Can We Hide?

By BR Chitwood

Many of us hide from the World, fearing we might end up as a newspaper ‘Obit’ headline.

Many novelists become wealthy in their efforts to depict the homicides, robberies, and the ugliness found on our streets and in our homes. ‘Jack, the Ripper’, ‘Preyors of the young and vulnerable’, ‘ The Boston Strangler’, ‘Snake River Murders’, ‘Jeffrey Dahmer’, ‘Ted Bundy’ people who live by robbing and killing their victims, all the while smiling and displaying their innocent smiles…

This ‘epidemic’ did not just get this way. Our world history is over-weight with these ‘thrill-kill seekers’.In Capone’s Chicago’s early days, hoods were lined up against a large garage wall and mowed down with machine guns. Al Capone was something like a ‘folk hero’!

Of course, our police departments, our colleges and universities have courses in Criminology. Our laws, our court systems have tried to initiate new ways of controlling the episodic crime events of our history, new laws, ‘sentence guide-lines’, and what we see historically is that there are ‘up-ticks’ and ‘down-ticks’… but make no mistake, Crime is alive and well in the world. Defunding of the police most certainly has invited more crime and brazen disruption of business in many major cities…and, it can certainly be suggested that the state of our political activities that concern our borders (particularly, our southern border) will see more, not, less crime- i.e., https://www.eurotechsecurity.com/how-crime-and-technology-have-evolved-over-the-last-10-years/Aug 06, 2020 · Crimes recorded in the UK in 2010: 4.58 Million. Latest crime rate recorded in the UK: 6.3 Million. So, as you can see there has been a pretty significant uptick in physical and violent crime when it comes to the UK. Seeing a nearly 2 million crime increase in a little under a decade can seem daunting and in some regards it is.

www.foxnews.com › us › police-defunded-citiesPolice defunded: Major cities feeling the loss of police …Apr 01, 2021 · Total violent crime in Minneapolis between July 22, 2020, and March 28 was also up 22% year-over-year – 3,692 this year compared to the 3,025 last year; the violent summer months…

Anyone feeling good about our ‘State of Crime’?

BR Chitwood – July 5, 2022

My 20 books, 500 blog posts, Short Stories, Flash Fiction can be found, with synopses, descriptions, and Poetry can be found at:

https://www.brchitwood.com

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Love and Weather

Love and Weather

By BR Chitwood

***

 Weather tomorrow: Blue Skies, soft

breezes and Sunshine!

Turn off spigot to troubling thoughts!

Believe in your dreams and attack the day!

Keep the smile in place – someone is nearby…

Love taps tenderly on your shoulder, and kisses your cheek…

A song plays loudly on a passing auto:

More dreams pass with a zephyr.

The Western sky spreads its beautiful

Panorama of colors…

There is no place on Earth that you would rather be.

Car horns honk blessings to the couple on a tree-lined mall

As they continue their lovers’ walk to their brighter future!

Hearts and Souls unite for this special day of Happiness!

*

BR Chitwood – June 15 2020

***

My 20 books in most genres with synopses, book cover pics, over 500 blog posts, Short Stories, Flash Fiction, and Poetry are on my WordPress Website…

My WordPress Website: https://www.billyraychitwood.com

Love and Weather

By BR Chitwood

***

 Weather tomorrow: Blue Skies, soft

breezes and Sunshine!

Turn off spigot to troubling thoughts!

Believe in your dreams and attack the day!

Keep the smile in place – someone is nearby…

Love taps tenderly on your shoulder, and kisses your cheek…

A song plays loudly on a passing auto:

More dreams pass with a zephyr.

The Western sky spreads its beautiful

Panorama of colors…

There is no place on Earth that you would rather be.

Car horns honk blessings to the couple on a tree-lined mall

As they continue their lovers’ walk to their brighter future!

Hearts and Souls unite for this special day of Happiness!

*

BR Chitwood – June 15 2020

***

My 20 books in most genres with synopses, book cover pics, over 500 blog posts, Short Stories, Flash Fiction, and Poetry are on my WordPress Website…

My WordPress Website: https://www.billyraychitwood.com

Or: https://www.brchitwood.com

  ***

So Much Mayhem and Mud

So Much Mayhem and Mud!

*

BR Chitwood

*

Papers print the news!

Television shoots the live images!

A senile president can only play ‘Yesterday’!

Can it be that so many of our public Servers are ‘brain dead’?

It is all unfolding before our eyes!

Daily!

Hourly!

Innocents are killed!

