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:

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Wrapping it Up (And a Giveaway!)

by Cindy Regnier

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Whether quarantined, sheltering or spending time with family, I do hope you felt the warmth and love of the season. We all know Christmas is not about the gifts, not really, but at the same time we’re pretty much dealing with the aftermath of that today. Maybe it's in a bag near your tree, maybe it’s sitting out on your curb waiting for a trash man or maybe you’re one of the ones who fold it all up carefully and re-use it. By now you know we’re talking about “wrapping paper.” Just where did this thing start and how come we do it? It seems expensive, wasteful, and a lot of work besides. Still, there’s something about a big red bow, right?

Let me preface this by saying I can’t verify the validity of this story but I did find it in more than one source. Plus, it’s fun so I’m going with it. Read along and be entertained. Obviously, it’s much more fun for the giftee to unwrap a gift and be surprised than to just hand them something. Wrapping gifts is too old a tradition to trace. It was done in ancient times with cloths, 

 

 

 

 

in the Victorian era with decorated paper,

 

 

 

 

 

 

and by stores using brown or manila paper wrappings for their wares.

Most popular during the early 1900s was the use of tissue paper, which was fairly inexpensive to make and buy. 

 

 

 

In 1917, as the story goes, two brothers in Kansas City who ran a stationery store were having such a good year that they depleted their supply of tissue paper. Faced with the dilemma of what to do and not wanting to jeopardize the wonderful year they were having, one of them found some fancy paper in a back room they had ordered from France a few years ago meant for lining envelopes. (Yes, lining envelopes was a thing back then.) At any rate the lining paper had never sold well so they had it packed away.  One of the enterprising brothers brought out the lining paper, marked it at 10 cents per sheet and encouraged customers to use it for wrapping gifts. How pretty would that look under a tree? It sold out instantly with people clamoring for more.

These two brothers were no dummies, so for the holiday season of 1918, they tried it again, offering lining paper as gift wrap. It was a huge hit, even more so than the year before. By 1919 they knew they were onto something so the two brothers began producing and selling their own printed paper. It was designed and decorated for the sole purpose of covering gifts from peering eyes until the big day arrived. With the continued success of the brothers’ idea, an industry was born that is still going full force today. You may have heard of these famous brothers. Their names were Joyce and Rollie Hall, later joined by another brother, William.  

Their store was named Hallmark.

Fun story, huh? And with that I’d like to leave you with this thought. We sing about the 12 days of Christmas every year, but after December 25 we’re pretty much done. It is my hope that you will begin thinking of December 26 as the 13th day of Christmas and that it may just be the most important day of all. The way we live on December 26 sets the tone for how we will live out the rest of the year. In the words of Dickens: “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.


I’m giving away a paperback copy of Mail-Order Refuge to one lucky winner, your choice of Kindle or paperback. Just leave a comment with your email address. I’ll contact you if you win.

Rand Stafford isn't looking for true love. He'd ridden that trail until his fiancée left him with a shattered heart. What he needs now is a wife to help him care for his orphan nieces. Desperate, he sends an advertisement to a Baltimore newspaper and hopes for the best.

Fleeing her former employer who would use her to further his unlawful acts, a newspaper advertisement reads like the perfect refuge to Carly Blair. The idea of escaping the city, the intrigue, and the danger to hide herself on a cattle ranch in Kansas is her best shot for freedom.

But its sanctuary comes with a price—a husband. While marrying a man she doesn't know or love means sacrificing her dreams, it's better than being caught by the law.

Or is it?

The Origins of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

 

 

We’ve all heard the oft-played Christmas ballad about Rudolph, the poor, bullied reindeer who became a hero when Santa gave him the opportunity to lead his sleigh and save Christmas on that fateful, foggy Christmas Eve. But you may not know where the character or story came from.

An old Montgomery Ward catalogue

 

In 1939, the country was emerging from the Great Depression. Thirty-five-year-old Robert L. May was employed as a copywriter and ad man for the Montgomery Ward department store. He was known as a storyteller and often entertained his coworkers with limericks. Because of these qualities, his boss asked him to write a Christmas story to give away as part of the annual Christmas promotion. May thought a while and decided to model his story after The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson, as well as his own history of being a gawky, maligned child. So Rudolph was born. End of story, right?

