at her.
And look I did.
It wasn’t often I stood this close to such beauty, let alone caught a woman’s stare. At least I assumed she was looking at me. Those milky globes haunted me, somehow conveying warmth despite their cold, empty appearance. It was a shame she was so out of place standing between her escorts, a pair of tall, armor-clad monsters.
A bright flash blinded me. Quick glimpses, images, random visual fragments bombarded my vision. Two bodies, intertwined, slowly came into focus.
Then, blackness collapsed it all.
Massive pain radiated through my skull. My sight slowly returned to normal, and I found myself chest-down on top of the cushioned floor panels. I was back on-board the assault ship.
“Move, scum,” a familiar voice spat above me.
I climbed to all-fours and looked back at the red-haired vixen, fear in my eyes. What just happened? The woman’s forehead creased as I stood.
The armored guard gave off a deep belly laugh. “She’s already in your head, isn’t she?”
It finally made sense. This was the seeker the lieutenant had mentioned.
The bastard kept up with his jubilation, speaking to his comrades behind him. “She’ll crucify him.”
I kept my eyes on the woman and my mood turned from bad to worse. I had no idea what she was capable of, but she could get inside my head, and that scared me to death. I was privy to a lot of information not meant for anyone to know, much of it illegal activities. I’d mistakenly thought my present innocence would lead to freedom. Now, it seemed past misdeeds might be my downfall.
Fear building, I followed the officer, who watched with a subtle laugh under his breath. He hadn’t reprimanded his subordinate this time, which meant I’d used up my one get-out-of-being-assaulted-free card.
He let loose his chuckle. “Afraid of a pretty woman?”
I didn’t bother to answer, instead figuring out my options. I couldn’t fend off another mental invasion.
“Peeing After You‘ve Held It Awhile Can Be Better Than Sex!”
Tell me where I’m wrong here!
See? Admit it. If y’all are like me, if you’ve ever had one of those times where you had to sit still in a business meeting AFTER you’d just drank three cups of coffee or a big can of Diet Mountain Dew or whatever, and you couldn’t get up because the meeting was at its most critical point and you knew if you got up and left that it’d look like you were less than company focused or whatever, and finally after doin’ the two-legged toe tap to the point that your knees ached almost as much as your bladder and you thought you were going to explode internally……then, finally, the meeting ended and you got your chance, so you bolted from your chair straight into the bathroom faster than the Flash and almost cut your fingers from snatching your zipper quickly, and then, finally, you heard fluid hit porcelain….
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, relief! The best!
Now, think about how good that felt. Think about how badly you needed to do that. Think about how you could feel the sweet tingle of relief all the way from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Now, collectively told, what do all those feelings remind you of?
Admit it! Taking a good pee, especially after you’ve held it in longer than it took the Titanic to be built, is a mighty good feeling. A mighty refreshing feeling! A mighty sweet feeling of both pleasure and release that might be akin to one other always interesting feeling. Now, in unison, let’s all guess what that feeling is….could it be….. Sex?
If y’all guessed that, you’re right, can y’all believe that’s exactly what I was thinking as well? Peeing is a lot like sex, especially after we’ve held it in for awhile. And peeing can be even better that sex as we don’t have to worry about STDs or gettin’ pregnant whilst peeing. Ain’t that pause for reflection? And I’ll even admit this just to advance our article along, in my youth sometimes I would deliberately hold in a nice, mountainous pizz for awhile because I knew how good it would be when I finally released it! And don’t think it’s a coincidence that both peeing and sex occur utilizing the exact same body parts! I think, when all is said and done, that that’s what I like about my “Fred” the most - he performs two very important functions for me, and both those functions are useful and fun.
