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What others are saying about Dream Helper "...The
mixture of historical setting and fictional narative makes Dream Helper
the vivid story that it is. Thompson's goal was to never let the history
get in the way of a good story, and he has accomplished that with style...
"In telling the tale of the early days of Mission Santa Barbara, Willard Thompson spins a yarn worthy of James Fenimore Cooper. His Dream Helper is a vivid portrait of the triumphs and tragedies of the Franciscan friars who carry the blinding light of Christ into the hinterlands of New Spain, the naïve Chumash people who become their slaves, and the Spanish soldiers who keep a predatory eye on them both. Those who've grown up in Southern California will particularly appreciate Thompson's longingly rendered landscape of stark hills, seer grasslands, and coastal fogs." -— Broos Campbell, author of No Quarter and The War of Knives "Dream Helper is vivid, carefully researched historical fiction that brings to life an exciting and important period in early California. The characters are well-drawn, the story of Cayatu is dramatic and engaging, Willard Thompson' is a writer to watch." — Leonard Tourney, author of Time's Fool
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Brand
New If you're a fan of California historical fiction, a Western history buff or just a reader who enjoys reading fine literary novels of adventure and romance, you've come to the right website. Chronicles of California is a new website featuring the historical novels of Willard Thompson, author of Dream Helper, the first book in the Chronicles. (read a sample of Dream Helper) Thompson is an award winning author who writes both historical fiction and non-fiction. The site will provide visitors with a place to read about current and upcoming novels in the Chronicles of California series, engage in a dialog with the author and other readers about the novels, exchange information and opinions about California and Western history and historical research, Check in to book club activities and other events where Willard Thompson will be speaking. You'll be able to buy Chronicles of California novels on line, starting with Dream Helper, a novel of early California that puts its readers into the lives of early settlers of Santa Barbara — The Franciscan Priests, Spanish officers of the King of Spain's army and the Mexican men and women who were the first occupants of the Royal Presidio — all seen through the eyes of a young Chumash Indian woman. Following Dream Helper, Delfina's Gold will be published in 2009. With a weak Mexican government in control of California, traders flock to her shores from New England in pursuit of cattle hides and tallow. Russian sea otter hunters eye the land covetously from their base in northern California and Englishmen from Hudson Bay grow bold in search of furs. When American mountain men crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains are added to the mix, California is up for grabs. When historic figures Thomas O. Larkin, Augustus Sutter and Major John Charles Frèmont enter the story the stage is set for a showdown of epic proportion. So bookmark this page and come back often. We're still building the site and new features and links will be added over the next weeks and months. We want this site to be a comfortable place for all our history buff friends to hang out and form a community with like-minded readers. Let us know how we're doing.
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"Dream
Helper is a powerful story for women, a splendid historical adventure
for men, a short course in early California history for young readers,
and a flat-out, rip-roaring clash of culture for the rest of us who like
our stories filled with the real people, actual politics, and gritty dreams
of an emerging world." — Shelly Lowenkopf 
Dream
Helper, 