Michelle Ule's Blog, page 91
August 28, 2013
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas: Vickie McDonough
Vickie McDonough
Vickie McDonough is the author of 28 novels and novellas, including the Texas Trails: Morgan Family, Texas Boardinghouse Brides and A Pioneer Christmas.
What made you write about your time period?
I love historical novels and I chose 1889 because it was the year of the first Oklahoma land run. I wanted my story to take place during the winter after my hero won land in the land run, and that’s the setting for my story, Buckskin Bride.
When you dreamed up your story idea, what came first, the time period, the story, the location?
I was born and raised in Oklahoma, and have traveled much of the state. I wanted to set my story in the Oklahoma Territory.
What was the “germ” of your story idea and how did you flesh it out?
Actually, it was a tipi (teepee). One of the criteria for this novella collection was that your hero or heroine needed to live in an unusual type of home. I decided on a tipi and made up a story to fit with that. Click to Tweet
Would you like to have been there?
I think it would have been exciting to have ridden in one of the land runs, just like Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman did in the movie, Far and Away. There was so much anticipation and expectations for the families hoping to win free land. Many did, but thousands of people did not get land. I have friends who have family still living on the land their ancestors won in the land rush.
What aspects of your characters are reflected in your character?
My heroine, Maddie, has dressed in buckskins most of her life. She’s comfortable in them, and it makes riding horses, hunting, and doing chores easier. She has no desire to wear dresses—and neither do I, although I don’t wear buckskins. I only own two–and one is the dress I wore in my son’s wedding, thirteen years ago!
What surprised you the most about your story?
That my heroine finally dons a dress. I had my doubts she actually would! Click to Tweet
Were any of your ancestors pioneers?
My dad’s parents were born in 1874 & 1876. I’ve never been able to verify it, but my dad told me that my grandma rode in one of the Oklahoma land rushes with her parents. My grandparents left the Pennsylvania Dutch country and traveled to El Dorado, Kansas, where my dad—the youngest of their ten children—was born. Then my grandpa got a job with an oil company, and they moved the family to Oklahoma. I still have family in Pennsylvania.
Would you have made a good pioneer? 
In some ways– I love horses and have always been a tomboy and even dreamed of growing up and marrying a rancher. But, I love my modern conveniences like my laptop, air conditioning, kitchen appliances, and indoor plumbing and would hate to leave them all behind.
How is Christmas celebrated in your family and what effect did it have on your writing this story?
Even though our boys are all grown now, we still put up a tree and have lights and decorations all over the living room. I hang stockings on the mantel but we no longer fill them since our sons are grown. We eat cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning, then open presents, and later, have a big dinner mid-afternoon with the whole family.
Christmas has been even more fun the past seven years since my granddaughter was born. I don’t know that my personal Christmas celebrations had any bearing on my story, except that the families in my novella gather together for Christmas dinner.
What spiritual themes did you incorporate into your story?
Trusting God when times are hard is a common theme I write about and one I used for Buckskin Bride.
For more information about Vickie and her books, visit her website: www.vickiemcdonough.com.
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas
Monday, August 19
12 Days of Christmas Introduction
Tuesday, August 20
Cynthia Hickey on cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 21
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Thursday, August 22
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Friday, August 23
Marcia Gruver on Yielded Quill
Saturday, August 24
Shannon McNear on www.shannonmcnear.com
Monday, August 26
Lauraine Snelling on michelleule.com
Tuesday, August 27
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Wednesday, August 28
Vickie McDonough on www.shannonmcnear.com
Thursday, August 29
Anna Urquhart on The Silent Isle
Friday, August 30
Michelle Ule on Colonial Quills
Saturday, August 31
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Sunday, September 1
A Pioneer Christmas Collection Release!!
August 27, 2013
12 Days of Pioneer Christmas: Uncommon Romance
A Pioneer Christmas is the third inspirational romance collection for which I’ve written a story. As is my custom, I’ve read the stories written by my co-writers to get a feel for the book. This beautiful fat book with nine tales feels just a little different from your average Christmas romance novella.
