Thursday, January 14, 2016
Thursday, February 12, 2015
SHADOW OF THE HAWK
Short Blurb:
Shadow of the Hawk is the story of Sooze Williams who sacrifices everything, including
love, to save her family during the Great Depression.
Back Cover Blurb:
It is May 1932 and life in the timbered rise and fall of Western Arkansas has just gotten
harder for sixteen-year-old Sooze Williams. With debt mounting and both friends and
family fleeing, Sooze is determined to ‘do the right thing.’ She promises her heart to a
well-to-do man believing true love is just another loss along the way.
But when her uncle is murdered and family is accused of the crime, Sooze vows not to
be beaten. Is salvation within her grasp by relying solely on truth, or is it in the security
of her intended’s money? Sooze must decide before it’s too late.
Excerpt from Chapter Three:
As we neared Uncle Ray and Aunt Lissie's farmhouse, the front left wheel, which
was already whopper-jawed, hit a pothole in the road. Smack! The bolster clapped against the wood under our feet, and Cora nearly flew off the wagon seat. I caught her by the brown puffed sleeve of her dress and pulled her back toward me, holding her
tight. Pulling hard on the leather reins, Daddy stopped the wagon. We could hear Uncle
Ray yelling.
"You get off my land, and you stay off, you no-good little thief!"
Busting out the door of the hen house, Henry's friend Benny was running like a
wild man. His black hair was whipping across his face like strings from a wet mop, and
he had his dirty white T-shirt pulled up like a hammock at his belly. It was filled with
eggs.
"Go on, scram!" Uncle Ray came out the door of the hen house, swinging a
leather strap. "If I catch you here again, I'll beat the tar out of you, boy!"
Benny was in a dead-run. As he skidded around the back of our wagon headed for town, I saw a red welt the size of Uncle Ray's leather strap across his cheek.
"What'd he get from you, Ray?" Daddy called.
"He stole my whole batch of eggs!" Uncle Ray walked toward us with one shoulder of his blue bib overalls hanging. He wasn't wearing a shirt underneath to hide his big belly or a hat to cover his balding head. "I knew movin' in this close to town would just invite the hoboes and hooligans."
He stopped at the wagon, reaching up to help Cora down off the seat, and kept right on talking. "But that boy — that loony little two-bit thief — he's the worst of 'em all. If he was stealin' so's he could feed his family, I might look the other way once in a while. But when I get to town later today, I'll bet I see a fresh batch of brown eggs for sale at Huckabee's. All that boy does is sell what he steals from me so's he can gamble and booze."
"It ain't right," Daddy agreed, shaking his head. "It just ain't right. You want me to go get the sheriff and be an eyewitness? A complaint is easy to file."
Author biography:
Author K.S. Jones, whose first name is Karen, has been writing most of her life, usually in stolen moments between raising children, caring for elderly parents, and working a real job. She spent fifteen years writing and researching her Depression-era debut novel, Shadow of the Hawk. During that time, she had short pieces published, but it wasn't until 2014 that her writing took a giant leap forward. One summer morning, an email arrived announcing she had won Southern Writers 2014 Short Story contest.
While reveling in the moment, a second email chimed – a publisher was offering a contract on her novel! That same week, two more publishing offers arrived for the same novel, and she hasn't looked back since. Another novel, a middle-grade fantasy, is now under publisher's review, and she is putting the finishing touches on a third.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
CRUMPETS AND COWPIES
Release Day!
by Shanna Hatfield
Baker City Brides, Book 1
Detestable! Arrogant! Insufferable!
He’d been called worse…
Rancher Thane Jordan reluctantly travels to England to settle his brother’s estate only to find he’s inherited much more than he could possibly have imagined.
Lady Jemma Bryan has no desire to spend a single minute
in Thane Jordan’s insufferable presence much less live under the same roof with
the handsome, arrogant American. Forced to choose between poverty or marriage
to the man, she finds herself traveling across an ocean and America to reach
his ranch in Oregon.
