Havenwood Tall Tales ~ Trudie McAfee’s Spring Shenanigans

H E L L O there !! And H A P P Y  S P R I N G !!

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Trudie McAfee here to share the latest with all our wonderful friends and fans of Havenwood Tales!

My author D.J. asked me to write and tell you she’s alive and well and working on HAVENWOOD TALES, and that I am eternally young. But instead, I’ll let you in on what I’ve been up to meanwhile. And please don’t tell D.J. — okay? She might thing I’m being saucy. Let’s just let this be our little secret ; )

I’m SO EXCITED!! You should see all my beautiful Pinterest board pictures!!! There’s books and birds and flowers and Spring, and surprises for Mama and all kinds of things!

You can peek at what Home in Havenwood‘s like, the 1940s, America, My Favorite Things, a Magical Kingdom, Amazing Nature, Native Americans and lots more fantastical stuff, from fancy foods and beautiful quilts to Life Lessons I’m learning (… some the hard way) ; D

Spring has sprung and the race is on to share more Havenwood Tales with you! Thanks very much for being my friend! I hope you enjoy my Pinterest fun, I really like sharing the joy : ))

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Love and Hugs,

Trudie McAfee – Narrator of HAVENWOOD TALES

P.S. I love my Author. I did this for you, Miss D.J. Please don’t be mad.

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Coming of Age – American Tall Tales – Inspiring Stories – Magical Mystery – Heartland America

Copyright©2014 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings Novel by D.J. Houston

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Celebrate Spring in the Magical Mystery of Havenwood Tales

HAPPY SPRING from HAVENWOOD TALES !

“Rejoice in all that is glorious!”

— Author, D.J. Houston

Mystery Novels – Inspiring Stories – Historical Fiction – American Literature Treasures

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St. Patrick’s Day Celebration – Havenwood Tales – Irish Blessings and Mysteries Solved

Luck O’ The Irish to Ye from Havenwood Tales!!

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‘Tis said that St. Patrick’s Day brings out the Irish in everyone 😉

A holiday originating in Ireland over a thousand years ago, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world each March 17th.

But who was this fellow Saint Patrick? Why celebrate?

And why Saint Patrick’s Day, anyway? . . .

For FUN FACTS about Leprechauns, the history of Saint Paddy’s Day, Shamrocks & MORE:

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C L I C K   H E R E

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HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY! 🙂

D.J. Houston, Author of  HAVENWOOD TALES

Copyright©2011, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Mystery Novel Valentine from Heartland America

~ from HAVENWOOD TALES by D.J. Houston

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We were loitering over breakfast, contemplating how to dig out, when a clarion cry of “Man alive!” sounded in the yard.

By the time Daddy and Timmy and I could scramble to the front door, ever optimistic Uncle Arthur was tromping in, stomping his snow-caked boots on the rug and rubbing his hands together like two sticks praying to kindle a bonfire, hollering, “Nothing like a little cold snap to clear a fella’s head!”

Behind him, a deep voice grumbled beneath a bundle of woolen mufflers topped by Uncle Chester’s red nose and a brown leather aviator cap with humongous, sheepskin-lined ear flaps . . .

 C L I C K :  “Valentine for Uncle Chester”

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Copyright©2010, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Magical Mystery – Childhood Memories – Inspiring Stories – Heartland America

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Magical Mystery – Inspirations – Uncle Chester’s Music

From the Mystery Novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by D.J. Houston

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Down on the floor, hidden from view by a heavy crocheted tablecloth, I could hear Uncle Arthur and Daddy in the parlor, whooping and slapping their thighs, swapping Irish tall tales and war buddy stories — good for a smile, but nothing I hadn’t heard before. And then somewhere off in a corner, Uncle Chester started picking country tunes on his guitar.  And that was it: I was mesmerized . . .

I couldn’t say how long I stayed there, listening to his music. Or know my life would be forever changed by the experience . . . But there was nothing to do but close my eyes and bow my head to the moment . . .

C L I C K  for  M O R E

Copyright©2010, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Life Lessons – Coming of Age Story – Mystery – American Literature Treasures

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Magical Mystery – Life Journey – The Wisdom of Human Nature

A glimpse at the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by D.J. Houston

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Painting by Michael Lang

“I don’t want to believe in monsters and scary things in the night like other kids do, Mama.”

