Release of The Historical Chronicles of Elinor Sturgeon and the Last Human Colony – Volume I Living Springs Publishers is pleased to announce the debut publication of a new, exciting science fiction novel by R.T. Kilgore. This is the first in a series. The author is an English Literature teacher at Leander High School in Leander, Texas. She has a degree in Victorian Literature from the University of Iowa.
For information on the book contact us, or you can reach the author through her website..
“The Historical Chronicles of Elinor Sturgeon and the Last Human Colony ” can be found on Amazon or the paperback ordered through our website. If you purchase the book from Amazon, please leave a review – this will help make the book easier for others to find.
Testimonials
We put out a call for testimonials from all of the authors in our “Stories Through The Ages” books. We were very pleased to receive eleven very quickly, with promises of more to come. Treating people fairly and honestly is a hallmark of Living Springs Publishers. It is gratifying to hear that we have been successful. You can read the testimonials on our website.
Contests
Our Generations Plus 2019 and Baby Boomers Plus 2019 contests are under way. The deadline for Generations Plus is April 15, 2019 and the deadline for Baby Boomers Plus is June 15, 2019. Make sure to get you entries in.
We have decided to start a new contest called Sightseer Saga. This contest will be slightly different than our other contests. It will have a theme of Travel, although we will leave the interpretation of what travel means to the writer. Instead of having a set deadline we will close submissions after a predetermined number of entries are received. Stay tuned for more information on this.
Books and flyers
If you are going to a writers workshop we would like to send books for door prizes or giveaways and flyers as hand outs. Email us and we can discuss the specifics.
Publishing
Other than our books for our short story contests, we plan to publish one more book this year. We will be opening submissions in the near future.
Our South Dakota Adventure
by Dan Peavler
Living Springs Publishers has been fortunate to find a mother lode of very talented authors to participate in our "Stories Through The Ages" short story contests. These contests have provided many writers an avenue of acknowledgement for their hard work and creativity. We want to continue being a place where writers can write for a purpose. When my niece Emilee, Jacqueline's daughter, who has traveled extensively, mentioned that she very much enjoys reading stories about peoples travels, it piqued our interest. Everyone has a story about traveling, whether across the United States or overseas.
Recently I thought I would test my theory about everyone having a story to tell. At a dinner party at our house I told my wife Helen that I would tell a travel story and that I bet at least two other people would tell a story of their own. Because one of the couples was from South Dakota I chose to tell a story our family experienced in that remote and beautiful state.
Helen grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota where many members of her family still reside. From the time our children were very small we would drive from our home in Littleton, Colorado to Minneapolis at least once a year. The summer after my youngest son Travis received his driving permit we took one such trip.
At the end of each visit with Helen's parents we would say our goodbyes the night before so we could get a very early start for home the next morning. Maggie, Helen's mom would always wake up and come outside in her night coat to see us off. She would bless our car and very quietly and secretively slip me a hundred dollar bill. This particular morning she slipped me the hundred dollars but forgot to bless our old Cadillac Seville.
We decided to take the trip back to Colorado by way of South Dakota. I drove from Minneapolis for several hours and then decided to let Travis drive for a while. He was excited and adjusted the mirrors and settled in to drive. I sat in the back seat with Helen, allowing my oldest son Jon to sit up front. After about forty five minutes of resting my eyes I felt the car jerk.
"Hey pop, I'm pushing on the gas pedal but nothing’s happening," Trav yelled, just as the transmission fumes filled my lungs.
"He's been driving it seventy miles an hour in low gear," screamed Jon.
I looked out the window and there was a big billboard asking "Having transmission problems? Mitchell, South Dakota one mile". The car was sputtering and barely moving. I told Trav to put on the hazard lights and take the exit to Mitchell. The transmission was completely shot as we rolled down the off ramp. As the car came to a complete stop I got out and moved to the front of the vehicle. An F250 pick-up truck came roaring by me, stopped and started backing up to our car. Out jumps a tiny woman with a huge cowboy hat.
