You have the power: 21 more days to vote for THE DREAM BUCKET

You have the power to select a novel for Kindle Scout to publish. Amazon will promote the book and provide a beneficial contract. My novel,The Dream Bucket, is in the list of unpublished works to be considered in a 30-day campaign.

21 more days . . .

THE DREAM BUCKET at Kindle Scout

Three weeks from now, Amazon will tally your nominations for The Dream Bucket. I'll receive an email to tell me whether it has been selected for publication.
If you haven't voted yet, please nominate (vote for) The Dream Bucket in Kindle Scout today or before December 13, 2014. Thanks to all of you who have voted. You are keeping the book in the "Hot and Trending" list.

Several friends have asked me if it is possible to vote twice. No . . . just once for The Dream Bucket. If it is one of the books selected and you voted for it, you'll receive a free Kindle copy.

The Dream Bucket, a Tender Romance

Until a few decades ago, a woman had no right to know specific details about her husband’s finances. The man handled the money, but what was a woman to do if she lost him?

The Dream Bucket . . . courage, self-discovery, grief, healing family pain, survival – a tender romance with threads of humor and mystery . . .
In the spring of 1909, Zoe Cameron shares a prosperous life with William and their two children – twelve-year-old Billy Jack and ten-year-old Trudy. Two days after William refuses to tell Zoe where he stashes his fortune, he dies in a fire that destroys their Southern mansion.

For more information about THE DREAM BUCKET, please visit Kindle Scout. If you'd like to see this story published in the Scout program, nominate it by clicking on the blue bar.

THE DREAM BUCKET AT KINDLESCOUT.COM

What The Dream Bucket is About

The summer of 1909 presents overwhelming challenges for the Camerons and the Bentons, two neighboring farm families in Mississippi. A farm bucket—the dream bucket—brings a glorious solution to all the problems that have made their lives difficult.

Ten-year-old Trudy Cameron overhears her parents, Zoe and William, fighting about money. Zoe wants to know where William hides his unlimited supply of twenty-dollar gold pieces. Instead of sharing this essential information, he slaps Zoe.

Two days later William dies in a fire that destroys their mansion. Trudy, whose father has indulged her and whose mother has been cold toward her, has nothing to rely on. Zoe lacks experience with the dairy and farming operations. The three survivors move into a rat-infested shack with a roof as leaky as a colander. They milk cows, harvest produce, and tend cornfields.

This is the beginning of The Dream Bucket, which has been selected by KindleScout.com to be featured in a campaign for thirty days. Amazon wants to know how many people will want to read this story. I'm asking you to go to KindleScout.com, find the picture of the shack and vote for (nominate) The Dream Bucket.

The Dream Bucket

Jacob MacGregor, Transcendent Hero

Have you watched a television series or read a series of novels with one character serving as a common thread in many stories? No matter what happens, this one heroic person is always an important part of the action.

Jacob MacGregor is such a character in the Covington Chronicles. He first appears in Secret Promise as a self-absorbed young man, but he grows into an admirable person. In The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson, he steps into the background but remains important to the story by being a supportive friend to Loretta. In The Dream Bucket, he is a true friend of the young widow Zoe.

The epitome of greatness, Jake makes the best choices in the situations that present themselves.





Please help publish The Dream Bucket by going to KindleScout.com and nominating (voting for) it.

Villians

Elvin Trutledge in THE DREAM BUCKET is one of the favorite characters of the authors who critique my writing. He's the kind of villain people love to hate. So is Johnson Daniels in THE COURTSHIP OF MISS LORETTA LARSON.

First, let me say that I researched these names and couldn't find that they belonged to anyone. If they do, please accept my apology. I do not wish in any way to cast aspersions on anybody.

Behind every character in a novel is a background not always revealed to the readers. Backstory can get in the way of the progress of the plot. It's fun though to show some of this back story in a blog so the readers can know more about what is going on or where the writer came up with the idea.

Elvin Trutledge in the summer of 1909 could have taken over the entire book if I'd allowed him. The inspiration for him comes from a great song, "Paradise" sung by John Prine. I'm sharing a link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEy6EuZp9IY

Thanks again for all the nominations (votes) for THE DREAM BUCKET to be published by Kindle Scout.

Names of Characters in THE DREAM BUCKET

On November 17, 2014, with 26 days remaining in the Kindle Scout Campaign, I want to share some information with you about naming characters in THE DREAM BUCKET. A friend asked me on Facebook why I chose the name Cameron. The answer was for no reason except it's simply a pretty name with a study old Southern sound. I've had some great friends with that name, but not with the characters of the Camerons in my novel.

