Released June 28, 2021

Emily Parks is a newcomer to the small town of Mountain Grove, Virginia, where she lives with her alcoholic mother, father, and grandmother. When she has a problem at school she learns the townspeople she has met are willing to step in and help her. They give her advice, support, and something she has never received before…love. With their help, Emily begins to plan for the life she wants and a way to escape from the world her parents have created. When Emily’s parents leave her in the middle of the night, she must make some quick decisions. Her unusual solution takes everyone in the village by surprise.

Meet the often quirky people of Mountain Grove and join Emily and her friends as they find their way in this confusing and often unfair world.

As a therapist, I have seen how kids need a village of helpers. The entertaining cast of characters keeps the reader engaged, feeling the love they have for Emily and learning the lessons alongside her. Emily’s House offers hope and insight on how to create a better life for yourself, regardless of the hand you’ve been dealt.
~Tami Olesen, Licensed Clinical Social Worker

This book is a must-read for those that have lost hope, question God, or believe that life can’t be different. Sharon’s words and interwoven life teachings cause you to be excited about the idea that things never have to stay the way they began, and how the power of your choice can give you the feeling of belonging you need, and the future you choose.
~ Tara Rudolph, Life Coach and Founder of She Shifts Culture

      Stories Through The Ages Baby Boomers Plus 2021
Judging is complete! All authors have been notified of the results. Once we have all of the contracts in we will announce the winners.

To be released September 14, 2021
2051 – Book 2 The second installment of Dan Peavler’s futuristic novel. Join the Lisco family as they work to protect their family and the country against foreign powers that have invaded American soil.

Sam Wood Civil War Book 3   The third book in Henry Peavler’s series about Sam Wood and his work to end slavery.

What is Literature?   by Henry Peavler

When I enter a large bookstore, I inevitably seek out the section they call ‘Literature’. This is where they keep the ‘good’ books, at least in my mind. I was thinking about it the other day. What criterion do they use to determine which books go in that section? I mean, aren’t all books ‘Literature’?

I understand there must be some categorization for marketing purposes; Business section, Science Fiction section, Biographies, Fiction, Drama, and my favorite Romance. I get the feeling that Romance can’t be Literature, at least by implication. Yet, I consider Jane Eyre a wonderful romance novel, also a true example of what I consider classic literature. The romance novel has become a huge commercial success, catering to a very specific group of readers who enjoy that sort of ‘literature’. I have studied the career of Nora Roberts, who also writes under the pseudonym, J. D. Robb solely because I heard that she writes eight hours a day, every day. How is that even possible? Yet, that is what she claims to do. Her output is prodigious, hundreds of books in several different genres under several different names; movies, dramas, screenplays, what a tremendous success. I bought her first novel, Irish Thoroughbred, (as an aside, I think the hero was guilty of sexual harassment, even in 1981) and enjoyed it in the same way I enjoy one of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. Solely as an escape. I consider these author’s excellent story tellers and there are many out there today, hundreds, maybe thousands of them, all seemingly successful, at least I see their titles in bookstores; seems like a new title every month. They must write eight hours a day just like Nora.

But is it ‘literature’ in the sense of being a classic, one that will stand the test of time? Will it last as long as Don Quixote (1615), Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Jane Eyre (1847), David Copperfield (1850), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1887); I could go on and on. These novels I consider classic literature. Of course, it was easier back then in the sense there were fewer books to choose from. The population was becoming more and more literate and the demand for the written word was growing exponentially. Today, I believe the opposite is true, fewer people reading and an explosion of the written word. Something like 1,000,000 new books are published each year in the United States alone.

Are all of these books’ ‘literature’? I suppose that in the grand scheme of things, using a very broad definition, then any book written is literature. I choose to narrow the definition to classic literature meaning only those books that stand the test of time. I want to explore some novels that I consider classics during the coming months. If any of you are interested, please send a list of those books that you consider classic literature; even give your definition of what classic literature is. I love working with true readers.

The stories in this collection are all based on true stories veterans have told the author. Some are heart-wrenching accounts of senseless loss. Some involve the moral choices soldiers must make—for example, whether to kill a terrorist when children are present. Some focus on the mental health of veterans struggling to transition back into civilian life. Others depict women soldiers determined to maintain their dignity in a mostly male world. 

