The Coffin Quilt: The Feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys by Ann Rinaldi ISBN / ASIN: 0152164502 1880 I asked my brother Tolbert about our sheep once, why they do like they do, being on the one hand so brave the way they spend weeks a-wanderin' in the mountains, and on the other hand so meek. It was the time me and Tolbert were sent by Pa to fetch my sister Roseanna home, after she first run off. I was staying with Tolbert and Mary for a spell because my sister Alifair had tried to kill me again. For the third time. This time she held my head under the pump in the yard until I near drowned, because I'd left school without permission. Once before she spilled hot bacon fat on me, which she said was an accident. I had to wear a cut potato bound on my arm ... Continue Reading

Today's Emerging Author A Plague of Iron [Kindle Edition] by Chuck Freadhoff ISBN / ASIN: 0985544600 Wade glanced at the clock again. An edge of worry began to invade his thoughts. Scott was almost an hour late. His gaze swept the kitchen. The grout on the counters seemed gray, the walls needed paint, and the cabinet hardware was dull from use. He told himself to relax, he was too anxious. But it had been months since Scott had taken the time to come by the house. So why tonight? Wade remembered when Scott called more than two years ago to tell him about his new job. “It’s time you stopped hopping from place to place and settled down,” Wade had said, just a little fatherly advice. “Yeah, well this one’s different, it’s, ah . . . . It’s what I need to do right now,” Scott had said. Wade thought “need to do” was an odd phrase, but when he’d pressed, Scott had turned quiet. Thinking about it now, Wade realized that was when things had changed between them. Since that day, he’d suspected that Scott was hiding something. Maybe they could talk about it tonight. Wade glanced at the clock again. Only two minutes later than the last time he’d looked. From the corner of his eye he caught Maggie studying him. ... Continue Reading