BUILDING A SERIES - LINKED BOOKS

Don’t you love a nice series where a favorite hero and heroine reappear as secondary characters in a later book? Characters become our friends and we applaud when a hero or heroine we admired reappears in the cast of a new book. Series and linked books apparently remain popular through the ebbs and flows of subgenres.

A series can center around members of the same family, as in my Men of Stone Mountain series about the three Stone brothers. Others series feature characters who live in the same locale, such as Jacquie Rogers’ Hearts of Owyhee/Much Ado series. Lyn Horner’s Texas Druid series features siblings who share paranormal traits and come from Ireland to Texas. In fact, I believe the other authors on this blog each have had well-received series.

When setting up my Men of Stone Mountain series, I chose North Central Texas due to a fondness for the region in which I live. The site of fictitious Stone Mountain is near where the current Possum Kingdom Lake stands, plus surrounding ranch land, and is only an hour away from my home. A tour to the pioneer Belding-Gibson Ranch inspired me and I chose that ranch as it now stands and as it was for my stories--with a few fictitious alterations, of course. 

BRAZOS BRIDE is set at the main ranch, but with a Spanish-style hacienda instead of the actual home. HIGH STAKES BRIDE is set adjoining the first ranch for the most part, with parts on and in a mountain. BLUEBONNET BRIDE is set in the fictitious town of Radford Springs, which would be near Possum Kingdom Lake. 

The original Belding cedar log cabin on the right
and the smokehouse on the left are
now incorporated into the ranch house.

The Belding family descended from Henry Belding, a man who pioneered this area back when Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache were genuine threats. In spite of hardships, the ranch prospered and grew, but has been divided over the generations. Currently, the Belding-Gibson Ranch is operated by Barbara (Belding) and Charles Gibson. They honor their heritage and preserve the ranch's traditions. Theirs is a beautiful land and their home incorporates the original cabin as a bathroom and the smokehouse as a storage room/pantry. The cold room is now part of a hallway. I loved visiting this beautiful ranch when it was open for touring one day several years ago. Barbara Belding Gibson wrote a book about the ranch, PAINTED POLE: THE BELDINGS AND THEIR RANCHES IN PALO PINTO COUNTY, 2001, Sunbelt Eakin Press, that aided me in my research.  

Part of the Palo Pinto Mountains from a valley

This region is the Palo Pinto Mountains, which look like large hills to people from some areas, but geographically are genuine mountains. The Comanche named them Palo Pinto, which means painted post or painted pole, due to the way the scrub oaks covering them turn bright colors in the fall. There are also cedar and live oaks as well as the usual elm, cottonwood, hackberry, and other native trees to give a nice variety to the landscape. Fat cattle graze on this land and oil wells dot the area. 

Money on the hoof in good times;
a liability in drought times

 In my Men of Stone Mountain series, as well as being linked by siblings, poison plays a role in each book. Finding the right poison was an interesting task, and I think I came up with three that will prove perfect for the stories. Research on native Texas plants that could be used as poison proved interesting and, on the other hand, frightening that deadly poisons are so plentiful and easy to locate. Scared yet? Of course not, because you know these are romances and that by the end of the series all major characters will have found true love. But getting there is a pleasant experience (I hope) because there are surprises and mysteries in store along the way. 

Posionous Pokeweed, which some people
boil three times, pour off the water each
time, then serve as greens. But not to me!

Oleander blooms. Lovely but
don't taste any part of them!

Needless to say, I didn't conduct actual experiments from my poison research. Um, that's my story. Honest.

Here’s a brief glimpse of the Men of Stone Mountain series.

BRAZOS BRIDE, book one: Hope Montoya knows someone is poisoning her, but who and why elude her. She’s grown weak from the poison, and needs help. To whom can she turn? Both her parents have died, and she suspects they also were murdered by the same person targeting her. She seeks help from Micah Stone. He is outside the circle of people who might have wanted her dead. Micah’s cattle are dying from lack of water in the current drought. He needs access to the Brazos River. When Hope proposes a paper marriage, his is offended. He’s loved her since the first time he met her, and he can’t refuse her. His brothers Zach and Joel pitch in to help protect their new sister-in-law. Trouble dogs them with one disaster after another. Can Micah discover the killer before he and Hope become victims?

