FIRST RIDE COWBOY COLLECTION: YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST

I'm doing a little something different this month for the blog. I usually don't like to advertise, but I'm so excited to be a part of this boxed set, I thought I'd give you a peek. There's something for everyone. Some historical...some contemporary...but all cowboys! Just in time for Valentine's Day this features the first in the series brought to you by eighteen authors. 

Check it out, and I'm giving away an e-copy to one person who comments! 

First Ride Cowboy Collection

You Never Forget Your First...

FEATURING:

Lacy Denvers has lost her job, and lost her way. All she wants to do now is get her career back on track and find some stability again, but first, she wants to mark something off her bucket list: She wants to learn to ride a horse. Her dream vacation to the Crawley Creek Cattle Ranch turns into a lesson in patience when the North Dakota winter proves unpredictable as ever. Wrapped in a cocoon of snow, Lacy finds the ranch to be a hidden treasure trove of cowboy eye candy, and her mouth is watering even as her brain is telling her to run.
After a devastating tragedy, a young Drannon Russo ended up fostering with the Crawley family, and found a home. He's only moved away once and had to lean on family for support when his dreams were shattered. Being a cowboy on a ranch is a pretty lonely existence. When a beautiful redhead shows up looking for a fresh start he's determined to give them both what they want.
Will this vacation into the heart of cattle country turn out to be a mistake, or will Lacy and Drannon find their future in each other?
www.LoriKingBooks.com

 

Five brides for five brothers...at least that's the deal the Daltons have struck with their boys. Each son must marry in order to inherit a piece of the ranch they love so much.
Hank Dalton yearns to run his own spread, but more than that, he longs for a woman to call his own. Paradise Valley is far from civilization, though, and that makes finding the perfect match difficult. Not many women like being two hours from a major supermarket or mall.
Charlotte is on the run. Poor choices have left her with scars - in and out. After her powerful boyfriend left her drugged and set their apartment on fire, she's just trying to put the pieces of her life back together. Abandoning all she knows seems like the best decision she's ever made. At least until her car breaks down in the middle of cattle country.
When a pretty little woman is delivered into Hank's hands, he believes it was fate that kept him from joining his brothers for a "wife hunt" in the city. But she's leery of men and hiding something dark. Can Hank tap into the attraction they both feel before she drives away?
www.empetrova.com

Jordan Hawthorne thought she had it all until a surprise for her fiance turns into losing everything that she ever wanted. She flees her home in Charlotte, North Carolina to take a new job in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and make a new start where her ex-fiance can't find her. Jordan is just beginning to adjust to her new life in the middle of nowhere when a small town cowboy walks in and disrupts it all.
Tom McCloud never had time for a serious commitment, always too busy with running his grandparents' farm. Everything changes when he stumbles upon a broken-hearted city girl and a steamy buzz ignites between them. But what happens when the city girl can't stay hidden in the country for long?
www.jayceeford.com

Candace Marie Browne has been the head cook-hell, the only cook on the Crooked E ranch for the past three years. She's come to care for the owner Mr. Everson like a second father and the ranch hands like brothers...all except one. Mason Edwards, foreman on the Crooked E Ranch.
After walking in on her fiance and her best friend going at it on her new furniture she needed a break from men altogether. So like any mature woman...Candace moved out of her hometown of Helena, Montana and picked up the first waitress job she could find in Butte and didn't look back. That's where Hank Everson found her a few months later and offered her the job on the E.
Mason had noticed the beautiful redhead the moment she walked into the dining room at the E. But what really got him? Was when he saw the woman actually cringe at the dinner he had put on the table.
The long shiny auburn tresses, big brown puppy dog eyes, a body that was rounded in all the right areas. Oh yeah! He'd spent a lot of time thinking about his Candy Girl. Plus, the extra corn bread biscuits she snuck him every Friday after their weekly chili dinner didn't hurt either.
Yep, Mason had discovered Candace was...Sweet as Candy!
www.siddaleerain.com

Lazarus Graham has always been the black sheep of his family. Leaving behind the ranch his family had owned for nearly 200 years, he lives life as a Texas Ranger. Tough, hard and inflexible, he has no time for life's fripperies.
Beatrice Cartwright never expected to run into her childhood nemesis again. Yet Laz Graham sauntered into her store to investigate a crime nearby. Then the man had the nerve to not remember her.
Being a Graham isn't easy, and it's about to get a lot harder for one stubborn lawman and the woman who still owns his heart.
www.bethwilliamson.com

Can two people, one horse and the power of love cure a little girl?
Angela French blames herself for her daughter's lack of voice. Determined to do anything to correct the situation, she seeks out Jake Kyncade, the owner of The Heartsong Ranch.
Jake Kyncade hides his own sorrows behind his no-nonsense demeanor. Helping children becomes one way to correct his past. Using equine therapy, he sets out to make a difference.
Can Jake help Angela's dreams come true or will Jake's past bring more heartache? Will love save them all?
www.melissakeir.com

