Interview with Jules Montgomery — Jodie Wolfe
I’m so excited to welcome author Jodie Wolfe and share this fun interview with her character from her new release, Taming Julia.
Welcome, Jules. That’s an interesting nickname. What is your given name?
Name’s Julia Walker, make that Julia Montgomery. I reckon I haven’t gotten used to the bein’ hitched part yet. I don’t like all that fancy name callin’, so just call me Jules.
I’ve been told you’re a mail-order bride. How did that happen?
I don’t rightly know. My brother told me it was somethin’ I had to do. I trust him on account of his always keepin’ me safe through all the years we’ve been livin’ along the trail. So when he had me marry that Drew fella by proxy, I went along with it.
What were your first impressions of Burrton Springs?
It was my first time to see a town. I was surprised to see a heap of buildings tossed in one place. I never seen that afore. I liked seein’ all the shops. I don’t think I’ll ever get my fill glimpsin’ what’s in each of them.
Were you raised in one place or did you move around?
When I was a wee tyke, before my parents and sister died, we all lived in one place. But then my brother took me on the trail. We never stayed in one place for very long. Haven’t seen many folks until I came to Burrton Springs.
What’s your brother’s name and what’s he like?
Josh Walker and he’s a deputy with the US Marshals. He and I have tracked outlaws for a number of years now. We’ve gotten pretty good at it. He’s always been protective; makin’ sure no harm came to me. I reckon all big brothers are like that.
What kind of losses have you experienced?
Like I said, both my folks and sister died when I was young. And uh, there’s somethin’ else that happened… I don’t rightly feel comforble talkin’ about it though. You can find out about it in my story.
Speaking of your story, I understand Taming Julia releases tomorrow. Can you tell us a little bit about it?
Sure. Here’s what the author came up with on something called a back cover.
In 1875, Kansas bachelor Drew Montgomery’s sole desire is to serve God, but his congregation’s ultimatum that he marry or leave, forces him to advertise for a wife by proxy.
Jules Walker strides into Drew’s life wearing breeches and toting a gun and saddle–more cowboy than bride. After years on the trail, she’s not exactly wife material, but she longs for home and family, and will do anything to ensure Drew never discovers what she really is.
Why should people read your story and find out more about you?
I reckon they can learn more about me and my husband, Drew. It takes some doin’ for us to figure each other’s way,s and we have all kinds of misunderstandings along the way. You’ll find laughter, tears, and adventure in our story. And of course, love too. 🙂
Sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for stopping by today, Jules.
My pleasure. Thank you kindly for havin’ me.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow for an excerpt of Taming Julia.
January 2020 New Releases!
January 2020 New Releases
More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website.
Contemporary Romance:
A Rancher to Trust by Laurel Blount — After learning his ex-wife isn’t so ex after all, rebel turned rancher Dan Whitlock is determined to prove he’s a changed man…but Bailey Quinn is just as set on finally ending their marriage. When tragedy makes Dan the guardian of little orphaned twins, he and Bailey are drawn back together. But can she forgive the past and open her heart to the family she’s always wanted? (Contemporary Romance from Love Inspired (Harlequin))
Star Rising by Janet W. Ferguson — Star Youngblood tries to protect her employer, Mrs. Priscilla Kelly, from the woman’s neglectful son, an aspiring flight instructor who has issues with religion, but finds her own heart is at the greatest risk. (Contemporary Romanc, Independently Published)
A Promise to Keep by Melony Teague — Savannah, a widowed research librarian, goes to her twenty year class reunion and gets reacquainted with Michael, a former troublemaker who is now a professional technical rescuer. Before the night is over, a pact between these two old friends will lead them on an adventure into uncharted emotional territory where Michael must confront his past regrets and find the courage to reveal the truth. But can Savannah fly from her sheltered nest and risk her heart on a real-life hero? (Contemporary Romance from Anaiah Press)
General Contemporary:
A Long Time Comin by Robin W. Pearson — To hear Beatrice Agnew tell it, she entered the world with her mouth tightly shut. Just because she finds out she’s dying doesn’t mean she can’t keep it that way. If any of her children have questions about their daddy and the choices she made after he abandoned them, they’d best take it up with Jesus. There’s no room in Granny B’s house for regrets or hand-holding. Or so she thinks. Her granddaughter, Evelyn Lester, shows up on Beatrice’s doorstep anyway, burdened with her own secret baggage. Determined to help her Granny B mend fences with her far-flung brood, Evelyn turns her grandmother’s heart and home inside out. Evelyn’s meddling uncovers a tucked-away box of old letters, forcing the two women to wrestle with their past and present pain as they confront the truth Beatrice has worked a lifetime to hide. (General Contemporary from Tyndale House)