The romance genre has specific elements that make it a romance: the point of view alternates between the hero and the heroine; the couple traditionally meet in the first chapter and don’t like each other; the stories end with a wedding.
Wikipedia notes: “novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an “emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.”
Most people translate that into a shorthand: boy meets girl; girl doesn’t like boy; boy loses girl; girl recognizes the boy’s finer qualities (perhaps he saves her); they marry and live happily ever after
But in A Pioneer Christmas, several writers–including me– tweaked the genre for a different angle on pioneer romance. I found them delightfully satisfying and a bit bemusing, wondering more than once, “how is this one going to end?”
Fully a third of these stories begin with a married couple–the romance is young and passionate, but the marriage already has been consumated.
So, where’s the romance in that?
I’m not giving away any spoilers . . .
It’s helpful to remember that life on the prairie was difficult and widow and widowerhood was a frequent occurance. Marriages sometimes had to be made for convenience and “falling in love,” often was not practical when stock needed to be tended.
Cynthia Hickey’s A Christmas Castle is upfront about marital challenges between virtual strangers: her heroine is a mail order bride. Or, in this case, a mail order widow upon arrival in a small Arizona ranch town riven with controversy.
She takes to her inheritance with dash and aplomb, not to mention instant motherhood. She displays the deering-do necessary to survive, particlarly when the neighbors are out to get you.
The Christmas Angel by Lauraine Snelling features an anxious pregnant woman whose husband is long overdue from town with the necessary supplies. What will happen to her out on that prairie they’ve fought so hard to “own up” if he does not return?
Her cheerful example in the face of tragedy, a determination not to give in to despair, resonated with me and I marveled at her strength.
Anna Urquhart’s A Silent Night begins with a young couple fully in love but facing a voyage across the Atlantic to a new life. When her husband goes missing with blood left on the ground, the heroine is forced to consider the unthinkable: marriage to an older neighbor.
But how else is she to survive in a half-built cabin with a small child to protect?
The Gold Rush Christmas displays tension between the heroine and the would-be hero–even though he doesn’t appear until chapter two. And what’s the deal with her brother seeming to like the guy better than his sister?
Even Margaret Brownley’s story A Pony Express Christmas features an unusual twist: the hero is rescued from certain death by the matter-of-fact heroine.
You can read more conventional genre challenges in Vickie McDonough’s Buckskin Bride; Shannon McNear’s Defending Truth; Kathleen Fuller’s The Calling; and Marcia Gruver’s The Badlands Christmas.
Christmas, of course, is featured in each story and most include at least a promise of mariage to come, My take away, though, was honest admiration for characters who overcame their circumstance to make a –mostly–realistic life in harsh surroundings.
A Pioneer Christmas Collection is an unusual and satisfying read–perfect for the winter when the snow is howling, the rain pouring, or the animals just in need of a little tending. And each one provides a complete and interesting night’s entertainment.
But I admit–I’m biased!
What do you look for in a good romance?
Tweetables
Romance, twists and overcoming harsh surroundings. Click to Tweet
Tweaking romance genre at Christmas Click to Tweet
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas
Monday, August 19
12 Days of Christmas Introduction
Tuesday, August 20
Cynthia Hickey on cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 21
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Thursday, August 22
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Friday, August 23
Marcia Gruver on Yielded Quill
Saturday, August 24
Shannon McNear on www.shannonmcnear.com
Monday, August 26
Lauraine Snelling on michelleule.com
Tuesday, August 27
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Wednesday, August 28
Vickie McDonough on www.shannonmcnear.com
Thursday, August 29
Anna Urquhart on The Silent Isle
Friday, August 30
Michelle Ule on Colonial Quills
Saturday, August 31
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Sunday, September 1
A Pioneer Christmas Collection Release!!
