5 Star Review for Granny Boo

Tales from Georgia., November 28, 2010
By Edd Voss "Edd" (Springdale Wa) Granny Boo ~ Legacy of the Puma Man (Paperback)

I can't really call this a post apocalyptic book; it is more of a post meltdown story. No nuclear attacks causing mutations, society just went through a major meltdown. To survive it Brian, takes his wife and daughter to live in a cave hidden deep in the mountains of Georgia. Using the skills that he learned from an old woman named Keechie, Brian keeps the history of the Muskogee Indians who once lived in the area alive. This book is more of a testament to the culture of the Indians than it is about the post meltdown society. The story is rich with tales of the rituals and societal structure of a tribe that was transplanted from Georgia to the Indian Territory that became Oklahoma. It also tells of the Muskogee story of how the tribe came to Georgia from far to the west. A fun read full of information and imagination.

Watch for Edd's latest book, "Rambling" - coming soon!

My First Review for Granny Boo

'Granny Boo'
By Phil Whitley

ISBN 978-0981965413

R. J. Buckley Publishing, 2010

$19.00/£12

Granny Boo is the long-awaited sequel to Phil Whitley's first novel, 'Keechie'. I've been involved in this project personally - Phil asked me to create a painting for the book cover - and I was delighted when he, and his publisher, accepted the artwork that resulted (this photo shows Phil with the original painting). I really enjoyed his first novel, and have been looking forward to this second instalment for years.

I'm very pleased to report that 'Granny Boo' is as good as 'Keechie'. Whitley combines a very realistic, and often tragic history of Native American Indians in 19th Century Georgia, with a touching and poignant tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic U.S.

The country has succumbed to various terrorist atrocities that have destroyed the infrastructure holding civilisation together. In the resulting power vacuum, the West has once again become Wild. Brian and his family seek refuge in a secretly located cave, once inhabited by a Native American Indian woman decades before whom Brian had got to know very well in his youth, (the story related in 'Keechie'). The family must rely upon the survival skills he has acquired and remain hidden until the troubles die down. They become extremely wary of strangers, and with good reason.

The cities, in the surrounding State, descend into chaos, and the countryside becomes the hunting ground for malicious criminals. It is hard for anyone to know who to trust anymore, as resources become increasingly scarce, and law enforcement disappears.

To Brian's delight, his wife and daughter embrace the old Indian ways. As an insular unit they thrive through adversity - in stark contrast to the collapsing civilised world around them. They are soon joined by an old friend of Brian's - a black man equally comfortable with leaving his old life behind. Their adjustment to a more rugged, hunter/gatherer existence is supported, and given more relevance, by the stories of Keechie, and her ancestors before her. In particular, the family discover enchanting stories about Granny Boo, Keechie's maternal grandmother. Both were Spirit Singers who maintained a old ways through times of increasing difficulty.

In the 19th century, Granny Boo's tribe faced extermination by the white settlers, and spent their lives in seclusion in the creek valley now inhabited by Brian and his family. In turn, his present day family take inspiration from the stories in Keechie's journals, and learn how to use the old ways to ensure their own survival. Their journey takes on an increasingly spiritual element as the ancestor spirits, and the powerful, protective Puma Man spirit, make their presence felt.

This book details the heart-warming story of life in the secluded valley, and the many resources Brian, Mary, Alex and Maurice call upon from ancient lore. The narrative is punctuated by a series of short stories relating to times gone by. Many of these charter the life of Granny Boo as a young woman as she finds love, and perseveres through tragedy. Other stories are myths from the indigenous peoples of the area which have survived to the present day. All are fascinating, and successfully transport the reader to a different time and culture.

There is a running theme of empathy with the indigenous peoples of Georgia throughout. In a way, this reflects other work emerging from America at the moment, like Avatar. The genocide of the Indians seems to rest heavily upon the American psyche at the present time. There is also a palpable feeling of the need to re-engage with nature.

