|
In addition to In Perry 3, B.J. has authored and self-published several short stories. Contact the author at InPerry3@AOL.COM for details.
The genre of Patches and the Boys is humor. It is the story of a dog named “Patches,” or “Brain” as he prefers to be known. One moonlit autumn evening, he rounds up his buddies for an outing to the farming country. They are off to have a little fun. Their evening does not turn out the way they planned but has some humorous and touching twists. The tale is told through Patches’, er Brain’s voice as writer, typist, and copy editor. Suitable for readers of middle school age through adult.
The genre of Weddings on Raven Bluff is historical fiction. The time and setting is much like that of In Perry 3.
The tale is set in the Northern Frontier of the Upper Midwest: The iron mining and pine timber region of Wisconsin, near Lake Superior. The time is the glory years of pine logging and deep-shaft iron mining. Agriculture is just coming to prominence on the logged-over land.
Christine, daughter of a widowed farmer, marries rather young and soon finds herself in a loveless marriage to a wealthy banker who is a generation older than she.
She no sooner begins to adjust to a comfortable life and marriage without romance when she finds herself kidnapped and held for ransom in a dismal setting in the deep forest. Her captivity is reminiscent of Ann Ratcliff’s Gothic romances.
As she brushes by the overhanging privet, she hears rustling sounds in the branches on either side of her. Before she can consciously guess that the breeze has picked up again, she is roughly . . . . © 2007; All rights reserved.
Christine attempts to buy or trick her way out of captivity but is unsuccessful until one of her captors offers her a way out.
This is too much temptation for Sophia, who is unused to hearing praise. Sophia reaches up and strokes a tress of her hair that has come loose. She looks at it curiously and longingly. . . “Sophia! You heard me. You understand. I knew you could hear. Listen to me. Help me out of here and my husband will give you more money that you ever dreamed exists.” Immediately, Sophia spins to face Christine directly with wild anger— “No English! No English! No English!” As quickly, she leaves the room . . . .
© 2007; All rights reserved.
Christine flees in mock cooperation. She is soon drawn into a new plot with her captor. But she has a plan of her own and feigns cooperation. The two return to the Great Lakes area for the story’s conclusion.
The action includes hidden intentions, treachery, kidnapping, ransom, and gun play. It does not include gore, erotica, or foul language. The story concludes with a couple plot twists and an ending that might remind the reader of an Alfred Hitchcock tale. This story is intended for adults, including high school age readers.
| 
