Research

Guest Jodie Wolfe and a Give Away!

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The Impact of Journals

Did you ever keep a journal or diary as a kid? Maybe you still keep one as an adult. Perhaps as a child you recorded events like a grade you received on a test, interactions with siblings, or the weather. Perhaps you wrote about a secret crush you had on someone.

As a writer, I love coming across actual journals of people who lived in the area I plan to write about, especially if it happens to be during the era I’ll be dropping my book into. When I first planned on writing stories about mail-order brides, I enjoyed reading through Hearts West: True Stories Of Mail-Order Brides On The Frontier by Chris Enss. Whenever you can get actual accounts to draw from, it helps a writer to create a deeper, and hopefully more accurate book.

When I set about starting a new series set in my neck of the woods, my first time departing from books set in the west, I spent a lot of time researching. I asked questions in FB groups to find out as much as possible about the local history. In the process, I came across a woman who used to work at the historical society where my new series takes place. Through conversations and questions, we developed a friendship founded on the love of history. As we came to know each other more, she helped to discover obscure information about the names of local businesses, names of people living in the area, and who owned properties nearby. I would have relied on searching through newspapers from the town, but unfortunately a fire destroyed the records for the years in which I was searching.

I had planned on setting the first book in the early 1870s. Even though I live in an area steeped in Civil War history, I never desired to write a book set during that time until…. My local historian shared two journals written in 1864 by two local farmers. Each one chronicled daily what the weather was, what was happening around town, as well as their activities. Each of these two farmers only wrote a short paragraph each day, but these journals are full of history with names, businesses, etc. They shared about Rebel sightings, how much they were paid to provide meals/housing when Rebel soldiers passed through the area, as well as what they saw when a local town was burned. Here’s a sample of the entries:

January, Saturday 16

Beautiful day I paid my Breakfast 25 cts and then walked about through

Harrisburg till 8 Oclock. Took the car and came to Mechanicsburg and stayed there with

cousin Kate Seabrooks for the next train. I then came to Shippensburg my fair was $1.35

cts. John and cousin [first name] Diehl was in town and I came with them.

I used some of these journal entries in my new book, Abigail’s Pursuit. Here’s a little bit about it:

Abigail Stewart, with the Civil War raging, is on the verge of losing everything. The man who is responsible for her brother’s death comes to Shippensburg offering to help. How can she work with her enemy? What’s to stop him from betraying her?

Wounded during the war, Daniel Thompson must find a way to make amends and fulfill his friend’s dying request. Daniel’s homecoming proves anything but easy as he seeks to find forgiveness from his family when they can’t be found. The woman he tries to assist, doesn’t want anything to do with him.

Can two wounded hearts find their way back home?

JODIE WOLFE loves writing historical fiction after years as a homeschool mom. She enjoys spending time with her husband in Pennsylvania, reading, knitting, and walking. Jodie creates novels where hope and quirky meet. Visit her at http://www.jodiewolfe.com.

So how about you, when’s the last time you kept a journal? You never know, one day it might be of interest to a writer. 🙂 

One lucky respondent will win a digital copy of  Abigail’s Retreat. 

Learning to Write Westerns When I Had No Clue

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Please welcome special guest author Lisa Jordan to the Junction!

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Several years ago, I had a wonderful conversation with my editor at Love Inspired, asking her input about what I could do to increase my readership.

She said, “Write Amish or cowboy stories. That’s what’s really selling right now.”

At that time, my husband and I had started watching Heartland, too, and I fell in love with the family dynamic as they worked through the trials and triumphs of ranching and all things horses. I appreciated her advice, took it to the Lord, and determined that it was time to move away from my fictional town in PA and head to CO—at least, fictitiously.

The only problem was I’ve only been to a hotel in Colorado for the 2009 ACFW conference. Oh, yeah, I’ve never been on a ranch. And come to think of it, I haven’t ridden a horse since middle school…and Queenie was the gentlest pony on the planet.

So creating a fictional family on a fictional ranch in a fictional town shouldn’t be too hard, right?

How was I going to create a four-book series and make it realistic?

When it came time to decide where my fictional town was going to be located, I pulled up Google Maps and determined my fictional town of Aspen Ridge was going to be set about forty-five minutes outside of Durando, Colorado.

