My mother said I was a wampus cat. What a wampus cat is exactly, I can't tell you, and I doubt if Mom could either, but there you have it. A wampus cat. It brings to mind some sort of wild animal, like a bobcat or panther maybe. A wild animal isn't me, though, but wampus sounds kind like whopper, and to my ears it also brings to mind big. Maybe that early conditioning is why I still fight the battle of the bulge today. After all, if I'm a wampus cat, I must be big. Nothing like starting on the old self concept a little young. Bu ...continued...

The Qualities of Someone I Admire: My Grandfather             Although I admire several people in my world, there is one man that stands out above all the rest and shines bright in my eyes. I have known him all my life and he was always a constant for me. His nickname for years was Smiley. You may think that was because he smiled all the time, but this was not the case. In fact, he rarely had a smile on his face for as long as I can remember. This man had a very hard life. He was born in 1918 to a very poor family. His mother died when he was a young boy and he had to help ra ...continued...

Digging through the anals of my mind takes a great deal of concentration and somewhat frustration....every time its always the same, happy memories, where are you? I think my most fond memories as a child were probably playing with our huge great dane who was such a clumsy clut, but so loving and harmless that like any of us just yearned for some attention and you would have him doing any tricks you desired. He was my horse! Most kids got bicycles to learn to ride, pedalling and balancing, but I had man’s best friend who would let me climb on his back, wrapping my legs ...continued...

One of the most vivid memories I can remember is a time when my mom, brother and I were sitting in the living room of our one bedroom house, in Salinas Caifornia. I'm not exactly sure what we were doing at the exact moment when we all heard the very loud knocking at the door. Followed by a very loud voice that said "this is the police, we have a search warrant open the door ". My mom was in shock and wasn't sure what to do. MY dad had told her not to open the door. My dad was quick in his actions and had come running in the house 5 minutes before the loud banging on the door. He had ran to the ...continued...

Watch Out For Bears Read any literature from Yellowstone National Park today and you’ll find all sorts of warnings about feeding the bears or otherwise interfering with their normal beary kinds of activities. Occasionally you may see in the news a sad story about some unwary hiker, or worse a tale of some misguided nature nut who thought he could commune with the wild beasts, who gets mauled by a bear. People know, for the most part, anyway, that they need to stay out of the bear’s comfort zone. Which is why I just can’t under ...continued...

Out-back in the Wallangie Bush by Pamela Boles Eglinski The sign read CLOSE THE GATE BEHIND YOU. I heard the telltale click and knew I’d entered another world – the Australian bush country. A small caravan of off-road four-wheel drives labored over parallel ruts in the red earth. “Easy to get lost if you fall behind,” Charlie said, pulling hard on the wheel, trying to skirt a jagged mound of rock. From the back seat, I sucked in air and held tight to the handgr ...continued...

My first Book simple riddle's for children as young as five to guess them. This book can be purchased on lulu. com under william sawyers or go to link below http://mrwilliamsawyers.weebly.com/my-published-books.html ...continued...

Introduction I set about to clean out Mother’s house. In the spare bedroom, I opened the antique cabinet and drew out a stack of memorabilia. Halfway down the pile of old newspapers, I discovered a speckled brown ledger book with ragged edges. It crackled as I opened the yellowed pages. Each line contained a date and a comment on life in the 1880's. It was my great-grandfather Sanford’s diary. The more I read, the more I wanted to share Sanford’s story, rather than bury it in some safe place for another 119 years. The basic story line is true and the hi ...continued...

This question was often asked of me while I attempted to get my first “serious” job. It was a difficult, philosophical question to answer. Looking back on those times, I wonder if the enquirer had asked it because he could not remember why he himself had chosen to become an accountant. Nearing retirement, the job interviewer hoped that this young, fresh-faced interviewee might retrospectively give meaning and justification to the previous thirty years of his working life. Unfortunately, there was no blinding flash of wisdom from the mouth of this babe accountant. Shortly after I ...continued...

The big blow out! Mom entered my room, I can only imagine after grilling my sibling about her weight, spending habits and other things. She was on the war path and it just so happened that I was the nect victim. I heard a knock which lead to her helping herself into my room as though she owned it. To be honest, she pays the mortgage so every room in this house belongs to her. Immediately she went into the amount of pop cans that were all over my bedroom, and the garbage bag which she assumed was filled with crumpled up chip bags and empty pop cans. She wanted to prove that I wasnt as ...continued...

North Pole ...continued...

ThTony was born in march 2015. He was about 2 months pre, and very tiny. Kelly had to have an emergancy C section. Theres a posability that while she was in the water, some of it got into her heart. She suffered some kind of heart attack, both her and tony survied. Tony gerw over this past year fast and big, the doctor said if he grew anymore they would have to make a new baby grow chart. So far he is a good boy, he is happy, allways smiles. Kelly is having her own issues but starting to get the medical help she needs. Val is still val. Nothing new on that frount. ...continued...

It was in the centre of Paris that I was run over. Our ever-faithful bicycles were used to the maximum around the city. It was rush hour, and the reputation the Parisians have of being the worst drivers in the world was justified. Admittedly, we were on the pavement, studiously avoiding the square-hatted policemen who had told me off earlier that day for riding on the path. We were sitting at the lights, and when pedestrians were shown the green light, off I sped. A lady in a small car hurtled around the corner through the red light, we collided. Actually, I pushed myself off the car, only ...continued...

~As he made his way down Columbus Avenue in the city of Middleton, Dr. Jameson was sure she was following him, hiding in the shadows, waiting patiently before making her move. The restaurant, his destination, wasn’t much further. Dr. Jameson wondered if maybe he should have phoned for that taxi, but it was a warm September evening and the walk would do him good. He could turn back; he was only a block from home, but he pressed on despite his uneasy feeling. The disturbing quiet of a usually busy city rattled him. It was as though he was the last survivor on the planet. A noise s ...continued...

http://tinyurl.com/y8kakux7I'm writing this as encouragement for authors who get dumbed down reviews from mindless readers. Even though I have over (200) five star reviews on my novels Blue Hole and the sequel River's Edge I still get a few reviews like the following. One said, "I haven't stated to read the book yet and not sure i will so I'm giving it one star. Another said, "Not sure if I was able to follow the story I've been on pain medicine, one star. A third said, "I didn't like the book but my husband and our son did, one star." I le ...continued...