New Release -- A Ranger Grown (Lone Star Ranger Vol 8) by James J. Griffin

This is my Lone Star Ranger novel, continuing the saga  of Nate Stewart as he grows from an insecure boy of fourteen to a confident, capable, valued member of  the Texas Rangers.

From my own perspective, this is my favorite story of Nate's adventures yet. For the first time, not only is he separated from the company of Rangers commanded by Captain Dave Quincy, he also has to take command of a Range patrol when he and his partners are pinned down by renegade Mescalero Apaches. Will Nate be able to take charge, and if so, how will he think through the situation, and save himself and his comrades?. What happens makes compelling reading for young and old, as the still a boy Nate fights inner struggles with the Nate on the cusp of full-grown manhood.

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With renegade Apaches and deadly gangs of outlaws running rampant in the Texas badlands, Texas Ranger Captain Quincy has no choice but to divide his band of Rangers and take on some new recruits. This mission is the most dangerous yet for Nate Stewart, who, at fifteen, is the youngest Ranger in the company. Now serving under Lieutenant Jeb Rollins, Nate and his best friend, Hoot Harrison, must face the fact that this may very well be their last mission—ever. The odds are stacked against them from the outset, with prairie fires, roaming bands of dangerous desperadoes, and the harsh conditions of the land they’re traveling. Pinned down by a party of Mescalero Apaches, it falls to Nate to lead—will he be up to the task? Getting himself and his fellow Rangers out alive is a job for A RANGER GROWN…

EXCERPT

     It was about four o’clock the next afternoon when Jeb ordered his Rangers to stop for a moment, on one of the low hills to the northwest of the capital city.
     “There she is down below, for you boys who haven’t seen her before… Austin,” he said. “The heart of Texas.”
     “Well, what d’ya think, pard?” Hoot asked Nate. “Ain’t Austin just about the biggest town you’ve ever seen in your whole life?”
     “Well, I hate to disappoint you, Hoot, but everythin’ ain’t bigger in Texas, despite what you might think,” Nate answered. “I’ll grant you Austin’s the biggest town I’ve seen since I got to Texas, but it’s nowhere near as big as Wilmington. And Wilmington ain’t nowhere near as big as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I’ve never been to New York City, but I understand that’s bigger’n any of ’em. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Austin’s probably not even in the top twenty or thirty. Mebbe not even in the top hundred.”
     “You’re tellin’ whoppers again, Nate, ya idjit,” Hoot objected, using his favorite nickname for his friend. “There can’t be any towns hardly much bigger than Austin.”

Be sure and leave a comment for a chance of winning a Kindle ebook, A RANGER GROWN.

        

#NewRelease -- A Ranger Redeemed (Lone Star Ranger Book 7) by James J. Griffin -- #Giveaway

The company of Texas Rangers led by Cap’n Dave has come down with influenza. Once the outlaws in the area realize the Rangers are temporarily out of commission, they have a field day—especially a gang of bold train robbers!

Nate and Hoot, along with some of the others who are able to ride, track down a group of cattle rustlers, but not without paying the price with one of the lives of their own.

When the Rangers are able to go after the train robbers, it takes every last man to subdue the outlaw gang and keep the train under their control—or face dire circumstances. Though Nate and Hoot manage to have some fun along the way, they know if the outlaws take the train they’re on, they could lose their jobs—or their lives.

Outnumbered, the odds don’t look to be in the favor of the Rangers—but the outlaw gang never counted on these Rangers being so tough and unwilling to face defeat. Nate’s still the youngest Ranger in the bunch, but he fights back with guns blazing. The robbers got away once, but Nate’s determined this time to be A RANGER REDEEMED…

EXCERPT

     Nate wandered over to the campfire, where the rest of the men were already working on their supper.

     “It’s about time you showed up for your chuck, Nate,” George Bayfield, the company cook, said. “Carl’s been salivatin’ over it. I’m not certain how much longer I could’ve held him off.”

     “If you don’t want it, Nate, I’d be happy to take it off your hands,” Carl Swan said.