Pastry chef, Cary Crockett, is on the run. Pursued by a loan shark bent on retrieving gambling debts owed him by her deadbeat ex-boyfriend, she finds the perfect hiding place at the remote Circle W Ranch. More at home with city life, cupcakes and croissants than beef, beans and bacon, she has to convince ranch owner Micah West she's up to the job of feeding his hired hands. The overwhelming attraction she feels toward him was nowhere in the job description.
Micah West has a big problem. The camp-cook on his central Oregon ranch has up and quit without notice, and his crew of hungry cowboys is about to mutiny. He agrees to hire Cary on a temporary basis, just until he finds the right man to fill the job. Maintaining a hands-off policy toward his sexy new cook becomes tougher than managing a herd of disgruntled wranglers.
www.stephanieberget.com

L.A. cop Jordan Masters Ryan has a problem. Her normal method of meeting a crisis head-on and taking it down won't work. Not this time. Not when fate is her adversary. Having kept her from the man she thought she'd always marry, the same fickle fate took away the man she eventually did. Thrown back into the path of her first love, she finds hers is not the only heart fate has damaged.
Widower and software CEO, Cole McCall fills his days with computer codes and his free time working the family's cattle ranch. Blaming himself for his wife's death, he's become hard and bitter. When his visiting former neighbor sets out to delete the firewall around his heart, he discovers there's no protection against the Jordan virus. Though she understands his pain and reawakens his soul, will it be enough for Cole to overcome his past and embrace their fated hearts?
www.donnamichaelsauthor.com

All Madeline Harper ever wanted was to escape the tight fences of Black Mountain, Colorado. Nothing would stop her from pursuing her goals--not a devoted boyfriend, or infant son.
For the last five years Shan Ellis' life has consisted of being a dad. He scarified everything for his son. College. A career. Girls. Now, the one woman he can't forget is back in town.
Can they overcome the mistakes of the past and find love again?
https://www.facebook.com/DLindunAuthor

Widowed with two small children and a ranch to run, Mariella Swanson knows she needs help, but isn't sure her heart, or neighbors, will accept her marrying a stranger. When the greenhorn shows up, smoking a pipe and wearing a derby hat, she can't help but wonder if agreeing to this marriage may prove to be her biggest mistake.
When Davis Weston receives a letter from his sister asking him to marry a friend, he scoffs at the idea. However, losing his wife and son has left him a lonely man, and the whispers from others that he didn't do enough to save his family has gone on long enough. His arrival in Oregon may be worse - these neighbors are doing more than whispering. Guns and horses aren't his forte. He's willing to learn, but is he willing to love again?
Historical western filled with steamy romance and the rawness of a growing country.
www.patyjager.net
 

Mesa Arraguso writes about hot cowboys for a living. Being a romance writer has it perks and its drawbacks. She spends a lot of time alone in front of her computer, but she gets to fantasize about incredibly hot men wearing cowboy boots and Stetsons. While visiting San Antonio, Texas for a writer's conference, she finds herself stranded on the back roads of Bandera only to be rescued by one of the most gorgeous men she's ever encountered, be it fantasy or for real.
Joel Young is a cowboy. From the top of his Stetson to the tip of his dirty cowboy boots, he's cowboy through and through. Along with rescuing women when they do silly things like running out of gas miles from town on a dirt road, he spends his days herding cattle, fixing fences and breaking horses.
Can one handsome cowboy and a city-girl from LA find common ground is the Hill Country long enough to see beyond a quick fling?
www.romancestorytime.com

GySgt Jared Worrell wanted one thing - to live and die a Marine. He's made a good start at the first and come close to the second more times than a man should. One call from his mother changes all his plans, and he's headed back to Ten Sleep, Wyoming. The Reserves feed his need to be a Marine, but what does a man do the rest of the year in a town so small it doesn't even have one stoplight? His mom has the perfect solution; Jared should use another talent and become the town chocolatier. He's just recovering from that bomb when she drops another...
Lucy Thomas fell in love with Ten Sleep when her parents fulfilled their dreams of owning their own ranch. Now Lucy is living her dream of photographing Wyoming from its landscape to its people, but she's never really felt a part of the small town where everyone has known everyone else forever. Turning the doorknob to her friend's house brings her face to face with a man whose arms she'd love to call home. He's a Marine, cowboy, and chocolatier...how can a woman resist?
Coming home never tasted so sweet.
www.kirstenlynnwildwest.com

The morning after Amy Leigh Paisley, from Pine Oak, Montana is left behind in Las Vegas, she wakes up with not only a huge hangover, but with a husband who happens to be Trent Baxter, Billings' most eligible bachelor.
His father thinks she's a gold-digger, her mother wants her to be one and all Amy Leigh wants, is to stay married to the hot man for just a bit longer and maybe another night of great sex.
www.hildiemcqueen.com

Former professional poker player, Kendra "Night Owl" Lowe, is determined to make her new Poker Flat Nudist Resort successful, even if it means relying on her own two hands and a few misfit employees. All bets are off, however, when Wade Johnson arrives, her fourth stable manager in less than four months, and her attention wanders to his broad shoulders, six-pack abs, and polite ways. But she's his boss and giving in to temptation could mean jeopardizing her operation. Something she refuses to do.
Wade Johnson only agreed to work at Poker Flat because he owed his best friend a favor. Now he has to discover why the last three stable mangers quit and fulfill the requirements of his position, while trying to keep his hands off the smart, sexy, unreadable owner. But even as his body and heart become more involved, new "unfortunate events" occur to threaten the resort.
As Wade draws closer to learning the truth, his own truth is revealed. Kendra will do everything she can to make her resort a success, which could include letting him go. To win her heart and save her dream, he will have to go all-in and that could mean baring more than his soul.
www.lexipostbooks.com