I learned to lean on my friends, who were able to help with some geographical aspects of the terrain, the weather, and even little things like what brands of ice cream were popular—I needed that info to write one sentence in my book coming out in April 2025. Another friend, Dalyn Weller, lives on a ranch in Washington and shared information pertaining to care, feeding, and tacking horses.

I’ve purchased books and magazines to help with research…and the other articles inspired new ideas.

YouTube is one of the best sources of information. I searched for videos for that part of the state for visuals to build storyworld into my scenes. I watched videos about ranching, tacking horses, growing strawberries in that area. I also took visual tours of the San Juan Mountains that overlook my fictional town.

In my book series, my fictional family expands their ranch to include a guest ranch. Instead of building cabins, which can be quite costly, I decided the Stone family was going to put yurts on their property. For the past three years, my husband and I have camped in a yurt for a week in July. Since nothing is wasted in a writer’s life, it was the perfect inspiration for a novel.

My husband and I visited a local rodeo where I spent the afternoon and evening taking lots of pictures and video to create a realistic bull rider in my series. Additionally, we watched a wonderful (and painfully-looking) documentary about bull riders, bull riding, and all that goes into the sport.

I’ve visited online forums like Reddit to get a real, down-to-earth view about different aspects from people who live out their days running ranches, caring and riding horses, and trying to make a living for their families.

And finally, one of my favorite ways to research my newly-released book, Bonding with the Cowboy’s Daughter, was to visit a nearby horse rescue. My new friend Nola, who has a huge heart for saving the beautiful animals, took me on a tour of her small non-profit horse farm and walked me through what she’s done to start and grow her organization. A couple of times, I was moved to tears as she shared a few stories of heartbreak in trying to save the animals.

I’ve learned to not be limited by what I know when it comes to writing new stories. It’s become an adventure to learn something new and use that knowledge to inspire readers.

I will be giving away a signed copy of Bonding with the Cowboy’s Daughter. Post a comment below and tell me what you love most about reading westerns.

Bonding with the Cowboy’s Daughter

She’s left her old life behind

…only to find a new love waiting

After a broken engagement, Callie Morgan decides to move to Aspen Ridge, Colorado, to fix up her late grandmother’s gift shop. But the shop is in bad shape and Callie runs out of money faster than expected. Old childhood friend and single dad Wyatt Stone comes to the rescue, offering her a job at his family’s ranch, Stone River Ranch. While their friendship is rekindled, will Callie ever risk loving again…even as Wyatt’s little girl is already stealing her heart?

 

AMAZON LINK

Storytelling vs. Historical Authenticity?

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We’re pleased to welcome special guest author Misty Beller back to the junction!

I’m so excited to visit with y’all again! The Petticoats and Pistols family is one of my favorite places to hang out. 🙂

My latest releasing is Winning the Mountain Man’s Love, and I was excited to research a job I’d not studied much beyond what I’ve seen on a thousand old westerns. 🙂

Our heroine’s work in this story is as a gambler in the mining town of Missoula Mills. She had a sort of love/hate relationship with being a professional gambler, but that job plays a significant role in shaping her character and her journey.

But what was the reality of gambling in this time and place?

During the 1870s, the Montana Territory was a wild, untamed land, attracting adventurers, miners, and those seeking to make their fortune by profiting from the miners. With the influx of men and money, gambling became a prevalent pastime and a lucrative business. Saloons, gaming houses, and even street corners became hubs for various games of chance, including poker, faro, and dice.

For many, gambling offered a quick path to wealth, but it also led to addiction, debt, and desperation. The lack of regulation and high stakes often attracted unsavory characters, making the gambling scene a dangerous and unpredictable world.

Women like Patience, who found themselves caught up in this world, faced even greater challenges. They were often viewed as mere entertainers or worse, and their involvement in gambling was seen as a mark of moral failure. However, for some women, gambling provided a means of survival in a society that offered few opportunities for financial independence.

Despite the risks and the societal stigma, gambling continued to thrive in the Montana Territory throughout the 1870s. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that anti-gambling laws and reformers began to push back against the pervasive gaming culture.

