Arthur Larkin, deceased, one of the honored pioneers of this great commonwealth, served faithfully and long in the West. He was one of the founders of the city of Ellsworth, and one of its most active and prominent builders. Mr. Larkin was born in Dublin, Ireland, August 20, 1832. When a mere lad of sixteen he landed in New York, a poor boy, determined to make his fortune in the new world. He landed in this country in 1848, and for a few months remained in New York, when he went to Fort Clark, Texas, and enlisted in the United States service in the Mexican war, in Captain Ford’s company of Texas Rangers, and at the close of that war he enlisted in the regular army service until 1861, when he was honorably discharged on account of disability at Fort Leavenworth. He was first sergeant of his company at the time. After leaving the army he engaged in freighting by team to Denver, Col., but in the fall of 1866 gave that up to open a restaurant in Junction City, Kan., at the same time freighting to Salina. In 1867 he located at Ellsworth and soon built the Larkinf[sic] House, the first hotel, which was one of the first buildings in the town. It was burned in 1869, and in 1872 Mr. Larkin erected the White House, which he operated until 1905. He also built the American House in 1878, known today as the Baker House, and the Rogers House. Mr. Larkin was one of the pioneer merchants of Ellsworth, opening a general store there in 1868; subsequently he established branch stores at Lincoln Center and Little River. All his life Mr. Larkin was imbued with the spirit of progress, and was one of the few men who had the courage of his convictions to carry out projects that seemed ahead of his time. An example of this spirit was his erection of the first flour mill at Ellsworth and the first elevator. In 1876 he erected the first fine store building on Douglas avenue. This was a two-story stone structure, where he conducted a mercantile business until 1895. His sons subsequently carried on business operations there under the firm name of Larkins’ Sons. Several other good pieces of business property were owned by Mr. Larkin, who operated his home farm of 200 acres south of the town; a 480-acre tract near Frederick and a 720-acre ranch southeast of Ellsworth. For many years he was a breeder of Hereford cattle and an extensive feeder. He kept a fine training stable for the high-bred driving horses which he raised, which had a wide reputation. In 1885 Mr. Larkin erected a large and elegant home on a raise of ground south of Ellsworth overlooking the town. It was fitted out with all modern conveniences, with private water plant, gas well, lighting and heating systems. In addition to the beautiful stone house there is a fine barn on the premises with every convenience for horses and automobiles. Mr. Larkin’s time was not devoted entirely to personal affairs, as he served as county commissioner and county treasurer of Ellsworth county. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and contributed liberally to the Catholic church, of which he was a member.

In 1861 Mr. Larkin was married, at Fort Leavenworth, to Alice Beard, who was a native of Indiana. On November 4, 1911, Mr. Larkin passed away, being survived by his wife and two sons: Francis Larkin, born June 3, 1875, the manager of the American Woodwork Manufacturing Company, of Evansville, Ind., and Charles Larkin, who is the active manager of the estate. Arthur Larkin, the eldest son, born February 28, 1871, died in 1910. He married Miss Rose Pressney, and they had three children: Alice Verlin, born January 26, 1900, a student at Mt. Carmel Academy, Wichita; Lawrence Pressney and Arthur 3d at home. Thomas, Mary Ann, Edward and Hubert, children of Arthur Larkin and Alice Beard, all died in childhood. During his life Mr. Larkin built up a name for honesty, fair dealing and integrity, gaining for himself a place of honor and confidence in the minds and hearts of his friends. In the early days of frontier life he became the fast friend of William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, and they had agreed that whenever one of them died, the survivor was to attend the funuarl[sic] of his friend, but Mr. Cody could not be located at the time Mr. Larkin was laid away, and the fact was deeply regretted.

