A Family Tree and Free Christmas Novella by Paty Jager

The first historical western series I wrote is the Halsey Brother Series. I wrote the first book not thinking about making it a series but when it published and readers wanted to know the other brother's stories it became a series. 

The best and worst part about a series is watching the family grow. First there are the spouses, then as the stories progress adding years to when the first book starts, you also have to add children. When I ran out of the 5 brothers for the Halsey Brothers series and readers still wanted more, I used a brother of one of the heroines and then the two children from a first and second marriage of one of the heroines. That added three more novels and one novella to the Halsey family series and A Husband for Christmas was the last book. 

To write the last book, I had to come up with a family tree to show the marriages and births to be able to bring everyone together for Christmas in the last novella. This tree doesn't show the marriages of Colin, Shayla, and Jeremy. Which are the books in the Halsey Homecoming Trilogy, along with Donny's book. He as a secondary character in Doctor in Petticoats who moved to Sumpter, Oregon with Clay and Rachel from that book. But using this tree helped me keep couples and children straight when the family arrives and at the table during meals. Yes, I had the whole family gathered for meals in a scene or two. That was an undertaking! I actually drew a table and made place cards on the table so I knew who was next to whom and how far down the table they would be looking to talk to another character. To me the staging is one of the fun parts of writing a story. 

Now until the end of December, A Husband for Christmas is free at all ebook vendors. It is my gift to readers. 

A Husband for Christmas

Final Novella in the Halsey Homecoming and Halsey Brothers Series

Shayla Halsey wanted to be home for Christmas, but never imagined her travels would include spending the night in a brooding stranger’s cabin. Snowballing events cause her to look inside herself and recognize maybe it wasn’t being home she wanted as much as it was to have a home.

    

Mace Walker has his life in order and doesn’t want it disrupted again. Yet, when he discovers a woman stranded in the snow, he has to help her—despite her overbearing and reckless fiancé. In a matter of days, Shayla turns his life upside down and forces him to decide if he should leave town or face the consequences. 

click this buy link to go to your favorite ebook store

https://www.books2read.com/u/4NDZW3

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 30+ novels, novellas, and short stories of murder mystery, western romance, and action adventure. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

 

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The Many Thanksgivings of Texas

Did you know El Paso, Texas now lays claim to the first Thanksgiving in North America? Yup, it’s true according to the Texas State Historical Association’s TEXAS ALMANAC. First observed in April 1989, the day honors Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate who, with his expedition members, held a day of thanksgiving on April 30, 1598.

One of Oñate’s followers wrote of the celebration, “We built a great bonfire and roasted the meat and fish, and then all sat down to a repast the like of which we had never enjoyed before . . .”

Hmm, sounds like they stuffed themselves, a lot like we do on Thanksgiving Day. Of course they were also grateful for a short break in their difficult journey which continued up the Rio Grande, eventually reaching the Santa Fe area.

Texas has another claim to the first Thanksgiving. In 1959 a marker was placed outside the town of Canyon declaring the expedition of Francisco Vazquez de Coronado celebrated the first feast of Thanksgiving in nearby Palo Duro Canyon in May 1541. However, research indicates grapes and pecans were gathered for the feast, and neither grow in the canyon. The feast might actually have been held farther south, probably Blanco Canyon on a fork of the Brazos River. It’s also possible the day was not a special thanksgiving, but rather to celebrate the Feast of the ascension.

While Texas is hardly the only claimant to the First Thanksgiving title – several other states insist their ancestors celebrated the first one – the Lone Star State is one of a few states that celebrated two thanksgivings in the same year, one week apart. You see, the first national Thanksgiving was set in 1863, during the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens,” to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.

All well and good until 1939 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving. The country was still in the grip of the Great Depression, and Roosevelt thought an earlier Thanksgiving would provide a longer shopping period before Christmas. He hoped increased sales and profits for merchants would help spur recovery from the Depression. Within two years, Congress passed his decree into law.