Thankfully, Patience didn’t have to wait so long to leave the gambling world behind her, but that life certainly left its mark on her. I won’t share any spoilers, but I pray you enjoy Patience and Jonah’s story in Winning the Mountain Man’s Love! 🙂

I’m excited to give away a signed copy of this book! To be entered for the giveaway, I’d love to hear some of the interesting job’s you’ve seen women perform in historical fiction novels. Leave a comment below to share.  🙂

 

Winning the Mountain Man’s Love

In the wild mountains of the Montana Territory, the Coulter ranch is a place of family, second chances…and a hidden fortune.

Jonah Coulter can’t stand to watch his former fiancée build a life with her one true love. That’s the way it always happens for him—second child of six, second choice for love. He’s relieved to escape his family’s ranch to search for the aunt of a lost child he rescued. At least little Anna needs him. She deserves to be reunited with her last living relative.

Patience Whitman fled from her past and the man who killed her late husband. Now she’s reinvented herself in the untamed Montana Territory. Relying on her gambling skills to survive, she’s determined to earn enough to buy independence from the constant threat of men—she’s never met one who isn’t greedy, controlling, or violent. But when a stranger shows up and says his brothers have taken in her orphaned niece, Patience must go after Anna no matter the cost.

As Jonah and Patience navigate the treacherous landscape of their pasts and little Anna’s future, they must confront their deepest fears and learn to trust each other. But when danger catches up to them, they must risk everything to claim the happily ever after they both crave.

Purchase Link

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh Yum!

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Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. I’m working on a new Western historical set in 1897 (More on that in a future post!) In one of the scenes I was writing I needed to come up with a treat for a two-year-old that could be bought at a general store.

Thinking of my own grandson, his favorite treats are goldfish crackers. Of course those weren’t around in 1897. But my mind made one of those leaps to animal crackers (fish – animals, yeah my mind works in strange ways). So I did a little digging and Eureka! Animal crackers were first produced in the US in 1871. Problem solved.

But while I was digging into this, I uncovered a few interesting tidbits I thought I’d share with you today.

The story of animal crackers begins in England, where biscuits (as the British call cookies) shaped like animals were first produced in the mid 1800s. These early versions were simply called “animals” and quickly became popular as a fun and playful treat. They were particularly popular among children, who loved the idea of munching on little edible zoo animals.

But it wasn’t long before animal crackers made their way across the Atlantic to America. In the late 1800s, American bakeries began producing their own versions of these animal-shaped biscuits. The most notable of these was the Stauffer Biscuit Company, which started making animal crackers in 1871. However, it was the National Biscuit Company—known today as Nabisco—that truly cemented animal crackers’ place in American culture.

In 1902, Nabisco introduced Barnum’s Animals, the iconic brand of animal crackers that we still see on store shelves today. The crackers were named after the famous showman P.T. Barnum and his traveling circus, which was a beloved form of entertainment at the time. The packaging itself was a work of art—a small, rectangular box designed to look like a circus train car, complete with a string for hanging on Christmas trees. This brilliant marketing strategy helped make Barnum’s Animals a holiday favorite, and the brand has been associated with fun and festivity ever since.

Over the years, the cast of animal characters has evolved. Originally, there were 18 different animals, including lions, tigers, bears, elephants, and camels. However, new animals have been introduced, and others have retired to the great zoo in the sky. In 2002, Nabisco even held a contest to let the public vote on a new animal to join the mix, with the koala emerging as the winner. Today, there are 19 different animals in the Barnum’s Animals lineup. They are: Lion, Tiger, Bear, Elephant, Giraffe, Zebra, Hippopotamus, Camel, Kangaroo, Monkey, Rhinoceros, Seal, Gorilla, Sheep, Bison, Leopard, Penguin, Koala and Polar Bear.

One major change occurred in 2018 when, after more than a century, the design of the Barnum’s Animals box was updated. In response to a campaign by animal rights activists, Nabisco redesigned the packaging to show the animals roaming free in their natural habitats, rather than being caged in circus cars. This change was a nod to changing social values, emphasizing animal welfare and conservation.

Animal crackers aren’t just a snack—they’ve become a cultural icon. They’ve appeared in movies, TV shows, and even songs. Who can forget Shirley Temple’s famous rendition of “Animal Crackers in My Soup”? This playful tune helped cement the snack’s place in pop culture, making it a beloved treat for generations. If you’ve never heard it, or just want to hear it again, here’s the LINK.

Beyond their nostalgic appeal, animal crackers have also inspired creative culinary uses. From pie crusts to cheesecake bases, these versatile crackers add a touch of whimsy to any dessert. And let’s not forget the chocolate-dipped versions, which elevate the humble animal cracker into a truly indulgent treat.


