Lacy Williams Has a Tribute to Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

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There was a stretch of my childhood when nothing — not schoolwork, not chores, not swimming or playing — got in the way of watching Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman with my family. Weeknight episodes were a whole event at our house. Everybody had a spot on the couch. Nobody was allowed to talk during the good parts. And there were a lot of good parts.

It was shows like this (along with a lot of books from the library) that inspired how I write. Including book 6 in my Wagon Train Matches series, LOVE’S HEALING PATH.

What if Sully was a doctor instead?

If you watched the show, you remember exactly what I mean when I say Sully “loved with his hands before he ever loved with his words.” He didn’t announce his feelings. He showed up. He built things, fixed things, stood guard outside the door without being asked. You knew how he felt about Dr. Mike long before he did, because the show let you watch him fall while she was still too busy running a medical practice and a household to notice.

My hero Doc Jason Goodwin is a lot like Sully. Jason has grief in his past, like Sully. He puts up a lot more walls than Sully. And he’s protective like Sully. Wildfire, bear attack, explosion… he’s there to protect Maddie even before he realizes why he can’t stay away from her.

A trio of orphans shows up.

Dr. Mike takes in the three Cooper children — Colleen, Matthew, and Brian — after their mother dies. It’s a major part of the show: a woman who didn’t plan on becoming a mother, doing it anyway, imperfectly, because nobody else would.

In Love’s Healing Path, Maddie makes a deathbed promise to a dying woman on the wagon train and ends up raising three — two boys and a baby girl. Maddie has good instincts, but with two ornery boys around, of course things go wrong. It takes her awhile to find her feet, but she gets there by the end of the book.

There are some other parallels in my book, there’s the caregiver who has to earn the right to be taken seriously (Dr. Mike fighting a town that didn’t believe a woman could doctor, Maddie fighting a physician who didn’t believe an untrained healer’s knowledge was worth anything). There’s real frontier danger. And there’s that particular feeling the show always gave me: safe. Good. The kind of story you could watch with your whole family and not worry about what came next.

That last part matters most to me, honestly. Because a few years ago, I introduced my own kids to Dr. Quinn. I wasn’t sure it would hold up — but they love it. They ask for “one more episode” the same way I used to beg my parents.

If you loved that show, I think you’ll feel right at home in Love’s Healing Path. And if you’ve never seen it — well, maybe start there too. I promise the couch spot is worth fighting for.

Maddie Fairfax may be young, but on this Oregon-bound wagon train, the pioneers welcome help from the self-trained nurse. Until Dr. Jason Goodwin joins up with their company. The doctor portrays a frosty exterior, but Maddie may be the only one who sees the profound loneliness that haunts him.

After losing his wife and children in a terrible accident, Jason has vowed not to open his heart again. But when Maddie takes on the care of three young orphans, Jason finds himself entangled in the lives of the makeshift family. And as their journey west continues, Maddie’s radiant compassion begins to light up the darkest corners of his heart.

Until the unthinkable happens. Will Jason’s guarded heart and Maddie’s untamed spirit pull them apart? 

  Click here for E-Book

 Click Here for paperback edition

About the Author

With multiple hits on the USA Today and Publishers’ Weekly bestseller lists and more than 1 million copies sold, Lacy Williams has won the hearts of readers worldwide with her heartwarming romances set in the rugged beauty of the American West. A proud Oklahoman, she balances writing with the joyful chaos of raising four children and snuggling her fur babies. Find bonus content at https://www.lacywilliams.net.

 

********GIVEAWAY*********

Today I’m giving away a paperback copy of Love’s Healing Path and a $25 Amazon gift card to one winner. Leave a comment to be entered. Tell me if you had a favorite show from your childhood and what you loved about it. Thanks for chatting with me today!

********GIVEAWAY*********

NEW RELEASE–THE HEARTS MOST WANTED–AND A GIVEAWAY

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This has been an exciting and hectic year for me writing-wise.

