Sue's Diner: “World Famous” Potato Salad

Today's recipe was submitted by Lori Dodd more than a dozen years ago and is featured in the BryonySeries cookbook Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony."

Here is its Bryony reference.

A family bike ride in the woods followed by an autumn picnic is the perfect opportunity for Melissa to reflect on her recent encounter with vampires. Nothing can distract her, not a game of croquet, a grilled hot dog, or her mother’s delicious potato salad, which tasted surprisingly like this one.

We think Lori's "World Famous" potato salad recipe is perfect for the Labor Day weekend. 

Try this recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website.

But try it this week. It will be gone next week. A new recipe will take it's place. 

If you have any troubleshooting questions or comments, email us at bryonyseries@gmail.com. 

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner.

All proceeds from "Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles From 'Bryony'" benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties at bbbswillgrundy.org.

Order the cookbook at bryonyseries.com.

Photo Recap: Bertrand's Back-To-School-Birthday Bash

It's been more than ten years since I first conceived the idea of hosting a "Back-to-School Birthday Bash" for Bertrand the Mouse with the goal of connecting Bertrand the Mouse books to kids who need them. But the timing for hosting one was never quite right.

Why a "Back-to-School Birthday Bash" for Bertrand the Mouse that focuses on providing kids with books?

Because that is Bertrand's mission. His tagline reads, "Have you met Bertrand the Mouse? He’s always on the go and happy to lend a helping…paw…to bring the joys of reading to children."

During the pandemic, I read quite a bit about how remote learning was affecting kids and reading. So we started donating books for good causes. 

This year, we scheduled our first "Bertrand's Back-To-School-Birthday Bash" for August 19 at The Book Market in Crest Hill.

The whole point was for interested people to purchase discounted Bertrand the Mouse books for Santa (who was present that day) to give away to low-income children and special needs adults during the upcoming holidays.

Can you believe I actually missed the event?

I wound up in the emergency room that morning and was hospitalized for two days. 

But Santa, Jan Staley (owner of The Book Market), and Rebekah (pictured below) and Daniel carried on without me.

Santa gave away free ice cream to attendees. 

Rebekah baked miniature birthday cakes.

My granddaughter Riley read some of Bertrand's books to little Bertrand. That was his favorite part of the day! Look at him, how attentively he's listening!

And Jan actually sold seven books to one customer before the event. We had a few customers who bought books that day. And our family donated books, too.

I also had an order for a complete set of Bertrand books that arrived at my house after the event. I have some overstock. And Jan put together a box of overstock, non-Bertrand, children's book she had in the store.

So Santa left with nearly ninety Bertrand books, some overstock, and I have another  sixty-seven waiting for Santa at my house.

If you missed the event and would like to help, you still can.

Email me at bryonyseries@gmail.com, and I can coordinate an order for you.

Or pop into The Book Market in a week or so. 

Jan offered to keep a display going through the fall, so people can purchase one or more discounted Bertrand books for Santa to give away and read at events.

I am just waiting for more books to arrive. And then we can set up the display.

The display will also include Santa's contact information, in case you'd like Santa to visit your event or organization.

One of the best gifts Santa can give a ,low-income child or special needs adult during the holidays is the gift of literacy and a book of their very own. 

The joy of reading is a gift that will keep giving for many years to come.

A Morning with WriteOn Joliet: Readings to Entertain and Inspire You

Seven members of WriteOn Joliet (and one substitute) will present “An Morning With WriteOn Joliet: Readings to Entertain and Inspire You” on September 9 at the Joliet Public Library, 150 N. Ottawa St. in Joliet.

The event is free, but registration is required. Register at A Morning with WriteOn Joliet: - Joliet Public Library (libnet.info).

During the radio-style performance, we will read a mixture of original poetry, monologue, and short fiction in a variety of moods and genres.

We will invite the audience to participate from their seats

We hope to make you laugh, make you think, and maybe even inspire you a bit.

Besides, since the Hollywood strike canceled the second Blues Brothers concert in Joliet (which was to be held the same day), you might as well come see us!

Authors and performers include Maureen Blevins, Edward Calkins, Holly Coop, Steve Cordin, Diana Estell, Duanne Walton, and me.

WriteOn Joliet books and anthologies will be available for purchase one hour before the show, during intermission and immediately after the show’s conclusion.

For more information about WriteOn Joliet, visit writeonjoliet.com.

Goodbye, Blue Cup

Jasmine gifted me with this blue coffee mug from Starbucks a few years ago.

It's a sturdy cup in my favorite blue, and I used to drink coffee from this mug more than all the others.

"Used to" is key.

Yesterday, while this mug was sitting on the counter with a bit of coffee ready to be warmed up in the microwave, I made the foolish decision to open the cabinet door for another item.

As I moved aside a ceramic mug with a lid, the lid came crashing down, hitting the mug, and spraying glass fragments everywhere.

Both the mug and the lid were destroyed.

The fact I have a dozen more mugs (at least) isn't the point.

Strange how we get attached to certain objects, isn't?

Now here's the stranger part.

Just last week, as I was drinking coffee from this mug, I thought to myself, "This mug won't last forever. One day, this mug will be gone."

