Wow, Petticoats and Pistols has an amazing lineup of writers . . . I mean, fillies!  I feel privileged to spend the day here, and I’m grateful to Mary for inviting me.  I’ve been a Westerner since my dad moved the family from Indiana to Arizona when I was ten.  I didn’t want to go, principally because I couldn’t bear to leave my first love, a boy named Kenny, who was very cute and very short.

To protest the move, I ran away from home, which consisted of going around the block and sitting under a weeping willow where nobody could see me.  But I’d neglected to take any food, so eventually I got hungry.  When I came home for dinner, my mother promised me I’d like Arizona way more than Indiana because there were horses everywhere!  Why, I might even get one of my own!  That didn’t pan out, although my little sister got a horse after I went off to college, not that I’m holding a grudge or anything.  But it WASN’T FAIR.  The only thing I loved almost as much as Kenny was horses, so I agreed to move to Arizona.

Today, as an adult (mostly, except when I’m mad about that horse my sister got), my perspective is slightly different.  I still love horses AND Arizona.  A ride through the desert in springtime is breathtaking.   But the scenery on any country-western dance floor is much, much better!  I am so over Kenny.

My preoccupation with cowboys, on the dance floor or off, has led me to write books about them.  Many, many books.  My current Harlequin Blaze series, Sons of Chance, is my latest ode to the studliness of cowboys.  Last summer the first three books came out, and three more will show up this summer.  Another three are scheduled for the summer of 2012.  I’m awash in cowboys, and I love it!

SHOULD’VE BEEN A COWBOY is on the shelves now, but I thought it might be fun if I gave away the July book, COWBOY UP, on today’s blog to one lucky commenter.  Don’t worry if you haven’t read any of the books yet.  Yes, they’re a series, all set in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but I’ve worked really hard to make sure each book stands on its own.

You may wonder, since I’ve lived most of my life in Arizona, why I didn’t set the series in my home state.  It’s like this:  I suggested setting them in Arizona, but my editor Brenda Chin piped up with “they’ll be out in the summer, and nobody wants to read about Arizona in the summer.”  She had a point.  Thus Jackson Hole and my imaginary Last Chance Ranch in cool Wyoming.

SHOULD’VE BEEN A COWBOY, the June book, picks up the story of a couple who had a hot time in the hayloft in CLAIMED!, out last August.  They run into each other this summer only to discover the heat’s still on.  Alex, a guy who’s recently discovered the cowboy way, is willing to fan the flames, but Tyler works on a cruise ship that’s ready to sail from L.A. in a week.  She has no intention of scrapping her career to hang out in Wyoming.

COWBOY UP, the July book, brings together Clay, who runs the stud operation for the Last Chance Ranch, with Emily, who was conditioned by her very urban mother to stay far away from sweaty cowboys who smell like horse.  Needless to say, she doesn’t totally listen to mom’s advice.

We’re chatting on a blog that’s dedicated to Western romances, so I’ll assume you all love cowboys in general.  But getting specific, what’s your very favorite thing about them? One lucky commentor will win a copy of COWBOY UP, which isn’t even in stores yet.

ORDER FROM AMAZON:

Should’ve Been a Cowboy

TIN ANGEL – An Oldie but a Goodie!

Something new is happening for me this month….the re-issue of an old western romance, one of earliest novels, TIN ANGEL.  What makes it different is that this is the only book my husband (a western author of more than 25 books) and I ever wrote together.

In the story, when her father dies, beautiful and strong-willed Jessica Taggart, born and raised in Boston, travels all the way to San Francisco to help manage the Tin Angel, the business willed to her by her late father.  There she meets the ruggedly handsome, arrogant and domineering Jake Weston, her father’s partner and now Jessie’s, a man hell-bent on proving she can’t handle the job and determined to force her to sell him her share of the Tin Angel.

Not the restaurant Jessie believes when she leaves Boston, but the most notorious whore house on the Barbary Coast.

I had such fun writing this book, a story they called at the time, A Moonlighting set in the West, after the Bruce Willis, Cybil Shepard TV show.  Having never collaborated on a book, we decided that Larry would write Jake’s point of view, and I would write Jessie’s.  Jake starts by writing a series of letters to Jessie, telling her not to come West, that he will buy her out and send her the money.  Jessie writs back, telling him in no uncertain terms that she is leaving Boston on the next train to California.

Neither of us knew how the other would respond to the pages we were handed.  We just rolled with the punches and had a heckuva lot of fun as we worked. The story ended up being very different from what I usually write and since it’s a sexy romance, way, way different from what my husband usually writes. 

It’s only available in print from Amazon, but it has a fabulous new cover, and it’s available in all e-book formats.

