“vision, voice, imagination”
In his novel Powerboat Racer, Thomas Hollyday once again gives life to modern
Chesapeake characters in his fictional shipbuilding town of River Sunday, a
place located at a crossroads of today’s world. Reviewers praise his rich sense
of place, animals and nature coupled with a vibrant imagination. His words
resonate with a deep awareness of history and legend, reminiscent of Michener
and Follett. From pre-history to the present,
marauders have disturbed this land and its people when tribes, pirates,
soldiers, criminals and, some say, even ghosts have come to do evil. These are
the stories he relates. His novels have been compared to “pocket battleships,”
with interwoven story lines, intriguing mysteries, beautiful love affairs and
unique characters in carefully scripted pages. There is humor too as Tom draws
on a comedic sense honed from an accomplished cartoonist background. Critics
praise his ability to take the reader into thrilling suspense and to make him or
her “see the blood” and “breathe the swamp air.” His books are enjoyable
sojourns into a fascinating world and are definitely must reads on today’s
bookshelf.
The
little Chesapeake town had almost forgotten the young black driver of the fast
racing boat who had been accused of murder and disappeared back in the civil
rights days. Now a New York reporter has taken over the local paper and is asking
questions.
Harry Jacobsen, disgraced failure of a foreign correspondent and fired
from a respected New York City paper, takes refuge as editor for a small weekly
in a quiet town on the Chesapeake. The most excitement he sees is when a trio
of children comes across the sunken hulk of a racing boat, lost thirty years
ago. The black captain, Walker John Douglas, had crashed his vessel after
killing two women and burning down half the town in a period of racial unrest.
Harry’s investigative reporter
instincts kick in, and he begins to delve into the history of Walker and the
infamous inferno. River Sunday, evenly split between black and white, roils in
chaos at his front page headlines. Half the town welcomes the fresh exploration of the
civil rights actions, while the other half would rather leave the past alone.
The streets are also flooding with tourists as the largest event of the season
– a nationally acclaimed powerboat race festival – swells the discussion with
high profile personalities and racers who remember Walker’s racially charged
legacy.
As Harry unravels the threads of
time and reveals the truth of what happened during the racial clashes of the
sixties, the heat levels rise in the once peaceful town. Passionate emotions
threaten to spark a fresh wave of riots the likes of which River Sunday had not
seen in decades. Harry races to discover the full story in time to save lives –
and to save the town from burning anew.
Powerboat racer may be
purchased in print or EBook at
From Chapter
One, Powerboat Racer
Rounding a bend the boat
almost slammed into a looming state police motorboat, the side of the bigger
boat emblazoned with the black and orange Maryland seal, stark and high above
the gunwales of Hurry’s boat. Up on its deck two heavy set officers in well
fitting dark uniforms looked down at them. One took a megaphone in hand and
began barking to them to turn back.
She
stopped the boat, idled the engine and called out, “with fat arms and stomach,
dressed in brown shorts, a Yankees baseball cap on his head. His chest was bare
and Harry could see the toes of his bare feet on the edge of the police boat
deck.
The other boy, skinny, his
white skin red from the sun, dressed in cut off jean shorts and a blue striped
tee shirt, spoke softly. “My name’s Steve. Do you know when we can start
fishing again?” The boy’s attention was on the refastening the lure to the tip
of his fishing line.
“When they get the boat
out, asshole,” said the freckled boy, his voice high pitched. “’Course that old
barge stirring up all the mud has ruined the fishing. Won’t be nothing left to
catch.”
“Can you tell me what you
saw when you were up on the hill, WeeJay?” asked Harry, looking up at the boys
from the smaller boat.
“We going to be in the newspaper?” asked the
freckled boy.
“His name’s Chuckie,” said WeeJay.
Harry touched his camera. “Pictures and all,”
he smiled.
“You should hold out to get on TV, Mouseface,”
said Steve, still engrossed in his fishing pole mechanics.
About the Author
Thomas Hollyday (1942-present) was born in Easton, Maryland. His father was an acclaimed photographer and his mother a brilliant teacher.His father's family were active in the history of Maryland since its settlement while his mother's family were prominent in Democratic Party politics. His grandmother's family descended from a well known German industrial family of Baltimore. He grew up in the southern atmosphere of the Eastern Shore with its maritime and military heritage. He studied writing with Elliott Coleman at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars and with C.Michael Curtis of the Atlantic Monthly. He served with distinction in Vietnam and became a successful international businessman.He also drew illustrations for national magazines and published maritime and Civil War history. He currently edits popular video blogs on you tube for animal water rights and for book reviews. He draws the popular humorous Animal Viewpoint Cartoons for newspapers. He continues to please his fans with new novels in his River Sunday Romance Mysteries collection. In his fiction he describes his recurring theme that human settlers since prehistoric times in the Chesapeake region have left a mist of legend and history that permeates its modern stories with a certain compelling truth. At the same time he incorporates the stories of machines with those of their human owners. Each novel, located in the small town of River Sunday, Maryland, also records the continuing beautiful nature of the area. His writing portrays today's problems, conflicts, and memorable local characters with their loves and their combat with evil
Facebook fan page for
Thomas Hollyday Books
Magnolia Gods, Powerboat Racer, Terror Flower, Gold,
Slave Graves, Powerboat Racer
The River Sunday Romance
Mystery Series of Ebooks and print books are available through book retailers
as well as Ingram and Baker&Taylor. Part of the proceeds from the sale of
Thomas Hollyday fiction, cartoons and non-fiction goes to support clean
drinking water resources for wildlife through his publisher, Happy Bird
Corporation, PO Box 86, Weston, Massachusetts 02493.
Yvonne deSousa’s diagnosis of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis came with an insightful declaration from a new doctor (“MS Sucks”) and a brother’s helpful advice (“You could totally get one of those handicapped parking plates now”).
What followed was a year of MS-adventures: “accidentally” kicking an officious male doctor in the crotch, becoming an undercover agent to pay for medication made from Chinese hamster ovary cells, discovering the amazing effects of legal speed, and battling her arch-nemesis, the dreaded food group-vegetables.
Throughout her MS journey, Yvonne learned how to use humor to find acceptance in her diagnosis and how to smile in the face of chronic illness. Life with multiple sclerosis can be daunting, but Yvonne shares her giggles at the bizarre world she has unwittingly entered and the new perspectives it has given her on life. MS Madness! makes us realize that with a sense of humor, we can survive anything.
“MS Madness! A ‘Giggle More, Cry Less’ Story of Multiple Sclerosis combines defiance with humor, the secret weapon of the sick. Laughter has carried me a greater distance than conventional medicine ever will. In the end, attitude drives well being.”
-Richard M. Cohen, NY Times best-selling author of Blindsided and Strong at the Broken Places