Her response was calm and earnest.

“There are monsters in this world, Trudie Beth.  That’s a fact.  But people don’t want to see them. . .

“The goodness of human nature makes it hard to look at evil’s face.  So people make up stories about monsters instead.”

While I cogitated that, she added, “Sometimes they do it for fun.”

That made me smile, so she went on . . .

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C L I C K  for “The Truth About Monsters”

Copyright©2010, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Magical Mystery – Paranormal Stories – Social Commentary – America Literature Treasures

 

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Magical Mystery of Trudie McAfee – Life Lessons and Autumn Dreams

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I hadn’t pictured my mother away from her home and work routines since the factory days of the war.  But this peaceful, natural setting seemed to suit her to her core.

I realized she’d brought me here for a reason.

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From HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

D.J. Houston, Author

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Mystery Novel – Coming of Age – Inspiring Stories – Life Lessons – American Literature Treasures

Copyright©2010, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Halloween Costume Parade – Havenwood School Antics

Update from the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

by D.J. Houston

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Artist, Karen Noles (detail)

Me, I just wanted to keep it simple. And I sure wasn’t wearing a dress . . . 

But my usual braids and overalls didn’t qualify as a costume in Havenwood.

So I got the idea I might use the occasion to honor my Native American ancestors, tied a strip of buckskin around my forehead, stuck two mockingbird feathers in back and said I was an Indian.

At least it was easy.

And as it turned out, I was also glad I’d declined Mama’s offer to borrow her lipstick for war paint …

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CLICK  HERE to Hickey’s Costume Parade 🙂

Magical Mystery – Humorous Stories – America Literature Treasures

Copyright©2007, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Hay Rides and a Brother’s Desperation – The New World of Havenwood School

New peeks at HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

by D.J. Houston, Author

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This excerpt is CONTINUED from “Humorous Stories – Baseball Rules – American Tall Tales”  – Missed Part I ? – CLICK HERE

I don’t know who the heck Timmy thought he was fooling . . .

Anybody with an ounce of sense and eyes in their head could figure it out. Ever since the preacher’s niece from Poseyville, ten-year-old Josie May Redding, had blinked at him on a hayride, he’d been praying she was a cradle robber.

The last thing he needed was flirty Miss Josie May thinking he was some kind of sissy babysitter for his dumb little sister.

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Native American Stories – American Ancestry – Havenwood Secrets

~ from the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

“Curiosity might kill a cat eventually, but I was incorrigibly willing to risk such things . . .”

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Apparently, the gods of curiosity were destined to call upon me again — only this time to investigate a different class of enigmatic stuff.  But it quite enchanted me.

So off I flew, into what was left of my summer of junk and treasure, to excavate signs of an ancient world — like arrowheads and beads of shell and little, carved hardwood totems.

Sometimes I’d find a rotting weapon handle or a fishing spear or such, washed up in the mud of a creek bank.  And always clay vessels and pottery shards with faded, pigment markings and whatever Native rarities I could scrape from the hills and fields of Havenwood or reclaim from the secret woods that nestled our community. . .

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4th of July – Social Commentary – 20th Century Heartland America

HA P P Y  4th of  J U L Y,  AMERICA !

Enjoy a look back at AMERICA from the coming novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by D.J. Houston

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Faith In America by Donald Zolan

Before the second half of 20^th Century America happened to her citizens, most kids who weren’t beat up too much for their choices were fairly capable — able to focus their attention on the world in front of them long enough to finish a task and get something done on their own.

Even in the cities, even during wartime, people looked out for each other’s kids . . .

As for what happened to the nation and to the minds and morals of her people in the decades that followed  . . .

C L I C K   H E R E  to READ

“Common Sense Freedom – Heartland America”

Copyright©2007, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Mystery Story – Historical Fiction Books – Intrigue – Social Commentary – American Literature

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Inspiring Stories – Father’s Day – Author D.J. Houston

H A P P Y   F A T H E R’ S   D A Y !

A Note from Author D.J. Houston

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FATHERS — and our unique experiences and life lessons with them — are as varied as individuals themselves.

My own father’s common sense, persistent work ethic, a calm strength of character and endearing, almost corny sense of humor are traits I treasure and remember him for most.  But when I was a child, he could seem a bit mysterious. . .

