A Seed of Truth sparks Dalton's Diary

The author and friend Shawnnita in Brisbane, Australia

If you've read the About section of the Jamie Poole website, you know I, the author and creator of Jamie Poole Books, was born in a town like Jamie's town of Alexandria. If you've never heard of it, most folks from Indiana haven't either. There are a lot of towns in the state that begin with green, like Greencastle, Greens Fork, Greensburg, or Greensboro. Perhaps, this, as is the same in Jamie's situation, was my motivator to see the world--too see beyond the cornfields of Indiana. It's a great place to be from. If you wish to explore though...

Doyle Dalton was also an explorer. We stand at a point where the question of truth or lies may be revealed in the anticipated book Doyle Dalton's Diary. What we know for sure is he sailed the world in a stolen ship and he was involved in World War I. What his involvement was remains hidden behind lies and exaggerations.

Doyle Dalton’s diary has been central to the storyline from its first mention in Tome of Tubal-Cain. Since then, it’s been quoted in virtually every book. But a version of Dalton’s story existed decades before this series existed. The story has always been part of me.

What was the inspiration behind Dalton’s diary? This book was written during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While we were ordered to shelter in place, I researched a pandemic from another century: The Spanish flu. But research aside, where did the inspiration come from? I won’t belittle the research. Ask Alice. (Pun intended.)

Once upon a time there existed Margaret Poindexter and Mo Polly. These figures might be utterly fictional, but they lived boldly. Margaret Poindexter was a Victorian explorer who lived bigger-than-life experiences as she traversed jungles in faraway lands. Mo Polly was one of the indigenous persons she met in her journeys. No photographs of either remain. What we know comes from a series of letters exchanged over a summer as one hunted the other across the globe. It’s unclear why they pursued each other in a tormented game of cat and mouse. It’s also unclear if one sought to harm the other, or if it was merely an elaborate lark. Poindexter appeared to be a woman of means. Mo Polly also indicated that money proved no obstacle as she sought her nemesis. And so, the pursuit continued zealously.

Regarding the letters themselves, any form of paper or substance that functioned as paper was utilized. Creativity knew no bounds. Standard pen and ink were rarely the mechanism of correspondence. Where these heroes traveled, genteel tools were not at their disposal. Sometimes the letters arrived by mail. Other times they arrived unconventionally. Once a letter was delivered to Mo Polly attached to an arrow. Upon another occasion a letter arrived by standard mail but encased in a plastic bag as the envelope had been scorched by fire. The postal service felt inclined to include a note of its own. They apologized profusely to “Mo Polly” and assured her that the postal service took full responsibility for all mail in its care. Little did they know that the flames that attacked that envelope had been inflicted by Poindexter prior to her dropping it in the mail. Had she escaped a burning building only to drop the letter in the closest mailbox? We may never know the truth of it all. Such grand lives these two heroes must have lived. And yet, what is the real story? Why the elaborate ruse? At the core, it’s not so different from Doyle Dalton’s. Mo Polly and Margaret Poindexter were creatures born from the imagination of two girls who lived in a small town like Alexandria, Indiana. Like Jamie Poole and Doyle Dalton, these two girls longed for adventure. And like Doyle Dalton, they created their own. The dangerous jungles they traversed were the streets of Greentown, Indiana, a quick drive north of Alexandria. A seed of their longings found its way into these pages.

When they grew up, they discovered the adventure they had longed for. But what of Doyle Dalton? Will he find a true adventure? Or is everything he wrote a lie as Jamie suspects?

I apologize to the US Postal Service for dropping that scorched letter in the mail. I take full responsibility, for I am Margaret Poindexter. (At last my conscience is clear!)

Lastly, this book is written from the perspective of a person in the early Twentieth Century. While at times he leans toward prejudiced terminology, he will learn and correct himself. I felt the character development should allow him initial shortcomings in the larger story.

Doyle Dalton's Diary is available April 25, 2025.