August 26, 2013
12 Days of a Pioneer Christmas: Lauraine Snelling
The author of more than 80 inspirational titles, Lauraine Snelling was happy to join A Pioneer Christmas Collection with her novella, “The Cowboy’s Angel.”
Lauraine knew the collection’s name and envisioned a story about a baby born at Christmas while its father was missing on the prairie, not far from the area she often writes about south of Fargo, ND.
“I set that in the thinking hopper and started the “what if” game, my first line of defense in creating a new story. What if a young, pregnant woman with a little boy, is keeping the homestead while her husband drove off to get winter supplies in their only wagon drawn by their only mule?
“What if he has not returned? Hmm.
“So who is the hero? A cowboy traveling from a spread in Texas to save his boss’s ranch in western Dakota Territory? How does he find the family in distress? The rest flowed after I understood the skeleton.”
A Pioneer Christmas Collection gave Lauraine an opportunity to fulfill a dream.
“I have loved angel stories forever and wanted to write one,” Lauraine said. “Christmas is an ideal time since the entire Christ story is one miracle after another. So often God uses an unlikely person to be blessed by His emissaries—angels. Voices soften when a person shares an angel story from their family. The wonder of it makes my heart leap.”
Lauraine’s character is reflected in the people she writes about. Like them, she has a “dogged determination to finish something one has started, especially [in their case] when a new life dream is to own free land that cost lives, blood, tears and faith.
The hero ran into trouble during “The Cowboy Christmas.”
“My cowboy’s quandary was how to help someone in distress when he was already on a mission for his boss. He is a problem solver and a true hero, willing to sacrifice for others. Besides that baby wrapped her little fingers around his heart and would not let go.”
“The Cowboy’s Angel,” however, provided her with a few surprises. “I had planned a different ending,” she laughed. “I love it when stories take on a life of their own and go on their own way in spite of the author’s supposed plans.”
Lauraine usually includes themes of forgiveness and trusting God in spite of what is happening in her stories, but a variation on those themes revealed itself in the writing of “The Cowboy’s Angel.”
“I did not intentionally put in “The Cowboy’s Angel” our inherent questioning of “why did God do what He did?” It’s part of trust because if you believe there is no God, how can you blame Him for what happens? But we try to do both [trust in God and yet blame Him for what happens] when times are the hardest.
“Fear is another symptom of lack of trust, but how can one not be fearful out on the prairie when left alone, pregnant and with a small son who depends on his ma alone now that his pa is gone? Only God can heal that kind of fear.”
Lauraine’s “Blessings series have produced a small cottage industry in Drayton, ND–the town closest to where her stories are set. They’ve even built an authentic sod house there, but she concedes “the thought of living in that confined space makes me shudder. I really do not like to be cold.”
Still,as the descendent of a long line of hard working, adventuresome people who emigrated to North America from Norway, “farming is in my blood and I write about farmers every chance I get.”
As to her confidence in managing as a pioneer? “I love living close to the land, just not as close as they were forced to do. I am extremely grateful to live today. I love hot running water, electricity and I have a love/hate relationship with my computer. I’ve never been a really good typist and the idea of hand writing novels? Hmm, rather not.”
Her Norwegian heritage contributes much to the Snelling family’s Christmas traditions. “Placing the angel on top of the tree always makes me pause, both because our angel has been in our family for many years and because of the significance. Angels came to announce not only Christ’s birth but deliver many messages. Since God is the same today as forever, why would He stop sending angels in our time?”
For more information on Lauraine Snelling, visit her website at www.laurainesnelling.com
Tweetables:
Fear is a symptom of a lack of trust. Click to Tweet
Even best-selling authors get surprised by characters Click to Tweet
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas
Monday, August 19
12 Days of Christmas Introduction
Tuesday, August 20
Cynthia Hickey on cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 21
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Thursday, August 22
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Friday, August 23
Marcia Gruver on Yielded Quill
Saturday, August 24
Shannon McNear on www.shannonmcnear.com
Monday, August 26
Lauraine Snelling on michelleule.com
Tuesday, August 27
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Wednesday, August 28
Vickie McDonough on www.shannonmcnear.com
Thursday, August 29
Anna Urquhart on The Silent Isle
Friday, August 30
Michelle Ule on Colonial Quills
Saturday, August 31
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Sunday, September 1
A Pioneer Christmas Collection Release!!
