A Man of Legend

Ahh, Let the Fresh Air in!

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My newest book A MAN OF LEGEND is now available everywhere. This is Book 3 of the Lone Star Legends series and brings it to a gripping conclusion.

Quite a bit of research was necessary, some because I wasn’t sure about the early 1900s as I’d never set a book during that time period. It was really an interesting time with thousands of inventions and improvements in just about every part of life. Automobiles were just beginning to be driven and phones used.

One thing I wanted to add that I had questions about were screen doors and windows. In the 1880s, when diseases caused by mosquitoes and flies began to reach the public, folks started paying attention and installing screens. Then by the 1890s, companies began to mass produce and make them rust-poof and they really took off.

Since my story is set in 1908, I put them on the doors and windows at ranch headquarters of the Lone Star. I mention them quite a bit since Stoker Legend refused to have very much to do with innovations. Up in years at 83, he preferred the old ways.

A lot of people, including Charles Goodnight, slept on screen-in porches. A lot of folks did.

When I was growing up, we didn’t have air-conditioning and always slept with the windows up and doors open in the summer. I can still smell the fragrant night air coming in. I loved that smell. That was some good sleeping. It’s too bad those days are gone now, replaced by manufactured air.

Do you have any favorite memories of a screened porch or open windows? And sometimes we could overhear things we weren’t supposed to. I’m giving away three more copies of A MAN OF LEGEND so leave a comment.

About the book

Crockett Legend has always loved Paisley Mahone, but a family feud sure can ruin a romance. When her father turned against the powerful Legend clan, she took her family’s side and broke Crockett’s heart into pieces. Now her father’s dead and Paisley and her last remaining brother are convinced the Legends are to blame.

If only he can find a way to prove their innocence…

A chance meeting throws the couple together, and when their train is held up by outlaws, Crockett and Paisley have to team up to save a young boy from dying. A tenuous truce is born. Together they may have a chance of bringing the truth to light…if they can get to the bottom of who’s been trying to turn the two powerful families against each other. With so many secrets to unbury, it isn’t long before Paisley finds herself in the crosshairs, but Crockett vows there’ll be hell to pay if anyone hurts the woman he loves…or stands in the way of a Legend in the making.

Here’s my book trailer:

 

 

Joined by a Fence

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It’s a fact that communication on a large ranch was one of the biggest problems. At times it was crucial to get some way to relay information to the cowboys on the range as quickly as possible. Or for them to notify headquarters in the event of a medical emergency or wildfire. Before the late 1800s, it was done by sending a fast rider out.

I found an interesting article in my Texas Electric Co-op magazine about this and have to share.

One of the largest ranches in the world was the massive XIT in the Texas Panhandle at over three million acres, all fenced. That’s hard to fathom. The powers that be there heard about a way of attaching a very basic form of telephone onto the barbed wire fences and letting the wire carry the transmission. Though the quality was horrible, it sure proved to be a blessing. And all at no charge. They didn’t have to pay the phone service anything and they could even connect neighboring ranches with each other.

Later, when the phone company began to provide rural service, they took that idea and used existing power lines instead of stringing new.

I have a new release on March 29th—A Man of Legend. It takes place in 1908 in the middle of an industrialization boom and although the patriarch Stoker Legend wouldn’t allow telephones or automobiles on the Lone Star Ranch, they were widely available.

There’s a crucial scene near the end of the book where Crockett Legend needs to get word quickly to his grandfather of the trouble and bemoans the lack of telephone access. It all works out and Crockett had to hitch a ride in an acquaintance’s new automobile to arrive in time to help save the day.

Here’s a short excerpt from that scene:

Crockett glanced up into John’s laughing eyes. The only person the man would do a favor like this for was Farrel Mahone. His gut twisted, and he broke out in a cold sweat. Suddenly, it all made sense. John was supposed to get Crockett off the ranch. He froze.

Farrel was going to make good on his promise to kill either Paisley or Hilda or both.

Or maybe he intended to abduct Tye. Maybe all three. 

Crockett stood so fast, he knocked his chair over. He had to get to a telegraph. He hurried out and collided with a woman in the hall. “Pardon me, ma’am. This is life and death.”

Cursing the fact that Stoker had yet to install a telephone at headquarters, Crockett rushed down the street and sent a message to the Lone Star.

