Charlene Raddon

LANDON AND LISSIE–HOW DOES THEIR STORY COME ABOUT? (AND A GIVEAWAY!)–by Cheryl Pierson

by

 

Hi, everyone! Now that LANDON is HERE, and the entire GUN FOR HIRE series is complete and available, I just wanted to talk a bit about this book that was so dear to my heart–and the series that has been a wonderful success for all of us!

Caroline Clemmons’ book, SHAD, was just released three days ago, and Winnie Griggs’ book, LUKE, came out on August 1st! Y’all know by now, this is a 10-book, multi-author sweet historical western set that contains stand-alone stories but with the common thread of a hero that lives by the gun–somehow–could be good, could be bad. AND, each of these heroes has their own unexpected way love comes to him and changes his life forever! Here’s a collection of the covers of all the books in the series, created by Charlene Raddon! And let me just say, they are ALL swoon-worthy, and every book is a new discovery of action, love, and a final happy-ever-after ending–so what more could anyone ask for?

Covers of all books in Gun For Hire series

When I started thinking about the hero for this story, I knew I had to have a person who was a good, decent man. But in his eyes, something so terrible has happened to his beloved younger sister there is nothing he can do but take action for justice for her–and he is determined to get it, no matter what it costs him. He has a healthy dose of mystery in his personality, and we don’t know whether he is on the side of the law or not–or what lengths he will go to for his vengeance.

Alissa has been in a tight spot for many years now. After her own mother dies, her father has married a much younger woman. When the woman dies almost as soon as their baby is born, it’s up to Alissa to step in and raise the boy, Zach, even though she’s only 14 at the time. With a no-good gambler for a father, her life has been misery to try to provide even the most basic necessities for her younger brother. When her father is killed, she sees it as both a blessing and a curse. Set to travel to Indian Territory for the land rush of 1889, she has no choice but to continue with the plans her father has made and try to see it through alone with a 5-year-old to care for. To me, that took a huge amount of courage!

As the story unfolds, all we have to go on in judging Landon’s actions and personality is the same thing Alissa can see in him when she first meets him and gets to know him through their time together. By now, she is a good judge of character, after living the life she’s lived, but she barely knows him. Can she trust him?

Here’s their first meeting–and what a meeting it is! Alissa learns a lot in just a very few minutes!

EXCERPT:

Lissie’s head came up, her attention immediately arrested by the dark, piercing, eyes of the tall man who had just entered. He removed his hat as he came through the doorway, revealing black, too-long hair that reached his collar and fell in unruly, black spikes across his forehead.

He was tall, his hair as dark as Zach’s, with the same obsidian eyes and olive skin. He carried Indian blood, that much was obvious—but what could he want with her?

He stood beside their table, towering over them, and the barest hint of amusement entered his brown eyes, crinkling the corners upward.

“Miss Devine?”

“Yes—I—”

“I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Landon Wildcat.”

“I’m Zachary.” Zach put his hand out, and Land took it, the corners of his firm, sensuous lips tilting upward. “Everyone just calls me Zach.”

“Hello, Zach. It’s very good to meet you.”

“Zach—” Lissie started, but she was ignored as the conversation continued without her.

“This is my sister, Mr. Wildcat. Her name’s Alissa, but everybody calls her Lissie. Just like everybody calls me Zach. And we—we had a dog named Nashoba…a long time ago.”

“Ah. Wolf—in the Choctaw language.”

“Hey! Do you know it?” Zach’s surprised joy was evident. “My mother was—”

“Yes.” Land cut Zach off and Lissie noticed a fleeting look of pain that came over his face, then was gone as quickly as it had appeared. “Yes,” he said, more gently. “I know it.”

Land turned to Lissie. “My apologies, ma’am. I didn’t mean to intrude, but I was told that you and your brother plan to be in the wagon train that’s heading for Indian Territory come Monday morning. Is that true?”

Lissie nodded. “Yes—will you please sit down with us?”

There was uncertainty in Land’s eyes, but Lissie leaned forward and earnestly assured him, “Indians are allowed here, Mr. Wildcat.”

Caught off balance at her unassuming candor, he gave a quick grin. “Yes, ma’am, I know. But I wouldn’t want to cause your reputation any harm. Me being Indian and all…”

Lissie’s glance flicked to Zach and back to Land’s questioning gaze. “I have nothing to fear on that count, Mr. Wildcat. Zachary and I have had every kind of insult known thrown at us. We’ve heard it all before.”

Land pulled out a chair and positioned himself facing the door, his back to the wall. He shrugged, meeting her eyes. “It still hurts, when you’re that age.” He glanced at Zach. “And please just call me Land—that’s what my friends call me.”

“Will you be going West with the wagons, Mr. Wildcat? Ah-Land?” Lissie raised a bite of the succulent beef to her mouth.

“I’ll be the scout.”

“Oh…”

“I’ll come right to the point, ma’am. Wagon train’s no place for a woman alone—especially a woman and child with no man.”

Lissie’s skin flushed with anger. She tried to keep her voice calm as she spoke. “Are you warning me away from going, Mr. Wildcat?”

He grimaced at the return of the formality, watching her a moment before he answered. “No, ma’am,” he said finally. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. Fact is, I…I know this wagon master, Bill Castle.”  He frowned. “He’s…ah…not someone I’d trust to be alone with a woman—just a word of caution.” He spoke slowly, choosing his words with care.

Lissie daintily wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Why are you telling me this? Truly, are you trying to scare me?”

He shook his head. “No. Just warning you. I know you two are alone. You’ll be the most obvious target.”

Lissie smiled, but she had to force it. “I assure you, sir, I’ve handled far rougher men than this Mr. Castle, I believe. And I’ve held my own. You must have heard of my father, Happy Devine, gambler extraordinaire.” She said it with a dash of mockery she couldn’t hold back. “I’ve dealt with everything life’s thrown so far. I don’t believe Mr. Castle will be the exception.” Bitterness seeped into her words. “And if you know I’m alone, you also must be aware that my father is dead.”

Land leaned forward and lowered his head a fraction, veiling his expression. “Yes, ma’am. I know.” Slowly, he raised his dark, tempestuous gaze to hers once more. “I was the one who…I was there.”

For a moment, Lissie thought she had to have misunderstood. But no. His eyes told her all that he’d kept from saying—for Zach’s benefit, she was sure. Not only had he been “there”—he had pulled the trigger. How could a man who possessed such a heartbreakingly handsome smile be a killer? How could she have invited her father’s murderer to sit at the same table with her and Zach?

But, she had to know one thing—and everything depended on his answer. Her gaze arrowed to his and held. “Was he cheating?”

