Author: Paul

Author Paul R. Wonning considers himself an "Indiana Hound," because he likes to "sniff" out the interesting places and history of Indiana and then use his books to reveal them to his readers. He also enjoys gardening, American history and dabbles in writing fantasy and humorous fiction.
Gardener's Guide Serie

Gardeners Guide to Compost

Compost is an invaluable ingredient for garden soil. It enriches the ground with minerals and other nutrients and can provide ideal mulch for growing plants. The Gardener’s Guide to Making Compost is a primer that both gardening beginners and veterans can use to help them make better compost. The book covers most popular types of compost systems, making compost with worms, mulching and green manures. It is an excellent primer on making and using compost. Continue reading Gardeners Guide to Compost

Gardener's Guide Serie, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – Garden Soil Types – A Quick Soil Primer

Garden Soil Types – A Quick Soil Primer
Soil is the top several inches of the earth’s crust. Soil is necessary for civilization to exist, as it supports the plant life that sustains forests, plains, agriculture and other habitats. Five basic factors influence the formation of soil, the bedrock, climate, local fauna and flora, topography and the passage of time. The gardener will find three layers of soils underlying their garden, the topsoil, and subsoil and parent material. The parent material is the minerals that originally formed the soil. The subsoil is the intermediate level between topsoil and the parent material and will have some qualities of both. The topsoil is the part that concerns most gardeners. Continue reading Sample Chapter – Garden Soil Types – A Quick Soil Primer

Fiction Short Story Collection Series

Ten Tales for the Campfire

Ten creepy, scary dark fantasy short stories that will turn you blood to ice.
The hour is getting late. A fire crackles and pops and the group huddles together closer to the fire, basking in the comfort of its warmth and light. The s’mores are a pleasant memory.
Somewhere off in the distance an owl hoots. Crickets are chirping and the eerie howl of the coyote punctuates the symphony of night sounds.
It is time for spooky campfire stories. You know, the kind of scary stories that will chill your spine and flip your heart up into your mouth. The kind of stories you shouldn’t tell in the dark. But you do anyway Continue reading Ten Tales for the Campfire

Fiction Short Story Collection Series, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – The Skull Garden

Her garden was beginning to grow, the tips of the skulls just emerging from the forest mold. The Skull Tender glided, soundless, over the dried leaves, waiting. The forest was quiet and she was impatient. The time of harvest was nearing. Her eyes and ears scanned the forest in the gathering evening gloom. There was no sound or movement to gladden her senses. There was still time. She would wait. Continue reading Sample Chapter – The Skull Garden

Blog, Exploring Indiana Series

Blog Post – Exploring Indiana’s Museums

One of the things we like to do when traveling about the state is to visit one of Indiana’s 348 museums or state historic sites. Scattered about in just about every county in the state, these museums range from local historical museums to themed museums like Dr. Ted’s Musical Marvels in Dale, Indiana, which features restored musical instruments from around the world. Continue reading Blog Post – Exploring Indiana’s Museums

Fiction Short Story Collection Series

The Flea Market Tales

The old man had treasures to sell and a scary secret to keep. This collection of eleven short occult stories tells his tale of bloodcurdling horror.
Ten people buy treasures from the flea market with one common thread. The vendor is a mysterious old man selling off his collection of old stuff. This short story collection chronicles the nightmare of the buyers endured.
One by one, the buyers discover that their treasure is really a horror in disguise. One scary story after another in this collection of supernatural stories reveals the old man’s secret as well as the buyer’s nightmare
Continue reading The Flea Market Tales

Fiction Short Story Collection Series, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – The Collection

Rheumatism they used to call it. The new fangled name was arthritis. No matter what the name, the old man knew it was more than an inconvenience. His knees hurt and it stiffened his fingers.
He faced a campfire and felt the warmth of the flames penetrate his skin. He glanced at his van, filled with his collection. It had taken many years to accumulate. Now it was time to sell it. It was time to end this collection so he could start anew. Continue reading Sample Chapter – The Collection

Fiction Short Story Collection Series, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – Ad Campaign

Randy Bellows studied the proposal from his top project leader, Skip Jenson. He had, against his best intuition, okayed the project. After looking at the costs involved he was having second thoughts. This was totally new technology and he would not pretend to understand it. He shrugged. It was too late; the project was already ready to test. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead and thought of Sarah Billings. He longed to be walking the beach with her at Cancun. Maybe if this project were successful it would be time to hand the company over to someone younger. Skip and his assistant Barbara Dinker were the obvious choices. He would call Bob, his lawyer and oldest friend. He would have the papers drawn up and ready. All he could do now was hope for success. Continue reading Sample Chapter – Ad Campaign

Fiction Short Story Collection Series, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – Practical Joke

Jason Wells enjoyed the independence of having his own real estate brokerage. He could keep his own hours and set his own pace. Since he was always meeting new clients to list or show homes, he was a stickler for maintaining his appearance. This fickleness led to his frequent visits to the barbershop. While in the shop, he struck up a casual acquaintance with the two old farmers, Ben and Wally that frequented the shop. The men always perched on the Liar’s Bench spinning stories and poking fun at each other. Continue reading Sample Chapter – Practical Joke

Fiction Short Story Collection Series, Sample Chapter

Sample Chapter – Rich Woman’s Dog

Bernie Fuller was a dog. He enjoyed women. In fact, Bernie enjoyed a lot of women. Being a dog did create problems. Right now his problems were named Kate and Melanie. His amorous activities with Kate the previous night extended into the morning hours. He overslept. He awoke, looked at the clock and bolted from bed. He could tell from the look on her face that Kate wanted him to stay. He showered, dressed and roared off on his motorcycle, leaving Kate pouting in her bed. Continue reading Sample Chapter – Rich Woman’s Dog