For Chuck Walsh fans, here are his upcoming events! Get autographed copies of A Month of Tomorrows, A Splintered Dream, Shadows On Iron Mountain and Backwoods Justice!

Virginia Highlands Festival

Friday, July 31 – Sunday, August 2 (10:00 – 5:00)

Abingdon, Virginia

Home | Virginia Highlands Festival

Home | Virginia Highlands Festival

View on www.vahighlandsfestiv…

Hydrocephalus Association Walk (Celebrity Walk Guest – with book signing)

Saturday, September 19 (9:00 – 12:00)

The Colonial Life Arena

801 Lincoln Street

Columbia SC 29201

2015 Columbia Hydrocephalus Association WALK – Home

2015 Columbia Hydrocephalus Association WALK – Home

Upgrade your wardrobe with a HA WALK T-shirt! Register online & your personal WALK webpage will be automatically generated. Edit your page to tell your story.

View on hawalk.kintera.org

Rosewood Arts Festival

Saturday October 3 (10:00 – 3:00)

2719 Rosewood Drive

Columbia SC 29201

Rosewood Arts Festival

Rosewood Arts Festival

A Family-Friendly, Outdoor Arts Festival

View on www.rosewoodartsfes…

Arts and Literary Festival of the Lowcountry

Saturday, October 25 (11:00 – 6:00)

Historic Frampton Plantation

Yemassee, SC

Arts and Literary Festival

Arts and Literary Festival

The Arts and Literary Festival (formerly Annual “Novel” Wine Tasting, Arts, and Literary Festival)…

View on www.facebook.com

In Online Matchmaking, Make Them See ‘Red’ by Blue Sullivan, author of Your Ex-boyfriend Will Hate This

http://www.theswexperts.com/in-online-matchmaking-make-them-see-red/

Racism: The Irish and the Negroes by Jeanne Charters, author of Shanty Gold

http://jeannecharters.com/racism-the-irish-and-the-negroes/

Your Ex-Boyfriend Will Hate This | A Candid Interview with the Author, Blue Sullivan

http://gopaintbrush.blogspot.com/2015/07/your-ex-boyfriend-will-hate-this-candid.html

HALOANGEL READS

http://www.haloangelreads.com/2015/07/your-ex-boyfriend-will-hate-this-by.html?zx=5ddc0217bb4eac91

YOUR EX-BOYFRIEND WILL HATE THIS BY BLUE SULLIVAN

“Does Your “Hotness” Affect Your Sexual History?”

By Blue Sullivan, author of Your Ex-boyfriend Will Hate This

http://www.theswexperts.com/does-your-hotness-affect-your-sexual-history/

Published by Limitless Publishing www.limitlesspublishing.com

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

The Woods at Barlow Bend by Jodie Cain Smith has garnered well over 150 Five Star reviews! https://loiaconoliteraryagency.com/authors/jodie-cain-smith/the-woods-at-barlow-bend-reviews This is a must read!!

Five Stars
By L. Nierman
Amazing book! Not since The Secret Life of Bees and The Help have I not been able to put a book down. A must read…

“Prison Relationships”

Caroline Giammonco and Keith Giammanco, the Boonie Hat Bandit

Prison relationships have hit the headlines lately thanks to the escape of two inmates in New York. By now, most of us know an emotionally involved prison employee helped with the escape. Not all prison relationships should be viewed in the same light though. While numerous scams are perpetrated, there are many devoted, loving couples who find themselves in this situation. Not everyone is manipulated. Not every relationship is about money or power. Sometimes two people fall in love in very unusual circumstances. That’s what happened with Keith Giammanco and me.

I am a college-educated professional who grew up in a military and law enforcement family in conservative southern Missouri. I am not the soft-on-crime, bleeding-heart kind. Having a prison relationship was the last thing on my mind, although I wouldn’t change where I am at. What Keith and I found is worth the daily struggles we go through.

I was teaching at a maximum security prison. Keith didn’t want to appear to be a creepy inmate whose interest was unwanted. I wasn’t emotionally in a place where I wanted a relationship with anyone, anywhere. Still, we had never felt more comfortable around anyone else before. We were instantly a team.

I know several other women who have prison relationships. Some are the stereotypical prison groupies found on the prison support pages. It doesn’t take long to figure out who is getting played and who is in it for the thrill of talking to a ‘bad boy.’ Some, however, are in the relationship for keeps. Our loved ones made mistakes, but they are paying for those mistakes. We can love them for who they are beyond their failures. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do with everyone? “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” — Jesus

I will blog about a wide variety of prison topics, including the struggles of having a relationship separated by prison walls. Many people wonder what prison is like. Well, it is eye-opening to know what the reality is. Thank you for joining me as I share my experience and my knowledge of the Missouri prison system.

Caroline Giammanco, author of Bank Notes: The True Story of the Boonie Hat Bandit (available for acquisition) www.booniehatbandit.com  Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.llallc.com

July 4th, 1776

 Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Their story. . .

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.  Eleven were merchants.  Nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.

 But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.  Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy.  He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.  He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding.  His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton , Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis  had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.  He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire.  The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying.  Their 13 children fled for their lives.  His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste.  For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

 So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots.  It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!
It’s time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July means more than beer, picnics, and baseball games.  True “reflection” is a part of this country’s greatness.