Dayton | Jennette Marie Powell

by Jennette, May 19, 2013

Not much to report on my ROW80 goals this week – in fact, I did not complete any of them. I could blame it on having three birthday dinners to attend, a band concert, and continued work on planning the graduation party, but really, those are nothing when we also had a houseguest this week. And not just any guest, either, but a Norse god…

Yes, the THOR TOUR has arrived in Dayton!

I was a little worried last week when Thor failed to appear in Wapakoneta, about fifty miles or so up I-75 from Dayton. But it was shortly thereafter that we had some really snarled-up traffic on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. We never found out why (we seldom do), but that night, Thor arrived at my house on schedule, asking about the aliens that are supposedly stashed away there in Hangar 18.

“No, you can’t go to the base,” I told him when he asked. “They don’t care if you’re the god of Thunder. No ID, no entry. Besides, there is no Hangar 18. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.” I then offered to take him to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

“What is this ‘United States Air Force?’” Thor asked.

When I explained, he seemed to approve at first. “Ah, warfare. This I understand. But… metal flying machines?”

I tried to explain to Thor about aircraft, but he wasn’t buying it. “I have no need of giant flying machines. I smite my enemies with my mighty Mjollnir!”

I was losing this battle. Then my daughter came in and saved the day. “Cool! Thor’s here! Are you going to take him to Carillon Historical Park?”

“I don’t know…” If he wasn’t interested in metal flying machines for warfare, I doubted he’d be interested in the world’s first practical airplane, with wings of wood and cloth.

My daughter had an idea. “It’s a lot scarier than the Air Force Museum, even if it is supposed to be haunted.”

Then she told me her idea, and I agreed. “That would try the intestinal fortitude of even a Norse god!”

Thor, always one to take on a challenge, agreed. “I should like to go to this ‘HIGH SCHOOL…’”

The students escorted Thor around as befitted a Norse god, on the back of a giant bumblebee.

Thor did not understand band. “What is this… flute? What is the purpose of blowing into it to make sounds? It would make a much better weapon, methinks.”

He took to Chemistry like, uh, oil to water. “I shall smite them with this pipet!”

Some of the students were rather taken aback at the appearance of a Norse god in class.

…while others exhibited the proper appreciation of a god: “Thor? I LOVE Thor!”

Thor tried his hand at painting.

He didn’t care much for English class: “These books are inferior. They are all in English!”

He wasn’t so sure about German, either, but enjoyed the attentions of the ladies.

Thor was completely stymied regarding Calculus, so he punched a student in the face. The boy didn’t seem to mind.

Thor even tried his hand at teaching, and learned that some things–such as commanding the attention of a classroom full of seniors on their last week of school–are beyond the abilities of even a Norse god.

Then it was play time. “It’s your last day, or your last year of school, so let’s pretend we’re going back to our first year,” one teacher described what was otherwise known as Kindergarten Day.

“This is not usual High School activity?” Thor asked when presented with shaving cream. “Uh, no,” the students told him. “Just have fun.” Thor thinks he might have seen one of the Hangar 18 aliens…

Thor left, parting a sea of shaving cream. “I think I shall leave High School to the young mortals henceforth!”

To see where Thor’s been, and where he might show up next, check out the THOR WORLD TOUR page on Debra Kristi’s blog!

Quick ROW80 update: Not much to report. I did not get any work done on my revisions, and two out of three workouts done. This week, the plan is to get back into a routine: four workouts, and get through the markup phase of the revisions.

What about you? Do you find your goals pushed aside by things like birthdays and houseguests? Can you imagine hosting a Norse god in HIGH SCHOOL??? I’d love to hear from you! And I hope Thor’s adventures will be a bit less fearsome wherever he’s headed next.

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

by Jennette, February 4, 2013

Yesterday was that great American holiday known as Superbowl Sunday, where the NFL’s top two teams duke it out… AND we get to see the year’s best commercials! I will have to admit I didn’t watch much yesterday–too much else to do, and I didn’t really care who won–but when I do watch. it’s mostly for the commercials!

