Sneak Peek: Bluffing the Marshal (Rawhide 'n Roses) by Paty Jager #historicalromance

I’m a Sucker for Lawmen

by Paty Jager

When the subject was brought up, by the western romance authors on the Amazon forum started by an avid western reader, that we should make an anthology, I was ready to hop on board. Any time so many talented writers put together a sampling of their work is has to turn out as a win/win. Readers get great reads in one book and authors can cross promote.

The only catch—I couldn’t think of what to write. Then the very same avid reader who brought us together on the forum tossed out one of her monthly challenges to write a paragraph or more using five words. Marshal, Preacher, School Teacher, Undertaker, and Baker.

I was in the middle of two other projects but the more I thought about those words the opening for my short story, Bluffing the Marshal, came to me:

Nellie Preston stood at the top of the family cellar gnawing her bottom lip. What would Pa do when he discovered she had the preacher, school teacher, undertaker, and baker tied up in the cellar? Even more important—she hoped kidnapping the men would not only clear her brother’s name but show the handsome marshal she had the grit to be married to a lawman.

By-the-book Marshal Barkley should be charging down the road any minute. By now word would have spread she’d taken the missing men.

Her sour stomach rivaled the guilt eating away at her good sense. This had been a brash move to get the marshal out of town, but her brother’s life and her future depended on his arrival. She’d made the four men as comfortable as possible in the cellar. She’d even explained why they were here, but they hadn’t taken kindly to being kidnapped by Marcus Preston’s sister.

Dust plumed into the air a mile down the road to town. Nellie squinted, staring at the dust, hoping the marshal came alone. He’d be harder to convince if he brought a posse and his deputy. They’d say she was just like her brother—a no-good-killer.

She picked up the rifle leaning against the cellar door and prayed her parents and the younger kids didn’t come home early from visiting their grandparents two counties over. She wanted Marcus out of jail and things back to normal by the time Pa came home. Marcus was her twin, and she loved him dearly, but he did tend to get in fixes that most young men knew better to stay away from.

Pa always said of the two; she had the brains and Marcus had the muscle.

Some of her agitation fled when she spotted one horse and rider running hell bent up their lane. Marshal Tate Barkley had come by himself.

She smiled. He probably figured he didn’t need a posse to bring in one young woman.

Nellie cocked the gun and waited.

~*~

I have several books that have lawmen in them. The first book of my Halsey Series, Marshal in Petticoats has an accident prone young woman who is made marshal and the second book in the series, Outlaw in Petticoats has the two main characters ending up in law enforcement by the end of the book. All five of the Halsey Series books are available in an ebook box set.

Purchase the Halsey Brothers Series box set:

Windtree Press | Kindle | Nook | Kobo

About Paty

With sixteen published books, four novellas, and two anthologies, award-winning author, Paty Jager is never at a loss for story ideas and characters in her head. Her rural life in central and eastern Oregon, and interests in local history and the world around her, keeps the mystery and romance ideas flowing. She not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

Where you can find Paty:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Paty Jager: Spirit of the Sky

Spirit of the Sky
by Paty Jager

Wife, mother, grandmother, and the one who cleans pens and delivers the hay; award-winning author Paty Jager and her husband currently ranch 350 acres when not dashing around visiting their children and grandchildren. She not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

She is a member of RWA, EPIC, and COWG. She’s had eleven books and a short story published so far and is venturing into the new world of self-publishing ebooks.

Her contemporary Western, Perfectly Good Nanny, won the 2008 Eppie for Best Contemporary Romance and Spirit of the Mountain, a historical paranormal set among the Nez Perce, garnered first place in the paranormal category of the Lories Best Published Book Contest. Spirit of the Lake was a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence.

Romancing The West is delighted to have Paty here all this week, and here she is!

Contest!

To help kick off the release of the third book in my historical paranormal romance trilogy I have a blog tour and contest going.

I’m giving away a $5 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky commenter.

Blog Tour Contest! Each blog stop has a picture of an eagle in the post. Follow the tour and send me the number of different pictures you saw while following the tour. To learn where I’ll be, go to my blog or website. If there is more than one correct entry I’ll draw a winner on May 21st to receive a $25 gift certificate to either Barnes and Noble or Amazon, a handmade custom ereader cover, and chocolate. Send your entry number to:

patyjag@gmail.com by May 21st.

