I’ve read social media expert’s opinions on Twitter. They’re reporting 10% less usage. Meet my new friends, the Pirtles. I read a tweet about Venture Galleries, followed through to the post, which led me to Caleb Pirtle III and his lovely wife, Linda, a debut novelist. Imagine how happy I was when I contacted them and they said, “Yes, we’d like to feature your book, Destiny’s Gate, on our site.” And so begins our friendship. Not only have they listed the second book in the Paige Maddison Series, they are featuring the first book, today. Click on the following link to see the Authors Showcase for Book One in the Paige Maddison Series: Wake Me Up Inside. Thank you kindly, Caleb and Linda. It is so amazing to meet veterans and debut novelists in the world of books that are true to their word and so very kind. Enjoy the bio of the Pirtles:
Caleb and Linda Pirtle of Hideaway Lake founded Venture Galleries to publish, promote, and market both fiction and nonfiction books on a national landscape. Its goal is to connect writers, readers, and books. During the past two years, since its inception, Venture Galleries has published more than 40 books for authors from California to Florida and North Carolina.
Pirtle’s most recent books are the suspense thrillers, Golgotha Connection, Secrets of the Dead, Conspiracy of Lies, Night Side of Dark, Deadline News, and Wicked Little Lies, as well as a collection of vignettes on unforgettable characters he has met, Other Voices, Other Towns. Secrets of the Dead, was a semi-finalist for best Indie Book of the Year.
Novelist, The Mah Jongg Murders
Linda Pirtle published her debut novel in 2013, a cozy mystery entitled The MahJongg Murders. The setting is a small, picturesque, gated lakeside community much like Hideaway Lake.
She is a graduate of The University of Texas at Arlington and earned her Master’s Degree from Texas A&M Commerce. Linda taught English and became principal of Ennis High School, then Director of Federal Programs for the Ennis School District.
Linda is presently working on her second book in the Christian/mystery series based on games: Death by Dominoes.
Author of over 60 novels including Secrets of the Dead
Pirtle has always considered himself to be a thief. He says, “I’ve spent my whole life stealing bits and pieces of other people’s lives, experiences, and memories, then writing them down in newspaper stories, magazine articles, and books – both fiction and nonfiction. I would be lost if they had not come along. I would have been terribly disappointed if our paths hadn’t crossed and I had not been able to sit down and talk to them for a while. I am convinced that everyone who walks across the street has a great story to tell if someone will just take the time to listen.”
Pirtle takes the time. He listens. He has been doing it all of his life. Many of their stories have found their way into the more than sixty books and novels he has written, including such award winners as XIT: The American Cowboy, The Unending Season, Echoes from Forgotten Streets, and The Grandest Day. His article about Nick Rowe, the first American soldier captured during the Vietnam War, won the National William Randolph Hearst Award.
He also wrote the acclaimed Gamble in the Devil’s Chalk, the true story of the fight and feuds between oilmen battling for riches in the Austin Chalk. And he has written the teleplays for three television movies: Gambler V: Playing for Keeps, Wildcat: The Story of Sarah Delaney and the Doodlebug Man for CBS, and The Texas Rangers for TNT.
In the beginning, Pirtle was a newspaperman. He loved the frenetic pace that met him every day at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram where his articles won the Associated Press and Headliner’s Awards. At Southern Living Magazine, his writings earning him the National Discover America Award three times, and he was named Travel South’s Man of the Year.
For a decade, he wrote about destinations, to be sure, but Pirtle always wrote about the people he met along the way. As he said, “A great historian, R. Henderson Shuffler, taught me years ago that what happens is never as important as the people who make it happen. So some people collect coins and stamps. I collect stories and people.”
J.R. Matheson and I are honoured to be featured on Venture Galleries Blog. We have the Pirtles to thank. Very kind, indeed.
Nice. And well deserved. You have captured Linda and Caleb exactly.
Thank you, kindly! Great to hear this.