It you’re ready to read something just for fun, I hope you’ll give TIN ANGEL a try.  And we both hope you enjoy it. 

Also, please go to my new website and enter my KINDLE SWEEPSTAKES. The winner will receive a 3rd Generation KINDLE and two of my books. Click here to enter.

Very best wishes, Kat and L.J. Martin

P.S.> Anyone who joins in the fun and posts a comment today will be entered in a contest to win a copy of Tin Angel AND Against the Wind!

The Making of a Hero

What makes a hero? For me, I think Willie Nelson said it all when he sang these words: My heroes have always been cowboys, and they still are it seems.

I’ve always loved cowboys.  As a little girl, I wanted to marry Michael Landon’s character from Bonanza; Little Joe. I would have settled for Adam. Even Hoss. I loved John Wayne, Sam Elliot and Robert Redford in a cowboy hat.

What makes a cowboy a hero? On the outside, it starts with a swagger, the tilt of a hat, a grin that melts our hearts. But it is more about who they are. It’s Little Joe, smiling and cute, always trying to save the damsel. It’s Hoss, with his good character and strong convictions. It’s Adam, a little more suave, knowing what to say and sometimes getting taken by surprise.

John Wayne, sometimes a reluctant hero, but always a hero. Sam Elliot, well, I just always thought he was cute with that smile of his. Robert Redford.  Need I say more?

Today’s cowboys are just as cute, although the movie world is sadly in need of a John Wayne, a Robert Redford or a Sam Elliot. The music world has Tim McGraw, and who doesn’t think it’s just the cowboy in him? And of course there is George Strait, with his smile and those famous Wrangler jeans. Amazing Race has our favorite McCoy brothers. They’re the real deal.

Before Amazing Race, after Amazing Race and during Amazing Race, Jet and Cord McCoy are cowboys. They’re country and proud of it. Cord is a bull rider who is known for always smiling.

I do love bull riders. They are the embodiment of the old west. They put their hand on their heart and pledge allegiance to the flag. They’ll bow their heads and pray for a friend. They get bucked off, kicked, stepped on and yet, they keep getting on the bull. With broken bones, dislocated shoulders, concussions and broken ribs, they ride bulls. They put a whole new spin on the term, ‘walk it off.’

Wyatt Johnson, the hero from my January Love Inspired, THE COWBOY’S FAMILY, showed up in my August 2010 release, The Cowboy’s Sweetheart. He was a secondary character but as soon as he showed up with his two little girls, I loved him. He was broken, hurting, and in need of a good woman to heal his heart. I knew from the moment he pulled up in his moving van that his story would be next. Sometimes a hero shows up, begging for a story.

That’s the easy part, when the character shows up and you realize they need a story. And then comes creating the story. Who is the character? What does he need? Who does he need?

Of course Wyatt Johnson had to be a cowboy. But he also needed those cowboy hero qualities. Like John Wayne, he would be reluctant. Like Hoss, he would want to do the right thing. Like Robert Redford, he just looks good in a cowboy hat and jeans.

A good hero puts self aside and rescues the heroine, even when she doesn’t realize she needs rescuing. And the heroine, in the words of Julie Roberts’ PRETTY WOMAN character, “she rescues him right back.”

Rachel Waters is just such a heroine for Wyatt Johnson. She’s a pastor’s daughter, loyal almost to a fault, and willing to put her own heart on the line for Wyatt and his two little girls.

So, all of you cowboy fans, tell me what it is you love about cowboys and who are some of the cowboys you think of when you think ‘hero’? Two lucky commenters will win an autographed copy of THE COWBOY’S FAMILY.

Sharpshooter in Petticoats released January 1st.

It’s in bookstores NOW!

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Sharpshooter in Petticoats is my favorite one of the three, not because the others aren’t good, but because I’ve been building to a wild, chaotic, runaway, mayhem soaked conclusion for three books, and in a way…for NINE books. characters from Lassoed in Texas Trilogy and the Montana Marriages Series are in this final book.

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If you’ve read books #1 and #2 in the series, Doctor in Petticoats and Wrangler in Petticoats, then you’ll know I’ve been getting the oldest sister in the McClellen clan into deeper and deeper trouble in those earlier books. Finally it’s time for Mandy to have her happy ending.

And if there wasn’t a feuding family of backshooting murderers gunning for her, it’d be no problem because her no-account husband is dead and the hero has been around the edges of her life for years. Her being married to another man is quite an avalanche blocking the trail to true love, though.

But I won’t even beat around the bush here, Mandy’s husband, Sidney Grey,  is dead and gone. Shot by the men who are now harassing Mandy.

I know a lot of people wanted to WATCH Sidney die. And they wanted to watch him die slowly, maybe stake him to a fire ant hill or have him be nibbled to death by small predators. Better yet, have Mandy beat him to death for insulting her for the LAST TIME.

