I’m back in my writing comfort zone!
It seems like whenever I take a break and write about somewhere else, I long to go back. So, that’s exactly what I’ve done.
In this new series, The Belle Fourche Chronicles, The Johlman and Douglas families are feuding over a lush valley about an hour outside of town. Both feel they have claim to it and both families try to rout out the other.
In book one, we meet the Johlmans, and specifically, the second son Gideon. I really enjoyed writing him because he has all the tendencies of a second born son. He listens and is attentive, is good at following his father’s orders and he knows he’s not going to inherit, but works hard.
But that’s not the main thing I learned while writing this story. I got back to my roots in more ways than one.
I learned about sheep. You see, the Johlmans live on a sheep ranch while the Douglas family raise cattle. The valley they both want would provide exceptional pasture land. The Johlmans own it for now, but we’ll see how long they can keep their hold.
When I was very young, about age 5, my family raised sheep. Writing this book reminded me of so many things I experienced as a young girl.
I remember bringing lambs into the house and bottle feeding them. They would make so much noise! I remember “lamb boxes” with blankets where those lambs would be kept for a few days until they were strong enough to go back outside.
Most of my research didn’t end up in the book, however, because a romance just doesn’t need to know what goes in on a barn, generally speaking. But I do love having an excuse to broaden my knowledge.
I learned, and was surprised to know, that sheep used to be one of the largest income producers in South Dakota, only surpassed by cattle (as far as livestock). Cattle is still king in the area.
Another thing I learned that was fascinating about sheep ranching is that it was remarkably similar to cattle ranching. They used dogs for both herding and protection and the ranchers often rode out on horseback to check on sheep or do other chores. This was unexpected, I never equated raising sheep with needing a wrangler, but I found that to be a misconception.
I’ll leave you with one last bit of information. The tools used for sheering sheep then were obviously much different from what they are now. Prior to electric sheers, they used a model that looked similar to a sewing scissors only wider and certainly more sinister. I hate to think how closely and how quickly they would have to shave a sheep with these. I’m glad I didn’t have to do it!
To a Brighter Tomorrow is the first book in the Brothers of Belle Fourche series and releases on February 25th! It’s on a special discount preorder price right now, you can grab it HERE
Where western meets happily ever after.
Kari writes swoony heroes and places that become characters with detail and heart.
Her favorite place to write about is the place her heart lives, (even if she doesn't) South Dakota.
Kari loves reading, listening to contemporary Christian music, singing when no one's listening, and curling up near the wood stove when winter hits. She makes her home in central Minnesota, land of frigid toes and mosquitoes the size of compact cars, with her husband of over twenty years. They have two daughters, two sons, one cat, and one hungry wood stove.
This sounds good. I enjoyed the Brothers of Belle Fourche.
I’m so glad! These are much longer, each book is more than twice as long (full novel length) so the should be stories you can really sink your teeth into. 🙂
That’s so interesting about sheep ranching. Love learning new things.
Me too! My degree is in psychology because I love research…I never ended up making a career out of psychology, but I did learn how to dig for facts!
Hubs family has had sheep for many years – after son completed 4-H we got rid of all of them – they are a lot of work and yes have used sheep shears many times – llamas were our guard animals!
I bet llamas helped a lot! They are a lot of work and I think that’s the main reason my parents sold them all off when I was so young. My brother was about 2, they were both working full time… The sheep weren’t an income for us, so they sold them. But I still have an attachment to sheep.
Kari, interesting post and interesting premise for a book. I read, write and WATCH Westerns, and it’s interesting how the cattle ranchers looked down on the sheepherders, I still have no idea why. Same reason they looked down on the homestead farmers, I guess. There always has to be a pecking order.
Research is like salt, you have to spread it evenly.
Kathy Bailey
Very true. I think cattle ranchers saw land as money because it takes so much more land to graze a cow than it does a sheep. They probably thought sheep operations were a waste of resources.
Good morning, Kari! Your blog brought back memories of when I was writing my Harlequin Historicals THE CATTLEMAN’S UNSUITABLE WIFE (now re-released for Kindle.) The cattlemen hated sheep, and of course, my heroine raised them. The sheep grazed the grass down to dirt, which left none for the cattle. I can see why that would be a problem. 🙂
Oh, those shears. I can’t imagine using them on a wiggly animal. I’ll guess more than one cut poked and sliced!
I haven’t read that one yet…dashing off to grab it now 😀
Those sheers certainly look menacing.
This sounds good!! I would hate to use those shears for anything!
I wouldn’t either. I would bet that skill took a long time to learn and sheep’s wool isn’t like hair, the belly would be somewhat matted and dirty… I just can’t imagine trying to get those safely over a sheep’s skin. That has to be the whole reason clippers were invented.
I have helped shear sheep very recently. Those old museum shears are quiet and don’t scare our sheep so that’s what we still use.
I hadn’t thought of that. I read that they actually relax once they are on their back for a minute, but I don’t know if that’s true and I’d bet it certainly not true with the noise of the clipper.
So neat you have those early memories of raising sheep! It amazing about cattle and sheep, and the old grudges between cattlemen and sheep growers. I learned a lot about that when I researched my Pendleton Petticoats series. And those shears! Oh, my!
Right? They’re really nasty looking. Grudges are so tough to understand because it seems like so often are not based in fact, only emotion.
I have seen sheep sheared with scissors similar to these. Pretty impressive
There are probably videos on Youtube, but I didn’t want to fall down that rabbit hole, LOL
Hi, your book sounds like a great read and I love your book cover! Wow, this is so very interesting, and yep, I bet they used to have to use the scissors pretty close to the sheets skin and they probably had to be pretty fast shearing them with scissors. Thank you for sharing this, I enjoyed reading it and learning at the same time. Have a great week and stay safe.
Alicia, Thank you! I love my cover designer. She’s pretty amazing. I would think they would have to get fairly close to the sheep’s skin which would scare me. I hope you have a great week too. 🙂
I’ve never been around sheep, so your article was very interesting for me. I would think that shearing a sheep would be a very challenging job!
Thank you! I would think so too, I think I’d be too afraid to try.
It is interesting how things come back to us after many years, sometimes when we least expect it. You think of one thing and the memories start coming. In this case, it certainly seems to have been a big help for your new series. You can research topics, but nothing beats first hand experience, There are nuances and feelings that you won’t find in resource books. I am sure you sheep raising experiences will make these richer books. This should be a good series.
Thank you! I certainly hope so. 🙂
Fascinating post, Kari!
Thank you so much for sharing. As a child, my adopted grandfather had sheep. I was able to be at the farm one day when he sheared the sheep. I felt so sorry for the sheep. My grandfather explained that it did not hurt the sheep, but they felt much better after all the wool was sheared off. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.