Peach Blossom Rancher by Ada Brownell

Historical Suspense, Western

Romance

To write this historical romance, the author drew from her experiences as a journalist covering the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, a former asylum; and from working during her teens on a peach and horse ranch in Palisade, Colorado.

Although the fictional asylum is in Boston, the author says you wouldn’t believe the types of diagnoses that could get you committed in the early 1900s. She took the information from historical lists compiled by the Colorado Board of Lunacy Commissioners on the supposed cause of insanity of those held in 1899 to 1910, when asylums were young. Many of those diagnoses are identified in PEACH BLOSSOM RANCHER.

The leading man, rancher John Lincoln Parks, yearns for a wife to help rebuild the ranch he inherited. He eyes Valerie MacDougal, a young widow who homesteaded, but she is an attorney who hopes to help three people wrongly held in the asylum, one a brilliant physician.

Will the doctor ever be set free? Will John marry Valerie or Edwina Jorgenson, the feisty rancher-neighbor he fusses with? Will John even marry, or be hanged for a murder after he finds a body in his barn?

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

TIP:  Tell us something topical, interesting, funny, or something we would not expect about the writing of this novel.

Ada:  I didn't expect to use my experience covering the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo in a romantic story, but here I was with a beautiful attorney who desired to make a difference in the world and three wonderful people wrongly confined to an asylum in the early 1900s. One is Pete, a precious boy about age 12, born with Down’s Syndrome. Then there is Jimmy Cook, a gifted teacher paralyzed in a logging accident. Another tragedy is the physician, Dr. Dillon Haskill who had one seizure after hitting his head on a post when he was bucked off a horse. Because of the seizure, some thought he had become an imbecile or demon possessed. Of course it's all fiction, but I had facts that showed these types of people were thought to be insane when asylums were young.

TIP:  If this novel is part of a series, tell us about the series.

Ada:  Peach Blossom Rancher is the second in the Peaches and Dreams series.  The first is THELADY FUGITIVE. The third book’s working title is RITAH.

THE LADY FUGITIVE summary: A suspenseful historical romance set in 1908. How does a respected elocutionist become a face on a wanted poster?

Jenny Louise Parks, 17, escapes from the coal bin, and her abusive uncle offers a handsome reward for her return. Because he is a judge, he will find her or he won’t inherit her parents’ ranch.

Determination to remain free grips Jenny, especially after she meets William O’Casey and there’s a hint of romance. But while traveling around the country peddling household goods and showing one of the first Passion of the Christ moving pictures, Then William discovers his father’s brutal murder.

Will Jenny avoid the bounty hunters? Can she forgive the person who turns her in?

·         2015 Laurel Award runner-up. Published by Elk Lake Publishing.

#Review The Lady Fugitive. You’ll laugh, bite your nails; wish you had a gun to help. http://ow.ly/QzlIP Available from Amazon in paper or e-book.

TIP:  Do you write exclusively in one genre, or do you "cross-over" to other genres? What draws you to the genre(s) you write in?

Ada: My other books include CONFESSIONS OF A PENTECOSTAL, a story of her spiritual journey and listed many years by The Library Thing among the top-10 books on Pentecostalism.

After we lost a daughter to cancer, I wrote SWALLOWED BY LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the eternal, a book of evidence that you’re more than a body based on my experience as a medical writer, common sense, and from scripture.

IMAGINE THE FUTURE YOU: a book for youth or family Bible study on how to become the best you can be and includes evidence for faith in God, in an era when public schools and universities make atheists out of our children and grandchildrden,

Another is FACTS, FAITH & PROPAGANDA, nonfiction to strengthen faith in God, written from the author’s wide studies and experience. Available only as an e-book and always 99 cents.

JOE THE DREAMER a novel enjoyed by youth and adults. Joe’s parents are missing and an organization is trying to eliminate Christianity from America. A reader said recently it’s the best books she’s read in years.

TIP:  When did you start writing for publication? And why? What drives you to write?

Ada: I had a burning desire to share the gospel, and I did much of that with interviews with people who have amazing testimonies of God’s miraculous work in their lives. In addition to my other writing, I am compiling a book with reprints from The Pentecostal Evangel of those true stories.

TIP:  How did you go about researching for this novel? Did you go anywhere outside your usual locale, or experience anything of note in the researching of this novel?

