Howdy! WHITE EAGLE'S TOUCH -- one of my best selling books -- is currently being released newly in ebook format.  And since it's one of my favorites, I thought I'd tell you a little of the background that went in to the making of that book. I love this cover by the way.  WHITE EAGLE'S TOUCH starts with my love of a rather spoiled, head-strong heroine -- one who is really quite soft-hearted, but for reasons explained in the book, she harbors opinions that are far from flattering.  In the story, the heroine, Katrina, is blond-haired, stubborn, almost out of funds and demanding her inheritance in order that she might marry into royalty.  She has also grown up without ever knowing her parents -- who perished out West -- or her uncle, who holds the purse-strings to her inheritance. In other words, she has some reason to be spoiled, because she's grown up without love -- with a succession of nannies. There are problems -- mainly that her uncle will not release her funds until she comes West and parades her fiance for his approval.  I must admit that it really is a lot to ask of a young woman who has known only the comforts of New York City -- still it was rather fun to play with her outrage. Of coure her uncle doesn't show up at the scheduled rendevous -- he sends his friend -- who is almost like a son to him -- White Eagle -- to bring her to him. Of course the story goes on from there -- spoiled, rich-girl meets handsome, yet determined young Indian warrior. Now, the truth of the matter is that the character of Katrina was patterned after my daughter, Trina, who is definitely not blond.  Not that Trina is spoiled, but at the writing of this story, Trina was a teenager -- about nineteen, I believe -- and she definitely had her likes and dislikes.  Off to the side here is a picture of Trina with her daughter and my granddaughter, Lila.  But patterning the heroine after my daughter really gave me a deeper understanding of my character, Katrina's, personality -- it also helped me to love this character, even when she is at her wit's end. In writing this book, I often had pictures of clothing and what the heroine might have looked like at that time.  Off to the left here is a picture of that period's clothing.  I love this clothing, I must admit and sometimes wish we could go back to an age where women looked so very feminine.  Now this picture to the left really -- in my mind -- has the look of my heroine at this time.  A little bored, a little spoiled, always well dressed and trying to do the right thing -- although in the West, my heroine's efforts are sometimes clumsy and humorous -- as she tries to "fit in." As for the hero, another one of my loves -- I've always loved the hero, who brooks no argument, yet who is kind and generous -- and who is waiting patiently for the heroine to come to her senses. There is one scene in this book that I particularly like.  It was a scene where the hero, along with his friend concoct a scheme to send Katrina's fiance packing.  At the writing of this book, I had just the previous year, married my husband, Paul.  When I married Paul, however, I also discovered that he was extremely close to his brother, Bob -- this picture to the right isof Bob and Paul -- Paul is the one sitting down.  But his particular scene was about these two fellows and what they would do if they were there to rid themselves of this very unwanted person, and send him packing for home. Interestingly, that "friend" of White Eagle is Night Thunder who has a book of his own -- next in this series. To end I thought I'd show you a picture of the original cover for WHITE EAGLE'S TOUCH.  The reason I have to show you is that this cover is also one of my most favorite covers. Well, that's all for today.  I'm on the road and so might not be able to respond to every post, but I will be picking one blogger out to send a free book to. So come on in and leave a comment.    

