Winner of Vickie McDonough’s three book set that includes Sooner or Later, The Bounty Hunter and the Bride, and A Wealth Beyond Riches is ………

Caroline

Congratulations, Caroline! Please contact Vickie at fictionfan1@cox.net and tell her where to send your books.

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Winner of Lisa Plumley’s Morrow Creek Matchmakers trilogy plus The Drifter is ……

Lisa Ward

Congratulations, Lisa! Please contact me at lindabroday@live.com  with your mailing address and Lisa will get those right to you.

Thanks to everyone who came and commented. We had a great weekend!

When I first started writing, I kept hearing people say “write what you know.” So, having been born and raised in Oklahoma, it was natural to write stories set in my home state. The only problem with that is I’m mainly a historical writer, and Oklahoma doesn’t have the long history that other states have, which made things difficult. Oklahoma just celebrated its centennial last year. In fact, just 101 years ago, the land that I live on was in the heart of Indian Territory and part of the Creek Nation.

My newest release is out this month called Oklahoma Brides. It features three impulsive women who have only themselves to rely on when trials wreck their dreams for tranquil futures. Rebekah finds herself racing westward, away from the stepfather who is willing to barter away her virtue. Katie is widowed and pregnant and about to wed a man who is hiding a criminal lifestyle. Sasha leaves the theater world in New York City to find her only remaining relative in Indian Territory. Will these women slow down long enough to find faith and love waiting for them on the Oklahoma prairie? I had a wonderful time writing this book. I love settings that embody the spirit of the Sooner state.

A large part of Oklahoma was settled by land runs, which have become one of the most dramatized events in western history. Who can forget the exciting scene in Far and Away where Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise raced for the land they’d traveled half way around the world to obtain?

If you need a reminder, view the race on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqrxX_ebl7Q

The initial opening of Indian lands, over two million acres, was of great interest to people across the United States in the late 1800s, because it was some of the last free land in America. The first land rush took place at high noon on April 22nd, 1889. The Unassigned Lands (this term refers to Indian land that wasn’t assigned to a particular tribe) were laid out in 160-acres homesteads, also called quarter sections. A number of individuals entered these lands early and hid out until the legal time of entry to lay quick claim to some of the best homesteads. These people came to be identified as “sooners.”

The Unassigned Lands were finally opened to white settlement in the “Run” for farms and town lots. Places like the Guthrie Station, which was nothing more than a Santa Fe train depot and watering tank on the morning of April 22nd, swelled to towns of 10,000 people by night fall. Streets had been laid out, town lots staked off, and steps had been taken toward the formation of a municipal government. Many settlers immediately started improving their new land. Children sold creek water for five cents a cup to homesteaders waiting in line to file their claim, while other children gathered buffalo chips to provide fuel for cooking. By the second week, schools had opened and were being taught by volunteers paid by pupils’ parents until regular school districts could be established.

Life was often rough for these early land seekers, but many Oklahomans today still live on land their ancestors won in one of the land rushes, and their stories make exciting books and movies.

I have a trilogy set in the pre-statehood days of Oklahoma. In Sooner or Later, my first Heartsong novel, my hero rides in the land rush of 1889. It was a fun story to write, and I hope an enjoyable tale for readers to experience.

I’m giving away a three-book set of my Oklahoma series: Sooner or Later, The Bounty Hunter and the Bride, and A Wealth Beyond Riches to one lucky person today.

     click on covers to order from Amazon!

One of the things I like best about writing for a living is that it gives me an opportunity to learn about all kinds of amazing things. While researching background material for stories, I learn about history, social mores, technologies old and new, interesting careers, cool settings…pretty much, the sky’s the limit (unless you actually want to say “the sky’s the limit” in an 1880s western romance–that saying didn’t come into popular use until 1920).

My next Harlequin Historicals release, “Marriage at Morrow Creek” in the Hallowe’en Husbands anthology, is set in and around a traveling medicine show in 1884.

Here’s a link to the video if you’d like to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9GD9rfFTAs 

I *love* the idea of a traveling medicine show! I’ve wanted to write a story with that setting for a while now…and I think I might return to it someday. Anyway, I found out some nifty things about medicine shows, some of which play right into the stereotype of patent medicine quackery and others that you might find surprising. Here goes…

* Tonics, elixirs, and other patent medicines typically sold at medicine shows often contained between five and fifty-five percent alcohol (usually whiskey), but were used by people of all ages and walks of life, including women, children, and followers of the temperance movement. The most famous of these cure-alls, Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, contained approximately 18% alcohol “as a solvent and preservative.”

* Patent medicine shows began around 1860 in America and enjoyed large audiences in most areas they stopped in. The shows typically opened with banjo or piano music, then proceeded with variety acts, minstrel skits, and sing-alongs, followed by the medicine man’s sales pitch. This cycle continued until the crowd thinned out; promising more entertainment after the sales period kept audience members in their seats. Other popular medicine show attractions included sword swallowers, fire eaters, tumblers, fortunetellers, flea circuses, magicians, strongmen, and buxom female singers.