Ada:  Many authors ask me about the research for Peach Blossom Rancher. I did do research on horses, peach ranching and historical treatment of the insane to be sure little points here and there were correct, but I had worked on a peach/horse ranch in my youth and interviewed experts on mental illness, talked to patients, was in almost all of the mental health institute except the forensics division and even witnessed some parts of that.

I didn’t need much research. I’d written about the museum, seen the strait jackets and other devices. I saw the restraint room and learned how a team of guards can control a patient in moments. I talked to the doctor who determined whether a criminal was insane. I saw patients handcuffed to a wall and those whose hands were cuffed to a wide belt. I interviewed executives, psychiatrists, psychologists, patients, nurses, psych techs, guards, looked at the kitchen, spent several hours in juvenile units, visited their school, and went on an outing with them. I visited community treatment homes, and attended seminars on the new medications and learned about other things they do. I also interviewed a psychiatrist who was shot by a patient, and I dug into the police report about the case.

TIP:  Can you give us a sneak peek or preview into the next work in progress (WIP) you're working on? When do you expect to release it?

Ada:  I have about 15,000 words written on RITAH, the third book in the Peaches and Dreams series. I expect to have it completed by December 2017.

Tentative Book summary: Ritah heads off to college, one of the few women who attends college in 1916. She hopes to fulfill her dream of becoming an outstanding teacher of youth, especially women who don’t think they need an education. Ritah wants to see women succeed in the marketplace in case they need to support their children and keep them out of orphanages if something should happen to their father. Ritah’s mother had to live with a wicked uncle when her parents died (she’s the fugitive in The Lady Fugitive). Ritah also wants to learn things that help a wife and mother, like health prevention and treatments. As Ritah prepares to go to college, a young friend who is an orphan is being dragged into a brothel, and Ritah intervenes at the risk of her own life. But she leaves the orphan in the care of a hopefully capable woman and the sheriff has been notified. Ritah goes to college despite the protests of the man who wants to marry her. War, trouble back home, sickness, and two men who propose marriage stand between Ritah and the life she hopes to live. Will she marry one of these men? Will she achieve her goals?

TIP:  Do you have a presence on social media? If so, where do you interact with readers the most? [Give the link to the one where you want readers to contact you.] Any amusing social media stories? 

Ada:  I interact with friends most on Facebook and I’d love to connect with more readers at Book Fun Network  http://www.bookfun.org  Just connect with me there.  It’s free, easy to join, and readers can not only connect with me, but with other favorite Christian writers and readers in chat rooms and frequently receive free books to review! Plus Book Fun Magazine is free Also they can join my mailing list at ada@adabrownell.com 

EXCERPT FROM PEACH BLOSSOM RANCHER CHAPTER ONE:

 Edwina wrinkled her little turned-up nose. “What’s that terrible odor?”

 John stepped to the fence. “Might be coming from my prize pigs. See the big one over there I call Gertie?”

Gertie trotted close and rubbed her prickly mud-covered back on the hog wire.

 “I expect to make big money from pork while I rebuild the horse herd and work in the peach orchards. You ought to try a few pigs. You get a quicker turnover with your money than with horses. Your papa used to raise them. Besides, it’s always nice to have smoked ham and bacon available.”

Edwina leaned over the fence. The pigs wrestled with each other over the slop, snorting and grunting.

 “I might get some. The little ones are cute. Since my papa is in the wheelchair, I’m running everything. How is the pork market doing?”

 “It sounded great to me. It …” Gertie stuck her snout through the fence and sucked Edwina’s lacy pink dress. Edwina jerked the skirt out of the slimy jaws and then, stringy pig saliva slid down her pretty legs.

 “Eeeeewwww!” she squealed, holding her dress out away from her. “I didn’t know pigs would eat clothing.”

 Laughter almost escaped John’s lips. He pressed his fist over his mouth until his insides quit quaking in case she was mad enough to use the gun strapped on her slim middle.

“Gertie probably smelled the cornstarch you used to starch your dress. I’d guess for her it was quite tasty. I’ll get you a towel.”

 “Don’t bother.” She grabbed a big blue handkerchief from the buggy, wiped at her legs and jumped in the driver’s seat. “You probably wanted me to stand over by the fence so that would happen. You are incorrigible, John Parks. Get someone else to go to the church picnic with you!”

As the dust rose from her departure, she almost ran into the mailman.

John meandered to the mailbox. Strange. He hadn’t asked her to the picnic. He never intended to.  