Remembering him this Father’s Day . . . I miss the smile behind his eyes, as if he knew a secret joke about life and knew that I’d learn it some day . . .

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C L I C K  H E R E  to READ. . .

“Father’s Day Inspirations from Heartland America”

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Copyright©2011, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

American Family Life – Inspiring Stories – Life Lessons – Mystery Story – Author D.J. Houston

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Mother’s Day Inspirations – American Literature Treasures

“My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.”  ~  Mark Twain

♥

Portrait courtesy of Dave Thomson

For mystery, miracles and memories of MOTHER’S DAY from Havenwood Tales author, D.J. Houston

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American Literature Treasures – Inspirations – Mystery of Havenwood School

Inspirations from HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

D.J. Houston, Author

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Art supplies kept mysteriously appearing on my table at school . . .

When I wasn’t reading, I was doing chalk or pencil drawings and watercolor paintings of the birds and flowers and forests I knew.

I even made my first attempt to draw the human face — a silhouette profile of Mister Walling, infused with a golden light.

I was adding the finishing touches when I felt Miss Greenlee’s presence arrive behind me like a soft sigh . . .

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C L I C K  H E R E  for “Art of Dreamers”

Paranormal Mystery – Inspirations – Adventure – American Literature Treasures

Copyright©2009, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Coming of Age – Havenwood School – American Literature Treasures

Excerpts from the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings 

D.J. Houston, Author

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I had the most godawful urge to stick my tongue out at spiteful, old Miss Hickey, the Latin teacher. 

Her mission in life since before she was born had apparently been to hate anything and everything new and different; that much seemed obvious. But I’d figured out enough about human nature to know that it probably wasn’t really me she was mad at . . .

I did put an end to her using me for a firing range, though. Daring, considering she had that willow switch hidden under her desk . . .

C L I C K   H E R E

Mystery Story – Coming of Age Story – Fantasy Fiction – American Tall Tales

Copyright©2012, 2014 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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The Miracle of Mister Walling

“And predictable as cycles of the moon, you’d feel very alive and fortified, imbued with a capacity for some new understanding — if not of what had happened, then certainly of things to come.”

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Mister Walling was a world of his own.  And he was different from anyone anywhere I’ve been since the days of Havenwood.

Truth be told, I rarely ever saw him.  It can happen in the course of living, you know, that the journey itself will absorb you more than your quest for truth.  And yet Gabriel White Cloud Walling became an indelible part of my life, as necessary as my dreams and the ground I walked on.

And so what, if he glowed in the dark?

C L I C K  H E R E

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Inspirations from HAVENWOOD TALES by D.J. Houston

Copyright©2006, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Paranormal Stories – Intrigue – Visionary Fiction – American Literature Treasures

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American Literature Treasures – A Tale of Snowful Mystery

“I wondered if God might not have gotten sick of watching that blizzard stir up so much trouble down on earth, and decided to just suck up the last of it into the Milky Way . . .”

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A peek at HAVENWOOD TALES by D. J. Houston, Author

My father’s camaraderie with his able-bodied, Irish-minded brothers was a source of luck and light to the McAfee clan . . .

When the three Irish brothers teamed up for a challenge, it was “God between us and all harm.”

Anything was possible . . .

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CLICK to READ

“Family Wisdom – Mysteries of Snow”

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Inspirational Stories – Life Journey – Mystery – American Literature Treasures

Copyright©2007, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Inspirations – Auld Lang Syne – A Valentine from Heartland America

New Year’s Eve had come and gone to the tune of Aunt Julia’s piano and a rousing Auld Lang Syne . . .

Our old house was almost done mourning the departure of its Christmas tree. Mama was back to baking for Birdie’s Kitchen and school had just gotten good and started again.

Then, on the 30^th of January, a roaring blizzard slammed its way out of Canada like a bull shot loose from a rodeo pen and pummeled everything south of it from Michigan to Texas and east to the ocean . . .

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“Valentine for Uncle Chester”

Photography by Anna Laura Livinal Belanger

Excerpts from novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

by Author D.J. Houston

Copyright©2010, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Paranormal Mystery – Inspirations – Christmas Miracle

“As long as I remember to decide so again and again, the miracles I know will happen, happen.  Every time.”

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Alone on the crest, high above the snowy rooftops of a tiny-looking Havenwood Village sparkling in the sunlight below, I began to recall the remarkable events of that Christmas season and the gifts I had given, received and seen.

