Knee Deep in the Hooah!

No, I haven’t been posting much the last couple of weeks, despite the fact that daily there is plenty to kvetch about. I am currently working on a few projects. I am trying to update and complete a new homepage and blog central for Christian Military Wives. I am very excited about what I have been able to create for them and the goal is to have it done and transferred by next week! I have also been working on a new site for Delta Bravo Sierra. The old man’s website is growing in popularity. Both of those projects are far more complicated than anything I did here to give KDH the little face lift I did a few weeks back.

I have another project that is eating away at my time too, but it’s not a computer project. As my older readers know I love creative writing. I am much better at storytelling than I am at political commentary. I have been revamping a few of my creative pieces I have showcased here, but a newer project that’s on my mind has me very excited.

Picture it:

It’s the Civil War era. You live in the Appalachian region of Carolina and Tennessee. This region will become infamous, in the far future, for the vast amount of strife among people who used to consider themselves “neighbors” before the war.

The War, the North and South, the strife dividing a Country is not a clean cut line in your own area. Sometimes the “North and South” are only divided by a small path or an old wooden fence post. Your neighbor who you used to share your crops with is no longer your brother, but now he is your mortal enemy. You used to care for one another. You worried for him when he was ill. You rejoiced with him when his first son was born. You knew that your survival in these tough terrains was intricately linked to his.

Now, you believe your survival is dependent on his defeat.

In the middle of all of the turmoil and strife that is brewing, a small town in a small County feels the divide and strife in a most horrific way. Nearly 20 of their boys and men are rounded up by a neighboring township. The men are accused of stealing. There is no evidence. There is no trial, and no jury. The rules seem to longer exist.

The boys and men are held captive while their enemy tries to figure out what to do with them. Knowing they are running out of time as the captives’ families start to gather their own troops for an attempted rescue, they drag the men out of the makeshift prison, line them up. It is then discovered that 3 of them are missing — they have escaped. Out of anger the most aggressive leader of the small band of Rebels, shoots the youngest of the captives . A young boy, Thomas, who had celebrated his 12th birthday just a month ago falls dead from the bullet wound to his back. Anger turns to panic and the remaining boys and men are shot in the back of the head. Execution style. Their blood spills on the ground and seeps deep enough to taint the roots for generations to come.

One town says their men were justified to shoot men who were stealing supplies during a time of war. The other town says it was not justified and it was nothing more than a cold blooded massacre. This argument continues on into the present day.

They want justice. Will they ever get it?

That’s a quick synopsis of the story line I am currently working on. I don’t want to say much more here. You will have to buy the book (if I ever find a publisher!)

If you like the storyline, do one favor for me please. Would you mind telling me what intrigued you the most about it? What part of it do you want to know more about? Out of the possible characters, whose story do you want to hear? Do you want to hear more about Thomas and his life? Do you want to understand more about the men who killed their neighbors (like what would cause them to go so far with people they have known their whole life?), what about the women who heard their sons, husbands, fathers, and/or brothers had been executed that day? I would love to hear any questions from “fresh” eyes.

I am adding a “Creative Writing” category. There will still be many entries on what’s going on in the military, military life as an Army mom (and as one whose son is facing a deployment to the “Stan” in the near future), and political stuff. However, my real passion is creative writing, and I plan on getting back to it this year in full force.