Rosanne Bittner's Blog

 

       Ispent most of today Sunday watching movies about Louis L’Amour’sSacket brothers. A lot of you remember those stories, I’m sure.The best part is that most of those movies starred Tom Selleck, SamElliot and Ben Johnson, as did a lot of other westerns. What’s awestern without those three? Tom and Sam were such natural “oldwest” characters.

       Imiss the days of good western movies. Today, Hollywood is too removedfrom reality to know how to make a true western anymore, and notteaching history in school the way it shouldbe taught has stolen children’s minds of the excitement andadmiration for how this country grew. There are no westerns on TVanymore, no real heroes, no conception of the bravery and fortitudeof our early pioneers.

       Iwonder how many of you remember the TV mini-series called CENTENNIAL.That series took western settlement from the early days of the furtrappers and mountain men through the land rushes and pioneers, theIndian wars and struggles, the building of the railroads and the sadkilling off of millions of buffalo, the gold discoveries and thegrowth of big cities like San Francisco, the struggles with outlawsand finally the establishment of law and order in a wild, sometimescruel land that was sometimes savage and brutal itself. Who else butJames Michener could write such great history? The series was basedon his book, which is set in Colorado, as is my own series, SAVAGEDESTINY. Michener wrote those “big, fat books” I always loved toread, including one about Hawaii.

       CENTENNIALinspired my desire to write a big story about the settling of theWest. I love using the gradual settlement of a certain area as thebackground for my books. I try hard to use only truth when it comesto events and places, with only the characters being fictitious. Intoday’s modern world it is really hard to get your mind and spiritinto yesteryear. A writer needs to study hard, to be alone and useevery facet of the imagination to be able to place himself or herselfinto those “old days” of no conveniences, no A/C, norefrigeration, no running water and toilets, no electricity in remoteplaces, no fancy furniture or comfy mattresses, no convenience storesfor a quick quart of milk and ready-made butter, no showers and fancysoaps, and worst of all, no ready-to-buy medicine for colds and fluand pain. Yes, the “good old days” were more peaceful andprobably better for teaching young ones how to work hard and earntheir way, but when it comes to medicine, they were not such “goodold days” at all.

       Iam sort of rambling here, but watching a movie based on a LouisL’Amour book refreshes my memory of how and why I started writingwesterns and history itself. My books are not always westerns. I havecovered pre-Revolution years through post-Revolution years, the CivilWar, the War of 1812, the Mexican war, the building of theTranscontinental Railroad and other historical novels, but my firstlove and the bulk of my writing involves my favorite subject of all– the Old West, cowboys, Native Americans, pioneers, outlaws andlawmen.

       It'stoo bad that today’s TV and movie-makers seem to have abandonedthat theme, but what goes around usually comes around, so I alwayshold out hope that such subject matter will rise again in the mindsand hearts of movie-makers and the viewers. I think one of the bestmovies that depicts the gradual demise of the true “cowboy” isMONTE WALSH, starring Tom Selleck. I always cry at the end of thatmovie. And the best movie about the end of the old “live by thegun” lawmen and shootists is the movie THE SHOOTIST, starring JohnWayne. Not only is that movie a great depiction of the end of an era,but it was John Wayne’s last movie before he died. How perfect andfitting is that? My God, what a career that man had.

       Maybeit’s just my age that makes me nostalgic about those old westerns,and maybe the general public will continue to lose its interest asyounger people move in to take over, but there is always hope that“The Wild West” will rise again in the minds and hearts of moviemakers and movie viewers. We need more Kevin Costners, one of the fewmodern men who seems to understand how to make a good western, likeOPEN RANGE. It’s one of my favorites. And then, of course, there isDANCES WITH WOLVES. Even YELLOWSTONE is, in its own way, a western.So much of the dialogue in that series is so true and heartfelt whenthey talk about what is happening to Montana. How absolutely fittingit was that the Yellowstone Ranch ended up being gifted back to theNative Americans. That says a lot.

       Well,so much for my nostalgia. It hurts my heart to realize that mostyoung people have little appreciation for how this country wassettled and the bravery it took to do it. But that’s not theirfault. It’s the fault of our teaching system that leaves out somuch of our important history. I hope you will do what you can inyour local school system to bring real history back to ourclassrooms.

       It’sone of those nights. I’m sure you have all experienced it. You areso sleepy. You go to bed. Two hours later your eyes pop wide open andevery “to-do” item begins marching through your brain, along withold memories, and all the “what if’s,” and the worries overchildren/grandchildren, or maybe a sibling or parent that is havingproblems.

       Ishould sleep because I have so much to do tomorrow.But you can’tsleep because you can’t stop thinking about all the things you needto do tomorrow (or perhaps “today” because the wee morning isalready here.

       Howcan I stop this? How can I shut off my brain?

       Well,usually it can’t be done. TV gets so boring … all those old showsyou have watched for 50 years and know all the lines to … all thosetedious shopping networks … all those advertising programs, vacuumcleaners, magic spot removers, leg exercisers, massage mats, hosesthat crinkle back into a fist-size ball … you know what I mean.Late-night/overnight TV is incredibly tedious and repetitious.

       Mybiggest problem with sleeping through the night is thinking about allthe stories I still want to write, as well all my characters from allmy books. They are so alive to me, and I can’t help hoping theywill live on long after I am gone. It’s a nice feeling to know Iwill leave something behind for others to enjoy, and that a part ofme will still be with my readers and with future readers I will nevermeet.