August 24, 2013
12 Days of a Pioneer Christmas: Shannon McNear
Shannon McNear
In her debut novella, “Defending Truth,” South Carolina writer Shannon McNear describes a surprising romance between a fugitive Tory militiaman, and a young patriot woman in charge of her siblings while her father fights during the Revolutionary War.
It’s the first story chronologically in the September 1 release of Barbour Publishing’s A Pioneer Christmas Collection.
“Defending Truth” is set in what is now eastern Tennessee, still frontier during that era. “It was a harsh, terrifying time. These people were all just struggling to live their lives, and the politics were as upsetting and confusing as today. There’s much about the loyalist plight that grabs my imagination.”
While most Americans are familiar with the “rebel” side in the war, North America during those years was split fairly evenly between those who supported the British king and those who wanted to forge a new nation. Shannon’s story portrays the confusion between would-be neighbors who really don’t want to fight about anything and who find their common enemies a unifying force despite their personal politics. 
This sense is well portrayed when the spirited young woman named Truth who, while out hunting food for her siblings, comes across a frightened young man, Micah, hiding in a cave. She recognizes that he must have fought on the “other” side from her still-missing father and her uncles. But her humanity overcomes her politics as she aids him.
And of course the humanity blossoms into love.
Shannon had previously written a full-length novel about British loyalists (Tories) during the same time period. Fellow writers suggested she alter the story into a romance between a patriot and a Tory. “I didn’t follow through on that suggestion, but tucked it into the back of my mind. It sprang to life in this story.”
“It’s a great concept,” she explained. The notion of an almost Romeo and Juliet-type attraction involving “huge conflict, huge stakes. I also wanted to incorporate a battle I was already familiar with, and explore all the seeming contradictions in the behavior of the participants as they related to politics, since a study of real-life accounts doesn’t really support the whole ‘righteous patriot and heathen British’ stereotype.”
In writing the story, Shannon was surprised by “how much the characters came to life for me.” She saw aspects of her own character in the people she wrote about. “I can relate to Truth’s difficulty in accepting help, her struggle with pride. I also relate to Micah’s sense of unworthiness.”
Writing a historical novel involves a great deal of research. Shannon has been studying this period a long time, but even so was surprised at the difficulty of discovering some information. In Defending Truth, Truth offers Micah an apple, but were they cultivated before Johnny Appleseed’s march across the continent?
As a matter of fact, yes.
In terms of spiritual themes, the concepts of forgiveness and grace were deliberate. “But others popped up–the real nature of courage, humility and hospitality. If I wanted to dig really deep, I’d say the ethics of war and self-defense, and by extension, defense of family,” Shannon said.
As the home-schooling mother of eight, Shannon’s family tries to stay as non-commercial as possible during Christmas. Incorporating Christmas into her story was relatively simple. “I’d learned that Christmas celebrations tended to be more austere in certain regions for this time period. Just as our family is rather matter of fact about what we do, I could imagine that other families would be, as well.”
Her family, however, never celebrated Christmas in a cave, as is done in “Defending Truth.”
The descendant of pioneering ancestors in the general area, Shannon would like to think she would have made a good pioneer but like many has personal reservations.
“Although I always enjoyed camping and exploring when I was growing up, I’m very much a pampered modern. I’d probably have always been in trouble for dawdling and dreaming, when there was work to be done.”
For more information about Shannon, visit her website at www.shannonmcnear.com. You can also find her monthly on the Colonial Quills website and weekly at The Borrowed Book.