Now, in conclusion, y’all might be wondering why I’d write an article about peeing after you’ve held it in awhile bein’ better than sex. Well, I did so because I can! It’s the writer’s choice to be creative, right? It’s the writer’s choice to pick whatever hits him at the moment, right? Hey, here on Gather I continually see people writing about politics, their pets, foods they like, pet peeves, religious stuff, complaints, hell people even write about whether or not they like Gather to begin with. So, if all that kinda stuff can be written about, if all that kinda stuff is allowed, then a good old article about the joys of taking a well needed pizz ought to fit in nicely, shouldn’t it? In fact, go ahead and be honest with yourselves. Some of you have laughed at this, haven’t you? A few of the more honest amongst you out there even nodded your heads a time or two, didn’t you? And one or two of you, and yes, you know who you are, said something like “damn straight” and jumped right up out of your chairs and punched the air in triumph, now didn’t you? I figured as much.
Holding in a good pee and releasing it is important. It’s fun. It’s good, sometimes very good. And we should now all hold hands, sing Kumbaya together, and talk about it some more below….
"ChristmaSin'", my new Christmas novel, is now available for sale! Click this link below to order!
For most of us Georgians, at least for most of us rural Georgians, there’s one common hell on earth we can all relate to. I’ve heard it talked about all my life, and have actually experienced it many, many times over the course of my adult years. It can make me cuss, cry, question my religion, and cause my blood pressure to get up to dangerously high levels. Ya’ll want to know what I’m talking about? Want to know one of the most vile tortures imaginable for any rural Georgian? Want to know what scares me worse than an envelope with an IRS return address printed on it? It’s the incredibly heinous act of having to drive one’s car in Atlanta traffic.
If I were a betting man, and I am, I’d wager that there are a lot of ya’ll out there nodding your heads up and down in response to that. Driving in Atlanta is one of the purest hells imaginable, and an experience that I could do without for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, if you live in Georgia, you’ll have to drive up to Atlanta sometimes. And not one time will you ever like it. Ever.
Far be it from me, though, to just sit here and moan and groan about something. It’s my duty as a responsible journalist (try and keep a straight face) to offer suggestions on proactively dealing with Atlanta traffic in order to make it as pleasant an experience as possible. Try these three:
1. Prepare yourself for the experience by watching some video footage of the latest roller coasters over at Six Flags. Watch their curves, loops, and how fast the cars roar through them. Once you watch a few minutes of that, you’ll be better acclimated for your upcoming drive to Atlanta. Especially if you happen to go through a part of the interstate system up there known as “Spaghetti Junction.” Spaghetti Junction is where about ten different interstate highways link together just north of Atlanta, and driving in it is akin to making your way through a field of land mines. I’ve never seen more cars in any one area in my life, and, the worst part is, half of ‘em don‘t know where they‘re going. If you get Six Flags planted firmly in your mind and mesh it together with some scenes from a demolition derby, you can actually have a good time. And, look at it this way - it costs forty or fifty bucks a pop to get into Six Flags, and, if luck is with you, it’ll only cost you a few gallons of gas to experience Spaghetti Junction.
2. Whatever you do, carry an empty milk jug with you. This is especially important if you drink about four cups of coffee before beginning your journey to Atlanta. You’ll find out why you need it when you hit one of those “pond water” traffic jams - that’s one of those traffic tie-ups that’s so bad that you’ll need to stand a stick up next to your car to see if it’s moving. If you get stuck in one of those, you can have a major problem if you don’t have a milk jug with you. Personally, the thought of whizzing “au natural” in the midst of about two hundred cars is more than enough to get me to take the milk jug. ’Nuff said.
3. Watch an episode of the Jerry Springer Show right before leaving. This will prepare you for any interactions you may have with other motorists if your vehicle happens to experience mechanical problems along the way. In fact, if you do have mechanical problems and someone starts hollering at you, imagine you’re the husband on the Springer episode I recently saw who found out his wife was fooling around with an unemployed midget. If you just pretend you’re that guy, you should be able to fire back language at your tormentor(s) that would scare off a group of Navy Seals. And doing that will lower your blood pressure, which is always a good thing.