The world quakes in disgust!

Where is Superman?

The Militia?

The total outrage!

Can we be this weak in protecting our people?

When the hell is enough, ENOUGH?

We are throwing money away like drunken fools!

Rampant are the fools we trust!

Where is the End?

The last body laid to rest?

Where is the wrath of God?

The tune plays on and on!

Someone must care!

Troops must be everywhere!

Until!

Until the madness is gone!

Until babies can be born again!

Until the reason for living is viable again!

Until gross selfishness suffocates from its labor!

Until the world can awaken to new days!

To brightness and peace!

To merciful giving and love!

It must come!

Doom awaits in the shadows!

Be rid of malice and brutal behavior!

Now, dammit!

Not in a few weeks or months!
Now, dammit!

No more bullshit!

Now, dammit!

Rid us of hypocrisy in Government!

Give us our inalienable rights?

Now, dammit!

*

BR Chitwood – May (NOW), 2022

*

My 20 books, 500 blog posts, short stories, Flash Fiction, Poetry, Songs can be found at:

https://www.brchitwood.com

Who Do You Think You Are?

Who Do You Think You Are?

*

BR Chitwood

*

“Who do you think you are?”

“What? Who is speaking?”

“You are, Weirdo! You’re talking to yourself.”

“Hmm! Strange! That’s never happened before…”

“Sure, it has, almost daily, in fact.”

“Whoa! Who the hell are you…and, where are you?”

“In your brain, Idiot!”

“Which side?”

“Which side? Which side? What a dumb-ass question… your frontal lobe.”

“Oh, My God! I’m going nuts!”

“Going? You been working on this for some time, dip-shit!”

“Hey, keep it clean!”

“You’re doing the talking, dip-shit!”

“So, I’m going crazy! The ‘Frontal Lobe’ of my brain is talking to me…so, you eavesdrop on everything I think or say. Is that your function? There’s a ‘left’ and a ‘right’ lobe, right? So, what’s your job ‘Lobe-Meister’?”

“Why did I get stuck in your brain? You are a dummy…but, okay, I’m a functionary part of your brain: the ‘left side’ of the lobe controls the right commands; the ‘right side’ controls the left… You’ve never done this before! Why, now? This chat business”?

“’Never done this before’? Hey, Lobe-Meister, this is as new for me as it is for you. It’s not like I requested this meeting…”

“Okay, okay, something is up, and I have to check it out. Are you hurting anywhere?”

“There is a light quaking sound… No pain. Otherwise, I’m sitting here thinking I’m crazy!”

“Don’t take that off the table as a possibility, because I’ve never had this happen before… I will do my ‘due diligence’ and get back to you. For now, go to bed and sleep for hours.”

“Before you go, what’s the difference between the ‘mind’ and the ‘brain’?”

“Huge subject, pardner… The mind can influence the brain, have a ‘mental force’ – check out ‘Neuro Plasticity and The Power of Mental Force’.”

“That’s it? You are leaving me with that? One last thing: Am I going to be hearing from you on a frequent timeline? Do I have a ‘say’ in the matter? If not, please, don’t come at me when I’m making love or out on a date…”

“Sorry, I cannot make any promises…maybe your thought processes will be enough! Bye.”

“Meant to tell you this earlier: your voice sounds really prissy-like…does God include you with every birth?”

“No comment! I said, ‘Good-bye’!”

“Hmmm!”

*

BR Chitwood – May 25, 2022

*

All 20 of my books with synopses, 500 blog posts, short stories, Flash Fiction, Poetry, and Songs can be found at:

https://www.brchitwood.com

The Author’s Mission

For Me, I Write

BR Chitwood

*

Since my mobile and turbulent childhood my head fills with the events and movements of the days, the emotions that come and stay with me until I write about them from some subliminal heart/mind connection the words flow onto the screen of my laptop. I accept them and allow them entry on the page – as though they were destined to be there, an outlet for the subtle joy and pain of the soul…it is my belief that all artistic endeavors come from that similar sort of tingling.

As some subscribers to my blog posts might allow, most of my writing has a ‘Romantic’ cant, from my murder mysteries (some taken from actual crimes) to genres with historical essence, love, poetry, murder, and current events. My writing heroes of the past are many – …Hemingway, Steinbeck, Crane, DeMille, Grisham, to name a few. For Poetry, my favorite is an ex-Priest named James Kavanaugh.

