Tina Radcliffe

Welcome Tina Radcliffe!

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Hello, Fillies!!

I haven’t been here in a couple dozen sunsets. Thanks for having me.

I’m a huge fan of vintage Western TV shows that include families. It’s so much fun to delve into family dynamics, wounds and the fun relationship between siblings and parents. The Western background adds even more to the enjoyment. Despite being fifty years old or more they tackle important societal topics along with exploring the meaning of family.

I eagerly binge The Big Valley, Bonanza, High Chaparral, The Rifleman, Maverick, Davy Crockett, and The Virginian. My latest series is all about Western family as well.

I’d like to introduce you to the Lazy M Ranch. Several of you have heard this tale. If so, use this minute to go fill up your coffee cups.

This series got its start when a friend (debut Love Inspired author Deborah Clack) sent me a card with a group of cowboys on the front. I wrote to the artist, Sherry Peters, who is the photographer behind Bradbury Lane https://sherrypphotography.com/. Sherry sent me a wall print of the cowboys. Thus, the Lazy M Ranch was born.

Meet brothers Drew, Sam, Trevor, and Luke, along with Grampa Gus Morgan who manage the Lazy M Ranch in Homestead Pass, Oklahoma. There’s another character in there who is introduced in my upcoming release, young Cole.

For you Okies here today, Homestead Pass is thirty minutes East of Elk City and two hours from Oklahoma City. I set my stories in Oklahoma as I had the pleasure of living there for seventeen years. And for those who go way back, I used to work at City of Faith Hospital in Tulsa.

I digress. This series chronicles the path these reluctant cowboys take to find love and the future the good Lord has planned for them.

My February release is Trevor’s story. It’s also my 19th book with Love Inspired. I’m very excited about The Cowboy’s Secret Past as it’s a twist on the secret baby trope. I can’t tell you the twist or I’d give away the fun.

Here’s the blurb. Didn’t they do a fabulous job on this cover?

He’s not the same man he was

But maybe now he’s ready to be a father

Since leaving his wild rodeo days behind, rancher Trevor Morgan has sobered up and built a faith-filled life. So he’s shocked when the woman caring for his grandfather intrudes on that solitude. Nurse Hope Burke has hidden motives for coming to the Lazy M Ranch—she believes Trevor is the father of her orphaned nephew. Can a loving aunt and a wary cowboy change a little boy’s life forever?

You can preorder your own copy from your favorite retailer

Amazon https://amz.run/7YCe

Harlequin https://bityl.co/NCme

Kobo https://bityl.co/NCmg

The Cowboy’s Secret Past is a standalone book. Here’s a quick peek inside.

“Mind if I join you?”

Hope blinked and nearly fell over at the sound of Trevor Morgan’s voice. Heart hammering as though she’d been caught doing something illegal, she scrambled to shove Cole’s birth certificate back into her purse.

“Sure,” she said on a shaky breath. Hope met his gaze and glanced away. He wasn’t wearing a Stetson today. His hair was the color of warm caramel, with thick unruly waves.

She could see why Anna was attracted to him. And it was a good thing that she was nothing like her stepsister. She had zero interest in rodeos or cowboys. And she definitely would never get involved with an emotionally unavailable man like this one. Trevor Morgan was a complication she could do without.

Today, I brought two fun giveaway for readers. Due to postage costs, this giveaway is US addresses only.

One reader will take home a print copy of The Cowboy’s Secret Past and a fun Book Lover tote.

One reader will take home the first three books in the series (print), The Baby Inheritance, The Cowboy Bargain and The Cowboy’s Secret Past.

To be entered, simply leave a comment letting me know about your favorite family Westerns. They can be vintage or modern television shows or movies.

Thanks for spending the day with me. Do sign up for my monthly newsletter to keep up with my releases.  https://www.tinaradcliffe.com/newsletters

Happy Trails!

A freelance writer for over twenty years, Tina Radcliffe is a Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers Honor Roll member, and a four-time ACFW Carol Award finalist. Her Harlequin novels have won the ACFW Carol Award, the Holt Medallion and appeared on the Publishers Weekly Bestseller list. Besides her novel-length fiction, and her independent publishing releases, Tina has sold over three dozen short stories to Woman’s World Magazine. A US Army Veteran, a former registered nurse, and library cataloger, Tina resides in Arizona, where she writes fun, heartwarming romance and cozy mysteries. Visit her on the web at https://www.tinaradcliffe.com/

The End of the Road with Tina Radcliffe

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Thank you to the Petticoat & Pistols Fillies for welcoming me to their home on the range.

