Why Children Don't Go to School Throughout the World

This month the privileged children of the United States will lug their backpacks stuffed with pencils, crayons, notebooks, glue--whatever their lists demand--and head off to school. Most of the children will wear new uniforms, or gently used ones, or they'll wear stylish clothing. On their feet, they'll have new shoes that look special. It's an exciting time.

I have a new granddaughter who will be entering first grade. She brings memories of my first day at first grade--we didn't have kindergarten in Mississippi back then. I remember how precious my own daughter looked when she started to school. We took a picture of her holding her pencil box.

Education is truly a privilege and it is the key to maintaining the future welfare of our nation...and our world. But what happens if children don't go to school? So why don't they just go to school?  I read an interesting article about why children throughout the world don't go to school. Here's the link:

10 reasons why children don’t go to school

(I am an author. One of my constant concerns is the lack of opportunities for an education among the underprivileged. Today you are invited to read for free Manuela Blayne, a novella about a young girl who didn't get to go to school.)

Why Children Don’t Go to School

It’s time for school to start again—August 2016.

As a former teacher in Mississippi, I’m concerned about the educational opportunities of children. I’ve presented the pathetic situations in Mississippi schools about one hundred years ago. In The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson, Loretta quotes statistics about inadequate schools for African American youth. She also exposes the lack of opportunities for Italian immigrants to attend school.

In The Dream Bucket, white children struggle with the dread of going to school when they should stay home to help their mother keep the house warm to protect the baby.

The novella Manuela Blayne paints the grim picture of pathetic schools for African American children.

Sarah Walker Gorrell and I have a new novel in progress, Travelers in Painted Wagons on Cohay Creek. We are showing a group of children who were unwelcome in any schools because of their ethnic differences.

School attendance and the resulting illiteracy is still a major problem in my beloved state. In 2012 statistics showed that 20 percent of the adults in Mississippi could not read.

http://hottytoddy.com/2012/12/31/fighting-illiteracy-in-mississippi

By showing conditions a century ago, I hope to call attention to the lack of education in our own time.

Googling The Dream Bucket

Ever google yourself or maybe a book  you wrote? I wrote a novel about a simple family saving money in a dream bucket. I took a look to see what I could find about it. I found an interesting blog article explaining the concept in modern times. You might enjoy reading this. (I don't know the person who wrote it.) Here's the link:

http://www.wife.org/why-you-deserve-a-dream-bucket.htm


And here's a link to The Dream Bucket on Amazon: The Dream Bucket
I hope you'll enjoy reading it. The novel applies the principle of sensible saving.

Oh, don't forget to google yourself.

Manuela Blayne, sequel to The Dream Bucket, is a compelling novella. At least that's what readers say.

Manuela Blayne, my most recent book in the Covington Chronicles, will be one of the books sold in the Country Store Saturday, July 16, 2016, at the Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival.

Manuela Blayne depicts undaunted optimism in the face of unfairness.

Despite a legacy of inopportunity, Manuela sees the hope of a bright and sparkling future. Like any other thirteen-year-old, she plays childlike with her neighbors. Adulthood comes early in a harsh manner though. Manuela has reached the age of understanding that Jesus loves her, but she must decide whether she can trust him to hold her hand through the darkness.

Although eleven-year-old Trudy spends her time trying to be all she thinks she should be—a good daughter and sister, a sixth-grade scholar, a mischievous kid—she finds herself brooding about the inequities surrounding her.

Manuela Blayne is not a memoir. It’s a work of fiction, and yet it has the bittersweet reality of a place where a young girl bleeds pink and eats clay. Even though I can never understand how it feels to be Manuela Blayne, I want to take you deep into her world. 

Allow me to introduce myself. See you at the Natchitoches-NSU Crafts Festival.

July 16, 2016, my books will be for sale in The Country Store at the Natchitoches-NSU Crafts Festival. Here's my bio:

Given the name Mary Lou Gregg at birth, I grew up in Smith County Mississippi, south of Taylorsville and north of Hot Coffee. My father’s farm was less than a mile from Leaf River swamp. Down the stream, my Uncle Newt Knight established the Free State of Jones during the Civil War.

I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. My late husband, Robert Cheatham and I taught in the Greenville, Mississippi, schools.

Eventually we moved to Ruston, Louisiana, where he taught music at Louisiana Tech University and I taught part time while taking care of our daughter Christie. I received an Associate Degree from Tech in nursing and worked at Lincoln General Hospital.