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening! Thanks for joining me here today.  Let me say upfront that I will be giving away a free book today -- I'm experimenting with giving away ebooks -- so far I haven't figured it out, so I might still be giving away mass market books -- but I will be giving away another book to some blogger today -- so come on in and please leave a comment in order to enter the contest. I thought I'd tell you a bit about the writing of the book, PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN today.  This book has only recently been issued as an ebook -- and this cover is probably my favorite cover of all of these ebooks.  I love them all (the covers), but this one particularly touches my heart. PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN was a book that was written at a time in my life when things weren't going too well.  I've already blogged about the writing of GRAY HAWK'S LADY and how that book was written as I met and fell deeply in love with my husband, Paul.  Unfortunately PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN's story isn't quite so bright, I fear.  At this time in my life, I'd recently gone through a divorce and had returned to California where I hopped straight into a relationship that was anything but a good one.  However, I didn't realize that at the time, and so stayed in the relationship prehaps beyond what I should have. Believe it or not it was the writing of this book that opened my eyes to what my heart and mind were refusing to see.  (This is the book that I had written before I met and married my husband, Paul, whom I love so very much.) Off to the left here is a picture that was taken just a little bit later than this time period in my life -- I'm the one sitting down on the far right in the white jacket.  Anyway, back to my story.  I was in the middle of writing PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN and it wasn't going very well due to many different elements in my life that just weren't right.  But it was a scene near the beginning of the book that opened my eyes to what was going on around me.  I know that sounds funny, but I guess sometimes we don't always really realize things until it hits us square in the face.  In this very telling and important scene the heroine, Julia, is talking with her husband, Ken, in flashback, I believe.  In this scene Ken is saying some horrible things to Julia.  Really horrible -- and all those words came directly out of the mouth of this man who was in my life at that time.  Actually I had to go back and revise that scene because what was really said was doubly worse than what was written.  I edited it because I thought that it would probably seem unreal to others that someone could say such horrible things to another human being. Over to the right is another picture that was taken about that time (I don't have many pictures that were taken at this period in my life).  And this picture was taken almost a year later.  Anyway, back to my story.  It was the writing of that scene and the fact that my hero in the book, Neeheeowee, a friend of Julia's, was going to save her and bring love to her.  Not her husband, Ken -- a terrible man -- but rather Julia's friend from the past, Neeheeowee.  It was this realization and a few other incidents that happened around that time that decided me.  This relationship broke up very, very shortly after the writing of that scene.  Off to the left here is a picture taken about 2 years after the incidents that I am describing above -- this was taken at an RWA convention in Florida way back when -- and I'm here with friend, Catherine Snodgrass. Now you may wonder -- if this time period produced such a terrible example of mankind -- who did I pattern the hero after?  Here I was fresh out of a divorce, and having jumped into a soul-destroying relationship.  Well, similar to the heroine in the story, I had a friend at this time who was never unkind to me, who liked me and never judged me, and who always took my side in most everything.  Although never romanctically involved, the hero in the story took on many of the different characteristics of my friend.  Also at this time period in my life, my friend needed a friend, and I became that to him. In the story of PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN, both the hero, Neeheeowee (Proud Wolf -- translated literally "Wolf on the Hill") and the heroine, Julia, bring a better life to each other through happenstance, through love and through commitment to their friendship, which in the story, itself, becomes a deep, lasting love.  When I first saw this ebook cover of PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN, I was so struck by how this cover brought this story to life.  For me this cover says more than mere words what is felt between these two courageous people in this story.  It's sometimes said that truth is stranger than fiction -- and for me this was really true in the writing of this book.  I was certain no one would ever believe the terrible words that were thrown at Julia in the story -- and although I wrote them word-for-word originally, I went back after I'd finished writing the book, and edited them so that another might actually believe that a man might say such things. This was a major book for me -- a book that completely helped to open my eyes.  It was also a book that aided me in envisioning a true love -- if only because in this book, both the hero and heroine discover a love that had always been there, but had gone unnoticed because of their different cultures. Well, that's all for today.  I really hope that you've enjoyed the blog today, sad though it is.  But perhaps it's not so sad, since it was the writing of this book that opened my heart to the fact that there could be so much more to life and to love.  Please don't forget that I do have about 7 new to ebooks on sale at the moment -- and here is the link to go and see all these beautiful and wonderful new covers that Samhain Publishing has done.  They are works of art.  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/karen-kay-pa-1676.html Please do come on in an leave a comment.