Most of the other names in the book have no special significance. Some of them appear in SECRET PROMISE and THE COURTSHIP OF MISS LORETTA LARSON, but you don't have to read those books before you read THE DREAM BUCKET, which is involved right now in the campaign.. The campaign must end before THE DREAM BUCKET can be published. Thanks for voting.

A Dream in My Bucket

In August 2011, The Dream Bucket placed second in the book proposal category at the Texas Christian Writers Conference. I had written the entire book back then, but for the last four years I've revised the manuscript over and over. With the helpful advice of an agent/editor, a writer/editor, and three critique groups in Texas and Louisiana, along with useful information gleaned from books about writing, I've worked to make The Dream Bucket enjoyable to read.

After writing and self-editing The Dream Bucket for five years, having started it in 2010, I considered it finished. In the meantime, I had written two books that preceded it in a series.

At that point, a friend sent me a note on Facebook about the Kindle Scout program. The rewards are generous, and the requirements were doable. I'm really excited about this publishing opportunity.

First an author submits a novel with a a catchy title and a one-liner that introduces it. The author must also provide a short autobiography, a brief synopsis, and the answers to three of the questions from the list, and a cover suitable for a Kindle book. Supplying all the items listed above, I submitted it. The next day, Kindle Scout informed me that it would be placed online for readers to vote on.

Unlike the usual Kindle programs, which allow the writers total freedom to publish whatever they choose, Kindle Scout is a "reader-powered" publishing system designed for books not previously published. Readers have the privilege of deciding which books will be considered for publication.

At this time, I'm at the mercy of readers and friends, who are nominating The Dream Bucket. The campaign will be completed on December 13, 2014. Nominate (Vote for) The Dream Bucket here: THE DREAM BUCKET at Kindle Scout

Remember the calaboose?

In the town of Taylorsville, Mississippi, a flimsy tin shack squatted on the main street across from a row of stores back in the fifties. The proud citizens of our town pretended it wasn't there. Even now, it feels like taboo to reminisce about it. Some of our kin and the family members of our friends--the men our parents called "sots" in hushed tones--spent time in the local jail.

Did you ever quake in fear, horror, and embarrassment on Saturday afternoon in Taylorsville when a drunken acquaintance would stagger down the sidewalk? Everyone south of Center Ridge and east of the Y in the Mize road went to town on Saturday. Everybody saw. People knew but were kind enough not to mention what happened on Saturday afernoon.

I'm not sure about the chronological order of the images recorded in the mind of my childhood. I just remember the drunken man yelled loud enough to be heard a block away, looked through the crowds of men milling around for some enemy so he could settle a feud with his fist, tripped on a crack in the sidewalk, fell, received a blow from an officer's bill club, was dragged across the street, and transported to the calaboose. He stayed there until he sobered up.

Who knows when Taylorsville had its first jail? I wanted to look inside, but no self-respecting female would have walked within twenty feet of it. When it was empty, some of my friends played pranks in the calaboose.

The imaginary town of Taylorsburg, which vaguely resembles our beloved Taylorsville, contained a similar jail when the twentieth century began. It was also constructed of flimsy tin.

In the year 1908, Zoe Cameron, a prim lady in THE DREAM BUCKET, enters the village calaboose. Discover why she goes there and what happens when she opens the door and steps inside. I want you to read this part near the end of the book.

Please help me convince Kindle Scout that THE DREAM BUCKET is worthy of a contract. Go to Kindle Scout and nominate (vote for) THE DREAM BUCKET.

Announcement about The Dream Bucket

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/category/158566011

28 more days remaining in the Dream Bucket campaign . . . still listed as "Hot"

Thanks, friends!

I'm grateful to you who went to https://kindlescout.amazon.com/category/158566011
or
https://kindlescout.amazon.com/ yesterday, wrote your own reviews, pasted or wrote original requests for others to vote, sent e-mails to your friends, let me know you voted, and just gave me all kinds of encouragement.You helped me start this campaign with momentum to get THE DREAM BUCKET published by the Kindle Scout program.

Three Questions about THE DREAM BUCKET

Kindle Scout requires each participant to answer three questions. Here are the ones I chose with the answers. I could have written volumes about these, but Kindle Scout reined me in by allowing only 300 characters.

Q. Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?
A. In the early 1900’s farmers had the treasures that mattered most—a sense of humor, love for one another, respect for the land, and reliance on the Lord to see them through any situation. I hope, though, that readers grasp the joy of this story so much that this message becomes secondary.