       Iguess I’m getting too sentimental here. That, too, seems to move inwith force in the middle of the night. Seems like every memory andemotion becomes exaggerated and magnified when you are lying awakeand staring at the ceiling.

       Irefuse to take sleeping aids. They can be habit forming and I usuallyfeel crummy in the morning. I figure if I can’t sleep, I will getup and do something … write. That is why I am writing this blog. Ididn’t plan it at all. When I blog, it is usually spontaneous, andusually at 2:00 am or some such ungodly hour. I never have slept in.Ever. If I sleep past 7 am I feel guilty for being so lazy. Even whenI am wide awake at this ridiculous hour, if and when I fall asleep, Istill don’t sleep past 7. But 99% of the time I am awake again at4:00 am and I get up and get things ready for the day, like layingout some clothes, putting away dishes from the dishwasher, makingcoffee, packing a little food and notebooks for my part-time job atWhirlpool, things like that. Sometimes I pack my laptop because Iwrite everywhere, including at work when things get slow.

       Thatbrings back memories of writing itself. That’s how I used to writewhen my boys were little and I had a full-time job. I did what I call“sneak writing” at work and I wrote through my lunch hours. Iwrote early mornings. I wrote after supper and into the night afterthe family went to bed. I almost never watched TV because it tookaway from my writing. I wrote in the corner of the living room in ourthen-tiny house while the boys wrestled and goofed off 3 feet awayand the TV blared 5 feet away. I learned how to block things out. Igot lost in my stories and ignored everything else. I will never knowhow I did it or when I slept, other than knowing I never got morethan 4-5 hours of sleep at night.

       Myonly problem now is that it’s a lot harder for me to sit for hoursand hours at the computer, and it’s harder to multi-task like that.It takes me longer to finish a book now, and that’s one of thethings I lie awake at night thinking about. I think I should just getup and write, but I’m a bit worn out … kind of like a brick layeror someone on an assembly line or a waitress who has spent years onher feet. The body just gets tired. And for a writer, even the braingets tired.

       Thankgoodness, I still have lots of energy … but not the energy I had“back in the day.” That doesn’t mean I’m not writing, becauseI am,and I intend to keep doing so for however many years I have left onthis earth. I just don’t turn out a book every 4-6 months like Iused to. So, please hang in there with me because I still lovewriting and love my characters and love all of you readers forsticking with me and supporting my writing.

       Meantime,here I am wide awake. I am printing out the first 4 chapters to IF ILOVED YOU, which I have edited over and over. After all the books Ihave written, somehow I have been doubting myself and feel like Ijust can’t get this story right. But, as I have done before, Idecided I had better just keep going. The stories usually always workout, and by the time I finish, I already know how to handle thebeginning. But I will save an explanation for how I come up with mystories for another blog.

       Ihope you are enjoying the summer!

 

 

       Somethingrecently happened to a close friend of the family that made me givemore thought than usual to motherhood. Our children likely take itfor granted that mom will always be there for them. I felt that waymyself through most of my life. But in the case of my friend, herdaughter-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby girl just a week agoand all was fine … they thought. 6 days later the mommy died …totally unexpected. It was a huge shock to the family. The ordeal ofa difficult birth did more damage than anyone realized, and herorgans suddenly shut down, leaving her husband with a son almost 4years old, another son only 2, and now a brand new baby girl to carefor. Mommy was a fabulous mom who did all kinds of activities withher youngsters, was all set up to home school them, and in so manyways went beyond the norm to be a good mother … and now she’sgone. The baby girl will never know what a wonderful person her mommywas.

         Haveyou ever watched a Killdeer running back and forth and squawking herhead off almost constantly if you get anywhere near her eggs?Killdeers lay their eggs in rocks or gravel, and they can be veryannoying as they give out an endless piercing cry to protect theireggs or the babies that come out of them. Robins can be annoying,too, if they build a nest on your front porch. The mother will fly inand out, swooping very close to your head if you are sitting on theporch. She is trying to warn you to back off. And, of course, we havealways heard never to get too close to the babies of any wildanimals. The mother might attack, especially mother bears. All theyare doing is protecting their young, just like human mothers do.

        Iknow Mother’s Day is over, but every day should be Mother’s Day.Mothers do so much to love, care for and protect their childrenphysically, emotionally, and sometimes financially. Often, when achild reaches 12 – 18 years in age, mom continues to push for toomany hugs because there is nothing she loves more than hugs from herbabies, but then the child becomes more proud and independent and nolonger wants those hugs. He or she hides their head when riding withmom to school or a ballgame. They don’t want to be seen with aparent, especially a clinging mom. Heaven forbid mom should lean infor a kiss on the cheek in front of others. That’s when Momrealizes it’s time to let go.

        Butwe never let go, do we? It’s impossible. That child could now be 50years old, but to mom he is her “child.” It helps when we havegrandchildren and great-grandchildren to dote on, but the soulconnection of mother and child is very strong. And eventually,the child who didn’t want hugs in front of their friends comes backaround and begins to appreciate mom all over again. The sad part is,we appreciate our mothers more than ever once they are gone. I wish Icould have a second chance with my mom, to tell her all the things Ishould have told her when she was here with me, a chance to give herall the extra hugs I should have given her then.

        Withthis recent loss of a baby’s mommy, it hit me how lucky I am tohave known my own mom all my life. There is a little baby girl outthere now who will never have a true “mommy,” and two little boyswho will be wondering why mommy will never come home again. I can’timagine what that would feel like.

        So,treasure mother and thank God that you were blessed with her presenceand her love for most of your life.