Fun Facts and Trivia

The average box of Barnum’s Animals contains 22 crackers. That’s 22 little animals to bring a smile to your face!

In the 1930s, Nabisco considered adding a kangaroo to the mix but ultimately decided against it.

The monkey is often considered the rarest of the animal cracker shapes, as it’s produced less frequently than other animals. (No indication as to why…)

Animal crackers were reportedly one of President Theodore Roosevelt’s favorite snacks. He even served them at the White House!

While animal crackers are a distinctly American treat, they have international versions too! In Japan, they’re called “dobutsu biscuits” and are often paired with educational games about animals.

Nabisco, the most famous producer of animal crackers with their Barnum’s Animals brand, produces approximately 40 million boxes of animal crackers each year. That’s around 4,000 tons of animal crackers!

In 1995, a sculptor named Nancy Rubins created a massive installation called Monument to the Last Horse in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The sculpture used thousands of animal crackers embedded in concrete, making it one of the most unique uses of the snack.

In 2002, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Barnum’s Animals, Nabisco created the world’s largest box of animal crackers. The box measured 8 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, containing a whopping 3,000 pounds of animal crackers. (I wonder what happened to them?)

In 2010, Stauffer’s, another major producer of animal crackers, released a limited-edition “Endangered Species” set of animal crackers to raise awareness about conservation. The crackers featured animals like pandas, gorillas, and polar bears.

On a personal level, I have memories of eating these as a kid myself. And yes, my siblings and I would sometimes play with them rather than eating them, pretending they were animals in a zoo or even in the wild. And I remember giving them to my own children who happily munched on them, pretending they were eating real wild animals.

Do you have any memories of animal crackers, either from your own experiences or of giving them to the children in your life? Share your stories in the comments to be entered in a drawing for one of my books.

What Fishing Was Like in the Early 1900s

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Good morning, everyone. And I’m sorry to be late with this blog. I admit, my calendar failed me (which is better than saying I forgot).

You may remember from a previous blog post of mine, I’m working on a new historical story. That means, for me, I have to stop every few pages and research something to make sure I got it right. In this book, my heroine is fishing for trout in a creek. Seems simple enough, yes? But no. first research item – were there trout in the area where I’m setting my story during 1915. Turns out there were, so I’m good there. Second item, do I call what she’s using a fishing pole or a fishing rod? Well, who knew there’s a difference?

Turns out, she’d use a fishing pole — which is basically a long stick from which a string is tied and seems to have been around for at least four-thousand years. A fishing rod is more complicated and sophisticated. It has ringed guides along the pole and a reel to store the line. My heroine would definitely not have that. But from my research, reels did first start appearing in the 1600s.  In those day, it was mostly a loop of wire attached to the end of the pole. An improvement, nonetheless, and the string didn’t get so tangled.

I also learned that most fishing poles and fishing rods, at least until the 1900s, were home-made by people. There were even books published about how to make your own fishing poles, such as Iziak Walton’s “The Complete Angler (1676). I wonder if my local library has that. Tackle shops which sold manufactured fishing equipment have only been around for a hundred years or so, which is probably when innovations to fishing rods really took off and we got the modern tools anglers use today.

There are other ways of fishing besides with a pole or rod. Early man used spears, sometimes setting traps or bait and standing in the water waiting until a fish approached. A more primitive version of the pole was to simply toss a line into the water, anchor it with a heavy rock and wait for a fish to take the bait. Large nets were also used, sometimes requiring two or more people.

All this is probably more than you wanted to know about early fishing and more than I needed for my one scene in the book when my heroine is fishing. But I always enjoy learning something new. I didn’t bother researching hooks, figuring that was going a little too deep and readers probably would care. But now I’m thinking, maybe that would be interesting…

Molly and the Hello Girls

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My latest release, a wholesome historical romance set in World War I, just released July 11.

Molly is the story of an American Expeditionary Forces Signal Corps switchboard operator (also known as a Hello Girl) and a soldier who is tough yet tender.

When I was researching information for Sadie’s story,  the first WWI book I wrote, I discovered a little information about the Hello Girls who served during World War I.