 

No. Bob May’s boss wasn’t sold on the idea, largely because having a red nose was often associated with drunkenness, and he didn’t think that would be appropriate for the Christmas promotion. According to an interview May gave in the 1970s, the man asked May if he couldn’t come up with anything better. May knew Rudolph was a winner, so he went to the artists in the Montgomery Ward art department for help. They drew up sketches and put together a package that eventually sold the boss on the idea. That year, they distributed over two million copies of the promotional story.

May's original cover

 

Okay, so that must be the end of the story, with May having become rich and famous…but no. In fact, May fell on hard times after writing Rudolph. His wife had developed and died from cancer in 1939, during the time May was writing Rudolph’s story. That medical crisis left May a single father deep in debt from his wife’s health expenses. Worse, when Bob May wrote Rudolph’s story, it was Montgomery Ward that benefited from the fame of the red-nosed deer. The  department store, not May, owned the rights and earned the notoriety and money from its distribution.

 

Drowning in his debt, May approached the store’s CEO in 1946 to ask if they might be able to help him by allowing him even a small portion of the proceeds they earned from May’s Christmas story. In a move not often seen in modern corporations, the rights to Rudolph were reverted to May. He became the sole owner of the story and could do with it as he pleased. The same year, a publisher agreed to reprint and updated version of the story, and it became a best-seller.

Robert L May, author of
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

 

May’s sister was married to up-and-coming song-writer Johnny Marks. Johnny set Rudolph to music in 1946, and in 1951, singer Gene Autry recorded the now-famous version. At this point, Rudolph really took off. May quit his job with Montgomery Ward and spent the next seven years stewarding the new-found fame and fortune that came from his beloved Christmas tale. But in 1958, feeling that the Rudolph empire and legacy was in a good place, May returned to Montgomery Wards, where he worked until 1971. 

 

Bob May also wrote two sequels to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, as well as four other children’s books before his death in 1976. I do believe, just like his famous reindeer, Mr. Bob May—once a gangly, disliked schoolboy—found his place of love and acceptance in the world through his most famous story.

 

From us all at Heroes, Heroines, and History—Merry Christmas everyone!

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has finaled and won in numerous writing competitions, and been on the ECPA best-seller list several times. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers, Women Writing the West, and is a lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, college-aged son, and four fur children.

A Chrismas Like No Other

It has been a hard year for all of us, and this holiday season will be like no other. Restrictions may mean less people at your Christmas table, and less hugs all around, but the day can still be special. 

That’s because restrictions can only go so far. No one can restrict our ability to spread love, laughter, and kindness. No restriction can limit how much faith, hope and gratitude fill our hearts. Nor can any restriction stop our ability to create new traditions and make new memories. 

Thanks to the miracle of technology, restrictions also can’t keep us from reaching out to each and, for that, I’m especially grateful. It allows me to tell you how much we appreciate your staying with Heroes, Heroines and History during this difficult time. Your continued support has truly been a blessing.  Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year.  

 

 Amazon

Traditions: The CHRISTMAS STOCKING

 By Mary Davis

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have my Christmas stocking. My Great-Grandma Zola (GG, on my mom’s side), crocheted it for me before I can remember. I always had this stocking growing up.

 

My Christmas Stocking!

 
Each year, my mom—er—I mean Santa—filled it with the same kinds of things.
~A candy cane of some sort stuck out of the top—some times a regular one, some times one of those big, thick, straight ones that were about a foot long and as big around as a closet rod or one of those plastic tube canes filled with another kind of candy like M&Ms.
~Other candy—often Almond Roca. Mmmm!
~A small gift or two.
~A variety of shell-dwelling nuts.
~And deep down in the toe an orange! Always an orange.

 

It wouldn’t be Christmas without the orange in the stocking.

My siblings and I immediately dumped the nuts back into the nut bowl on the table and unwrapped the gifts while eating the candy.

But where did this tradition of Christmas stockings come from?

