Drunken Crows

by Sheri Mitchell Black, Cristy Pendergrass (Editor), Hollen Pope (Editor)

Sara Jane considered herself to be a pretty good person. That is, if you could overlook the fornications she committed and the prison time she had to serve as a result of killin’ her sorry excuse of a husband. Raised in poverty in the back woods of the East Tennessee Mountains by her holy rollin’, self-professed, good Christian woman, Mama, Sara Jane never really had a good role model with the exception of her Granny who she was practically forbidden to see. With her Mama as her main example, she was confused most of her life as to just what ‘good Christian woman’ meant. Her first job at age sixteen at the Dollar General Store started her on her way to freedom and independence from her life-suffocating, Mama, but as she soon learned, being in charge of your own life’s decisions is not an easy job. Sara Jane discovered she had given up one kind of prison for another when she fell in love with D-Wayne Weldon. D-Wayne, who Sara Jane considered to be the love of her life turned out to be the very one who made her question love. A logging accident injury left him with severe headaches which caused him to act out violently and often left him with amnesia after his ‘spells’. Many times her Granny had said to her, “Sari, whenever they’s a dark cloud hangin’ around over yore head, you got to stop and look for that silver linin’, else ways, that cloud will jest swallow you up.” Sara Jane took this lesson to heart with whatever darkness came her way; even after she was sent to prison to serve time for ‘the incident’. Although her life was spent in virtual seclusion, it could never be considered dull. The colorful mountain folks who surrounded her had their own stories to tell and each one wove another thread into the quilt that was Sara Jane’s story. Despite the people in and out of her life and whatever circumstances came her way, Sara Jane was destined to stay in those beautiful mountains, and she was determined to continue to look for those silver linings no matter how well they were hidden.NOTE FROM AUTHOR Drunken Crows was written in the present time but the character, Sara Jane Smyth, carries with her remnants of the past. The mountain sayings of her grandmother and her private ‘talks’ with the Lord helped her through many hard times. Although the character of Sara Jane is ficticious; she embodies the gentle but strong and captivating spirit of many women I have known in my life. She came alive as I wrote and her character evolved and grew with every tragedy or triumph. Some readers may find it hard to imagine there are still folks who live the ways described in this book but it is true. They cling to the old ways either because it is comfortable to them or they don’t have the means or desire to change. Sara Jane’s naivete’ was a direct result of being raised in the poverty and seclusion of the Appalachian Mountains making her experiences with the outside world minimal. My hope is that this book will inspire you to understand and accept all people. Everyone lives their own reality and as Granny would say, “You cain’t judge another person til you’ve walked a mile in their slippers.”

417 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 2013