Sidney St James

This novel, written in the Creative Nonfiction genre, is factually accurate. As the author, my primary goal in writing in this style is to communicate the truthful information, just like a seasoned journalist, but to shape it in such a way that it reads like fiction.The rush to the Louisiana border was known to the Texans as the Runaway Scrape, the Great Runaway or the Sabine Shoot. Whatever one calls it, the wild exodus was a nightmare of terror and suffering for women and children across the Lone Star State. It was only their burning desire for retribution, which made it possible for them to keep going.REMEMBER THE ALAMO REMEMBER GOLIAD COME AND TAKE IT Dilue Rose Harris told her story for the Eagle Lake Headlight in 1900. William Kell gave a copy of the manuscript to Sidney St. James in an edited form. Her story now comes forth and told through the perspective of a creative nonfiction genre.Delicate women trudged from day to day until their shoes wore completely out and continued their journey to the east with bare feet, lacerated, and bleeding at almost every step. Their clothes were scant and provided no means of shelter from frequent drenching downpours and bitterly cold winds.--- Soldier from the Battle of San JacintoConstant exposure to the elements caused measles, whooping cough, and other unknown diseases. Many died from along the Sabine Shoot One woman and her two children rode a horse that bolted into a swollen bayou and plummeted into the torrent. Horrified refugees on the other bank could only watch as a horse, mother and children swept under, never to be seen again, by the swift current.The cries of the women were distressing. They raised their hands to Heaven and declared they lost their all. They knew not where to go. Many said they preferred to die on the road rather than die at the hand of the Mexicans or Indians. --- Dilue Rose Harris "I would like to make a very special toast for our Second Anniversary ball. The men of Texas deserved much of the credit, but more was due to the many women across Texas. Armed men facing a foe couldn't but be brave. But, my friends, the women, with their little children around them, without means of defense or power to resist, faced danger and death with unflinching courage.God bless the women of Texas "--- General Thomas Jefferson RuskNot wishing the women and children to see their homes put to the torch in Gonzales, Texas, Sam Houston led the civilians out of the small community. Then he ordered every roof large enough to shelter a Mexican's head burned to the ground. Captain John Sharpe and his torch crew stayed behind and burned every building in site to the ground. Houston's efforts to spare their feelings were in vain. That night, however, they turned and saw the orange glow on the horizon as Gonzales burned to the ground. Everything Finally, the women of the Runaway Scrape justifiably regarded themselves as Veterans of the Texas Revolution. They endured dangers and hardships as harsh as those faced by their soldier-husbands. Not as commonly lauded over the last almost two hundred years, their efforts were just as important.Santa Anna had no secret of his objective. He wanted to drink a cup of coffee from the waters of the Sabine River and on the way, rid Texas of all disloyal foreigners. His campaign ended on April 21, 1836.

