#NewRelease and GIVEAWAY: On Solid Ground: The Jo Harper Collection Vol. II

Looking back, especially when you reach a certain age, time is more weirdly mercurial than ever. A year passes quickly, its fleeting months scattered like seed to the wind, but paradoxically the days were long and sometimes interminable.

Or it can be the other way around. Days fly by with busywork and odds and ends, but you wake up to think, My God! It’s still only February.

Sometimes it’s all slow. Or all fast.

More than a year has passed since “Waiting for a Comet,” the first Jo Harper story made its debut, and nearly twelve months now since Jo’s first four adventures were collected. Since then, four more stories have appeared from Painted Pony Press, a complete unpublished tale waits in the wings, an Early Days of Abby Drake story will appear this fall in an anthology of stories, and the audio version of “Waiting for a Comet” will be ready for the holidays.

It’s all been a dazzling roll through the calendar, and a thundering 2016 looks to be close at hand.

Time, for Jo and Frog, while filled with more adventure, passes more slowly. She turned 13 this year, and Frog turned 11. They might stay at that age for a while. Or they might not – I honestly didn’t intend for them to have birthdays. It just happened.

And for me, that’s an example of the most exciting aspect of writing Jo Harper. Nothing has been planned. For the first time in my experience writing fiction, I have a body of work that was not outlined, not pre-figured. Each of these stories found me sitting down, writing into the dark. When you read the first chapter and don’t know what’s going to happen next, rest assured that I didn’t either.

Jo Harper has put a lot of fun back into my writing. I hope this second volume of stories does the same for your reading.

Blurb:

Jo Harper rides the range again with Frog Beemer, Constable Abby Drake, McGee the dog, and a host of no good owlhoots. If you love rollicking old-fashioned adventure, grab this second volume of four novella-length stories.

In 1911, when trouble comes to Willowby, Wyoming, thirteen year-old Deputy Constable Jo Harper is usually on top of it. But trouble has a way of following Jo, and strangers aren't always what they seem.

When old friends prove to be enemies, and enemies might be friends, Jo relies on all her wits to seek justice.

And sometimes just to stay alive!

Jo Harper rides the range again with Frog Beemer, Constable Abby Drake, McGee the dog, and a host of no good owlhoots. If you love rollicking old-fashioned adventure, grab this second volume of four novella-length stories.

Richard Prosch's series about young Jo Harper and her friends, set in early 20th century Wyoming, just keeps getting better and better. — James J. Griffin, author of the Lone Star Ranger series

A part Mark Twain, part Rooster Cogburn, a dose of H.G. Wells... —Wayne D. Dundee

Please leave a comment below for a chance to win a free digital copy!

BUY LINKS       Barnes and Noble Nook        Smashwords         Kobo

Whitman Authorized TV Editions

by Richard Prosch

 

I can honestly report that without the genius of the Whitman Publishing Company's authorized editions, and specifically the TV tie-ins, there wouldn't be a Jo Harper series of stories.

As I wrote here and here, many of the Jo's adventures find their origins in the life of my grandpa's Aunt Rose, and my own great-grandma. But those stories wouldn't be in the short, fast-paced adventure format they are without the Whitman influence.

For the folks in Racine, it started in the '40s when the authorized editions broke new ground in presenting stories to young people. As harbingers for the media savvy publishers today, Whitman realized they could cash in on the popularity of radio and movie stars by leasing the rights to them and assigning new, original stories to experienced authors. Second, they were one of the first publishers to recognize the market potentialof properties aimed at a young female audience.

Both trends continued and by the 1960s, a new line of nearly 100 titles based on TV shows was underway. Stories from The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, and The Mod Squad were available next to Annie Oakley, Gunsmoke, and Have Gun Will Travel.

The first western book I ever read was Annie Oakley in the Ghost Town Secret.  Originally belonging to my aunt, I remember it being on the shelf at my grandma's house for several years before I pulled it down and read it in an afternoon. 

I've collected quite a few of the westerns and read them as an adult. I'm happy to report that the books stand up well. In no small part, this is due to Racine's wisdom in signing top notch writers to the tie-in books. 

Many of the westerns were penned by proven scribes in the field: 

Cheyenne and the Lost Gold of Lion Park and Bonanza: Killer Lion, both by Steve Frazee.

Bonanza: Treachery Trail by Harry Whittington.

The Rebel by H.A. DeRosso

Roy Rogers and the Brasada Bandits by Cole Fanin. 

And many more.

These square bound hardbacks were ubiquitous and lmost any antique store in America will have a few copies available for reasonable prices. Along with those shows mentioned above, The Rifleman, Maverick, Rin-Tin-Tin, Tales of the Wells Fargo and Wagon Train also have fine entires.

For a fascinating look at the golden era of western television, licensing, and just plain good reads, give 'em a try! 

