John Wayne Cargile

Championship Tide Made Him A Fan

2012-01-23T04:14:00.000-08:00

Championship Tide Made Him A Fan: Fifty years ago, I became an Alabama football fan.

A book review from Geri Ahearn

2009-07-30T02:32:00.000-07:00

Donald Drummond, and his wife Anne were both retired from professional careers, and agreed to go on a mission to unravel a mystery in Donald's extremely dysfunctional family. As they begin this incredible mysterious journey through the hidden family secrets, they begin to realize the dark journey might be "Mission Impossible!" Why did it take sixty years for Donald to meet his biological mother? Who murdered Donald's biological father? Did Donald's mother poison her husband? As the journey on the road to horror continues, the reader sits on the edge of her seat as chills tingle her spine, and the suspense has only just begun. As you continue to follow this disturbing journey into deception, conflict, and murder, you realize that maybe
some questions were better off left unanswered. John Wayne Cargile uses his expertise in psychology, and knowledge in religion to create an intriguing plot, with entertaining characters. This novel is packed with action and drama through surprising twists-and-turns to the end of the story. For the icing on the cake, the author covers the pages with reality, insanity, and a blend of romance. For added touches, he throws in madness, greed, and some flawed personalities that we usually see behind closed doors of a mental institution. I recommend this book to all mystery lovers who enjoy suspense, combined with action, and romance. The type of characters that the author created are as colorful as those you see in any of Alfred Hitchcock's finest movies. Did Donald and Anne find out too much? Was Donald's father in the Mafia? How many people were involved in the terrorist plot, and who knew about the conspiracy? As the reader follows the journey of deceit, the soap opera explodes as the saga continues in an ugly world of fear and regret, left
open for a perfect sequel. "THE CRY OF THE CUCKOOS" is a mesmerizing Masterpiece of the unexpected, and is as thrilling as THE DEVIL'S OWN with Harrison Ford, and Brad Pitt. Reviewed by Geri Ahearn, Phoenix, Arizona

A Northport Gazette article about author signing

2009-07-14T02:30:00.000-07:00

Local author John Wayne Cargile will be signing copies of his novel, “The Cry of the Cuckoos,” at the University of Alabama Supply Store Wednesday, July 22 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
The supply store is located on campus at the Ferguson Student Union Center.
Cargile’s mystery, suspense, romance novel is receiving high praise from readers.
“A splendid combination of what most readers, like myself, desire in a good novel--mystery, mayhem, madness, and one of the most dysfunctional families you've ever seen. It would provide a team of therapists with full-time work,” writes John Lee of Mentone, AL.
“I enjoyed Mr. Cargile's story "Cry of the Cuckoos." There were many threads through out the story that many people can recognize; the interrelationship of family, love, the aging process, friendship and death. Mr. Cargile has a gift with conversation that is very realistic and supports and builds to the story line. While much of the story was very realistic, there was a bit of soap opera quality about Donald meeting his natural mother, only to have her die a few days later. I have recently moved to the Tuscaloosa area and found some good parallels to the history and culture of the area in this book. I read Mr. Cargile's column in the Northport Gazette and look forward to more books from this author,” said Jill Hannah of Northport.
“John Wayne Cargile takes us on a journey that starts with much intrigue and ends with bold characterization of family life sometimes better left unsaid. Even when all is well, it isn't.
“What an emotional jaunt Mr. Cargile leads us on, spilling forth with page turner characters and strong plotting that keeps one on the edge of his seat to finish this book. I enjoyed it no end.
“Mr. Cargile has my undying admiration for writing a book that has no holes barred. Equal in emotion and plotting to a William Faulkner book, this one is a real keeper and one you won't forget for some time! Thanks for the enjoyable read.....” writes Rita Hestand of Wylie, Texas.
“Cargile carefully puts in place background details which provide interesting technical and medical information. His training in religion, psychology, and philosophy, as well as his strong interest in integral psychology and spirituality, are apparent throughout John's writing. "The Cry of the Cuckoos" becomes a platform for him to help people integrate their mind, body and Spirit into a Holistic lifestyle. Cargile's character development reflects his understanding of flawed personalities. His narrative provides a related analysis of their symptoms, motivations, and resulting actions. The strength of character of the genuine religious or spiritual person is contrasted with the lip service and lifestyle of deception in those motivated by selfishness and greed. These characters become colorful composites, expressions of idealism, reality, and deception.
“I was quickly drawn into the story of "The Cry of the Cuckoos" and the theme of deceit and forgiveness. Cargile's writing style is crisp, direct, and engaging. While I found this directness appealing, it may be seen as too simplistic for others. Transitions of locale or time-frame and the pacing of conflict and resolution confronted by the protagonists were well-paced, maintaining the suspense element of the story.
“I felt the story ended quite quickly, somewhat abruptly; however, an "afterward" wrapped up all the loose ends and gave closure to unanswered questions. The final chapters create the possibility of a sequel. "The Cry of the Cuckoos" by John Wayne Cargile will appeal to readers who enjoy mystery, intrigue, and romance. Cargile's writing is thoroughly entertaining and highly informative,” writes Richard Blake of Reader Views.
Cargile’s book is available at his personal website: www.thecryofthecuckoos.com or Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble Online and Books A Million Online.
The book is also available at the University of Alabama Supply Store as well as Little Professor Book Center in Homewood, AL.
Cargile was a recent guest on WYDE Radio 101.1 FM on the Lee Davis Show. Davis compared Cargile’s book as being “between a Tom Clancy and John Grisham novel.”
Cargile lives in the Mount Olive community near Coker in Tuscaloosa County with his wife, son and granddaughter.
He is currently writing his second novel, “Crooked Letter I.”

Crooked Letter I -- Chapter Two

2009-07-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

Birmingham, Alabama

The newsroom on the fourth floor at the Birmingham Iron-Herald was abuzz as reporters and editors finished assignments for the day. The morning newspaper was the state’s largest in circulation covering every major city in Alabama through stringers, The Associated Press and a five-person staff in Montgomery, the state’s capitol. The Birmingham office was staffed with over 100 writers and editors.
Readers looked to the Iron-Herald for its investigative reporting, especially when it came to being a watchdog over the state’s legislative process. Some of the top young writers from the journalism school at the University of Missouri came to Birmingham to ply their writing skills before moving on to larger newspapers like The New York Times, Washington Post or Los Angeles Times.
Rob McRobbie, 32, was one of the first journalists to apply at the newspaper before other university alumnus’s found their way to Magic City. He was considered the “old man” among the younger staff members. A reporter who aspired to report about civil rights found plenty of sod for honing their social skills. A sports writer had plenty of wiggle room as high school and college football ranked somewhere between Jesus and the late legendary coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, who some claimed could walk on water. An investigative reporter literally had enough territory to cover as those able bodied men and women did on the Oregon Trail. The state was wide-open for illegal gambling, prostitution, hate crimes and even terrorist organizations. The city ranked No.3 in the nation for homicides. Mostly it was black on black but, on occasion, reporters got more than enough fodder for their notebooks when a white man murdered a man of color. It was unusual, but it did happen. A black man taking the life of a white man was considered more serious.
McRobbie was familiar with Birmingham because he grew up on the western side of city in a poor-class neighborhood. He was a three-sport letterman in football, baseball and basketball. His high school English teacher told him his senior year he showed promise as a writer. She threw out the names of T.S. Elliott, William Wordsworth and Edgar Allen Poe. He knew following high school the University of Missouri’s journalism school was one of the best in the country. He applied and was accepted. After four years he returned to the city as a cub police reporter. Now he was the newspaper’s leading investigative reporter, known for his penchant to find the truth no matter how long it took. Research and details, as well as his knack for explaining complicated issues, were his strengths.
Only the year before, McRobbie was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, only to see a former colleague, Rick Stutts, win it as a New York Times reporter. He was proud for his friend’s accomplishments. Who better to lose the most cherished prize in writing except to a good friend and confidant?
Feet propped on his desk, Rob leaned back in the swivel chair in his office and stretched his arms behind his head. Having an office alone without too much interference from other reporters was one of the perks for being an elite journalist. His colleagues worked in tiny cubicles. He wondered now how he ever dealt with such a closed-in space. He needed space. His editors gave him more leeway to write controversial stories about citizens who got themselves in trouble with the law or courts. His articles had put more than a few criminals in prison, the latest being the killer of his uncle – Judge Roy Mallard, a liberal federal appellate judge appointed by then president, Jimmy Carter. A white supremacist that belonged to the Society of Southron Patriots had been indicted for the murder when a mail bomb was sent to his luxurious home in a rich suburb of Mountain Springs. The homemade bomb detonated when Uncle Roy opened the package. He was dead on the scene. W.L. Medders was sentenced to Kilby Prison where he was on death row awaiting turn to see his maker by electrocution. Medders testified before the Grand Jury, Judge Mallard was a “nigger and Jew lover.”
McRobbie followed the case from beginning to end even though his editor, Angus McCarron, was unsure about assigning a relative of the judge to cover the story. It worked out in the end. McRobbie always felt Medders did not act alone. Someone higher up in authority gave Medders the order. McRobbie had been unable to prove it, but he vowed he would unravel the case before he died.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as his publisher walked briskly toward his office. He positioned himself upright in his chair, looked at the computer monitor, which had a game of poker on the screen. He was a whiz playing Texas Hold ‘Em or Blackjack. He often spent his off days in Biloxi, Mississippi at the casinos. Counting cards was his forte and casino managers tried to catch him several times. He moved around from casino to casino. He made more money at the tables than he was paid as a newspaperman.
He hurriedly closed the computer window before his boss caught him again.
McCarron wasn’t alone. In tow was a beautiful young lady in her early twenties. Rob winced. Did he have another young journalist to train?
“Rob, I want you to meet Miss Cindi Brown,” he heard McCarron say. He hardly remembered what his editor said afterward as he watched the shapely young woman, dressed in a blue business suit, blue high heels and a white blouse that revealed her luxurious buxom breasts. Her long, straight black hair hung down her boney looking shoulders and the twinkle in her deep brown eyes sparkled like the Fourth of July. Her long legs made her look more like a college basketball player. She was at least five-foot-nine, an inch shorter than him.
“I’ve been talking with Miss Brown for over two hours and decided her story deserved more than an article from our religion editor,” McCarron said, smiling at the young lady by his side.
What Rob was thinking when he heard his editor mention religion would violate one of the 10 Commandments.
He stared blankly into McCarron’s brown steely eyes. Neither his boss nor the young pretty lady smiled. Why would his editor give him a story with a religious angle?
“I’ll leave you two alone,” McCarron said, winking at Rob as he walked out of the office. “This might be a good story, Rob.”
“Please sit, Miss Brown.”
“You can call me Cindi,” she instructed as a smile crossed her smooth cream-colored face revealing perfect white teeth. Her lips were those of a gorgeous princess. The red lipstick was not inadequate looking. In fact, it accentuated everything about her. Her long black hair and ruby colored lips would attract any man. She had to be Latino, he thought. But, the name Cindi Brown didn’t match that of a Central American woman. He noticed the other male journalist looking into his office, and he closed the door.
“How may I be of help?” McRobbie finally managed to ask.
She fumbled with a brief case for a second before gathering a folder and placing it on his desk. The cover read, International Ministries for the 21st Century. McRobbie innocently let the file lay on his desk. He would read it later. First, he wanted Miss Brown to talk about why she was visiting, and why in the hell his editor brought her to him? He saved the latter thought for later.
“Mr. McRobbie,” she started awkwardly. “I am the public relations director for the International Ministries for the 21st Century. Have you ever heard of us?”
“Not sure I have, but go on, Miss Brown.”
“You might or not be aware we are holding our annual convention here in Birmingham next month. People from all over the world will converge on the city. The economic impact will be tremendous for the city. This is the Mecca of civil rights history and many of our members live in third world countries. But many come from Japan, Europe, Africa, South America, Mexico, Canada and even a few from China and Russia. We are a global spiritual organization that reaches out to people other than Christian. Some of our members are Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist. Our God is the God for all people. We believe God is Omniscient. The God we worship doesn’t belong only to the Jew and Christian, but to all people regardless of color and creed.”
“Hold on for a moment.” McRobbie held up his hand. He was certain that this beautiful woman who sat in his office could get really wound up in her ideology, and he wanted to stop it before she got carried away. He was not very religious although he believed in a Higher Creator. But religion was not something he talked about in front of friends much less a stranger.
“Why are you here?”
“Your editor seemed to think you can help our organization,” she said bashfully.
“I don’t know if you know it or not, but I am an investigative reporter. I investigate stories about people who are committed to harming other people, especially white collar crime.”
“Then, I must be talking to the right man. We need your help.”