        HappyMother’s Day to all of you each and every day … not just one daya year.

 

My Mom, Ardella Williams Reris, at 91.

 

        Nomatter how you look at it, the average woman wants a “real” man …a man who truly loves her to the point of adoration … a man who isa good provider … who understands what a woman needs and wants …a protector … a man who is strong for her but would never use thatstrength to abuse her.

        Atthe same time, we like to read about strong, brave women who matchthose strong men … women who appreciate their lover and protector.Even though they are brave in their own right, women in romancesrealize that they need and want a man by their side, and they lovehim in all the right ways. And I find it so much fun to write about awoman who has that strong man wrapped around her little finger …AND HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IT!

        Iam smiling as I write this. Jake and Randy in my Outlaw series, andZeke and Abbie from Savage Destiny are my favorite couples. Theyperfectly fit the kind of men and women I mentioned above. Most ofthe couples I write about also fit that description, but I guessbecause the man and woman in the two series above spend so many yearstogether and go through so much together, they have become myfavorites.

        Tome, romance isn’t always about hopping into bed and having hot sex,although that is also enjoyable reading. But there is sex that is theresult of true love, and gratuitous sex that is the result of lust,not love. I prefer writing the true love sex … the kind that bringsa couple together in a deep, abiding need to please each other …the kind of love that encompasses all emotions and is many times morefulfilling.

         Ireceived what I felt was a great compliment not long ago from areader. She praised my love scenes, telling me they were the bestshe’d ever read. That really warmed my heart because romancewriters do often wrestle with just how far to go in their sex scenes.They are not always as easy to write as readers might think. I havenever liked reading lustful love scenes that are gratuitous andwritten only to throw some hot sex into a story. Nor do I care forsexual encounters between strangers just because they want to feelgood and have dirty sex. My number one goal is to write a good lovestory about a couple whose love for each other helps them face thechallenges and conflict that is bound to come between two people whospend years together.

        Sexshould be very emotional. It should come from a desire to givepleasure to the partner because they adore each other, and to receivepleasure in return. Sex should be the result of sharing bodies rightdown to the core, both mentally and physically … to share pleasurethat lasts long after the actual sexual encounter.

        Weall know that a lot of men don’t understand what women really want,and it’s not even always the sexual act itself. Sometimes we justwant to be adored, to be held close, to be respected and protected. Ialways try to write heroes who do understand that. Sometimes theydon’t at the beginning of my story, but they end up falling sodeeply in love that the understanding just comes naturally.

        Sometimesthe hero has to be taught what true love is all about. That would beJake, who never understood the meaning of love until Miranda walkedinto his life. And sometimes the hero has to be taught that a womancan cure his loneliness. That would be Zeke. And both men, along withmany of my other heroes, have to be taught that they become strongerand braver, and they can control their anger and live with a tragicpast when they have a woman by their side who understands them andcan help them reason with their lawless urges. Nearly all men havethose urges and need to learn to control them. Having a woman andchildren to provide for and protect helps them make the rightdecisions. 

        Jake,of course, and Zeke, too, are unique in their desire to avenge wrongsagainst those they care about. Still, the very loved ones who drivethat need are the same people who help them see the wrong of it. Menlike the strong, brave, capable men who live in a lawless land arenot easy to reason with, so I try to write heroines who can standright up to such men and fearlessly demand that they control theirwild side.

        Still,my heroines can usually do a pretty good job of taking care ofthemselves and their families on their own if they have to. They arebrave and capable. No fainting flowers in my stories. But down deepinside, they love a man who makes them feel safe, a man who they knowwould stand in front of a train if it meant saving their life or thelives of their children. When I continue Jake and Randy’s story inmy next Outlaw book, I am thinking of calling the book SAFE IN HISARMS. Isn’t that a wonderful feeling? Randy mentions that severaltimes throughout the OUTLAW HEARTS series. “I feel safe in yourarms” – or – “Nothing can hurt me when I am here in yourarms.”

        Readingabout heroic men and women, and reading about true love has to be thenumber one reason romance is so popular. Don’t you think? I havealways told men that if they really want to know what women want,READ A ROMANCE!

 

 

PS -- the reissue of my 1989 book THIS TIME FOREVER is now available in trade paperback and ebook versions!  Read it for the first time or revisit an old friend:  https://amzn.to/4aWnsY9

 

        Well,dear readers, we have reached a new year. 2025 is a year I neverdreamed in my youth that I would ever see. I also never dreamed Iwould be 80 years old! That seems so impossible at 18 or 20, whenyour whole life is in front of you. I could write a book about all mymistakes, all my successes, all my regrets and all the things Icelebrate, all my bad decisions and all the good ones I made, all mysorrows and all my joy, all the places I’ve been to, and all theplaces I would still like to go.

       Icould preach to young people about what you learn overthe years that is truly important in life, and what has no value at all;the importance of using money wisely and not trying to impress otherswith it; the true value and true meaning of love, and how to let loveget you through the rough times; and oh my, you see plenty of thoserough times over 80 years of living. I would tell them good health ismore important than anything else in life, and that everything theyput in their mouths or breathe in or do to their bodies can affectthat health, not always right away but years and years later.

       Mostyoung people think they will live forever. They think it doesn’tmatter if they eat or drink or smoke something wrong because theybelieve they will always recover and/or heal … that months or yearslater it will all go away. I would tell them that it doesn’t, andthat the worst thing in the world that can happen to them is to livewith regrets in old age and have to think about the “what if’s”… “What if I had never used drugs?” “What if I never drank orsmoked?” “What if I hadn’t thought it was so important to geta tan?” “What if I had paid attention to eating better?” “Whatif I had saved all the money I spent on frivolous things that have noimportance?”

