Author's Note

Discuss the October 2017 Book of the Month, Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon.

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Colleen0701
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Author's Note

Post by Colleen0701 »

At the end of Strong Heart Charlie Sheldon shares with us his hypotheses about early migration. I must say I agree wholeheartedly.

Leaky and others have determined that prehistory in both North and South America do not date earlier than the Clovis civilisation. Although there are two sites which are now accepted as pre-Clovis sites.

One is close to Meadowbrook on the East coast where the Vikings later landed. The other is in the Mississippi Basin. In fact, all the prehistory sites are just north of the Mississippi Basin or in it.

Even if we accept that people migrated from Asia, where are the fossils on the west coast? Where is the evidence in the Appalachians which they would have to cross to get to the basin. Same story in South America, there are few fossil sites, they are spread out and none near the Andes.

Going back to 20-50ka years ago, there was a glacial period during that age. The Bering sea was iced over - they could have walked from Asia to America. Certainly that period of time did nothing to distract the Europeans at the same Northern latitude from migrating.

So I find a major loophole in academia's logic when they contend that Asiatics migrated down the Wilson line and hop skipped a few islands to appear in Australia 400ka ago, but they could not make the journey east until 15ka years ago.

I think the evidence is either sitting under the sand in the Pacific or deep under snow in the mountains. I believe the evidence is there - but nobody has found it yet.

What do you think my fellow amateur historians? :techie-studyingbrown:
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Post by Javier Campos »

The theory that the first settlers came from Asia is way too strong, sadly the concluding evidence might be under the sea now. Sea levels rose quite a bit several thousand years ago.
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Post by Charlie Sheldon »

I made every effort to insure that all the historical and scientific evidence my characters discussed in Strong Heart was based in fact, with a scientific basis. So, for example, Myra's reference to Huyetalco in Mexico is real. Similarly the Manis mastadon spearpoint and bone is real, you can see it in the museum in Sequim, 13,800 years old, which is 1800 years older than Clovis. Javier is correct - all evidence from the time of great ice along the coast is probably buried beneath rising seas. There are enormous arguments about old sites in the Americas, most of them not accepted at the current time for a variety of reasons, mostly sound I think. However, there is a site in the Yukon that has dated to 24,000 years old, seriously, and just recently a cut mastadon bone was found in California that seems to be 130,000 years old, perhaps supporting the Huyetalco thesis that the Mexican site might have been that old as well. Point being, we know a lot yet we know very little, and any theory we have is the truth today unless and until it is supplanted by another theory. I always said to myself while I was watching this tale appear in 2013-2014 that the Good Lord has a wicked sense of humor and within a few years of the book being published there will be a find in the Americas supporting my thesis, which from a selfish perspective will help me sell copies, make me look briliiant, and begin a raging debate about such a huge shift in human origins thinking. That hasn't happened. Yet .But maybe the Yukon site is the start, or the cut mastadon bone in San Diego (it will take years to confirm or fully debunk this recent find). The way it seems changing theories work, it seems to me, is that when first offered all those who have made their careers on finding or supporting the previous theory rise up and defend their thesis to the death (almost literally), such that any new find, to change things, has to be incontrovertible, unmistakable, and huge. For those of you who read Strong Heart, the Marking Place would be such a site, perhaps - that is, assuming you believe Sarah's journey was a real journey to a real place, and not a dream..... 8) 8)
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Post by Colleen0701 »

I really think that academia do see this illogical loophole. However the coast is long, where does even begin? Even with a probable route of migration in hand. I too think hat once archaeologists unearth the first real find raising some questions, they'll plot and plan and and then they might know better as to where they should dig. If the Europeans are digging 22 metres down in a valley to get to the Paleolithic level, one can only guess that the same number must apply to any site on the west coast of the America's or the Appalachians.
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Post by Javier Campos »