     “Only if you shoot me first, Carl,” Nate answered. “Oh, wait a minute. You already did that once.”

     Carl had slightly wounded Nate when, while posing as that outlaw Ranger, Nate had escaped from jail, and snuck back into the Ranger camp to retrieve his horse.

     “You ain’t gonna let me live that down, are you?” Carl said.

     “Not for a long time,” Nate answered, grinning. He sat on a log, alongside Hoot.

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#NewRelease -- Lone Star Ranger: Volume 6 , A Ranger Gone Bad by James J. Griffin -- #Giveaway

In the close to a year since Nate Stewart was orphaned in an outlaw raid on his family's ranch, then taken in by a company of Texas Rangers, he's grown up fast. Of necessity, he's had to mature much more quickly than most fourteen year olds. However, while he's now a lawman, he's still very much a boy, and prone to the mistakes boys make.

A RANGER GONE BAD continues Nate's adventures with the Rangers. However, he seems to make a terrible mistake when he decides to rustle a bunch of already rustled cows. Caught by his companions, arrested and thrown in jail, Nate embarks on a life of crime, hunted by both the law and the lawless. Will he be able to turn his life around? Has he really turned outlaw? Find out in the latest Nate Stewart adventure, LONE STAR RANGER 7: A RANGER GONE BAD.

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Cattle rustling is about to get the best of some of the finest ranches in Texas—until the Rangers come to call. But while Nate, Hoot, and the rest of Captain Quincy’s Texas Rangers are out to arrest the outlaws, things take an unexpected turn for the worse. When Nate throws in with the renegade rustlers, his Ranger friends can hardly believe it. It seems that the compadre they’d trusted and accepted into their regiment as one of their own has turned on them—but can it be true?

Nate appears to enjoy the life of crime as he not only steals cattle, but robs banks and stagecoaches on his own before he joins up with Conrad Jordan’s gang of thieves. But in a deadly battle between the Rangers and the rustlers, which side will Nate pick? Will he remain true to the lawmen who’ve taken him in and made him one of their own—or is he truly A RANGER GONE BAD?

EXCERPT

    “Deputy, what are the charges?”

    “Let’s see, Cap’n.” Woodson rubbed his jaw. “There’s drunk and disorderly, to start. Then there’s disturbin’ the peace, destruction of city property, and discharging a firearm within city limits.”

    “Is that all?” Bob asked.

    “Ain’t that enough, Lieutenant?” Woodson answered. “I could add on resisting arrest, and attempted assault on a peace officer, but I’ll let those slide, as long as you promise to take these two with you when you leave town.”

    “Hey, we didn’t try to assault any peace officer,” Nate protested.

    “You don’t think so, huh?” Woodson answered. “You don’t recall your friend takin’ a swing at me, so I had to subdue him by knockin’ him over his thick skull, then you startin’ for your six-gun, and me stoppin’ you by whackin’ you with my rifle, right in your…um, privates.”

    “Oh,” was all Nate could manage.

Be sure and leave Jim a comment to enter a drawing for a free ecopy of A Ranger Gone Bad.

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#NewRelease--DOGBREAD AND DIAMONDS by Richard Prosch--#Giveaway

Just about any small town, ranch, or farm has its share of special desserts, pastries, and secret recipes. When I was a kid in Nebraska, the main street Bakery had its dusted, frosted wares on display by 6:00 am and, if they weren't sold out by 9:30 whatever was left was hard as a rock.

You had to get there early.

If you did, you were more richly rewarded than the Divine Right kings of Europe or the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs. Long Johns, Bizmarks, Apple Fritters: these were the jewels of the plains, warm and glistening with a sugar glaze.  These were riches beyond compare.

Remembering those mornings, digging into a grease-stained brown paper sack, made me wonder about Willowby, the fictional Wyoming town where Jo Harper lives. Was there a proper bakery back there in 1911, or were the breakfast treats of Jo's time more intimate, as befits a fledgling western settlement?