       I’mnot saying I have done any of those things. I feel pretty good aboutmy own life, but I see so many mistakes young people make today. Yes,or course I have a few regrets and “what if’s,” but I guess ittakes getting older to become wiser, and the old adage is that wehave to let young people make their own mistakes. That’s how theylearn what is important. But when it is young people you love whomyou see making those mistakes, it’s so hurtful and worrisome.

       Isuppose thinking this way is common when we get older. I rememberwhen I was in my teens that older people thought rock ‘n roll wasgoing to destroy our youth and they would all end up slovenlycriminals. I remember when girls had to always wear dresses andnylons to school. Pants and jeans were considered sloppy andembarrassing clothing never to be worn in public. (Gosh, now Ipractically live in jeans!) Makeup was frowned upon, and shaking thewrong body parts when dancing would destroy a girl’s reputation. Iguess Elvis Presley changed all that, didn’t he?

         Isee and hear myself thinking and saying things my grandmother andmother used to say to me. What goes around, comes around. It’s justthat we learn so much over the years that we know what can truly hurtand what we can be happy about. And we love our children andgrandchildren so much that we do everything we can to protect, defendand teach them, hoping they won’t live to regret anything they havedone, hoping they won’t get hurt and won’t know sorrow or badhealth or poverty or heartbreak. But try as we might, that’simpossible. They are going to do what they are going to do, and wecan’t stop it. We can only sit and watch, and pray they make gooddecisions based on actually listening to grandma and grandpa’sadvice.

       Iam so grateful to still be healthy, and overall, I am happy with howlife has turned out for me. I am especially grateful to God for mygift of writing and for all the 75(+) books I have had published overthese many years. I have been published for 42 years and actuallywriting books for about 46 years, not counting the poems and articlesI wrote over many years before I tried books. I am grateful for allmy readers who have kept me going, grateful my brain and fingersstill work just fine so I can write a few more books, and I am sograteful that so many of my stories have been reissued and are stillselling after all these years. I am grateful that, through my books,my name will go on for quite a while after I leave this earth, andyes, crazy me still believes I will meet some of my characters in thehereafter because they are so real to me that I feel as though theirspirits are what inspire me to write their stories, as though theywhisper them to me.

       Andso comes a new year, and another God-given chance to change what wefeel needs to be changed, to spend time with our loved ones, to go forward, leaving regrets behind and using lessons learned to enjoywhatever years still lie ahead. I wish there was a way to meet everysingle one of my readers. I am so grateful for all of you, and so Isay with true sincerity …

       HAPPYNEW YEAR 2025 TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!!!

        ANDHAPPY NEW YEAR 2025 TO YOUR SPOUSES, YOUR CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN,THE REST OF YOUR FAMILY AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!!!! TREASURE THEM ALL,AND TREASURE THE YEARS GOD HAS BLESSED YOU WITH.

 

 

       Hubby and I just finishedwatching DANCES WITH WOLVES for probably the 20th timesince the movie was released 34 years ago. Has it really been thatlong? Even so, DANCES WITH WOLVES remains important to history and toNative American life of the past. Any young people who do not knowmuch about our Native Americans would do well to watch DANCES WITHWOLVES. 

 

        The reason I mention this isbecause something different from the magnificent scenery and historyin the movie struck me while viewing it this time. In one scene theSioux tribe involved decides to move camp, and in just minutes theytake down their tepees and load them onto horses and travois, gathertheir remuda of horses and leave. What impressed me is how fast ourNative Americans could pick up and move everything. And that isbecause they did not need anything more than their buffalo skinhouses and the poles they cut to raise them … nothing more than theclothes on their backs (and most of those were also made of animalskins) … nothing more than pemmican (smoked or dried and poundedmeat) … berries that grew wild … and their bedrolls, utensils andweapons … again, all of it made from animals, trees and plants.

 

      How simple was such a life.Everything they needed came from Mother Earth and Her gifts of plantsand animals … everything they wore, cleansed themselves with,heated and cooked with, ate, and used for weapons. Just think of thetremendous work it is for us today to pick up move to a new home. Ittakes days, sometimes weeks to go through all our materialbelongings, throw out useless junk, give some of it away, pack what’sleft, hire movers to help us haul it to a new home, unpack and putaway our possessions, then consider how much it all cost us. Once itis all in place, we sit down and wearily look at all our “things”and decide if a certain picture or a piece of furniture belongs in adifferent spot. We need to call the electric company, the heatingcompany, the phone company, change our address with the post office,call the credit card banks and take care of a hundred other thingsinvolved with letting these places know we have moved to a newaddress.

 

        Do we really need so much“stuff?” Why are we so obsessed with having lots of “things,”let alone thinking they must be the best brands or prettiest designsor the most expensive “whatevers?” Even the first settlers whoheaded west tried to bring all kinds of possessions along, like bigpieces of furniture that had to be dumped along the way because suchthings made the wagons too heavy to be pulled through the mountains. 

 

        Today Christmas comes withrushing and shopping and spending money, all to give gifts that oftenturn out to be of no real significance to those who receive them.Some of those gifts are returned, and what is kept becomes justanother “possession” for he or she who receives the gift. I donot mean to sound like the Grinch here at all. I just worry that allthe planning and spending at Christmas time has become such a bigbusiness and such a perceived necessity that we lose track of thetrue meaning of Christmas. 