In the late 1950’s, Helen Cordero was 45 years old, and the mother of six children.  She and her cousin’s wife, Juanita, had been doing bead and leather work to sell to the tourists who came to Cochiti Pueblo, south of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Both women were skilled artisans, but the leather and beads were so costly that there was little profit to be gained from selling their handiwork. “Why don’t you make pottery?” their grandmother suggested.  “You don’t have to buy anything.  Mother Earth gives it all to you.” Juanita was already an accomplished potter.  But Helen had to learn, and it was a struggle.  After six months of practice, her pots still didn’t look right.  That was when Juanita suggested she try making figures. “It was like a flower blooming,” Helen was to say later.  Small frogs, birds, animals and eventually little people came to life.  The first time she showed them at a festival a collector bought them all and ordered more, including a 250-piece Nativity set. In 1964, Helen was asked to make a larger figure with children.  Some potters were making mother and child figures, but Helen wanted something different.  She thought of her grandfather, one of the great Pueblo storytellers and preservers of tradition.  She remembered his voice and made her first storyteller figure a portrait of him, with his five grandchildren.  One of those grandchildren is Helen. Helen Cordero, honored as a Santa Fe Living Treasure, passed away in 1994.  Today more than three hundred potters in thirteen pueblos have created storytellers—men, women, animals, birds and mythical figures.   I saw my first storyteller at Acoma Pueblo in the early 1990’s.  I loved it so much that I bought it from the potter, a wonderful artist named Peggy Garcia.  My little storyteller is a woman with five children, beautifully fashioned and painted.  I gave it to my mother, whose 45 years of teaching elementary school made her a true storyteller.  Now that she’s gone I have it back.  It sits on my shelf, carefully anchored, as I write this.  I wish I had a photo to show you.  Here’s a similar example of Peggy’s work. (For the information about Helen Cordero, I credit an article by Pamela Michaelis.) Who are the storytellers in your family?  Maybe you’re one of them.

Howdy! Well, I thought we might do something just a little different today.  Dreamy cover model Jason Baca is with us today -- he won't be here to answer questions personally, but he has said that he will be giving away a signed zed card to the winning commenter today.  I'll be doing a drawing later tonight. I'm one of those lucky people who has Jason on my mailing list -- and Jason has kindly consented to answer some questions that I put to him a few weeks ago.  Here's the interview, but first a bio:

 KK -- Wow!  That's great!  Jason, what do you like best about being a cover model?  And least?

 KK -- This is nice to know.  I believe that you do have some American Indian blood flowing through your veins.  What tribe are you?  And can you tell us a little about that?

 

KK -- Here's my next tough question:  It's my opinion that women have been seduced into the work force by those amongst us with hardly pleasant intentions toward us, thereby leaving the traditional roles of motherhood, wife and being the rock-steady force within the family to others.  Personally I feel this is a high price to pay simply because others wish to either destroy the family unit or to tax the 50% of the populations that prior to women going into the workforce, they could not tax -- see Aaron Russo's interview with Alex Jones on this subject.  Long lead up to "What do you think about women being in the work force?"

 

Jason - Really good points you make on this topic. I think today its a 50/50 thing between husband and wife. If they choose to have a child it doesn't mean the wife will be the one doing the childcare 100% of the time. It wouldn't be fair to her. See I don't have any children so I can't answer it straight. But this is how I look at things from a far.

 

Wow!  Well, that's all of the interview for today.   I hope you have all enjoyed this interview, and I hope you'll come in an leave a comment for Jason (and for me, too, if you would be so kind).  Don't forget, I have six different new to ebooks available at Samhain Publishing: 

http://store.samhainpublishing.com/karen-kay-pa-1676.html 

 

 Jason has said that he will give away a signed zed card for the winning commentor today!  So come on in and leave a comment!