Before I married Gina, I met her Grandma Frida, a woman known well in her community for the pastries she made.  Delivered in bulk to work crews, field hands and the ladies at the bank--free of charge--Frida's fried doughnuts were the stuff of legend.  And the recipe unknown.

I decided that's the kind of breakfast Jo, Frog and Abby Drake would enjoy best. Home made, hand delivered --in the same brown paper sack I remember, with the same sensual overload.

Jewels of the plains. Diamonds in the rough.

Stolen diamonds is where this story begins...

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In the wild west, decades before Willowby, Wyoming was founded, Stink Carmichael robbed a stage coach of the famous Dakota Diamonds and was never heard from again. When Jo Harper and her best friend Frog find the loot in a hidden cellar, old secrets come out and greed can't help but rear its ugly head. When Frog disappears and Jo is accused of pilfering the diamonds herself, things can't get any worse. But Constable Abby Drake has a few secrets of her own and a sack of warm, flaky breakfast rolls might just be the key to saving the day.

EXCERPT

    "We shouldn't be here, Frog," said Jo Harper, her lace-up boot slipping on the next step down. "It's muddy."

    "It's damp," said Frog. “And since when have you ever in your whole life been worried about a little mud?"

    A cold draft swept up the slippery wood plank steps from the underground darkness below, bringing with it a smell of mildew and grime that threatened to close Jo's throat. 

    A grim welcome from the hidden cellar deep underneath the Beemer mansion in Willowby, Wyoming.  

    "It's not mud I'm worried about," said Jo, quickly cupping her hand around the wick of the flickering candle she carried. "This is the longest set of steps I've ever seen. It's falling and breaking my neck that worries me. Then who's going to bail you out of trouble?"

    "Ha-ha. Ain't you funny? You oughtta be in the movies, Jo."

    Again, eleven-year old Frog Beemer dropped away down into the dark, fearlessly taking the stairs two at a time.

    Jo waited for him to say something.

    "Frog?" she said, ears straining, eyes peering past the dim circle of candle light.  Jo willed her leg forward into space, sliding her toe out, over the worn edge of the step. "Frog, where are you?"

    She put her weight down on her right leg.

    A low squeal, like the settling of timber came from the hole ahead. 

    Timber. Or something else. Maybe something alive.

Leave a comment for a chance at a free copy of Richard Prosch's Dogbread and Diamonds.

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An Interview with Cheryl Pierson

by Richard Prosch

Along with her award-winning western romance and contemporary fiction,
Oklahoma native Cheryl Pierson wrote a slam-bang young reader western
trilogy. Red Eagle's War, Red Eagle's Revenge and Texas Forever make up
the Texas Legacy trilogy, now available from Painted Pony Books. Having
just finished the first book, and with the next two waiting on my
Kindle, I thought I'd take some time and visit with Cheryl about Will
Green's story.

Early in the first book, Jacobi Kane rescues Will Green from Red Eagle's
Apaches.  Did you do any historical research for those scenes? 

Being born and raised in Oklahoma, I have grown up with the different tribes—museums, artifacts, stories, legends, and so on. One of the greatest Apaches ever, Geronimo, is buried here in Oklahoma at Ft. Sill—which is down in the southwestern part of the state in the Wichita Mountains. Going down into that part of the country, which is (ironically) in Comanche County, has proven to be a great source of knowledge for me just for the terrain of the land—which is quite different than the part of Oklahoma I grew up in (central) and where my relatives were from in the southeastern part of the state, as well. Apaches were not considered one of the five “civilized” tribes…there’s a reason for that, as Will discovered.

Why Texas?

Everything I write is set in Oklahoma or Texas. This story starts out in Indian Territory, not far from the region I was telling you about. Red Eagle is headed back to his “home” territory, closer to the border of Texas and present-day Oklahoma when Jacobi rescues Will. Jacobi heads back to Texas with Will, to try to get to Fort Worth, a town of some size—where he might be able to find a place for Will or contact any family he might have left somewhere.  Texas is a natural setting for me, as well, since many of my ancestors came from there.

What can you tell us about the change in titles?