I have written twenty books, their ‘buy sites’, 375 blog posts written over the years, plus poetry and tribute pieces to Arnold Palmer and other notables. That Website/Blog site address is:

https://brchitwood.com

 I hope you will visit my website/blog, look over some of the book synopses, posts, poetry…perhaps you will find something you would like to read…

At least, I can hope!

Wishing all writers and readers my best wishes.

*

BR Chitwood – February 28, 2022

https://brchitwood.com

Author BR Chitwood’s Writing

By BR Chitwood

PLEASE VIEW

1. You sleep while riding a ‘mare’ or ‘dreaming peacefully’. You awake in a ‘bad mood’, snack on quick and easy ‘coffee and toast’ (too much coffee!), and drive to your job – while your kidneys insist on your quick attention…
2. You sit at your desk, work menial tasks and have your fanciful day dreams and ‘Romantic Thoughts’…
3. You think of where you and your soulmate will vacation… perhaps a great resort in Aruba or an Ocean Cruise…
4. Work ends for the day, and you go for cocktails at your favorite pub with your favorite lady…
5. At home, feeling guilty, you open your laptop and resume writing the manuscript for your new novel…
6. You take a break, check your E-Mail. There is your new blog message: “5-Star Reads in most genres – 20 books, some based on true crime, Short Stories, Flash Fiction – some books are related to true criminal events: https://brchitwood.com – Also, Romance and Suspense…”
7. Ah, c’mon! Take a ‘tour’! There are some great books and writing at this website…
8. If you are a reader, avid or not, you will enjoy the books’ synopses, blog posts, short stories, flash fiction, poetry.  
9. ‘Thank you’ from the author – and good reading!

BR Chitwood – February 24, 2022

https://brchitwood.com

https://twitter.com – @brchitwood

https://facebook.com/billyray.chitwood

Conundrum Craziness

*

Conundrum Craziness

BR Chitwood

*

No!

Not, AOC!

Not, ‘Building Back Better’!

We waken in the morning…

Not, ‘Covid’ and mad Scientist…

We drink coffee, eat, go to work, or, retired from the ‘bee buzzing’, we read. go to our computers to display our ‘genius’ and/or idiocy, write blog posts or books, watch crazy news, read, settle into our favorite habits, find boredom preference in our routines…

After all, we are retired, no longer fighting AM and PM traffic…

We become habitual and wary of our existence…

Some political scenarios make us feel so uncertain about our world and day-to-day lives…

I look out the big windows by my office and see a clear blue sky, an inviting sun, a mountain, a pool, a relaxing seating area, and debate with myself whether or not to finish this post – actually, forgetting the original purpose for the post, other than more railing about our unpredictable political structure, the build-up of Russian troops on the border of Ukraine…

Easy decision…

Actually, the world has not changed all that much since I once cared to debate the political stature of our governments, their leaders, and the political tendencies of neophytes who would make our world so much better…

Hell, I’m poolside, not that anyone will be contacting me about anything I care about…

I look at my lovely wife! “Hey, milady, you going to read, play with your laptop, or you coming poolside with me?

*

BR Chitwood – February 3, 2022

*

Anyone interested can check out my 20 books, each book with synopsis and buy site, my 275 blog posts, my many Flash Fiction and Short Stories…

https://brchitwood.com

https://facebook.com/billyray.chitwood

(Other author sites as well.)

Love is All

Love Is All

by

BR Chitwood

*

Joan Walsh Anglund wrote the lines:

“Love comes quietly…

But you know when it’s there

Because

Suddenly…

You are not alone anymore…and there

Is no sadness in you.”

*

From me to Joan Walsh Anglund

comes a humble, ‘Thank you’…

I’ve known that ecstasy a few times,

Foolishly, at times, I stole away from Love –

A mis-guided fool I was…

The Ache remains forever in my heart.

There seems always one

That remains in the Heart –

The one you abandoned because of space and time!

*

BR Chitwood – February 1, 2022

https://brchitwood.com

Until the End

Until the End

BR Chitwood 

So, it seems I shall be ending this fascinating life adventure as I entered it, confounded by the sounds of jubilation and tears, yet, without a kindly grandmother slapping my rear end to bring the breath of life to a reluctant new birth in a small clapboard house in Appalachia, a saw mill hamlet of dirt roads and a railroad spur for bringing logs to the primary employer of most of its scant population of farmers, most of whom were in a prolonged ‘Great Depression’.

*

As a man ready for his final destiny, a man with precious little of consequence for the reader who might chance upon these few words I write here, the words will have little historic value or any other kind of value that would perpetuate a useful understanding except for some amusing and pathetic experiences. At best, the words herein have been written by many others facing their final breaths of air on this orbital craft that ended up with the name of ‘Earth’.

