Folklore/Myths/Legends

Halloween…A Time for Romance?

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Happy October, friends!

Along with ghosts, goblins, and trick-or-treating, I learned Halloween was as much a time for romance as it was for pranks. Who would have thought?

To find love on the night of the dead, demons, witches, and goblins? Um, that’s a little bit concerning, no? Would you go ‘yay’ or be ‘boo-ed’ away by these strange Halloween traditions?

Many old Halloween traditions included fortune telling, and many of those fortune-telling rituals focused on how to learn about your true love. Here are a few Halloween love spells that I found in in my research. Most of these Halloween traditions were popular in the 1800s and later. Each is something that people said you could do on Halloween night to learn of your true love.

If Match.com hasn’t been working for you perhaps you want to try one of these vintage Halloween traditions, or perhaps you will just find them interesting like I did.

Oh, and the idea of seeing my true love as an apparition, as is the hope of many of these rituals, would be disconcerting. These Halloween traditions make me happy I’m not in the market for romance or marriage.

Reflection in the mirror

There are a few versions of a Halloween tradition that results in seeing your true love in a mirror at midnight.

One version says you should go secretly into a room at midnight on Halloween and cut an apple into nine slices. You should eat the apple slices in front of a mirror, holding each slice on the point of knife before eating it. As you do this you will supposedly see the image of your true love over your left shoulder asking for the final apple slice.

Another version says you should eat the apple while holding a candle and looking in the mirror. Then you will see your future husband or wife over your shoulder.

Yet another version says you should comb your hair while eating the apple and looking in the mirror in order to see your future spouse over your shoulder.

The most precarious version says that at midnight you should go down the stairs backwards and holding a mirror, in which you will see your future mate.

I suspect that last one only works if your future mate happens to be the paramedic who responds after your horrible fall from walking down the stairs backwards in the middle of the night.

Burning the nuts

Place two hazelnuts (or some say chestnuts) in a fire after naming each for the people in a couple. If the nuts burn together side by side the relationship will last. But if one of the nuts cracks or jumps out of the fire the couple will split.

Pulling the cabbage

The cabbage’s popularity also made its way into becoming a fortune telling device. One popular method was for a girl to steal a cabbage and then place that cabbage over a door. The first man the cabbage fell on would be the man she was supposed to marry. Women would also pick cabbages and use the stumps to predict information about their future husband.

Making cakes

Fortune telling in cakes has been a tradition for many different holidays. The Irish had their own version called Barmbrack where various objects were baked into bread to tell one’s future relationship status. If a person received a pea, that person would not marry in the upcoming year, a stick would signify an unhappy marriage, and a ring would mean that person would be wed within a year.

The three bowls

Place three bowls in a row. Fill one with clean water and one with dirty water. Leave the third bowl empty. Put the bowls in a random order then lead a man blindfolded to them to dip his left hand in one of the bowls. If he puts his hand in the clean water, he will have a young wife. If he puts his hand in the dirty water, he will end up with an old widow. If he puts his hand in the empty bowl, he will forever be a bachelor. This process should be done three times moving the bowls each time.

 The other end of the yarn

Throw a ball of yarn out the window (or into a pot of water on the stove, depending on the version), and hold onto to the other end. As you wind the yarn back up repeat, “I wind, who holds?” again and again. Before you reach the end of the yarn the face of your love will appear in the window and/or the name of your love will be whispered in your ear.

Making an initial from an apple skin

Here’s another Halloween tradition involving an apple. Pare an apple in one continuous piece of skin without breaking it. Move the skin around your head three times then throw it over your left shoulder. The letter that it forms on the ground is the initial of your future husband or wife.

So, this year when the moon is full and bright, try your hand at a fortune telling delight, you might just find your true love on Halloween night.

Happy Halloween Y’all!

 

My Upcoming Release!!!

Years ago, Lily Sutton was drawn to the new orphan boy in town. Unfortunately, she soon became the unfortunate victim of Grady Walsh’s mischievous deeds in school.
Lily is back home in Harmony, Kansas for good but is she willing and able to forgive the boy who made her childhood unbearable?
Grady Walsh lost his heart to the sweet girl the day she gave him a quilt. Can this boy-turned-man make up for the reckless actions of his youth?
Or will another steal her away before they have a chance to discover a kind of love that might just heal the pain from the past?

Pre-Order Link

 

Kissing Under The Mistletoe

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Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here.

One of the many signs of the season is the appearance of mistletoe – on the trees, in holiday movies, on Christmas cards and hanging in homes. And being the curious person I am I thought I’d dig a bit into the traditions around this plant and how it became associated with Christmas and with kissing. And I’m going to share a little of what I found out with you today.

