Then Like The Blind Man: ORBIE'S STORY

In his debut novel, Owens captures his characters' folksy Appalachian diction without overdoing it. He also renders a child's viewpoint with great psychological sensitivity: "I didn't like the way [Victor] was all the time trying to be on my mind. It was too close together somehow--like when Momma started talking about Jesus and wouldn't shut up." A psychologically astute, skillful, engrossing and satisfying novel. * Starred Kirkus Review * Every once in awhile, you read a book in which every element fits together so perfectly that you just sit back in awe at the skill of the story teller. Then Like the Blind Man is one of these books. ...[It]grabs you from the very first page and carries you along, breathless and tense, until the very last, very satisfying sentence. Freddie Owens has created something special. * The San Francisco Book Review * In an American coming-of-age novel, the author presents a stunning story with clarity and historical accuracy, rich in illuminating the Appalachian culture of the time period. ...[It] brings history alive,depicting American union labor practices and the racial prejudices that were so prevalent in the 1950's. * Publisher's Weekly * Orbie's sharecropping grandparents, by defying convention with unnerving grace, become founts of colloquial wisdom whose appeal is impossible to resist, and the Orbie they nurture -- the best version of a boy who may otherwise have been lost -- is someone the reader comes to love. * Michelle Schingler / ForeWord Book Review * The magical undercurrent that runs through the story adds to its feeling of other-worldliness, and the symbolism is both omnipresent and beautifully handled... * Catherine Langrehr / The Indie Reader * Excerpt From Chapter 28: BODY SNATCHERS Something, a suitcase, Victor's tan colored suitcase, ka-thumped down on the end of the porch right next to Momma, causing her suddenly to sit straight as a board.xa0 Victor ka-thumped his green file box on the porch too.xa0 He stood there a minute, looking around at the yard, all fidgety-like and nervous.xa0 "Momma," he said.xa0 "I've decided.xa0 I've got to get out of here honey, and I want you and the kids to go with me." xa0xa0xa0 xa0He broke down then and started to cry.xa0 Tears streamed down around his nose.xa0 He was wearing his silvery gray pants and that pink shirt with the cuffs rolled back to his elbows.xa0 Two pens and the end of a fat cigar stuck out the breast pocket.xa0 "I want you to come right now Momma.xa0 I've worked everything out.xa0 You don't even have to think about it.xa0 We'll just get in the car right now."xa0 He took out a hankie from his back pocket and wiped his eyes.xa0 "Get the hell away from here."xa0xa0 xa0Momma sat up even straighter.xa0 "I can't do that hon, what with Granpaw in the shape he's in - and all this other business going on."xa0 Missy began to whimper. xa0xa0xa0 xa0Willis looked up from his picture.xa0 He looked at me.xa0 He looked at Victor. xa0xa0xa0 xa0"I know," Victor said.xa0 "But your mother and father, they're going to be all right.xa0 I mean, listen.xa0 They could move to town.xa0 People will help them."xa0 The color was gone from his face.xa0 "I've got it all figured out, Momma.xa0 Forget Florida.xa0 Forget the house, for now anyway.xa0 We can go anywhere we want.xa0 I've heard Texas is a good place.xa0 We could go to Dallas or Houston.xa0 Or how about Arizona?"xa0 When he said Arizona his eyes went wide.xa0 "Tucson?xa0 Yes!xa0 It's hot there, but the winters are mild.xa0 We can go there!xa0 Sell the house later.xa0 I've got money.xa0 A little.xa0 And you'll have Jessie's insurance.xa0 I love you Momma!xa0 I don't know what I would do without you and the kids!" xa0xa0xa0 xa0You could tell he'd been drinking.xa0 His forehead gleamed whitely in the sunlight.xa0 I could see the worms in his eyes - even from where I was sitting - cutting themselves on the glass behind his tears.xa0 Thunder rumbled across the sky.xa0 "Say you'll come with me Momma.xa0 We don't have much time." No Momma!xa0 Don't believe him!xa0 Don't say you'll go Momma! "Time?" Momma said, "Victor honey, what do you mean?" xa0xa0xa0 xa0Victor frowned.xa0 "I mean if we don't hurry, your parents will be back.xa0 And then we'll have to explain everything.xa0 You know how stubborn they can be.xa0 Your mother will start asking a lot of questions.xa0 Confuse things.xa0 I can't have any confusion right now Momma.xa0 You can understand that, can't you?xa0 Sure you can." xa0xa0xa0 xa0Momma hugged Missy tighter, her voice weak and trembling.xa0 "Oh hon, now.xa0 Try to calm