THE RELIABLE COWBOY - Susan Page Davis - One Free Ebook

Dear Readers, here’s a Christmas story written by a dear friend and one of my favorite authors.

Welcome back, Susan. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

I’m currently working on a new series for Guideposts, the Tearoom Mysteries. I’m writing the first book, and other writers will join me in writing more books in the collection. I also have several more historical novels brewing.

Tell us a little about your family.

I just got the good news of my tenth grandchild’s birth. My husband Jim and I have six adult children. We moved from my native Maine to western Kentucky about five years ago, and we’re now closer to all of them than we were before. Jim is a retired news editor, and he reads all my fiction before it goes out.

Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

I realized a few months ago that I was reading less for pleasure than I used to. I was spending more time at the computer, writing and marketing, and most of the books I read were for research. So I ordered a couple of “fun” books. I loved Van Reid’s Fiddler’s Green, and also a suspense book. I’m now reading a mystery set in Maine.

What are you working on right now?

Today I’m beginning a new western novella. It will be a romantic adventure in the Southwest.

What outside interests do you have?

I enjoy family history, cross stitch, logic puzzles, animals, and cryptography. Right now I’m trying to plan a way to get over to my son’s in S.C. to see my newest grandchild.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

Sometimes they are chosen for me, but usually I get to pick. I like to write about places I know or have at least been to, as I can picture it better. I like to be sure I have the flora and fauna right, and can help the reader feel the genuine atmosphere. I’ve lived in Maine, North Carolina, New York state, Kentucky, and Oregon, and I’ve visited a lot of other places. I’m mulling whether or not I’m ready to write a book set in Kentucky.

If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?

Joshua Chamberlain. He was such a hero. A professor, a general in the Civil War (he served in 20 battles and had six horses shot from under him), governor of Maine for four terms, and he wore many other hats as well.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

There’s not one huge thing that I wish I’d known. I wasn’t ready to know a lot of things then. You have to learn them as you go along in the author’s journey. I suppose it would have been very encouraging to know I would be published. But if we knew things like that beforehand, would we work so hard for the result?

What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

One thing is that I may never know the answers to some questions, but that is all right.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

Study the craft. Read widely. Do get a professional edit.

Tell us about the featured book.

The Reliable Cowboy is a novella, third in the Christmas Mail-Order Angels series. Isabella Johnston lost her husband to the sea, and she wants to get as far from the coast as she can. When she leaves Maine to marry a cowboy in Wyoming Territory, she reasons that Edwin Gray will be safe on the ranch. But every time he is late for an engagement, she finds herself worrying. What could be horrible enough to make him late for their wedding?

Sounds interesting. Please give us the first page of the book.

June, 1877

Merville, Maine

“Maggie! Where are you?”

“Out here.”

     

Isabella Johnston followed her friend’s voice around to the back of the small house the Crain family rented. Maggie struggled with a wet linen sheet, draping it over the clothesline behind the cottage. A sharp wind blew in off the bay. Summer was on its way, but it never put down roots in Merville.

     

“Let me help you. Your hands must be freezing.” Isabella dropped her handbag on the back step and hurried to Maggie’s side.

     

“No sense two of us getting our hands chilled. Go in and fill the teapot. I’ll be along soon.”

     

“Hush!” Isabella grabbed a wet shirt from the wicker basket and pinned it tails up to the line. “Your men certainly make a lot of wash.”

     

Maggie smiled at her putting a husband and boys, aged five and seven, in a pigeon hole marked, her men. “That’s right, they do. I suppose you’re here to tell me all about the Ladies’ Aid meeting I missed.”

     

“Oh, Maggie, you won’t believe it.” Isabella had started to shake out a linen pillowcase, but she stopped and stared at her friend in dismay. “I may have done the most foolish thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

     

Maggie paused with a clothes peg in midair. “What on earth did you do?”

     

Isabella gulped. “Becky Patterson read a letter asking for women to go to Wyoming for brides, and I—I told her I was interested.”

     

“What?” Maggie stared at her. “Brides? For men?”

     

“Of course for men. They have a mining town, it seems, where there aren’t many decent women. But there are some decent men, and they want wives.”

     

“Where did you say this is?”

     

“Wyoming.”

     

For a long moment, silence hung between them as the two young women gazed at each other over the clothesline.

     

At last, Maggie said, “I’m not even sure where that is.”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website: www.susanpagedavis.com

Twitter: @SusanPageDavis

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/susanpagedavisauthor

My newsletter: https://madmimi.com/signups/118177/join

And on the 23rd of every month, I blog at: www.hhhistory.com

Thank you, Susan. This book will interest my readers as well as me.

Readers, here’s a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.

The Reliable Cowboy (Christmas Mail-Order Angels Book 3)

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