SEDUCTION, Now Available at Reduced Price

I’m happy to let everyone know that my debut novel, Seduction, is now on sale for Kindle at Amazon at $3.99.

In Seduction, business entrepreneur, Cole MacPherson, lives and works in a small town in the old west. This particular town is similar to towns described to me by my grandmother when I was growing up. Just as we enjoy staying in a nice hotel while traveling, people back in the late 1800’s enjoyed staying in beautifully appointed and gracious inns and hotels available in some towns.

Sometimes I like to center my stories around an incident from my family history, or historical events that influenced my family. In Seduction, the heroine’s back story is based on events in Texas following the Civil War. At that time, drifters banded together and raided farms and ranches for livestock and valuables that they sold or used for their own benefit.

Here’s the back cover blurb for Seduction:

They challenged the town and each other with their forbidden affair. Belinda Rose is two people. On stage, she’s a confident vocalist who entertains her audiences. Alone, she longs for a secure home and her own opera house where she can entertain or book others to perform. She carries with her the painful memories of her past, but won’t be denied her future. Can her love for a handsome businessman derail her plans?

Cole MacPherson has become a wealthy entrepreneur in spite of his loveless childhood. Believing he doesn’t know how to love, he seeks power instead. What a shock when a beautiful singer knocks him for a loop. Could he learn to love? Does he dare?

I hope you’ll enjoy reading Seduction as much as I enjoyed writing this story.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve found out about the west? Where would you like to visit in the west?

Jeanmarie Hamilton
http://www.JeanmarieHamilton.com

Soiled Doves of the Old West

The Old West is full of legends…cowboys, gunslingers, Indians, pioneers, outlaws, Marshalls and "soiled doves".



What would a true western novel be without a brothel, cathouse or crib? There are several madams who made their mark on the Old West, but the parlor houses that were most profitable were the ones run by an adept business woman, flaunted elegant furnishings and boasted the most beautiful girls. Those Madams not only turned a profit but had a wealth of real estate, fine horses and material goods.

The finer brothels prided themselves on setting a good table, offering choice cigars and the finest liquor and wine to their male clientele and some would only allow the girls in the house to be seen by appointment. Parlor houses averaged six to twelve girls and the madam entertained only those customers she personally selected. Much of the profit in brothels came from drinks served, which were higher in price than the local saloons. The most successful madams maintained a strict air of respectability and a "charming home life" on the main floor of their houses, insisting the girls wear corsets when in public. Even though parlor houses were not accepted by society, the madams paid their share of community taxes and fines to corrupt law officers. They also contributed heavily to community charities.

Pearl de Vere, Cripple Creek, Colorado's famous madam was known to charge a $1,000 for her personal services. She catered only to the prosperous men of Cripple Creek and her girls were the most beautiful of any parlor in the mining camp. They wore fine clothing, received monthly medical exams and were paid well. Pearl was known to "prance" through the camp daily in a small open carriage led by a team of expensive black horses. Dressed in a different beautiful costume every outing her clothes were the envy of the respectable women in the camp.

Other famous "soiled Doves" of the Old West were Mary Elizabeth "Libby" Haley Thompson better known as Squirrel Tooth Alice because of the gap in her front teeth.



At age ten she was kidnapped by the Comanche and held prisoner for three years. After her release she was considered a "marked woman" and shunned by society. She ran away from home and turned to prostitution to support herself. Libby set up a dance hall and brothel in Sweetwater, Texas which she ran until 1921 when she retired. Libby died in 1953 at the age of 98 in a rest home in Los Angeles.

Dora Dufran was considered the Blackhill's leading madam.



Aside from her parlor house in Deadwood, South Dakota she established branch houses in Sturgis, Rapid City and Belle Fourche. In her early days in Deadwood, she became a friend and occasional employer to Calamity Jane, who sometimes worked as a prostitute. She was also said to have had a "heart of gold," often providing nursing services to those in need and helping the poverty stricken. Sometime after moving to Deadwood, she married a man named Joseph DuFran, a gentleman gambler, who not only wasn't bothered by her profession, but helped her to grow her business.

