Meet Odessa Clay and Get to Know Her! #ArizonaSky #GingerSimpson

Michelle Lee - Cover Artist

Woo Hoo...I'm off on a camping vacation for a few months.  We're traveling cross country to Hot August Nights in Reno with several stops an sight-seeing along the way.  I'm scheduling recycled blogs, so I hope you don't mind.  The last time this was used on someone else's blog, the book had a different name and cover.  :)  Have a great summer, I know I will.

Title of book: Arizona Sky

Author: Ginger Simpson

Publisher: Books We Love

Format’s available:  http://www.amazon.com/author/gingersimpson

eBook: Yes

Paperback: yes

Character’s name: Odessa Clay

Brief summary of story and character’s role in it.

It’s 1886.  The wagon carrying Odessa Clay and her father overturns, killing him.  Alone and frightened, somewhere in the desert, she faces finding her way to Phoenix and Aunt Susan.  Her food and water run out, and Odessa is near death when Zach Johnson finds her. On his way to becoming a reluctant outlaw, he can’t leave such a young beauty to die.  She awakens in his arms, thinking she’s already died and gone to heaven, and for him, now not only his father’s land is at stake—he faces losing his heart, too.

Odessa's Interview:

Tell us a bit about yourself. 

  Well, I suppose you could consider me an orphan, since my Ma died some time ago, and my father recently passed in the wagon accident that started my story.  Pa wanted to move me to Phoenix so I could be around a better class of people, and after a whole lotta trials and tribulations, I finally made his dream come true.

How did you get yourself into this predicament? 

Like I said, Pa wanted to move us to Phoenix to be closer to his sister, my aunt, Susan.  Ever since Ma died, I really haven't had a woman's influence in my life, and I reckon he thought I'd have a better chance at being courted by a good man.

How do you feel about Zach Johnson? 

  Oh, Lordy.  The man is truly handsome and he makes my stomach feel kinda funny, but he's so bossy.  I keep haven' to remind him he ain't my Pa.

When did things start to go wrong? 

I suppose you mean about the trip?  Well, things were going fine.  It was hotter than Hades out there in the desert, and if it had been a tad cooler, perhaps Pa wouldn't have cracked the reins to get the horses moving enough to stir a breeze.  If the wagon wheel…*pauses and wipes her eyes*…the wagon wheel hadn't struck a rut in the trail and caused the wagon to turn over, Pa never would have gotten pinned.  *She stares into her lap.*

Have the events of the story made you a stronger person?  

You bet.  I never expected to be left alone in the middle of the desert.  I had two choices: Die with Pa or try to find my way to Phoenix.  I figured I'd just follow the trail, but I didn't get very far.  Thank the Lord, Zach came along when he did.

What have you learned? 

  I've learned I can survive just about anything.  I went from being lost in the desert to watching a man die right before my eyes in a saloon.  Then I got kidnapped, saved by a couple traveling to Phoenix in a wagon, and I found my Aunt Susan.  I'd say that was a pretty decent lesson.  Wouldn't you?

Yes, I would think what you've been through is pretty amazing. Where do you see yourself in the future? 

  I'm pretty sure Zach and I have a future together.  You know, when he found me, he was on his way to join a pretty famous outlaw's gang in order to get enough money from robbing a stage coach to save his Pa's ranch.  He took the time to get me to safety, and you'll find out when you read my story, neither of us are very good at listening to advice.  He's about as bullheaded as they come, and I can be pretty darn stubborn, too.

 Thank you so much for joining us today, Ms. Clay.  Best of luck in your new life.

The lights dim, men step from behind the cameras and where silence prevailed, voices chatter.  The man who asked the questions walks away, and Odessa is left to wonder what to do now.  Zach steps from the shadows and offers his hand.  “Time to go home, Dessie.  You did a fine job.”

It's all about the words... cowboy lingo

Writing western romance means the author has a command of a whole different lingo. Granted, if we wrote the way they talked in the late  1800's our readers wouldn't understand a word of the story. However, tossing a few new terms into the mix never hurt.