From Amazon: This heartwarming, feel-good Christmas story is a wonderful holiday romance with a touch of magic! Gloria Bentley is determined not to let her lack of culinary skills stop her from trying to prepare a perfect Thanksgiving feast for family. After all, she’s a confident, business woman and a top-notch real estate agent. Gloria is used to being successful at whatever she tackles. However, she panics when pots start bubbling over, something’s burning and a very messy accident leaves her kitchen covered in gravy. Brought face to face with her terrible fear of failure, Gloria discovers an ally named Stanley Bickerman. Stanley is a handsome, last minute guest, who shows up early for dinner. He’s also a very resourceful guy who helps her navigate her way through the chaos. But who will rescue Gloria from the emotional turmoil that haunts her in the days that follow? She’s never stopped long enough to look at her feelings. When they surface, she doesn’t know what to do with them. As Christmas approaches, Gloria is overwhelmed by her out-of-whack emotions, sudden crying spells and an ailing back that keeps going out on her. What she does understand is how to be a determined professional. She decides to treat her life like a business. When she discovers that Stanley Bickerman is a successful turnaround consultant, she decides to hire him. With Stanley’s help, Gloria plans to turn around her emotional deficits and get back to normal. She isn’t prepared for Stanley’s unexpected methods. When his approach involves opening her heart to love, Gloria finds the thought scary. After being so independent, she wonders if she’s ready to share her life. Stanley is someone Gloria dreams about, but will she be able to change her ways and let him love her? Or will she end up old and bitter like her colleague? Stanley is determined to help her make the right choice.

My Review: I loved this story. For one, “happily-ever-after’s” appeal to me as does a shorter length novel. The best part of this book is reading about each character and feeling the way they feel internally. Being able to connect in such a personal manner speaks highly of the writer’s story telling ability. Happiness isn’t having a perfect life, it’s about the ups and downs and loving regardless. Five stars.

From Amazon: Nunzio is an idealist at heart. His heart swells with passions. Nunzio’s early years consisted of traveling and developing an appreciation for the people, the nature, and the culture of Italy. His father immersed Nunzio in literature so that even an ordinary day could remind Nunzio of a poem. While serving as the priest of a small parish in the countryside of Italy, Nunzio’s admiration of beauty gets him into trouble. Mariella, a beautiful woman with a husband.

My Review: The author gifted me with a hard bound trade edition. Anna has a unique writing style and she weaves intricate threads throughout. Love is something everyone wants, and something most search for. As much as a man and woman can love each other, that love is tempered with suffering. Such is the case with Nunzio and and Mariella. One married to his church, the other to her husband.

From Amazon: Gluskabe comes back home after a long journey just to be told by his grandmother that the Penobscot River had dried out and that his people needed his help. Gluskabe takes his canoe back in the water and departs for a new adventure to find out what was going on. He is troubled by the news and worries for his people. This Abenaki legend is thousands of years old. Nevertheless, it is very relevant to our world of today where greed is winning over morality and decency.

My Review: Learning about what is right and culture. I just finished this book for children. I think that it fits older children better as they can more easily grasp the new language words use in the story. Above all, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of one – a Star Trek notion that rings true still today.

Thank you for viewing and gallery found here.

From Amazon: Praise for Old Mountain Cassie: The Three Lessons “Prepare to fall in love with Cassie and be forever changed by her teachings.” “The novel is a treasure and delight.” “The story takes you on a journey and invites you to explore the secret to having your own amazing life. “I felt joy and excitement building inside me as I turned each page.” In the quaint Appalachian village of Divine, brooms sweep shop owners outside to trade tales of the latest Old Mountain Cassie sighting. Local lore claims Cassie holds the secret to a prosperous and joyous life…but only for seekers so destined. Lacey Jordan’s fascination to meet the mountain sage intensifies as she eavesdrops on the latest Cassie chatter swirling around her outside Holsom’s Market. And a mystified Lacey believes if she can spend time with Old Mountain Cassie, the confusion and chaos that have plagued her life will lift. What are these sacred and mystical lessons of Cassie’s that offer the keys to “living life amazing?” How will Lacey ever find the mountain recluse tucked away in the woods? Old Mountain Cassie: The Three Lessons is an inspiring, tell-all-your-friends celebration to read. Cassie and the folks of Divine offer a special recipe for an extraordinary life. A generous portion of humor, an extra helping of insight, and a taste of mystery and romance will leave readers both fulfilled and hungry for the next story served up Mountain Cassie style.

