What the Heck Are Wrist Cuffs?

I had never heard the term wrist cuffs that cowboys wore until pretty recently. I’d seen pictures of them but didn’t know what they were called or why they wore them. Maybe you already did and are way ahead of me. That’s quite possible.

Definition: Wide soft leather bindings that cowboy wore on their wrists to protect them from barbed wire fencing, cattle kicking and causing injury and protecting shirt sleeves. They also protected against rope burns and branding irons. They are also called roping cuffs and sometimes gauntlets.

I’ve seen them on motorcycle riders quite a bit for protection on the road. These were very popular on cowboys until the turn of the century but you can still see them on some working cowboys today.

I admit, they’re pretty cool and make the wearer look tough.

When I started writing Creek, my sweet western romance, I wanted him to wear them but in his case it was partly to conceal an ink drawing on his wrist. My cover designer put them on him but they looked horrible so we took them off.

I have an eleven year old girl in my story. Willa July Calder was left orphaned when her mother dies but she was told to look for a man with a thunderbird drawing on his wrist. That would be her father. When she happens to see Creek’s, she’s convinced he’s her father and starts following him everywhere.

Thunderbirds were revered by Native Americans who believed the mythical birds carried magic and could protect the person.

I won’t give the plot away. The book is available for Preorder. This is Book 1 leading off a multi-author Gun For Hire series with two others of the books also available for preorder now. These are Sweet Western Romances and mine goes on sale March 15. Margaret’s will be available March 31 and Charlene’s April 15. There will be 10 altogether. Here’s the series link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTHVRM6K?tag=pettpist-20

Here are the rest of the series: Zane by Heather Blanton, Keith by Carra Copelin, Ash by our own Jo-Ann Roberts, Shad by Caroline Clemmons, Clint by Tracy Garrett, Landon by Cheryl Pierson, and Luke by another Filly Winnie Griggs.

We sure hope you’ll find these entertaining. Have you read a good western lately? If so, what is the title? Do you like westerns? Let’s talk. I don’t have any copies to give away yet but I will later on.

When Life Inspires Fiction

It’s funny the way life tends to circle around sometimes.

When I was a little girl, one of the things my mom and grandma both enjoyed were magazines. I can remember Mom sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a magazine, taking a break between cleaning up from lunch, laundry, chasing after me and the grandkids, and before she began on dinner preparations. My grandma subscribed to a handful of magazines and often passed them on to my mom when she finished reading them.

I learned to appreciate those beautiful glossy pages and found my own enjoyment thumbing through them.

Although I don’t recall when the article came out, or even which magazine it was in, I do remember a feature about the Biltmore House of Asheville, North Carolina. I don’t know what it was about the place or the story, but she became enthralled with the Biltmore. More than once she mentioned wishing she could visit it someday.  Sadly, that didn’t happen in her lifetime.

But last year, Captain Cavedweller and I made a trip to Asheville in December and got to see the incredible Biltmore Estate. (I know they were hit hard by Hurricane Helene, which makes me even more grateful we were able to visit last year.)

The property is spectacular, and the day we visited the blue sky made a gorgeous backdrop.

When we walked through the impressive entry doors, the part of my heart where memories of my mama reside whispered, “We finally made it!” As we explored the house, I felt like she was right there with me, every bit as awed as I felt by the Biltmore.

Captain Cavedweller and I were thoroughly blown away by the estate where everything, from the gifts shops to even the food carts were top notch.

The house, though, is something beyond the description of mere words. One needs to step into a world most of us can’t begin to imagine to fully experience what it is like to visit this incredible historical wonder.

If you’ve never heard of the Biltmore, I encourage you to read more about it. Constructed in the late 1890s by George Vanderbilt, the Biltmore is a 250-room French chateau filled with priceless treasures. Stepping inside the doors is taking a step into a different time where hospitality, luxury, and beauty reigned.

I don’t know what it is about the house, but it has its own presence—a character that lingers with you.

By the time we returned home from our trip, the idea for a series inspired by the Biltmore was already growing in my thoughts.

I knew the house was too big and grand for the story I wanted to write, but bits and pieces of it found its way into my Hudson House series.

 

Another house that added to my inspiration is a mansion located in Portland, Oregon, called the Pittock Mansion. We’ve visited it a few times and I’m always so taken with the feel of the house that really gives off a warm, welcoming vibe, which is how I wanted Hudson House to feel.  My amazing cover designer (thank you Josephine from Covers & Cupcakes) was able to find an image of Pittock Mansion we could use as a starting point for Hudson House on the covers of the books.

Way back in January, I’d planned to write the four sweet romances in this generational series that begins in 1892 and ends with a modern-day story. It didn’t happen. Then I thought I’d get started writing them when CC and I went out of town for a week for Valentine’s Day. I got so entranced watching snowflakes fall in the woods from out hotel window, I didn’t write a single word. Before I knew it, it was June and I still hadn’t started on the series, although I did have my beautiful covers. Eventually, September was half-way gone and I realized if I didn’t get busy the books were never going to be more than words floating through my thoughts.

