For my May blog article, I wrote about my favorite poem My
Papa’s Waltz (Link HERE).
Continuing with a poetry theme, my June article is about
a baseball poem by Ernest Lawrence Thayer: Casey at the Bat.
This poem was
published in the San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1988.
According to the website Poets.org¹, Ernest Lawrence Thayer
was born on August 14, 1863 (d. August 21, 1940) in Lawrence, Massachusetts.He graduated from Harvard University. While there,
he met William Randolph Hearst, who would later have the San Francisco
Examiner. Hearst eventually hired Thayer to write a humorous column for his
newspaper, which turned out to be Thayers’s most famous work, Casey at the Bat.
Thayer wrote under the pen name “Phin”.
Ernest Lawrence Thayer - Reference¹
Wikipedia² tells us:
DeWolf Hopper “gave the poem’s first stage recitation on
August 14, 1888 at New York’s Wallack Theater as part of the comic opera Prinze
Methusalem in the presence of the Chicago and New York baseball teams, the
white Stockings and the Giants, respectively.
Hopper reportedly recited the poem an estimated 10,000 times
on the low side and up to 40,000 times on the high side.
The first recorded version of this poem was by Russell
Hunting, who spoke in a broad Irish accent.
Among others who have recorded this poem, James Earl Jones recorded
a version with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra in 1996.
The poem has been referenced in many movies, television
shows, books, comics, and parodies as well as being set to music as a song and
adapted into an opera.
On July 11, 1996, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative
stamp depicting “Mighty Casey” as part of a commemorative American folk heroes
set that included Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and Pecos Bill.
Mighty Casey Commemorative Stamp - Reference³
My first recollection of Casey at the Bat is from watching this 1946 Disney
cartoon.
Once I discovered Casey at the Bat via Disney, my grandpa, whom I talked about in my May article, read it to me many times thereafter. He was a big fan of baseball, so he didn't mind at all. :-)
1. Poets.org, Academy of American Poets,
poets.org/poet/ernest-lawrence-thayer.
2. “Casey at
the Bat.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 May 2020,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_at_the_Bat.
3. Sine, Iqzero.net and Dick. “US Stamp Gallery >> Mighty Casey.”
US Stamp Gallery >> Browse Stamps through the History of the United
States, usstampgallery.com/view.php?id=279473ac9b832af457fc5d895faed6782083c783
Blog-a-Book-Scene is a monthly themed blogging endeavor from a group of authors who love to share excerpts from their stories. Find us on Twitter with the hashtag #blogabookscene and #PrairieRosePubs.
October’s theme is all things autumn, spooky, and Halloween. The excerpt below is from my contemporary paranormal (vampire) romance short novel, Give Me Tomorrow.
Blurb
Vampire Melissa Price’s heart has hardened to an empty shell of remembered love. Lifetimes of experience and self-preservation have taught her that relationships serve only two purposes—sustenance and superficial companionship. Her work as a veterinarian gives purpose to her solitary life, but three hundred years of loneliness catches up with her when she responds to an emergency call and meets the least likely man to bring down the wall of her emotionless existence.
Jaxon Granger is part-owner of his family’s thoroughbred racehorse boarding and layover facility. His world revolves around his business, family, and a penchant toward hedonism. Horses are his life and womanizing bachelorhood is his religion. He boasts that there isn’t a woman alive who can make him a one-woman man.
That is, until he falls for a woman who isn’t alive—in the strictest sense of the word.
EXCERPT
Like a jackrabbit running for cover, Lissa spun out of the yard in a spray of gravel in her flight to get away from Jax. She was miles down the road before her nerves calmed enough that she could think. How had he done that? How had just a kiss turned her inside‐out? His mouth, burning and possessive. His thoughts pulling her into his mind and drawing forth feelings she believed were as dead as the husband and daughter she’d lost centuries ago. One second, they were sinking to the floor, and the next, the blood pulsing through his carotid artery mere inches from her mouth lured her into the bite before either was ready. The instant she’d tasted his blood, her mind had spiraled into a tailspin of vertigo and vivid memories of her past, which broke her already-tenuous telepathic hold on his mind.
