After over 25 years of strip mining in Appalachia the land was ravaged and the surrounding communities suffered from its ill-effects.

This is the introduction and first chapter to Book one of the four part series of stories detailing the evolution of an alchemist time traveler from Kentucky, who raised himself since the age of 5. His journey begins in the Cumberland Mountains and takes him to all manner of places within this vast cosmos.

Bill grew up in the mountain town of Trenton, where the only work for most of the people was coal mining. Bill did excel in football at the small high school, so much that he won a scholarship to Trenton Collage.

An unrefined young woman reflects on the loss of her sister. Her comments seem calloused until she describes jumping into a puddle and noticing that her own reflection in the water strongly resembles her sister’s face. She succumbs to her emotions once her feet hit the puddle and displace her sister’s image.

Appalachia-inspired poem.

About my life as an Appalachian Indian writer. I discuss surviving hardships through writing and my delightful family.

A short story that follows an Appalachian family through several generations of poverty and war. Quotes John Mellencamp song lyrics as a transition between generations.