 

        Yes, wise men visited the babyJesus and brought gifts, as the future Savior’s parents rightlydeserved to survive and take care of their child. These were preciousgifts that had meaning at that time. But somehow man interpreted thatgift-giving as meaning we had to do the same for others at Christmas.It is a beautiful idea, but that first gift-giving did not mean thatgenerations later people had to go into worrisome debt to give giftsto each other. And when we do give gifts, we should remember that wedo so as a way of honoring the birth of Jesus, not because littleJohnny wants a new toy, or teenage Cindy wants a pair of cool jeansjust to impress her friends.

 

        The purpose of this blog issimply to remind others that most people are already bogged down withso many possessions that sometimes we build a new storage closet, buya new chest of drawers, or install an outdoor shed to put it all in.And once we do that, how often do use that gift? How often do wesecretly return a gift for something we need more? How important isit to have a house full of “stuff?”

 

        I am just as guilty of havinga house full of “things” as my neighbors, but in watching thoseSioux in DANCES WITH WOLVES gather their necessities and ride off soquickly, thought how nice it would be if it were that easy today. Ihave not moved, and I don’t even plan on it, but at times whenhubby and I talked about getting a new house, the thought of what itwould take to move out of the house we already live in made me decideto stay right where we are. Ugh! Going through the house and all theclosets and drawers and the garage and our shed would be a tremendousproject that I do not have the strength or energy for.  

        So, here I sit tonight,surrounded by all our pretty “things” but realizing none of it isall that important … realizing that somewhere along this trail ofshopping and decorating and baking and buying even more “stuff”for that decorating and for that Christmas meal and for all thosepresents I feel I need to wrap and give away, I forgot what it isreally all about. And that is the reason for this blog … just toremind everyone to give deep thought to the true meaning ofChristmas. It is about family and sharing and thanking God forsending His Son to earth to bring us hope and forgiveness.

 

        MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU.May Christmas Day make you thankful for all those gifts, but alsohelp you remember the true meaning of Christmas and the gift-givingthat comes with it. If all you can afford is the gift of love andcaring, that means just as much as a new “thing” that has onlymaterial value.

 

 

 

      Rememberthat song HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO by Bonnie Tyler?

       “Wherehave all the good men gone?” … “I need a hero. He’s gotta’be strong and he’s gotta’ be fast and he’s gotta’ be freshfrom the fight.”

      Watchthe official lyric video on YouTube. It so perfectly fits a romancereader’s vision of a hero. The background is western scenery, andthe shadowy figure of the man in the video reminds me of Jake. I lovethe lyrics and the great music that go with them. It seems whenevermost women think of a hero, they end up envisioning the rough andtumble cowboy. That is what is depicted in the lyric video. Even intoday’s times, we loved the modern cowboys in YELLOWSTONE,especially Rip and Kayce. Both were always so ready to protect anddefend, yet so understanding and loving toward the women in theirlives.

       Ofcourse, when I think of my own heroes, I think of John Hawkins fromTEXAS EMBRACE, Zeke Monroe from my SAVAGE DESTINY series, Colt Travisfrom THUNDER ON THE PLAINS, and so many more … 76 to be exact …and hero of heroes, Jake Harkner from my OUTLAW series.

       Itseems like today we need heroes more than ever. I see heroism andmasculinity watered down today in TV ads, books and movies, andespecially in today’s sitcoms. Why is the man in so many sitcomsthe goofy, blundering dunce and the wife (if they are even married)the smart, strong one in the relationship who is always rolling hereyes at the man’s ridiculous stupidity and weakness? Raymond’swife is always calling him an idiot, and he behaves like one. That’sjust one of many examples.

       Yes,I admire strong women, and few women today are as strong and brave asthe pioneer women of the past. How they managed to handle the thingsthey had to put up with and work as hard as they did while havingbabies alone on the prairie and making all their own and the family’sclothes and baking all their own bread and doing all the cooking andcleaning while raising a large family and scrubbing clothes on awashboard and carrying buckets of water and all the other endlesschores required of them – I will never understand.

      Writingabout such women is an endless challenge, because with today’sconveniences, it is difficult to imagine what their lives must havebeen like. At the same time, when I write strong women, I make themstrong because they are living with very strong and brave men. Myheroes needed women who could match their bravery and needs. Yes,sometimes women had to put the man in his place and had ways ofhandling the man so cleverly that he didn’t even realize he wasbeing secretly manipulated … much like we women still do today.LOL! But the fact remains that a woman had to be strong and brave andfeisty in my books to tame her determined, hard-living husband.

        Thebest part is, although my heroes are “take no sh—” men who walkright into danger without hesitation, they are good to their women.They are true heroes in so many ways. They love their wives andfamilies and are willing to lay their lives on the line for them.They are men who fit my basic male character, which is a “bad manwith a good heart.” Of course, my heroes aren’t always bad …just tough and willing to stand up for what they believe is right.

       Iknow all of you have your favorite Bittner heroes, and the majorityof you still pick Zeke or Jake over all the others, but I hope youwill comment on my Street Team page or comment on this blog as to whosome of your other Bittner favorites are. The media and entertainmentindustry need to stop robbing today’s men of their masculinity. Areyou like me and wish the men in today’s TV shows were more manlyand heroic? I am so tired of the male character always being stupidand silly.

       Meantime,if you want to read about “real men,” keep reading historicalromance. I always tell men today that if they really want to knowwhat women want, they should read a romance! 