LINKS:  

Amazon Ada Brownell author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/adabrownell 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/AdaBrownellWritingMinistries 

Twitter: @AdaBrownell 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1654534.Ada_Brownell 

Blog: http://inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com

Ada's great-granddaughter Layla

SIEGE OF AZALEA PLANTATION by B. J. Robinson

 

 

Historical Romance

Alexis thought she’d never love again until Reese Armstrong made her want to live.

Reese Armstrong never thought he’d fall for a belle or any other woman after what happened to him. He stood staring after the buggy as it rolled away, dust flying from beneath the wheels. His heart went out to the young woman, but she sure was a feisty one. Would she always hate all Yankees? He hoped not. Those haunted blue eyes showed passion and love for the husband she’d lost and her beloved South. He felt a twinge of envy race through his heart. To be loved like that. 

Left with nothing but a war-ravaged plantation after the invasion of an ocean of blue, would Lexie find trust and faith? A young widow has to learn to let go of the past to claim a future.

Interview:

TIP:  Tell us something topical, interesting, or something we wouldn’t expect about the writing of this novel?

B.J.:  Houmas House Plantation and Gardens is the lovely home used for the cover. It is the Crown Jewel of Louisiana’s River Road, refurbished with twenty-one rooms on thirty-six acres on the Mississippi River not far from New Orleans, Louisiana. It offers visitors a unique, historical glimpse into the world of the Civil War era through what was once Louisiana’s largest sugar cane plantation. Tours are available in Louisiana’s Plantation Country on historic River Road.

TIP:  If this novel is part of a series, tell us about the series.

B.J.:  This is the first novel in the Azalea Plantation series covering the siege of Vicksburg. Reese and Alexis are brought together in this one, but must soon part again when he is called to fight in a different location involving Sherman’s March to the Sea. In a third novel, Azalea Plantation will be restored. Will Lexie be left to do it alone, or will Reese return to help her?

TIP:  Can you give us a sneak peak or preview into the next work in progress (WIP) you’re working on? When do you expect to release it?

B.J.:  I’m working on the second novel in the Azalea Plantation series titled Azalea Plantation, and it will be released during February. Below is a short sneak preview:

 Suddenly, there was a banging at the door. “Oh, I’s so sorry, Mrs. Lexie, but dat Sherman man is here.” 

Lexie sat straight up in bed as Reese opened his eyes and rubbed them. Her heart hammered. The man promised Reese two weeks to honeymoon. What was going on? 

Reese sat up, slid off the bed, and pulled on his pants and shirt. He bent and kissed her. “Stay here. I’ll be right back. Promise.” 

“Oh Reese, he wouldn’t come to the house unless he planned to move out.” Lexie pulled him down for a kiss and clung to him not wanting to let him go. 

Reese returned her kiss and held her just as tightly. “He promised me two weeks, and I aim to have it. Let me see what he wants. Maybe he’ll let me meet him later.” Reese yanked on his pants, threw on his rumpled shirt without bothering to button it, and drug himself out the door. 

Lexie stared at the door her new husband had exited hoping one night wasn’t all they’d have together before duty called him to leave and continue fighting a war that never ended.

Excerpt From SIEGE OF AZALEA PLANTATION, Chapter On 

            Her heart hammered, but she made herself open the door to meet the surge of ocean in the form of men in blue uniforms as they rode down the lane of oaks. Dust settled. Mosquitoes swarmed when she stepped into the light of the veranda. A shiver raced down her spine as she crossed the wide battleship gray deck, stopping at the top of the steps between two huge white columns.

Lexie squared her shoulders as she raised the shotgun. It was up to her, but she knew she couldn’t shoot them. She’d put on a good show and hope and pray it worked.

Her gaze fell upon the first soldier, but her eyes riveted and fastened on the officer. She heaved a heavy sigh. Her fragile arms could barely hold the heavy gun, and she had no clue if she could fire it if need be, but prayed it would be enough to detour the enemy. That’s when she saw him. That man Reese from town. That blasted Yankee. What was he doing here? How dare he invade her plantation!

A forage cap covered molasses-colored hair that tipped the collar of his coat. He tipped the leather visor, and she noticed brass numbers, but was too nervous to read his regiment across the top of the cap. Tall leather boots said he was an officer since only officers could afford them. She couldn’t shoot him, could she? But, he and his kind had killed her Luke. Still, she didn’t want to kill anyone unless she had to. She should be able to pull the trigger without even thinking about it, but his eyes beseeched hers as they caught and locked.

Her arms grew tired holding the heavy gun, but she lifted her chin, tucked the gun into her shoulder, and aimed it straight at his chest. “You are not welcome here. Get off my plantation.”