Let’s talk about series books today. Do you prefer your favorite cowboy books to be part of a series? As you start the book, do you begin to imagine the secondary characters having stories of their own? Have you ever written to an author to ask for a secondary character to have their own book?

I admit my answer is YES to all of the above.

What types of series do you prefer?

A standalone series linked by location or family or an incident? These series books usually include secondary character continuity in each book. The association between books in these types of series can be very loose or tightly connected. However, this series can be read out of order.

Or, do you prefer a series that keeps you guessing and reading each book in the series, in order, until an overall series question or mystery is revealed at the very end?

How many books do you like to see in a series–three, five or many, many more? And what are your thoughts on prologues, epilogues, and novellas connected to the original series?

I like as many books in a series as I can get my hands on as long as it’s easy to keep track of the characters.

My newest release is the last in a four-book series. Though each is a stand-alone, meaning you don’t have to read the earlier books to follow along, they all take place on Big Heart Ranch.

Each book deals with a cowboy or cowgirl who must deal with the pain of a broken childhood.  The series, set in Timber, Oklahoma, is based on a children’s ranch for orphaned, abused and neglected children owned and operated by the orphaned Maxwell siblings: Lucy, Travis & Emma.

FYI, Big Heart Ranch is modeled after a real ranch in Alabama. “BIG OAK RANCH – A Christian Home for Children Needing a Chance.” You can find out more about Big Oak Ranch here.

The final book is horse whisperer, Tripp Walker’s, story and probably the most emotional and tender of all the books in the series because it deals with a deeper level of pain and ultimate healing.

I have to admit that I’m sad that this is the last book, though I am enjoying reading the book myself as a reader instead of a writer. But I am suffering symptoms of a book hangover!

Have you ever had a book hangover as you come to the end of a special cowboy read?

A book hangover is a condition in which attachment to a book or series that has ended causes the reader traumatic emotional distress. It usually lasts for one to two weeks, or until a new book of higher-than-average quality enters the reader’s life.– Epic Reads

The inability to start a new book because you are still living in the old book’s world.– Urban Dictionary

The Last Cowboy Song

(Ed Bruce with Willie Nelson)

This the last cowboy song.

The end of a hundred year waltz.

The voices sound sad as they’re singin’ along.

Another piece of America’s lost.

 

He rides the feed lots, clerks in the markets,

On weekends sellin’ tobacco and beer.

And his dream’s of tomorrow, surrounded by fences,

But he’ll dream tonight of when fences weren’t here.

In honor of the last book in this series, I’ve picked up

 

To deal with book hangover, and celebrate the release of Her Last Chance Cowboy, I’ve got a few very therapeutic giveaways today for the readers of Petticoats & Pistols. Just leave a comment to my questions above to be entered.

  1. Two readers will receive a copy of Her Last Chance Cowboy and a canister of Romance Recovery Tea from Riddles Book &Tea Company. (US only)
  2. One reader will receive the entire Big Heart Ranch series and a canister of Romance Recovery Tea. (US Only)
  3. One reader will receive an ecopy of Her Last Chance Cowboy (US or international)

 

Her Last Chance Cowboy

She came seeking family…

Will she find love at Big Heart Ranch?

When pregnant single mother Hannah Vincent shows up professing to be the half sister of the Maxwells of Big Heart Ranch, horse trainer Tripp Walker is wary. Wounded before, he doesn’t trust easily. If only Hannah and her feisty five-year-old daughter weren’t so impossible to resist. Now, despite his doubts, joining this little family is quickly becoming the cautious cowboy’s greatest wish.

 

BUY on Amazon!

 

 

A freelance writer for over twenty years, Tina Radcliffe is an RWA Honor Roll member, a two-time RWA Golden Heart finalist, a three-time ACFW Carol Award nominee, and a 2018 ACFW Mentor of the Year recipient. Her 11th book for Harlequin Love Inspired, Her Last Chance Cowboy, released in February 2019.  In addition to novel-length fiction, Tina has sold over three dozen short stories to Woman’s World Magazine. A former library cataloger, Tina is a frequent presenter on writing topics and an online instructor. She currently resides in Arizona, where she writes fun, heartwarming romance.  Sign up for her author newsletter and her market newsletter at http://www.tinaradcliffe.com/

A SALUTE TO THE SPAGHETTI WESTERN by TINA RADCLIFFE

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Saloon, telegraph office and wooden water tower along the dirt road of an old American western town

Spaghetti Western, also known as Italian Western or Macaroni Western, is a broad subgenre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone’s film-making style and international box-office success. –Wikipedia.