The book is available from most outlets. Publisher site: www.livingspringspublishers.com

Living Springs Publishers is proud to announce the prize winners and finalists whose stories will appear in Stories Through The Ages Baby Boomers Plus 2020:

 Charles Warren $500 first prize with “A Wing and a Prayer”          
 Don Carter $200 second prize with “Into the Stormtroopers”       
 Patricia Lee $100 third prize with “A Silent Victory“
 Brad Bennett with “Attack of the Communist-Hordes“
 Elizabeth Bobst with “Your Mother’s Sock“
 Sandra H Brooks with “Silent Tears“
 Wayne Fowler with “Fun, Fun, Fun with Dick and Jane“
 Kaye George with “Fins Fatal Flop“
 Jim Gish with “Deluxe Accom“
 Anne Hill with “A Day with 3D“   
 Chuck Jackson with “Welcome to Vietnam“
 Richard Key with “Thanks Mussolini“
 Barbara Mujica with “Ahmed the Tailor“
 David Parish with “Breakfast Crisis“
 Eric Rosenbaum with “The Ping-Pong War“
 David Tarpenning with “Smoke from Indian Fires“
 Jim Tritten with “The Illustrated Man“ 

We received submissions from all over the world. There were many excellent entries to choose from and determining the winners was very difficult.

You can read about the author and a synopsis of each story here.

The book is also available for pre-order on our website.

Congratulations to all of our authors!

We can't always control our experiences, but we can always write our stories 
                                      --Jess Ekstrom 

As the world reels from the effects of the coronavirus we at Living Springs Publishers are grateful for the writers who have given us their works to lose ourselves in. No matter what turmoil surrounds us, our imagination always allows us to read and write.

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Stories Through The Ages Contests

Baby Boomers Plus: Submissions for the fourth annual edition are open. The deadline  for the 2020 edition is June 15, 2020. Tell us about an experience growing up as a baby boomer, or use your experience gained becoming a baby boomer and tell us a story. The entry may be fiction or nonfiction. This contest  is for anyone who was born 1964 or earlier. The entry fee is $25. The word count for this contest is 900 – 4000 words.

We have decided not to go forward with the Military Experiences and Sightseer Saga contests. All entry fees have been returned, or the stories moved to the Baby Boomers Plus contest.

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Writing While Ill by Henry Peavler

I have a vivid imagination, as I assume do all people who write. When I encounter a unique person, I create scenario’s where they will fit into whatever I’m writing at the time; it’s both a blessing and a curse, and I often wonder if ‘normal’ people do this. I’ve been quite ill for the past six months, spending the last four in the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  I was able to mine many characters, unusual or unique in some way, making them fine fodder for my historical novel.
 
The problem is trying to be descriptive when my mind is muddled by chemotherapy or drugs or both, as the case may be. I tried to write every day but found that even on the days I could string together coherent words, they would come across as jaundiced and diseased even though I was trying to convey joy or passion. I recognized this problem early on and strained to correct it, but then the sentences became stilted, stiff as though I were describing a fence instead of a person. A hospital room is not conducive to the creative process, yet I kept trying out of force of habit.
 
Now that I’m recovering, I find that I wrote perhaps five pages of useful fiction worthy of being retained. I deleted the rest, but felt no remorse, at least I tried. The same was true of reading, I tried but had to stop after only a couple of pages.
 
My pain was both physical and mental. I passed out on February 10 and destroyed my knee during the fall. I then spent five days in the ICU because of chemo induced atrial fibrillation, as my heart rate ping ponged between 120 and 170. I didn’t write on those days, but I thought about my writing. The only thing is, if I would have had access to my computer, I would have deleted everything because, in my depressed, addled state of mind, I believed my writing was all worthless crap that shouldn’t see the light of day.
 
Our minds are incredible machines, capable of unbelievable feats of writing creatively even when Ill, but those words should not be judged until well. Writing is considered therapeutic by the powers that be in the field of cancer rehabilitation and I don’t doubt it, but I haven’t seen evidence that the writing lives up to any kind of creative winning standards. The primary problem, as I see it, is that the subject is always the same, how I survived cancer, which is obvious because the author wouldn’t be writing if he/she hadn’t survived. We’ve heard these stories a thousand times, I’ve written my share, but it isn’t creative writing….it is more reporting with the assumption that everyone will find it interesting.
 