Re-releasing older books and now a new one. I’m at 8 books releasing this year. Crazy and fun.

The new one is book #2 in the Rocky Mountain Marshals Series.

I do NOT have my author’s copies yet but soon. So maybe I’ll get them in time so you get YOUR copy (if you win) before the book releases.

The Hearts Most Wanted

When a mysterious threat follows their every step, can two wounded hearts find refuge and love?

US Marshal Morgan Sawyer rides into the treacherous Rocky Mountains on a mission to find fellow Marshal Tex, who vanished while they were escorting a dangerous prisoner. But ranchwoman Roz Beck insists on riding beside him, despite Morgan’s protests. Joined by newlyweds Owen and Delaney, and Roz’s young son, they push deep into the wilderness.

Widowed Roz was wounded in love when her now-deceased husband abandoned her, leaving her alone to raise a child. While her heart longs for love, for her son’s sake, she’ll settle for a man she trusts like Morgan, her childhood friend. When a shadowy figure begins prowling the search party’s camp at night, the group realizes that something more than the wilderness poses a threat to their quest of bringing Tex to safety. Will the looming danger strengthen Morgan and Roz’s growing feelings and faith in each other, or will it be their breaking point?

With outlaws, a rugged hero, and a spirited heroine, Mary Connealy presents another action-packed Old West historical romance. For fans of second chance romance, frontier journeys, and hi-jinks in the Colorado wilderness.

It’s coming October 6…so very soon. 

I LOVE that cover with the cowboy on the horse. I don’t think I’ve had many horses on my covers. It seems so obvious, and yet…not many. Look at the trees in the back ground. it’s autumn in the Rockies and it’s autumn (all most) here. I’ve seen the first signs of trees changing color and the first semi-cool nights after a long, hot summer.

So does anyone have a comment about all the re-releases? Have you forgotten there is still new work? I love having these books gain new life, but I don’t like doing anything that detracts from the new books. What do you think? Are you overloaded with Mary Connealy books? Or do you read a new book a month by authors you love no problem?

Let me know.

Leave a comment about books that come fast, to get your name in the drawing for a signed copy of The Hearts Most Wanted.

https://www.maryconnealy.com/

Lacy Williams is Returning on Friday!

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The Fillies are excited to welcome Lacy Williams back on Friday, September 18, 2026!

She’s going to tell how Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman inspired the books and series she writes. Oh man, I really loved Sully! That man could get my heart racing big time. I thought he was really handsome. My donkey Casper is rolling his eyes.

Miss Lacy is offering one autographed copy of Love’s Healing Path plus a gift card to one commenter.

Just shake the wrinkles out of your bustle and get yourself over here on Friday. Leave a comment to get in the drawing.

So God Made a Farmer

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A month ago, I learned from my father’s doctor that Dad has diastolic heart failure.

Dad is 95. Living alone. More than three hours away from me.

The doctor said the safest place for Dad was in assisted living care.

So, in a whirlwind that now seems like a blur, I set up tours at several facilities, asked people for recommendations, and found what we hope will be a wonderful place for Dad.

Everyone we’ve met at the assisted living facility we chose – from the residents to the staff – are so friendly and welcoming.

Still, it was hard to leave Dad in his room there and return home last week.

That move has made me think about Dad’s life. The things that have come and gone, all the variety of things that had changed in his many years of living.

Even though we had to downsize a lot of things in the move, we brought a little bit of the farm with us to his new room at the assisted living facility, and we chose a John Deere theme for his decorations.

You can watch the before and after transformation of his room here if you like.

My dad came from a long line of farmers. In his high school yearbook under the line that asks what he planned to be, he simply listed a farmer.

And it’s what he did.

dad on combine

He and my mother married young, moved away from their families, and worked on a variety of farms and ranches until they saved enough money to buy their own farm.

They lived on that land for fifty-one years.