After his death in 2002, I devoted my time to writing and traveling to see my daughter Christie Marie Underwood, who is a dairy nutritionist with Purina-Land of Lakes.

The day after Christmas in 2015, I married John Cooke a retired petroleum land man. John and I are living happily in Shreveport.

My books include a novel Solomon’s Porch, two story cookbooks, three nonfiction inspirational books, one first-century Christian historical novel entitled Abi of Cyrene, and a series called the Covington Chronicles. The novels in the series are Secret Promise, The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson, The Dream Bucket, and Manuela Blayne. Each book stands alone. They are about life in the early 1900’s in and around an imaginary south Mississippi town called Taylorsburg. Abi of Cyrene, The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson, and The Dream Bucket have won awards.

Currently I am co-authoring a novel with Sarah Walker Gorrell, a Taylorsville, Mississippi, resident. She maintains blogs and writes in a column in the local Taylorsville paper. Our new book will be the fifth in the series.

Up to now the Covington Chronicles have been family-style novels that adhere to the standards of Christian publishing. Some of the subject matter in the current book Sarah and I are writing requires a few graphic details and depiction of violence to tell the story. We are writing it as tastefully as possible.

I like to explore social issues while evoking strong emotions and trying to entertain with enjoyable stories. Abi of Cyrene deals with some issues women have always faced, such as taking care of a family while the father is away. Secret Promise depicts domestic abuse and the oppression of African Americans during Reconstruction years. The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson delves into discrimination against impoverished Italian immigrants. The Dream Bucket portrays spousal abuse. Manuela Blayne is the story of a young African American girl, who has been deserted by her mother and left to live with her grandparents, who were slaves. She faces discrimination and abuse from many angles.

I keep pinching myself to see whether I'm dreaming. On July 16, 2016, I'm signing at the Nathitoches-NSU Folk Festival. The Dream Bucket, Manuela Blayne, Abi of Cyrene, and The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson will be available in the Country Store. If you go to the Festival, please come by to see John Cooke and me at our table--the one with the red-checkered cloth. This looks like a bunch of fun. I've never attended, but John has gone to it before and he loves it.

TOLD THROUGH YOUNG EYES FOR ALL AGES

The Covington Chronicles by Mary Lou Cheatham: Secret Promise, The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson, The Dream Bucket, Manuela Blayne, and a work in progress about Trudy’s boyfriend Jeremy Smitherlin. Sarah Walker Gorrell is co-authoring the w-i-p.

Fiction in Bible Times: Abi of Cyrene.

Some of my point-of-view characters are young adolescents. Most readers who comment love the characters, some ask why, and a few readers dislike looking at the world through young eyes.

In the famous poem, "The Rainbow,"William Wordsworth used the expression, "The child is father of the man." This expression means that all our positive and negative traits are established when we are young. http://quotations.about.com/b/2009/04/06/child-is-the-father-of-man.htm

Although I frequently write through young eyes, I seldom write just for children. I seek to develop situations in which those who read can see their own inside thoughts or those of others.

Reading on different levels is one of the delights of enjoying novels. Think of some of the books about children or written simply enough for children to comprehend the vocabulary. These have not been merely children’s books just because they may have appeared as such when examined lightly.

Here are a few “children’s books” relished by adults: (I’m not recommending or denouncing these. I’m merely saying some books are written for readers regardless of age.)

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

Animal Farm by George Orwell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quoting William Wordsworth's Poem:

The Child Is the Father of the Man

My heart leaps up when I behold

A Rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety

http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/The_Rainbow.htm

---

Domestic Violence in The Dream Bucket

Exposing deplorable abuse of wives, daughters, and girlfriends is one of the reasons I write novels. Without spoiling the story, a reviewer makes some excellent observations about abuse in The Dream Bucket.

Follow this link to an interesting review of The Dream Bucket:  I enjoyed the book (dated March 30, 2016) You will need to scroll down to find this four-star review.. 

Here is my response:

Thank you for your excellent review. I don’t make a practice of responding to reviews, but your comments need to be noticed by other readers. I’d like to discuss the issues you have mentioned.