Finally, I was struck with how the book essentially honours the preceding generations of Indians who lived in the area. This reflects the practices of the Indians themselves, and seems rather apt. The book honours the memories of fictional characters whose lives seem very real. It crescendos on a spiritual level as Brian's family discover that their connection with history runs deeper than they could possibly have imagined.

'Granny Boo' is an inspiring novel. It will appeal to anyone interested in the cultures of Native American indians, and to anyone who loves listening to a good story around a campfire.


Book review by Andy Lloyd, 14th April 2010

Read the review at Andy's website at htttp://www.darkstar1.co.uk/grannyboo.html

Books for review can be sent to Andy Lloyd at the author/publisher's own risk. (I reserve the right to fail to produce a review if a submitted book turns out to be complete pants). Please contact me by e-mail for a postal address.

andy3751@hotmail.com

Keechie and Granny Boo ~ How the Stories Began

(Photo and mock-up by Creek Historian, Richard Thornton)
This photo is of a mock-up of an ancient Hitchiti Creek ceremonial stone circle that was found on Ladd's Mountain in Bartow County, Ga.. These were placed on mountain tops all over the southeast - Pine Mountain included, and were used as astronomical observatories and communication (via smoke signals). Both my novels are set at the location of the one on Pine Mountain. The 'Rock' that I featured is at the actual site where the circle once stood, but destroyed by the WPA in the 1930s for the stone to use in their own construction projects.

While researching for Keechie and later, Granny Boo, I came across a Creek legend in a genealogy site that told of a Muskogee (Creek) migration that began in northwest Mexico and went overland all the way to Georgia. This was in the 1500s after Cortez had decimated the Aztec population in Mexico. At every river they encountered on the way they built a town (talofa), restocked their food supply and established trade with the local Indians. After a year or two, some of them continued their eastward migration until they finally arrived in Georgia.
I had learned that the Aztec, through selective hybridization, had taken a local grass (Teosinte) and genetically engineered it into what we now know as CORN!
This gave me the idea of combining the Creek legend and this bit of scientific fact into my own theory that it was these early Native Americans that changed the way people lived all across America - by bringing this new food product with them on their migration. No longer dependent on hunting/gathering, the people could now raise their crops and live a more sedentary lifestyle.
Further proof that these Muskogee Indians were from South and Central America and not from a Bering Strait migration is the new DNA evidence that they are related to the Maya and actually have common words between the Mayan and Muskogean languages!
And I thought I was making this stuff up!

Granny Boo is in the House

After three years writing, researching, and editing, Granny Boo ~ Legacy of the Puma Man has been completed and is now available at Amazon.com and most other major booksellers. Many thanks to my publisher RJ Buckley Publishing!

The story evolved from my first novel, Keechie, which was published in 2005. I wrote it as both a prequel and a sequel (which was a difficult concept, but very rewarding). Written as a stand-alone, it is not necessary to read Keechie first, but it my hope that reading either one will cause readers to want to read the other.

The story goes back in time to Keechie's ancestors who first came to the southeast from Mexico in the early 1500s - and were the first to occupy the cave that continues to protect Brian, Mary and their daughter, Alexis. Through alternating chapters, it follows their lives in a post-apocalyptic world, surviving by the skills that Brian learned from the old half-breed Indian woman, Keechie, when he was sixteen.

The Puma Man had always been the archetypal spirit guide and protector of Granny Boo and Keechie's clan, and for some mystical reason continues to protect both the cave and its inhabitants. That reason will be revealed to you when you read...