The question took Land by surprise, she could see. He slowly leaned back in his chair, his near-black stare puzzled. But he wasn’t a man accustomed to wearing his thoughts in his expression, and in the next instant, a curtain slid into place, transforming him, hiding anything that may have given Lissie a hint as to his feelings.

Some of this series is available in paperback and in Kindle, and LANDON is one that can be purchased in either format—and, hopefully, soon, in Audible, as well.

BLURB FOR LANDON

Alissa Devine finds herself in an unthinkable situation when her father is murdered, and she’s left to raise her young brother, Zach. With $22 to her name and her no-account gambler father’s burial to pay for, Lissie has no choice but to carry on with her father’s plan to take part in the Oklahoma land run. But single women aren’t allowed on the wagon train.

Landon Wildcat’s mission for months has been to find the man who abducted his younger sister. His search ends when crooked gambler Happy Devine gets what he deserves at the end of Land’s gun. But that act of vengeance leaves Lissie and Zach alone with no man to accompany them on the wagon train.

Wagon Master Bill Castle hires Land as his scout; a devil’s bargain—for both of them. Land offers Lissie his protection, suspecting the unscrupulous Mr. Castle has indecent intentions toward her.

When one of the settlers is murdered, Land takes the outlaws on in a desperate battle to protect the only witness, and nearly pays the ultimate price. Land’s life hangs in the balance, but the wagon train moves on, callously deserting him and the teen boy he saved, along with Lissie and Zach.

Through the hardship, Lissie and Land both realize how much they love one another, and what they have come so close to losing. Though danger lurks around every curve in the road, Lissie believes with all her heart there is a place for their small band of settlers in this untamed Territory. Now that love has finally come, will Fate allow a miracle for their happiness with this new beginning?

I’m giving away TWO KINDLE COPIES of LANDON today! Here’s my question for the day:

Do you think you could have traveled from another part of the United States to settle in Indian Territory during the Land Run of 1889? What would you do for a living? Where would you settle–near a town or out in the country away from others? Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win!

AMAZON GUN FOR HIRE SERIES PAGE

ORDER LANDON HERE

I love series like this one. The heroes and heroines are all different because they come from varying backgrounds and places, but the heroes have something in common that holds the thread of the series together. I have loved every single one of these books as I’ve read them, and I think you will, too!

CHERYL’S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE! 

Beaver Dick Leigh, two giveaways, and our guest blogger Charlene Raddon!

by

 

The pack train moved slowly through the remaining snowdrifts of late spring in the Tetons, heading for the mountain valley ahead. The buckskin horses were led by a tall-for-his-time trapper with thick red hair and beard, whom the Shoshone called Ingapumba (redhead), but more often he was known to his neighbors as “Beaver Dick” or “Uncle Dick.”

Trapper, hunting guide, ferryman, Mexican War veteran, and all-around mountain man, Richard ‘Beaver Dick’ Leigh, lived a long life in and around the Teton Mountains. Following behind were his Shoshone wife, Jenny, and his children riding burros. They were leading pack horses loaded with supplies for a long season of camping, hunting, and trapping in the high valley known even then as Jackson’s Hole.

In his 68 years, Beaver Dick Leigh fought in the Mexican War, guided government expeditions through the Yellowstone region, led hunting parties from the East—and enjoyed life among the Shoshone and Bannock tribes. With his red hair, blue eyes, and freckles, he stood out from most of those around him, but despite his rough life, he was an inveterate reader of books, magazines, and newspapers. He kept a diary during his time in the mountains.

Richard Leigh was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, in 1831, emigrating to America at age 7 with his sister, Martha. Eventually they moved on to Mount Hope, Pa. From there, he left his sister and joined the Hudson Bay Company, which sent him to the Northwest, where his education as a trapper began. He never looked back, nor saw his sister again, but stayed in touch, however, as he later referred to his brother-in-law, Henry Wall.

Beaver Dick joined the U.S. Army toward the end of the Mexican-American War (1846-48), in which he served under Lt. Col. Henry Wilson.

Following his discharge, he travelled to the Salt Lake Valley, where he resumed his trade as an independent trapper. Moving north into what would become Idaho Territory, he chose the Snake River Valley for his homesite. This initially meant long pack trips south for several years to sell his furs in Utah Territory.

On one of these trips to Corrine, in 1862, near the northeast shore of the Great Salt Lake, he camped near a Bannock couple—a man known as Bannock John to the whites, and his wife, Tadpole, a sister of the local Shoshone chief, Taghee. Tadpole was amid a difficult labor and Dick assisted the father in delivering the baby.

The new arrival was named Susan Tadpole. Her parents promised her to Dick to be his wife when she reached maturity, no doubt a kind gesture of gratitude that had little expectation of coming to fruition, since he was 31 at the time.

Before he returned to his base camp at the confluence of the Snake and Teton rivers on the west side of the Tetons, Dick Leigh married a 16-year-old Eastern Shoshone girl from Chief Washakie’s band in 1863. Dick called her Jenny. He often told his friends and wrote in his diary about her many good traits. Five children arrived in the following years. Dick, Jr., 1864, Anne Jane, 1866, John, 1868, William, 1870, and Elizabeth in 1873.

 

Dick’s homestead on the west side of the Tetons continued to expand with additions of milk cows and the buckskin horses he was fond of. When it was time to go on the annual hunting trips over the mountains, Dick took the entire family along. Leigh’s diaries give an in-depth picture of the challenges they faced on the frontier. Whether setting his trap lines, hunting with his son Dick, Jr., leading hunting parties or assisting any of the increasing number of new settlers arriving in the Snake River valley, Beaver Dick Leigh was a busy and well-respected member of the community.

He built a ferry at the Eagle Nest Ford on the Henry’s Fork of the Snake, free for anyone to use. He acted as liaison between the tribes and authorities at the new Fort Hall Reservation, advising them about Indian movements on and off the reservation.

In the winter of 1876, an Indian woman seeking food visited the Leighs. They did not know she had smallpox. All of the Leigh family and another hunter caught the disease. Between Christmas Eve and Dec. 28, all of Beaver Dick’s family died; he and the hunter barely survived.

In 1879, Dick Leigh, age 48, married 16-year-old Susan Tadpole, who had been promised to him at birth. The couple had three children: Emma, 1881; William, 1886; and Rose, 1891.

While camped near Two Ocean Creek on the Continental Divide in the fall of 1891, they were visited by Theodore Roosevelt and his hunting party. Beaver Dick and Teddy conversed for a spell, sharing stories and hunting tales.

Dick continued to guide hunting parties as long as his health permitted. Eventually, he had to turn over this business to his son William. He also kept in touch with the many friends he had made over the years, writing letters to a lengthy list of correspondents.