First, let me say I’m opposed to domestic violence. Readers will find depictions of various forms of domestic abuse in Abi of Cyrene and each book in the Covington Chronicles. In Abi of Cyrene, Abi’s father brutalizes her. In Secret Promise, Caroline is a pathetic victim of physical abuse from a parent figure, Loretta in The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson receives some physical abuse and horrible emotional abuse, Zoe in The Dream Bucket suffers in silence, and Manuela in Manuela Blayne receives the worst abuse of all.

Thank you for saying you were uncomfortable reading it. Writing it was painful. Women who have read Manuela Blayne scream in outrage. I try to address these abusive situations accurately as I show how the culture has accepted mistreatment of helpless victims.  Without giving away any endings of my books, I’ll just say I want readers to feel the indignation that you expressed.

In the real world domestic abuse has been glossed over and often accepted. Until a few decades ago, many men well-respected in their communities claimed the right to spank or slap their wives as punishment. I recall comedies filmed in the fifties and sixties in which men spanked their women. These scenes infuriate me. My goal as a writer is to show how conditions have been. I try not to rewrite history but to depict it realistically.

As The Dream Bucket begins, Trudy is a spoiled girl with an unrealistic admiration for her father, who is a scoundrel. He remains a central character throughout most of the book. Billy Jack’s character develops further in Manuela Blayne. I’d love to hear your response to that book.

Get your free copy of The Dream Bucket and Manuela Blayne in one e-book. This free offer ends March 16, 2016.

 During the last twelve months The Dream Bucket has sold so well that American Christian Fiction Writers classified me as a QIP (Qualified Independently Published Author).

As an independent publisher, I placed Abi of Cyrene in the Carol Awards Contest. The Carol Awards are ACFW’s recognition for the best Christian fiction in the previous calendar year. Having published two novels last year that qualified for the Carol Awards Contest, I selected Abi of Cyrene, a historical novel about the time of Christ.

Meanwhile I'm giving a combination Kindle version of The Dream Bucket and Manuela Blayne. Readers are busy buying the Kindle version of The Dream Bucket instead of downloading the free version of the same book with the sequel, both free for a limited time. I'm sorry. Maybe I haven't publicized this freebie enough. Here' the link:

The Dream Bucket, Manuela Blayne.

Hold Me Close at the Jonquil Jubilee

Hold Me Close

Marguerite Martin Gray and I lived in the same town, Ruston, LA. I don't know how we missed each other. We met electronically in an ACFW critique group. We gave each other advice about writing.

She has released a new book, Hold Me Close. Recently I read this inspirational historical romance and reviewed it on Amazon: A Bright Star Rising on the Horizon.  The novel is  a delightful read.

Tomorrow, March 5, 2016, Marguerite is having a book signing in Giblsand, LA, at the Jonquil Jubilee. Click here: Video about Jonquil Jubilee.

I'm really excited because tomorrow I plan to meet Marguerite, who now lives in Abilene, in person in the quaint little Jonquil Capitol of Louisiana. John, my new husband, is excited about seeing the jonquils and the blacksmith shop.  We hope to see some old friends in Giblsand and make some new ones.

Some of the Attractions

Two Guest Blogs

ACFW.COM , the Internet address of American Christian Fiction Writers, contains helpful information.  Although joining the organization provides useful material for writers, anyone can go to the site to read blogs, learn about authors, and find new fictional releases.

On March 3, 2016, and February 29, 2016, ACFW posted two guest blogs I wrote. Sharing:

Valuable, Accessible, Untapped  How can you sell more books?

Confessions of an Auditory Learner How can you convert most books to speech presentations?

The Dream Bucket Free! December 10 is The Last Day This Year to . . .

. . . obtain a free Kindle copy of The Dream Bucket! Actually it's The Dream Bucket and Manuela Blayne in one Kindle book.

Thanks to those of you who downloaded the book yesterday. As a result Covington Chronicles III and IV, The Dream Bucket and Manuela Blayne reached an impressive spot:

• #34 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Family Life

Get your copy by going here: 

http://www.amazon.com/Covington-Chronicles-III-IV-Manuela-ebook/dp/B018RM3Z72/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

My December Calendar of Countdowns

December Calendar of Countdowns

1 more day I need to shop, clean house, and prepare

2 days until the Sunday School party

2 more days to remind you to download my newest book for free: http://www.amazon.com/Covington-Chronicles-III-IV-Manuela-ebook/dp/B018RM3Z72/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

11 days until family members come to visit
13 days until more family members come to visit
15 days until Christmas Eve
16 days until Christmas
16 days until more family members come to visit
17 days until our wedding

Some things different this Christmas

Although we try to duplicate our celebration of Christ’s birth every year, Christmas is always different.