Are you familiar with Spaghetti Westerns? Over five hundred of these films were made in the sixties and they are now cult classics. Wildly popular in Europe, they were low budget and released first in Europe and then in the states.

Probably the most well-known of the Spaghetti Westerns are Clint Eastwood’s Dollar Trilogy, also known as The Man with No Name Trilogy and included, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Clint Eastwood became the first megastar of the Spaghetti Western with these films.

Where American Westerns featured the white hat hero with strong moral fiber, the heroes of the Spaghetti Western were cynical loners with a less than honorable past. These heroes are what is referred to as the Delta Hero. He’s dark and dangerous. Typically, a damaged hero who exiles himself from society and takes on loner/outlaw status. Will he do the right thing in the end? The only thing that’s certain is that he is unpredictable.

The cinematographic style of Spaghetti Westerns made the scenery another character in these movies. Desolate, dusty, dry towns and countryside evoked an imagery of death and doom. The films over-utilized long shots, suspense and the element of surprise.

The musical score too is far more memorable and intrinsic to these film than the American Western, often utilizing rock scores and the electric guitar heavily. The music built an increasing sense of tension and suspense. You most likely can remember the music to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Can you recall the thematic music to any American Western? I’m guessing not.

Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

From the Spaghetti Western Database, I give you the top ten Spaghetti Westerns voted the essential classics of the genre.

1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly -1966 starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach.

2. Once Upon a Time in the West -1966 starring Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale and Jason Robards.

3. For a Few Dollars More -196 starring Clint Eastwood, Klaus Kinski and Lee Van Cleef.

4. The Great Silence -1968 starring Klaus Kinski and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

5. A Fistful of Dollars -1964 starring Clint Eastwood.

6. Django -1966 starring Franco Nero.

7. The Big Gundown -1966 starring Lee Van Cleef.

8. The Mercenary -1968 starring Franco Nero and Jack Palance.

9. Companeros –1970 starring Franco Nero.

10. Death Rides a Horse -1967 starring Lee Van Cleef.

How about some favorite lines from Spaghetti Westerns?

When you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk. – Eli Wallach, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig. -Clint Eastwood, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

Alive or dead, it’s your choice. –Clint Eastwood, For a Few Dollars More.

The heart, Ramon. Don’t forget the heart. Aim for the heart, or you’ll never stop me. –Clint Eastwood, A Fistful of Dollars.

Are you a fan of the Spaghetti Western? Any favorites?

Leave a comment today for an opportunity to win a print or ecopy of Falling for the Cowgirl. Two winners! International readers welcome!

Falling for the Cowgirl (Big Heart Ranch Book 2)

She won the job…

Can he win her heart?

Hiring Amanda “AJ” McAlester as his assistant at the Big Heart Ranch isn’t foreman Travis Maxwell’s first choice—but his sisters insist she’s perfect for the job. And AJ’s determined to prove she’s just as qualified as any man. But with money on the line, AJ and her innovative ideas could put him at risk of losing everything…including his heart.

Order link   http://a.co/exgvsmo

 

 

 

A freelance writer for over twenty years, Tina Radcliffe has sold over two dozen romances to Woman’s World. Tina is an RWA Honor Roll member, a two-time RWA Golden Heart finalist, and a 2014 ACFW Carol Award winner. She is a 2018 ACFW Mentor of the Year and a 2018 Carol Award finalist. She currently resides in Arizona, where she writes fun, heartwarming romance. Visit her on the web at http://www.tinaradcliffe.com/ 

I’m Just an Okie from Muskogee

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Welcome Tina Radcliffe, Author of Claiming Her Cowboy! 

 

 

 

Book Description

Attorney Jackson Harris regularly goes toe-to-toe with the world’s toughest lawyers—but none of them compare to Lucy Maxwell. The feisty director of Oklahoma’s Big Heart Ranch for orphans is as stubborn as she is pretty. But Jack must stay focused; he’s only there to evaluate the ranch’s funding. Falling for Lucy and the sweet children she protects is out of the question. Though Lucy is determined to keep the ranch, she’s not about to give control to a city slicker—even a devastatingly good-looking one. But as they bump heads, Jack and Lucy gradually nudge open their hearts. Could a temporary cowboy become a permanent part of Lucy’s life?