Daddy worked hard and expected all of us to give our best as well. He was most often up long before the first rays of sunshine would streak the morning sky and could be found out laboring until there was no longer any daylight to work by.

In the summers, if I wanted to spend time with my dad, I went with him to irrigate. I accompanied him many times in his semi-truck when he’d deliver a load of hay (the sleeper in the cab was a perfect place for my baby dolls to ride.) There was a time when all the guys at the parts counter at the John Deere dealer probably knew me by name because I would ride along with dad to go on a parts run. He always bought an icy cold glass bottle of Coca Cola from the vending machine and we’d share it while we waited for his parts order to be filled.

My mother thinks Daddy was one of the few farmers who had a four-year-old in pigtails asleep at his feet on a pink blanket while he swathed hay. I think he was probably one of many who spent time with their kids anyway they could, even if it meant having them underfoot while they swathed, baled, or combined. As I got older, I went from just tagging along to having chores to do, and then taking on more responsibility and work.

My dad didn’t just want to be a farmer, he needed to be a farmer. He loved farming, loved the land and loved his family – and to him they were all intermingled and entwined. Farming was as essential to him as air to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat. It was never a job to him. It was a way of life. His life – and all he ever wanted to do or be.

Daddy didn’t see farming as work. You know that saying about when you find what you’re always meant to do, you’ll never work another day in your life? That was my dad.

It didn’t matter if the temperature was 103 degrees or 3 below, he did what needed done to keep the farm going.

In the summer’s, he’d get tired and worn out. Sometimes, I think he would have liked to take a long break, but he never did. He and my mom both used to say, all the time, “rest and go again tomorrow.”  That is exactly what they did.

What I learned growing up on a farm, besides how to precisely set irrigation tubes of all sizes, move sprinkler hand lines, and buck hay bales, was responsibility, loyalty, and perseverance. If things aren’t going just like you want, you don’t quit and walk away. My dad taught me that you figure out how to make it work. I learned all about multi-tasking, time management, and organizational skills by watching and working with my dad.

Lessons learned while I was working on the farm are ones you can’t find in a classroom, you can’t glean them from a Google search, and you can’t duplicate them without the experience that goes along with the lessons. Daddy taught me by example. By watching him, day after day, pour his all into what he loved, I learned so many life lessons that have served me well over the years. I’ve had a few people call me tenacious. If I am, it’s because I learned it from my dad.

 

When I think of Dad and his life, I always think of Paul Harvey’s popular speech So God Made A Farmer.

As Dad enters a new chapter in his life, I’m so grateful that God made him a farmer.

When you graduated from high school,

what did you want to be? 

Author Life Is More than Writing…

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Did you really write all these books?

How long have you been writing?

How long does it take you to write a book?  

Where do you get your ideas?

Those questions and others came up from readers at the author event I participated in yesterday. Harvest Fest is always a treat with several thousand people wandering through six “art fields” along the Nickel Plate Trail, perusing artisans’, artists’, and creators’ booths, including a local authors’ booth, where I sat. There were even strolling musicians and food trucks and beer! It was quite an event and I really had fun!

So, to answer … Yes, I really did write all these books. I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil; I wrote my first book at age 10, but I’ve been published since 2012. It takes me about four to six months to write a book. My ideas come from the people in my head who are in a long line waiting for their story to be told. Ordinarily, a long line of people talking in my head would be a confession that would get one rushed into therapy, but writers get a pass.

However, a couple of years ago when I was at an author event, I was asked, Do you like doing this? Do you like writing? I had to pause for just a second, and frankly, the question’s been in my head ever since. Simmering in the back of my mind.  First of all, it didn’t happen while I was sitting at my table, it was from a person sitting at her own table, where I’d stopped by on my way back from the restroom to look at her books and say hello, mostly because she looked so … young and sad and out of place and maybe even a little bored.

