Steam Drills, Treadmills. and Shooting Stars -a story of our times-
Great protest novels arise in every era: "The Grapes of Wrath," "1984",: The Jungle", and now, "Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars". In this novel, fact and fiction march hand-in-hand together across the American landscape as the ghost of the legendary John Henry haunts Jim Dalton, a corporate lawyer for Standard Coal, and young Henrietta Owens, an activist and mother who captivates the nation with her truth about the environment, the economy, justice and hope. From the ghost of John Henry to the Revolutionary Table, the Tightrope Walking Woman, and the Primetime Gladiator, the Prince of Nothing Who Comes From Nowhere, and the Midwife on the Front Line of Birth and Death, this epic myth of our time stars our selves and our neighbors in an answer to the silent prayers of the American people. This is a protest novel. It is designed to wake-up God in the heavens, shake the devil down in hell and rattle all the people in between. You will have a lot of fun. --Rising Sun Dance and Theater--Rising Sun Dance and Theater"Life is precious, beyond all else, and we are about to lose it.", page 162.  "She was lying awake on the eve of human extinction, staring wide-eyed at a blackness that had no end. If she could not wake her fellow citizens up, the darkness of extinction would engulf them forever. No laughter. No sunrise. No songs. Nothing. The dawn would never come to caress a human face again.", page 161. "We need to treat ourselves like a national crisis," she said. "We are one. If our personal lives were in as much pain and turmoil as our country we'd all be sedated and locked away." She choked, because it's true and we are. Her silence echoed onto airwaves and penetrated the ears of listeners across the nation.  "Everything we love is at stake," Henrietta said passionately. "We've got to accept that there can be no more life as usual. We need to live life unusual, and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime!" "It sounds like the trumpeting of a battle cry," the comfortable tenor of the talk show host chuckled. "Not a battle, but a call to action," Henrietta said. "We've got to make change our national pastime and hold protests more regularly than weekend parties," Henrietta urged. "There's a dedicated and hardworking crowd that's been actively trying to address the problems in our country for years and we've got to join them. We have to . . . it's our life!" Henrietta emphasized the last word, trying to imprint the preciousness of existence onto the listeners' minds. "If I could," she continued, "I'd reach out and shake every person in this country and say; stop listening to the TV tell you about America the beautiful . . . get up and be America the beautiful. Make America beautiful. We got energy sources to clean up and skies to clear out and mountaintops to restore. And more than that; we've got a whole new way of life just waiting to be born!" "Like a sick man getting a new lease on life?" the host said. "Yes, and that's the good news. We got a chance to remake ourselves and our whole society, to throw out the old, and bring in something better!" "We're starting to sound like radio evangelists, here," the radio host laughed. "Good," Henrietta answered emphatically. "We're in a dark night of the soul. But as you said, we got a second chance at life, today." "Saved and born again?" the radio host inserted skeptically. "Not saved. We definitely ain't saved yet," Henrietta chuckled, "but we're born again each day from the darkest of nights, and I believe that, if our country can rouse itself to greet the dawn that's coming, we'll not only make it through some tough times, but we'll come flying out the other side into a world we can hardly even imagine!", from page 165. --Rising Sun Dance and TheaterThe mass graves that dot our planet are miniscule when measured against the properly buried citizens who have done nothing. How can they rest in peace, or sleep in peace while still alive, when they stand by doing nothing as atrocities pass by like scenery on the roadside? A hundred thousand years of history's babies have been dropped into mass graves and the cruelly cooing murderers are but specks of dust compared to the mountain ranges of people who stood by doing nothing. Henrietta drew a breath laden with the last breaths of all those who came before us. Their dying words gathered in her chest. -from page 225. Follow us to hear the message of hope, empowerment and love that Henrietta brings alive in this book. This is a book you will want to keep forever and share with everyone you know. --Rising Sun Dance and Theater