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It's the last day of the free for all for . This morning, at 8AM MST, the title was listed #16 of free kindle historical books. That's pleasing. I had the fear I was throwing a party and no one would come.

A few people have wondered about the Charles Bingsley section of the book. It's his letter home from where he's stationed in Florida with the Army. It comes after Tru and his family are captured and shackled to a boat to go West. I'm using Charles as a time bridge in the story. The next Seminole section starts more than a year later. The letter is also as a way to tell what is happening in the rest of the country—information my Seminole characters wouldn't know about.

The letter format works well for that, since in the 19th century, letters were usually long, flowery, and detailed. Letter recipients expected this...no "Hi. Wish you were here" type thing. Most people didn't have a the chance to travel and experience anything new, so they counted on letters from their trekking family and friends to tell them about other places. Charles is from a fairly affluent family, and I use him to refer to politics of the day as well as life style. Here's a sample.

...Needless to say, the conditions here at Fort Brooke haven't improved. This seep called Florida continues to be infested with mosquitoes and torrid heat. Occasional storms often threaten to heave us inland even though we're protected by this natural quay. The three months I've been here feel like a lifetime! Would that I had been assigned to Col. Fremont's exploration of the Western lands. His scout, Carson, is said to be quite knowledgeable. Imagine the wonders they will encounter! By now they should be well across the Mississippi River and moving into the Great American Desert. (That I dream of dryness is only natural, when the very air here seethes with liquid.) But, alas, I am stuck here, patiently scribing the particulars about these pathetic heathens who keep straggling in to this abominable fort...

I've written three other of his letters and currently have him in Yerba Linda (San Francisco) when the gold rush is starting. It's fun to write these letter. I think they give a balance to the whole by offering current affairs in a broader and different view from those of my main characters. I guess Charles is a main character in that I've had to think him through as thoroughly as the others—know his family, his personality, his ambitions and foibles.

Again, this is the last day (through 12 midnight PST) to get your free copy of On Promised Land. Let me know if the letter element is good or bad. This is an ongoing project, and feedback is welcome (reviews on the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and Amazon page, too).

To get your copy of On Promised Land, .

This is the first day of a 2-day Free For All of On Promised Land. It will be free for all Kindle users on 15 and 16 January--in honor of Martin Luther King Day.

is all about Freedom. It begins in 1841 in the Everglades. Tru and Tall Deer, their extended families, and Seminole friends and neighbors are on the run when the American forces extend their pursuit of Seminoles. The Treaty of Camp Moultrie (1823) had promised that the land south of Okeechobee would forever be for the Seminole people—a reservation. Tru and Tall Deer lived south, on the reservation land. But the Indian Removal Act in 1830, stated that all Indian people would be removed from the eastern states and settled in the West. The reservation land in Florida was finally negotiated away with the Treaty of Payne's Landing (1832). This treaty allowed only three years for all the Seminoles to relocate.

The isolated people in the "everglades" knew little about this, and fought to remain in the land they knew and loved. The blacks, some free some slaved, who lived along side the Seminoles also fought with them. Many owned property, had farms and livestock. And mostly, they had a freedom that was being threatened by the forced move West, and also by slavers who considered any black a runaway.

After evasion, and skirmishes, Tru, Tall Deer, their extended families and Seminole friends and neighbors are captured, and moved West to Indian Territory. During the hardships at Fort Gibson, the young couple don't lose their belief for each other or their culture and, in 1842, find a place to settle away from the turmoil of the fort.

This story is bracketed with annotated history timelines, and there's also a selected bibliography.

Read more about it .

January

Clear days are short with sun-
light    snow is soft
in the air     at night
JackRabbit whistles shrilly
for his mate
a sharp sound
against the black sky.
Stark
in white cover
he beats the hardened snow
with strong feet.

© Kae Cheatham
All rights reserved

Yes, it's free. For two days,
15 � 16 January 2012, at Amazon.

is a story about the Blacks who lived with, fought with, and were moved West in the 1830s with the Seminoles of Florida. I have developed the extended family of Tru and Tall Deer Campos, caught in the turmoil, with hopes of portraying the determination and dangers of the times.