We have some good–well, depending on how you define “good”–local commercials, too. Take these car commercials for instance. The guy in the commercials is the sales manager for Dayton area dealership group, and whether or not you’re in the market for new car, if you live in Dayton and ever turn on the TV, you’ve seen them–and probably have an opinion on them. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re certainly memorable!

You see, this guy pops up whenever anyone mentions buying a new car… and in some of the weirdest places! It goes something like this: a husband and wife, or maybe a couple of friends, are talking and one of them mentions something like “yeah, and after this, I need to go shop for a new car.” Then this sales manager guy pops into the middle of everything (and I mean everything!) and says, “Did someone say something about BUYING A CAR??!!”

He has shown up in a ladies’ aerobics class:

…in the middle of a wedding:

…in someone’s hot tub!

…even in the delivery room! O.o

He’s shown up in the ladies’ room at a night club (in a separate stall!). He’s even shown up in bed with a husband and wife! (In the middle!) Everyone was clothed, but… ewww!

In case you’re wondering, I did not buy my Camaro from these guys, but about a year later, they bought the dealership I bought from! When we were thinking about placing an order (this was before production began), my husband said, “I don’t want that guy showing up in my hot tub!” LOL!

What about you? Would you buy a car from this guy? Do you think these commercials are funny? Creepy? Or just dumb? If you watched the Superbowl last night, which commercial was your favorite? Mine was the one for milk, with the Rock. I’d love to hear from you!

On another note, I’m at the ROW80 blog today, talking about how to Set a Goal You Can’t Miss. Stop by and let me know what you think!

by Jennette, December 17, 2012

It’s time for a My Town Monday post, and I wasn’t sure what I was going to blog about today until I saw the date.

It’s not a significant date to everyone, but if you’ve ever flown in an airplane, it’s significant to you, because December 17, 1903 was when Wilbur and Orville Wright made their historic, first flight.

“But Jennette, why are you blogging about something that happened in North Carolina? You’re from Dayton, Ohio!” you might ask.

The historic first flight at Kill Devil Hills, NC

Yes, I am from Dayton, Ohio–and so were the Wrights! That historic first flight might have happened elsewhere, but ninety percent of the work that led up to it (and followed) happened in Dayton.

In 2003, when the city was awash in celebrations and special commemorative events, The Dayton Daily News conducted a survey. I don’t have access to it now, and don’t know how large or scientific the sampling was, but the results were surprising regardless. While most people did indeed know that Wilbur and Orville Wright invented the first powered aircraft, less than half of the respondents knew the airplane was invented in Dayton, or that there was any connection with Dayton at all. A surprising number didn’t even know where the first flight took place, and many thought all the work had been done in North Carolina.

Where it all began – the Wright home at 7 Hawthorn Street, Dayton, Ohio

Home in Dayton is where the Wrights studied birds in flight for countless hours. It’s where their bicycle shop was, where they studied the workings of gears and chains, much of which later found its way into their early designs–for example, they used bicycle chains to connect the two propellers to the engine. Home in Dayton is where the Wrights flew kites to study how wind interacted with cloth-covered panels (and where many people thought they were crazy, or at least weird). It was where they built a wind tunnel, and experimented with miniature aircraft and propellers to determine the most flight-worthy designs. It was where they hired mechanic Charlie Taylor to develop the most powerful engine possible with the technology of the day, in the lightest weight. It was where their sister, Katharine Wright, sewed yards upon yards of white sateen fabric for the Wright Flyer’s wings.

They started traveling to the Outer Banks in 1900, when they began experimenting with gliders large enough to carry a person. They needed steady, straight-line winds to fly it–something not in good supply in Ohio. The area they chose was remote, difficult to access, and the weather was often miserable. On December 14th, a week before they’d planned to leave for the winter, they flipped a coin. Wilbur won the toss.

The plane got off the ground, but immediately crashed. Wilbur was unhurt, but the aircraft wasn’t, so they spent the next three days repairing it.

On the 17th, the winds were a bit on the strong side, but they both decided if they didn’t fly then, they probably wouldn’t that year, so Orville took his turn manning the craft. He flew, for a whole twelve seconds, and about 100 feet beyond the end of the launch rail. They made three other flights that day, the longest being 59 seconds and about 800 feet, before the craft again crashed and required extensive repairs. But this time when they packed it in, they’d accomplished what they’d worked toward for many years.