Before I get busier with one of the most exciting Christmases I’ll ever have—our wedding with our children attending—I want to give you something.

You have today, December 9, and tomorrow, December 10, to receive it . . . two books (Covington Chronicles III and IV: The Dream Bucket, Manuela Blayne) to read on your Kindle. (Maybe I’ll find something else after that to share with you.)

Trudy Cameron’s Christmas in Manuela Blayne turned into an unusual holiday she’s never forget. Here are some snippets she tells of it:

Losing my appetite, I laid my fork on my plate and closed my eyes to pray. . . . What had I done?

What good would revenge do anyway?

I wished I’d kept my mouth shut. . . . Papa took his pistol.

“Mama, could I please be excused?” I didn’t wait for her answer. I ran to my room and threw my face into my pillow. It was a relief to have a good hard cry. . . .

My door slipped open . . . . Mama walked toward my bed. She sat beside me and smoothed my hair with her gentle hand. “You worry too much, Trudy. It isn’t your responsibility to fix everything in the world.”

 “Let me brush your hair.”

“I love my new stuff.” I passed my hands over the shiny gifts. The main present I received for Christmas was a silver dresser set, which included a mirror tray with a comb, brush, hair saver, and hand mirror.

Be nice to yourself. Take time to download this Christmas present today. You can read them when you’re too tired to do anything else, or you can save them to read after the holiday.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Covington Chronicles

Amazon made this pretty page for me:

Covington Chronicles

It shows books 1-4 of the series. What it doesn't show is my latest Kindle book, which is free. It's a compilation of The Dream Bucket and Manuela Blayne inside one e-book.

I really want you to download this one so you can appreciate the flow of the two stories together. Just to show you how much I want you to have this book, I'm giving it to you free this week: Just click here:
Covington Chronicles III and IV, The Dream Bucket and Manuela Blayne.

Manuela Blayne -- an excerpt from Chapter Four

For a limited time you can download a free copy of Covington Chronicles III and IV on Amazon. Chronicle III is The Dream Bucket. Chronicle IV is Manuela Blayne.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter Four of Manuela Blayne.

“Come in.” Manuela motioned toward Bailey and me. “Come see what we done with the newspapers.”

“Is it all right, Papa?” Bailey asked.

“Go ahead.”

Bailey and I followed her into the living room, which was pristine.

Bailey asked, “Why have you got a bed in your front room?”

“Sh-h.” How could I ever stop my sister from asking embarrassing questions?

“We keep this for Mama. This is where she sleeps when she comes home.” Manuela smiled.

The high bed, placed catty-cornered on the wall opposite the fireplace, had a tufted bedspread with a design of many colors.

“I ain’t never seen bedcover like this.” Bailey rubbed it with her hands. “Come on, Trudy. Touch it.”

“It ain’t polite to touch other people’s beds.” I grabbed Bailey’s hands.

“Go on and touch it.” Manuela flashed a wide smile. “You know you want to.”

My hand glided over it. “The fuzziness of it feels soft like a long-haired kitty.”

“It’s a chenille bedspread. Mama got it for us.”

Yellowed newspapers fastened to the walls served as a covering. “How smart!”

“Yeah. I wanted some wallpaper like Mama has in her house, so Granny made some out of newspapers.”

“Do you think it will last very long?” I couldn’t resist asking.

“It don’t matter.” Manuela shrugged her shoulders. “When this wears out, we’ll tear it down and put up some more.”

“It’s a nice house.” Bailey reached her hand down to the rag rug. “The walls don’t leak air in.”

“That’s right.” Manuela nodded. “The roof don’t leak neither. It’s big enough too.”

“What I don’t like about your house is it’s off the main road.” Bailey could be too direct. “It’s in the middle of the woods.”

“But we got a real good road here. Them men driving International pickups and Model T’s come down here to see Grandpa.”

Bailey said the wrong thing again. “It’s too close to the river. You know it floods about every other spring.”

“Bailey, don’t say things like that.” I shook my finger in her face.

“It’s true. Grandpa said that’s why it’s built up off the ground on high poles.”

“Smart.” I nodded in appreciation.