B. J. Robinson, award winning author

SHENANDOAH NIGHTS, Winds of Change series, by Lisa Belcastro

Historical Fiction with a time travel twist

The last thing sixth-grade teacher Rebecca O'Neill wants to do during the final week of her summer vacation is chaperone twenty-five students on a six-night, seven-day trip aboard the schooner Shenandoah. But after a desperate phone call from her school principal, she doesn't have a choice. Worse, the ship is rumoured to be "haunted." Five years ago, during the Holmes Hole student cruise, teacher Melissa Smith complained about hearing voices and seeing visions, then disappeared without a trace--from the very same cabin where Rebecca will be staying.

Everything seems normal on Sunday afternoon as Rebecca boards the impressive Shenandoah. But as she sits in Cabin 8, she hears hushed voices whispering about a cannon. Mike, a crew member, insists he believes the crazy Island story that Melissa time-traveled to Colonial Boston. His eerie interest and constant tracking Rebecca's whereabouts rattles her nerves.

Her first night on board, Rebecca drifts off to sleep...and wakes the following morning with memories of a dream about secretive conversation concerning a battle with Britain. Monday night Rebecca crawls into her bunk after an adventurous day of sailing, swimming, and overseeing students. She's startled awake when a man grabs her and yells, "Stowaway!" Dragged in front of Captain Benjamin Reed, she looks up into the most gorgeous brown eyes she's ever seen....

Interview,,, 

TIP:  Tell us something topical, interesting, funny, or something we would not expect about the writing of this novel.

Lisa:  The idea for SHENANDOAH NIGHTS came to me while I was chaperoning my daughter Kayla's fifth grade class during their week-long sail aboard the Shenandoah. After a fabulous week aboard the ship, I went home with dozens of ideas bouncing around in my head. I was busy with life, and didn't do anything with those ideas for a couple of months. Then I signed up for a writing class with mystery author Cynthia Riggs. As Cynthia gave us our weekly assignments, I began writing pieces that would eventually become chapters in SHENANDOAH NIGHTS. The following summer, I once again volunteered to chaperone the Tisbury School summer sail. I brought my rough draft of SHENANDOAH NIGHTS with me, printed and secured in a three-ring binder. When I wasn't having a great time with the students, I walked around with my binder, making notes, checking equipment, asking the crew a gazillion questions, observing procedures, documenting the incredible food we ate, the names of knots, masts, and sails, and the location and blueprint of where everything was on the ship. The students and crew started getting into my research, and they soon began pointing out things that they all thought I should include in the story. I can't imagine a better way to work through and edit a rough draft.

 

Students making sailor bracelets while Shennandoah sails

 TIP: If this novel is part of a series, tell us about the series.

LISA:  SHENANDOAH NIGHTS is the first book in the Winds of Change series. All of the books are set on or around the schooner Shenandoah. There are now four books in the series with a fifth book, A SHENANDOAH FAMILY CHRISTMAS, due out in November. Although all the books are connected, they can stand alone. Each novel tells the story of a hero and heroine. Nights focuses on Rebecca O'Neill and her journey back in time to 1775. In SHENANDOAH CROSSINGS, Tess Roberts intentionally travels back in time to find her best friend Rebecca. Tess doesn't find Rebecca, but she gets into a heap of trouble and Hawk comes to save her, which Tess is none to happy about. SHENANDOAH DREAMS takes the reader back in time to when Melissa Smith disappeared off of the Shenandoah. Melissa is talked about in the first two books, but in Dreams we discover what happened to her, where she went, and what has become of her life. A SHENANDOAH CHRISTMAS, which recently won the SELAH Award for Best Novella of 2014, visits the lives of Andrews Roberts and Allyson Flanders. We saw the beginning of Andy and Allyson's relationship in SHENANDOAH CROSSINGS. The Christmas novella is a poignant glimpse into their lives, and reveals why Allyson cannot marry Andy. I love spending time with the Roberts family, and any chance to be aboard the Shenandoah, whether in person or in my mind, is a wonderful opportunity I won't turn down.



TIP: When did you start writing for publication? And why? What drives you to write?

