Donna Lea Anderson
About Donna Lea Anderson
Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Donna Lea Anderson is multi-talented. She is a writer, illustrator, singer, and songwriter. She loves her hometown and grew up admiring all the city's amazing beauty. She loves the peaceful sunrises and bright orange sunsets, and the relaxing drives down Shoreline Boulevard. Few sights are as striking as the view from the Harbor Bridge, particularly at night. She enjoys playful moments on the beach with sand between her toes and searches for unique seashells and sand dollars after a storm. Most of all she loves saltwater fishing with her rod tip bent reeling in a flounder, redfish, trout, and believe it or not blacktip sharks.
The Adventurous Three -- Attie
Independent Attie
“Fearless Attie” wants to learn more about her surroundings even though she is still unable to fly. “No time for breakfast,” she tells her siblings. “I want to see the world.”
Convinced that seeing the world and all of its glory is fun and exciting, she takes an early morning stroll, waddling through the grass and sticking close to the fence. Playfully, she skips and hops as she goes—until she spots Mimi.
She takes off running. Pretty much flying at times. Yep, she sprints across the grass and that’s when she screams out to the world and her family on how she really feels. She is busted by Mimi, the Backyard Landlady!
Available in hardback or paperback
The Adventurous Three -- Sammie
Sammie the Crawfish
Once upon a time, there was a little mudbug named “Crawfish Sammie.” He lived in Gonzales, Louisiana, near a lily pad pond surrounded by beautiful, luxurious homes on a golf course.
What is a mudbug? Some folks claim mudbugs are crayfishes, often referred to as crawfish or crawdads.
Crawfish Sammie is a colorful crawfish; he resembles a miniature lobster. He is a shellfish with two tiny red claws, two tiny dark eyes, and two long antennae poking out from atop of his itsy-bitsy head.
He doesn’t live in a house like you and me. He lives in a three-foot burrow underground—which he built all by himself! What is a burrow?
A crawfish burrow has a cone-shaped mound. It’s called a “chimney,” and it stands about eight inches above the ground. It’s the only way in and out of the burrow.
The Adventurous Three -- Hummie
When the garage doors open, they find the tiny hummingbird still sitting on the wire where they last saw him. It looks like his eyes are closed, and for some reason, his head is slumped over. He is not swarming about fluttering his bright yellow and green wings!
McKenna whispers because she thinks he is asleep, but Grandpa has his doubts and worries about him. He has her keep a close eye on him while he sets up for his garage project.
Twenty minutes pass; Grandpa notices that the bird has not even moved an inch. He decides that it is time to get a tall ladder, climb up, and get a closer look at him. Trying not to scare his little ballerina, he gets her involved. Her job is to help carry the ladder and then hold it while Grandpa climbs up to check.
The Adventurous Three Hummie
Saving Hummie
Author & Artist: Donna Lea Anderson
CHAPTER 1
A BUZZ IN THE GARAGE
It is springtime in the little town of Doolittle, Missouri and the trees are in full bloom. The sweet smells of wildflowers fill the air, and the cold, cold days of winter have melted away into the mother earth. The residents of Doolittle are happy to see old man winter leave and are ready for outdoor activities.
One morning while vacationing at her grandparents’ house, McKenna plays in the garage while Grandpa builds a much-needed closet for his man stuff: hammers, screwdrivers, and all kinds of tools. At age four, McKenna is a girly girl. She loves to sing and dance like a ballerina. This morning she wears her favorite pink tutu, which she pretty much wears every day.
With Grandpa occupied and focused on his project, McKenna jumps and swirls about throughout the garage. Round and round she goes, singing and dancing as only a little four-year-old can. Because of the open spaces and concrete floor in the garage, she can dance and do her thing, with not much around to get broken. And, of course, this makes Mimi and Grandpa oh-so-so happy. While McKenna spins and swirls, Grandpa, standing on top of a small step ladder, calls out to her. He needs a tape measure from his toolbox sitting nearby and asks that she get it for him. McKenna says, sure, Grandpa, as she dances over and retrieves the tape measure. Carefully, she hands it up to him, and after doing so, she continues to watch him as he measures and begins to mark on the wall with a pencil. She asks herself, hum, why does my Grandpa get to draw on the wall and I don’t? Well, before she can call him out for marking on the wall, out of nowhere, something buzzes by her head, barely missing her little pug nose.
Whatever it is, it scares the heebie-jeebies out of her, and she doesn’t move. She doesn’t even blink since she had been taught to stay still and not move when something buzzes around her. For sure, those buzzing noises could be an angry mud-dauber, wasp, horse fly, or even a bumblebee. Being only four years old and not knowing the difference, she calls them angry bugs. Yes, indeed, whichever it may be, it gets her attention, and she doesn’t want it to sting her. So, as she stands in place and not budging an inch, she cries out to Grandpa.
“Is that an angry bug buzzing around me?”
Grandpa can see the fear in her eyes. He looks around the garage, but he doesn’t see anything dangerous. He tells her that she is safe and that it’s ok to continue singing and dancing. Satisfied that she is safe, she smiles and skips off singing and dancing from one side of the garage to the other. Soon, Mimi comes out from the backdoor; and before heading back inside she leaves cold water for Grandpa and juice for McKenna on the steps. Grandpa continues to work while McKenna stops to rest. While sitting on the steps and in between gulps of the cold refreshing juice, she watches as her Grandpa works, banging away with a hammer. When the hammer hits the nail, the noise is really-really-really loud. So, she sticks her little fingers into her ears, trying to drown out the noise. But those little fingers aren’t helping much as the Bang! Bang! Bang! echoes throughout the garage.
