Kari Trumbo

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.

Inspirational Tuesday Quotable

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“Does it bother you when I say her name? She was a part of my life for six months. A big part.”

 

“It isn’t so much that it bothers me, only that she seems to have left perfect shoes to fill, and I have… imperfect feet.”

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I wrote this book back in 2017, An Ivy Tangles. It published April 28, 2017, just 5 days after my mother died and just two days after her funeral.

To say I was a mess for the release of that book was an understatement. However, in a lot of ways it was the biggest single release I’ve ever had. Many of my friends supported me by sharing the release in their newsletters. Not only that, but the book itself was one my readers had been waiting on for a long time. I’d hinted at Ivy and her sordid story for a few books before I wrote it.

While I was writing the story, my mother was going downhill. She was in a nursing home and had lung cancer. She hadn’t wanted surgery to remove the mass attacking her lung, so we knew the cancer would come back, but not when. When it happened the end came suddenly.

Since then, I’ve done very little with Ivy other than a quick re-read before putting it into the boxed set. I love the story, but it holds so many memories for me. Even that line above, calls to me. Ivy wanted so much to be seen as a person, which is why she hid a terrible secret. The pain that she felt was pushed onto the page because I was dealing with my own hurts.

One of the last times I saw my mother and she was lucid, she’d forgotten (again) that I was an author. To be fair, I’d only been an author for a little over a year at that point but having that title meant so much to me, especially because we both loved reading and books. Having her forget (repeatedly) something that was so important to me, hurt.

 

When I was cleaning out her room, I found a copy of my very first book, signed. One of the nurses had purchased it for her as a special Christmas gift. She’d gotten to the first chapter and set it aside, back on the shelf.

I know Mom loved me, but I never knew if she was proud of me. That’s something I won’t know this side of Heaven. But I could give Ivy what I needed. Something so important. I could give her closure and a future without wonder or regrets.

Is there some way you could reach into someone’s life today and spread some joy?

Love those around you. Tell them you’re proud and that life would stink without them in it. We weren’t made to fill someone else’s shoes.

 

God Bless

Kari

Writing About Disasters – Galveston Hurricane of 1900

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As romance authors, we sometimes intentionally choose moments of historical hardship to write about, but why?

 

Are we a bunch of heartless people, looking to pull on reader’s heartstrings? Not really (though maybe…) Most of the time, we choose these moments in history for a few reasons:

It’s a good way to spread awareness of things that happened. 

Let’s face it, history, even trying history, can be boring when in textbook form. Reading about floods and hurricanes, dust storms and wars can be easily pushed off as being about “other people” when it’s in the pages of a history book. History books are “just the facts, ma’am” publications and we want them that way. But, if you want people to really think about what people went through, put it in the pages of a fiction novel.

It reminds us of how strong humans really are.

chron.com

When we write about people, we expect them to be heroes and heroines. Average joes (and janes) come to life on the pages as they rise above and do the impossible. These terrible situations did happen and while there were many bad outcomes for people, good things did happen in the midst of these awful situations. The Lord does provide hope.

When good things happen in the middle of a terrible situation, it make the hardship easier to process (and thus increases our understanding).

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down (or so I’ve heard in a fun little song). That’s why history wrapped within a romance makes learning a little easier. If we only wanted a story about what happened, even fictionalized, we could just watch a docudrama or read regular historical fiction. But when we know there is the hope of a romance within the story, we can open the pages of the book knowing one good thing is going to come out of the book, even if it seems like many bad things could happen to other people.

oceanservice.noaa.gov

In my research into the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, I’ve found all of these things to be true. While that particular storm has always fascinated me and I love history books, I haven’t picked up a book dedicated to that storm until recently when I decided to write 2 stories about it. There was so much devastation, so much loss, that I knew I would struggle with it if I couldn’t wrap my own story of hope within all that pain.

 

These books won’t be coming out for at least a year, but I’m doing the research now. What situations in history interest you but you wouldn’t want to read about them without adding a little hope to the story?