Good Morning! Spring, plants, fresh grass, the smell of good earth and food gathering, and the reminder that the earth refreshes itself every year.  I once did a series on preparedness and different plants that one could eat, use for medicine and that sort of thing -- in truth, one can never be prepared enough in my consideration.  That said, let me take the time to say that there is much to be considered when talking about herbs, plants, food and medicine.  If ever the "powers that be" try to starve a section of the population -- pull up that series again.  Much of what I'm going to blog about today comes from the book by Fances Densmore, HOW INDIANS USE WILD PLANTS FOR FOOD, MEDICINE, & CRAFTS.  But let me start by quoting this section, because I found it fascinating:  From page 323 (the book starts on page 285):   "In the old days the Indians had few diseases, and so there was not a demand for a large variety of medicines.  A medicine man usually treated one special disease and treated it successfully.  He did this in accordance with his dream.  A medicine man would not try to dream of all herbs and treat all diseases, for then he could not expect to succeed in all nor to fulfill property the dream of any one herb or animal.    He would depend on too many and fail in all.  That is one reason why our medicine men lost their power when so many diseases cam among us with the advent of the white man."    This was said by a Sioux and is quoted in the book. And one more quote from the book:  "It is a teaching of the Midewiwin that every tree, bush, and plant has a use." This is the legend of Winabojo and the Birch Tree.  Winabojo was a human being who was mysterious and had many powers.  As the legend goes, Winabojo was taken by the Thunderbird to his nest, where Winabojo became a play object of the Thunderbird's children.  However, the Thunderbirds didn't realize their power and Winabojo became afraid that they would kill him with their play.  In order to escape them, he hid inside a fallen birch tree.  It saved his life because the Thunderbirds could not get to him so long as he hid beneath the "king-child," so called because the birch tree is their own child.  Winabojo stayed there until the Thunderbirds drifted away and Winabojo said, "As long as the world stands this tree will be a protection and benefit to the human race.  If they want to possess anything, they must wrap it in birch bark and it will not decay.  The bark of this tree will be useful in many ways, and when people want to take the bark from the tree, they must offer tobacco to express their gratitude."  -- From the book, HOW INDIANS USE WILD PLANTS FOR FOOD, MEDICINE & CRAFTS.  Now here's the interesting part:  Did you know that it is the birch tree that will stand off lightning during a storm?  If you stand beneath a birch tree during a storm, you will not be struck by lightning.  And did you know that the little "pictures" on the bark of the tree are pictures of the little thunderbirds?  Some localities contain more distinct pictures of these children -- but the next time you see a birch tree, look for these pictures right there on the bark of the tree. Over to the left here is Indian hemp or dogbane.  In the old days dogbane was used to ward off evil spells or "bad medicine."  It was also used as a remedy for headaches. Interestingly, although the Bible talks about witches, many people don't believe that they existed.  But the American Indian knew that they did, and had many remedies to counter-act the spells cast by those of evil intentions. Wild fruits and berries abounded on the Plains.  There were wild strawberries, the wild cherry, red currant, chokecherry, blackberry, raspberry, Juneberries -- "Take some Juneberries with you," is a saying with the Chippewa Indians.  There were wild grapes and blueberries, wild plum trees.  Most fruits and berries were either eaten raw or dried and often were eaten with fat and/or pounded dried buffalo and stored in bags -- this is what we know as pemmican. And did you know that the common milkweed was used as a vegetable.  The flowers were stewed after being cut up -- it's even reported that sometimes a man might eat this "preserve" before a feast, that he might be able to eat more.  We live in a land full of food, if we could only know it -- and one must really, really know it well because there are also plants and fruits in nature that are poisonous and one must be able to distinguish between the two.  But for the American Indian, who was trained from birth to know what was edible and what wasn't, the world was full of mystery, food, and adventure.  Is it any wonder, then, that the American Indian would venture out into the world with nothing on him but the clothes on his back and his weapons.  When one knows what to look for in Nature, Nature does provide.   Did you know that my books are filled with little bits of the American Indian culture and wisdom as told to me by elders of the tribe, and also from books?  At present I have six ebooks at Samhain that are sold for almost a song at this link:  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/karen-kay-pa-1676.ht Be sure to order your copy of one today!