But nope. I needed him dead to start with so I just shot him between the end of book #2 and the beginning of book #3.  Being a writer is kind of fun. You get to solve all the world’s problems in your books. Of course I created the problems. And in real life, the people who are messing up your world usually just stay right there and keep making things hard.

But for a writer, it’s so clean, even though you have to abuse people you love to begin with to make everyone loathe the villain.

But I digress.

Here’s a little bit about Sharpshooter in Petticoats:

Mandy McClellen Grey, has become the focus of a feud thanks to her husband, who made this mess and then died. Far from home, Mandy, the best little rifle woman in the west, has resigned herself to a lonely life under siege rather than call for help and endanger her family.

Tom Linscott is fed up with waiting for Mandy who should have had the sense to come to him as soon as she finished burying her worthless husband. In fact he’d've come fast enough to dig the hole if she’d've sent for him. He goes to round up his little woman and buys into a heap of trouble from a whole clan of outlaws.

Between Mandy’s deadly skill with her rifle, her determination to not bring trouble down on someone she loves, and an ever growing crowd of varmints who want to bury everyone named Grey—and anyone who sides with them, Tom may not survive getting himself hitched.

And here is an excerpt from Sharpshooter in Petticoats:
 

“She stole my horse?” Tom’s voice rose to such a high pitch it hurt his ears

“I think she took out after the men who were shooting at us.” Wade stepped in front of Red. It was his brother-in-law’s way to draw a fist to his own face to protect someone else. He might even have thoughts of Tom’s soul, not wanting Tom to slug a parson.

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“You oughtta sign it, too.” Red handed Tom a piece of paper with a neatly written record of the marriage, signed by Red, Abby, and Mandy, all three. “But even if you don’t, you’re still married.”

Red said that as if he expected Tom to argue, but being married to Mandy, the little horse thief, suited him right down to the ground. Tom grabbed the paper and scrawled his name with a pen that barely scratched a line in nearly-dried ink. He thrust it toward Red.“It’s yours.” Red refused to take it.

Tom folded it roughly and jammed it into one pocket.

“Abby, tell me what went on around here. Sawyer, pack me some grub.”

Abby talked while Tom led his stallion to the barn.

When his sister paused to take a breath, Tom jerked his chin at the stallion. “Will you take care of him? Everyone else on this ranch is scared to get near him.”

Abby agreed and kept talking, letting him know all that had unfolded. She made a point of talking about the way Mandy handled her rifle. Tom had heard a similar story years ago from Belle Harden, who had met Mandy when she was a new bride.He’d asked too much of the black. He strode toward the corral where Tom’s second favorite horse was held. The most perfect colt to ever come out of his stallion, and that was saying something because his stallion bred true.

Tom stumbled to a halt when he reached the corral. A dozen horses grazed in the pen, none of them the one he wanted. “She stole my best horse?” Though it was no time for such a thing, Tom laughed. He had married himself one beauty of a woman.

“Borrowed, Tom. Not stole.” Red had tagged along to the corral.
Tom remembered well his plan to beat Red within an inch of his life. Right now time was too tight. “Which way did she go?”

Red pointed to a trail in the distance Tom could only see because he knew his land so well. “She asked me where I saw the men riding, the ones who shot up your house.”

“And you told her? Why would you do a stupid thing like that?”
Red shoved his face right up into Tom’s, which reminded Tom that Red wasn’t just a sky pilot—he was also a rancher who’d come out here and tamed a mighty mean stretch of a land. “I told her because it never occurred to me that a woman would abandon three children and a man she’d just married to go hunting a pack of killers. What kind of woman did you marry anyway? She’s acting crazy.”

Tom shrugged. He couldn’t really argue Red’s point, though arguing came real easy. “I married me the sharpest shooting woman in the West, I reckon.”

“That you did, Tom. I saw her in action.” Abby bridled Tom’s second choice for a horse while he saddled.

“I saw her, too.” Red shook his head in wonder. “I’ve never seen anyone shoot like that. Why do you want a woman who appears to have a taste for killing? What are you thinking to pick a woman like that?” Tom looked past Red and saw Red’s wife, sweet little Cassie Dawson, quietly tending all six children, both the Dawsons’ and Mandy’s—Tom caught that thought. They were his children now, too.

Tom’s temper would have crushed Cassie like a bug the first week of their marriage. Shrugging, Tom felt a little sheepish, but this was a man of God. It’d be wrong to lie.

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“Honest, Red, that’s what I like most about her.”

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http://www.maryconnealy.com/

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Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for a signed copy of Sharpshooter in Petticoats.

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Or click on the tiny cover above to buy from Amazon.

