My Sept column for Newton Co News

500. Lincoln Jones returns to his Newton County roots with High Grade

My book store in Granby will be closed for the week of Sept. 9^th for our annual family trip.

I have signed up for 2 craft fairs this year, so will be closed Sept 22nd for the one at Crowder College, and Oct.20^th for the Maple Leaf in Carthage. I will also be closed Sept 29^th because I will be doing a weaving demonstration (in period costume) at Prairie Jubilee, Prairie State Park, north and west of Carthage. These are all on Saturdays. For information about any of these events feel free to call me at 472-7111 or you can find info on line.

Weaving class has started for the fall semester at Crowder College, so I will open the book store at noon on Wednesdays again. Sorry for any inconvenience.

I plan to start doing a feature author each month. I am still working on my idea and plan to have specials on a different author for each month. Look for that in October.

I mentioned last month that I had received a call from an author in Arizona. Mr. Jones was born in Granby, raised in Neosho and after retiring he finally had time to write this book that he says has been in his head for 20 years. After my column last month I got a call from a cousin of Mr. Jones and I was able to connect her with Mr. Jones and as a result located a picture of his Great grandmother and her tombstone for him. It has been fun being the “Granby Sleuth.”

High Grade

by

D. Lincoln Jones

What if a soldier returned from war: but he had no memory of home? This first novel by Mr. Jones is part non fiction but mostly fiction. It is based on stories passed down from his family of story tellers. Using old documents to keep it authentic he nails this one. His Great great grandfather (Ben) went off to fight in the Civil War, leaving behind a wife and 4 children. He is later followed by his son ( Matt). When Ben is seriously wounded he is sent to a boat to be taken to St. Louis, the nearest hospital of the time. He never showed up, dead or alive. He is gone. The story line goes back and forth between 1860 to 1865 and you get a feel for Ben and his family and his needing to go into the Union Army. Then you see him as a lost man who ends up in Colorado with no memory of his past life, only his bible with names that haunt him. Even though he had no memory, Ben retained the values and skills he had before his injury and that carries him to start a new life.

I feel Mr. Jones really developed the characters and probably stayed true to the family stories that he was told all his life. He wanted to tell a story of “What if” Ben had lived and what might his life have been like. We learn about Matt who ended up in Granby Mo. Will Ben find his way back? I will have to ask you to read to book to learn the answer. In real life “Matt” is the Great Grandfather of the author. He was a minister and a sheriff in Granby. His real name was Nimrod Columbus Jones. He died in 1920's in Granby and his descendants live on.

I loved this book and will keep copies in the store to sell for 14.99. The same price that it sells for on Amazon but no shipping fee for you. You can also order it thru Amazon for your E-reader. I understand from my communications with Mr. Jones that he is wrapping up a sequel to this book and I look forward to learning what happened to the rest of Ben's family.

Explosive Eighteen

by

Janet Evanovich

Evanovich is up to book eighteen (that I know of) with her Stephanie Plum series. By the way, I read in the paper that Evanovich ranks up there with the top money makers with this series.

In this book Stephanie is still the ditsy bounty hunter in Trenton NJ. She gets a photo slipped into her travel bag and everyone is out to get it back, as it is linked to a big international murder. Of course while this is playing out, she and her sidekick Lulu is trying to round up the local bond jumpers so that she can make money to live on. She somehow manages to solve the mysteries and not get killed. She counts on her luck more than any real skills. Her romance still is going back and forth between the same two guys and you are left to still wonder who she will end up with. These Evanovich books are fun to read.

At the present time I find there is a book #19 available, plus she has another series started featuring Lizzy and Diesel. I picked one up at the library in audio book form. That is new for me and I was amazed how many audio books are available there.

Thought for the day: Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.

Heresssss your sign!

I had this sign made for my sister and I.  We are doing a couple craft fairs this fall and I thought it would be cute to make a sign to hang.  I think it says it all, don't you?????  I am keeping the sign hanging in the store over a shelf unit that has some of our stuff displayed.  I think we have a tiny addiction going here.  We just can't help ourselves when we see a garage sale then have to get together and squeal over what we FOUND!  Help!!!!