I haven’t done a giveaway in a while so I’ll choose one commenter to receive an ebook copy of To a Brighter Tomorrow. Winner will be chosen tomorrow evening.

Automobiles in the West

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I have a cover reveal for my next release in June, and I wanted to share some fun research I found while writing it. So far, this has been a fun and interesting series!

When I think of the west, especially when I think of cowboys, I don’t think of automobiles. In fact…I had to check to see if there were even gas stations or places to buy fuel in the Black hills in 1906. Luckily, there were. But in rural South Dakota, especially in the Black Hill where it feels (because it is) remote, automobiles weren’t as popular as they were in other parts of the country.

In To a Brighter Tomorrow, I introduce the Johlman and Douglas families. Two groups fighting for one verdant valley. Both thinking the other will waste or ruin the resource. We also have some bad guys, because what’s a western without a few vagabonds?

A judge, his hired Pinkerton, and the judge’s daughter are headed to Belle Fourche in the early part of winter, so they will arrive by car, rented of course. I hunted for a car that would give them privacy to speak and I found this.

It was call the landaulette which was a style of vehicle with the driver separate from the passengers, allowing for private conversation. I’m sure the driver was quite cold though, and doubt the passengers were much warmer, since there was no heat in these early cars other than that which naturally came off the engine.

This is an image of the steering, which was quite basic, but kind of elegant in it’s own way. I like the fact that it looks a little like a stage coach. Many taxis of that time (in larger cities) were Rolls Royce landaulettes. How else would a wealthy judge and his only daughter arrive in town?

If you lived in the west in the early 1900s, would you trust a car or stick with horse and wagon?

Without further ado, here is book 2 in the Belle Fourche Chronicles! Valley of Promise

Armstrong has never had a choice in his life.

Pa has made every decision, from who his friends are to when he will take over their huge cattle spread. He’s made plenty of enemies in Belle Fourche, SD along the way. Especially their neighbors, the sheep ranching Johlmans.

When a judge arrives in town to look into all the misdeeds of both families, Armstrong’s carefully planned world begins to crumble, particularly when he meets the judge’s daughter. A woman who could have his heart, unless her father finds out what his family has been doing.

Dosha Cattrel’s father has threatened every man who’s shown interest. She’s given up hope of ever finding someone perfect enough to suit him, much less love her.

Her father brings her and a secretive Pinkerton agent to investigate a land war. She fully expects to be bored silly until she meets Armstrong, one of the very men under her father’s spyglass. What Armstrong doesn’t know is that she is related to the Johlmans, his fiercest enemy.

Can a forbidden love survive the light of day, or will secrets kill the growing love between them?

Preorder this sweet, forbidden romance now!

Sheep Ranching in South Dakota

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Kari Trumbo logo

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.

quote from To a Brighter TomorrowWhen 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.

This image from the Maas Museum shows what a set of sheers looked like prior to more advanced methods

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

A Whole New Year of Western Romance

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Over the last week, I took a good long look at my schedule for 2022. If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that’s an undertaking. I publish about 20 titles per year from 350 page novels to 100 page novellas. I like to keep as many readers happy as I can.

However, that kind of pace is not sustainable (there’s a reason the Pony Express doesn’t run anymore, it’s not healthy to keep up that kind of pace). Louis L’Amour, I am not. I know that the majority of my readers are happy with western novels, though. Those you can look forward to in 2022.

I’m currently working with my cover designer on a four book series set in Belle Fourche, SD. The premise of the series is two families feuding over one fertile valley. While the Douglas and Johlman families do exist in Belle Fourche, my stories are not based on actual history or people.

Both cattle and sheep were and are big business in Belle Fourche and land is arguably the most precious resource. It is finite and both sheep and cattle need great quantities of land for proper grazing. I’ve never written a family feud before, but it’s been interesting, fun, and very educational.

In 2018, I wrote my first series set in Belle Fourche. That series is to this day one of my most popular. This new series, The Belle Fourche Chronicles, will feature appearances from some of my other Belle Fourche characters and they can be read congruently.

