Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Clarence and Dudley, Christmas Angels First Class



If you're like me, the Christmas season doesn't seem complete without a viewing of the holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life. I'm sure you know the story: George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), a good man frustrated by life, is about to commit suicide when he is visited by an angel, Clarence (Henry Travers). Clarence shows George what life in the town of Bedford Falls would be like if George had never been born. George learns that he is rich indeed, because he has the love and respect of so many people. No one in my house can get through the movie with a dry eye.

BUT- I bet many of you have never seen another movie with similar themes, that was also released in 1947- The Bishop's Wife (though more of you may have seen the 1996 remake, The Preacher's Wife.) I've seen the original version two or three times, but this year I just happened to see it soon after seeing It's a Wonderful Life, and the two movies together have given me a lot to think about.




In The Bishop's Wife, David Niven plays Bishop Henry Brougham. The Bishop prays for help to get a new cathedral built -it is his dream project, but has encountered many snags. The answer to his prayer is a suave angel, Dudley, played by Cary Grant. To the Bishop's dismay, everyone seems to love Dudley more than they love him, even his wife Julia (Loretta Young). Dudley even visits the wealthy widow that has been hesitant to contribute to the bishop's project... the angel convinces her to make a huge donation, but not for a cathedral. Instead, she insists (at Dudley's suggestion) on giving the money to the poor. It seems that Dudley was not sent to help the bishop build his impressive cathedral -he was sent to teach him what is really important. Henry realizes that he must fight to win back his long-ignored wife's affection.



In some ways, this movie is almost the opposite of It's a Wonderful Life. George Bailey is a good man who doesn't realize how good he is, and how much he had meant to his town; he thinks he is a failure. He is visited by a rather bumbling angel, who shows him just how loved he is.



Henry Brougham is the opposite of George Bailey; he is arrogant and self-righteous. He is not really trying to build a cathedral for God, he is doing it for himself. He is sent a debonair angel, who basically shows him that he is an arsehole, and had better change his ways before he loses his family. The lesson is learned. Instead of learning, as George did, that he has been a good man all along, the bishop learns to become a good man- or at least find the good man dormant within him.



Ultimately, though, both angels bring the same message to the prayerful supplicants who summoned them.

You have so much to be grateful for.

You are so blessed.

Angels are envious of what you have.

The most important thing in life is giving to those in need... who are less fortunate than you. Praying doesn't bring you more physically -rather, God calls on you to give more. And then your non-physical blessings will grow.




All those messages are perfect for this season -and for every day. Next year, I highly recommend you watch them back-to-back and think on what Clarence and Dudley have to say.

Heck, there's no reason you have to wait for next year.


PS: Another thing the two films have in common- Robert Anderson, who plays young George Bailey and a singer in a choir that the angel Dudley works with.


 














Thursday, December 20, 2012

99 cent Christmas stories, and more

Jacquie Rogers is featuring several 99 cent books at her site on Dec. 20 and 21.... (if you're reading this after the 21st, several of the books are regularly 99 cents while some have been marked down to that price.)

She has collected them into several categories:


Christmas ebooks
Western ebooks
Fantasy ebooks

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Lines of Blue and Gray, now in paperback

LINES OF BLUE AND GRAY: TALES OF THE CIVIL WAR is now available in paperback as well as an ebook...

"Short stories by Troy D. Smith, winner of the Spur and Peacemaker Awards

The American Civil War was by far the most dramatic time in U.S. history. No one could escape its influence who lived in America while it was fought; indeed, we can still not escape its influence today. It was a contest for the soul of the nation, to define who and what America was to be.

And that's a heck of a great setting for a story.

This volume is a collection of several Civil War short stories I've written over the years, as well as stand-alone excerpts from three novels. In some, the heroes are the Yankees and the villains are the Rebels-in others, vice versa.

It's all about perspective."

Paperback, $9.99- https://www.createspace.com/4094503
amazon, $2.99-  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AJSLHC8
smashwords, $2.99- http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/264269




Tuesday, December 11, 2012

A Wolf Creek Christmas!

The third volume of Western Fictioneers' collaborative novel series is out now- Wolf Creek 3: Murder in Dogleg City!

"Dogleg City is what folks in Wolf Creek call the seedy part of town. Life is cheap there, and death is common. At first this murder seemed like any other –but the more Marshal Sam Gardner and his deputies learn about it, the more it seems this death will blow Wolf Creek wide open…"

The western lover in your life (even if it's you!) would surely appreciate finding paperback copies of the first three Wolf Creek volumes in their stocking.... I'm just sayin'.



Appearing as Ford Fargo in Book 3:

Chuck Tyrell
Phil Dunlap
Matthew P. Mayo
L. J. Washburn
Troy D. Smith
Jerry Guin

BUY IT IN PAPERBACK
BUY IT FOR KINDLE
BUY IT FOR NOOK


And in Book 2: Kiowa Vengeance-

Jackson Lowry
Bill Crider
Kerry Newcomb
Robert J. Randisi
Frank Roderus
Troy D. Smith


BUY IT IN PAPERBACK
BUY IT FOR KINDLE
BUY IT FOR NOOK


And Book 1, BLOODY TRAIL:

James Reasoner
L. J. Martin
Cheryl Pierson
Clay More
James J. Griffin
Troy D. Smith




BUY IT IN PAPERBACK
BUY IT FOR KINDLE
BUY IT FOR NOOK





Friday, December 7, 2012

Lines of Blue and Gray: Tales of the Civil War

 
 
The American Civil War was by far the most dramatic time in U.S. history. No one could escape its influence who lived in America while it was fought; indeed, we can still not escape its influence today. It was a contest for the soul of the nation, to define who and what America was to be.
And that’s a heck of a great setting for a story.

This volume is a collection of several Civil War short stories I’ve written over the years, as well as stand-alone excerpts from three novels. In some, the heroes are the Yankees and the villains are the Rebels—in others, vice versa.

It’s all about perspective.
 
Buy it on kindle HERE... available soon on other platforms.
 
 

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Christmas Comes to Freedom Hill

This short story, originally published in Christmas Campfire Companion, is now available as an e-book short. It's one I'm very proud of.

It is a story of faith, hope, and love... and Christmas miracles.



Little Danny Jordan and his family joined a wagon train headed West after the Civil War... they were Exodusters, ex-slaves banded together to establish their own town, which they named Freedom Hill. But a greedy cattle baron wants the town gone, and threatens to bring an army to burn it down if the Exodusters aren't gone by Christmas. Danny prays for a miracle for his town, but especially for his pa -a Union veteran who is now the marshal of Freedom Hill...

BUY IT HERE for kindle...
Or check out the Smashwords edition HERE