* Most medicine shows and nostrum producers provided their audiences with informative almanacs or pamphlets to build and maintain their customer bases. These publications included popular features such as astronomy columns, information about the phases of the moon, cartoons, jokes, advice to farmers and housewives, and more.

* Less scrupulous medicine show proprietors filled salve boxes with axle grease or mixed powdered herbs in hotel bathtubs. Some remedies consisted of nothing more than artificially colored and flavored water. A few contained ingredients that were dangerous, including morphine and cocaine, but most were harmless. Some were even effective, especially those based on ancient herbal remedies.

* Snake oil, or shéyòu, is a genuine item. It’s still used as an anti-inflammatory pain reliever in China and may owe its efficacy to its high prostaglandin content.

* Lydia Pinkham® Herbal Compound is still sold today as a source of “nutritional support for women.” Other remedies a time-traveling medicine show attendee might recognize today include wrinkle erasing treatments, miracle pills that block fat absorption, creams that evaporate cellulite, lotions that stop hair loss, magnetic shoe insoles, male “enlargement” supplements, and laser “zit zappers.”

So the next time you reach for a nutritional supplement, brush on some “revolutionary” micronized mineral makeup, chug the latest “energy” drink, or browse the offerings at QVC, take a minute to consider the traveling medicine shows of the Old West. It’s possible that the more things change…the more they stay the same! (But be careful using that phrase in your historical romance–it didn’t come into use until novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr said “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” in his satirical journal, Les Guêpes in 1849.)

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Lisa Plumley is the USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen contemporary and historical romances. Her latest book, Let’s Misbehave, was named one of Booklist magazine’s Top Ten Romances of 2007, earned a 4-1/2 star Top Pick! rating from Romantic Times, and was a finalist for the Booksellers Best Award in the mainstream/single title category. She’s excited to have two new books on the shelves this month: Home for the Holidays (Zebra) and Hallowe’en Husbands (Harlequin Historicals).

You can find her on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/lisaplumley), or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Plumley/15694171151)

Drop by her blog (http://lisaplumley.wordpress.com) or visit her Web site (http://www.lisaplumley.com) to read first-chapter excerpts from any of her books, sign up for new-book reminder e-mails, download the reader newsletter, and more!

One lucky commenter today will receive the autographed set of Lisa’s Morrow Creek Matchmakers trilogy that includes The Matchmaker, The Scoundrel, and The Rascal plus a copy of the UK edition of The Drifter. Good luck to all!

Click on the cover to order from Amazon!   

Tomorrow’s a special day with two special ladies.

Misses Vickie McDonough and Lisa Plumley will arrive on the afternoon stage for their appearance tomorrow in the meetin’ hall. 

Both ladies will present quite an interesting program. They’ll talk about the state of Oklahoma and the Land Rush and about traveling medicine shows and how they entertained folks in the Wild West. Shoot, they might even talk about sexy cowboys and their easy way of sauntering down the street with a pretty lady! You never can tell where the path will lead. Ah hope to my house for durn sure!

Hitch up your buggies and don’t be late.  You might miss something. Hee-hee!

“No wonder skies upon you frown,
You’ve nailed the horse-shoe upside down;
Just turn it round, and soon you’ll see
How you and Fortune will agree.”

~ James T. Fields

The world over horseshoes are a symbol of good luck. I’m not overly superstitious but I am endlessly curious.  I’ve always liked horseshoe art and I grew up tossing horseshoes in the back yard…so what makes a horseshoe ”lucky”? Is just any old horsehoe a ”lucky” horseshoe?

Turns out there are some Lucky Horseshoe Rules: A truly lucky horseshoe has been used (not new), or found (not purchased).

In all traditions, luck (good or bad) is contained in the shoe and can pour out through the ends. In regions where the horseshoe is placed facing upward, folks believe the horseshoe must point up “or the luck runs out.” In places where it is hung facing downward they say exactly the opposite — “it must point down so the luck can pour onto you.” However, in its function as an amulet for magical protection, especially over the doorways of barns and stables, the horseshoe usually points downward and it is said that “no evil or witch will pass under it.”

So, where did this horseshoe luck come from?

Horseshoes were actually used by the Greeks as early as the 4th Century B.C. Since horses were believed to be one of the most sacred of animals, their crescent-shaped shoes became symbols of good luck. The origin is also believed to be tied to the proscribed magical powers of iron. Iron is considered lucky because it is born from the marriage of rock and fire, two of the basic elements in ancient times. Blacksmiths, makers and users of iron, were alchemical masters of the elements and their byproducts. Accordingly, their creations were believed to be endowed with supernatural powers.