But a gnawing perception insisted that something. . .  something was missing . . .

CLICK to READ:

“Miracles – Life Journey”

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Excerpts from the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

by D.J. Houston, Author

Copyright©2010, 2011 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Mystery Christmas Dinner – Heartland America Style

. . . He called her his Lily of Liverpool.  She called him her Yankee Doodle.

She liked to say she married him because he made her laugh.  And that with so much opportunity and freedom in America, surely she belonged here, too.

Ladened with crates of Julia’s family heirlooms and decidedly English furniture, they set sail on a passenger ship in the spring of ’46, arrived by train from Boston and bought the old, abandoned Butler place in Rainbolt Hollow, ghosts and all . . .

CLICK to READ

“English Christmas Dinner in America“

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Excerpts from the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

Copyright©2010, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Funny Thanksgiving Story – The Havenwood School Thanksgiving Play

PILGRIMS and INDIANS

~ Thanksgiving 1946 ~

Maybe my next big break in life would be on the stage. Maybe it wouldn’t.

But it promised to be a hallmark moment for Havenwood.

On the Friday night before Thanksgiving, to entertain our parents, siblings, other family, friends of family, friends and family of their friends plus teachers, older students and their entourages and anyone else we could recruit, my classmates and I scrunched together on a platform stage in the school cafeteria — under a huge, hanging, paper mache’ cornucopia stuffed with eight hundred pounds of real vegetables — and put on a Thanksgiving play.

The invitations read:

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You Are Cordially Invited

To Attend

The First Annual Thanksgiving Play

Havenwood School Cafeteria

Fourth Friday of November

The Year Nineteen Hundred Forty-Six

Seven O’Clock in the Evening

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I was cast as a Pilgrim woman cradling a baby doll that was swaddled in an itchy Indian trading blanket.

I even conceded to wear a Puritan dress with a huge, white, stifling collar and a bonnet tied under my chin, just to please Miss Greenlee. It was completely out of character for me, of course, but at least I didn’t have to pretend to have a husband.

I wished she’d just let me play Squanto, though. Nobody else came close to looking like him. And thanks to Miss Greenlee’s research, we’d grasped the sense of honor it must have taken for Squanto to persuade all the tribes to help the Pilgrims, considering how he’d been tricked away to Spain to be sold into slavery and then had to escape, and finally returned to America only to find his own people gone.

But his was another story . . .

Nobody played Squanto, we just said good things about him. So I sucked it up, tucked my braids inside my bonnet and held my tongue . . .

Clifford Buck wore some beaded moccasins and his granddaddy’s fringed-sleeve buckskin jacket, beating a ceremonial tom-tom while the audience gathered, to pay his tribute to Squanto and the Indians. I was grateful to see that.

Little Betsy Alcorn played a Pilgrim child standing next to a lanky farm boy named Percy Miller, who was happily dressed as a minister, collar and all.

Clayton Cox played a turkey posted next to the cornucopia. He’d been stuffed into a burlap sack filled with tissue paper, and had a red-beaked mask on his face and tree twigs sticking out the back for an avante-garde tail feather look. Since he couldn’t see with his mask on, his not-so-secret admirer, the Indian Princess Prissy Schwartz, kept inching closer to center stage, trying to get next to Clayton despite his bulky costume.

Other classmates wore more Pilgrim and Indian costumes. And Miss Greenlee had even let Bobby Blackstone and Teddy MacDougal be Indian braves, so long as they agreed to wear pants, left their tomahawks at home and checked their war cries at the door . . .

And when the lights were dimmed, we knew we’d waited nervously and long enough.

It was SHOWTIME !! 

As we streamed single-file onto the stage, the whole place erupted in cheers and applause, so when I crossed through the glare of the spotlight, I forgave Miss Greenlee completely for not casting me in such a prominent role as Squanto.

Since she hadn’t let Bobby and Teddy wear war paint, none of our Indians looked particularly savage, and I didn’t see any old veterans in the audience to get riled up about it if they had. I figured the churchgoers could favor the Pilgrims, regardless, and nobody would be reluctant to bow their heads for the Thanksgiving prayer. Surely family and friends would still like us, no matter what happened.

