The imagination is a terrible/wonderful thing.
Today I'll be driving to Concordia, Kansas, to accept a national award for MAIL-ORDER KID: AN ORPHAN TRAIN RIDER'S STORY. I'll receive the Special President's Award from the National Orphan Train Complex, now the only orphan train organization with national scope. The award will honor the work I've done to foster orphan train history.
Sometimes when I imagine this day, the sun is shining, the driving is easy, I get to Concordia in plenty of time to go to the motel and change into good clothes. I waltz over to the 6 p.m. dinner where I am recognized. The applause is deafening, just the way I like it. I get lots of hugs.
However, at other times, I imagine this day filled with thunderstorms, lightning strikes that frizz my hair but go through the car tires and ground in the earth, road skids, sideswipe by an 18- wheeler, cops, ambulances, etc., combining to make me late to the dinner. I dash there in my traveling clothes, faded blue jeans and big dirty sneakers like R. Crumb draws. Everyone's mad at me. As I accept the award, I have a heart attack and die, remembering, too late, that I'm not even wearing clean underwear.
So, should you think of me today, send me the most splendid of wishes.
P.S. I'll be traveling alone [Jack's not strong enough yet to go with me] in the company of a two-day-old cell phone. Jack and I have figured out how to call each other and how to leave messages for each other, but darned if we can figure out how to hear the other's message. Oh, well.
I have figured out how to phone Emergency, which gives me some peace. And I know how to turn the ringer off so the @#$$%%%^^&*()(**&^% thing won't launch into its Aquamarine solo while I'm driving.
So I'll be okay. Really, okay. But send me a wonderful thought anyway.
Warm wishes,
Marilyn
Marilyn June Coffey, BitterSweet Rebel
Author of MAIL-ORDER KID
Email: marilyncoffey@cox.net
JACK Jack Loscutoff, Sage in Bloom
Author of THE CLOUD OF DOOM
Email: fzzjack@gmail.com
THE CLOUD OF DOOM
PLANET EARTH IN THE YEAR 2035
faces problems ranging from global warming and rising sea levels to overpopulation, hunger, corporate greed, and religious and political strife. One night a glowing blue-white cloud appears in the sky. In the same direction, a mysterious source of deadly gamma rays is detected. Are these signs of the Judgment Day, an alien invasion or something even more catastrophic? Join mild-mannered astronomer Dr. R. Cooper Smythe as he journeys to the outer reaches of the solar system in search of an answer.
"The Cloud of Doom is a fast-moving sci-fi adventure that has serious points to make, as well."
– John Keenan, Book Review Editor, The Omaha World-Herald
"... a highly compelling story . . . The dialogue is superb, and the narrative is a lot of fun as well as being intellectually intriguing."
– Stanley P. Baldwin, freelance editor and co-author of J. R. R. Tolkien: His Life and Works
"If you like unconventional heroes and villains, an original plot and colorful descriptions, then The Cloud of Doom is the book for you."
--Kay Oswalt, writer and critic
"The Cloud of Doom is a page-turner. The vile Rev. Bobby Summers/Winters is a truly evil character, and Randall Cooper Smythe is a subtle, thinking-man's hero. I hope there will be a sequel. I want to know more!"
Richard W. Hungerford, Jr., genealogist and financial services representative
In The Cloud of Doom, a threat from outside our solar system causes a world-wide panic. People react to 'The Cloud,' often in destructive ways, based on their personal, ethnic, religious or philosophical biases. In addition, we become aware of the prevalence and magnitude of the worsening environmental crises. Will civilization survive? What will happen to the main characters, Coop, Moira and Gupta? I'm looking forward to a sequel."
– Dr. Janet Waage Lingren, psychotherapist
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