I was hoping to have a cover reveal for you this month, but alas, I don’t have one quite yet. In the meantime, if you’d like to catch up with the old series so you’re ready to go when the new books come out (the first will be released at the end of February).

When I return next month, I’ll have a new cover reveal for you and more to share with you (perhaps even an exclusive snippet). These books are novellas, but the new series will be novel length.

 

Belle Fourche is a fairly unique location for western romance. What are some fun, unique locations for western romance that you really enjoy? I’ll send a free copy of Teach Me to Love to one lucky commenter.

Wouldn’t Missmas – the blessings of Christmas

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I hope each and every one of you found a few minutes of peace and joy the Christmas. The Trumbo household was all sick with Influenza A. Not even a mouse was stirring, but I digress…

Through everything, and I mean everything: including losing my mom, living in a small rental where there was hardly room for a tree, and years where we weren’t sure there would be anything to put under it, we’ve always had one tradition. It started when my oldest child was old enough to consider her blessings. My kids decorate the tree and every time they put an ornament on the tree, they say something they are thankful for, either from the last year or just life in general. It really puts everything in perspective.

 

This is my favorite ornament. I got it for my boyfriend when we were just newly dating towards the end of 1996. He became my husband the following year and we have an ornament for every year following (that’s a lot of ornaments).

He’s been my personal Hero for 25 years. I think I knew even when I got that ornament that he was the one.

 

 

 

In the last few years, we’ve been blessed heartily. So much so, that we needed three trees this year (when you have 4 children, that’s a lot to be thankful for).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you were to fill your tree with thankfulness, what are some things you’d name?

How to make your home smell like Christmas

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… well, at least where I am in Minnesota! We got a little over an inch of snow last night and a chill is in the air.

When the weather outside is frightful, I like to make my home smell delightful. But I don’t always want to be baking cookies, breads, or anything else (and my clothes don’t want me to, either).

cranberry orange, anise and cinnamon with fresh fruits on slate marble background. Christmas and holidays food

I love scented candles and have them all over my house. Occasionally my soul needs something a bit more…rustic. I feel like my muse is about 150 years old and she doesn’t always enjoy all things contemporary. That being said, I’ll give you an alternative “today” option below.

Before we moved into our current house, we had a wonderful wood stove. I would put things like this together in an old pot and set it on top. As the heat powered thermal fan blew heat through my house, it also wafted wonderful scents, orange, cinnamon, during cold season I would even put oils in there that are supposed to help you breathe easier.

Last night, I was feeling in such a nostalgic mood that I made my own potpourri once again. While the recipes for this everywhere often call it “old time” Christmas fragrance, I really can’t see pioneers wasting food simply to create a nice, smelling home. Especially spices which would’ve been expensive for them. BUT, I do think that when they baked, they enjoyed the scents just as much as we do today and if you read my fruitcake recipe last month, you’ll see many of the same ingredients this month…things that make you go…hmm.

For my Scent of Christmas potpourri, I use about a cup of cranberries, 1 sliced orange (I don’t bother to dry it), a stick of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon cloves, a sprig of rosemary (or a tablespoon dried) and anise if you have it. You’ll also need to add 2 cups of water and you’ll need to keep adding water if you cook it on the stove.

This is mine, it’s not gorgeous (not ugly though, either) but smells fantastic.

For the readers who like things a bit more contemporary, you can put the same ingredients in your crock pot on low or even on your keep warm setting and it will just send a lovely fragrance through your house all day. I like this option because everything in the recipe is food-grade, so I don’t need any special warmer.

How about you? Do you do anything special to make your home smell like the holidays?

The Traditional Christmas Fruitcake – Western-Style

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I don’t know about you, but when I think of fruitcake, I think of the currant version, with almost sickly-sweet candies instead of real fruit, soaked in enough sugar to make a person vibrate out of existence if they eat a slice.