Q. Where did the idea for this book come from?
A. When I was 17, our home burned to the ground. My father went inside the burning house and pulled out some valuables. He moved into a house he kept for sharecroppers. I moved into an apartment in town. My mother alternated between the two residences. This loss inspired THE DREAM BUCKET.

Q. This book is part of a series, tell us about your series.
A. THE DREAM BUCKET, an independent, complete story, shares some characters and locations with SECRET PROMISE and THE COURTSHIP OF MISS LORETTA LARSON. These three books, known as THE COVINGTON CHRONICLES, show life in and around a Mississippi village in the early 1900’s.

Nominate THE DREAM BUCKET HERE.

The Dream Bucket by MARY LOU CHEATHAM: Two Families, Many Dreams

Campaign:
November 14-December 13, 2014
Vote to have this book published.

Synopsis

Ten-year-old Trudy loves Papa more than anybody else until she hears him slap Zoe, her mother. She is so angry at him she wishes he’d die. When he accidentally sets fire to the family mansion and dies in the fire, she is not prepared for the shock. William has cautioned Zoe not to pry into his financial arrangements. She wants to know where he keeps his money in case his life should end. How will she survive as a widow? The family has nowhere to call home except a sharecropper’s shack.

Categories:
Romance,
Historical Romance
Go here to vote.



Please go to kindlescout.amazon.com
Vote for THE DREAM BUCKET.
If Kindle Scout publishes this book, you will receive a free copy to read on your Kindle or computer.

Jimmy John’s, Gourmet Sandwich Shops

Do you ever wonder what the history is behind a restaruant where you like to go? Or what’s behind the name of a sandwich shop that sells food you love?

Having discovered some of the world’s most delicious sandwiches in Jimmy John’s in Lubbock, TX (4730 Slide Rd. 806-795-0800) and in Amarillo, TX (4730 Slide Rd. 806-795-0800), I decided to check on the name.

Jimmy John Liautaud, the owner/founder, started his first sandwich shop in 1983 when he was nineteen years old, and now there are about 200 of them. His story is fascinating. Go to www.JimmyJohns.com to read more about it. Also look at the information at Wikipedia

To learn about the sandwich it is necessary to try one. The menu overwhelms me with a plethera of enticing choices. I like #6, the Vegetarian.

Included on the website is a thorough chart of the nutritional value of the items.

Bon appetit!

Eating Chinese Buffet Food

Most of us consume an inordinate amount of calories when dining at a Chinese buffet. As much as one thousand in a meal. (And lunch from the inviting pans of hot food may contain more sodium in it than most of us need to consume in a day.) This food has a Chinese influence, but it is Americanized with all our demands for high calories.

According to Calorie Count About.com, a serving of General Tso’s Chicken has 844 calories per serving. One solution is to get a tiny piece of chicken.

Next, a pile of crab Rangoon awaits hungry diners. Just one. That shouldn’t be too bad. Chicken is a popular diet foods, but the chicken on the buffet is fried and dipped in various sweet syrups. A mere bite of one and another . . . which one tastes better? Soon a mountain of food piled on a plate awaits our tingling fingers and salivating palates. At the table it all tastes alike because we mix it together, or at lest stack it in close proximity.

We know to avoid all those fried foods with crusts. Instead of fried chicken, we can choose chicken with broccoli, and for being good we can select one high-calorie food we’ve been craving. The broccoli cancels the calories.

Soup isn’t too bad. A cup of egg drop soup, if it isn’t loaded with chicken fat, may have as few as 100-120 calories. It is definitely a better appetizer than an egg roll, which may have 200-300 calories. Since we’re craving the crisp taste of something chewable, let’s try a spring roll, which supposedly has half the calories of an egg roll.

Who isn’t in a hurry these days? Sometimes we don’t like to spend time ordering food and waiting for it. This Chinese buffet has to be an improvement over fast food, right? Hurried travelers and business people often find Chinese buffets practical solutions for the problem of obtaining a quick lunch. Let us remember though that we don’t have time to go back and get a second or third plate of food.

The Great Wall Buffet, 2005 Lamar Street, Sweetwater, TX 79556, is a typical Chinese buffet restaurant. I honestly don’t see much difference in most of the Chinese buffets I’ve visited throughout the South.

One of the popular buffets in Ruston, LA, is Peking Restaurant, 1300 North Vienna Street. It has improved. Sometimes it features fresh, tasty sushi at the end of the buffet line. There’s something about all that food that is addictive. Plate after plate, we consume it until the waiter comes and offers a serving of ice cream.

