Dear Friends and Followers:

                                                            MY IMMIGRANTS’ HOPE

In my award-winning historical novel, FRED:  Buffalo Building of Dreams, I introduced you to my tenants who came to America from all over the world.  To escape fear, wars, poverty and persecution, they braved the unknown and left their countries penniless but with hope for freedom and a better life in America. 

For the past one hundred twenty years, I’ve learned of their struggles, secrets, and stories of personal loss in their pursuit of freedom for themselves and families.  I’ve seen them work hard to become full-fledged citizens, free to take advantage of the opportunities afforded them here.

After they arrived and became my tenants, it was the first time most of them would live in a residential and industrial neighborhood where they could live and work.  It was the beginning of a dream to save money to support a family, buy a house, educate their children and even start a business of their own.  This was the America they envisioned when they left the poverty and hardship of their former countries.

Best,

FRED

FRED’S sequel titled, FRED’s Timeless Tenant Tales: Buffalo West Side Stories, will be published in 2025.  We’ll keep you posted

Frances Schmidt

         &

Jim Costa 

Violet’s Post:

HOPE and ENDURANCE

Before my award-winning novel, Forever Violet:   From Stony Hill to Broadway, was published, I relived my life as a young girl who endured a difficult childhood in the middle of the Great Depression.  At that time, ‘hope’ wasn’t something I actually felt or even thought about.  All I knew was the unhappiness I experienced growing up in a home with an alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother.  To escape my troubles and find a measure of peace, I would go to the park and lie down in a field of violets, where I would gaze up to the sky.  It was there, embraced by nature, that I suddenly began to hope for a better life.  At the same time, deep inside of me, I realized there was more to life, that it was possible for me to enjoy and share the beauty of life. 

Every year the violets are killed by frost and crushed by snow, but each spring they are reborn with the return of the sun.  In a sense, I too was reborn by the hope kindled in my heart by the violets surrounding me. 

Since my story’s been published, I realize that it was hope that freed me from the bondage of poverty and abuse, and faith in myself that helped me achieve success in life.  May my life be an example and an inspiration to those who are experiencing difficulties in their lives and may they know, too, that hope and endurance are the keys to personal freedom and success.

Best,

Violet