In 1909, Dora's husband Joseph died at the age of 47 and Dora returned to Rapid City, where she set up another brothel, which became popular during the Prohibition years and served as a speakeasy. Dora DuFran died at the age of 60. Her obituary in the Black Hills Pioneer mourned the passing of "a noted social worker.” Her grave is marked by four urns that feature grinning imps, symbolizing the four brothels that she had owned.

Soiled Doves lived a hard life but no matter what your opinion of their chosen profession, these women shaped the American West and found a way to survive and even thrive in a man's world. For those of you whose family roots go back generations in the Old West, can you claim any "soiled doves" in your family?

Marin
Roughneck Cowboy (Feb 2011)
Rodeo Daddy (April 2011)
Harlequin American Romance
www.marinthomas.com

ORPHAN TRAINS

The Orphan Trains in the Nineteenth Century both intrigue and inspire the public. Even today, the topic is a viable one, eliciting numerous websites dedicated to the orphans, their stories, biographies, and detailed obituaries.

All the photos of orphans I found were a mixture of sadness and hope. The children appear stoic and brave, but I can imagine their little knees knocking with fear and apprehension, wondering if their time had come. Would a family step forth, holding out their hands, offering the child a home? Would the family treat them fairly, and perhaps even show them love? Or would the family only treat them as workers, employees to give orders to and to house, feed, and clothe? How bewildering it must have been for them.

A DVD available on Amazon contains several episodes of a fictionalized group of children. A recording artist wrote and sang a song about the orphan trains. In 1979, a made-for-TV movie titled “Orphan Train” that starred Jill Eikenberry, Kevin Dobson, and Glenn Close is on DVD. Today, numerous publishers offer fiction, some historical, some romance, centered on an orphan and his/her life.

An estimated 30,000 children were homeless in New York City in the 1850s. The children ranged in age from about six to 18 and shared a common grim existence. Homeless or neglected, they lived in New York City's streets and slums with little or no hope of a successful life. Charles Loring Brace, the founder of The Children's Aid Society, believed that there was a way to change the futures of these children. By removing youngsters from the poverty and debauchery of the city streets and placing them in morally upright farm families, he thought they would have a chance of escaping a lifetime of suffering.

He proposed that these children be sent by train to live and work on farms out west. They would be placed in homes for free, but they would serve as an extra pair of hands to help with chores around the farm. The family should pay the older children for their labors, although they often did not.
The Orphan Train Movement lasted from 1853 to the early 1900s, originating from several northern and Midwestern states. The organization placed 120,000 children. This ambitious, unusual, and controversial social experiment is now recognized as the beginning of the foster care concept in the United States.

Some of the children struggled in their newfound surroundings, while many others went on to lead simple, very normal lives, raising their families and working towards the American dream. Although records weren't always well kept, some of the children placed in the West went on to great successes. There were two governors, one congressman, one sheriff, two district attorneys, three county commissioners as well as numerous bankers, lawyers, physicians, journalists, ministers, businessmen, and teachers.

Part of the fascination of the stories of the orphans is because the children's stories are poignant. But, more than that, the program is a reminder of how unsuccessful the nation has been in finding solutions to the problems of childhood poverty. The orphan train program was dissolved in 1929, not only because of criticism of 'placing out,' but because of reforms of the child welfare system. When we read descriptions of New York City or Boston in the 19th century, we realize those days are not very far off from today. Our nation still struggles with foster care. Many of the same criticisms we find with the orphan train are valid today.

On the trains, the babies would ride in train coaches; the older kids were often just stuck in boxcars. The orphanage operators couldn't afford to put them all in coaches. Citizens in towns along the rail lines learned the orphan train was headed their way when an orphanage agent posted handbills or put notices in the local paper. In the case of children from Catholic orphanages, priests in parishes along the way were notified in advance and asked to line up homes.

When the train arrived, townspeople wanting a child would come to examine them and make a choice. People would poke at their arms and look at their muscles. They would pick out kids they wanted. If any remained, they would go on to the next stop.

I wrote a short Free Read for The Wild Rose Press titled “Wishes Do Come True.” It’s about a lonely young woman who had arrived in the west on an Orphan Train as a young child. Read about Anna Morrison and the man she loves, Ross Davis.