Historical Romance:
Freedom in the Mountain Wind by Misty M. Beller — A young woman faces overwhelming odds to make her father’s dream come true before he dies of lung cancer, but paddling upriver through fierce rapids and fighting hungry grizzlies to follow the Lewis and Clark trail isn’t what terrifies her the most. Beaver Tail endured more than he can stand from the women in his Blackfoot camp, but the last disaster gave him the final shove he needed to join this band of brothers searching for one of their group who’s gone missing. The last thing he expected was to find a white woman and her sick father stranded at the base of a massive waterfall. His plan is to help them carry their oversize canoe and supplies, then leave them to their strange mission. Yet, the more he learns about the pair, the more he realizes his life is about to be derailed—again. (Historical Romance, Independently Published)
Uncharted Promises by Keely Brooke Keith — Sybil Roberts uses the warmth of delicious meals to lift the spirits of road-weary travelers at The Inn at Falls Creek. Her life at the inn would be perfect if she could just get her brothers and mother to move back home. And if she could see Isaac Owens again. He visited the inn once when he interviewed for the farm manager job, and she’s dreamed of his return to Falls Creek ever since. Isaac Owens knows how to run a farm. His family might not have faith in him, but if he succeeds at Falls Creek, he’ll prove them wrong. He arrives at the inn thinking the job is his, but the inn’s senile owner offered the position to another man too. Isaac must spend the winter competing if he wants to win the job… and Sybil’s heart. It will take more than warm meals on cold nights for Sybil and Isaac to find love while working at the isolated inn. (Historical Romance from Edenbrooke Press)
Forever Hidden by Kimberley Woodhouse, Tracie Peterson — Sybil Roberts uses the warmth of delicious meals to lift the spirits of road-weary travelers at The Inn at Falls Creek. Her life at the inn would be perfect if she could just get her brothers and mother to move back home. And if she could see Isaac Owens again. He visited the inn once when he interviewed for the farm manager job, and she’s dreamed of his return to Falls Creek ever since. Isaac Owens knows how to run a farm. His family might not have faith in him, but if he succeeds at Falls Creek, he’ll prove them wrong. He arrives at the inn thinking the job is his, but the inn’s senile owner offered the position to another man too. Isaac must spend the winter competing if he wants to win the job… and Sybil’s heart. It will take more than warm meals on cold nights for Sybil and Isaac to find love while working at the isolated inn. (Historical Romance from Bethany House [Baker])
The Gray Chamber by Grace Hitchcock — On Blackwell Island, New York, a hospital was built to keep its patients from ever leaving. With her late father’s fortune under her uncle’s care until her twenty-fifth birthday in the year 1887, Edyth Foster does not feel pressured to marry or to bow to society’s demands. She freely indulges in eccentric hobbies like fencing and riding her velocipede in her cycling costume about the city for all to see. Finding a loophole in the will, though, her uncle whisks Edyth off to the women’s lunatic asylum just weeks before her birthday. Do any of Edyth’s friends care that she disappeared? At the asylum she meets another inmate, who upon discovering Edyth’s plight, confesses that she is Nellie Bly, an undercover journalist for The World. Will either woman find a way to leave the terrifying island and reclaim her true self? (Historical Romance from Barbour Publishing)
Romantic Suspense:
Secret Mountain Hideout by Terri Reed — Staying hidden has kept her alive… But now she’s been found. A remote Colorado mountain town and a fake identity have been Ashley Willis’s safe haven since fleeing after she witnessed a murder—but now the killer has found her trail. Desperate and terrified, she’s prepared to run again…but Deputy Sheriff Chase Fredrick won’t let her. With the lawman by her side, can she face danger head-on…and live long enough to bring a murderer to justice? (Romantic Suspense from Love Inspired [Harlequin])
Plus check out these recent additions to Fiction Finder published within the past month:
50-50 by Roger Bruner, Contemporary
Shattered Treasure by Cindy Patterson, Romantic Suspense
The Contessa Is Missing by Linda Siebold, Romantic Suspense
The Forever Sky by Janalyn Voigt, Western Romance
Northern Hearts by Laurie Wood, Romantic Suspense
Double Jeopardy — RELEASE DAY ( + Giveaway!)