Armed with these tips, you should be able to tolerate driving around Atlanta, this requisite hell for most of us Georgians. And that’s gonna be about the best we can do with this situation, unless the legislature gets together and does what should have been done years ago, and that’s move the state capital over to the Macon Centreplex. Since hardly anyone ever goes there, the traffic would be much more manageable, and we could put an end to this awful problem once and for all.
"ChristmaSin'", my new Christmas novel, is now available for sale! Click this link below to order!
Sneak Peek into Shadow Fox by Ashley J. Benard Available at Champagne Books Buy HERE at Champagne Books Fantasy
Blurb:
Jared Bruin doesn’t know who he is. He remembers nothing of his early childhood before the age of seven when he was abandoned in a park in St. Louis, left in an unfamiliar world that terrified him. He knows only that he is driven to learn everything he can about swordplay and sixteenth-century combat.
Almost twenty years later, as he is battling a heroin addiction, suicidal tendencies and a violent affliction he doesn't understand, he is hired to teach swordplay to an enigmatic woman with secrets of her own, who somehow provides a link to his past.
Then a missing journal arrives that provides many answers to Jared’s past, and in it another world is revealed, one of a Goddess, prophecies, elves, a devastating love triangle, and a war in desperate need of a hero.
Excerpt:
Worried that he may have blown it, he paused outside the club, where it was much more quiet and the air was fresh, and offered her his hand. Under the outdoor lights, her eyes were an emerald green, offset beautifully by tanned skin and black hair.
“Do you mind if we start over?”
“Not at all,” she said and took his hand.
“Hullo. I’m Jared.”
“Glad to meet you. I’m Tarika.”
They shook hands, laughing, and she caught sight of the inside of his wrist. The remnant of his self-inflicted wound, though over a year old, still bore a raw and purplish countenance around the raised and striking white line of the scar, and there was absolutely no doubt as to the nature of it. His breath catching in his throat, he tried to pull his hand out of her grasp but her fingers tightened around his and refused to let go.
She pushed his sleeve up to his elbow to better inspect the scar, and with the fingers of her free hand, she traced the scar all the way up his forearm. The touch was so incredibly intimate that Jared felt as though she had undressed him.
“Why did you do this?” she said, her eyes riveted to the scar.
He tried once again to free his hand from her grasp but to no avail. “I…”
She looked up and met his gaze. Her eyes were glazed over. As many seconds of palpable silence passed, Jared tried several times to pull away from her.
Finally, she spoke, and her voice sounded distant and utterly different.“You don’t know who you are.”
Jared froze. When she continued staring into his eyes, he, fearing there was more to come, resumed struggling, especially when she began to speak again.
“There is something inside you that…you are hiding from yourself and others…something you find terrible--”
Politeness be damned, he started to yank his hand out of hers, only to have her fingers tighten so forcefully he started to squirm. A distant voice in his head, oblivious to the circumstances, said, Those are a fencer’s hands, no doubt about it.
“You’re afraid of it, you don’t understand it, you fear it will consume you--”
Using his free hand as leverage, he finally managed to jerk his hand from her steely grip and put both hands on her shoulders, shaking her, furious.
“Stop!”
She blinked several times and stared at him, and his anger melted at he realized she had no control over what just happened. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “I didn’t mean to do that. I am so sorry.”
He sighed, feeling exhausted and even sober. “Do you always begin acquaintances this way?”
Check out Ashley's website for more news, books and other fun stuff HERE
Why don't you start with telling us a little about yourself? What genre do you write in and why?
I was raised in Bucks County, PA, a bedroom community to both New York and Philadelphia, and also home to James A. Michener. Regardless of where we went to college, Michener has been a writing inspiration for all of us former Doylestown High School graduates. He was a fine basketball player there before becoming a Pulitzer Prize winning author for Tales of the South Pacific. This inspired me to write Tahitian Destiny, a parallel time travel romance. My husband and I have visited 100 countries, Tahiti four times. For two years, I’ve been writing a travel column for a local senior tabloid.
My long fiction is mainstream mystery romance. On the extreme end, I write flash fiction. My stories can be read on www.bewilderingstories.com. Irony and humor dominate those offerings.
