Saturday I took a walk with a friend through Hafer Park in Edmond, Oklahoma, and about a hundred smooth-looking, shined-to-perfection classical cars were lined up. My heart lurched. It was the Liberty Fest Car Show and I love, love, love old cars.
I took a picture with the owner who won “The Best Car of the Show” while another car owner, Jack Sweeden, gave me his book “How to Wire Your Street Rod.”
My love for these classics started back in the early 70’s when a Model T convertible sat in our driveway. I piled my three little daughters into back seat (no seat belts) and drove into town. Since it had no gas gauge, I’d always stop and get a dollars’ worth of gas. Those were the good ole days!
One of the main characters of my historical novel, A Promise to Break, was a mechanic back in the 30’s. Maybe I got my love of cars from Fremont Pope, my grandfather. I tried to describe some of the old classics in my novel. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 4 in my book.
“The Chrysler’s body was long, smooth as silk and classy as a mink stole. A neighborhood mutt chased the wire wheel spokes, and a gardener turned to stare at the curved fenders and rear bumper guards passing by.
Through the speckled Saturday afternoon sun, I drove the sleek motorcar south under the tall oak trees past Wallace Street. Their limbs stretched high over the road like people standing on tiptoe, struggling to touch in the middle.”
Last week I explored the ghost town of Waco for some final descriptions in my new book. In the early twentieth century, Waco had (at least) a post office, a grist mill, a blacksmith shop and a church.
Not much remains of Waco now, which was about ten miles west of Shawnee. A collapsed dug out. The Black Cemetery down the road where family members are buried. Then we found the rock foundation of the church on the corner of Okay and Waco Road!
I was overjoyed. I didn’t expect to find this much. The porch steps are almost covered with brush and weeds, but this church played an important role in the background of my family’s faith. You see, the Popes, my grandparents, homesteaded in Waco and donated five acres for the church building.
The Promise Child: Faith, Loss, and Hope in the 1930s, is the second book in this series. It follows A Promise to Break. Sibyl Pope, who seeks to be a perfect wife, mother and homemaker, experiences the worst of the Depression. A third child brings her joy and she sees God’s blessings. However a crisis occurs which helps her realize that God is with us through the trials, not just through the blessings.
Set from 1936 to 1939, this second book brings the town of Shawnee to life through the eyes of a strong-willed, educated young woman.
I enjoy exploring ghost-towns and Waco may just be the focus of my next series. I’m already researching.
While researching my historical book series, I visited the Oklahoma History Center. My first book released in June of 2016, A Promise to Break: Love, faith and politics in the 1930s, and is based on a true story set in Shawnee Oklahoma. A wealthy, socialist banker’s daughter falls in love with a hobo, a poor bum who comes from a Christian family. Her life is drastically changed.
The impressive History Center is northeast of the capitol and holds a huge museum. The research center staff was very helpful, gathering books, looking up data for me, etc.
My goal was to locate newspaper articles or books that listed my antagonist by name, Malcolm Trimble, confirming his work during the 1930s. Trimble was a bank auditor in the thirties, and auditors were not highly esteemed during that time. Of course not, what with all the banks failing left and right. I found one bank examiner fatally shot in Jackson County and others articles describing life threats against them. Not a good time to be a state bank examiner.
The first book the research assistant brought me had my grandfather’s name listed. That was awesome! He was an employee at Wewoka Bank in 1920. The assistant was amazed I found information so quickly. She said many people search for days for information. I confirmed other bankers’ named in my sources. Newspaper articles also listed Mr. Trimble as involved in a scandal that included State Bank Commissioner Barnett. Exactly as I had heard from family lore.
Those treasures made the trip worth it.
I came home with a large stack of copies of newspaper articles and book pages to read. My second book is ready for an editor and I’m already working on the third.
It’s a fun ride. I love research and discovering what God has done through people. If you are researching Oklahoma past, I suggest you make a trip to the Oklahoma History Center. The Lord willing, I hope to share my second book in the historical series with you soon, A Promise Child.
Good and bad things happen in life and here is a recent example. My husband’s goal is to have his own place in the country, so three years ago he purchased thirteen acres of tree-covered land with a dilapidated building. He was like a kid having his own project and it didn’t take long to clear off an area around the pond. He felt great about it.
The next year a wild fire swept through the area, threatening to reach houses nearby. We lost at least a hundred trees in the fire. Bad news.
Local firemen stopped the runaway fire at the pond that had recently been cleared, keeping it away from the housing addition. God’s protective plan? The old broken-down building on the property burned to the ground. Ah, good news.
Then we had an ice storm and the accumulated ice weight caused more trees to fall. A drought followed and we lost more. Bad news? It seemed like bad luck until we realized the trees were cedar, weakened by the ice and drought. Trees fell that needed to fall and he would not have to chop them down. Good.
