About the Author
Beyond the written word, Shelah has made a name for herself as a commercially published photographer, capturing moments that speak volumes. Her keen eye for detail and narrative extends to the screen, where she has produced and directed over 40 lifestyle broadcast segments. These segments, focused on eco-friendly and small-space living, highlight her dedication to sustainable living practices.
Shelah’s talents don’t stop there. She directed, produced, and co-created the acclaimed documentary series Where Small Business Grows, available on Amazon Prime. This series offers a poignant look at the challenges of growing a small business in America, resonating deeply with entrepreneurs and audiences alike.
As an author, Shelah has brought to life the gripping saga of The Boloney Trail Trilogy. Her books—Perpetual Gloom, Imaginary Gravity, and the forthcoming Shattering Light—explore the intricate dynamics of the Hornbeck family through decades of historical upheaval and personal strife.
With a career that spans multiple mediums and a passion for storytelling in all its forms, Shelah A Johnson continues to inspire and engage audiences worldwide.
Introduction
Based on actual events, The Boloney Trail Trilogy
Based on actual events, The Boloney Trail Trilogy chronicles three generations of the Hornbeck family, capturing their tumultuous journey from the trials of the Great Depression to their pivotal involvement in the genesis of the feared Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel in the early 1960s. In this sweeping saga, a formidable cast of characters relentlessly pursues the middle-class dream with an obsessive burning desire to find a gateway into financial stability. However, their aspirations are met with harsh realities as the promise of the middle class slowly disintegrates before their eyes. The trilogy delves deep into the complexities of socio-economic challenges, moral dilemmas, and the profound impact of historical events on individual lives, painting a vivid picture of resilience, ambition, and the dark underbelly of societal change that is now more relatable than ever.
Inspiration Behind the Series
I began laying the groundwork for this story in my twenties while attending college, guided by two English professors who championed the principle of ‘writing what you know.’ After reading segments of this story, they encouraged me to quit school and focus on writing it. While I appreciated their enthusiasm, I felt they were just blowing smoke up my skirt. It took me decades to accept my personal connection to this story and recognize it as the only inheritance I would ever receive.
Despite what the professors said, I spent about forty years trying to distance myself from this story and its characters and create a life that aligned with societal norms. I wasted a lot of time pushing against things that were out of my control, mostly due to pride. However, once I began to see that I used some of the survival techniques I had observed from the adults around me while growing up, I realized that I had inherited advantages worth celebrating. This story is my inheritance, one worthy of sharing. After all, who needs a box of tarnished silver when you can have a truckload of grit?
Research Process
It’s often said that real life is stranger than fiction, and the research I conducted for The Boloney Trail Trilogy certainly supports that claim. This trilogy would not exist without answering the pivotal question that underpins the story – WHY.
Spanning the better part of six years, my research resulted in over 500 footnotes across the entire trilogy. It was an immense undertaking, but it paid off, making the series a more immersive experience and allowing readers to personally connect with the characters.
My research mainly fell into two categories:
- Hornbeck Family History: I traced the Hornbeck family lineage back to Scotland in the 1100s to a man called John the Deer Hunter. This was particularly amusing because, in the second book, Imaginary Gravity, there’s a scene where Monroe, the lead male character, and his brothers kill a doe and dress it out in the family’s bathtub just as the FBI knocks on the front door for an entirely different matter.
- Immersive Experience: Creating an immersive experience was crucial. The small details are what transport a reader into the story. The story spans almost four decades, which meant that I had to research fashion, transportation, food, historical events, and even the evolving highway system. The most challenging was writing in various dialects, it was almost like learning a new language. But I felt it was worth the effort as it gives the reader the feeling as through they’re eavesdropping on actual conversations.
The great advantage of including historical research in The Boloney Trail Trilogy is that it provides a context that helps readers understand the setting, characters, and motivations within the story. This context enriches the narrative, allowing readers to appreciate the complexity of the time period and its influence on the characters and plot. Additionally, readers who are aware of current world events will be able to identify similarities and draw connections.
Themes and Messages
The Boloney Trail Trilogy endeavors to hold up a mirror to society, forcing us to confront uncomfortable truths about our past and present. From the onset, like millions of people around the world today, the Hornbeck family was on a quest to find a place within the middle class. Today, the middle class is more elusive than ever.
The old adage that “working harder” will lift one out of poverty is simply not true—just ask anyone working two minimum-wage jobs. Not since the Great Depression have we seen such a massive loss of faith within the ranks of the American middle class. The names and faces have changed, but the fundamental challenges of today—social and economic inequality, racial bias, religious extremism, and climate-related disasters—are all familiar refrains from the same age-old hymn book. History teaches us that desperation makes us vulnerable, creating a wider chasm for the economic elite to seize greater power. The middle class is all but gone. If we want it back, we must work inclusively and fight to reclaim it for everyone. We need all hands on deck. It’s all or nothing.
The Hornbeck family may not have had the best approach, so the question I put before the reader is: Now that we are in a very similar position as they were, will we make the same mistakes?