DOWNLOAD FREE from The Wild Rose Press:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/wishes-do-come-true-p-3644.html
(Or you may e-mail me and I will send it to you.  celiayeary AT Yahoo DOT COM)
THANK YOU--CELIA
  

Covered Wagon Women I

I have discovered that the era of Western Expansion interesting, especially the trials and tribulations of those on the western trails. I've purchased several books that recount true stories of women who travel West in covered wagons. One book, Covered Wagon Women: Diaries & Letters from the Western Trails, 1840-1849 by Kenneth L. Holmes is an excellent resource book. He reprints actual diaries written while on the trail and letters written either on the trail or after they reach their destination. Holmes also gives a bit of a biography on each woman. One of the women whose letters he reprints is Tabitha Brown (right), who made the trip starting in April 1846.

Mrs. Brown was a widow and sixty-six years old when she decided to travel from her home in St. Charles, Missouri to Oregon with her seventy-seven year old brother-in-law, retired sea captain John Brown, and two of her children and thirteen of her grandchildren.

While most journeys of this type were dangerous, The Brown family's was particularly hazardous. Mrs. Brown expresses in a letter to her sister and brother, penned after her arrival in Oregon, that the first part of their trip was “pleasing and prosperous.” But all that changed in August when they still had 800 miles to go to Oregon City. Instead of keeping to the tried and true route, “three of four trains of emigrants were decoyed off by a rascally fellow...[who] assured us that he had found a NEAR CUT-OFF; that if we would follow him we would be in the settlement long before those who had gone down the Columbia.” The decision to follow this man was tragic for many of the families.

Mrs. Brown relays that the man took their money and ran, leaving the train “to the depredations of Indians, wild beasts and starvation...we had sixty miles desert without grass or water, mountains to climb, cattle giving out, wagons breaking, emigrants sick and dying…hostile Indians to guard against.”

The men had to hack and clear a trail for them, as there was none. The way behind them was “strewn with dead cattle, broken wagons, beds, clothing and everything but provisions of which we were nearly destitute.” People were caught in the Canyon for two or three weeks, their food running out, they themselves dying of fatigue or starvation. She does not give detail of how she came to lose everything, but writes that her daughter and son-in-law insisted that she and Captain Brown go on ahead by horseback to meet up with wagons that would have food (they stayed behind to give their cattle rest). Her brother-in-law was so weak that he fell off his horse and she had to struggle to get him back up on it. They failed to meet up with the next wagon train before dark and had to spend the night alone in Indian territory, only to discover the next morning that 1) they were only half a mile from the train and 2) the Indians had killed a man just a short distance from where they'd camped.

They were found the next morning and taken to the next train, where fresh venison was available. However, they were far from safe. They still had two mountains to climb and winter was setting in. They were able to travel only two or three miles a day. They finally decided that it would impossible to reach a settlement before spring and decided to settle in for the winter. Mrs. Brown's son-in-law set off on his own to find a settlement, in the hopes of bringing back provisions.

Now as it turned out, her other son had left for Oregon six days ahead of her party and had already reached their destination. He heard rumors of the “wayward” train and he set out with six pack-horses to find the “suffering emigrants at the south.” Shortly after her son-in-law left, the two met up and they returned to the train with the provisions.

Five miles down the road from where they'd camped, they meet up with mixed-blood French-Indians and hired several of them to guide the train to a settlement. On December 24th, four months after they made their dreadful decision to take the 'short-cut,' those who survived the journey arrived at the first settlers' house, a Methodist minister, who offered Mrs. Brown and Captain Brown a place to stay until spring. In exchange for room and board, Mrs. Brown ran the house, because the minister's wife “was as ignorant and useless as a Heathan Goddess.” She also discovered that in her glove was not a button, as she'd assumed, but a “six and one-fourth cent piece” or as the footnote says “one-eighth of a Spanish dollar coin” and not worth a lot of money. But she used it to purchase three needles and traded some of her old clothe for buckskin. She then made gloves out of the buckskin, sold them and made herself $30.00.

As far as I can tell, all of Mrs. Brown's family made it to Oregon as well and Mrs. Brown, even at her advanced age, went on to establish herself as a pillar of the community in the new territory. She established a school for the local children, including orphans, with the help of friends and neighbors. The school was “the forerunner” for Pacific University.

So, this is just one of the fascinating stories to be found out there, one of the 'facts' that we can base our stories on...the question is, will anyone believe us?

What is a strange fact or story that you've come across in your research?