Welcome to the ninth and final day of fun and excitement, Book Launch Day. So often authors think that writing and publishing a book is a solitary endeavor, but I’ve learned through this process that isn’t the case.
I’d like to give a special shout out to some amazing people who’ve stuck with me through the past year and in recent months.
First, and foremost, to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Without Him, no story is worth telling.
TimHimo Terrie Wolf, my amazing editor. This has been a learning curve for both of us, and I am sure glad she was on my team.
Denise Weimer, my editor at Smitten Historical Romance, was a gem when it came to getting this book into good shape, helping me trim the word count while bringing the characters alive on the page like they are in my head.
To the interior designers and cover designers at Smitten—thanks! You did a great job.
To my Launch Team, thank you. I couldn’t have gotten the word out nearly as well by myself. Thanks to Janine Wills, Marilyn Turk, Patti Shene, Deb Ledford, Elaine Ferguson, Susan Mathis, Karen Whalen, Ruth Miller, Sandy Berg, Ann Ferri, Kordee Rose, Ilene Harris, Barbara Harrison, Paula Shreckhise, and Sarah Taylor.
To my Launch Team Leader, the fearless Suzanne Norquist—blessings! You have been a true answer to prayer. Always so organized, so willing to do whatever I asked, no matter what.
To those who blessed me early on by reading and reviewing my book, and providing me with an endorsement, thank you. Your words were so kind and so valuable: Tiffany Amber Stockton, Suzanne Norquist, Margaret Mizushima, Mary Davis, Lena Nelson Dooley, and Susan G. Mathis.
To my critique group, Word Crafters, who read the earlier chapters and told me how to fix them. Thanks.
To my husband Patrick, who helped keep me sane when I thought my brain would explode; who cooked when I was under deadline; who did the laundry so I didn’t have to stay up until midnight; who drove me to the far corner of Colorado for research—twice. My undying gratitude and love.
And, of course, to you my followers and hopefully soon-to-be loyal readers: I would write, even if I never sold a single book, because the stories are in there and they have to come out. But taking this journey with you in mind has been a blast, and made the journey even more wonderful. Feel free to contact me anytime at Donna@HiStoryThruTheAges.com
Just because the book has released doesn’t mean the fun is over. Watch for mentions of all the places I’ll be blogging this month and the opportunities to win a free ebook. And look for the book where you buy—email me a picture, and I’ll send you a free ebook.
I will randomly draw from all who leave a comment during the nine days of this promotion to win a print (US only) copy of Double Jeopardy. Which means, even if you missed a day, go back and read the previous posts and leave a comment. You can be entered up to nine times. entries.
Available at https://shoplpc.com/double-jeopardy/ Amazon.com, and fine booksellers in your area.
Don’t forget to join us later today, January 7th, at our Facebook event to win more prizes: FB event
About Donna:
Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm
What Can Be Online University: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/
Double Jeopardy — WHY THIS STORY WILL CHANGE YOU AS A READER ( + Giveaway )
Welcome to the eighth of nine days of fun and excitement leading up to the book launch on January 7th. During this time, you’ll learn more about the book, the characters, and, hopefully, me, too. If you missed the previous posts, check back. There’s a great recipe for biscuits and some fun insights into Zeke and Becky and the villain, as well as my inspiration, history, and setting behind the story. Plus you can still leave a comment each day to get in an extra entry on the drawing.
If you make the biscuits, leave a comment and let us know how they turned out.
Now, on to the reason why this story will change you as a reader.
As readers, we all like to read a good book. One with complex characters, a compelling premise, and a plot woven into the story like spaghetti. Books like that are written and published every day. But for a book to really stick in our heads, to get our hearts racing when we think of it, something else is needed.
I believe that something else is what changes us as readers.