Growing up in an area rich in Native American history has made me curious and empathetic to the band of Nez Perce who summered in Wallowa County many generations before Lewis and Clark entered their lives.

The Wallowa, or Lake Nimiipuu as they call themselves, are a band of the Nez Perce(Nimiipuu) who moved like nomads across the Pacific NW and into the plains with the seasons. They wintered along the Imnaha River in the lower warmer regions of Wallowa County, spent the early spring in the camas meadows of Idaho, and summered at Wallowa Lake, fishing the Columbia in the fall and returning to their winter home before the snows became too treacherous. The warriors and some of the women went out on hunting expeditions to the plains for buffalo.

They were nomadic, but they had a fierce love of the land in their hearts.

The Trilogy is set around three sibling Nez Perce spirits who fall in love with mortals.

Spirit of the Mountain, the first book of the trilogy, shows the Nimiipuu’s love of the lake area and how they came to carry it so deeply within them. The heroine, in this book, carries the mountain in her heart and when she falls for the white wolf spirit who looks after the mountain and its occupants, she loses her heart to him as well.

Spirit of the Lake, is the second book in the trilogy. This book deals with the Whiteman encroaching on their land and the way the Nimiipuu are willing to look the other way to avoid being forcefully taken from their home. The Lake spirit is a Bull Elk who resides in the lake and saves a woman from drowning and ultimately finding himself falling in love with the woman.

Spirit of the Sky, takes place as the Lake Nimiipuu and four other non-treaty bands of Nez Perce are being chased far from their homes in an effort to remain free. The spirit is a bald eagle who falls in love with a cavalry officer who befriends her and her people.

Blurb for Spirit of the Sky

To save her from oppression, he must save her whole tribe. To give her his heart, he must desert his career…

When the US Army forces the Nimiipuu from their land, Sa-qan, the eagle spirit entrusted with watching over her tribe, steps in to save her mortal niece. Challenging the restrictions of the spirit world, Sa-qan assumes human form and finds an unexpected ally in a handsome cavalry officer.

Certain she is a captive, Lt. Wade Watts, a Civil War veteran, tries to help the blonde woman he finds sheltering a Nez Perce child. While her intelligent eyes reveal she understands his language, she refuses his help. But when Wade is wounded, it is the beautiful Sa-qan who tends him. Wade wishes to stop the killing—Sa-qan will do anything to save her people.

Can their differences save her tribe? Or will their love spell the end of the Nimiipuu?

Excerpt for Spirit of the Sky

She smiled and his heart leapt into his throat. He thought her beautiful from the first moment he saw her standing in the river fiercely protecting the child, but watching her tense face relax and smile, he was smitten. A light and pleasing calm washed over him for the first time in a very long time. He could only bask in the moment briefly. They were enemies.

“I am from the sky, and I watch over the Nimiipuu.” She nodded her head and flashed him with yet another smile. “You may call me Angel.”

“Only if you call me Wade.”

She nodded. “Let me check your wounds. You have moved around.”

“Why are you taking such good care of me when your warriors left me for dead?”

Her sunshine gaze peered straight into his eyes. “You saved my niece at the village and the wounded from the Bannock scout. You do not have the thirst to kill like the other soldiers.” She bowed her head and removed the blood encrusted bandage from his shoulder. “The Nimiipuu need you.”

Her touch warmed his body, tingling the areas around his wounds. He glanced at her small, delicate hands hovering over his injuries. He shut his eyes, and then opened them. Her hands shimmered as if in a fog. His pain subsided, in fact, his body felt well rested.

A soft lyrical chant rose from her lips as she continued to hover her hands over his wounds. Her eyes remained closed, her light lashes resting on her sun-kissed cheeks. He’d never seen a woman as beautiful as this. He had to learn her true origins and return her to her family.

Buy Link: The Wild Rose Press

You can learn more about Paty at her blog, her website, Facebook, or Twitter, @patyjag.

Chicken Dinner: Outlaws and Froot Loops

The kids are gone for the weekend and this house seems eerily quiet. Not that I've scraped the Froot Loops off the table yet. Future cowhands need Froot Loops to build muscle, you understand.

It's been a solid gold week for those of us who are hungry to learn about the Old West. Here are a few:

Tired of the same old bad guys? There's a terrific article at The Western Online about outlaw and murderer Marion Hedgepeth. He might've had a sissy name and dressed like a dandy, but stay outta this man's way!