“When I stayed with Yasmin, we lived in a place on a street. Trudy, stop bossing Bailey. I like the way Bailey always be telling the truth.” Manuela bent over and whispered, “Now’s as good a time as any to tell y’all about Mr. Aaron.” 

“Trude. Bailey.” Papa’s deep voice beckoned us.

Bailey dragged her feet toward the front door. “We’s got to go.”

“Bye, Manuela. I like your wallpaper.” I followed Bailey.

As we loaded into the wagon, Nettie stood in the yard. “Mr. Sam, we’ll be over to your place in the morning.”

When we arrived at the house, Papa Sam pulled back on the reins. “Whoa, Bob.”

Big brother turned toward us. “Wait until the wagon is stopped all the way.”

The twins hopped out, but I stayed seated. “I’ll help put up the mules.”

With leading straps clipped to their bridles, the mules were ready to walk back to the horse pasture. Will led Bob Mule, I led Molasses.

Will accused me with his eyes. “I saw you through the window.”

“I didn’t do nothing. Saw what?”

“Saw you and Bailey wallowing your hands on the Blaynes’ bed.”

“We were just checking out the chenille bedspread. Nothing wrong with that.”

“You shouldn’t have put your hands on the bed where Negroes sleep. It was a stupid thing to do.” Will cleared his throat and spit like a grown man chewing tobacco would . . . anything to make him feel adult.

“You’ve got it all wrong. They save that bed for Yasmin. It’s their guest bed. Nobody sleeps on it every night. Do you know what chenille is? It’s a new kind of fancy bedspread. Yasmin got it for them.”

“Sister, I’m trying to protect you. What would your classmates say if they knew you went to colored folks’ houses and put your hands all over their beds?”

I cut my eyes at him. He had crazy notions.

“Keep your distance from Manuela.”

“Keep your distance from Manuela.”

Raw Spots

A young African-American girl walks home from church through the woods. A neighbor jumps from behind a tree into her path, slings her to the ground, and expresses his new manhood. She cannot escape.

The girl walks home along the public road. An elderly Caucasian man, who lives as an eccentric recluse, shoots at her feet. His goal is to coerce her into following him into his hay crib for his casual pleasure.

Like wind whistling through the trees, the adults around me in my childhood spoke of such events. Although I never saw or heard what was described in hushed tones, I had the assurance of actuality. It was as real as bare spots in my father’s cornfield where lightning changed the electrical charge so crops wouldn’t grow there.

I saw scars in brown flesh as devastating as the tracks of tornados along the edge of the highway . . . children without fathers . . . mothers ripped from their dreams of advancement in life . . . anger glazed over with sugary submission.

Trudy, the brave and mischievous child of The Dream Bucket, lives in her rural Mississippi world, in an earlier time than mine. She knows tragedy. Like the black fish-net veils draped over faces beneath women’s hats at church, the adults try to keep the raw spots of life from Trudy’s sight.

After the conclusion of The Dream Bucket, Trudy makes friends with an ethereal young woman named Manuela Blayne.

Since some of the scenes in Manuela Blayne occur on the front porch of the old house where the Cameron family of The Dream Bucket have lived, both of these stories now can be obtained in one book with the haunting image of the cabin featured on the cover.

For a short time, it is a #freebie on Amazon.com as a Kindle book. Please read these stories together. Maybe you’ve already finished The Dream Bucket. You may want to take another look at it, as Trudy tells Manuela Blayne, her latest story in her own voice.

All I ask is your reaction. Please share your honest opinion as an Amazon review. The fictional accounts told in Covington Chronicles III and IV are not literal facts, but they have a level of truth based on childhood in rural Mississippi. I will be grateful to hear from you.

Teenagers before the Word Was Used: Manuela Blayne and Trudy Cameron

Teenager is a modern word describing a type of person from the dawn of history.

Manuela Blayne is a new novella told by an eleven-year-old Caucasian girl about her impressions of her thirteen-year-old African American friend. The time is old, 1910, and yet the problems described are timeless--both old and modern. The narrator Trudy Cameron takes an intense look with her teenaged eyes at the legacy of hate in her world. 

Although teenagers weren't called by that name back then, they thought and acted as teenagers do today in some ways.

Have you ever googled the word teenager?

Here's what I found in Dictionary.com:

Word Origin and History for teenager

n. also teen ager, teen-ager ; derived noun from teenage (q.v.), 1922. The earlier word for this was teener, attested in American English from 1894,and teen had been used as a noun to mean  "teen-aged person" in 1818,though this was not common before 20c.