Originally, I planned for this book to be a Christmas story
about a rough and rowdy rancher who found himself in England during the holiday
season. Once I actually sat down and started writing the book, the characters
took on a life of their own and I realized the story wasn’t going to be a stand
alone Christmas story – but the first installment in a new series!
I chose Baker City as the setting for several reasons.
‹ It fits into the Eastern Oregon region that I enjoy
writing about.
‹ It was a major stop on the train route through the area
way back when.
‹ It was a booming town during the 1890s (when the series
takes place).
‹ Many of the town’s old buildings still stand which makes
it awesome for research and visualization.
‹ The Baker County Library has a huge and amazing collection
of old photographs that brought the town to life for me.
‹ I like the way “Baker City Brides” sounds and rolls off
the tongue.
‹ In the 1890s, Baker City experienced its second gold rush
along with the establishment of many successful businesses. (Giving me loads to
write about.)
Also, whenever we drive past the area on our way to visit
family, we see this place…
It always makes the imaginative, curious part of me wonder
who originally lived there and built the outbuildings. Who put up the corral?
Why did they live so far from town? (This place is out in the middle of
nowhere). Did they have a family? What did they think of the miles and miles of
sagebrush and rolling hills?
I used this place as the foundation for Thane Jordan’s
ranch, located south of Baker City, out in the middle of rolling hills of
sagebrush and dirt.
Imagine being an English Lady, accustomed to a life that was
lush and comfortable and entirely pleasant, forced (for the sake of two
children) to marry a man you loathe entirely, and give up everything familiar.
You travel across an ocean and the vast country of America, only to spend an
hour on a bumpy wagon (or buckboard in Jemma’s case) ride to discover your new
home out here in the midst of nothing but sagebrush and cattle.
It would definitely have taken strength, fortitude, and
bravery.
Here's an excerpt:
***
Thane has just taken Jemma for a ride to look over part
of the ranch.
“Thank you, Thane. I enjoyed it as well. The ranch is truly
beautiful. Thank you for showing it to me.”
“I’m sorry it took so long. I meant to take you out last
week, but things have been so busy.”
Jemma placed her hand on his arm and looked into his face.
“I understand. I know you have many responsibilities to see to and you can’t
spend all your time with the children.”
Although he loved Jack and Lily, he didn’t feel a desperate
need to be close to them. Rather, it was the beguiling woman standing beside him
with her hand burning a hole through his shirtsleeve who captured his thoughts.
“I better relieve Sam of the children. I’m sure he has grown
tired of Lily asking ‘why’ and Jack wanting to find you or play with the dogs
or ride his horse. Thank you for giving him his own horse, by the way. He
hasn’t stopped talking about it since the moment you put the reins in his
hands.”
“Every rancher needs a good horse. Jack will grow into
Nick.”
As she recalled Jack’s excitement at having his own horse,
she smiled at Thane. “It meant so much to him for you to entrust an animal to
his care.”
He nodded as she turned back toward the barn door. One of
Lily’s doll dresses on the ground caught her attention. When she bent over to
pick it up, Thane reached out and brushed his hand over the curve of her rear.
She shot upright as if she’d been branded. Fire blasted from
her eyes as she spun around and glared at him. “Mr. Jordan, that is completely
and absolutely unacceptable. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And wipe that smirk off your face!”
“That, I can’t do.” Thane’s wicked smile did little to calm
her pounding heart or the breath she drew in with tight, short gasps. He
touched his fingers to his hat, strolled out of the barn, then looked back at
her with a wink.
Frustrated, she stamped her booted feet then marched to the
bunkhouse. She wanted to chase after Thane, spin him around, and slap his face
– or kiss him until she lost what little sense she had left.
Author Bio:
Shanna creates character-driven romances with realistic
heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent
of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary
works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping
sexy without being explicit in any way.”
