"Cut and Get Out": The Devastating Timber Boom of East Texas

 by Tom Goodman 

What comes to mind when you picture old Texas?

Comanche scouts atop inhospitable mesas? 

Cattle drives across dusty plains?

Oil derricks pulling black gold from the ground?

How about a forest so immense that enormous pines towered overhead and little grew beneath their canopy but pine straw?

This was once the landscape of much of East Texas.

In her post-Civil War novel Chenneville, Paulette Jiles sends her protagonist through this country in pursuit of a murderer. (Every historical novelist hoping to hone our craft should read Paulette Jiles.) She writes:

The road was cut through heavy timber, and there was very little undergrowth. The pines were enormous. He rode through that pine forest that stretches from southeastern Missouri through Western Arkansas and Louisiana and East Texas, a primeval and uncut dark fabric grown up untouched since God made the hills. Beneath these giant trees were darknesses without end…. The giant trees reached up to 180 feet, trees that were 10 feet around and made reedy, hushing noises in the evening wind. The trees seemed to possess a huge indifferent intelligence that lay just beyond the reach of human knowledge.

The description is not far from the historical record—and a forest like that could not remain untouched for long.

By the late nineteenth century, lumbermen whose forests in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Minnesota had been depleted were looking southward for new timber. They found an extraordinary supply in East Texas.

Mills appeared. Railroads followed. Settlements became boomtowns.

By 1907, Texas was the nation’s third-largest supplier of lumber, and lumber companies were the largest employers in the state.

But the timber barons had no reforestation plans. Their policy at the turn-of-the-century was “cut and get out.” In the second decade of the twentieth century, conservationist W. Goodrich Jones said: 

“Like the buffaloes, the timber is going and going fast: what escapes the big mill is caught by the little mill, and what the little mill does not get, the tie cutters and rail splitters soon have chopped down … [until it looks like] shell-torn areas of France after the Great War."

Here’s a photo of what the forest looked like under such a policy:

In Chenneville, Paulette Jiles’ protagonist observed how sawmills “had begun to eat their way into the stands of massive pines with the villainous, aggressive noises of circle saws to reduce them to planks, siding, and railroad ties. The air was filled with drifting sawdust that caught the long bars of sunlight.”

Companies harvested the timber and moved on, with little thought of reforestation. The work was highly transient, and that rootlessness appears to have contributed to the region’s reputation for violence and lawlessness.

That history gave me one of the central images for my new novel.

One of my fictional characters is a lumber baron whose fortunes are collapsing under gambling debts. He treats the forest much as he treats the people around him: as something to be used up for his own benefit. He cuts the timber without concern for what will remain after he is gone, while using an illegal liquor operation to profit from the weaknesses of the people around him.

Into this grim setting rides twenty-eight-year-old Rick Burleson, who moves his young family to the timber boomtown of Groveton to lead his first church. 

The lumber baron in my story is fictional, but not the pastor. He’s based on Jesse Lee, a young Methodist minister who faced down a violent bootlegging gang that was ruining his town. In response to threats against his life and family, he began carrying a pistol, even laying his Colt revolver on the pulpit as he preached.

He became known as the pistol-packing preacher. 

That forgotten episode inspired my new historical novel. Through Many Dangers: A Novel of the 1905 Pistol-Packing Preacher releases October 1, but signed copies are available now through my online store.

Only a fraction of the original longleaf pine forest survives, but forestry practices changed during the twentieth century, and second-growth pine forests blanket East Texas once again. Groveton, the setting of my novel, still exists, too, its population down from about 5,500 during the timber boom to fewer than 1,000 today. But 120 years ago, it was a place of towering pines and screaming saw blades, lumber camps and transient workers, where men could make fortunes from what they cut down—and a young Methodist pastor found himself confronting another kind of exploitation in the town’s illegal saloons.

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A deadly train stunt. A pistol-packing preacher. A UFO crash in 1897. A town that outlawed dancing. In Ten Texas Tales, you'll find stories like this from turn-of-the-century Texas. I mine that seam of history for my novels and for anecdotes to put in my monthly newsletter. Each month, I’ll give you nuggets of history, recommended books and films, and behind-the-scenes looks at my novels.