"I smelled the transmission fluid a mile back," she stated. She threw her cowboy hat on the hood of our car and jumped into the bed of her pickup. She tossed a tow rope out the back of her truck, hopped out of her truck bed and grabbed the end of the tow rope. She then lay down on her back and shimmed under the car. Climbing out she brushed her butt off, hooked the other end of the tow rope to her truck, grabbed her cowboy hat and said, "put it in neutral, I know just where to take you."
She towed us to the front of a transmission shop. She repeated tossing her hat on the hood and shimmying under the car. When she climbed out from under with the tow rope in hand she was covered in dust. I finally had a chance to thank her and offer her money for towing us. She laughed, brushed herself off and said, "just like to help. You can trust these folks here, they won't steer you wrong." They didn't, the repairs were far more reasonable then I ever expected. It did take two days for the repair. We were given a loaner vehicle.
For the next day and half we enjoyed the neighborly people of the sixth largest city in South Dakota, something we would have never done if not for car problems. Even with a population around 15,000 people there was a lot to do and see in Mitchell. Exploring the Corn Palace and Prehistoric Indian Village took up most of our waiting time.
I thought often about the lady who helped us get the car to the repair shop. She was an exceptional person. Traveling is about cultural influences and exchange, learning first-hand about other people. It's about experiences, adventure and memories.
After telling this story to our dinner guests I waited to see if anyone would tell a story. I wasn't disappointed. For the next hour three more stories were told - from Death Valley, to Las Vegas all the way to Boston. Everyone really does have a story to tell.
We at Living Springs Publishers hope to receive many stories of travel, real or imagined, not only from established authors but from first time writers. We know the ideas, creative thoughts and real life experiences exist. We hope this contest is successful because it will result in a very entertaining book of original stories.
Bucket List of Books Henry E. Peavler
I was visiting with my old friend Mary Jean Larson the other day, as we are wont to do every few weeks and she made the comment that she felt sorry for people who don’t read. Well, I agreed with her and proceeded to tell her how I have the ability to read three books at a time and remember what page I’m on in each book. “That’s called multitasking,” I announced proudly,….”Hello, are you there?”
“Ok, first of all that’s not multitasking, that’s like uni-tasking multiple times. Multitasking is if you can watch television and read a book at the same time.”
“I don’t have a television.”
“That’s not the point,” she said, pointedly. Plus, that is not an ability that is an affliction.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Wouldn’t you agree that the conventional way is to read one book from start to finish?”
“I’m not conventional.”
“Point taken! But still.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me?”
“Oh, for God’s sake, what are the three books?”
“War and Remembrance” by Herman Wouk, page 528, “The Innocents Abroad” by Mark Twain, page 158 and Truman Capote’s, “Other Voices, Other Rooms”, Page 3.
“Page 3?”
“It’s in Spanish.”
“Let’s get back to the original question,” she said with a certain exasperation in her voice that I’ve noticed has gotten worse over the years. I hope it isn’t trouble between her and her wonderful husband, George.
I asked, “What was the original question?”
“I thought you could multitask.”
“Now see, Mary Jean, you’re the one with an affliction, you always think your right about everything.”
She made that exasperated sound again and said, “Don’t you feel sorry for people who don’t read?”
“I do, but I don’t know what to do about it.”
Suddenly she was excited, “Let’s compile a list of the top ten or twenty books a person should read before they die, like a bucket list of books and then you guys can print it on your Publishing Company website.”
“Ok, that’s a good idea, I’ll make the list and ask the Managing Partner if they’ll put it on the website.”
“Two things wrong with that statement. First, any list you make would be bogus, because you are….weirdly unconventional, kind of unaware….don’t interrupt….Second, the Managing Partner is your sister and I’ll just call her and ask her to do it.”