Ever have one of those lifetimes where opportunities tend to turn south just as the golden ring is in sight? That’s the story of Melanie Hunter’s life. Not that she’s complaining. She always seems to come out on top, it just takes a bit longer and she dodges and maneuvers around more curves in her road than the average everyday single mom. Still, she takes setbacks on the chin and continues to pray for a better life for her and her son.

Take for instance, this job opening Melanie has applied for with a research lab in a mountain community in Colorado. It’s perfect. More money, less hours for her; small town, great outdoor adventures for her son. Win-win. Until she takes a detour to avoid highway construction on her way to the interview, which ends in a collision with a large rock resulting in pricey auto repairs…

You get the picture. It’s times like this Melanie wonders what in the world God is thinking??

Excerpt from Rocky Mountain Hero, January 2011, Steeple Hill Books.

“Gabe, look up ahead.”
            Gabe Davidson glanced up from his clipboard. His cousin pointed at a pick up truck along side the road. From where Gabe sat, he’d say the truck wasn’t going anywhere soon. “Don’t recognize it.”
            “Can’t say the truck or the kid or the blonde are from around here.” Hank down shifted and slowed.
            “Fishtailed right into the rock.” Grooved tracks left ruts inches deep. “The boys from county won’t be happy when they have to come up and fix this.”
            The boy waved his arms at them. Hank pulled over and cut the engine.
Gabe checked his watch. The vet closed in half an hour. He fingered the list he’d scribbled on the scrap piece of paper. If he waited until tomorrow, he’d have to take a chance the vet stocked the medication he needed since no one at the animal clinic was answering their phone, or double back and drive into Gunnison.
He glanced at the boy, the angle of the truck and the woman wedged part way under the running board. He ground his jaw as uncomplimentary thoughts of Nick and Zac swirled through his head. Times like this, he really wished his brothers were around to help. Propping the clipboard with his list on top of the dash, Gabe shoved at his door. “Let’s go pull ‘em out.”
            “Hey mister,” the boy called as he jumped. “I think my mom’s stuck.”
            “Are you okay?” Hank took off toward the boy while Gabe headed for the woman. The rock, the crushed front-end of the pick up and the entire backend of the vehicle sat perched at an angle. No telling what the truck would do.
            “Need help?” Mud covered her from head to toe. Gabe stared into blue eyes the color of mountain columbines in full bloom and lashes as thick as the foxtails that grew around them. Blonde hair played across her cheek. 
            “No, I’ve got it.” The palm of her hand sank up to her wrist.
            He bent over and grasped her shoulders, her muscles firm within his palms. A spear of awareness shot through him as he found a grip and began to pull. The mud packed around her like a wallow sucking her hostage. As she began to slide free, she kicked her feet against the embankment.
            The road base shifted beneath his feet. His hold tightened. “Be still.”
            Her last kick must have hit a rock. She pushed up relieving the tension in his pull. Momentarily. The rock worked loose beneath her foot and she sank back into place.
Gabe fought for balance as he teetered on the edge. No use. He tucked his shoulders as he rolled into the mud bog with her. His elbow trenched a rut behind her and she slammed up against his chest.
            Spitting mud out of her mouth, she smeared her face with her hand. “Oh goodness.” She squirmed to the side. “You okay?”  
            His hat lay inverted between them, the crown crushed against her ribs. He followed the line of her muddy T-shirt sleeve to her mud-matted ponytail. Her eyes sparkled wide as he drew close. “I told you to stop moving.”
            “I could’ve gotten out by myself.” Her breathless voice warmed his cheek.
            He swiped his hand down his face as much to wipe away mud as to break his stare. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
            She shimmied up the bank using the top of his boot as a foothold. “The road is in lousy condition.”
            “Yeah, well.” Her smooth arm pressed against his chest making simple thought difficult. “The Gunnison County road crew won’t be happy about this either.”
            She stiffened beside him. “This road is a disaster.”
            “Not if your speed is appropriate for the road condition.”
            She looked at him as if he’d grown another head. “What’s the speed limit for horrendous?”

 I hope you enjoyed the quick meet and greet. Gabe has his agenda, Melanie has hers and the two don’t seem to have a common patch of ground between them. By the time The End rolls around, they find out exactly what the good Lord had in mind.

 My debut novel is set to hit the shelves January 1! I’m so excited. Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Rocky Mountain Hero as my Christmas present to you.

I’d love to have you visit me at:

 www.audraharders.com

or drop by:

 www.seekerville.blogspot.com and say hi!

 Thank you to Mary Connealy and the fillies for inviting me here today!