******

McRobbie was finally able to make direct eye contact with the lady seated across his desk. He prided himself in being able to read body language, especially the eyes. It was something he intuitively did when interviewing subjects. He had been unable to look into Cindi Brown’s eyes because they had a look of seduction.
“After all I’ve told you about my work, you still want to talk to me about this convention you are putting on?” McRobbie got right to the point.
He saw her squirm a little bit in her seat, but her eyes were intently focused on him. It was an awkward feeling. She knew how to read body language and the language of the eyes as well as him, he thought.
“It’s a long story, Mr. McRobbie. But we need your help.”
“Who is we in the story,” he asked.
“The man who will be coming to Birmingham to speak to thousands of people at Legion Field is suspicious about this convention, and the people behind it. Dr. Ken Prior is an international speaker and author on self-development, one of the best known figures in the world when it comes to passions of the soul. He has written many books, been on the lecture tour for many years. He just went through a divorce. His wife left him for another man. They have seven children. He was running out of money before being approached by my boss through me. He wouldn’t be able to continue his lecture circuit without fresh money.”
“And, who is your boss?” McRobbie asked, finally taking his pen and scribbling down a few notes on his pad.
“I can’t say at the moment, Mr. McRobbie.” The subject before him began to tense her shoulders and he could see her eyes watering. “I shouldn’t be here. I must go.”
Cindi Brown stood up, picked up her briefcase and shook Rob’s hand.
“Wait just a minute, Miss Brown. You came here asking for help. If you are in such dire straits I need to know what this is all about.”
“I’ve already told you too much. I thought I could go through with this, but if my boss even knew I was talking to you my life could be in danger.” She went to open the office door.
“You must have told my editor more than you’ve already told me. Does he know what this is all about?”
“Mr. McCarron only knows part of the story, and he thought you would be able to investigate what we suspect to be happening concerning the convention. It’s more than a bunch of men getting together to fill their soul with spiritual energy. We feel that a larger picture is being framed by my boss, but right now it’s only a suspicion. Knowing my boss like I do, I can only imagine.”
“Sit down, Cindi,” McRobbie instructed. “I promise I’ll keep your suspicions to myself until we can accurately decipher what you’re talking about.”
Cindi sat down again and crossed her tan legs. McRobbie noticed. After all, he was great with body language.”
“Okay, now let’s start from the beginning,” McRobbie said.
“It all starts with Dr. Prior,” she started with a quiver in her voice. “He has been a leading exponent of men’s psychology for years. He’s helped many men learn from his teachings what it means to be a real man in the 21st century. The women’s movement pushed aside the man’s role in relationships, and he is reversing the challenge to men. He helps men take a deeper journey into the wounds, wonder, anger, grief and joy that comes from being a healthy man in the 21st Century.
“Birmingham is the pilot for this new enterprise. Dr. Prior is only a puppet in the show. We have over 100 young ladies set to embark on this city. They are called counselors, but in reality they are high society prostitutes.”
“Whoa!” McRobbie stopped her at this point.
“Why would someone bring in outside prostitutes to pick on little ol’ Birmingham? We have enough prostitutes around here.”
“They are going to pick their pockets, swipe their identity without asking for sexual pleasures. That’s the way it works. Besides the mayor of Birmingham is a sucker for any new ideas to bring attention to his city. He falls for anything and everything.”
“I can’t say I disagree with you on that point,” McRobbie said. This girl is good, he thought.
“The guys behind this scam have been around for years. It’s a carefully thought out plan. I know because I helped train the young women they are bringing to Birmingham.”
“Then you are in on this scam as much as anyone?” McRobbie was getting a little nervous and angry.
“That’s just the thing, Mr. McRobbie,” Cindy said, fishing for a handkerchief in her purse. “Since meeting the great Dr. Prior, I’ve changed my mind about my life. I want out of this mess, but I can’t. I am bound to these men or I will be killed if I go MIA.”
“Have you gone to the police or FBI about this?”
“No, I haven’t and I will not get them involved,” she told him. “Besides most of the upper management in your fine police department have taken cash to turn their heads concerning anything about the convention. You’d be surprised how much money has been passed around this state. My boss has his sights on the politicians in Montgomery. He is a big investor in the casinos on the Gulf Coast.”
“What’s his name?”
“I cannot disclose his name at this time. You will have to put on your Dick Tracy hat to follow these hoodlums. I am sick of them, and I want out of it. I’ve been with them since I was sixteen-years-old and the old man behind all of this thinks of me as his mistress. He loves me. I hate him. I turned over a new leaf after several meetings with Dr. Prior. I want a new life for myself.”
“Are you single?” McRobbie squirmed in his chair at the question. It was a little too personal, especially since he just met Miss Cindi Brown.
“I’m as single as they come, and I plan to keep it that way.”
Rob looked down at the notes he scribbled. It appeared he had nothing solid to go on except the word of some female nut case. He was beginning to wonder about her now. Was she actually telling him the truth or just trying to get out of jam and let someone else come to her rescue – like Rob McRobbie?
“Let me think on this for a day or two, Miss Brown. That is your real name, isn’t it?”
“You don’t believe anything I’ve told you, do you Mr. McRobbie?”
“I’ll do some snooping around and see if I can identify the men behind this alleged caper you’re talking about.”
“You cannot use my name in any stories you write. Do you understand? You will be dealing with something that is way over your head, and if you get too close to the fire, you will be char-broiled and used as Cajun meat in Creole.”
“Where are you staying in case I need to contact you?” McRobbie asked.
“I’m at the Hyatt Regency, room 532. I’ll be here only for a couple of more days and then return to Biloxi.”
“Is that where you are from?” McRobbie’s curiosity was taking on all sorts of what ifs – the attributes which make a great journalist. Every story has to answer who, what, when, where and how. Without them, there is no story.
Rob saw Cindi Brown to the elevator.
He walked away without a byline story for the next day.

Crooked Letter I -- Chapter One

2009-07-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

Note: This is a rough draft of a new mystery, romance, suspense novel. I'd like feedback as to whether or not you would want to read more after the first chapter. If so, I will continue to post. I am nearly half-way through, and I am excited. I believe it is even better than The Cry of the Cuckoos.

Biloxi, Mississippi

Carlos Caretti lounged in his crimson-colored recliner inside the luxurious suite on the The Rebel Belle, one of several floating casinos in the Back Bay of Biloxi. Three of his top lieutenants sat on a sofa as Caretti questioned his underlings.
The Rebel Belle was one of the most lucrative businesses he owned, although he joked in federal court when he was accused of being “The Godfather of the Gulf Coast,” that he was merely a “tomato salesman” working for $1,600 a year, and he had interest in real estate. Gambling was a legal business now in the state of Mississippi and Louisiana. The Rebel Belle was one of the Gulf Coast’s best casinos and most “profitable.” And, it was legal. He didn’t know if he was better off now or when he ran illegal slot machines, bingo or ran a bootlegging operation at a younger age. Of course, his family was better off now, he thought. He was mostly legal in everything he did business-wise. That was – almost everything.
Some people referred to Biloxi as a “Poor Man’s Riviera,” but there was nothing poor in Caretti’s life. He was the one of the richest men in the South. No one knew exactly how much the Sicilian from Italy had stashed away in foreign banks. He didn’t know exactly. He only knew he was rich. He left finances to his consigliore.
“How’s de business?” Caretti asked the three men gathered in the room. He smiled and the wrinkles spread across his tanned, rugged face. He was 72-years-old, bald but had lived a robust life. With his wife of over 50 years dead, he had women at his beckon call anytime he wanted.
“Going great, boss.” His son, whom everyone called “Little Joe,” was the first to speak up.
“How’s de business doin’ in Colombia?”
“Still flowing, thanks to our Colombian friends,” Joe told him.
“How about de girls?”
“We’ve got the girls working hard,” Juan Escobar told him.
“That’s good. Real good,” Caretti said, blowing a curly ring of smoke from his black Cuban cigar.
“How’s de casino business?” he turned to look at Manuel Torres, who sipped on a martini.
“Our gaming operation is solid, boss,” said Torres.
Caretti stood up and walked around his lieutenants, touching each on the face with a gentle smack. “Then all is well in our little spot in de world?” It was more a definitive statement than a question.
All three men nodded affirmative.
“I’m a little, how you say it, concerned about the girls,” he continued. “Joseph, have you spoken to our little girl lately? Is she doing as I asked?”
“Boss, she’s doing great. She’s out spreading the word about our new enterprise. You’ve taught her well. One day soon we will be able to offer hope to millions of men who need love and affection. This religion thing was a great idea. Only you could pull something like this off and get away with it.”
Caretti burst out with laughter at his loyal son’s suggestion.
“Where’s she now?”
“She’s in Birmingham setting up the big convention. You know…making the rounds with the press, radio and TV talk show hosts. She’ll have the city leaders in the palm of her hand before this is over. The city will make a few bucks, but we’ll be the cash cow.”
“Des will be just the start of great things,” Caretti said, leaning over his son’s right shoulder and kissing him on the ear. “Dese men in Birmin’ham won’t know what got a hold of dem until we’re done and gone with millions of dollars handed over to our sweet, innocent young ladies. All in the name of God. None of de men will squeal because it will incriminate dem to their friends, families and Church communities. We’ve taken care of the cops, right? And, de boys on de council? It’s amazing what money will do in a lawman’s hands and especially their esteemed police chief. You took care of dem, son?”
“Yes, boss. No one will get in our path. I have to give it to you, Papa,” Little Joe said. “You’re God when it comes to raking in the dough.”
“You’s not seen anything like what I’ve cooked up for the state of Alabamy,” Caretti laughed. “We’ve got to get dem politicians in Montgomery to legalize gambling. We’ve got to extend our business to Lower Alabamy.”

Translating our feelings can overcome stress & depression

2009-07-05T03:32:00.000-07:00

Too many people are being diagnosed with depression when in reality they are just unhappy, says an Australian psychiatrist Gordon Parker.
Parker conducted a study which included 242 teachers who were followed for a period of 15 years. During that time, more than three-quarters of them were found to meet the criteria for clinical depression. These criteria include having a “low mood” for more than two weeks combined with appetite change, sleep disturbance, drop in libido and fatigue.
Parker says that having such a low threshold for diagnosing clinical depression creates the risk of taking the normal ups and downs of living and treating them as an illness. He argues that treating these individuals will not be effective because there is nothing wrong with them.
I tend to agree. Feeling sad occasionally in response to our circumstances is a normal part of living. Emotional pain can be a signal that we need to make some changes in our lives. If you touch a hot pan and get burned, do you take a painkiller to deaden the pain or do you learn from your mistake and use a potholder the next time?
A recent telephone conversation with an acquaintance got me to thinking about stress, anxiety, depression and all that is associated with them. Her life at
home was under so much stress raising her children, she said, it was affecting her
job. She wanted to change job assignments thinking this would cure her stress at
home. She wanted to rid herself of the job stress and drop it on someone else. It’s not as simple as that!
Perhaps the root of the stress or depression is at the home rather than the job itself. If we get to the bottom of the stress at home, then we will bring a better
outcome to the job. We call it working from the inside, out. Fixing our internal
self is a good place to begin. It begins with you, not some other person such as
your husband or children or some external issue. Fixing this first will allow you to
overcome stress or depression. Depression, stress and anxiety are often companions, and this is a global problem. One in six people around the world will suffer from major depression at some point in their lives.
When new challenges and opportunities show up in our lives, we may diagnose ourselves as feeling scared when what we really feel is excited. Often we have not been taught how to welcome the thrill of a new opportunity, and so we opt to back off, indulging our anxiety instead of awakening our courage. One way to inspire ourselves to embrace the opportunities that come our way is to look more deeply into our feelings and see that butterflies in our stomach or a rapidly beating heart are not necessarily a sign that we are afraid. Those very same feelings can be translated as excitement, curiosity, passion, and even love.
There is nothing wrong with being afraid as long as we do not let it stop us from doing the things that excite us. Most of us assume that brave people are fearless, but the truth is that they are simply more comfortable with fear because they face it on a regular basis. The more we do this, the more we feel excitement in the face of challenges rather than anxiety. The more we cultivate our ability to move forward instead of backing off, the more we trust ourselves to be able to handle the new opportunity, whether it’s a new job, an exciting move, or a relationship. When we feel our fear, we can remind ourselves that maybe we are actually just excited. We can assure ourselves that this opportunity has come our way because we are meant to take it.
Framing things just a little differently can dramatically shift our mental state from one of resistance to one of openness. We can practice this new way of seeing things by saying aloud: I am really excited about this job. I am really looking forward to going on a date with this amazing person. I am excited to have the opportunity to do something I have never done before. As we do this, we will feel our energy shift from fear, which paralyzes, to excitement, which empowers us to direct all that energy in the service of moving forward, growing, and learning.
If a person feeds on negative thoughts all day long, every task and every trial that comes his or her way will be approached from a defeatist attitude. We have the ability to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. It takes practice, but it is worth it!

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Education Association and Alabama Education Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos. www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter,net. All conversations are confidential.

Celebrity worship could mean our lives are really rootless

2009-06-28T03:40:00.000-07:00

Looking at the legions of fans mourning the loss of Michael Jackson, one might think celebrity worship is a modern phenomenon.
But from the gods on Olympus in ancient Greece to the bobby-soxers swooning over Elvis Presley to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie today, adulation of the stars is an age-old pursuit.
Jackson's sudden death last Thursday at age 50, just weeks before he was to launch a major concert tour, riveted the world. And hours earlier, the news that Farrah Fawcett, the 1970s sex symbol, had died of anal cancer captivated Americans who remembered her first for her role in TV's "Charlie's Angels" and later as a courageous woman sharing the intimate details of her battle with the disease. Earlier last week we had Ed McMahon, the sidekick to Johnny Carson, pass away.
The public's fascination with celebrities may seem new because we are such a media-immersed society, but it's really not.
When the composers Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt performed in the 19th century, women threw their underwear at them. And 80 years after the death of silent-film star Rudolph Valentino, fans continue to visit his grave.
Celebrities tap into the public's primal fantasies and basic emotions, lifting people from their everyday lives and making them believe anything is possible.
In the case of Jackson, with what appeared to be numerous plastic surgeries and skin bleaching, the weirdness resonates with our own internal suppressed hidden wishes -- for immortality, gratification of sexual impulses and our wish for ageless beauty.
Humans at the core are social beings, and research has shown that the less connected people feel, the more they turn to celebrities.
While worshipping the rich and famous is harmless in itself, it could be perceived as symptomatic of a rootless culture in which many people feel a sense of isolation.
What we know of them (celebrities) through People magazine and other media sources fills a gaping and painful void in our lives. The dwindling influence of religion adds to that sense of yearning in people, making the stars' exploits and eccentricities, their loves and losses, more than a form of entertainment.
Religion is faltering, and in the process people are grappling with infantile wishes, with magical thinking.
For the most part, star status conveys a sense of immortality and invincibility -- and we are shocked when they die.
With loved ones, long-standing rituals help people cope. But with celebrities, fans can be at a loss. We don't know quite how to mourn the loss of stars because we don't expect them to die.
Is it appropriate to grieve a star's passing?
When Alabama football coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, died in 1983 it was like we saw our cultural history disappear. You feel that someone you loved is gone, and it takes time to close the wound. Some of us haven’t gotten over it yet.
When a celebrity passes, the loss is personal -- not because we knew the celebrity but because they were with us as we grew up and as we had our own special moments.
If you're overcome with emotion, it might be satisfying to write down or talk through your feelings, either with a friend or into a tape recorder. Think of it as the loss of a family member and go with it. Although physically gone, deceased celebrities leave their art -- those are the memories.
But in a disposable culture such as today's, the mourning often doesn't last long.
Coach Bryant’s legacy hasn’t been as easy to replace as other celebrities, especially not in our neck of the woods which is the Tide Nation. No one has been able to replace him in our collective consciousness. Nick Saban could be the new replacement. Only time will tell.
When we fall into celebrity worship, we sometimes see that person in a glowing light. Their good qualities dominate the foreground of our perception and their negative qualities. They just don’t seem to have any. We knew Coach Bryant had a negative side. He liked to drink. No reporter dared to talk about his drinking or prescription drug problem while he was alive.
This temporary state of grace is commonly known as putting someone on a pedestal. Often times we put spiritual leaders and our gurus on pedestals. We have all done this to someone at one time or another, and as long as we remember that no one is actually “perfect,” the pedestal phase of a relationship can be enjoyed for what it is-a phase. It’s when we actually believe our own projection that troubles arise.
Everyone has problems, flaws, and blind spots, just as we do. When we entertain the illusion that someone is perfect, we don’t allow them room to be human, so when they make an error in judgment or act in contradiction to our idea of perfection, we become disillusioned.
We may get angry or distance ourselves in response. In the end, they are not to blame for the fact that we idealized them. Granted, they may have enjoyed seeing themselves as perfect through our eyes, but we are the ones who chose to believe an illusion. If you go through this process enough times, you learn that no one is perfect.
We are all a combination of divine and human qualities and we all struggle. When we treat the people we love with this awareness, we actually allow for a much greater intimacy than when we held them aloft on an airy throne. The moment you see through your idealized projection is the moment you begin to see your loved one as he or she truly is.
We cannot truly connect with a person when we idealize them. In life, there are no pedestals-we are all walking on the same ground together. When we realize this, we can own our own divinity and our humanity. This is the key to balance and wholeness within ourselves and our relationships.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Education Association and Alabama Education Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos. www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter,net. All conversations are confidential.

The Cry of The Cuckoos: an imperfect masterpiece

2009-06-27T03:21:00.000-07:00

Henry Drummond, a well-known KKK member with mob ties and founder of the right wing supremacist organization called the Society of Southron Patriots, is murdered. What follows is a study of the effects of his legacy on those closest to him.