“Ok, Miss Know-it-all, what is your top ten list, No, what is your number one book that everyone should read?”
“You go first.”
“Well, I haven’t thought about it.”
“I’m busy the rest of the week. Call me on Saturday with your list in hand, top ten, and make sure they are written out so I can verify that you did it.”
Mary Jean Larson is very opinionated and egotistical and exasperating. Sometimes, I don’t know why I put up with her, but I did make my list and call as instructed. Here is a word for word transcript of that conversation.
She said, “What’s your first book.”
“You go first.”
Exasperated sigh, “Ok, my first book is Jane Austin’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
“Ok, not bad, but I knew it. I knew it would be a female author.”
“Oh please, I’ll bet you don’t even have a female author on your list.”
“Do too.”
“Who?”
“Charlotte Bronte”
“I could have guessed, Jane Eyre, I’ll bet it’s number nine or ten. Nine out of ten are male. How typical of you.”
“I’m at a loss here, I don’t even know what to say.”
“Allright, what is your number one?”
“Ok, you are going to be so impressed when you hear this. My number one book that everyone should read is, ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’….Hello, Mary Jean, are you there?”
“You’ve got to be kidding. That book shouldn’t even be in the top ten.”
“Hey, there are no right or wrong answers here. Come on, move on to your second book. Jeeez!”
“Ok, Ok, my second book is, Julia Alvarez, ‘Return to Sender’….Henry are you there?”
“I’ve never heard of it. How can you have a top five book I’ve never heard of?”
“If we could only have books that you have heard of, we would still be stuck in the Victorian age, plus, I thought there were no right or wrong answers.”
“I’m only making a comment, Mary Jean, I don’t know why you have to be so argumentative. It proves my point that you always think you are right about everything.”
“Move on, Henry, what is your second book? I would like to spend some time with my family this weekend.”
“Ok, here you go, this is a good one, I know you’ll love it. Joseph Heller, ‘Catch-22’.”
“Predictable, I knew you’d pick that one or Kurt Vonnegut’s, Slaughterhouse-Five, which I’ll bet is next.”
“You think you know everything. What is your next book? I’ve got things to do.”
“Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’!
“Oh, puleeeze, you’ve never even read it.”
“I most certainly did, in English Lit, Arizona State University 1970.”
“Why didn’t I hear about it?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Henry. While you were partying in Boulder, I was studying and we didn’t exactly spend a lot of time talking about school when we were together. So what’s your third book?”
“Ummm….’The Brothers Karamazov’, Dostoevsky.”
“No!”
“What do you mean no?”
“You moved that up or just added it randomly to counter my Tolstoy.”
I hurriedly crossed out Vonnegut’s name at number 3 and wrote in Dostoevsky and said, “That is beneath you Mary Jean, to suspect me of that kind of childish behavior over a silly list. Now I suggest we move on. Where are we, I believe it is your turn number four.”
“George Eliot, Silas Marner.”
“And you accuse me of being lost in the Victorian Age. I’ll bet you have nine out of ten female authors on your list. You are so predictable. Ok, my number four is John Irving, ‘The World According to Garp’.”
“I thought ‘Setting Free the Bears’ was your favorite John Irving book.”
“It is!”
“You don’t make any sense Henry. Ok, I’m done, I’m going to call Jacqueline and ask her if she’ll have people send in their list of top ten books to read before they die. If I relied on you, I’d die before we got the list put together. Good bye Henry,”
“Goodbye Mary Jean, my love to George and the grandkids.”
I’m not sure but I think I may have heard a sob as she hung up. I sure hope she and George are getting along. Anyway, if you get a chance put together a list of your top ten books to read before you die. Send it in to the Website. I was hoping Mary Jean Larson would help, but I think she’s depressed over something so maybe we better do it. I’m going to go and read for a while and de-stress myself. Darn, now I forgot what page I’m on.
Thanks everyone,
Henry E. Peavler