Tweetable
Politics was just as confusing during the revolution. Click to Tweet
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas
Monday, August 19
12 Days of Christmas Introduction
Tuesday, August 20
Cynthia Hickey on cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 21
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Thursday, August 22
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Friday, August 23
Marcia Gruver on Yielded Quill
Saturday, August 24
Shannon McNear on www.shannonmcnear.com
Monday, August 26
Lauraine Snelling on michelleule.com
Tuesday, August 27
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Wednesday, August 28
Vickie McDonough on www.shannonmcnear.com
Thursday, August 29
Anna Urquhart on The Silent Isle
Friday, August 30
Michelle Ule on Colonial Quills
Saturday, August 31
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Sunday, September 1
A Pioneer Christmas Collection Release!!
August 23, 2013
12 Days of a Pioneer Christmas: Marcia Gruver
Marcia Gruver
Author Marcia Gruver writes historical fiction set in the Old West. A Texas native, her latest release, Hunter’s Prize, was published in July, 2013 and is part of the Backwoods Brides series. Marcia talks about her upcoming A Pioneer Christmas Collection novella, “A Badlands Christmas,” with co-writer Kathleen Fuller.
What made you write about your period in time?
During a trip to Medora, North Dakota, I became immersed in the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt, Medora’s legendary resident. I fell in love with the beautiful town and their stories of Teddy and his exploits. I purposely timed “A Badlands Christmas” to include a brief cameo of our 26th President.
How is Christmas celebrated in your family and what effect did it have on your writing this story?
In the Gruver household we practice the three “F’s” of Christmas: Family, Food, and Faith (not necessarily in that order), with generous servings of each to go around. I tried to imagine a Christmas without these very important elements and how bereft I would feel, and then I placed Noela Nancarrow, my heroine, in this situation and allowed it to test her character.
What research did you do to authenticate Christmas celebrations in your story?
For the New York City chapters of my book, I found a series of early drawings depicting festive scenes of shopping, entertaining, and outdoor fun. To describe a Christmas spent inside a dilapidated sod house in the middle of a brutal North Dakota winter, I had to rely on earlier research of the period and a great deal on my own imagination.
When you dreamed up your story idea, what came first, the time period, the story, the location?
The location. After a brief business trip to Medora, ND, I left with reams of notes, knowing I would one day base a story on the town and its rich history.
What was the “germ” of your story idea and how did you flesh it out?
I had several “germs” to play with. The publisher guidelines asked for stories set during American westward expansion from the late 1700s to late 1800s. These words set a fire in my history-loving breast and launched me into a researching frenzy.
Further, they asked for the characters to be housed in temporary or transitional dwellings. I had already begun plotting a story set in Medora, so I tweaked it to depict Christmastime in a sod house and threw in a former President. What a concept! How could I go wrong?
Would you like to have been there?
In a way, I feel that I was. With many original homes and businesses still standing and realistic reenactments of historical events, visiting Medora is like slipping through a portal in time.
What aspects of your characters are reflected in yours?
I’ve always longed to leave the chaos behind the way my characters did and seek a simpler lifestyle in the peace and solitude of a wilderness land. Sounds romantic, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t last long without my cell phone.
Have you been to the locations in which your story is set?
As I mentioned above, I’ve been to Medora one time, but I plan to return as soon as I can. I highly recommend it for a vacation site, especially for those who love American history.
What surprised you the most about your story?
I hadn’t planned to write an Australian character. I fell in love with the name of a contributor to Overcoming With God, a reviewer blog site. I jokingly asked Noela Nancarrow if I could use her charming name in a book. The Queensland resident heartily agreed, and it seemed only natural to make my Noela an Aussie as well. The biggest and best surprise is the close, personal friendship the real Noela and I have enjoyed ever since.
Would you have made a good pioneer?
My husband would get a very big laugh out of this question. The answer is a loud emphatic “No!” I’m far too high maintenance to make a passable pioneer. I try to leave the adventures to my characters.
Were any of your ancestors pioneers? If so, where and when?