The mistletoe’s romantic association can be traced back to ancient times, where it held a special place in various cultures and traditions. The ancient Druids, who inhabited the British Isles, revered mistletoe for its seemingly magical properties. They believed it had the power to bring good fortune, ward off evil spirits, and even bestow fertility upon couples. During the winter solstice celebrations, the Druids would gather mistletoe from sacred oak trees using golden sickles and distribute it among the people, fostering a sense of unity and goodwill.

The mistletoe’s romantic symbolism is also deeply rooted in Norse mythology. According to one of the most popular myths, the goddess Frigg, who was associated with love and fertility, had a son named Balder. Distressed by prophetic dreams of her son’s impending death, Frigg sought a promise from every element in creation not to harm Balder. However, the mischievous Loki discovered that Frigg had overlooked mistletoe, thinking it was too insignificant to pose a threat.

Taking advantage of this, Loki fashioned a weapon from mistletoe and tricked Balder’s blind brother, Hodr, into using it to unintentionally kill Balder. Devastated by her son’s death, Frigg’s tears turned the red berries of the mistletoe white. To honor Balder and symbolize love triumphing over death, Frigg declared that the mistletoe should never again be used to harm but rather as a token of love, leading to the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe as a sign of goodwill and affection.

Fast forward to medieval England, where the mistletoe’s association with love and celebration persisted. As Christmas celebrations evolved and incorporated various customs and rituals, mistletoe found its way into the festivities. The plant’s evergreen nature and ability to thrive in winter contributed to its allure as a symbol of life and renewal during the cold and dark days of winter. During the holiday season, branches of mistletoe would be hung in homes and gathering places, inviting couples to share a kiss underneath. It became a symbol of peace, love, and reconciliation during the Christmas season, fostering a sense of unity and merriment.

The Victorian era, known for its romantic sensibilities and elaborate traditions, saw a resurgence of interest in mistletoe as a symbol of love and romance. As Christmas celebrations became more elaborate and festive, mistletoe found its way into holiday decorations, and kissing under the mistletoe became a cherished custom at Christmas gatherings and balls.

Over time, the mistletoe tradition became widespread, not only in England but also in other European countries and eventually in the United States. Today, mistletoe remains an iconic and enduring symbol of Christmas romance, with couples and revelers continuing to share kisses beneath its branches during the festive season.

Fun Facts and Trivia:

  • There are over 1,300 different species of mistletoe, and not all of them produce the iconic white berries. Some varieties boast vibrant red or yellow berries.
  • In Victorian England, there was a charming custom associated with mistletoe kisses – for each kiss, a berry was plucked from the mistletoe. Once all the berries were gone, the kissing had to cease. This added an element of anticipation and playfulness to the tradition.
  • Mistletoe has made its mark in literature, adding a touch of romance to various works. One notable example is Washington Irving’s “The Sketch Book,” where the author beautifully describes the festive atmosphere surrounding the mistletoe.
  • White berries are toxic, but not poisonous, to humans. But keep your pets away from mistletoe, it’s poisonous to them.
  • Some doctors prescribe mistletoe to cancer patients to help ease side effects from chemotherapy.

So there you have it, my short history of how kissing under the mistletoe became associated with Christmas.

Did you ever receive a kiss under the mistletoe? Do you hang mistletoe in your home as part of your Christmas decor? Leave an answer or comment on this or any thought on other Christmas traditions to be entered in a drawing for a Christmas book and a little surprise.

Quilting Superstitions

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Since my oldest son recently married, I intended to write a post on wedding traditions but as what happens, my plans went awry. The more I wrote, the more it sounded like a high school Home Ec report.

My son and I before his wedding

However, when researching wedding traditions, I discovered single women in the 1800s stressed over whether they would marry. To cope, they relied on parlor games or predictions such as tossing cats into new quilts. That sent me down a rabbit hole to discover how traumatizing poor cats in a quilt could predict a woman wouldn’t be an old maid or reveal her true love. That led me to an article on quilt superstitions and a topic change.

Here are some superstitions I discovered. My comment (because I couldn’t post these without saying something. 🙂 ) follow each superstition.

 

 

Luck:

  • Never make a quilt with 13 blocks
    • I assume it’s because 13 is unlucky. Okay, now I’m wondering how and why 13 was labeled as unlucky. But I’ll save that for another day.
  • If a thread breaks, it will bring misfortune.
    • There should be a warning label on thread because who hasn’t broken a thread while sewing a quilt? And does it bring major misfortune such as a car accident or a minor one like losing a shoe? Come on, be specific about how bad this will be.
  • Stitching a spider web design into a quilt will bring good luck. Because a spider web is so easy to work into every quilt design.
    • First, a four-leaf clover or horseshoe, for luck I could see. But a spider web? Second, I never remember seeing one in anything but Halloween quilts. The solution to that is to sew a small one in somewhere, but I’m not that talented. ? I guess whoever I give future quilts will have to add one or do without the extra good luck until I figure out how to sew one. Either that or I have apologies to make.
  • It’s bad luck to give away your first quilt.
    • This would’ve been nice to know before I gave my first quilt to my son. However, since that quilt stayed in my stayed in my house, maybe I didn’t get too much bad luck for that.
The first quilt I made which I gave to my oldest son.

