Bobby Joe and Billy Earl are two good ol country boys that live in the Foothills of the Ozarks. Related as cousins, they are as close as any brothers. Bobby Joe is the adventurous one, while Billy Earl "tries" to be the "voice of reason". Whenever Bobby Joe gets an idea, it sounds good at the start, which surprises Billy Earl as he knows how his cousin's "luck" can be most of the time. Still, he goes along to see if he can avert disaster before it happens. But Bobby Joe isn't going to listen to reason, and when things get twisted around, the boys find themselves wondering what they got themselves into.
Retired ‘herb’ smugglers Bobby Joe, Dev, and Jack Lee, are living quietly in Brazil. They mount one last operation to raise money for Joa~o’s campaign to help street children. New enemies and extra-legal U.S. agents then raid their hideout. Jack is absent and survives, leaving for India with prophetic words spoken by his guru ringing in his ears.
There was nothing like wilderness living in Kentucky. Outhouse + cow + momma = frazzled momma Log raft + boy + river = danger Mountain Man + snow + slay = bad choice Bad Indians + momma + girl = kidnapping Momma + grandma + squirrel = biscuits & gravy Rain + boy + momma = loblolly Momma + gun + green eyes = chicken & dumplings Gracie’s family left Virginia for homesteading in Kentucky. They were naïve city slickers, but God sent angels to help them. The land had to be cleared and a log cabin built. Through their strong faith in God and a lot of prayer they staked out their homestead and helped to build a community. The angels worked overtime keeping Bobby Joe out of trouble but sometimes they just watched and laughed. The Mountain Men were the “bestest” angels God sent them. Gracie was a feisty little girl almost six when they came. She was an observer and wrote their experiences in her diary when she was nine. The places are real. The last names are people living in the community and the charter members of the church. The fi rst names are my children and grandchildren. The events are fi ctional except for the building of Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church which is still there today.
As I sat down to record my memoirs, old emotions came to the surface--both good and bad. I shared some of the bad with an acquaintance. He said, "That's tragic!" I thought about that later. I'm like a man who was born visually challenged. Although I'm not experiencing the same challenge, my experiences are the only ones I know. That's the only life I have known. It doesn't seem tragic to me. In fact, those tragic experiences have instilled in me perseverance and determination to win and a bond with others. Join me as you read the good and the bad. Do you see yourself in the story?
Mary Ann Winkowski's abilities as a paranormal investigator have offered solace to countless people, either by reuniting them with loved ones who have died or by removing unwanted spirits and negative energy from homes, businesses or possessions. Beyond Delicious: The Ghost Whisperer's Cookbook is a collection of recipes bequeathed to Mary Ann through spirits of great cooks who have passed on. Arranged as two-page spreads, each entry includes a recipe as well as the story of how the author came to learn it. Beyond Delicious: The Ghost Whisperer's Cookbook is part cookbook and part ghost story anthology; together, these elements create the most entertaining cookbook of the season.
This is a coming of age story that takes place in a small Eastern Oklahoma town in 1971. Wewoka is capitol of the Seminole Nation in Oklahoma. With a hint of Romeo and Juliet, a dash of Grapes of Wrath, and a dab of To Kill A Mockingbird, this story deals with love, prejudice, and spiritual crisis.
Retired ‘herb’ smugglers Bobby Joe (of Choctaw descent) and Dev (preternatural strength) go to Brazil where Jack Lee, now on the run, joins them. The outlaws and extra-legal US Agents collide, with one agent also wanting to settle old scores. They survive, but storm clouds gather and quiet retirement is elusive, as is Jack’s desire to meditate.
