2013 will certainly be a banner year for our two young explorers.
Welcome to the official blog of the Time Trip adventure series - a series of books that turn real life history into relentless adventure. Posted below you'll find excerpts, artwork and additional historical context of the adventures experienced by our two time-traveling cousins, Kyla and Zammie. Links to the books for sale can be found along the right column.
Monday, December 31, 2012
New Posts for a New Year
New excerpts, artwork, and promotions for the Time Trip series will be arriving soon!
2013 will certainly be a banner year for our two young explorers.
2013 will certainly be a banner year for our two young explorers.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Adventure 4 Teaser
A journey through history unlike anything you've ever read.
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4:
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
AVAILABLE MARCH 2013!
That Animal Will Kill You
It
was within a hundred yards and closing fast.
“You
all run,” said Robert. “I’ll stay and fight it off.”
“You
crazy!” said Henry. “That animal will kill you!”
“Get
outta here!” Robert yelled.
Harriet
began pushing everyone else to run. “Let’s go!” she said. Her voice held with
conviction, but her heart was aching at the thought of Robert’s sacrifice.
Zammie took two steps when something caught his eye in the
moonlight.
“Where you going, Zammie?” asked Kyla.
Zammie picked up a large branch that had fallen from a
tree. He ran it back to Robert and held it up to him.
“My uncle used a broom handle to beat down a Doberman once
when it was attacking my cousin,” said Zammie. “Maybe you can use this on this dog.”
Robert took the tree branch and held it like an axe. It was
a little shorter than a broom handle but it was thick like the fat end of a
baseball bat and just as firm.
“You get goin’, boy,” said Robert. “I don’ want you ‘round
if I miss.”
“Then don’t miss,” said Zammie.
“Come on, Zammie!” said Kyla.
Zammie began running with Kyla back up the trail towards
Harriet, but his curiosity got the better of him. He stopped and turned back to
see the black and brown Bloodhound charging down on Robert.
“Come on, Zam . . .mie . . .” Kyla’s voice trailed off when
she saw the snarling animal jump towards Robert.
In the limited moonlight being filtered in through the
leafless branches it was difficult for the children to make out exactly what
happened next.
But the noise that was heard left little to the
imagination.
Robert stood his ground as the hound bore down on him. He
imagined he had a brand new rail-splitting mallet in his hands, and all he was
going to do was crack a perfect line straight down this monstrous stump.
He showed no fear to the animal as he wound back his arms,
but the awful, guttural barking of the dog was making his heart pound with
adrenaline.
Once it was within six feet the ninety-pound Bloodhound
leapt from the ground and headed straight for Robert’s exposed neck.
For a split-second Robert lost sight of the dog as it flew
through a shadow, but then he could see it clearly again as a pastel moonbeam
reflected off its eyes.
Robert
swung the branch with purpose and meaning. He had so much angst built up that he
began humming a high tone involuntarily for a second as he swung the piece of
lumber. He unleashed a lifetime’s worth of stored up pain, misery, and
humiliation; over thirty years of being locked down by his master while
believing he was capable of something more in this life.
-- "That Animal Will Kill You"
from Time Trip #2:
A Ride on the Underground Railroad
A Ride on the Underground Railroad
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Sunday, December 16, 2012
You Stink!
“You stink!” he told me after our embrace. “When was the last time you took a bath?”
“Hey! You’re not so clean yourself.” I thought for a second how long it had been since I had bathed, and I realized that I hadn’t at all. I had gone months without a bath as had just about everyone else. I’m sure we all reeked something horrible. “Have you been with the Indians all this time? I thought I was never going to find you!”
“I’ve been with them for months! They’ve taught me how to hunt, how to shoot a bow and arrow. They taught me about all the different trees and animals around here. It’s been better than summer camp.”
“What is all this?” asked Captain Standish.
“Apparently that’s her long lost cousin,” said Mr. Winslow.
