Tag: General Beauregard

Memorial Day in Bayou Cove

Tomorrow America remembers its fallen military service personnel. It’s the unofficial kick off of summer and a three-day weekend for most workers. If Bayou Cove still existed, Bill would raise a glass of whiskey in salute to his father and Uncle U who fought in World War I. Top Shelf would match the salute with his Moscow mule. They’d sit at the bar of Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure and tell war stories. This gives me the idea to write a flash fiction piece that expands this scene. This morning Amazon.com reports only ten physical copies are in stock, so I know you’re itching for some more tales from the swamp.

Books in Bloom was a great success. I set out fourteen books and sold all but one. Thanks to everyone who came out and purchased a copy, or stopped by and said hi. If you weren’t able to make it Eureka Springs last Sunday, come see me in North Little Rock at the Arkansas Writers’ Conference this Saturday. You can pick up your copy of Bill’s and enjoy your romp in the swamp!

A couple of Louisiana anniversaries to point out. On this day back in 1836, Henry Shreve and seven others laid out a town. It became Shreveport. Tomorrow, St. Bernard Parish celebrates the birthday of its most famous son, Civil War General P.G.T. Beauregard. He’d be two hundred-years-old if that was possible. Finally, on Tuesday, seventy years ago, was the last time you could ride on a streetcar named Desire. The electric car was replaced by a motorized bus. A bus named Desire just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Streetcar_Named_Desire_at_corner_of_St_Peter_Street
The streetcar Desire at the corner of St. Peter Street (from https://nolahistoryguy.com/2016/04/podcast-2-streetcar-named-desire/)

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book is open on my Kindle. I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read a variety of authors and topics. I’m currently reading book seven of the Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series, The Sanctuary Sparrow.

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is available on Amazon, as an eBook, and in physical formats. It is also available on the Barnes and Noble website.

A Good Time Not Had By All

I’m back on the bandwagon after the Easter holiday. I hope your celebration of the resurrection of the Lord was a blessed event. It was a cold day in northwest Arkansas with a light drizzle. We still hid eggs outside and a grand time was had by all. Here are some historical events of Louisiana, where a good time was not had by all.

April 6, 1929 – The Louisiana State Senate attempted to impeach Governor Huey Long. They charged him with blasphemy, abuse of power, bribery, and the misuse of state funds. Huey convinced fifteen senators to vote “not guilty” regardless of what evidence was produced. The impeachment failed. The fifteen senators who voted not guilty received state jobs and other favors. Although this happened ten years before my story takes place, I probably could have put a small reference to this in there somewhere.

April 3, 1955 – It’s hard to miss a 1954 pink and white Cadillac, especially when it is doing 80 in a 60 mph zone. Louisiana State Trooper Nolan F. Strange stopped the vehicle in Caddo Parish on U.S. Highway 171 and questioned the driver, a twenty-year-old from Tennessee, Elvis A. Presley. He was brought to the Caddo Parish Jail. Elvis paid his $25.00 bond two days later. Elvis was on his way from a show in Houston to perform in Corinth, Mississippi on April 7. This event I could have added to my story, once again in passing reference as Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is not set in, or near, Caddo Parish.

Elvis Presley

April 12, 1861 – The first shots of the American Civil War were fired on this day at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. The Louisiana tie-in is that the order to fire the shots was given by General P.G.T. Beauregard, who was born in St. Bernard Parish on May 28, 1818. He graduated from West Point the second in his class in 1838. In an odd twist of chance, one of his instructors was Robert Anderson. Robert was the Union Commander of Fort Sumter when General Beauregard attacked it. He surrendered the fort to his former pupil two days later. This anniversary would be rather difficult to work into my story.

History doesn’t write itself, nor is it always a romp in the swamp, but it is interesting to remember what happened back then.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I finished reading Monk’s Hood and my review is on Goodreads. Currently, I’m reading a book suggested by my publisher about building an author platform. It’s a good read and I hope all aspiring authors will check it out. It is Create Your Writer Platform by Chuck Sambuchino. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.