Barely escaping death in a light airplane when he was 10 years old, Tom Fitzgerald spends the next eight years avoiding all things challenging and adventurous. During his second year of college he is bored and out of money when he encounters a dashing US Navy pilot recruiting naval aviation cadets (NavCads). He listens to the debonair officer make his pitch and decides that if he is ever going have a life, this is his big chance. He signs on the dotted line, determined to prove his mettle by becoming the dauntless warrior he admires in all of the recruiting posters. The following summer he reports to the Naval Air Training Command in Pensacola, Florida and is greeted by Technical Sergeant Dempsey Flanagan, a Marine more frightening than any non-commissioned officer he has ever seen on the silver screen. From that moment he knows that his life will never be the same. The days of flight training are occasionally terrifying, often uproarious, and always turbulent. A timid college sophomore who has never succeeded at anything, Tom is increasingly anxious before each flight, and then depressed about his mediocre performance when it is over. On several occasions he barely escapes being washed out for lack of flying aptitude. Though tempted to quit, he decides to hang around and struggle through one disheartening day at a time, always hoping things will improve. Instead of getting better,however, the days get worse. He is hounded by his lack of self-confidence, the disturbing memories of his near-disastrous flying experience eight years earlier, the often expressed doubts of his parents and mentors, and the incessant pleas by his cousin and idol, a WWII fighter pilot, to give up his foolish idea and come home. As he progresses many of his classmates quit or wash out, and a few are killed in aircraft accidents. In the meantime, he must battle the ever-present harassment by an adversary from his youth who is now a fellow cadet. When Tom tries to boost his confidence by participating in reckless rites of passage, the results are usually comical and sometimes painful. He learns that what may seem a good idea over a few beers can prove to be a mistake with long-lasting consequences. Frustrated by the lack of encouragement from home, Tom joins a group of cadets who surrender their fate to guardian angels, accepting the premise held by many pilots that they are colleagues killed in combat or aircraft accidents. When he finally develops confidence in his flying, his childhood nemesis works hard to tear it down. Tired of dodging the daily attacks, Tom confronts the bigger and stronger cadet in impromptu wrestling and boxing matches and later, in a reckless, illegal dogfight over central Texas that nearly takes both their lives. It is after this frightening experience that their adversarial relationship takes a new and surprising twist. With graduation day approaching, Tom and his surviving classmates are given their assignments in the fleet. Although disappointed, they struggle to keep a positive attitude and vow to somehow be assigned together at their new duty station where they will strive to make their squadron the finest in the Marine Corps. Later that week, however, an unexplained tragedy torpedoes their renewed enthusiasm. But again, the NavCads camaraderie binds them together. They bury their sadness and focus on the adventures awaiting them over the horizon. With Flying Colors is a must read for all young men and women about to make a major change in their lives. Journeying through Tom Fitzgeralds calamitous and humorous escapades while in quest of his Navy wings reminds us how people, culture, and events shape us--good or bad--into what we eventually become.
How would any of us react when faced with having to make a decision about risking our own life to save a stranger? And, why would we make such a decision? That is a decision which those in the life-saving services make each day. Who are these people and why would they risk their life to save another? Those are questions that are dealt with in this exciting and thought-provoking novel. The backdrop of this story is the exciting adventures at sea of men serving in the U. S. Coast Guard along the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. It is a story of heroism, self-sacrifice, enduring friendship, and romance. But, men in the Coast Guard also have their dark side; it is also a story of humanity dealing with drugs, alcoholism, susicide and even murder. Mostly it is a story about fear and one's determination and ability to understand and overcome it. The story is set in the Vietnam war era, and in an attempt to avoid the horrors of war, Cody Stiles, the main character, joins the U. S. Coast Guard. But, there, he is forced to face his most ghastly fear, that of not only drowning but drowning in water that is dark and mysterious. Tragedy as a young boy, watching his older brother drown in a farm pond in Kansas, making no attempt to save him, and his father believing that he is a coward, shaped the young life of Cody Stiles. In the end, he makes an unconscious decision that affects the lives of many.
Pieces of My Heart: A Free-Spirited Gypsy's Journey Thru her heart and soul...and hell. - A True Story Jump on the back with motorcycle mama Katy Ishee, as she wildly steers us on a blistering ride of unwed motherhood, familial alienation, bikers, drugs, and insane asylums--you won't know whether to fall on your knees and pray to the Almighty or get stone drunk and listen to Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. When 17-year-old Katy is forced to surrender her son to strangers, her life becomes a web of secrets, lies and rebellion. Learn the hidden, yet true secrets of how unwed mothers are treated by the System, and what actually goes on in government-approved mental wards. A vivid picture of horror is painted as she describes her ten electro-convulsive shock treatments. Her rebellion grows as she travels from Haight-Ashbury during the Summer of Love, through the brotherhood of motorcycling and four abusive marriages, even spending some time in sick-slick Hollywood ... across the country, back-and-forth, stubbornly refusing to give up on her dream. “Katy’s is that spirit that refuses to compromise either with her herself or the world around her. It is that spirit that refuses to be quiet for the sake of expediency but rather screams to be heard. It is that indomitable spirit that never gives up and in the end is proven to be the best of what it is that makes us human. This is Katy Ishee. This is Pieces of My Heart. This is a new, fresh voice that needs to be heard.” “This story is so shocking and strong, you have to be strong to read it. Blues guitarist/songwriter, Lonnie Mack Katy’s autobiography has been featured on many websites across the internet including Book of the Month Club at http://www.bikernet.com/News/newsarch.asp?Article=021810-2 and http://www.cyrilhuzeblog.com/2010/02/11/pieces-of-my-heart-not-a-love-story-to-make-you-mad-laugh-and-cry with comments from readers.