River Prescott has everything she's ever wanted - except perhaps a man. The unconventional ranch owning artist is very certain she doesn't want a husband. But sometimes she can't help wishing for a lover; especially after her new neighbor trespasses and she gets a full-frontal view of his assets.
Edge Grayson moves onto the rundown spread he's inherited, expecting to stay aloof from nearby town business. But between local artist, River Prescott's determination to seduce him and protecting her from a killer on the prowl, the ex-gunslinger is finding respectability a lot more dangerous than his former life of sin.
www.gemsivad.com

The oldest of three sisters, Jewels Stone takes care of everyone, especially those she loves. When she finds out the youngest Stone is duped, she plans to rope and wrangle the cowboy to teach him a lesson on how to treat a woman.
Tied to a bedpost and as mad as a hornet, Spark Ryder wants to toss Jewels over his knee and spank her. Problem is, he'd enjoy it too much. Held hostage by rope and wax strips, he tries to convince her that she has the wrong cowboy. But how can he convince her that he's innocent when she's out to settle a score against all men?
While seeking revenge, Jewels finds a passion that'll have her hanging by a dream. The pressure is too much and loose threads holding the past begin to unravel. Her brain urges her to run while her heart wishes to stay.
Spark wants nothing but distance with Jewels, but when things start to heat up on the Rhinestone Ranch, he samples Jewels' treasure and finds himself on the wrong end of the rope again - but it's his soul that's bound to a woman who will never trust.
He wants to stitch her broken heart, but will he walk before his own heart is in need of mending?
www.rhondaleecarver.com

Jake Stone isn't happy about Hattie's granddaughter suddenly appearing to take over her ranch after Hattie's death, but he knows she'd want him to make her welcome. He just didn't expect to like the stubborn redhead quite so much. Becca Daniels has inherited a horse ranch from a grandmother she never knew. To sell it, she has to live on it for six months. Otherwise, it goes up for auction. Now it seems someone else wants it and is trying to run her off. Now, with her horses stolen, her home invaded, and threats made against her if she doesn't leave, Becca doesn't know where to put her trust. What sinister plot is underway to force her hand? Worst of all, could the gorgeous cowboy who's managed to steal her heart be behind it all?
www.susanfisherdavisauthor.weebly.com

When Crystal Wilson gets roped into a wild, girls-only weekend at a rowdy "stud" ranch, the last thing she wants to do is tangle with a bunch of half-naked men pretending to be cowboys. But when she meets Ford McCoy, she can't help but be attracted to his dark, dominant, gruff appeal.
What she doesn't know is that Ford isn't a stripper. He's her friend's overprotective brother, there to make sure his little sister doesn't get into any trouble. She's surprised at the passion that flares between them. In fact, what she has with Ford might just be what she's been looking for all along.
It's a pity the sexy rancher isn't in the market for a city girl.
www.sabrinayork.com

There's a cowboy for all seasons for sure and then some! Thanks for stopping by and we hope you'll take a look at the boxed set. It's only 99 cents for 18 Cowboys...I mean stories.

Go here for all buy links!

Kirsten Lynn is a Western and Military Historian. She worked six years with a Navy non-profit and continues to contract with the Marine Corps History Division for certain projects. Making her home where her roots were sewn in Wyoming, Kirsten also works as a local historian. She loves to use the history she has learned and add it to a great love story. She writes stories about men of uncommon valor…women with undaunted courage…love of unwavering devotion …and romance with unending sizzle. When she’s not writing, she finds inspiration in day trips through the Bighorn Mountains, binge reading and watching sappy old movies, or sappy new movies. Housework can always wait.

CHILDHOOD TOYS OF YESTERYEAR

Our historical books include not only our heroes and heroines, but often children as secondary characters. A story I’m working on now has young children and thus, my interest in researching what toys and games would occupy their playtime. I should add that “playtime” is a key word. Children in 19^th century America didn’t have much time for play, responsibilities and chores taking up a major part of their day, far more than our youngsters of today.

The early immigrants brought their toys and games to America from England, Africa, Germany, France and many other countries. The rules and ways of playing with them were handed down from generation to generation and many of them are still enjoyed by children today.  That is, when we can get them away from the TV and computers and put down their Xboxes and cell phones! LOL

Listed are a sample of the popular toys and games across the ages. Next month I’ll continue with more favorite pastimes early American children enjoyed.

Tops were a favorite spinning toy throughout history. Primitive twirly tops have been found from as far back 2000 BC. Many of the early American tops were handcrafted, the peg top once being the most popular toy in America. The toy was set in motion by wrapping a string around it; tossing it away and into the air; then watch it land spinning on to the floor.

Cup and Ball toy was an excellent test of hand-eye coordination. This folk toy originated in ancient Greece and early India. Fashionable by the late 16^th century, it was one of the earliest toys played by American children. The ball is tossed and caught in a cup on the end of a stick. In the more difficult bilbo catcher variation, the ball can also be caught on the tip of the opposite side of the spindle by a hole drilled in the ball.