Duplicate bridge, adoption issues, dance and travel are my favorite subjects to include in suspense fiction. In 1972, I began a long career in nursing home and hospice work, first by both volunteering, then acting as a patient advocate, Community Ombudsman for Long Term Care Facilities. My nonfiction e-book, From the Inside Out, a volunteer looks at staying motivated, is considered a best seller.
What comes first for you when you sit down to write a book? Plot or Characters?
I place the issues that drive the plot with my characters; it’s their problem.
Do you "cast" your characters using pictures or actors to help inspire you when you're writing?
No. My characters are either serendipitous originals or are combinations of people I’ve known. Funny thing is I’ve met several of my made-up characters after having written them.
I also combine people. In my latest published novel, Tangled Web, I took my own professor of art and gave him a German accent. The accent came from someone I’d spoken with years before. I refined it with some DPs’ accents (Displaced Persons), whom I’d met in the 50s at an estate in New Jersey. They were working as household help.
How long does it take you to finish a book from start to finish?
It depends. I can write a novel in three months, but polishing it can take years. Guess I’m a perfectionist.
How much does reader reaction mean to you as an author? Do you read your own reviews?
I care a lot about how my work is received and take the reviews as guides to better writing. But like all of us, I love to hear someone say, “This was really good.” Or “I loved your character…”
What are you working on now?
I have a book that’s truly under construction, or reconstruction. I’ve been putting together a series called The Three Penny Mysteries. The first and second are now combined into The Kill Fee. The third is a pseudo mystery about a group of hospice employees who get tangled up with a psychic. That one is called Medium Rare.
What books are currently on your nightstand?
I’ve just finished Scott Turow’s newest, Innocent,Lit by Mary Karr and The Help by Kathryn Stockett I have three Harlan Coben mysteries waiting in paperback, and am almost finished with Jonathan Franzen’s new book, Freedom. Despite the cost of the ebook, I wish I’d loaded it on my Kindle. It weighs about four pounds in hardback.
Where did you get the idea for your latest book?
I did an adoption search a few years ago and was amazed to find out that my birth mother might have been raped. I felt tainted and was concerned for my children and the genes that they carry.
My adoption was finalized when I was 18 months old, a year after my parents applied. I had been afraid to look for my mother because I didn’t want to disturb her life. But as my children grew older, I realized that they were part of that same lost legacy. My unpublished memoir is full of the search story along with the unabridged original of the “Non identifying information.” I used that document in Tangled Web as a guide to the kind of life my birth mother might have pursued.
Everything was a secret in those days so she could have simply returned to her parents’ home and become an old maid. I’m too feisty for that, and I think she would have been, too. So I gave her a life as I hoped she would have lived it, using familiar places and interests that I could expand on. Her German professor was my wonderful professor who told me: “Not you should tell me you know nothingk. You are forty million years old, ja.”
If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?
That is a difficult question to answer. For each reader the book recommendation would be different. For an adoptee, my two most recent books, Mortal Coil and Tangled Web would be ideal. For the scandal lover any one of them would be interesting. There is scandal in all six of my novels, including American Castles, which is based on the true story of senior citizens trying to save their historic hotel (fighting City Hall) from the clutches of local exploiters.
What are three of your favorite paranormal movies/authors and why?
I loved Ghost. I believe in ESP and angels and demons, but for me Ghost was “the one.”
Care to tell us about your latest release/coming soon? What inspired it?
My latest release, Tangled Web, is here in both e-book and paperback.
In Tangled Web the reader follows Catherine, well pictured on the cover art. It’s a story of redemption that takes place between 1933 and 1951.
Anything you are working on you would like to mention?
I have “sold off” most of my memoir as individual stories, hoping to connect with other adoptees, only children and country girls. My flash fiction is anecdotal, some true and some based on possibilities. I’m always writing. “The Doozy” won an award at www.bewilderingstories.com
If you got to meet one paranormal creature with no safeguards. What would you choose and why?