Another aspect of the horseshoe that added to it’s good luck was the fact that it was commonly held in place by seven iron nails. Since ancient times, the number seven was considered very important. Life was divided into seven ages; a rainbow has seven colors; astrology once held that seven planets made up the universe; there are seven deadly sins; a seventh child was thought to have special powers; there are seven days in a week; the moon changes from one phase to another every seven days.

One reputed origin of the tradition of lucky horseshoes is the story of Saint Dunstan and the Devil. Dunstan, who became the Archbishop of Canterbury in AD 959, was a blacksmith by trade. The story relates that he once nailed a horseshoe to the Devil’s hoof when he was asked to reshoe the Devil’s hoof. This caused the Devil great pain, and Dunstan only agreed to remove the shoe and release the Devil after the Devil promised never to enter a place where a horseshoe is hung over the door.

Some believe that if guests come to a house where a horseshoe is above the door, they must leave by the same door through which they entered or they will take the luck from the horseshoe with them from the house.

How ’bout you?  Any horseshoes hanging ’round?  Do you hang them up, or hang them down?

In an article in PREVENTION magazine, Maria Rodale gave 20 ways to enjoy all the benefits that pleasure can bring to your life. Number three on her list is to: Savor a romance novel.”

Why, thank you, Ms. Rodale, I believe I will.

She writes “…reading books with happy endings is one of life’s greatest pleasures.” Among Maria’s other tips — play with animals, take a snooze, and watch a funny movie. Great advice, eh?

I love lists!
Let’s give it a shot and list the things that give us the greatest pleasure. ( Let’s just consider sex a given. LOL ) Can you come up with 20?

Here are mine in no particular order:

reading a great book
listening to music
writing a great book
holding a baby (yep, that’s me)
spending a day with my husband
a leisurely vacation
taking pictures
painting a room
shopping for treasures
decorating my home
growing flowers
cooking for my grandkids
seeing my children happy
a clean house
laughing with friends
a task well done
road trips
brownies (the chocolate kind)
the color teal
a balmy summer day

FYI: If you missed Badlands Bride from my backlist, there’s a reissue available only at eharlequin this month. CLICK HERE TO ORDER A COPY.  It’s a snap to order.  I happen to know since I had to order my own copy to make sure I got one!  I got covers, but no author copies.

So, even if you can’t come up with twenty favorite things, can you think of ten?  I’m drawing a name from your lists for a copy of my October release, THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS!

No one guessed today – one more thing Theodore Roosevelt was known for!

Hello Darlings,

The Fillies are absolutely proud and delighted to have Misses Vickie McDonough and Lisa Plumley come calling again this Saturday.

Both ladies are such dears to grace us with their talent and beauty. Miss Vickie is going to tell about the Oklahoma Land Rush in 1889 in addition to her book, Oklahoma Brides. Miss Lisa has the interesting subject of traveling medicine shows that will astound you. Miss Lisa will be promoting her new anthology, Hallowe’en Husbands.

Ah hope you don’t miss this special treat. Both ladies will arrive with prizes in their satchels so be sure and leave a comment to get yer name in the hat. Join us for a high old time.

Our presidential election is coming up in a few weeks, and it’s interesting to note just how much influence the West has had on this nation’s leaders.  Of course, in George Washington’s time, there wasn’t much of a West to note, but as the nineteenth century rolled into the twentieth, several presidents indulged in the fantasy . . . of being a cowboy. 

For example, Calvin Coolidge possessed an electrically-operated horse.  He also invited Tom Mix, a cowboy movie star at the time, to dinner at the White House.  And while visiting the Black Hills in 1929, he decked himself out in a tall Hoot Gibson-style hat, neckerchief, shirt, and batwing chaps strapped on over his dark, very president-like suit pants, then had his picture taken to show it all off.

Lyndon Johnson wore a Stetson and has often been photographed astride a horse in a suit and tie.  He ran a few cattle on his acreage, but was definitely more politician than rancher.

We all remember Ronald Reagan.  As a handsome actor with a disarming smile, he appeared on the big screen and television, landing notable western roles in Santa Fe Trail , Death Valley Days and Zane Gray Theater.    He owned a 688-acre ranch in California.

Yet of all of them, it was a born-and-bred New Yorker, a magna cum laude Harvard graduate and a Nobel Prize laureate that can truly and proudly claim he was more cowboy than any president before him–or after.

Can you guess who it is?

Theodore Roosevelt headed west for the first time in 1880 to partake in a hunting trip with his brother.  So enraptured with the bountiful game and the beauty of the wide-open lands, he returned several years later to hunt buffalo in Dakota Territory.  He got off the train wearing a Derby hat, a Brooks Brothers suit and thick eyeglasses.  His reputation for disdaining hard liquor, tobacco, and all but the mildest of cursing inspired much eye-rolling from the locals, but he soon endeared himself to them with his love for the open range.  He invested his fortune in cattle and in purchasing two ranches.