And now it is.

It's a small, but good, reminder, of the impermanence of all material items.

So let's savor while we can, relinquish when the time comes, and cultivate and cherish the things that last.

Have a great Monday!

All My Loving - The Beatles - Solo Piano Cover

Canon in D (by Celtri)

As Tedious as Writing a Dictionary

Our family's experienced a rough twelve months.

We lost Frances in August 2022, my father in January 2023, Ron in May 2023, and we lost Theodora, my great-niece Evelyn Celeste in her second trimester, a step-grandson (Dhane), and Cindy lost her father, too.

Rebekah also lost her car when someone totaled it while she was sitting at a red light. And I've had two separate overnight stays in the hospital this month, along with two weeks of daily trips to the infusion center.

So I entered my first vacation week of the year behind in life things and needing a nice long break. 

I had considered taking a writing retreat during this time. But, honestly, I didn't want to focus that hard. 

So how have I spent the time?

I've been catching up on sleep, odd bits of "life" chores that kept getting pushed aside all these weary months, and working on the BryonySeries guidebook that I hope to have available at WriteOn Joliet's anthology release party on December 7.

The guidebook is called, Welcome to Munsonville: The People, Places and Things of the BryonySeries, and I started compiling it last year.

It has an introduction and three sections: people, places, and things. Each section has the appropriate entries with brief descriptions (no spoilers) and which book(s) the reference appears.

Here's an example:

"The Fish and the Ring": An English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales. Appears in “Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles.”

The Fisherman and His Wife: Folk tale by the Brothers Grimm about the perils of greed and discontentment. Appears in “Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles.”

The Girl I Left Behind Me: An old English folk song. Because a U.S. Army marching son during the War of 1812. Starts with the lyrics, “I'm lonesome since I crossed the hill, and over the moor that's sedgy.” Appears in Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles” and “Before the Blood” Bryony Simons.”

The Green-Headed League: A parody title of the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Red-Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Appears in “Cornell Dyer and the Howls of Basketville.”

The Green Lady: Folktale from Hertfordshire. A poor girl finds work with a fairy and is warned by the fishes not to eat her food. Appears in “Lycanthropic Summer.”

The Eleventh Commandment and other Tales: Fictional book of short mystery stories by Harold Masters. Appears in “Bryony.”

The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo Nilous: A real ancient book, attributed to Horapollo, one of the last priests of the Ancient Egyptian religion in the fifth century. A copy sits in the library at Arcadia. Appears in “Before The Blood: Henry Matthews.”

Now, putting this BryonySeries guidebook together is as tedious as writing a dictionary. But a writing retreat is not amenable to multitasking.

But it's the perfect project for moving forward with the BryonySeries while catching up on rest and life tasks.

Have a great Friday!

Construction Notes for the Character of Bryony Marseilles

In early June 2015, I stayed a couple of days at a charming Victorian bed and breakfast, where I spent a few hours in the parlor that first morning and built the character of Bryony Marseilles.

I found these buried notes this past week while working on entries for the BryonySeries guidebook and read them for the first time since I wrote them in 2015.

Up until 2015, Bryony was a shadow in her own series, even though "drop of blood" protagonist Melissa Marchellis was obsessed with her memory to the point of assuming Bryony's persona in her vampire-staged reality.

So what better setting to bring Bryony out of the shadows than in her home state (Michigan) in a home with Simons Mansion elements, where Bryony would live the most noteworthy years of her life.

But to construct Bryony, I also had to construct her parents, for every back story in Before The Blood started with the parents, where all back stories ultimately begin. 

I also needed to construct a very stark and primitive Munsonville, which was barely settled when Bryony's parents arrive.

I already knew that her father Galien was a minister and her mother Adele died when Bryony was three years old. I knew that Bertha Parks, the parsonage's housekeeper, stepped into a mothering type of role.

Before typing anything, I pondered on what I did know about Bryony (scant details already written and published) and how to expand the details into her character.

I turned to my long-buried, adolescent interest in astrology and decided to entwine Bryony with the fishing village. I chose a birthdate that made her a Pisces and used lake and fish imagery to fashion her personality and beliefs.

Re-reading these notes this week, I was struck at how remarkably true I stayed to them. I think the only digression was that Bryony never fell in love with either of the Scandinavian twins (she was more intimidated and fascinated by them), although her best friend had unrequited love for one of them.

I also never used the quote from John Simons. But he implemented it.

Temporarily.

Bryony and John's marriage was wonderful when her lake rolled to his shore, the place where two extremely disimiliar people could temporarily meet.

But lakes also roll away from the shore in smaller waves, with deeper mystery.

Here then are the initial, rough notes I made (in all their randomness and typos) on that beautiful summer morning.

Happy scrolling!

The long hours caused a setback, and Galien had forbidden Adele

Adele, her feminism and their premarital sex experiences and Galien, meeting, marriage after Adele is pregnant. She battles persistent bad health due to rhema feer after bought of scarlet fever. Ashamed and moves to Munsonville. 

When had Musnonville begun?

Munsonville is pretty new. Need a back story for it. and a reason for Galien to be sent there. Both of them are intellectuals and possibly older individuals that have Bryony a little later in life.