Lisa:  I went to school to be a journalist. I always wanted to write. I was blessed to get a job right out of college working as a reporter for the Chronicle of the Horse, a weekly sport horse news magazine. I traveled the world, covering horse competitions and interviewing people. It was a fantastic job! After I became a mom, I didn't want to travel anymore. For years I wrote short stories or dabbled with the occasional local news story, occasionally for publication. As the years went by, I got the itch to write more seriously. I went back to school, studied creative writing, and leaped into the world of fiction. Now, I have so many characters and stories in my head that I don't have the time to get them all out and onto paper. I wish I had more time, because the ideas never stop developing. Everywhere I look, there is a story to tell. I need a computer hooked up to my brain so my mind can type while I sleep!



TIP:  Do you have a presence on social media? If so, where do you interact with readers the most? 

Lisa:  I'm learning to love social media. I post on my author Facebook page daily, and on Fridays I always run a giveaway. I've "met" lots of readers on Facebook, and I enjoy the chance to connect and get to know people, hearing about their families, their pets, their vacations, and what books they enjoy reading. If you want to stop by my Facebook page, you can drop in and say hi. You can also stop by my website.

EXCERPT...

Chapter 4 –

Men’s voices awakened her. Rebecca didn’t want to know what the guys had to do this early. Too little sleep left her wishing for hours of nighttime. She patted the bed wanting to pull the sheet up over her head for a few minutes. When her hands came up empty, she opened her eyes to see if she’d kicked the sheet and blanket onto the bunk below. Panic spread throughout her body as she stared at the floor, not the bunk that should have been beneath her. She sat up and realized she wasn’t in her room. She remained motionless, trying to figure out where she was without alerting anyone to her presence.

“I suspect we shall need to make another run shortly after we unload. They are extremely low on ammunition.”

Rebecca held her breath trying to figure out who was talking and where they were. She slid off the palate she was on and crouched behind a large barrel, almost like the huge pickle barrels the penny candy store had years ago before they went out of business.

            “Where will we find more gunpowder?”

“I am not worried about finding powder. My concern is maneuvering in and out of the Harbor. The King’s Men have control of the Harbor and the city.”

            “I do not believe what happened. I wish we had arrived sooner. If we had been there we could have fired on the Lively.”

            “We would have given it our best shot, Jonah. I pray Father and Magnus are safe. Mother fretted enough over our sailing south.”

Rebecca slinked left and knelt behind a crate, hoping to get a glimpse of who was speaking. She had no idea how she’d walked into the storage room during the night, but she knew these two men were meeting in secret. She didn’t recognize either one of their voices? And what did they mean by firing on the Lively?

She taught her social studies students about the British ship, HMS Lively, and its significance in the Battle of Bunker Hill, but these men could not be talking about that Lively. She pulled the back of her t-shirt down to keep the cold wood off her back and listened for any movement from above, but there was only the sound of the waves as they rolled against the ship.

            “How many were wounded? I heard the lads on the dock say we lost hundreds of men. Do you think it is true, Ben?”

            Rebecca tensed. She tried to peer around the edge of the crate to see if she recognized either of the men. She could only see the backs of their heads.

“I do not know. It is hard to imagine the bloodshed. It does sound like the Bloody Backs suffered great casualties, even though they declared victory.”

“Lexington pales in comparison. How are we going to survive long enough for a petition to reach the king?”

A shiver ran down Rebecca’s spine. What are they talking about? What king? What petition? She needed to find Hawk and let him know about these two. If onl

y she could get a good look at them. The light of their lamp was all she had to see by in the dark room.

“I think the time for petitions has passed. I heard tell John Adams was in Philadelphia weeks ago to elect a general to lead the Continental Army. I believe war is inevitable.”

“A battle with Britain? David had a better chance with Goliath.”

“Jonah! You know better. Father would tell you right quick the Good Lord is with us just as He was with David. Our fight for freedom will not—cannot—be in vain.”

            Rebecca sucked in her breath, a burst of panic permeating her mind quicker than the oxygen filled her lungs. A battle with Britain? There is no way Britain attacked the United States. These men must be terrorists.

            Rebecca tried to see around the stack of crates without any luck. If only she could catch a glimpse of one of them, then she could point him out to Hawk. Just as she was about to stand up, a loud boom sounded followed by a clanging sound. Rebecca jumped up and smashed her right knee into another crate.

            “Who’s there?”

            “Present yourself at once!”

            Heart pounding, Rebecca looked for an escape. She noticed the door behind her. If she made it out the door, she’d get to Hawk before they got to her. She jumped to her feet, got a quick look at the two men and dashed for the door screaming Hawk’s name.

SHENANDOAH NIGHTS ON AMAZON 

 

Lisa Belcastro