However, Republicans decried the change as an affront to Lincoln’s memory. People started calling the fourth Thursday holiday “Franksgiving”. Many football teams traditionally played their final games on the last Thursday in November, and their schedules could not instantly be changed. Since a presidential declaration was not legally binding, Roosevelt’s change was disregarded by 22 states. Some, including Texas, decided to make both dates government holidays.

In 1940 and 1941, November had four Thursdays, and Roosevelt declared the third one to be Thanksgiving. As in 1939, some states went along with the change while others stuck with the traditional last-Thursday date.

"Until 1956, Texas’ official state Thanksgiving holiday was the last Thursday in November. In some years, that was a week after the national holiday, which was cussed in Texas as a federal abomination."  Mark Hoffer mhoffer@star-telegram.com

Lyn Horner is a multi-published, award-winning author of western historical romance and romantic suspense novels, all spiced with paranormal elements. She is a former fashion illustrator and art instructor who resides in Fort Worth, Texas – “Where the West Begins” - with her husband and a gaggle of very spoiled cats. As well as crafting passionate love stories, Lyn enjoys reading, gardening, visiting with family and friends, and cuddling her furry, four-legged children.

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/Y3aotC

Newsletter:  Lyn’s Romance Gazette http://eepurl.com/bMYkeX

Website:  Lyn Horner’s Corner   https://lynhorner.com 

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A “Puzzling” Inspiration by Sarah J. McNeal

Most writers draw on people, events, places or objects  as inspiration for their stories…and so do I.

For my Christmas story, "A Christmas Visitor", in this year’s Prairie Rose Publication holiday anthology, SWEET TEXAS CHRISTMAS, I needed to have something for my hero to redeem himself to the heroine for his two year absence. It had to be something that took thought, time, and effort on his part…and it had to be something out of the ordinary, something lovingly special.

Just so happens I have a rather unusual box on my dresser which I bought some years ago at a shop that sells handmade items from around the world. This box is carved to represent two fish swimming in opposite directions like the astrology sign for Pisces. The special thing about this box is it is a puzzle to open it. It takes some twists, removal of pieces in a particular order, and some sliding movements to get to whatever treasure inside.

Puzzle boxes, known as himitsu-bako were first invented during the Meiji Period by three artisans, Takajiro Ohkawa, Tatsunosuke Okiyama, and Mr. Kikukawa who lived in Hakone, Japan. Hakone was a favorite tourist town and soon the small trinket boxes became popular. The boxes became bigger and more elaborate and soon became known as sikake-bako (trick box) or tei-bako (clever box).

Japanese puzzle boxes can only be opened by someone who knows or can figure out the correct sequence to unlock the secret compartment. Simple boxes may have as few as four moves while the more elaborate designs may take as many as sixty moves to open. The sequence, at first only known to the craftsman, is essential to solving the puzzle and getting into the secret compartment.

My hero in "A Christmas Visitor", Sterling Thoroughgood, comes from a family of carpenters and woodworkers. Although Sterling has chosen cattle ranching as his life’s profession, he is also a woodworking artist. He creates a puzzle box for Matilda and inside its secret compartment is something very special, something he hopes may win Matilda’s hardened heart.

SWEET TEXAS CHRISTMAS is an anthology of sweet historical western romances that take place in the state of Texas written by veteran western romance writers: Stacey Coverstone, Sarah J. McNeal, Cheryl Pierson, and Marie Piper.

(my contribution) A Christmas Visitor

Prairie Rose Publications

Released November 5, 2017

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076K67YNN

 He left her…Now he’s back…But not for long…

Sterling Thoroughgood was Matilda Barton’s first and only love, but he left her three years ago to seek his fortune in Wyoming. And now he’s come back with a puzzle box as a gift with a secret inside. But as far as Matilda’s concerned, it’s three years too late.

Is love lost forever or does the mysterious puzzle box hold the key to happiness?