The society he founded is in turmoil; fully committed to a terrorist plot to kill Washington dignitaries at the Super Bowl and delegates at the United Nations, the separatist organization comes under the scrutiny of both the local authorities and the FBI. Panic sets in and more killing follows.

Drummond’s oldest son, Donald, finds out his mother isn’t who he thought she was and begins a descent into a dangerous depression. The whole family faces upheavals and strange revelations at every turn. Lives change and Donald continues to unravel.

Eventually the story takes on a feel somewhat similar to books like Arthur Hailey’s Airport, Hotel or Wheels. This is a good thing!

And The Cry of The Cuckoos could have been a masterpiece... Following a theme of deceit and redemption, the story is solid. You want to know what’s going on. Cargile can construct sentences with the best of them. Both the dialogue and the scene progression are crisp. He also knows how to move a story along.

But I don’t understand his usage of tense and some of the words he chooses. Not only does he flip back and forth between past and present tenses—sometimes within the same paragraph—he also uses words and tense in unusual and improper ways. One example is his insistence in referring to the noun poison as poisoning. It’s an odd enough choice that it pulls one right out of the story and makes you ask why he uses the word that way.

This is an accomplished writer and editor in the field of journalism. I can only guess that he’s a victim of the risk many self-publishers take: that is, he edited his own work.

I like the story, but the strange grammatical choices diminish my enjoyment. I give this book a 3 out of 5 instead of the 4.5 it could have been.

Copyright © 2009 Clayton Clifford Bye

Periods of high stress can make us feel cuckoo or crazy

2009-06-21T04:02:00.000-07:00

Most of us feel a little cuckoo or crazy from time to time.
Those of you who have read my new mystery novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos, found out how periods of high stress can alter one’s identity.
The main character, Donald Drummond, finds out he has a biological mother he knew nothing about for 61 years. Upon receiving this knowledge he goes into deep despair. Anxiety disorders among other health issues begin to plague him.
Periods of high stress can make us feel like we’re losing it, as can being surrounded by people whose values are very different from our own.
Drummond’s father dies and the story reveals the father-son relationship was different from one another. They were estranged for many years. Drummond’s life unravels.
Losing a significant relationship and moving into a new life situation are other events that can cause us to feel off kilter. Circumstances like these recur in our lives, and they naturally affect our mental stability.
The symptoms of our state of mind can range from having no recollection of putting our car keys where we eventually find them, to wondering if we’re seeing things clearly when everyone around us seems to be in denial of what’s going on right in front of their eyes.
For most of us, the key to survival at times like these is to step back, take a deep breath, and regain our composure. Then we can decide what course of action to take.
Sometimes a time-out does the trick. We take a day off from whatever is making us feel crazy and, like magic, we feel in our right mind again.
Talking to an objective friend can also help. We begin to see what it is about the situation that destabilizes us, and we can make changes from there. At other times, if the situation is particularly sticky, we may need to seek professional help.
Meeting with someone who understands the way the human mind reacts to stress, loss, and difficulty can make us feel less alone and more supported. A therapist or a spiritual counselor can give us techniques that help bring us back to a sane state of mind so that we can affect useful changes.
They can also mirror our basic goodness, helping us to see that we are actually okay.
The main purpose of the wake-up call that feeling crazy provides is to let us know that something in our lives is out of balance.
Confirm for yourself that you are capable of creating a sane and peaceful reality for yourself. Try to remember that most people have felt, at one time or another that they are losing it. You deserve a life that helps you thrive. Try and take some steps today to help you achieve more balance and a little less crazy.
When we become overwhelmed and things are not going as planned, it is natural to hold tighter to our goals and try to force things to go our way.
In the process, we tie ourselves in knots, tensing our shoulders, jaws, and muscles throughout our bodies.
Our mind tells us that this is how to get a firmer grip on a situation that feels out of control, but as we create knots in our bodies we are blocking the flow of our energy, exhausting ourselves by exerting more effort yet accomplishing less.
At these times, though it may seem counterintuitive, our higher selves know it’s better to let go.
This may not be quite as easy as it sounds.
After the relief of our first decision to release, if we allow questions about how to get everything done to start again, the knots will be back before we know it.
So we need to be aware that this is a process to breathe through. First, we need to let go of our idea of what the perfect outcome should be, and allow that the intelligence that drives the universe knows better than we do how everything fits together for the highest good.
Then we might have to release our imagined consequences and realize that, in most cases, the worst that could happen really isn’t that bad. We may need to remember how to relax, first by taking deep breaths, then by meditating, and then perhaps seeking help from a loved one, massage therapist, or energy healer to clear the underlying knots.
We can ease our mental stress by prioritizing what we truly want to accomplish, and then delegating the rest to someone who has more enthusiasm for those things. When we relax and let life’s energy flow through our minds, bodies, spirits, and lives, we will find that we can accomplish more with less effort and feel good doing it.
We don’t have to tie ourselves in knots. Instead, we can let the ribbons of our energy unfurl to gracefully direct us through life’s abundant flow.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Education Association and Alabama Education Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos. www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter,net. All conversations are confidential.

Keeping boredom at arm’s length through the creative process

2009-06-14T04:05:00.000-07:00

I guess there are times when we all suffer from boredom.
I am in a post-partum publishing state of mind. After going through a book publishing process, which takes many, many months, and seeing your book actually in the print stage and on the market, I often ask “What next?”
Oh, I’ve got some ideas, and other novels to work on. I feel like a pregnant woman who has waited nine months for delivery and when the baby is born with all the excitement it entails, the woman, in most cases, suffers post-partum depression.
We experience highs and lows, but we must be able to keep ourselves from getting too high or diving too deep into depression.
I was on cloud nine this past week as I got a lead from a friend, a friend of a friend of one of Hollywood’s top movie producers – Steven Tisch, Academy Award winner for the Forrest Gump movie. He also happens to be co-owner of the New York Giants. The friend said she would get my book into Tisch’s hands and see what develops. Friends tell me the book would make a great movie. I found out Tisch married a woman from Tuscaloosa – Jamie Alexander. They have since divorced. Tisch still has friends in Tuscaloosa.
A radio interview last week placed me on another high when the show producer – Lee Davis – of WYDE Radio 101.1FM ranked my book, The Cry of the Cuckoos, somewhere between Tom Clancy and John Grisham. It was a great compliment.
Then there was a low. I went to a book signing in Birmingham. The weather was awful. I knew on the drive up that anyone getting out in this type of gully-buster weather probably needed a special award like a Courageous Cuckoo Fan button. The bookstore signing was a bust as only a few drenched customers came through the door. They were looking for certain items or picking up books they had ordered. I went home in a stupor, went to bed. Post-partum depression.
The human mind thrives on novelty. What was once a source of pleasure can become tedious after a time. Though our lives are full, boredom lurks around every corner because we innately long for new experiences.
Yet boredom by its very nature is passive. In this idle state of mind, we may feel frustrated at our inability to channel our mental energy into productive or engaging tasks. We may even attempt to lose ourselves in purposeless or self-destructive pursuits.
While this can be a sign of depression, it can also be an invitation issued from your mind, asking you to challenge yourself.
Boredom can become the motivation that drives you to learn, explore the exotic, experiment, and harness the boundless creative energy within.
In Hindu and Buddhist traditions, boredom is perceived as a pathway to self-awareness. Boredom itself is not detrimental to the soul-it is the manner in which we respond to it that determines whether it becomes a positive or a negative influence in our lives.
When you respond by actively filling the emptiness you feel lurking in yourself, you cultivate creativity and innovation. If, when in the grip of boredom, you have difficulty acknowledging the merits of any activities you might otherwise enjoy, generate your own inspiration.
Before you find yourself beset by boredom, create a list of tasks you can consult when it feels like there is simply nothing to do. Referring to a list of topics you want to learn more about, projects you’ve yet to begin, or even pending chores can spark your creative energy and reawaken your zest for life.
When we are troubled by boredom, it is not that there is nothing to do but rather that we are not stimulated by the options before us. A bored mind can be the canvas upon which innovation is painted and the womb in which novelty is nourished. When you identify boredom as a signal that you need to test your boundaries, it can be the force that presses you to strive for opportunities you thought were beyond your reach and to indulge your desire for adventure.
We all experience periods where we feel separated from the loving ebb and flow of the universe. These times of feeling disconnected from the source may occur for many reasons, but self-sabotage is the most common cause for us choosing to cut ourselves off from the flow of the universe.
Reconnecting with the universe grounds you and is as easy as making a concerted effort to become interested in the activities you love or responding to what nurtures or stimulates you..
When you disconnect from the universe, your sense of purpose, creativity, and ability to be innovative are not as easy to access. You may also experience a deep and empty sense of longing or feel devoid of ideas or unworthy of love. It’s important, however, to recognize that being disconnected from the universe is never a permanent state, and it can be reversed any time you decide that you are ready to reconnect. When you are connected to the universe, all aspects of your being will feel alive as the flow of the universe pours through your being and into your life.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Education Association and Alabama Education Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos. www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter,net. All conversations are confidential.

Radio interview with Lee Davis

2009-06-13T03:14:00.000-07:00

I had a great 10-minute interview with Lee Davis, host of The Lee Davis Show on WYDE Radio 101.1 FM Friday, June 12. We talked about how much research was done in the writing of The Cry of the Cuckoos. I told him that much research was done and pointed out specific examples. He compared my writing somewhere between Tom Clancy and John Grisham. What a compliment!

The Cry of the Cuckoos at Book Expo in NYC

2009-06-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

A review from John Lee (Mentone, Alabama)

2009-06-09T02:47:00.000-07:00

A splendid combination of what most readers, like myself, desire in a good novel--mystery, mayhem, madness, and one of the most dysfunctional families you've ever seen. It would provide a team of therapists with full time work.

Though the last third ambles along almost to the point of losing a reader, the characters are so real and the story so well told it keeps your curiosity churning and the pages turning to see what happens to the Drummond Family all the way from Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Texas. I highly recommend this book--a damn good read. John Lee (Mentone, Alabama)

Reader comment about The Cry of the Cuckoos

2009-06-08T02:31:00.000-07:00

this book is wonderfull it keeps you on your toes once you start reading it you cant put it down!!! hope book two comes out soon!!!!!!!!!!! Jenna Taylor and T.R. Pate.

Excuses are not in Dr. Wayne Dyer’s vocabulary

2009-06-07T05:07:00.000-07:00

I joined a new internet site, BookBuzzr.com last weekend to market my book, The Cry of the Cuckoos, and I was surprised to see Dr. Wayne Dyer on the same site marketing his many self-help books. I’ve seen him on television and read some of the excerpts from his books. We are both in the same phases with our books that millions of other authors find themselves. The game is called PR and marketing.
Dr. Dyer has been called the “father of motivation,” by his fans.
The column I write titled, “Integral Life,” shares many of the same ideologies.
While he is on a very fast track and widely known nationally and internationally he certainly deserves the spotlight. His new book, “Excuses Begone!” was released in May of this year.
To think he grew up in an orphanage and foster homes blows my mind, but he was able to overcome obstacles we only read about. He has found some secrets to life which deserve more attention.
He's the author of over 30 books, has created many audio programs and videos, and has appeared on thousands of television and radio shows.
His books Manifest Your Destiny, Wisdom of the Ages, There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, and the New York Times bestsellers 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, The Power of Intention, Inspiration, Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life, and now Excuses Begone! have all been featured as National Public Television specials.
Dyer holds a Doctorate in Educational Counseling from Wayne State University and was an associate professor at St. John's University in New York.
When he's not traveling the globe delivering his uplifting message, Wayne is writing from his home in Maui. I think I could write from Maui, but I prefer Mount Olive Road.
I couldn’t help but read some of the excerpts in his book which is made available to anyone choosing to download some of the points he makes in his new book. Here are a few.
1. Excuses Begone! is encouraging you to challenge patterns and feel inspired by a newfound awareness of the life hidden beneath your excuses. Invite yourself to move out of established thought patterns, and realize that there is nothing standing in your way of living at your highest levels.
2. You have an unquestionable ability to eliminate excuses—they’ll get up and go when they’re revealed as the false beliefs that they are. There’s simply no question about this!
3. You elevate your life by taking responsibility for who you are and what you’re choosing to become. You can transcend the ordinary, mundane, and average with thoughts of greater joy and meaning; you can decide to elevate your life, rather than have it stagnate or deteriorate with excuses. Go beyond where you presently are.
4. You can bring your desires to consciousness by disconnecting the power from your subconscious so that it can’t continue to run your life. Your subconscious (habitual) mind is accessible, so unearth the excuses buried deep within you. Become conscious!
“It’s a rare day when I don’t hear some variation of this excuse, including: “I didn’t go to college because it was too expensive,” he writes. “I haven’t been able to travel because I never had the funds,” and “I couldn’t go into the business I wanted because I had to stay where I was and earn money to pay the bills.”
“I call this belief lame and a cop-out, yet there seems to be almost universal agreement for its existence. You originated in a world of abundance, which you unquestionably have the ability to access.
“Whenever you discourage yourself with thoughts that your financial situation is preventing anything from appearing, that’s an excuse. If you instead decide to bring abundance awareness into your consciousness, you’ll shift your thoughts from I can’t afford it to ‘Whatever I need in the form of assistance to guide me in the direction of my life is not only available, but is on its way.’
“You’ll then consciously watch for the necessary funding to show up, but you’ll also be reminding yourself to believe that you have the ability to use abundance to elevate your life.
“Encourage yourself by realizing that you have the capacity to create a space within you that’s filled with peace and joy, an inner island of contentment that has nothing to do with money.”
The self-help age, while nothing new, is something to give a lot of attention to these days. Tried and true beliefs about ourselves and our limitations are excuses, as Dyer points out.
If we practice gratitude for the essentials of life we are giving ourselves a joy free of charge.
Dyer writes: “Oscar Wilde made this wry observation in 1891: “There is only one class in the community that thinks more about money than the rich, and that is the poor. The poor can think of nothing else.”
“I’d add that such thinking includes lamenting the fact that they’ll never have money. I advise tossing out this meme, and instead rewiring thoughts to connect with what’s intended to manifest, regardless of your current financial status.
“Whatever you feel is your dharma, and no matter how hard that calling seems to be pulling you, if you maintain the belief that you can’t manage to pull it off, I can assure you that you’re right. To paraphrase Henry Ford, whether you believe you can afford to do a thing or not, you’re right.”
Thanks, Dr. Dyer for helping us remember.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Education Association and Alabama Education Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos. www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter,net. All conversations are confidential.

Wouldn’t it be nice to live in Mayberry USA again?