I was not able to write during these six months, at least not to the standards I expect of myself. Now that my stem-cell transplant is complete and my blood counts are rising I begin to feel the urge to continue….A good feeling indeed.

1890s.  Colorado.  Following her mother’s sudden death, thirteen-year-old Hannah Owens is hired as domestic help by a wealthy doctor’s family in Colorado Springs.  When the doctor declares bankruptcy and abandons his family to finance his mistress Pearl DeVere’s brothel, Hannah is thrown into a world of gold mining bonanzas and busts, rampant prostitution and the economic, political and cultural upheavals of the era. 

Two of Cripple Creek’s most colorful historic characters, Winfield Scott Stratton, eccentric owner of the richest gold mine in Cripple Creek, and Pearl DeVere, the beautiful madam of The Old Homestead come to life as this old-fashioned, coming-of-age saga unfolds, a tribute to the women who set the stage for women’s rights. 

Our on-line magazine Leviathan is published every January, April, July, and October.Submissions for the January edition close December 15, 2019. 

Musically Literate

The third Musically Literate happening is on February 22, 2020 in Dallas, Tx. It will feature a mixture of Austin and Dallas talent. R. T. Kilgore author of The Historical Chronicles of Elinor Sturgeon and the Last Human  Colony. will be doing a reading. Check out her website for more information.

The Historical Chronicles of Elinor Sturgeon and the Last Human Colony. Volume II is in the works. Look for it mid 2020.

Stories Through The Ages Contests

Sightseer Saga : Have you written or do you have a story to tell based on travel? Tell us about an experience you had while traveling, sights you saw and/or people you met. Make it a completely true account, or embellish the truth a bit. This contest is open to any adult. We will accept submissions until we have a maximum of 100 entries. The entry fee is $25. The word count for this contest is 900 – 4000 words.
Military Experiences:   We are asking for personal essays based on your military experience. – beyond that it is open. The story can be from a soldier, a veteran, friend or a family member. In order to encourage people who don’t usually write, we have changed the rules and are allowing co-authors for this contest. If you know someone with a story to tell who isn’t a writer, have them tell it to you and help them write it – then submit it with both your names. This contest is open to any adult. We will accept submissions until we have a maximum of 100 entries. The entry fee is $25. The word count for this contest is 900 – 4000 words.
Baby Boomers Plus: Submissions for the fourth annual edition are open. The deadline  for the 2020 edition is June 15, 2020. Tell us about an experience growing up as a baby boomer, or use your experience gained becoming a baby boomer and tell us a story. The entry may be fiction or nonfiction. This contest  is for anyone who was born 1964 or earlier. The entry fee is $25. The word count for this contest is 900 – 4000 words.

Cripple Creek by Dan Peavler

The mountains of Colorado have always been a source of inspiration to me. Even as a child I found them to be magical. The panoramic views and beauty found on a fourteen-thousand-foot mountain is almost indescribable. Someone once said that it is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.

Even as magnificent as the mountains are, the small towns scattered throughout the rugged terrain are equally as remarkable.  The museums and preserved historical artifacts make you feel like you are transported in time. Many towns have trains available for tourists to ride and get a general overview of the area.

Notwithstanding the modern towns having tourism and skiing connections, many of the historical towns were founded because of mining, mostly gold or silver. Gold mining played a large part in the establishment of Colorado. The tough, persistent and hard-working people who populated the towns were not there to embrace a challenge or find peace in nature but to find riches. Many who lacked in education and talent made up for their shortcomings in persistence and tenacity. They worked long and physically demanding jobs in the mines, only to find themselves penniless and beaten. There was always someone who made the money from the toils of the miners.

My personal favorite mine to visit is the Molly Kathleen Gold mine in Cripple Creek. The tour places you in a tight elevator, much like the one used by miners over a hundred years ago and takes you a thousand feet straight down. Gold veins in their natural setting greet you at the bottom. The sonorous manmade caves of the mine echo all sounds. From working in near darkness to having to bend over to shovel dusty debris the tour illustrates the difficulty the miners faced daily.