Beaver Dick Leigh died March 29, 1899, age 68, in the company of family and friends. He is buried beside his family on a high terrace overlooking his ranch near Rexburg, Idaho. His memory and legacy are well preserved in his letters and diaries, as well as the namesake features in the Jackson Hole valley he loved.

Two winners will be chosen for a prize: one for a $5 Amazon gift card and one an ebook from my collection. To enter, all you have to do is tell me something you found interesting about Beaver Dick Leigh’s story. 

The HANGMAN – Charlene Raddon – And a giveaway

by

The Hangman

You’ve already heard of the series Gun for Hire. My book is the next due out on April 15.

In the Old West, for some reason, people hated hangmen. They threw garbage and rocks at them, ran them out of town, sometimes on a rail, and in rare cases, even tarred and feathered them.

The hangman didn’t choose the job. He took it because he had no choice.

It started back in Old England, where they would select a convict from a prison and make him the hangman.

His goal was to cause instant death by breaking the top two vertebrae of the victim’s neck. This did not always cause the quick death hoped for, but usually caused severe damage to the brain or left the victim paralyzed. In rare instances, this particular break caused no damage. I am an example of this. Several years ago, I fell on my sidewalk and broke those top two vertebrae. I also split my nose open. Bleeding badly, I got up and walked into the house. My doctor told me I was a miracle.

A few hangmen stand out in history:

William Marwood invented the “long drop” technique intended to break the prisoner’s neck instantly and cause death by asphyxia. Marwood also created a table of height and weight to determine the length of the rope used for hanging.

William Calcraft performed the last public executions in England in 1868. Calcraft’s methods sometimes caused the condemned to take several minutes to die. To speed matters up, he would pull on their legs or climb on their shoulders to break their neck.

By the 20th century, the role had become almost celebrity status with thousands of applicants after the death of William Calcraft.

Albert Pierrepoint, b. 1905, followed in the footsteps of his father and uncle and was England’s most prolific hangman. His autobiography was made into a movie, Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman, starring Timothy Spall. In 1941, Pierrepoint undertook his first execution as lead executioner when he hanged the gangland killer Antonio “Babe” Mancini. He arrived the day before the execution, learned the height and weight of the prisoner, and viewed the condemned man through a “Judas hole” in the door to judge his build, then went to the execution room—typically next door—where he tested the equipment using a sack that weighed about the same as the prisoner; he calculated the length of the drop using the Home Office Table of Drops, making allowances for the man’s physique, if necessary. He left the weighted sack hanging on the rope to ensure it was stretched. He would re-adjust it in the morning if required.

On the day of the execution, Pierrepoint studied an X-ray of a cervical spine with a hangman’s fracture. He secured the man’s arms behind his back with a leather strap and walked him to the execution chamber to a marked spot on the trapdoor. There, Pierrepoint placed a hood over the prisoner’s head and a noose around his neck. He placed the metal eye through which the rope was looped under the left jawbone, which, when the prisoner dropped, forced the head back and broke the spine. A large lever released the trapdoor. All of this took a maximum of 12 seconds.

Kirk
  Kirk-Gun for Hire-Click to Buy

In my book, Kirk, Gun for Hire, Book 3, Kirk’s younger brother is framed and convicted of bank robbery. Unconvinced of the boy’s guilt, the judge gave him a choice of prison or becoming the county hangman. Kirk saw his brother as too young and weak-willed to face prison life, so he asked the judge to let him take the hangman job for his brother. His request was granted.

And so Kirk became the hangman for Owyhee County, Idaho.

In the opening of my story, Kirk hangs a condemned man and is shot by the convict’s partner. The bullet grazes his skull; he falls off the gallows and lands unconscious, nearly at the feet of my heroine, Adina, a typist at the local newspaper. She rushes to help him and, assisted by the town marshal, gets him to the tinker-type wagon he used to get around, change clothes, and sleep in on the road. When Adina witnesses a murder the following day, the marshal takes her to Kirk. Together, they travel around the county conducting hangings and trying to avoid the men who wish them harm. They don’t always succeed; the tale includes plenty of action and romance.

Have you ever seen the movie about Pierrepoint, or have you known someone who broke their neck?

Charlene Raddon fell in love with the wild west as a child, listening to western music with her dad and sitting in his lap while he read Zane Gray books. She never intended to become a writer. Charlene was an artist. She majored in fine art in college.

In 1971, she moved to Utah, excited for the opportunity to paint landscapes. Then her sister introduced her to romance novels. She never picked up a paintbrush again. One morning she awoke to a vivid dream she knew must go into a book, so she took out a typewriter and began writing. She’s been writing ever since.

Instead of painting pictures with a brush, Charlene uses words.

In 2011, Charlene’s artistic nature prompted her to try a different path and she began designing book covers. Today, she has a long list of clients and her own cover site, silversagebookcovers.com where she specializes in historical romance covers, primarily western.

And I think it’s fair to say she’s a cat lover!

 

Do you prefer history told in a frank manner or would you rather the author gloss it over and leave out details? Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for a chance at one of two free copies of KIRK when it comes out. 

 

Kirk – Gun for Hire Series

A man sacrifices his future for his brother and finds danger lurking in the shadows.

Kirk Reddick, a former preacher, is faced with either letting his brother be forced into the job of a hangman or accepting it himself. He chooses to take on the hated work until he finds the man who framed his brother.

Observing a hanging at Red River Crossing, Adina Kinnaird is touched as she overhears the hangman comfort the condemned man. When Kirk is shot, she helps him escape the gunman and the angry mob.

Traveling from town to town, Kirk and Adina search for the man who framed his brother and find themselves falling for each other, but Kirk doesn’t want her living in the danger he faces every day.

In a showdown with the outlaw, Adina is shot. Kirk’s heart stops. He doesn’t want to go on without her. If she lives, will capturing the gunman be enough to clear his brother’s name and give Kirk and Adina the freedom to live outside the shadow of the hangman’s noose?

Charlene’s Links

https://twitter.com/craddon

http://www.facebook.com/charlene.b.raddon

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1232154.Charlene_Raddon

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/charlene-raddon

https://www.pinterest.com/charraddon5080/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlene-raddon-00854629/

https://www.instagram.com/charrad75/

https://www.facebook.com/CharleneRaddonwesternbooks

https://linktr.ee/craddon

 

NEW WHR SERIES “GUN FOR HIRE” KICKS OFF WITH A BANG! by Cheryl Pierson

by

There’s a new series in town! GUN FOR HIRE is a multi-author series that focuses on ten men who must rely heavily on their guns throughout their lives. They don’t expect to ever settle down and have a normal life, much less ever fall in love! But, and there is a big but…they didn’t ever expect to meet “the” woman who can make all of that fall into place for them, either!