I first became interested in the history of Black Seminoles many years ago. I was traveling with my children to a Western Writers of America (WWA) convention. We were tent camping, and after a rainy, muddy night, we needed to do some laundry. I found a nice coin laundry in Wewoka, Oklahoma, the capitol for Western Seminoles. Near to the laundry was a museum, and of course, I had to go in.

It was orderly and informative, and I realized that the Blacks, free and slaved, who lived with the Seminoles had a fascinating history in Indian Territory. My interest was noted by the museum's curator. When I mentioned WWA and that I was a writer (I think one of my children sprung this tidbit of information), he became enthused, and encouraged me to create a story about the Black Seminoles. When we left to get our laundry, my tote bag contained several pamphlets and references.

But how to fashion this story? Up to that time, most of my published works were for YA readers; I attempted a story from that angle, but the more I read and studied, the more I wanted too write an adult novel for this subject. I collected books and information, and made several attempts at a manuscript.

A year or so later, I received a telephone call from a New York publishing house. (Now wasn't I wide-eyed and giddy!) The editor said she had gotten my name from a mutual WWA colleague ; he had recommended me for a project the house had in mind. They wanted a novel about Blacks in the West, to show the struggles, the fortitude, et cetera, and present information that, to a great degree, hadn't been given at that time. We talked at length, and I committed to sending a proposal, synopsis and fifty or so pages. I went immediately to information on Black Seminoles. It seemed the perfect subject for what this New York house had in mind.

Alas—I was so mistaken. I sent a professional proposal, synopsis, and the opening chapters, only to be told that my subject was too obscure. "No one's ever heard of this," the editor told me. I wanted to quip, "Isn't that the point?", but kept my professional demeanor and tried to fathom what she really wanted. I presented another idea about the free blacks who traveled the Oregon Trail in the 1840s. That didn't fly, either. The editor finally became more specific: "1870s. Ex-slaves settling on Western plains with their new freedom..." (Thinks me: Little House on the Prairie in black face).

I was done. My interests in western history pretty much end at 1870. I thanked her for considering my work. My writing was commended and my resume "would be kept on file." I never heard from them again.

But there I was with an outline, the research nearly complete, several chapters written about Blacks in Indian Territory during 1840-1865. I shopped my proposal to several other publishers, even had agent representation, but the story didn't fit into any publishing needs.

And here I am, still with a partial...a novella of the early years...On Promised Land. Will I finish this saga? The story of Tru and Tall Deer doesn't reach a moderate conclusion until 1865. I've written into the 1850s. Occasionally I look at the historical data and I'm overwhelmed. I like to write about people first, and set them into an historical landscape. The events of those years, particularly 1850 � 1862 are so volatile and convoluted, I cannot yet make it become background and not overshadow my characters.

At the end of the e-book On Promised Land, I have listed the history that follows where my novella ends. I have also added a selected bibliography. On Promised Land is in the Kindle Select program, which means it's always free for Kindle Prime members. But on 15 and 16 January 2012, will be free to anyone with a Kindle, Kindle App or using Kindle Cloud.

Two days. Download this history story, and I would appreciate some feedback that might aide me in completing the saga.

My copy of PURE came from the publishers through netgalley.com

I read a lot of Science Fiction, but dystopian stories aren't usually the ones I choose. I often find them a bit overwhelming with their dismal view of the future. Of course, that's what dystopian stories are about, but many of them focus more on this wrecked and depressing future than on the characters. I like a character-driven story. The titles I've read that give me the characters I can care about have been by Octavia Butler and Paolo Bacigalupi. I'm sure more authors would meet my criteria, but I haven't found them...until now. I've added to this list.

From the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ book page:

"Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost--how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers...to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small.