Rolling Hoop was a pastime the American colonists brought with them from Europe. In the 19^th century, both wood and metal hoops were favorite playthings. The hoops were rolled along in solitary play or raced by any number of players.

Wooden blocks were a common 19^th century toy. Using their imagination, children created bridges, houses, forts and castles. Blocks during that time period were played by both boys and girls. While some of the manufactured, more expensive blocks were stamped with pictures or the letters of the alphabet, most blocks were homemade from scraps of wood and quite plain.

Dominoes is a game that can be traced back to China in 1120 AD. Domino sets are commonly made up of double six (28 tiles) and double nine (55 tiles). There are many variations of games that can be played with dominoes.

Dice Games are as old as ancient Egypt. Dice as we know them today were used in backgammon, reportedly one of the oldest games in recorded history. Dicing games such as Hazard were 18^th century tavern favorites in the colonies and the forerunner of today’s most popular casino dice games. Dice were a common household item in early America, made of wood, bone and ivory.

Marbles have been played in all parts of the world for more than 2000 years. Children in 18^th century America played with marbles made of stone or clay; glass marbles were highly prized in the 19^th century. Mass production became possible in 1884, when Sam Dyke of Akron, Ohio, created a wooden block with six grooves, each of which held a lump of clay. An operator would roll a wooden paddle over all the clay balls at once, with a back-and-forth and slightly lateral motion, creating six marbles. With around 350 employees, Dyke's factory was cranking out five train carloads, or about one million marbles, every day. Mass production made marbles much cheaper to make, allowing the price to drop from about one penny each to a bag of 30 marbles for the same price. Other businessmen jumped on the bandwagon and Akron soon became the marble capital of late-19th century America. Some of the first U.S.-produced glass marbles were also made in Akron, by James Harvey Leighton. The basic game of marbles is played in a ring drawn in the dirt. Each player then tries to knock the marbles out of this circle with his ‘shooter’ marble, also called a ‘knuckler.’ A big bag of marbles was considered a treasure.

Jacks is a centuries old game and was once played with seeds, bones, stones or other such materials. Originally named “knucklebones” after the bone of sheeps’ ankle, they were thrown up and caught in various manners. When the game became popular in America, children used a wooden or rubber ball and objects made of six-pronged metal or wood objects, called jack-stones, or jacks. (It was always one of my favorite childhood games, fondly remembering scattering the jacks loosely into the play area, then taking turns bouncing the ball and picking up the jacks before the ball bounced a second time. Some of you may recall the names, “onesies,” “twosies,” and so on, as well as the variations of the game with names such as “horse before carriage,” and “eggs in the basket.”)

Checkers originated in France around 1000 AD. The game made its way to England and called ‘draughts,’ then to America, where it became known as ‘checkers.’ The game steadily rose in popularity as the years went by. 1847 was an important year in the history of checkers when the first championship award was given.

Hopscotch diagrams still cover sidewalks today, but it is one of the oldest and most popular children’s games of all times. There is still a hopscotch pattern etched into the floor of the Roman Forum from several centuries ago! Traditional American hopscotch dates back to the 1800’s.

Yo-Yo has been popular since the ancient times of the Romans and Greeks. However, it didn’t become well-known in the U.S. until the middle of the 1800’s. People began to create yo-yos of all types and from different materials. It wasn’t until Duncan introduced their version of the yo-yo in the 1920’s that the yo-yo became widely popular.

Pick up Sticks was believed to be originated by Native Americans. They used straws of wheat and then passed the game on to English settlers. The English settlers passed it from generation to generation and wheat sticks eventually became thin pieces of wood of different colors. The count of sticks used in the game were 25. Like many childhood games, this one a great one for learning hand and eye coordination. Today Pick up Sticks still remains popular for all ages.

Dolls have been a part of little girls’ lives since ancient times. Girls often had their first sewing experiences creating dresses, hats, and quilts for them. Some of the earliest were carved of wood and dressed in scraps of cloth.

The most common dolls throughout the 19th century were homemade cloth dolls. These were often made from scraps of fabric, with embroidered or button eyes. They might have been stuffed with feathers, cotton, or even straw. Manufactured dolls might be stuffed with sawdust as well.

In rural areas, people fashioned dolls out of the materials at hand. Some carved dolls from pieces of wood or sewed rag dolls from cloth or deerskin. Doll heads were sometimes made from dried apples. "Apple dolls" resembled very old, wrinkled people. Even cornhusks could be bent and tied to make a doll.

Toy makers created a variety of dolls in the 1800s. Most looked like adults. Dolls that resembled babies were not made until the late 1800s. Most dolls had wooden bodies. Many had joints at the elbows, hips, and knees so that children could bend their arms and legs. Doll heads were made of wood, papier-mâché, wax, or china. Dolls with wax heads cost the most. They had glass eyes and natural-looking hair. Some even had real human hair.

Some dolls were quite fancy with ribbons, ruffles, and lace. Sometimes a doll was so beautifully dressed that its owner was only allowed to play with it on Sunday, and then only with clean hands. Some dolls were not to be touched by children at all.

