Shaylee O’Dwyer has been participating in Kids Arts Program (KAPS) since she was eight years old. She enjoys theater and is pleased to be cast in the lead role in Roswell Community Little Theatre's and KAPS' next production, opening May 12th.
Shaylee will star as Mary Call in the dramatic adaptation of "Where the Lilies Bloom," a young adult novel by Bill and Vera Cleaver. The story takes place in rural Appalachia, and Shaylee has risen to the challenge of dialect immersion. Shaylee is particularly excited to learn how to act as a different character - as Mary Call, she is absolutely learning a new persona.
Shaylee recently hammed it up in the KAPS improv troupe. She recalls being the 'two headed expert,' live on stage. The point of the game is to think and listen on your feet; two people are the two-heads of an expert being interviewed. Each person can only say one word at a time as the interview moves forward. Laughing at the memory, Shaylee recalls the interview going something like, "Well… we… wake… and… we… cry." The audience laughed themselves hoarse on that occasion.
Another of Shaylee’s favorite memories is her earlier role in "Crisis Incorporated." She playacted as one of the people who get to panic for hire. It was great fun.
The more Shaylee performs in new roles, the greater the empathy and compassion she develops for daily life. She also says that theater helps her listen to others and step outside of herself.
You won’t want to miss Shaylee in "Where the Lilies Bloom." Opening on May 12th at the Roswell Community Little theatre. The play will run for two weekends, with performances on Friday and Saturday nights and a Sunday matinee. For more information, or tickets, go to Roswell Community Little Theatre.
Hartwell creates suspense in a pre-World War setting.
Operation Excalibur, a new work of historical fiction by Alethea Hartwell, tells the story of Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine. The book examines the mystery surrounding Diesel’s death. Although Diesel was reported to have died by suicide, Hartwell offers another possibility—one that turns a familiar historical conclusion into an enjoyable narrative of suspense and intrigue.
The novel’s voice is clear and easy to read. The reader understands complex ideas without losing interest in the storyline. Hartwell’s research and attention to historical details create a vivid portrait of time and place. The reader experiences the settings and ambiance of bygone days along with the heart-pounding realities of pre-World War I Europe.
Rudolf Diesel pulls the reader into a bygone era.
Hartwell creates an interesting character in Rudolf Diesel. She portrays him as a thoughtful, compassionate, and unusual man with deeply held beliefs about how life should be lived. Diesel knew and befriended many historical figures, and Hartwell does not shy from including them in the book. These were captains of industry and invention. Hartwell gives us a fresh perspective without hammering the reader on the perceived ills of past practices. Hartwell also makes clear where the demands of fiction have required changes to facts, dates, or chronology; a welcome consideration for readers who value both imagination and historical accuracy.
Taking place just before World War I, Operation Excalibur explores an era less frequently portrayed than the familiar landscape of World War II fiction. That choice gives the novel a distinctive atmosphere and opens a window onto a world poised at the edge of enormous change.
The book’s sensory descriptions highlight the novel. The reader feels the rain, smells the air, sees the sidewalk, walks beneath the lights, and hears the rumble of trains along the platforms. We stand at the ship’s prow, enter the lecture hall, and rise in a balloon. These are not merely backgrounds for the action; they are places we inhabit. Hartwell’s writing grants the reader a repast in history and, for a time, we are truly there.
For readers who enjoy immersive historical fiction, real-life mysteries, and richly drawn characters, Operation Excalibur is a rewarding offering.
(A.I. assisted in drafting the review, but the ideas and reading were all mine, along with the final draft. Thanks for reading. B.A. Coots)
(Note: I originally published much of this article in Roswell Now Magazine through the Roswell Chamber of Commerce.)
Stepping through the doors of Roswell Seed Company is like stepping into a wonderland where Roswell’s rich history and promising future collide. Even the most recalcitrant among us can’t help but dream when confronted with the decades-old seed shelf and its rows of colorful seed packets adorning the front of the wooden drawers. From the commercial farmer to the windowsill gardener, there is something for everyone. We find hope, wonder, and industry in one fabulous store.
John and Walter Gill opened Roswell Seed Company in 1898 as a produce company, buying produce from the fertile Pecos valley and selling it in Oklahoma or further east. John Gill would walk through an apple orchard or field of onions and offer a flat rate for that year’s harvest. From those early beginning as a produce market to the present store, the Gills have operated the business with an unusual mix of kindness and experience. One customer may come in with a problem in a backyard tree, while the next has 120 acres of seed they’ve captured, saying they need it cleaned and processed. Sometimes they need the seed stored for the following year’s planting. Regardless of the size of the account, every customer is treated with care backed by over 100 years of the Gill family’s experience in agriculture.
