by Suzi Weinert
Tom and Marie O’Day. After one of my library talks, they chatted with me, revealing they collect books, art and dragon artifacts/literature. Immediately intrigued because of my dragon in this book, I visited their home, where they graciously shared their knowledge, collections and passion for dragons. They also lent me several dragon books for my research.
Dr. Pete Rainey, the author of two books about the Civil War, member of Orange County Historical Society, Culpeper Minute Men Chapter of the Virginia Society Sons of the American Revolution, charter member of Spotswood Family Descendants and Chairman of the Civil War Study Group at Lake of the Woods, Virginia, helped with accuracy in my Mosby chapters. His ancestors, farmers and merchants from Northern Ireland, came to Virginia in the 1700s.
Bruce B. Rosenblatt, with thirty years’ experience with senior housing facilities and consulting, shared his knowledge with me. His company Senior Housing Solutions (www.seniorhousingsolutions.com) collects no referral fees or commissions from any senior facilities, thus remaining objective and unbiased in advising individual clients what best fits their unique needs.
Paulette Salmon (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) and her husband, Tom Rayhart, Jr. (a wildlife biologist) introduced me to and educated me about Florida’s venomous eastern diamondback rattlesnakes.
Jennifer Stuth, MD received her medical degree from the University of Missouri and completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, serving as chief resident. After residency, she moved to northern Virginia for a fellowship and master’s degree in Disaster Medicine and Emergency Medical Services at George Washington University. She currently practices Emergency Medicine in Arlington, Virginia.
W. "Bill" Rosser Wilson, retired head & neck surgeon, pointed me in the Civil War direction. When he heard my idea for a garage sale purchase containing a map to a historical discovery, he suggested a Confederate trove, possibly a valuable large cache of weapons buried by Confederates just before the South’s surrender. A fiction author himself (the C. D. Washington Mystery Series), his Civil War fascination springs from his great-grand-uncle (his grandmother’s mother’s brother), General Thomas Rosser, C.S.A.
Detective Ryan R. Young of the Criminal Investigations Section of Fairfax County Police Department specializes in uncovering criminal exploitation of seniors in the county, but also on prevention programs. He worked on home improvement scams, gathering evidence to prosecute these criminals. He also emphasized social or cultural vulnerability of seniors (especially if isolated or with disabilities). He described the county’s efforts to protect seniors from abuse, neglect or exploitation before they’re preyed upon, although police often learn about these situations only after a crime has occurred.
Lisanne Zabka, a United Airlines Flight Attendant, showed me her extensive collection of Far Eastern memorabilia, including dragon china sets, platters and wall art. Her regular flights to China offer exciting opportunities to browse their markets and shops for unique treasures and additions to her dragon collection. She gifted me with a cherished dragon necklace.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ranger Mosby, by Virgil Carrington Jones, EPM Publications, Inc., McLean, Virginia,1906, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC 1944
Mosby’s Rangers, by Jeffry D. Wert, A Touchstone Book, Division of Simon & Schuster, New York, l990
Mosby’s Rangers, by James J. Williamson, Ralph G. Kenyon, Publisher, New York, l896
Gray Ghost: The Life of Col. John Singleton Mosby by James A. Ramage, The University Press of Kentucky, 1999
The Memoirs of Colonel John S. Mosby, edited by Charles Wells Russell, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, l959
Ready…Aim…Fire! Small Army Ammunition in the Battle of Gettysburg, by Dean S. Thomas, Thomas Publications, Gettysburg, PA, l993
The Civil War Collector’s Price Guide, Millennium Edition, North South Traders Civil War, a Division of Publishers Press, Orange, VA, 2000
The Complete Guide to Caring for Aging Loved Ones, The Official Book of Focus on The Family Physicians Resource Council, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois, 2002
Stonewall’s Gold: A Novel of the Civil War, Robert J. Mrazek, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Griffin, New York, 1999
Armchair Reader: Civil War, Untold Tales of the Blue and Gray, West Side Publishing, a Division of Publications International, Ltd., 2008
Civil War Handbook, by William H. Price, L.B. Prince Co., Inc., 8900 Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA, l961
Book of Dragons, by H. Gustavo Ciruelo Cabral, Sterling: Reprint Edition, 20112
A Practical Guide to Dragons, by Lisa Trumbauer, Mirrorstone, 2006
The Complete Book of Dragons: A Guide to Dragon Species, by Cressida Cowel, Little, Brown Books for Young readers, 2014
Dragonology, The Complete Book of Dragons, by Dr. Ernest Drake and Dugold A. Steer, Candlewick, 2013
If you have not had the chance to read Suzi Weinert’s other books from The Garage Sale Mystery Series, here is your opportunity to read more stories about Jennifer Shannon’s thrilling adventures springing from garage sale shopping.The first title is Garage Sale Stalker, available from www.bluewaterpress.com/GSS and her second title is Garage Sale Diamonds, found at www.bluewaterpress.com/GSD. Both of these tales will keep you on the edge throughout your reading.