Very wilderness liek. Cottages for fishing and that's about it. A few homes begin to dot the hill, one store.

Need a back story about how Galien and Adele met, fell in love, conversed. They're vegetarians 

Owen Munson is there? He is mayor.

 Ann’s research highlighted an obscure fact about the village’s origins. Nearly two hundred years before Owen Munson visited the area, French fur trapper and fisherman Pierre Sicard established a small community that never thrived. During a trip to North America, Owen Munson purchased some land, assumed control, and named it after him.

Adele has poor health, they had sex anyway and feel guilty about the sin. Galien wants to be a minister, IS a minister at a church, and they are not married. Want a fresh start. He shares his dilemna with a friend who taught at the Need a back story for the historical Jenson, Shelby, and Thornton. The friend mentions the new settlement that wants to build a church and needs a minister to care for it. A hurried marriage in Thornton (Shelby is much younger) and Galien and Adele transplant themselves to Munsonvillle. (belongs in chapter 2). they live in a fishing cottage while waiting for the church adn parsonage to be compelted

Adele likes to sketch; they both like to read.

Scarlett fever

Adele, her feminism and their premarital sex experiences and Galien, meeting, marriage after Adele is pregnant. She battles persistent bad health due to rhema feer after bought of scarlet fever. Ashamed and moves to 

CHAPTER 2: THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH. Bryony’s earliest childhood years, Adele’s sickness and death, and Galien’s new role as mother/father. Views Adele’s death as punishment from God and is super strict with Bryony. 

SHOW that they shun meant.

   lived in a four-room cabin on the lake.

The ngihmare of symtpoms. GAlein did waht and ebruned her sheets at the end left ehr limp, we adn what.

   Bryony came home int hepsring and Galein set her aout side, ,up  the child dance dbatou ehr fett. 

Bryony’s earliest childhood years, Adele’s sickness and death Views Adele’s death as punishment from God and is super strict with Bryony. 

Shotgun marriage

Pregnancy and early years of marriage

Adele as mother and Galien as co-parent father

Building a church together

(reading with his head on her lap)

Bryony is ho june 5, 1892 brony is 17 Dec. 24, 1893 Bryony is 18.

Bryony is born 1875.

Bryony (Feb. 19) Water and fish are the biggest metaphors

Ethereal 

Dreamer

Makes connections others don't see

Sees below the surface

Intuitive

Swim through life: with the flow or against it?

Kind to friends and strangers

What you see isn't necessarily what you get, much swims below the surface

She is the shy (?) one in the corner listening, especially true at the Munsonville Socoety for the Humanities meetings.

Listens to people's problems

Is trustworthy

Escapes through daydreaming or reading

Swims away from her problems?

Emotions are complex, fluid, stormy, changeable. 

Her challenge is to discern between truth and mirage.  (John faithful, not unfaithful)

Vivid imagination

Fascinated with the green-blue lake

She is the lake, John is the land, very different to each other, the magic is where they meet, the conflict is where they don't

When the honeymoon period ends, Bryony is wary of leaving Munsonville.

Daydreams of love growing up, love is a daydream

Bryony’s actual marriage to John is gentle rain, thunderstorms, retreat, ebbing away

She gives everything when it comes to love…except leaving Munsonville and her father.

Bryony wants the fairytale romance in the woods with John. John wants her to roam the world with him. He sees Simons Mansion as their retreat sanctuary. Eventually, they both view it as prison.

Bryony is in love with one of the twins, then Henry, and then with John.

To John, there is an aura of mystery around Bryony, a pureness, and a subtle distance that intrigues him. 

Bryony shrugs off emotional jams or arguments with John, to the point of minimizing the depth of his need behind his requests, can be evasive and even avoidant. John counteracts this with his blunt, brief, candid directness (think morning room scene where he overturns the table when Bryony casually announces she is not going).

She is physically weak, but psychically strong. (John sees the capability, the Reverend Marseilles sees the limits).

Easily forgives

Is lonely if the important person in her life, John, leaves her alone to take care of her life when her life is a mess. She interprets this as lack of concern and love on his part. (Why she reaches out to Henry).

Swimming with the currents, her life in Munsonville as she has always known it, Bryony is most relaxed. She resists John pulling her against that current for a broader life.

Needs a lover, John, to safeguard her and give her security. It seems John wants to provide this. He wants Bryony to find it in him. She does, but the pull of Munsonville and her father’s wish she stay is strong.

John tries to be her optimal partner: a man that can inspire her to be larger and protect her while doing it, to ground her in her unrealistic fantasies, to help her achieve.

More comfortable and at home drifting with the Munsonville currents

Copes by floating away in her own world

Not a leader

A friend to all

Has trouble saying no

Supportive

The scent of the lake turns her on.

Sex and love are the same for her (at girst)

With a heavy heart, Galien shouldered the task of becoming father and mother to Bryony as well as chief housekeeper.

How managed daily life with a child beside him . What their daily life consists of

Galien's struggles to maintain his vegetarian principles. He reads a lot. Misses company of Adele won't find it in other women so begins the Musnovnilel Scoiety for the HJuamnites men only no owmenb.