Those titles were changed when we brought the trilogy over to Painted Pony Books from another publishing company and made some revisions in the text. Also, I discovered that those “Kane” titles weren’t working to draw in younger readers—most everyone who bought those books seemed to be adults—which I was very happy about—but wanted the younger readers to be drawn to them as well.

Even though they're killed off-screen, before the story begins, Will's
father, Robert Green becomes a character unto himself with the many
words of wisdom he imparts to Will.  How much does Will's family reflect
your own?

Will’s father is a very harsh man. He has some regrets, which we discover through Will’s thoughts as the books progress, until his final understanding, or at least the fact that he is beginning to come to terms with it in TEXAS FOREVER. My dad and I were very close—not at all like Will and his father—but there were a lot of things I didn’t understand until I got older, and matured a little bit.

While not as violent as some books, there are a couple of tough scenes in
the first book. Did you have any second thoughts about how far to go or
did you follow the story where it necessarily led?

You know, I tried to write those books with the idea that, like most of my writing, I wanted it to be realistic—but not TOO graphic for that age group. I wanted the reader to know that Will (and Jacobi) both suffered, and that has to be shown—not just told about. Will is as real as I could make him—he uses some rough language for his age in a place or two, but who wouldn’t, after what he’d been through? And the violence—that’s how the west was in those days—but I don’t think it’s too much for YA readers, especially by today’s standards.

What would you like to see more of (or less of) in young reader/young
adult westerns?

Encouragement by teachers and parents. When you think about it, today’s kids that would fall into this age bracket were not even alive when 9/11 happened. If parents and teachers don’t try to interest their kids in reading historical fiction, eventually it will all become a thing of the past. Love of history has to be encouraged when kids are young. 

I think Painted Pony Books has gotten a great start on this by providing some excellent stories for young readers of all ages—your Jo Harper series, Jim Griffin’s “Ranger” series,  Sara Barnard’s “Indian Em’ly” series for middle grade readers, and some excellent books that aren’t series at all, such as Frank Roderus’s “Duster” and Livia and James Reasoner’s story Mockingbird and Big Earl.

 
Will there be more books about Will Green?

I’d love to write more stories about Will! I can’t say too much since you haven’t finished the 3^rd one, but there are tons of unresolved issues that he can do nothing about until he’s a little older. So I’m hoping that I will be able to sit down and write “the rest of the story” soon!

Thanks so much for this interview, Rich! I appreciate it. During this Memorial Day weekend, I would like to give away one complete set of the TEXAS LEGACY trilogy to one lucky commenter. Just leave a comment for me and your e-mail address!

#NewRelease -- A RANGER TO STAND WITH by James J. Griffin -- Giveaway!

Be sure and leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for James J. Griffin's ebook A RANGER TO STAND WITH from his Long Star Ranger series.

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Texas Ranger Nate Stewart has been through a lot in his life—and his losses aren’t over yet. In the months that Nate has ridden with Captain Quincy and his Rangers, his best friend and pardner, Hoot Harrison, has been the rock Nate has depended on. But once beautiful Clarissa Hennessey comes into Hoot’s life, she sets out to destroy the friendship between the two young Rangers.

When the chips are down and Black Dog’s raiders attack the Hennessey ranch, there’s bound to be bloodshed and lives lost. Will Clarissa divide Hoot and Nate forever, or can Hoot prove that he’s A RANGER TO STAND WITH?

EXCERPT

     “Sure. Listen, Mister, take out your gun, slow and easy, and hand it to me, butt first,” Nate ordered. “No false moves, or I’ll drop you right where you stand.”

    “Okay. Okay, Ranger. You’ve got me, all right. I’ll go peaceable like. Just don’t shoot me,” Jeb pleaded. He took the gun from his holster, then held it out to Nate, butt first. When Nate reached for it, Jeb, whose trigger finger, unnoticed by Nate, was in the trigger guard, spun the gun level, thumbed back the hammer, and pulled the trigger. A wad of cardboard slammed into Nate’s stomach, with enough impact to drive him backward and double him over. Gasping for breath, Nate fell to the dirt.

