Monday Meanderings
Now that you’ve met several characters from my novel That Summer (see older posts), book 1 in the Caney Creek
Series, I’d like you to meet the characters in Beyond the Past, book 2 in the series. Many of them you will remember from book 1. For the next few Mondays I’ll interview one of
the characters and you can leave comments if you want. I think this might help
you when you read Beyond the Past to
know how these characters feel as they move through the story. If you leave a comment on this blog that is
totally related to this interview I'll give you an extra entry in the next
Thursday book drawing when you leave a comment there.
Today’s character interview is the first from Beyond the Past, book 2 in the Caney Creek Series, which recently released.
Today I’m talking with Jim Callaway, the oldest of the
Callaway family of five grown children. Jim owns and runs the hosiery mill in
Newton, Tennessee.
JO: Hello, Mr. Callaway, thank you for meeting
with me during your office hours.
JIM: You’re welcome. Please call me Jim.
JO:
Happy
New Year. Jim, a lot has happened to you since your left the Callaway farm when
you were 17.
JIM:
Yes,
ma’am, it sure has. Some good, some bad.
JO:
Please
tell me about them.
JIM:
I
did leave the farm. Poppa treated all us kids unfair and being the oldest, I
decided I wouldn’t take it any longer. I hated to leave my brothers and sisters
there with my poppa being so mean. And I really hated to leave Momma, but she
wouldn’t leave with me. I told myself that the other kids would leave when they
got old enough, like I was doing.
JO: Then what
happened?
JIM:
I
did what I set out to do. I got myself to a nearby town, Newton. I got a job at
the hosiery mill, had a room all to myself in a widow lady’s house, money in my
pocket, and girlfriends. One girlfriend was even the mill owner’s daughter.
JO:
Sounds
like things really were good for you.
JIM:
Yes,
ma’am, I thought so but I let everything go to my head. I got arrogant, hard to
get along with, didn’t manage my money right. And, mainly, I thought I could do
everything on my own, without help from anybody. That’s when I started straying
away from God. I was really messed up.
JO:
You
seem to be a good guy now. How did you get out of your mess?
JIM: My family, my
friends, and especially my landlady tried to tell me what all I was doing wrong
and how to turn it around. But I wouldn’t listen to them. Till the day one of
my girlfriends, Louisa, said I had to pick one of them, that she wasn’t going
to share me with Caroline, the mill owner’s daughter. Along about then the Lord
started working on me. My conscience wouldn’t let me rest. So I prayed my way
back to God and He accepted me. He’d never stopped loving me. It was me that
had walked away from Him.
JO:
I’m
sure glad you got all the bad stuff straightened out.
JIM:
That’s
not all the bad stuff. At Christmas, Caroline just vanished out of town. She
was in college near Atlanta. All my letters to her came back. I didn’t know
where she was or why she left. That was about the time Louisa said I had to
choose between Caroline and her. Caroline being gone without an explanation and
not letting me know where she was, helped me to make up my mind. Louisa and I
married.
JO:
Were
you and Louisa happy together?
JIM:
Oh,
yes. Yes, we were happy! We had a baby girl. We named her Lynn. That was
Louisa’s middle name. Then when Momma and Poppa died with pneumonia that came
down from the Carolinas, my baby sister, Emmajean, wouldn’t let anybody else
hold her except me. Louisa and I brought her home with us. My other sister,
Shirley Ann, married Henry Frank Stevens and they took my two brothers to live
with them on Henry Frank’s folks’ farm.
JO:
Jim,
I’m sorry you lost your parents. After that though it seems things were looking
up.
JIM:
Maybe
it looks that way. But when Lynn was two years old Louisa died of pneumonia . .
. . I’m telling you, that was the worst time of my whole life. I wanted God to
take me on with Louisa but I knew I had to raise Lynn. I couldn’t have done
that without the help of Louisa’s sister, Callie, my sister, and my landlady,
Mrs. Hall. My little sister, my baby, and I lived on at Mrs. Hall’s. She put us
up in two rooms, side by side.
JO:
As
you said, that was the worst of your times. Can you please tell me about the
good times you’ve had?
JIM:
Okay.
When the mill owner and his wife were killed in a car accident, their wills
left me the mill and their home. You see, for some reason, when Caroline left,
her parents disowned her. She never returned. They left everything to me. I own
the mill now.
