The Library

After the divorce Mom was forced to find a way to make a living, the savings from her New York airline days already long depleted. Her first stint was at the Russell Stover factory up in Kansas City which, let's face it, was the best job any kids could ever want their mother to have. She walked into the house every night with a butterscotch for each of us, and tales of having eaten endless chocolate all through the day. Bemoaning the fact of how much weight she was gaining, she kept working until she saw a position being offered right there in Spring Hill as the multi-service clerk for the library up on Main. She, giving us a glimpse of the fighter within, took on the city council to secure the position away from a long standing citizen--a man. The look on her face when she walked into the house that afternoon was of disbelief and pride. "I did it." She sunk down into the brown print love seat with her purse slumping alongside her feet. "They almost gave it to him, but I kept saying how much I loved books--that I had three kids at home, and they said I could have the job."

Of course, it makes sense that our car would die right before her first day. She'd have to make the long walk through town every morning and evening. No problem, she'd see us off to school and the walk would be good--get rid of all that chocolate she'd eaten.

Spring Hill was small, like a regular town minus everything. The library was nestled between an American Legion and a drugstore, each housed behind the fake storefronts faded, yet still remaining, from the days of old West. One of the stops on the way to Quatrill's infamous raid, the town had no other claim to celebrity other than the fact that one of its ancestors was a woman doctor, fitting perhaps for my mother who now would serve many duties in the town besides just checking out books. She would pass out Government staples, food, welfare, counsel. She would organize immunizations and children's programs. But most of all, she would sit and wait and . . . read. This is, for the most part, how I remember her: a paperback novel in her hands and radio playing tunes quietly from up on the metal file cabinet.

The library was miniscule, but fulfilled its need appropriately. There were no fines, but Mom was good at giving an evil look to those who were late with their returns. This kept the patrons in check, and I took note of it, sitting every day at one of the long wooden tables with a magazine laid out in front of me. Cheryl Tiegs was the hot model of the day with her golden hair and sparkling blue eyes. I had a notebook full of personal studies done in leaded lines that I strove to improve. If I could just perfect the lines of her nose so it wouldn't look so deformed. I applied shading, light pressure on the curves . . . still no success. But I was good at ears and eyes.

It was the time of girls struggling to reach equality, yet they still fought for position. Men stood out on the front sidewalk by the barbershop in different colored suits, like boastful roosters; their images mixing strangely with its peppermint swirl pole.

It was the time of change, not only for the world, but for me. Change in so many ways I cannot explain, yet can still feel as a thunderstorm sickens the sky and moves across plain land with aching and anticipation, then leaves; quiet, yet full of sorrow.

THE SOUL SEEKERS continued

In my last post, I spoke about the main character from THE SOUL SEEKERS, eighteen year old Emma Shay. Now I'd like to introduce the secondary main character, someone who slightly comes off as an antagonist during the first quarter of the book, the ghost-man himself, William Bennett. Actually, his name has quite a metamorphosis, starting with Emma's own nickname for him, HANDSOME, then Billy Joe Bennett, as she hears the Soul Seekers call him. His real name is William Bennett; elegant and fitting, as he ends up being quite the noble character.

William is the young man who has roamed the small town of Springvail invisible to most of its citizens for over twenty years. The only people who can see him are the Soul Seekers, who aren't quite what you would call human. They stole half of his soul during a ceremony called the Rapture, locking it in a coin made of roughly helmed coppery metal. Lost since 1956, the coin has now resurfaced and is in the possession of--you guessed it--Emma Shay, aka new girl in town. She's the only normal human who can see or hear him, and that makes her his only ally in the world. If he didn't love her so much, he might take her up on her offers to help get his soul back. But he is strong-willed and very protective. He demands she hide the coin and leave town. Riiiiight. Emma has already lost someone she loves more than life itself, her father, and she is not going to go through any of that again.

William is a writer, a dreamer. He's romantic and fiercely protective. He can walk through walls, he can jump into moving cars, but he cannot accept Emma ever getting hurt in the process of him being saved. It's unthinkable. On the night of the lunar eclipse, he is ready to give up the rest of his soul so the ministry can be done with it and move their coven out of Springvail for good. What he did not count on was one young woman and her stubborn heart to enter the underground world of the Soul Seekers caves to just save him.

I can't wait for all of you to read this book. I wrote it for anyone that loves time travel, rock and roll, muscle cars, romance, small town freakaliscious times, and of course, girl power! If you are someone that grew up on the tail end of the 1970's, I think you will enjoy it immensely. If you are a young chap or chick who wants to be led back in time, you'll love it. THE SOUL SEEKERS is a story about all of us and any time; most of all, it relates something that is real. Though, you'll just have to read it to find out what that is.