“So she is an Indian!” said Captain Standish. “I knew it all along."
-- "You stink!"
from Time Trip #3: Witness to the First Thanksgiving
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Like Mosquitoes on a Placid Like
Zammie walked over to help Kyla stack some of the chipped, maroon tiles when a glimmer in the sky caught his attention. He looked up and saw three planes set amongst the pale blue backdrop like mosquitoes on a placid like. This is it, isn’t it? Zammie watched the lead plane for a moment when suddenly it began to turn at a tight angle, nearly circling completely around.
Too late to do anything now. I wonder what will happen to us? I should grab Kyla and run . . . but where? There’s no time.
“What are you doing, Zammie? Help us.” Kyla was still bustling along like a good soldier.
Zammie felt helpless. All the energy left his body. He bent over to pick up one of the square-foot tiles and it felt like a lead anvil in his hand.
Suddenly a bright light appeared less than a mile away right above the southern skyline.
 |
| Still from the Barefoot Gen anime. |
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
Available at Amazon.com!
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Monday, December 10, 2012
Time Trip #4 Teaser: Gettysburg
"We'll fight them, sir, 'til hell freezes over, and then, sir, we will fight them on the ice."
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
-- A Confederate soldier at Gettysburg
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
To be released in March 2013!
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Parisian Police
.jpg)
“Evening, Mister Grynszpan. Is Herschel at home?”
“No, I told you before. He has left. We have not seen him for weeks.”
“I know you’ve told us that before, Mister Grynszpan, but we have received reports of a teenage boy entering and leaving your house late at night.”
“From who?” asked Abraham. “Who’s telling you these stories?”
“May we come inside, Mister Grynszpan?”
“Now? But I am just sitting down for supper.”
“I am truly sorry, Mister Grynszpan. It won’t take but a moment.”
“Tomorrow,” said Abraham. “Come back tomorrow—“
The second of the two officers, the much larger one, stepped up to Abraham, towering over him, and pushed the door open. He brushed past Abraham and entered the house.
The second of the two officers, the much larger one, stepped up to Abraham, towering over him, and pushed the door open. He brushed past Abraham and entered the house.
“What are you doing?” asked Abraham. “You have no right!” He did his best to feign indignation, but they all knew he was guilty of harboring a fugitive.
“This will just take a moment, Mister Grynszpan,” repeated the first officer.
The larger officer stomped through the tiny house, opening doors and ruffling through closets. After several minutes of searching and researching the domicile the large officer finally gave up.
“I told you he’s not here,” said Abraham. His heart was pounding and he tried to hide the shaking in his hands. If only these officers knew exactly how close they were.
“So you say. When he returns I want you to call us, is that understood, Mister Grynszpan? What you are doing is illegal, and you’ve worked too hard here in Paris to be locked up in jail for doing something so stupid.”
The officer looked at Chawa, smiled and nodded. “Madam.” Then he turned and walked out of the house with the larger officer following closely behind.
Abraham closed the door with his trembling hands. “Wine. Please.”
Chawa brought him a glass of red wine and he drank it down in one gulp.
“Animals,” she said. “Barging into our home like that.”
“They’re just doing their job, Chawa.”
“Their job is to interrupt your supper and search through my closet--?”
She stopped when she heard the steps behind her. They both looked over to see their teenage nephew Herschel, now seventeen years old, creeping towards the front window to see if the police were gone. He had grown a couple inches since arriving in France. His hair was a rich, dark brown and his piercing eyes crackled with electricity.
“You cannot stay here any longer.” Abraham stepped towards Herschel.
Herschel knew this day would come at some point, but he was still taken by surprise to actually hear his uncle say the words.
-- Parisian Police
from Time Trip #4: Killing For Country
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
Available at Amazon.com!
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Food from Time Trip #2: Potlikker
"Harriet,
Kyla, Zammie, and Joseph all sat at a small wooden table eating plates of a
dish Millie called “pot likker”. She had boiled some greens and onions in water
with some salted ham and had used the liquid as a stock to pour over ashcakes
and dumplings she had made from cornmeal.