The Carrington Effect--Solar Activity that Startled the World

 

Watching the strange weather around the globe this year reminded me of a book in my personal library. The Sun Kings by Stuart Clark. It was gifted to me years ago because of my love of history and astronomy. I revisited its pages and wanted to share what happened in September 1854. This weather phenomena became the turning point in the study of solar astronomy.

It started with British Astronomer Richard Carrington (May 26, 1826- November 27, 1875). He'd already charted several thousand stars and published his findings when he became fascinated with the sun as well. He chose to observe the rotation of the sun. The camera was still in its infancy, so he relied on his specialized telescope that reflected the sun's image on paper that he could trace. This was after creating a mathematical formula that gave an accurate measurement from the center to the edges of the sun. Then he spent years daily observing the movement of sunspots, discovering the sun spun faster at its equator than near the poles. He recorded the movement of sunspots toward the sun's equator as sun cycles. William Hodgkins, a fellow-British Astronomer confirmed Carrington's research, as well as other astronomers worldwide, who'd spent years observing the sun.

Richard Carrington

His research might have remained buried in scientific journals if not for the Solar Storm of 1859 that exploded on the sun and sent debris hurtling toward Earth. Newspapers all over the world reported on what was later called Carrington's Event.

The day after the event, both Carrington's and Hodgkin's work were published side by side to confirm their separate research drew the same conclusions. The results were printed in papers globally.

Here's what citizens around the world experienced on September 1^st and 2^nd, 1859 during the Carrington Event

The cargo vessel The Southern Cross was 84 days from Boston off the coast of Chile when a maniacal storm took their full attention. Beyond the normal lightning and thunder, the skies shone red. The Southern Lights, which is rarely seen beyond Antarctica, glowed red. Halos outlined the rigging, giving the ship an eerie glow. This was akin to what mariner's called Saint Elmo's fire, a blue and white halo effect that came with severe lightning storms. In this case, the red color not only filled the sky, but it also gave the water the appearance of blood. Red debris floated atop the water. During a calm in the storm, fiery lights seemed to gather on the horizon. At other times, spirals of lightning streaked across the sky, then exploded like fireworks.

At the same time, Carrington and other solar astronomers had observed a huge, complex sunspot. Tip to tip it was ten times the size of earth. As Carrington's chronometer recorded the various sunspot activities, a brilliant streak of white light streaked across his screen. Eighteen hours later, the results of the solar storm reached Earth.

While the sailors were engulfed in the strange storm off the coast of Chile, both the Southern and Northern Lights covered the earth. In Concepcion, Chile, almost a thousand miles closer to the equator, the lights appeared at near dawn described as a cloud of fire. The brightness was the same strength as in a fluorescent light tube. Santiago ,about 20 minutes south, observed a display of red, blue, and yellow colors for about three hours.

As the Southen Lights headed toward the Northern Lights and stretched to join them creating a dome of red and green alternating lights over Newport, Massachusetts. Observers said although it was dark they could read by the aurora light. The same claim was made by others along the east coast. Accounts of the lights moving and glowing, changing colors over the course of the evening were recorded by scientists at MIT.

In Bermuda, people awoke assuming it was morning and started their days. A man in Cuba was sure people would think it was the end of the world. Records show sightings of the light display in Australia as well as throughout Europe.

Other reports over the two-day event mentioned the auroras interfered with the telegraph. The telegraph in 1859 would be equivalent to the internet today in dispersing information and communication. The aurora also produced some negative scenarios. Everything from a mild disruption causing the incoming bell to ring in multiple locations simultaneously rather than where the message was intended.

 At its worst, it was deadly and dangerous. In Philadelphia a telegrapher was stunned by the shock he received from touching the equipment. Those stations that used the Bain system, a chemical that marked the message on paper, ignited into flames, causing smoke to permeate the office. In Bergen, Norway, the electrical current became so strong, the operators risked electrocution to unplug the apparatus. Even with the system disconnected messages could be sent using the electrically charged air from the solar storm.