yourself.xa0 Mamaw.xa0 She just wants what's best for the kids and me.xa0 She don't mean any harm." xa0xa0xa0 xa0Victor blew his nose in the hankie.xa0 "Uh huh.xa0 Then, what about me?"xa0 His voice had turned suddenly unpleasant.xa0 "What is it she wants for me I would like to know?" xa0xa0xa0 xa0"Well.xa0 She wants the best for you too.xa0 I think she does anyway.xa0 I don't know.xa0 I don't think she understands you good Victor.xa0 Sometimes.xa0 Sometimes I don't know if I do."xa0 She leaned a little away from Victor.xa0 "I mean like now.xa0 You wanting me to leave without even saying goodbye." xa0xa0xa0 xa0Victor's face went like a rock.xa0 "Write her a note." xa0xa0xa0 xa0"I can't do that hon." xa0xa0xa0 xa0"I can't do that hon," Victor said, his voice mocking and hateful. xa0xa0xa0 xa0I got to my feet. xa0xa0xa0 xa0"It wouldn't be right," Momma said.xa0 "Please hon; don't do this a way!" xa0xa0xa0 xa0Victor made his face go like Momma's.xa0 "Please hon; don't do this a way!" xa0xa0xa0 xa0I looked around for something to use against him.xa0 I remembered the knife but it was in the box with the Rain Skull under the house.xa0 Granpaw's wheelchair sat empty.xa0 Maybe I could turn it around somehow and push it at Victor.xa0 There was an old iron Granny used as a doorstop; it was sitting upright on the floor behind the wheelchair.xa0 I reached down and grabbed it up by the handle. xa0xa0xa0 xa0Momma said, "It would break Mamaw's heart I was to leave without telling her goodbye." xa0xa0xa0 xa0Victor grabbed Momma by the wrist, jerking her toward him.xa0 "Break it then!" xa0xa0xa0 xa0Missy started to cry. xa0xa0xa0 xa0"Victor, you're hurting me!" xa0xa0xa0 xa0"Victor, you're hurting me!" Victor answered.xa0 "Better think of your kids Momma.xa0 You want what's best for them don't you?xa0 You want them to be safe?" xa0xa0xa0 xa0"Course I do!" Momma said. xa0xa0xa0 xa0"Course I do!xa0 Course I do!" Take care of your Momma son.xa0 She don't see things all the way through. I tried to lift the iron over my head, but it was too heavy.xa0 I thought maybe, if I ran at Victor with it and let it go, it would hit him in the ribs, maybe knock the breath out of him.xa0 To do it though, I would have to run in front of Granpaw's wheelchair, past Momma to the edge of the porch. xa0xa0xa0 xa0Willis grabbed me by the ankle.xa0 "What you gone do boy?" xa0xa0xa0 xa0"Let go of me Willis!" xa0xa0xa0 xa0"Well, well, what have we here?"xa0 Victor was looking right at me now.xa0 He still had a hold of Momma's wrist. xa0xa0xa0 xa0"We ain't going with you!" I said, trying to hold up the iron. Acknowledgements: xa0xa0xa0xa0 I must thank my grandparents. Had I not been exposed to their homespun, wizened and sometimes carping ways I would not have have been exposed to traits crucial to creating the grandparent-characters in the novel. For similar reasons I must thank my dear, goodhearted parents who survived the bad times to enjoy the good.xa0xa0xa0xa0 I also must thank Judith Guest ( Ordinary People ) and especially Rebecca Hill ( Among Birches ) for early and essential writing guidance. Without their unsparing feedback and mentoring I might not have dealt adequately with the "false and unlikely" as it was wont to manifest in the early drafts of the manuscript.xa0xa0xa0xa0 Literary agents Ned Leavitt and Robin Mizell deserve special thanks for their deft editorial comments and for the considerable time and energy they invested in making them. I must extend Kudos to Dave King as well for a thoroughly professional editing of the manuscript. (Google: Dave King Editorial Services and his book Self-Editing For Writers.) No writer I feel would manage long without such editorial guidance a Dave King provides.xa0xa0xa0xa0 Much appreciation goes to editors Tom Jenks and Winn Blevins ( Stone Song ), painter and tea master Shoshana Cooper, writer Rabbi David Cooper ( God Is A Verb ) and Boulder psychologist Ina Robbin for support and guidance. I wish also to convey gratitude to all those good friends and writing workshop attendees who gave this work their studied and undivided attention. Their critical comments and suggestions were invaluable. xa0xa0xa0xa0 Inspiration came also from encounters with Native American Shamanism, Advaita Vedanta and Tibetan Buddhism, the latter two conveyed in the teaching discourses of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.xa0xa0xa0xa0 Finally, this book would not have been possible at all without the help and unflagging support of my loving wife and lifelong helpmate, author and psychologist Karen Kissel Wegela ( The Courage To Be Present ). Read more