My wife and I visited Cripple Creek this summer. After touring the Molly Kathleen mine and visiting several museums we decided to spend the night. Rather than stay in a casino hotel we stayed at the Hospitality House, a hotel that once was the hospital for the area. Each room is named after a part of the hospital, we stayed in the therapy room. My imagination ran wild during our visit.

When Living Springs Publishers received a transcript for the historical novel “A Sparrow Alone”, from Mim Eichmann, we were intrigued. The reader is taken to Cripple Creek in the 1890’s and is immersed in the era.  The research Ms Eichmann did on Cripple Creek and the people who lived there is evident. The lives of fictional characters and those of real-life characters are intertwined in such a way the reader can’t discern between the two. Ms Eichmann has created a sharp novel well worth reading. Living Springs Publishers is very proud to have this novel as a part of our publishing company.

Baby Boomers Plus 2019 has gone to the printer. The paperback can be ordered from our website. The eBook is available for pre-order on Amazon.

The eBook and the paperback will be released on Amazon 9/1/2019.

We will open Baby Boomers Plus 2020 for submissions on Jan 1, 2020.

Stories Through The Ages Sightseer Saga
 Have you written or do you have a story to tell based on travel? Tell us about an experience you had while traveling, sights you saw and/or people you met. Make it a completely true account, or embellish the truth a bit. This contest is open to any adult. We will accept submissions until we have a maximum of 100 entries. 

Stories Through The Ages Military Experiences
 We are asking for stories or personal essays based on your military experience – beyond that it is open. The story can be from a soldier, a veteran, friend or a family member. In order to encourage people who don’t usually write, we have changed the rules and are allowing co-authors for this contest. If you know someone with a story to tell who isn’t a writer, have them tell it to you and help them write it – then submit it with both your names. This contest is open to any adult. We will accept submissions until we have a maximum of 100 entries. 

Manuscript Submissions
We are accepting submissions for a manuscript to be published by Living Springs Publishers. The manuscript can be fiction or non-fiction. Please submit a document with the first 3 chapters, a synopsis summary of the book and a biography of the author.

Imagination by Dan Peavler

Have you ever lived on top of a cloud? How about taking a ride on a flying horse to Chicago to buy a purple dress—just to find out that the only acceptable purple dresses available are in New York City or Los Angeles. After traveling to California you realize that the purple dress at home is as good as the dresses everywhere else? For the past two years, every Thursday and Friday, I get to leave the ordinary and journey into a make believe world with my now five year old granddaughter. We always travel with our stuffy friends Olaf, Pinky Bear, Big Dog and Scraggles. If not flying on a horse, we have to endure the hassle of checking luggage, getting tickets and going thru security at the airport. Of course during the rush one of the stuffies needs to go to the bathroom and then usually falls into the toilet. Scraggles, a fluffy little bear, always has something in his possession, usually a can of corn, that sets off the alarm when going thru security. Big Dog lately has been receiving calls at the most inopportune time. Listening in on one call we heard him say, “take two aspirins and get some rest”. He thinks he is a doctor. Grandma usually brings us back to reality by insisting we read a book. 
 
Imagination has no boundaries. To imagine a better world, even when you love the one you live in, is worth carrying forward from childhood. Authors throughout time have done a very good job of imagining and writing about a better more caring world. 
 
Living Springs Publishers has given the writers in our contests the freedom to write whatever they wish. The third book in our “Stories Through The Ages Baby Boomers Plus” series is being printed. We are very fortunate to have so many creative writers take part in the contests and it is our desire that the competition continues to grow. Who knows maybe the next Cinderella will be found in our stories. The world will be a better place if we follow her example to have courage and be kind.

A Mother’s Musing by Jacqueline Veryle Peavler

Whenever I hear someone advise us to be kind it reminds me of the school shooting at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, CO in 2013, My daughter Emilee was a senior and niece Breanna a junior there when it happened.

Breanna had her phone and was able to let us know right away that she was okay. Emilee was in a gym class, near where the shooting happened and didn’t have her phone. She sat in a darkened room, on the floor, until the swat team burst in, guns drawn, and escorted the class out with hands on their heads. Hers was one of the last classes evacuated so this was near the end of the ordeal. 