So, when I was writing a scene for an upcoming book, A Sugar Plum Christmas, and I needed a good, honest-to-goodness pioneer sweet…fruitcake really didn’t top my list. Does it top anyone’s? I was skeptical until I started watching videos on how these things were made.

traditional fruitcake

Enter the Way-Back machine…

Firstly, historians aren’t wholly certain how far back fruitcakes go (is that really a surprise?). They know cakes like these were used as rations for the Roman Army, right around 27 BC. For all we know, those are still in existence. I kid…sort of.

Even then, the Romans knew that soaking the fruit, and the cake when it was complete, in alcohol, would make it safe for eating much longer than other breads. Plus, it’s calorie dense. I’ll skip the joke where I say it’s pretty dense in other ways…that’s just too easy.

From the Roman Empire to a Rancher’s Table

Well, like the Roman Empire, the Old West didn’t have many options for keeping food, especially sweets that weren’t hard candy, from spoiling. Age-old methods are tried and true and fruitcakes became the dessert of choice for Victorian homes during Christmas.

The cake was often made three months ahead of time, using the berries and fruits collected from the year before to make room for ones just collected. They would be soaked in whatever alcohol was readily available. Despite the feeling about alcohol now, feelings were different then, even children occasionally drank and women often used alcohol for homemade tinctures, so the ingredients were often right on hand.

fruitcake ingredients

Wherefore Art Thou, Orange

With the advent of the Transcontinental Railway in the 1880s, the one ingredient that might have been hard to come by, suddenly wasn’t. Oranges. The recipe calls for the peel of one orange and I can imagine that, prior to the availability caused by the railroad, that made the fruitcake taste much differently. Perhaps they found a way to dry and save the peels when they were more readily available during the summer months. I couldn’t find any site to confirm or deny that.

What’s interesting to me is that orange peel is one of the few items in a fruitcake recipe that doesn’t change. The spices seem to vary, the amount of flour fluxuates, what type of alcohol doesn’t matter, the types of fruits and nuts are loosey-goosey. But the orange peel is a staple.

Recipe Time

My mother-in-law has a recipe for fruitcake from her mother and she and her sisters have not shared it yet, but they do get together annually (barring weather or the illness that shall not be named) to make one or three. I do not have that recipe, but I hear it’s pretty good. The cake is usually gone by the time I hear about it. However, here is a fabulous recipe, that I might even try:
Cite: The Old Farmer’s Almanac

INGREDIENTS

  • 4-5 pounds fruit and nuts:
  • 1 pound dark raisins
  • 1 pound white raisins
  • 1/2 pound currants
  • 1/2 pound candied cherries
  • 1/2 pound candied pineapple
  • 1/4 pound candied citron
  • 2 ounces candied orange peel
  • 2 ounces candied lemon peel
  • 1/4 pound blanched whole almonds
  • 1/4 pound whole pecans
  • 1/2 cup Madeira
  • 1/2 cup dark rum
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon each: cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 5 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Put the raisins and currants in a large bowl, add the Madeira and the rum and let stand, covered, overnight. Then add the candied fruits and mix well. Sift the spices and soda with 1-½ cups of the flour, combine the remaining flour with the nuts. Add all to the fruits, mixing lightly.

In another large bowl, beat the butter until light and cream in the sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and almond extract. Add the fruit and nut mixture to the batter and stir well. Turn the batter into a well greased tube or spring mold pan. A 10-inch pan will do for this 5-½ pound cake, or two smaller cakes may be made. Bake the large cake in an oven preheated to 275 degrees F for 3-½ to 4 hours, or until a cake tester inserted near the center of the cake comes out dry. The smaller cakes will take half the time.

Let the cake stand in the pan on a wire rack for half an hour, run a knife around the pan, if a spring mold, loosen it and remove the cake gently to a piece of heavy aluminum foil large enough to enclose it completely. Fold the closing double to seal the cake completely. Once or twice before Christmas, open the foil and pour a little additional rum or wine on the cake.

When ready to use, decorate the top of the cake with a wreath of pecans and maraschino cherries and thin slices of candied fruit.