  

These are but a few of the all-time favorite toys and games of children of yesteryear … and I’m sure have stirred memories of the child that still resides in all of us.

Please visit my website at www.cherikayclifton.com and check out my historical western novels also on Amazon 

Pens by E. Ayers

Pens by E. Ayers

Being an avid reader, means I read a lot! Unfortunately, I don't have as much time to read as I once did, but I will buy a friend's book as well as occasionally do a content read for another author. So when I was asked if I wanted to trade manuscripts with a particular author, I said yes! This author sells gobs of books so I figured I was going to have a wonderful read. Her book was set in the post-Civil War period of 1865. Thrilled when the manuscript arrived, I immediately began to read with my editing software turned on so that notes, etc. were easy to tuck into the document. It didn't take me long to spot a historical error. I continued to read and the historical mistakes only got worse. But when the heroine was being held prisoner in the house of a wealthy bad guy, she made her way to his desk and wrote a letter, using a quill pen that the author had richly described as being pure white, including the quill tip - obviously an ostrich plume, from the description, without saying ostrich. But when the heroine was finished with the pen, she carefully wiped the quill tip on her hankie until it returned to its pure white color. Okay, I lost it. For a historical novel, it was hysterical. Had I simply been a reader, I would have tossed the book aside. I forced myself to finish reading and kept pointing out all her errors. But I doubt I will ever forget that scene with the quill pen. I can imagine the hankie and her fingers stained in India ink that she would simply wash away as though they were never discolored.

My love of pens sent me looking up information years ago. But with the advent of today's Internet, we have access to information that hadn't been available through normal channels. I've been working for years on a historical diary, and I needed to know more about pens, stationery, and postal information. So I began digging through the Internet. With many companies proudly showing off their patents, famous nibs and pens, advertisements, founders, and much more, the information is easier to obtain.

Now you are wondering what this has to do with the West. Well, what sort of pen would my heroine have taken with her as she went west to the Wyoming territory in the 1840's? She was not

QUILL PENS

from a wealthy family, but her parents did own a dry goods store. That would give her access to things that might not be commonly used by the general public. Dip pens, a general term for any pens that are dipped into an inkwell, were common, but in demand, because of public education for good quills created a shortage. Children learned at an early age to cut a quill, and it was a skill worth learning, because quill pens wore out quickly and were easily damaged.

Enter the metal nib pen, also a dip pen. They had been around seemly forever but not in continuous use, because jewelers handcrafted them out of silver, gold, or bronze. I can't figure out why they were not more abundant, other than the cost of such an implement. But the early 1800's saw dozens of patents for metal nib pens. And in the 1830's, an Englishman William Joseph Gillot figured out how to manufacture a stainless steel nib. It didn't take him long to create a fortune.

MY CHILDHOOD NIB PEN WITH MY BALLPOINT PEN

 These simple pens could make very fine lines, were extremely cheap, and were in common use through the 1950's. It was what was used in school. As a pre-school child, I can still remember my older sister coming home from school with the tip of one braid looking rather blue. Seems Peter dipped that braid in his ink well. By the time I entered school, the round cup holder in our desks no longer contained a bottle of ink. We all carried pens with cartridges of ink inside them.

FOUNTAIN PEN

Fountain pens with disposable, click-in cartridges are available today. Expensive and beautiful, they are still considered to be the finest writing instruments. Barely needing to touch the page, they create beautiful lines, responding to the curves of the letters and pressure of the user to create those letters.

We also take today's fountain pen for granted that it will continue to produce a lovely fine line every time we uncap it. But in the 1800's such was not the case. Several dozen patents were obtained on the continuous flowing fountain pens that did not need to be dipped every few letters. The ink bladder was not easy to refill. They had a terrible habit of letting loose and depositing more ink on the page than desired. They were also expensive. It was 1889 when George S. Parker patented a fountain pen that really was relatively leak proof.

NIB PRESSED HARD AGAINST PAPER 

 

Pens have evolved considerably since 1800, but quill pens are still fun. I wouldn't say they are easy to make, but a little practice will produce a usable pen. I didn't say fabulous pen, just something that will allow us to scratch a few ink letters on something. The point on a quill pen is split and that is what holds the ink and allows it to flow onto the page. The more pressure on the point, the more ink that flows, making a thicker line. Pressure on the point opens the split wider. Open the split too much and you have a blob of ink. A well-crafted quill pen in continuous use will last approximately a week. But it often needs a little tidying during that week, meaning reshaped or re-cut. So a quill pen user always carried a small, handy, pen knife. A good penknife contained a second blade used for scraping ink off a piece of paper AKA an eraser.

 So my heroine would have left her family carrying an inexpensive metal nib pen and a bottle of ink. And chances are she had a few extra nibs with her. But if anything were to happen to her pen and ink, she'd know how to cut a usable quill from a feather. And she would be resourceful enough to use the juice from some berries or anything that was capable of creating a stain as ink until another bottle of ink could be obtained. Because the odds were any female who knew how to dress a goose for cooking, also knew which feathers to keep for quills.