This blog first appeared at Chatting with Anna Kathryn, April 17, 2009.

The Cary House Hotel

The Cary House Hotel, built in 1857, still stands in Placerville, CA. This jewel, built when the gold rush town was prospering, still treats its guests to an interesting night’s sleep. During the five years I worked in the Chablis Art Gallery across the street from the hotel, I was able to make friends with the manager who graciously let me take photos inside and out, and meet one of the two most active ghosts. The hotel features such luxuries as hot and cold running water, a novelty in its time, and an elegant grand staircase and a lobby handcrafted in mahogany and cherry woods.

Echoes from a colorful history linger in the halls of the great place. Early days provided a regular stop for stage lines that brought travelers to the gold country and returning with millions of dollars in bullion for transport to the San Francisco mint. Its wrought-iron trimmed balcony lent a great space for Horace Greely to give a speech and the world-renowned “Hangtown Fry” (oysters and scrambled eggs) was created at the Cary House by request of a miner who had struck it rich in the gold fields.

The ghost that I tangled with was Stan. He lives in the lobby of the hotel. He was the lobby clerk for many years, and he loves the place so he sticks around. In the beginning he checked patrons in and out of the Cary House. He had a great love of liquor, especially brand and whiskey. When he wasn’t working, he’d head down to the Rivendell’s Book Store where he could socialize. Back then the store was a great place to visit with fellow drinkers, and to get a drink, especially on cold damp days of winter. He would sneak out during his workday when no one was around, grab a drink and hurry back to the hotel.

Stan loved women, but was ignored by them. He was a short, stocky man with reddish brown hair, balding on the top and not what most people would consider a “ladies man. Truth be known, he also liked men somewhat. He was not really in demand by either. So, he did his job, was polite until the alcohol took affect, loved gossip and checking people out, and was known to be a bit ‘mouthy’ and insulting. Apparently he made a pass at a man, and the fellow stabbed him twice, and Stan fell down the stairs to his death.

My encounter with Stan happened the day I wanted to go upstairs by riding on the elevator. The wrought-iron door wouldn’t open. I tried and so did the manager.

It was no big deal as the staircase was grand and fun to travel up to the second and third floors. However, on the way down the elevator worked perfectly. Guess old Stan was so happy to see me leaving that he gladly let me take the ride. Rumors from patrons have said they see their doorknobs turn when they retire for the night. Some believe he checks each room that has a lady guest just to make sure they are safely locked inside their rooms. Maybe at another time, I can share some of the interesting ghost stories from Cary House. A television show that traveled around the country doing spots on the most haunted buildings did a twenty minute show on the ghosts in residence at Cary House.

Information from The Incredible World of Gold Rush Ghosts”

The Music Behind Western Romance

Last month I featured rodeos in my first Sweethearts post and promised to come back with more on what makes contemporary westerns great in November. Again, I have to say the answer lies in the contemporary West itself because this was where country music was born. Though I can't claim to be a western girl myself - more southern belle - I grew up listening to country. I saw Reba McEntire in concert when I was nine years old. We listened to album after album of Reba, Shania, Alan Jackson, and Brooks and Dunn on road trips. (My poor daddy...)

As I grew older, I grew out of my country music fandom. So it was a nice throwback to old car rides and memories when crafting my first western romance, Blackest Heart. Western romance, whether you live in the heart of the west or not, is all about worldbuilding - a term more often attributed to the paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi genres. The world is real, yes, but it's our job as western romance writers to deliver it on the page as a full sensory experience to the reader. With the Texas setting came the landscape, the summer heat, the wind storms, the small town of Wayback, TX, and the culture of the American west. A lot of that culture, I learned, centered around the rodeo arena, the ranches, and - maybe most of all - the honky-tonk.

I'm one of those writers who is influenced by mood-enhancing music when crafting storylines. For this one, you can be sure I broke out all those old country albums as well as a few new ones. It was only natural that music from the likes of Tim McGraw and LeAnn Rimes are mentioned in the book. Even blues icon Johnny Cash's music makes a cameo thanks to his place on hero Judd's playlist. Bonus points for whoever can guess which one of the Man in Black's songs is featured ;)

When I went back to Wayback to write the sequel, Bluest Heart, the heroine, Josie, was a tonky-tonk singer with plenty of attitude. To help further realize her character, I put together a list of songs Josie would sing onstage. It was a medley of sass featuring Miranda Lambert, the Dixie Chicks, Gretchen Wilson, Dolly Parton, Sugarland, and - of course - that Postcards from the Edge classic "I'm Checking Out." The book itself takes on a more sentimental note as old flame, Casey Ridge, fights for Josie's heart. The medley of the story turns out to be a favorite Kenny Chesney tune. Again, bonus points for anyone who can guess which!