She is a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing
the West, and Romance Writers of America.
Find Shanna’s books at:
Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes
& Noble | Smashwords | Apple
Shanna loves to hear from readers. Follow her online at:
ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads | You
Tube | Twitter
Monday, January 5, 2015
A LONG TRAIL ROLLING
Cover and Excerpt
A Long Trail Rolling
by Lizzi Tremayne
The Long Trail Book One
Escaping her father's killer, Aleksandra rode the Pony Express—full speed into the middle of the Indian Paiute Wars.
She didn’t expect to become a target, but she is one now!
Seventeen year old Aleksandra, trained in the Cossack arts from infancy by her father, finds herself alone and running to prevent her Pa's killer from obtaining a secret coveted by the Russian Czar, one which could alter the forces of power in Europe. Disguised as a Pony Express rider in 1860's Utah Territory, she finds herself in even deeper trouble. Her Californio boss Xavier has a strength to match her own, but can they overcome their differences before the ever-increasing odds overtake them?
With this debut Western Historical Adventure, Lizzi Tremayne won the 2014 RWNZ Pacific Hearts Award and was a finalist in the 2013 Great Beginnings. A saga of the Old West with a multicultural cast of those who make up America, it would interest readers who enjoy Westerns, horses, American Indians, immigrants, and the Pony Express. It has a capable heroine, strong historical detail, period veterinary treatment and frontier-pushing characters. It compares to the work of Phillipa Gregory, Diana Gabaldon and Jean Auel, with a little Laura Ingalls Wilder thrown in.
this novel is the first in The Long Trail quadrilogy of historical adventure sagas following her characters from the wilderness of 1860 Utah to Colonial New Zealand.
Excerpt:
Lookout Pass, she reminded herself as she neared the summit. Glancing north to the distant white tops of the Onaqui Mountains, she swallowed hard as she thought again of her papa and the fossil he'd fossicked for her from its rocky ledges.
The spotted pony broke into a lope over the crest of the hill and began the mile-long descent. Aleksandra's thoughts filled with memories, she was absentmindedly fingering the fossil inside the medicine bag hung about her neck when she felt the first arrow whizz past her head.
Her heart stopped in its tracks and she flung herself to the left side of the Palouse's neck in a Cossack hang, lying flat against his side.
'Yah! Yah! Let's go, Scout!' she shouted, throwing the reins at him.
He needed little urging to run full tilt down the steep and treacherously rocky trail as the yells of Indian warriors echoed through the narrow valley. The arrows came hard and fast from the southwest, screaming like a mad bunch of hornets.
Smart. Her lips curved in the hint of a wry grin.
The Indians had placed themselves between the trail and the setting sun, so Aleksandra couldn't see her attackers in the glimpses she stole,from beneath Scout's neck, of the world whizzing past. With the ground only three feet from her head, the scent of sage filled her nostrils when Scout crashed through a clump of brush. Briefly considering letting go of one of her death-grip holds onto the racing horse to pull a gun from her holster, something akin to suicide, she tightened her lip in a grimace and stayed put, trusting far more in the Palouse's speed and handiness to save them. Knowing her weight hanging off to one side had to put him off his best, she tried to stay out of his way, keeping as still as possible, tucked down on the side of the skidding and leaping beast. Praying the cinch would hold, she sent fervent thanks to the pony selectors for their choice of horses.
How I would love to have my bow and arrows, but I only need to get us through to Doc Faust at Rush—
The Palouse interrupted her musings as he threw up his head and reared, angrily trumpeting and shaking his head for a moment, nearly dropping Aleksandra, then resumed his headlong rush down the hill. When he carried on, she heard whistling sounds with every breath and turned her face forward to see where the noise was coming from.
Then she saw the arrow.
Genre: Western Historical Adventure Fiction with Romantic Elements
Content/Theme(s): Western, horse, native American, Indian, immigrant, Pony Express, veterinary, Utah Territory, Old West
Release Date: 10 January 2015
Launch Party: 14 January 2015, Placerville, California!