Marriage:

  • When a new quilt is finished, the first woman it is thrown over will marry first. Wrapping her in it will ensure she marries within a year.
    • I’m wondering if throwing the quilt over is different than wrapping her up in it, or if one superstition is simply more specific.
  • Wedding quilts should have borders of continuous vines or ribbon patterns because a broken border means the marriage will be broken too.
    • I must be an awful person because my first thought here was, if someone didn’t like who their child was marrying, they could give the couple a quilt with a broken border.
  • If a single female puts the last stitch in a quilt, she will become an old maid.
    • This superstition was easy to avoid when quilting bees or circles were prevalent, but what’s a gal to do now, call a married friend or relative to put in the last stitch?
  • After taking a quilt off the frame, wrapping it around an unmarried woman will give her luck to find a husband. Throwing it at the first single man she sees, will “charmed” him into a relationship. If a young lady shakes a new quilt out the door, the first man who comes through the door will be her future husband.
    • From the little research I did, I discovered there was a lot of quilt shaking and throwing them at folks in the past, making me wonder if there are other superstitions to uncover. But apparently they had to be newly completed quilts. Which spurns me to wonder why they had to be new…

 

My bff made this beautiful quilt for me.

Miscellaneous:

  • If you sew on a Sunday, you will have to pull out those stitches with your nose when you get to heaven.
    • First, with the way heaven is described in the Bible, I find it hard to believe God would punish a quilter this way upon arrival. Second, how would I pull out stitches with my nose?! Guess I’ll learn that should I be blessed enough to get to the Pearly Gates.
  • Quilts started on Friday will never be finished.
    • Again, why would this be worse than starting on any other day, except Sunday of course. ?

And finally, Cats and quilts and the answer to the question that started this.

  • If women stand in a circle and “shake up a cat” in new quilt, the one the feline runs toward will be the first to marry.

Giveaway:

To be entered in my random drawing for an ebook version of my Pink Pistol Sisterhood novel, Aiming for His Heart, leave a comment about quilting, superstitions, or whatever’s on your mind.

 

NIGHT THUNDER’S BRIDE — Another Blog and Another Chance to Win an E-book

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Howdy!

And welcome to another terrific Tuesday!  Yay!

Well, you get me for two days back-to-back this week.  But, this does give one the opportunity to win another e-book because once again, I’ll be giving away a free e-book to one of the bloggers.

So, yesterday, I left a short blurb for the book and then the opening pages of the book.  Today, I thought I’d post the full back blurb for the book, another excerpt from the book and a game called, “Go find it,” in the excerpt.

But, before I do that, I thought I’d tell you a little bit of the backstory about this book.  I had started working with the Blackfeet on a literacy project and I was getting to know the Blackfeet a little better.  Some of what I was learning about these people is in this book i.e., their sense of humor, their ideas of ghosts and the supernatural, as well as many other facets of their culture.  Also, I was learning firsthand of their undying friendship and their willingness to learn.

To this day, I love going back to the reservation and visiting friends.  And, I should say again how beautiful it is in Blackfeet country.  In my opinion, it is probably the most beautiful place on earth.

And so I will leave you here with another excerpt from the book.  I hope you will enjoy it.

NIGHT THUNDER’S BRIDE by Karen Kay

Blurb:

When lady’s maid Rebecca Cothern journeyed westward, she never thought to leave her mistress’s side. Yet as Katrina Wellington completes her own journey with White Eagle, Rebecca waits at Ft. Union under the protection of Blackfoot warrior, Night Thunder.

Despite what she’s been told about the wild nature of the native tribes, Night Thunder is different. Kind, gentle, honorable to a fault…and handsome in a way that makes her breathless for his next touch.

Though Night Thunder relishes stolen moments with the beautiful white woman, circumstances dictate that he should keep his distance. Until she is stolen away in the night, and he discovers he cannot simply ride into the enemy camp, kill the guilty and sweep her to safety. The thieves are vengeful malcontents from his own tribe, which leaves him only one way to save her from the worst kind of violation.

He must claim that she is his bride. Not only that, she must willingly bare all—heart, soul and body—to claim him as hers.

This is the 25th Year Anniversary Edition of this novel.

