This Old House - A Lily Blooms in the Jaws of Hell: Victorian Mystery Series Book 1
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A Lily Blooms in the Jaws of Hell
BOOK 1
VICTORIAN MYSTERY SERIES
I walked out of my grandmother's home on Stockbridge Street in Eagle Lake, Texas, late on a Sunday night, and stared across the street. Against the night sky, all I could see was the crumbling walls that were nothing more than a ghostly silhouette of some previous grand existence. The evening summer breeze whistled through the trees bringing with it the laughter of children who once lived there and the caring call of a mother letting them know dinner was ready.
This novel has been in the works since its beginning in 2005 when a century and half old colonial style home was restored by the author and his wife, Barbara. For over twelve months, the house did an amazing transformation, the third time since its original construction in 1845. The first time it was restored was 1861. The second time in 1932 and the last time in 2005.
Although a work of fiction, the story was inspired by actual events that will raise the hair on the back of the reader's neck. What happened to the woman who disappeared overnight? Stand and watch a paint lid as the name "Annie" is written in cursive in the wet paint right before your eyes. Or, listen to the heavy footsteps of a construction worker on the roof in the middle of the night? Smell cherry tobacco smoke in the hallways when no one is around? What lies under the white limestone rock in the rose garden, other than dirt?
We don't wish to spoil the suspense by telling what all the events were that inspired James into writing this story, but we will tell you a bit about the story.
In THIS OLD HOUSE, James creates a historical mystery set in the small town of Eagle Lake, Texas, only an hour drive to the southwest of Houston in the late 18th century. Visiting the old house or what was called the Smithson's Inn named after Wm. T. M. Smithson, who moved there from Weimar Texas in 1854. Visiting the well known Inn are a number of Americans, French aristocrats, and a couple who earlier in the day married in Stafford's Point near Rosenburg, Texas, Mister Johnathan Thompson, and the former Miss Rebecca Davison.
When they arrived, they insisted on staying on the first floor and were given an old room that was once a parlor converted into a bedroom.
Annie Smithson, the proprietor of the Inn and daughter of Wm. Smithson, became involved when there was a murder, but the body disappeared and was nowhere to be found until sixteen years later. The story evolves into one of hidden passages, murder, deception, and general chicanery ensues.
Although most of the old homes built in the mid-1800s in this small community have been destroyed, this home still stands, and the part of the house removed from it still stands on the adjacent lot next door, which by the way was the kitchen at one time.
Again, this is a story of fiction for entertainment purposes. But, haunting events did occur in this home that inspired the author to write this story!
Happy Reading!
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Sidney St. James, Author
Sidney St. James is a popular American novelist, pumping out title after title over the last two decades. His writing career has spanned over forty years, including other pen names in different genres.
*****
Synopsis
Sidney St. James was born in Eagle Lake, Texas, in the early 1950s. He wrote his first historical novel in 1972 while attending Texas A&M University called Adversity – Face to Face. Although drafted in the ’70s, it was not published until 2005. Over the next several years, James’ love for writing delved into creative historical nonfiction with true and exciting novels in the Faith Chronicles, The Lincoln Assassination Series, and the Texas Outlaw Series. One of the top-selling books in the Faith Chronicles, Faith – Seventy Times Seven, made the best-seller status on Amazon.com and helped launched his career worldwide. The story was inspired by his grandmother, Ada Caston Slaton Bonds, the first ordained woman minister in the state of Louisiana for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, who was addressed as the Mother of all Presbyteries by the General Assembly.
This novel has also received an invitation for a screen-write for worldwide distribution. James is working on this project, but it has taken a back burner for his Vincent Gideon Detective Series to be completed in 2017.
After a dozen novels in creative historical nonfiction, he went from his original pen name, Sean E. Jacobs, to Sidney St. James in his writing of The Blue Flaming Sword, a paranormal romance. The novel that kicked off the Storm Lord Trilogy Series was an immediate success, and he became a fan favorite in the process of transforming the paranormal romance genre. This novel was followed up by Nine Months Will Tell and The Three Keys to Apocalypse.
*****
Early Years
Born in Eagle Lake, Texas, to parents of German descent, the middle son of three boys, James always loved reading, which was fueled by his professional studies in genealogy research. James married his wife, Barbara, after five years of graduating from Texas A&M University. He had two daughters who later gave him four beautiful grandchildren. He spent the next two decades writing history books. Some were Eagle Lake High School, 1920-1972, The First 100 Years of the Presbyterian Church, SMITH, Struss Family Heritage, and others. He spent numerous years with his other passion in life, hunting, and fishing in many different locations around the world.
Snowed in with his wife and two children (ages 3 and 6 old at the time), James sat down and watched a Stephen King interview. This launched his style of storytelling that still exists today. When King was asked one time how he comes up with his ideas, he said in the middle of the night while dreaming, he wakes up and goes to his laptop and jots down his dream. This technique was used many times in the writing of the Storm Lord Trilogy, The Texas Outlaw Series, The Faith Chronicles, the Gideon Detective Series, the Lincoln Assassination Series and the Sunday School Education Series.
Sidney St. James Emerges
James, under his other pen name, Sean E. Jacobs, had a lot of pent-up stories to tell to the reading public. The stories took the form of historical nonfiction. While selling numerous copies, they never made worldwide acclaim. It wasn’t until the release of the Storm Lord Trilogy Series that his writing became an instant hit! The series is most exciting, especially in the award-winning final chapter, The Three Keys to Apocalypse – I Believe! His paranormal romance, while done with class and with style, transformed fiction’s typical nubile heroines into down to earth realistic characters.
*****
The Best Sellers
Between 2005 and today, James’s torrential writing pace has not waned since he released The Faith Chronicles in 2012. Faith – Seventy Times Seven and Adversity – Face to Face rose into the top ten best-selling novels in the historical nonfiction genre. James, writing in his other pen name, has been invited to write the script for the silver screen for FAITH – Seventy Times Seven, which is a project currently underway.
*****
Recent Releases
James continues to be a prolific author. In 2016, he released The Flaming Blue Sword, Nine Months Will Tell, and The Three Keys to Apocalypse. In 2017, his newest releases are Rosenthall, Gideon Returns, The Transformist, and The Death of a Nobel Prize Winner, plus one other The Phantom of Black Rock Cove. They are all part of the Gideon Detective Series.
And, of course, his newest venture with his releases of MURDER ON HORSESHOE BAY and THIS OLD HOUSE, both of which were released in 2020!