It would be decades before scientists could truly explain what had happened on the sun and how the electromagnetic field disrupted the auroras. The study of the solar astronomy led the way to understanding of more about the stars.

 Here's a video link if you're interested in knowing more.

Now that Earth relies so heavily on technology in all areas of our life, can you imagine how much more devastating a solar storm of this magnitude would be today?

Have you ever heard of Carrington's Event?

What other odd weather phenomena can you recall that turned the tide of history?

 Here is another link to a video that explains it in simple terms.

Cindy Ervin Huff, is a multi-published award-winning author in Historical and Contemporary Romance. She’s a 2018 Selah Finalist. Cindy has a passion to encourage other writers on their journey. When she isn’t writing, she feeds her reading addiction and enjoys her retirement with her husband of 50 plus years, Charles. Their favorite retirement pastime is visiting historical sites and enjoying live theater. Visit her at www.cindyervinhuff.com.

 

 

 

Courage More Exhilarating than Fear

 

By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield

In my August 16^th blog, entitled “Eleanor and Franklin”, I left off with Eleanor’s decision whether to divorce Franklin and possibly ruin his career, or stay with him, knowing he loved Mary Mercer.

Eleanor and Franklin knew of the social stigma attached to divorce in the early 1900s. Franklin had to choose. He could either dissolve his affair with Mary, keep his and Eleanor’s marriage intact and thereby save the Roosevelt name and spare his career. Or he could divorce Eleanor and marry the new love of his life, Mary.

Eleanor’s heart was wounded. She couldn’t believe her husband, whom she adored and graced with six children, could do such a thing.

Franklin had fallen into the trap an attractive woman can weave around a man whose wife is busy with children and running a household.

Franklin and Eleanor admitted their shortcomings, and both knew what divorce would do for Franklin’s political career and the Roosevelt name. Eleanor was most concerned about her children. She knew well what it was like growing up without a father. So, they mutually agreed not to divorce.

 Lucy Page Mercer went off and married Winthrop Rutherfurd, a wealthy widower with six children of his own. Because of Lucy, Eleanor lost her trust in Franklin. This haunted her. But she had her children to consider.

She once wrote, “Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

Eleanor might have recalled Grandmother Hall, how she sacrificed her life for her husband and, when he died, her sons (see my May 15^th blog entitled ‘Young Eleanor’). Grandmother had lost her identity. Was that what Eleanor was guilty of doing?

The year now was 1918; America had entered the war, and Eleanor threw herself back into volunteer work and her passion for child labor, tenement conditions, education reform, and civil rights. The war concluded, but Eleanor’s volunteer work did not.

Then it happened. The year was now 1921: on a sunny August day, Franklin was thirty-five years old, and the unexplainable happened. Franklin contracted polio.

Though the exact source is unknown, Franklin may have been exposed to the polio virus by visiting a Boy Scout camp in New York, by drinking contaminated water or eating spoiled food shortly before his vacation to Canada. It so happened the family was vacationing at their cottage at Campobello Island, Canada.

It was during this vacation at the family’s cottage, sailing on his yacht, when Franklin fell overboard and plunged suddenly into the icy waters of the Bay of Fundy, that he complained afterward of lower back pain and went for a swim in hopes to ease the soreness. But as the day progressed, he could not feel his legs, and he became weaker and weaker, so that by the third day, his legs could not hold his weight. His skin became extremely sensitive. Just a wisp of a breeze sweeping his body caused him pain.

Eleanor was beside herself with worry. She could not bear seeing her husband suffer like this. She contacted a massive number of doctors. Each had their own idea. Finally, it was on August 25, 1921, physician Dr. Robert Lovett diagnosed Franklin as having infantile paralysis (polio).

Eleanor and Franklin could not believe this diagnosis. It was uncommon for a middle-aged person to contract polio. Most acquire it during infancy and become immune by age four.

“In order for a person to combat poliomyelitis,” Lovett explained, “they must be in good emotional and physical health and have a healthy immune system.”

Franklin recalled being frequently ill as a young boy, and for the past few years he’d been leading a stressful life in politics that could have weakened his immunity.