Bull Durham Tobacco Pouch



If you read or write any time period between 1492 and the 1970s, tobacco will be involved. By the end of World War II, over half the men under 40 used tobacco in some way. When was snuff popular? Cigars? Find out at Unusual Historicals.

Want to see some 19th Century Nebraska houses? Richard Prosch has pictures complete with people (family members?). See them now at Meridian Bridge. While you're there, check out Richard's free reads, and follow him on Twitter.

I met Mary E. Trimble last month at the Friends of Stanwood Library meeting where Mary, Norman W. Wilson PhD, and I presented a program. She's a wonderful writer and an interesting person, and you can read about her at Writers of the West.

Paty Jager received the ultimate compliment for a historical writer, that her setting felt so real. Paty had never visited the area, and she tells us how she researched the setting for her story at Sweethearts of the West.

Next on Romancing The West: Anna Small

Chicken Dinner: Gone Fishin'

Special thanks to Paty Jager for her articles this week.  Don't forget to stop by and pick up your Free Christmas book!

I'm having a blast at the Emerald City Writers' Conference this weekend so I don't have any cool links for you today, but Chicken Dinner will return with good stuff next Sunday. 

News Flash: Please make your nominations for Best Historical or Historical Fiction Blogs in 2011 by visiting the following site:

Historical Blogs: Fiction & Fact
http://historicalnovelblogs.blogspot.com/

Then send your choices, up to three, to mailto:hawthorne%40nanhawthorne.com with the subject line "Nomination." Include blog title and web address for each.  It would sure be nice if someone mentioned Romancing The West!

Deadline is December 1, 2011.
A blog will need at least two nominations to be included in the final voting in January 2012.

Tomorrow is Halloween, and to celebrate this fun day, we'll have an article by the awesome and talented Charles S. Kunkle, horror artist.  Scary stuff!

What's not scary at all was the review for Much Ado About Marshals from Cheyenne at Coffee Time Romance.  5 Cups!  "Jacquie Rogers creates a witty, delightful, and downright amusing book with impressive charming players."  Read the complete review.

Meantime, take it easy on the chocolate--no bellyaches allowed.

Bootmaking--It’s An Art

by Paty Jager

Copyright © 2011 Paty Jager

When I decided the hero in my Christmas novella would be a boot maker I found a local bootmaker who taught classes on how boots were made in the late 1800’s. I visited D.W. Frommer II’s boot shop and witnessed some of the steps and was able to sniff, feel, and see the tools, materials, and finished products.

Wooden lathes were used, one for the right foot and one for the left to form the two piece boot over. These were made to resemble a top customer’s feet or a certain size when the boots were custom made.

The two leather pieces, one the front, shin to toe, and the other the back, calf to heel were the main sections of the boot top. If ornamental stitching was applied, they used linen thread either in a loop or tulip design with either a machine or by hand, depending on what the boot maker had available to him.

Boots were constructed with inseaming and pegging.



Boots by
D.W. Frommer II

 The process started with tacking the sole to the lathe bottom and cutting the channel around the insole. This was called hoisting. The leather boot (the two sections sewn together) was soaked and then pulled over the lathe, pulling it tight.

4 yards of 8-10 strands of waxed linen thread were rolled or twisted together. This method was done by attaching one end to a nail on the workbench and rolling it across the boot makers knee until he made a fine point like a needle on one end. To keep the water from penetrating the seams, the thread was pulled across a sticky substance made of pine pitch. This made by cooking for twenty minutes pitch and bees wax or sperm oil. The liquid was poured into cold water and then pulled like taffy until it turned into a bronze sticky substance. This waxy substance sealed the holes and kept the thread from moving.

Boar’s bristles, the 3-4 inch long hair from the back of a boar’s neck were used as needles. The hair was split and the thread put through the split.

A curved awl was used to make the holes through the channel, welt, and sole for the stitching to go through. The holes are spaced 1/3” apart all the way around. The holes are then either sewn with a whip stitch or wooden pegs, much like match sticks ½” long and 1/8” wide and tapered at one end, were made of hard woods and pound into the holes through the layers to hold them in place. The pegs are ten to every inch. Some bookmakers will made patterns with the peg tops.

Paty Jager, Author

The outer sole is a quarter inch thick hardened or rolled leather. Work boots were usually pegged while dress boots were sewn.

The heel was made of layers of hardened leather made wet and pounded together either on a marble slab or hard wood base. This compressed the pieces together.

