All Posts

Libby eagerly awaits Mama’s return from a Saturday movie with her friend Miss Cheryl. They finally arrive, laughing and chattering about Sean Connery. The mood shifts quickly, though, with the the unexpected arrival of Mama’s new acquaintance.

With their guests gone, Libby is curious about her mama’s new friend. Noticing how different he is from all the people she knows, she watches him and Mama closely, her mind filled with questions. Only a few does she dare to ask. Explore Chapter 5 of Dancing at The Royal Jade, a Beaucatcher Chronicles novel, set in the 1960s in Kent Creek, North Carolina.

Like all of Grant's other girlfriends, Brenda had been enchanted by his story of the promise he’d made to Carter to watch over his girls. It was a tale of heroes that had been in the paper, been told and retold by every police officer and sheriff’s deputy in Gibbs County. So the ladies were charmed and fell in love with the hero who’d survived.

Examining her pink fingernails, Gwen scraped one thumbnail with the other. “We cut our dinners to just twice a month so you could have more time with her,” she reminded Grant. A fleck of polish flipped onto the couch beside her. He sighed heavily then said, “Didn’t make a difference.”

Mama wakes me trying to slip the Nancy Drew I got at the library out of my fingers. The Secret of the Old Clock is splayed open on my belly from when I fell asleep with my pillows bunched up behind my head.

For generations, children throughout the U.S. have played Hangman doodled on chalkboards or scribbled on notebook paper. Often seen as a child’s pastime, this simple word-guessing game has a problematic history laced with cultural influences and contemporary controversies.