What happened? Even as the question formed, she knew the answer. Those older and wiser had warned that her cavalier indifference toward her victims would catch up with her. Someday she’d meet The One. The man whose strength of mind and will of heart matched—or exceeded—her own. She knew this man from her dreams. He stole into her lonely nights, faceless and ethereally enticing, with a whispered promise of tomorrow on a voice as tender and familiar as the caress of a lover. Only this man could lift the centuries of loneliness from her shoulders and breathe life back into her cold, dead heart.
And now she’d found him…or he’d found her, and he wasn’t immortal, not her kind. He was hindered by a finite lifespan. He couldn’t go where she traveled.
Moving on to the next job and the next town was her reality, as always, but for the first time, she didn’t want to leave. Better judgment argued with her emotions. She wanted an-other chance with Jax, but that meant explaining, which meant she cared. Caring brought confiding and confiding required trusting, which she had precious little to draw from. The very essence of what allowed her to live also kept her alone and kept her safe.
Suddenly, she was tired. Tired of staying one suspicion ahead of people when they questioned why she didn’t age. Tired of concealing what she was. Tired of her nomadic life. Just plain tired. What good was immortality if she had to endure eternity alone?
On September 20th, my paranormal-lite, cowboy-meets-vampire story Give Me Tomorrow was released through Fire Star Press. The story is actually a rerelease of a short story that I expanded, deepened, and retitled. This is Part 4 in my release-day series. You can read the three previous articles by clicking on the dates:
Part 1 - June 25, 2018 - Give Me Tomorrow - upcoming release
Part 2 - July 23, 2018 - Do You Remember 1990? A stroll down memory lane | Give Me Tomorrow
Part 3 - August 27, 2018 - Give Me Tomorrow
Why do I call this story 'paranormal-lite'? Give Me Tomorrow is a vampire story, yes, but the vampire aspect is not the primary thread in the story. It’s a story about learning to live with what life hands you while coming to terms with the ‘demons’ of your past so you can move forward in life with someone you love. The heroine is the vampire, who handles her vampireness as a health issue that she's learned to live with. It doesn't dominate her life. She is not an I vant to drink your blood. Blah Blah Blah vampire. *wink* Hence, the 'lite' aspect of paranormal.
Give Me Tomorrow is a short novel. Many of the scenes are drawn from my real-life experiences. Well, none of the vampire aspects of the story, but others.
The scene with the veterinarian tending to an injured horse is something I have much experience with. Veterinarians made barn calls 24/7 in vehicles like this one. (imagine a much older model pickup truck, though)
Vet truck box - Image: http://www.800toolbox.com/vet_box/vet_box.html
The accident with the pony and the little boy really happened. I ten years old-ish, and I witnessed what happened and how it turned out.
The protagonist, Jax, owns a horse boarding and layover facility. I was involved in thoroughbred racing many years ago, and I fashioned Jax’s business after one that I worked at during the off season from thoroughbred racing at Thistledown Racetrack in Cleveland, Ohio.
Example of a horse boarding facility
Dreamstime photo #23821276 (license purchased for use)
The protagonist also runs a horse transport service. I didn’t drive a transport van or semi with trailer, but I did haul horses from one racetrack to another several times with my pickup and fifth-wheel horse trailer. We called this kind of trailer a 'goose neck trailer' back then.
Jax and Lissa (Melissa) galloping horses on a track is also something I've done.
The restaurant where Jax and Lissa have dinner is a real restaurant. In its heyday, it was a swanky, expensive place to dine. My first waitressing job was at the Colonial in 1974.
The setting of this story is in northeastern Colorado, which is where I was born and raised. The real town I grew up in is Fort Morgan. My fictional name for this town is Platte River City. This fictionally-named town shows up in some of my other works. Historically, Fort Morgan was on the South Platte Trail and the safest river crossing was Platte River Crossing, but that is a story for a future blog article.
