November 20, 2012

• Golitely Gazette

  Dear Friends,

  I have been beating a dead horse this morning, with so much junk in this computer kicking out an hour of labor just endeavoring to thank a special woman down in Texas. – Name, Sweet, “Karen,” for she is another person who devoted a whole blog to me and to my book.  I cannot say that it is just any old book, for it has won awards, but I humbly respect that there are writers out on Xanga who can make me look shabby.

  Karen, though knows of what I am speaking but in a different realm.  She has many hurdles to overcome, but she will say that all that she has been through is, “Wonderful.”  I am going to down load her letters to me, not only because that they are precious and encouraging, but because they are at the heart of loving justice to want to help me succeed to give name to what happened in the southern diaspora of mid century.  I ached for the Dust Bowl people, and I will grow older and may be telling my story of, “Pinkhoneysuckle,” to someone willing to take on the southern Appalachians.

  What impressed me most about, “The Dust Bowl,” was that the people had such a different attitude than where I was from, and I do not understand exactly why things were this way, but they seemed to have loving fathers and mothers who were not beating their children, and tearing in to the flesh, which no child deserves — But, “Pinkhoneysuckle,” had to leave you with that message that we were in Southern Aappalachia a group who became victim to the cycle of abuse which probably came on board with them as a ship pulled out of a harbor in London in the 16 to 1700s, and I have concrete evidence my family was in what became Georgia in 1720, an absolutely direct lineage, for you do not argue with the people writing at that time, for they were a colony and they were headed for something extremely large — The setteling of America, and a great Revoltion was to begin down the pike that killed many original settlers, but it was a land they had come to for not just land, but more prominently;  They had come here seeking freedom of worship — And like it or not kids, the God of the constitution was the Puritan God who had cast off the mother church of England, and had about as much use for Catholicism as to probably  hang you in the town square for blasphemy, or a woman could be loaded on the backs of vicious men and women and be tried and burned for practicing a pagan religion if her nosey and suspicious neighbors decided that she just might be possessed by The Devil himself.  God forbid they catch her looking in the mirror or see her gathering herbs to make a good polstice to cure what ailed one –something she would have learned in the old country.  She probably even gathered digitalis, as natural as it gets for certain heart ailments, but if it took the swelling out of Granny’s feet, but she did not talk much and she was brewing things; Holy Mother of God – She would be watched closely.
  Finally Maryland, in I do not remember the exact year, but before the Revolution would become the first, “Freedom of Religion Colony;” and what a worrisome thought, for it was a Catholic colony, so where did they get off on this freedom of religion clap trap; Is that appropriate to use under these terms?  Clap trap has meant other things to our learned people of the 20th century and now the 21st; So baby, grab the lye soap and wash my mouth out.

  Karen has had an interesting life and is teaching me about the life in her area which  was not exactly easy on the body or mind either, but she knows about the oil fields and those workers and it is a lesson which I need to learn.  I thank her as a friend, as a person with a generous heart and someone to look up to, because it takes toughness and courage to do all that she must every day.  I, humbly accept the kindness that she is telling you, “Pinkhoneysuckle,” is a book you may need to close your ears if you cannot handle everything from the truth of where babies came from, that we all hid from ratting out any neighbors who might be selling some home made stuff over Hannah’s gate.  Revenuers had  about as much clout as a scarecrow in a pumpking patch devoured by a heard of hungry ground hogs, and you did not get in to people’s business, for we always got the message that houses were going to get burned out, and then in the 1980s in news from home I would hear of house explosions; so snitch; “Who dared.”  Karen understands these thingss.

  God bless her precious being, and I will keep on thanking people until the well runs dry who purchase my book or the Kindle of, “Pinkhoneysuckle,”  I have told you that the bias is heavily against a one of us succeding in this book industry, and the book people who once would help each other once upon a time to make contacts in the larger world, then a lot of them are not doiing it, because they would be giving away a slice of their ooown success.  I ask again; How do we compete with women who bring down Generals, and my answer when it creeps in to my outward conscience tells me — We only have our friends, some family, and a few angels along the way

  Our answer from others will always be; “At least you published.”  All I have to do is to go to my Create Space Amazon sales report and to know that it hurts a little to see that there will be no buyers now and again, and I met a man by the name of David Farland (Wolverton),  who got in to the business a long time ago, and the slow down, or shall we say the vehicle, “Our Books,” which we loved and worked very hard on have been the menaced market of new ebooks, the choce of more books than at any time in history, so our books are sitting, and we count month per month on our Create Space site and see how many books were sold, where they went, and then talk with those who have an advertising budget, and the word goes forth even the big guys do not know what to do.

  Karen, thank you so much for loving me, our sweet Golightely and Bobbie and all of the gang she shares on her blog, and I find that she is a great blogger, but more importantly people like her and Lonely Wanderer gets you through the heart break that you have done your very best, and their reading what is a very sad but great story with my manner of writing.  I would not say this without the awards and the reviews, so at this Thanksgiving, I thank Golightly Gazetted, shockingly talented Nash Vegas, Los Vegas Mike, and Screaming Eagle have shown much kindness, but sales are a mystery to me.

  Now may we saps gather in, get ready for Charlie Brown’s Christmas,  the  bowl games, the trips home wherever home may be, put asside our burdens, stay off the sale’s page, and simple transcend all that angers and frightens us to concentrate on Thanksgiving,  and leave not a plate empty, for the loved ones lost this year are best remembered feeding the hungry instead of sharing an empty plate.

  Thanks again precious Karen for keeping us up with tales from home;  What a wonderful person, what a loving heart, and thank you for recommending my, “Pinkhoneysuckle.”  I just know the E-web is going to crash under the weight of my books sale, and I will see from New York to Los Angeles, To the Texas pan handle and onward the beautiful signs of  a book which grabbed hold, and may leave it’s regards to the past century in asking that coming of age should be joyful;  And shame on those people who decide meth is better than the broken little babies who are going to be hard to mend.

  Take care of the children; “Oh God,:” and if people cannot raise their own children, then may hidden and kindness let them seek refuge while they are you, so that they may be, ‘Someone’s little child.”
  Thanks to all who made your way to: Amazon, Kindle Ready, “Pinkhoneysuckle,”  I remain hopeful that all will change to bring me in to a new morning; where no one catches day break like my friend Bill.  We pray for Punk Rock Cowboy — Just make it home and be warm, feel loved and with the darkspots away.  Always and God Bless, Barbara Everett Heintz

  • 5:56 pm
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