Good Morning (or afternoon or evening)! Well, it's time for me to give away a book, so come on in and leave a comment and you'll be entered into the book-getting contest. With the release of GRAY HAWK'S LADY (in just a few days), here's a link to find out more:  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/karen-kay-pa-1676.html?PHPSESSID=e42437db2cd57ca12b4eda0212e79f5d -- I thought I might again give a bit of the story behind the story.  In my last blog, I told how the characters took on a life of their own that was inspired by my own love life at the time (I met and married my husband while I was writing this book.)  But there was more behind the story -- thus, I thought I'd give a little more background. Because this story is about a lady who captures an Indian (in order to study his language -- and help her father, of course), I wanted to pick a character from a tribe of Indians who at that time was known as the "Tigers of the Plains."  The tribe was the Blackfeet, who were so ferocious at the time, and were such good fighters, they kept their homeland pristine pure for quite a while.  White men thought twice before they ventured into Blackfeet territory. But I knew so very little about Montana, and I was determined to get to know much about it so that I could write realistically about it.  The picture to the right is of myself and my brother-in-law -- deep in Montana territory -- the Plains (note the mountain etched in the background). My husband is from Montana and I was so very, very interested in Montana, that we honeymooned not only in Montana, but on the Blackfeet reservation.  It was the first time I had stepped foot in Montana in this life. Here's a picture of my husband on our honeymoon, there in Montana -- very close to the Blackfeet reservation -- and over to the right is a picture of me at the same time -- same mountain range.  As I'm sure you can probably guess, I fell in love with Montana, and in truth, if we could possible do so, we would live there.  Now, of course, I have gone to Montana numerous times -- usually every couple of years, I journey to Montana and to the Blackfeet reservation -- if only to keep in touch with friends. There is a beauty to the landscape, a feeling of freedom of spirit that is hard to capture when one lives in a city.  I once read a book by James Willard Schultz who wrote about the open country, the open prairie, while always there were the mountains  in the distance.  I know now what he meant.  I've toured in Montana (the entire State).  I've helped on the Blackfeet reservation with literacy, have gone back time and time again because the truth it, I've fallen in love with Montana.  I'm going to close this post with several pictures from different times when I've been in Montana either visiting family -- my husband is from Montana -- or visiting the Blackfeet.  The pictures are of myself, my husband and Toni Running Fisher, a good friend of ours.  The picture above is me at a stream.  The ones on the left and below are of my husband, also at a stream and on the Plains of Montana. I hope you've enjoyed this little picture tour of a country I love very much.  And please while you're at it, please don't forget I have 5 books for sale right now -- all ebooks:  LAKOTA SURRENDER  --  LAKOTA PRINCESS  --  PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN  --  GRAY HAWK'S LADY  --  WHITE EAGLE'S TOUCH.  You can get them for almost a song here:  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/karen-kay-pa-1676.html?PHPSESSID=e42437db2cd57ca12b4eda0212e79f5d Come on in and leave a comment, okay?   

Good Morning or Afternoon or Evening, whenever you're joining us! I'm filling in for Stacey today and in thinking over my post, I thought I'd perhaps tell you a bit of a story within a story.  Since GRAY HAWK'S LADY is being released now (soon to be released) for the first time in ebooks, I thought I'd give a little bit of the back story behind the making of this book -- if only because it's near and dear to me and I'm thinking you might perhaps enjoy it. Believe it or not, the story starts with a kiss.  But let me backtrack.  I had in 1992-1993 gone through a divorce and came back to California, because I've considered it home ever since I was 18 and fell in love with it.  Unfortunately for me, I jumped right into a relationship that was very bad for...many reasons.  After that relationship, I wanted nothing to do with men, love, marriage again.  Sigh... The year was now 1995 and I was on my own and definitely enjoying being on my own.  One of my best friends (whom I had known since 1970) was pushing me to go on a blind date.  I didn't want to go and I told her I wanted nothing to do with men, relationships, marriage, dating...nothing... But she insisted and I found my self consenting to one date.  That was in January of 1996.  I had a book due to my publisher in July of 1996, but had plenty of time to write it and had, indeed, started writing it when I went on this first date. So off I went on this first ever in my life blind date.  The gentleman picked me up at my house and I noticed he was wearing cowboy boots and being very interested in the West and Cowboys and Indians, this was great.  He was also born and raised in Montana, and I was very interested in Montana since the story of GRAY HAWK' S LADY was to take place in Montana. The date was okay.  We went out to eat, but I was left with the impression that he wasn't really interested in me.  So, I put it behind me.  He never called, never asked me back out and never told me what was happening and so eventually, just to end my wondering about it, I called my friend, told her I was sorry it hadn't worked out and ... well, so long sort of thing.  To my surprise she wouldn't let it go -- I had just wanted to put it behind me.  She said, "Oh, no, he's really interested in you."  and I said, "Oh, no, I don't think so.  Let's just put the whole thing behind us."  And she said, "No, I'm sure he really liked you." So she called his brother, who then talked to him, and the upshot of it all was that Paul then called me and asked me for another date.  Well, it had been an okay first date, I thought, and he was a nice gentleman and perhaps we could be friends, I thought.  So I accepted. Little did I know what was in store.  On the second date, we were both more relaxed, held hands, and I thought, okay, we'll be friends.  He took me home, walked me to the door and just as I was about ready to go inside, he took me in his arms and kissed me.  Now, it was quite some kiss.  He meant it. And I was more than ready to receive it.   His hands caressed my cheeks, my eyes, my face, my hair, my neck. It went on and on and on, and when he was done, I felt a little drunk.  I think I stared at him and for the first time, I said to myself, "Who is this man?"  Indeed, I wanted more. Well, that was that.  We had a date the next week, and within 2-3 weeks, I had moved in with him and we were married in May 1996.  Our first date was February 3rd 1996.  So it definitely was a whirlwind romance. Now you may be wondering what this has to do with the book, GRAY HAWK'S LADY.  Well, a lot, I'm afraid.  I was in the middle of writing that book, and I fell so deeply in love with this man, who is now my husband, that of course that love was written all over the printed pages of GRAY HAWK'S LADY.  That first kiss and my emotional reaction to it is recorded in that work.  Also, my gradual coming to understand that this man was the most important man in my life is in that book.  His calmness, his teasing, his care...it's all written there as I fell head over heels in love. Did I mention that my earring (the night of that first kiss) fell off -- and I have pierced ears!... In May of this year, we will have been married 16 years.  Interestingly enough I still have the pictures of our wedding on my website www.novels-by-KarenKay.com -- can't bring myself to take them down, even though 16 years more or less have gone by now.  People sometimes write to me and congratulate me on my recent marriage -- and I smile.  To me, in many ways, it does seem like a recent marriage, as I fall in love with this man all over again every day. I love this man with all my heart -- and as the years have gone by, that love grows and grows and grows.   He stole my heart with that first kiss and that love goes on and on and on.  (I'll knock on wood here.)  As the -- gee, was it the Ronettes that once sang the song, "And Then He Kissed Me," --  it has always seemd to me that it started with that kiss.    Ah, sweet! I hope you've enjoyed the blog today and I hope you'll come in and leave a message.  And please don't forget I have several books on sale right now, LAKOTA SURRENDER, LAKOTA PRINCESS and PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN.  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/karen-kay-pa-1676.html?PHPSESSID=6c95d8d5491a741a6376af7dabc15511                  

