Frances Bennett will speak on June 8th regarding The Journey.......

The Union County Arkansas Genealogy Society will meet at 2 pm in the Barton Library of El Dorado, Arkansas on June 8, 2008. Frances Bennett will be the speaker as there was quite a bit of genealogy work before her historical fiction novel, The Journey, was published. Frances will relate childhood memories and happenings through past years that led to her becoming a writer, also the part that her newspaper column, Reflections, played in her decision to write a book. A review and description of The Journey will be included in the June 2nd mailing of Tracks and Traces, a genealogy paper that goes to almost every state.

Southern Hospitality

For seven years. I wrote a weekly column for The Bernice Banner. I turned in short family related stories before I began a serialized account from my mother's bible records and things my maternal grandmother told about leaving North Carolina in 1899 as a new bride on a wagon train bound for Union County, Arkansas. This historical fiction story, The Journey, was an instant success. Through questions as to whether I was writing a book, the seed was planted and by the time I had turned in chapter 72, my mind was made up. Through Bookstand Publishing, I had The Journey published in book form. Frighteningly beautiful happenings fill all 232 pages of this Christian book.
I no longer have my column, but I am presently working on The Winds series. I have completed what I plan to be the first book of four, and I'm on chapter 40 of the second book. (I am updating these posts. Today is 2, 22, 2012, and I have already published The Winds of September, and the second book, The Winds of Time that came out in Oct. 0f 2011.) These are fiction, and describe the life of settlers who migrated from a Texas soddy to homestead in the Appalachian Valley of Tennessee. Same family, different stages of their lives. To purchase a signed copy of The Journey, ISBN #: 978-1-58909-454-3, The Winds of September, ISBN #978-1-58909-584-7,or The Winds of Time, ISBn# 978-1-61862-032-3, send a check or money order in the amount of $23.00 to:
Frances Bennett
1359 Hwy. 3121
Spearsville, Louisiana 71277
http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/book_details/The_Winds_of_Time
http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/book_details/The_Winds_of_September
http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/m/francesbennett
http://www.amazon.com (Search: The Journey by Frances Bennett)
francesbennett7@gmail.com

What Some People Say About The Journey

Many people say that once they started reading, they couldn't put it down until they finished. I've been asked if Lona's necklace is a family heirloom, and who has it now. Some people plan to visit the Philadelphia Cemetery in Union County, Arkansas that I write about in The Journey where a lot of Stegalls' are buried. The death of eighteen month old Ila Bessie has been compared to the death of a two year old boy in a family where the mother lined his footprints in the garden with turnip green leaves to try and preserve them. Heart wrenching and joyful stories come to me from memories that The Journey has evoked in readers. For a signed copy, send a check or money order in the amount of $23.00 to:
Frances Bennett
1359 Hwy. 3121
Spearsville, Louisiana 71277

ISBN: 978-1-58909-454-3
Read reviews and buy at: http://www.amazon.com(The Journey by Frances Bennett)
http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/m/francesbennett
francesbennett7@gmail.com

Second part of letter in The Journey from Lona to her folks

The horses cut up so, he knew something was out there. Whatever it was stayed at the edge of the woods. I made sure my windows were closed that night. We'll battle anything that tries to steal our bacon.
It is warm tonight, and the lamp draws candle flies and bugs, but I couldn't wait until morning to write. I try to be in the garden at daybreak while Charlie is still inside. Of course, my stooping is limited. I'm on my knees a lot, but that's where I feel I should be as I watch the first pink rays of morning light settle over everything. Gods Creation!

Send a check or money order for $23.00 to buy a signed copy of The Journey,
ISBN-13: 978-1589094543

Frances Bennett
1359 Hwy. 3121
Spearsville, Louisiana 71277 or:

http://www.bookstandpublishing/m/francesbennett.com

francesbennett7@gmail.com
To read reviews: http://www.Amazon.com (The Journey by Frances Bennett)

Part of a letter in The Journey from Lona to her folks in North Carolina

April 12, 1902
Dear Mama,
I wanted to surprise you, so I haven't mentioned having a picture made, but here it is. This is the next best thing to being there with all of you. As you can see, I'm getting pretty big........I haven't seen any cougars lately, although I have heard wolves at night. They seem to be most active when there is a full moon. So far, we've been able to keep the hogs safe. Charlie slept in the barn one night........

Relax with a Historical Fiction Novel, The Journey, set in Union County, Arkansas

Life in the 1890's was quite different, especially when you traveled by wagon from North Carolina to Southern Arkansas to homestead and raise a family. Read about the adventures of my maternal grandparents as they fought to carve a home out of the wilderness of Union County, Arkansas. They lived in a log cabin on land where cougars roamed. Four years after they homesteaded, my pioneer grandmother finally received an old yellowed letter from Laura, her friend on the wagon train who had settled in Missouri. The letter is included on this blog. To order a signed copy of The Journey, send a check or money order in the amount of $23.00 to:
Frances Bennett
1359 Hwy. 3121
Spearsville, La 71277
Or buy online at: http://www.bookstandpublishing.com/m/francesbennett
francesbennett7@gmail.com

The rest of a letter from Laura to Lona in "The Journey"

Jeff travels for miles to haul lumber for our cabin that he has underway. I try to let the baby get as much fresh air as possible. It's continually damp in the soddy. Jeff works from daylight to dark. If anything happened to him, I don't know if I could make it out of here.
A traveling doctor delivered our baby. When he heard about my first pregnancy, he came two weeks before my due date and stayed. It was warm weather, so he slept outside. He told Jeff of a surveyor's job that was open. Jeff applied and got it. That was a blessing from God. As Jeff works, sometimes he's close enough to the station where freight wagons unload to pick up supplies.
We have a good well of water, and I'm grateful to Jeff's half brothers for their help. The digging went on for months, with Jeff hauling water for our use from a creek that was miles away. That's one reason we're this late getting a cabin started.
Lona, I've wished so many times that we had settled Arkansas. I guess we're here to stay. I realize it will be years before this country is settled. Everybody's not as crazy as we were, but every now and then, wanderlust gets in a man's blood, and here comes someone else.
Write and tell me all about your life in Arkansas. Somehow, some way, I know we'll see each other again.
Lots of love from your friend,
Laura Spalding