Love the banging sounds of making that loom work

Back in class:  This is the project that I left on the loom at the end of last semester.  Plan to do about 20 inches of the turquoise then repeat the gold, etc for the other end.  Will be a wall hanging or runner.  It measures about 15 inches across.  I have some South West pictures on my wall in my "studio" so it will prob be hung there.  Think the next project will be learning to do a soft open weave on a scarf. 

BookSneeze review

As a member of Booksneeze.com I get a free book to read but am required to do a book review of the book before I can request another book.  Fair enough.  The book I received last is called: Alienation book 2, by Jon S. Lewis.  It is part of the C.H.A.O.S. Trilogy.  It is written with the young teen in mind, but was fun to read.  It is ffuturistic with lots of action and computer whizzes. With the alien shape shifters trying to take over the world, this young man named Colt and his buddy Oz must fight to save the world and maybe get back to normal lives. 

Won't you be my friend?

A stranger called, and before I knew it I was wrapped up in his family history and loving every minute of it.
David L. Jones is working on his second book that is part fiction and part non fiction.  Any interested soul can go on line to Amazon and look for his book,  High Grade and either download it to your electronic book or order a book.  I have the book in my store for sale and there is no shipping to pay.
I loved the book but mostly I have really enjoyed getting to know the author and know I have made a friend.  He may live in Arizona but his roots are right here in Granby and Neosho.  His cousin (once or twice removed, what ever that means) came in today and trusted me to scan and copy 20 pages of their family history and send on to him.  The last several pages were tributes to the Grandmother that they share, written by different family members over a period of years.

Something that scares me is that in future generations will anyone care about this stuff?  So many people are being cremated and remains scattered to the winds.  So no physical evidence of their existence.  Then what about all the children born in this generation that have such blended families, many who have no legal ties.  How confusing will all that be.  And will anyone really care??

So on that thought I leave you with a picture of my moon flower that is having its last hurrah for the summer and the honey bees that are making honey for the winter.

Cemetery Sloothing

Got the chance to visit a really old cemetery in this little town where I have my book store.  This one has many stones that date back to Civil War times.  These stones are what I believe to be the Great Grandparents of the author that contacted me recently, David Jones.  A relative of his came in the store yesterday and showed me a picture of the woman who is buried under that square stone.  So I took a picture of it and e-mailed it to David.  He was really surprised and happy to have it.  Now I have to go back with a brush and take the mossy stuff off it so that I can take a better picture.  It is a shame these old cemeteries are so poorly kept up.  Many of the taller stones are toppled. Many of the ones I saw were alive during the Civil War.  And in case you didn't now that was 1861 to 1865.
The guy who helps run the old Miners Museum here in town was in this week and he gave me alot of Granby history of the boom days of lead ore mining here in town.  The museum is over the Wooly Bugger Mine (really, I wouldn't make this up) The mining was going on before the war, but the Civil War lead to a big increase in mining.
Another nugget of information that I know.  Up till not very many years ago most the sewers in Granby were funneled down into old mine shafts that run all thru the town.  FACT!  They put in mandatory sewer system around 1990ish.  I always said that when it was completed the town would fall into a big pit because the mine shafts would be empty.  OK I won't go any further with that thought. 

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/faq/  I found this to be a great site to get basic facts about the Civil War.  Check it out.

Poem about Heaven

BEST POEM IN THE WORLD
I was shocked, confused, bewildered
  As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
    Nor the lights or its decor.
But it was the folks in Heaven
    Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
    The alcoholics and the trash.
There stood the kid from seventh grade
    Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
    Who never said anything nice.
Herb, who I always thought
    Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
    Looking incredibly well.
I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
    I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
    God must've made a mistake.
'And why is everyone so quiet,
    So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said, 'they're all in shock.
    No one thought they'd be seeing you..'
JUDGE NOT!!
Remember...Just going to church doesn't make you a
Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.
Every saint has a PAST...