Johnny Damon christened the 2004 Red Sox

A clean-shaven Johnny Damon stared down an umpire in a 2005 spring training game. By Googie man on en.wikipedia (From en.wikipedia; description page is (was) here) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

A clean-shaven Johnny Damon stared down an umpire in a 2005 spring training game. By Googie man on en.wikipedia (From en.wikipedia; description page is (was) here) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Out of Left Field notes how quickly the sports world labeled the 2004 Red Sox “a bunch of idiots.”

More forget that Boston stalwart Johnny Damon created the title as a badge of honor for his team.

See how Damon explained the term in his 2005 Idiot book:

Saluting Boston Hall of Famer Joe Castiglione, voice of the Red Sox

We know him as the voice of the Red Sox. Colgate University knows him as "class of '68."

We know Joe as the voice of the Red Sox. Colgate University knows him as “class of ’68.”

In Out of Left Field, Brandon listened to him. Everyone did. Then, and now, he’s the voice of the Red Sox.

 In fact, Joe Castiglione was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2014.

 Here’s a taste of what it’s like to share the broadcast booth with the man who asked Red Sox fans “Can you believe it?” after Boston’s 2004 World Series championship:

Molly decodes her Fire in the Heart family tree

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. grabbed the PBS spotlight with his 2012 genealogy show, Finding Your Roots. By Jon Irons [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. grabbed the PBS spotlight with his 2012 genealogy show, Finding Your Roots. By Jon Irons [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Without reality TV shows or fancy websites, Molly found a way to learn about her family’s history.

Today, she might have a future working in the field.

From Fire in the Heart to today: California gold prospecting

California Governor Earl Warren posed with a boy dressed as a gold prospector for the state's 1950 centennial celebration. By California Centennials Commission [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

California Governor Earl Warren posed with a boy dressed as a gold prospector for the state’s 1950 centennial celebration. By California Centennials Commission [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Molly’s ancestors were part of the California Gold Rush, considered by many to have lasted from 1846-49.

However, other accounts indicate that the desire to discover gold has never ended.

Play Ball! Get Out of Left Field at a great price

OutofLeftFieldCoverNo April fooling about this.

To celebrate the coming of the 2015 baseball season, my Out of Left Field is on sale through April 15. The paperback has a special discount price only at the Untreed Reads publisher website.

Meanwhile, the e-book is discounted 30 percent at the publisher e-store or OmniLit.com, DriveThruFiction.com, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Apple, and Kobo.

Play ball!

Serialized fiction: from West Against the Wind to Charles Dickens

From newspaper serialized fiction to literary stardom: Charles Dickens See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

From newspaper serialized fiction to literary stardom: Charles Dickens See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The predecessor to Fire in the Heart is West Against the Wind, which began as serialized fiction.

My great-grandfather, Reuben Ketchum, wrote serial stories for newspapers in the 19th century.

For others, like Charles Dickens, serialized fiction was the springboard to literary stardom.

A gold nugget to rival the Fire in the Heart treasure?

A once-buried treasure! By User SilkTork on en.wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

A once-buried treasure! By User SilkTork on en.wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Molly’s mother believed that one ancestor had buried a gold nugget somewhere in California.

Those treasures are still being found.

Red Sox need no snow shovels in spring training

Vintage Fenway! By BPL [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Vintage Fenway Park By BPL [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Did I mention that there’s no snow in Fort Myers? We hope Fenway Park is clear of the white stuff when the season begins.

Are you following the news from spring training? You can bet Brandon (Out of Left Field) would be.

Forget The Raven: This Vermont Griswold became real-life Edgar Allan Poe foe

Rufus Wilmot Griswold By Uncredited [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Rufus Wilmot Griswold By Uncredited [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Griswold, the town in Fire in the Heart, was named for my early Vermont ancestors.

One Griswold who began life in Vermont became a controversial literary figure and rival to famed author Edgar Allan Poe.

Making the Fire in the Heart locale real to readers

Could you imagine your favorite book locale on a globe? Christian Fischer [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Could you imagine your favorite book’s locale on a globe? Christian Fischer [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The setting for Fire in the Heart, Griswold, is a fictional Vermont town. I invented it all, down to a map of the community. Here are more pseudo-places existing only in books.