My Review: Astounding plus more! This book has been a truly astounding read for me. Honestly, if you need a good dose of faith in humanity, this book nails it. I believe this is the forth book I’ve read by this author and I must say it’s unique. I could write about the characters and such, but I want to convey more. If you don’t know what being in the “Now” is, you must add this book to your list. If you have doubts in life, read this book. If you need a dose of clarity, read this book. Five stars.

Barb the Bird of Hope by Zowie Norris

From Amazon: A story of friendship, acceptance and hope. In a laburnum tree in the Centre of Bretton Park, lives a unique bird called Barb. Her beauty and originality attract the attention of the other birds and park visitors, who see her as a symbol of hope, bringing them much comfort and happiness. She is loved by many and in return is grateful for her life and her friends. When things take a turn for the worst, Barb’s instinct is to fly away from her troubles … Will things get better? Can hope be restored?

My Review: Fauna, Flora, and Humanity Wrapped into One Book! The perfect book to help both children and adults during this time of coronavirus. Beautifully written and illustrated, Barb is a bird full of hope and she goes to a nearby hospital to investigate why people stopped visiting the park and wildlife. While there, she sees a doctor, who gives her pumpkin seeds and talks to her, and she learns about the virus. Barb witness the hope of staff and patients. Barb returns to the park to let the other wildlife know what’s going on. Storms happen in the park, and in real life. Barb is a brilliant light of hope to all people, animals, birds, and trees, and flora and fauna.

Thank you for viewing my art for today. Gallery is found here.

Please welcome Susan Butler Colwell to my blog. How about a nice cup of coffee before we get started?

First, Thank you, Mary, for this fantastic opportunity to meet your friends, followers, and fellow book lovers, and thank you for my awesome animated covers! They are fantastic! (You are quite welcome!)

Okay, about me: I grew up in Midland, Texas, which my husband says is why I’m so darned nice and polite to the degree that he has “never seen in another human being.”

I think it’s the water in Midland—crude oil mixed with sand and fluoride—creating a magical potion that makes people friendly. Now, I’ve not been to Midland in decades, but the last time I was there, the residents’ sweetness made me seem like Cruella De Ville. (Oh, how hilarious!)

These days, I’m a Virginian, and no, I don’t make fur coats out of puppy pelts due to the change in geography. Still, I am sometimes curt with telemarketers who call during dinner. Most of the time, I ask about their families, though. So I guess that cancels out the rudeness in my voice when I say, “Thank you so much for the phone call, but please put us on your “do not call” list … You have a cough, are you feeling okay?”

I live in Loudoun County, about thirty miles outside of Washington, D.C., with said lovely husband (who comments on my politeness) and an adorable gray cat that has many names but responds best to “Kitty Boy.” We’re always coming up with names for him, by the way. Last night it was Pablo Fanque (yes, from the Beatle’s song).

2. Has writing always been part of your life and when did you “know” that it was time to start writing your first book?

I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. Well, except for a two-month stint in summer camp when I wanted to be a country-western singer. (I was seven. Don’t judge.) But I ended up in marketing instead, which means you write and write and write some more. So wish granted, I guess.

I do think writing marketing copy helps in writing a novel. You must take an idea and keep reducing it until you have a concise nugget of information that gets the point across. The same thing applies to story crafting; you just have to do it in much larger doses.

They say to be an adept author, you need to have written at least a million words. I’ve probably written several million words in my decades-long career of promoting products and services, so I felt that might qualify, and off I went. There was just one teensy problem … I had no idea what to write.

