Being an Eastern girl, when I married a westerner and moved to Oregon, I noticed a lot of things were different in the West.
For instance, things are a lot farther apart in the West.
It’s true—towns, trees, everything is more spread out in the West than in the East, particularly in contrast to New England, where I grew up.
A corollary to this is: People are willing to travel farther. It seemed to me that folks in Oregon were willing to drive a hundred miles at the drop of a hat.
Another thing: When I moved to Oregon, I thought nothing there was more than 200 years old, but then I discovered that the West has ancient things, too. Older than the Viking runes in Maine.
I won’t even start on the snakes.
But the reptiles in general—well, they’re different. Once in Idaho, my kids started squealing and laughing and hopping around when they saw a little lizard. A native Idahoan expressed surprise at their antics.
“We don’t have lizards where we come from, and they’ve never seen one before,” I explained.
“Where are you from?” she asked.
I said, “Maine.”
The woman blinked. “You mean Main Street?”
I said, “No, the state of Maine.”
She said. “I don’t know where that is.”
I said. “Oh. Don’t they teach you that in school?” I mean, really. WE knew where Idaho was.
I’m sure most people west of the Mississippi know about the East. This was probably a rare specimen I was talking to. Anyway, things are different on the two sides of the country. Trust me.
Okay, I’ll say one thing about snakes. In Maine, we didn’t have poison ones. And that’s all I’m saying about that.
My newest book is a western, and I hope you enjoy it. In The Outlaw Takes a Bride, Johnny Paynter flees Denver to escape being hanged for a murder he didn’t commit. At his brother Mark’s ranch in Texas, where he thought he could take refuge, he finds his brother dead. Johnny strongly resembles his brother, and the people in town think he is Mark. Reluctantly at first, Johnny assumes Mark’s identity. But what will he do when he learns Mark has been corresponding with a widow in St. Louis? Sally Golding is en route to be a mail-order bride to Mark. Johnny must decide whether or not to go through with the wedding, posing as his brother. How will a marriage survive amid this deception?
I’m giving away a print copy of this book, The Outlaw Takes a Bride.
Click on the book cover to order from Amazon!
Susan Page Davis is the author of more than fifty published novels and novellas. Her historical novels have won numerous awards, including the Carol Award, the Will Rogers Medallion for Western Fiction, and the Inspirational Readers’ Choice Contest. She lives in western Kentucky. Visit her website at: www.susanpagedavis.com