Charlie Sheldon wrote:I made every effort to insure that all the historical and scientific evidence my characters discussed in Strong Heart was based in fact, with a scientific basis. So, for example, Myra's reference to Huyetalco in Mexico is real. Similarly the Manis mastadon spearpoint and bone is real, you can see it in the museum in Sequim, 13,800 years old, which is 1800 years older than Clovis. Javier is correct - all evidence from the time of great ice along the coast is probably buried beneath rising seas. There are enormous arguments about old sites in the Americas, most of them not accepted at the current time for a variety of reasons, mostly sound I think. However, there is a site in the Yukon that has dated to 24,000 years old, seriously, and just recently a cut mastadon bone was found in California that seems to be 130,000 years old, perhaps supporting the Huyetalco thesis that the Mexican site might have been that old as well. Point being, we know a lot yet we know very little, and any theory we have is the truth today unless and until it is supplanted by another theory. I always said to myself while I was watching this tale appear in 2013-2014 that the Good Lord has a wicked sense of humor and within a few years of the book being published there will be a find in the Americas supporting my thesis, which from a selfish perspective will help me sell copies, make me look briliiant, and begin a raging debate about such a huge shift in human origins thinking. That hasn't happened. Yet .But maybe the Yukon site is the start, or the cut mastadon bone in San Diego (it will take years to confirm or fully debunk this recent find). The way it seems changing theories work, it seems to me, is that when first offered all those who have made their careers on finding or supporting the previous theory rise up and defend their thesis to the death (almost literally), such that any new find, to change things, has to be incontrovertible, unmistakable, and huge. For those of you who read Strong Heart, the Marking Place would be such a site, perhaps - that is, assuming you believe Sarah's journey was a real journey to a real place, and not a dream..... 8) 8)
It is aweasome to read your reply. I loved your book congratulations!
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Post by Chelsy Scherba »

Hmm. That's very interesting. I'm not sure what to think honestly. The only thing I'm really sure of is history always changes because we rarely have all the information. I guess we're fortunate to know as much as we do!
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Post by Bancroft »

Oh dear author! Honestly speaking the book is not like the one I was expecting. That is the reality and a bad cover
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Post by Sketches_by_Shell »

Charlie Sheldon wrote: 01 Nov 2017, 11:25 I made every effort to insure that all the historical and scientific evidence my characters discussed in Strong Heart was based in fact, with a scientific basis. So, for example, Myra's reference to Huyetalco in Mexico is real. Similarly the Manis mastadon spearpoint and bone is real, you can see it in the museum in Sequim, 13,800 years old, which is 1800 years older than Clovis. Javier is correct - all evidence from the time of great ice along the coast is probably buried beneath rising seas. There are enormous arguments about old sites in the Americas, most of them not accepted at the current time for a variety of reasons, mostly sound I think. However, there is a site in the Yukon that has dated to 24,000 years old, seriously, and just recently a cut mastadon bone was found in California that seems to be 130,000 years old, perhaps supporting the Huyetalco thesis that the Mexican site might have been that old as well. Point being, we know a lot yet we know very little, and any theory we have is the truth today unless and until it is supplanted by another theory. I always said to myself while I was watching this tale appear in 2013-2014 that the Good Lord has a wicked sense of humor and within a few years of the book being published there will be a find in the Americas supporting my thesis, which from a selfish perspective will help me sell copies, make me look briliiant, and begin a raging debate about such a huge shift in human origins thinking. That hasn't happened. Yet .But maybe the Yukon site is the start, or the cut mastadon bone in San Diego (it will take years to confirm or fully debunk this recent find). The way it seems changing theories work, it seems to me, is that when first offered all those who have made their careers on finding or supporting the previous theory rise up and defend their thesis to the death (almost literally), such that any new find, to change things, has to be incontrovertible, unmistakable, and huge. For those of you who read Strong Heart, the Marking Place would be such a site, perhaps - that is, assuming you believe Sarah's journey was a real journey to a real place, and not a dream..... 8) 8)
Thank you for writing this book, Charlie Sheldon, and once again you have left me thinking! I have recently finished the book and the afterward. I was on the side of Sarah's adventure being a dream; almost like the Wizard of Oz! It only makes sense to me because of the time it takes to travel that journey she described. If the journey only took 8 days, then I would be more receptive of the journey being a real visit! I enjoy toggling back and forth on this matter, though.
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Post by Charlie Sheldon »