GUN FOR HIRE includes books by some present and past fillies, and many other talented authors, including Charlene Raddon, who put the series together. It was her brainchild and she made all the gorgeous covers! I was so thrilled to be asked to participate because I had a story in mind I’d been wanting to write and it fit right into the broad premise that Charlene had come up with.

Linda Broday kicked off the series with her book, CREEK, yesterday. Oh, my stars, y’all. Let me just say, I think I’m in love with every one of these men – and that’s before I’ve even read their stories! I’ve ordered CREEK and am just waiting for the perfect time to be able to sit down and immerse myself in his tale.

Next comes DUSTIN by Margaret Tanner. Her story will be available on March 30, but you can pre-order NOW! Charlene Raddon’s story, KIRK, follows on April 15. (So pay your taxes and then treat yourself to a great story!) LANCE by Heather Blanton follows two weeks later, and then DEVON by Carra Copelin.

Jo-Ann Roberts’s hunky hero is named ASH, and SHAD is Caroline Clemmons’s heartthrob. Tracy Garrett’s story is CLINT, and my LANDON is next in the lineup, rounded out by Winnie Griggs’s  story, LUKE.

My LANDON won’t be out until July 15, but boy, there’s lots of great reading in the months ahead, and of course, Winnie’s story just after mine, at the end of July.

Some of these stories will be available not only on KINDLE, but also in print, including my tale about LANDON. Aren’t these covers gorgeous? 

Here’s the blurb to whet your reading appetite! You can pre-order LANDON now, as well as many of the others, and the availability to pre-order the remainder of the others will follow soon.

Landon: Gun For Hire Sweet Western Romance Series #9

Alissa Devine finds herself in an unthinkable situation when her father is murdered, and she’s left to raise her young brother, Zach. With $22 to her name and her no-account gambler father’s burial to pay for, Lissie has no choice but to carry on with her father’s plan to take part in the Oklahoma land run. But single women aren’t allowed on the wagon train.

Landon Wildcat’s mission for months has been to find the man who abducted his younger sister. His search ends when crooked gambler Happy Devine gets what he deserves at the end of Land’s gun. But that act of vengeance leaves Lissie and Zach alone with no man to accompany them on the wagon train.

Wagon Master Bill Castle hires Land as his scout; a devil’s bargain—for both of them. Land offers Lissie his protection, suspecting the unscrupulous Mr. Castle has indecent intentions toward her.

When one of the settlers is murdered, Land takes the outlaws on in a desperate battle to protect the only witness, and nearly pays the ultimate price. Land’s life hangs in the balance, but the wagon train moves on, callously deserting him and the teen boy he saved, along with Lissie and Zach.

Through the hardship, Lissie and Land both realize how much they love one another, and what they have come so close to losing. Though danger lurks around every curve in the road, Lissie believes with all her heart there is a place for their small band of settlers in this untamed Territory. Now that love has finally come, will Fate allow a miracle for their happiness with this new beginning?

Our GUN FOR HIRE series page is still populating, but the first four are up if you want to go take a look at them, too, and pre-order. Here’s the link for the series page. Here’s the link for the series page, and keep checking back to see more as they are added there. The link for LANDON is just below–he hasn’t made it to the series page yet, but he’s coming, along with the rest of the gang!

AMAZON GUN FOR HIRE SERIES PAGE

PREORDER LANDON HERE! 

I love series like this one. The heroes and heroines are all different because they come from varying backgrounds and places, but the heroes have something in common that holds the thread of the series together. 

CHERYL’S AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

 

Charlene Raddon & Friction Matches

by

We’re pleased to have Charlene Raddon join us today with some fascinating historical tidbits. Take it away, Charlene!

***

Friction matches allowed people to light fires quickly and efficiently, changing domestic arrangements and reducing the hours spent trying to light fires using more primitive means. But they also created horrific suffering for match-makers: White phosphorus was one of the substances used in some of the first friction matches. Prolonged exposure to it gave many workers the dread “phossy jaw.”

Antique Russian Matchbox and Matches

A British pharmacist named John Walker invented the match by accident in 1826. He was working on an experimental paste to be used in guns. He had a breakthrough when he scraped the wooden instrument he was using to mix the substances in his paste, and it caught fire.

Walker then produced “a flammable paste made with antimony sulfide, potassium chlorate and gum arabic, into which he dipped cardboard strips coated with sulfur.” He started selling his “friction lights” to locals in April 1827, and they quickly took off.

Walker never patented his invention, in part because “the burning sulfur coating would sometimes drop from the stick, with a risk of damage to flooring or the user’s clothing.” His invention was quickly copied by Samuel Jones of London, who started selling “Lucifers” in 1829. Advances in matches continued over the 1830s and into the 1840s.

Early Matches

Match-making became a common trade across England in “hundreds of factories spread across the country. For 12 to 16 hours a day, workers dipped treated wood into a phosphorus concoction, then dried and cut the sticks into matches.

As was typical in the the factories of the nineteenth century, matchmakers were predominantly women and children, half of them kids who hadn’t reached their teens. Working long hours indoors in a cramped, dark factory put these children at risk of contracting tuberculosis and getting rickets, as well as phossy jaw, a gruesome and debilitating condition caused by inhaling white phosphorus fumes during those long hours. Around 11% of those exposed to phosphorus fumes developed ‘phossy jaw’ about five years after initial exposure.

Early French Silver Vesta Case Match Box Striker with Integrated Firesteel Flint

The condition causes the bone in the jaw to die and teeth to decay, resulting in extreme suffering and sometimes the loss of the jaw. Although phossy jaw was far from the only side-effect of prolonged white phosphorus exposure, it became a visible symbol of the suffering caused by industrial chemicals in match plants. By 1892, newspapers were investigating the plight of match workers.

Stirling match box

One Salvation Army match factory worker, Mrs. Fleet, contracted the disease after working five years at the company. After complaining of tooth and jaw ache, she was sent home, had four teeth extracted, lost part of her jaw bone, and suffered excruciating pain. The smell of the dying bone, which eventually literally came out through her cheek, was so bad that her family couldn’t abide it. She lost her job, and no other match company would hire her. Phossy jaw was often compared to leprosy because of the physical disfigurement and the condition’s social stigma.

Eventually, match makers stopped using white phosphorus in matches, and in 1910, it was outlawed in the United States.

Giveaway!

Charlene is giving away two copies of The Outlaw and the Bounty Hunter, Book 2 in her Outlaw Brides series drawn from those who leave comments.

Do you use matches around your home or when camping?

If not, what newer invention do you use to light fireplaces, stoves, or grills?