Good Morning! Probably some of you have been to pow-wows and have heard the music of Native America.  Some might think of music in Native America as nothing more than drums and wooden flutes.  But there is so much more to the music and to the songs of our First Americans.  For a start, let's have a look at Native American songs.  Interestingly, though many Native American songs are like any other song, there are different considerations that attach themselves to Indian songs. Here’s a good place to start, where you can listen to some pow-wow music — the drum (this is a group — called the drum — it’s usually several men who sit around a drum and drum and sing — it is called simply a drum) for the opening song is Thunder Hill — but you can listen to some different drums, as well.  Here’s the link:  www.gatheringofnations.com/music/thunder_morning.htm This is a picture of a drum.  Some people might say “drum group,” but the usual language is simply “drum.”  Off to the right here is a  picture of a young man dancing.  These pictures were gotten,by the way, from the 26th Annual Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque.  The photographer is Derek Mathews. Here’s a video/music of round dance music — if you want to go and have a look:  www.youtube/watch?v=75TWwbdelFI And here’s some incredible pictures of some of the singers in different drums.  Many of these songs are passed down from generation to generation.  Some, however, are new.  Here’s some more pictures of these incredible singers.  All of these pictures,by the way were taken by Le Andra Peters andis from the website www.gatheringofnations.com Here’s some more pow-wow music:  www.gatheringofnations.com/music/GON-25.htm Now, just a little bit of info about Indian songs.  This is from the book, The Indian How Book by Author C. Parker, who lived amongst the Indians.  Every song has a purpose and no one sings outright for fear of awakening spirits that are attracted to the song you’re singing.  The scales didn’t necessarily follow what we know of as the chromatic scale, which follow our string instruments, more or less.  But songs were owned and no one could sing another’s song without permission. Many of the songs made you want to get up and dance — and dance and dance.  Once again, referring to Arthur C. Parker and his book, The Indian How Book, he says, “It may be that these old Indians were pagans, whatever that word may mean, but certainly they knew how to make men feel that there was a Great Spirit in whom we lived and moved and had our being.  Oddly enough, I have known white men and women, who felt the same way about the songs of the red people, and they have returned again and again to the councils of the Indians to drink in this feeling of mystery, this sense of unseen powers. Below are some pictures of my own dancing at pow-wows.  It seems like forever since I've been to a pow-wow, but oh, how I love to dance, when I  do get to attend.  Something about the music gets into your soul and before you know it, you’re out there with the other dancers, dancing your cares away.   Hope you’ve enjoyed my blog today.  And now for a little picture tour of the books that I have out and ones that are soon to be released.  LAKOTA SURRENDER, LAKOTA PRINCESS, PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN and GRAY HAWK'S LADY  are all on sale and if you hurry, you can pick up an ebook copy of PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN and GRAY HAWK'S LADY for a song.  Here's the link:  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/karen-kay-pa-1676.html and here's the cover copy tour...  Come on in and let's chat -- by the way, please go back if you please and look at the winner's of last week's books.  I still haven't heard from you and I do need an email from you both in order to know where to send the books.  Thanks!  Come on in and let's chat!

