FREE KINDLE BOOK: The Dream Bucket and Manuela Blayne

The Dream Bucket and Manuela Blayne, combined in one e-book, are free on Amazon June 26-June 30, 2023.

The Dream Bucket shows life in a simpler time–1909–and yet the Cameron family’s problems resemble those we face today when things go wrong. This novel, told from two points of view, portrays mystery, romance, grief, and courage.

  Special Recognition 

International Writers Alive Contest Winner

Audio Creation Exchange Stipend Recipient

(ACX)

Qualified Independently Published Status for Author

(QIP, ACFW)

Living in a Shack

As long as she can remember, Trudy Cameron has adored Papa, who calls her his little princess. In the night when the moon is going down, she hears her father abuse her mother in the next bedroom. All Zoe, her mother, wants to know is where he has stored the family fortune.  Trudy realizes William Cameron is less of a person than she had believed. She wishes he would die. While she is at school, the family home burns, and Papa dies in the fire.

Her mother takes Trudy and her brother Billy Jack (Will) to live in a sharecroppers’ shack, and they struggle to survive with no money. Predators, both human and animal, threaten the family. A gentle neighbor stands by. Kind people from the town of Taylorsburg help as much as Zoe will allow.

Manuela Blayne is the sequel to The Dream Bucket.

·        Tale of self-discovery, emotional, expressive, innocence versus awakening, important (from Reader’s Favorite).

·        Story of racial separation in the early twentieth century, when Black lives didn’t matter.

·        Clean and sparse but loaded with meaning.

·        Depiction of hope and love.

·        White girl’s attempt to understand how it feels to be Black.

·        Realistic portrayal of Southern poverty.

                                 

 Kirkus Reviews

The inherent tension between Trudy’s cheery worldview and Manuela’s family’s troubled lives makes for a compelling read. 

The Dream Bucket and Manuela Blayne

Secret Promise

Sharing with you the opening of my first romantic novel, Secret Promise. It is due to be released soon.

Chapter One
The Clemons Household

Spring 1907

The thought occurred to Caroline that no one would believe what went on inside the Clemons household. She slipped out of Millicent’s bedroom. Glancing over her shoulder, she rushed through the dining room back to the warm kitchen, leaned by an open window, and drew the breeze into her lungs.

“Land’s sakes . . . you done got too hot.” Rachel brushed the thick soft back of her brown hand against Caroline’s cheek. “Sit a minute. I’ll fetch you some cool water.”

Caroline swigged it down and set the empty glass on the worktable. “Thank you, Madear. Got to go.”

“You can’t let Miss Horsey catch you back here when you supposed to be at the front door.”

In the parlor Caroline plumped the needlepoint-covered pillows on the sofa. A burst of wind blew a filmy curtain into her moist face. Reaching to straighten it, she looked through the window in time to see two Tennessee Walking Horses pull an elaborate surrey with fringe trim into the circle drive.

A dark-haired man perhaps in his early twenties stopped the team next to a hitching post. He jumped out to tie the horses and bounded up the steps to the high front porch.

A Sneak Peak at the Back Cover of Secret Promise

Secret Promise, my first historical romantic novel, is scheduled to be released in early2012. I'm excited to share with you what is to appear on the back cover:

Caroline is in hiding. She knows that lying in her bed seems too dangerous. If the wind blows, the curtains will fly open. Anyone passing in the yard will see her. She pulls the bed sheets and quilt onto the floor to make a pallet. Then she snuffs out the candle and finds her way to her makeshift resting place.

Caroline prays for God's protection as she lies, holding her pistol. Soon the morning will come, but the sky is still dark. Clump-clump. Clump-clump. It isn't the milkman; the horses and the wagon sound different.

The wagon pulls into the back driveway, and a man's thudding steps came closer, closer, and closer. He pushes against her door. Stuck—this door is stuck. He crashes into it, but the door does not budge. How will Caroline escape?

She watches the front room through the crack by the kitchen door. She feels an inexplicably strong attraction to the handsome young man.

Years ago she made a promise, which she will honor at any cost.

Guest Blogger: Paul Elliott, The Collard Patch, The Story of the Collard Greens Cookbook

If you think you don’t like collards, you haven’t tasted our collards.

The Collard Patchstory cookbook began life in Sister Ruth’s Laurel, Mississippi, collard patch. She invited us to pick a mess of collards, and did we pick a mess! We even made a mess. After the first big black plastic bag full, Mary said, “Paul, what are we going to do with all these collards?”

With a cavalier toss of his head, Paul said, “We’re going to fix them and eat 'em.” Of course, Paul wasn’t even sure he liked collards, didn’t know what they tasted like. Four big plastic bags of collards later, the cleaning and chopping process saw dawn’s early light. What a J-O-B!

