Tuesday, May 28, 2013

KANE'S CHANCE by CHERYL PIERSON


I started to write a short story several months back that turned into a novella. I wrote the novella and realized I wasn’t done with the story…so I wrote two more. These were my “Kane” trilogy—Kane’s Redemption, Kane’s Promise and Kane’s Destiny. These stories really wouldn’t be classified as a “romance” story. There’s no sex, not really even any spoken words of love between Jacobi Kane and his love interest, Laura, who later becomes his wife.

I did this on purpose, since the stories are told from the point of view of a young boy. That stuff would be too mushy for him to think about for too long. No, these stories are more action oriented, and being told from the first person viewpoint, it’s necessary to keep a high level of feeling to the forefront.

Will Green is the young boy who tells the stories. In KANE’S REDEMPTION, we meet him at the age of 9, almost 10. His parents and older sister have just been murdered by the Apache, and he has been kidnapped as they torch his home. But a few days later, just as he’s given up hope, a mysterious man walks right into the Apache camp and rescues him. Jacobi Kane has a mysterious past that he isn’t too keen on discussing with Will, though Will senses a kind of kinship between the two of them as they travel toward Fort Worth and safety. Kane harbors a terrible secret that might force Will’s hero worship of him to turn quickly to hatred…or of understanding, that Kane is a man who does what he must. But will that realization be enough, and is Will mature enough to come to grips with what Kane had to do?

In KANE’S PROMISE, Will continues to learn more about Jacobi Kane’s past when a group of law officers seek Kane’s help in capturing some of the same Apache Indian band that killed Will’s family. Kane resists going because he is now re-married, with a new baby on the way and tells the lawmen he’s turned in his badge for good—years ago. But a promise he made in the past keeps him hungry for vengeance, and his new wife urges him to go and see an end to it all. Of course, Will is not going to be left behind. Jacobi might need him!



KANE’S DESTINY wraps up the trilogy with a surprise visit from a man Will had never expected to see—his ship building magnate grandfather, from Boston, Robert Green. His grandfather first tries to intimidate him into returning to Boston with him, then falls back on honesty only when he must to convince Will to come back. Will vehemently refuses, but when he hears two of his grandfather’s men planning to murder his grandfather, he knows he has to go at least part of the way—to the first stop, back where it all started—the little burned out cabin where his family was murdered over two years past. Jacobi is out there, trailing them for protection, unseen and silent, but then Will learns a secret that makes his blood run cold. A man that Jacobi thought of as a friend is also caught up in the plot—but Jacobi doesn’t know the tide has turned. He’s in as much danger as Will and his grandfather are.

This is just a short bit about each story, but the big news is, now you can get all three stories under one cover, KANE’S CHANCE! With a little bit of editing and changing here and there for “flow”, these stories are all combined into one novel now. This book is loved by young and old alike, a great YA novel for boys (and girls!), but also something adults enjoy as well. I loved every minute of writing these adventures of Will Green and Jacobi Kane, and I have a feeling I’m not done yet.

Karen M. Nutt did all my wonderful covers, and she came through again for KANE’S CHANCE. I’m giving away one digital copy of KANE’S CHANCE today to a commenter, so please comment and remember to leave your contact info!

Here’s an excerpt from KANE’S CHANCE. Thirteen-year-old Will and his grandfather are having a meeting of the minds as they travel up to Indian Territory from Fort Worth. Surrounded by men who want to kill both of them, they find themselves at odds in this conversation where Will tells his grandfather some things about himself that his grandfather didn’t know.

I had learned a lot from Jacobi. And by the way my grandfather looked away and fell silent, I knew there was a mighty big hole in the story somewhere.

“What is it you’re not tellin’ me, old man?” My voice was strong but quiet. I wasn’t sure if this was some kind of family secret or somethin’ he didn’t want Jack Wheeler, riding a few paces behind us, to hear.

He gave me a sharp look. “You may call me Grandfather, William. There’s no need for disrespect.”

“No need to tell half the story, either.”

At first, he looked at me from under his eyebrows like he’d like to take a strap to me. But I looked right back at him. Finally, he nodded and glanced away.

“I’ve been so desperate to find you because…you’re my only living heir. I built a ship building dynasty for my family, Will, and there’s no one left but you.” He cursed as the wagon hit a hole and jolted him sharply.

“My sister married a man, Josiah Compton, whose wife had died. He brought two sons to the marriage, but he and Margaret never had any children together. The boys are men, now, of course. George, the eldest, is a pastor. But Ben, the younger of them, is quite a wastrel. He has squandered his inheritance and is looking for more. If you weren’t…alive….well—everything would fall to the two of them. And though George is not the type to seek gain, Ben is quite a different story.

“Ben knows I won’t be around much longer. But you will always be a threat, Will. I’m afraid this is going to end badly for one of you.”