When I think about a book from my childhood, I recall books like Black Beauty and Call of the Wild. Yes, the characters were great, the setting was exciting, and the writing was superb. But what really sticks with me is both told stories of heartbreak and joy, of separation and reunion, or defeat and victory. Throughout these two books in particular, bad things happened for no good reason. People got sick. Died. Animals were mistreated. Lives were shattered.
But then. . .
In the end, all was set right with their world.
When I sit down to write a book, I ask myself, “How bad can things get?” And then I set out to do just that. Putting my characters into more and more danger physically, while also straining their moral judgment, their emotional well-being, and their spiritual journey. Not every character gets off scott-free. Sometimes the journey seems to impair them more than make things right. But that’s life.
In Double Jeopardy, I took a city girl completely out of her element. Or did I? Becky Campbell didn’t really fit into society life in New York, either. She was much more like her father, who she adored. Zeke Graumann believes that his family’s ranch is worth everything, until he meets a girl who shows him that home is where the love is.
And we see other characters who are changed, too. Matilda Campbell, the controlling matriarch of the family, figures out that she can’t always direct every situation, no matter how much money she’s willing to throw at the problem. Even the land title clerk has a change of heart from the ruthless businessman (think of the tax collector’s in the temple during Jesus’ day) to a man with a compassionate heart.
The theme of this book is that we are never truly alone, if we’re willing to give God room in our lives. But that takes a conscious decision. It won’t happen by osmosis. It can’t be forced. It must be a voluntary decision, not because we have nowhere else to turn, but because we do, but we choose God anyway. It took me a lot of years to figure that out, and our second—and third—and fourth-chance God patiently waited for me.
So next time you don’t know what to do or where to go next, remember: The God who pursues is still there.
I will randomly draw from all who leave a comment over the next nine days to win a print (US only) copy of Double Jeopardy. Which means, if you stop by every day and leave a comment, you’ll have nine entries.
Available at https://shoplpc.com/double-jeopardy/ Amazon.com, and fine booksellers in your area.
Don’t forget to join us on Launch Day, January 7th, at our Facebook event to win more prizes: FB event
About Donna:
Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm
What Can Be Online University: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/
Double Jeopardy — THE SETTING FOR THE STORY ( + Giveaway )
Welcome to the seventh of nine days of fun and excitement leading up to the book launch on January 7th. During this time, you’ll learn more about the book, the characters, and, hopefully, me, too. If you missed the previous posts, check back. There’s a great recipe for biscuits and some fun insights into Zeke and Becky and the villain, as well as my inspiration for the book and the history behind the story. Plus you can still leave a comment each day to get in an extra entry on the drawing.
If you make the biscuits, leave a comment and let us know how they turned out.
Now, on to the setting of the story.
When trying to decide where to set the story, I really had three criteria: it had to be in Colorado, because I wanted to be able to enter it into local writing contests that required a state-based setting; it had to be based on a place I’d actually visited and liked; and I didn’t want it set in a place that others had written a lot about.
When it came to silver in Colorado, many books have been set in and around Leadville, Cripple Creek, or Pike’s Peak. I wanted something different. A place with character that mirrored my characters. A setting that would actually be a character in the story, putting constraints and pressures on my characters and on the plot.
As I do with most of my books, I made up the town and the geographic area. But when I visited the Alamosa area, saw the great palisade mountains, the wide open valleys with green grass and trees, and met some of the folks who live in the area, I knew I’d found my setting.
Travel up a box canyon or two and follow its winding trail to a place that absolutely could be a silver mine. Imagine riding through the belly-deep grasses when the sun is shining down, and you’ll be where Zeke is going to build his house. Wander along a stream and imagine some old timers panning for gold. And that cluster of buildings over there? No doubt a ghost town long since abandoned.
So the next time you take a trip and find yourself off the beaten path, stop, look around, and ask yourself, “Could I set a story here?”
I will randomly draw from all who leave a comment over the next nine days to win a print (US only) copy of Double Jeopardy. Which means, if you stop by every day and leave a comment, you’ll have nine entries.
Available at https://shoplpc.com/double-jeopardy/ Amazon.com, and fine booksellers in your area.