So, skipping over my apathetic problems with school and teenage acne, some good buddies, and a couple of young ladies I was too dull and dim-witted to approach, and an early entry into the United States Navy, marriage to a ‘Navy Wave’ with her own confused history, college, teaching, and emotional experiences that not only paralyzed me but would put me on the path of unrighteousness…yes, alcohol and lovely women of the night – indeed, a shameful and wonderful foray into an almost every night ‘Whoop-de-do’.

Mistakes of a shameful quality?  

A ‘big time’ Uh-Huh! Years of willful neglect to career and inner peace. Still, it was fun and disaster – now, you know where the phrase came from, wait for it! ‘Honkytonk-Heaven’ or, ‘Neon Madness’.

So much time wasted?

I suppose – but it was my life for a time. Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias wrote and performed the lyrics and music For All the Girls I’ve Loved Before. It is a song I should have written. In other words, I could not have written a better epilogue for my life.

 My good wife of nearly forty years has encouraged me in my writing efforts, always steadfast and loyal. She also with her love and unselfish nature brings a smile to each new day.

Somehow, in the aging process, I found the gift of writing, much of it venting moments of my life.

Twenty books – some based on true crimes, some in different genres, give glimpses into my life…Romance, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Biography.

Short Stories,  FlashFiction., Poetry and over 375 Blog Posts!

*

Perhaps, I have atoned for some of my ‘low spots’ in life… Regardless, my writing speaks ‘Truth’, and it is my hope that readers can find in my books not only the joy of reading but some essence of inspiration. All my writing can be found at: https://brchitwood.com complete with synopses and Amazon Buy Sites.

Wishing everyone a happy and frustration-free 2022, with the scourge of Covid and Omicron all in our rearview mirrors.

• BR Chitwood – January 20, 2022
• https://www.brchitwood.com (Website/Blog/et al)
• https://Twitter.com @BR Chitwood
• https://facebook.com/billyray.chitwood
• https://Linkedin.com – BR Chitwood

Website: http://brchitwood.com – B R Chitwood – My Mission: Writing to Discover Me

In Praise of Books

In Praise of Writing

BR Chitwood

*

There has always been for me an aura of magic, an arcane sense of urgency in writing, perhaps a natural and innate inclination to share something about my life that has caused fear, joy, pain, regret, sorrow, aches that must have palliative affirmation that can be a cathartic experience and perhaps cause some soulful searching.

      So, that sense of urgency has been with me all my life but became reality on an eighty-acre ranch in southeast Arizona called ‘The Lazy Rabbit Ranch’.

There was a lovely library, fireplace, large mahogany desk, walls of books, views all the way to the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico to the South. To the East were the long stretch of the Swisshelm Mountains. To the West were the Dragoon Mountains, over which some thirty miles was the historic ‘town too tough to die’, Tombstone.

In that setting, I wrote six mystery books called the ‘Bailey Crane Mysteries – 1-6’, each book based on true elements. Many of my books (twenty in all) were written about actual crimes (two of those crimes are still unsolved today.)

In that setting, I also wrote of a mother and daughter who went missing while on a walk to a country store some three miles from their home. The title of that book is “Stranger Abduction.” The disappearance occurred years before we moved to the area, but the locals told us what they knew about the ‘still unsolved case’ which occurred in 1983.

 (My wife and I often shopped at that country store – some four miles away from our ‘Lazy Rabbit Ranch’.) The disappearance of the mother and daughter would not leave my mind, and I wrote a fictional account of the case  

      On the beautiful ‘Sea of Cortez’ I wrote of a Northern California mother who tortured and murdered two of her daughters and an ex-husband – “Mama’s Madness” – many 5-star reviews of this book are on Amazon.

There are other fictional books that deal with Romance, History, Mystery, Suspense, one Science Fiction book – “Serpent Rock” … my first effort with that genre.

Writing has been ‘my love’ since my humble beginning, and I believe I’ve written some good books over the years. My problem? I have not invested in marketing to any great extent. With that admission, I would still proudly put my books alongside any of the books in the genres I have written.

If you are interested, you can find all of my books (with synopses and ‘buy sites’) at:

https://brchitwood.com

You will also find at my website some 375 blog posts, short stories, flash fiction, and poetry.

Hope you can read and contact me. Best Wishes.

HAPPY NEW YEAR – 2022!

HAPPY READING!

brchitwood@gmail.com