***

E. Ayers enjoys writing about the real west and tangling a love story into it. A firm believer in true love, because she knows what it is to love so intensely, she likes to bring those feelings into what she writes. And when she's not writing books, she's often found with a camera in her hand, capturing images she will use later for her drawings. She relaxes by creating pen and ink drawings usually for close friends or family members. Her favorite subjects appear to be chickens or flowers by the number of drawings that decorate her pre-Civil War home.

COME WITH ME TO WOLF CREEK! by CHERYL PIERSON

This past year, I was honored to be asked to participate in two more of the “Wolf Creek” collections that are the brainchild of Dr. Troy Smith, a wonderful author and good friend. Troy’s vision, when he created the fictional post-Civil War Kansas town of Wolf Creek, was that it would be populated by a very diverse community. That, in itself, will cause its own brand of problems as the people of Kansas were sorely divided during the Civil War—and that conflict left its mark long after the War ended.

THIS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGINS FOR WOLF CREEK!

With over two dozen western authors making up the fabled “Ford Fargo”, author of the Wolf Creek anthologies and shared universe books, I have found myself in some very fine company to work alongside in these creations. The beauty of this project is that each author has the freedom to incorporate their character(s) into a loose framework that Troy lays out, and every shared story gets off to a great start, has no “sagging middle”, and comes to a very climactic ending—yet, it does so with the efforts of (usually) 6 authors per book.

Imagine the thrill of being a part of such a collective effort—and seeing how flawlessly the eventual project comes out!

In 2016, I participated in two anthologies. These are somewhat different from the “shared universe” books in which there is one story, divided into chapters. The anthologies are separate short stories, but they do propel the same story along to the completion, in many ways, a lot like the chapter books do.


I had a story in a book that was published in May, Wolf Creek: Book 14—WAR STORIES. This was a fun one, because there is a creepy barber, John Hix, who lives in Wolf Creek. He claims to have had nothing at all to do with the Civil War, yet he’s always wanting others to talk about what THEY did during the War…and he has his own reasons. And let’s just say, there have been some “unexplained disappearances”… This was a bittersweet book, as the incomparable western author, Frank Roderus, was a contributor—and this was one of his last publications before he passed away.

In my story, UNCLE JOHN, my character, Derrick McCain, discovers quite by accident that he has a daughter, six-year-old Viviana, that he didn’t know he had—and her mother is dying. But just as Vivi’s mother passes, Derrick is in for another surprise—one that troubles him to his soul: it becomes apparent that somehow, John Hix, the barber, is well-acquainted with little Vivi and her mother—and this is one man that Derrick doesn’t want anywhere near his family!


The second book I contributed to this past year was called Wolf Creek: Book 18—HUNTER’S MOON. My story was THREE GOOD MEN, and this time, the town of Wolf Creek will soon be under siege by a band of raiding Kiowas who will show no mercy. They’ll reach the McCain family farm first, and though Derrick wants nothing more than to stay behind with the three men who’ve come to warn him and make their stand in his farmhouse, he knows he has to see his family to safety above all else. With the help of Sheriff Sam Gardner, a crusty lawman, Derrick and his wife, Leah, begin the trip to Wolf Creek in the dead of night under a hunter’s moon. But it isn’t long before Derrick realizes they are going to have to abandon the wagon and take their chances in the darkness of the forest to have any kind of hope of making it safely to Wolf Creek.

Some of the Kiowas follow, and while Sam and Leah make their way through the night with Vivi and her baby twin brothers, Derrick battles the Kiowas to save his family. When daylight comes, will the McCains and Sam be alive to continue the journey to warn the citizens of Wolf Creek of the impending attack? And what will become of the THREE GOOD MEN who have stayed behind to hold off the Kiowas and give Derrick, his family, and the town of Wolf Creek a fighting chance under a HUNTER’S MOON?

Both of my stories have been entered in the WESTERN FICTIONEERS PEACEMAKER COMPETITION. I’ve been a finalist in that contest three times before, so I’m sure hoping for a win this year in the short fiction category with one of these stories.

Y’all keep your fingers crossed for me!

Here’s an excerpt from THREE GOOD MEN. Leah, the children, and Sam are making their way through the forest, and Leah is understandably worried about what’s going to happen. Here, she talks things over with Sam–and wonders where in the heck her husband is–or if he’s even still alive…

They walked in silence for a few more moments. Leah’s mind raced. Where is Derrick? He said he’d be right behind us. By her guess, it had been at least twenty minutes since they’d parted—maybe longer. Leah hurried to catch up with Sam, leaving Vivi out of earshot. “Sam, can you tell me—what was going on with you and John Hix? Were you–”

“Hix is a killer. I figured him out, followed him to your place. Charlie and Roman had ridden up just before I got there. You know the rest.” He shook his head and shifted Liam in his arm. “I hated having to go off and leave him there with Charley and Roman. But…there was no other choice.”

“Do you think—” Leah bit her lip. “I shouldn’t even mention my house at all, with the danger of the Kiowas killing three men. But…I love my home. I love what it means—a family…where my children lay their heads to sleep every night, in safety. Where my husband and I drink coffee in the mornings…and plan our dreams for the future. And where I finally have a place of my own, where I belong. To lose it—”

“Leah, they may not come—”

“Oh, they’ll come. Charley and Roman wouldn’t have stopped at our place if they’d thought there’d be any chance the Kiowas would’ve gone straight on to Wolf Creek. I have a feeling…I know my home will be destroyed.”