JO:
Is
that about it for the good things that have happened to you?
JIM:
One
more thing—I found Caroline and my son.
JO: Are you looking forward to 1951?
JIM: I really was because I wanted to work
things out with Caroline and our children, James and Lynn. But on January 1, Emmajean,
my baby sister, telephoned me from Atlanta, in some legal trouble.
JO: Why did she telephone you? Did she think
you could help her way down in Atlanta?
JIM: Well, to answer your first question, she and I
were very close growing up. She came to live with my wife and me when she was just a young
teenager. As for your second question, she left Newton as soon as she graduated
from high school. We haven’t seen much of her for the last 12 years. I’m thinking
she must not have any friends down there and when she got into trouble, she
naturally telephoned me to help her.
JO: What
kind of trouble is she in?
JIM: Well, it’s some kind of trouble with drugs
and a friend of hers. I had a lawyer in Atlanta get to her as soon as he could
and then I left for Atlanta myself. I’m going back down there tomorrow for her arraignment
and I’ll probably know more.
JO: So, as soon as you get Emmajean’s problem
taken care of, you can devote your time to Caroline and your children?
JIM: Well, no, not really. My best friend,
Arthur, has a son who’s a senior in high school who’s giving him a lot of
trouble. Arthur needs my help too even if it is just moral support. So I’m
staying close for him and going back and forth to Atlanta to see Emmajean.
JO: That doesn’t leave you much time for your
personal plans, does it?
JIM: No, it certainly doesn’t. I’m torn among
here and Atlanta and Knoxville, where Caroline lives and the children go to
school.
JO: How long do you think it will be before
Emmajean and Arthur won’t need your help?
JIM: I really don’t know.
JO: Can’t you put your own personal wishes
first for a while?
JIM: I won’t turn my back on my baby sister and
my best friend!
JO: Please excuse me, I didn’t mean to offend
you.
JIM: I apologize for speaking harsh to you. It’s
just that I’m going in so many directions. When I’m in Atlanta, I need to be
here for Arthur. Then when I’m here for Arthur and running my mill, I need to
be in Knoxville for my children and Caroline. I want to be with Caroline and my children.
JO: I hope Caroline understands the quandary
you’re in.
JIM: I think sometimes she does but the
situation I’m in also tries her patience.
JO: Is Caroline a patient person?
JIM: I’ll probably be finding out how patient
she is before too long.
The winner of last
Thursday's blog post for a copy of Florian’s
Gate by Davis Bunn is KayM. I'll
email you to get your mailing address and get the book out to you. Thanks all
for commenting. Watch for more book giveaways.
Till next time …
keep on smiling.
I hope that Jim & Caroline can work out thier differnce and be together soon!I'm a follower! sheliarha64@yahoo.com Shelia Hall
ReplyDeleteShelia, thanks for commenting on today's blog about Jim and Caroline. Sometimes there are rough spots on the road to love. I appreciate you being a follower!!
DeleteWell, Jim is in quite a quandary, it seems. I wonder how it will all work out for everyone involved.
ReplyDeleteJo, thank you for the win. I'm looking forward to reading Florian's Gate by Davis Bunn.
Kay, thanks for your concern for Jim. Lots will be going on in book #2, Beyond the Past for Jim and all the rest. By the way, it was your extra entry from commenting on Monday's blog that gave you the win. Thanks for reading my blog.
Deletethanks for sharing, jo...i'm looking forward to reading your latest novel :)
ReplyDeletekarenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com
Karen, you're welcome. Thanks for stopping by and reading my Monday blog, character interviews. Your comment on this blog will get you an extra entry in Thursday's drawing if you comment there.
DeleteWow, this is some situation Jim is in. I understand him wanting to help his sister and friend, but I think his children should come first. Wondering about something. When he said he was the baby and wouldn't let anyone hold her except him, I took it to mean she was a baby. But later, it said she came to live with them as a teenager. Did I misread? I'm confused. I sure want your second book. Maxie mac262(at)me(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThings with this young man have had it's up and down' for sure. WOW! how nice to get a business and, a home too. I can't even imagine this happening. Good that he has found Caroline and can meet his son. I know he means well helping his sister and friend, but should really think of his kids. Hope all works out well.
ReplyDeleteMAXIE mac262(at)me(dot)com