Meanwhile, I'll be giving away a copy of the latest Jo Harper adventure, Redbuds and Bullets to a commenter. Just leave a comment for me here or at Facebook (and please message me your email address).

After growing up on a Nebraska farm, Richard Prosch worked as a professional writer, artist, and teacher in Wyoming, South Carolina, and Missouri. His western crime fiction captures the fleeting history and lonely frontier stories of his youth where characters aren’t always what they seem, and the windburned landscapes are filled with swift, deadly danger. Read more at www.RichardProsch.com

#NewRelease--Redbuds and Bullets (Jo Harper Book 6) by Richard Prosch -- #Giveaway

Be sure and leave a comment for Richard Prosch to enter the drawing for a free ebook of REDBUDS and BULLETS.

BLURB

Thirteen year old Jo Harper's trip to attend the reading of her mysterious uncle's will isn't welcome news to everybody in Willowby, Wyoming, and with the notorious Casper Brothers on the loose, the spring of 1911 isn't the best time to steam across the wide open west.

But with great expectations and grim determination, Jo hurtles into adventure, learning along the way who her friends are, and who wants her out of the way for good.

Blossoming danger! Dark captivity! And wildflowers galore!

EXCERPT

Jo's face flushed hot. She was the poor country hick without a ticket.

"I said, is there a problem?" said the conductor with a gruff voice.

"I'm afraid I've lost my ticket," said Jo.

"Lost? Or never had one to begin with?"

"No, I had it when I got aboard."

"I doubt that very much."

"Where's the other conductor? He knows. He saw it. When I told him I was going to Kansas City."

"Other conductor? What are you talking about? I'm the conductor on this train. There is no other!"

What was going on here? Jo's mind was awhirl. There had been another conductor. Jo was sure of it.

Now, this conductor reached down and pulled her up by her shirt collar. "Pick up your hat and satchel," he said. "No ticket, no passage."

"Wait!" said Jo.

"I'm sorry, kid," said the man, now clamping a meaty hand on Jo's arm. "Off the train."

Off the train?

"But I've got to go to Kansas City," said Jo. "My aunt is waiting for me."

"Don't tell me no sob stories. Let's go."

Easily twice Jo's size and weight, it was easy for the conductor to push her down the aisle toward the back door. When they got there, he pulled open the exit, and a wall of wind hit them both.

The train clickety-clacked along the tracks and a new fear rushed into Jo's head.

The man was going to throw her off the train, all right. While it was still moving!

BUY LINKS    Barnes and Noble Nook      Smashwords

All Ages by Richard Prosch

What does the title of this post mean to you? What do you think when a book is listed as all ages?

I have to admit, for me it means it's a young adult or kids’ book. I don't know when that idea first took hold, but as a reader it's rock solid in my head. 

And I should know better. 

There are scores of books I read as a kid that were written for adults, books that are --in fact-- good for all ages. Great Expectations, 1984, Hondo, and The Martian Chronicles were all written for adults. But you could read them as a kid. 

I didn't need an adult to tell me what was appropriate. If I could understand the prose, I read it. From The War of The Worlds and Dracula to The Black Stallion and The Hardy Boys, I didn't care who the intended audience was. I read it.

As writers, do you think we get too hung up on that intended audience?

Isn't it something every agent and/or publisher starts telling us from the get-go? Where does your book fit on the shelf?  Imagine the spines of the books next to yours. Who's the target audience?

I sure do understand the necessity of listing a book correctly when it comes to the marketing. 

But here I’m talking about how we think as writers. Before the marketing must come the story. We shouldn’t write to market. We should write to tell a good story.

Thinking about a couple literary greats: if The Catcher in the Rye or To Kill a Mockingbird were published today, would they be listed in the catalog with the other adult material?  Or would they be labeled as young adult?  

I think they'd end up with the latter. 

Sadly, to list something today as adult fiction it's almost a given that there are potentially objectionable scenes or dialog inside. In other words, it's the sex and violence that make something adult.

The thing is, once somebody can read, I think it's more important to converse than to censor. Talk about the content instead of blocking it.

I'm here to tell you. In 1976, if somebody would've told my mom that Raymond Chandler or Isaac Asimov were adult books, those books would've been off my shelf pronto. 

But nobody told her. And I sure wasn't going to break the news.

So whenever somebody asks me what I write, I answer like a storyteller first. 

No matter the story's content, I write for all ages.

After growing up on a Nebraska farm, Richard Prosch worked as a professional writer, artist, and teacher in Wyoming, South Carolina, and Missouri. His western crime fiction captures the fleeting history and lonely frontier stories of his youth where characters aren’t always what they seem, and the windburned landscapes are filled with swift, deadly danger. Read more at www.RichardProsch.com