The History of Typewriters by Charlene Raddon

by

Hi everyone, Charlene Raddon here and I’m thrilled to be back. The first documented version of a typewriter was in 1575 when an Italian printmaker named Francesco Rampazetto created the scrittura tattile, which was a machine made to impress letters into the paper. But this wasn’t the first attempt. In 1801 and 1808, Pellegrino Turri invented a typewriter for his blind friend, Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano, to give her the ability to write. Of more use was a patent for a machine called a typographer in 1829 by an American, William Austin Burt, considered one of the first typewriters to have existed. A little later, in 1864, an Austrian carpenter named Peter Mitterhofer developed several typewriter prototypes.

One early model that did not use the QWERTY system did not even type with typebars. The Hammond, introduced in 1884, came on the scene with its own keyboard, with two rows and a curved “Ideal” keyboard. The Hammond printed from a type shuttle—a C-shaped piece of vulcanized rubber, which can easily be exchanged if a different typeface is wanted. There is no cylindrical platen as on typebar typewriters; the paper is hit against the shuttle by a hammer.

The first commercially produced typewriter, the Hanson Writing Ball, was invented in Denmark in 1865 by Rev. Rasmus Malling-Hansen. By 1878, he made the refinements to create the machine by which it is primarily known. It was a combination of unusual design and ergonomic innovations: 52 keys on a large brass hemisphere, resembling an oversized pincushion. It was successful in Europe and a staple in European offices into the early 1900s. The Hammond gained a solid base of loyal customers. These well-engineered machines lasted, with a name change to Varityper and electrification, right up to the beginning of the word-processor era.

 

The best breakthrough came in 1868 when four Americans, Christopher Latham Sholes, Frank Haven Hall, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel W. Soule, patented the first truly commercially successful typewriter produced by E. Remington and Sons. The Sholes and Glidden comes closest to what we know today. It had a QWERTY keyboard, the first of its kind, which was adopted as the standard.

Other machines typing from a single type element rather than typebars included the Crandall (1881) … and a more practical version called the Blickensderfer.

The effort to create a visible rather than “blind” machine led to ingenious ways of getting the typebars to the platen. Examples of early visible writers include the Williams and the Oliver. The Daugherty Visible of 1891 was the first front-stroke typewriter to go into production: the typebars rest below the platen and hit the front of it. With the Underwood of 1895, this typewriter style began to gain ascendancy. The millions produced the most popular model of early Underwoods, the #5. By the 1920s, virtually all typewriters were “look-alikes”: frontstroke, QWERTY, typebar machines printing through a ribbon, using one shift key and four banks of keys. (Some diehards lingered on. The giant Burroughs Moon-Hopkins typewriter and accounting machine was a blind writer that was manufactured, amazingly enough, until the late 1940s.)

In 1897, the “Underwood 1 Typewriter” was developed, the first with a typing area visible to the typist. It was created by American Franz X. Wagner in 1892, but in 1895, it was taken over by John T. Underwood, who gave it his name. The Underwood 1 typewriter set the standard going forward. In the 1900s, typewriter designs became standard, mainly having the same setup with only minor variations depending on the exact use of the machine.

In 1914, James Fields Smathers invented the first practical use, a power-operated typewriter, and in 1925, Remington produced its first electric typewriter based on Smathers’s design and used a Northeast motor to power the typing function. Then, in 1935, IBM came out with their electric typewriter.

I don’t remember the make of the first typewriter I used as a stenographer and secretary in the 1950s-’60s, but I remember when the “ball” typehead came out, and I received my first one. It seemed like quite an invention at the time. I also remember the small portable typewriter I used in 1980 to start my writing career. I wonder what became of it—thrown out, I suppose, or given away. And, of course, I remember my first computer—so many glitches and problems. But that was long ago.

In the 19th century, the standard price for a typewriter was $100—several times the value of an excellent personal computer today when we adjust for inflation. There were many efforts to produce cheaper typewriters. Most of these were index machines where the typist first points at a letter on some sort of index, then performs another motion to print the letter. Obviously, these were not heavy-duty office machines; they were meant for people of limited means who needed to do some occasional typing. An example is the “American” index typewriter, which sold for $5. Index typewriters survived into the 20th century as children’s toys; one commonly found example is the “Dial” typewriter made by Marx Toys in the 1920s and 30s.

It was on a portable electric typewriter that I wrote my first book. It’s been too long to recall if I purchased a better one before I got my first computer. I think I must have been in the late 80s or early 90s. I didn’t know many people who had one yet at the time. I’ve been through more than I can remember since then, and so far, I’ve typed twenty-five published books, two unpublished books, and a few partially completed books.

My most recently finished book is #2 in my Outlaw Brides Series, The Outlaw and the Bounty Hunter. This was a fun one to write. The hero was raised in a circus, and when the circus closed, the workers became his hands on his new ranch. They worked for room and board and $5 a month, and were glad to have a bed to lay their heads on. The circus element added entertaining scenes to the story and made the characters more unique as well. One famous character is Rupert the Lion. He falls in love with the heroine and plays a key part in the finale. I hope to see this book released by the time this blog appears, but editing, proofreading, and publishing it may take longer.

Did you ever use a typewriter in your earlier days? If so, tell me how old you were. I’m giving away one copy of The Outlaw and the Sheriff to one commenter, and to another, I’ll offer a copy of The Outlaw and the Bounty Hunter.

* * * * * * *

About Charlene:

Charlene Raddon fell in love with the wild west as a child, listening to western music with her dad and sitting in his lap while he read Zane Gray books. She never intended to become a writer. Charlene was an artist. She majored in fine art in college. In 1971, she moved to Utah, excited for the opportunity to paint landscapes. Then her sister introduced her to romance novels. She never picked up a paintbrush again. One morning she awoke to a vivid dream she knew must go into a book, so she took out a typewriter and began writing. She’s been writing ever since. Instead of painting pictures with a brush, Charlene uses words.

    Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  | BookBub  |  Instagram  |  Amazon  |  Pinterest  |

Charlene Raddon Tells About Life in a Dugout

by

Unbelievable as it might seem, some pioneer settlers liked living in dugouts. Letters and diaries of pioneers recorded that these dwellings were surprisingly comfortable; cool in summer, snug and easily heated in winter. Thick walls and sod roofs supplied good insulation at a time when few people knew the value of insulated homes, and wooden houses lacked in this feature.

Most dugouts consisted of a single room (average 12’ x 12’) dug into the lee side of a low hill. Walls were created by cutting and stacking sod blocks to a height of seven or eight feet. For a roof, cottonwood poles were placed side by side and spread with a thick layer of coarse prairie grass for insulation and to cut down on the dirt that sifted through. Over the grass a double layer of sod building blocks was carefully fitted. The first good rain prompted the sod to grow, and a tall growth of waving prairie grass soon covered the roof, almost concealing it.