    “And you just got yourself plugged in the gut and killed, Nate,” Jeb said. “That’s called the road agent’s spin. No one knows for certain who first came up with it, but it’s cost many a lawman his life.     You never, ever ask a man to hand you his gun butt first. It’s a sure way to get killed. Either tell him to unbuckle his gunbelt and drop it, or take his gun out of the holster with two fingers, then drop it. Unless, like what just happened, you want a bullet in your stomach. Lesson learned?”

    “Lesson learned,” Nate said. “I don’t reckon I’ll ever forget it, neither.”

BUY LINKS

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PPB New Release -- Finding the Sky: The Jo Harper Collection by RIchard Prosch -- Giveaway!

Richard Prosch is giving away one free ecopy of Finding the Sky: The Jo Harper Collection to one lucky person who comments, so be sure and leave your contact information.  This is a great collection for old and young alike.

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Twelve-year old Jo Harper thought 1910 would be another boring year in the Wyoming range town of Willowby, Wyoming. Then tough-talkin' pistol-shootin' Abby Drake came to town and made Jo a deputy law and order woman...

Collecting four exciting Jo Harper novellas, Finding the Sky pits Jo and her friends against cattle rustlers, outlaws, a bank robber and a tinhorn gambler. With explosions of fire, flaming arrows, and a wild ride in a Model-T, Jo's introspective, early 20th Century life will never again be the same. 

EXCERPT

     Laughing and squealing, squinting into the sun, Jo didn’t see where she was going until it was too late. She hit the stranger full on, and bounced down, hard, on the boardwalk.

     Pain shot through Jo’s arm, and she cussed out loud, rolled onto her back, and kept her eyes squeezed shut against the tears.

     Funny bone!

     “Land sakes! Ain’t you a fireball,” said a woman’s voice.

     Holding her elbow tight, Jo opened her eyes.

     Scuffed leather boots, denim pants, a belt cinched tight around a thick middle, and a worn holster stuffed with iron. The woman’s gnarly bronze hand snatched up a big hat from where it had landed on the boardwalk and plopped it back onto a braided gray scalp.

     The face was impossibly old, a wind-burned landscape of chasms and puckered buttes with one eye, focused and alive, blazing over all, and the second one unmoving and made of glass. At her collar, a red neckerchief flapped in the wind “Name’s Abigail Drake,” said the woman. “And I wouldn’t take unkindly to an apology.”

     The breath caught in Jo’s throat. 

BUY LINKS      B&N Nook     Smashwords

     

Painted Pony Books New Release -- Lone Star Ranger Book 3: A Ranger to Fight With by James J. Griffin -- Giveaway

James will be giving away a copy of A RANGER TO FIGHT WITH to one person who comments, so be sure to leave a way he can contact you in the comments if you would like to participate in the drawing.

BLURB
When Captain Quincy's company of Rangers is ordered to the Big Bend, Nate has no choice but to ride with them. It appears his odds of finding the men who murdered his family grow more distant with each passing mile. But a chance encounter with a patrol of buffalo soldiers provides the first solid lead as to the gang's whereabouts--and Captain Quincy's Rangers make a detour to find the pale-eyed demon whose gang has been responsible for so many deaths. Will Nate and his Ranger companions finally catch up with the killers? Nate's gut feeling says they will--but who will survive?