2009-05-31T03:43:00.000-07:00

I don’t know about you, but when I am shopping (which is rare) I usually migrate to an employee who has a smile on his/her face.
Ever done that?
Wouldn’t you rather ask the direction to a certain item you are looking for if the employee has a smile on their face?
Or, when you are at the checkout counter, wouldn’t you rather see the checkout person smiling? After all, they are about to take your hard-earned dollar.
When I walk through a store to my destination and meet other shoppers, I look to faces with a smile and those who make direct eye contact.
I often wish that people showed more direct eye contact, salute in some way as to offer their spirit back to your spirit. In Hindu lingo a person who says or signs off with the word namaste is saying, “I bow to the divine in you,” or “I respect that divinity in you that is also within me.” In yoga, a person may leave you by using the word namaste. What they are saying is, “The light within me acknowledges the light within you.”
We often feel that we don’t have the time or energy to extend ourselves to others with the small gestures that compose what we call common courtesy.
It sometimes seems that this kind of social awareness belongs to the past, to smaller towns and slower times. I guess that is why I like Mayberry USA so much.
Yet, when someone extends this kind of courtesy to us, we always feel touched. Like someone who lends a helping hand when you are struggling with decisions at the grocery store on what it was your wife sent you there for in the first place. Some people extend a helping hand if you ask them their advice. It makes an impression because many people just walk right by. If you ask them for advice about a certain product and find a grimace on their face, you know you didn’t ask the right person.
Even someone who simply makes the effort to look us in the eye, smiles, and greets us properly when entering a room stands out of the crowd. It seems these people carry with them the elegance and grace of another time, and we are always thankful for our contact with them.
Common courtesy is a small gesture that makes a big difference.
An essential component of common courtesy is awareness and common sense-looking outside yourself to see when someone needs help or acknowledgment.
As a courteous person, you are aware that you are walking into a room full of people or that your waiter has arrived to take your order. Then, awareness leads to action.
It is usually quite clear what needs to be done-open the door for the woman holding the baby, move your car up two feet so another person can park behind you, acknowledge your friend’s shy boyfriend with a smile and some conversation, apologize if you bump into someone.
A third component is to give courtesy freely, without expecting anything in return. People may not even take notice, much less return the kindness, but you can take heart in the fact that you are creating the kind of world you want to live in with your actions.
When you are out in the world, remember to be aware of others, lend your hand when one is needed, and give this help without an ulterior motive.
The face is a complex palette of emotions. A slight turning up of the lips and a crinkling of the eyes can signal pleasure, contentment, happiness, or satisfaction. But in all cases, a smile is more than it seems.
A smiling person is often judged as more attractive, pleasant to be around, sincere, honest, sociable, and inviting and is considered more confident and successful.
Smiling is not a learned action. Even those born blind will smile when experiencing a joyful moment. A carefree smile is a quick and easy way to tell the world that you are open to new experiences and eager to meet new people.
It is assumed that a bright smile stems from happiness, but research has also shown that genuine happiness can stem from a smile.
Even a smile called forth when you don't necessarily feel like smiling can trigger the release of endorphins, brightening your day.
The simple act of smiling can help relieve stress by relaxing your facial muscles and encouraging you to focus on happy memories. And a forced smile, which only involves the muscles of the mouth, can easily turn into a true smile, which lights up the entire face. A smile motivated by real happiness is likely to inspire someone nearby to smile, possibly because of the expression's origins in the primate grin. That grin, which some scientists believe evolved into the smile, signaled that the one grinning was a friend rather than an opponent.
In ancient China, Taoists taught the benefits of the inner smile because they believed it insured happiness, health, and longevity.
One smile can lessen the sting of a negative mood and bring on a better one. But don't be self-conscious about it.
Smiling is universal and looks great on everyone. A smile, directed inward, outward, or at nothing in particular brightens the world and is a gift to those who see it.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Education Association and Alabama Education Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos. www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter,net. All conversations are confidential.

The Cry of the Cuckoos Review by Jill Hannah

2009-05-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed Mr. Cargile's story "Cry of the Cuckoos." There were many threads through out the story that many people can recognize; the interrelationship of family, love, the aging process, friendship and death. Mr. Cargile has a gift with conversation that is very realistic and supports and builds to the story line. While much of the story was very realistic, there was a bit of soap opera quality about Donald meeting his natural mother, only to have her die a few days later. I have recently moved to the Tuscaloosa area and found some good parallels to the history and culture of the area in this book. I read Mr. Cargile's column in the Northort Gazette and look forward to more books from this author.

The best education is not in the halls of a university

2009-05-25T01:44:00.000-07:00

We put a lot of value on education, especially in the United States.
I know when I graduated high school it was almost a given that I go to college. A lot of my high school classmates did not go to an advanced school of knowledge, either getting married, taking jobs or just bumming around for awhile.
We kid one another at class reunions that most of the people we graduated with were in prison, but that was not the case. Well, at least, not in one instance.
A fellow classmate burned our high school down to the ground my junior year and we were without our beloved school. We were bussed to a high school in Birmingham for a year-and-a-half while the school was rebuilt. Ours was the first graduating class in the new school auditorium.
We helped build the school back for those coming after us by going out and collecting money from people in other communities. It was a lesson for life for most of us.
I wouldn’t trade places with anyone, however, for the education received at the institutions I attended. Only later in life did I feel a need for more education. This time it was on my terms and in a field which was self-serving at the same time.
What I learned from alternative schooling was about life, God, wisdom, compassion, love, death, birth, etc. The fact that titles came with this type of learning is insignificant to me. It was the process of learning something more valuable than a university degree in journalism, business, social services or the medical field. It was more of an education in Earth Learning.
Life is the process of learning, and the wisdom we acquire throughout our lives is the reward of existence.
As we journey the winding roads that lead from birth to death, experience is our patient teacher. We exist, bound to human bodies as we are, to evolve, enrolled by the universe in Earth School, an informal and individualized academy of living, being, and changing. Life’s lessons can take many forms and present us with many challenges.
There are scores of mundane lessons that help us learn to navigate with grace, poise, and tolerance in this world. And there are those once-in-a-lifetime lessons that touch us so deeply that they change the course of our lives. The latter can be heartrending, and we may wander through life as unwilling students for a time. But the quality of our lives is based almost entirely on what we derive from our experiences.
Earth School provides us with an education of the heart and the soul, as well as the intellect. The scope of our instruction is dependent on our ability and readiness to accept the lesson laid out before us in the circumstances we face.
When we find ourselves blindsided by life, we are free to choose to close our minds or to view the inbuilt lesson in a narrow-minded way.
The notion that existence is a never-ending lesson can be dismaying at times. The courses we undertake in Earth School can be painful as well as pleasurable, and as taxing as they are eventually rewarding. However, in every situation, relationship, or encounter, a range of lessons can be unearthed.
When we choose to consciously take advantage of each of the lessons we are confronted with, we gradually discover that our previous ideas about love, compassion, resilience, grief, fear, trust, and generosity could have been half-formed.
Ultimately, when we acknowledge that growth is an integral part of life and that attending Earth School is the responsibility of every individual, the concept of "life as lesson" no longer chafes. We can openly and joyfully look for the blessing buried in the difficulties we face without feeling that we are trapped in a roller-coaster ride of forced learning. Though we cannot always know when we are experiencing a life lesson, the wisdom we accrue will bless us with the keenest hindsight.
We are all almost always in the process of learning something new, developing an underused ability or talent, or toning down an overused one. Some of us are involved in learning how to speak up for ourselves, while others are learning how to be more considerate. In the process of becoming, we are always developing and fine tuning one or the other of our many qualities, and it is a natural part of this process that things tend to get out of balance. This may be upsetting to us, or the people around us, but we can trust that it’s a normal part of the work of self-development.
For example, we may go through a phase of needing to learn how to say no, as part of learning to set boundaries and take care of ourselves. During this time, we might say no to just about everything, as a way of practicing and exploring this ability.
Like a child who learns a new word, we want to try out this new avenue of expression and empowerment as much as we can because it is new and exciting for us and we want to explore it fully. In this way, we are mastering a new skill, and eventually, as we integrate it into our overall identity, it will resume its position as one part of our balanced life.
In this process, we are overcompensating for a quality that was suppressed in our life, and the swinging of the pendulum from under-use to overuse serves to bring that quality into balance.
Understanding what’s happening is a useful tool that helps us to be patient with the process. In the end, the pendulum settles comfortably in the center, restoring balance inside and out.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Education Association and Alabama Education Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos. www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter,net. All conversations are confidential.

A reader comment about The Cry of the Cuckoos

2009-05-18T01:51:00.000-07:00

Jill D. Hannah said: May 17th, 2009 7:05 pm
I finished the book yesterday and would love to get some extra background. How much of the book and the societies are real? Obviously the places are and the more famous personalities. Your characters were very believeable and the plot was riveting. There were alot of twists and turns that kept the reader guessing all the way through. Great first novel, I'll be interested in reading more of your work.

The positive and negative side of control

2009-05-17T03:58:00.000-07:00

We all know what it’s like to want to be in control. Everyone knows a control freak. Maybe you are one.
In some ways, exerting control is an important survival skill. For example, we have every right to be in control of our own bodies and our own lives. Taking control in these cases is empowering and necessary.
Controlling behavior in the negative sense comes from a tendency to reach beyond our own boundaries and into the lives of others. Many people do this with the rationalization that they are helping. This can happen with parents who are still trying to force their grown children into behaving in ways that they find acceptable.
Our son left home, got married, divorced and now lives back home with us. As parents we expect him to behave in ways we find acceptable.
But trying to control a grown man almost 24 is about like a plumber trying to fix an electrical problem. It just doesn’t work because he has his own set rules of behavior and the generation gap is too great.
He’s a hard worker and we hope he saves money so he can move out on his own again and be able to get on with the life processes. He hasn’t saved a dime that we know of, unless he has some stash kept that we don’t know about.
Control. Yuk…It’s impossible.
It can also happen when people try to control their partners’ behavior. If you have control issues, you will see that in one or more areas of your life, you feel the need to interfere with what is happening rather than just allowing events to unfold.
I sent my wife out on a spending expedition. Our 18-year-old TV blew up. I knew she would find the exact TV for us. She came home with one of the most expensive TV’s on the market.
Next, we had to have a stand. She went back out again and bought the most ornate and expensive stand. “It matches our den furniture.” And, I agreed. So now we have a great looking 52-inch plasma with high definition and a stand to match the décor of our den.
But, I want in on the decorating, I told myself.
I found this unique “Gone With the Wind,” white cuckoo clock, a collector’s item online. I showed her a picture of it and she stomped off and told me that wasn’t what she had in mind. It didn’t match our furniture. The clock has a picture of Scarlett on the lawn with Tara in the background and a figurine of Rhett carrying Scarlett up the stairs at Tara.
I told her it was a collector’s item, but that was no consolation.
“It’s white and matches your curio of white angels’ caricatures,” I reminded her. “I’ve already picked out the clock,” she scorned. It was too bad because I had already purchased it.
Who’s in control here!
I guess I should have let the events unfold, but I interfered. I guess I should leave decorating to someone more knowledgeable.
But, the cuckoo clock came while she was out of town visiting our daughter, and I assembled it and placed it on the wall between our fabulous TV and ornate stand and her white angel curio in the corner. Can’t wait for her to see it when she returns. Or, maybe I should just return it, huh? I happen to like it.
Almost everyone has at least one situation or relationship in which they try to exert control. This often happens because someone’s behavior makes us uncomfortable. We may feel it makes us look bad, or it embarrasses us.
Controlling behavior generally goes hand in hand with an unwillingness to be direct about what you want, as well as an inability to let go and let people live their own lives. If you are the one that is controlling, it’s probably because you literally feel as if you are out of control and it scares you.
Try to pick one thing you could just let unfold without any control on your part. Examine how it made you feel both before and after, and examine why you wanted to control the situation.
It is hard sometimes to allow others to be who they are, especially if we feel we know what’s best for them and we see them making choices we wouldn’t make.
For instance, we had a student on our special needs school bus bring a can of hair spray with him to school. I noticed it when he pulled it from his jacket pocket. I wondered what he was doing with it; knowing he could be in trouble.
Not only did he bring the can of hair spray on the bus but a cigarette lighter to boot. We all know that the stuff hair spray is made of doesn’t mix with fire, and when he lit the cigarette lighter and I saw it, I immediately stopped the bus. After all, I am in control of what goes on inside the bus.
Needless to say, the boy got into big time trouble when he got to school as administrators began questioning him about his intentions. He was suspended. That type of control comes with the territory when we see bad choices taking place.
However, if we are to be respectful and truly loving, we have to let people go, trusting that they will find their own way in their own time and understanding that it is their life to live.
But, when a dangerous situation exists where other people can be hurt, injured or killed, that’s when you need to exert control.
There is positive control and negative control.
Just reminding yourself that the only life you have to live is your own is the first step to letting go.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Educational Association and Alabama Educational Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter.net. All conversations are confidential.

An Interview By Karina Fabian

2009-05-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

Interview with Author

1) Why did I write the book? My late mother, whom the book is dedicated to, and I were working on a historical fiction novel involving her and my father. She gave up custody of me when I was 1 1/2 years old. My father raised me. I saw her only in the summers. After she died, I felt compelled to write a mystery novel. The similarities in my novel somewhat characterize part of the book's mystery. It was not meant to be a mystery until after she died.

2) What was my favorite part? The main character in the book finally unites with his mother for the first time. She is a suspect in his father's murder. This is 61 years later when they meet one another. The first eye-to-eye meeting between the two was awesome.

3) What was the hardest part to write? My father was nothing like the one in the book. He was the exact opposite. It was actually hard because it felt like I was writing about my father and lying about him. I could go into that a little deeper in an lengthy interview, but you would have to read the book first.
4) What do you hope people will get from this? The theme of the book is deceit and foregiveness. No matter what someone else has done to you, you have to be able to forgive, turn the other cheek.

5) What is next for me? I am writing a sequel. The main character is wealthy, getting over a brain stroke. He becomes a New Age writer. The main character will follow his son and new daughter-in-law as they journey into a flawed relationship. His daughter-in-law is actually a half-cousin and the couple have a retarded son. It puts pressure on their marriage, but father is there, and Father Knows Best.