Old house in the ground

 

Of course, all this waving grass attracted livestock, which could be a real problem. More than one story is told of cows and horses putting a hoof through the roof where a weak spot existed. This happens in my newest e-book, To Have And To Hold, in which the heroine, Tempest Whitney, lives in a dugout. A rainstorm softens the dirt packed over the roof, allowing a cow or mule to damage it further, and right at a key point in the story, the roof caves in.

Rough wooden planks were laid to provide flooring in some dugouts. Dirt floors were sprinkled with water daily and swept with crude grass brooms until the surface was as hard and smooth as finished concrete. To help keep dirt out, walls and ceilings were lined with newspapers and pinned in place with small, sharpened sticks. Ambitious families located outcroppings of limestone rock which they burned and mixed with sand to provide a plaster coating for the walls—a vast improvement over untreated walls that could not keep out all the dirt, or insects.

Dugouts housed families well into the twentieth century. My paternal grandparents moved from Kansas to the Oklahoma panhandle in 1916 and lived in a dugout until a house could be built. My mother’s folks did the same thing a bit later. Mother was the eldest of twelve. Her father was a great farm worker much in demand by other farmers. Unluckily, Grandfather didn’t want to work for someone else; he wanted to farm his own land. But without someone to tell him what to do, he failed dismally. The family lived frequently with other family members or inhabited abandoned homes, including several dugouts.

Robicheaux Trading Post, Chadron, NE

Mother told me numerous tales of life in such dwellings and didn’t seem terribly enamored of them. I used a few of her stories in To Have And To Hold, due to be released on January 24th. One tale has to do with 7” long centipedes that found their way down onto the newspaper tacked onto the ceiling. The sound of their feet scratching on the paper drove Grandfather crazy. Mother’s complaint, besides the dirt, was snakes. She hated being asked to fetch wood because too often a resident rattler would be hiding inside the wood box. Of course, snakes liked nice warm beds too, and the pallets laid on the floor where the children slept were very convenient. Frankly, I’m glad it was my mother and not me who had these experiences.

Have any of your grandparents or great-grandparents lived in a dugout?

Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card and a free copy of To Have And To Hold.

Charlene first serious writing attempt came in 1980 when she awoke one morning from an unusually vivid and compelling dream. Deciding that dream needed to be made into a book, she dug out an old portable typewriter and went to work. That book never sold, but her second one, Tender Touch, became a Golden Heart finalist and earned her an agent. Soon after, she signed a three book contract with Kensington Books. Five of Charlene’s western historical romances were published between 1994 and 1999: Taming Jenna, Tender Touch (1994 Golden Heart Finalist under the title Brianna), Forever Mine (1996 Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Award Nominee and Affaire de Coeur Reader/Writer Poll finalist), To Have and To Hold Affaire de Coeur Reader/Writer Poll finalist); and writing as Rachel Summers, The Scent of Roses. Forever Mine and Tender Touch are available as e-books and after January 24, To Have and To Hold will be as well. When not writing, Charlene loves to travel, crochet, needlepoint, research genealogy, scrapbook, and dye Ukrainian eggs.

Find Charlene at:

http://www.charleneraddon.com

http://www.charleneraddon.blogspot.com

http://www.facebook.com/CharleneRaddon?ref=hl

Charlene’s e-books on Amazon.com

Pullman Cars with Guest Charlene Raddon (and a give away)

by

Whenever I write a blog to introduce a new book, I like to talk about some of the things I learned through my research for that story. Carrianne’s research centered mostly on the Union Pacific Railway and, in particular, the Pullman cars that Carrianne and her husband enjoyed in my story for their trip from Denver to San Francisco, where they fought to bring down the worst criminal on the Barbary Coast at the time.

The Barbary Coast also required fascinating research, but that deserves its own blog.

I think all of us would have enjoyed a train ride in an elegant, plush Pullman car. I was shocked to learn just how fabulous they were.

According to legend, a highly uncomfortable overnight train ride from Buffalo to Westfield, New York, prompted George Pullman to find a better way to provide comfortable, clean, efficient passenger service.

 

Traveling over early, hastily constructed rail beds, trains inevitably swayed, rattled, and clacked. Most passenger cars ran on two four-wheel trucks. Pullman used eight-wheel trucks supplied with an improved suspension for a smoother ride. He even added lighter wheels with pressed-paper cores to minimize jolts. He installed double-glazed windows and doors for quiet. The ventilators in a Pullman car brought in fresh air but filtered out dust and cinders.

 

The true glory of the Pullman car was in the decor. Victorian taste ran toward the baroque, and Pullman offered the utmost in ornamentation: carved walnut paneling, polished brass fittings, beveled French mirrors, Brussels carpets, brocade, tassels, and fringe. At night, porters made up the berths with pristine white sheets.

Thanks to the low $2 extra fee a passenger paid to ride in a Pullman car, such luxury was affordable even for the upper-middle class.

1872: Passengers bedding down onboard a luxurious Pullman sleeping car of the Pacific Railroad. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

 

Before George Pullman introduced his first diner, the Delmonico, trains stopped briefly at stations to allow passengers a hurried meal, and I mean hurried. Dining cars ended this inconvenience. There were also parlor cars, where a passenger could relax in an upholstered armchair, which swiveled to allow a view of the scenery. Wide windows and elegant furnishings added to the sense of privilege. An organ provided entertainment.

Illustration shows a crowded Pullman dining car on a train as waiters serve the passengers, late nineteenth century. (Photo by Interim Archives/Getty Images)

An important Pullman innovation was the vestibule train. Early cars had platforms front and back so that passengers had to step outside to move from one car to another. The vestibule was a spring-driven accordion covering that allowed cars to be joined seamlessly. It made moving from car to car more easily and helped to stabilize the train at high speeds.

The ultimate in Pullman extravagance was the private car, known in the business as a “private varnish.” These cars allowed the ultra-wealthy to travel comfortably without rubbing elbows with fellow passengers. A typical car might have an open fireplace and a marble bath. Italian artists supplied paintings of fuchsias and hummingbirds for the ceiling. Lamps and fitting were gold plated. The car contained several bedrooms, a central parlor/dining room, and a kitchen. Such cars sold for $50,000, equal to 1.3 million today.

 

I’d love to provide more details on how everything worked, but I believe I’d better quit before I wear out my welcome. I’ll provide photographs instead to show you what you missed by not having been born much, much sooner.

What would you pay today to enjoy such luxury as the Pullman cars offered?

Please comment to enter the give away. One winner will receive a copy of my current book, Carrianne’s Debacle, and a second winner will receive a book of their choice from my backlist.