This overview of snagged my attention, and the character of Pressia pulled me in to her story of surviving a fractured and disturbing world, where odd wraiths can attack from underground, where finding food and water is a hopeful consideration, and where deformities are the norm...deformities such as Pressia's where the doll she was holding when Detonations happened is now permanently fused to her hand. Her physical change is nothing compared to other people. Her grandfather has a fan lodged in his throat that whirrs as he breathes. Her friend, Bradwell, has birds embedded on his back—still alive and living through him. Everyone has some odd alteration...Except for the Pures

The Pures have become nearly mythical, even though everyone can look up to where they live in a massive hermetically-sealed Dome. That thriving mini city is home to people without deformities, without starvation and attacks by Groupies (a multi-fused people gang). A place some wish they could get to, while other want it destroyed.

When Pressia meets the Pure, Partridge, who was driven out of the Dome by his need to find his mother, she learns new things about herself and the blasted world around her. How she assimilates her new knowledge is deftly told. Her emotions, often conflicting, about Pures and the Before, are realistic and heart-wrenching. Partridge, too, is a fascinating character. Through him and another Pure, Lyda, life within the Dome is presented not just as a camera-view of this future place, but with the emotional needs of the characters.

Baggott is noted for her excellent YA fiction, and while the major characters of Pure are in their youth, the story and writing offer excellence for anyone. Although I noted a few plot line conundrums, I won't mention them because 1) they were small and would also be Spoilers, and 2) I was reading an ARC--these aspects in the final book might be different.

Without reservation, I recommended Pure as a fascinating, well written story. It's also the first book in a series. I look forward to the next.

I'm reading three books right now. I don't usually stack them like this. It just sort of happened...mostly because two of them are whimsical stories—both SciFi, in a way: Empringham's and by S.H. Hughes. The third title is , by Joel Goldman—a mystery.

I'll finish the mystery before the other two, even though I started the SFs a few days earlier. I like witty pieces, but for me, humor is like sitting down for dinner and finding that every course is cake. Neither my sweet tooth, nor my funny bone can take too much at one time. Since all three titles are well-written, I know none of them will end up on my dnf list.

World building in science fiction adds interest and originality. Check out the history of the people in . The future world, New Esrii, is heavily locked to its past.

In 2800 years since the ancestors of New Esrii left old Earth, their existence had never been in as much peril as it was now. Not when they were ostracized from Earth to become only the third colony in space; not when they were shunted aside by the Space Population Regulation Committee (SPRC).
When Earth's moon was damaged; communication from SPRC dwindled. A few colonies turned to New Esrii's ancestors for advice, suggestions, because those people, then living on the satellite cluster system they called ESR-II, had been thriving on their own for many decades. After eight years, not a single colony science center could even get a whisper of activity on Earth. The nine colonies, reluctantly surmised that Earth as a governing force, as a home base and seat of humanity, might be gone. The ancestors of New Esrii had predicted this and their prescience made them more outcast, as if their certainty of doom had caused it....

Read the full history

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The Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Readers' Choices have been announced. (No--none of my books are on the lists.) And while I like the categories they've made (horror wasn't competing with paranormal fantasy, for instance), I can't figure why Mystery and Thriller are still lumped into the same boat. For me, Mystery could be broken down a lot: cozies and police procedural, are two levels that are so different, it would be hard to compare a title of one to that of the other. And then to have Thrillers (which I avoid) in there. Oh, wow.

I'm certain avid readers of other genre have their concerns, too. It's just that Mysteries are the types of books I most read.

I Want To Be A WeaverI have a loom, frettedwith tangled thoughts. I comb and cullthe strongest threads and imagineunique designs—rich arabesques!They are fringed by despair--tatters of previous efforts.More poems by KaeWhy should I continue, indignant at my failures?

Yet what to do with these endless skeins? Wreathed by mad envyI examine tapestries profuse with color,certain I too can blend and bindan intricate cloth.Back at work,I touch the shuttle. It spewsfrayed lines clogged in knots.Everything I do is green.

© 2009 Kae Cheatham