They started lining boots somewhere between 1870 and 1890. From start o finish a pair of boots takes around 40 hours depending on the drying times.

This is the information I discovered while researching my hero’s profession for Christmas Redemption a free book at Smashwords.

Learn more about Paty Jager:
Website * Blog * Twitter
Facebook (search for Paty Jager)

Paty Jager: How I found my Hero for Christmas Redemption

Jacquie, Thank you for allowing me to visit with you again on Romancing the West.

When I was approached to write a Christmas story to add to a historical western anthology, I’d just been reading Oregon Outlaws by Gary and Gloria Meier. A story in the book caught my attention, first because it happened in the county where I grew up and second it seemed like the perfect type of miracle story that went with the holiday.

Dave Tucker was a young man who grew up in Wallowa Valley and made friends with the wrong people. They talked him into helping them rob the First Bank of Joseph. During the get-a-way several, including Tucker (who lost a thumb and finger) were wounded and captured. Only one man with a money bag got away and was never caught.

Tucker pleaded guilty to bank robbery and was sentenced to seven years in the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. He served over four years of his sentence working in the prison shops and mail office. Being a model prisoner he was released and returned to Wallowa Valley to face his family and friends and rebuild his life.

Twenty-seven years after his release from prison, Dave Tucker became the vice-president of the very bank he’d robbed.

This story intrigued me, so I set up a similar situation in my novella, Christmas Redemption. My hero, Van Donovan, was younger, fifteen and rebelling from a strict father. His job was the lookout for the robbery. Only one man was killed, a bystander, and the outlaws got away with the money leaving Van to go to prison. Which is another plot line in the story. ;)

Van doesn’t return and become the bank president, but he does return with a trade, boot making (which I’ll tell you about on Research Thursday here at Romancing the West), and to make amends with his family.



Paty Jager, Author



Only upon his return, Van learns the fate of the wife and daughter of the innocent man killed during the robbery. His guilty conscience pushes him to help the daughter, and he discovers the strong-willed young woman squatting in the building he purchased for his boot making shop is one and the same.

While Van is hardened from his belief his family never contacted him while he was in prison because they were disappointed him, he has a benevolent side that reaches out to anyone in need. And a toughness he learned from his father as well as defending himself in the prison.

This story started out to be in an anthology that became too big to be included, and I have it available now until January 1st in ebook through Smashwords for free.

The blurb for Christmas Redemption:

Van Donovan returns to Pleasant Valley, Oregon where twelve years earlier as a boy of fifteen he left in handcuffs after standing guard for a bank robbery. He's learned a trade and excelled at it and is ready to prove to his father and the town he can amount to something.

Upon his return he learns the fate of the daughter of an innocent man who died in the robbery crossfire. To make amends he takes her out of the saloon and gives her a job, not realizing she'd been squatting in the very building he'd purchased for his business.

Can two battered hearts find solace or will the past continue to haunt their lives?

Excerpt

Van worked hard to wash away the images of the men handling Tessa like she was a whore. He'd witnessed the fear and humiliation in her large green eyes. Now fear widened those same eyes. Only this fear was almost frantic.

"What's wrong?" He stepped closer.

"I-I…" She glanced at the building in front of them and then at her feet.

The calico cat slinked around the corner of the building, set its yellow eyes on Tessa, and trotted over, lacing back and forth around her ankles.

"You and the cat seem to be friends." The minute he spit the words out it dawned on him- Tessa was his squatter.

She bent, scooped the cat into her arms, and buried her face in the animal's thick fur. Van's heart squeezed.

"I have a feeling it's your pallet in my storeroom." He motioned to the cat when her face and wide eyes appeared over its back. "The cat and I met before. In the back room."

She sucked in air then coughed. The cat launched out of her arms. Tears streamed down her rosy cheeks.

Van slipped an arm around her and maneuvered her into the building, away from the prying eyes peering through the saloon doors and from the street around them. Inside, he closed the door and moved to add wood to the potbelly stove he'd started before heading to the saloon.

She stood just inside the door, huddled in his coat, the whole time he added two sticks of wood and placed a chair beside the stove.

"Sit and get warm." He maneuvered her to the chair and she sat.

"W-why are you doing this?" she asked, gazing up at him, searching his face. He could stare into her spring green eyes—round and wondering like an innocent child—all day.

"You didn’t look like you wanted those men pawing you, and I need help setting up and running my shop." And I can't let your life be awful because of me.

"Who are you? Why are you here? In Pleasant Valley?"