Warning: Contains warm, sensual love scenes that are certain to have you reaching for your own true Night Thunder.

And now for the game:

1) Can you find from reading this excerpt what the Blackfeet call the soul or the departed spirit of the person?

2) How many times does the hero mention this word, meaning the departed spirit of a person?

 

So, without further delay, here is the excerpt of NIGHT THUNDER’S BRIDE

 

“Did I hear you correctly? Ghosts?”

“I do not know what this ‘ghosts’ is. I only tell you about the shadow of those who were once living.”

“Ghosts,” Rebecca repeated, saying it more to herself than to her companion. “I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“I do not ask you to believe,” he replied over his shoulder, his intention clearly on keeping pace with the others from their party. Night Thunder had found their companions’ trail easily this morning and had caught up with them, losing little time in doing so. “I am only explaining to you,” he continued, “why there was no trace of the enemy warriors. A great fight must have taken place where we were trapped last night, and those who are still there must have been blinded or had body parts cut off in the fight, for they are unable to find their way to the Sand Hills.”

“But I heard them, I saw them. One cannot see ghosts.” Rebecca frowned. “And what do you mean, body parts cut off?”

Night Thunder didn’t answer right away. Instead, he kept his stride on a par with the others, not even glancing over his shoulder to ensure she followed. When he finally did speak, she had to strain to hear him. “Most people cannot see those who are departed because they no longer have the physical body to identify them. But their shadows can be felt and experienced if one will only let himself be aware of them.”

“But I wasn’t trying to be ‘aware’ of them,” she complained. “And I didn’t feel them. I saw them.”

“Perhaps it was because you were with me.”

“With you, but—”

“Within my family runs the power to see into the future, to change the weather, even to call to the buffalo. And sometimes, there are those of us who can talk to the dead. All these have I been trained to do.”

Rebecca quickened her pace so as to keep stride with Night Thunder. “Trained? What do you mean, ‘trained’?”

“Perhaps ‘trained’ is not the right word. I have long been an…apprentice with our medicine man. And, because a medicine man must at times talk to the dead, I have learned to do this.”

“I don’t believe in such things. What are you, a mystic?”

“I do not know what this person is, a ‘mystic,’ and I do not ask you to believe.” He paused and seemed lost in thought, though he quickly picked up his pace. “Still there must be some reason why they chose me to see them, to hear them. Perhaps they are hoping I might discover a way to free them from the spell of those they fought, so their shadows can yet find the Sand Hills.”

“Night Thunder, I—”

“I will have to think on it. There could be is something I can do. Come here now and let us not talk of this again.”

“But what did you mean by being blinded or having body parts cut off? What has this to do with them?”

He stopped and let the others move off away from him as he turned to face her. She froze. Despite the feeling of growing closer to his man, her hero, she felt herself cower from his imposing figure.

“It is a belief of my people that the way in which one departs this world is the same way he must spend the rest of eternity. And so there are those warriors who, after a fight, will blind an opponent or cut off a part of his body, so that his enemy might have to go to the next world so burdened. There are those who, having departed this world with a missing body part, choose not to seek out the next life, but determine to stay in this one, hoping to find someone who might at last be able to reverse the spell.”

Rebecca didn’t utter a word in response to this bit of Indian lore, though she stared hard at the man who had so recently become a large part of her life. She frowned and silently fought a battle within herself to hold back her opinions about such things. It was not her place to pass judgment on the beliefs of another. Still, the concepts of which he spoke were so foreign to her, she found herself wondering about him, and perhaps even more about herself.

Somehow at this moment it didn’t seem real, he didn’t seem real.

“Come,” he spoke to her, turning away from her at the same time. “We are too far behind the others.”

Rebecca allowed him to tread on ahead of her while she stood still, lost in her own thoughts. Ghosts, or “shadows,” as he called them, talking to him, calling to him, asking him to set them free from earthly haunts? Could one really be “trained” to talk to spirits? She didn’t believe in ghosts or spirits; she wouldn’t believe. Yet didn’t her own Irish heritage have similar tales? Aye. Still, this was too much for her to grasp all at once, and she felt herself growing distant from Night Thunder.

The Indian’s view of life made little sense to her. For instance, no one had made comment upon the fact that both she and Night Thunder had been gone the entire night, something she felt hard pressed to comprehend. In truth, it appeared the Indians, as a people, rarely condemned one for deeds which seemed important to her, yet made much over what to her were trivial matters.

Perhaps she would never understand them.

With the flip of her hand, she shook back her hair and tipped her head to face toward the sun, welcoming the warm rays of the morning. She paused for a moment more, letting the sun settle in upon her as though it might wash away her thoughts. But too soon, she realized she could no longer see the Indians, and, picking up her skirt, she hurried to catch up to Night Thunder and the others.

