Donna Schlachter -- Author Spotlight -- And Newest Release

 

Along the Oregon Trail

It’s 1879, and the Oregon Trail is still ferrying emigrants west to California, Oregon, and Washington. Hundreds of covered wagon trains with thousands of people every year, all searching for something better than they left behind.

Kate Benton has run just about as far as she can. After escaping the sordid life of a saloon prostitute the year before, she hid out in a wagon belonging to the younger brother of the Lame Johnny stagecoach robbing gang. All she wants is a fresh start.

 

Tom McBride, said younger brother, is running from his past, too. Forced to work for Lame Johnny to save his brother’s life, he’s on the run from the gang, the law – and God.

In the first book, Kate, their tale of adventure and love is filled with secrets, threats, and narrow escapes as they head for Oregon City. 

Oregon City, Oregon 1870s

 

Now, Kate and Tom have safely put their past behind them. Or have they? Kate realizes her dream of working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and her first assignment is to find a local missing woman. When she begins investigating, however, she is threatened and their house is set ablaze. But that won’t stop her.

Until her son is kidnapped.

Old revolver like the type Kate might have carried

 

Tom and Kate must work together to solve this case and find their child. In the process, they discover a God who loves them even more than they love each other and their little family.

The idea for this book came from a book I read about Kate Warne, the first Pink Lady detective.  As a young widow in the 1850s, Kate marched into the Pinkterton office and said she wanted a job. Alan Pinkerton thought she meant a clerical job, but no. Kate wanted to be a detective. And she turned out to be one of his best “men”, paving the way for many more female detectives in the coming years.

Kate Warne was a feisty woman with definite ideas of how she wanted her life to go, and so is Kate. While Kate Warne never remarried, I wanted my Kate to balance family and a professional career, a relatively new concept in the 1870s.

Watch for more books featuring Kate and Tom in the future, but for now, check out A Pink Lady Thanksgiving and my other books at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=donna+schlachter&ref=nb_sb_noss

 

 

Excerpt:

Sitting on the front porch of her rented house, Kate McBride propped aching feet on the footstool her darling husband crafted especially for her. At almost seven months into her pregnancy, she tired quickly, finding she needed to stop and rest more often throughout the day.

She sighed and rubbed at the small of her back. Her first baby. An exciting time, to be sure. But also one with its challenges. Thankfully, living in town meant she needn’t spend as much time tending a garden, pumping water, and hauling firewood compared to residing on a farm or ranch outside town.

Not that Tom would let her do those chores anyway.

No, siree. He hovered more than a mother hen over her chicks.

To watch him, a body would think she was the first woman in history to have a baby.

A baby.

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, rocking in the chair he’d also made. She had no right to complain. He was the perfect husband. Loving, caring, tender, patient. Taught her everything she knew about cooking. Which wasn’t much. A year into married life, she managed not to burn their food more than once a week. A marked improvement over her days on the trail.

She smiled and opened her eyes. Their old wagon rested in front of their house on a side street in Oregon City, Oregon. Across the way, one of the Daley children chased down a chicken, almost catching it before the old biddy escaped by fluttering over the fence.

She rubbed her swollen belly, massaging a tiny heel or fist until the baby eased back into a more comfortable position—at least for her. Their son or daughter was an active one, kicking and jumping now for months. She sang to him. She hoped it was a boy for Tom’s sake although he said he had no intention of stopping with one so its gender mattered little to him. Her mama would be tickled pink to welcome this little one.

As usual, when thinking of the woman, her eyes watered. Mama would love to see this little one. Maybe a girl they could name Elsie Something—what was Tom’s mother’s name? She’d have to ask him.

Her feet and back weren’t ready to get back to laundry—maybe she should reconsider Tom’s offer of taking the dirty clothes to the Chinese laundry down on the main street. She’d choose to indulge them for a few more minutes. She picked up the copy of The Saturday Evening Post and skimmed through the pages.

Near the back, her eyes roved the small typeset. Personal ads, missing persons. . . wait, what was that? A correspondence course. Become a private detective. Set your own hours. Be your own boss. Hmm. Interesting concept.

Her mind cast back to the year before when she’d teasingly—but perhaps more in seriousness than she first thought—told Tom of her idea of becoming a Pink Lady. Pinkerton’s Detective Agency, renowned for hiring women agents, needed her nose for solving mysteries and averting crime.

She read through to the end of the advertisement. Two dollars for the correspondence course. She could manage that from her pin money, saved from selling eggs and frugal spending habits. Work at her own speed. She could complete it before the baby’s birth. Then, once back on her feet, Pinkerton’s would be sure to hire her immediately.

She tore out the notice and entered the house for a pen, envelope, and the money. As she completed the information required, her stomach fluttered at the thought of learning something new. Of taking a role in improving their situation. Of solving mysteries. Averting crime.

