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Thank You for takeing my mind off my troubles..If only for a few moments with this Great read…

Thanks also. Good story.

SKOOKUM
SO BREATH TAKEN
Thank you, again, for this exceptional story of the past,
I could follow it all the way in my imagination,
bye I loved it,

Thanks Ms Bees, for the sincere compliment. Like I promised, I thought of you while writing of the influence of the French speakers and their view of life and love. The thought of you being able to follow the action and conversation without difficulty is a great morale booster for me, because of English being a second language for you.

The Metis are a proud people struggling to maintain their rightful place in Canadian culture, I enjoy following their trail through the present day world of politics and culture, but the old buffalo hunts must have been exciting.

SKOOKUM
I can’t wait to read the book, to own it, IT will be a treasure for us who waited so patiently,
for those books
bye

I,ve been a lurker at FA for years. I rarely post because I,m ashamed of my poor grammar and sentence structure.And its nobodies fault but mine. I left home at15 ,I knew better than Mom(NOT).Never was much of a reader,Mom was and she sent me a “Tony Hillerman” book and I was hooked.I went on to join a Louis L”amour book club, and couldnt,t wait for them to come each month(in there fake leather hardback copies) they did so much to help me understand things like pride,loyalty to family and friends,the differance between right and wrong, like the story above. Thank you for the Great site

ATEXAN
hi,
don’t go too far, come back soon,
bye

ATEXAN, I would like to offer some advice, if you are not offended. Louis was a good story teller; one of the most successful in history, but he was not an accomplished writer, it is no secret, he readily admitted his shortcoming and offered no apologies.

It is an established fact, you will tend to write like the authors you read. Ernest Hemingway is considered one of America’s greatest writers, up there with Twain and Faulkner. However, Hemingway made the simple sentence into an art form. The Old Man and The Sea, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and The Green Hills of Africa are all easy and fun reads like Louis’ books, but with more depth and feeling, and simpler sentence structure. I tend to be a complex writer and try to study Ernest several times a year to stay rooted in reality.

If you read a few paragraphs and then tell a story using the same writing techniques and sentence structure, you will see your writing improve. Try to write a few sentences every day and you will do well.

If you have a few dollars $9.95, buy The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Strunk was a genius: White had problems he wasn’t aware of, but that book will explain everything you need to know about writing in less than a hundred pages. Memorize that book and your prose will be more correct, as far as grammar, than 98% of all Americans.

If you have questions, I will help you, but I am just another writer. I am not trying to be a know it all, just trying to help. The best, Skook.

ATEXAN, one of the reasons I love FA, is because there is no elitism or presumptions concerning writing abilities. The readers and authors look for sincerity and unique ideas and overlook deficiencies in writing skills, in other words, we are looking for content, not prose perfection. Occasionally, we have people try to intimidate writers with humble writing skill by attacking grammar and form with a condescending attitude; usually, the game is reversed on them and they are slapped around like a red haired step child.

There are no English Professors writing here, but if one of them shows up, I have a few tricks from the past. So don’t be afraid to write your feelings. That is what it is all about.

Skookum,Bees Thank you for the very kind and heartfelt comments. I wish more people understood how far a few kind words, a simple act of kindness means to us that are having a rough go of things. One of the reasons i liked “Cougar Cub Of The Metis” so much is it gave me something positive to think about on that faithful day..December 7 that I have hated for so long. My dad was a Texas state trooper killed in the line of duty December 7 1969. I was 4 but remember the little things , like being sent up the tree to try to get the wounded squirrel out of his nest. And reflected that he would have been of the same mold as Cougar. (I know i need to start a new paragraph now but I can,t get the keyboard to cooperate)I say this because, I still have the last gun he built..it was a 1917 U.S. Eddystone rechambered to 300win.mag,with a stock he made with his own hands,and he reloaded his own ammo. And Skookum I would like to address some of the points you made in your comments one by one at a later time,if that’s alright.