 

         Afew days ago my husband and I re-watched the movie Pearl Harbor (theone with Ben Affleck – I’m sure there are probably older movieswith the same theme). Very realistic as far as the history and howthe characters behaved, the 40’s clothing, makeup, hair styles, bigband music, dances, etc. I know this because I was born 5 monthsbefore the war in Europe ended. The war with Japan ended 4 monthsafter that. Of course, being a new baby, I have no memories of actualpeople and events at that time, but I spent the first twenty years orso of my life hearing people talk about the “big war.” I knewpeople who were in it, and there was all kinds of literature andnumerous movies about it. Also, my father worked in anammunition/bomb factory in LaPorte Indiana during the war.

     Iheard many, many real-life stories about life during WWII, as well aswhat it was like to work in that bomb factory. It was not just onebig building. It was several different buildings, each one for adifferent kind of ammo or bomb. That was because if one of thebuildings blew up, they would not lose the ability to keepmanufacturing ammo in the others. The workers wore protectiveclothing and kept their hair covered because hair carrieselectricity. Both men and women were not allowed to comb or brushtheir hair inside the buildings. There were also numerous undergroundbunkers where bombs were stored, all designed so that enemy airplanescould not detect them from above. 

        Welived in government housing, an area called Kingsford Heights. Mymother and I visited the same area about 25 years ago, and we foundthe house we’d lived in. It made me cry. I’m not sure why becauseas I said, I have no real memories of living there. I think the tearswere for the many lives sacrificed during the war, and I’m sure themany marriages that did not survive the changes in man and wife whena soldier came home from that war, whether injured or not. Warchanges people, and back then soldiers did not get the kind of leavesthey get today. Some were “over there” fighting the war for 2-4years straight. Man and wife were practically strangers when thosemen got home, and even the wife had changed. Women had to get jobsduring the war, mostly to help the government and our men by helpingbuild war equipment. I’m sure you have heard of “Rosie theRiveter.” Women worked on assembly lines helping build ships,tanks, airplanes, Jeeps, trucks any number of necessary equipment.From those jobs women found a new independence, and they discoveredit felt good to earn their own money.

       Whenmom and I visited Kingsford Heights, it was very spooky, and for meit was a reminder that this could happen again, only today thingswould be much worse. The spookiness came from seeing all the housesstill there but lived in by regular citizens. Many of the buildingswhere the ammo was built were still there, a haunting reminder ofthat “big war.” The bunkers are still there, mounds of earth withno purpose. The open land is farmed now. We saw the now-emptygovernment schoolhouse, and I could picture the children playing andlaughing, too innocent to realize what danger the country faced.

       Mymost haunting experience was an abandoned train sitting on a trackthat led to the buildings. It was obviously on its way to pick upmore ammo to be delivered to various storage shelters throughout thecountry. But there it sat, rusting. It was as though the engineer gotword that the war had ended, then stopped the train and got off andnever went back. It was very, very spooky. I couldn’t understandwhy the government just left that train sitting there.

       Warchanged the world, and it changed America’s most common way oflife. I have heard enough real stories about the war, seen enoughreal pictures of bombed-out cities, wounded civilians, terrifiedchildren, starving POW’s, and pictures from Hitler’sconcentration camps to feel and understand the horrors of that time.I have a set of books by a war correspondent that is filled withpictures showing scenes from the war from beginning to end. Picturesdon’t lie. In one of them, a mother being evacuated from a Europeancity is looking out the train window and holding her child. The lookon her face just grabs you, as though leaving her home and friendswas like death, and if it happened to you or me, wouldn’t we feelthe same way? If my husband was off to war and I had to pick up andleave everything familiar, possibly all of it to be destroyed, Iwould be devastated. It would be even worse if I had small childrento look after and protect.

        Ialso have two scrap books of letters my mother kept from her bestfriend in high school, who was an Army nurse during the war and whoserved in England, France, Italy, North Africa and Germany. She hadeven nursed soldiers who’d survived the Normandy landing. There isno better proof of what war was like than letters from someone whowas really there and experienced all of it, including using herhelmet as a bowl to wash her underwear. I also have some of therationing stamp books the government gave out. People were allowed tobuy certain amounts monthly of things like gasoline and certainfoods. For a while women could not get nylons because nylon wasneeded to make parachutes.     

       Waris ugly and cruel. People lose homes and family members. The enemyrapes and pillages and flat-out murders innocent old people and womenand children. Lives are turned upside-down and never right themselvesagain. Unbearable memories instill themselves in peoples’ heartsand minds – memories that never go away. And War is ridiculouslyunnecessary. Why do some men think they have to scoop up everycountry around them and build empires through murder and rape anddestruction? I have great respect for all countries and their uniquelifestyles and beliefs. I enjoy learning about other cultures, but Icertainly don’t want us to attack other countries and try to claimthem as our own. There is never a valid reason for starting a war.

       Ifeel so blessed to have been born right here in the U.S. I want mygrandchildren and great-grandchildren to feel hope for the future, todream the dream of success. I want them to look forward to thefuture, not dread it because they fear what lies ahead. I don’twant them to have to give up their fortunes and their lives to fightfor freedom, and I hope they never take that freedom for granted.

       Wemust teach our children pride in our country, respect for our lawsand for all religions, and a desire to do their part to protect whatwould be a tragic loss if we allow an invasion of America, whetherfrom without or WITHIN. We must teach our young people patriotism, and one of the best ways to do that is to bring back solid teachingof AMERICAN HISTORY. Learn it yourselves. Teach it to your children.And insist that history is taught in our schools – ALL OF IT –not just recent history. Knowing our past helps us and our childrenunderstand the importance of protecting America’s unique democracy,the importance of strength and bravery and how those things help keepus out of war.