An abandoned well was found by the former building. Good. It was filled with bricks. Bad. The bricks could be withdrawn. Good. After a pump was installed, the water was fresh and clear. Even better.
Do you see a pattern? Good. Bad. Good. Bad.
My hubby decided to build a barn on the property. Not hire it done but build it himself. I’m not sure about the good or bad of that, but he planned for months, discussed it with experienced builders and researched it on the internet. It would be two stories with a small apartment upstairs. A barndominium, he said.
Things went as normal. Good one day, bad the next. Good. Bad. Up. Down.
The week came for the barn raisin’. The concrete slab was poured long before. Wood delivered. Heavy pre-made trusses brought in. Family and friends to help. The first floor went in great. Strong and steady. Good. A crane came to lift the heavy trusses to the second floor where two men on top nailed them in. Hard, heavy work but still going great.
Putting up trusses for the second floor of the bardominium
The wind picked up in the mid afternoon. Not good. They were almost finished with the second floor. Four more trusses to go before completion. Good. A strong, Oklahoma gust of wind whipped through. I watched the last truss in place wobble. Then the truss beside it wobbled. Then twenty something trusses tumbled in slow motion like dominoes, one after the other, breaking as they fell. Now that was definitely not good.
I looked up from my vantage point and noted where the men stood. One was missing. Not good. I ran to the side and saw our son-in-law leaning over. As he fell, he had been hit on the head with a heavy truss and his arm caught in the crushing weight. He was nauseous. I rushed him to the emergency room. God what are you doing? This is definitely not good.
I forgot to mention that we prayed through all of this. Prayed for God to protect, guide and lead us. Of course, I was praying as my son-in-law’s arm and head were x-rayed. No concussion. His arm was not broken. That’s good. Thank you, God.
All I can say is that it’s possible his arm caught his fall. A roof caving in can do serious to fatal damage to a man. The crane attached to the last truss held. It hit the bucket and slightly changed the angle of the falling wood. Could he have been more damaged? Yes. Could they have done something different? Maybe. Could God have been there helping? Yes. Could it have been worse? Oh, yes.
Good and bad will happen to everyone in this world and some days are roller coaster rides. Up and down. The question is, “How will we respond?” We can’t let the bad times color our view of the future because we don’t know the future. Only God knows. Look for Him in every situation.
Cross as crane pulled out the broken, fallen trusses from the barndomium.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 RSV states, “When life is good, enjoy it. But when life is hard, remember that God gives us good times and hard times. And no one knows what will happen in the future.”
Research for my second in the Promise series historical novels has been tedious, tooth-pulling and loads of fun. I’m writing about a Shawnee, Oklahoma, family who had enough drama in their lives for a TV serial. Some of which cannot be written about of course, but family secrets have a way of surfacing and influencing the next generations, even if never vocalized or recorded. Just warning you who think I have revealed too many family secrets and want to keep yours hidden.
Some of the scandalous parts of the Trimble and Pope family are in the books. However, nothing is included that would embarrass my grandmother. The audience is Christian and all questionable topics are handled with care and sensitivity.
That said, I went to the Shawnee library to research 1938 local events on microfiche because that year’s happenings were slim in my book. (The book is from 1936 to 1939). I found several newspaper articles on President Roosevelt and his entourage riding a train through Shawnee, stopping for a short speech before continuing on to Oklahoma City.
It seemed highly likely that Sibyl, my main character, would attend. She was politically minded and interested in world events. I wanted to write her standing and watching the President, Fremont reluctantly beside her. Awed and impressed. Summertime hot and uncomfortable.
These Promise series books are based on a true story. Real people. Real places. So I was not sure this actually happened. Aunt Blanche never mentioned it, nor anyone else I interviewed.
One of the characters from this book who is still living is Aunt Frances.Frances turns 90 years old in a few weeks but her mind is sharp and she has been an invaluable source of information. I’ve interviewed her many times. I went to her retirement center home and sat down at her little dining room table and watched as she ate a frozen dinner.
“Do you remember when Roosevelt rode a train through Shawnee?” I asked.
She did not hesitate. “Of course. I was there.”
She was there. That meant her sister Sibyl was probably there too. Frances was eleven years old and went with her mother. She was too short to see over the crowds of grownups trying to get a view of the president but she heard the loudspeaker telling people to stand back. Yes. She was there. She remembered.
I was elated. If I had not found this tidbit in the paper, I would not have thought to ask Frances about it.
Research does that. It brings the past to life, causing us to remember and discover new facts about history that were forgotten or misplaced.
Of course I include this incident in my second book, A Promise Child, Faith, Love and Hope in the 1930s. The first book is on Amazon, A Promise to Break. The book is almost completed and ready to send to the editor.