Now reduced to many freezer bags of chopped collards and much needed sleep, the challenge of what to do with them remained. Fifteen thousand messes of collard greens with salt pork somehow overwhelmed our interest in healthy eating.

When an online search for a cookbook devoted to collard greens was fruitless, searches for individual recipes showed very little diversity or imagination. Mary went to work thinking of unusual ways to cook with collards. Paul signed up as a certified eater.

It was quickly obvious that the files were the beginning of a fine cookbook devoted solely to collard greens and cornbread. Research revealed the amazing nutritional value of collard greens – better than spinach, turnip greens, and mustard greens. (For more details look in The Collard Patch.)

Mary’s creativity soon yielded delicious recipes from appetizers to desserts. Yes, desserts! Collard greens make chocolate taste better. Did you ever realize you can eat your chocolate and get your greens? Other than eating Mary’s creations, Paul created stories of growing up in collard country – tales of his misspent youth.

It seems that a second edition may be on the horizon and we have some inventory to clear. Grab your copies for gifts at an unbelievably low price. Stock up for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries, and wedding gifts.

At $23.97 it was a cookbook bestseller on Amazon.com. This offer we’re making now on Amazon is good only while the supplies last. Maybe the price is too low. Go here to learn more.

Edward H. Davis Interviews Mary Lou Cheatham, Part 2

Ed: Which recipe from your book (it has so many! My wife and I like several) has gotten the most compliments from readers?

Mary: The key word in that question is readers. Here’s the one tasters rave over most. It has a few collards and plenty of other yummy ingredients. This recipe is not traditional.

Crawfish Tortellini Salad
Ingredients
½ cup thinly sliced green onions with tops
1 small jar artichoke hearts, drained
1 cup small fresh mushrooms
1 cup large pitted ripe olives
1 cup fresh red bell pepper, sliced
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
12 ounces frozen crawfish tails
1 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt-free Cajun seasoning
½ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
1 teaspoon Splenda®
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt substitute to taste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1 cup seedless golden raisins
1 package (14 ounces) cheese tortellini
4 ounces (1/4 cup) feta cheese
4 cups tender baby collard leaves, chopped
4 cups Romaine lettuce, torn into small pieces

Preparation
•Place the first 6 ingredients in a big bowl
•Place ¾ cup olive oil in the blender. Add the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard and all the remaining powdered seasonings. Blend until it is well mixed. Stir in the parsley and basil.
•Pour the blended dressing over the ingredients in the bowl and marinate them covered at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
•Sauté the crawfish in ¼ cup olive oil and Cajun seasoning about 5-7 minutes. Even though there will be other seasoning mixed with the tortellini, each individual crawfish needs its own spiciness. You don’t want those crawfish to get lonesome. After you sauté them long enough to catch the seasoning, set them aside to cool,
•Cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Cook it al dente. Drain it in the colander and allow it to cool.
•Toss the crawfish, tortellini, and raisins with the vegetable mixture.
•When you serve the salad, place it over the greens. Garnish it with feta cheese.

Edward H. Davis Interviews Mary Lou Cheatham, Part 1

Edward, before you start asking me questions, I’d like to ask you a few.

Mary:Why did you write a book about collards?
Ed: My colleague John Morgan and I have been curious about several things: the decline of home gardening since WW2, and the unique history, botany and geography of collards as a leafy vegetable - none of the other vegetables have such an interesting background! No geographer has done a food study at this scale, since the South is such a large cultural region, so it made for a fascinating challenge.

Mary: What is the name of your book?
Ed: Collards and the American South

Mary: How did you go about writing the book?
Ed: This is academia so we were just doing research for small publications - journals you would never hear about, but then we learned more and more and a few years ago someone suggested we could have enough of a story for a book. We began in 2000 by interviewing farmers and gardeners, then as the project grew we ended up surveying agricultural extension agents, seed savers, grocery store produce managers, restaurant owners, seed store retailers, and even 11,000 college students! That last piece is part of a larger project about food in the South - not all of that goes in the collards book.

Mary: Did your wife help you?
Ed: Sandy is a big help in my life, even though she works also as a community college teacher. She did not work on the book, but I ws lucky to have her all along. For example, she allowed me to disappear on long expeditions for weeks at a time!

Mary: What is your book like? Please describe it.
Ed: You got a glimpse in the answer to the third question. It is going to be like a journey through ten Southern states, from Arkansas to Virginia, but with lots of history and agriculture and geography and economics and even literature thrown in, since collards show up not just at covered dish suppers but in novels, poems, songs, festivals, fashion shows, interior decorations, celebrity scandals, and even prison farms!