So you see? Country music is part of American culture - specificially western American culture. It's difficult to dive into the contemporary western genre without relying on country music to set the tone in some measure, even when it simply helps you as the writer find the right mood.

Now for some discussion. What is your favorite country music song or artist? Right now, I've got one of my all-time faves from both categories stuck in my head: Reba's "Fancy." And super special brownie points for whoever can tell me the name of Wayback, Texas's honky-tonk!

Amber Leigh Williams

"Williams has brought the romantic back to romance!" ~ Long & Short Reviews

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THE YOUNGEST COWBOYS

In the summer of 1909, two young brothers under the age of ten set out to make their own “cowboy dreams” come true. They rode across two states on horseback. Alone.

It’s a story that sounds too unbelievable to be true, but it is.

Oklahoma had been a state not quite two years when these young long riders undertook the adventure of a lifetime. The brothers, Bud (Louis), and Temple Abernathy rode from their Tillman County ranch in the southwest corner of the state to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Bud was nine years old, and Temple was five.

They were the sons of a U.S. Marshal, Jack Abernathy, who had the particular talent of catching wolves and coyotes alive, earning him the nickname “Catch ’Em Alive Jack.”

Odd as it seems to us today, Jack Abernathy had unwavering faith in his two young sons’ survival skills. Their mother had died the year before, and, as young boys will, they had developed a wanderlust listening to their father’s stories.

Jack agreed to let them undertake the journey, Bud riding Sam Bass (Jack’s own Arabian that he used chase wolves down with) and Temple riding Geronimo, a half-Shetland pony. There were four rules the boys had to agree to: Never to ride more than fifty miles a day unless seeking food or shelter; never to cross a creek unless they could see the bottom of it or have a guide with them; never to carry more than five dollars at a time; and no riding on Sunday.

The jaunt into New Mexico to visit their father’s friend, governor George Curry, took them six weeks. Along the way, they were escorted by a band of outlaws for many miles to ensure their safe passage. The boys didn’t realize they were outlaws until later, when the men wrote to Abernathy telling him they didn’t respect him because he was a marshal. But, in the letter, they wrote they “liked what those boys were made of.”

One year later, they set out on the trip that made them famous. At ten and six, the boys rode from their Cross Roads Ranch in Frederick, Oklahoma, to New York City to meet their friend, former president Theodore Roosevelt, on his return from an African safari. They set out on April 5, 1910, riding for two months.

Along the way, they were greeted in every major city, being feted at dinners and amusement parks, given automobile rides, and even an aeroplane ride by Wilbur Wright in Dayton, Ohio.

Their trip to New York City went as planned, but they had to buy a new horse to replace Geronimo. While they were there, he had gotten loose in a field of clover and nearly foundered, and had to be shipped home by train.

They traveled on to Washington, D.C., and met with President Taft and other politicians.

It was on this trip that the brothers decided they needed an automobile of their own. They had fallen in love with the new mode of transportation, and they convinced their father to buy a Brush runabout. After practicing for a few hours in New York, they headed for Oklahoma—Bud drove, and Temple was the mechanic.

They arrived safe and sound back in Oklahoma in only 23 days.

But their adventures weren’t over. The next year, they were challenged to ride from New York City to San Francisco. If they could make it in 60 days, they would win $10,000. Due to some bad weather along the 3,619-mile-long trip, they missed the deadline by only two days. Still, they broke a record—and that record of 62 days still stands, nearly one hundred years later.

The boys’ last cross country trip was made in 1913 driving a custom designed, two-seat motorcycle from their Cross Roads Ranch to New York City. They returned to Oklahoma by train.

As adults, Temple became an oilman, and Bud became a lawyer. There is a statue that commemorates the youngest long riders ever in their hometown of Frederick, Oklahoma, on the lawn of the Tillman County Courthouse.