PROLOGUE (from Not Quite The Same)
Picture two cowboys riding along on their horses. Wide open spaces surround them. They move at a leisurely pace with little conversation. One of them breaks the silence, turns to his friend, and says, “No matter where you ride to, that’s where you are.”
Gosh, I love that guy.
Wait a minute. I am that guy.
I traded horses for horse power, and I left my home and family in Texas to head for the wide open spaces that called me as clearly as the Southern Baptist revival preachers of my childhood had called me to salvation. The wide open spaces were neither wide nor open, but I found my salvation.
From the rocky beaches of the Pacific Northwest to the sandy seashores of South Carolina in the southeast, I roamed. Along the way, I rode with brave cowhands who looked for answers in a land of questions. No matter where I rode to, that’s where I was.
I made mistakes. I believed that the pasture was greener on the other side of the fence. More than once. So much for fences.
I learned that laughter was a cure for much of what ails us. I never learned when it wasn’t.
I moved from the shame and fear of my early years as a lesbian growing up in small towns in Texas to the pride and confidence that became my redemption.
Take a ride with me.
* * *
That's the opening of Sheila Morris's sequel to her prize-winning memoir Deep in the Heart -- A Memoir of Love and Longing. And what a ride she takes the reader on -- from coast to coast, from girl to woman, from closet lesbian to gay rights activist.
Watch for it. It's from Red Letter Press. ISBN 9780966119947. $14.95.
Available soon on Amazon. Available always from Red Letter Press, 6148 Rutledge Hill, Columbia, S.C. 29209. Also available from the author: www.writersheilamorris.com
Email: redletterpress@gmail.com
Website: http://redletterpress.googlepages.com