       Toooften we hear kids say that history is boring. I think it’s quitethe opposite! There are some truly interesting events in our pastthat are so exciting. All teachers need to do is make history fun andREAL. And it IS real! There is no shame in the mistakes that we madein the past. Every mistake became a learning experience, and learningthe why’s and how’s, learning how different habits and ways oflife and teachings were a hundred, two hundred years ago, only bringsit all more alive. And in learning the truth, our young people can doa good job of taking America into a future of peace and freedom.

      Encourageyour children and grandchildren to read books that involve realhistory, not just America’s history but world history, too. If theyare not learning it in school, take them to the library and findbooks that teach it. Check with the librarians as to which books arethe most entertaining for certain age groups. Take your children andgrandchildren to historic settings designed for public visits, andlet them talk to older people, especially veterans, about life in thepast. Take them to antique shops, where they can see first-handtools, clothing, farm equipment, pioneer kitchens and homes from thepast. Some young people can see a telephone from the “old days”and not even know what it is. There are many ways to teach historywithout it being boring at all. Be excited about it yourself, andthat excitement will be born in children’s hearts, too.

       Ican’t count how many times in doing my research that I have said,“Oh, my gosh! I never knew that!” Do you or your children knowwhy the strip of wood or steel across the entrance to the front dooris called a threshold? Do you know why June became such a popularmonth to marry? Do you know where the term “It’s raining cats anddogs” comes from? Do you know why railroad tracks are the widththat they are? It goes all the way back to ancient Rome, and it evenaffects the size of our rockets!

       Tothis day, certain facts, habits and sayings come from history, bothrecent and ancient. Get interested. Get educated. And bring it alivefor your children.

       I’mno extreme environmentalist as far as sitting in the middle of a roadand holding up a sign, or taking part in a riot. But I agree thatmankind has done a terrible job of preserving the natural beauty, thepristine waters, the abundance of natural resources, the gloriouslandscapes and the clean, healthy air we once breathed. Our NativeAmericans saw it coming 200 years ago when the European immigrantsbegan coming to America. They were astounded at the waste settlersleft behind on their way west, and at the fact that buffalo hunterskilled millions of the precious beasts just for their skin, leavingthe everything else to rot for what would have been a treasure troveof survival needs to the Indians. Just think of it. One animalprovided their clothing, shelter, weapons, tools, cooking and eatingimplements, medicine, sacred items for worship, jewelry … anendless supply of needs all from one animal. At the same time,everything our Native Americans used for survival came from natureand were things that would naturally return to the earth withoutcausing contamination, things that would disintegrate rather thanpile up in ugly trash to hurt our eyes and noses for years to come.

       Icame upon these thoughts when I found something I wrote probably agood forty years ago. As a writer, I was always jotting down thingsthat came to me according to my various moods. I must have beenhaving one of those days of melancholy, a day of realizing the factthat I will not live forever, or perhaps just suddenly full ofappreciation for mother nature. We own some property on a small lakehere in southwest Michigan, and apparently, I was walking around inthe woods on a lovely day and wishing we could go back to the dayswhen mankind was not so advanced that he began destroying ourprecious natural elements just to have all the conveniences we thinkwe must have in today’s time. Heaven knows what more will bedestroyed in future quests for modern conveniences we have beenconvinced are necessary to our well being, when, in fact, we areprobably better off without them. 

 

Followingis what I wrote:

 

       “Itis quiet here, except for the rush of the wind through branches thatare nearly bare now. Autumn has arrived. The sun is still warm on myskin, but the breeze is chilled, and I am warm and cold both at thesame time. A crane swoops over the lake before me … the lake, whichsparkles and glitters. All seems crisp and clean and innocent thismorning. The air smells fresh. Insects that are hidden in the weedssing. In the distance I hear the sound of an axe as my husband splitslogs for our winter warmth.” (We heated with wood when we lived onthe lake.) 

 

       “Whatwill be left of this in years to come? It could all be gone.Untouched places may no longer exist. I smell the earth. I gaze atthe bright blue sky, dotted with puffy autumn clouds. The birdschirp, but many of them are already making their way south. Theleaves are brilliant colors of gold, red and orange mixed with green.This kind of beauty man, with all his technology, cannot create. Buthe can most certainly destroy it. Man is destroying it. Whatwill be left for my grandchildren? My great-grandchildren?

 

       WhenI look at the ground and watch the ants, study the twigs, the moss,the shades of the earth, I see true beauty. This unattended woodswith its variety of plant life, and its wild colors and fresh smells,is more beautiful than man’s most well-groomed gardens. It is morebeautiful because it is real, untouched, natural. How many things arethere left in this world like this? 

 

        WhenI look at all that is around me … when I see the green grass, theblue sky and gray/blue lake water … when I watch a squirrel scurryup a tree to store its winter food … when I hear the soft chirps ofbirds that I cannot quite find in the trees … when I hear cricketsand the frogs and watch the silent insects going about their businesswith determination and organized preciseness, I realize that in spiteof what happens to this world, Gods creations will go on as always …forever … in spite of man’s ignorant follies that seem destinedto destroy it all. 