Franklin’s mother wanted him to forget policies and focus on less stress and more rest. Eleanor urged her husband not to give up trying to walk or quit politics. After all, what would their children think if their father gave into this disease?

Eleanor was keenly aware of what depression and hopelessness could do to a man. First her father and the cousins with whom she was raised, who succumbed depression and then to alcohol addiction were key examples of this. She encouraged Franklin, focusing on his attributes, ignoring his disabilities. She exclaimed she would use her own growing political network to bolster his career.

Franklin understood and pressed on. He realized that in swimming, his legs could hold his weight. He started there, worked hard, and grew stronger. He was fitted with braces and when the time came, Eleanor urged him to run for governor of New York. Again, Franklin’s mother and siblings urged him not to, saying that it would mean certain failure. After all, he was bound to a wheelchair.

Eleanor told him she would be his ears and legs, not to quit. She’d be his co-pilot, and he would never be happy or content without knowing if he could live up to his full potential. Franklin’s political advisor, Louis Howe, urged him to do so as well.

His mother was opposed to this. Masking his disability at home was

altogether one thing versus the challenges of speaking engagements and public gatherings. How would he navigate to the podium? Greeting listeners? It would be so much easier to stay home and admit God wanted it that way. He could always write.

Eleanor had unfailing confidence in her husband’s ability to serve his fellow Americans while attaining his dreams. She refused to think God’s will for her husband was to live as a hermit within the confines of the walls of his paralysis. Maybe the evil one, but never God’s will for her husband not to fulfill his destiny.

Franklin, encouraged by his wife’s confidence in him, devised his own “walking” method. He used a cane and his son’s arm for balance, maneuvering his hips and swinging his legs forward in a swaying motion to make it appear he was walking. Stairs were the worst challenge. He supported his weight with his arms, holding himself up as if he were on parallel bars; he’d swing his way down toward the next step.

Eleanor would one day display her feelings about Franklin’s accomplishment by writing in My Day, “Courage is more exhilarating than fear, and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”

In 1928, Franklin D. Roosevelt became governor of New York. Eleanor was ecstatic that her husband won yet, apprehensive of what her role would be. After all, she’d promised to be her husband’s ears and legs. She would attend the functions that her husband could not, be his voice, and give Americans confidence and assurance for their future; was she up to this rigorous challenge?

As I write in my novel, Destiny of Heart, America’s future looked bright after World War I. The 920s roared in with gin and booze, even though Prohibition forbade alcoholic beverages. America’s greed to turn a profit conquered that problem with bootleggers and speakeasies.

The stock market was reaching all-time highs, as Europe lay in darkness with debt and Germany experienced record unemployment and want. Americans danced gaily on, because the stock market was the place to get rich seemingly overnight. But the question often arose: would Europe’s problems reach America’s shores? Eleanor might have wondered what would be the outcome of it all? Praise God, her Franklin was governor, he’d know what to do.

DESTINY OF HEART: Confusion and uncertainty hover around Ruby McConnell Meir's skirts like the dust storms and droughts, weakening her faith. Will her husband live—or die?

The Roaring Twenties dive into the Great Depression. The McConnells battle for survival. Collina faces insurmountable odds to rescue Shushan. Rough Rider Franklin Long loses what money couldn’t buy. Is it too late to make right his failings?

“…I read it on my Kindle but bought copies in paperback for gifts. My friends loved it… A great book historically and a great testimony of God's faithfulness… Catherine's books just keep getting better and better.” Amazon Reader

Catherine is the award-winning author of Wilted Dandelions, Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, Waltz with Destiny, and Love's Final Sunrise. She has written two pictorial history books, The Lapeer Area and Eastern Lapeer, and short stories for Guideposts Books, CrossRiver Media Group, Revell Books, and Bethany House Publishers. Catherine and her husband of fifty-three years live on a ranch in Michigan and have two adult children, five grandchildren, four Arabian horses, two dogs, two cats, one bunny, and six chickens. See CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com for more information.