Buy Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Brazos-Bride-Stone-Mountain-ebook/dp/B007HS10SY/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364141901&sr=1-6&keywords=caroline+clemmons

HIGH STAKES BRIDE, book two: Zach Stone envisions himself as the head of a ranching empire with a dutiful wife by his side seeing to his comfort and a passel of children. When he comes across Alice Price, nothing goes as he plans. Alice is “event prone” and either stumbles onto or causes once crisis after another. She’s on the run from two stepbrothers who’ve promised her as payment in a gambling debt to the meanest man in Texas or Mexico. She throws in with Zach to escape, and that’s when Zach’s life gets interesting—more so than he intended. Along the way Zach and Alice find an orphaned boy and his dog to accompany them to Zach’s ranch. His aunts are staying with him to chaperone. Can Alice evade her stepbrothers and make her getaway to New Orleans? What if she decides to stay with Zach? Life is just too complicated for this pair, that is, until fate takes a hand.

Amazon buy link:

http://www.amazon.com/STAKES-BRIDE-Stone-Mountain-ebook/dp/B009F7JLTK/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364141826&sr=1-3&keywords=caroline+clemmons

BLUEBONNET BRIDE: Joel Stone is proud of his brothers and the lives they’ve created. Each is married, and he wonders why, as the eldest, he is still single. He’s settled into the life he has as Radford County Sheriff, with his small ranch and his large house in town. As long as his brothers are happy, he’s happy. That is, until he meets the new widow in town and her little girl. Rosalyn Dumas is a dressmaker who captures Joel’s attention the first time he sees her and hears her sultry, Southern voice. Her daughter Lucy takes a shine to Joel right away and calls him Mister Sheriff. Joel knows Rosalyn hides a secret from her past, but he doesn’t care. Rosalyn knows her secret would send her to the gallows if she’s discovered, and she resists her attraction to Joel. A woman on the run from a murder conviction certainly doesn’t need to associate with the sheriff, but he pops up every time she turns around. How long can she evade capture?

Amazon buy link:

http://www.amazon.com/Bluebonnet-Bride-Stone-Mountain-ebook/dp/B00BHOC7L8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1364141826&sr=1-1&keywords=caroline+clemmons

I hope that whetted your appetite for this particular series. There are more books planned about people living in Radford Springs, Radford County, Texas. The next one will be released late May, 2013. Watch for substitute mail-order bride Tabitha's story and then a Christmas story in November. Each book is available at iTunes, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Smashwords, and in print from Create Space.

Here’s the link to my website where you can find my books listed with an excerpt from each: http://www.carolineclemmons.blogspot.com, 

Thanks for stopping by!

POISON, MURDER, AND WESTERN ROMANCE

Why would a writer focus on poison? I don’t plan to murder anyone in real life. However, I love to kill people in books. Great way to relax. Joking, joking. But perhaps you've seen the coffee mugs or T-shirts that boast, "Be careful what you do or you'll end up in my book" and "I kill people in books." One of the joys of being a writer is that I can take out all my frustrations on my fictional characters. Well, to you they're fictional. To me, they're (almost) real.

GIVEAWAY

I’m giving away a Kindle Fire 3G to one lucky subscriber of my Caroline’s Occasional Newsletter on December 15th. Stop by my blog or webpage (shown at the end of this post) to sign up. You might be the one who wins. I’ll feature newsletter contests like this one every few months. Don’t worry, no salesmen will call, and your email will remain confidential. Lots of authors have giveaways at this festive time of year. This is my gift to readers for buying my books, and I'll continue giveaways as long as I'm able to sit in my nice pink cave and write the books I love. Now, on to our regularly scheduled blog post:

POISONS

I first became interested in poisons years ago from reading Agatha Christie’s mysteries. I still love her books and am fascinated with poison. Many plants have medicinal qualities and other seemingly innocent lovelies can be deadly. For instance, in Alexander Dumas’ THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, oleander leaves are ground and incorporated into food to murder. Foxglove can heal or kill, depending on how it is administered and to whom. While researching, I pour through books like DEADLY DOSES from Writers Digest Books and old herbals. My eldest daughter fed my fascination with HERBS AND THINGS by Jeanne Rose, a book on remedies that gives both friendly and unfriendly plants and their uses. My youngest daughter has given me several illustrated books on native Texas plants, many of which can be harmful. Picture the writer rubbing her hands and laughing evilly. BWAHAHAHA!