I considered my topic day and night. I could write about the grandmother who raised me. That’s a good story. Daught (short for Daughter Baby) was a funny lady, and some of her quips ended up in The Summerlands. Someday, I might have to write the story of Daughter Baby. But I wasn’t inspired to dig in just yet, so the idea sat.

When I was close to giving up, my husband, Cerphe (a big deal radio celeb), interviewed Robert Plant for his radio show. Bobby (as I like to call him, because, you know, six thousand degrees of separation) told Cerphe about his inspiration for a few songs by a band you may have run across if you live on planet earth…Led Zeppelin.

He mentioned J.R.R. Tolkien, light and dark, hobbits, and even Fatty Arbuckle (for goodness sake) in that interview. My ears pricked at “light and dark.” Thus began several weeks of musing on “light and dark” and “right and wrong” and the ever-important “gray areas.”

I’ll bet you think I had the story then and there. Nope.

It was a year or so later (once I’d finally decided I just didn’t have a tale worth telling) that I sat bolt upright in bed with my novel, The Summerlands, playing on a movie screen in my head…the whole thing!

Being four am, I crept out of bed, put on a pot of coffee, and got down to the business of novel writing. Thankfully, it was a Saturday, so I had the weekend to do nothing but type that movie out of my head and onto the page. Twenty days later, I had the first draft.

I’ve heard of songwriters “downloading” entire songs from the collective, the ethereal stream of information that rides the in-between spaces, the dark matter of the universe. I remember thinking how cool that was and wondering what that would be like.

Singer-songwriter Tom Waits says that when an idea for a song comes out of the blue like that, his job is to do what it takes to get it down. If he’s driving, he pulls over. If he’s sleeping, he jumps up and scribbles it down. If he doesn’t react right away, the song goes on to someone else…like Tom Petty, maybe. (Goodness, I miss Tom Petty. He’s mentioned in the book, and yes, I cried when I wrote that scene.)

Chris Martin of Coldplay (who Cerphe has also interviewed because my hubby is insanely cool) has a similar theory. I’ve heard him say, “You know, wherever songs come from,” and “I don’t write songs, I receive them.” Those are just two of the soundbites he uses to sanely describe content received in a mystical way. But I notice he usually looks up or waves a hand at the ceiling when he says it. Uh, huh, Chris Martin, I see you…

Taking part in this phenomenon is one of the most remarkable experiences of my life, and I will be forever grateful.

3. How difficult was it writing your first book?

I had the story of The Summerlands given to me by “the great creative,” so that part was easy. Teaching myself to write a novel was tough. It took three years to find my voice and slip into my writing style. After the fiftieth rewrite, I hired an editor who helped bring my first baby home.

4. Have you ever wanted to give up and what stopped you?

Yes, at rewrite fifty-one, after my shiny new editor came back with notes. . . a lot of notes. But I chugged through and finished my first novel twenty pounds heavier and with a lot less hair. But I got it out there, darn it all!

5. Who is the most supportive of you and your dream to be a writer?

My husband Cerphe and my close friends have been amazingly supportive. They read every draft, offer excellent advice, and listen with non-judgy faces when I talk about my characters like they are real people . . . uh, because they are.  My friends Helen and Christina spitball ideas, with Helen offering creative ways to make my villains squirm. (She really seems to enjoy that, and I don’t ask.) Cerphe never rolls his eyes when I burst into a room (where he’s working) to announce, “Oh! Oh! listen to this!”

6. Anything specific you want to tell your readers?

Yes, and I know you hear this from people far more intelligent than I, but never give up! There were times when I thought I would never be done with The Summerlands. There were times when I sobbed into my ice cream. There were times when I felt like hucking the computer across the room and telling novel-writing to take a hike. But I sucked it up and persevered and whamo! I was staring at a book with a beautiful cover and actual words that I wrote inside! It was the most surreal experience of my life.