After a childhood fraught with sickness, he’d found an idyllic and robust life in the West and a rising political career in the East.  In 1884, while working in his Albany, NY, office, he received word his beloved wife had given birth to their daughter.  Shortly thereafter, however, he received another message–this one frantically urging him to return home.  His mother lay in the grips of typhoid fever and his wife’s kidneys had begun to fail.  Within hours of his return, both were dead.   

He struggled through his sorrow by journeying West to work his ranch, rope steers, and hunt.  He served a term as deputy sheriff in Billings County, Montana, and rode with a posse to hunt down criminals.  He earned his dream of military glory by pulling together a group of roughened riders from the West.  And as they say, the rest is history.

I could go on and on about this man.  How he created national parks and forests, wildlife refuges, bird sanctuaries and bison preserves.  How he was a prolific author (35 books).  How he was a big-game hunter and explorer.  How he’s credited with building the Panama Canal.

But in addition to all that, he had a pretty impressive lists of presidential firsts, too:

To ride in an airplane

To delve underwater in a submarine

To have a telephone in his home

To own a car

To invite an African-American to the White House (Booker T Washington)

To be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize

Yep.  He was one heck of a cowboy.  One heck of a president, too.  Ironically, he’d be 150 years old this month.

There was one more pretty darn famous thing about Teddy Roosevelt that I didn’t mention.   Can you guess what it is?

Who was your favorite president and why?

Don’t forget to enter our brand new contest–THE HOLIDAY HOEDOWN!  Just click on the Contest link on the sidebar!

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

My mother always joked about probably having to go to the poor farm one day and I wondered what she meant. Recently there was an interesting article in our newspaper about them. And with our economy what it is these days, I thought it a timely subject.

Poor Farms originated in the 1820′s in the East to care for paupers. Slowly as settlers moved west so did the system for helping the poor and infirmed. Poor Farms were set up and operated by the different counties and they remained a county responsibility until their demise in the 1930′s shortly after the government passed the Social Security Act.

Eastern poor farms were much better than those on the western frontier, but neither held any semblance to living in the lap of luxury. Counties bought or rented farms and overseers or superintendents were hired to provide the care. Usually a poor farm consisted of the main building for the superintendent and his family and from six to eight small outbuildings that each sometimes housed up to 10 to 15 paupers or “inmates” as they were sometimes called. The men were kept segregated from the women and families were broken up. Indeed, some poor farms resembled jails for once they took a person in, most were there for life. In an effort to make the farm self-sufficient and productive, each able-bodied person was assigned a job and they were forced to do it come rain or shine. But again it really depended on how compassionate the overseer was. There were good ones and bad ones.

Contracting out care to the lowest bidder often resulted in attracting unsavory characters. One woman in particular, Annie Cook, extensively abused (and there were even alleged instances of murder) the destitute and downtrodden of Lincoln County, Nebraska.

Texas in the mid-1800′s reviled the poor so much that they sometimes housed them with criminals in a multi-purpose building that was a “Jail and Poorhouse.” They treated paupers as if poverty was a crime. And other times paupers were thrown in with the mentally ill which was a horrible way to treat people who had no where else to go.

Also, there was a practice of dumping their indigents in the next county so they wouldn’t have to care for them. Honestly!

Out in the West, the system for caring for the poor was less than desirable. For the most part, the poor were viewed as being lazy, criminal, or intemperate and the fault lay with those who had the misfortune to be without. As if they could willingly change the hands of fate.

Thank goodness, not all were like Annie Cook and other caretakers who were similar.

The kind benevolent poor farms were a real godsend for people, especially the elderly and the sick, who had nowhere else to turn. They were taken in and provided relief with genuine sympathy and compassion.

In some instances, counties chose individuals to provide the care – a doctor or a boarding house for instance and paid them a certain amount. That was the perfect solution for out of the way places or where settlers were few and far between.

Wouldn’t this make a great story? The wheels in my brain are turning.

The Western trail was littered with people who were down on their luck but who never saw the inside of a poor farm. These people came West with a support system – fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles who helped each other through good times and lean.

But, not everyone was fortunate to have had that support. Those without family to reach out to were the ones who fell at the mercy of poor farms.

My parents often spoke about how much worse their situation would’ve been during the Great Depression had it not been for family. They stuck together and what one had, they all had. That kind of family cohesiveness and unity brought them through one of the country’s worst times. They did what they had to do to survive often swallowing their pride.

The Good Book says “the poor we have with us always.” That’s certainly true. Today we have millions of homeless people. How do you view them?

What are your feelings on the subject? Have you ever heard Poor Farms mentioned before? If so, do you think they were beneficial?

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