Van swallowed the wad of shame strangling his throat and studied the stove. She deserved the truth but would she understand his part in her father's death? He wouldn't know until he told her. He looked her square in the eyes.

"I lived in Pleasant Valley some years back and after learning a trade decided to return and reconnect with family." There until she heard his name that should suffice.

"Who's your family? I've been around here my whole life I probably know them." Tessa pulled his coat tighter around her shoulders.

The action reminded him of the men at the saloon and her scant clothing. "Why don’t you go back and change into your clothes. I'll get a pot of coffee going. Then we'll sit down and discuss what I see as your job." He turned his back to her and dug in the box he'd placed by the stove. The old battered pot he used for shop coffee was in it somewhere.

The cat's purring and the soft skim of her shoes across the wood floor faded. He ran a hand over the back of his neck. The muscles started knotting when she'd asked about his family. Damn! Sooner or later he'd have to tell her, but it would be best if he could keep it quiet until she fully trusted him and learned to see he wasn't the same boy who raised havoc on the town just to get his father riled.

Learn more about Paty Jager:
Website * Blog * Twitter
Facebook (search for Paty Jager)

Chicken Dinner: Log Cabins

Log cabins are the symbol of American families' hardiness and ethics. Anyone every used Log Cabin syrup on your waffles? Nice brand name. And guess what William Henry Harrison used for his campaign logo? Yep, a log cabin.

Diane Davis White was gracious to post her family's log cabin history, so RTW will feature log cabins for today's Chicken Dinner.  C'mon in and have a cup of coffee and a slice of hot homemade bread with fresh-churned butter while you take a look at our mini-tour of log cabins.

Pioneer Resources & Webliography has five interesting pages about log cabin life: daily chores, how families lived, food, and how to build a log cabin. Check it out for a good overview of all these topics.

For a more scholarly take on the log cabin, its origin, the varieties, uses, and a bibliography, the National Park Service is just the ticket.

Wanna actually see some? Check out YouTube:
The Living History School's Pioneer Log Cabin Tour



You can browse YouTube for all sorts of how-to videos--construction, chinking, finishing, furnishing.

Next week: Paty Jager!

Thanks for dropping by.

Monday Stirrings at RTW: Contests!!!

Monday Stirrings at Romancing The West
from Jacquie Rogers

Winner of Paty Jager's Spirit of the Lake is Anna Small! Thanks for stopping by Paty's RTW post, Anna. I hope you enjoy the book. :)

This is a busy week for me. Much Ado About Marshals goes to print.  Yay! Lots to do since Mélange Publishing is giving me some special treatment. (And I do a few things for Mélange, too, so it all works out.)

Also, it's Ménage-a-Blog Week.  It's a flirt to the finish!

Here's the schedule, starting with TODAY, so hie thee to these authors' sites for FREE books, a chance to win a Kindle, and enter to win each author's gift basket! (You'll find links to all the authors at the Blog Tour de Force website.  Please visit them!)

July 18th: Carolyn McCray, Deena Remiel, and Amber Scott
July 19th: Terri Giuliano Long, Rachel Thompson, Lacey Weatherford
July 20th: Regan Black, Judith Gaines, Jackie Chanel
July 21st: Theresa Ragan, Eden Baylee, Jacquie Rogers
July 22nd: The Final Flirt Off (winner of each day

Don't forget to stop by Romancing The West on Thursday, July 21st, and enter a comment on my blog. You'll get a Smashwords coupon for a free copy of Much Ado About Marshals, and a chance to win lots of prizes! Oh, yeah, it's a fun thing.

And if I out-flirt the awesome Theresa and the sizzling Eden, then I get to be in the Final Flirt Off, and you can win even MORE PRIZES!!! So please, please, please, leave a comment on my blog July 21st. :)

Paty Jager: Stagecoach Rides

by Paty Jager
Copyright © 2011 Paty Jager

As a writer of historic romance I like to make sure I know all I can about modes of transportation during the era I write about. I've yet to use a stage coach in a published book but my character had a brief trek in one in a story that is making the editor rounds.

So here is a bit of info I gleaned from researching stage coaches.

The first Concord coach was built in 1827 and cost $1200-$1500.  It weighed 2,000 pounds and had leather strap braces rather than springs to give a swinging motion rather than a jolting ride.  They had leather boots in the front and back for holding baggage, mail and valuables. Extra luggage was also stored on top.