See my page for details! LizziTremayne.com
Publisher: Indie, as Blue Mist Publishing
Excerpt and more: LizziTremayne.com
Links:
Website: www.lizzitremayne.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizziTremayne/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LizziTremayneWriter
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lizzitremayne/
Release date: January 10, 2015. Pre-order Kindle copy here:
http://www.amazon.com/Long-Trail-Rolling-Trails-Book-ebook/
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
THE CHRISTMAS SHIP
Author's Note:
I grew up in an age of international aid. Any time a disaster happens in the world, the world comes to together to provide medical, food, and other supplies to those effected. Earthquakes in Haiti, Tsunamis in Japan and Indonesia, or Hurricanes in New York or New Orleans. The newspapers report on it and share information on how you can help.
I grew up in an age of international aid. Any time a disaster happens in the world, the world comes to together to provide medical, food, and other supplies to those effected. Earthquakes in Haiti, Tsunamis in Japan and Indonesia, or Hurricanes in New York or New Orleans. The newspapers report on it and share information on how you can help.
Such was not always the case. For most of human history, charity began and ended at the home or village. Word didn't spread about events thousands of miles away or if it did it took too long to affect any real relief. Aid societies revolved around churches and the needy in the community or missions to far off places.
Then came wireless telegrams and telephones. News traveled from Europe to America in minutes not days or weeks. While shipping still took days, steamships no longer required months to cross the Atlantic. Food, blankets, and clothing could be sent from one place to another in real time.
And yet, it still took a terrible event for aid on an international scale to begin. It started when the Imperial German Army rolled into neutral Belgium. The Kaiser planned to use the amazing networks of railroads and canals to overrun France in 6 weeks. Instead, the Belgian Army resisted and weeks turned into months.
World War One had begun.
And with it, the second most populated nation in Western Civilization (Belgium) began to starve. The country imported over 75% of its food. Between the demands of the Kaiser's Army and the British blockade, Belgium was predicted to run out of food iby mid-October. Neutral emissaries were sent to buy food, but the British wouldn't let the ships through the blockades and there were no guarantees the Germans wouldn't requisition it.
Enter the neutral countries of Spain, America, and Holland, a young mining engineer named Herbert Hoover and the Commission for Relief in Belgium was founded. With the guarantees of the consulates of Spain, America, and Holland behind it, the Commission was able to pass the blockades and secure guarantees from the occupying Army.
Mr. Hoover kept the plight of the Belgians in the newspapers, forcing both the German and English governments to keep the Commission in operation through public pressure. While the funding for the food came primarily from England, France, and Belgium, there were a series of Christmas Ships whose cargo was donated by the people of the world from New Zealand and Australia, England, Canada to the United States.
Nine million people were fed and clothed in Belgium and Northern France during the Commission's operation during World War 1. But the work these pioneers laid continues to be the foundation many international aid organizations rest upon today.
Here's the blurb from my latest release, The Christmas Ship:
American businessman Jacob Kerrigan works behind enemy lines to help feed seven million starving Belgians and bring Christmas to the children. The Commission for Relief in Belgium asks only one thing of its delegates: remain neutral in a war-torn country.
Roselle Perrine works in soup kitchens and her family farm by day, and spies for the Belgian resistance at night. She uses her position in society to convince Jacob to stay in her chateau, hoping the relief delegate's presence will cover her nocturnal activities.
But the Kaiser's Army is watching.
When Roselle's spying is discovered, will Jacob remain neutral or fight for love?
Only on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Ship-Loves-Great-Book-ebook/dp/B00Q3NYL6W/
And as my gift to you, the first book in the series, Hearts in Barbed Wire, is free until November 30th, 2014. Only on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hearts-Barbed-Wire-Historical-Romance-ebook/dp/B00J4YICBW/
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