I present sixty stories and twenty pages of photographs with family history as a way to preserve the lifestyle of yesteryear. Most of these stories speak of the times and ways people lived, performed work, and socialized in the years from 1940 to 1950.

In the late forties to early fifties, the farm tractor and other implements began to make their way to the small farms. The wheat thrasher gave way to the combine in the late fifties, and by the middle fifties some farmers had horse-drawn riding corn planters and plows. Hay-bailers reduced the amount of haystacks, chemicals reduced--and in time eliminated--the burning of plant beds, and dairy routes and stations finally replaced home milk processing with pasteurized and homogenized milk from the dairy.

Home entertainment was consisted of story telling, singing folk and gospel songs, simple table games and the old battery-powered radio. While modern life has brought many convenient and easier methods of doing things, few have helped build relationships between people as they were then. Eating with everyone gathered around the big table was a time of togetherness, sharing events of the day and good food. That life style is mostly what you will find in this small book.

Terror Cell is a thriller that pits a Gen-X computer hacker against a Saudi criminal mastermind and a battle-scarred Afghan war veteran. It opens with a group of terrorists crossing the desert to purchase a biological weapon from a Russian arms dealer. During the negotiations, an American missile attack decimates the cell. Cut off from their funding, the terrorists recruit a Saudi banking executive and launch a pair of high-tech bank fraud schemes.

The hero is an information security analyst named Michael Jones. He is the only one who can stop the terrorists, but he doesnt know it. His marriage is on the rocks, hes lost his job, and he is charged with a crime he didnt commit. As Michael fights to save his career, clear his name, and win back his wife, he must make choices which could save -- or doom -- the lives of millions. See www.terrorcellbook.com for more information.

• Springfield, KY -- The Annual Women Writing for (a) Change Retreat
• Horse Cave -- Kentucky Repertory Theatre (formerly known as Horse Cave Theatre) extends an open invitation to the public for The Kentucky Voices 2004
• The Elizabeth Madox Roberts Society 6th Annual Conference at St. Catherine