He reads constantly, so Bryony asks him to teach her how to read, impatient with being read to so she can read on her own like he does too.

What he cooks for her

He also reads stories. Her favorite Bible stories have to do with fisherman.

Bryony lieks to sketch and is ecurged to sketh wwhat she sees. Precosious devlepmet.

She learns to read and reads aloud to her father while lying in his lap. Galien recreates Adele 's habits as much as possible in Bryony.

Housekeeping suffering. STruggled to keep up.

 "Reverend Marseilles," Bertha Parks said as she removed the mop form his hand. "I am here to help."

 Wityh a tremendous sigh of relilg, Galien relinquished his weapon to the woman soon to become general of his household.

Has chlorosis: Health: headaches, breathless, blue tinge (iron-deficient anemia)

Propfessor friend start visitnh Galien and eventually brings more friends. Bryony stays close by. Bertha Parks comes to help with the housework.

Bryony's preschool years at home with Galien: what were they like

Bryony is reading in preschool by Galien

Her favorite Bible stories have to do with fishermen

Has sketches that Adele did; Bryony likes to sketch, too.

Psudo-incestuous (reminscent of The Cenci, study)

Mother Goose

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Aesop's Fables

End with Bertha Parks bullying her way into the household.

Housekeeping suffering. STruggled to keep up.

Needs to use her creativity

Dedicates herself wholly to the tasks at hand (even Reverend Marseilles’ parsonage work).

Has a difficult time setting forth a course of action for themselves. Floats along with  child-like trust fate will guide her the right way. Needs guidance and grounding.

John handles all money affairs.

Bryony handles Bryga

Loves Anna to the moon and back but lacks the inner discipline to discipline her. Can be a child right beside Anna and share too much about her life with John. Anna eagerly soaks it up.

Needs to be near a body of water, needs to be near Lake Munson and Munsonville. Is grounded there.

Not one to exercise much because of poor health

Simple clothing as a child. John chooses bold fashionable clothing for her in marriage.

“Time for the mermaid to step onto shore,” John said.

Good Stories

I love a good human interest story.

I love to hear them, tell them, and preserve them through writing (features or fiction).

Now most people aren't excited to get hospitalized, and I am one of them. But I heard three three good stories three people told me on Sunday that I wouldn't have heard, had I not been admitted for observation and tests over this past weekend.

Not only are the stories good, the stories remind us that real people, most of the time with good hearts and values along with their skills, are treating us when we are ill. 

In the first story, a health care worker shared with me that he's from one country, grew up in a second that has universal health care and euthanasia (and shared personal experiences), and prefers the United States over all countries. 

What prompted the story? A short discussion about why I was here with reassurance that I was in the best place and having the best tests to figure out the issue. 

In the second story, a surgeon shared the disastrous results when one patient used the internet to diagnose and treat a bowel condition. Except the problem was serious and severe: with bowel strangulation and adhesions choking off other internal structures.

What prompted such a story? A review of my medical history, which includes the pheochromocytoma (almost all health care workers without fail want to hear more because pheochromocytomas are so rare).

Yes, I did research my symptoms online. But perhaps because I'm a journalist, I apply critical thinking to my search results, the who, what, when, where, why, and how surrounding the information I'm reading.

During that time, I also tracked physical symptoms along with clinical ones, such as blood pressure and pulse measurements.

And I searched and logged for nearly nine months before I had a diagnosis.

It's having that discernment and applying the good old scientific method I learned as a kid in school.

So he wanted to hear more. And he shared how disastrous internet advice for health issues can be.

I did not argue with him. Because I know it's true. And it's certainly a good cautionary tale.

The third story is the most sublime. This one came from my the doctor serving as my primary in the hospital, an older doctor who is also a specialist in a particular area of medicine.

He, too, wanted to talk about the pheochromocytoma and even had some experience with it in past patients. But he never had a patient whose tumor had bled as mine had (even more rare - just 85 documented cases since 2021 - and the mortality rate goes way up when it happens.). And so, he was curious about it.

So we talked a bit, and I even name-dropped the surgeon at Mayo Clinic, who still wanted to operate on me (once I was stabilized) and did so successfully when other doctors thought I was too high risk and should just go home.

I shared with this primary how very aware I was of the fact I should have died in 2002 and how I never take a day for granted. 

Now, I didn't take days for granted before the tumor either.

But when you're still alive twenty-one years later from something unfamiliar to most people that most doctors have never seen, and that thing should have killed you, the gratitude is more sublime, I think.

So then this doctor shared a story that he told his wife, that they are on the downswing of life. He said that each time they go to dinner together, they should enjoy it that much more, for the dinners they will share will continue to be fewer and fewer now they are older.

"We will not go together," he said. "Either she will go first, or I will go first."

For that reason, he said, we should cherish each day and our time together.

Have a beautiful Wednesday!

The Dream?

Sleep eluded me for some time on Friday night once I realized I might be back in the ER on Saturday morning.

I remember lying on my right side with my mind slipping between alert and drowsy, and praying the problem might be resolved on its own without medical intervention.

I sensed a voice saying that might happen if I remained right and chose small.

Or I could choose left and the follow the larger way, the path laid out for me.