Well, that’s it for today.  Hope you enjoy the little “game,” as well as the excerpt.  Be sure to leave a comment in order to enter into the drawing for the e-book.

tinyurl.com/y634cs87 — this book is also on KU at Amazon

The Hermit of the Superstition Mountains

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I have the really good fortune of living not too far from the Superstition Mountains – a range of about 160,000 acres east of Phoenix and north of Mesa and Apache Junction. I mentioned in a previous blog that my next Love Inspired Suspense Mountain Rescue book will be set there. When I first planned this blog, I thought to write about the legend of the Lost Dutchman’s Mine, something which the Superstitions are perhaps most known for. Instead, I decided to tell you a little about another famous legend, that of Elisha Reavis, and one I have much more experience with.

He was known as the hermit of the Supersitions, though, by some newspaper accounts, he was actually quite social and likeable when he came to town to sell his produce. Social, and a little touched in the head as they said in those days. He was born to a well-off family in Illinois and came to Arizona in 1869, abandoning his wife and child. Why exactly no one is sure, but he established a ranch in the heart of the Superstitions at the only location with enough natural water to grow fruits and vegetables. Mind you, he didn’t buy the land, he simply settled there and began to farm it.

Constructing a house and out buildings, digging wells, and bringing in equipment was no small task, considering the remote location of his new home. Not to mention transporting his produce to town for sale. It takes a special person with an incredible amount of determination. There are plenty of wild stories about Elisha, which may or may not be true. He supposedly fought off a band of local Apaches who weren’t happy about him settling on their hunting ground by taking off his clothes and running around naked with a butcher knife. Some thought he had supernatural powers. It’s been said the house contained an impressive library. What is know for sure, he died on the trail, and a small monument now marks the spot.

The legend of Elisha Reavis lives on today in the form of apples. He planted a large orchard that produces an impressive harvest still to this day — depending on weather conditions, of course. I’ve visited Reavis Ranch, as it’s called, many time, riding in on horseback (though you can also hike in if you’re up to it). We used to make several trips each year, always one in the fall to collect bushels of apples. We’d carry out the apples on a packhorse and later turn them into apple sauce, apple pie, and fried apples. One year, we even spent the night in the old abandoned ranch house. I’m glad to have had the chance because, sadly, the house was burned down by vandals some years ago. Only the foundation remains.

There are some incredible views to be had on the Superstition trails to Reavis Ranch that will quite literally take your breath away. Weaver’s Needle is easily recognized by its distinctive shape (check out the first picture at the top of the blog). And if you know where to look, you can also visit ancient Indian ruins and natural springs that create an oasis in the middle of desert mountains. I’ve been to both. But, as often as I’ve ridden the mountains, I’ve never found the Lost Dutchman’s Mine. That’ll be a blog for another day!

Belle Siddons–Gambler, Legend, and Inspiration By Pam Crooks

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If you happened to catch our Yee-Haw blog on Monday, you’ll know I announced a new series called Love Train. My book, CHRISTIANA, is the launch book and will be released on April 1st, but I’ll talk more about that later.

There’s few things more satisfying than writing a book to the finish. Starting one, however, isn’t quite as satisfying, at least not for me. In fact, it can be downright stressful until I find my way with the plot, the characters, and their conflict.

To do that, I must do plenty of research, especially if I’m writing an historical. Then, as inevitably happens, I stumble upon an article that I find absolutely fascinating, and voila, my story starts to take shape.

That’s exactly what happened with Belle Siddons.

The author of the article mostly pieced together information from two reporters’ sources–a jail cell interview when she was a bit, well, inebriated, and a death bed interview where she describes herself as a victim and whose account doesn’t quite match up with what little historical facts could be found.

Still, the author wrote a fascinating piece, and from the beginning, I was hooked. Here’s a quote from a reporter at the time:

She went to the wildest excesses in dissipation. When not sitting behind her gambling table she was eating or drinking. But she was never known to drink in her gambling hall. There she would sit, silent and brilliant, coldly shuffling the cards, or carelessly turning her roulette table. Women she despised and seldom spoke to or of them. She never quarreled or exchanged words of anger. Her prompt argument was her pistol, which always lay beside her stacks of money. Her favorite costume was red or black velvet, ornamented with a profusion of gaudy jewelry, mostly diamonds and rubies. Her luxuriant black hair usually hung carelessly looped over her shoulders with gold and diamond clasps. This sensational costume, she said, was a part of her stock in trade. “It excites curiosity and draws in the suckers,” she said.

—San Francisco Examiner, 1881

What’s not to love?