“I’ll wait for a reply,” he told the operator. Ten minutes passed. Crockett paced, praying for a miracle. Then the machine began to tap while the man scribbled it down.

“Here you go.” The operator handed the paper to him.

Too late. Boy has disappeared, and women riding to get him back.

A moment later, Crockett fired off another, asking about his dad. The return message said he and Stoker had gone to Medicine Springs to pick up a shipment.

He sagged. Too late. He read the first message again. What women? Paisley and Hilda? Where were the men? Had they all left the ranch? He thrust a hand through his hair. He had to get home.

“Isn’t there a noon train to Medicine Springs?” he asked the operator.

“Not today.”

“Thank you.” Crockett‘s thoughts whirled. He couldn’t wait that long. He was eighty miles away. If he bought a horse and rode it hard, he still wouldn’t make it by dark. He’d have to wait on the train. That would get him to Medicine Springs by eight, then forty-five minutes to the ranch.

That was it. All the air went out of him. Whatever was going on, the women were on their own. He dropped into the nearest seat and put his head in his hands.

* * * *

I put a talking parrot named Casanova in this book that provides a lot of comical relief. He is quite taken with Paisley Mahone and fancies himself her boyfriend. And since Paisley becomes a nurse on the ranch, there are heartwarming scenes with her patients. Crockett watches all with love in his heart for this special woman.

Click HERE for more information and a longer excerpt.

This is the first series I’ve written set in the 1900s. What is your favorite time period to read? Do modern conveniences bother you? I’m giving away a copy of A Man of Legend (print or ebook) to three people who comment.

This book concludes the Lone Star Legends. I have another exciting project that’s completely different that I’ll talk more about in the coming days so stay tuned.

And With the Bang of the Gavel…

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Judges today have a lot of control and clout, but nothing like in the 1800s. And except for federal judges, they have to answer to the people who elect them. In the past, state judges were appointed by the governor and wielded a lot more of power. In addition to hearing cases, they could:

  1. Appoint Deputy U.S. Marshals (the president appointed U.S. Marshals)
  2. Form a posse
  3. Notify a traveling hangman that he was needed following a verdict
  4. Oversee hangings if a sheriff either refused or couldn’t
  5. Step in and take over for a crooked sheriff and/or appoint a new one until election time
  6. In some cases, he could form a sort of task force (or single person) to handle a particular problem
  7. Choose jurors
  8. Oversee census taking and other duties of a lawman if there was none

So you see, they were pretty powerful and answered to no one. As a result, there were a lot of corrupt judges. But the majority were dedicated, followed the law, and did their jobs well.

I’ve never written a judge hero…until now.

In my March book, Crockett Legend is a judge working out of Quanah, Texas. Quanah is only forty miles from the Lone Star Ranch so he spends a lot of time on the ranch, traveling back and forth by train.

However, the Legends’ neighbor the Mahones have started a feud with them, killing their cattle and shooting at range riders. The feud ramps up when Joe Mahone dies under mysterious circumstances and Joe’s only son, Farrel, accuses them of murder.

Crockett has always loved Paisley Mahone only now she’s taken a stand with her brother in the feud and she refuses to talk to him. Crockett doesn’t give up and hopes she’ll soon see reason. It takes a hilarious matchmaking talking parrot to bring them back together.

The theme of this story is things aren’t always as they seem, and perseverance is crucial when it involves softening a woman’s heart. This concludes the Lone Star Legends series but never fear. I’ve started a brand new series that I think you’ll love.

I’m a little sad that I’m leaving the Legend Family behind. I’ve done three series using them in various degrees. That’s ten books.

Question for you: How do you feel about the length of a series? Do some get too long? At some point, do you ever feel they’ve run their course? I sometimes do.

A Man of Legend comes out on March 29th. It’s available for preorder now HERE. Please don’t confuse this with the first book of the series – A Cowboy of Legend. The two are completely different.

I’ll have more next month about A Man of Legend and some giveaways so watch for that.

Right now I have a sale to announce. The Mail Order Bride’s Secret is at $1.99 and will be the rest of the month. If you missed it, you can get it cheap. Click HERE. This is Book #3 of Outlaw Mail Order Brides. She came with a secret that would destroy the man she’d come to love.