I wavered a moment. Small and easy was so tempting. But small and easy also felt bleak.

So I rolled onto my left and promptly fell asleep.

And in the morning, since the physical issue hadn't resolved, Timothy and I went to the ER.

We stayed for twelve hours, and I was admitted. 

I met some wonderful people.

I heard some amazing stories.

I'll share a few tomorrow.

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

A Birthday Cake for Bertrand the Mouse

Last night Rebekah baked some miniature birthday cakes for Bertrand the Mouse's birthday today.

"Bertrand’s Back-To-School Birthday Bash" will be held from noon to 4 p.m. today (Saturday, Aug. 19_ at The Book Market, 2365 Plainfield Road, Crest Hill.

The only gift Bertrand wants is for guests to purchase one (or more) of very his discounted books for Santa to distribute during the holidays.

Santa will distribute free ice cream from 1 to 3 p.m. or while supplies last.

Other books in the BryonySeries also available for purchase.

Bertrand is very excited! We hope to see you there.

Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, Aug. 12 to Aug. 18

Good morning!

I'm sharing thirteen features and news stories today. More will be posted today and over the weekend. So be sure to check back on The Herald-News site: shawlocal.com/the-herald-news.

Today is also the last day for the midline and my last day at work for a week, the most time I've had off since Christmas. I'm hoping to spend the week immersed in some BryonySeries projects, catching up with life (way too many emergencies this year), and relaxing with some good books.

But first...

Bertrand the Mouse is hosting a Back to School Birthday Bash on Aug. 19 at The Book Market in Crest Hill and YOU are invited (in person if you live the in general area).

The birthday bash will be from noon to 4 p.m. at 2365 Plainfield Road in Crest Hill. Santa will be serving FREE ice cream from 1 to 3 p.m.

The only gifts Bertrand wants is more books for Santa. Last year and early this year, the BryonySeries donated 234 Bertrand the Mouse books to Santa and his friend the Easter bunny.

Both characters (and the same person) distributed those books to children and special needs adults. We are planning to donate more books this holiday season. Bertrand was a huge hit, and we'd like to increase the amount of books we are able to give. This is where you come in.

We'll be selling Bertrand books for just $5 each at his birthday party if you'd like to donate a Bertrand book (or two) and give it to Santa personally.

And if you don't - well, you're still on his "nice" list, and you can still get free ice cream (while the ice cream lasts). Bertrand will want to see you either way (so will his Uncle Barty). And, of course, we will sing "Happy Birthday" to the little crocheted guy, too.

You don't live in the area (or can't attend) but still want to help out? Message me at bryonyseries@gmail.com.

WriteOn Joliet returned to the digital media center at the downtown branch of the Joliet Public Library last week to finish editing the radio play we presented at the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre in Joliet on April 22.

But when we did the final editing, we realized one reading didn't save and another part was missing. So we still have a bit more to go.

Also, if you missed that radio play the first time, you will have another opportunity at 10 a.m. Sept. 9 at the downtown branch of the Joliet Public Library. More on this later.

Here is a quick recap of BryonySeries projects in progress:

House on Top of the Hill: Third book in the BryonySeries Limbo trilogy. I now have a good working draft of the entire book and two chapters that are ready for final edits.

Cornell Dyer and the Howls of Basketville: Production is complete for the next book in The Adventures of Cornell Dyer subseries, and the proof is ordered. The book is called Cornell Dyer and the Howls of Basketville (yes, a Sherlock Holmes parody). We can't wait to release it into the hands of readers. 

Timothy said the next book will be slightly dark ("slightly" because it's for kids, too) and will involve an old toy store. We hope to schedule a "Cornell breakfast" soon.

You can find other titles in the series here. Timothy has not yet added our latest titles to the BryonySeries bookstore. But all titles are also on Amazon. 

Karla Joins In: The fourth book in The Girls of the BryonySeries series. Eleven of the twelve chapters are completed. and ready for their final edits. Jennifer Wainright is working the cover. I never thought I'd revisit Karla and John-Peter's friendship again (albeit from an earlier time in their lives), so I'm very excited to read the final draft.

Jennifer designed the covers for Julie and the Too-Hard Homework, Katie and the Big Fear, and Summer Sisters, as well as frontispiece for Lycanthropic Summer. I can't wait to see her "Karla" illustration.

BryonySeries reference/guide book: Welcome to Munsonville: the People, Places, and Things of the BryonySeries. I'd love to have this one ready by the end of the year. Pecking slowly at it and hope to peck a little faster this week.

A Year of Shadows and Moonlight, of Gathering Blooms in the Woods: A rather unusual, poetic novella in the second person. Half of it is written and edited and another half is loosely written. Rebekah is also playing around with art for the cover, and made some progress last night.

Rebekah is also slowly updating the BryonySeries YouTube and Pinterest accounts. And she' catching up with Kindles for some of the BryonySeries books. So do watch for those.

Now back to the stories. Simply click on the link of the story that looks interesting to you. Happy scrolling!

But before the stories, I have a list of additional resources and information. Please check them out, too.

Finally, if you'd like to find more kindness in your life, consider this book.

And have a great Friday!