“If that happens,” Sam said carefully, “Wolf Creek will help you rebuild. I know that’s small consolation, but—”

She shook her head. “Forgive me. I shouldn’t even be thinking about my things when men’s lives are at stake.” She smiled at him as he glanced at her.

“It’s natural. Thinking about everything you stand to lose,” he replied.

“My family is all that matters. We will rebuild if we have to, of course. The most important thing is that we keep everyone…safe.” Her voice broke.

“You’re worried about Derrick,” Sam stated flatly. “He’s an excellent tracker, as you well know. Could be he decided to go after them; buy us some time. Don’t be thinking the worst, Leah.”

She nodded, and kept putting one foot in front of the other, trying to calm her thoughts. Don’t be thinking the worst. But how can I keep from it?

“Mama, Uncle John said he paid for some candy for me at the store,” Vivi reminded her.

Leah forced herself to smile back at the little girl. “I heard. That was nice of him.”

“He’s going away.”

“Yes.” If John Hix was killed by the Kiowas, or if he went away forever, it would be a relief. Leah had never liked Hix, and she knew Derrick felt the same. They tolerated Hix for Vivi’s sake. And to be fair, Hix doted on their daughter. It was strange to think that the odd little barber knew Vivi better than she or Derrick…or, at least, had known her longer.

“Will he ever come back, Mama?”

“I don’t know, Vivi. But at least he was able to say goodbye.”

Vivi nodded, but she looked downcast.

Leah’s heart clutched. Vivi had suffered so much loss—leaving her home, losing her mother, and now, John Hix. Leah refused to consider the further impending loss that weighed so heavy on her soul right now. Where is Derrick? The thought nagged. Thank goodness Vivi was too young to understand what was happening, truly, at the moment.

They could be in the process of losing everything. Everything, including their very lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My character, Derrick McCain, is an odd hero because he is “just a man”—not a lawman or an outlaw or anything glamorous. He is a farmer who did some things in the Civil War he isn’t proud of. He’s half Cherokee and half white, and though he didn’t set out to be a “family man”, throughout the Wolf Creek series, he’s found himself in that situation under very different circumstances.

I’m wondering what kind of heroes you all like to see? A lawman set on seeing right done? An outlaw who’s seen the error of his ways and turned his life around? A cowboy fighting for justice on the range? Or someone like Derrick, who just winds up through fate’s hand becoming a hero—though he never thinks of himself that way…

Leave me a comment! I always want to know what other people think, and I’m giving away a print copy of a past WOLF CREEK book that I’ve been a part of to A LUCKY COMMENTER!

HOW WINDMILLS CHANGED THE WEST

When I began watercolor lessons, the first scene I painted was of a windmill at sunset. Not original nor very good, but I love both windmills and sunsets. Although they’re difficult to find now, I love the old wooden frame style best. I also love the song the windmill sings during a breezy day or evening. With the windows open, the sound is a lullaby at bedtime. Don’t get me wrong, I love modern conveniences, but they’re a trade-off. We lose something with each part of our past that disappears.

Windmill with wooden tower

Over 80,000 working windmills are estimated to be working now in Texas. You can’t drive on any road without seeing them in the distance. They are of particular service to ranchers in the arid regions. Land that once was almost useless to ranchers became valuable once windmills were erected. The windmill has come to be one of the symbols of ranching and cowboys. Once I started researching them, I was surprised the type I have come to love was not as old as I’d suspected.

Before the introduction of windmills to Texas and the West, inhabitable land was confined to areas where a constant water supply was available. There was no way for vast areas to be settled without a life-giving supply of water. The coming of the windmill made it possible to pump water from beneath the ground, and soon whole new areas were opened up to settlers. The first windmills were of the European style, built by Dutch and German immigrants for grinding meal and powering light industry. What settlers needed most, however, was a windmill that pumped water.

European-style windmill
for grinding grain

Because of its bulk and need for constant attention, the European windmill was impractical for this purpose. The solution to this problem came in 1854, when Daniel Halladay (Halady or Halliday) built the first American windmill in Ellington, Connecticut. He added to his mill a vane, or "tail," as it was called by cowhands, that functioned to direct the wheel into the wind. The wheel was a circle of wood slats radiating from a horizontal shaft and set at angles to the wind, designed so that centrifugal force would slow it in high winds; thus, the machine was self-regulating and operated unattended. Its simple direct-stroke energy converter consisted of only a shaft and a small fly wheel to which the sucker rod was pinned. This compact mechanism was mounted on a four-legged wood tower that could be constructed over a well in one day.

Railroad companies immediately recognized windmills as an inexpensive means of providing water for steam engines and for attracting settlers to semi-arid regions through which they planned to lay track. By 1873 the windmill had become an important supplier of water for railways, small towns where there were no public water systems, and small farms. Many of the very early mills were crude, inefficient, homemade contraptions. One of the popular makeshift mills was a wagon wheel with slats nailed around it to catch the wind, mounted on half an axle. The axle was fastened securely to a post erected beside the well. A sucker rod was pinned to the edge of the hub. It was stationary and worked only when the wind blew in the right direction. The windmills used later on the big ranches were the more dependable factory-made windmills.