Click on the cover to buy on Amazon

If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be eagerly anticipating a remake of  True Grit, I’d have laughed.  I’ve enjoyed the 1969 version with John Wayne and Glen Campbell for years. Who could possibly replace John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn?  No one.  To try would be a sacrilege . . .  I really couldn’t imagine it. 

Well, I can now.

Who else has seen the trailer for the remake that’s coming out this Christmas? If you haven’t, here it is . . .

What do you think?  Can Jeff Bridges pull off the role that gave John Wayne his only Oscar?  Judging by the trailer, I’m more than optimistic. Jeff Bridges has a solid track record of doing unique things with a role. My husband’s a fan of The Big Lebowski and so are my sons. I haven’t seen that movie, but I’ve seen Crazy Heart and I thought Jeff was great in it. He does burned-out and cantankerous extremely well!  I also remember him from Starman with Karen Allen.  He’s a solid actor and he looks the part of Rooster.

The new movie is by the Coen Brothers.  I find their work a little off-putting, but my husband loves their movies, particularly No Country for Old Men. As for No Country, once I got over the gruesome beginning with Javier Bardem and paid attention to the story, I had to agree with my husband.  The Coens are brilliant film makers. The movie is haunting.  As for Javier, is that really the same guy who’s in Eat Pray Love?  He’s another amazing actor.

I’m just as enthused about the supporting cast as I am about Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn.

In the 1969 version, Kim Darby played fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross, the girl seeking justice for her father’s murder.  In the remake, the part went to an unknown actress named Hailee Steinfeld. In reviews I’ve read, it seems that this movie is her story to tell. The directors stuck more closely to the original book than the 1969 version.  As a fun aside, I was visiting with a neighbor last night.  I didn’t know it, but the producers of True Grit did a casting call here in Lexington, Kentucky for the role of Mattie. They needed a teenage girl who could ride. What better place to look than the city known as “The Thoroughbred Capital of the World?”

Josh Brolin plays Tom Chaney, the thief who killed Mattie’s father, and Matt Damon is Texas Ranger La Bouef. He’s also after Chaney. Glen Campbell played that roll in the 1969 version.  La Bouef meets up with Cogburn and Mattie and the chase begins.

As a final touch, would anyone like to guess who does the song for the trailer?  It’s Johnny Cash. I can’t think of a better fit.

The movie opens December 22nd.  After all the family celebrations, I just might see if I can talk my husband into going to a movie on Christmas night. (Honey, if you’re reading this, I want movie passes for Christmas!) Anyone else? Are looking forward to this movie?

Wow, I’m guest blogging at Petticoats and Pistols! When Tracy first mentioned it I actually had to ask her what to talk about! I’ve never guest blogged before. My own blog has been neglected this summer, but previous posts were about exciting things like noises in the night and runaway mules. If I’m going to guest blog, I’m sure I need something a little better than that, something a little more exciting.

Ummm, yeah, I got nothing. My life is about runaway mules, crazy kids, and chasing the Chihuahua down the road. In my spare time, I write for Steeple Hill Love Inspired. Most importantly, I write about cowboys. When I was searching for my niche, cowboys just made sense to me. It wasn’t about what was hot (not that cowboys aren’t) or what the publisher was looking for (although it’s always good to know). No, I picked cowboys because to me, they define HERO.

As an avid fan of the PBR (pro bull riding, for those who might be thinking Pabst Blue Ribbon) I love the sport because it is exciting, dramatic, and dangerous. But I also love it because cowboys are heroes. These men are competing against one another, and yet they are always there to help each other. They cheer for each other. They defend one another. They’re willing to jump into the arena with an angry, one ton bull if it means saving a friend’s life. And they pray for each other..

When I think of cowboys, I think of Cord McCoy, the professional bull rider who also competed on Amazing Race. Cord is a true cowboy. He’s a man of faith who smiles, even when the bulls are against him. Even when he’s losing, he’s smiling. He’s cheering for the guy who is beating him. He’s praying for them to do a great job and stay safe.

But these cowboys are also tough as nails. They can get stomped on by a two thousand pound bull, get back up and say ‘yes’ to a reride. They’ll ride with broken ribs, punctured lungs and torn ACLs.

Tough is the bull rider who jumps in the arena with bull fighters to grab hold of the rope that his unconscious buddy is tangled up in.

When we think of cowboys we think tough, gentle, heroic and chivalrous. A cowboy hero is the whole package–a man sent to rescue his woman. A man in faded jeans, five o’clock shadow and rip hard muscles sent to rescue his woman, and get rescued by her in the process.

John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, George Strait. What could be better than a hero in the mold of one of those men?

So, you ask, why do I write cowboy stories? Well, it should be obvious—the research is a wonderful way to pass a weekend. What better job than a job that takes a girl to the rodeo to watch men in wranglers!