Just like publishing a book, that first flight wasn’t the end of the Wrights’ work, but the beginning. They researched and experimented over the winter. When they returned to Kill Devil Hills in the spring, it was to pack up their campsite there. They continued their work in Dayton from that point forward, with a craft that could fly in variable winds and make turns.

What about you? Did you know that Orville and Wilbur Wright did the vast bulk of their research and development work in Dayton, Ohio? Have you worked on something for years, only to realize the achievement wasn’t an end, but a beginning? I’d love to hear from you – please share!

Photos are public domain (copyright expired)

by Jennette, December 3, 2012

Courthouse Square, where the Downtown Posse used to hang out

One of my writing friends wrote a flash fiction piece on Friday about a Christmas that wasn’t so merry–and she conveyed amazingly well in 100 words the devastation losing a loved one during the holiday season can wreak on a family.

But can you imagine how much worse it would be, if that loved one was murdered?

That’s what happened one year to the families of six people in Dayton, in a murder spree dubbed The Christmas Killings. Six people, murdered for no reason, between December 23 and December 26, 1992 – and an appropriately dangerous, conflict-laden situation into which to dump a character – as I did in my time-travel short story, “Time’s Holiday.”

At that time, there was a loose-knit street gang who called themselves The Downtown Posse – teens and twenty-somethings who mostly hung out around Courthouse Square, bumming money off of people to buy booze and drugs. A couple of days before Christmas, the Posse decided to up their game, when one it its members suggested they rob a man she knew, who she enticed with an offer of sexual favors.

Robbery turned into murder, and the four Posse members involved got away with the man’s car, a television set, and his microwave. They’d gotten away scot-free, so why not try it again?

The next day, they shot a young woman on the phone in a phone booth, just for the hell of it. She didn’t have any cash to speak of on her. They took her designer gym shoes and her coat. They then decided to go after one of the girls’ ex-boyfriend – he had money and a car. He managed to get away with a gunshot wound in his leg.

All this time, the cops were busy investigating and putting together clues. The Posse weren’t the smart criminals we read about in suspense novels, so it was a matter of time before they slipped up. The Dayton Police only hoped it was before more people died.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t how it worked out. The Posse’s next victim was another ex-boyfriend, but at the scene of that murder – on the street in front of his home, when he got suspicious – the cops found leads and witnesses that began to point them in the right direction.

The Posse hid out at the home of one of its members. This boy’s mom and her boyfriend were terrified of the Posse (and rightly so), and holed up upstairs the whole day and a half the Posse occupied their house. This is the point at which, in my short story “Time’s Holiday,” young Taylor Gressman shows up and finds herself in a heap of trouble.

The Posse went on to kill a convenience store clerk – the single mom of an 11-year old girl. After that, they cruised around some more in their stolen cars, now numbering three, with some other friends. One young man convinced them to take him home. The other two weren’t so lucky, and were killed because the four ringleaders were getting nervous and feared they might snitch.

As it turned out, the boy they’d dropped off earlier was the one who snitched, giving the police the last bit of evidence they needed. They trapped three Posse members in one of the stolen cars, and found the other at the house where they’d been staying – and where the terrified mom identified the last culprit.

All four of the Posse members who were arrested that day were convicted by the court. One man, Marvallous Keene, was executed by the State of Ohio in July, 2009. The other three perpetrators were only 16 and 17 at the time of the murders, so all three are serving multiple sentences, with no chance for parole until 2098 at the earliest.

While there have been plenty of other murders in the area, including some where more people were killed at once, the police consider this the worst, as it was clearly premeditated, and one murder was committed, then another plan was executed, and another. And the worst thing was, not only did it happen over Christmas, it was done for kicks.

Here is a reprint of a Dayton Daily News article that tells the whole story, which I used extensively in my research.

