This winter, across the road, the landowner brought in a couple of big machines and started pushing down trees. Or at least he tried. The trees broke but they refused to budge.
And now many of them are defiantly regrowing.
I have to laugh and admire their perseverance.
I am encouraged by it as well. I refuse to quit in face of failure, disappointment or any other form of negativity.
I hope you find the same resolve as these trees when you need it.
I don’t often ask my readers to do things for me but today I am.
Can you 1. post reviews or even stars on my Montana Skies books? 2. would you go to this site and check ‘Follow’? https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001HPGG3C
INHERITANCE OF LOVE
Wouldn’t we all like to be mentioned in a will and receive something unexpected and wonderful? But would we recognize it as such? In Inheritance of Love, Darcy has to learn that her inheritance is the best thing she could ask for, but it takes time.
The last thing she needs or wants is a continual reminder of the fact that her father chose to be his father instead of being hers. The sense of abandonment and injustice makes being with him difficult.
They have joint custody of a little girl but she lives in a city some distance away and he lives on a ranch. How are they to share care of the child, especially with so much hurt between them?
She doesn’t plan on staying but her little sister wins her heart. Now if she could just ignore the cowboy who owns everything but the little house she inherited.
You can find the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Inheritance-Love-Montana-Skies-Book-ebook/dp/B071H6ZKFG
This was a fun book to write. The hero and heroine had so much baggage between them but, of course, love found a way. 🙂
SHAREABLES FOR EVERLASTING LOVE
This is a favorite story of mine with 3 generations of romance in the same book.
What do a divorce lawyer and a young woman who believes in romance have in common besides each having a grandparent who wants to rekindle an 50-year-old romance?
She believes in happy-ever-after love. At her coffee shop, she hands out flowers and handmade cards to couples of every age while across the street, he hands out advice on divorces. How different can two people be?
You can find the book here:http://tinyurl.com/m3k8t49
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.
SHAREABLES FOR FOREVER IN MY HEART
I’ve been making shareables for my books and sharing them on Facebook then I realized some readers would not see them there so here they are.
Forever in My Heart is the story of a young woman who believes in forever homes for the little boys she cares for and the man next door who knows how challenging and destructive such children can be to a family. Will their love for one little boy enable them to come together or will their differing beliefs about what is best tear them apart?
You can buy it here. http://tinyurl.com/yacojlub If you read it, I would love for you to leave a nice review. 🙂
MULCH MUCH?
This week we did some mulching. The hope is it will make my life easier because it will reduce weeding.
I like the beauty of perennials and the flower borders but they are so much work. Hence, the use of mulch.
I’m much the same way with my writing. I like HAVING written but it’s hard work to actually write. I wish I could find a way to make plotting easier. Ways to make the word count increase more rapidly. Some way to do edits that doesn’t require so much work. What I need is mulch for my writing. So far, I have not found any. 🙂
STAY ON TRACK
I have a little trail by the farm that I like to walk early in the morning. Often the grass is wet with dew and my shoes get soaked unless I stay on the track.
I was thinking how much like life that is. When I wander away from the track set out for my day, I get…well, not wet, but distracted. I’m supposed to be writing but an email comes in and I have to check it. Then while I’m at it I will jump over and check Facebook. And all those cute little videos…I sure wouldn’t want to miss anything. Meanwhile, the minutes tick away, soaking up my time. How can I hope to get anything done? Like meet my daily word quota.
The answer is easy. Stay on track. Now just to make myself do that. Maybe I should make the above picture my screen saver. Is there a way to make it bounce into view if I am on the internet too long?
A WEED BY ANY OTHER NAME…
See these beautiful flowers.
But they don’t belong there so I guess that makes them weeds. They are growing between the rows—thick as a carpet.
I have been editing a manuscript and finding weed words. Words that are perfectly good but in the wrong place. Like:
He couldn’t do on, which should read, He couldn’t go on.
Or… So Like could eat which should read, so Luke could eat.
Or… then they are glass, which should read, they were are glad.
But my favorite is this. Shred people. A perfectly honest mistake. It should have read, shred paper. On the other hand, people were being a little difficult the day I wrote that so perhaps it revealed a deep, inner longing. Ha ha.
Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter (link to the side). I’ll get a newsletter with special information in it as soon as I figure out why my letter isn’t going out properly.
A BOX OF BOOKS
A box of my July release arrived today.
Montana Cowboy’s Baby—the third story in the Big Sky Country series. It was such a fun book to write (once I got the glitches worked out).
This book is set in Bella Creek, Montana, a fictional town based on Libby, Montana—a real town. Much of the story takes place on the Marshall Five Ranch where the crusty old grandfather plays matchmaker.
On the picture below is a copy of the note that came with the baby.
Watch for this book, soon to be on the shelves. Or order it from harlequin.com. It’s a story I think you’ll enjoy.
GENERATING IDEAS
A fellow author asked a question recently—how to generate ideas. It reminded me of a question I am often asked—where do I get my ideas.