She was in her late twenties and wore a black T-shirt. Her table was sparse, a couple of titles arranged in two rows, some bookmarks, a stack of business cards, and an 8-x-10 photo of herself with her name written across it like an autograph in a plain black frame. Truthfully, I can’t remember what the books were. But it doesn’t matter because it was clear, she would rather have been anywhere else.

The question that started as Do you like doing this? eventually in our short exchange, became Do you like writing? which is an entirely different question.

Do I like doing author events? Well, it’s a fun way to meet readers, to get your face connected to your stories, to network with other authors and writers groups, and to talk story. You do have to prepare–to have all the “stuff” you need together, to wear comfortable clothes, and to be “on,” which is, I admit, hard for most writers. Writing is a solitary profession, and we’re in our own heads way more that the average person, so stepping out of it is a little bit harrowing, but always fun in the end.

But the second question was the one that surprised me was, Do you like writing? The first response that rose to my lips was Would I be here if I didn’t? But the look on her face–sad, confused, and maybe a little overwhelmed, stopped me from being flip. I told her and I meant it with all my heart, It’s who I am. There’s no me without writing. I wish that thought was original to me; it’s not. I was quoting a fellow author, Anne Stuart. But when I first heard (read) Anne say it, I felt seen as writer for first time in my life. So I use it … often.

That morose young woman just stared at me like I’d suddenly grown an extra pair of ears, and she merely said, Oh, okay. There was so much more I wanted to say, to ask her, like why are you doing this if it’s not what you love? What are you avoiding? What is your true passion? But someone else came along and picked up one of her books, and I had to get back to my table to meet and greet, so I simply said, Good luck today, and I moved on.

But she’s stayed in my head, although I don’t even recall her name or what table she was at. I didn’t even pick up her card or a bookmark, which is sad too. If I was left only with the impression of someone who was unhappy at an event that was all about the happy, how did she affect others? I wonder if she sold any books. If she engaged any readers. If that event was her last. In a way, I hope so, because she was clearly not enjoying herself and that’s kinda tragic.

I confess author events are work, and writing is hard work too. I’ve been known to spend an hour working over one sentence in a sixty-thousand word manuscript. And toiling over characterization, fixing plot holes, moving the story forward can be exhausting, but the people in my head insist I write, and writing is so very much my happy place. There’s no me without it. I hope that girl found her happy place–whatever it might be.

Readers, do you have questions for this author who’s only recently come into cowboy romance? Ask me anything …I’d love to talk to you!

~*~*~*~

Here’s a treat for you! My book, Meant to Be, is just 99 cents on all ebook platforms right now. It is sweet, small-town romance–no cowboys, but lots of emotion and family and romance. I hope you’ll check it out here.

Can a near-tragedy help two best friends realize they’re meant to be so much more?

Best friends since grade school, high-powered Chicago attorney, Sean Flaherty, and small-town mayor Megan Mackenzie have always shared a special bond. When Sean is shot by a client’s angry ex, Megan rushes to his side, terrified she’s about to lose her long-time confidant.

Upon his return to River’s Edge to recuperate, Sean discovers that his feelings for his pal have taken an undeniable turn for the romantic. While Megan struggles with an unfamiliar longing for Sean, she worries that he may be mistaking a safe place to land for love.

Can Sean help her realize that they are truly meant to be so much more than friends?

Winnie’s Winners!

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Thanks to everryone who stopped bvy to discuss box socials with me – I enjoyed reading all of your responses. I tossed everyone’s names in a cyber hat and randomly selected my winners – they are:

Bridgette Shippy

Trudy C.

Congratulations! You’ve won a signed copy of any available book from my backlist (you can find a list HERE). When you decided which book you want, send me the title and your mailing address either in a facebook PM or email me at winnie(at)winniegriggs(dot)com

Box Socials: Good Food for a Good Cause

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Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. I recently completed a short Christmas novella titled The Wrong Christmas Match. One of the pivotal scenes in the story involves a box social, so naturally I had to do a little research to make sure I got the details right.