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Sue's Diner is a fictional restaurant in the fictional Munsonville that only exists in the BryonySeries.

Each Wednesday, we post a new recipe. The recipe is either featured in one of our cookbooks, will be featured in an upcoming cookbook, or is just an "extra" we want to share with you.

Check out the recipe here.

WRITERS

If you're a writer anywhere in the world, you're welcome to join WriteOn Joliet's Facebook page. We're based in Joliet, Illinois, but we love to meet and interact with writers outside our area, too.

If you'd like to officially join WriteOn Joliet, we have two tiers of dues and two ways to attend meetings. We also have a marketing arm that's getting longer every year. Check us out at writeonjoliet.com.

I also suggest this book: Little Book of Revision: A Checklist for Fiction Writers. It's exactly as it says. Each page some with one suggestion for revision. The rest of the page is blank, so you can add your own notes. All proceeds benefit WriteOn Joliet.

If you need editing or help with self-publishing, check out dmbaranunland.com.

ARTISTS

If you need an artist for a project, I offer these recommendations.

NEWSLETTERS

Sign up for The Munsonville Times by emailing us at bryonyseries@gmail.com. The newsletter still isn't official yet, so we don't have an actual link on the website - but we are working on it! 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Daily updates: I do post the briefs on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.

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BRYONYSERIES BOOKS

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BRYONYSERIES EVENTS

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FEATURES

Free music Porch & Park Fest returns to Joliet: Placher: ‘It’s nice to create these occasional opportunities for more than 40 musicians’

An educator Joliet teachers, students can always count on: Estela Paramo, paraprofessional: ‘This is home to me’

Joliet Junior College freshman is national ‘Student Chef of theYear’: JJC Chef Paul Bringas: ‘She’s just a really remarkablestudent’

Will County Red Cross volunteer deployed to Maui: Mary McGavin was deployed to Maui on Monday

Joliet bank out front on its community service: Service activities are simply “part of our solid position asa community leader’

Plainfield church hosting renowned Catholic speaker: Event organizer Rich DuSatko said Keith Nester’s podcast is‘the highlight of my week now’

Maui wildfires lead to evacuation for Channahon family: Linda Lambdin: ‘We felt so lucky and thankful to make ithome safely’

Bob Dylan launched career of Joliet musician: Scarlet Rivera: ‘It is rewarding to be more fullyrecognized in my own home town’

Back-to-school supplies: what’s hot, what’s not: Janet Palkon, parent: ‘I think 24 sticks of glue isridiculous’ 

Man Joliet police shot during domestic call in April dies

Lockport man critically injured in motorcycle crash: Motorcyclist rear-ended driver in same lane

 

Pets of the Week: Aug. 14, 2023: Will County rescues have dogs and cats for adoption

5 Things to do in Will County: Butterfly Bonanza inLockport: Plus 4 more suggestions for enjoying your weekend

 

 

Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage"

Sue's Diner: Watermelon Sorbet

Today's recipe is not featured in the BryonySeries cookbook Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony."

Rebekah invented it this week as a way to use some of the watermelon we had in the house. One person got sick, another had to travel, I'm easing out of a low fiber diet, and Rebekah couldn't eat all the watermelon herself.

The first recipe, watermelon pudding, separated and didn't "gel" properly.

So she made this one instead. Rebekah said it's sweet and refreshing.

Try this recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website.

But try it this week. It will be gone next week. A new recipe will take it's place. 

If you have any troubleshooting questions or comments, email us at bryonyseries@gmail.com. 

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

Here is the full diner page: bryonyseries.com/sue-s-diner.

All proceeds from "Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles From 'Bryony'" benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties at bbbswillgrundy.org.

Order the cookbook at bryonyseries.com.

"The Watermelon Gang" by David Rutter

Sue's Diner is delayed for one day because Rebekah isn't happy with the watermelon recipe she invented yesterday.

Another "watermelon" themed project that Rebekah helped bring to life is the biography, "The Watermelon Gang" by David Rutter.

Synopsis: Fred Arthur Rutter was a bright Army kid when he reached China in 1945. The ancient land changed him, as he changed it. All he needed was brains and watermelons.

Rutter was the interim editor at the The Herald-News for a few months last year. He shared his dream of publishing this book. 

So when Rutter's interim editor duties were finished, I connected him with Rebekah helped make the dream a reality.

Rutter graciously answered five questions about his book. And we hope to have a much better watermelon recipe to share tomorrow.

1. What inspired the title?

David Rutter: I realized after being around him as a son and coworker for most of my life that he was one of those people who gathered loyal teammates to his side, simply by his style and unannounced charisma. It had gone all the way back to his childhood when he was the leader of a disorganized kid gang, that I named the Watermelon Gang....When he told me about his life in China, it became clear to me that this style marked his entire life

2. Why did you write it?

David Rutter: It was too good of a yarn to ignore and, besides, I think I owed an explanation to the world about how remarkable a person he was.

3. Why should people read it?

David Rutter: I often tell curious customers that they will learn 100 things about America's War in China that they never knew. What Old China was like before Communist rule. This quest to know the history that has escaped history books is deeply attractive to me. In my case, my many conversations with the Father at the twilight of his life let me into a world I had never known either. I did not even know he'd won the Bronze Star until he was 80 or that he'd walked away from the Army without it in 1946.