We must be more conscious of the language we use

2009-05-10T04:40:00.000-07:00

There are many troubling phrases in our language that we use without considering their full meaning simply because they have been accepted into common knowledge.
Just the other day a young boy who rides our special needs school bus with some “mentally challenged” students aboard used the word “retard” when talking with another student. I quickly admonished him from using the word “retard.” It no longer is a word parents, teachers and kids want to hear these days.
Although Forrest Gump, the character created by Alabama author, Winston Groom, was never called a “retard” on the school bus or when he grew older, people could not bring themselves to call him “mentally challenged.” Most people, including Sergeant Dan thought of Forrest as a “retard.”
Even as our ideals progress, our language maintains some phrases from our past that no longer serve us, for example: Boys don't cry; good child; boys will be boys; problem child; illegitimate child; and many more. While these phrases may be used without harmful intent, they are inherently negative.
Children can be especially sensitive to such phrases, which may stay with them their whole lives, adversely affecting their self-image and wounding their self-esteem. We can create positive change by choosing not to use these words and phrases as we come across them in our vocabulary.
It is challenging to examine our habits in terms of the words we use to express ourselves, but it is also exciting.
Language is an area where we can exercise our free will, creating positive change in the world around us by simply choosing carefully the words we use. It may seem like a small thing, but our words have a rippling effect, like a stone thrown in a pond.
People naturally pick up on the way other people speak, consciously or unconsciously changing the way they speak in response.
We don't need to actively try to influence people; it happens without our even thinking about it. All we have to do is choose to be more conscious ourselves, putting to rest words and phrases that are outmoded, insensitive, or harmful. We can also exercise our creativity by creating new phrases that carry positive and loving energy to replace the old ones.
You may already have some ideas about phrases you'd like to transition out of your language, and now that you're thinking about it you may come across many more. As you consciously decide not to use these phrases, you may feel lighter and more joyful, knowing that you have chosen to drop baggage that was handed down to you from a less conscious time. As you do so, you elevate the language for future generations who would no doubt thank you if they could.
Words carry energy and this gives language its power and its potential to heal or hurt. Most of us can remember a time that someone sent a word our way, and it stuck with us. It may have been the first time we received a truly accurate compliment, or the time a friend or sibling called us a name, but either way it stuck. This experience reminds us that what we say has weight and power and that being conscious means being aware of how we use words.
The more conscious we become, the more we deepen our relationship to the words we use so that we speak from a place of actually feeling what we are saying. We begin to recognize that words are not abstract, disconnected entities used only to convey meaning; they are powerful transmitters of feeling.
For the next few days, you might want to practice noticing how the words you say and hear affect your body and your emotional state. Notice how the different communication styles of the people in your life make you feel. Also, watch closely to see how your own words come out and what affect they have on the people around you.
You may notice that when we speak quickly, without thinking, or rush to get our ideas across, our words don't carry the same power as when we speak slowly and confidently, allowing those receiving our words time and space to take them in.
When we carefully listen to others before we speak, our words have more integrity, and when we take time to center ourselves before speaking, we truly begin to harness the power of speech. Then our words can be intelligent messengers of healing and light, transmitting deep and positive feelings to those who receive them.
The word failure puts forward a very simplistic way of thinking that allows for only two possibilities: failure or success. Few things in the universe are black and white, yet much of our language reads as if they are.
The word failure signifies a paradigm in which all subtlety is lost. When we regard something we have done, or ourselves, as a failure, we lose our ability to see the truth, which is no doubt considerably more complex. In addition, we hurt ourselves. All you have to do is speak or read the word failure and see how it makes you feel.
Next time you feel like a failure or fear failure, know that you are under the influence of an outmoded way of perceiving the world. When the word failure comes up, it's a call for us to apply a more enlightened consciousness to the matter at hand.
When you are consciously aware of the word and its baggage you will not fall victim to its darkness. In your own use of language, you may choose to stop using the word failure altogether. This might encourage you to articulate more clearly the truth of the situation, opening your mind to subtleties and possibilities the word failure would never have allowed.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Educational Association and Alabama Educational Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter.net. All conversations are confidential.

An Inerview with Chris Redding

2009-05-08T02:03:00.000-07:00

1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
When I enrolled at Kilgore College in 1963, I was asked what I would like to major in. I didn’t have a clue. I decided at that point I wanted to study journalism. The school had a good journalism department. While attending Kilgore, which is one of the settings in my book, The Cry of the Cuckoos, I free lanced with the Longview Morning Journal. When I saw my first byline, I was hooked and I’ve never looked back. After 40 years as a newspaper writer/editor, magazine writer/editor and book producer it’s been a rewarding career. When I was but 10 years-old, however, I wrote a short story about a dog named “Rinny.” I wish I still had the little notebook that I wrote it in.

2. How did you pick the genre you write in? The mystery genre actually picked me. I started with an historical romance novel titled, “Decoration Day.” The setting was World War Two, and the main characters were a soldier and female civilian who met in west Texas. It was based on my father and mother actually. When my mother died in 2007, the book took on a life of its own. I decided to scrap the historical romance novel for the time being and concentrate on a commercial novel which I thought would appeal to a wider audience. Some of the material gathered from “Decoration Day” seeped into “The Cry of the Cuckoos.”
3. What drew you to the subject of (The Cry of the Cuckoos)? I was toying around with titles, and I ran across a YouTube video that had the sound of the cuckoo bird in someone’s yard. I researched the cuckoo bird and found that it likes to fool other species in its race to imitate their chirping cry. The cuckoo bird is deceptive in the fact that it will fly into another nest and fool the rests that it is one of them. The Society of Southron Patriots, a radical right wing supremacist organization, became my platform in this mystery novel. The society was like the cuckoo bird in its deception. It is more than a whodunit story, but a story about a son separated from his biological mother for more than 61 years. The cuckoos in this book are more than just The Society of Southron Patriots and, beneath it all reveals the flawed personalities in our culture. The themes in the novel are deception and forgiveness. I hope I am not giving too much away (ha)!

4. What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Did you try to publish it?
Surprisingly, I wrote a novel when I was in my early 20’s. The title was, “Years the Cuckoo Claimed.” It had the same leading character – Henry Drummond. I had read “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest,” by Ken Kesey and “Siddhartha,” by Herman Hesse. I was really influenced by Hesse at the time. I was attending Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama majoring in religion and philosophy, and Hesse caught my attention in his writings. I think I did send out several query letters, but each was rejected. So, I gave up on it. I may resurrect it later.

5. Why did you pick the publisher that ultimately published your book? I had a literary agent at the time, and she suggested I look into a new company called AEG Publishing Group. They had several plans and I submitted my manuscript. They also have a group Eloquent Books, which is a Print On Demand publisher. After reading over the contract, I decided this was the best plan for me. I wanted to be in control of my own destiny instead of being controlled by big interest from a traditional publisher. It’s not exactly self-publishing, because you share 50-50 in the royalties and the printing. It’s a tough road, but in my book experience as a book producer and a sales manager with Bantam Books at one time, I felt I made the right decision. I don’t regret the decision at all. I checked with other writers using their service and they were happy with their decisions, too.
6. Describe your book
I think I will let Richard Blake of Reader Views describe my book. I think he analyzed it better than most:
"The Cry of the Cuckoos" is the story of a son separated from his biological mother for over sixty years. They were reunited for the first time after she becomes a suspect in the murder of his father. Donald Drummond, the main character, is a retired news reporter. Award-winning writer John Wayne Cargile incorporates similarities from his own life in this novel of romance, murder, and intrigue. Henry Drummond, Donald's father, was the leader of a rightwing supremacist group called the Society of Southron Patriots, whose goal was deception. It was also rumored that he had Mafia connections. After Henry's death, by arsenic poisoning, a terrorist plot aimed at killing Washington diplomats by poisoning the food at the concessions of the Super Bowl was uncovered. United Nations delegates were a target of this conspiracy. Donald and his wife Anne were recruited by the FBI to work undercover as informants to help untangle the web of deception surrounding his father's death. A fast-moving, complex plot took the couple from Alabama to Texas where they encountered another murder with surprise twists and turns along the way. Cargile carefully puts in place background details which provide interesting technical and medical information. His training in religion, psychology, and philosophy, as well as his strong interest in integral psychology and spirituality, are apparent throughout John's writing. "The Cry of the Cuckoos" becomes a platform for him to help people integrate their mind, body and Spirit into a Holistic lifestyle. Cargile's character development reflects his understanding of flawed personalities. His narrative provides a related analysis of their symptoms, motivations, and resulting actions. The strength of character of the genuine religious or spiritual person is contrasted with the lip service and lifestyle of deception in those motivated by selfishness and greed. These characters become colorful composites, expressions of idealism, reality, and deception. I was quickly drawn into the story of "The Cry of the Cuckoos" and the theme of deceit and forgiveness. Cargile's writing style is crisp, direct, and engaging. While I found this directness appealing, it may be seen as too simplistic for others. Transitions of locale or time-frame and the pacing of conflict and resolution confronted by the protagonists were well-paced, maintaining the suspense element of the story. I felt the story ended quite quickly, somewhat abruptly; however, an "afterward" wrapped up all the loose ends and gave closure to unanswered questions. The final chapters create the possibility of a sequel. "The Cry of the Cuckoos" by John Wayne Cargile will appeal to readers who enjoy mystery, intrigue, and romance. Cargile's writing is thoroughly entertaining and highly informative.
Tell me one thing about yourself that very few people know? I think I was a writer in a previous life, and I was sent here to complete what the previous writer did not finish. His name was Thomas Carlyle and he was a Scottish philosopher and writer. I was reading some of his works one night and something flew all over me about his writing. It felt to me these were words I had been flirting with for some time was my own. He was a satirical writer, historian and essayist raised by Calvinist parents during the Victorian era. He was expected to become a preacher, but while at he University of Edinburgh he lost his Christian faith. Calvinist values, however, remained with him the rest of his life.
What do you consider your strengths in terms of your writing?
Dialogue. Being a news reporter and magazine writer for years I loved to write people stories. When interviewing a person for an article I was able to ask the right questions, kind of get into their head, and was able to pull things from them no other person might know. When they began to tell their story, the dialogue flowed and essentially the story was written by me, but told by them using dialogue. You’ll see a lot of dialogue in The Cry of the Cuckoos. The characters are writing the book through dialogue.
What place that you haven’t visited would you like to go? Perth, Scotland. The sequel to my book is tentatively titled, “Mary, Mary Quite Contrary.” This is after the famous British nursery rhyme. Research shows that the innocent little nursery rhyme is not quite what people think it was. The Mary in the nursery rhyme was Mary Tudor. Her husband, one of the British Kings, wrote the little verse after she could not give him children. It actually has been interpreted by some people as a little racy. The character in my sequel appeared near the end of The Cry of the Cuckoos. Her name is Mary Kate O’Quinn. The beginning of the sequel has Mary Kate visiting Scotland with her new husband. They are on their honeymoon. You’ll also notice on most of my websites the Scottish plaid. I am actually wearing a kilt no one can see. Our family roots trace back to Perth, Scotland, and there is a little parish called Cargill in near Perth.
What is your favorite words?
Amazing Grace. When you hear this song played with bagpipes you get a sensation that is indescribable. It’s an old gospel hymn, something I grew up with. In Church, when the choir sang Amazing Grace, it gave me goose bumps. We are truly here by the Amazing Grace of God’s creation.

2009-05-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

A wild, wild week and a feeling for some downtime

2009-05-03T03:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a wild week for me.
A long-time high school friend with whom I lost contact with became a bit irritated with me for emailing her information about my new novel. She berated me and questioned my authenticity on Facebook.
Once I straightened her out on my background, which she held no clue; she apologized and now we are friends again. It was upsetting to see a friend attack me like she did.
I guess that goes with the territory when you, at last, accomplish something you never dreamed about.
For me, that was writing a novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos, a daunting task, and even more so now the book is published and the marketing and PR work begins. The Northport Gazette will be hosting a book signing Thursday night at Art Night from 6 p.m. – till. I hope you will drop by and see me as well as other accomplished writers, musicians and artist.
It got me to thinking about accomplishing goals.
The elation we feel when we have learned an important lesson, achieved a goal, or had a big breakthrough can sometimes be met with a period of downtime afterward.
During this period of transition, we may feel unsure and not know where to turn next. Many people, during the pause between achievements, begin to wonder what their life is about. These feelings are common and strike everyone from time to time.
Human beings are active creatures - we feel best when we are working on a project or vigorously pursuing a goal. But there is nothing inherently wrong with spending a day, a week, or even a month simply existing and not having a plan. Just be. It won’t be long before you embark upon your next voyage of growth and discovery.
The quiet lull into we which we fall between ideas, projects, and goals can make life seem empty. After accomplishing one objective, you may want to move immediately on to the next. However, when your next step is unclear, you may feel frustrated, disconnected, or even a mild depression.
You may even perceive your lack of forward momentum as an indicator of imminent stagnation. To calm these distressing thoughts, try to accept that if your intent is personal growth. You will continue to grow as an individual whether striving for a specific objective or not.
Spending time immersed in life’s rigors and pleasures can be a cathartic experience that gives you the time you need to think about what you have recently gone through and leisurely contemplate what you wish to do next. You may also find that in simply being and going through the motions of everyday life, you reconnect with your priorities in a very organic, unforced way.
The mindful transitional pause can take many forms. For some, it can be a period of reflection that helps them understand how their life has unfolded. For others, it can be a period of adjustment, where new values based on recent changes are integrated into daily life.
Just because you’re not headed swiftly to a final destination doesn’t mean you should assume that you have lost your drive. The stage between journeys can become a wonderful period of relaxation that prepares you for the path that will soon be revealed to you.
Our perception of the traits and characteristics that make us who we are is often tightly intertwined with how we live our life.
We define ourselves in terms of the roles we adopt, our actions and inactions, our triumphs, and what we think are failures. As a result it is easy to identify so strongly with a decision that has resulted in unexpected negative consequences that we actually become that "wrong" decision. The disappointment and shame we feel when we make what we perceive as a mistake grows until it becomes a dominant part of our identities.
We rationalize our "poor" decisions by labeling ourselves incompetent decision-makers. However, your true identity cannot be defined by your choices. Your essence-what makes you a unique entity-exists independently of your decision-making process.
There are no true right or wrong decisions. All decisions contribute to your development and are an integral part of your evolving existence yet they are still separate from the self. A decision that does not result in its intended outcome is in no way an illustration of character.
Still, it can have dire effects on our ability to trust ourselves and our self-esteem. You can avoid becoming your decisions by affirming that a "bad decision" was just an experience, and next time you can choose differently. Try to avoid lingering in the past and mulling over the circumstances that led to your perceived error in judgment.
Instead, adapt to the new circumstances you must face by considering how you can use your intelligence, inner strength, and intuition to aid you in moving forward more mindfully. Try not to entirely avoid thinking about the choices you have made, but reflect on the consequences of your decision from a rational rather than an emotional standpoint. Strive to understand why you made the choice you did, forgive yourself, and then move forward.
A perceived mistake becomes a valuable learning experience and is, in essence, a gift to learn and grow from. You are not a bad person and you are not your decisions; you are simply human.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Educational Association and Alabama Educational Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter.net. All conversations are confidential.

An Interview With Geri Ahearn

2009-05-02T04:49:00.000-07:00

INTERVIEW

Geri: When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer?

John: When I was about ten years old, I wrote a story about Rinny,
based on the Rin Tin Tin German Sheperd dog that was
popular in the 1950's.

Geri: What type of books do you enjoy writing?

John: Fiction, and non-fiction!

Geri: Did a special person in your life inspire you to write?

John: Not really! No one in our family were writers. The city editor of The
Birmingham News offered a Creative Writing Class, while I attended
Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. After I had written a
couple of stories for him, he invited me to work for the newspaper.

Geri: Have you written any books based on a true life story?

John: The Cry Of The Cuckoos, my current novel, comes as close as it can
to drawing out similarities between the main character, and myself.

Geri: Who is your favorite author?

John: Sydney Sheldon

Geri: Are your characters created from people you've known in real life, or
are they from the imagination?

John: Both! I took some family characters, and exploded them into colorful
composites with a lot of flawed characteristics that they didn't actually
have. I had some family members in mind as I built the characters.
When they read excerpts of the book, each of them said, "Is That Me?"
I left them guessing!

Geri: How many books have you written?

John: One, and one eBook, From Mount Olive Road, a collection of my
newspaper columns over the past three years.

Geri: Where can your books be purchased?

John: www.thecryofthecuckoos.com

www.amazon.com

www.barnesandnoble.com

www.booksamillion.com

And Available soon on: Authors Edge

Geri: Describe how you felt the first time you were published?

John: My first newspaper story was published when I was eighteen years
old. I was estatic when I saw my byline on the story. I still get a
buzz when I write a good article for newspapers and magazines,
and see my name as the author. Seeing my book for the first time in
print will be the ultimate for me as this is what I set out to do when
I retired, write novels.

Geri: Do you have any current work in progress?