Yes, indeed. She’d be the Kate Warne of the West.

Wouldn’t Tom be surprised when she told him?

 

 

About Donna:

Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and they have been published more than 30 times in novellas, full-length novels, devotional books, and books on the writing craft. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, Pikes Peak Writers, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.

 

 Where to find me online:

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Stay connected so you learn about new releases, preorders, and presales, as well as check out featured authors, book reviews, and a little corner of peace. Plus: Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com

Bonanza Books-in-a-Flash: order autographed print copies of books that are shipped directly from the author. Perfect for times when other online order services are slow.

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter

Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm

What Can Be Online University: online courses on the craft of writing: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/

Etsy online shop of original artwork, book folding art, and gift items : https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dare2DreamUS?ref=search_shop_redirect

 

Sherlock Holmes Brought to Life -- By Donna Schlachter

Sherlock Holmes statue

There are some characters in literature that we tend to think of as real people—Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Mr. Darcy, Frankenstein, Dracula, to name a few. But perhaps one of the most loved yet deeply flawed characters in all history would be Sherlock Holmes. Movies are still being made featuring him today. And not simply remakes of original stories—there are new stories being written, new adventures, even revisionist versions where, for example, Dr. Watson is really the brain behind a blundering and incompetent Holmes.

So why would we still enjoy a character written more than a hundred years ago? One portrayed by a number of actors over the years, yet each of us has that one talent we think is the epitome of the character. For me, Jeremy Brett holds that honor.

The character’s observational and deductive skills are legendary, and yet he seems always to be racing headlong into self-destruction with his dark side that neglects his physical body when he’s on a case, or indulges his addictive personality when he isn’t. Not to mention his failure to understand why his playing of the violin until all hours annoys Watson and his landlady. Or what about the dysfunctional relationship with his brother Mycroft? Or his fixation on Moriarty, whom we are never really positive exists in the real world of the story.

Sherlock Holmes museum in London, England

Perhaps it is the unique combination of skills, strengths, flaws, wounds, wrapped in a package that each of us can identify with. An odd child, perhaps, who never quite fit in, because he was too analytical for his friends, always second to his brilliant brother, believing lies that he wasn’t quite good enough, wounded to the core by the one love of his life who left him, seeking solace in the clouds of opium addiction. Which of us hasn’t experienced some of that to one degree or another?

Sherlock Holmes, no matter how low he sinks, finds strength to rise above the situation and go on to solve yet another mystery.

We can find in this character the answer to our own present-day dilemmas and problems: rise above the situation and go on. Whether we find the strength in our faith, in our friends and family, or in the needs of another, we, too, can carry on.

Here’s some interesting trivia about the character:

· Queen Victoria had a soft spot for Sherlock.
· Moriarty and Sherlock might have had a history.
· There are Hundreds of Societies Worldwide Dedicated To His Life
· Sherlock Holmes Didn’t Wear a Deerstalker
· Sherlock Holmes is the most popular film character
· Sherlock never says ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’

If you’re a Sherlock Holmes fan, following are several interesting sites I found:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/chelseypippin/things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-sherlock-holmes

https://www.rankred.com/interesting-facts-about-sherlock-holmes/

https://www.yours.co.uk/leisure/celebrity-tv/15-facts-about-sherlock-holmes/



About Donna:

Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, Pikes Peak Writers, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.


www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Stay connected so you learn about new releases, preorders, and presales, as well as check out featured authors, book reviews, and a little corner of peace. Plus: Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com

Bonanza Books-in-a-Flash: order autographed print copies of books that are shipped directly from the author. Perfect for times when other online order services are slow.

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter

Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm

What Can Be Online University: online courses on the craft of writing: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/

Etsy online shop of original artwork, book folding art, and gift items : https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dare2DreamUS?ref=search_shop_redirect

A Hero for all Time – Hercule Poirot (with Giveaway) By Donna Schlachter

Hercule Poirot (David Suchet)

If somebody asked you to name your favorite television hero, who would that be? Depending on your age, you might choose Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Tarzan, Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman. Perhaps one of the Ninja Teenage Mutant Turtles would come to mind, or an Incredible.

For me, my all-time hero would be none other than Hercule Poirot. A persnickety retired Belgian detective who appeared in 35 books by the late Dame Agatha Christie, M. Poirot solved his cases using his brain and not his brawn.

Perhaps one of the most interesting facts about M. Poirot, who loomed large on the screen as well as the page, is that he was but 5 foot, 4 inches tall. Perhaps his balding, egg-shaped head gave him the appearance of more stature. Or maybe it was his huge ego. He never accepted that a mystery would go unsolved, a criminal never brought to justice, on his watch.

His sense of justice was such that he wouldn’t give up. Not even to his dying breath, where, once again, he set the world right, ensuring the murderer paid for his crimes, even if nobody else knew.