In my August release, THE COWBOY’S SWEETHEART, the reader gets the combination of a tough-as-nails cowboy and the cowgirl who is having his baby. I’m so excited about this book that I’m giving away a copy to one of you who leaves a comment today. I hope you enjoy the story.

I am a collector of names.  Have been, ever since I was a kid.  Probably because I always wished for a different one, myself.  Mine wasn’t really exotic, but it was…different.  Cheryl.  My parents decided on the pronunciation of “Chair-yl” rather than the more common way of saying it.  The way a million other people sad it…with a “SH” sound, “Sheryl,” rather than the hard “CH” sound.

So when I began writing, I knew my characters had to have ‘good’ names—names that fit.  Names that weren’t too strange, but not too common.  Names that were appropriate for the time period, the setting, and the culture.

The hero, of course, had to have a name that was also something that could be whispered by the heroine in the throes of passion, yet something that would be tough enough on the villain’s lips to strike a modicum of fear in his heart, just by uttering it.

Because I was writing historical western romance, I decided to pull up a chart that would give me an accurate “slice of life”—possible names for my heroes.  According to US Social Security records, the top ten names for men in 1880 were:  John, William, James, Charles, George, Frank, Joseph, Thomas, Henry, and Robert.

Okay, I could maybe work with the top four.  In fact, the first book I ever wrote was about a gunslinger of this time period called ‘Johnny Starr.’ 

And William could be shortened to ‘Will’—still masculine; but never ‘Willie.’  James—very masculine, and unwittingly, calls up the rest of the line—‘Bond.  James Bond.’  At least, it does for me.  I could even go with Jamie.  Charles is pushing it.  George, Frank, and Joe are names I have and would use for a minor character, but I’d never use those for my hero.  They’re somehow just too ordinary.  Thomas? Again, a great secondary character name, but not a show-stopper.  Henry…eh.  And Robert is just ‘okay.’

I fast-forwarded a hundred years to 1980.  Here are the top 10:  Michael, Christopher, Jason, David, James, Matthew, Joshua, John, Robert, and Joseph.  Four of the same names were there, though not in the same poll position.  By 2009, only William remained in the top 10.  John had fallen to #20, James to #17, Joseph to #13.  The others had been replaced, not all by modern names, but most in the top 10 were surprisingly “old fashioned.”

2009:  Jacob, Michael, Ethan, Joshua, Daniel, Alexander, Anthony, William, Christopher, Matthew.

This told me something.  If you aren’t too wild with the names you choose, you have quite a lot of choices!  We know that Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Daniel, and Matthew were Biblical names.  Just because they weren’t on the “top 10” list in 1880 doesn’t mean they weren’t being used—a lot!

Another source of names for that time period is family records.  If you go back through old family documents, it’s amazing to find some of the odd names that cropped up.

Still maybe not ‘protagonist’ material, but your secondary characters could benefit.  And who knows?  You may find the perfect ‘hero’ name!

No matter what you choose, remember these rules, too:

1. Sound and compatibility—Say your character’s name aloud.  Does the first name go well with the last name you’re using?  Be careful about running the name together—“Alan Nickerson” or “Jed Dooly” may not be good choices.  Avoid rhyming names such as “Wayne Payne”—and try to stay away from cutesy names that might make your hero the focus of ridicule.

2. Uniqueness—I’m sure my parents were only trying to be ‘unique’ by pronouncing my name differently than the other 99.9% of the people in the world would automatically say it, but you don’t want your hero to have such an odd name that readers trip over it every time they come to it.  Louis L’Amour was a master at coming up with ‘different’ names that were simple.  Hondo Lane, Ring Sackett, Shalako, Conagher…and the list goes on.

3. Genealogy—Does it play into your characters’ storyline?  If so, you may want to come up with a neat twist somehow on a common name.  In my first manuscript, Brandon’s Gold, the gunfighter, Johnny Starr, is named for his father, but the names are reversed.  His father was Thomas Jonathan Brandon.  He is known as Thomas in the story.  Johnny was named Jonathan Thomas Brandon.  He goes by Johnny.  This keeps a theme alive in my story of the ‘fathers and sons’ of this family, and their relationships.  It weighs heavily, because Thomas is dying, but Johnny doesn’t know it.  They’ve been estranged for many years.

When Johnny’s own son is born, his wife, Katie, changes the name they’ve decided on just before the birth.  She makes Johnny promise to name him after himself and his father, Thomas Jonathan, bringing the circle around once more, and also completing the forgiveness between Johnny and his dying father.

4. Meaning—This might somehow play into your story and is good to keep track of.  What do your characters’ names mean?  This is a great tool to have at your disposal when you are writing—it can be a great conversation piece somewhere, or explain why your villain is so evil.

