Eraser Updates

  Let me start out by saying that I don't like or want to do what I'm about to do in my blog today. That is- give an "update". For those of you that have written a book and even for those of you who have not, a book is constantly being revised until such time as it finally goes to print. It is as much a work of art as a painting or sculpture, but easier to "Erase" so to speak.

  All this being said, I 'd like you all to know that I have indeed split my original manuscript in two, with the works now being, "Curse of the Eraser" and "The Keeper". More people have now read them and the majority have given me the personal satisfaction in saying a job well done. And to be honest, there have been one or two that didn't have their toes curled or crank turned by it, but that's to be expected. You can't please everyone or so they say.

  I have now completed the next book in the series called, "The Keeper's Son" and have had my first reaction to it. The good news is that she found it every bit as good as the first two, and for that I am grateful. So, if you have any interest in reading any of them, let me know if you can handle reading them on a computer or a reader that supports PDF files. And if you do, I'll send them to you on one condition- if I get them published, you have to promise to purchase the series. Autographed, of course! ;)

  Up next time- "The Keepers" the final book of the Eraser series!

It's hard to be prophetic.

  In the Old Testament, the standards for prophets were rigid. Basically, get it wrong- the prophet dies. Today, those standards have been modified a tinsy bit, much to the delight of modern day self -proclaimed prophets. No death for all those who predict things, such as, the end of the world, or the return of Christ. They and their followers merely fade away until such time as they try to do it again.

  In "The Curse of the Eraser", the thin thread of the progression of the New World Order is there, woven into the fabric of the story of a family determined to keep it from happening. The story is not prophetic in the least, but let me say this, it hints at what is to come in the coming series. Yes, that's right, I predict there will be a series of books in the saga including somewhat prophetic insights into the New World Order. I can say that with confidence because I am now not on the second book, but on the third. That's right, due to the recommendations of a friend who holds a degree in English and has taught at the college level, I am seriously considering making my first manuscript two works instead of one, only because of the current market's demands. I will split it up if a publisher finds that more palatable, but if I determine to self publish, I will do it as one. Either way, the story will be told and I will be ready.

  So if you're looking forward to seeing why the New World Order has been subjugated until this time and how it will turn out, I urge you to help me find a publisher or the $$ to self publish. Until then know this; It's all about the Eraser.

 


 

The Christian Life

 When I began the novel, "Curse of the Eraser", I intended it to be a reflection of Christian living. It is that for sure, but to market it as such has become problematic. I know why and that is because it is too, "Real". Let me explain.

  For those who are not Christians, they struggle with the everyday issues, too. For instance, alcohol and drug addictions, promiscuous sex, abortion, homosexuality, etc. These people compare their actions to those around them and an arbitrary scale that changes with the times and seasons. But for those of us who are Christian, we have a different scale we use and that is the Word of God.

  I wrote the book using realistic circumstances of the lives of everyday Christian people. People who struggle with all of the above and much more. People like David and Bathsheba, Cain and Able, Joseph and his brothers. People from the Word of God. The characters in "Curse of the Eraser" feel the trauma of sin just like these people of old and maybe even more so, now that the Christ has revealed the Kingdom to us. That all being said, I have been told that it would be difficult to market my work because it is too "worldly" for the Christian publishers and too "Christian" for the secular publishers. That's a difficult place to be in.

  This is what I've got to say about that: Tough! The Christian publishers need to pull their heads out of the sand and understand that people sin. The secular publishers need to know that we Christians live just like everybody else, except for this, we know the Savior. And because we know and love Him, we live our lives for Him and to His glory. And if we do sin we have and Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous One.

  So, if you ever do get to read "Curse of the Eraser" on your Nook or Kindle, paperback or hardbound, know this; you'll be reading the lives of real people in a daily struggle, just like everyone else. Sola Deo.
 

What Do Erasers really "do"?

  You'd think that the answer to this question would be a simple one. I'm sure you're thinking, "They take away the marks, Dummy." Well you are right, they do. But do you know how? Basically, the molecules in the rubber attract the graphite from the paper because they are stickier than those of the paper. Personally, I think it is because the molecules are friendlier. :)

  In the case of the eraser that the Palmers have used for over two hundred years, well that eraser is not friendlier at all. In fact, it is far from that. This erasier is so mean, it repels. People of course, not graphite. This square of rubber, for all practical purposes, should be considered much more. Yes, much more. As a nuke in an arsenal it deters. Teddy Roosevelt would have considered it a "big stick" if he'd have owned it. It seems the Palmers took to heart the President's famous saying, "Walk softly and carry a big stick", in regards to this eraser. They knew its power and so did those that feared it.

  All because erasers take away "marks".