My story, “Time’s Holiday,” is available as a standalone ebook for FREE! Although fictitious, find out how seventeen-year-old Taylor sneaks away on Christmas Eve, hoping to find the angel who saved her life a few weeks earlier. Instead, she takes an unexpected trip back in time, and finds herself in the midst of a murderous street gang. Now it’s up to Taylor to ensure that she and a newfound friend don’t become the gang’s next victims, and in the process, learn that giving is the best gift of all.

If you’ve thought about giving the Saturn Society series a try, this is a great way to see if it’s something you might like. Grab a copy of the ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo Books, Sony or iTunes.

If you’d like something more, “Time’s Holiday” is also included in the Ohio Valley Romance Writers of America’s anthology, Home for the Holidays. The anthology is available in both print and ebook at Amazon.com; and in ebook from Smashwords, Kobo Books, Sony, Barnes & Noble and should be coming soon to iTunes. All proceeds go directly to Ohio Valley Romance Writers of America, and help bring in educational programs for the whole chapter.

What about you – do you have any creepy true crime stories in your home from around the holidays? Can you imagine what the victims’ families must go through every year? And not to end on such a downer, do you like holiday stories?

by Jennette, November 19, 2012

Note from Jennette: this blog post originally ran on August 15, 2011, and remains one of my most popular posts for people to find via search. Meanwhile, I’m working on my NaNoWriMo novel, and am now over 2/3 of the way to the 50,000-word mark!

One of the fun things about writing (and reading) time travel stories is the whole fish-out-of-water aspect, especially when someone goes into the future. There is one scene in Time’s Enemy, my newly-released time-travel novel, where a character from the 1930s comes forward to modern times. When she asks for a drink and is handed a can of Mountain Dew, she’s understandably perplexed at what to do with it (and initially thinks it’s moonshine, LOL).

Anyone remember drinking beer or pop (“soda” for you non-Midwesterners) from a can like this? Younger folks might not, but in the sixties, seventies, and into the early eighties, this is what you got if you bought beer in a can, or got a Coke, Pepsi, etc. from a machine. Of course, I also remember pop in glass bottles – you know, where you bought a six pack at Kroger and paid a deposit of $.05 – .10 per bottle, which they returned when you took the bottles back to the store.

But back to the cans – before they were like this, they required a can opener, like is still used today to open larger cans of juice, although those are now mostly replaced by bottles. The can opener had a sharp point on it, and poked a triangle hole in the edge of the can. A second hole was needed to admit air.

Dayton inventor Ermal Fraze

The pull tab shown on the can to the right came about in the early sixties, after Dayton tool-and-die maker Ermal Fraze went on a picnic, and forgot to bring a can opener for the drinks. According to the stories, he ended up prying cans open on a car bumper (???), then went home and devised a can with a built-in opener – the pull tab.

The pull tab was eventually superceded by the now-familiar push-in top in the eighties, but it was the pull tab that helped push cans to edge out glass bottles in popularity as a beverage container. Fraze’s legacy lives on today in the form of full-top pull tabs that are still commonly used in canned snacks like peanuts. Dayton Reliable Tool (now DRT Mfg.), the machine shop he formed in the 1940s, is also still in business in Dayton today.

Do you know of any cool little details that we take for granted today, that originated in your hometown? Please share!

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverage_can
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/fraze.html
http://www.heartlandscience.org/manuf/poptop.htm

Photo of beer can via Wikipedia, public domain | Photo of Ermal Fraze via Heartlandscience.org

by Jennette, November 5, 2012

Note from Jennette: I am deep in the weeds of NaNoWriMo, so I’m offering up a rerun. I have a lot of followers now who weren’t following me when this was originally published, so I’m hoping a lot of new readers will find this. It’s also timely – the facilities upgrade initiative mentioned in the blog post is on the Library Levy on the ballot in tomorrow’s general election. So if you live in the area and haven’t already voted, please go – and consider voting YES for the library! Not sure why? Read on!

The Dayton area has always been fortunate to have a fantastic library. For two centuries, the library has been a vital part of our community.

The very first officially-recognized public library in Ohio, Dayton’s first library was started in 1805, in the home of Benjamin Van Cleve. Back then, it was a pay service. The library moved several times and was even closed and all its books sold, on at least two occasion.