I thought about what he’d told me. It seemed like maybe he needed me to say somethin’. It bolstered my confidence to know that somewhere out there, Jacobi was ridin’ along easy, keepin’ a eye out on us. Especially, now that I’d learned this part of the story.

I looked at him straight in the face. “I’ll tell you one thing. It ain’t gonna be me that ends up dead.”

“I didn’t say that—”

“It’s what you meant though, ain’t it? When there’s a pile of money to be had, somebody’s always worried it’ll get taken away from ‘em. Even if he knows I don’t want it, he’ll be worried about it. I’ve killed before. I’ll do it again, if need be.”

His expression turned to one of shock. I went on with what I was saying. “Ain’t nobody gonna take my life over somethin’ I don’t even want.”

He studied me openly, as if he were trying to decide what he should say. I saved him the trouble.

“I know you’re wonderin’ about it, so I’ll tell you.” And I did just that, from start to finish, from the day Papa and I had been out working together and seen the Apaches ride up all the way through when Jacobi had rescued me and we’d ridden out of the Apache camp together.

“We rode as long as we could, until I fell off the horse. Then Jacobi picked me up and we rode some more. When Red Eagle caught up to us, Jacobi and him fought.” My throat dried up just thinkin’ about how I’d felt to see Red Eagle and Jacobi locked close together, fighting with everything they had, and knowin’ one of ‘em was gonna end up dead.

“I killed Red Eagle. Shot him dead.”

Grandfather was quiet.

“I ain’t sorry for it, either. It felt good. Every time I think about what he did to Papa and Mama, I know it was the right thing. But mainly it was right because he was so dang pure evil.”

FOR KANE’S CHANCE and all my other work, check BARNES & NOBLE and AMAZON. Here’s the AMAZON link to my author page.
https://www.amazon.com/author/cherylpierson


17 comments:

  1. Oh, dear, a whole bunch more books to add to my "must have" list. Yea.

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  2. I remember the first cover and thought it was great. All your covers tell a story on their own. Congrats on getting this series out. Best of luck with lots of sales.

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  3. Thanks, Charlene! I hope you enjoy them!
    Cheryl

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  4. Paisley, thank you for the compliment--I have to say, Karen M. Nutt does my covers and she just does a fantastic job, I think, with each and every one. Here's hoping to those sales!
    LOL
    Cheryl

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  5. Nice blog. I try to keep current with the "Sweethearts."

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  6. Thanks, Dac! So glad you stopped by!
    Cheryl

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  7. Love that you've continued with Jacobi Kane. Love, love, love that bunch of characters. Here's wishing you megasales.

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  8. Whoever gets this set of stories is in for a treat. I have enjoyed Cheryl's writing for some time. As a side note "The Keepers of Camelot" is one of my favorite short stories. Doris

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  9. I like that the trilogies can all be together in one book. I think it's a great idea.
    I am not that long on patience to wait for a trilogy to come out in one book. I have to eat them up when they each come out.
    I'm going to be reading the third book in this trilogy very soon and I am really looking forward to it. Great books!
    I mentioned once before that I hope you write Will's grown up story.

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  10. Caroline, thank you so much! I'm loving writing about them so much I will probably have to do some kind of story about Will when he's older. Thanks so much for your kind words!
    Cheryl

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  11. I must say that I do like Kane's looks a lot!

    Also, the boy is kind of cute. Great idea to tell everything from the boy's perspective. Wonderful change of pace.

    Morgan Mandel
    http://www.morganmandel.com

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  12. Doris, thank you so much! I'm on pins and needles about The Keepers of Camelot--Saturday is the day when I'll find out if it actually won the Western Fictioneers Peacekeeper Award for the short story category. But either way, I'm just glad to be included in that great list of nominees. I'll keep you posted on when the print copy of Kane's Chance will be available!
    Cheryl

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  13. Sarah, I don't think there's any way that Will is going to leave me be until I DO write some stories about his grown up life. That might be a project for 2014. I'm so glad you are enjoying these stories. Thanks so much for all your support!
    Cheryl

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  14. Morgan, my motto is, you can never get enough Jimmy Thomas on your covers. LOLLOL I'm glad you like his looks in the role of Jacobi Kane on these covers. I don't know who the boy model is, but he looks like I would picture Will. Will is one of those boys who is ALL boy. I had reservations about writing this from the 1st person POV, but I'm really proud of the way it came out. Thanks for coming by, and I will put you in the drawing tomorrow!
    Cheryl

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  15. I'm picking my winner a little early since the storms have started here in OK again and I have to get off the computer. MORGAN, YOU ARE MY WINNER! Congratulations! Send me an e-mail at fabkat_edit@yahoo.com !

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  16. cool post :)
    thank's for information :)

    This Site

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  17. Hi Den! Thanks so much for coming by and commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
    Cheryl

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