Callie Hutton: A Run for Love

A Run For Love
by Callie Hutton

Romancing The West welcomes Callie Hutton all this week. Callie’s been making up stories in her head since elementary school, and writing since she learned to type in high school. She loves falling in love, did it herself, and now enjoys writing about it. And yes, she falls in love with all her heroes.

Although she’s lived in several states, Oklahoma is where she’s hung her hat for the last several years, but she originally hails from New Jersey. An Okie-Jersey girl. And proud of it. Her hubby supports all her ventures, truly being the wind beneath her wings. They have two young adult children at home. And they’re happy their two rescue dogs and rescue cat allow the family to share their home.

Here's a short blurb for A Run For Love:

Feisty school teacher Tori Henderson values her independence and has no use for a husband. When she finds herself the legal guardian of her two nieces, two nephews, and facing eviction from her Kansas home, she enters the 1889 Oklahoma land run and confronts a new set of challenges. The biggest obstacle being her new neighbor, cocky lawyer Jesse Cochran, the son of a whore--a man determined to put his past behind him and start a new life and family of his own.

Despite the undeniable attraction between them, Tori is determined to keep him at arm’s length, but a family emergency brings them together and they declare a truce. Can Jesse win Tori’s heart after a series of unplanned events, or will a tragedy tear them apart forever?

Contest!

Details at the end of this post.  Don't miss out!

RTW: What aspect of life in the Old West intrigues you the most? Did you work that into A Run For Love?

CH: What intrigues me the most is the courage and fortitude of the men and women who settled the west. I think I worked that into my book because my heroine, Tori Henderson, is a young, single woman who inherits her four nieces and nephews, and decided to make the Oklahoma Land Run to provide a home for them. She, and all the Runners, were courageous people.

RTW: If you lived in 1889, what modern convenience would you miss the most?

CH: Indoor plumbing. I can’t imagine using outhouses, and filling up a bathtub by carrying buckets of water. In 1889 some homes had indoor plumbing, but most didn’t.

RTW: Are there any common errors in westerns that bug you? If so, please set us straight.



Callie Hutton, author

CH: I understand that women today are more independent, sexually aware, and have a place in the world they didn’t in the past. But when authors have their heroines go completely against the times, it turns me off. I try to make my heroines a bit different than their peers—stronger, and more forward thinking. You have to be aware of your audience. The days of the suffering damsel in distress won’t cut it today. But some authors give women of the past attributes and actions, that are not believable to anyone familiar with history.

RTW: Why must Jesse Cochran take this story journey? What does he have to prove? Why is he the best match for Tori Henderson?

CH: Jesse is the son of a whore, who has risen from being raised in a brothel to attending college and law school. But he will always be ‘the whore’s kid’ in his home town. He sets out for Oklahoma to prove to the world, and himself, that he is not his beginnings. Tori is the best match for him because she’s strong, independent, and keeps him on his toes. He wants a home and family, something he never had, and he wants it with her.

RTW: I'm delighted that you have a book video to share with us today!

Where you can purchase A Run for Love: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Soul Mate Publishing

RTW: What’s next? Will you have a sequel to A Run for Love?

CH: Actually, I have a few ‘next.’ Oklahoma Lovers #2, A Wife by Christmas, released from Soul Mate Publishing December 1st, 2011. In May my contemporary novella, Annie’s Attic, releases from The Wild Rose Press, and my American Historical, An Angel in the Mail releases that same month from Soul Mate Publishing. I just finished A Prescription for Love, #3 in the Oklahoma series, which I assume will have a Fall release. I’m currently working on a novella set during the end of the Civil War.

RTW: Anything else you’d like to add?

CH: I want to thank you, Jacquie, for having me visit with you and your readers today. It’s been fun.

Win a FREE Book!

Callie will provide a free download of either A Run for Love, or A Wife By Christmas, (your choice), to one commenter. If you’ve read both of her books, and you’re willing to wait, you can receive a free download of An Angel in the Mail when it becomes available.  Drawing will be held April 21st at 9pm Pacific Time.  Comments on both this interview and Thursday's article are welcome, so you have all week!  Be sure to include your email address or we'll have to draw another name.

Thank you, Callie!  We'll be waiting to read your Thursday article: History of Guthrie

Diane Davis White: A Log Cabin History (Part 2)

by Diane Davis White

This article was first published in the Payne County Historical Society Booklet and reprinted in the Oklahoma State Historical Society. Because of length, the article has been published at Romancing The West in two parts. Read Part 1 here.
.

This log cabin was originally located on the corner of Hwy 51 & Hwy 18 and was built by a man named Pawnee Rice, who is no relation to our family as far as we know.
.

I would like to take a moment here to describe the cabin itself, which was in vast disrepair at the time it was acquired by the family. Mrs. Myatt described the dwelling in the following list of items, as though she were preparing them for an interview with the press, which she may well have been doing because the family was very prominent in the area and known for great works, good deeds and all manner of community service.