I won’t go too deep into her wild life given that not all of it can be backed up as factual. The author admits to fictionalizing Belle’s legend, and it made for fascinating reading.  But if you want to read the article, here’s a link.

From <http://shipwrecklibrary.com/deadlands/belle-siddons/>

Regardless, after poring over the writings, my story took off, and I love it when that happens.

Belle is the inspiration for my heroine’s mother, Olivia Turcotte. I softened her up quite a bit, and the story is truly Christiana’s, but the book is based on Olivia’s actions, Christiana’s love for her, and the hopes and dreams she has.

One thing I did keep was Olivia’s skill at the faro table. It was that skill which drew the villain’s interest, leads to the decisions she makes, and well, you’ll have to read the book when it comes out to learn more.

Suffice to say, everyone–even outlaws–have skills that everyone admires.

I’d like to think I have numerous skills–ha!–but probably my strongest would be organizational. It seems I’m always ramrodding something for my family or other authors, a throwback, I suppose, from being the oldest of seven children that were born boom-boom-boom.  Back in those years, my mother needed help, and she’d come to me saying “Pam, you handle it.”

So I did.

How about you? Can you name one skill that is your best?

Frontier, Folklore, and Feuds: Harnessing the Best of the West to Create a Fictional Town By Janine Rosche

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There was a time in my childhood when I stumbled into the world of soap operas. I loved the angst, romance, and the evil twins! But one detail really caught my attention. There were catacombs beneath General Hospital! What?! Even at nine years old I understood that catacombs weren’t exactly common, but that didn’t matter. Since Port Charles was a fictional city, all the writers had to say was, “Let there be catacombs,” and there were.

When I decided to set my new series in a fictional Colorado town, I didn’t realize how much fun I would have. Picture creating a world with every cool thing you could imagine!

Now, I didn’t go crazy. I still needed my town to be somewhat realistic so I based all of Whisper Canyon’s eccentricities on other cities and towns in the west. Here are some of the TRUE places and stories that inspired my town in Aspen Crossroads:

 

The Feud

There’s nothing like a good old feud to liven up a town! Take it from me—my brother-in-law is a Hatfield. Luckily, my sister is not a McCoy. In my series, the canyon was discovered by Alva Haviland who fled the south after he burned down a pro-slavery newspaper office, leaving behind a heartbroken fiancée. To avenge her heartache, her uncle Prescott Garrison chased Alva across the prairie and into the mountains. When he laid eyes on Whisper Canyon, he saw the potential for wealth and took more than his fair share of land. The Haviland/Garrison feud has been brewing ever since, nearly destroying the town in the process.

The Caverns

Three hours west of Denver, the quaint mountain town of Glenwood Springs hosts tourists looking for both relaxation in their natural hot springs and adventure in their caverns. Aren’t caverns amazing? There’s something magical about seeing the awe-inspiring tunnels and caves while knowing you could die any minute, am I right? Talk about angst!! This is why in Aspen Crossroads, Haven and Jace go spelunking in Whisper Canyon Caverns, where they are forced to confront their fears and their feelings for each other.

My children and I at Glenwood Springs Caverns
My children and I at Glenwood Springs Caverns

The Mill

My favorite restaurant west of the Mississippi is in a little tourist town known for river tubing. The town is Gruene, Texas, and the restaurant is The Gristmill.  An 1878 water-powered mill was turned into a restaurant ninety-nine years after it first opened. The food ranges from casual lunches to the delicious peppercorn steak that I’ve been craving since I moved from Texas fifteen years ago. And because you can eat outside overlooking the Guadalupe River, in the beer garden, or on one of three floors inside the restaurant, every dining experience feels new. It’s simply cinematic. So when I needed to give my characters a new life (after being rescued from sex work), I created a mill-to-restaurant renovation that these women could be proud of!

The Gristmill, Gruene, Texas
Photo courtesy of @gristmillriverrestaurant on Instagram

A Legend

What good is a town without a local legend? In Whisper Canyon, that legend is Ol’ Six Claw, a bear with, you guessed it, six claws on one paw. His ghostly form has been spotted in the canyon for more than one hundred and fifty years, and it’s believed he started the fire that turned Whisper Canyon into a ghost town in 1885. This troublesome bear was inspired by West Yellowstone, Montana’s Snaggletooth—a grizzly bear that was known to forage in the town dump in the 60s and 70s and is now stuffed and on display in the town’s museum.

Old Snaggletooth, West Yellowstone Historic Center

Now that you know a little bit about the making of Whisper Canyon, I’d love for you to visit by picking up the first book in the series, Aspen Crossroads.