I found two different origins of this tradition.

The first is probably the most well known as being associated with Saint Nicholas. Nicolas was a nobleman born March 15, 270 AD and died December 6, 343 AD. He became a Christian bishop in Myra in ancient Greece. He used his wealth to help the poor. He heard about a merchant who had lost his fortune. He had three daughters, and because he had no money for dowries for them, they wouldn’t be able to marry and would likely have to become prostitutes. Wanting to help, Nicholas went under the cover of night and threw three bags of gold in through the window, one for each daughter as a dowry. Legend says one or more of them landed in one of the girls’ stocking.

Another source is a Dutch legend. A Netherlands folklore tells of a man called Sinterklaas and his assistant Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) who would annually dock in different towns. After disembarking, they traveled around on a white steed and a mule. Children impatiently waited for them and would put hay and carrots in their wooden shoes for the animals. Sinterklaas, Zwarte Piete, the horse, and the mule would enjoy the treats. Sinterklaas would reward the children’s kindness and devotion by leaving small gifts, like candy, miniature toys, ornaments, and nuts in shells. When Dutch immigrants settled in America, they shared this tradition with their neighbors. Sinterklaas eventually became Santa Claus, and stockings replaced the wooden shoes.

 

My guess is that our current tradition is a morph and evolution of these two.

Does your family do stockings?

Merry Christmas!

 

THIMBLES AND THREADS: 4 Love Stories Are Quilted Into Broken Lives

Love Stitched into Four Women’s Lives

Enjoy four historical romances that celebrate the arts of sewing and quilting. When four women put needle and thread to fabric, will their talents lead to love? #thimblesandthreadscollection
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“Bygones” by Mary Davis (1st Place 2020 Selah Awards winner)
Texas, 1884
Drawn to the new orphan boy in town, Tilly Rockford soon became the unfortunate victim of a lot of Orion Dunbar’s mischievous deeds in school. Can Tilly figure out how to truly forgive the one who made her childhood unbearable? Now she doesn’t even know she holds his heart. Can this deviant orphan-train boy turned man make up for the misdeeds of his youth and win Tilly’s heart before another man steals her away?

Other stories in this collection:
“The Bridal Shop” by Grace Hitchcock,

“Mending Sarah’s Heart” by Suzanne Norquist,

and “Binding Up Wounds” by Liz Tolsma

MARY DAVIS s a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her 2018 titles include; “Holly and Ivy” in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, Courting Her Amish Heart, The Widow’s Plight, Courting Her Secret Heart , “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , and Courting Her Prodigal Heart . 2019 titles include The Daughter's Predicament and “Bygones” in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-five years and two cats. She has three adult children and two incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:

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Spotlight: Nancy J. Farrier

Nancy J. Farrier here with a look into my writing life and what led me to become an author. Thank you so much for joining me.

 

I grew up on a small farm in Indiana. There was a lot of hard work involved but also so much fun. I loved hiding in the top of the pine trees and reading a book, or playing with my sister and cousins making up fantastical stories. One of my favorite games involved using our pony to gallop from one hillock in a field to another as we rescued each other from the red-tipped wolves that were attacking. We all had fun but the poor pony may not have enjoyed the game as much. Nah, he loved running.

 

School was not my favorite place to be. I had trouble focusing on study because there were so many good books to read, or story ideas flitting through my head, and they were way more interesting than my dry texts. I often got in trouble for hiding a reading book behind the open pages of my history textbook. I have no idea how the teacher knew—maybe the fact that for once I was intently studying the history book, or the fact that I never turned a page. <smile> 

 

Who knew I would grow up to love history so much. Several of my books are historical. My book, The Richest Knight, was inspired by my aunt’s love of the Grand Canyon and how she shared her enthusiasm with me. She retired from her job and went to work at the Canyon. I would visit her and loved the magnificent El Tovar hotel, which became a focal point of my story. Researching the history of the Harvey girls and the Canyon proved to be time well spent.