John: The Cry Of The Cuckoos!

Geri: Do you have goals set for the future?

John: Lots of them! I plan on a sequel to The Cry Of The Cuckoos,
and a script!

Geri: At this point and time in your life, are you exactly where you want
to be?

John: I am exactly where I wanted to be at this juncture in my life. I am
sixty-four years old. When I was young, I dreamed of writing for
newspapers for ten years, magazine writing and editing for ten
years, and publishing for ten years. I owned a printing company,
and produced magazines in the 1980's, now comes the sunset years,
novel writing!

Geri: What can help authors to reach their dream?

John: Never give up! Practice, practice, practice! Don't let critics get in
in your way! Polish your writing, read other works that capture
your imagination. Become your own authentic self as a writer.

Geri: Have you ever experienced writer's block?

John: Oh yes! When it comes, I sit in meditation! I ask the universe to be
my guide. I hold two Doctorates in philosophy and religion, and I
am ironically something between a practicing Christian, and Buddhist.
Prayer and meditation offer me insight when I get writer's block.

Geri: What advice can you give to prevent writer's block?

John: De-clutter the brain! I just recently wrote an article about Taming
The Monkey Mind to De-clutter the brain. We have to free our minds
of all the clutter that goes on inside our brains when we are trying to
be creative, at peace with ourselves.

Geri: As a child, did you have favorite books?

John: I can't remember reading that much as a child. Nothing sticks out
in my mind.

Geri: As a child, did you enjoy reading?

John: No!

Geri: If you had the opportunity to one day live the life of a famous author,
who would it be?

John: I like to think I am my own authentic self, so I don't want to be like
any other writer. I just want to be me. I'm not tied up in knots about
being famous. If someone likes what I write, and it becomes a
best-seller, then that's great! But, I do not set my goals on being
famous.

Geri: Many authors feel a sense of self-satisfaction, a sense of achievement
after publishing a book, can you relate?

John: Yes! If it is not truly vanity! Self-satisfaction is seeing a project through
until the end of the day when you can say to yourself, "Well done!"

Geri: How do you balance occupation with writing?

John: I am mostly retired now, but what keeps me in the community is
driving special needs kids to school each day. Each kid is something
special, even though they have various challenges. I get to spend about
three hours a day with them, and I continously learn from them.
In my sequel to The Cry Of The Cuckoos, there will be a special needs
kid in the book.

Geri: How did you feel at your first book-sgning?

John: I am waiting on my first complementary copy, and copyright copy.

Geri: If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would change?

John: It would allow me to continue to write, without any outside financial
pressures.

Geri: As writers, we begin with a manuscript, and end with promotions.
What was your most difficult task?

John: For some authors, writing is the only thing they know, they leave
marketing up to other people. But I like to market and sell as much
as I like to write. I guess that's because I'm a salesman. I worked at
Bantam Books as regional sales manager in the early 1980's.

Geri: Some writer's need to listen to music, or look at flowers, or the ocean
when writing. Do you have a particular scenery?

John: I listen to new age music when I write. It's soft, and some of it includes
sounds of the ocean, or waterfalls. It's soothing, and I can listen for
hours. It provides tranquility of mind, and goes back to the question
about writer's block, and meditation. My office looks out into the wooded
area on my ten acres of land. We live in a log house. I can sit and watch
the critters of the earth for hours as they scamper around the woods,
Deer especially! I have a redbird and bluebird that perch on a limb nearby
everyday. They fly to my windowsill as if they are wondering what the heck
I am doing watching them. I recently wrote an article about The Redbird
In My Window Sill-A Spirit Guide!

Geri: If you were to publish a book in a different genre, what would it be?

John: I'm unsure! I didn't intend on The Cry Of The Cuckoos to become a
mystery. It just evolved into it. It started out as a historical romance
of a man and a woman during World War Two, and the romance between
the two. But things changed as I continue to write it, and I wanted to be
up tempo, and contemporary. So voila! That's what I got!

Geri: Thank you kindly for your time. Your interview was quite interesting!

John: Your welcome!

An Interview With Barbara Ehrentreu

2009-04-26T04:44:00.000-07:00

If it's Thursday it must be Guest Author day. Our guest today is the award winning journalist John Wayne Cargile whose new novel The Cry of the Cuckoos is generating a great deal of discussion and excellent reviews.:)

Here is a bit about the life of this unusual author:

He holds two doctoral degrees in religion and philosophy. He is a retired journalist, and his new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos, is available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobel, Books A Million. Publisher: Eloquent Books, New York. He writes weekly columns for two newspapers in Alabama titled, "Integral Life." John Wayne Cargile is married with three adult children, and five grandchildren.

Also, he told me his father was a big John Wayne fan and he was named after him.:) Actually that was the first question I asked him when we met.:) My own husband is a big John Wayne fan too!

Here is the interview:

1. Please tell us a little bit about your book, The Cry of the Cuckoos.
The cuckoo bird is a master of deception, fooling other species in their race to copy their chirping begging call. Donald Drummond and his wife, Anne, chase after the killer of his father, Henry Drummond, but find themselves up against a radical right wing supremacist organization called the Society of Southron Patriots and, like the cuckoo bird, deception is the Society’s mission. The couple unravels a terrorist plot aimed to kill Washington dignitaries at the Super Bowl and delegates at the United Nations. Donald, a retired news reporter, and Anne, a retired school teacher, unfold the mystery leading them on a wild chase from Alabama to Texas. And one of the many murder suspects is Donald’s biological mother, Betty Jo Duke, who he only just met after his father’s death. Donald and Anne are hired as informants by the FBI to unravel the mysterious case and they get a lot more than they bargained for.

Barbara: Wow!!! I'm sorry you ran out of books. Now I'm going to have to go and buy it immediately. What a whirlwind plot.:)

2. How did you get the idea for the plot of this book?
As a former newspaper reporter and FBI clerk, I interviewed the president of a local Neo-Confederate organization many years ago. I visited with him in his home, and I attended several of his meetings. They are right wingers, but they are not terrorists. They follow an ideology much like what you saw at the "Tea Parties" recently. Our government is not the same government intended by the framers of our Constitution. It's not an Obama thing, it's big government, which Orwell described years ago of Big Brother. Donald Drummond and his wife are retired, but with his father's death, the couple is recruited by the FBI and Homeland Security to unravel the death of his father, who is actually murdered by someone. His father was the founder of the Society of Southron Patriots, and for the first few chapters the novel is basically a whodunit with everyone pointing their fingers at one another. There are actually two storylines in the novel: 1) The murder mystery, 2) an identity crisis when Donald, the main character, learns he has a real mother living in Texas, who becomes a suspect in his father's murder. She had a motive. Learning about his real mother sends him into a state of anxiety, depression and panic attacks. Once he realizes his real identity he finds himself on the verge of suicide, and the anger and resentment from his family who have deceived him all 61 years of his life become the themes of deception and forgiveness.

Barbara: You keep talking about this mother and this is another reason I need to read your book.:)

3. When you are starting a new story which do you think of first, the characters or the plot? Why?
The characters first. I frame the characters first and once I've identified their idiosyncrasies, and place the characters in dialogue, the plot begins to evolve. In my novel, Henry Drummond is dead, but through the characters he has touched throughout his life, one can get a good idea of how much one dead man leaves behind in his wake. One reviewer notes I have a good sense of flawed characters. That can be attributed to my background in psychology, philosophy and religion.

4. You mention in your bio that you were a clerk in the FBI for a year. How did this experience help when you were writing this book?
Tremendously. When I was a junior in college I went to work as an FBI clerk in Birmingham, Alabama. The FBI agent, who recruited me as a meat clerk with A&P Tea Company, was the head agent in charge of the KKK. My one year at the Bureau was spent studying KKK files. Also, at the same time Martin Luther King, Jr, had been assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Our office was thrown into the mix since James Earl Ray purchased the gun in Birmingham, Naturally, I got to read all the FBI reports about the assassination. I got a sense of how the FBI worked, and once thought about joining them once I graduated from college, but I was recruited as a newpaper reporter while taking a creative writing class taught by the City Editor of The Birmingham News. His thoughts were if I was with the FBI then I could be of help as a cub police reporter. I was more adept, however, at writing features about people. I love writing about other people. All of the awards I received were about people. Every person has a story to tell about themselves, and I like to pull it out of them.

5. Please share with our readers your experiences in trying to get your book published.
I have been a book producer, and worked a year as a regional sales manager for Bantam Books. I am 64 and I know how tough it is to break in with a traditional publisher, especially a new author. I had another book I wrote when I was in my 20's, and I received the usual rejection slips. My age had something to do with going with the publisher I am with now. I guess my mortality intuited it (ha). I simply don't have many years left to write what I need to write, so I found AEG Publishing Group through my agent. It's not for everyone, but I entered a joint venture contract with them where I share 50-50 in publishing and royalties. They have all the services of a traditional publisher, and if you choose you can use them for a price. I am only using one service from them and that is a great PR person who contracts with them. She has an awesome literary resume.

6. Did you need to do a lot of research for The Cry of the Cuckoos? What kinds of research did you do?
Oh, yes, lots of research. I had already written my book, Decoration Day, when the editor said it was too generic. I began to research the cuckoo bird. I found it to be exactly like that of the right wing supremacist group I describe in the book. Without giving too much away, there was a poison from China that the organization purchased on the black market. I had to research it. There was also research done in the medical field since my main character had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. There's qute a bit of medical information in the novel, especially as the main character ends up in a pyschiatric ward.

7. I noticed you have been a newspaper writer for forty years. What made you decide to write a fiction novel? Has your newspaper experience helped or hindered your writing of fiction?
It's been difficult. The first thing I learned was to show not tell. That has been the most difficult. But I grew up in newspaper writing within the New Journalism style, which is the way many journalists worth their mettle write today. I guess it started with Tom Wolfe of the New York Times. Someone said he started the New Journalism with his Esquire Magazine about "The Last American Hero is Junior Johnson." It was a fascinating magazine article and journalists began to copy Wolfe's style. Journalism is akin to novel writing I've learned. If you cannot capture your audience within the first three paragraphs you've lost them for good. The same goes for novel writing. You'll notice, for those who have read an excerpt, that I leave no holds barred with my opening paragraph, using a dream scene. It's an action within an action.

8. Do you have a critique group? What are your thoughts about critique groups?
I belonged to Internet Writers Workshop for a long time. Some of you may be members, but it got to be a little much. You'd post a chapter, and, if you were lucky, someone would jump in with a critique. I wondered some time whether they were just trying to reach their numbers at IWW, or they really cared about what you were writing. I finally gave up on them. I was told by a wise ol' soul, that you can have 10 editors in a room reading your material and you will come out with 13 interpretations. It's best to have one person critique it and use what you find useful and purposeful.

9. Do you have an agent? Do you think new authors need an agent? Why?
I stumbled onto an agency, and it worked out for me. If you want to make it into big-time publishing, you'll need an agent, and it's also a must to join the Writer's Guild. If you just want to publish a book so your family and friends can call you an author, that is a totally different story. But I want my novel to sell, be read, and be popular. A reviewer likened the emotion and plotting of my novel to William Faulkner's books. I was really very flattered. If you can find an agent it will be well worth your while. You want to write, then let others more in the know do some of the sales and marketing for you. I am as aggressive in sales and marketing as I was in the writing of the book. But some people just want to write and let their publisher do all the leg work. That will not happen, believe me! You've got to market your book and take advantage of every opportunity to let people know you are out there with hundreds of thousands of other authors wanting to be recognized. These blog interviews are tremendous opportunities. Becoming a member of the Red River Writers is also beneficial in that you become part of a community of readers and writers whose sole purpose is entertainment and education.

Barbara: Yes, I agree that Red River Writers has been a big plus for both authors and bloggers who are writers. It's a great way for all kinds of writers to network. After all I write YA and have hosted authors from various genres. This is all thanks to April Robins who started it. Kudos to April!

10. Which do you enjoy writing more; your newspaper column or fiction?
I love both. My newspaper column is about living an Integral Life in Mind-Body-Spirit. I have incorporated my philosophy into the novel in certain instances, but it is not flagrantly realized. One reviewer captured my philosophy in his review. He said I was using it as my platform, but it is not a preachy sort of thing. It's just there for the taking. I also write features for the newspapers, and I love that part about as much as anything. I like writing about people.

11. The Cry of the Cuckoos deals with a murder possibly involved with a right wing fundamentalist group. a) How close to the truth are the events in the book? b) The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that we were in danger from these right wing groups and labeled them terrorist. How do you feel about this?
Well, unfortunately for my right wing supremacist group, Homeland Security would confirm their own report. Homeland Security plays a role in my novel. But in real life, some of the organizations listed as terrorists have been unkindly singled out. Veterans make up many of these right wing organizations, but their intent is not terrorism. It is an ideology. My group still thinks the South was right to go to war with the North and Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. They are against big government, and the recent report by Homeland Security brought many of them out of the closet. There will be a lot more stirring among groups like I describe in my novel. The average citizen will begin to see this ideology and I wouldn't be surprised to see another Civil War in my lifetime. This time it will not be a North-South war, but one where the middle class finally decides they are tired of being taxed to the gills, and they will become a militant group. Right behind them will be the organizations who already have structure. More middle class people will be joining these extremist groups.

Barbara: This is a subject to which I could probably devote an entire blog. I'd love to have you come back and discuss this at a later time.:)

12. What is your writing process?
That's hard to put a finger on. I sit down with my characters and talk to them. I put them together in my mind, sometimes I'll put ideas into a special folder on my computer. If, say, one of my characters has a histrionic personality disorder, I try to find other characters in real life and in fiction who match that personality and I watch them grow into their role. One of my characters has this personality disorder, and it is what some psychiatrists say was Scarlett O'Hara's in "Gone With The Wind." I've studied her personality for quite some time, and I am thinking about writing a sequel with the main character being a Scarlett O' Hara type, but maybe with some redeeming qualities.

13. Will you be doing any book signings? Do you have a schedule for our readers?
I am doing local signings right now. My PR person is setting up a regional schedule. I have set up the local ones. A weekly newspaper is doing a full page spread on me this week. It involves an interview much like this one, a review, and a press release along with a value added incentive for those who buy my novel. I am offering an eBook valued at $9.95 of My Metaphysical Musings, newspaper columns I have written on Integral Life the past three years. It is only offered at my website, however. The publisher doesn't know I am doing this, and wouldn't care. You won't be able to get the eBook except at my website. An autograph copy of the book is only available at my website. www.thecryofthecuckoos.com Only those who come to an autograph signing will be able to get a handwritten autograph. and I will be signing books at Arts Night in Northport, Alabama on May 7th. I will also be in Homewood, Alabama on June 13th for an autograph signing. So catch a plane and come on down. You might want to watch out for Homeland Security, however, because if you were at a "Tea Party," chances are you are a terrorist (ha)!