Most of us realize that many of the words our cowboy heroes used come from the Spanish. Words like Lariat (rope), rodeo, even the word cowboy. But there were other terms that sweeten the tales.

Bronco - a partly broken or rough horse

Buckaroo - an experienced bronc buster

Brand blotter - one who changes the brand on a steer or a horse

Bulldog - to slip from a galloping pony on to a steer's neck, grab the horns and twist the head till the animal topples over pinned to the ground.

Bummer - a motherless lamb

Buttermilk - a calf whose mother died and whose daddy ran off with another cow

cactus boomers - wild brush cattle

cayuse - a pony of the northern planins especially an Indian pony also called a broom tail or fuzz tail

Chaparejos (Chaps) - leather leggins or over -breeches worn to protect rider's legs from rough brush country

Choke Biscuit -to hold on to the saddle horn to keep from being thrown.

A flat heeled peeler - amateur cowboy

Hog leg - a cowman's gun

Ladino - an outlaw cow

Latigo - a cinch strap

Nester - homesteader or squatter

Nose Paint - whiskey

Outlaw - a wild vicious horse that can't be broken

Reata - a braided rawhide rope used in the southwest

Remuda -in the Northwest a bunch of saddle horses

Running iron - a branding iron other than the type used to stamp on hide

Wo Haw - Indian name for cattle

So now that you've improved your brain, time to sit back, grab some coffee, and enjoy your next book. Until next time,

Nan 

Branding

Tonight, when I left the house, the scent of burned hair and flesh was in the air. Branding. My neighbor branded calves yesterday or today. I abhor the practice of placing a red-hot iron on an animal, although I suppose this doesn't make me a very good cattlewoman.

Ancient Egyptians used the practice of burning the flesh to mark ownership, and so did the

Romans—to brand human slaves.

 The tradition of branding livestock in historical England meant that commoners could run their cattle with the Lord of the Manor’s mark upon them. Most European nations followed the practice, including Spain. This tradition spread to Mexico and the United States. A unique brand meant that cattle owned by multiple owners could then graze freely together on open range.

Branding irons are made out of metal and the design is unique to the ranch in which it belongs. They can be heated with fire, electricity or propane. There is also freeze branding, used on the American Mustang, among other things.

Brands are used primarily on cattle, although horses and even hunting dogs carry the scars of the red-hot irons. Other uses are for woodworking, leatherwork and steaks.

Collaboration and a Sale by Paty Jager

© Can Stock Photo Inc. / pzAxe

Several years ago Lauri Robinson sent me an email asking if I'd like to write a book with her. She had an idea of a story that would be half one sister's point of view and half the other sister's. It sounded like a fun project, and we started connecting for live chats and sending emails back and forth giving the sisters a back story and discovering what each one of us would write about for our half of the book.
Here's a bit of our discussion via an online chat:

paty: I would think I get the Oregon sister.

lauri: I'm game for that. I'll take the Colorado gal. What ages do you think would work best. I was thinking old enough to really remember each other, but young enough that they couldn't be on their own. Hence the other families taking them in.

paty: Yeah, I'm thinking 10 and 12 or 11/13 but not much older or the oldest one could have actually been taken as a bride.

lauri: Right, and the gold rush in Co. was from 59-63. Loads of wagon trains flowed in during 61-62. So if we have the girls start looking for each other when they turn 16-18 it would put the stories in the late 70's. Gosh is my math right there?

lauri: Nope early 1870's.

paty: I was thinking maybe have a town somewhere in between where they end up as the place their family was heading and that could be where they meet at the end.

lauri: Oh! I like that--Montana?

lauri: Or when did Las Vegas come about?

paty: That would be out of the way. If you mean Las Vegas NV.

paty: There were gold rushes in Idaho and Montana in the 60's.

lauri: Either one sounds good.

paty: I'll have to look at maps and some history and get back to you on possibilities.

lauri: History on family...they were headed to Montana/Idaho..Why?

lauri: I'll check some history too.

paty: Either to start a business or after gold or ministry.

paty: They could have been headed to the Spaulding Mission in ID.

lauri: Ministry...Preacher's daughters always make good heroines. LOL

paty: Especially if the families they end up with are not as christian as it first seemed.

lauri: Oh, yes!

paty: I've got the info on the Spaulding mission tucked away here somewhere form an earlier book.