Don’t forget to join us on Launch Day, January 7th, at our Facebook event to win more prizes: FB event
About Donna:
Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm
What Can Be Online University: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/
Double Jeopardy — THE HISTORY BEHIND THE STORY ( + Giveaway)
Welcome to the sixth of nine days of fun and excitement leading up to the book launch on January 7th. During this time, you’ll learn more about the book, the characters, and, hopefully, me, too. If you missed the previous posts, check back. There’s a great recipe for biscuits and some fun insights into Zeke and Becky and the villain, as well as my inspiration for the book. Plus you can still leave a comment each day to get in an extra entry on the drawing.
If you make the biscuits, leave a comment and let us know how they turned out.
Now, on to the history behind the story.
When most people think about opening up the Wild West, they picture cowboys, wagon trains, and, of course, the gold rush. And all of those would be true and very important to the reasons why folks left the relative comforts of the East—that being everything east of the Mississippi—to head into the Great Unknown.
Sure, there were many other reasons for the Westward Migration, including the promise of cheap land—or land at all, since so many lived in sharecropper or tenement situations in the east. There were also those scoundrels on the run from the law, and in the years just prior to the setting of my story, 1880, the country went through a civil war. So folks headed west in hope of maintaining slaves, in hopes of escaping slavery, and simply in hopes of escaping the whole war thing.
Some were adventurers, like Becky’s father, who simply couldn’t let a horizon stay in front of him but wanted to see beyond every mountain and every body of water separating him from “over there.”
The Colorado Gold Rush started in 1858 and lasted until around 1861, and brought thousands of miners, ancillary workers such as drovers, liverymen, blacksmiths, prostitutes, saloon keepers, and swindlers. However, apart from a few areas such as Cripple Creek, which saw its biggest mining deep into the 1890s, most of the gold petered out as quick as it was found.
An interesting tidbit is that silver was discovered because so many were looking for gold. Exactly twenty years after gold was first discovered, silver was found in the area of Leadville and covering a three-hundred-mile swath from the San Juan Mountains to the Foothills west of Denver.
Robert Campbell, in the book, learns of this find, and heads for southwest Colorado, intent on getting in on the ground floor of silver mining in the area. Little did he know that the wealth he counted on would evaporate less than fifteen years later when the government stopped minting silver dollars, a decision that increased gold prices and sent silver prices into the basement.
I will randomly draw from all who leave a comment over the next nine days to win a print (US only) copy of Double Jeopardy. Which means, if you stop by every day and leave a comment, you’ll have nine entries.
Available at https://shoplpc.com/double-jeopardy/ Amazon.com, and fine booksellers in your area.
Don’t forget to join us on Launch Day, January 7th, at our Facebook event to win more prizes: FB event
About Donna:
Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm
What Can Be Online University: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/
Double Jeopardy — THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE STORY ( + Giveaway)
Welcome to the fifth of nine days of fun and excitement leading up to the book launch on January 7th. Over this time, you’ll learn more about the book, the characters, and, hopefully, me, too. If you missed the previous posts, check back. There’s a great recipe for biscuits and some fun insights into Zeke and Becky and the villain. Plus you can still leave a comment each day to get in an extra entry on the drawing.
If you make the biscuits, leave a comment and let us know how they turned out.
Now, on to the inspiration for the story.
Let me start with a tidbit about me: I love to travel. Doesn’t matter if it’s a day trip to the mountains, a long weekend to visit grands, or a mega-trip like the one we took last year where we drove to Atlanta Georgia, spent a week there at a ministry convention, then “swung by” Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin to see our daughters and grands on the way home to Denver.
Along with travel, I have discovered a love for history. But more about that tomorrow. When I travel, I look around and ask myself, “Would this be a good place to set a story?” Again, more about that the day after tomorrow.
In this case, the real inspiration for the story came in two forms. All of my previous books have taken place in other states than Colorado. I’ve written stories set in Maine, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Washington state, and on a cruise to Alaska. But never one set in Colorado. So I began looking around for a setting in the state where I live because—here it comes—I wanted to enter a writing contest for books set in Colorado. There are several in the state, all of which carry a certain amount of prestige. So, reason number one.
With that idea niggling around in my head, an editor contacts me and asks if I can write a western story with cowboys. Can I write a western story with cowboys? As Bob the Builder says, “Yes, we can.”
That got me thinking about characters and motivations, and Becky Campbell popped into my head. Along with a mystery, which I love. Zeke followed soon—a hero as strong as my heroine. But a man of faith, who will gently guide Becky into her own relationship with God.