MURDER

Before scientific forensic tests, poisoners had far more freedom. Current pathologists’ tests uncover most poisons and, fortunately, create a hardship for villains. Since my current trilogy is historical, my villain is safe from sophisticated forensics. But not, of course, from my hero and heroine. Many poisons leave tell tale signs that even a medieval physician could detect. All readers know that cyanide leaves a distinctive smell and blue coloration of the victim’s lips for a while after death. Advanced arsenic poisoning colors the fingernails at the base. Can you believe women used to use arsenic to control their weight? I’d love to be thin, but not that way! Women also used to deliberately ingest tape worms supposedly as a help with their weight. But that's another post.

MEN OF STONE MOUNTAIN TRILOGY

For my current Men of Stone Mountain trilogy, I studied poisons available in the Southwest where the book is set. In the first of my trilogy, BRAZOS BRIDE, heroine Hope Montoya is being poisoned. She doesn’t know the killer’s identity or type of poison, but she is an intelligent woman and deduces the poison is administered through her food and/or her tonic. Although she is severely weakened by the contaminant, she devises a plan to escape and gain an ally. The key is to convince Micah Stone to wed her in a temporary marriage of convenience. What would convince him? As is the case now in North Central Texas, a drought has Micah’s cattle dying for lack of water. I don't want you to think Texas is always arid, so here's a photo  while the spring bluebonnets were in bloom:

Photo by my friend Nelda Liles of Plano, Texas, taken on the spring Bluebonnet Trail near Ennis, Texas

BRAZOS BRIDE BLURB

Hope Montoya knows someone is poisoning her, but who? She suspects her mother was also poisoned and knows her father was murdered. Who wants her family eliminated? She vows to fight! She realizes she won’t last the eight months until she turns twenty-five and her uncle no longer controls her or her estate. Never will she be dominated by a man as she was by her father, as she has seen her mother and grandmothers dominated. If she marries, she gains control now, but only if she weds a man she can trust. Only one man meets her requirements. Can she trust him to protect her and capture the killer...but then to leave? She offers him cash plus land adjoining the Brazos River to save his cattle.

Brazos River near where Hope's ranch is located and near my home

Micah Stone has been in love with Hope since the first time he saw her. But he was accused of her father’s murder and surely would have hung if not for his two brothers’ aid. Most in the community still believe him guilty. But the drought has him too worried about water for his dying cattle to care about his neighbors’ opinions. When Hope proposes a paper marriage in exchange for land on the Brazos River and much needed cash, her offer rubs his pride raw. His name may be Stone, but he’s not made of it. He can’t refuse her for long, and so their adventure begins. Can he save Hope before the killer succeeds and kills both of them?

A Jimmy Thomas cover from
www.romancenovelcovers.com

BRAZOS BRIDE EXCERPT

She looked at her hands. Perhaps she was unreasonable. Or maybe insane for sympathizing with a man who'd had to work harder because of her family.
"I know it is an odd situation. If—if you wear your shirt and britches, I guess it would be all right if you slept on top of the cover here." She patted the bed beside her.

He froze. Not a muscle moved, and he only stared at her. Had she misunderstood? Did he think her offer too forward?

She babbled, "That is, if you want to. You said I should trust you. Well, maybe you would be more comfortable where you are." Why didn't he say something? Would he prefer sleeping in a chair to sharing the bed?

From the street below, she heard raucous laughter and someone called to a man named Ben. Music from a piano, she supposed in the saloon, drifted in through the open windows. A gust of breeze moved the curtains and slid across her skin. In this room, though, there was no sound.

Slowly, he rose and extinguished the lamp as he moved across the room. She slid one of the pillows beside hers then scooted down. What had possessed her to offer him half her bed? Would he think she invited more?

Too late to take it back now, for the mattress dipped as he stretched out. Quaking inside at the thought of him so near, she turned her back to him. She heard his weary sigh, as if he relaxed for the first time in a long while.

"Good night," she offered, and hoped he understood the finality of the phrase.

"Yep. Good night, Mrs. Stone." The mattress shook as he turned his back to her. She felt the soles of his feet press against her ankles. He must be several inches too long for the bed and she guessed he had to bend his legs to fit. She didn't dare turn to see firsthand.

She lay perfectly still, afraid to take a deep breath. Soon his breathing changed and she knew he slept. Outside the open window the town quieted and the distant tinkling of the piano was the only sound. Light from the full moon illuminated the room and slanted across the bed. A soft breeze drifted across her, lulling her in its caress.