1. When cabin was built: Approximately 1876 by Pawnee Rice
2. Original location: On Hwy 51 at Hwy 18.
3. Listing of the occupants, [which we have already gone over in Part 1]
4. What did cabin look like on inside [furnishings]: The walls were white washed and sometimes covered with newspapers, also with building paper. Furnishings were what ever tenants brought with them.
5. What heating facility was used: Wood was used for heating, oil stove for cooking.
6. Roof: Clapboard roof put on with hand made nails.
7. Loft: A ladder to the loft was nailed to wall, or otherwise stair steps nailed to wall.
8. Did people sleep in loft: Yes

The cabin was a ruin by the time Sherman decided to fix it up and he put shingle siding on it, closed off the loft – which had most likely become a dangerous place full of rotting timbers – and tore down the dilapidated lean-to shed on the west side of the building that had served as a kitchen. Since his mother-in-law was too feeble to climb stairs to the loft, there was no need for it and keeping it heated in the winter would be a waste of fuel, therefore no repairs were attempted. The aforementioned kitchen was probably riddled with termites and dry rot and too far gone to repair, and since there was just one occupant for the cabin, there was no need to build another room.
.

Mary Jane Rice Davis lived in the cabin until a few months before her death in 1944 at the age of 103. During her tenancy, many of her grandchildren came to visit for extended periods, including Jim Doty, a favorite grandchild who came to stay quite often. Another favored grandchild, Willa Cleveland, stayed with Mary Jane for a time. Gus Rice, who lived in the Duncan Bridge area, would come to stay with her as well. Since the only bed in the cabin was a trundle, with a roll out bed beneath it, it was a cozy little space for Mary and one or two grandchildren. She loved the company and was seldom left to her own devices with such a large family. At her death, it was reported that Mary Jane and James Washington Davis had eleven children, fifty-five grandchildren and over 100 great-grandchildren, and ‘numerous’ great-great-grandchildren.
.

Mary Jane and James Washington Davis are buried in Fairlawn Cemetery in Cushing, Oklahoma. A Civil War marker is placed next the James, denoting his veteran status. These two hearty pioneers were typical of the proud, courageous people who founded this great state of Oklahoma.
.

Sherman and Nancy Kerby are also buried in Cushing in the Zion section of the same cemetery. Many of the Kerby, Davis and Rice families are buried there as well. Although Minnie Icy Kerby—eldest child of Sherman and Nancy—was buried at Ingalls. She came in the covered wagon with her sister Macie and her parents to the Indian Territory. It took them 49 days to come from Putnam County Missouri. They camped on Boomer Creek shortly after moving to the original site of Falls City, located south of Ingalls. There they took up their occupation of farming and raising stock.
.

While living in this community they were thrown in contact with a group of supposed cowboys, who later proved to be infamous Doolin-Dalton gang. Mr. Kerby was plowing in a field very close to Ingalls when he heard the fight between the outlaws and the US Marshals. Unhitching a mule from the plow, he rushed toward Ingalls, meeting three of the outlaws before he arrived there.

Sherman Kerby further stated in his interview this regarding that incident:

“On September 1st, 1893, Bill Vickory and I were finished threshing on my place and were riding back to his dad’s place toward Ingalls. On the way we began hearing Winchesters popping like firecrackers and we supposed some of the boys were shooting just for fun. When we got to the Vickory farm, we met Bittercreek coming on his horse, leaning over in his saddle with a bullet wound in his thigh. I noticed the magazine was shot off his gun and that he was bleeding profusely.

He told us that they had a hell of a fight and that he didn’t know how many got killed. The Vickory’s began to pour buckets of cold water on the wound while Bittercreek was still on horseback and Bill and I mounted our horses again and stared off full-speed for Ingalls. Bittercreek was kept in hiding in the vicinity of the Vickery place and other nearby farms for several days. One time it was in a hay-stack and I recall smelling antiseptic along the trail through there later after he was treated by Dr. Selph of Ingalls.”

Mr. Kerby went on to describe the scene at Ingalls and stated that he saw Shadley’s woods—so close together that you could cover them with a tea saucer—and that he watched them load the wounded marshalls into wagons for the trip back to Stillwater. His recollections of the times are rich with history first hand and invaluable as such.
.

Many of the descendents of the Kerby, Davis and Rice families are still living in and around this area, practicing many professions and enjoying widely varied lifestyles. Still, we are a family and as such, some of us are present here today to help commemorate the history of this old building that has seen so many years of service and is hopefully destined to be a ‘teaching’ museum and workshop to aid the young in keeping alive the rich heritage of the pioneers.
.

Read Part 1 about this intriguing log cabin that chronicles the history of its inhabitants previously published at Romancing The West!
.

When Lakota warrior Thunder Heart, who is destined to be a leader of his people, saves the lives of two white women during Red Cloud's War, he places his family and his village at risk.
.

Can he keep these women safe? Will his act of compassion cause the death of his people?
.

Will his people demand he abandon or kill these women in order to avoid the wrath of the Bluecoats or even Red Cloud?
.

Uncertain of the outcome, he knows only one thing: He desires the pale-haired beauty, Victoria Abernathy, and will do anything to insure her safety.

.

Read an excerpt

Available on
Kindle and Nook
Available in print at
Amazon and Barnes & Noble

A historical love story you won't want to miss!