Still a family owned and managed store Roswell Seed keeps the window of honor for local youth sports sponsorship. They donate to schools with projects in agriculture and gardening and have even favored local efforts in the arts with donations and support. I understand they may even have access to Uncle George’s hidden suitcases promoting the current production for Roswell Community Little Theatre.
At the original publication of this article, Roswell Seed Company was known as the oldest family-owned business in New Mexico. But Jim Gill was careful to mention that there may be similarly long-lived family businesses that we just didn’t know about. Jim’s great-grandfather, John B. Gill, came from Arkansas to New Mexico in 1890. Jim would tell you with a mischievous grin that his great-grandfather settled in Hagerman because that was where the “nice” people lived.
John Gill was an apple orchardist. When he came to New Mexico, he intended to continue working with apples. In the late 1800s, the Roswell area had many fine apple orchards. John Gill could walk through an orchard and tell how many boxes of apples the orchard would produce. John would then offer to buy the harvest according to this calculated production and would seal the deal with the grower using a handshake and a silver dollar. It was a binding contract, and growers were never mistreated. John’s word was stronger than any written document.
Jim Gill shared the story of his great-grandfather learning about business in those first years. John packed a boxcar full of apples for a customer, but when the apples arrived at their destination, the customer had changed his mind. From that day on, John would “hitch” a ride in the caboose of the train and accompany his apples. If the customer didn’t take the entire load, or if John thought there was a market elsewhere, John would sell the apples directly from the destination.
Originally the store stood on the corner that Ancient’s of Days now occupies. Roswell Seed Company has survived two world wars, The Great Depression, more wars and economic crises.
According to family history, John Gill started the store with five hundred dollars in the 1890’s. Back then Roswell Seed and Produce was a grocer and a seed store. Today, Roswell Seed also sells garden plants, flowers, fertilizers, and bee packages. But what the home gardener and commercial farmer most appreciates is the wealth of experience, up-to-date information, and professional care that the staff offers. From guidance on reviving an ailing garden plant to cleaning and processing seed, Roswell Seed Company consistently advises based on a century of experience and continued zeal for agriculture.
Among the many wonders in the store, if you manage to peek into the Gills’ office, you will see an old mantle clock still working. In a time before computers and wristwatches, Jim’s grandfather would step out the back door on a Sunday to see the train arrive and set first his pocket watch and then the mantle clock. Folks in Roswell counted on the clock at Roswell Seed to know the time. The people of Roswell continue to count on Roswell Seed Company. Through the store, the Gill Family has faithfully stewarded agriculture, the Roswell business community, and the people of the Roswell area.
Even if you aren’t a gardener or farmer, come into this store for a taste of wonder and a look at how a business with a lot of history and heart can truly serve a community.
In Search of the Hidden Moon is Tim Eichenbrenner’s second novel. The book takes the reader on a well-crafted hunt for right living through Christ even as the reader plunges into the darkness of human trafficking, failed marriages, failed parenting, and aging in America. Notwithstanding these lofty topics, the book maintains a humane tone, never overloading the reader with preach and teach dialogue, or mini sermons in case the reader doesn’t get the point. None of that. Instead, the voice is conversational and comfortable, so much so that I was sad to be at the end.
The protagonist, Gil, is a doctor, but don’t let that stop a reader. Medical terminology is used in context and easy to follow and Gil is full of life and full of flaws. In short, he is easy to spend time with, as is his love interest, Alex. They navigate waters of relationships with charm and even grace. These two are engaging friends to the reader by the end of the book.
The central plot is a wonderfully readable tangle that starts with an explosion, fire and dying man’s injunction to “find the girls.” Mixed in are minor plots of finding a unknown brother, second chances from a lackluster father, and a cheating husband, along with a very pastoral pastor. And dogs, did I mention dogs? Oh my, put a good canine in a book and I’m sunk and this book has several magnificent beasts.
Read this book to make new friends, human and canine. Read this book for the great examples of forgiveness. Read it for the grace of the characters and the struggle for all of us living in this worldly world when our home is not of this world.