Barbara: Well, I didn't attend any of those "Tea Parties" because my political philosophy is nowhere near that of the people you mentioned. Though I understand how they feel, they are not looking at the facts. Taxes will be going down for the middle class. I think everyone should be concentrating on the credit card companies.:)

Thank you so much for giving us a peek into your life and your writing. Now here is the special treat I mentioned earlier in the week. John is giving away the same e-Book he gives to those who buy his book to the winner of the drawing here. All you need to do to be eligible to win is to leave a question or comment here for John Wayne Cargile. This has been such a great interview I have a lot of questions myself.:)

How to have good dreams instead of nightmares

2009-04-26T04:38:00.000-07:00

This might seem a little silly, but before I go to sleep at night, I pray for my family. That’s not the silly part! That is my first prayer. Then, I pray that as I move from light to dark in my sleep, that my dreams be good dreams.
Ever since I began asking for this affirmation about my dream state, it has always been a good dream. I am thankful God has answered my prayer.
I cannot recall the next morning what the essence of the dream was. All I know it was a good dream, full of positive energy. I haven’t had a negative dream since I began to affirm good dreams in my prayers.
If prayer is an intention that we announce to the universe in order to create a desired outcome, then our every thought is a prayer. This includes thoughts of worry as well as of hope.
All thoughts are subtle creative energy. Some thoughts are more focused or repeated more often, gathering strength. Some are written down or spoken, giving them even greater power. Every thought we have is part of a process whereby we co-create our experience and our reality with the universe.
When we use our creative energy unconsciously, we create what is commonly known as self-fulfilling prophecy. In essence, when we worry, we are repeatedly praying and lending our energy to the creation of something we don’t want.
The good news is that we can retrain our minds and thoughts to focus our energy on what we do desire to bring into our lives. Since most worry is repetitive, it will take more than one positive thought to counteract the energy we’ve created. The simplest antidote to worry is affirmations.
When we hold these positive thoughts, repeat them often, speak them and write them and refer to them throughout our day, we are using focused energy to create positive results.
We can start right away, together:
I am a creative being, using my energy to co-create a wonderful world. I know that I create my experience of life from within, and as I do so, I also create ripples of energy around me that echo into the world. My positive thoughts gather together with the thoughts and prayers of others, and together we create enough positive energy to heal not only our own lives but the world we share. I am grateful for the ability to co-create good in my life and in the world.
A lot of times we have concerned loved ones that worry about us. When this happens they are also sending out a worry prayer to the world. A loving conversation letting them know what is happening is the easiest solution. Also, ask them to send you positive affirmations rather than worry about you.
After all, worry doesn’t do them any good either. Explain to them that worry can actually be energetically harmful to you and that wishing good things for you is much more beneficial and much more fun too.
Everything in the universe is made of energy.
What differentiates one form of energy from another is the speed at which it vibrates. For example, light vibrates at a very high frequency, and something like a rock vibrates at a lower frequency but a frequency nonetheless.
Human beings also vibrate at different frequencies. Our thoughts and feelings can determine the frequency at which we vibrate, and our vibration goes out into the world and attracts to us energy moving at a similar frequency. This is one of the ways that we create our own reality, which is why we can cause a positive shift in our lives by raising our vibration.
We all know someone we think of as vibrant. Vibrant literally means -vibrating very rapidly.
The people who strike us as vibrant are vibrating at a high frequency, and they can inspire us as we work to raise our vibration. On the other hand, we all know people that are very negative or cynical. These people are vibrating at a lower frequency. They can also be an inspiration because they can show us where we don’t want to be vibrating and why.
To discover where you are in terms of vibrancy, consider where you fall on a scale between the most pessimistic person you know and the most vibrant. This is not in order to pass judgment, but rather it is important to know where you are as you begin working to raise your frequency so that you can notice and appreciate your progress.
There are many ways to raise your vibration, from working with affirmations to visualizing enlightened entities during meditation.
One of the most practical ways to raise your vibration is to consciously choose where you focus your attention. To understand how powerful this is, take five minutes to describe something you love unreservedly-a person, a movie, an experience.
When your five minutes are up, you will noticeably feel more positive and even lighter. If you want to keep raising your vibration, you might want to commit to spending five minutes every day focusing on the good in your life. As you do this, you will train yourself to be more awake and alive. Over time, you will experience a permanent shift in your vibrancy.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Educational Association and Alabama Educational Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter.net. All conversations are confidential.

Author Signings

2009-04-18T03:37:00.000-07:00

I have two author signings scheduled for May and June. I will be at the offices of The Northport Gazette, Northport, Alabama for Arts Night and on June 13th I will be signing books at Little Professor Book Store in Homewood, Alabama from noon-2 p.m. The store is currently carrying my book.

The Cry of the Cuckoos Likened to William Faulkner's Writing

2009-04-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

Reviewed by Rita Hestand (author)
Sometimes finding the truth opens up a can of worms that can't be disposed of. Retired news reporter Donald Drummond, and his retired teacher wife, Anne, begin to unravel a family mystery that leads to death and intrigue. Trying to discover his father's killers, Donald is whisked into the confidence of the FBI and faced with insurmountable truths.

Donald is forced to deal with his father's underhanded business with the Society of Southern Patriots, and an unmasking of his own identity that he must come to grips with.

After sixty one years, Donald meets his real mother. And his mother is a suspect in his father's death. His father was poisoned. However, as Donald works closely with the authorities, he unravels one bad soap opera after another, how much can one man stand to know about his heritage? And can he live with the knowing?

John Wayne Cargile takes us on a journey that starts with much intrigue and ends with bold characterization of family life sometimes better left unsaid. Even when all is well, it isn't.

What an emotional jaunt Mr. Cargile leads us on, spilling forth with page turner characters and strong plotting that keeps one on the edge of his seat to finish this book. I enjoyed it no end.

Mr. Cargile has my undying admiration for writing a book that has no holes barred. Equal in emotion and plotting to a William Faulkner book, this one is a real keeper and one you won't forget for some time! Thanks for the enjoyable read.....

There is no such thing as a “normal” person or child

2009-04-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

It’s time to make a quick assessment of children today. It’s Spring Break for some of us this week. I celebrated my second year as a special needs school bus driver this month. The kids on the bus range in age from three to 20. Each of them have a special need but, then, all of us do.
With a 23-year-old son living back home, and a three-year-old granddaughter now living with us, it makes life interesting for my wife and me. Both of us are in our 60’s. We hold no regrets. I think it makes us younger.
I heard this from my parents when growing up and now I can appreciate what they were talking about: “I don’t understand children these days.”
The age gap has thrown me out of sync. My wife and I grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s. Our parents didn’t have a lot of money, neither do we now even though what we earn in a year is a lot more than they made in four years. But they always wanted more for their children than they had growing up.
The children of the 21st century are growing up way too fast. Most kids don’t read like we did. Their music is so much different. I can’t get into some of the new music and I hear it from some of my students some times on the bus. They bring their head phones with CDs, iPods, MP3 players and although they are asked to listen only to themselves I some times can hear it in the background.
They understand computers better than us old folk, although I am getting pretty adept at using one. They’d rather see or hear things on television or view the Internet and locate their friends to Instant Message than read a good book.
Believe me; if I thought my new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos, had a market among young students, I would be blazing a path to their door. But reading is not like it once was. That’s why newspapers and magazines are going bankrupt everyday. Reading is now considered only for nerds. I can’t get my son to read my novel. He said he will read it one day. Blah! Blah! Blah!
I guess we are guilty of spoiling our kids too much. I know our family is guilty of it. But, how can you not?
I wanted my son to have the best: schooling, clothes, athletic gear, tennis shoes and car when he turned 16. Giving him a car at 16 was not a good move on our part. But, we wanted him to be with the ‘in crowd’. I guess I could have made him read more.
Now that our granddaughter is with us, we are doing the exact same thing – spoiling again. But, how can you not?
As parents and grandparents we are moved by instinct to love, nurture, and provide for our offspring. Because our children are so much a part of us, we want to see them blissfully happy.
Also, our own desire to be liked, materialist pressures, and a fervent wish that our children have everything we lacked as youngsters can prompt us to spoil them.
However, while it might seem that buying your child expensive gifts will give them fond memories of childhood or that you can heal your emotional wounds by doting on your sons, daughters and grandchildren, you may be unconsciously interfering with your child’s evolutional development.
One of the most precious gifts you can grant your children is the true independence they gain when they learn to earn what they covet and become stewards of their own happiness. We have done this with our son, and he is making the most of it. We are proud he is finding his way in this life.
Try allowing your children to experience life to the fullest. Let them work and earn what they want. When the time comes for them to go to college and enter the workforce, you will have the confidence that you have raised a child that can both enter and contribute to society confidently.
When children are not afforded the opportunity to explore self-reliance, to understand that with possession comes a price, and to fulfill their own needs, they develop a sense of entitlement that blinds them to the necessity of hard work and the needs of others.
We may spoil children because giving them gifts is pleasurable. Or we may want to avoid conflict out of fear that our children won’t love us.
Yet children who are given acceptance, love, and affection in abundance are often kinder, more charitable, and more responsible than those whose parents accede to their every material demand. They develop a strong sense of self that stretches beyond possessions and the approval of their peers, and as adults they understand that each individual is responsible for building the life they desire.
If you find yourself giving in to your child’s every whim, ask yourself why. You may discover that you are trying to answer for what you feel is lacking in your own life.
Rearing your children to respect the value of money and self-sufficiency as they grow from infants to young adults is a challenging but rewarding process.
It can be difficult to watch a child struggle to meet a personal goal yet wonderful to be by their side as they achieve it. Your choice not to spoil your children will bless you with more opportunities to show them understanding and compassion and to be fully present with them as they journey toward adulthood.
So, to sum it all up; every child has special needs, some more than others. I’ve come to appreciate those whose needs are greater. He is the little fellow in the wheel chair who can’t walk or talk. He/she is the autistic child we never had. He/she is the slow learner or mentally challenged.
We’re thankful for those parents who have a special needs child. If we walked in your shoes, we wouldn’t be worried about whether he/she could read or not. We’d be praying that he/she could walk or talk. You’re the true caregivers of these special needs children. You love your children just the way they are although you wish they were normal kids.
There is no such thing as a “normal” person or child, in my book.

A real life cuckoo atones for his past and asks forgiveness

2009-04-05T01:52:00.000-07:00

I read with curiosity a story in The Baltimore Sun last Sunday morning about a man who has deep regrets about his racists’ past.
His life and character would easily fit into my new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos. The theme of my novel is deceit and forgiveness and that’s what Elwin Hope Wilson of South Carolina has been doing as he struggles with his own mortality. He has repented for his past sins and asked for forgiveness from the people – blacks – he has harmed in one way or another most of his life.
Now that he is 72-years-old, ill with diabetes, his eyes degenerating, Wilson wants to atone for his misgivings.
“The former Ku Klux Klan supporter says he wants to atone for the cross burnings on Hollis Lake Road. He wants to apologize for hanging a black doll in a noose at the end of his drive, for flinging cantaloupes at black men walking down Main Street, for hurling a jack handle at the black kid jiggling the soda machine in his father's service station, for brutally beating a 21-year-old seminary student at the bus station in 1961,” the newspaper reported.
Sound familiar?
Wilson is a clock collector, and his life has been ticking away with the burden of racism for many years. Among his collections in his home is a cuckoo clock. I was mesmerized by the story because the characters in my book could have been Mr. Wilson.
In the final chapter of his life, Wilson is seeking forgiveness. The burly clock collector wants to be saved before he hears his last chime.
And so Wilson has spent recent months apologizing to "the people I had trouble with." “He has embraced black men his own age, at the same lunch counter where once they were denied service and hauled off to jail as mobs of white youths, Wilson among them, threw insults and eggs and fists.
”Wilson has carried his apology into black churches where he has unburdened it in prayer.
”And he has taken it to Washington, to the office of Congressman John Lewis of Atlanta, the civil rights leader whose face Wilson smashed at the Greyhound bus station during the famed Freedom Rides 48 years ago.
”The apologies have won headlines and praise. Letters have poured in, lauding Wilson's courage. Strangers, black and white, have hailed him as a hero.
”But Wilson doesn't feel like a hero. He feels confused. He cannot fully answer the lingering questions, the doubts. Where did all the hate come from? And where did it go?
And the question he gets asked most often: Why now?
"All I can say is that it has bothered me for years, all the bad stuff I've done," Wilson said. "And I found out there is no way I could be saved and get to heaven and still not like blacks."
”If you do get to heaven, his wife pointed out, they're going to be there with you.”
Mr. Wilson has found a secret ingredient to his life now. His regrets and weight of the past has given him the freedom to be a real person.
There is a lesson in his story.
Holding onto regret is like dragging the weight of the past with us everywhere we go. It drains our energy, leaving less available for life in the present because we are constantly feeding an old issue. This attachment can cause illness the same way watering a dead plant creates decay. We know that something new and beautiful can grow in its place if we only prepare the soil and plant the right seeds.
We also know that we create our lives from our thoughts, so dwelling on the past may actually recreate a situation in our lives where we are forced to make the choice again and again. We can choose to move on right now by applying what we have learned to the present and perhaps even sharing with others, transforming the energy into something that is constructive and creative for ourselves and others.
Forgiveness is the soothing balm that can heal regret. In meditation, we can imagine discussing the issue with the self of our past and offering our forgiveness for the choice. In return, we can ask for our selves’ forgiveness for keeping them locked in that space of judgment for so long.
We may also want to ask forgiveness from anyone else who may have been affected and perhaps offer our forgiveness. By replaying the event in our minds, we can choose a new ending using all that we now know.
Imagine that you have actually gone back into the past and made this change, and then say goodbye to it. Release your former self with a hug and bring the forgiveness and love back with you to the present. Since we are usually our harshest critics, it is amazing how powerfully healing it can be to offer ourselves love.
Keeping our minds and our energy fully in the present allows us to fuel our physical and emotional healing and well-being today. This action frees our energy to create the dreams we dream for the future. By taking responsibility and action in the present, we can release our hold on the past.

John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed pastoral psychology counselor. He is a member of the National Educational Association and Alabama Educational Association. He is the author of a new novel, The Cry of the Cuckoos www.thecryofthecuckoos.com You can contact him at jwcargile@charter.net. All conversations are confidential.

Interview From A Writers Group

2009-04-01T02:33:00.000-07:00

This is an interview conducted by Joan Baratta. Thanks for asking, and I hope it helps other writers.

1)You’ve spent 40 years working for others, when did the idea for the book surface?

I have known since I was a university student that when I retired I would write novels. That has been my goal most of my life. I began as a journalist in the 60's and 70's, then opened a publishing company in the 1980's in Birmingham, Alabama. I was a printer for companies needing printing, but I also produced two slick magazines. I became a managing editor for a publishing company in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the late 80's before creating my own company, Creative Services, in 1990. The company was designed for my work. I was publisher for a number of magazines, edited freelance work sent for publication, and sold advertising. I calculated my career in writing and publishing beginning in the 60's. The book, The Cry of the Cuckoos, surfaced only three years ago.

2)How long did it take you to write the book?

I've had the book in my mind for a long time. My biological mother who lived in Texas was divorced from my father in 1946. She was forced to give up custody when I was 1 1/2. Before she died, we spent hours on Instant Messenger talking about her life and mine. I have over 200 pages of conversations between the two of us. I began writing the book in 2007, but it was an historical romance novel with the setting in Texas between a soldier and a female civilian who meet at a dance hall in west Texas. But, after my mother's death, everything changed. I decided I wanted to write something contemporary and upbeat. I didn't know at the beginning it would be a mystery novel. When I began the story it just unfolded like I didn't have control of it. I completed this version of the book within six months, but the foundation was laid long before. I talk about being in the zone below.