I was already familiar with the fun story possibilities of these gatherings – the mystery, the bidding, and the chance that a gentleman might find himself sharing supper with the woman he hoped had prepared it – or that a woman might share hers with the gentleman she hoped would win it.

What I hadn’t realized was just how much those suppers could accomplish for an entire community.

For anyone unfamiliar with the custom, the basic idea was simple. Women and girls prepared meals for two and packed them in decorated boxes or baskets. The containers were presented anonymously and auctioned to the men. The winning bidder received not only the food inside but also the company of the woman who had prepared it for the duration of the meal.

The secrecy naturally added fun and suspense to the bidding. So did the possibility that a young woman might find some discreet way to let a favored gentleman know which box was hers.

But despite all that romantic potential, courtship wasn’t the official purpose of the evening. The money was.

Box socials were an ingenious way for small communities to raise funds. They didn’t require expensive supplies or professional organizers. Each woman contributed what she could make in her own kitchen, an auctioneer supplied a bit of showmanship, and neighbors supplied their coins – and perhaps a healthy dose of friendly competition.

The resulting funds could then be put toward whatever the community needed most.
Newspaper accounts and community histories from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries offer some fascinating real-life examples.

One box supper held in the Taney City schoolhouse in Missouri benefited the local Sunday school. A newspaper account described the event as well attended.

In December 1897, the Daily Oklahoman announced a box supper at a new schoolhouse in Council Grove, Oklahoma Territory. The proceeds were earmarked for reading-circle books and a school library. The newspaper made the auction arrangements quite clear: the boxes would be sold to the highest bidder.

Books appear to have been a popular goal. One account from Texas recalled a box-supper fundraiser held for the library at a one-teacher school. Cowboys from a nearby ranch joined local farmers and ranchers for a Saturday-night dance and the auctioning of decorated supper boxes. The highest bidder received the meal and the company of the woman who made it – or, as the account rather amusingly put it, she “got to, or had to,” eat with him.

Not every school needed books. Some needed equipment that would otherwise have been difficult to afford.

Students at a public school in Geary, Oklahoma Territory, held a box supper to help purchase an organ. The local newspaper reported that the event was well attended and that the boxes brought anywhere from thirty cents to $2.50. It also credited the auctioneer with doing his part to keep the bidding lively.

Another Oklahoma box supper raised money for a community Christmas tree planned for the following week.

That example especially caught my attention. It shows how easily the box-supper idea could be adapted to the particular needs of a town and the season. The money might purchase books, support a Sunday school, provide music for school programs, or help make a community Christmas celebration possible.

And, of course, the evening offered benefits that couldn’t be measured in dollars and cents.

Families who lived miles apart had a reason to put aside their chores and gather in one place. Neighbors shared news, children enjoyed the excitement, and young people had an acceptable opportunity to spend time together. Everyone could contribute to a worthwhile cause while enjoying food, laughter, and a bit of suspense as each box went on the auction block.

I love the practicality of it. These communities took things they already had – cooking skills, simple ingredients, creativity, generosity, and neighborly spirit – and transformed them into something they needed. And if a romance happened to begin over a plate of fried chicken and biscuits, so much the better.

Reading these real-life accounts gave me the little details I needed to make the scene in my story feel authentic. They also helped me envision how the residents of Tucker’s Gap might use a box social to meet a need in their own community. In The Wrong Christmas Match, the proceeds are used to provide Christmas provisions for families in need. And, of course, the event creates some interesting possibilities for my characters.

The Wrong Christmas Match is a short novella that will be published as part of a collection featuring twenty-two historical Christmas romances. The collection, A Vintage Christmas To Remember, is up for preorder now and releases October 13. Here are more details:

A Vintage Christmas To Remember

Twenty-two authors. Twenty-two unforgettable love stories. One unforgettable season.