I thought it would be an incredible thing for Molly, Sadie’s sister, to become one of the Hello Girls. When I dove into the research for this book, I learned so much about these amazing women! They were intelligent, impressive, and inspiring. Although it took them sixty years to be recognized by the Army in which they served, they are credited with opening the door to women serving in the U.S. Army.

In April 1917, America declared war on Germany and joined World War I. Soon after,  General John J. Pershing was tasked with leading the American Expeditionary Forces (which would become the US Army) and went to France to begin the arduous task of preparing for the arrival of American soldiers. He had an overwhelming task ahead of him and soon realized a better telephone system was needed, as well as highly trained operators. In America at that time, most switchboard operators were women.

For the most part, men operating the switchboards lacked the patience, courteousness, and the dexterity to connect calls at a rapid pace. If someone called in yelling orders in their ear, they were just as inclined to hang up as transfer the call. The French operators didn’t always understand English and often lacked the sense of urgency for the call. Calls were delayed, or not placed at all. The need for American women to operate the switchboards for the Army became quite clear.

Advertisements were placed in newspapers across the country in late 1917 and early 1918 asking for women who were fluent in both French and English and could understand French spoken on a telephone line, since the switchboards were connected to the French government as well as the American military in France. The call to “serve your country” as telephone operators was answered by 7,600 women. Although there were age requirements, some of the girls fudged a bit, afraid they’d be turned down. More than 400 women were trained, and 223 were sent to France, becoming the first women to directly contribute to combat operations in American history.

 

Hello Girls

They were the first women in the Army.

When the first unit arrived in France in March 1918, under the leadership of Chief Operator Grace Banker (who was an amazing individual), it was taking an average of sixty seconds for a call to be placed.

Grace Banker

Under the leadership of Grace, the average call placement time dropped to ten seconds. By the end of the war, the Hello Girls had connected over twenty-six million calls.

The girls didn’t all go at once. There were seven units, but the Armistice was signed before the girls in the seventh group could leave New York. The sixth unit arrived in October. I chose to make Molly part of the fourth unit because of their arrival time in France in July. It worked so well with my story’s timeline.

The girls were required to purchase their own uniforms, which was an expensive endeavor. In today’s money, the uniforms would have cost around $5,000-$6,000. The uniforms made them a functioning unit, and helped in their integration.

The Hello Girls were given orders to wear their uniforms at all times, to not socialize with civilians or privates, and to not keep journals or diaries (thank goodness some of them, like Grace Banker, broke the rules and recorded details so important to history!).

Some of the girls served in cities where they had pleasant accommodations and a Y.W.C.A. hostess to keep an eye on them. Other girls were in quaint villages, several of them sharing a house or room. Then there were the girls who ended up in tar paper shacks lined with newspaper and discarded maps to keep out the weather.

Grace Banker and a handful of operators were on the front lines. At one point, their barracks caught fire, and the women went on with their duties while soldiers rescued their belongings. Grace later found her toothbrush in a shoe.

More than thirty of the women received individual commendations, and Grace Banker was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

The girls wrote about the importance of their duty. How one transferred call could save a life, or an entire battalion.

The AEF honored the Signal Corps girls with a special memento booklet for Christmas 1918. They also took up a collection to purchase gifts for them.

When the war ended, the work of the Signal Corps women was still needed. Slowly, over the months of 1919, they began to return home. The last girls left France in 1920.

Their return home was not what they expected. Despite serving under commissioned officers, wearing military discs of identification (the World War I equivalent of dog tags), wearing rank insignia on the sleeves of their uniforms with Army buttons, swearing the Army Oath, being subject to courts-martial—after all that, the Hello Girls were informed they were “civilian contractors” instead of soldiers. The Army attorneys argued the women recruited to the Signal Corps were civilian employees “engaged under contract,” although none of the girls signed a contract. They were treated, for all intents and purposes, like they were part of the Army while they served, then ignored by the military when they returned. Because the Army refused to acknowledge them as soldiers, they were not eligible for bonuses, insurance, medical care, military burials, or any of the things the military afforded the men who served in World War I.

Merle Egan was a telephone operator from Helena, Montana, who arrived in France with the fifth unit. She returned home and immediately submitted a claim for the sixty-dollar bonus granted to members of the AEF, only to be denied and told she was a civilian, not part of the Army.