Windmill, Pawnee National Grasslands, OK

Windmills moved to the ranches with the use of barbed wire in the late 1870s. At first the water holes, springs, creeks, and rivers were fenced, so that the back lands had no access to water. In the midst of the fence cutting and fighting, some ranchers began drilling wells and experimenting with windmills. Most of these experiments were unsuccessful, however, due to lack of knowledge concerning the proper size of the windmill in relation to the depth and diameter of the well. One of the earliest successful experiments was made eight miles north of Eldorado, in Schleicher County, Texas by Christopher C. Doty, a nomadic sheepman. Doty moved his flock into that area and found abundant water in shallow wells. By 1882, however, a drought had dried his wells; he ordered a drilling rig from Fort Scott, Arkansas, bored a fifty-two-foot well, and erected a Star windmill, which successfully supplied water for his 4,000 head of stock.

Watering stock with windmills spread rapidly. Eastern land speculators began buying, fencing, and running stock on the land until it became ripe for colonization. Among the first of these speculators to indirectly bring windmills to North Texas was the Magnolia Cattle and Land Company, organized by Maj. Willa V. Johnson, In 1884 the company bought two-thirds of the state-owned land in Borden County, land which had natural water resources and had long been unofficially claimed for grazing by Christopher Columbus Slaughter. Once Johnson fenced the land, Slaughter was forced into the use of windmills to supply water for his cattle. By 1886 the Matador Land and Cattle Company (where years later my husband’s uncle worked) began using windmills to water stock.

The largest of the Eastern land speculators, the Capitol Syndicate, began using windmills on its XIT in 1887. One of their windmills was believed to be the world's tallest; it was made of wood and was a total height of 132 feet. A Texas historical marker at Littlefield marks the site of a replica of the world's tallest windmill built on the XIT Ranch. The original windmill blew over in 1926. By 1900 the XIT had 335 windmills in operation.

Not until the King Ranch began extensive use of the windmill in 1890 did that the practice began to spread rapidly over that area. By 1900 windmills were a common sight in the Texas and the West. Inhabitable land was no longer limited to regions with a natural water supply. The windmill made the most remote areas habitable.

Windmill on the Ranching Heritage Center
at Texas Tech University, Lubbock

The use of windmills brought about two of the most colorful characters of the West, the driller and the windmiller, and altered the lifestyle of another, the range rider. The driller was usually a loner and seldom seen by anyone except the range rider and windmiller. He followed the fence crews and guessed at where he might find water, then bored wells with his horse-powered drilling rig. When the driller was successful the windmiller followed and set up a mill. Owners of the larger ranches usually employed several windmillers to make continuous rounds, checking and repairing windmills. The windmillers lived in covered wagons and only saw headquarters once or twice a month. The early mills had to be greased twice a week, and this was the range rider's job. He kept a can (or beer bottle) containing grease tied to his saddle. When he rode up to a mill that was squeaking, he would climb it, hold the wheel with a pole until he could mount the platform, and then let the wheel turn while he poured grease over it.

The range rider was always in danger of attacks from swarms of wasps, which hung their clustered cells beneath the windmill's platform; there was the added danger of falling from the tower when such attacks occurred. The windmill industry's shift in 1888 to the backgeared, all-steel mill caused heated debates in Texas livestock and farming circles. Most ranchers and farmers welcomed the new steel windmill because its galvanized wheel and tower held up better in harsh weather; also, its gear system was better able to take advantage of the wind, thus enabling the windmill to run more hours per day. The backgeared mill could also pump deeper and larger-diameter wells. Those who favored the old wood mill argued that the steel mill was more likely to break because of its high speed, that it was not as easily repaired as the wood mill, and that when parts had to be ordered the steel mill might be inoperative for days. Though sales of wood mills continued, they declined steadily, so that by 1912 few were being sold.

The last major development in the windmill came in 1915. A housing that needed to be filled with oil only once a year was built around the mill's gears. This relieved the range rider of his biweekly greasing chores and somewhat diminished the windmiller's job. Because of the dependability of this improved windmill, worries over water shortages were eased for the rancher, farmer, and rural dweller. This mill was the prime supplier of water in rural Texas until 1930, when electric and gasoline pumps began to be widely used.

Home with water furnished
by a windmill

Though Texas became the largest user of windmills in the United States, there were never more than three active manufacturers of windmills in Texas at one time. Windmills remain an important supplier of water for Texas cattlemen. The King Ranch in the late 1960s kept 262 mills running continuously and 100 complete spares in stock. Stocking spare mills is a common practice among ranchers who depend on the windmill to supply water for cattle in remote pastures. One important ranch worker is the man who rides—or drives—from windmill to windmill lubricating the gears and making repairs.

Because the windmill has been confined for the most part to remote areas, it has become a symbol of a lonely and primitive life, fitting for the pioneer Texans it first served and the cowboys about whom we love to read.

Caroline Clemmons is an award-winning and bestselling author of contemporary and historical western romance. Find her at www.carolineclemmons.com. Sign up for her newsletter here and receive a free western historical novella, HAPPY IS THE BRIDE. Her latest releases are RACHEL and MURDOCH'S BRIDE.