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Charles A. Ray's Blog

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May.03.2013
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  Henry Johnson, United States Army buffalo soldier and Medal of Honor recipient for actions in the Indian Wars. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)   My latest YA history novel about the famed Buffalo Soldiers, Buffalo Soldier: Renegade, is currently available in paperback and for Kindle. Kindle...
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Feb.06.2013
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Looking for something interesting to do this weekend? How about a free mystery novel to jumpstart your own creative juices? The latest Al Pennyback mystery, Death From Unnatural Causes is free for a limited time only. For your Kindle Reader, or the Kindle reading app on your Mac or PC, get this...
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Jan.21.2013
My most recent novel for YA readers.
A blog post I wrote recently for Indies Unlimited on my foray into writing for young adult readers might just be of interest to some of my Red Room colleagues. Check it out at http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2013/01/21/taking-the-plunge-and-writing-... Appreciate any feedback. 
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Oct.26.2012
  Paris, the city of love and lights; the place where authors like James Baldwin, along with other black artists, writers, and performers, found welcome and a home when they were rejected by their own country.  I grew up with a romanticized image of Paris in my head, and an almost insane...
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Oct.12.2012
  I taught myself rudimentary Spanish in junior high and high school.  But, my efforts at formal foreign language learning didn’t take place until after I enlisted in the army.  I picked up enough German to get by during a two year stint in Augsburg, Germany, but, in 1967, the army...
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Sep.05.2012
Grab the Brass Ring
My latest book on leadership and self development, Grab the Brass Ring, was released on September 3, 2012, and is available in paperback and for Kindle at the following links: Paperback:  http://www.amazon.com/Grab-Brass-Ring-Successful-Fulfilled/dp/1479249521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8...
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Jul.05.2012
  My house has an attic, a basement, a garage, and a crawlspace over the garage; and each of those spaces is filled to the brim with boxes of memories of fifty years of packing and moving about every two years or so.  Some of those boxes haven’t been unpacked for more than thirty years....
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Jun.23.2012
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Amazon Kindle (Photo credit: agirregabiria) My fantasy-humor novel, Angel on His Shoulder, is now available for Kindle and Kindle apps.  Get a free copy during the promotional period June 25-29 only at the following link. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008DYPPI2 My other books are also available...
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Feb.17.2012
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember.  Until my freshman year in high school, I was painfully shy and ill at ease around people, so I sought refuge in books.  My mother taught me to read when I was four, and I went through the first and second grade readers at my school during...
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Jan.04.2012
This is the year that I will fly.
The best of times; the worst of times; it will be the summer of discombobulation.  In July 2012, when I will have completed 50 uninterrupted years of government service; in uniform and in mufti; I will finally turn in my government building pass and join the ranks of private citizens.  No...
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Jan.03.2012
Pencil and Wash Sketch of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This January 16, we will be celebrating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who literally gave his life in the struggle for the rights of all people.  It’s been nearly 44 years since he was gunned down at the Loraine Motel in Memphis; and 49 since he stood on the steps of the...
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Dec.25.2011
I'd like to take this opportunity, in the middle of Christmas Day here in the southern hemisphere, a warm and sunny day, to wish everyone a happy holiday.  I know I probably come across to many of my readers as something of a grinch; I don't really celebrate the holiday; but, I understand the...
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Dec.08.2011
At Annual Zimbabwe Cricket Awards with Year's top player, Brendan Taylor, Sports Minister, and other notables.
(Following is the text of a motivational speech I delivered at the Zimbabwe Annual Cricket Awards Dinner on November 28, 2011) Thanks for the introduction, and a special thanks to the players and staff of Zimbabwe Cricket for giving me the honor of not only attending, but participating in tonight’s...
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Nov.28.2011
If you rely on the media, regardless of its reputation, for information about what’s going on in the world, I must sadly tell you that you are in all likelihood being badly misinformed. Through its actions of what it airs, or what it does not air, the media often paints a highly distorted and...
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Nov.23.2011
I had been taking pictures of this animal and two others just the afternoon before it was senselessly slaughtered.
I've been on photo safaris all over southern Africa; including chasing a pride of lions in the Kalahari, and tracking a bull white rhino in Matobo, Zimbabwe.  My favorite though was documenting the animals of Zimbabwe's Mano Pools National Park, an undeveloped area with a great diversity of...
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