Ruston now has a leaner alternative: Teriyaki Grill, 1913 E. Kentucky Ave. #6, Ruston, LA 71270. We can order Asian food, freshly prepared and not go back for seconds. At the restaurant’s website there are pictures of beautiful food, low in caloires and ample with proteins . . . but what about the sodium content?

Eating at the Airport

One of the most entertaining ways to occupy time when I have to occupy an airport is to find something to eat. It’s important to take the food to a place near the gate for the pending flight. Occasionally there are places close enough to allow me to sit at a table, but more often than not it is prudent to sit in a chair and nurse carry-on luggage, along with food and drink.

Boarding a plane on Hollywood Avenue in Shreveport, LA, I learned two valuable lessons. First, liquids are not to be purchased before checking in at security. If there’s not enough time to eat in a civilized manner, it is better to check in and walk to the inside section. Two food counters are in this airport.The one outside the security check place seems more appealing. I think it may have more choices on the menu. It’s possible to buy a sandwich out there and take it through security, then buy a drink at the inside place.

The sandwiches at the Tailwinds are mouthwateringly delicious, the employees are pleasant, and the dining areas have an inviting ambiance. The entire airport has fascinating paintings on the walls. There is one problem though. It seems to take forever to cook a hot sandwich there.

The food service in DFW is quite different. Because the airport restrateurs are accustomed to seeing people run from gate to gate with the boarding places changing frequently, the cooks don’t dally around. Cousin’s B-B-Q, for example, can provide a delicious meal in a flash.

What's Great at McAlister's Now

When my friends and family go with me to McAlister’s, I order the same meal every time until something even tastier comes along. My favorite was the veggie spud until the Savannah chopped salad entered my life. By the way, men like salads; they find the Savannah chopped irresistible.

According to the McAlister’s website, A Savannah chopped salad consists of sliced, grilled chicken breast, dried cranberries, Gorgonzola cheese, honey roasted almonds, tomatoes and cucumbers. Chef's dressing selection: Sherry Shallot.

Calories: 440, Total Fat: 16 g, Total Carbohydrates 43 g, Dietary Fiber 11 grams, Protein 32 grams, 11 Weight Watchers Plus Points.

A typical conversation goes like this:
“Do you want to go to McAlister’s”
“Yes.”
Such a conversation means without saying:
“It’s time we had another Savannah chopped salad.”
“I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”

We’ve indulged in this salad at 1202 Pecanland Road, Monroe, LA 71203; also at 1671 E 70th St, Shreveport, LA 71105. The salad always tastes the same, which is somewhat wonderful, and the salad dressing is always on my mind.

Many more salads await us, but this first one we tried is so good we haven't been able to move on.

A fellow author reviews Secret Promise

Having a fellow author compliment something I wrote is a gratifying experience. Kathy McKinsey, a sensitive writer who has written some family novellas, reviewed Secret Promise:

Secret Promise. Delightful. Heart wrenching.

Mary offers us both in this gripping story from Mississippi in the early 1900s. Jake and Caroline struggle with tragedy and sorrow, and wrestle through ups, downs, and twists before they find joy, love, and a sweet relationship with God.

Kathy McKinsey

My Cheatin’ Wife

Jameson Gregg through his clever writing is helping me lose weight.

Sharing:

I suspected my wife was fooling around behind my back. Recently, I found smoking-gun evidence and she confessed. Suspicion confirmed.

The trouble all started when she watched Oprah on TV one afternoon. I cringe when she watches Oprah. Some new diet or exercise regimen is always in my near future.

Sure enough, she announced we were going on the “clean gut” diet. The next day, Kroger’s produce section must have gone barren because our kitchen counters were laden with red, green, and yellow vegetables of all shapes and sizes. Full sink, cutting boards, boiling pots and whirring blenders. The place smelled like a bomb exploded in a cabbage patch.

I gagged on the spinach “milkshakes” and that left only veggie soup – no meat. After a few days of this torture, my legs were wobbly. Stars filled my eyes when I stood. The rabbit that nibbles my grass in the morning was eating better than I was.

I grew lethargic and shed pounds like water through your fingers, symptoms that my wife mysteriously seemed to avoid. Being the faithful husband, I carried on nonetheless.

She announced we were switching to the “pre-surgery” diet, something she lifted from a magazine.

“Why do we need the pre-surgery diet,” I protested, “when we have no surgeries planned?”

“That’s beside the point,” she explained. “It’s for rapid weight loss before surgery and it’ll be good for us, trust me.”