I have several pages of our conversations as we worked out all the logistics of the book. Here is a bit more just so you can see how writer's minds work and how we come up with books.

paty: So the adoptive father of Lorabeth would gamble away her locket without her permission and then the winner of the locket would end up in Oregon and Maggie would recognize it.

lauri: Oh, I know, mom's locket with the picture of the two of them in it. Maggie gives it to Lora Beth so she'll always be with her.

paty: I like that!

lauri: Yes, LoraBeth's family isn't very nice. Sad. Good thing they die so she can travel to Montana, or is it Idaho? I don't think I wrote that down. LOL

paty: LOL if we have Maggie backtracking with the gambler to get to Lorabeth and maybe Lorabeth getting someone to help her find the gambler to get the locket back. they would end up somewhere in between???

lauri: Yes, or following each others tracks across the states. Maggie goes to Co, but LoraBeth has already left for Oregon. The each turn around and end up in Lapwai Idaho.

paty: That would be too long of story- the backtracking.

lauri: True...I have to remember the length. But like the locket. LOL.

paty: Yes, I like that too. Just trying to figure out how they get together and keep the story sounding in sequence.

lauri: How about if the man helping LoraBeth is also looking for the gambler. Give him a reason for assisting her.

paty: That would be good. A debt to settle something like that. And what if Maggie become ill half way back to Co., That would stall their progress and when she is recuperating, the next story can take off and the ending is when Lorabeth finds her.

lauri: Yes, I like that. So, I will need to know your gambler's name. And figure out the debt...o

paty: Sheesh! Now you want to know my gambler too... LOL Hmmm, Okay, he looks like Deirks Bentley and his name is....

lauri: Deirks Bentley? You're going to make me go online and find a picture?? Sheesh! Back at you!

paty: LOL he's a country singer and man... he's good looking!!! It will be worth the search!

lauri: OH! GEEZ! Now I know who you mean. I was thinking of some actor named Deirks, or was that Dirk, about the McGiver time...

paty: Ty Bancroft is the gambler.

lauri: Anyway...Time of year...when do they meet so I can back track from there. Oh, I love the name Ty!...writing...

paty: It would need to be spring early summer to get them through mountains in decent weather- though I need to check on the RR in the early 1870's and the steam ships up the Columbia.

lauri: Early summer would work. I think mine are traveling by horse (trains didn't run north of Denver yet)

paty: It would all depend on where I have her ending up in Oregon. I'll have to do some research to get a trip planned out.

lauri: I think my hero is Sampson McDonald. Sounds like a wimp, might even look like one to some, but knows the mountains like the back of his hand. I'll have to search a map to find their way from Denver to Lapwai.

paty: We don't have to have them end up in Lapwai if we are using the locket to bring them together.

paty: I'll find a spot halfway in between.

I won't give you any more of the conversation because 1) it gives things away and 2) as always as we wrote the stories they strayed a bit from our conversations. 

We are both proud of this book and for a limited time have put the book on sale for $.99 so more readers
can enjoy and root for Loralei and Maggie as they journey to find one another.

Blurb For a Sister's Love

Lorelei and Maggie Holmes make a desperate vow to reunite after an Indian raid on their wagon train leaves them orphans. 

Lorelei’s adoptive father gambles away her birth mother’s locket and her only connection to her lost sister. Believing she needs the locket and to find Maggie, she sets out after the gambler and ends up in the company of a citified lawyer searching for the same man.

While cleaning a hotel room, Maggie discovers her mother’s locket in the possession of a gambler. Fear for her sister increases Maggie's determination.  Never one to give up, she dogs the gambler until he agrees to help her find her sister.

Two sisters, two adventures, will they find one another or will the men helping them be their destinies?

Buy Links: 

Amazon / Nook / Apple / Kobo / Windtree Press

Award-winning author Paty Jager and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. She not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it. All Paty’s work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Her penchant for research takes her on side trips that eventually turn into yet another story.

www.patyjager.net

Writing into the Sunset