EXCERPT
    Nate Stewart lay on his bunk, staring at the ceiling of his tent. His three Texas Ranger tentmates, Hoot Harrison, who had quickly befriended Nate, Jim Kelly, and Dan Morton, were all sleeping, snoring softly. However, Nate was having trouble falling asleep. 
    Tomorrow, the Rangers would break camp and head for the Big Bend. That meant Nate would be riding with them, leaving behind the ranch where his father, mother, and older brother had been murdered by outlaws, and Nate himself left for dead. The men responsible were still out there somewhere, and Nate was determined to see them brought to justice. However, that would have to wait. 
    The Ranger company he was with had been ordered to far West Texas, and he had no choice but to go with them. Already, everything which could be packed ahead of time was bundled up, most of the supplies loaded in George Bayfield’s chuck wagon. 
    At first light, the men would eat a quick breakfast, the tents would be taken down, and everything loaded on pack mules. An hour after sunrise, they would be on the trail, heading west.
    Nate sighed as he thought back on everything that had happened to him in the past few weeks; how unexpectedly his life had changed. He had moved with his family from a home in Wilmington, Delaware to a small ranch outside San Saba, Texas. 
    After the attack which left Nate an orphan, he had been found and nursed back to health by a company of Texas Rangers. With no family or friends in Texas, it appeared Nate would have to move back to Delaware, to live with his aunt, uncle, and eight cousins. However, fate had taken a hand when Jeb Rollins, the Ranger arranging for his trip home, had been confronted by a group of rustlers. 
    In the ensuing gunfight, Nate had saved Jeb’s life by tackling and knocking out one of the gunmen, before he could shoot the Ranger. Jeb decided Nate had enough guts, and potential, to be taken on as a camp helper for his Ranger company, despite Nate’s age of only fourteen.
    I’ve learned how to use a gun since then, Nate thought, to care for and ride a horse, and how to handle myself with my fists… not to mention takin’ on someone in a knife fight. I’ll sure never forget what Hoot taught me about that. 
    I’ve shot a couple of men, and been shot and nearly killed myself. If I hadn’t stuffed my train tickets and the rest of my papers back in my shirt pocket, then forgotten about them, the bullet which hit me in the chest would’ve killed me. Even at that, I’m real lucky those papers man-aged to stop that slug. 
    I’ve tried smokin’, which I doubt I’ll try again, drunk te-quila and whiskey, learned how to play cards, and thought about huggin’ and kissin’ a girl. 
    He softly chuckled. He—I mean, heck, I’ve even learned how to cuss some. My ma’d sure have washed out my mouth with soap if she ever heard me doin’ that. 
    I helped stop a bank robbery, and made some good friends. I only wish I’d caught up with the men who killed my folks. 
    I’ve had two more run-ins with ’em since, even managed to put a bullet into that pale-eyed son of Satan who leads the gang, but they’re still on the loose, after killin’ some of my partners, and more innocent folks. 
    Nate sighed again. After all that, I’m still not certain what I’ll do when I have to come face to face with a man, over leveled six-guns. I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull the trigger under those circumstances. 
    And for my pards to count on me, I need to be a Ranger they can fight with.

With those thoughts, he drifted into an uneasy sleep.    

LINKS

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Painted Pony Books New Release -- The Saga of Indian Em'ly: Book 2 On The Colorado Trail by Sara Barnard -- Giveaway

Our own Prairie Rose Publications author Sara Barnard has a new release through our Painted Pony Books imprints--the second in her Indian Em'ly series! She's giving away a free copy to one lucky commenter today! Be sure to leave a way to contact you in the comments if you would like to participate in the drawing for a free ecopy of this book, and wish her much luck with her new series!.

BLURB

The pale face soldiers have torn Wind That Knocks Down Lodges and Cactus Flower's world apart. After finding themselves at the mercy of the Army, far from Apache Territory and well on the trail to Colorado, Knocks Down's choices are dwindling rapidly. After a failed attempt at escape that leaves Cactus Flower injured and both of them in danger, can Knocks Down bring himself to trust the soldier, Pale Face Joe? His life depends on it, and his little sister's does, as well!

