Scott Douglas Vaughan

(This is an abridged version of Chapter 34 (Valentine's Candy) in my 2014 book, Brookwood Road . If you are unfamiliar with my books, each chapter is a story from my childhood written as fiction. The stories weave together under a larger story arc within each book. This particular story, Valentine's Candy, is important because it shows how my daddy stepped into his son's crisis and saved the day. It also demonstrates how kindness leads to kindness. Happy Valentine's Day!) *** Frank always had a girlfriend, it seemed. The girls, however, rarely called Frank their boyfriend. It wasn’t until he was in junior high school, in conversation with an older and wiser high school girl, that Frank understood his one-sided relationships were in fact called crushes. He loved the girls, but they really didn’t know he was alive. In the fourth grade, when he was assigned to the desk in front of the beautiful Denise, Frank considered it the luckiest thing that had ever happene...

In 2014, I had finished my book, Brookwood Road . It was being edited for the last time. I  happened to be with my daddy during a round of his chemotherapy, and we were telling stories. He told me his three favorite stories from when we three boys were younger. Oops. I had included two of the stories in the book but had completely overlooked the story he absolutely loved to tell each year at Christmas. So, at the last minute, I wrote a new chapter, rushed to have it edited, and included it in the book. Whew. Though he's been gone now for three years, in his honor and for your Merry Christmas, I give you the abridged version of Chapter 37 titled Christmas Voltage . For those who haven't read my books, the character Frank is based on me. Jack is based on my brother Tim. Wayne is based on my brother Russ. ***** The Vaughan (Wilcox) Brothers Tim (Jack), Russ (Wayne), Scott (Frank) A Christmas on Brookwood Road Frank lay still. The sun was just coming up and filling t...

The "old house" as we called it, on Brookwood Road , was a whopping 1,350 square feet with an unfinished basement big enough for my brothers and me to play around in. That house was built in 1958, the year my parents were married. It was a nice brick home with central air conditioning, which was kind of a luxury. Central air was a trendy post World War suburban thing, but we lived on my grandfather's hog farm - 20 two-lane roundtrip miles from the county seat of only about 2,000 people. The Brookwood Road house Drawing by Christy Jeffcoat We had a big yard - so big my brother Tim and I had to cut it in pushmower shifts over the course of an entire Saturday. Small house and big yard because most of a family's time was not spent indoors. In 2014, the average US home was built at about 2,600 square feet. The average size of a home built in 1973 was 1,600. But, the real difference in homes "then" and homes "now" tells us a lot about...

This past Sunday, Vicki and I were able to visit with a book club that meets only a few miles from Brookwood Road in the southern end of Forsyth County, GA. There were about 15 ladies in attendance; most had read or they were reading Brookwood Road. This was not my first visit to a book club. My Vicki has been in a monthly book club for more than 20 years, and they have been nice enough to invite me to visit on occasion, specifically when I published both Brookwood Road and Elm Street . Visiting the book club, this past Sunday, in my hometown was especially fun. Vicki and I used the opportunity to go "home" to visit my mom, watch some football with family, attend church with family, and then attend the book club. It was also fun to be back "on location" in the exact area that inspired both books. At Sunday's club meeting, after a great dinner of Greek food, I told the club members my story, growing up with a passion for reading and writing my own storie...

The crossroads of Brookwood and McGinnis Ferry roads in 1980. Some of these stories are true. Some of these stories are based in truth. Some of these stories should have been true. That's the disclaimer appearing on the Dedication page of both Brookwood Road and Elm Street, and it will appear in future books as well. Yet people are always asking, "Are these stories true?" My answer: See the disclaimer. Let's look at Chapter 25 (The Crossroads) in my book, Brookwood Road. That chapter, like most of my chapters, is about 2,500 words. The gist of the story is that Frank (the main character) is finally allowed to ride his bicycle down Brookwood Road to the old crossroads. This was a big deal because riding a bicycle to the crossroads meant he was out of sight of his house and there was a bit of danger involved. Brookwood Road was notorious for speeding cars. I could have taken that synopsis, and flushed it out to about 700 words. Frank rides his bicycle on a d...

In August 1973, I was 14 years old. My daddy, Doug Vaughan, and me. I was about one. For a handful of years, as a hobby, I had been writing little short stories, mostly about Old West characters because I loved and still love anything having to do with the Old West. Bonanza is my favorite television show. Teachers learned of this hobby and asked me on many occasions to read my stories to my class. I had this reputation as being a young creative writer. Also, I had submitted simple news stories to my hometown newspaper, The Forsyth County News, during junior high school in Cumming, GA. The newspaper had actually paid me for some stories, and so as early as 12 years old I was paid to write. That summer of 1973, I had attended summer school at Forsyth County High School, where I took a typing class. All of these experiences set the table for August 1973, when I told my daddy that I was going to one day write a book for him and for our family. In August 1973, through a series o...