The Ring Of Sheba Read online

  There’s so much of Ngola’s story yet to be told. I know that he was taken from somewhere in Africa, ended up on a plantation in Haiti during the slave uprisings, served on a ship in Lord Admiral Nelson’s navy in the Napoleonic War, and eventually seized a ship that he now captains.

  All of those stories are waiting to be told.

  I also want to find out how Ngola met Colin Drury and Joao, two of the more interesting characters in his crew, how he met and fell in love with Kangela, how Drury was the one to first hold Ngola’s baby son (how did that happen? Where was Ngola? What did Drury know about childbirth?), and where Ngola learned how to use his mambele.

  So many stories!

  This will be the first of Ngola’s adventures, well, actually the first two, but I intend to continue writing novellas about the character and his world. Whenever I get two or three of them, enough to make putting out a book worthwhile for readers, I intend to publish new adventures.

  I’m going to skip around in Ngola’s time line, mix up the stories, the locations, and the characters, so readers who insist on going from Point A to Point Z might feel a little irritated at times, but I hope not. I hope the stories will be worth your time. I’m going to try my best to deserve the time you spend with me.

  Mel Odom

  January 2019

  About the author

  I write in a number of fields, but always with the hope of telling an interesting tale that will incite a reader to think for himself or herself, to examine his or her own place in the world, and offer a little nudge in the direction of dreams, faith, and personal growth in spite of whatever odds a person has to face. I also believe we were all put here for a purpose. Hopefully, several purposes.

  I'm a father, a husband, a teacher, a friend, and a writer. I struggle to keep that balance, as many of us do these days, but I hold tightly to the belief that I'm doing all I can be doing, and doing what I should be doing.

  Follow me on Facebook and at www.melodombooks.com.