Prissy and Minister Percy served as the narrators. Others had their lines. All I had to do was to not drop my baby doll, say “Dear Lord, we appreciate all the help these fine Indians give us,” on cue, and remember to smile at the end when Bobby and Teddy started dancing to Clifford Buck’s tom-tom.

We were good to go . . .

Most of the vegetables stayed in the cornucopia. The cornucopia stayed more or less where it was, except for when blind turkey Clayton got his tail feathers caught in the rope while he was wiggling around trying to scratch himself.

But the audience finally quit gasping and holding their breath as soon as the cornucopia stopped swaying, and nobody ran from the stage. Nobody got hurt and nobody sued, nor would they have thought to back then. And hardly anyone forgot their lines — if they did, Miss G was right there in the wings to remind them before they ever had a chance to feel embarrassed.

The show was a hit! Our Thanksgiving play would be remembered, hands down, as the highlight of Havenwood School’s Novembers for years to come.

And as teachers go, I wasn’t the only one who wondered that night if Miss Lucinda Greenlee might be the best kept secret in America.

~

From HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings 

Magical Mystery by D.J. Houston

Copyright©2010, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Funny Stories – Social Commentary – Historical Fiction – American Literature Treasures

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Autumn Dreams – Life Lessons – Truth in Nature

“Sprinkled with shadows of leftover leaves in the bare autumn branches that filtered the sunlight above us, we soaked in the splendor of that golden afternoon together. . . “

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I hadn’t pictured my mother away from her home and work routines since the factory days of the war.  But this peaceful, natural setting seemed to suit her to her core.

And I realized she’d brought me here for a reason . . .

CLICK HERE –

Excerpts from HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings

Copyright©2010, 2012 D.J. Houston.  All Rights Reserved.

Literary Fiction Novels – Mystery Story – Intrigue – Nature’s Beauty – Inspirational Stories
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Halloween Costumes 101 – Havenwood School America – Imaginations of Autumn

Halloween was due on a Thursday . . .

As school was dismissing on Wednesday, Miss Greenlee made another of her famous announcements — only this time with an added caveat that was to change life as I knew it before nightfall the next day.

The innocuous sounding part was, “Anyone who would like to wear a costume to school tomorrow for Halloween may do so.”

That in itself was enough to conjure a roomful of mixed emotions. But the caveat was the kicker.

“You will please design your costume by yourself.”

CLICK HERE  😉

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A peek at HAVENWOOD Tales Beginnings by D.J. Houston

Copyright©2007, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Humorous Stories – Mystery Novel – Intrigue – Literary Fiction Books – Fantasy Fiction

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Havenwood School Inspirations – Dream Teacher And Witch

. . . She didn’t look at all like the other teachers in their plain, prim dresses and drab, catalog suits.

Miss Greenlee wore lovely, smart blouses from sophisticated foreign lands, and skirts splashed with patterns of butterflies or colorful birds or bold, bright stripes running down them — or flowers you could almost smell like a flow of perfume from the quality fabrics . . .

On the opposite end of the food chain, however, I was shocked to discover one teacher at Havenwood School who was certifiably, pure awful . . .

Naturally, I figured she was as friendly as a rattlesnake with rabies . . .

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Mystery Story – Fantasy Fiction – Inspiring Stories – American Literature Treasures

–~ from the coming novel HAVENWOOD Tales Beginnings ~

 D.J. Houston, Author

Copyright©2007, 2012 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

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Paranormal Mystery – Havenwood Tales Enchantment

A peek at the novel HAVENWOOD TALES Beginnings by D.J. Houston

“I had shifted time across a line that wasn’t there, into a place of such enchantment I could only gasp and close my eyes as the feeling of arriving somewhere I had always hoped for, having no idea what I would find, engulfed my world . . .”

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The scent of warm bark gripped my nostrils, anchoring me, reminding me to breathe . . .

I gathered up my gumption and with the dauntless faith of youth, strode purposefully across the clearing, assuring myself that a cool drink of water from the pristine creek running back of the cabin should be reason enough to knock on the door for permission.

It was not until I reached the stairs leading up to the porch deck that doubt began to enter my calculations . . .

CLICK HERE to READ MORE  . . .

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Excerpts from the coming novel HAVENWOOD Tales Beginnings

Copyright©2006, 2013 D.J. Houston. All Rights Reserved.

Paranormal Mystery Story – Native Americans – Inspirations – Secrets of Gifted Children

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