I always say that ideas are everywhere but the question got me to thinking of different ways ideas have come to me.
1. From pictures. I found an oil painting at a garage sale one day and it makes me want to tell a story.
I can think of many pictures that trigger my imagination.
2. Songs. Listening to the song Unchained Melody resulted in the book, Unchained Hearts. I find country and western music to be especially ripe with story ideas.
3. Research always triggers ideas. A trip to Bents Old Fort in Colorado has generated a series that will be released in 2018. No titles yet.
A trip to the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn sparked a series called Montana Cowboys.
4. Titles of songs, books, etc. For instance, the title Buffalo Gals led to the creation of the series I call Buffalo Gals of Bonners Ferry. It is currently available as Brides of Idaho.
5. Observing people. One day I was picking up someone at a bus and watched a young man dressed from head to toe in brown in a typical cowboy stance—leaning against a wall, one leg bent and arms crossed. He watched several buses arrive, watched the passengers get off and obviously did not see who he watched for. There has to be a story there.
There are stories everywhere. The more I look for them, the more I find them.
What was the most unusual idea you came up with and what triggered it?
ROMANCE OF THE CALGARY STAMPEDE
The year is 1912 and the hero of the story is Guy Weadick, a man born in New York. He ran away from his boyhood home to Montana where he learned to ride and rope and talk like a cowboy. Weadick considered himself to be ‘half cowboy and three-quarters showman.’ Along with other performers, he toured with a vaudeville troupe, barnstorming across the country and even performing in England.
Enter our heroine, Flores LaDue, the stage name of Grace Maud Bensell raised in Montevideo, Minnesota next to an Indian Reserve where she learned riding and roping early in life. At a young age, she ran away from home to join the circus. A talented athlete, she was famous for roping five running horses while lying down on the arena floor. It is said Guy fell in love with her the first time he saw the petite horsewoman (she was less than five feet tall) hanging upside down from her horse while swinging her rope overhead. Flores was a little more reserved about committing to the relationship. She was an independent woman with no interest in marriage. Nevertheless, she couldn’t resist the handsome cowboy and they were married five weeks after being together. He was 21, she was 23. They were partners in a way that was unusual for that day and age. Guy treated her as an equal. After her death, Guy had these words place on her tombstone “A Real Partner.”
Their story is told in this book.
This book is available here: https://tinyurl.com/m8u3rs9
Back to the story of 1912. Guy was concerned that the cowboy skills of the West were disappearing as the flood of settlers increased. He approached the Canadian Pacific Railway livestock agent with the idea of staging a rodeo to preserve the old west. He talked some local ranchers into financing his venture and thus the Calgary Stampede was born. From the beginning Guy use this boastful brand that has continued to this day, ‘The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth.’ Guy considered Flores the business woman behind this venture. He considered himself the talker—the salesman.
Guy was determined this would be a Big show—$20,000 offered for prizes, 200 imported Mexican longhorn cattle, 300 of the meanest horses, a replica of the notorious Fort Whoop-Up and many other wonderful offerings. He didn’t want to leave out anyone and invited Treaty 7 First Nations to participate. The Stampede opened with a grand parade through the town. Among those watching the performances were the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and daughter, Princess Patricia.
Top North American cowboy and cowgirl performers came to compete. Mexican Bandit Pancho Villa even sent his best rider.
picture Courtesy of the Calgary Stampede Archives.
A number of women contestants participated alongside men in events such as steer roping and bucking horse competition.
One of the most exciting events featured a local bronc rider, a Blood Indian by the name of Tom Three Persons. He drew the bucking horse, Cyclone, a big black gelding that had rarely been ridden. People shook their heads and predicted that poor Tom was done. The horse exploded from the chute and bucked his best but Tom held on and won the most important contest of the show. The thousands of spectators erupted into a roar of applause.
Several competent trick riders gave Flores La Due stiff competition for the title of World Champion Trick and Fancy Roper but she won the prize in the end.
For some wonderful pictures of the Stampede and the people involved go to www.glenbow.org and search Calgary Stampede under the archived photos.
The Calgary Stampede continues to this day—still at tribute to the cowboy skills of the west.
My stories have never included the Calgary Stampede but do honor the cowboy life. My book, Montana Cowboy’s Baby, is out in July. It is the third book in my 6-book Big Sky Country series. It’s a story about a baby left on the doorstep of the hero with a note saying the baby is his. He knows it’s not. This series is set in Montana—in case you didn’t catch that—and features three Marshall young men, their sister and two close friends. Montana Cowboy Daddy was out in Oct. 2016. Montana Cowboy Family was out Jan. 2017. The fourth book—Montana Bride by Christmas—will be released in Oct. 2017. I am really looking forward to that story. It has many sweet elements. At least I think so. I’ve just turned in the fifth book and it’s about Annie Marshall’s friend, Carly, who is prepared to do anything to save her ranch and her home…including marrying a complete stranger. I’m hoping to be able to reveal the cover for this story in the very near future.