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GIVEAWAY: It’s your turn! If you were to create a town, what would you be inspired to include? One commenter will win a Love Wander Read sweatshirt from my new LWR Apparel collection. Winner to choose size and color. Winner must be 18 and, due to shipping costs, must have a US mailing address. Contest runs October 1-4th. Winner will be notified by email.

Bio: Prone to wander, Janine Rosche finds as much comfort on the open road as she does at home. This longing to chase adventure, behold splendor, and experience redemption is woven into her Madison River Romance and Whisper Canyon series. When she isn’t writing or traveling, she teaches family life education courses to college students, takes too many pictures of her sleeping dogs, and embarrasses her four children and husband with boy band serenades. Her latest story, Dreams in Toyland, can be found in the Christmas in Mistletoe Square novella collection, available now.  http://www.janinerosche.com

When Halloween Meant Scaring Up a Little Romance

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It seems to me that Halloween has grown darker over the years.  Growing up in Michigan, we dressed up as beggars and yelled “Help the poor.”  I don’t remember anyone wearing scary costumes.  Another place where you probably wouldn’t have seen werewolves or zombies is in the Old West.

During the 1800s it was considered a night of romance. Many of the tricks and treats of those Victorian Halloween parties were designed with romance in mind.

 In the Old West, Halloween dances were held in schoolhouses, barns or churches.  Guests were required to jump over a broom upon arrival to assure future happiness.  Masquerade balls were popular, too, but mostly held in the east.   

Apples played an important part in these Halloween rituals but so did tin soldiers.  An article in the El Paso Daily paper in 1899 described the ritual of melting tin soldiers.  A young woman would then drip the melted tin from a spoon into cold water. The tin would harden in all manner of shapes, thus foretelling a maiden’s future.  If, for example, the tin looked like a shoe, she would marry a shoemaker.  A ship meant her future husband would be a sailor and a hammer foretold a carpenter in her future.

Bobbing for apples was a must, but with an interesting twist. The apples would each contain the name of a male guest.  A woman lucky enough to sink her teeth into a pippin would come up with more than just a wet face; she’d also know the name of her future mate.

 Some enterprising hostesses who owned apple trees went one step further.  While the apples were still green they glued the initials of single males onto the apples.  When the apples ripened, the paper was washed off revealing the green initials on the rosy cheeks.   Upon arriving at the party, female guests would draw an apple from the tub to find out the name of her dance partner.

 Another popular game involving apples required careful paring so that the peels were cut into one long strip. These were then thrown over the left shoulder.  The initial the peel made on the floor was the initial of a future love.

 Peelings were also hung from barn doors and female guests were given a number. If for example, you got number two, then the second male through the door was your true love.

 Another crowd-pleaser was the cobweb game.  Guests were each given two bright colored threads attached to a cardboard heart in some remote corner. The threads ran through the room in an intricate pattern. The idea was to unravel your thread by bobbing under a red thread or slipping through a tangle of green or blue threads until you reached the heart which named your partner for the night.

Halloween games also included the game of Proposal.  Each woman was given a stack of cardboard hearts and lemons.  The males had to go around the room and propose to each woman. He had thirty seconds to convince her to marry him. When the bell rang, she would either give him a lemon for no or a heart for yes.  At the end of the game, the man with the most hearts won. 

With all the ghosts and goblins of today, it’s hard to imagine a time when Halloween was just another word for romance                             

        How are you and your family planning to spend this pandemic Halloween? 

You’ll Find a List of Margaret’s Books Here:

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Fall Traditions

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Although the official date for the beginning of autumn is September 22nd, Americans traditionally mark the fall season from Labor Day through Thanksgiving Day in November.

I was born and raised in Texas, so my experience is based on the wild and wooly weather of the Texas Panhandle.  We can have triple digit days and snow the next.  Trust me, it’s the truth because it happened this year in late spring.  Weird but true.  We broke two weather records just last week with triple digits that went back to the 1930’s.

Now for the first thing we must do to get ready for next Monday. We’ve got to wear our patent shoes all we can because effective Labor Day they, along with our matching purses, have to go up on the shelves until Easter when they can come down for Spring.

I’m showing my age here, but although this year is different than a regular school year beginning, when I was growing up we always began in mid-September.  The reason was simple.  We had no air conditioning and had to wait until Fall set in to begin.  Now with A/C, school begins here in mid-August, under typical circumstances.

I grew up with a true Southern Grannie and I love sweet potatoes.  Any way, any how … but a Sweet Potato Pie is my favorite with real whipping cream on top.

My second favorite “turning to autumn” food is my first pot of homemade chili.  It’s always so good and easy to fix.

Centuries ago, farmers, ranchers, and other folks noticed animal behavior and habits that predicted the weather. Some of these are from the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Here’s a few ol’ wives tales involving animals that I found interesting.