A bad guy, a best friend, more trouble in the form of switched letters and accidents at the mine—I was always looking for a way to not just drive my heroine up a tree and out on a limb, but then I needed to start cutting that limb off.
I will randomly draw from all who leave a comment over the next nine days to win a print (US only) copy of Double Jeopardy. Which means, if you stop by every day and leave a comment, you’ll have nine entries.
Available at https://shoplpc.com/double-jeopardy/ Amazon.com, and fine booksellers in your area.
Don’t forget to join us on Launch Day, January 7th, at our Facebook event to win more prizes: FB event
About Donna:
Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm
What Can Be Online University: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/
Double Jeopardy — INTRODUCING THE VILLAIN ( + Giveaway)
Welcome to the fourth of nine days of fun and excitement leading up to the book launch on January 7th. Over the next days, you’ll learn more about the book, the characters, and, hopefully, me, too. If you missed the posts introducing the book and the hero, check back. There’s a great recipe for biscuits and some fun insights into Zeke and Becky. Plus you can still leave a comment each day to get in an extra entry on the drawing.
If you make the biscuits, leave a comment and let us know how they turned out.
Now, on to the villain of the story, who shall remain unnamed at this point, to avoid a spoiler.
Suffice it to say, it is a man. Which makes sense, since it seems men had the most fun in the Wild West Days. Seriously, in many states, a woman couldn’t own land. She couldn’t vote. She couldn’t have a bank account in her own name. Women’s rights were a thing of the future in 1880.
This man is one of the longest-term residents of Silver Valley, a man of impeccable reputation. On the outside, he looks wealthy. Wears nice clothes. Speaks well. Sounds well-traveled and educated.
But on the inside, he’s dark, greedy, and lazy. Well, lazy only in the sense he wants to get rich quick. He actually spends a lot of energy trying to cheat and steal his way into wealth. If only he’d use his superpowers for good.
This man could charm the bark off a tree. But there is something about him that neither Becky nor Zeke really trusts. And rightly so. Because he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Yes, the villain is also the killer, and he’s the one behind the accidents and near-deaths at the mine.
A question for us might be what drives such people to think they can overstep the bounds of society? Why do they think it’s okay to kill, steal, and maim others to get what they want? And while we might think this kind of behavior ended with the Wild West, we should think again. Road rage. Social media rage. Examples of modern-day villains operating under the same pretense of “I want what I want.”
Thankfully, justice is restored at the end of my story, and all is left well in Becky and Zeke’s world.
I will randomly draw from all who leave a comment over the next nine days to win a print (US only) copy of Double Jeopardy. Which means, if you stop by every day and leave a comment, you’ll have nine entries.
Available at https://shoplpc.com/double-jeopardy/ Amazon.com, and fine booksellers in your area.
Don’t forget to join us on Launch Day, January 7th, at our Facebook event to win more prizes: FB event
About Donna:
Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm
What Can Be Online University: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/
Double Jeopardy — INTRODUCING THE HEROINE, REBECCA CAMPBELL (+ Giveaway)
Welcome to the third of nine days of fun and excitement leading up to the book launch on January 7th. Over the next days, you’ll learn more about the book, the characters, and, hopefully, me, too. If you missed the posts introducing the book and the hero, check back. There’s a great recipe for biscuits and some fun insights into Zeke. Plus you can still leave a comment each day to get in an extra entry on the drawing.
If you make the biscuits, leave a comment and let us know how they turned out.
Now, on to the heroine of the story, Rebecca Campbell.
Rebecca Campbell was born in New York City, the only child of wealthy socialite Matilda Applewhite Campbell and Robert Campbell. Her prim and proper mother, who insisted on neatness, decorum, and stability, seemed an unlikely wife to world traveler and adventurer Robert. What her mother ever saw in her father, Rebecca never knew. Her mother is everything Rebecca—Becky to her friends—wants to be. Beautiful. Poised. Confident.
Instead, she seems doomed to inherit all her traits from her father, who she adores. Reckless. Impulsive. A daredevil.