The rush to the Louisiana border was known to the Texans as the Runaway Scrape, the Great Runaway or the Sabine Shoot. Whatever one calls it, the wild exodus was a nightmare of terror and suffering for women and children across the Lone Star State. It was only their burning desire for retribution which made it possible for them to keep going. REMEMBER THE ALAMO REMEMBER GOLIAD COME AND TAKE IT Dilue Rose Harris told her story for the Eagle Lake Headlight in 1900. A copy of the manuscript was given to the author of this novel in an edited form, and her story is now brought forth and told through the perspective of a creative nonfiction genre.Delicate women trudged from day to day until their shoes were literally worn out and continued their journey to the east with bare feet, lacerated and bleeding at almost every step. Their clothes were scant and provided no means of shelter from frequent drenching downpours and bitterly cold winds.--- Soldier from the Battle of San JacintoConstant exposure to the elements caused measles, whooping cough and other unknown diseases that many died from along the Sabine Shoot One woman and her two children rode a horse that bolted into a swollen bayou and plummeted into the torrent. Horrified refugees on the other bank could only watch as a horse, mother and children were swept under by the swift current.The cries of the women were distressing. They raised their hands to Heaven and declared they had lost their all. They knew not where to go. Many said they preferred to die on the road rather than to be killed by the Mexicans or Indians. Sickness killed my two children. They did not escape.In efforts to escape the tyranny of General Santa Anna, the older men, women, and children found the few ferries to cross the waterways could not accommodate the large volumes of traffic. At Lynch's Ferry, over five thousand people were waiting to get across.--- Dilue Rose HarrisOnce the first travelers headed east reached the Sabine River, before the Battle of San Jacinto, the children were crying, the women were praying and the men cursing.In the group of women with Dilue Rose Harris, one recalled in her memoirs that there were very few white men in the hundreds in her group. Negroes seemed to be the protectors of most of the families. She had nothing but the highest praise for the Men of Color without whose help they may never have succeeded.---Mary S. HelmThe triumph on Buffalo Bayou by Sam Houston and the Texians displeased Peggy McCormick, who owned the land where the twenty-minute battle was waged. She complained to Houston that the hundreds upon hundreds of decomposing enemy corpses reduced the value of her property. In a meeting with Houston, she demanded he take away the dead bodies off her land. Houston appealed to her sense of posterity by saying, "Madam, your land will be famed in history as the classic spot upon which the glorious victory of San Jacinto was gained." She was not impressed.---Diary of Josiah Gregg, 1840-1847My dear sister. I have lost my William. O, yes, he is gone. My poor boy is gone, gone from me. The sixth day of March in the morning, he was slain in the Alamo in San Antonio. Then, his poor body was committed to the flames. --- Mrs. George SutherlandFinally, the women of the Runaway Scrape or the Sabine Shoot or the Great Runaway justifiably could regard themselves as Veterans of the Texas Revolution. They endured dangers and hardships as harsh as those faced by their soldier-husbands. Not as commonly lauded over the last almost two-hundred years, their efforts were just as important.Santa Anna had no secret of his objective. He wanted to drink a cup of coffee from the waters of the Sabine River and on the way, rid Texas of all perfidious foreigners. His campaign ended on April 21, 1836.

Even the passage of the light slowed, and the sounds became as if they were muffled from a heavy blanket over someone's face. Aside from the beating of his heart, not one muscle moved. The pounding inside beat a rhythm to the words of his execution, the cold steel from the blunt end of a heavy steel hammer had killed his nephew. Richard Dawson became white as chalk. His eyes and mouth were frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise. His mind was sent spinning, unable to comprehend or process the images before him.The hammer entered three times on the side of the dead man's head, leaving blood everywhere, blasting a cavity in the side of his skull as it burst crimson all about and scattered across the red long-leaf pine floors. His face, so handsome and young in life, was frozen, eyes open, mouth slack.When the sheriff came to the crime scene, the body laid like a ghoulish mannequin with blood everywhere. His face was bruised and covered with great blotches. Four of his ribs were no doubt broken as one stuck out the side.Over a half-dozen detective firms were hired to find out who the killer or killers were. Almost a year passed, and the case grew cold. Richard Dawson sent word to Portland to the famed Detective, Vincent Gideon to come and do what so many others couldn't. Find the killer of his nephew.It wasn't long after Gideon arrived he realized why other respectful detective agencies were not able to locate the killer.At first, the ghost was no more than a chill in the autumn air, a shimmer of mist. Through it, the trees and boulders along Brushy Creek became slightly out of focus, like a poorly taken photograph. It wasn't until Fred Andreas got out of his car and walked down the edge of the stream did matters become more evident.The apparition wore the same clothes as the man who was killed in the bank several months earlier. For a moment all was silent, the spirit's eyes brimming with silver tears that shone brightly in the moonlight. Fred froze, no words came forth. He took a step backward. Then, the ghoul spoke, "Who killed me?" His grin became a snarl, baring teeth like that of a wolf. He came closer without taking a step...In the sixth novel in the Gideon Detective Series, we find the introduction of Bridgit Flynn and Casey Brennan as wanna-be detectives in this new suspense thriller