With a sigh, she fought to relax, but abdominal pain kept her awake no matter how her body cried for rest. Perhaps if she planned, she’d forget the pain and chills that racked her frame.

Plan, yes. She needed a plan for food preparation when she returned to her home. No, Micah said he had a plan. Oh, dear, once more he took charge when it was her life, her home.

Maybe Aunt Sofia and Uncle Jorge would have left by then and things would be fine. Already she felt more secure. She sensed her eyelids drifting closed and the sleep’s blessed relief approaching.

A gunshot ripped apart the night.

The blast startled her and she screamed as something thudded near her head, showering her hair and face with splinters. Panic immobilized her. What had happened?

Micah dragged her onto the floor as a bullet ripped into the mattress.

Did that capture your interest? I hope so!

BUY LINKS

Here is the buy link at Amazon Kindle where BRAZOS BRIDE  is available in print and e-book:
http://www.amazon.com/Brazos-Bride-Stone-Mountain-ebook/dp/B007HS10SY/ref=sr_1_14?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332254739&sr=1-14

The buy link for the e-book at Smashwords is:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/227618?ref=CarolineClemmons

Nook's buy link is:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/brazos-bride-caroline-clemmons/1112046241?ean=2940015705805

Thank you for stopping by!

Caroline Clemmons writes mystery, romance, and adventures—although her earliest made up adventures featured her saving the West with Roy Rogers. Her career has included stay-at-home mom (her favorite job), newspaper reporter and featured columnist, assistant to the managing editor of a psychology journal, and bookkeeper. ♥ Now she writes full time and loves it! ♥ She and her husband live in rural North Central Texas with a menagerie of rescued pets. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with family, reading, travel, browsing antique malls and estate sales, and delving into genealogy/family history.

WHERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY

Excerpts from some of her exceptional reviews can be found on her Website at www.carolineclemmons.com. View her Blog posts Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com and find book reviews, giveaways, interview, and miscellany.

Find her also at:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarolineClemmonsRomances#!/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/carolinclemmons (No E in Caroline)
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/458092.Caroline_Clemmons
Also on Pinterest and Wattpad
Caroline loves ♥ to hear from readers at caroline @ carolineclemmons. com

BRAZOS BRIDE IS FREE TODAY AT AMAZON!

You have been so kind to buy my books, that now I have a surprise for you. Announcing,,,drum roll, please...my western historical romance-mystery BRAZOS BRIDE is FREE today at Amazon Kindle! Yes, that’s right. Zero. Zip. Nada. Gratis. Just for you because you guys are special. Very special. Where would writers be without readers to pour over their words? Banging their  heads against our keyboards, that’s where. Confidentially, we sometimes do that anyway.

The FREE link for BRAZOS BRIDE at Amazon Kindle is:
http://www.amazon.com/Brazos-Bride-Stone-Mountain-ebook/dp/B007HS10SY/ref=sr_1_18?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1331156267&sr=1-18

While I’m pounding away on the keyboard, working on the second book in the trilogy, you can be reading BRAZOS BRIDE: Men of Stone Mountain, Book One.

The trilogy is about the three Stone brothers: Micah in BRAZOS BRIDE, book one; Zach in HIGH STAKES BRIDE, book two; Joel in BLUEBONNET BRIDE, book three. There is another link, as I’ve mentioned previously - poison is used in each book. Book one and book two each deal with a different natural poison found in native a Texas plant. The third poison is one that was common in home and garden use in the nineteenth century.  I’ve chosen perfect matches for the Stone brothers. At least, I believe they are perfect. Book one’s heroine is Hope Montoya, a regal Hispanic heiress.  Book two features Mary Alice Price, a kultzy, adorable blonde. (Why, yes, she is my favorite.) Book three’s heroine is another regal woman, a redhead named Verity Dumas. I almost named her Verity Robichaux, but Dumas will be so much faster to type.

If you enjoy BRAZOS BRIDE, please leave a favorable review on Amazon to let others know. If you don’t enjoy the book, let me know your reasons at caroline@carolineclemmons.com? While it’s not possible to please all readers, I do try to write credibly about the Old West and whatever subject I’ve chosen. I spend hours and hours on research, on listening to my critique partners, and on revising and editing. Here’s another favor: please click on LIKE and then scroll down and click on the tags. This sounds silly, but it makes a difference in sales.

Thanks for stopping by!