A single coach could hold nine passengers inside and up to a dozen on top.  The coach had leather roll down curtains and three leather upholstered seats with little leg room.  The front row who faced backwards had to dovetail their knees/legs with the passengers in the middle row facing them.  They figured fifteen inches per person to a seat when it carried the nine passenger capacity.  The persons in the middle had no back support other than a wide leather strap for support or a leather strap that dangled from the ceiling, which they could grab when the road was treacherous.  The average speed was five to eight miles an hour.

There were different rates for the same trip.  If you paid the highest price you were 1st class which meant you rode all the way, 2nd class you paid less and had to walk in the bad places, 3rd class you paid the least but you walked in the bad places and had to push at the hills.

The rides were either sweltering or freezing.  The weather wasn’t any easier to keep out of the coach than the dust and mud.  Women who were seasoned travelers knew to wear long duck cloth dusters to keep their clothing clean.  Few hotels sat along the routes and travelers sometimes had a choice of sleeping in corrals or in the street.  The way stations along the routes were often crude structures made of either lumber or adobe.  The Stops were famous for bad food. The usual menu consisted of jerky or salt pork, stale bread, bad coffee, and always beans.

Besides the close quarters, dusty trails, and rustic stage stops there was also the threat of Indian attacks and robberies from outlaws.

Raphael Pumpelly, who rode on the Butterfield Overland Mail stage west to Tucson, noted:

"The coach was fitted with three seats, and these were occupied by nine passengers. As the occupants of the front and middle seats faced each other, it was necessary for these six people to interlock their knees; and there being room inside for only ten of the twelve legs, each side of the coach was graced by a foot, now dangling near the wheel, now trying in vain to find a place of support. An unusually heavy mail in the boot, by weighing down the rear, kept those of us who were on the front seat constantly bent forward. The fatigue of uninterrupted traveling by day and night in a crowded coach, and in the most uncomfortable positions, was beginning to tell seriously upon all the passengers, and was producing in me a condition bordering on insanity…"

William Reed described the experience of motion sickness in a coach.

"The heat could be unbearable; the bodies of the passengers covered with sand, which permeated every inch of clothing. The rough roads gave to the coaches a motion not only from side to side, but a roll from front to back. Seasickness in the hot desert air, some said was far worse than the same ailment out on the cool Pacific waters. A seat in the front, in back, and a bench in the middle called for precise seating… Dust, sweat, insects, and a variety of irritating conditions made for an interesting, if not particularly pleasant trip across the arid desert."

Overland stages traveled continuously though the day and night. Trying to sleep in one, confined with eight other people, I think I'd go mad.  I don't do well on little sleep. LOL

If passengers, who had tickets to a town farther along the route, chose to stay in a town or at a home station to seek relief from their journey, they could become stranded for a week or more before resuming their travels. A ticket did not guarantee passengers the right to travel on the next stage, when the seat was occupied by another.

There were two types of stations, home and swing. The home station allowed passengers time for a hasty meal. The swing station was a ten minute stop to change the team of horses.

They also had a code of etiquette for traveling on the stage in the 1870's.

• When a driver asked a passenger to get out and walk, one was advised to do so, and not grumble about it.
• If the team of horses ran away, it was better to sit in the coach because most passengers who jumped were seriously injured.
• Smoking and spitting on the leeward side of the coach was discouraged.
• Drinking spirits was allowed, but passengers were expected to share.
• Swearing was not allowed, and neither was sleeping on your neighbor's shoulder.
• Travelers shouldn't point out spots where murders had occurred, especially when "delicate" passengers were aboard.
• Greasing one's hair was discouraged because dust would stick to it.

Sources:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25450
http://genealogytrails.com/main/stagecoaches.html
http://www.tombstonetimes.com/stories/stagecoaches.html

Spirit of the Lake by Paty Jager
Buy links: Amazon, Wild Rose Press

Two generations after his brother became mortal, Wewukiye, the lake spirit, prevents a Nimiipuu maiden from drowning and becomes caught up in her sorrow and her heart. Her tribe ignores Dove's shameful accusations—a White man took her body, leaving her pregnant, and he plans to take their land.Wewukiye vows to care for her until she gives birth, to help her prove the White man is deceitful and restore her place in her tribe.

As they travel on their quest for justice, Dove reveals spiritual abilities yet unknown in her people, ensnaring Wewukiye’s respect and awe. But can love between a mortal and a spirit grow without consequences?