5. Nicknames and initials—this can be more important than you think.  You may need to have your hero sign something or initial something.  Don’t make him be embarrassed to write his initials and don’t give him a name that might be shortened to an embarrassing nickname.

In my book, Fire Eyes, the protagonist has an odd name—Kaedon Turner.  I gave him an unusual first name to go with a common last name.  I learned later that Caden, shortened to Cade, though not common for the time was not unheard of.  Kaedon, shortened to Kaed, was just a different variation.  It sets him apart from the other marshals, and emphasizes his unique past in a subtle way.

Below are some excerpts from Fire Eyes, available  through The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.  I hope you enjoy!

EXCERPTS FROM FIRE EYES:

Marshal Kaed Turner has just been delivered to Jessica’s doorstep, wounded and   unconscious by the Choctaw Indians.  This is part of their first conversation, Kaed’s introduction.

 “Just pull.” Her patient moistened his lips. “Straight up. That’s how it went in.”

She wanted to weep at the steel in his voice, wanted to comfort him, to tell him she’d make it quick. But, of course, quick would never be fast enough to be painless. And how could she offer comfort when she didn’t even know what to call him, other than Turner?

“You waitin’ on a…invitation?” A faint smile touched his battered mouth. “I’m fresh out.”

Jessica reached for the tin star. Her fingers closed around the uneven edges of it. No. She couldn’t wait any longer. “What’s your name?” Her voice came out jagged, like the metal she touched.

His bruised eyes slitted as he studied her a moment. “Turner. Kaedon Turner.”

Jessica sighed. “Well, Kaedon Turner, you’ve probably been a lot better places in your life than this. Take a deep breath and try not to move.”

He gave a wry chuckle, letting his eyes drift completely closed. “Do it fast. I’ll be okay.”

She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Ready?”

“Go ahead.”

                                                                        *******

From Kaed’s POV—Finding out his “angel’s” name!

“I need to stop the bleeding. You were lucky.”

“One lucky sonofabitch.”

“I meant, because it went all the way through. So we don’t have to…to dig it out.” There was that hesitation again, but he already knew what it was she didn’t want to have to say to him. He said it instead.

“All we have to do is burn it.”

She let her breath out in a rush, as if she’d been holding it, dreading just how she was going to tell him. “Right. Sounds like the voice of experience.”

“Yeah.”

She touched his good arm and he reached up for her, his warm, bronze hand swallowing her smaller one. Her fingers were cold, and he could tell she was afraid, no matter how indifferent she tried to act.

“You’ve got one on me,” he muttered.

“What’s that?”

“Your name. Or, do I just call you angel?”

He felt the smile again, knew he had embarrassed her a little, but had pleased her as well.

“Jessica Monroe, at your service, Mr. Turner.”

“Don’t go all formal on me.” He paused, collecting his scattering, hard-to-hold thoughts. “I like Kaed better.”

“Better than Mr. Turner?”

He opened his eyes a crack and watched as she gave him a measuring look, her cinnamon gaze holding his probing stare for a moment. “What you’re doin’ for me warrants a little more intimacy, don’t’cha think, Jessica?”

She glanced back down at the seeping wound, worrying her lower lip between even, white teeth. Her auburn hair did its best to escape its bun.

Kaed’s thoughts jumped and swirled as he tried to focus on her, wondering disjointedly how she’d look if she let her hair tumble free and unbound. And her eyes. Beautiful. A man could get lost in the secrets of her eyes.
Maybe he should’ve used a word other than intimacy.

Hi folks.  Kaki Warner here, come to chat with you about SEX—more or less.

Is it just me, or is there less explicit sex in western historical romances than in other genres?

Maybe it’s just the ones I pick up, but it seems more and more western romances dwell on the romance of the thing, rather than the mechanics of the thing.  Is this a pattern?  Or has it always been that way?  Look at some of the great western romance writers—Jodi Thomas, Mary Connealy, Debbie Macomber, Linda Lael Miller, and others I can’t remember right now, in addition to the fabulous authors on this website.  Seems most of their stories are more character-driven than sex-driven.   I wonder why?

Perhaps because the archetype of the western hero is so firmly ingrained in our minds that to reduce him to just a roll in the hay (even though he might be the world’s best at it), diminishes the myth of the cowboy somehow.   

Or, perhaps because the Old West and the people who inhabited it—in real life and in fiction—are part of our shared history and have become almost like extended family.  And if so, do you truly want to watch from behind the curtain when family members are bucking the bronc, so to speak?

