Time To Wake the Priestess

 

Hi, kids. Long time, no...nothing. Yes, once again I went and let this site sit abandoned. It's not that I didn't think about it. It's just that I've gotten so busy with other things, that this one took a backseat. Well, I'm hoping to change that. Check it out.

So, here's what's been going on. The main reason I haven't done anything here since October of 2021 is that I landed a gig over at Medium.com that ended up leading to a year-long adventure. Shortly after publishing my last post on this site, I started following a publication on Medium called Promptly Written. As a prompt writer myself, I know just how helpful they can be. I found a couple of the author's prompts and wrote my brains out. It was magical.

By the end of December 2021, I had been added as an editor on the publication and started a weekly prompt post on January 1, 2022. Out of an entire year, I only missed one week and that's because of health issues. When Promptly Written took a hiatus, I gave the weekly prompts a new home. I've grown a decent following and am having the time of my life. I currently run four publications of my own and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

I've also published my second book of writing prompts. It's called Promptly Questioned: 300 questions for the fiction writer to answer. I've published this book through Gumroad.com rather than Amazon. I have to admit that I wasn't happy with Amazon and have even taken my first book off their site. As soon as I clear the 90-day mark, I'll be adding it to Gumroad as well. 

I have completely revamped my personal blog, Graves Publications. A year ago, I had seven different blogs all running at the same time. I was having a great time with it, but quickly got burned out trying to keep up with all of them. One day, I'd had enough and I shut them all down. Completely! It didn't last long, however. I decided to bring my main site back and just added all my sub-blogs to it. Now, rather than trying to add a new post for each site, I can just do one or two a month and still keep my blog updated on a regular basis. 

I've just launched a bi-monthly newsletter for writers. It's called Graves Publications News and covers all kinds of things. I talk about some of the things I've written here, on Medium, and at Graves Publications. I talk about other writing sites, such as book depositories, publishers, book bloggers, graphic designers, and more. I also add links to online publications that are accepting submissions. At some point, I may start offering ad space, but that's something to look forward to in the future.

Now, it's time for me to integrate this blog into the mix. After all, this site is technically part of the Graves Publications catalog. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do, but I have a couple of ideas. I've thought about making this a site dedicated to all things fantasy. Sites, books, graphic artists, and whatever else I can find that I think fits in this category. And as far as I'm concerned, that's an awfully big category.

So, stick around and see where we take this site. I won't make any promises, but I've kept this site alive for more than 10 years, I'm not about to let it die now. 

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Image by Vlad Min from Pixabay 

Beatrice (Bertie) Margaret Calhoun/Montgomery/Clayton/Rosenthal, May She Rest in Peace

**WARNING: The following is a work of dark fiction. It may contain various triggers. Discretion is advised**

Image by Carolyn Booth from Pixabay 

Beatrice (Bertie) Margaret Calhoun/Montgomery/Clayton/Rosenthal, of Slaughterville, Oklahoma, passed away in her home with her 24-hour care nurse by her side. Her caregiver said she went out kicking and screaming and throwing things at the pictures on her walls. Her funeral will be held at the Slaughterville Memorial Chapel on Route 6 next Saturday at 2 p.m.

Bad luck seemed to follow Bertie throughout her life. Born October 20th, 1921 at 12:34 AM, Beatrice Margaret Calhoun was the eldest child of Charles and Lillian Calhoun, of Beaver Falls, Louisiana. Her parents had two more children after her, though neither one made it to the age of three.

In the summer of 1929, Bertie and her parents moved to Slaughterville where her father opened The Grand Slaughterville Hotel. Less than a year later, Charles Calhoun fell ill and passed away in his sleep. The hotel was purchased by the prominent Montgomery family. Bertie and her mother stayed on as housekeepers as a means to remain on the property. Within 6 months time, Lillian Calhoun was found at the bottom of a staircase and died shortly afterward. Her death was ruled an accident by the Slaughterville Coroner's Office. 

David and Dorthea Montgomery took little Bertie in and raised her as one of their own. In the spring of 1938, Bertie Calhoun married the Montgomerys' eldest son, Franklin.  Less than a month after the wedding, Franklin joined the military and was sent off to war. He came home 3 years later to find that his younger brother, Nelson, had died in a car accident and his only sister, Agnes, had fallen from the balcony of the hotel, dying instantly.

Less than a week after returning from the war, Franklin’s father, David Montgomery, was found dead in his office, of an apparent heart attack. Three days later, Dorthea Montgomery was found in her dressing room with a broken mirror shard protruding from her neck. It was determined that her cause of death stemmed from excessive alcohol. Heartbroken at the loss of his entire family, Franklin Montgomery apparently took his own life shortly thereafter.

Bertie took over the hotel and ran it as best she could. She hired Baxter Clayton as a groundskeeper and the two were wed in July 1944. Baxter kept the hotel and grounds in pristine condition until his untimely death in October 1947. While trimming branches from an old tree in the back of the hotel, Baxter had caught the cuff of his trousers in his ladder and fell to his death. The small handaxe he’d been using was found underneath him, buried in the back of his head. The coroner’s office called it a horrible accident.

Toward the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s, Bertie Clayon ran the hotel on her own. In 1954, she turned the west wing into a lounge and started hiring musicians to come in and play. By the early 1960s, The Grand Slaughterville Hotel was the place to stop for those who hadn’t quite made it to the big leagues. 

In 1966, Bertie met an older musician by the name of Herbie Rosenthal. He was working on becoming the next big music promoter but told locals that there was just something about Bertie that made him want to “dig this scene” and turn Slaughterville into a beatnik hotspot. 

Bertie and Herbie seemed happy in their little hippy culture home. However, in the summer of 1970, Herbie Rosenthal was found in the beer cooler with a full keg of beer lying beside his crushed skull. Investigators deduced that the keg had slipped off a shelf while Herbie was tying his shoe. His death was ruled a terrible mishap.

Between 1970 and 1992, Bertie Rosenthal remained alone in her hotel. Most Slaughterville residents had either thought her to be traveling the world or had forgotten about her altogether. In November 1992, Bertie attended the funeral of Jacob Johansson, the groundskeeper of the hotel at that time. She was welcomed back into Slaughterville society and began holding lavish parties at her hotel once again. 

Between 1993 and 2008, Bertie’s hotel flourished. In June of that year, the FBI came looking for several young men who had last been known to have stayed at her hotel. Though nothing ever came of the accusations, The Grand Slaughterville Hotel closed its doors for good.

Bertie became a recluse, being seen only by the 24-hour care nurses she’d hired to care for her in her golden years. Between 2009 and her recent passing, a total of 87 nurses cared for the aging woman. It is said that many of them packed up in the middle of the night and left town as they’ve never been seen nor heard from again.

Bertie Calhoun-Montgomery-Clayton-Rosenthal passed away on October 20th, 2021 at the age of 100. Her caregiver pronounced her time of death at 12:34 AM.

Bertie is preceded in death by her parents, both of her siblings, her adoptive parents, her adoptive siblings, and all three of her husbands. 

There were no survivors.