Photo of The old Dayton library The precursor to today’s Dayton Metro Library was built on the current library’s property in 1888. This building was also home to a museum, which included natural history and Native American artifacts. The museum later became the Dayton Museum of Natural History, and eventually was renamed the Booneshoft Museum of Discovery. The museum was moved into its own location in 1955, and the library continued to serve as such until it was demolished, and the current building built, in 1961.

Today the libaray continues to be a happening place, with 20 branches located throughout Montgomery County. It’s unusual to drive past the two branches near me and not see the parking lots nearly full. In addition to traditional books and periodicals, the library began carrying music on tape in the seventies, which eventually expanded to VHS videos and audiobooks on tape, then Music CDs, DVDs, and audiobooks on CDs. Dowloadable ebooks and audiobooks were added via Overdrive in the early 2000s – more on that in a future blog post. Programs for kids, teens and adults – on book-related subjects and otherwise – are popular.

Dayton Metro Library The library is once more outgrowing its downtown location, and has proposed an ambitious expansion plan in an effort to stay relevant and serve the community. Changes in technology – especially in book publishing – are creating a shift in how consumers patronize the library, and the usage of services has shifted to a lot more computer use, more online checkouts of e- and audiobooks, and more demand for meeting space, as opposed to shelf space for paper books. Studies have focused on cities like Fort Wayne, Indiana, where a new, expanded library has played a key role in revitalizing a stagnant downtown.

But the best part of the library remains the same – whatever book or written material you’re looking for, the library probably has it – and if they don’t, they have partnerships with a public libraries all over Ohio, and chances are, you’ll find it there. As has been the case for as long as I can remember, there’s no charge to have a book you’re looking for, transferred to your local branch if they don’t have a copy there. Loans for (and transfer of) materials from participating Ohio libraries are also free.

I got my first library card around age 6 or 7. Having lived in the area all my life, I’ve often taken the library for granted. But I’ve had friends who’ve moved out of the area to larger cities, who tell me their libraries don’t have near the selection Dayton’s library has.

What about you? Does your hometown have a great library? Do you use its service, or are you even aware of all your library offers? (I admit that if I were to try to list them, I’d probably miss a few.)

Historic photo via Dayton Metro Library www.daytonmetrolibrary.org | 1960′s photo – unknown

by Jennette, October 29, 2012

It’s true! And I never knew until yesterday, when looking for an appropriately-spooky topic to blog about. Who knows, maybe that explains my weirdness.

The hospital in question is the medical complex now called Elizabeth Place, which houses numerous doctors’ offices and has a couple dozen inpatient rooms. It opened in its current-day incarnation as a physician-owned medical center in 2006, after the facility had lain empty for six years.

View Larger Map

Before that, it was known as the Franciscan Medical Center, having been re-named from its former appellation, and the one most people still know it by: St. Elizabeth Hospital. And St. Elizabeth had been around a long time – it was originally opened by the Franciscan Sisters in 1878. So it has had a lot of time to collect spiritual remnants. As a charitable organization, the Franciscan Sisters’ policy was to never turn anyone away, regardless of ability to pay, so many indigent and homeless Daytonians were treated there. Big surprise – lack of funding was the main reason the hospital was forced to close in 2000. At the time of its closing, the 321-bed hospital complex included seven buildings.

It was then that the stories of hauntings started coming to light.

Many of these are the typical phenomena: cold spots – including ones where people thought the cold spot was “following” them, sensations of being watched when no one was there (but there were tons of cameras in the place ), seeing a shadowy person reflected behind one when approaching a mirrored glass wall – and the person reporting the visual was alone.

Many people have reported elevators stopping and opening their doors on floors where no one had pushed the call button. Security guards who worked the facility while it was vacant claim to have seen an empty wheelchair in the lobby, spinning in circles. Other people have reported hearing “voices,” when they were alone. (Judging from the stories, I don’t think these people were writers. We hear voices regularly. )

While the buildings were vacant, they still had minimal power – just enough that the security guards could see to make their rounds. One guard reported walking through what had housed the inpatient adult psychiatric ward. One of her companions remarked that he wished it were better lit, and every single light in the area – including those that were supposedly disconnected – came on! Other weird happenings during the time the facility was unoccupied include a bright flash of light in an upper floor room, that was captured by a security camera mounted on the exterior of the Dayton Heart Hospital next door. Security guards rushed to the room, fearing an electrical short that could start a fire. They found nothing amiss, and nothing that could have caused the bright burst of light.