Thank you, Tim Eichenbrenner for a great read. Find Tim at timeichenbrenner.com. He posts Tuesdays Thoughts on -wait for it- every other Tuesday. You’ll also find information on his first book, To Live in the Light: A Life Renewed, a Faith Restored.
I feasted on stories from an early age. Tell me a story, read to me at bedtime, give me some story candy during down time so that I can nap with sweet dreams. Television, books, or even a narrative dinner conversation, caused me delight.
With five children, my mother had rules and one of them was, go outside and play until you are worn out enough to not fight, nor disturb the peace, then you can come inside. We were allowed one hour of television a day except Saturday morning when we could watch cartoons.
What did we do outside? If my little brother was available, we would play out some imagined drama. We operated a local hardware, grocery, or feed store. Sometimes we used our active imaginations to travel to faraway places as adventurers, detectives, or warriors. If my older brothers were available, we would head out to battle with a horse-drawn wagon and several mounts. When playing alone, I created cities of mud with the garden hose and a sandpile. I also developed imaginary friendships with leaf creatures and dust devils. I knew my fairy folk were imaginary, but I kept to them, often whispering caution as I ranged farther from home.
I learned to ride a horse and shoot a rifle but was never good at either, despite wanting dearly to impress and keep up with my older brothers.
Following our play, we came inside to settle down and watch a little television. If my older brothers were inside, we watched westerns and pioneer stories: Bonanza, Paladin, Branded, The Big Valley, Daniel Boone, and Davy Crockett. I didn’t love television. Instead, I itched to return to my land of make-believe outside.
Then I discovered novels. My attention and imagination were held captive by stories on paper created by my new favorite authors: Anne McCaffrey, Ayn Rand, Richard Adams and C.S. Lewis. I quieted myself with story. Later, I found Elizabeth Peters, Ellis Peters, and G. K. Chesterton, who helped me fall in love with the mystery genre. Despite my new love for mysteries, I didn’t read Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers until later. On television I found the popular program, Murder She Wrote. My brothers scoffed. My mother winked, and my father shook his head.
Murder She Wrote influenced me in ways I am still learning. It set me on a legitimate path to writing. I asked my grandmother to give me a manual typewriter that I could use without the need of an electrical outlet. This seemed very smart to me. In my “thank-you” letter to my grandmother for that gift, I told her I could even write in the deep woods without cramping my hand on a pencil or pen. Not only that, but I could also read what I had written in the deep woods—something that I wasn’t able to do when I wrote with paper and pencil because of the atrocity of my lefthanded cursive.
Murder She Wrote added another genre to my reading habits and gave me inspiration for writing. While I didn’t think of writing murder mysteries, I did think of writing clear, clean, and engaging stories. The television show, though candy, was clean and engaging. Even though the writers of Murder She Wrote used the same recipe of story telling repeatedly. I enjoyed the compact, little bundles of story. In a world that had become increasingly rich with the conflicts of college, career, and being a young lady, I relished the break that came with watching this program and thinking of writing.
Just because I wasn’t writing mystery stories didn’t mean I wasn’t a fan. Until recently, I mostly watched mysteries on television. I watched Magnum P.I., Barney Miller, Hill Street Blues, and Columbo, then Law & Order, NCIS, and even a little CSI and Miami Vice. I watched all these television shows, still limiting myself to one hour a day as my mother had instructed. None of this included the British crime dramas I found later when our rural television reached across the pond (England.)
Little by little, I learned that I liked a puzzle to go with my characters and to shape the story. Who did the dirty deed and why? With Colombo, I knew who did and sometimes why, but I never knew how Colombo was going to get the doer of the dirty-deed to confess.
Recently, I’ve set my sights on learning some of the history of mystery and looking at some of the divisions of the genre. From the Sherlockian reasoned approach to the “down-on-his-luck” antics of Easy Rawlins, I’m ready to learn more. I hope readers will enjoy the study as much as I do.
As always, thank you for reading. Happy puzzling.
Grateful, and blessed, B.
Writers, and those that want to know more about short story, check out my next workshop at: https://www.bacoots.com/event/short-fiction-writing-workshop/
I feasted on stories from an early age. Tell me a story, read to me at bedtime, give me some story candy during down time so that I can nap with sweet dreams. Television, books, or even a narrative dinner conversation, caused me delight.
I am a mother, author, engineer, farmer, occasional actress, and incurable dog-sap. I think things and write things and embarrass myself often.