EXCERPT

    The feeling of needing to be sick and vomit rolled over me and my pounding head as the light from the sun attacked my eyes. Pale face chatter filled my ears, making the rolling in my stomach churn all the more violently. The pale face chatter grew louder as I struggled to come awake.
    Dirty brown fabric, the kind that seemed to be a favorite of the pale face soldiers, was all around me, like a cocoon.
    “Cactus Flower?” Her name was broken and dry on my parched lips. How long had I been asleep? “Cactus Flower,” I tried again.
    Pulling at the canvas, I studied our surroundings. We moved in a line, inside wagons pulled by Army horses. Soldiers, with their shooting horses drawn from their scabbards, rode alongside. The raw emotion of fear burned in my dry throat. Nothing about this land was familiar. Not the roll of a hill, or the shadow of a canyon. My heart began to thunder in my chest and a twitching in my legs urged me to jump from the Army wagon and run to safety far from here. Far from the soldiers that killed first Silver Sky, and then my mother.
    Glancing around the foreign land, my eyes hungered for something familiar. A wild rose perhaps? Wildly, my gaze danced over the rugged, dusty desert. The Army had taken us far from the land where the wild roses bloom, far from our home. I swallowed hard and blinked back the tears that brimmed, for a warrior of     The People must never show fear, even if his heart trembled with it.
    A terrifying thought pushed its way to the front of my mind. Can it still be The Moon When The Wild Roses Bloom if there are no wild roses to bloom? I looked down at my hands on the rough wood of the wagon box. They had begun to tremble. I struggled to find a logical reason to my newfound predicament. Perhaps time was measured differently here, faster no doubt, on the pale faces’ trail.
    “Cactus Flower!” I choked on her name in my dry, nauseated throat. Lifting one trembling hand, I shielded my eyes from the sun, which did little to ease my pounding head. While the wild roses weren’t blooming here, the same sun was still assaulting my tired eyes. Perhaps time was still measured the same on the pale face trail.
    Tom’s voice boomed loud, from just the other side of the dirty canvas, making me jump and forget my thoughts of timekeeping. Then, he laughed. My mother’s murderer laughed. I sit in here, terrified and miserable, and the pale face who has hidden my sister, murdered my mother, and taken me from my home rides free upon the back of a horse.And he laughs.  

LINKS

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New Release -- Racing a Dog Star by Richard Prosch -- Giveaway

A free ecopy will be given to one person who comments today. Be sure to leave a way to contact you if you want to participate in the giveaway.

Blurb: 
Flung headlong into the Dog Days of summer by multiple mysteries that may or may not be related, Jo Harper and Frog Carpenter face: 

An uncanny schoolmaster! 
A bubbling, bucking Model-T! 
Rattlesnake danger! 
Old West outlaws! 
and the worst thing of all...the first day of school! 

In this sequel to WAITING FOR A COMET, Jo, Frog and sure-shootin' lady Constable Abby Drake return for another visit to the exciting town of Willowby, Wyoming in the hot, dry summer of 1910.

Excerpt:
    Right after sunrise on the first day of school, Jo Harper beamed with radiant pride while constable Abby Drake pinned a polished silver star over Jo’s heart. The deputy's badge gleamed in the early sunlight, and just to be sure, Abby bent over and breathed hard, fogging the surface before giving it a final touch with her big, red hanky. Standing tall beside Abby's oak desk, Jo dropped her chin to her neck and tried to read the badge upside down. It sure enough said "Deputy Constable."  She reached up and pinched her own ear. 
    “What’d you do that for?” said Abby.
    “Wanted to make sure it wasn’t a dream,” said Jo. 
    “How dumb is that?” said Jo’s friend, Frog Carpenter. 
    Around them, Abby's office came awake as the shadows of night melted away and the stove's iron coffee pot burped its fresh brewed fragrance into the air. Jo heard the familiar clop, clop of horses and wagons outside, taking to the streets of Willowby, Wyoming and, as befit that progressive year of 1910, she caught the sound of an automobile chugging to life in the distance.
    "You're a full-fledged deputy of the law now, Jo," said Abby. "Even if we do need to keep it between ourselves. I'm not putting it down in my log. It’s too much paperwork, and the city council would never approve a twelve-year-old girl deputy."
    Jo fought the tears coming to her eyes. She blinked hard and turned away from Abby, but the constable hooked a calloused finger on Jo's chin. Jo looked at the old woman and smiled. 
    "A good sob of joy ain't nothing to be ashamed of," said Abby.
    Abigail Drake didn't get to be as old as she was by letting things go. Jo pegged her at around sixty, but with the energy of somebody just starting out. Standing with her back to the window, Abby's windburned features were hidden in shadow. She was far from what anyone would call a ravishing beauty, especially with only one real eye—  and a second one made of glass. But Jo, whose mother died years before, saw the compassion in Abby's face. A warm smile tempered the stern discipline of her jaw and tough, long gray braid hanging over her shoulder. All the good folks in town admired Abby. And the bad people were scared of her to the worn out soles of their shoes.
    Jo wondered if she could ever command the kind of respect from both sides of the law that Abby had earned. She turned to the framed mirror that hung beside Abby's desk. Her gingham red shirt contrasted nicely with the green of her eyes. Unlike other girls on this first day of school, she wore rough beige canvas trousers. Her hair was the color of night, worn long in a sturdy braid that hung straight down her back. She took another peek at the star on her chest. "One day I'll wear this star out in the open."
    "It's best kept between you and me for now," said Abby.