The weirdest thing about that story? The room where the burst of light had appeared was one where a resident nun had committed suicide many years before.

But the phenomenon I read the most accounts of was the “perfume spot” (photo here). This looks like the corner of a large treatment room, or perhaps a hallway. Whatever it is, many people have reported smelling a strong rose-scented perfume. This happened before the hospital was closed, too. One theory is that the perfume-wearer is the ghost of a pharmacy worker, whose boyfriend murdered her when she refused to get drugs for him.

It’s been many years since my mother was in St. Elizabeth’s hospital. My brother is five years younger than me, and by the time he came along, my family had moved to the suburbs, so he was born in a newer, suburban hospital. I asked my mom if she recalled anything spooky or weird during her stay at St. Elizabeth in the sixties. She didn’t – but then, that doesn’t surprise me, considering that she gave birth to me there, and I’m the most unintuitive person I know. In researching, I also did not run across any mentions of possible paranormal activity occurring after the facility was reopened as Elizabeth Place.

More info, including photos and a tour of the hospital while it was vacant, can be found on the Forgotten Ohio website.

What do you think? Could being born in a haunted hospital influence a would-be writer? Do you know of a haunted hospital, or have one in your hometown? I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, October 15, 2012

One of the coolest and most interesting buildings in Dayton is the Old Courthouse, located in the city’s center, at the corner of Third and Main Streets. The Greek-revival style building was completed in 1850, and remains one of the area’s architectural and historic treasures.

Photo via Wikipedia Commons

It’s also haunted.

People have claimed to hear footsteps going upstairs to the judges’ chambers, and others have reported hearing moans.

The courthouse was started in 1844, and was built on the site the jail occupied for forty years before that. The jail was also where murderers were hung. Dayton’s first convicted murderer was John McAfee, who was having an affair, and murdered his wife. He was hung for this in 1824, and many people speculate that his ghost is one of those that haunt the courthouse. But even among people who might be inclined to go along with this story, there’s debate, for historical record indicates that the jail wasn’t yet used for hangings at that time. They were instead public events, until Ohio passed a law banning this. By then, a new jail had been built beside the courthouse on Third Street.

Other murderers were hung in the jail beside the courthouse throughout the 1860s and 1870s, and it’s possible that one or more of their ghosts haunt the courthouse. A likely possibility is James Murphy, who was only 19 when convicted. His was a botched execution; at first, the rope broke. After it was replaced, it was too short, and the opening of the trapdoor in the platform beneath it didn’t cause the expected, quick snap. Instead, Murphy hung for seventeen minutes before he finally died.

Perhaps the ghost is that of Harry Adams, the last man to hang at the jail on Third Street, and who swore innocence until his death, claiming that his girlfriend was the murderer.

Of course, my skepticism meter registers pretty high for all of this, but maybe that’s just me. I’ve been inside the courthouse, and never heard any weird noises or felt any cold drafts, but then I’m probably the least intuitive person I know. But the stories are kind of fun either way. Here’s an article on Examiner.com with some more details.

Another fun fact: the plaza beside the courthouse is where my recently-released short story “Time’s Holiday” begins.

Hauntings or no, the Courthouse is a beautiful building. Here’s a video that goes over all its cool history and gives a tour inside.

What do you think? Is Dayton’s old courthouse haunted? Do you have a similar place in your hometown, and do you go along with the stories, or are you skeptical like me? I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, August 23, 2012

How? you might ask. Well, if you’re Taylor Gressman, and you inadvertently go back in time a couple decades, you might find yourself in the midst of the Christmas Killings, the worst killing spree in Dayton’s history. The killers, four of whom were caught and convicted, murdered six people between December 23 and 26 in 1992 for little more than a few bucks, a pair of shoes, and a jacket.