Lestat. He’s interesting and I’d have a million questions. But if I really could contact Patrick Swayze in that great beyond, just one dance would do it. He made that movie. In life and death, he was the picture of grace.
Julie’s articles, stories and blogs can be found on the following Web sites.
Sneak peek excerpt~Tangled Web Available at Champagne Books, Amazon and other Bookstore
(1935) Pregnant, Catherine awaits her fate after her father and lover Jack face off.
Max wrenched open the car door, slamming it behind him. He took a deep breath and shifted into first gear. He had it in third, swaying down the street in record time. Catherine huddled in the back[.
“We’ll talk at home, daughter.”
In the chilly silence, Catherine sat curled over her midsection. Her hand strayed across the bulge that would be her child. A flutter, a kick, returned the pressure, and she wept silently as the car careened back to the house.
Her father parked on the street and slammed into the house without a backward glance. “Alma!” he roared. “Get down here and talk to your daughter.”
Despite the freezing temperature, he walked out back through the snow toward the shed. He took up a piece of furniture he’d started refinishing last fall and began sanding it, pressing harder and harder, wishing it were Jack’s hide he was skinning.
Alma came into the living room to find Catherine curled into a ball on the couch, still wearing her coat.
Her mother sat beside her and took her icy hands in hers. “What happened, Baban, did you lose your job?”
“I’m having a baby, and Jack won’t help me or his child.”
“Jack? Mr. O’Brien? My God, his own child?”
“We were in love, secretly engaged, but he won’t marry me; he’s afraid it will look bad to the voters and ruin his chances of getting into the state assembly.”
“Oh, Baban.” Her mother stroked her hair and took her into her arms. “My poor baban.” …
“What does your father say?”
“He won’t talk to me.”
“Well, he’ll have to talk to me.”
Alma took her coat off the front hall stand and made her way though the dead leaves and snow to Max’s work shack. She pushed open the door. Rusty hinges protested as she stood in the wind focusing on her husband.
“Close the damn door.”
She kicked it shut. “Max. What’s this about you turning your back on our daughter?”
“I didn’t. Jack’s not fit for Catherine. That’s for certain.” Max looked up from his work. His face was haggard. He’d aged ten years in just one day…
“She’s going to have to go into a women’s shelter and give up the child. There isn’t any other way. She four-months gone, Alma! It’s a wonder people aren’t talking already.”
He put down the sand block and looked at his wife, tears forming in his eyes. “We’ll have to make up something, some excuse for her absence.”
“Maybe we can send her…”
Max picked up a sandpaper block and began rubbing away at the edge of the table where someone had burned a hole.
“Catherine can’t even go back to work tomorrow.”
“It’s better that way. …We’ll take her to a home for unwed mothers. The baby will have to go to an orphanage.”
“Max, no. Give away our first grandchild!” Tears trickled down Alma’s cheeks. She kept shaking her head. The tears flowed freely, making ice on her coat.
I love cartoons. From what I can see, a whole lot of other people do too. When I was growing up in Juliette, we could usually pick up three television stations - WMAZ out of Macon, WSB out of Atlanta, and WAGA out of Atlanta. If the weather was cloudy or rainy, we might get lucky and pick up Georgia Public Television as well. That was pretty much it - we watched three stations most of the time, four part of the time. Whatever channels we watched, cartoons made up a large part of the programming. I believe I’ve watched ‘em all - Popeye cartoons on Officer Don and the Popeye Club, Bullwinkle the Moose, Yogi Bear, Precious Pup, and Quick Draw McGraw. Out of them all, though, the cartoons I watched the most were produced by either Warner Brothers or Walt Disney. The quality of their cartoons made them clearly stand out among all the rest. And that’s what intrigues me today - Walt Disney vs. Warner Brothers. If it came down to it, which cartoons are the best of all? There’s only one fair way to decide - line up the top three cartoon characters for Warner Brothers vs. the top three for Walt Disney, and let the chips fall where they may. And, without further ado, let’s take a look at these match-ups:
Bugs Bunny vs. Mickey Mouse
Believe it or not, this one’s not very close. Bugs Bunny is fifty times funnier than Mickey Mouse. Even on his worst day. His catch phrases like “What’s up, doc?” or “I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque” or “Ahhhhhh! Pismo Beach at last!” are all-time classics. On top of that, he had such a great cast of supporting characters - Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin Martian, Porky Pig, the Tasmanian Devil, and Daffy Duck, just to name a few. I’ve spent countless hours enjoying their escapades. Now, pit them up against Mickey Mouse. To be honest, Mickey always got on my nerves. His “Hiiiiiiiiiii, I’m Mickey Mouse,” was grating, and he was never still, always jumping and bouncing around all over the place. Plus, those britches he wore were a tad sweet. So, to sum it up, Bugs came across like the kind of guy you’d like to have a beer with, Mickey made you wonder if he was a guy.
