Historical Fiction & Romance

Mysteries

Living History
(past topics)

18th Century
Maryland

About Me

Talk to Me

Resources & Links

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Click here to read my interview about my win in the Written Art Awards contest.

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I got the chance to put history in a modern newspaper! Click here to read my op-ed from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star: "We Don't Know What Trouble Is"

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We may worry about a "bad hair" day, but what about a "no-hair" day? Take a look at St. Baldrick's Foundation to see how you can support the brave children fighting cancer.

website art by
Henry thor Straten

historic site photography by Mark D. Lax
and
Mitchell Erauth

biography photograph by
Dianne Egriel

See if I'm at jumprope practice, cooking over an open hearth somewhere, or shopping for a good deal on Irish whiskey - click here to follow me on Twitter...

New email address!!!

Spammers have ruined the address I have used for years. To reach me without having your message bounced out or buried in with all the notices telling me I've won a foreign lottery, then write to:

"email" at "katedolan.com"

Living History:

Interesting Facts From Recent Research

“Look but don’t touch” is the rule in most history museums and it’s also the reason kids (and adults) get bored so quickly.  History would be a lot more accessible to the public if there were more places like Arcade Amusements in Manitou Springs, Colorado. It doesn’t call itself a history museum. It doesn’t even think of itself as a museum. It is, however, a museum in the best sense of the word – it is a collection of rare historic artifacts showing development of nearly one hundred years of amusement technology.
And you get to play with ALL of it.
Fortunately for my eardrums (not to mention my sanity) the arcade in Manitou is not a cavernous overwhelming techno-barn echoing with the ear-splitting sounds of thousands of electronic shots, car crashes, pinball bells and Pacman bleeps. All those sounds are there, of course, but since the arcade is spread out over six small buildings, the noise never reaches the level of cacophony that you find at, for example, Chuck E. Cheeses.

Most of the oldest games in Arcade Amusements, which is on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, are located in the “Penny Arcade.” There are no placards telling you the age of various machines – you just have to guess by the price. There are a few that cost a penny and admittedly most of those aren’t very much fun to play. The arcade has been in operation for more than 80 years and many of the games have probably been in use all of that time. So the responsiveness of levers is not what it once was. But some of the old games really are a lot of fun and quite a challenge. My thirteen-year-old son and I loved a nickel basketball game where you had to gauge both when to shoot and how much pressure to apply to the lever. If you timed it wrong, you either hit a hulking opponent or found yourself stuck with too many basketballs (like the famous candy factory scene in “I Love Lucy”).

One of the most striking games in the arcade is a penny soccer game where the players are nearly the size of Barbie dolls (with even more vapid expressions, if that’s possible) and they’re wearing uniforms made of real cloth. The local kids call it “zombie soccer.”

It’s fun to imagine my dad and grandad playing games like this when they were the same  age as my son.

I also really enjoyed playing pinball games from all different eras (ranging in price from 5 to 50 cents per game)

My daughter’s favorite is the ubiquitous skeeball, and they have plenty of those machines, along with all kinds of variations. There’s even a midway derby game where a number of players race against each other (or rather, they roll balls to enable their horses to race against each other.) Like any good arcade, there are lots of tickets and prizes and patient teens working the counter where kids debate how to spend their hard-won strips of paper.

Teens aren’t the only ones working in the Manitou arcade, however. Owned by the same family since 1931, the arcade has some employees who started hanging out there as children decades ago and now are back to work at what many would consider the ultimate dream job. One employee who’s been researching the history of some of the older games said the “zombie soccer” may date back to 1921 and the oldest machines in the arcade are probably the “Mutoscopes,” which enable viewers for a penny, to watch reels of Fatty Arbuckle films. The serial numbers on the machines are “7” and “12,” so  based on his research, he figures they are likely some of the earliest made.
He said he really enjoys seeing several generations enjoying the arcade “at the same level, having fun for a nickel.”

Now I said the spring action on the penny games wasn’t too hot, but some of the nickel games are still a lot of fun. The most popular pinball machine in the place during each of our visits was a small nickel game. While it lacked the flashing lights and sirens of modern machines, the old game was very satisfying, with great response and lots of action.

And in case you’re wondering, the old machines don’t break down all the time. “The repair guy works on the new pieces a lot more,” we were told.

So if you’re in the Colorado Springs area, head out to Manitou with your pocket change. You can experience a cultural timeline and have a lot of fun all at once. Just allow plenty of time, because at Arcade Amusements, a few cents can last you all day.

Until next time...

--K

Since I like pirates (which doesn't make sense, because by and large they are not likeable guys) I will probably keep the link for the trailer to Avery's Treasure on here for a long time.

Click here to read the first chapter for free.

Coming Soon:

Cover art and a new website for Toto's Tale!

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The Appearance of Impropriety Wins the Written Art Award for Humorous Fiction

(click on cover for details)

Yes, the cover still sucks. But at least one reader was able to get past the creepy guy on the cover to get to the story inside. And fortunately for me, that one reader was judging a contest.

So The Appearance of Impropriety was awarded first place in the humorous fiction category of the Written Art Awards. Maybe it seems funnier with a bad cover, who knows? In any case, it's one of my favorites, so I'm happy to see the book receive some recognition.

COMING SOON!
The Dog's Eye View

Art by Patricia Innes Pray

My next release will be Toto's Tale by K.D. Hays and Meg Weidman. It's a children's "chapter book" that tells the story of the Wizard of Oz from Toto's point of view. I co-wrote this one with my daughter, who is the truly creative one in the family.

We've had a lot of fun with this story! The picture above is not the cover, but I think it captures some of the loyalty and tenacity of our hero. Toto's Tale is scheduled for a 2010 release from Zumaya Thresholds.

As my daughter says, "this time a dog is telling the story and they don't lie."

Family Heart Moments features a story about my son (on one of his better days). Click on the cover to learn more about this new book from The National Center for Biblical Parenting.

Ecclesiates 11:6 was the verse I used for inspiration for my contribution to this wonderful, uplifting collection prepared by Robin Bayne. Click on the cover to learn more about this inspirational book from Treble Heart.