Bio: 

Richard Prosch writes western crime fiction that captures the history and lonely frontier stories of his youth, where characters aren’t always what they seem and the wind burned landscapes are filled with swift, deadly danger. Richard’s work appeared in The Protectors, an anthology to benefit children; and most recently, his short story "Hester's Vanity" was featured in the hardcover anthology Rough Country from High Hill Press. His newest collection, One Against a Gun Horde is now available for Kindle at Amazon.com. His work has also appeared at Optimist International and online at Boys' Life, as well as many non-fiction print publications.

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New Release--The Saga of Indian Em’ly: The Apache and the Pale Face Soldiers -- Giveaway

We are giving away one free ecopy of Sara Barnard's new juvenile story. You have to leave a comment for a chance to win.

Wind That Knocks Down Lodges loves his Apache mother Shining Waters, his grandfather Chief Strawberry Moon, his baby sister Cactus Flower and the wildness of the desert canyonland they call home. He has even developed a rough-hewn trust for Cactus Flower’s father, the pale face soldier from the fort that their mother loves. In one night of gross misunderstanding and novice mistakes, Knocks Down and Cactus Flower’s innocent young world is broken and shaken before they find themselves locked in the soldier fort with the pale faces and their mother’s lifeless body. With no one to lean on but each other and the fragile balance between the Apache and the soldiers irreparably upset, Knocks Down and Cactus Flower must make their way as children of The People in the pale face world – pale faces who have now become the enemy.

Excerpt:

Something wasn’t right. The night animals ceased their songs in unison, and another troublesome cloud shrouded the moon. An icy shiver trickled down my backbone to the tune of silence. The happy drumming coming from the camp, telling the world of the birth of Red Lake’s firstborn son, had slowed to a stop. I froze, pulling Cactus Flower back onto her bottom. She rose from the hard-packed earth, her bottom lip puffed out and her inky eyebrows knitted together above her eyes. Before she could open her mouth to speak, a flock of beating wings sent me cowering, nose first, into the dirt beside her.

“Knocks Down, why did those birds –”

Instinctively, I slapped my hand over her mouth, taking care enough to be gentle. No sooner had she quieted, than another sound echoed through the solemn night air.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

I slipped my finger over my lips, wordlessly instructing Cactus Flower to remain silent. She nodded and I removed my hand from over her mouth. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR—SARA BARNARD

Sara Barnard is the mother of four beautiful children and wife to a handsome Texan. She earned her BA in European History in 2006 is now pursuing her MA in her spare time, as well as her teacher certification.

Sara has been struck by the Indian Em'ly legend since her first visit to Fort Davis, Texas at the tender age of 8. Some of her other writings include Christian fiction, Amish fiction, children's fiction and children's nonfiction, as well as Civil War romance. Look for the three other books in the Indian Em'ly series; On the Colorado Trail, The Orphanage, and Coming Home, all coming soon from Painted Pony Books! 

Sara and her family make their home in the far reaches of west Texas with three rescue dogs (two from Italy, one from Texas) and three rescue cats (one from Colorado, one from Oklahoma, and one from Texas) amid the jackalopes, tumbleweeds, and of course, lots and lots of oil.

Links:

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