 
As with all heroes, his sidekick, Hastings, was a true and loyal friend. In fact, were it not for Captain Hastings, we may never have been introduced to Poirot. For indeed, as with Doctor Watson and Sherlock Holmes, it was Hastings’ writing of Poirot’s cases that put the little man first page in the news and in the hearts of London of the 1920’s through 1975.

Over the years, several actors played the part of Poirot in television and movies. Austin Trevor was the first to bring the detective to theaters in 1931, with David Suchet playing him both on public television and in movies. In fact, Suchet was such a talented actor, he portrayed the great sleuth in 70 stories, double the number of books Dame Christie wrote. 

Humility was never one of Poirot’s characteristics, and he often claimed to be the greatest detective in the world. Prior to arriving on the shores of England as a refugee after World War 1. In some places, he is referred to as having retired from police work, but in others, only that he fled Belgium and landed in England, alone and knowing nobody.

In Dame Agatha’s autobiography, she described the creation of Poirot as happening during a time when, in 1914, she worked at a Red Cross Hospital in Torquay. Beginning as a nurse, she later moved to the dispensary, where began her interest in poisons. Her sister Madge had challenged her to write her own detective stories, and so Agatha thought about that while surrounded with drugs and compounds that could kill. She said, “Since I was surrounded by poison, perhaps it was natural that death by poisoning should be the method I selected.”

Dame Agatha’s writing process began with the crime, then extended to the procedure, leaving room for a twist that readers could detect and perhaps solve. In August 1914, a colony of Belgian refugees lived near her, and she thought, “Why not make my detective a Belgian? There were all types of refugees. How about a refugee police officer? A retired police officer.”

She wanted her detective to be as unlike her as possible, which meant he was a tidy little man, since Christie was the opposite. His moustache came next, along with his immaculate and almost compulsive grooming habits and dress code. In fact, Hastings commented, “I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain that a bullet wound.” Since she considered herself to be less than intelligent, he would be brilliant. A big man needed a big name, so Hercules was the first. Then came Poirot. However, not liking the sound of that, she dropped the S and Hercule Poirot was born in The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

For the initial book, Dame Agatha had the beginning and the end, and worked hard at filling in the middle. However, realizing she had an over-complicated set of plot lines going, she wisely rewrote the entire middle.

She sent the book to a publisher, who promptly returned it. But she wouldn’t let that stop her, so she sent it to another company, and Poirot was finally introduced to the world in 1921, four years after it was written. 


Her final book about the great detective, Curtain, was written in the 1940s, but didn't appear in print until 1975.


Leave a comment, and I will randomly draw for a print copy (US only) of another favorite author of mine, Patricia Moyes, in her novel from the 1960s Down Among the Dead Men.


About Donna:

Donna writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of ACFW, Writers on the Rock, SinC, Pikes Peak Writers, and CAN; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests.

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter

Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm

What Can Be Online University: online courses on the craft of writing: https://what-can-be-online-institute.teachable.com/

Etsy online shop of original artwork, book folding art, and gift items : https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dare2DreamUS?ref=search_shop_redirect


Resources:

https://poirotchronology.blogspot.com/p/hercule-poirot-timeline.html

https://www.agathachristie.com/characters/hercule-poirot

THE FIRST PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS

                

Hi Anne Greene here. This month I’m exploring information about the first Private Investigation Company, the Pinkertons.

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency began long before there was a Federal Bureau of Investigation. Founded in the early 1850s by Scottish immigrant Allan Pinkerton, the Pinkertons were America’s first private police force. They gained prominence by hunting down Old West outlaws and train robbers. But they also worked as presidential security, intelligence operatives, and as management muscle during labor strikes. They ushered in the modern era of law enforcement.

Alan Pinkerton became a detective by accident.

In 1842, Allan Pinkerton immigrated to the Chicago area and opened a cooperage, or barrel-making business. His detective career began just five years later, when he stumbled upon a band of counterfeiters while scrounging for lumber on an island in the Fox River. The Scotsman conducted informal surveillance on the gang, and was hailed as a local hero after he helped police make arrests. “The affair was in everybody’s mouth,” he later wrote, “and I suddenly found myself called upon from every quarter to undertake matters requiring detective skill.” Pinkerton soon won a gig as a small town sheriff. He went on to work as Chicago’s first police detective and as an agent for the U.S. Post Office. Around 1850, he opened the private investigation firm that became the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.

The Pinkertons inspired the term private eye.

The Pinkerton agency first made its name in the late-1850s for hunting outlaws and providing private security for railroads. As the company’s profile grew, its logo—a large, unblinking eye accompanied by the slogan “We Never Sleep” started the nickname private eye for detectives.