I don’t.  The minute I started writing Book I of the Blood Rose Trilogy, PIECES OF SKY, the characters became my family.  And even though the mismatched romance between a hard-bitten rancher caught in a blood feud (Brady) and a pregnant English hat maker (Jessica) is central to the story, I wanted to put equal emphasis on other aspects of their characters—past mistakes, regrets, fears as well as desires, not to mention the hardships of living in a harsh place (New Mexico Territory) during hard times (1868).  They had a lot to overcome to earn their HEA, and sex was only part of it.

 The same with Book 2, OPEN COUNTRY, when Brady’s brother, Hank, awakens after a train derailment to find himself married to a stranger (Molly), the father of two children he’s never met, and embroiled in a post Civil War conspiracy.  Dropping a rope on his reluctant wife was only half of his problem.  It wasn’t always a tiptoe through the sagebrush back then.  Those were tough times, and there was more going on than wardrobe choices and getting the heroine in bed.  (OK.  I could be wrong there.  Men haven’t changed that much.)  Even so, how many times do we need detailed instructions on how to fit tab B into slot A?

Relax.  There’s plenty of killing and cussing in my books, so I’m not a complete prude.  A realist, perhaps.  And maybe too visual, because the thought of watching two people I care about roll around in the hay makes me itch.  And seriously…how many of you could write a graphic sex scene without bursting into raucous laughter?  There’s something about a man’s bare bouncing butt—well, never mind. 

So.  How necessary are graphic sex scenes in western historical romance?  Do you prefer closed doors or open doors?  Do you find yourself skimming TO, or THROUGH the sex scenes?  Leave a comment and your name will be entered into a drawing for a sensual-but-non-sexually graphic copy of PIECES OF SKY and/or OPEN COUNTRY.  Thanks for dropping by, and especially thanks to PETTICOATS & PISTOLS for inviting a nearly almost semi-famous western romance author to stop in today.

I’m late to the party, but I finally signed up for Facebook. Somewhere in my travels to Walls and Like buttons, I ended up on a Fan Page for my all-time favorite TV series. Did anyone else watch Paradise? It was also called Guns of Paradise. It starred Lee Horsley as Ethan Allen Cord, a gunfighter who becomes responsible for his sister’s four children, and Sigrid Thornton as Amelia Lawson, a lady banker with smarts and great clothes.

I’m a total sucker when it comes to redeemed outlaws, and Ethan was classic. He gets in plenty of trouble, but mostly because his past keeps catching up with him. He has no idea how to raise his orphaned niece and nephews, but he does his best. And the romance!  The sparks that fly between Ethan and Amelia nearly caught the TV on fire.  Without a doubt, Ethan Allen Cord is my favorite TV western hero.

No. 2 on the list would be Johnny Madrid from Lancer.  The show was set in the San Joaquin Valley in the 1870s. It’s definitely an oldie, but it sure caught my little-girl imagination. The premise of the show involved two brothers returning to their father’s ranch. Scott Lancer was blond, a Harvard graduate and a Boston gentleman. Johnny Madrid was a rebel, drifter and gunslinger.  The actor who played Johnny Madrid was James Stacy. His life changed dramatically in 1973 when he was struck by a drunk driver while on his motorcycle. Tragically he lost his left arm and leg and his girlfriend was killed. He continued to act and was twice nominated for Emmy awards.

My No. 3 TV cowboy is from High Chaparral. Manolito was played by Henry Darrow. He was the brother-in-law of John Cannon, the owner of a ranch called the High Chaparral. The series was set in Arizona Territory in the 1870s. What I remember most is that Manolito had a bit of rebel in him. I’m detecting a pattern here . . . my favorite TV cowboys are all bad boys, rebels, gunfighters, etc..

There’s a tie for the No. 4 slot on my list.  Does anyone remember The Quest with Kurt Russell and Tim Matheson as brothers looking for their sister? The series only ran for 15 episodes, but I didn’t miss a single one.  Kurt and Tim played Morgan and Quentin Beaudine.  Morgan had lived with the Cheyenne for eight years and was also called Two Persons. Quentin was a physician from San Francisco. Together they were searching for their sister. The series ended in part because interest in westerns faded in the 1970s, but it also had the bad luck to run opposite Charlie’s Angels.

I’m giving the No. 5 slot to . . . Decisions! Decisions!  My first thought was Little Joe Cartwright from Bonanza.  It just doesn’t seem right to leave him off the list, but my real choice is Tom Hart from Broken Trail.  He’s not as retro as the first four picks, which is one of the things that appeals to me.  Broken Trail proved that westerns are still relevant. Honor, independence, courage and loyalty never go out of style.

I can think of a lot of shows I didn’t mention. Dr. Quinn is at the top of the list.  Then there’s The Virginian and Gunsmoke and The Rifleman.  I also loved pioneer-themed shows like The Monroes.

What shows would you add to the list?  Which characters were your favorites?  Westerns may be more retro than trendy, but I will always love them.