#NewRelease -- The Saga of Indian Em’ly Book 4: The Journey Home by Sara Barnard -- #Giveaway

BLURB
Twelve-year-old Knocks Down and his little sister, Cactus Flower, manage to escape the evil orphanage along with a new pale face friend, Kid McCoy. But once they escape, they are set upon by a gang of murdering claim jumpers who steal Cactus and leave Knocks Down for dead. 

Determined to find his little sister, Knocks Down gets to the nearest town where they’ve taken her, only to discover she has been sold as a slave! With Kid McCoy’s help, Knocks Down goes after her. Escaping once more, they encounter an old nemesis, a soldier from the nearby fort that was responsible for their mother’s death—and he’s set on seeing Knocks Down and Cactus Flower dead, as well. 

How can a boy defeat a battle-hardened soldier? Just when Knocks Down is about to give up, the biggest surprise of all changes everything on THE JOURNEY HOME…

EXCERPT
    The day passed quickly and in relative silence until Kid realized something. “Say Chief, where is it we’re headed, anyway?”
    I scanned the foreign horizon, an odd feeling suddenly gripping my backbone. “South,” I whispered, “back home, to the land of the Comanche.” Without thinking, I dropped to a crouch and let every sound fade away. Chirping birds, whistling wind, even the breath of Cactus and Kid. Every sound disappeared except the one that had pricked my ear and shot the rash of tingles in the first place. 
    “Something has happened nearby.” 
    Cactus slipped her hand into mine. “I hear it, too. Let’s go.”
    Kid scratched his head. “What’d I miss? I don’t hear nothin’.”

    By the time we arrived at what was left of the pale face camp, Kid heard it too. The dog’s whimpering had grown louder with each step, and more mournful. There hadn’t been but six people in camp, two of them children, and no survivors. The dog, a hulking black beast with pointed ears, low hips and a long tail, lay by the body of the girl. Whining, he licked her face and nuzzled her hands, as if trying to wake her from a deep sleep.

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#NewRelease -- Six-Gun Salad by Richard Prosch -- #FreeGiveaway

It's double-barreled excitement from Painted Pony Books with the release of the latest story in Richard Prosch's critically acclaimed Jo Harper series, SIX-GUN SALAD, as well as a free book promotion for the first story, WAITING FOR A COMET, from August 11 through August 14.

Blurb

Would you cry over spilled potato salad? Would you risk your life for it? Jo Harper can't contain her frustration when a determined Danish lawyer and a hard-headed German farmer get ready to square off with guns over just that.

But things are more than they seem, and an old-world grudge means Jo has less than 48 hours to stop certain violence between these two!

It's an Elizabethan tragedy-in-the-making unless Jo, Frog and Abby can unravel the threads of a dangerous plot that threatens to tear apart not just two families, but the entire town of Willowby, Wyoming.

Excerpt

    Having roped a goat, knocked down three dolls with a rubber ball, pitched horseshoes, and guzzled a lemon soda, Jo Harper wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead.
     Happy cries, laughter, and shouts came from voices of every age, carried on the ever-present Wyoming summer wind, and the mouth-watering smells of grilled sausages and warm rhubarb pie weren't far behind. A passel of boys played baseball to her left.
    Directly behind the church, girls skipped rope.
    A loud clank to her right signaled a new game of horseshoes was underway. It looked like everybody in the community was at the picnic, and there was no way Jo could stay still any longer.
    She was ready for her next adventure.

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Don't miss the first book in this great series, WAITING FOR A COMET, which is now free for the Kindle through August 14!

#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...

BLURB

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!

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

An Interview With Sara Barnard

Sara Barnard is a native Texan, conservationist, mother of four youngsters, wife to a handsome Texan and elementary teacher. She started writing in grade school, and hasn't stopped since. During the past year, readers have thrilled to the very special story of Indian Em'ly, published by Painted Pony Books.

Recently, Richard Prosch visited with Sara as the fourth book in the series, The Journey Home, nears publication.

Richard: The inspiration for the Indian Em’ly books is rooted deep in your past. What did you see at Fort Davis Texas when you were a child that stuck in your memory? 

Sara: My mom, dad, and I were lost in the tangle of misbegotten trails in the park at Fort Davis. We came upon the ruins of the old post cemetery and there was only one marker. Apparently all the rest of the bodies had been relocated to San Antonio when the post was abandoned, except for this one. It was the marker of a young Native American girl named Indian Emily, or Em'ly as they put it. The inscription said something about her loving a soldier at the fort and accidentally being shot while trying to deliver to him a message of the impending Indian attack, but not before "saving the garrison from massacre".

Richard: Are you working on a specific arc, or number of books, with a beginning, middle, and end, or will the Indian Em’ly story continue on?  As a corollary –can each story stand alone?

Sara: Each story can certainly stand alone, but is best when read all together. It begins with Indian Em'ly's death and the kidnapping of the children she and this soldier could have had, and the last story in the series will release this summer with the wayward children finally finding the peace they've been missing.

Richard: In the first story, Apache siblings Wind That Knocks Down Lodges and Cactus Flower have their world turned upside down. How have they grown by book two and three?

Sara: Knocks Down (who appears in my Everlasting Heart series, as well) and Cactus Flower (who is named after Cynthia Ann Parker's daughter Prairie Flower) are forced to form trusting bonds with select pale faces, despite the fact that it was the pale face Army who murdered their mother. Not only are they beginning to question and rationalize their world, but they must rely on each other in ways they never had to before, as well.

Richard: The two characters have a typical brother & sister relationship. Do you have siblings? Or: Are you drawing from your own life?

Sara: I draw from my own experience, but not from brothers and sisters of my own. I write these adventures after my own children :-) I have four of my own, ages 3,5, 8, and 10 and we have recently taken in a 12 year old child, as well. So there is certainly no shortage of inspiration and quotable quotes around here!

Richard: Your bio says you write Amish fiction. What’s your inspiration there, and where can we find those stories?

Sara: I do! Rebekah's Quilt is my first Amish romance and stemmed from my familial research and finding what I believed were Amish ancestors. One man had the nickname of the Pennsylvania Dutchman and another photo showed a woman in an Amish covering. However, another family historiographer has found that these people may have been Jewish! This is very exciting and I am just as proud either way <3

Richard: Where can we find more information about you and your books?

Sara: Find my work at www.sarabarnardbooks.com

Thanks for having me at the blog!

#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.

BLURB

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.”

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