The next sixty years, Merle, and some of the other women, fought a battle for the Army to recognize their service as soldiers. More than fifty bills granting veteran status to the Hello Girls were introduced in Congress, but none passed. Finally, with help from different veterans’ groups and the National Organization for Women, along with a Seattle attorney who took an interest in Merle’s efforts, the Hello Girls received veteran status when Jimmy Carter signed the legislation on November 23, 1977.

It would take until 1979 before the official discharge papers were presented. By then, only eighteen of the women were still alive, but Merle was one of them. She died in 1986 as a veteran of the U.S. Army.

After researching these incredible women and reading their stories, I can’t begin to express how truly magnificent they were. They served with dignity, grace, determination, bravery, and professionalism, and they inspired the next generation of women who would serve in World War II.

 There was even a touching, beautiful poem written about them entitled “To the Telephone Girl” written by Frances A. Johnson. I hope you’ll take a moment to read it.

Right now, you can support a Congressional Gold Medal for the Hello Girls, America’s First Women Soldiers. You’ll find all the details at this website with links to each state. It doesn’t cost a penny to add your support, and only takes a few minutes.

 

Inspired by the Hello Girls, America’s first women soldiers who helped win World War I.

She longs to make a difference. He yearns to claim her heart.

After years of managing the Pendleton telephone office, Molly Thorsen answers the call for women to serve as telephone operators during World War I. Upon her arrival in France, she navigates the challenges of working near the front lines and battles the prejudices and skepticism of the men around her. Determined to prove her worth and skill, Molly faces adversity head-on while unexpectedly falling in love with a charming soldier.

Friday Fitzpatrick may not have been eager to engage in combat, but when he is drafted into the American Expeditionary Forces, he embraces the role of a soldier with unwavering determination. While fighting to survive the harrowing battlefield experiences, he clings to his sanity by dreaming about the captivating Hello Girl who has captured his heart. Though his opportunities to see her are limited, she serves as a beacon of hope in the midst of his darkest days.

Through their shared experiences and the trials they endure, Molly and Friday find comfort and encouragement in each other’s company, forging a connection that defies the chaos of a world in conflict. As the war draws to a close and they return home, will civilian life bring them together or pull them apart?

Find out in this sweet and wholesome historical romance filled with hope, faith, courage, and love.

To celebrate the release of the book, I’m giving away a fun prize pack that includes autographed copies of Sadie and Molly, swag, and this wonderful children’s book about Grace Banker and the Hello Girls.

To enter, pop over to THIS FORM.

I’m also going to give away a digital copy of Molly to one lucky winner today!

To enter, share the name of one woman in history you admire in the comments.

What’s A Little Pillow Talk?

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Hi everyone, are you a picky pillow person? Ha, say that fast three times! Do you have a Mr. Pillow? I’m kinda picky and like the flatter kind, but not filled with feathers. Nope. And not one that makes a noise in my ear when I move. Good heavens! Some sell for enormous sums. I bought mine at Walmart about ten years ago and it’s beginning to go really flat but I hesitate buying a new one.

Remember how all the pillows were overstuffed and we got cricks in our necks sleeping on them until we mashed them down? Glad they aren’t that way anymore.

But choosing one now days is quite a chore. They come in every type from soft to very firm. The value of the global pillow market in sales is 17.6 billion.

I think pillows have been a problem since the beginning of time. Cowboys use their saddles and that can’t be very comfortable but it beats a rock. Did you know the first pillows were in fact curved stone bolsters that elevated your head? Those were used in Mesopotamia about 7,000 BC. Five thousand years later, the Egyptians improved on that with a flat rectangular base with a straight shaft and curved neckpiece. It was supposed to mimic the rising sun. But oh my poor aching neck! The Pharoah Tutankhamun had no fewer than 8 of these in his tomb. These pillows were thought to dispel demons and they believed they could banish evil from the dark night in both life and death. No thank you! You’d have a crick deluxe that you’d never get out. I wonder if they had chiropractors?

Compliments of the Glencairn’s Egyptian Museum
Courtesy of the British Museum

Actually, the Romans were the first to stuff a sack with reeds and straw. The wealthy used feathers. Now you’re talking.

So we’ve come a long way. The first International Pillow Fight Day was held in 2008 and is celebrated every year since on the first Saturday in April. We just missed it! 

I’m giving away a $15 Amazon gift card to a commenter who tells me what kind of pillow they use.

