---

Side Trail
James Kanady

---

Authors Bio. of James Kanady

I had an great childhood in Pratt, KS, lived in Austin, Texas for eight years (counting when I went to the University of Texas), and Fate led me to Hutchinson, KS, when my wife, Julie, was hired as a Nurse Practitioner in Women's Health and I stepped across the threshold of an old boarding house turned homeless shelter, New Beginnings in 1997.

All my life/work experiences (sale barn, tavern, library, assembly line, video/film work, grocery night stocking) were valuable because I'd learned about PEOPLE, Glorious and flawed human beings.

I've published two novels, a mystery (CAPITAL OFFENSES) and a western (A DIFFERENT WINTER), and numerous short pieces. A screenplay I wrote with a college buddy (SPAGHETTI WESTERN) was a winner in the 2014 Screenplay Festival Contest. I have two more novels and a short story collection seeking homes.

My luminous daughter, Julia, just graduated college and works in the medical profession like her mother who died in a horrible car crash in October 2017.

Our lives continue, but are not as bright.

---

Note: This story contains a little more cussing than I normally post. If taking the Lords name in vain or the "F" word offends you, pass this story by. I believe this story is well worth the read as is. I think you will too.

~~~~

TAKE MY SADDLE FROM THE WALL

by James Kanady

I met Pete Cracker in an overnight homeless shelter in Denver. A real hellhole full of alcoholics (like Pete), drug addicts, and crazy people. The crazies hung with the drunks and the dopers since they were drinking and using street dope instead of their prescription meds. There were also some mean ass bottom-feeders around who fit in nowhere and they didn’t want to. They were there to prey on the weak, and they were good at. I watched them kick the shit out of a scraggly-haired twenty year-old and take his backpack, sleeping bag, and North Face winter coat.  Read the full story HERE>>

---