Yellow Hair (Now on Sale)

Andrew Joyce

Yellow Hair documents the injustices done to the Sioux Nation from their first treaty with the United States in 1805 through Wounded Knee in 1890. Every death, murder, battle, and outrage written about actually took place. The historical figures that play a role in this fact-based tale of fiction were real people and the author uses their real names. Yellow Hair is an epic tale of adventure, family, love, and hate that spans most of the 19^th century.

This is American history.

Andrew Joyce is the recipient of the 2013 Editor’s Choice Award for Best Western for his novel, Redemption: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.

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Majestic Reimaginings – New Release

J and I Publishing

At last! The moment that I know you have all been waiting for with bated breath. J and I Publishing are proud to announce the release of ‘Majestic Reimaginings’, a landscape color book for adults with accompanying poetry. Beautiful landscape coloring images are presented alongside a poem influenced by that picture.

There are two editions available, ‘Majestic Reimaginings’, and ‘Majestic Reimaginings: Illustrator’s Edition’. We hope that you enjoy them.

For a taster of what to expect see this recent blog post.

The information for both can be seen below:

Majestic Reimaginings

Description

Majestic Reimaginings is a color book for adults with a twist. Lovely poems accompany these images to help you relax and feel the world of nature around you as you color your stress away. Take a few moments for yourself and unwind next to a peaceful river, or relax on the beach and listen to the sounds…

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Daily Quip

This goes along with my last two posts about bullying

Butterfly Sand

Words touch and by touching leave an indelible mark. So choose your words carefully.

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Not done yet, I guess

I thought writing about my classmate dying and how she bullied me yesterday would help. I think it did, but I’m not done yet. 

I feel so guilty today about comments I made yesterday to friends. Ellen hasn’t impacted me in nearly 50 years so why can’t I let it go? 

I remember going home from school and telling my mom what was happening. Her response? She taught me that “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Boy, was she wrong. It is much easier to recover from sticks and stones and almost impossible to recover from hurtful words. I also remember that I quit telling my mom what was happening. I just turned it all inward, assuming that it was me and no one else. 

I hope we are teaching our children differently today. Bullying is real and always has been. It shouldn’t be swept under the rug. It also isn’t the person being bullied’s (or taunted or whatever) fault. 

Kindness, my friends. We need more kindness. 

Bullying

I haven’t blogged in ages. Guess I haven’t had much to say. But something happened today and I really need to talk about it. I actually posted something on facebook and realized it would sound insensitive and cruel so I deleted it. 

Here’s what happened:

I got a text from a high school classmate that one of the girls in my elementary school had died. Her name was Ellen. Not sure what happened but I understand she has had some heart issues and collapsed in a parking lot. When she got to the hospital, she was brain dead. The family turned off the machines yesterday. 

Just hearing her name brought forth a rush of childhood memories. None of them pleasant. Ellen was a bully. She teased me mercilessly, tormented me and even punched me. She was the biggest girl in 5th grade and I was the littlest. I was also fairly new to the town and school. I remember when I started wearing a training bra (not sure what I was training for though). She was constantly snapping the back and making fun of me. I went home from school crying on a regular basis. Back then you would say she was picking on me. Today, she would be labeled a bully. 

I will never forget the time she took my clothes and hid them in gym class. Seriously, I was in the shower and my clothes were gone. What does a tiny little 10 year old girl do (one who already feels insecure and shy) when she has no clothes to put on. She stands in the shower room and bawls her heart out until a teacher comes to find her. 

I never hated Ellen. I was afraid of her and did everything I could to hide from her. A friend of mine told me today that Ellen and her friends beat her up in high school over some boy. She was not a nice person back then. I hear she has changed but all I know of Ellen is that she was a bully. 

I heard the news of her passing today and I can’t quit crying. It is sad that she died so young. I’m sure it will be hard on her family. But it brought a rush of bad feelings to me. I cried because of the way the memories made me feel. I cried because I remembered being felt to feel like I was nobody. I cried because I remembered what it was like to be scared. I cried because I can’t feel bad that someone died because they were so hateful to me. 

Bullying has long lasting effects. Even the fairly mild bullying I experienced. I’m sorry for the loss of someone so young. But I’m more sorry for all the things this brought to mind today. 

Fear (haiku)

Cool but sunny

It is a bright sunny day here in northern Indiana – that always goes a long way to brightening my mood. I know we need rain (which is coming I think along with really high winds), but the sunshine makes me happier.

Not much of a blog post I know, but it is what is making me happy today.

 

Back at it

Back to work today. Normally I’m quite grateful for my standing desk. Not so much today. So I put my laptop down on my regular desk. Had trouble staying focused though. And I was on my feet too much and I paid the price tonight. 

But then I’m grateful that I am even able to whine! Tomorrow will be better…or not. 

Continuing Car Saga

I am so very thankful today because it has now been confirmed to me twice that the woman I hit is fine. 

First the ER nurse assured me she would be okay (even though I didn’t hear it from her, if you get my drift). But tonight my claims specialist called to confirm that the accident was my fault (as we already knew it was). Then she told me she couldn’t say any more but the other woman is physically fine. 

I’m so thankful. It has been weighing heavy on me. 

On a side note, the adjuster said he quit adding up repair costs when he got to $13,000 but could easily added another $6,000+. My car wasn’t worth that much new I don’t think. He again mentioned that he is amazed I walked away basically unharmed. I’m praising God for His protection. 

Now, to go car shopping. Ugh!

Best Friends

Today I want to express my deep and heartfelt gratitude to my friends. My inbox has been full of well wishes. My refrigerator is full of meals from friends wanting to help out. I’m overwhelmed by the phone calls, texts, emails from everyone. If I had any doubts that I have people who care about me before, I sure don’t now. I have the best friends.