Read Paty's bio.

Paty Jager: Spirit of the Lake

This Week's Author: Paty Jager 

Featured Title: Spirit of the Lake by Paty Jager
Buy links: Amazon, Wild Rose Press

Read Paty's bio here.

RTW: In 100 words or fewer, tell us about your book.

Two generations after his brother became mortal, Wewukiye, the lake spirit, prevents a Nimiipuu maiden from drowning and becomes caught up in her sorrow and her heart. Her tribe ignores Dove's shameful accusations—a White man took her body, leaving her pregnant, and he plans to take their land.Wewukiye vows to care for her until she gives birth, to help her prove the White man is deceitful and restore her place in her tribe.

As they travel on their quest for justice, Dove reveals spiritual abilities yet unknown in her people, ensnaring Wewukiye’s respect and awe. But can love between a mortal and a spirit grow without consequences?

Contest Announcement!

One person who answers the question at the end of this blog will receive their choice of a pdf of either Spirit of the Mountain or Spirit of the Lake.

RTW: You write about the Nez Perce in Sprit of the Lake. What interested you in the culture and customs? Did growing up in Oregon influence your fascination with cultures and love?

PJ: I grew up in Wallowa County, Oregon, the area where the Lake Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) summered. Even though I never saw them in the county I felt their presence and felt empathy for what they went through. Nez Perce stories like the one about the antlered monster who lived in Wallowa Lake, ignited my imagination. I made Wewukiye an antlered spirit who lived in the lake.

RTW: If Scotty beamed you to Wewukiye’s lake, what survival skills would be the most valuable to you?

PJ: I guess fishing so I could eat and knowing when the icy water could give me hypothermia.

RTW: Misinformation about native cultures abound. Are there any common to western historical romances that annoy you?

PJ: Sometimes the dialogue doesn't ring true. I tried to keep my dialogue in the tone and cadence that I read in the legends and in books that had accounts told by a Nez Perce. As for misinformation…I can't think of anything off the top of my head at the moment.

RTW: Why is Wewukiye perfect for Dove?

Wewukiye is perfect for Dove because he believes in her and her truths. He also has the patience and compassion to help her through the ordeal of having been violated and carrying a child from that attack.

RTW: Introduce your excerpt, please.

Wewukiye has talked Dove into keeping the child within her alive. It's her proof the Whiteman the elders favor is not what they think. Since he's a spirit he can't show himself to the band of Nez Perce where she's living. Every day she meets him in a meadow where he chants and helps her keep the food she eats in her stomach to make her strong. This except is when he walks her back to the village.

Excerpt of Spirit of the Lake by Paty Jager:

Wewukiye tugged her hand, drawing her closer. His warm breath puffed against her ear.

"You need only think of me and you will have strength."

His soft silky voice floated through her body like a hot drink.

Dove swallowed the lump in her throat and asked, "When will I see you again?" The thought of sleeping on the hard ground next to the fire in Crazy One's dwelling didn't sound near as inviting as using his lap to rest her head.

The days and nights grew colder; to be wrapped in his arms would warm her through and through.

"You will find me at the meadow every day when the sun is directly overhead." He brushed his lips against her ear.

She closed her eyes, relishing the silky feel of his lips and the heat of his touch.

"Think of me," whispered through her head.

Dove opened her eyes. She stood alone. Her palm still warm from their clasped hands, her ear ringing with his whisper.

RTW: Thanks for the sneak peek!  What other books do you have for us?

PJ: There is Spirit of the Mountain, the first book in this trilogy.

I have four books in the Halsey Brother series about five brothers who find their mates in feisty women of unusual occupations--Marshal in Petticoats, Outlaw in Petticoats, Miner in Petticoats, and Doctor in Petticoats. I 'm writing the fifth one now- Logger in Petticoats.

And I have two contemporary Westerns available--Perfectly Good Nanny, which won an award, and Bridled Heart.

RTW: Wow, you're a busy lady!  Anything else you’d like to add?

PJ: You can read the first chapter of each book at my website and find links to purchase them. And every Monday on my blog I'm posting an excerpt to a Christmas book that will be out in November.

Contest Details!

To win a pdf copy of either Spirit of the Mountain or Spirit of the Lake you have to go to my blog and find out the name of the Christmas book and post it in the comment section here at RTW. I'll draw a name from the people who put the right answer.

Thank you, Paty, for visiting us at Romancing The West this week!