Expect rain when dogs eat grass, cats purr and wash themselves.  I found this interesting because my cat purrs when she’s in my lap or happy.  She washes herself continually, regardless of the season, and our dogs eat grass.  We’ve been in a drouth, so I’m thinking these aren’t indicative of rain.  Just my opinion.

Can Cows Forecast Weather?  Many weather adages involve cows because they were common animals on farms, as they are today on ranches.

  • If a cow stands with its tail to the west, the weather is said to be fair.
  • If a cow grazes with its tail to the east, the weather is likely to turn sour.
  • If the bull leads the cows to pasture, expect rain; if the cows precede the bull, the weather will be uncertain

There is some truth here. Animals graze with their tail toward the wind so that if a predator sneaks up behind them, the wind will help catch the scent of the predator and prevent an attack.  So, see there is still today some proof that animal habits tell a story. 

I selected this picture of a herd of cattle because they seem to be confused as to what is expected of them.

I’ve spent time on a couple of ranches and even worked cattle, but truthfully, I’m no cowgirl and sure don’t know anything about how cattle stand because I’ve seen them in every position … and I do mean every position. There is one thing I learned, and it truly stuck with me, when you’re working the gate while cattle are being inoculated, do not wear a white t-shirt. You’ll never get the bull…you know what… out of the it and you have to wash your hair a dozen times.

I’m truly interested in knowing what you readers who own cattle ranches have to say about the ol’ wives’ tales.

When do you consider autumn beginning? What is your favorite fall tradition?  Also, don’t forget to wear those patent shoes because you don’t have many days left.

To one lucky winner I will give you your choice of any eBook of mine

or any short story collection I’m in from Amazon.

Just a note, I found patent shoes spelled patten, patton,

and a couple of other ways, so I had to punt!

Wishing Wells and Various Lucky Charms

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As I took pictures of my foster Kimber for a St. Patrick Day’s post, I started thinking about “lucky” items. I love horseshoes. I pick up pennies I find. “Find a penny pick it up and all the day you’ll have good luck.” I’ve always wished on the first star I see in the night sky. I throw coins in fountains. I’ve never found a 4-leaf clover, but if I had, I’d have kept it. Considering all that it’s not surprising that when I wanted to add something special to my fictional east Texas town, I chose a wishing well. But I’ve never thought about how the wishing well lore started.

Deciding to fix that, I did some research. The lore started because of man’s natural obsession with water. Since without water we humans are toast, water has been a major concern since we burst onto the scene. Many ancient cultures viewed underground springs as sacred gifts. In appreciation, people dropped tokens for the gods into the water. Wells or well houses built around water sources to protect them became gathering places. Germanic tribes believed spirits who liked to intervene in humans’ lives inhabited these waters, and if someone voiced a wish or hope, the spirits might grant the wish. Someone could increase the chances of the wish being granted by dropping a coin or small token in the well. And it turns out poor Odin, Thor’s father, lost his eye because water deity Mimir, who lived in and guarded the Well of Wisdom, demanded his right eye as payment for a drink. The legend says his right eye was thrown in the well for others to know there was a price for the well’s wisdom.

When I created my well, I wanted a twist so I made my well persnickety, only granting wishes made for someone else. I created a legend which started with two sisters, Anne and Alice. The short version is, after the Civil War when Anne’s husband failed to return, she became despondent and took to her bed. Alice, not knowing what else to do, stood at the family well, her tears dropping into the water as she tossed in a coin. She wished for her brother-in-law to return to the family who loved and needed him. Two days later, Sam returned, and the town’s legend was born.

I’ve had fun starting each book with a wish for the hero or heroine and weaving references to the well through the stories. In To Love A Texas Cowboy, Ty Barnett’s sister Aubrey turns to the wishing well when she’s concerned he’s marrying the wrong woman. Book 2, To Catch A Texas Cowboy, opens with Ty making a wish for his best friend AJ Quinn. In To Tame A Texas Cowboy, my latest release in the Wishing Texas Series, Cheyenne Whitten’s sister Sheridan wishes for her to receive help with her health issues.

But like Odin, a price is demanded before the wish is granted. My hero and heroine must survive trials, struggles and conflict, often caused or exaggerated by what or rather who fate has decided possesses the answer to their loved one’s wish. Yup, my well enjoys stirring up lives and causing trouble before answering those wishes. Because just like in real life as the Rolling Stones say, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well, you might find, you get what you need.”

Today’s giveaway is a horseshoe and a copy of To Catch A Texas Cowboy. This book contains my favorite wish so far. It’s my favorite mainly because it’s done in such a guy fashion. You’ll have to read the story to find out what Ty wishes for AJ. To be entered in the random drawing leave a comment about your favorite lucky charm or item to wish on.