Character Development
Central characters, Monroe and Dora
This series is driven by two central characters, Monroe and Dora—figures I know intimately. Familiarity with the characters can sometimes simplify building a story around them, but in the case of The Boloney Trail, my personal relationship with them made the process an emotional roller coaster. The decades that elapsed between my college years and the time I began writing allowed the dust to settle. I was able to step back and view their situation without judgment. This period of reflection enabled me to accept their circumstances and journey as a gift, an inheritance of sorts. Embracing this as an inheritance allowed me to connect with them better as an adult, having faced many of the same challenges they did.
Monroe could easily be cast as the protagonist. In the first book, Perpetual Gloom, we see him grow up in extreme poverty during the Great Depression in the Deep South and witness his willingness to take risks. But Monroe is more complicated than that. He’s a character you love to hate and hate to love. Despite not passing the sixth grade, he had a swagger that he could turn on and off. He believed in fairness, was generous, and never met a stranger, yet he could fight like a badger.
Dora, on the other hand, saw the world in black and white. She was a perfectionist when it came to homemaking but wasn’t fond of children, even her own, whom she publicly referred to as “house apes.” Outwardly, she held a high opinion of herself; in private, she was a “yeller” and secretly suffered from depression.
Together, they shared a connection to a doomsday religion and a desire for financial security within the middle class. Yet, societal prejudice locked them out. Their desperation blurred the lines between legality and ethics, leading them down the path they ultimately took.
Historical Accuracy and Creative Liberty
Historical accuracy is what drives The Boloney Trail story for the very reason that life decisions are largely influenced by the events around us. It would be easy to judge on behavior along, but it’s rarely that simple. The Hornbecks were influenced by the events of their day; the Great Depression, World War 2, internal migration, political assassination, Cuban missel crises, the onset of the Vietnam war, and so on. In the same manner, we’re dealing with environmental issues, migration, political uncertainty, and economic unrest – all of which influence our decisions. None of us live in a vacuum.
There were areas where I needed to develop transitions to help the narrative flow smoothly between scenes. This allowed me to incorporate current events and local characters. For example, in the second book, Imaginary Gravity, I introduced a woman known as “Pepper.” After her release from the Sonoma State Mental Hospital, Pepper became a fixture in Santa Rosa, California. She directed traffic, handed out jaywalking tickets, and emptied perfume samples at the department store. It was a time when differences were tolerated of their local “color”—she was given an honorary badge by the local police, and the salesgirl behind the counter simply shrugged. I felt compelled to honor her unique presence in that time and place, so I wove her into the story.
Advice for Aspiring Authors
Inspired by a Nancy Drew novel, I began writing my first book when I was about thirteen. I’m not sure what happened to that manuscript, but it likely ended up in the trash burner in my grandmother’s kitchen. Despite writing ad copy for tier-one consumer brands and messaging for Fortune 100 tech companies, it took me decades to reignite the embers of my childhood dream to become an author, so I relate to the fire in the belly of budding authors who are just beginning their journey.
Currently, I mentor three emerging authors, each with different objectives. I offer them these bits of advice that have guided me through my writing journey.
- Become an avid reader: If you’re not already, make reading a habit. I personally don’t stick to one genre. In fact, I challenge myself by alternating between contemporary authors and historical ones, i.e. a living one, then a dead one. Sometimes, I go on a spree of reading historical Nobel Prize-winning authors. Discovering brilliant writers has become my best teachers.
- Write with regularity: Discipline is key. The more you write, the better you get. I write every day, without fail, for at least 20 minutes.
- Write what you know—or are willing to learn: Even if you think you know something, double-check it. Nothing sinks you faster in print than being proven wrong.
- Don’t fall in love with your sentences: As Verlyn Klinkenborg said in his book Several Short Sentences About Writing, “Most of the sentences you make will need to be killed, the rest will need to be fixed.” If I write a sentence that I think is fantastic but doesn’t fit the scene, I add it to a notebook in case there’s a spot for it somewhere else—needless to say, I have a large stack of composition books.
- The work selects the audience: Be true to yourself and let your work find its own audience.
- Fall in love with editing- that is where the real magic happens.
Future Projects
I’m currently working on Shattering Light, the third and final book in The Boloney Trail Trilogy, which serves as the pinnacle of the entire series. It’s set for release in late December.
Looking ahead, I have two other books outlined, inspired by the extensive research I conducted for this trilogy. I’m very excited about these new projects and the stories they will tell.
Additionally, I am collaborating with award-winning screenwriter J.R. Santana, who has just completed a pilot script for Perpetual Gloom, the first book in the trilogy. This development is incredibly thrilling and opens exciting new possibilities for bringing the story to a wider audience.
Closing Thoughts
Available on Amazon and book sellers everywhere!
I invite you to read sample chapters and reviews for The Boloney Trail Trilogy and explore other related topics on my blog at www.shelahajohnson.com.
Also available on amazon.com and book sellers everywhere!
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