There is riding accident scene near the end of the story that I experienced. I was with the person who was hurt in the same way that the character in the scene is hurt. The real-life outcome was not a happy one.
Runaway, riderless horse
Dreamstime photo #9025616 (license purchase for use)
Forever, like a fine wine, is better when shared.
BLURB
Vampire Melissa Price’s heart has hardened to an empty shell of remembered love. Lifetimes of experience and self-preservation have taught her that relationships serve only two purposes—sustenance and superficial companionship. Her work as a veterinarian gives purpose to her solitary life, but three hundred years of loneliness catches up with her when she responds to an emergency call and meets the least likely man to bring down the wall of her emotionless existence.
Jaxon Granger is part-owner of his family’s thoroughbred racehorse boarding and layover facility. His world revolves around his business, family, and a penchant toward hedonism. Horses are his life and womanizing bachelorhood is his religion. He boasts that there isn’t a woman alive who can make him a one-woman man.
That is, until he falls for a woman who isn’t alive—in the strictest sense of the word.
EXCERPT
As Jax watched Lissa tidy up, his curiosity demanded satisfaction. “Tell me about your health problem. Does it have something to do with your preference of working nights?”
“You’re perceptive. I’m sensitive to sunlight.”
“Sensitive as in Lupus, or something like that?”
“No. Not Lupus.”
“So, what is it?”
Without missing a beat, she said, “Too long in the sunlight and my skin sizzles and sloughs off. It’s a nasty sight.” She closed a door and walked to the other side of her truck. “It takes a lot out of me to regenerate the damaged skin. I don’t care for it.”
Jax snorted. “Where did Doc find you? 1‐800‐DRACULA?” He attempted a dramatic and campy Bela Lugosi impersonation that even he realized fell flat, although Lissa came around the back of her vet truck grinning.
“You have more personality than I anticipated.”
“Personality? What do you mean?”
“Doc Bohlanger has purposely kept me away from your facility. He wanted me to build up a clientele and a reputation before making my first call out here.” She closed the back door of her truck. “He warned me about you.”
“What, exactly, did he warn you about?” Jax liked the way her dimples deepened and the sassy turn of her pouty lips when she smiled. He also speculated on what she wore under her scrubs—hoping it was black and lacy—while estimating how many times he’d have to take her to dinner before she slept with him.
“He said you have a poor opinion of career women, which has manifested as a notorious reputation as a lady killer. Consequently, you’ll be determined to get me into bed, so you can put another notch on your bedpost.”
So you like stories that incorporate the author's real life experiences? Does knowing these stories behind the published story enhance your reading enjoyment? Let me know in the comments. I'm looking forward to reading what you have to say.
Until next time, Kaye Spencer Writing through history one romance upon a time
Vampire Melissa Price’s heart has hardened to an empty shell of remembered love. Lifetimes of experience and self-preservation have taught her that relationships serve only two purposes—sustenance and superficial companionship. Her work as a veterinarian gives purpose to her solitary life, but three hundred years of loneliness catches up with her when she responds to an emergency call and meets the least likely man to bring down the wall of her emotionless existence.
Jaxon Granger is part-owner of his family’s thoroughbred racehorse boarding and layover facility. His world revolves around his business, family, and a penchant toward hedonism. Horses are his life and womanizing bachelorhood is his religion. He boasts that there isn’t a woman alive who can make him a one-woman man.
That is, until he falls for a woman who isn’t alive—in the strictest sense of the word. EXCERPT Lissa materialized from the darkness with the ethereal grace of a phantom shadow floating on a night breeze. “Where the hell were you hiding?” He’d have sworn there was nothing there a second ago. “I wasn’t hiding. I was right here beside the house in plain sight if you’d have only taken the time to see, which isn’t the same as looking.” Her face reflected an eerie, bloodless-corpse‐aura under the mercury lighting, and the sight sent a shiver scuttling down his spine.