Kimberly Woodhouse Finds Stories in Bones

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Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to travel across the plains of Kansas into what is now Colorado and all of a sudden you see the Rocky Mountains ahead on the horizon?

If you’ve ever driven in this part of the country, you’ve seen it first-hand. It’s an incredible sight to behold. Especially after crossing so much… flat terrain. (Raise your hand if you’ve driven all the way across Kansas or Nebraska. Bonus points if you’ve done it multiple times.)

Out west here in Colorado, we get a lot of tourists that come to see the mountains. A lot of tourists.

One of the amazing hidden gems in our mountains and the surrounding rocky hills and landscapes is the plethora of sights where fossils have been found.

If you’ve read any of my books, you know that I love digging up some good history. And a pretty important part of our American history that a lot of people have never heard of is the Bone Wars.

Two paleontologists—Cope and Marsh—are the ones behind that intriguing title. Why? Well, let’s just say they weren’t nice to one another. Always trying to outdo each other, to be the “top dog”, to write the latest and greatest papers, to have the biggest and best skeletons displayed in museums with their name on it—these men stopped at almost nothing to win. Even going so far to use dynamite and blow up priceless, irreplaceable fossils just so the other couldn’t get to them.

Talk about the wild west.

My Treasures of the Earth series tackles the Bone Wars era while highlighting women in paleontology and the sticky subject matter of faith and science.

Set in Stone is book two in the series and it takes place in Colorado near the famous Red Rocks. Pretty close to Dinosaur Ridge actually, a place where you can see actual Dino footprints preserved in a towering wall.

One of the things I love about this area is the beautiful rock formations. In red, white, and gray. I can just imagine Martha—my heroine in this book—digging into these rock layers.

Her hopes and dreams of being recognized in the field are on the line when a fierce competition to present a complete skeleton to the museum puts her and her team in danger. Add in a good bit of suspense, a creepy villain, the thrill of digging for dinosaurs, and a dash of romance—you’ve got this second stand-alone installment in the series.

To celebrate the release of this book this week, I’m inviting you all to join with me in a little party here at Petticoats and Pistols.

I’m giving away FIVE copies of The Secrets Beneath (book one in the series), and one of those five lucky winners will also receive a copy of Set in Stone.

To enter – just leave a comment below. I’d love to hear about your favorite dinosaur, your favorite piece of American History, or if you’ve ever ventured west to see my Rocky Mountains.

Until next time… enjoy the journey,

Kimberley

 

Kimberley Woodhouse is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than forty books. A lover of history and research, she often gets sucked into the past and then her husband has to lure her out with chocolate and the promise of eighteen holes on the golf course. Married to the love of her life for more than three decades, she lives and writes in Colorado where she’s traded in her hat of “Craziest Mom” for “Nana the Great.” To find out more about Kim’s books, follow her on social media, and sign up for her newsletter/blog, go to: https://kimberleywoodhouse.com

 

Linda Broday: A Few of My Favorite Things

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Most writers do a lot of other things that bring fulfillment and satisfaction. Some love to cook, sew, or travel. The favorite things in my post last year were my rock collection. I just love collecting rocks. But on this one I want to talk about another love of mine that’s dear to my heart–Genealogy and researching my family history.

I’m very drawn to everything on the subject. PBS public broadcasting has a program on Tuesday nights here called Finding Your Roots and I watch it every week if I’m home. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. researches and delves deep into each his guests’ history. Sometimes the results will blow your mind and often the stories his team unearths are sad. It certainly beats fiction.

In my  family, I’ve uncovered a lot of surprising things that often leave me with more questions than answers. Ancestry.com has billions of records of births, deaths, census records, and newspaper articles. Through them, I discovered that the man I was led to believe was my grandfather isn’t. When he was twenty-three years old, he ran off with my grandmother who was almost forty and she was seven months pregnant with my mother. She already had five children, the oldest of which was married herself. She looked old, tired and used up, not some gorgeous woman. I’ve asked myself why? What would tempt a young man with his life ahead of him to do something like that? She never divorced her husband John Ellis and there are no records where she ever married this young man who lived on a neighboring farm in Arkansas. My mother said Ben used to get drunk and yell to her that she wasn’t his kid.