In delving into the history of the American West, I've often come across some quite unusual stories...facts.   Some of these stories are  "stranger than fiction," and so is this story I'm about to tell you. This is a true story, even if highly extraordinary.  It concerns an unusual man, a man who was born on the expedition and was the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  That man was Baptisle Chareonneau, Sacagawea's baby.  I should probably post a note here that I'll be giving away a book to some lucky blogger today. In 1804-1806, Sacagawea, as we might remember, accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition into the West.  She was the only woman on the journey and Baptisle was the only child.  He was born in 1805 in the Minnetaree Village on the Knife River,  just a few miles below the Mandan Village on the Missouri.   His birth was noted by Lewis as February 11, 1805.  Baptiste's father was a French trader who had won Sacagewea in a gambling wager in a Minnetaree Village, and because he could speak the language of the Indians, he engaged on the expedition, thus bringing his wife along with him, although she was with child. It's said by historians that Baptiste inherited his mother's sunny disposition, her intelligence and attractive features.  Captain Clark was particularly fond of him and called him, "my little dancing boy, and also as "my boy, Pomp," from Pomp's tower.  Indeed, Captain Clark had become to so fond of the little boy, that he begged his parents to let him take the boy, whereupon he promised to raise him as his own.  Baptiste's parents declined, but over the years, Clark apparently did enter both Baptiste and his older, half-brother into school. Now, here's where the story gets really interesting.  In 1823 (Baptiste would have been 18), he was introduced to Prince Paul of Wurtemberg, Germany.  The prince was twenty-six and he had come to America in search of scientific information.  It was at the mouth of the Kaw or Kansas River that the two were introduced and a fast friendship began between the two.  Indeed, the prince declared in his written diary in 1829 that he "hunger(ed) for the vast silent places and the simple life among free unaffected children of nature."  Prince Paul offered to bring Baptiste with him back to Germany, where he promisedt to educated the lad and to tour the European continent.  Captain Clark, who by now was like a father to Baptiste, agreed, and so on November 3, 1823. Baptiste began his journey to Europe with Prince Paul. For six years, Baptiste lived the life of a prince.  He lived in a castle in a beautiful woodland setting, he learned many different languages, including  German, English, Spanish and French,   He was instructed in the arts and social graces of the court and Baptiste was the companion of Prince Paul for all those years, developing a fast, fast friendship.  Here's where the story gets even stranger. To the left is a picture of Prince Paul.  In 1829 Baptiste and Prince Paul returned to America.  Here somewhere along the route, Prince Paul and Baptiste parted, never to see each other again.  Baptiste went on to become a mountain man and a scout for various private and governmental parties.  Why the two friends parted remains a mystery, as none of Prince Paul's published works mention the affair.  It is, however, speculated that their separation was less than amicable. To the right here is a painting of Baptiste.  The mystery of Baptiste became highly enigmatic since he never again corresponded with Prince Paul, nor did he keep a diary.  However, because Baptiste went on to be one of the best scouts the West has ever known, we have learned of him from the writings of travelers at that time. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Baptiste's life is that he neither married, nore produced heirs, and this in a land where a man could easily have taken more than one wife or mistress. What happened?  Why did he suddenly cut all ties to the prince in Europe?  Had he fallen in love with some princess, only to be dismissed out of hand because he lacked any real royal standing?  Perhaps.  My asking this question led me to write the story of THE PRINCESS AND THE WOLF, which is still available for purchase.   The book cover is off to the side.  It's one of the strangest stories that I uncovered in my research into the West and the many legends   What do you think?  Why did the Prince and Baptiste, who had been fast friends for six years -- had toured together, learned together, hunted together -- why did they separate, never to see one another again?  Come on in and tell me your ideas. And don't forget I have three books on sale right now at http://store.samhainpublishing.com/karen-kay-pa-1676.html -- LAKOTA SURRENDER, LAKOTA PRINCESS and PROUD WOLF'S WOMAN. Order your ebook copy of it today!

