Today I wanted to bring to your attention an interesting story by an interesting man - "The Logger's Inheritance" by D.L. Chance - (who just happens to be my sweet husband.)
The world of the early American logger was a rough, tough and often lonely one. There were no women in the remote camps of the Western wilderness just a lot of hard working and hard living men. A visit by a woman carrying a letter to one of those camps turns one man's world upside down in this historical short story that offers a sweet dose of romance in its action-filled pages.
My Thoughts:
I personally think this is one of Don's best stories. He combines his gift of storytelling with his unique sense of humor and broad outlook on life to bring a sense of fun to his tales of days gone by while keeping the details (and the dialouge) historically accurate. His smooth, clear writing style is a genuine pleasure to read, and "The Logger's Inheritance" is a fine example of his creative work.
Here's a snippet from the story to whet your whistle...:
“The letter says it’s my inheritance,” Homer said. “It’s all that was left after the old man’s debts were settled, and it’ll be all I ever get from him.”
Griff could hardly contain his excitement. “Well, what is it?” he asked, shaking his finger at the wrapped mystery. “What’s so special about it to come all this way?”
Homer held it for a moment, then slowly unrolled the paper. Silently, the men watched his hands in spellbound anticipation. Homer knew, of course, that time really didn’t slow down while his fingers worked with the wrapping – and the men just seemed motionless because they wanted to know so badly what had come to him from back home – but skinning off the packaging, he wouldn’t have sworn to it in court. Finally, part of the object appeared, and he ripped away the rest of the paper.
Inside the wrapping was a spoon.
A plain steel eating spoon with a rust-spotted handle.
Homer stared, thinking, remembering; desperately trying to locate in his mind some point of familiar connection with the nondescript flatware. But it was a complete stranger to him. He’d never seen this spoon before in his life.
“Damn,” he breathed.
About The Author:
A voracious reader from early childhood, D.L. Chance (Don, to friends and family) was looking to add to his artistic pursuits after almost thirty years as a professional studio and road musician, songwriter, film actor and pen & ink artist when he decided to try writing by revisiting the journalism of his high school and college days. Eleven finished novels, a couple dozen short stories and almost three thousand newspaper and magazine articles later, D.L. Chance is as proud of his writing career as he is any of of his other talent-expanding interests.
"Like Heinlein said," Chance is fond of explaining, "specialization is for ants."
"The Logger's Inheritance" is available for e-readers from Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and at the Books To Go Now website (www.bookstogonow.com)