 

 

 

A big 2018 HELLO, to the Fillies of Petticoats & Pistols!

One of my very favorite places to set a story is in Oklahoma. I’m partial to the state after living there more than seventeen years. To me, there’s nothing sweeter than an Oklahoma drawl.

My blog title comes from the Merle Haggard song, and I apologize if you now have that tune in your head all day. The song is nearly fifty years old and while the lyrics may be a tad bit dated, the sentiment is not.

It parallels the philosophy of the Oklahoma cowboy. There are cowboys and ranches in all fifty states, there’s something special about an Oklahoma cowboy, especially the way he thinks and the way he talks. He’s hard-working, loyal, an all-American patriot who loves Okie football, and when he opens his mouth to speak I’m swooning a little.

Oklahoma dialect is unique although depending on where you’re from in the state it can overlap with Texas and Arkansas speech patterns. This is why you’ll hear terms like“y’all and “fixin’ to,” across borders. With the mobility we see today in the job market, much original Okie dialect is watered down. It’s also watered down or erased by Oklahomans purposely to avoid the stereotype that confuses language with culture.

When writing the Oklahoma cowboy for my new series from Love Inspired, Big Heart Ranch, I let a secondary character, old wrangler named Dutch Stevens, spin the Oklahoma dialect most of the time with some help from five-year-old named Dub Lewis, because too much dialect from primary characters can take away from the reading enjoyment.

There’s a charm and music to speaking Okie and nothing makes me happier than overhearing a conversation where the speaker says “I’m fixing to get some chicken fried steak, but first I’m going to stop at the QT for some pop.”

Speech patterns for true Oklahoma dialect are slow, methodical, and often with pauses if the sentence is more than a few words. Oklahoma-speak can often be pinpointed by the identification of certain terminology and there is an entire lingo that is unique to the state.

If you want to get a real taste for Oklahoma cowboy in particular, take a look at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum website. Check out the Cowboy page and the videos here. The museum is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

There’s no definitive dictionary of Okie terms because Oklahoma is diverse and culture and environment play into the mix. But I can tell you that my arrival in Tulsa from New York was a culture shock.

People shut off the light instead of turning it off. They put groceries in sacks instead of bags. They ate salary instead of celery too. Fish and chips meant catfish and fries. Football fell into two categories Sooners or Cowboys. Liquor stores were closed on Sunday and there was a church on every corner.

Then there were those strange words like:

Mere – Mirror

Skeeter – Mosquito

Soda – Pop

Agg – Egg

QT – Quick Trip Convenience Store (Home of Lamar)

Chicken Fried Steak – See to Understand

Chigger – Mites

OKC – Oklahoma City

T-Town – Tulsa

Tony Lama – Western boots

PeeKahn – Pecan

My Ideal Oklahoma Cowboy

To create my ideal Oklahoma cowboy I take my favorite Oklahoma terminology and culture and then sprinkle in Western speak and lingo. If you’re a city slicker, you can find some fun and helpful Western speak here and here.

GIVEAWAY!

Have you got any Okie-isms of your own? Do you speak Okie or Cowboy Okie?

Leave a comment today and I’ll be sending a print copy or digital copy of Claiming Her Cowboy to three commenters along with a fun Western surprise. If you’ve already read the book, I’ll send a thank you and a fun Western surprise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally from Western, N.Y., Tina Radcliffe left home for a tour of duty with the Army Security Agency stationed in Augsburg, Germany and ended up in Tulsa Oklahoma. While living in Tulsa she spent ten years as a Certified Oncology R.N. Her move to Colorado led to a career as a library cataloger. A 2014 ACFW Carol Award winner, she has won first place in over twenty RWA chapter affiliated contests in her career and she is on the RWA Honor Roll. Tina is also a short story writer and has sold over two dozen short stories to Woman’s World Magazine. She currently resides in Arizona where she writes fun, heartwarming romance.

Stay up to date on all her releases and fun giveaways by signing up for her newsletter here. Visit her on the web at http://www.tinaradcliffe.com Facebook Twitter

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Tina Radcliffe – My Heroes Have Always Been Amputees

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Tina Radcliffe

Thanks to all the fillies for having me here today. My current release from Love Inspired, Rocky Mountain Cowboy, features a hero with a prosthetic arm. Amputations and prosthetic devices have come a long way since the days of the Wild West.