The terrorist attacks have subsided, the sickness has passed, and the smoke from the firebombs has begun to settle, and the one lesson that everyone learns is that life must go on. In his post Apocalyptic America, Phil Whitley has given us an extraordinary look at a life that is hardscrabble and tough, filled with dangers and obstacles that make it impossible for civilization to go on as it once had. Making the best of a bad situation, survivalist Brian brings his wife Mary and daughter Alex to live in the spirit cave of their ancestors, where they must learn to live life as it was 150 years ago. They grow their own vegetables, kill their own meat, make their own medicine, and learn that the only people they can depend upon are themselves. When they are joined by their friend Maurice, they find that they cannot completely cut themselves off from the world, and that sometimes tough decisions must be made. The hardest decision of all is the one that will send them back into the very heart of the land they have been avoiding, but it is a decision they must make, and one that they will have to learn to live with.
Out of the chaos of a world that has reverted to its basic instincts, Whitley brings us a tale of sacrifice and survival, of challenge and courage, of hardship and hope. With Granny Boo and the Puma Man as teachers, mentors, and role models, Brian and his family learn to cope with anything and everything that the new world throws at them, and learn that with love, strength, and conviction, they can survive whatever comes their way.
You don’t want to miss this book.
E. Don Harpe
Harpe is a novelist, poet, and songwriter who now lives and writes from his home in Georgia. His memoir “The Last of the South Town Rinky Dinks” has become a local success story, and he is currently writing the third in the Harpe series and co-authoring a brand new adventure novel with Phil Whitley.
Granny Boo was released December, 2009 by R.J. Buckley Publishing

After three years writing, researching, and editing, Granny Boo ~ Legacy of the Puma Man has been completed and placed under contract with R.J. Buckley Publishing. The story evolved from my first novel, Keechie, which was published in 2005. I wrote it as both a prequel and a sequel (which was a difficult concept, but very rewarding). Written as a stand-alone, it is not necessary to read Keechie first, but it my hope that reading either one will cause readers to want to read the other.

The story goes back in time to Keechie's ancestors who first came to the southeast from Mexico in the early 1500s - and were the first to occupy the cave that continues to protect Brian, Mary and their daughter, Alexis. Through alternating chapters, it follows their lives in a post-apocalyptic world, surviving by the skills that Brian learned from the old half-breed Indian woman, Keechie, when he was sixteen.

The Puma Man had always been the archetypal spirit guide and protector of Granny Boo and Keechie's clan, and for some mystical reason continues to protect both the cave and its inhabitants. That reason will be revealed to you when you read...

~ Granny Boo ~ Legacy of the Puma Man ~

The terrorist attacks have subsided, the sickness has passed, and the smoke from the firebombs has begun to settle, and the one lesson that everyone learns is that life must go on. In his post Apocalyptic America, Phil Whitley has given us an extraordinary look at a life that is hardscrabble and tough, filled with dangers and obstacles that make it impossible for civilization to go on as it once had. Making the best of a bad situation, survivalist Brian brings his wife Mary and daughter Alex to live in the spirit cave of their ancestors, where they must learn to live life as it was 150 years ago. They grow their own vegetables, kill their own meat, make their own medicine, and learn that the only people they can depend upon are themselves. When they are joined by their friend Maurice, they find that they cannot completely cut themselves off from the world, and that sometimes tough decisions must be made. The hardest decision of all is the one that will send them back into the very heart of the land they have been avoiding, but it is a decision they must make, and one that they will have to learn to live with.

Out of the chaos of a world that has reverted to its basic instincts, Whitley brings us a tale of sacrifice and survival, of challenge and courage, of hardship and hope. With Granny Boo and the Puma Man as teachers, mentors, and role models, Brian and his family learn to cope with anything and everything that the new world throws at them, and learn that with love, strength, and conviction, they can survive whatever comes their way.

You don’t want to miss this book.

E. Don Harpe

Harpe is a novelist, poet, and songwriter who now lives and writes from his home in Georgia. His memoir “The Last of the South Town Rinky Dinks” has become a local success story, and he is currently writing the third in the Harpe series and co-authoring a brand new adventure novel with Phil Whitley.

Granny Boo is scheduled for release in December, 2009 by R.J. Buckley Publishing