Charlene Raddon is a multi-published, award-winning author of Victorian/Western romance. Originally published by Kensington Books in the 1990s, she now self-publishes. She also creates book covers, specializing in western historical designs.

Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

Pinterest

Linkedin

Bookbub

Instagram

Facebook Author Page

Linktree

 

 

Charlene Raddon: Sheep and Cattle Wars

by

The Fillies welcome the return of Charlene Raddon. Her series are much in demand for their unusual storylines. She’s giving away two copies of CONNOR so leave a comment to be entered. 

 

Cattle ranchers are notorious for hating sheep. The hero in my new book, Connor, Cupids & Cowboys Book 12, is no exception but doesn’t believe violence is the answer, and so, Connor sets about finding a solution.

There were many armed battles in western states, particularly Arizona, Wyoming, and Colorado, between cattlemen and sheepmen over grazing rights. Cattlemen saw the sheepherders as invaders who destroyed the public grazing lands, which they had to share on a first-come, first-served basis. Between 1870 and 1920, approximately 120 engagements occurred in eight different states or territories, resulting in the deaths of over 50 men and the slaughter of 50,000 to over 100,000 sheep.

 

One of the most famous cattlemen/sheepmen battles occurred in Pleasant Valley, Arizona, resulting in the near annihilation of the men of three families. In 1884, angry Arizona cattlemen rounded up wild horses, strapped cowbells to their necks, rawhide to their tails, and drove them into a series of sheep herds numbering more than 25,000, yelling and firing guns in the process. The sheep scattered in all directions, many killed or wounded. That same year, cowboys drove over 4,000 sheep into the Little Colorado River, many of which died in quicksand.

     

The sheep wars in Wyoming and Colorado were exceptionally violent and lasted well into the 1900s. Wyoming saw about twenty-four attacks and at least six deaths between 1879 and 1909. In Garfield County, Colorado, 3,800 sheep were driven over cliffs into Parachute Creek. About 1,500 more sheep were massacred there in the same year. In November 1899, forty masked men attacked a sheep camp located on the lower Snake River. Over 3,000 sheep were “clubbed and scattered,” the shepherds robbed, and their wagon burned.

In Wyoming, 1896, about 12,000 sheep were slaughtered in a single night by being driven off a cliff near North Rock Springs. In 1905, ten masked men attacked a sheep camp on Shell Creek in the Big Horn Basin. The cowboys clubbed about 4,000 sheep and burned the wagons with two live sheepdogs tied to the wheels. The owner of the flock lost about $40,000. Similar events took place up until about 1912.

Near Ten Sleep, Wyoming, three sheepherders were killed, along with many of their sheep and dogs. No one expected anything to come of it, but seven men were arrested, five of them sent to prison, and cattlemen became reluctant to attack sheepmen.

In Montana, where my story, Connor, Cupids & Cowboys Book 12, is set, similar proceedings took place, few as severe and deadly as those in other states.

According to Robert Elman, author of Badmen of the West, the sheep wars ended because of the decline of open rangeland and changes in ranching practices, which removed the causes for hostilities.

How did Connor resolve the cattle/sheep war in my story? Here’s an excerpt:

“Folks,” Connor began (addressing the members of the Cutthroat, Montana Stockgrowers Association), “this is Mr. Dean Rivers. He has a ranch near Hawksville where he raises cattle and sheep and kindly consented to tell us of his experiences. I hope you’ll do him the courtesy of listening as you would with any other speaker.”

Rivers cleared his throat. “As Connor said, I have a ranch about forty miles east of here. I know how you feel. That’s how I saw the matter at first. Never intended to raise sheep. It was my wife who went out and bought fifty of ’em and herded them home.” He chuckled. “We had quite a row about it, I can tell you. Before coming here tonight at Connor’s request, I sat down and calculated the monetary differences between raising sheep and cattle. The results surprised even me. I think they’ll come as a bit of a shock to you.”

Before continuing, he laid his hat on his chair and moved behind the podium. “Hope you don’t mind if I rest my weary bones on this here Bible stand.”

A few in the audience chuckled. The others sat stone-faced, determined not to listen.

“Now, these figures are only as accurate as my mathematics, which my old schoolteacher will tell you ain’t much.”

More laughter. Connor glanced around. The ranchers had settled down and appeared to like Dean Rivers. No doubt because of his friendly, down-home looks and manner of speaking.

“For the purposes of this here talk,” Rivers went on, “we’ll say an animal unit is a one-thousand-pound cow with a five-hundred-pound calf pulling on her teat. And we’ll say six sheep equal that cow. Now, my figures can differ somewhat with grass/forb ratios, terrain, and grazing management, but I’d call it whisker close. That cow and calf, or animal unit, should be worth about sixteen dollars. Am I right?”

Several men shouted, “Close.”

“All right. Now, those six sheep, or animal unit, should produce ten lambs worth three dollars and twenty cents apiece. That comes out to thirty-two dollars per animal unit compared to sixteen dollars for the cow and calf. See where I’m going here?”

Heads nodded.

“That’s a fairly noticeable difference,” Rivers said. “Should I lose a cow, I’m out sixteen dollars. If I lose a sheep, I’m out three-fifty. But we’re talking animal units, so losing those six sheep would cost me thirty-two dollars.

“There’re costs to raising these critters, of course.” Rivers continued. “Deworming, de-licing, de-ticking, salt, ear tags if you use ’em, hiring extra hands for roundup and branding. That’s just for cows. To herd a hundred cows, you need at least two hired hands on horseback. Three would be better. To bring in a hundred sheep, you send out a couple of sheepdogs. They don’t ask for wages, just a bone and a pat on the head. Try that with your hired hands.”

Some laughter broke out.

“We never make it through a season of handling cows without our share of physical injuries,” Rivers said. “Stomped-on toes, crushed ribs, broken arms. Had a hand once got his eye poked out by a steer’s horn. Ain’t had no injuries with sheep. Another thing; sheep’ll eat ‘most anything. Weeds, thistles, and plants poisonous to cows. Cows gotta have grass.”

“That’s the trouble,” someone yelled. “The damned sheep don’t leave nothing left for the cows to eat.”

Rivers held up a hand. “Not if you move them often enough. Just takes some monitoring. Plus, you can put your sheep higher up the mountain where not much grass grows, but there’s plenty of weeds. So far, I’ve had no problems with cows refusing to graze where sheep have been.”

“Aw, bull-cracky,” a man spat. “You genuinely expect us to believe that?”

Chatter broke out among the men, and several booed.

Rivers shrugged. “I’m only telling you my experiences, friend. You can believe what you want. When you get right down to the facts—and you can figger ’em yourself from what I’ve told you—three hundred cows will give you a profit of four thousand, eight hundred dollars at the end of the year.”