3)How many revisions did you go through? Are there any ideas you would like to share to those aspiring authors about the process of revision?

Revise, Revise. Revise. This is very important. I believe I cut out nearly 8,000 words before I felt the story had been told. A professional editor is essential, and I hired one to set me on the right tracks. She didn't have much to edit, but it gave me a sense of my unique voice in writing. I cannot tell you how long I spent reading and re-reading the story. In fact, now, I don't want to read it again, but I probably will. I am writing its sequel.

4) Share with others your thoughts on social networking, Twittering, Facebook, Blogging, building a website to promote your novel.

I didn't know much about using social networking until I got into the marketing stage of the book. Now I am all over the Internet. I've joined so many writer's groups, I forget sometimes what group is what. I'm on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Gather.com. I was only last week named as an administrator at Red River Writers on Facebook. I built my own website, which is not eloquent, but it gets the job done. I created a book trailer, which I thought was impossible. It is adequate, but I didn't have to pay a professional to create it. I created a blog for the novel, and offered readers an opportunity to read the first chapter to get some reaction. I learned long ago as a journalist that if you don't capture your audience within the first three paragraphs, you most likely will lose them right there. They will put the book down. I received a great review before the book was published, and it is on one of the first pages after the dedication page, which was to my late mother and step-mother who actually raised me. Both of them are characters in the book, but with distorted and flawed characters that neither had.

5) Do you belong to a writers group? If not what are thoughts on belonging to a writers group?

Writer's groups are great, however, you take what advice they give you some times with a grain of salt. Everyone has a sense of how a book should read, and readers have odd tastes. I belonged to a critique group and became very frustrated. I learned from my publisher that you can have 10 editors sitting and reading your script and you will have 13 interpretations. It got to be too much, so I left the critique group.

6) Any general thoughts you have on the subject of writing?

There is writing, then there is writing. I've seen a lot of people blogging and to them that is writing. Journaling is writing. But not the type of writing a publisher is looking for. I could write a lot of deep, thought provoking pieces on the subject of metaphysics. Would it sell? Probably not. I decided to become a commercial writer. If it is worth writing, I wanted to make money for my efforts. One of the best books for commercial writers is "Techniques of the Selling Writer," by Dwight Swain, published by the University of Oklahoma Press. I hold a doctorate degree in metaphysics, and some of the thoughts and conversations in most of my writings deal with metaphysics in some facet.

7) What you would like to share about your novel, the process of writing?

Getting into the zone. People have heard that athletes get into the zone and are able to do things they didn't think was possible. I hardly ever get writer's block because I have trained my brain through the art of meditation to toss away things you don't need. You place them in the recycle bin. Use only what is necessary. My novel has been reviewed and the reviewer, I thought, said it best. He said my writing was crisp, direct and engaging. You won't find flowery words flowing constantly off the pages of my book, You'll find engaging conversation between characters. Actually, the dialogue between characters tell the story for you. You let your characters dictate what will happen next. You won't be far off if you let the characters take over your story.

As an Alabamian, and a southerner, I find our state has very few resources for the aspiring author; do you have any thoughts on the subject?

You mentioned the state of Alabama doesn't have resources for writers. I don't understand. We have the same resources as any writer on the globe. The South has produced some great writers, including Alabama. It doesn't matter where you live to become a writer. You can aspire to write, but a writer needs to write. He is an eccentric in most cases, and a loner. He wants his place on Earth to be marked when he passes on to the other side. Here stands old Joe, who was an author. God Bless His Soul. He has left someone, somewhere a legacy in his own words. He might not be famous or on the New York Times Bestseller list, but he had to write his stories. He didn't aspire to write. He had to write from a psychological and philosophical point of view. These type writers write from the soul.

I’d like to thank John for taking the time out of his busy writing schedule for this interview and to say too everyone out there reading this, go buy his book.

Happy Writing!
Joan Baratta at A Writers Group

The Cry of the Cuckoos -- Chapter One

2009-03-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

Chapter One Midfield, Alabama He was in thick woods with grass taller than his four-foot-two body. He wanted to race away as fast as his legs could carry him. The burning wood crackled and lit up the cloudy night sky, illuminating the white-sheeted figures that circled a cross and chanted. A plea for help from a black man sliced through the ritual of the robed men. A long rope hung over a tall tree limb. The noose meant death to the nigger. “Noooo...Dad!”
He awakened from the dream in a cold sweat from the shrill ringing of the telephone next to his bed.
“Donald, come quick,” his mother’s voice exploded through the telephone line. “I think your father is dead.”
He rolled over on his pillow and glanced at the clock radio. It was 5:32 in the morning. He shook his head trying to clear the cobwebs from his brain still somewhere in dreamland.
“Stay calm. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he told her. The old son-of-a- bitch has finally croaked.
“What’s the matter?” his wife, Anne, asked as he threw back the bed covers and hung up the telephone receiver.
“It’s Dad,” he said, nearly falling onto the floor when his right foot tangled up with the bed sheet. He unsnapped his pajamas and grabbed his blue jeans.
“Mother thinks he is dead.”
“Really,” Anne said, sitting up in bed. “Do you want me to go with you?"
“No, honey,” he told her. “I’ll call if I need you.”
Donald reached into the closet, grabbed an old XX-large green plaid shirt with button-down collar and his sports jacket. His keys and wallet were in his jeans. He pulled on ankle top boots and raced out of breath into the garage and climbed into the Jeep. He opened the garage door with the remote device clipped to the sun visor. As soon as the engine kicked in, he reversed out of the driveway.
He was normally a safe driver, but today he was not in the mood to obey stop signs or red lights. He turned on his emergency flashers just in case he ran into a cop in the five blocks to his parent’s home. It was six days before Christmas and the houses in the small city he raced past were decorated with colorful lights. The lawns lit up the dark morning with sparkling scenes of the manger, plastic reindeer, Santa Clauses and snowmen. White bulbs glowing, outlining Christian crosses.
Peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Goodwill toward men was not his father’s best characteristic.
He gunned the accelerator to the floor as the Jeep climbed the long, steep driveway. The black wrought iron gate was already open. No need to stop and punch in the security password. He parked at the front entrance of the mansion sitting atop the hill overlooking the city.
Rose Marie Drummond stood on the porch with the door half-open. Still in her pajamas she waved him in.
Donald turned the ignition and red emergency flashers off, got out and raced to her.
“He’s gone, son,” she said. Her eyes were pink and heavy, her face buried in her wrinkled cupped hands.
Donald gave her a quick hug and walked into the den where his father usually stayed most of the day. He found his father lying on the couch, dressed in a black suit, white shirt and a black tie. His black laced shoes polished to a spit shine. Donald cast his eyes toward his father’s face. It was drawn and haggard. His head, bald from radiation and chemotherapy. His body, gaunt and frail. The thin arms were folded across his chest. He knew before he took a pulse his father was dead; dead at eighty-two years of age.
Donald sensed his mother standing behind him waiting for a verdict.
He turned to face his mother and took her in his arms without saying a word. He nodded his head. Rose began to whimper softly, and Donald hugged her tightly.
“I know, I know,” he said, trying to console her. He stroked her solid gray hair as she laid her head on his chest.
He was unable to cry. His mind numbed, unattached to the body lying on the couch. With a strange dispassionate calm, as though he were his own guru, he tried to examine his final thoughts. He felt like he had been swallowed inside a giant vacuum and sucked into a higher state of mind. It was an emotion he never had experienced. Had the dream earlier that morning meant anything? He barely remembered it. It was more nightmare than dream. He wondered why death was in his dream and suddenly he awoke to the reality of his father’s death. Prophetic? Coincidence?
Finally, Donald asked her: “Have you called 9-1-1?”
She shook her head, “no.”
He walked into the silence of the dining room, switched on the light and found the telephone attached to the wall. His heart-beat raced. He dialed the emergency number. He gave his name and address to the house then dialed his home.
“Honey, it’s Dad,” he said softly, trying to stay calm. He was the oldest of the three sons and felt it his duty to be strong for his mother’s sake. His mother was the glue that kept the family together. Not this monster of a man lying prone on the sofa with a stiff face.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Anne said. “How’s Rose holding up?”
“She’ll be fine.” “I’ll call David and Daniel and tell them to come to the house.”
“He was lying like this when I woke up and came into the den,” his mother said. “I guess it was just before 5:30. The television was on. His eyes were closed and he was just like he is right now. I called his name, but he didn’t respond.”
Sirens from first responder vehicles screamed into the early December morning. The red and blue emergency flashers lit up the neighborhood. A police car was the first on the scene, then paramedics. The yard swarmed with activity. Neighbors stirred outside their homes.
Donald watched as the responders hurried into the house to examine the body. Thirty minutes later a coroner arrived and behind him a government agent he recognized from the FBI.
The den was covered with a stack of magazines spilled across the floor. The drawers of a desk had been emptied, and a closet looked as if it had been imploded, most of the hangars and clothing on the floor.
He watched as the medical examiner uncovered a sheet Donald placed over the body.
“He’s been dead for several hours,” the examiner said.
Donald turned to look at Rose, whose eyes were now alert. The tears were gone. She walked around the room, looking at the family pictures she personally placed in the room to help remind her husband of his offspring. Donald knew his mother was reminiscing. He had seen her like this before. His father hadn’t placed a lot of value on his children. Not what was expected from an old man near death. He hadn’t been the model father or grandfather. He placed more value on friends... and enemies. Donald remembered his father’s words, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer.”
“Mrs. Drummond, I am the county coroner. Do you want an autopsy of your husband?”
“Why would we need an autopsy?” Donald blurted out before giving second thought to the question.
“He might have died of natural causes but sometimes there are extenuating circumstances,” the coroner responded.
Henry Drummond was a familiar figure in Birmingham, Alabama and across the country for that fact. Even the coroner knew his name. His name appeared in newspaper articles and in court records, something Donald knew all too well. The Federal Bureau of Investigation listed Drummond as a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. He controlled the underground Southern mafia though the agency could never prove it. The Civil Rights Legal Center in Montgomery, Alabama listed his organization, The Society of Southron Patriots, a right wing supremacist hate group and a terrorist’s threat due to its philosophy as a Southern Nationalist organization whose ultimate goal was a free and independent Southern republic. He had been accused and acquitted of all charges in court of being an accessory to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombings which took the lives of four young, innocent black girls in 1963.
Donald spotted his friend and high school classmate. Midfield Police Chief, Jay Norris, was the first cop on the scene that morning.
“I’m so sorry, Donald,” Norris said, putting his arm around Donald’s broad shoulders.
“Thanks Jay.” Donald’s name was familiar in Birmingham for a different reason than his father. His bylines often made the featured headline story for the newspaper. Radio and television reporters often relied on him in order to get their leads for stories breaking in the court systems. He was the city’s expert on court news. Drummond’s death meant the media would be at the house in a matter of minutes.
“I don’t need this right now. It’s Christmas, and I am retiring on the 31st.”
Local television reporters appeared out of nowhere, setting up cameras in his parent’s front yard. Donald hesitated but walked out to greet them.
“Mr. Drummond, can I get an interview with you?” a TV reporter asked, sticking a microphone in Donald’s face. Other TV crews were on the scene, and a reporter from his newspaper was there with pad, pen and a tape recorder.
“My father is dead, that’s about all I’ve got to say,” Donald said.
“Was it a natural death, Mr. Drummond?”
“I suspect so, but I don’t know anything at this point. My Dad suffered from prostate cancer, so I assume it was cancer which caused his death.”
“He’s been linked to the mafia, and the Society of Southron Patriots is under attack by the Civil Rights Legal Center. Do you think it was a hit job?”
Despite the sobering death experience of his father Donald couldn’t help but see irony in the question and had to keep from laughing.
“Well, I didn’t see any signs of struggle. I don’t think we have a story here about the mafia going to the mattresses.” Donald said, alluding to a scene in “The Godfather,” movie. “That’s all I can say right now. You’ll have to interview the coroner and Chief Norris to get the information you need.”
He knew every one of the reporters and liked all of them. But this wasn’t the Birmingham Media Club. He didn’t feel like being sociable. Maybe another time and another place, he told them.
“This embarrasses me every time something happens with my father involved,” he thought as he dialed his editor’s cell phone to let him know the situation. He wouldn’t be in the office today.
“Don’t worry about it,” his editor told him. “Everyone knows the type man you are, and you are not your father.”
Donald went back into the den. He eyed the coroner who was finishing up his work. He noticed the coroner holding a pill bottle in a handkerchief.
“I found this,” the coroner said, holding out the bottle to let Donald read the label. “I found it lying under the couch.”
Norris overheard the conversation and looked at the bottle the coroner had in his hand.
“It’s empty,” he said. “I suspect these are sleeping pills, Norris,” the coroner said. “You might want to question Mrs. Drummond about them at the appropriate time.”
“It’s his sleeping pills,” Donald said, not surprised at the finding.
“Mr. Drummond, I also smelled alcohol on your father. Due to the findings we must automatically perform an autopsy.”
“We don’t have a choice. Is that what you mean?” Donald asked, knowing how the procedure worked.
Donald went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Norris followed behind.
“Donald,” Norris said. “Your father might have taken an overdose of sleeping pills mixed with alcohol. You know what that means?”
Donald stared blankly into Norris’ eyes.
“You think his death is more than a natural one?” Donald asked. “He had health issues. It could have been a heart attack.”
“Alcohol and sleeping pills, Donald! Are you listening to me?” Norris said again, making sure his friend understood what was going on around him.
“That’s possible,” Donald said, managing to regain his senses. “He liked to drink vodka, that’s for sure. Wait a minute. You think he took his own life? He committed suicide?”
“It’s certainly possible, Donald,” the chief said.
Donald circled the kitchen looking for nothing in particular. He opened the refrigerator door, closed it, then checked on the brewing coffee. He went to the sink and stared absently out the window into the backyard where he had grown up with his two younger brothers throwing baseballs and footballs. His mind raced forward and backward with a hundred questions seemingly crashing down all at once.
He was dressed like he was going somewhere.
“Suicide?” he asked out loud. Chief Norris did not respond.
“You know what will happen if the lab finds the pills and alcohol as contributing factors to his death, don’t you?” Donald stated alarmingly.
“Yes, Donald, I do. Most insurance companies do not pay off on premiums involving suicide.”
“Exactly!”
“Donald, another question,” Norris asked.
“Yes.” “Why was your father already dressed in a suit and tie? Was he going some place in particular today?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Donald said tersely. “I guess he figured he was going to hell!” Donald watched as his mother returned to the den. He followed behind. She got down on her knees. Donald thought she was about to pray over her husband. Instead she was on all four’s, stretching one arm behind the corner of the couch as if she had been through this process more than once. She found what the coroner missed.
She pulled out an empty vodka bottle and a piece of paper. She held the bottle in one hand and the piece of paper behind her back in the other.
“What’s behind your back?” Donald asked.
“Nothing. Just nothing,” she said.
Donald saw the coroner return to the den. He looked to be hurried.
“Mrs. Drummond, under law we must perform an autopsy and have our forensic science lab examine his body for foreign substances.” Rose bowed her head in silence and closed her eyes for a moment. She nodded to the coroner she understood.