Children's Books
The Marsh Adventures: Of Times and Places
My son was 5 years old and is homeschooled. He has an engineer's mindset and likes things practical and logical. The children's books for his age just did not fit his learning level or personality. I have always written and enjoy writing, so on a whim, I took a stab at a book that would "fit him". Enter, the Marsh Adventures. It eventually started out to be a story about a dragonfly named Mepho and his day-to-day adventures in a marsh, but it quickly grew from a short story to a 22-chapter book. No longer was it a day-to-day musings, but it became a life and death struggle of average insects that rise to the occasion to become heroes and legends themselves. I would write a chapter every other night, and on the off nights would read a chapter to him...some nights I was asked to go write second chapter as he couldn't wait two days. In the end he gave the book two thumbs up and a wild shout. Kids and adults will fall in love with this book.
A BAND OF DOGS
This may very well be my next piece for my son, which as the others, I will convert into a published book. It is the story of a boy, an only child, living with his mother. The boy longs for a real dog as a pet, but due to finances and housing conditions, he can only have stuffed dogs...and so he does, lots of them. Birthday...stuffed dog, Christmas...stuffed dog, Easter...stuffed dog, President's Day...stuffed dog. He treats them all equally with love and the care a master would should a real, living dog. Then one day a stray dog wonders by the boys home, in trying to make a friend with this dog, he follows him into the woods, and soon becomes lost. A frantic search ensues, but the boy cannot be found. Who will go an find him? Who will save him? Are his dogs just stuffed animals, or can love transcend time and space to find out there is so much more to his band of dogs. A mesmerizing and heartwarming tale you will not want to miss.
The Marsh Adventures continue...
When I originally wrote The Marsh Adventures, it was to be a stand-alone book. However, the more I thought upon it, and he longer I dwelled on it...a sequel was planned. Well, that sequel turned out to be four books...a prequal, a sequel, and two more additions in the series. I am excited about these! Although not originally planned (but neither was the first book), I am loving the concepts and story lines of each. More to come as one day soon in the future I begin work on them. Right now everything is in draft concept, but what I can say is this: 1) the prequal sets the legend straight and tells the back story, 2) the sequel brings about a new enemy that was not seen coming (and it's not what you think), 3) the children and grand-children take over the reigns of their fore-fathers and must defend the marsh once again and 4) we go nearly 10,000 years back in time, to the original Meganeura with a 4-foot wingspan, and learn where the Dragon Hunters came from. This will be exciting!!
The Fruit Race
The banana split, the orange peeled, and the apple was hard to the core...
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The famous last words of the potato...before he is mashed! No one saw who did it...or is that correct? Mrs. Tomato seems to know too much but she won't talk. The only witness is drug down to the department for questioning by non-other than famous detective Sam Sweet Potato and his bumbling partner Alva Avocado.
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If you can get past the mashed potato, this is a hilarious and diabolical romp on a loose take of the old Dragnet series, or even Adam 12 in some regards.
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You will unfortunately never see this ending coming, and once you've read the book, you'll understand why I put it that way LOL : )
The Fruit Race
This was another book I started writing for my son but have yet to finish...it was to be short and have several in the series. Sam Rad loves monster trucks, but he is an independent and under funded. His only sponsor is Marshall's Garage, and that's because his only mechanic is...Marshall. By no fault of his own, trouble just seems to find Sam, and he either has to fight his way out of it or figure his way out of it. Sam has one pet, Pontius...a 40 lb. bobcat he rescued and raised from a kitten. Sam and Marshall are best friends with the Sheriff...a young laid back guy himself...he prefers to chase cars on his horse and still totes a single action six-gun...that he wields just as fast as Hickock or Earp. Sam affectionately calls his truck "BB" for short. Their first adventure...Showdown at the Swamp. There will be gators and snakes I am sure of it...