Wednesday Westerns- Read an e-book

This week is read an e-book week. You can get my EPPIE winning contemporary western, Perfectly Good Nanny for 50% off at Smashwords.

What makes my book a western? The fact it is set in SE Oregon on a cattle ranch. Contemporary westerns usually have at least one main character who lives or lived in the world of ranching or farming. In other words, they have a rural background.

Check out all your usual e-book haunts and you're sure to find a some freebies and special buys this week.




The second book of my historical paranormal trilogy, Spirit of the Lake is a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. The winner is picked in April.

Monday Mystery - Mickey Spillane

One of the many mysteries I read in the 80's were those of Mickey Spillane. His books were a mixture of mystery, sex, and sadism. His writing reflected the darker side of America with a heavy hand on macho violence.   His full name was Frank Morrison Spillane. 

 Mike Hammer was the detective in his books. Hammer's first book debuted in 1947. In it he sought the killer of a wartime buddy and gave himself the role of judge, jury,and executioner. The title of that book was I, The Jury. 

In 1950 My Gun is Quick  after Mike chat's up a beautiful redhead she's a victim of a hit and run. He goes to the authorities and insists "Red" was murdered.  When they don't listen he goes after the killer. The shocking last line to the book was, "He was still screaming when I pulled the trigger."

Have you read any of Mickey Spillane's work? If so, which ones? What do you like about his mysteries?

Friday Farm Fun - Hide and Seek

The weather this week has been sun and snow. We wake in the morning to an inch or two of new snow and by afternoon where the sun shines it's gone. With this weird weather the animals have been standing around in the morning hunched up and sunning themselves in the afternoon.

Our daughter's male mini Aussie has been playing hide and seek with the rock chucks or the real name for them yellow bellied marmot.

MavFreak, the mini-aussie loves the snow. He rolls and squirms around on it, then hears the high pitched chirp of a rock chuck and he's off to the rock pile. Up over, around, sticking his head in wherever there's space and sniffing and climbing over the top again. The rock chuck's hide it the pile of rocks where the dogs can see them but can't touch them and chirp. This drives the dogs crazy!

I get paranoid when Tink, the min-pin chihuahua starts sticking her head in the holes. The rock chucks are three times her size and if provoked can be mean.

With the rock chucks moving about and small shoot so green showing in the fields I'm wondering when the daffodil shoots will start showing.

Do you have spring like condition already or are you socked in with snow?

Wednesday Westerns- Outlaw & Poet Black Bart

Charles E. Bolton better known as Black Bart began robbing stagecoaches in Northern California and Southern Oregon when he was in his late 50's.  He was called the gentleman robber and was noted for his style and sophistication. His mother would have been proud of his manners when divesting Wells Fargo coaches of their the money. He was quoted as telling the drivers to, "Please throw down the box."

Boles left two poems after robbing two different stages. The first was August 1877.
I've labored long and hard for bread,
For honor, and for riches,
But on my corns too long you've tread,
You fine-haired sons of b****es.

The second was left after a robbery of a stage between Quincy and Oroville in 1878.
Here I lay me down to sleep
To wait the coming morrow,
Perhaps success, perhaps defeat,
And everlasting sorrow.
Let come what will, I'll try it on,
My condition can't be worse;
And if there's money in that box
'Tis munny in my purse.

 He was captured in 1878 and sentenced to prison. He escaped, carried out more robberies and was eventually captured in 1883 and released in poor health in 1888. Once he was released he disappeared. Wells Fargo detectives tracked him to the Palace Hotel in Visalia but though they could account that he checked in no one saw him after that.