Rationally, when I didn’t know where Emilee was and if she was safe, I knew she was probably just in a situation where she didn’t have access to a phone.  Emotionally it was a whole different story. I cannot describe the terror I felt as I stood outside the school, with my brother and his family, waiting for word on whether Emilee was safe or not.   

Emilee didn’t know Claire Davis, the young lady killed. She was in several classes with the shooter during sophomore year.  It was difficult for her to reconcile the kid who sat behind her in class and was on her Cross Country team with the person who came in with the intent to kill anyone in his path.

How does this remind me of kindness? Every time Claire’s mother was on television, she implored people to be kind to one another.

Emilee and I rarely talk about the shooting. When we do, we remember Claire’s family, but we also remember the shooters family. He had a younger sister who also attended Arapahoe. She changed schools the next year. We especially remember her and hope that she has found peace and happiness.

If we listen to the political news stations we would believe that our country is full of hate.  The people I deal with and meet in everyday life and through our Stories Through The Ages competitions tell me different. The stories we receive do not reflect that either – they are generally stories of perseverance and hope. Because I am a boomer I have lived through many eras and changes. I have seen many ugly things, but I have also seen the beauty of human nature. 

I have confidence that we will endure, as a nation and as a world. We just need to remember to be kind to one another.

Living Springs Publishers is proud to announce the prize winners and finalists whose stories will appear in Stories Through The Ages Baby Boomers Plus 2019:

Joanne M. Kuhns $500 first prize with “Payday at the Mountaineer’s Café”
Ronald C. Milburn $200 second prize with “Paddy’s Tonsorial Emporium”
David Tarpenning $100 third prize with “Now Would be Forever”
Mary Alice Dixon with "Revolt of the Blessed Virgin Mother"
Jamie Enslin with "The Dog’s His"
Jackie Ross Flaum with "The Narcissist"
Jay Gilbert with "Saint Paul’s Living Nativity"
Lisa McCormack with "The Trouble With Blooming"
Race McKee with "A Night in St. Louis"
Anthony J. Mohr with "Re-Elect the President"
I. M. Merckel with "The Teacher"
Lt. Col. Robert B. Robeson, USA (Ret) with "Life and Death in Vietnam"
Matthew Tredway with " Tincup, Colorado 1982"
Trudy Wells-Meyer with "The Ring"
Patricia Walkow with "Woven"

We received submissions from all over the United States. There were many excellent entries to choose from and determining the winners was very difficult. Congratulations to the authors who’s entries were chosen!

The book will be available mid-September. You can pre-order it here.

Living Springs Publishers has two contests open: Sightseer Saga 2019 and Military Experiences 2019. Each contest awards 3 cash prizes – $500, $200 and $100 and publishes the top 15 stories in a book. #shortstory #contest and #chargesfee

Stories Through The Ages contests

Baby Boomers Plus 2019  Submissions for the 2019 edition are closed. The judges are reading the stories and we will notify all authors of the selections by July 10th. Watch the website for more information.
 
Submissions for Baby Boomers Plus 2020 will open after the first of the year. 

Sightseer Saga: The theme for this contest is travel. It can be travel for a vacation, travel for business, travel to Grandma’s, travel across town - the interpretation is left to the writer. Instead of having a set deadline we will close submissions after 100 entries are received.  

Military Experiences: We are asking for stories from soldiers, vets, family members, military personnel - anyone who has a story about the military. It can be a story about being in combat, or training. A story about how it feels to be away from home, or about being left at home. A story about the aftermath of war. We changed this a bit and are going to allow co-authors for this contest. If you have a story to tell but don't think you have the experience to write it, tell it to a child, grandchild or friend and let them help you. We will accept a maximum of 100 entries.

Manuscript Submissions
We will open submissions for manuscripts to consider for publication on August 4, 2019. We will ask for the first 3 chapters or 30 pages.  Stay tuned for more information!

Winning by Dan Peavler

As we begin to pick winners for “Stories Through the Ages Baby Boomers Plus 2019”, our third book in the Baby Boomers series, I think about the many stories that were not chosen as a money winner or to be published in one of the books. We have mentioned many times that judging a short story is far from being an exact science. It is the nature of our contest that makes it necessary to pick winners. This doesn’t imply by any means that the stories not chosen are losers.

Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest football coaches of all time, once said “winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.” This reminds me of when I coached freshman girls basketball at Littleton High School several years ago. I had played high school and college basketball prior and understood how much I wanted to win as a player. As a coach I had a different perspective. I was much more interested in teaching sportsmanship, teamwork, persistence and the benefit of hard work in reaching a goal. It wasn’t as important for me to win every game.

We won ten games before losing the eleventh. As I prepared to enter the locker room, after the loss, I could hear the girls crying. I was happy that they found this game to be so important. What a teaching opportunity. We sat down and talked about working harder as a team. How proud I was of them for waiting to get to the locker room before showing their disappointment. One of the girls stated, “we thought you would be mad at us for blowing the game.” I answered, “never”.

A person can win at everything by changing their perspective on winning. A long-distance runner doesn’t have to beat anyone, they can win by beating their own times. Completing a short story and sending it to strangers to be judged is a great accomplishment. Each one has its own entertaining and enduring value. We at Living Springs Publishers truly believe that every author who sent us a story is a winner. We hope that doing so helps them be better at their story telling craft.

HONESTY AND INTEGRITY by Henry Peavler

We were talking about honesty and integrity at our last Living Springs Publishers Company meeting, held at the Elevated Egg restaurant, a big step up from the Village Inn, but I wasn’t all that impressed. The eggs are elevated in the sense that they are not plain old fried eggs, they are basted and poached and boiled and several other fancy ways of cooking an egg that I couldn’t even imagine. It would have been bearable except that the Managing Partner forgot the company credit card and I had to pay for my own (and her) French basted egg and French roasted and ground on the spot cup of coffee which you only get one of, unless you want to pay for another, so I may not have been in a good let’s have a meeting frame of mind.

The discussion of honesty, integrity and trustworthiness brought to mind several incidents that I wanted to share with the group, but the rest of the company, especially the younger set, weren’t in the mood to hear about it. Maybe their French basted free-range eggs didn’t set well with them. They wanted to talk about how honest and fair-dealing our company is and how we give you good old fashioned service at a fair value and we tell you up front what your costs will be, if any, and you never pay until the service has been performed. All good and noble sentiments. I made the point that it is better to be honest and fair rather than talk about being honest and fair. Your reputation is built over a period of time based on performance, not what you say you are going to do, but what you actually do. Then you build your clientele on the basis of value given.

Of course, this reminded me of a time back in middle school where this question of honesty almost cost me a friend. It was an incident I wrote about in a book listed on this website somewhere. Mrs. Roper instructed us to write an essay on who we considered to be a hero. It could be anyone. I wrote a beautiful story about my mother being my hero. It was full of pathos, counterbalanced with moments of joy and even humor. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. One of the instructions was that it had to be written in your own words and mine was. I happened to go over to Kenny’s house, the night before the assignment was due, and he was copying his essay out of the encyclopedia. It was about Douglas Macarthur. I mentioned this to Mary Jean Larson and she took it on herself to tell Mrs. Roper. I begged her not to. Kenny would know that I had told her. She said, the only honest thing to do was to tell. I was in a tizzy, it was a conundrum, a problem, a moral tug-of-war about this question of honesty. I don’t remember all the details but a couple of days after the assignments were turned in, Mrs. Roper asked several of us to read ours in front of the class. I was one and so was Kenny. After our performance she began a lecture about honesty and following directions, and you are only hurting yourself if you fail in these matters and all other sorts of adult morality that they tell kids. The bad thing was she said I was a paragon of virtue because mine was obviously written in my own words where-as others, and then she pointed out Kenny specifically, “copied this straight out of the encyclopedia.” Kenny looked at me with an “I’ll never forgive you” kind of look that is imprinted in my memory to this day. I then gave the same look to Mary Jean Larson.

Mary Jean denied that she told Mrs. Roper. I denied that I told Mary Jean Larson and Kenny didn’t believe either one of us. Maybe we hadn’t stored up enough credits in the honesty and integrity department. No doubt, Mrs. Roper knew, without being told, which papers were plagiarized, and which were honest, but we were too wrapped up in the matter to understand that.

Oh yeah, I’m supposed to say that our company, Living Springs Publishers, is honest and full of integrity and we will never do anything wrong or some words to that effect. But, in this case, it is true. Trust me!