Excerpt (from the opening):

“Don’t you even think about stepping up on this porch, Sterling Alexander Thoroughgood, or I’ll shoot a hole in you big enough for a team of horses to jump through.” The woman wearing a faded blue calico dress aimed the shotgun straight at his heart…and sometimes his liver since she wasn’t holding the shotgun all that steady.

Sterling raised his hands in the air. His bare hands were practically numb from the cold. He glanced up at the slate gray sky. Snow’s comin’. Then he grinned at the woman holding the shotgun. “Merry Christmas to you, too, Matilda.”

She dipped the shotgun for just a moment, but raised it again as if on a second thought. “What do you want here after being gone for three years? Did you break some hearts up in Wyoming? Maybe you have some fathers and brothers gunning for you and you thought you’d come running back here to hide.”

Well, there it was. He’d hurt her when he left and she wasn’t about to let him forget it.

Excerpt (Sterling gives Matilda the puzzle box):

When she glanced up to ask Sterling how to open the box, he stood before her with a grin spread across his face. Before she could ask, he answered her unspoken question. “It’s a puzzle box, darlin’. There is a way to move the pieces to open the box. It took a while for me to draw up the plans and quite some time to get it to work just right. I thought about what pleasure it would be for you, so I was determined to make it just right.” The light of pride fairly glowed in his eyes.

“It’s a beautiful thing like a work of art. That it is made into a puzzle box with such intricacy and thoughtful design, makes it the most significant present I have ever received.” She heard something shift inside the box when she moved it to examine it more closely to discover how to open it. “There’s something inside?”

Sterling nodded his dark head. “Yes. In fact, the greater gift is inside the box.” Again, he grinned with a boyish delight. “I made it big enough to hold all your treasures. Do you like it?”

“Oh Sterling, I positively adore it. I can see the craftsmanship you put into it. I didn’t know you could create such a beautiful thing.” She smiled. “And I am so delighted to know you made it with me in mind. Would you open it for me so I can see what’s inside?” Matilda tried to hand him the box, but he shook his head and refused.

“No ma’am. You must discover how to open it yourself. That’s half the fun.”

Sarah J. McNeal is a multi-published author of several genres including time travel, paranormal, western and historical fiction. She is a retired ER and Critical Care nurse who lives in North Carolina with her four-legged children, Lily, the Golden Retriever and Liberty, the cat. Besides her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and short stories may be found at Prairie Rose Publications and its imprints Painted Pony Books, and Fire Star Press. She welcomes you to her website and social media:

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Love's Blessing by Linda Hubalek

Working the Past into the Present

In Love's Blessing, my new contemporary story in the First Street Church Kindle World, newly widowed Jenna McDowell, and medically discharged soldier Riel (Gabriel) Shepard, meet at his grandfather's Cooper Ranch near Sweet Grove,Texas.

They both came to the ranch to heal from their individual heartbreaks. Jenna’s husband committed suicide and left her destitute. Riel lost his foot in a military accident and suffers from PTSD. 

Time and help from their family and pastor finds them healing and falling in love, but are they ready to marry?

Starts the new Clear Creek Legacy Series

How did I tie the past into the present? Riel's ancestors, Reuben Shepard, was featured in Darcie Desires a Drover in the Brides with Grit series, and Gabriel Shepard, in Gabe's Pledge in the Grooms with Honor series.

Riel is given a box of leather tools once used by his ancestors, because he is named after his great-great grandfather. Holding the tools makes Riel realize he's been handed a new profession, a saddle maker, as his ancestors were before him in Clear Creek, Kansas.

My new contemporary stories in the Clear Creek Legacy series will connect descendants, with their ancestors, as they struggle with a life-changing crisis.

Has anything handed down from your ancestors, pointed you to a new career? 

In my case, old family photos, family history, and quilts started me writing down the stories of my ancestors, and led me to writing and publishing over thirty books.

Many thanks from the Kansas prairie!

Linda Hubalek