Well, Sketches by Shell, glad you liked it, and yes, its a great delight to have readers ponder then start their own explorations. A few readers like you have struggled with the 8 days missing as opposed to months in a canoe happening in eight days, but that's magic realism, I think - I mean, if you can pivot to someone finding themselves in another place thousands of years before the present, then it seems to me highly possible that a day passing today might be a week, or a month, or a year, back whenever. I think some readers make the pivot easily, just ride with it, and others just cannot go there, at all. We are so arrogant these days, thinking we know almost everything, and then we become tribal about our position at which point logic leaves entirely. Yet....yet....I for example can find water with a stick, I am a dowser, the stick will pull so hard in my hands the bark comes off, and this works for some people, they feel the energy, and for many others, they just cannot accept it. Once I had someone unable to feel the stick so I walked before him, fingertips on the ends of the stick in his palms, and the sick turned down and then that person threw the stick away and would not talk to me. You may not even believe this story now, but it is true, I swear it. Why, just the other day, THE OTHER DAY, they announced they had found an entirely new organ system in the human body, in the soft tissues, a series of channels where fluid moves. This, after centuries, even millenia of studying the body, all the medical machines, digital and xray imaging systems, and this appears. So, who knows? Maybe the rule is, if you do go back into another time and world, the time clock there is different, and so Sarah's story could be longer.....
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Post by Sketches_by_Shell »

Excellent response! When is the second installment going to hit the stores? When will it be here on the club? I can barely wait! Thank you for your enlightening response! You are a very talented author!
I would have to say that I am a dowser as well, I can see things in any different light. I am a "go with the flow" kind of person! I'm anticipating the day when I can see if Sarah's journey does actually go on some more! I did see the "short faced bear" as being a "sign" to let Sarah know of her heritage. I thought that the direction she stated the bear went would be the first place I would have started searching for her when she disappeared.
Thanks, again, for writing!
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Post by Charlie Sheldon »

The next book in the group is titled "Adrift" and will be available in September 2018, I believe, from IronTwine Press, and you can google IrontwinePress/Adrift and get a look at the cover. My publisher is just about to run production copies for pre-publication reviews, etc. I am going to do as much as I can with the OnLineBookClub which I think is a great outfit and which had meant my tale has been widely read all over the world and received a lot of reviews. I'm just now finishing the third book, actually, as well....
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Post by Sketches_by_Shell »

Very nice! I will certainly look for Adrift to hit the shelves! I will likely not be able to wait for it to get to Online Book Club! I'll have to buy it! I found The Spear thrower: The Sighting on Goodreads, what is that book? The description has all of our characters from Strong Heart.
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Post by Charlie Sheldon »

I apologize The Spear Thrower the Sighting was the first100 pages more or less of Strong Heart, I put it up as a Kindle in abut 2015 and then when I arranged for the whole book to be published with IronTwine I cancelled the Kindle. Sad to say Goodreads had been difficult about removing books that are delisted. Your comment encourages me to try again....
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Post by Sketches_by_Shell »

Neat! No need to apologize, I blame the internet for many things. Now I am wondering which title I like better. I like them both, it would have been difficult for me to decide which one to use. I think I like Strong Heart better, not only for its size, but for its definition. Strong Heart sums up all of Sarah's personality, where as the other long title only reveals one aspect. My ultimate goal is to write and publish some of the stories I am working on currently. Thank you for chatting with me!
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Post by Radhika_puri »

I don't know what to think from this because many times with time things changes and maybe the evidences are still to be found.
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