In 1965, Peter & Gordon sang the song written by Buddy Holly called "True Love Ways." As a youngster, I danced my first slow song with a woman in the Community Center who I decided would be my wife one day. She was from Deer Park, Texas. Funny how life branches out in many directions... it never happened.Our story, much like the song, is unique because it is both romantic and realistic. It recognizes the truth: that sometimes life will be difficult. Our leading characters will cry, but they'll work through it together. It might possibly bring them closer. While this song acknowledges the outside world (sharing joys with those who really care), it is also intimate. "Just you and I" know these ways of true love.I've often thought of this song in terms of a couple starting out - the use of "will by and by," "throughout the days," and "will bring us" suggests that they're looking into the times ahead; yet, it's applicable in far greater scope as seen in the writing of this novel. In our story, Marco Naumann has fallen in love with Simone Wolfensohn in New Orleans. She was most definitely a catch of any young man. However, she lived in high society and demanded that Marco be wealthy before getting married. She found a way by his marrying a dying girl, Miss Kerstin Hoffman, who would soon inherit several million dollars of a magnificent estate in the Dutchy of Oldenburg in Germany. Marco was to marry her, and when she died, take the inheritance, and come back for Simone's hand in marriage. Kerstin laid on her death bed as Marco walked back into her life after a fifteen-year absence. "I love you, Marco like you're the very last of my kind. You speak the same language as me. Oh, God, Marco, to be around you is like finally not being alone...as if all my life I've been isolated in a windowless room. Then, after all these years, you walk through the doorway, across the room, into my life, as if you were strolling over a summer meadow. How is it, Marco, that you are much, much more than sunshine? How is it you breathe life when there isn't anyone else that can? Tell me, Marco... why is it you are my medicine? Who could love me more than you? So, Marco, from this moment forward, know this...while I breathe, I am yours in mind, body, and soul. I love you " Our story has many twists and turns. In the first of a two-part edition, we find that there's another possible descendant, a cousin named Norman Hoffman, who works in a small mining community outside San Francisco. He is the son of the second-born, Florian Hoffman. He gathers all his documents that prove his identity and begins his travel to New Orleans to present his papers to the law firm, Slaton & Slaton, down on Poydras. However, his travels come to an abrupt stop. One will have to wait and find out if the wolves devour him in the forest after a bullet passes through his chest.Lots of questions go unanswered. Does Kerstin Hoffman live or die? Does Marco inherit the great fortune and return to Simone for her hand in marriage. Does Norman Hoffman survive and prove that he is next in line for the grand estate's wealth in Oldenburg, Germany.

The Checker Cab Murder MysteryFeaturing Gwendoline LaRuewith Vincent James GideonBook 6 in the Whodunnit Series Sometimes the truth is said to be stranger than fiction, and indeed, the bizarre murder that took place in Eagle Lake, Texas Wednesday morning, goes a long way toward verifying that saying.A man is found dead in the backseat of a Checker Cab in a small city sixty miles southwest of Houston. One of the community's leading citizens is accused of the murder. He pleads his innocence yet refuses to give an alibi as it would have devastating repercussions for the woman he loves, Patti Merritt. The case falls into the hands of a determined lawyer, Daniel McCormick from Wharton, Texas, and an intrepid detective, Vincent Gideon, to find the truth, revealing long-kept secrets along the way.Oh, to have the skills of the great detectives. To have the mind and eye for clues equal to those of the famed detective, Vincent Gideon. Ask this detective why the escalator handrail moves slower than the escalator, and he will give you an answer. Ask him what happens to all one's missing socks. Or, ask him who killed the victim in the backseat of the Checker Cab. He will give the reader answers throughout the book but won't answer who the assassin is until the very end.A week before the murder, our killer watched the latest horror movie at Rice Theater, downtown. He thought over and over how he would commit the murder. He drew up a long list of ideas... throw the body over a cliff, poison, or degrade the man's brake pads. He also thought about where he was going to hide the body. That's when he decided to kill his victim in the backseat of a taxi cab and let the cab driver discover the body later, after he had made his escape. Yet, he thought about the evidence he would leave behind... fingerprints, a footprint, or maybe even a witness. For over a week, he kept the murder inside of his own head until something made him snap