No one’s ever accused me of being too nice to my characters.

This is the premise of my upcoming short story, “Time’s Holiday,” and urban fantasy author Debra Kristi gave me the perfect opportunity to introduce it by tagging me in the LOOK! meme (Thanks, Debra!).

The rules are pretty simple. Just do a search for the word “look” in your work-in-progress, and paste it in with the surrounding paragraph or two. Then, of course, you get to tag others. First, a little bit of “Time’s Holiday:”

She opened her eyes to find a blond girl about her age staring at her from across the small… bedroom, she guessed, although there wasn’t any furniture. The worn carpet beneath her head was an indeterminate grayish-brown, and riddled with what looked like cigarette burns. The drywall above the blond girl’s shoulder was cracked, and someone had punched a hole through it just above her head. “Where…” Taylor began. She swallowed, her mouth dry. “Where am I?”

The girl half-shrugged. “Bill’s place.”

Taylor tried to shake off the lethargy. “Where’s… that?”

The girl cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t remember coming here? Man, you must’ve gotten some strong stuff.”

Taylor struggled to brace a hand on the floor. Had she been drugged? Finally, she pushed herself up. As she caught her breath, she looked down.

She still wore her black peacoat, her frilly black skirt billowing from beneath it. Her granny boots remained laced on her feet. A tiny, red hair clip shaped like a buttefly lay beside her. She lifted her hand to her head–ugh, why was it so hard?–and patted her hair. One of her ponytails had come out. And she realized that the girl across the room wasn’t blurry, so she still had her glasses on. “I…” Taylor stared at her hands. “No, I don’t remember.” The last thing she remembered was going to Courthouse Square to look for her angel, then some bum handing her a flyer…

Thanks again, Debra, for the tag!

image from Microsft Clip Art (office.microsoft.com) And now I get to tag people. I’ll just do a few, since I’d love to get a taste of what these authors are working on:

If you don’t have time or something ready to share, no worries!

My goal with “Time’s Holiday” is to give those who’ve already read the Saturn Society books a fun glimpse into a minor character’s backstory, while piquing the interest of those who haven’t read the books.

On another note, when I did my search, the word “look” or a variation of it appeared24 times in 23 pages. Too much? What do you think? Do you like holiday stories? Is this too gruesome a topic for one (there’s no on-the-page violence)? While it isn’t the swee goodness and light that many holiday stories are full of, it does have its moments of Christmas cheer and goodwill.

by Jennette, August 20, 2012

Last Thursday, I blogged about courting burnout, and some things I did in an effort to alleviate it.

One of those things was to take time out to play. I’d only ridden my Harley twice all summer, which my husband had been giving me shit about. Part of the reason is because it’s just been too darn hot for much of the summer – riding in that is like pointing a blow dryer into your face. In other words, not much fun. But even when I had decent weather, it seemed I always had too much to do.

So I decided to blow it all off and ride. This is what my husband does to blow off stress – just hop on the bike and see where the road takes you.

The road took me up north of Dayton, to Huber Heights, and to Carriage Hill and Metropark. The park is a goodly swath of green land and undeveloped, uncultivated, natural prairie; hiking and horse trails; and picnic areas. It’s also home to Carriage Hill Farm, a historically-accurate, operating 1880s-era farm.

I remember going there on field trips more than once during my elementary school days. Mostly what I remember about it was the farm animals — sheep, horses, cattle, pigs, and chickens. It was a great experience for any suburban or city schoolkid. There were a lot of things there now that weren’t when I was in school – the surrounding park, for one, and also the restored windmill, and a separate museum building and store. I’m pretty sure they also didn’t have the functional steam-thresher, which people were demoing that day and was pretty cool!

I took my time just wandering around the place. Although I have to confess: I took a few pictures, so it wasn’t 100% not-work. But it was fun and relaxing, and that’s what counts. Also, I got to enjoy three of my favorite things: the road, nature, and history!

Does your hometown have anything like this, where city and suburban folks can learn about history and farm life? Have you done anything to just get away and have fun lately?

Click any of the photos below to see a slideshow.