He waited a moment while murmurs of agreement and approval circulated through the audience.

“The same number of animal units in sheep,” he added with a pause, “will bring you nine-thousand, six hundred.”

A stunned silence followed.

Not all the ranchers were convinced, but enough to defuse the hostilities. The fact that Rosalina Camila Antonella DeLeon, the beautiful owner of the sheep in question, also spoke and won the ranchers’ respect helped. It also worked to move the romance between Connor and Rosalina along, and, after all, that’s what the book is truly about.

If you had been a sheepherder back then, would you have stayed and fought (possibly dying) or packed up and gone someplace else?

Leave a comment to get in the drawing for two copies of CONNOR!

About Charlene:

Charlene Raddon is an Amazon bestselling author with twenty-two western historical romance books to her credit. She never intended to become a writer, however. Charlene was an artist until she discovered romance novels and had a vivid dream that begged to be put into a book. So, she dragged out a typewriter and went to work. She’s been writing ever since. Her other interests are crocheting, genealogy, travel, Ukranian egg dying, and graphic design. Charlene has her own book cover website offering premade covers. She specializes in western historical covers.

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE | SILVER SAGE BOOK COVERS | TWITTER |  GOODREADS | BOOKBUB | FACEBOOK

 

CREATING A MULTI-AUTHOR SERIES by Charlene Raddon

by

 

When I got the idea for my Widows of Wildcat Ridge series, I had no idea what I was doing. The notion popped into my head; I became excited and jumped in with both feet. I think I left my head behind.

The first thing I did was contact a couple of writers I highly respected and ask them their opinions and if they’d be interested in joining me. They said yes. I wonder if they’re glad they did. At this point, we’re about to complete our second multi-author series.

That done, I did some research on locations. I wanted an isolated gold mining town in the mountains where I could destroy the mine and kill most of the miners. Had I seen Godless at the time? No, I didn’t know that TV series existed. Since I live in Utah, a state not often used in romance novels, that’s the location I chose. I avoided the Wasatch mountains where several mines had existed (think Park City and Alta; ski towns now). I decided to set the series In a mountain range a little farther south, the Manti-La Sals. I picked a spot for my mine to sit, with the town nearby. I wrote to several good authors to invite them to join in, and most accepted—a thrilling surprise.

I researched the flora and fauna of the area, which I already knew, but double-checked my facts. I shared this information with the authors, and, with their fertile minds, they quickly came up with ideas. And we were off and running.

Unfortunately, we soon ran into difficulties. What happened to destroy the mine and kill most of the miners? More research. The deeper I dug, the more problems I encountered. The main roadblock was the fact that there had never been a gold mine in those mountains. There were coal mines, and one had suffered a devastating explosion. Two hundred miners killed. Only a ghost town remains.

I decided to base the series there. It didn’t work. Too many differences between coal mining and gold mining. And other problems. So, I kicked the Manti-La Sals into the round bin and went back to work. I settled on the Unita mountain range, where a gold mine had existed in the 1800s. Not only that, but the Spaniards had established mines in the area in the 1600s. Mines no one’s ever found.

We opened our town, destroyed our mine, producing lots of widows to feature in our stories. Our next dilemma? Learning to share, communicate, and weave all our tales together. Now, that was phenomenally painstaking.

You see, we wanted a town and stories that blended, clashed, and intermingled.

We succeeded.

By “we” I mean myself and the other nine authors in the series: Pam Crooks, Caroline Clemmons, Zina Abbott, Christine Sterling, Kit Morgan, Linda Carroll-Bradd, Tracy Garrett, and Kristy McCaffrey. Some of us did more than one book, producing a total of sixteen.

We had maps of the area and town. We had lists of flora and fauna. Weather, travel routes and modes, what towns and cities existed at the time, what Native Americans lived in the territory? At first, we posted our research data on DropBox, but not everyone liked DropBox, so we switched to Google Docs. We formed a Facebook page for the series open to readers and another for the authors to communicate among ourselves. Believe me, tons of emails and posts went back and forth. So many that some of us thought we’d go crazy trying to keep up with everything. Three authors dropped out and were replaced. Our lives breathed, ate, slept, and dreamed of this series from the summer of 2019 to May 2020.  

To achieve our goal, we had to read each story published. We had to keep charts of characters, names, dates, characteristics, minor characters, plots, premises, and on and on. Trying to meld our stories together wasn’t easy. Inevitably, someone used a character from someone else’s story and accidentally gave them the wrong color hair or name. A nightmare in the making. The decisions to be made seemed endless. How often should we publish? What promotions should we do? Who should handle what? You might call the series a co-op.

Then there were the covers, all of which I created, according to the wishes and descriptions of the authors. We made memes for announcements and promos. We arranged launch parties. We worked, and we worked hard.

Despite all that (or because of it), the Widows of Wildcat Ridge (not the first name we came up with) proved a huge success.

I told my friends, if I ever mentioned starting a new series, to shoot me. Amazingly, they didn’t. Nor did I shoot myself. I endured and my fantastic authors along with me. I have come to love each of them.

As you know, in June 2020, we did start another series, just not an interconnected one. The idea for Bachelors & Babies bounced around in my head for a few years. I decided that when Widows of Wildcat Ridge ended, that’s what I would write. It would be a trilogy about three brothers who ran a Montana ranch together and a girl who arrives on their doorstep one night, pregnant and terrified. The more I thought about it, the more I realized what a good series it would make, and so, I jumped into the fire again, taking most of my fellow authors with me.

Those of you familiar with Bachelors & Babies will know how well that series has done. Will I ever do another one? Well, maybe. Keep watching and find out.

And if any of you get any notions about doing your own interconnected series, give me a ring. I might be able to save you a few headaches.

Today I’ll give away a free ebook of Priscilla, book 1 of Widows of Wildcat Ridge, and an audio copy of Barclay, Bachelors and Babies book 4. Be sure to leave a comment!
 

ABOUT CHARLENE:  Charlene Raddon fell in love with the wild west as a child, listening to western music with her dad and sitting in his lap while he read Zane Gray books. She never intended to become a writer. Charlene was an artist. She majored in fine art in college.

In 1971, she moved to Utah, excited for the opportunity to paint landscapes. Then her sister introduced her to romance novels. She never picked up a paintbrush again. One morning she awoke to a vivid dream she knew must go into a book, so she took out a typewriter and began writing. She’s been writing ever since.

Instead of painting pictures with a brush, Charlene uses words.

 

Char’s Links:

https://twitter.com/craddon http://www.facebook.com/charlene.b.raddon http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1232154.Charlene_Raddon

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/charlene-raddon

https://www.pinterest.com/charraddon5080/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlene-raddon-00854629/

https://www.instagram.com/charrad75/