The
cabin was basically just one room with a small kitchen area although Millie did
most of the cooking outside on a wood stove. The food was good and filling.
Harriet knew it was probably more than Millie could afford to be giving out
under normal circumstances. Harriet had a dollar that she tried to give
to Millie for payment, but Millie refused it. Harriet later gave the money to little
Joseph and told him to give it to his mother after they left."
-- from Time Trip #2:
A Ride On the Underground Railroad
| Greens in potlikker with dumplings. |
Read more about Potlikker in this article from The Atlantic.
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Monday, December 3, 2012
We Got Stowaways!
There were three sharp knocks
on the wood plank at the front of the wagon.
“Oh! That’s the signal, children,” said Harriet. She sprang
up and gave three knocks back on the plank.
“What signal?” asked Kyla.
“Someone’s comin’,” said Harriet. “We need to hide
ourselves in case it’s a slave-catcher.”
Harriet pulled at one of the planks that made up the floor
of the wagon bed and it lifted up. She slid the false floor plank to the side
revealing a small compartment below.
“Quick, hide in here! Lay down flat!”
The two cousins dropped down into the tight compartment and
Harriet laid down beside them before pulling the plank back over for cover.
Zammie couldn’t see anything in the darkness, but he could hear more horses
galloping towards them. Daniel slowed the wagon down. The sounds of additional
horses could be heard stepping and neighing around the wagon. The light of
lanterns filtered through the cracks in the wood.
“Awful late to be travelling alone, ain’t it?” said one of
the horsemen.
“Agreed,” said Daniel. “Tryin’ to get home before the
missus gets angry.”
Kyla felt like she was in a coffin. She was crammed tightly
between Harriet and Zammie and the thin dust from the wood of the wagon was
tickling her nose.
“You haven’t seen any runaways on your journey, have ya?”
asked one of the horsemen.
“Not tonight,” answered Daniel. “You missin’ slaves?”
“Not us, but a couple of the local farmers are.”
“Ah, bounty hunters,” said Daniel.
Zammie could hear one of the horses trotting around the
wagon to the rear.
“Mind if we check the contents of your wagon, sir?” asked
the rider of the horse.
“You won’t find a thing back there,” said Daniel.
“We’ll check anyway if ya don’t mind,” said the first
rider.
Zammie heard the wagon gate open. Then he heard boot steps
clunking on the plank just inches above his head.
“Anything?” asked the first rider from the road.
Zammie held his breath to keep from making any noise at
all.
Then
it happened…
“Ha-choo!”
Zammie’s eyes went big. Kyla had sneezed.
“What was that?” asked the first rider.
“What have we here?” said the rider in the wagon.
Kyla felt the blood drain out of her face when she heard
the man grasping for the niche in the false floor plank above them. A second
later the plank was lifted and tossed away. The light of the lantern filled the
thin compartment in which the three of them were hiding.
“We got stowaways!” said the man.
In that instant Harriet sent a kick with all of her might
straight into the midsection of the slave-catcher leaning over them. The power
of the kick sent the man sprawling backwards where he fell off the edge of the
wagon landing flat on his back on the hard, cold road.
“Come on, children!” said Harriet. “Let’s move!”
Harriet grabbed Kyla by the wrist and Kyla grabbed Zammie
by the wrist and the three of them bolted out of the wagon onto the road and
disappeared into the dark woods.
-- "We Got Stowaways!"
from Time Trip #2: A Ride On the Underground Railroad
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Monday, November 26, 2012
Christmas Season Starts With a "BER"
“Religious holidays like Christmas are pagan in origin,” she told me, “and therefor an abomination on the name of Jesus Christ.”
I found that impossible to comprehend. Filipino families adore Christmas. We begin preparations for that wonderful holiday at the start of what we call the “Ber” months: September, October, et cetera, all the way up to New Year’s.