Shortly before Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration in March 1861, Allan Pinkerton traveled to Baltimore. The detective was investigating rumors that Southern sympathizers might sabotage the rail lines to Washington, D.C. While gathering undercover intelligence, he learned that a secret group planned to assassinate Lincoln, as he switched trains in Baltimore on his way to the capital.

Pinkerton informed the president-elect of the alleged plot. With the help of several other agents, Pinkerton arranged for Lincoln to secretly board an overnight train and pass through Baltimore several hours ahead of his published schedule. Pinkerton operatives cut telegraph lines so the conspirators couldn’t communicate with one another. The president-elect arrived safely in Washington the next morning, but his decision to skirt through Baltimore saw him labeled a coward in the press. None of the would-be assassins was arrested, leading some historians to wonder if the threat had been exaggerated by Pinkerton.

Allan Pinkerton was a Union man and during the Civil War organized a secret intelligence service for General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. Pinkerton set up spy rings behind enemy lines and infiltrated southern sympathizer groups in the North. His agents interview escaped slaves to glean information about the Confederacy. Pinkerton’s group produced reams of intelligence, but not all of it proved accurate. During the1862 Peninsula Campaign Pinkerton reported that the Confederate forces around Richmond were more than twice their actual size. McClellan believed the faulty intel, and despite outnumbering the rebels by a large margin, he delayed his advance and made repeated calls for reinforcements.

During the era of frontier expansion, express companies and railroads employed the Pinkertons as Wild West bounty hunters. The agency infiltrated the Reno gang—perpetrators of the nation’s first train robbery—and chased Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch. The Pinkertons usually got their man, but in the 1870s, they spent months hunting for bank robbers Jesse and Frank James. One of Pinkerton’s agents was murdered trying to infiltrate the James gang, and two more died in a shootout.

The hunt came to a bloody end in 1875, when the Pinkertons launched a raid on the James brothers’ mother’s house in Clay County, Missouri. Frank and Jesse were gone,  tipped off, but the Pinkertons got into an argument with their mother, Zerelda Samuel. During the standoff, one of the detectives’ posse tossed an incendiary device through Samuel’s window. The bomb blew part of Zerelda’s arm off and killed the James brothers’ 8-year-old half-brother. The botched raid turned public opinion against the Pinkertons. After seeing his detectives denounced as murderers in the papers, Allan Pinkerton ended his war against the James gang.

But the Pinkertons revolutionized law enforcement with their Rogues’ Gallery, a collection of mug shots and case histories that the agency used to research and keep track of wanted men. Along with noting suspects’ distinguishing marks and scars, agents collected newspaper clippings and generated rap sheets of each wanted man’s previous arrests, known associates and areas of expertise. Not until the 20^th century was a more sophisticated criminal library assembled with the birth of the FBI.

After Allan Pinkerton died in 1884, his two sons, Robert and William took control of his agency. The company continued to grow under their watch, and by the 1890s, it boasted 2,000 detectives and 30,000 reserves—more men than the standing army of the United States.

The agency still exists today.

Have you ever wanted to become a lady detective? Do you know any detectives? Who is your favorite detective writer?

LEAVE A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A COPY OF THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH ROMANCES. Anne’s story is The Marriage Broker and The Mortician.

Not everything that glitters is gold in California gold rush country. The Marriage Broker has a passion for helping others find the love of their life, but she has no desire to prospect that mine herself. Can a wealthy Mortician surrender his livelihood to win the spunky Marriage Broker who has no desire to lose her freedom?                 

Eve, a spunky Irish orphan takes on the responsibility for six 18-year-old orphan girls sent to live on their own. She procures husbands for them from the gold mine country of California. Visionary thinker and Mortuary owner Rafe Riley needs a wife for his showy home in Eureka, California, and to console his grieving clients. When Eureka’s mayor campaigns to win Eve for his wife, Rafe ramps up his own efforts to win Eve. Will he give up the mortuary business and gold prospecting to win her hand?

ANNE GREENE delights in writing about alpha heroes who aren’t afraid to fall on their knees in prayer, and about gutsy heroines. Her three novellas, A Groom For Christmas, A Christmas Belle, and The Marriage Broker and The Mortician, recently released. Her Women of Courage Series spotlights heroic women of World War II, with the first book Angel With Steel Wings available. Enjoy her private investigating series, Handcuffed In Texas by reading the first book, Holly Garden, PI, Red is for Rookie. Try her award-winning Scottish historical romances, Masquerade Marriage and Marriage By Arrangement. Visit Anne at AnneGreeneAuthor.com. Anne makes her home in McKinney with her own hero husband, Army Colonel Larry Greene. They have four grown children and eight grand-children. Buy her books at The California Gold Rush Romance Collection: 9 Stories of Finding Treasures Worth More than Gold