ATEXAN
HI,
YES that is true, we live with our memories, and it drive us in our future actions,
and we alone can pinpoint the why and how we’re deciding and doing what we choose to do in the present time, in events that affect our emotions, and I found that we always carry the load of those memories,
and the hurtful ones are the most heavy one which seems to hang up on the surface more than the good one,
they all good and hurt ones are part of our unique human being,
easy to say to another the same quote like; you must move on; when they haven’t live one’s life,
but we know we must, because the years are pushing us ahead, and helping in the mending
of the hurts from the past, and those years are the only thing which can do the job for us ,
those years are our master, we cannot stop them, and as we are focusing on the hurts, SOME days come with beautiful surprises,
and we learn to smile again,
I know that you have SKOOKUM very interested with
mentioning the old gun of your father, he will certainly get back to you,
take care, best to you for the HOLIDAYS

Hi Skook, thanks for another great read. When will your book be out and do you have a the title it will be published under yet?

I love good historical novels as long as they do not try to change history, for example some of Gingrich’s so called historical novels. James Michner was great at weaving a novel out of history.

I enjoy your work and as I said as soon as you are published, I am going to pick up a copy.

ATEXAN, that was a tough situation for a four year old, for anyone really, but especially a four year old. However, you are lucky enough to own the rifle he put his heart and soul into; I know you will cherish it forever.

I have a different feeling for December 7 with my father. He started college that fall, enlisted in the Navy after the bombing, was an officer 120 days later and was in the Pacific before he needed to shave. I teased him a lot about being a young officer over 30 year old enlisted men and we used to call each other and wish each other Happy Pearl Harbor Day. It was fun for us. I hope that might help you with a smile.

I don’t now why your computer isn’t responding, but you might find a college student who needs a few bucks to see if he can help you with your word processing program, some times spending ten bucks will save you $500 in frustration.

Don’t worry about the questions, just fire away. I sometimes work long hours or take off on the road and that is why some of my work appears at strange hours, but I will give you a leg up on any horse you think you can ride and judging by the sincerity of your writing, I think you can ride most of them. Don’t hold back, if you get bucked off just climb back on, the nice thing about writing as opposed to riding broncs: you don’t end up with broken bones when you get thrown, and we all get thrown.

Keep trying and let me know when you want some help. There are many people here who will cover for you when you stumble, so don’t sweat the small stuff or a few miscreants from the peanut gallery.

Poppa_T, I am glad you enjoyed the read. I have about 25,000 words on this book and I hope to have between 80 and 100 thousand words when I am done, for a 300 page novel. There are 300 words on a page and 3oo pages will be 90,000 words. I can write 2,000 words in three to four hours. It would be easy if I didn’t have this business I use to support myself, but I will keep plugging away. It is reassuring to hear from guys like you, it keeps me from worrying if I am off in the wrong direction.

I haven’t considered a name yet, but it will probably come together this winter. Thanks again.

PB, it’s funny that you should mention Michener; he has been the model for this book and the Paleolithic book. I like his format, historical accuracy, and ability to weave a story while teaching the reader history. He would use a group of graduate students to do research, I don’t think I would use other people, I enjoy the research too much to have someone else do the work.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

@Skookum:

Yea, that dadgum work thing keeps getting in the way of my fishing too.

Without fishing, there is only darkness.

Thank you Skook. A great read. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Please let us know when you have this published and where we can buy the book(s).
“Semper Fi”

Thanks Necro, I am lunging in the traces to get this book in print, but to do it right will take time and effort. It will be announced here and I will probably have a web page to sell the books and preview the material. I think it will be a lot of fun.

Semper Fidelis

Lynn Haines
thank you for bringing me here
that was a good read from SKOOKUM ,
as always,
hope he catch up with your demand,
it just happen to blend well with another POST, we are commenting on the STORY OF THE WAR WITH PONTIAC,
IT’S on the POST named; WAR ON CHRISTMAS,….
check it up,it’s at the end of the comments

bye