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franklin_D_Roosevelt_and_Eleanor_Roosevelt_1920.jpg 

Forbidden Romance: From First Impressions to Elopement

by Sherry Shindelar

Poetry drew Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning together before they ever met. They first learned of each other from the pages of their published books and admired each other’s writings from afar.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth, a well-known poet in 1840’s England, added a section to one of her own books defending Robert’s poetry against his critics. In turn, Robert was totally captivated by Elizabeth’s 1844 collection, Poems, and even went so far as to write her a fan letter, in January 1845, in which he stated, “I love your poems with all of my heart […] and I love you, too.”

But he was moving a little fast for Elizabeth. Her trust wasn’t to be won by a few fancy words. She was concerned that he was infatuated with her writing, not her. A man of determination, Robert used his pen to persuade her otherwise.

They exchanged letters for five months before they met in person for the first time: a meeting that deepened the roots of their growing love. However, Elizabeth’s father wasn’t about to give permission for anyone to court his daughter, especially not Browning, the son of a bank clerk.

Born to wealth, Elizabeth had grown up in her father’s twenty bedroom mansion, but by the time she was in her thirties she was an invalid whose life was controlled by her father and the doctors. At one point, the doctors took her inkstand away declaring that writing poetry was bad for her health. Her father tolerated the poetry, but he would not allow his daughter to receive visits from a man he believed to be a fortune-hunter.

Not to be deterred, Robert continued to write to Elizabeth and to visit secretly when he could manage it. During their twenty months of letter writing and secret courtship, they exchanged a total of 575 letters!

By August 1846, he had persuaded Elizabeth to elope with him. It would mean leaving her home and her close-knit family, possibly forever, but Robert was the love of her life and her best friend. She was willing to risk everything for him.

On September 12, 1846, Elizabeth snuck out of house and met Robert at a parish church. There, they were wed. A week later, Robert spirited her away to Italy. Her father was outraged. He disinherited and disowned Elizabeth and refused to accept her letters or ever see her again.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning

Meanwhile, Elizabeth flourished in the warmth of Robert’s love and Italy. Her health improved significantly, they had a son, and she wrote the best poetry of her lifetime: Sonnets from the Portuguese, a collection of love poems written during her courtship and the early years of her marriage, and Aurora Leigh.

Elizabeth became seriously ill in the summer of 1861 and died in Robert’s arms a few months later. He went on to become one of Britain’s greatest poets in his own right, but he never remarried.

Their love is canonized here in one of Elizabeth’s poems:

Sonnet 43

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

I'm a romantic at heart, and I love to bring romance into my stories, stories where love takes root, survives, and thrives despite the obstacles and odds.

Sherry Shindelar author

Originally from Tennessee, Sherry loves to take her readers into the past. A romantic at heart, she is an avid student of the Civil War and the Old West. When she isn’t busy writing, she is an English professor, working to pass on her love of writing to her students. Sherry is a multi-award-winning writer. She currently resides in Minnesota with her husband of forty years. She has three grown children and three grandchildren.

Connect with Sherry: website, newsletter, Amazon, FB, Goodreads

Texas Reclaimed

Can love blossom between a woman haunted by her family’s past and a man with a war-scarred heart?

Cora Scott is determined to hold onto her family's Texas ranch and provide a stable home for her young half brother, Charlie, despite the mounting challenges of post-Civil War frontier life. But when a scheming creditor threatens to seize their land, she must accept help from Ben McKenzie, a former Yankee soldier sent by her late brother. Though Ben's generosity and strength draw her, the man's private struggle she stumbles upon—too reminiscent of her father's alcoholism—makes her question whether she can trust her heart to him.

Ben McKenzie arrives in Texas intent on fulfilling his promise to his dying friend to protect Cora and Charlie. While using his inheritance to save their ranch, he battles not only the loss of their cattle but also his dependency on laudanum—a medicine that turned into a curse after his imprisonment at Andersonville. As his feelings for Cora deepen, he must choose between his promise to his father to take over their Philadelphia newspaper and his growing dream of a life with Cora in Texas.

Mary Todd Lincoln's House Museum in Lexington, Kentucky

Last month I shared about our visit to Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace, so this month I want to share about our visit to Mary Todd Lincoln’s house in Lexington, Kentucky.