As far back as the Civil War, amputations were done for injury, infection and even compound fractures (where the bone was protruding through the skin.). The caveat is that there was no anesthetic, so just like the old films, the patient might be fortunate to be unconscious or be liquored up or receive a dose of tincture of laudanum (which contains opium), but they were most often awake and conscious. Laudanum was considered a miracle drug of its day and was used for everything from coughs, pain, and diarrhea. Until the early 1900’s it was easily obtained.

 
Medicine in the Old West by Jeremy Agnew. http://amzn.to/2iejNx2%5B/caption%5D

The term “bite the bullet,” comes from using a bullet to bite down on during medical procedures such as amputation when no wooden block or leather was available to bite on.

Per Agnew’s book, physicians were valued for their speed, and operating room assistants were chosen for their “brawn rather than their brains.” Surgery consisted of a tourniquet, a circular cut and sawing through the flesh and bone in mere minutes. A flap was created using overlapping skin, to cover the amputated site.

Prosthetic devices have been around since 600 BC. By the 1800’s they were made of wood, metal and leather. Wooden legs were strapped to the body with leather or metal clamps, and were dressed with socks and shoes for a natural appearance.

For more information and pictures of these early prosthetic devices you can check out the following articles:

  • Crude Prosthetic Limbs From The Past Were Horrifying Yet Oddly Beautiful-Viral Nova http://bit.ly/2hKZjrT

You can even purchase these antique prosthetic devices on EBay! http://ebay.to/2iATPEr

                                 

Needless to say, technology has come a very long way. Amputee Coalition’s InMotion Magazine November/December magazine stats tell us the following:

  • Currently, 2.1 million people live with limb loss. By the year 2050 3.6 million people will be living with limb loss.
  • 185 thousand people have an amputation each year.
  • 507 People lose a limb each day.

You can find this magazine online here. http://bit.ly/2io8zTT

With this information in mind, isn’t it totally appropriate that we should be writing more and more heroes, heroines and secondary characters in our novels as amputees? There is no limit to what our amputee characters can do. Don’t limit yourself by false myths about amputees. Do consider an amputee in your stories.

Have you checked out the Paralympic site to see possibilities for these Alpha heroes and heroines as you create your fictional worlds? http://www.paralympic.org/sports

My own hero, Joe Gallagher, a cowboy and rancher, in Rocky Mountain Cowboy utilizes a Michelangelo. This multi-articulating prosthetic device is for his transradial amputation. Joe lost his arm from below the elbow when a tractor fell on him. The character of Joe was inspired by amputee cowboy and roper and a hero to me, Barry Landry. Here’s a llink to Barry with his Michelangelo (scroll to bottom). http://armdynamics.com/pages/michelangelo

Beyond the Michelangelo, newer prosthetic devices are becoming popular such as the Bebionic, “a multi-articulating myoelectric hand made by Steeper. It features 14 different grip patterns and hand positions, including the unique mouse grip for using a computer mouse; trigger grip for using spray bottles; and precision grip for securely handling small items.” More information here. http://bebionic.com/the_hand

Now think really advanced prosthesis and check out these amazing heroes and heroines at The Alternative Limb Project! http://www.thealternativelimbproject.com/

 

And finally, I’d like to introduce you to another hero, Travis Mills.

 

“Never give up. Never quit.”- Travis Mills, retired United States Army Staff Sergeant and recalibrated warrior. http://www.travismills.org/

 

I hope I’ve provided you with information to aid you in considering an amputee for your next hero. What are your thoughts? Can you recommend any other books with amputee heroes and heroines or secondary characters?

I’m giving away two copies of Rocky Mountain Cowboy to commenters. Print or ebook, winner’s choice. International readers welcome.

Rocky Mountain Cowboy by Tina Radcliffe

http://bit.ly/2hLaH77

The last person cowboy Joe Gallagher thought he’d see on his ranch was high school sweetheart Rebecca Anshaw Simpson. Twelve years after she married another man, she’s back as his physical therapist. But healing his body is nothing compared to guarding his heart from the woman he never forgot.

There’s much the single mom would rather forget, but Becca won’t let regret and a surly rancher get in the way of her job and the chance to start over with her little girl. She has only a few weeks to make peace with her past. But Becca never expected she’d fall all over again for her first love.