In his brand new post for Smorgasbord, Paul Andruss explores some of the assumptions made about the development of our individual languages from a common root many thousands of years ago. He also addresses the question of whether languages were spread by conquerors sweeping across continents or farmers gently moving across fertile plains and establishing communities that fed and watered the nomadic tribes who came after them.  I am sure that Paul would love to hear your views and answer your questions.

Proto-Indo-Europeans by Paul Andruss

Indo-European migration route?
(http://www.proto-germanic.com/2011/0…c-caspian.html)

In Victorian times, philologists noted similarities in the words of many languages stretching across Eurasia deep into India. Languages separated by thousands of miles and thousands of years, such as ancient Irish, Spanish, and Russian; ancient Greek and Latin; ancient Sanskrit from the Indian Vedas and modern Hindi and Punjabi. They proposed an original language called Proto-Indo-European from which all…

Welcome to the Cafe and Bookstore New on the Shelves and today the featured author is Marsha Ingrao who is enjoying her retirement from teaching and as History Consultant for the Office of Education for Tulare County in Central California.  Her local history book tells the story of the Western town of Woodlake.  Marsha also provides excellent ‘how to’ posts on blogging for newbies and experienced writers alike.

About the book

Known as the area “within the magic circle,” the Western town of Woodlake, along with its surrounding valley, is rich in both natural resources and hardworking citizens who are proud of their heritage. Most Tulare County towns sprang up along the Southern Pacific Railroad. Woodlake, designed as a tourist town, drew together farming communities, consisting of people too busy raising fruit and cattle to create a town. Starting with Thomas Henry Davis in 1853, settlers established farms and ranches…

Today I am delighted to welcome author Lyn Horner to the blog with a guest post on the recently published collaborative anthology The Posse perfect for romance and western fans.

Sally, thank you for hosting me today on Smorgasbord. I’m grateful for this chance to introduce your lovely readers to THE POSSE, a collaborative anthology containing eight tales of the American Old West.

Early in the fall of 2016 I received an online call for short stories in the western genre to be part of an anthology. The request came from a micro publisher located in Alabama, USA. Eight stories were needed, each to feature a posse. Intrigued, I submitted a story idea, and to my delight, it was accepted.

I’ve self-published twelve books and had stories included in two other anthologies, but this is my first time with a traditional publisher, so I’m quite excited. Finding myself in…