Revisiting the Journey
Hello everyone!
I hope you have enjoyed the guest author series I've featured here since August. I must admit that having guest's sure freed me up for pressing issues that I've had to deal with with the book and movie. Not having to write on the blog myself has given me some free time to finish the screenplay, which I have done. Not an easy task, but at least now there is something solid to hand over to interested parties, and yes, there are many interested parties.
What's going on with the movie? I've heard this a million times over the summer. The slump in progress with the movie was necessary to get things in order. As it was before, things were just kinda thrown out there without any real direction. Not so anymore. I will be once again posting on it's progress in the near future!
There are new friends everyday on the FB page, so I would like to take this opportunity to share a past blog for those who might be stopping by.
The following blog entry was from December of 2010, almost one year ago. It speaks for itself, but will be informative to those just getting to know me and what I'm all about – just a humble author trying to do good through a medium open to anyone who has the desire to listen within, sit down and write about it.
And now, I give you, "With a Lump in my Throat..."
When I was on my way out of town this morning, my cell phone beeped alerting me to a new message on my Facebook wall. A dear friend posted a link to a New York Times article regarding the hangings of the Dakota 38. As you all know by now, this is the subject of my book, Scattered Leaves: The Legend of Ghostkiller.
I wasn't driving the car, so was able to click the link and go to the page. As my eyes scanned the small screen of my phone, which is difficult enough to read at my age, I found it even more difficult to see with the tears that welled up in my eyes. It was an article that talked about the 38th Indian who was hanged by mistake. His name was Chaska- the character Ghostkiller in my book is based on this man. Chaska kidnapped a woman and her children during the uprising in order to save them from certain death, which he did. In my book, Ghostkiller came to Moccasin Flats (a fictitious name for Mankato) from South Dakota Territory after he heard the news of his mothers' starving people. Consequently, he was caught at the wrong place at the wrong time during the round up and hanged.
As I read the article, my eyes widened when I got to the part where they were talking about a public pardon. It is important not only for the government to acknowledge what happened to Chaska, but also to educate the public about what happened during that time to cause the Uprising in the first place. This was my mission when I wrote the book. I knew I needed to write it in a format that could be easily understood, but also be widely accepted by the masses. What better way to do that then through the love of reading? Now it has gone to the next step and into the Hollywood realm of movie making and I am thrilled with the aspects of reaching millions of people with this important story! If people understood the catalyst behind the uprising, perhaps a better understanding all these years later could heal some old wounds.
I have always said, "I am just the vehicle by which their story traveled to the paper," so while reading this article, I allowed the lump in my throat to grow and didn't try to swallow it; I released the tears and let them flow down my cheeks, and as I did I heard the pain and sorrow of 148 years worth of past atrocities cry out through the veil of time and space in which our past survives today. I pray that these things will come to light in every possible medium, and that one day these spirits will indeed rest in peace.
Mitakuye Oyasin,
Lynny Prince
I hope you have enjoyed the guest author series I've featured here since August. I must admit that having guest's sure freed me up for pressing issues that I've had to deal with with the book and movie. Not having to write on the blog myself has given me some free time to finish the screenplay, which I have done. Not an easy task, but at least now there is something solid to hand over to interested parties, and yes, there are many interested parties.
What's going on with the movie? I've heard this a million times over the summer. The slump in progress with the movie was necessary to get things in order. As it was before, things were just kinda thrown out there without any real direction. Not so anymore. I will be once again posting on it's progress in the near future!
There are new friends everyday on the FB page, so I would like to take this opportunity to share a past blog for those who might be stopping by.
The following blog entry was from December of 2010, almost one year ago. It speaks for itself, but will be informative to those just getting to know me and what I'm all about – just a humble author trying to do good through a medium open to anyone who has the desire to listen within, sit down and write about it.
And now, I give you, "With a Lump in my Throat..."
When I was on my way out of town this morning, my cell phone beeped alerting me to a new message on my Facebook wall. A dear friend posted a link to a New York Times article regarding the hangings of the Dakota 38. As you all know by now, this is the subject of my book, Scattered Leaves: The Legend of Ghostkiller.
I wasn't driving the car, so was able to click the link and go to the page. As my eyes scanned the small screen of my phone, which is difficult enough to read at my age, I found it even more difficult to see with the tears that welled up in my eyes. It was an article that talked about the 38th Indian who was hanged by mistake. His name was Chaska- the character Ghostkiller in my book is based on this man. Chaska kidnapped a woman and her children during the uprising in order to save them from certain death, which he did. In my book, Ghostkiller came to Moccasin Flats (a fictitious name for Mankato) from South Dakota Territory after he heard the news of his mothers' starving people. Consequently, he was caught at the wrong place at the wrong time during the round up and hanged.
As I read the article, my eyes widened when I got to the part where they were talking about a public pardon. It is important not only for the government to acknowledge what happened to Chaska, but also to educate the public about what happened during that time to cause the Uprising in the first place. This was my mission when I wrote the book. I knew I needed to write it in a format that could be easily understood, but also be widely accepted by the masses. What better way to do that then through the love of reading? Now it has gone to the next step and into the Hollywood realm of movie making and I am thrilled with the aspects of reaching millions of people with this important story! If people understood the catalyst behind the uprising, perhaps a better understanding all these years later could heal some old wounds.
I have always said, "I am just the vehicle by which their story traveled to the paper," so while reading this article, I allowed the lump in my throat to grow and didn't try to swallow it; I released the tears and let them flow down my cheeks, and as I did I heard the pain and sorrow of 148 years worth of past atrocities cry out through the veil of time and space in which our past survives today. I pray that these things will come to light in every possible medium, and that one day these spirits will indeed rest in peace.
Mitakuye Oyasin,
Lynny Prince
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