So fast forward thirty-seven years and Ben is dying of Black Lung Disease. He’s fathered another daughter and buried my grandmother. Who does he ask to take care of him? My mom. And she does. Not sure why, but I’d like to think he begged her forgiveness. So many questions I wish I had asked Mom.

Another story was about Ben’s brother, my uncle. Or at least I was told he was. William Henry died when he was twenty-six and I had a difficult time trying to find what happened to him. Then I ran across a newspaper article published in 1917 that told how was killed in a construction accident. He fell off a roof into a large vat of fresh cement and was buried in it. He died before they could get him out.

There are so many stories that grab your heart. I love knowing about these people and finding out that I have some of the same strength as my ancestors did. I come from a long line of immigrants. A few years ago, I did my DNA and 80% was English and Scottish. I had small percentages of Norwegians, Swedes, and Irish. That surprised me because I’d always thought I was mostly Irish. But no. I love knowing that I might’ve descended from Vikings. They regularly invaded England and Scotland and must’ve married one.

Have you ever done your DNA? Or have you researched your ancestors? Or tell me about one of your favorite things. Leave a comment to get in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card.

Kaitlene Dee Tells About Traveling Food, Covered Wagons, and Romance!

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Get ready for a fun time. This week, the Fillies are entertaining Kaitlene Dee aka Tina Dee and she’ll talk about covered wagons, the food they prepared on the trail, and some romance. She mentions a giveaway so don’t miss that.

In my new story, Grace, which is part of the Prairie Roses Collection, nineteen-year-old Grace loses her best friend and inherits her three-year-old daughter, Emma. It was her friend’s dying wish that Grace would raise Emma because the little girl is without any other family.

Adam begrudgingly comes to the rescue of Grace and Emma with a marriage of convenience proposal—and together, they set out to help an elderly couple of sisters move their tea shop business from one town to another in a covered wagon to carry the sisters’ precious bone china and heirloom cabinet. They head from northern California to southern California. What should only take two to three weeks travel time turns out to be a much longer trip, ripe with danger and disaster. In all this, Grace and Adam find out how much they must trust in God as He guides them into discovering that they truly need one another.

Personally, I love outdoor cooking, and writing this story was fun with all the cooking that goes on in it. I enjoyed researching foods pioneers packed and ate for their journeys. Guidebooks made suggestions to hopeful travelers on things to pack in their provisions.

But most interesting to me, was the spices. Some were used for medicinal purposes, as well as for flavoring. Some curatives that were packed were: Cinnamon bark for the relief of diarrhea and nausea and to aid against digestive issues, cloves for its antiseptic and anti-parasitic properties, and nutmeg or mace, which were used for tonics. (FoodTimeline.org –an awesome and fun resource! They refer to Randolph B. Marcy’s A Handbook for Overland Expeditions, a valuable resource manual for those traveling west).

Some folks also packed potable meat (cooked meat packed tightly into a jar, then covered with some sort of fat such as butter, lard, or maybe tallow and then sealed), and portable soups, desiccated dried or canned vegetables, powdered pumpkin, and dried fruits. These were a surprise to me since, prior to research, I pretty much thought their only options were beans, cornmeal mush, biscuits, bacon, flour, milk if they had a cow, and eggs.

On their journey, Adam used oxen to pull the covered wagon because they were strong, dependable, and able to do well on less abundant food sources. It was fun researching about wagons as well. I didn’t know the wagons carried a pail of pitch under the wagon bed. But discussing covered wagons is for a future post.

The story of Grace is a Christian marriage of convenience, pioneer romance set in the western frontier and is part of the multi-author Prairie Roses Collection. All books in the series are stand-alone stories and can be read in any order. Not all of the stories are set on the Oregon Trail, some travel across state or from one state to another, but all of the stories are romances that occur while on their covered wagon journeys. They are in Kindle Unlimited and are also available for ebook purchase on Amazon.

Next spring, I’ll be contributing two more stories to the Prairie Rose Collection. The stories will be ripe with adventure, romance, and food and I’ll make sure they satisfy your Old West reading cravings.

What kind of food would you pack to bring on a journey like this? Anything special?

Leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for an ebook copy of GRACE

Kaitlene Dee lives on the west coast, enjoys outings along the coast and in the nearby mountains, hiking, supporting dog rescues and outdoor cooking and camping. She also writes contemporary western Christian romances as Tina Dee. Kaitlene and Tina’s books can be found on Amazon.

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