Manuela Blayne is free in Kindle form for a limited time.

Now, in the world of books, teenager is an obsolete term. Manuela Blayne is a young adult book.

Two Days . . .

I don't know what happened. When I placed Manuela Blayne on Amazon as a paper book, the pre-orders disappeared, but one person told me she had already received her copy.

Anyway, Manuela Blayne is available on Amazon.

In the simplest of words, I'm trying in this little novella, Manuela Blayne, to evoke some thought about how other people feel inside. For example, I'm trying to paint pictures of how it feels to be African-American and how it feels to be saturated in white people's prejudices in the early 1900's.

From Chapter Two:
Manuela's grandmother has just had a grand mal seizure. Papa Sam helps her walk back to the wagon. Trudy's little brother is shocked that Sam, a white man, is touching an African-American woman.

 Placing her foot in front of her as though she had to tell it what to do, she tried to walk. First she veered to the left and then to the right. Papa Sam and Herschel took her arms and led her.

Buddy, tugging at Billy’s shoulder, spoke too loud as usual.  “Do you see what Papa’s doing? Can you believe it?” 

Manuela Blayne available as a paper book at Create Space

Manuela Blayne will be available on Amazon.com soon. Today, October 31, 2015, it can be purchased at CreateSpace.  Here's the link: Manuela Blayne in CreateSpace Store

Manuela Blayne, a novella, is the fourth book in the Covington Chronicles. It is a complete story that stands alone. To understand some of the characters fully, however, it would be beneficial to read The Dream Bucket first. 

Manuela Blayne is the story of one suffering for another.

A new day dawns for Trudy Cameron. She develops a heightened sensitivity to others around her who endure the hurts brought on by circumstances she tries to influence. Trudy starts to realize she cannot change everything, she cannot fix all the bad in her world. At the same time she develops a streak of mischief. Sometimes she is shocked by her own behavior. As she grows up fast, she finds emotions within herself she didn't expect. 

In the summer of 1910, Trudy Cameron witnesses the aftershock of an event that will disturb her the rest of her life.

It is more than the consequences of the crime that concern her. Cruelty dominates the evolving social system of the South, the only home she knows.

Never will she comprehend all the hurt suffered by her friend Manuela Blayne, but Trudy wants to understand. 

She witnesses firsthand what forgiveness can be. She observes hardships she has never imagined.

In a world that denies mercy to her friend, will Trudy's faith shrink or blossom? She is always honest with herself about her emotions.

Trudy tells her story in first person. 

Come spend some time with the Bentons and Camerons. Delight in the parenting skills of Samuel Benton, as he tries to distract Trudy from her anguish over Manuela Blayne. 

Have a dish of ice cream in the Covington and float on a watermelon in the swim hole at Hot Coffee. Witness the mischief Trudy dares not confess to her parents.

Three more days until Manuela Blayne appears as a Kindle book.

I'm really excited about Manuela Blayne. In Chapter Three, Trudy and Bailey meet Manuela.

Chopping cotton is a challenging experience. When I was young, I never mastered the skill. First, I'll let Manuela explain the procedure:

“We was chopping cotton. That’s why we ain’t come by to see you . . . working for Old Man Aaron, but we done finished doing that. I’m glad we’re through ’cause he’s mean.”

“Is that your hoe?” Bailey pointed to a hoe leaning against the porch.

“Don’t go near it.” Manuela cocked her head at a stern angle.

“Why not?” Bailey asked.

“It’s too sharp for little girls to put their hands on.”

“Chopping cotton? How do you do that?” Bailey asked.

“First you got to have a hoe. A sharp, sharp hoe. My grandpappy can file a hoe like nobody’s business. When he gets through filing it, it cuts good as a knife. We have to be careful when we tote the hoes over our shoulders.”

“But how do you chop cotton?”

“You cut all the little plants but one or two that you leave a hoe width’s apart.”  

Every time I tried to chop cotton, I would do a beautiful job until I reached the final step. Then I'd cut down the one remaining plant. No problem I thought. I'd simply replant it.

After two days there would be blank placed in the field where I had been chopping. My family decided in unison that I'd tote water and help cook. I simply couldn't chop cotton. I was an excellent picker though.