4. What do you want readers to take away from the experience?

David Rutter: Learning? Almost all of the book made me open myself to an ancient culture that is barely understood in the West. I realized while I was compiling the idea for the book that my Father had been a child when he entered the Army in 1938 but exited the war as a full formed adult. His best Chinese friend had introduced him to Zen without even telling him what he was learning. I came to see how and why my father was patient and tolerant when no one else seemed to be. He became that man in China. It was an awakening of my appreciation for him.

5. What did you learn from the process of writing this book?

David Rutter: I have found that caring about a topic makes writing more challenging but also more meaningful. If it were easy, anyone could write a compelling book. I cared about this book likely more than anything else I've written. It was not so much a literary exercise as it was a testament to Father's humanness and humanity.  I think I owed my Father at least that much care for his life.

Plus-----I hope readers will see this is less a "war book" than it is a profile that coincidentally occurs inside a war. After all, "Catch 22' and "Slaughterhouse 5" are superficially war books, but far more at their heart.

Buy "The Watermelon Gang" on Amazon.

Watermelon Yarn

This week is unintentionally evolving into a watermelon week.

Yesterday I posted a novel way to eat watermelon. So in keeping with that theme, today I will post a watermelon story that appears in two BryonySeries books.

Context: Eleven-year-old Bryony Marseilles and her strict father live alone in a big house. Bryony doesn’t realize she’s lonely until she spends three months with a large family of girls at their farm. For the first time, Bryony can run free and enjoy the company of her peers. She learns people and situations aren’t always what they seem – and that people, even Bryony, change.

In this excerpt below, Bryony enjoys her first taste of watermelon with her summer farm family. And that watermelon is served up with a watermelon "yarn" from Munsonville founder Owen Munson.

This excerpt appears in two BryonySeries books: Summer Sisters and Before The Blood: Bryony Marseilles. 

For another of Owen's yarns,, read this post (with introduction) of Stingy Jack.

The next morning, the mustangs were gone, and beef showed up on the breakfast table.

            "Don't be sad, Bryony," Rose said. "That's why the Grandpa Clyde and Mr. Munson break them, to sell them."

            "Every horse?"

            "There'll be more."

            To celebrate, Grandpa Clyde dug up the first watermelons ever grown on Fisher Farm, hauled them in a wheelbarrow to the fields where the girls were weeding, and then sent Robbie to fetch Mrs. Fisher and the little girls.

            "Oh my! Oh my!" Mrs. Fisher exclaimed at the sight of the juicy scarlet flesh, laid out across the makeshift table of boards and sawhorses and practically begging to be eaten.

            WHACK!

            Mr. Munson's saw knife split the watermelon and rapidly fabricated it into slices.

            Grinning at Mrs. Fisher, Grandpa Clyde brought forth another melon.

            WHACK! Mr. Munson quickly chop-chopped.

            Grandpa Clyde grabbed the largest wedge. "Here, Maybelle."

            "Uncle Clyde, I can't...it's not my place..."

            "Now, Maybelle. Your hungry girls are pining for their first bite."

            "But..."

            "So please respect the tender conscience of an old man, and decide if his first attempts are worthy of consumption."

            WHACK!

            "Clyde, you're too polite," Owen said over another WHACK! "Maybelle, eat the damn thing already. I, for one, don't intend to languish."

            "Well..."

            All eyes watched Maybelle as she bit into the tender rosy flesh. The look on her face wasn't enjoyment.

            It was rapture.

            "Anything like Mississippi watermelons?" Grandpa Clyde reached for large chunk and gestured for the girls to follow.

            "Mmm, hmmm."

            Mrs. Fisher devoured the watermelon, expertly spat out the seeds to the astonishment of the girls, and frantically licked her fingers.

            The slices disappeared as fast as Mr. Munson cut them, with Mr. Munson eating more than any two people, although Robbie gnawed wedge after wedge to the rind with the speed of a hardworking beaver.

            "We're spoiling our appetites for supper," Maybelle wiped her dripping chin with her sleeve.

            "So we spoil our appetites." Mr. Fisher stole another slice. "We'll have bread and cheese and no kitchen clean-up."

            Bryony spat seeds with the rest and wondered how Reverend and Mrs. Parks might react if they could see her acting so common. Susan consistently sprayed farther than anyone, a feat that didn't escape Mr. Munson as he chopped the watermelon.

            "Clyde," Mr. Munson sighed. "I haven't seen seed-spitting this fine since the time we turned an entire city against us because of our watermelons."

            "A likely story," Daisy said.

            "What! Clyde, you never told these beautiful young ladies about our magnificent watermelon patch?"

            "Must've slipped my mind."

            Daisy still looked skeptical. "You're making it up."

            Mr. Munson slapped his hand to his chest. "Upon my beating heart, Miss Daisy, I swear, I'm telling the truth. Now if everyone will gather under that white bush yonder," he pointed to a Japanese lilac, "while I polish off the last of this delectable melon, I will share our strange tale. Clyde, if I forget a detail or two, feel free to chime in."