7. What is the best advice given to you (book or otherwise), and by whom?

See the “never give up” comment above. I’m sure many people have told me that, but my husband repeats it often, so he gets the credit.

8. What is your target audience and what aspect of your writing do you feel targets that audience?

I write metaphysical fiction, so not everyone’s cup of tea. But I have been delighted to find an audience with readers from every walk of life, religion, and belief system. There’s a message of love in my books that resonates with everyone, I think, no matter if you believe in Goddess, God, or nothing at all.

I’ve been told my books are appropriate for “New Adults.” One reviewer deducted a star because she felt my book was “YA.” And yes, that hurt. Besides, my protagonist is a twenty-two-year-old goddess who has lived a million lives.  So the fact she was over eighteen, plus a few billion cosmic years, kicked her out of the “YA” category before she could stamp her multi-life goddess foot in protest.

But in my mind, I write for people my age; we fifty-somethings trying to get a handle on life, spirituality, and mortality, and everyone trying to make sense of the crazy world around them, no matter their age.

My books are filled with love and hope for a brighter tomorrow. So there is a message in there for everyone.

9. Did the cover evolve the same way, or did you work with someone to make it come together for you?

Oh, boy. I designed my first cover, and it was sort of a disaster. Okay, strike “sort of.” So I hired a professional cover designer, loved what she did, and hired her for books two and three. A great cover is essential, so cover design definitely falls into the “don’t try this at home” category. Lesson learned.

10. What are you working on now? Can we get a peek, an excerpt?

Ooooh, I thought you’d never ask! I’m working on book three, Angel Fire. I’m about two-thirds done with the first draft and am gearing up for the adventure piece of the story to finish it up. Hmm. Let’s see what kind of an excerpt I can lay on you that won’t be a spoiler if you haven’t read the first two books . . .? 

Mind you, it hasn’t been through my editor’s meat grinder yet. I’m sure she’ll be horrified I let this wild thing out into the world, but here goes: 😊

Excerpt form Angel Fire by Susan Butler Colwell

A short while ago, and at the fevered request of the pilot who threw up a quick prayer to his Maker, mind you, I’d been mentally steering this craft through this heavy asteroid field. Somewhat comfortably, I might add, while enjoying a late-night snack in my home on the Earth plane.

Of course, I’m not his Maker. Goddess is. But human prayers go through a lightning-speed chain-mail system, touching each arc and elemental’s soul. Sort of like tapping us on the cosmic shoulder to alert us of the request and the type of danger the human faces.

Each of us has our specialty.

My eternal mate—and soon-to-be-human-style husband, Archangel Michael—takes care of warfare calamity, protecting soldiers who find themselves on the wrong end of something sharp or explosive.

Raphael deals with medical fiascos, car crashes, and the like. Kricket, Raphe’s mate and the goddess of air, takes care of anything brain-related, though. She also saves living beings from tornados and hurricanes, of course.

Helena deals with water emergencies, being the goddess of that element and all. And Andrea, goddess of earth, oversees anything ground-related; earthquakes, mine collapses, quicksand, that sort of thing.

None of us are allowed to intervene in environmental issues and global warming. Goddess wants humans to learn to avoid them without divine assistance. But I try not to think about that.

Anyway, fires, explosions, volcano eruptions, and galactic rescues are my jam. So the other arcs and elementals let those requests glide on by to land with me. Besides, Helena steers clear of anything “spaceship,” water-related or not, since she let a whole armada through her West Gate, and the Earth plane ended up with a dinosaur infestation.

11. Any last words before we wrap things up?

Just to thank you again for the opportunity and to wish you love and light, joy, peace, and abundance by the truckloads!

https://susanbutlercolwell.com/

Angels & Elementals Seires: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093J2GQXY

The Summerlands  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093TWBRK4

The Summerlands Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/kRZ8x8Dwd18

Demon Dagger   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093G432XF

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