Click here to pre-order the Kindle version of  Manuela Blayne:

Four days until Manuela Blayne appears as a Kindle book

Because Hereschel Blayne made and sold whiskey and wine, Manuela's grandparents lived in a better house then most of their neighbors. They also had a decent road. Still they knew poverty. They papered their walls with newspapers. If they could have afforded a can of paint, they would have been accused of being uppity when they painted the exterior. Life really was that hard, and conditions stayed the same through the middle of the twentieth century.

In Chapter Four, Trudy and Bailey visit Manuela in her grandparents' home for the first time:

Yellowed newspapers fastened to the walls served as a covering. “How smart!”

“Yeah. I wanted some wallpaper like Mama has in her house, so Granny made some out of newspapers.”

“Do you think it will last very long?” I couldn’t resist asking.

“It don’t matter.” Manuela shrugged her shoulders. “When this wears out, we’ll tear it down and put up some more.”

Click here to pre-order the Kindle version of  Manuela Blayne:

Five More Days Until Manuela Blayne Is Released as a Kindle Book

Eating Clay

When I was a young girl, some of my friends ate clay. One girlfriend wanted me to try it, but I didn't have the courage.   

Chapter Five of Manuela Blayne shows the practice of eating clay. 

From Chapter Five:

Manuela—where was she? I turned around in time to see her insert a ball of clay into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed it. “This stuff tastes too good. I been wanting some of it.”

“What are you doing?” I didn’t mean to raise my voice.

“I’m eating me some clay. It’s good for you.”

“No.” Bailey curled her lip.

Manuela held a glob near my mouth. “You got to taste it, Trudy.”

Since she insisted and because she was our new friend, I took a nibble. “Ahrr.” I heaved. “It’s awful.”

“No, it tastes fine.”

I choked, coughed, and spit. Shaking my head and spitting again, I tried to get rid of it. The taste wouldn’t leave my mouth. “What in the world? How do you do this?”

“You don’t like it ’cause you still a little girl. I didn’t start liking it either ’til I growed into a woman.”

Bailey started to put a pinch of it into her mouth.

“No, Bailey. You really won’t like it.” I reached to stop Bailey’s hand.

“Just wait.” Manuela’s voice became mystical. “When you start having your monthlies, you’ll find out it’s good. It’ll make you feel better like medicine.”

“Monthlies?” Bailey screwed up her face. “What do you mean—monthlies?”

I whispered to Bailey, “She’s talking about something we’re not supposed to know about.”

“I’m sorry. I’m talking about the curse.” Manuela lowered her head. “When you bleed every month.”

My sister and I stood as silent as stones. Tears glistened in Bailey’s eyes.

---

Here's an article that explains most of the reasons people eat clay.

Eating Clay

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A Fight in the Front Porch Classroom: Manuela Blayne, Day Six in the Countdown

Will pushed out a sarcastic laugh. “So you girls are playing school? Didn’t you get enough school during the regular session to be sick of it?”

Buddy hopped onto the porch and rang our school bell. “Yeah. Men—like us—are working. We’re repairing the barn.”

Bailey looked up as she sighed in exasperation. “Playing carpenters.”

Manuela turned her face to the wall, took a stubby pencil, and began copying from a McGuffey Reader onto a tablet supported by a board.

“Manuela, how many days a month did you go to school anyway?” Will bent over her to look at her work.

She covered the tablet but took care not to lose her page in the reader. Gazing out into the yard, she considered his question. “Oh, I don’t know. About two or three.”

“ABC’s.” Buddy, standing by Will, leaned over her shoulder. “That’s baby stuff.”

“Hush, Buddy.” Bailey moved in front of her twin and pushed him. “It’s baby stuff to you, but you didn’t have to miss school because your grandmother got sick. You think you’re something because you know who your papa was. Manuela don’t know stuff but it ain’t her fault. She’s smart, ain’t she, Trudy?”

“Is that so?” Buddy pushed Bailey.

“And you had somebody older to walk to school with you. And when your school closed down, your papa took you in the automobile.”

Bailey pushed Buddy’s arm.

Buddy hit Bailey’s chest.

The twins locked up in a fight. Bailey, arms flailing and feet kicking, resisted as I pulled her away.

Will grabbed Buddy’s arms. “Leave the girls alone.”

- - -

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Seven More Days

Seven More Days until Manuela Blayne is published. Here's an excerpt from Chapter Seven:

It must have been about three o’clock when all the church members started walking down the road. We followed. At the edge of the red dirt road winding behind the church, waited a gaping hole big as three graves would have been if they were lined up side by side. It was full of red muddy water.