 

Daydreaming is one of my superpowers. I daydreamed my way 

through school and through life. Many of my story ideas come from those daydreams. Bandolero is one of those stories. I remember seeing the scene of Yoana being captured by Bandoleros. That kidnap scene evolved over the years until finally I had to tell her story. Bandolero, and the Land of Promise series, remain one of my favorites. 

 

I moved from Indiana to Arizona. I love the mountains, the desert, and the rich history of this land and people. My daughters were attending a small church school and we went on a field trip 

to an ostrich farm a few miles away. I was so fascinated with the place that I made an appointment to go back and talk with the owner on my own. I used much of her information and some of her true stories to write my book, An Ostrich a Day, which became a contemporary series featured in the Arizona Brides collection. This book and the series that followed are out of print and will be released later this year under my imprint.

 

My husband and I both come from large families, so we have family members all over. When we visited my husband’s brother and his wife in California another idea struck. They have this beautiful quilt shop nestled in a small shopping center. A story bit came to me of a woman standing across from that shop. I could feel her hurt and defeat. As the idea developed, she became Asia from my contemporary book, Matching Points, which released September 2020. 

 

I never know when a viable story idea will come but I am always ready to listen to inspiration. I do a lot of walking, listening to audiobooks, or just praying and talking with God. New story possibilities flit through my head all the time and some of them settle and develop into books. 

 

Sharing stories with my readers is a passion and a calling. I want to encourage people in their faith because we all have times when we struggle. I love connecting with my readers. If you haven’t done so, be sure to visit my website and sign up for my newsletter to keep in touch with me and hear about new books coming out. You can also follow me on Bookbub to get a notice of a sale or new release.

 

Thank you for stopping by and letting me share a bit of me with you. I’d love to hear something about what you do and what you love to read. I will choose one person to receive a copy of their choice of one of my books. Be blessed.

Website: https://nancyjfarrier.com

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Family Traditions - Winter Wonderland Christmas, Dayton, Ohio – The history behind the Rikes Window Displays

By Molly Jebber, Author of Amish Historical Romance

 

My favorite part of Christmas is celebrating Jesus Christ’s birth. Mom would always make a Happy Birthday cake in celebration of Jesus Christ’s birthday in the shape of a cross, and then, Dad would read the Christmas story out of the Bible. Then we’d pray for all the things we were thankful for the past year. And now, we carry through with making Jesus Christ the reason for the season. Here’s my nativity scene, and the choir figurines are from 1951 and passed onto me from Mom.

Also, as a little girl, I loved when my parents would take my brother and I downtown Dayton at Rikes Department Store to see the moving Christmas characters and scenes. They were big window displays and Christmas carolers would sing. All the scenes were of children around the Christmas tree, getting out of bunkbeds to open their presents, animals chasing each other in the snow and more. They sold hot chocolate, and it was something many families looked forward to each year.

The display was originally sent to Dayton, Ohio from New York in 1943. They first appeared in NCR’S (National Cash Register Corporation) windows.

In 1945, Frederick Rike, owner of Rikes Department Store, was given permission to move the displays to his downtown Dayton store location on Main and Second Streets.

   

                                   

 Eventually, Rikes closed and the window displays were put in storage. In 2019, Adam Koch, offered his services to revamp and update the window displays. He, along with friends, salvaged enough of the original work for four themes, “Woodland Forest”, “Snow Day”, “Christmastime” and “Silent Night”.

    

  

They are brought out and open to the public in glass enclosed boxes on top of beautiful wooden carts inside the Schuster Center, a fairly new and beautiful entertainment and arts building featuring many Broadway plays, concerts, and other events. The first time Ed and I saw the displays again, my childhood memories of my parents and brother having such an enjoyable day each year seeing the windows all came rushing back. This year, due to COVID, they weren’t open to the public. But I’m looking forward to next year! Is there a tradition or place you liked to visit during the Christmas season from childhood or before COVID? I’d love to hear about it. Please comment below. I’ll be choosing a winner for a $10 Amazon card from the ones who leave comments below! I'll contact the winner, and then announce the winner in January's post!

Have a wonderful holiday season!

   Releases January 26, 2021 wherever books are sold.  http://www.mollyjebber.com