Authorpreneur Dashboard – Tony Chiodo
Callie's Revolution
Literature & Fiction
Callie Masterson is a respected journalist at the Houston Chronicle in the year of 1916. But she wants more. Pancho Villa gives her the chance she's been waiting for. Rumors of an imminent invasion send the gutsy twenty-four year old reporter to a tiny border town in New Mexico. She seizes the opportunity to be a part of the most tumultuous events of the new century by way of her pen, and sometimes her Colt 45. Flirting with death as readily as with men, Callie always keeps her sights on the truth of what she observes. In the process, she undergoes a revolution of her own, and is forever changed Callie Masterson is the ultimate revolutionary in the young Twentieth Century. She leaps into her destiny on the fastest horse in Mexico and never looks back.
Book Bubbles from Callie's Revolution
"I won't let them hurt you."
While working as a reporter for the Houston Chronicle, Callie concentrated on her career and left the wild and free life of her youth behind. All that has changed in the Revolution. Under threat of a sudden attack, she once again rises to the occasion and calls up her considerable skills with a six-shooter and Bandido, her very fast pony.
Risky Business
The Jenny biplanes used in the US Punitive Expedition pursuing Pancho Villa were flimsy aircraft and untested in actual battle conditions. The 90hp engines were prone to stalls. This scene illustrates that frightening possibility.
Quanah and Mackenzie
Literature & Fiction
The Red River Indian War(1874-5) was the last great confrontation between Native Americans and the US Army in the state of Texas. This story describes events leading up to that confrontation, in which the charismatic Comanche leader, Quanah Parker, went up against the relentless Colonel Ranald Mackenzie, known as Badhand to his enemies, as seen through the eyes Clay Cassidy, a strapping young teamster looking for employment with the army, and Hannah Albright, a compassionate nurse tending wounded soldiers at the hospital in Fort Concho.
Book Bubbles from Quanah and Mackenzie
"Come back to me!"
In the spring of 1871, Ft. Concho , Texas was the staging area of an offensive against marauding Comanche, in what would become the Red River Indian War. A young teamster is about to depart on what he hopes will be a grand adventure, and his new sweetheart gives him a parting gift, and a tearful plea to return.
Callie's Revolution
Literature & Fiction
Callie Masterson is a respected journalist at the Houston Chronicle in the year of 1916. But she wants more. Pancho Villa gives her the chance she's been waiting for. Rumors of an imminent invasion send the gutsy twenty-four year old reporter to a tiny border town in New Mexico. She seizes the opportunity to be a part of the most tumultuous events of the new century by way of her pen, and sometimes her Colt 45. Flirting with death as readily as with men, Callie always keeps her sights on the truth of what she observes. In the process, she undergoes a revolution of her own, and is forever changed Callie Masterson is the ultimate revolutionary in the young Twentieth Century. She leaps into her destiny on the fastest horse in Mexico and never looks back.
Book Bubbles from Callie's Revolution
"The horrific epidemic"
Callie had survived many close calls in her young life, but now she was up against something much more sinister. The 1918 Flu Pandemic ravaged the world and claimed possibly 100 million victims. Unlike previous outbreaks, which killed the young, elderly or sick, this one preyed on previously healthy young adults. Callie's ordeal is a textbook case of just how horrific the disease could be.
"Isn't this just the swellest place!"
Callie and the Gish sisters escape the stress of war one spring morning in Paris by treating themselves to goodies at the famous Café de Flore in the Latin Quarter. On a dare by Callie, Dorothy tries to seduce a Frenchman.
They had Paris to themseives for one night.
Callie Masterson, a young reporter from Texas, has come a long way in one year. She has the good fortune to find herself in the company of cinematic genius, DW Griffith, the radiant Lillian Gish, and her playful sister, Dorothy, on the streets of Paris during a WW1 blackout. They have the City of Light all to themselves, as they stroll through parks and along the Seine by moonlight.
"She headed into the dark heart of the city."
Callie abandoned a stuffy ballroom gala and wandered into the smoky backstreets of Mexico City, where most unaccompanied gringas never dared to venture. She found the excitement she was seeking in the arms of a young tango dancer who swept her away.
Birthplace of the gods
On a whim, Callie visits Teotihuacan, the mysterious Pre-Columbian city in the Valley of Mexico, where the massive Pyramids of the Sun and Moon lie along the Avenue of the Dead. She finds herself in another dimension, which enchants her with a magical surprise.
A Reporter's Big Coup
Pancho Villa was a polarizing element, both in Mexico and the US. President Carranza wanted him dead, but some in the US saw him as a hero. The Mexican campesinos were caught in the middle, and trusted neither. In this scene, Callie encounters the infamous Villa, very up close and personal.
Awakening Heroine
Callie Masterson has smuggled herself into the Mexican Revolution. Namely, the Punitive Expedition to capture Pancho Villa in the spring of 1916. She befriends Chester and Lazlo, two Biograph Movie employees who are there to capture exciting newsreel footage. Things get scary and Callie calls up her shooting skills her Dad taught her as a girl, and saves the day.
First US invasion since the War of 1812
On March 9, 1916, while WW1 was raging, Pancho Villa blindsided its powerful neighbor and attacked the sleepy border town of Columbus, New Mexico in the dark of night. This was a perfect place to drop my main character, Callie, and see what she was made of. A decidedly feminine reporter in the midst of guns, bandits and soldiers. From various first hand accounts I was able to piece together the mayhem and fear that marked that momentous evening, and so, give Callie's environment a realistic basis. Eighteen Americans and about 80 Villistas were killed. One fatality was a young pregnant woman Callie meets in a shop. She was based on a real person, which made the senseless killing all the more poignant.
