Pete Peterson is an author, poet, workshop presenter and legacy story teller whose work has appeared in numerous publications.

Praise for Leave the Night to God

I’m smiling.  Actually I’m jumping for joy.  My lifelong friend from elementary school, Professor Joe Sartor, sent me the following email.  Here’s a review that’s a review.

Pete,

I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading Leave the Night to God. It’s a pleasure to personally know such a fine writer. You are smart as a whip and sharp as a pin to condense such a complicated  yarn and make folks like me feel so well fed. I truly enjoyed it and found myself wanting to follow little Frankie Clothes Pin  beyond the pale, though I also think his tale was well ended. I also enjoyed the occasional familiar references to our home town, like The Spot Café, Daily Sun Gazette, even the Huffmeyer farm. I quickly bonded with the voice and imagery of little Frankie. His thoughts, relayed in short sentences, held my attention throughout.  

I also felt the haunting message of racism all too commonplace today and its continuing threat to the unity of our country-‘tis-of-thee.  I liked the baseball stories interwoven but sensed a very important social theme, and I thank you for that too.

Leave the Night to God

Twelve year old Frankie Walker’s whole world is baseball, daddy and foxhunting. Daddy’s stroke forces Frankie to learn to survive on his own - or become a permanent resident of the Missouri Orphans School and Residence. With the help of a former orphan, Frankie bolts and hooks up with a black barnstorming baseball team and their young female pitcher, Linda. Frankie soon learns, nothing good lasts when Linda drops him at the bus station so he can join daddy in Kansas, he’s mistaken as Linda’s child and abducted by the Ku Klux Klan. Facing death by torture, Frankie is saved by Paul. When Frankie and daddy finally unite, daddy’s stroke has left him cold and silent as a tombstone. There will be no more nights chasing their foxhounds, but Frankie has learned on his long and harrowing journey, that he is a survivor. Set in America’s Midwest of the 1950s where racial injustice still has a tight grip, Leave the Night to God, proves that kindness may be found in unexpected places, that “family” is not about the color of one’s skin, and to remain true to one’s values is what it means to be a man.

Order: https://regal-house-publishing.mybigcommerce.com/leave-the-night-to-god/

After Midnight

A Short Story Collection

A family destroyed by a house fire. A badly scarred boy plays the fire out of a banjo. A middle-aged bare-knuckle fighting champion learns some prizes are worth more than money. An orphan boy who steals to feed his hunger, and not just for food. A pretty young girl home from the big city wearing a ruby necklace and matching earrings harboring a terrible tale.

As the flag goes up each morning at a National Cemetery a crew works to maintain the graves of  deceased veterans. What secrets do they uncover?  

These stories are as gentle as a punch to the gut, as subtle as a slug of morning bourbon. Yet in an authentic, often tender way, reveal a vibrant, yet violent America that provides insights into the news headlines of today.

Order: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733054707/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=after+midnight%3A+a+short+story+collection+by+R.L.+Peterson&qid=1563421727&s=gateway&sr=8-1