I became delirious from hunger. Cloudy thinking. Couldn’t remember where I put things. Lost favorite baseball cap. Looked in her car and BOOM! The smoking gun – an empty Wendy’s bag!

I grabbed it and confronted her. “What vulgarity have you inflicted upon your body? Have you been two-timing me?”

“Oh that. Goodness, I forgot to throw that away. I was running errands and my blood sugar got down on me [translation: she got hungry] so I had to grab something quickly, that’s all. Wendy’s was the closest thing.”

Culinary infidelity in the first degree. Furious, I stormed out and hightailed it to Wendy’s. I was in critical condition by then. Dizzy, I walked hangdog to the counter and could barely concentrate. Somehow, I rattled off “triple cheeseburger, large fries, and sweet tea.” Never had a triple in my life.

Meat and cheese, grease and ketchup, oh my. I instantly felt better. My vigorous, clear-thinking old self was back. Endorphins flowed like the chocolate Frosty that seeped into the cracks and crevices of my stomach. I clicked my heels in the air as I exited.

After that coming out, I went on a vicious eating binge to show my wife that two can play the game. Cheeseburgers, fried chicken, French fries, fried this, fried that. I went on a true pre-surgery diet – the open-heart variety. I’m happy to report we are back on a “normal” diet. I have forgiven her for her indiscretion.

Stop the presses, Oprah is back on TV!

Jameson Gregg Author
PUBLICATION: Dahlonega Nugget, The (GA)

SECTION: News, page 4A

DATE: April 16, 2014

Review of Luck Be a Chicken: The Gizzards of Wrath

Jameson Gregg mixes raw realism and compassion with brazen satire in Luck Be A Chicken: A Comic Novel. He paints the rough side of life with comic relief. Farce and embellishment live on the top drawer of his humor toolbox.

The sensory impact, the humor when it is least expected, and the nail-biting anxiety propel the rapid turning of pages to the end. This book digs into the inner core of some unsavory elements of society. As a result, certain events portrayed and the language spoken may disturb some. Delving into the minds of rough characters can be shocking.

Jameson holds a cracked mirror in front of us. Somewhere, some piece of us all is in there, and we wish it weren't. For example, Butterbean Sweat and his dumpling wife Ruby rely on junk food to comfort them. Bean's boss is a perverted, white-collar criminal who doesn't care if his chickens kill people—profit is king.

Let’s not lie to ourselves and pretend chicken plants don’t exist. Although Jameson places the reader inside the plant, he does so with a comedic touch and doesn't smother the reader with grossness as Upton Sinclair did in exposing deplorable conditions in meat packing plants in 1906. Jameson portrays substandard practices in a fictional plant but doesn’t imply that all or even most chicken processing operations are substandard. The compassion Jameson shows for the less fortunate in our society will remind readers of John Steinbeck. With a backdrop of humor, Gregg questions whether hardships are caused by poor personal choices or oppression of evil men.

The deer hunt brought back fond memories of Faulkner’s great short story, “Race at Morning.”

This humorist tramps out a twenty-first century version of the gizzards of wrath. He doesn't turn his eyes away from the segments of humanity lacking coping skills.

A highly entertaining read from a most-talented author.

Leaving the Garage Door Open

Have you ever left the garage door open when you needed to close it? Maybe you work in the yard or you use your garage for a tool shop. Breaking your routine, you go inside at the end of the day and leave it open. Since you always lower it, you don’t need to lock the door leading into the hallway.

Two a. m. you awaken and realize you’ve been sleeping in an unlocked house. Something in the night goes bump. . . . It’s an uneasy feeling.

Evidently this problem is common. The newest garage doors have built-in automatic door closers, but most house garages don’t have this great feature.

I’ve had some experiences with leaving the garage door up. I don’t like to think about them because they’re scary. A few weeks ago a friend introduced me to a product that solves the problem. It’s a little box that mounts on the wall near the garage door switch: Magic Closer

Magic Closer takes only about five minutes to install with a screw driver. It has three timer settings--5, 15 minute and 6 hour delay. Or if you wish, you can turn it off. No additional programming or syncing is necessary with your existing garage door opener. Before it closes, it gives audible and visible warnings.

After using it for weeks, I depend on it. I cannot imagine doing without it. This inexpensive devise is an integral part of the tight security system of my home. Because I like it so much, I’m sharing the information about it with you. Go to MagicCloser.com or click on the Amazon picture below:




Oh, here’s a surprise! The Magic Closer people include an 8 in One screw driver. Actually it’s much more. It’s a sturdy multi-screwdriver torch with a bright flashlight inside.