Not celebrating Christmas sounded like an abomination to me.
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
-- Christmas season starts with a "Ber"
from Time Trip #3: Witness to the First Thanksgiving
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4
KILLING FOR COUNTRY
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Friday, November 23, 2012
Tisquantum's Journey
 |
| All stills from the film Squanto: A Warrior's Tale |
Eventually, Tisquantum was able to talk one of the friars into helping him escape the monastery to England where he began living with a man named John Slaney in London. That was where he began learning the English language. John Slaney worked for the Newfoundland Company which had been managing a colony in Newfoundland since 1610. Newfoundland is an eastern part of modern day Canada, just north of Maine. Mr. Slaney employed Tisquantum as an interpreter and sent him to Newfoundland to work with a sea captain named John Mason who was also the governor of the Newfoundland colony. Apparently, there were a lot of men named John during this time.
Massasoit wasn’t convinced of Tisquantum’s pro-English arguments yet, but over the next few days Tisquantum would continue to build his case. Eventually the chief began to give in to Tisquantum’s point of view, especially with regards to the growing imbalance of power the people of Sowams had to deal with. The rising tributes being demanded by Canonicus was becoming unbearable. Maybe the white, hairy-faced visitors from the east could be useful to them after all. They just had to find a group willing to trade with the Natives.
-- Tisquantum's Journey
from Time Trip #3: Witness to the First Thanksgiving
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Available at Amazon.com!
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Oguina Builds a Fire
They had shared some corn soup and bread with me for supper, but I was still hungry. I felt exhausted, but it was difficult to sleep. I lay down on the grass and tried to relax, but the thought of moving on to another village in the morning had me worried. A fresh, cool breeze began to rustle through the tree tops. I could smell rain. Perfect.
“Zammie.”
“Oguina?”
“Where’s your fire?” she asked me.
“I can’t build one.”
“Here.” She handed me a thin strip of cooked deer meat. “I grabbed this for you.”
“Thank you.” I ate the venison quickly. It was warm and delicious.
Oguina knelt down and picked up the flint rocks from the pile that her father had left me. “Let me show you. First you need a pit.” She took one of the larger sticks and dug out a shallow hole in the ground maybe two feet wide and a few inches deep. Then she grabbed some of the smaller sticks and some dried moss and put them together in a pile in the middle of the pit. Then she began chipping the flint rocks creating sparks until the weeds began to smolder. She gently blew on the smoking embers, holding her long hair back with her hands, until a small flame began to grow. Then she placed some of the larger sticks into the flame and it started to really burn.
“Wow. Do all the kids know how to do that?”
“Of course.” Her eyes sparkled in the light of the small fire.
“I guess that’s why they’re sending me away. They can tell I don’t belong here, can’t they?”
“It wasn’t always like this,” she said. Her smile faded. “A few years ago they would have let you stay and be trained by one of the smaller families. But we’ve had so many die from sickness. I guess my uncle feels there’s no one here willing to help teach you.” She had a beautiful face. Her skin color was similar to mine, but her facial features were longer and better defined.
“Is he right? Is there no one here? I don’t wanna hafta go to another village. What if they turn me away, too?”
“I think there is room for you, but it doesn’t matter what I think. You’d have to convince Massasoit somehow.”
“How can I do that?”
“I don’t know. But I hope you think of something soon.” She looked back towards the center of the village. “I have to go back now before my father comes looking for me. I’ll see you in the morning.”
As quickly as she had arrived, she sprung up and darted away.
“Thank you,” I said.
It was hopeless. I couldn’t even build a fire much less hunt or build a hut. But there must have been a reason for me being here. Why would the Arjuna send me somewhere that I didn’t belong?
-- Oguina Builds a Fire
from Time Trip #3: Witness to the First Thanksgiving
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3
WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
Available at Amazon.com!
TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2
A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
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