Becky’s father is gone more than he’s home. When he leaves, she is bereft, and when he returns, she is unmanageable. At least, according to her mother, who strives to make a lady out of her. But Becky has no interest in gowns, debutantes, or calling cards, and refuses to even consider walking out with one of the dozens of eligible bachelors who vie for her attention.
Instead, she lives for her father’s letters and for his return.
When a year passes with no word from him, she sets out, on her own, for his last known location—Silver Valley, Colorado. On her arrival, she learns he has been murdered. Determined to make his mine a success—his last letter promised that as soon as he struck it rich, he’d send for her and her mother—and to find his killer, she settled in at the mine.
Except she doesn’t have any idea how to run a silver mine in the harsh desert-like southwest Colorado. So she hires on three men—Zeke, Manuel, and Dakota—promising to feed and house them and pay a small salary in return for their work. Surely it won’t be long before the mines pays off.
But somebody doesn’t want her to succeed. And after a series of accidents and near-misses, she admits she’s in over her head. And the only person she can trust is Zeke—or can she? Maybe he’s the one behind the mishaps? Perhaps he wants the mine for himself?
I will randomly draw from all who leave a comment over the next nine days to win a print (US only) copy of Double Jeopardy. Which means, if you stop by every day and leave a comment, you’ll have nine entries.
Available at https://shoplpc.com/double-jeopardy/ Amazon.com, and fine booksellers in your area.
Don’t forget to join us on Launch Day, January 7th, at our Facebook event to win more prizes: FB event
About Donna:
Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm
What Can Be Online University: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/
Double Jeopardy — INTRODUCING THE HERO EZEKIAL GRAUMANN ( + Giveaway )
Welcome to the second of nine days of fun and excitement leading up to the book launch on January 7th. Over the next days, you’ll learn more about the book, the characters, and, hopefully, me, too. If you missed yesterday’s post introducing the book, check back. There’s a great recipe for biscuits. Plus you can still leave a comment to get in an extra entry on the drawing.
If you made the biscuits, leave a comment and let us know how they turned out.
Now, on to the hero of the story, Ezekial Graumann.
Most everybody calls him Zeke because when he was a toddler, he couldn’t say his whole name without stuttering over it. So his mother did him a favor and said he could shorten it. He prefers Zeke, because Ezekial sounds so high and mighty to him.
Which he absolutely isn’t.
Zeke and his family own a fairly large piece of land in southwestern Colorado near the town of Silver Valley in, yep, a valley called Silver Valley. Some say it’s called that because of all the silver found there, but in reality, it was named long before that. Most likely it’s because when the sun shines on the permanent snow caps on the surrounding mountains, it shines like silver.
Zeke has two married brothers, as well as two unmarried sisters. In good years, with enough rain, their land can support the three families if they are diligent and careful with their stock. However, the last few years have seen droughts and not enough snowfall, and the grazing is poor. Zeke wants to build his own house, maybe get married and have his own family, but the land won’t support another household.
Unless he can buy water rights from a spread upstream.
But he doesn’t have the money to do that.
So he looks around town for some weekly work to earn enough to buy the water rights and receive his share of the family land.
And along comes Miss Rebecca Campbell. Her father was murdered and she needs help with the mine. Zeke is accustomed to hard work, so he hires on. Simple, right?
Not quite. She is feisty, stubborn, and doesn’t know anything about mining. Yet her determination to find her father’s killer and her resolve to make his mine successful gnaws at Zeke’s heart. And soon he finds himself imagining what it would be like to have her at his side as his wife.
Except she’s obviously not ranching material, either.
No, this pretty filly belongs in the Big City, as he calls it, always with sarcasm in his voice and a sneer on her lips. Mostly because he knows it irks her, and he likes to see her cheeks color. Because he’s not really serious about marrying this girl.
But when accidents happen at the mine that threaten her safety, he must acknowledge that his feelings for her are more than mere curiosity. Now he must choose between saving his ranch or saving this woman who has stolen his heart.
I will randomly draw from all who leave a comment over the next nine days to win a print (US only) copy of Double Jeopardy. Which means, if you stop by every day and leave a comment, you’ll have nine entries.
Available at https://shoplpc.com/double-jeopardy/ Amazon.com, and fine booksellers in your area.
Don’t forget to join us on Launch Day, January 7th, at our Facebook event to win more prizes: FB event
About Donna:
Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm
What Can Be Online University: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/