From snow-dusted frontier towns to snowbound Victorian manors to the shadow of war, this sweeping collection brings together twenty-three historical romances all wrapped in the hope of the season. Outlaws find redemption, strangers become sweethearts, secrets come to light, and second chances arrive right on time for Christmas.

Whether you love a marriage of convenience, a rugged cowboy, a mystery with a little danger, or a quiet miracle by the fire—there’s a story here for you!

     PREORDER  LINK

 

 

Fun Bonus!

We created a fun flip-book-style magazine that tells you a little about each participating author and their story in the collection. You can find it HERE and best of all it’s totally FREE!

Now I’d love to hear from you. If your community held an old-fashioned box social today, what foods would you pack in your box? Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a signed copy of one of my books.

Lauralyn Keller Has a Winner!

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What a fun visit! Thank you, Miss Lauralyn, for coming with such an inspiring post.

The Drawing is knocking on my door……….

One commenter will receive a copy of The Teacher’s Mending Heart!

And the Winner is……………

KARIN

Yee-Haw! Congratulations, Karin. Now watch for Miss Lauralyn’s email.

 

Lauralyn Keller Is Inspired By the Spirit of the West!

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When Petticoats & Pistols invited me to guest post, I laughed a little. My novel doesn’t take place beneath the big skies of Texas or Wyoming—it unfolds among the ridges and hollers of Appalachian Tennessee. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized Appalachian and Western communities have more in common than we often think.

What is it we love about Western novels? The rural setting. Frontier life. Strong family and community ties. Traditional values. Characters overcoming hardships. And yeah, the cowboys are pretty cool.

The Appalachians may not be the American West, but both places share a common spirit—a spirit of independence, resilience, and community. Maybe that’s what we love about Western stories in the first place. It’s not necessarily the landscape. It’s the people.

That’s what my books are about. My other series is Western. This series is Appalachian. The locations are different, but the spirit is the same.

In my upcoming novel, The Teacher’s Mending Heart, both main characters face struggles that require grit and determination to see them through. Bethany Astor, a nurse who served overseas during World War I, moves to the Tennessee town of Laurel Ridge at the request of the Red Cross to serve a community torn apart by the war and other tragedies. While she wants to heal others, her own heart is in need of healing. Her fiancé was killed in the war and she closed herself to love. She just didn’t count on Dylan Harper, the town schoolteacher haunted by a terrible accident that took a student’s life and left him with a limp. He’s a bit of a golden retriever in contrast to Bethany’s level-headed calm. Her skill as a masseuse pulls them closer together and allow them to form a friendship.

Resilience is the characteristic that both characters demonstrate most. Both have something to lose if they give in to their feelings. For Bethany, it’s saying goodbye to her fiancé and the life she dreamt they’d have. Dylan has to let go of his feelings of unworthiness and open his heart.

They can’t do it alone, and that’s where the community comes in. The town is fighting for its survival, just as Bethany and Dylan are fighting their own battles. Friends offer support and love, sometimes tough love. The town council, of which Dylan is a part, works tirelessly to save Laurel Ridge. While shops are closing and people are moving away, the council knows Laurel Ridge can be saved. They do all they can to make sure their beloved town survives, all while loving their neighbors and relying on God’s help to get them through.

Maybe that’s why I don’t think you need a cowboy—or even a pistol—to write a story with the spirit of the West. When I first laughed at the invitation from Petticoats & Pistols, I was thinking about geography. Tennessee isn’t Montana. Appalachia isn’t the frontier West. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the heart of these stories isn’t about where they happen. It’s about the people who refuse to give up, the communities that rally around them, and the hope they find in one another. And that’s something we can all relate to—Western or otherwise.

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Giveaway

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1963212819?tag=pettpist-20

I’ll be giving away an e-book copy of The Teacher’s Mending Heart to someone who comments on this post. Sound off below, and let me know your thoughts—what is it you love about the spirit of the West? Do you think that spirit applies to other stories?

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Thanks for reading! God bless.

Lauralyn

Petticoats & Pistols