       Someday man, in his blind idiocy and quest to rule things only God canrule, will probably destroy himself, but the ants will go right onbuilding. The birds will go right on singing. The water will rush andsparkle and eventually run pure again. The wind will sing through thetrees no longer cut down for a hundred things man thinks he needs.The sun will warm the earth. The mushrooms will grow. The frogs willbelch their awkward songs, and the mountains will still rise to theheavens. And what, after all, will man’s intelligence have done forhim? 

 

       Mankind,it seems, would be better off to be ignorant and innocent, like theanimals. The animals have more respect for their environment and forGod’s beautiful earth than does man. How sad that we have not usedour intelligence to preserve the joyous beauty God has given us forfree, rather than using it to destroy the only things that can bringus true happiness.

 

       Thewords from a Bon Jovi song always make me think of this … I wish wecould go back …

 

[Back,when we were beautiful, before the world got small, before we knew itall … Am I blessed, or am I cursed? ‘Cause the way we are ain’tthe way we were … Back, when we were innocent, I wonder where itwent, let’s go back and find it.]”

 

 

 

       Ihope all of my readers are as upset as I am about the fact that verylittle, if any of America’s history is taught anymore in our publicschools. I find that deeply disturbing. Young people today can tellyou next to nothing about our past involving our Native Americans,the revolution, our founding fathers, the Mexican war, the Alamo, theIndian battles, the two World Wars and most of the more recent wars,names of important people from our past and the events, discoveriesand inventions that made them famous. They don’t know dates andlocations of those famous events, and worse, they don’t care. Thatis wrong, devastating and sad. 

ThroughKelsey Grammer, Pete Hegseth, Rob Lowe and other TV personalities,the channel called Fox Nation provides dramatic reenactments of someof America’s historical events, with full and accurate costuming tomatch the time period, and detailed information about the where, whenand why of those events. It is all done in a very exciting andentertaining way that any young person would enjoy watching while atthe same time, learning real history.

        

        Thesedocudramas include the Boston Tea Party, George Washington’scrossing of the icy Delaware at Christmas time in order to surpriseEnglish troops during the Revolution, Civil War reenactments, variousstories about the World Wars in which America was involved, as wellas detailed stories about the early years of discoveries and wealthand well known builders of this nation as the industrial revolutionexploded across the land through names like the Rockefellers, theCarnegies, the Vanderbilts, the Astors and Henry Ford. Yes, withwealth you usually also find corruption, but it is all part of therich history of America, and it is people like those above who,through our unique freedom and democracy, made us the strongest,richest nation in the world. And there is nothing wrong with that. Wemust strive to keep that pride and strength at all costs, andlearning our history is all part of that.

 

        Yes,this country made a lot of grievous mistakes as it grew, and yes,there was and still is greed and racism and all the wrong things thatcome with learning how to cope with the unusual freedoms with whichwe have been gifted. But just as a little child has to learn not todo things that will hurt them, and how wrong it is to lie, to steal,to hurt others, our nation has had to learn such things on a muchbigger scale. But how can our future generations learn from history’smistakes if they are not taught that history at all?

        Youcannot ignore history. It is real, and it is both wonderful and sad,something to be proud of in so many ways, and something to be ashamedof in just as many ways. To teach that history and all its faults isnot to offend or insult, but rather to show our young people how wegot where we are and how and why all the wrong things happened andhow we can learn from that and correct all the wrong.

 

        Throughthe new part-time job I work now, I have to watch short videos aboutdiversity, equity and inclusion, three words we hear talked aboutthrough our schools, on the news, and now, often, through our jobs.It is through this nation’s history that a new generation has comeup with this way of teaching how to correct our past mistakes andmisconceptions about other races and cultures. That’s okay. But whynot also teach our youth things from the past that led to thisnecessity? 

 

        Don’tforget that understanding our history and being truthful about pastwrongs can we teach a new outlook on life and other cultures. We haveto make our young people understand that there is nothing wrong withtelling the truth, nothing wrong with learning the details ofAmerica’s history. So much of it, and so many of our founders andinventors and explorers can bring out our patriotism and pride, aswell as a desire to make things even better, more fair, more equaland accepting.

        Ihope you will encourage your children and grandchildren to learn thetruth … not the political, slanted versions we hear on networknews, but the real truth. Make it exciting for them. Whenever theycan watch reenactments of famous events, discoveries, people,inventions, and the wild action that was the settling of America, letthem watch and learn things like the gold rush, the land rush inOklahoma, the era of stagecoaches and the Pony Express, the telegraphsystem, the growth of our great cities, the building of thetranscontinental railroad, the Hoover Dam, the truth about how ourNative Americans were treated, our most famous explorers and the morefamous Native American leaders and wars. Let them watch and learn.Today we can stream just about anything we want to watch. It is easynow to go back and watch an old tv miniseries, like James Michener’sCENTENNIAL and ROOTS. If our children are not going to be properlytaught history at school, then use entertaining tv shows/miniseriesto teach them. Give them books to read. Some of the best books thattruthfully and realistically show the history of the French &Indian Wars that led to the Revolutionary War are by Alan Eckert –THE FRONTIERSMEN, A SORROW IN OUR HEART: The Life of Tecumseh,WILDERNESS EMPIRE, THE CONQUERORS, THAT DARK AND BLOODY RIVER,GATEWAY TO EMPIRE and more. These stories are historically accurateand written in a very active, entertaining way, so much so that it islike reading a novel.

         Ihope you understand the importance of American History and its impactnot just on the past and the present, but on this country’s future.Our youth can only make things better today and tomorrow, but foryears to come if they learn and understand the past. Learning can bea tool used toward greater strength and a stronger tomorrow.