Promoting Family-Friendly Books with a Christian Message
Two Ponies Publishing
ABOUT CADEE BRYSTAL
Cadee Brystal had forgotten all about reading for fun. With a full-time job, husband and small children, she simply had run out of time. The business she and her husband owned and the hobby farm they maintained both demanded extra effort and the very notion of reading for fun slipped away. Recreational reading rebounded into Cadee's life when the couple's older daughter wanted to read a popular series about vampires. Cadee began reading the books to see if they were appropriate, and rediscovered her own love of reading. Soon she was devouring novels, and family members began to tease Cadee, saying, “You should be writing them, not reading them!” Characters formed in Cadee's mind and she began recording the scenes they played out. She would awaken early and compose the stories for an hour or so before the rest of the household would begin the day.
Cadee grew up in a small town in South Dakota, and after earning her college degrees in agriculture and journalism, she found her place on the staff of a large weekly newspaper in her home state. Cadee says she loves the pace of her work. “It has a rhythm and a cycle, but each day is new and different.” While she does not see herself leaving the newspaper staff, Cadee reports that writing fiction gives her a creative outlet that had been missing. In addition to writing fiction, Cadee loves horses and most other domestic animals. She and her husband enjoy gardening on a large scale and spending time with family members. “I want to assure readers that if they choose to purchase one of my stories, they will not be shocked by sexual content, drinking or partying, or foul language,” Cadee says. “There's no need to panic if your kids or your mother start paging through my stories.” Cadee strives to deliver clean, uplifting stories, with Christian messages. But insists that there must be more to the story than boy-meets-girl. “There has to be substance to the plot. The characters need to grow and develop and the storyline needs to keep the readers alert,” she says.
ABOUT MARLYS MILLER DENHOLM
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Marlys Miller Denholm describes herself as "the last of the depression kids." The daughter of a shepherd and a school teacher, she lived on the prairies of Western South Dakota as a young child until the family moved to Day County, just in time for her to attend high school at Bristol, SD. A history buff and a school teacher, Marlys was more than up to the task of compiling her dad's stories into a non-fiction book aptly titled, From a Soddy.
In the historical fiction, Carrie Didn’t Cry, Mrs. Denholm has selected a variety of stories she heard from the extended family and friends throughout her lifetime. Preserving the integrity and historical value of the tales, she has interwoven them into the fictional life of Carrie, who homesteaded in Nebraska in the early part of the Nineteenth Century. “Pioneers were brave and hardy, and women like Carrie survived primitive medical care, loneliness, fear and loss of of precious loved ones. But they also knew how and where to find the small daily joys that kept them going,” Mrs. Denholm
said.
For the Carrie Didn’t Cry project, Mrs. Denholm enlisted assistance from her daughter, Holli Seehafer. Together they formed the tale that transports the reader through time with Carrie as she grows from her role as a teenager to wife, mother, and homesteading woman. Carrie and the women like her saw innumerable changes in society and lifestyle
during the span of their lifetimes, and Carrie Didn’t Cry touches on many aspects.