Madison County- New York

  Before I went to make a visit to my wife's great uncle Walter in New York State in 1994, I had never heard of Brookfield, much less the county in which it is placed, Madison County. When we drove over to the Olde Palmer Home there, I became enlightened and educated in ways I could have never imagined. First of all, it was country. Rolling hills, wooded glades and fields of green, made up a vast area of what was once considered the "West" after the Revolutionary War. It was much more beautiful than I ever imagined New York could ever be. However, when we arrived at our destination it was much more than that, being an oasis apart from the world and a sanctuary from it.

  Madison County is an old county. The Palmer family came out "West" to settle there in 1792, but the white man had been wandering through the lands of the Oneida for a long time previously. The family of Lawton Palmer Esq. was the first white family to have a son born there in the county that year. Life on the frontier was hard, with many of the first settlers giving up and moving back East or dying in the process of establishing themselves. Regardless of this fact, Madison County grew, as far as a farming community can that is. It seemed that somehow all the surrounding areas acquired manufacturing plants and big business, like Schenectady, Utica, and Albany. But not Brookfield nor Madison County.

   If it were not for Google Books, a free online library of many wonderful works which are now free to use without copy write infringement, I may have had to look forever for the obscure facts I was able to find about the earliest settlers to the county. Luna Hammond Whitney wrote a wonderful history of the county in 1872, which helped tremendously. The descriptions of the people, commerce, government, agriculture and the Indians was revealing. It showed a lifestyle that has not entirely vanished from the scene, but had only been modified by the times and technology.

  What was extremely evident however, was the Chrsitian influence on the populace and it's government. The Chrsitian beginnnings of the county were a reflection of not only the people who moved there, but of the nation at large. Established first were the churches and the schools, the latter being created by the churches. The first instructors were the clergy themselves. Consequently, Madison County seemed at the time to be an established New World as envisioned by the Founding Fathers. A place where a man could live with his family in peace. This was the world that drew Lawton Palmer to Brookfield.

Today, Madison County is much the same, a sleepy farm community where if you were to turn off all the yard lights at night, would seem like you had stepped back in time. Not much has changed, commerce included. Only the names of the stores.

Curse an Eraser?

  I wondered why a Freemason would curse an object like an eraser. Obviously, it was something this apprentice was extremely familiar with. Something he would like to control. But, because of his stature in the class system of England, something he could not control -unless- he were a Freemason...

  We don't know his name, this apprentice. We do know he was enraged that his boss owned them all. That he was just an underling and unable to make the decisions concerning their manufacture. But, he thought, ' I do all the work! Why should he reap the benefits?' Sounds like many an apprentice. In haste, he goes to the dark side of Freemasonry for vengeance and makes a fatal mistake; a mistake that would cause his own death. Within two years of placing the curse and establishing his own business two doors down from Nairne, he mysteriously dies. A victim of his membership in the order created by Weishaupt. He was told to never place curses...

  His actions were felt by many- more than he ever envisioned. He had no idea that the erasers would never be used, except perhaps one or possibly two... He had no idea that they would ever cause so much death.

Next: Madison County NY

What is this "Eraser" anyway?

  How many of you know that the rubber eraser was invented by a man from London named, Edmund Nairne? To tell you the truth, before I began this novel, I didn't know either. I know one thing, however, that we really take erasers for granted. There's one on every pencil. and it seems, at least in my case, that the eraser is the first thing to wear out. I make a lot of mistakes you know. Hopefully, my writing, "Curse of the Eraser" was not a big mistake, too.

  The eraser that the story is named after is one of the first erasers produced by the aforementioned Edmund. In the story line, he sent this particular eraser to the Palmer family of Madison County, New York. In real life, this particular clan of the Palmer family really did settle in that place and a tiny town called, Brookfield. The reason I know all of this is because my wife's family can be traced back to these people. I have been to their farm, nestled in the country in an apple orchard planted two centuries ago. It is a cool place. The five acres there are still in the Palmer family name, but seeing as the Palmer I knew passed away a couple of years ago, I don't completely know the current status of ownership.

  Buried there on the property are ancestors that grew up in England, the colonies and right there on the farm. The names of the people will seem strangely familiar when the book is read, because some of them are in there. Which leads me to mention this: it will be difficult to determine what is fact and what is fiction in "Curse of the Eraser". That is the fun of it!

  The Eraser is just like any other; an opaque square, much like modern day art erasers. And it works just like an other, well, at least to a degree. The difference is that this eraser, really erases! It is cursed in this way: if you erase someones name with malice- that person dies. If you try to destroy it because you know what it can do-you die. And, if you don't pass it on to the next generation- the entire family shall die! How the Freemason that cursed the eraser like this came up with it, we shall never know. However, the why of it, we do know.

Next: Why curse an eraser anyway?