So, in five weeks of writing, I cranked out the four books that are the Hudson House series.  I hope you’ll enjoy them even half as much as I loved writing them. I hope, too, if you read them, you’ll find that Hudson House isn’t just a setting, but one of the characters in the books.

Hudson House

Four generations find romance and joy during the holidays at a home filled with wonder and love.

The first book in the series, A Christmas Dream, released last week, and A Christmas Spark debuts tomorrow!

He came to build the house of his dreams, but found a home for his heart.

After an extensive search for the ideal location to build a house he’s spent years designing, Brant Hudson knows he’s found the perfect site the moment he sets foot on the land near Silver Bluff, Oregon. However, frustrating delays leave him laboring alongside the very crew he hired to finish the house in time for Christmas. His work leads the woman who catches his eye to believe he’s a carpenter rather than the owner of the grand manor.

Holland Drake grew up on a farm, but she aspires to secure a position as a housemaid at Hudson House. While delivering lunch to her brother at the worksite, the door opens to a job when Holland encounters a strikingly handsome carpenter whose charm captivates her. Soon, Holland discovers the enchanting man is none other than the owner of the house and her new employer.

As the holiday season arrives amid a flurry of excitement and possibilities, Holland and Brant face choices that could change their lives forever. Will fear hold them back from stepping into the future together, or will their Christmas dreams of love come true?

A Christmas Dream is the first book in the Hudson House Holiday series of wholesome, heartwarming Christmas romances full of the joy of the season.

 

Will hope spark a holiday romance?

 After losing his brother and part of himself on a French battlefield during the Great War, Kase Hudson seeks refuge from the haunting memories at his childhood home. He finds solace in carving wooden Santa figurines in his workshop in the stables that he sends to gift shops to sell. Kase distances himself from his family’s unwanted sympathy until his sister, Sarah, arrives for the holidays with her vibrant friend. He never expected beautiful Dori to breathe warmth and joy into the house right along with his heart.

With no family of her own, photographer Dori Stanford eagerly accepts Sarah Hudson’s invitation to join her for Christmas at her family’s home in Oregon. The two friends travel from their college in California to Silver Bluff, excited to spend the holidays at Hudson House. Once they arrive, Dori makes it her mission to connect with Sarah’s sullen brother, Kase, and draws him into the wonder of the season.

Will her persistence and encouragement be the spark Kase needs to step out of the past and into his future—possibly one that includes Dori?

A Christmas Spark is the second book in the Hudson House Holiday series of wholesome, heartwarming Christmas romances full of the joy of the season.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card

and an eBook copy of A Christmas Dream

just share one happy or memorable vacation memory!

 

Top Hats and Interesting Facts

Everyone knows I just love history and go down rabbit holes fairly frequently. I just love finding little-known things from the past and more often than not, I build a story around them. So I subscribed to Historyfacts.com and they email me every week with something historical.

Do you know how Abraham Lincoln used his top hat? This president was 6’ 4” and this top hat added nine or ten more inches which made him look like a giant. But this accessory was the rage in his day and the majority of men wore them. Even tall ones.

Back to the subject. How did Lincoln made good use of his hat? He stored papers in it. He kept all sorts of different, and sometimes important, documents on top his head inside his hat. And when he was in meetings with his generals, he’d often throw the papers at them to make a point.

Lincoln also kept correspondence in his hat. In 1850, he received a letter from politician Richard S. Thomas and stuffed it inside his hat, going about his business. Then he went out and bought a new hat, putting the old one aside. Weeks went on before he remembered the letter and finally had to apologize to Thomas for not replying sooner.

Maybe a lot of men had the problem of using their hat for a file cabinet! Any kind of document could be stored on top of the wearer’s head. So…the writer in me immediately conjured up a man getting a marriage license and putting it in his hat then forgetting about it. Or any correspondence that needed immediate attention. Or even food. So funny!!

Why haven’t I used this???? It’s a goldmine. The scenarios are endless.

But back to Lincoln. His hat once saved him from an assassination attempt when a gunman shot and the bullet went through the president’s top hat. Secret Service agents found his hat lying in an intersection and were able to discover the position where the gunman fired. I don’t know if they ever knew exactly the gunman’s identity or not. The article didn’t say.

Lincoln had to give many speeches and he stored them in…you guessed it. His top hat. So he’s at the podium, takes off his hat and gets his speech out. Then when he finishes, he stuffed it back in his hat and everyone had a good laugh. True story.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. I never knew this about our tallest president.

Wildwood Healer, a women’s fiction, will release October 8th and you can preorder now. To do so, CLICK HERE. 

 

 

Question: Have you ever run across something fascinating, maybe some historical fact or something you read in a book? Or how about this. Think of a funny scenario that should be in a book involving a top hat. I’m going to give away a copy of my Christian historical Love’s First Light, either ebook or print, to one commenter.