I Learn Something New Every Day

I loved history even back when I was a young boy in school, and I was always asking questions. So many questions that I think I frustrated my teachers sometimes. I remember once when I asked two or three questions about whatever the lesson was that day, my teacher told me that I had a very curious mind. I didn’t know what that meant, but she assured me it was a good thing, and she told me I should try to learn something new every day.

That was good advice and I’ve tried to follow it ever since. Living and traveling in an RV fulltime for over 17 years certainly helped that. We have seen so many things and done so much that most people never have the opportunity to do. I learned more on the road than I ever did in classroom, and now that we are living in a house part of the year and traveling the rest, I’m still learning. And it’s always amazing to me the things I discover.

Here’s an example – a few days ago I talked about genealogy and how it can be good story fodder for a writer. You may recall that I mentioned my great-uncle, who worked for the First National Bank of Ludlow, Kentucky and discovered that the bank’s president was embezzling funds. A big scandal resulted and he was facing criminal charges. This was back somewhere around 1900 as I recall, and the bank president attacked my great-uncle on the steps of the bank with a walking stick. My great uncle responded by pulling out a pistol and shooting the man dead. Later on he was the City Treasurer of Ludlow, and then became president of that same bank.

While I was reading all of this I learned that there was a time when banks printed their own currency. Well, they didn’t actually print the money there, but they could post a bond with the U.S. Treasury and the Bureau of Printing and Engraving would send them bills that were partially printed but had a space for the bank’s name to be printed on them. Then they were signed by the bank president and became legal tender. These bills are now collector items and I looked online to see if I could find any available, preferably with my ancestor’s signature. I found a $10 bill from the bank with the signature from a different president selling for $495. No thanks, I don’t need it that bad. Here is a link to an article about local issue bank notes if anyone is interested.

Wednesday I finished The Gecko In The Corner, the second book in my John Lee Quarrels series. It came in at just under 73,000 words. After giving it a final read through, I printed it out and Terry is about 3/4 of the way through editing and proofing it. This afternoon it will go to the second proofreader and should be live by Sunday evening. Today I wrote the first chapter of the next book in the series, Badge Bunny, to include in the back of this one as a teaser.

Be sure to enter our latest. Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Point Taken, the tenth book in my friend Ben Rehder’s excellent Blanco County mystery series. I’ve read just about all of Ben’s books, and I don’t think he could write a bad story if he tried. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.

Thought For The Day – A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time. ~Anne Taylor Fleming

Check Out Nick’s E-Books In Our Online Store

Click Here For Back Issues Of The Gypsy Journal

Click Here To Subscribe To The Gypsy Journal