Daffy Duck vs. Donald Duck
Another slam dunk for Warner Brothers. Daffy was incredibly funny - I remember one cartoon where he kept being placed in weird situations, and right before it ended they backed the whole scene up and revealed that Bugs had been drawing the cartoon the entire time. It was hysterical. Daffy also played Robin Hood one time opposite Porky Pig’s Little John, and it was yet another classic. Donald Duck, on the other hand, was the hardest cartoon character to understand that I’ve ever watched. I never knew what he was saying, and he seemed to be mad all the time, but not in a cute sort of way. With Donald, you just wanted to pop him and say, “Shut up!”
Foghorn Leghorn vs. ???
A total shutout for Warner Brothers. Foghorn Leghorn, in my opinion, was the funniest cartoon character of them all. Some of his lines are classics, witness these about the Widow Hen, “Nice girl, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.” “That woman’s as cold as a nudist on an iceberg.” “Gal reminds me of the highway between Fort Worth and Dallas - no curves.” See what I mean? I could’ve written down fifty more that were just as funny. On the other hand, I don’t know if Walt Disney even had a strong number three character. Pluto? Goofy? Minnie Mouse? Any of them come up way short when you pit them against Foghorn Leghorn. And there you have it. A totally objective analysis that settles who made the best short subject cartoons of all time - it’s Warner Brothers, and by a mile. But, don’t get me wrong, this is certainly no slam on Disney. Disney, in my opinion, made the best feature length cartoon movies ever made - many of them are classics, and deservedly so. So they get their moment here in the sun, too. And now, for the ending to our article, I’m offering the following quote from Mr. Leghorn, “This is gonna cause more confusion than a mouse at a burlesque show.” He’s probably right, you know...
"ChristmaSin'", my new Christmas novel, is now available for sale! Click this link below to order!
Ride Along With Gun Hording, Harley Riding Leslie Bolt in, BOLT ACTION
I’m author Victoria Roder. I live in central Wisconsin and I’m an average girl that likes to hang out with my family. We enjoy camping, hiking, shooting bow, and motorcycle rides.
Secrets of the past, murder, mystery, revenge, deception, sexual tension, and the “State Quarter Killer”; Bolt Action offers it all. In my Action Thriller, Bolt Action, Detective Leslie Bolt is a tough talking, gun hording, motorcycle riding investigator with as much insecurity as the rest of us. After a childhood of abuse suffered at the hands of her father, Leslie stashes a collection of pistols, revolvers, and even keeps a Browning A-Bolt Stalker Rifle in her broom closet. She is stand-offish and down right rude. Having to work a serial murder case with her handsome ex-lover Detective Lance Kestler doesn’t improve her disposition.
The “State Quarter Killer” is selecting victims that appear to have nothing in common except for the State Quarter placed under their lifeless bodies. As the body count mounts, Leslie Bolt begins to fall for the sexy medical examiner, Jack Donington. Perhaps a couple of Harley’s, paint drumming to music, and a new romance can help Detective Bolt conquer her own demons from the past. When Bolt’s apartment is tossed and her sister goes missing Detective Bolt must overcome her past and capture the serial killer before her sister is the next victim.