The people oohed and aahed about the fine job the men of Antioch Church had done digging the hole. I thought it was . . . well . . . pitiful.

“They had to dig it a few days before the ceremony. Otherwise, it would have filled up with mud again,” Papa Sam, who was carrying our sleeping baby brother, said in his low voice. He didn’t need to talk loud because we huddled together feeling strange in a foreign place, even though we were only a short distance from home. It was not like our world.

“So, how did they get the water in here?” I asked.

“They hauled it.” This time Will didn’t call me stupid like he normally did.

I pulled on Mama’s sleeve.

“What is it, Trudy?” She bent over so I could speak into her ear.

“Does God feel honored?” I asked. “I mean they’re going to dip people in a mud hole to baptize them.”

“Right.” She smoothed my hair.

“They’re taking a risk. What if a snake is in there?” I could think of all kinds of bad possibilities.” What if they swallow mud?”

“Trudy, I’m sure God feels very honored.” She spoke in a reverent tone, leaving me to reconsider what was happening.

The twelve reborn Christians marched toward the makeshift baptistery. All of them wore what must have been the worst looking clothes they owned. Manuela, who was acting sophisticated, sneaked a tiny wave and wink at us.

Down in the pit, they must have had blocks of wood for steps on one side.

Reverend Greenfield raised his hands to silence the crowd. He led a prayer before addressing the congregation.

“Brothers and sisters, these twelve new babes have come today to celebrate their birth in Christ Jesus. In the days ahead, Satan will try to reclaim their hearts away from their Savior, but no matter what he throws at them, he can’t steal them.” The preacher emphasized his words by shaking his head and fists.

“These men, women, and children have been Spirit-sealed into the Kingdom of the Father and covered by the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. 

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Eight Days from Manuela Blayne: A Life Apart (Covington Chronicles Book 4) Kindle Edition

In eight days, Manuela Blayne will be a Kindle book available to read. It will be a time to catch up on the life of Trudy, who tells the story, as well as the other Camerons and Bentons.

Here's a little exerpt from Chapter Eight. In this chapter a new character, Hannah Jean, appears.

I was glad Mama busied herself working so she’d quit prodding. By the time we hung the diapers on the clothesline, the Model T came percolating up the road. In the front sat Hannah Jean, the kids were smushed into the back.

Hannah Jean had worked for Mama a few times before. Mama didn’t take in sewing any more. For Hannah Jean she’d make an exception. Hannah Jean would wash and iron our clothes while Mama would sew this woman, who was a professional maid, a pretty dress to wear to church.

Miss Hannah Jean didn’t talk much, didn’t have children in her house, didn’t like having children underfoot. Four days a week—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday—fine cars would come from town to take her to work and bring her home. When Hannah Jean worked in town, she always wore a starched and ironed white uniform. 

Nine More Days

Manuela Blayne, a sequel to The Dream Bucket, will be available in nine days as a Kindle book. Close to that time, the paper book will be released. Victoria Phelps, an amazing narrator, has released the first fifteen minutes. I love her interpretations of the different characters.

Since it's nine more days,  I'm quoting something Trudy said in Chapter Nine:

It had been a while since I’d gone to the cabin. Nothing could be wrong with going there. After all, it’s where I used to live. Nothing bad could happen if King was with me. I loved our big smart black dog.

I decided to wait and pick the flowers on the way home after collecting the sand. That way black-eyed Susans wouldn’t wilt.

What was that? Standing still, I listened.

Someone moaned.

Clicking on the picture below opens the pathway to reading more about the book and pre-ordering a Kindle copy:

Ten Days Until Manuela Blayne Is Released

On November 3, 2015, Manuela Blayne will be released as a Kindle book. I don't know yet whether the paper book will be ready by then.

Here's a quote from Chapter Ten:

Neither did they know how many ways she suffered. I doubted they realized how I felt the pain . . . how Will, Buddy, and Bailey shared the hurt. Especially Bailey. Parents were supposed to know everything, but they didn’t.

I thought I’d lose my mind, but nobody talked to me. Every minute when I didn’t have a chore, I played the piano. The music took me away from the questions.

Every Thursday afternoon, Papa took us kids to town. He dropped me off at Miss Caroline’s. While I had my lesson, the others shopped at the Mercantile. 

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