I first want to say that this house sits in downtown Lexington, with several modern amenities all around it. The fact that this has been preserved is amazing. And I found the history presented helping to tell a larger story about the Lincoln family, including the differences between Abraham and Mary’s backgrounds. As a Lincoln fan, this was a bucket list item, and I'm so grateful we had time on our trip to visit the museum.

The Outside 

There is a tiny parking lot in the back where you can enter a courtyard before walking around to the front of the house. The courtyard includes signs that share a historic overview. I'm putting these images in larger, so you can read them.

One of the most interesting things I learned in just the garden, was that Mary came from an affluent family, was well educated for a woman during that time period, and had a keen interest in politics. When she met Lincoln, this common interest is what brought them together.

The other interesting thing was that she had a brother who served in the confederate army during the civil war. Talk about a topic that divided a family! I can only imagine the stress this added to both these families lives. Besides having opposing views about slavery (Mary’s father owned slaves while at the same time opposed slavery - I know - a bit confusing), when her brother was killed, and her sister came to the White House to mourn with Mary, Mary was called out by some to be a south sympathizer for allowing her sister in the White House

In some ways Mary was in a no-win situation. But she was a strong woman, standing by her husband no matter what. It was documented she was a firm supporter of her husbands politics and never wavered on that point.

Once you walk through the gardens you enter onto the street to come in through the front door.

The Inside Highlights

Inside there is both a self-guided tour option and a tour guide option. Due to timing, we did the self-guided tour. The signs, the map, and the details presented made it enjoyable and educational.

I don’t have space to share all the pictures I took, but we were able to tour the parlor, the dining room, the kitchen area, the sitting rooms, and the bedrooms upstairs. The main bedroom included a small childs room extended within it, for the babies and toddlers to be taken care of.

Each room had a card pointing out highlights and the history on the room.

In one of the rooms was a Binder that had pictures of Mary in several of her White House Dresses. I enjoyed seeing new photos of her and the different styles she wore. The order shared a perspective of the scrutiny she was under.

 

 

In the sitting rooms, replica china from the white house were displayed.

 

In Summary

I have always been a fan of Lincoln and have enjoyed being able to visit his birthplace, the Lincoln theater in DC (along with the building across the street where he passed), reading books on him, and now learning more about his wife and her background. She had a huge influence on Lincoln becoming President. In almost every way, they were a team. I can't even imagine what his death must've been for her.

She didn't have family she could go back to or who would offer her support (her mother had passed when she was young and her step-mother wanted to get them out of the house as quickly as possible). And the media were not kind to her. Hard to escape the labels given on such a grand scale.

When I was reading through all the museums displays, I tried to see Mary and her choices later in life through her point of view. She faced a lot of challenges. And lost a lot.

If you'd like to learn more about Mary, this article from The Epoch Times on Mary (titled Maligned, Mistreated, and Mad: The Tragedy of Mary Lincoln) provides a lot more detail.

If you are ever in the Lexington area, I highly recommend a visit. There's also a small gift shop on the premises. You would need anywhere from 1-3 hours depending on how much you like to read and study what's provided.

 

 

Book 4 in Denise M. Colby's Best-laid Plans Series

California, 1870. Pastor William Baker built his life on steady faith and safe choices, but the arrival of Lydia Spencer upends everything. Independent and outspoken Lydia is unlike any woman he’s ever known. Lydia is a Pinkerton detective, undercover as a schoolteacher while tracking a dangerous crime boss. She’s determined to protect her friends in Washton even if it means keeping her distance from the kind, steadfast pastor who sees too much. But when Will and Lydia are thrown together in a search for truth they find themselves fighting not only for justice, but for a future neither had planned.

Denise M. Colby writes historical romance sweetened with faith, hope, and love. She finds history fascinating and contemplates often how it was to live in the 1800's. Her debut novel, When Plans Go Awry, is a 2025 Carol Award finalist. Sign up for her newsletter at www.denisemcolby.com or follow Denise on Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub, Pinterest, or GoodReads.