Mary: What is one of the recipes in The Collard Patch you and your wife like?
Ed: One of the casseroles - I don't have the book with me to remember the exact name of it - but it was a big hit at my family reunion!

Books by Mary Lou Cheatham

I'm Choking . . . But Life Moves On Along the Path of Grief (Insights about Grieving:
"The process of grieving is like walking through a murky swamp. In this e-book I want to talk with you about the way it feels. There's no way I can know exactly what you are going through, not even if we could sit and talk and you could tell me. I will tell you though that I have experienced grief and known many other dear ones who have." Mary Lou Cheatham

The Collard Patch:
"I highly recommend The Collard Patch to anyone who loves cooking good, healthy, down-home food." Willie Crawford, The World's Leading Soul Food Expert

Do You Know How God Loves You?:
"If the question were actually asked of us 'Do You Know How God Loves You?' I'm afraid most of us would have to say 'I haven't got a clue!' It's easy to go through our normal daily routine without giving a thought to God's love. This book can help change that. Mary Cheatham has written a lovely devotional book that takes the reader deep into the heart of Scripture where, day by day, she examines the many facets of God's love for his people. I can't imagine anyone reading this without being informed, enriched and encouraged. I know I was!" Ann Tatlock, author one of the Top Ten Historical Novels of the year according to Booklist Magazine

Do You Know How God Loves You? [Kindle Edition]:
"I requested through Amazon that your publisher make your book available in an Amazon.com Kindle edition, so Kindle readers can find it and enjoy it 'on the go'. God bless you for such a wonderful book that reminds us of God's presence and love for each one of us." RBS Prods, one of the top 500 reviewers on Amazon

A Prayer of Nehemiah, The Birth of Leadership [Kindle Edition]:
Assuming a role of leadership can be challenging. We face all kinds of problems when we step out to lead. The struggles a leader faces are human problems that have not changed over the centuries of history. "Nehemiah, a cupbearer for a Persian king more than 400 years before Christ was born, led a company of his people from Babylon to Jerusalem, where he restored the walls and civil authority. Where his nation once existed, he found ruins. His challenge was for him a great one." Mary Lou Cheatham

Solomon's Porch:
"In this warm, personal story of a devoted marriage, a tragic illness, and incredible perseverance, Jane Riley presents us with the full spectrum of good and evil. But it is not done through high drama, or in complicated philosophic terms. Rather, with a constrained writing style she shows us how it appears in our ordinary, everyday, lives: good friends and devious friends; doctors guilty of deplorable malpractice and callousness, and doctors moved by unswerving concern for their patients; churchgoers who run the gamut from cruelty, hypocrisy and selfishness, to those kindhearted souls that harken back to the early Christians who met at Solomon's Temple and shared compassion and love for one another. All of this is dealt with, fought with, and savoured, in this story of a loving wife-mother-and-caregiver's story, which is gently and beautifully written (with a wonderful knack for dialogue), and -- as several reviewers have already noted - very hard to put down." Andrew Cort, author of "The Purpose of Religion: Enlightenment, Meaning and Love in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Symbology"

Flavored with Love: Mary Lou's Family and Friends Can Cook:
"Jane Riley is a pen name for Mary Lou Cheatham. 'Jane' has garnered recipes from her lifetime of cooking, mostly from family members and friends, to compile this omnibus cookbook. 'Flavored with Love' is additionally punctuated with a nostalgic overview of the Louisiana and Mississippi regions, and its people, in particular." Patrick Crabtree, one of the top 500 reviewers on Amazon.

All quotations are from reviews and product pages on Amazon.com

Collard Wraps

Make delicious wraps with collard greens!Paul Elliott, co-author of THE COLLARD PATCH, demonstrates his method of preparing wraps containing collard greens.


Get your copy of THE COLLARD PATCH at http://www.CollardLovers.comor Amazon.com

Get This Amazing Collard Story Cookbook, The Collard Patch, Now!

Get This Amazing Southern Cookbook, Flavored with Love, Now!

Picking and Fixing Collards

Get This Amazing Collard Story Cookbook, The Collard Patch, Now!

Collards fresh from the collard patch can be prepared hundreds of ways. THE COLLARD PATCH is full of delicious recipes and information to be read about collards and to read while the collards are growing and cooking. Farming and harvesting them is excellent exercise. To prepare them it is beneficial to remove the stems. Collard wraps and collard tortellini are two examples of unusual ways to eat collards. THE COLLARD PATCH is full of traditional and innovative ways to prepare collard greens.

Get This Amazing Southern Cookbook, Flavored with Love, Now!