Good Morning, or afternoon (or evening)! I'll be traveling to Arizona in March to an RWA meeting, where I'll be speaking, and thinking of Arizona reminded me of -- well, I guess it's a ghost story or maybe a treasure hunt story -- a true one -- one whose drama took place in the superstitious mountains.  It was this very true story by the way, that served as the inspiration for one of my books, LONE ARROW'S PRIDE. Here's the original art work that was done for this book -- originally published by AVON/HarperCollins Publishers.  Now, my husband and my brother-in-law were at one time miners, and when they told me this story, I knew it would find it's way into a book -- and it did.  The story of LONE ARROW'S PRIDE doesn't take place in Arizona, however.  I brought the story instead to the Wyoming/Montana area -- to the Bighorn Mountains and to America's "Stonehedge," which sets up atop a 10,000 foot mountain.  But back to the true story of the Superstitious Mountains. As I'm sure you know, in Arizona there is a mountain range called the Superstitious Mountains, which sits just outside of Phoenix.  Some of you might be familiar with the legend of the Lost Dutchman's gold mine.  Some may not.  But bear with me. There are many, many miners who go into the Superstitious Mountains today, hunting for the Lost Dutchman gold mine.  Many years ago stones were found, upon which was written some hieroglyphics thought to be part of a map.  Many of these stones were discovered all over the Superstitious Mountains and all of them were thought to be part of a map that would lead others to the Lost Dutchman's gold mine.  Today those stones are on display in a bank where all can see them and try to discern where the gold mine is. What is not generally known, however, is that many hundreds of years previous, there were Jesuit priests in these mountains.  They befriended the Indians, and managed to get the Indians to bring them gold from these mountains, whereupon the Jesuit priests made artifacts out of the gold.  Many, many artifacts. There priests were recalled to Spain.  Most of them refused to go and so Spain sent an army into the Southwest to drive the priests home.  The priests got word of the oncoming army and, deciding not to let the army get their gold, nor take the gold back to Spain where it would most likely be claimed by the king, they hid their treasure. It was the Jesuit priests who etched the map on the stones in hieroglyphics and left these stones in fairly inconspicuous places, thinking to come back and collect the gold at a later date, perhaps. Recently miners have found, after using the stones on display, and digging about twenty-two feet deep in these mountain, two crosses with more hieroglyphics on them. To date, neither the Lost Dutchman's mine, nor the stash of gold from the Jesuit priests has been found.  Added to this is the fact that the Indians believed that the Thunder God lived in the Superstitious Mountains and in fact, up until the late nineteenth century, no one was able to go into the mountains and mine the gold without great risk to their lives.  Any white person found in the mountains was at once killed. Another interesting fact is that earlier on, two brothers got word of the mines in those mountains and were mining one that they had found.  They made two succesful trips into the mountains and obtained a great deal of gold.  On the third trip they were discovered by the Indians.  And so the brothers loaded up all of their gold and put it into bags, which they tied onto their mules. Of course, these two brothers were found and killed by the Indians, but the mules were let go, still carrying the bags of gold.  The last bag of gold to be found was in the 1920's or 30's (I forget which), and contained gold to the amount of approximately $12,000 at that time -- today the find would have been close to half a million dollars. So the question is:  Has anyone ever found the Lost Dutchman's Mine?  Not to my knowledge. Has anyone discovered the gold that was hidden by the Jesuit priests?  Not that we know of.  But I would have to ask you this question.  If you were there and you found it, would you tell anyone? I'm not too certain that I would.  Would you? Don't forget to pick up your copy of the new ebooks, LAKOTA SURRENDER and LAKOTA PRINCESS at:  http://www.samhainpublishing.com/retro-romance.htm