While McKenna sips down the last few drops of juice, the hammering stops when Grandpa shouts out, “Ouch.” Whoops, it seems the hammer has caused him great pain; yikes, it slipped off a nailhead and hit his thumb. Grandpa grits his teeth, and with little ears listening from the backdoor steps, he knows that he has to choose his words very carefully. In great pain, he hollers out, “Oh my Goodness, Oh my Goodness, Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” He begins to shake his hand back and forth, trying to ease the pain, but it doesn’t help much.
McKenna hops up and runs over to comfort her Grandpa. Standing close to the step ladder, she looks up and asks, “Are you ok, Grandpa? Do you have a boo-boo now?” With tears in his eyes and being the tough guy he needs to portray, he isn’t going to let some minor thumb injury stop him from working on his project. So, he rubs his bright red thumb and assures McKenna that he is alright, returning to his task. As for McKenna, she returns to the steps where she continues to rest and listen to Grandpa making a lot of noise with his hammer.
Once he has successfully plugged in a few more nails, he stops to use his ruler again, making sure his measurements are correct. While doing this, the garage becomes silent until McKenna begins to hear the buzzing noises again, and this time it is coming from above. She can’t believe her eyes; there, in the ceiling area, are two tiny hummingbirds swarming around.
They are trapped.
McKenna jumps to her feet and screams out, “Look, Grandpa! It’s two hummingbirds.”
Startled by her scream Grandpa holds on tight to the stepladder. It wibble-wobbles back and forth. Oh boy, this is serious. The ladder is balancing on two legs, and Grandpa is close to falling over, ladder and all. Soon, he secures the ladder on all four legs and makes his way down.
He is not happy at all. Once his boots hit the garage floor, he scolds Mckenna for screaming out and almost causing him to fall. Her little bottom lip begins to pucker and quiver.
“I’m sorry, Grandpa. I’m just a little girl. I’m so sorry.”
He sees that he is too abrupt as he watches his little ballerina begin to cry. Feeling like a jerk, he takes his precious granddaughter into his arms, gives her a little kiss on the cheek, and apologizes. As he wipes the tears from her face, he begins to explain why he got mad.
Immediately, she points up to the ceiling, showing him why she screamed. Like McKenna, he can’t believe what he sees: two hummingbirds buzzing around trying to find their way out of the garage.
“Do we need to help them, Grandpa?”
Unforeseen Predator
About Unforeseen Predator
Ok folks, it’s time to kick back and read about two Texas women. Both love the Lord, and both endure somewhat similar occurrences. From birth their journeys are totally different with one struggling with evil from as far back as she can remember, and with the other growing up in a protective, happy, and loving family. Indeed, two different upbringings when both discover that evil is much closer than either one ever anticipated. The story involves romance, love, fear, hate, jealousy, deceitfulness, violence, and commitment all wrapped up into one story. As the Author, I will leave you with an important warning to consider and think about, and that is to know your own surroundings and know how to keep yourself safe. Now, enjoy the read! BUY NOW
Chapter One
On the eve of January 6, 1972, a full moon reveals tall palms swaying and whipping in the cold wind as a partially packed Greyhound Bus rolls into the Corpus Christi bus terminal, located downtown at Starr and Chaparral Street. After a long trip from a small town in West Texas the bus driver maneuvers his way through the terminal and searches for a convenient parking spot, and while doing so he announces there will be a twenty minute layover before leaving for Brownsville, Texas, the final destination of the evening.
Some folks are startled and some are awakened by the screeching loud noise that comes from the overhead intercom, and after a long ride from Little Wicked, Texas it seems a now stiff and cranky bus driver has the microphone way too close to his mouth. Again, he repeats his stern warning before opening the door. So, with the intercom cutting in and out his deep smoky voice indicates that he is a man of his word and means what he says.
Bus Driver Says,
Heed the warning folks I’m on a tight schedule, and I’ll be leaving with or without you, “Twenty Minutes!”
Moans erupt throughout the cabin as a few unhappy passengers complain amongst themselves about the short layover. When the roar of the engine goes silent a handful of folks going on to Brownsville jump to their feet, exit the bus as fast as they can. Some run for the restrooms, and some grab a quick snack. Also wasting no time, is that somewhat cranky little bus driver as he flees from the bus and takes his place near the front exit, thanking all patriots for traveling Greyhound Trailways. Sure, that’s part of his job but he also has a nasty little habit. Once out in the open air he pulls from his shirt pocket a long-awaited cigarette and quickly lights it up, savoring, inhaling, and exhaling every little puff of nicotine. Well, it seems the cranky little bus driver just isn’t in need of a smoke, but he also likes to stretch his bones when he makes his scheduled stops.
As the cigarette dangles from his lips and in between puffs he bends over touches his toes, then makes several twist and turns, and once he believes that everyone is off the bus that’s getting off he attempts to return to his seat. Well, not so fast. He doesn’t get far and before he can make his way back to his seat, Lord and behold, there standing on the steps right in front of his eyes are two of the most beautiful legs he has ever seen.
Those beautiful legs belong to a woman named Charmaine Rene Davis, in her early thirties, an introvert, somewhat shy, homely and not much of a looker from the shoulders up. But the towering five-foot-eight blonde does have one thing going for her... a body that most women wished they had and a body that some men lust for in a woman. As Charmaine attempts to make her way down the steps the now creepy little bus driver can’t seem to pass up an opportunity to put the moves on this homely looking wildflower with the most beautiful legs he’s ever seen. So, he doesn’t hesitate, quickly he initiates his moves and gives it his best.