            "Whatever you say, Owen."

            Bryony eased onto the grass. Her stomach rolled like waves in the lake. Shallow breaths were safer.

            Maybelle reclined against the tree and clasped her hands over her huge abdomen, Marigold curled up near her legs and pillowed her hands.

            Daisy plucked grass; Lilac panted through gaping mouth; Ivy silently gagged;  Rose clenched her fists and closed her eyes.

            "My tummy hurts," Heather announced.

            Mr. Fisher faced the bean fields and hugged his knees.

            Robbie was snoring. Susan was petting Blue.

            Mr. Munson spat out the last seeds and then sprawled beside Clyde, who lay on his back and watched the clouds.

            "It was the winter of eighteen something, January, I think, and your Grandpa Clyde and I were footin' around back east. On a whim, we bought a big ol' field that was going cheap. And on that field was a little green house. Now, what do you suppose we found in the cellar?"

            "Watermelons," Heather said.

            Mr. Munson tweaked her cowgirl hat. "Wrong! There were turnips and rutabagas and potatoes, and pickles and preserves that weren't as good as your ma's and apple cider that was far, far, far better than your Grandpa Clyde's."

            "Thanks, Owen."

            "So your Grandpa Clyde said to me, 'Owen, we could live like kings off the rations until spring,' and I said, "Clyde, we could.' So we set up the checker board and didn't budge for three months, except to venture into the cellar for more cider and provisions."

            "What about firewood?" Ivy asked.

            "Didn't I mention firewood? "

            "No," Daisy said.

            "Oh. Well, there was a huge stack in the cellar. We had plenty all winter."

            "And meat?"

            "Miss Daisy, we had plenty of meat. Any critters sneaking into our basement and hoping to winter with us was skewered and roasted over the fire. That job fell to your Grandpa Clyde, because he kept losing at checkers."

            Grandpa Clyde snickered and slid his hat over his face.

            "Finally, the only item left in the cellar was a burlap sack."

            "A body!" Daisy cried excitedly.

            "Watermelon seeds!"

            "Wha...watermelon seeds?"

            "Miss Daisy, those watermelon seeds gave us the best summer of our lives. We planted, hoed, weeded, and by summer we had splendid watermelons: dark green on the outside and crimson-red on the inside, with seeds so black they looked like flecks of the devil's soul."

            A snort broke out under Grandpa Clyde's hat.

            "Now what do you think we did?"

            "Ate them?" Heather asked.

            "Ate them? We sold them!"

            "Oh."

            "Hundreds and hundreds! Nobody had seen fruit so sweet and ripe. Everyone spent so much on watermelon and giving away prizes for seed-spitting contests, the town went broke. The officials called an important meeting and unanimously passed a law against selling watermelon, and do you know why?"

            No one answered.

            "Because they said it was the devil's fruit, and everyone knows the devil's fruit causes frightful shakes and aches."

            "You had to stop?" Lilac whispered.

            Mr. Munson's face softened.

            "Miss Lilac, it takes a lot more than a silly law and fever or two to stop your Grandpa Clyde and me. For every watermelon we moved out of that field, we set a mossy boulder in its place. Day by day, the townspeople grew more frightened of our field. On July nineteenth an angry mob showed up. And that," Mr. Munson crossed his heart, "is the very last time I tasted watermelon. Until today."

            Ivy's eyes opened wide. "Were you hurt?"

            "They set fire to our watermelon field, but your grandpa and I were already an easy mile away, each of us carrying a sack of money and a sack of watermelon seeds. But we did stop to watch the thick smoke overtaking the sky. Foolish townspeople!"

            Mr. Munson ruefully shook his head.

            "Because they didn't understand watermelons?" Rose asked

            "Because they kept growing their fire, bigger and bigger, until it reached the candle factory, where they stored the saltpeter. The explosion destroyed the town. All they had left was a burnt field of rocks."

            "If that's true," Daisy said, "why didn't it make the papers?"

            "It did make the papers, well, all except the watermelon part. And who can blame them?"

            "I'm glad you and Grandpa Clyde got away."

            "That we did, Miss Lilac, although..."

            Mr. Munson shifted his gaze over the quivering form of Grandpa Clyde.

            "Although, what?" Daisy asked.

            "I don't know, Clyde. Is it wise to tell them?"

            Grandpa Clyde removed his hat. His eyes were merry. "Owen, you've gone this far..."

            Mr. Munson leaned in. "Can you keep a secret?" he whispered.

            They nodded.

            "We never spent our watermelon money. Eventually, they brought the town back to life and built big banks smack over our old watermelon field. So we invested our money in those banks."

            "Why? Stupid, mean town."

            Grandpa Clyde sat up. "Daisy, a good farmer always puts his money back into his field. And speaking of fields, Owen."

            On cue, Robbie awakened and rubbed his eyes.

            Mr. Munson sprang to his feet, swept off his cowboy hat, and bowed low.

            "Alas, my toils are not yet complete. And so, adieu, adieu, adieu!"

            Robbie disassembled the "table." The other three men headed to the fields: Mr. Fisher with his hands in his pockets; and Mr. Munson laughing, joking, and slapping Grandpa Clyde on the back.