Not in the American pioneer sense, at least not that I know of. But I’m currently researching my ancestry, so who knows what surprises I’ll unearth. My paternal great-grandfather came to America from France, so he blazed a trail of sorts, I think.
What spiritual themes did you deliberately incorporate into your story? Which ones did you discover later?
My scripture theme for “A Badlands Christmas” comes from Luke 9:58 – And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. I wanted to explore the human tendency to grow comfortable in our surroundings and resist any effort of God’s to move us into new territory.
Later, because my precious mom passed away while I was writing this book, I incorporated the loss of a parent and the difficulty in dealing with her passing.
For more information about Marcia and her books, visit her website: www.marciagruver.com.
Tweetable
How did Teddy Roosevelt end up in a Christmas story? Click to Tweet
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas
Monday, August 19
12 Days of Christmas Introduction
Tuesday, August 20
Cynthia Hickey on cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 21
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Thursday, August 22
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Friday, August 23
Marcia Gruver on Yielded Quill
Saturday, August 24
Shannon McNear on www.shannonmcnear.com
Monday, August 26
Lauraine Snelling on michelleule.com
Tuesday, August 27
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Wednesday, August 28
Vickie McDonough on www.shannonmcnear.com
Thursday, August 29
Anna Urquhart on The Silent Isle
Friday, August 30
Michelle Ule on Colonial Quills
Saturday, August 31
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Sunday, September 1
A Pioneer Christmas Collection Release!!
August 22, 2013
12 Days of a Pioneer Christmas: Michelle Ule
Michelle Ule is the best-selling author of several novels and novellas, including Bridging Two Hearts and “The Dogtrot Christmas” from the New York Times best-selling A Log Cabin Christmas Collection.
Here, she talks with co-writer Kathleen Fuller about her upcoming novella “A Gold Rush Christmas” from A Pioneer Christmas Collection, releasing September 1, 2013.
What made you write about your period in time?
When I heard the collection’s title, I tried to think of a time period that would appeal to readers. I figured many writers would write about the Oregon Trail.
I remembered, though, how fascinated I was by the Alaskan gold rush stories when my family
traveled to Alaska. In particular, I thought of that horrific photo of the line of men climbing over Chilkoot Pass. I imagined a story about a family caught in that line, stepping out on December 25 to celebrate Christmas. “The Gold Rush Christmas” didn’t quite turn out that way!
How is Christmas celebrated in your family and what effect did it have on your writing this story?
My husband is a retired naval officer, and we’ve celebrated Christmas in a number of different cultures. We liked to use aspects of the local customs when we lived in different spots–Christmas in Hawaii, for example, included a crèche made of a coconut shell. While composing “The Gold Rush Christmas,” I tried to find an element of Alaskan culture people would recognize, but which could tell the Christmas story. I found a fantastic one!
What research did you do to authenticate Christmas celebrations in your story?
David K. Fison’s Christmas Totem Pole, Anchorage, AK
“The Gold Rush Christmas” includes a Christmas totem pole. I explored the Internet for information, and discovered a missionary in Alaska had actually made one! We corresponded and he asked me to use his description because he’d spent years ensuring it was culturally accurate.
When you dreamed up your story idea, what came first, the time period, the story, the location?
The Alaska location.
What was the “germ” of your story idea and how did you flesh it out?
I wanted to write about the gold rush and I liked the idea of a pair of boy-girl twins and the boy next door sailing to Alaska and accidentally ending up on a ship filled with gold seekers. I had to come up with a reason why they’d be sailing, and turned it into a quest for a missing missionary father.
Would you like to have been there?
No. The conditions were awful, the con men were terrible and many people suffered.
What aspects of your characters are reflected in yours?
My brother is very tall and pushy. He likes to order me around and I’ve often resented it. 
Have you been to the locations in which your story is set?
Yes, my family sailed on the Alaskan ferry to Skagway out of Washington 22 years ago. We even slept on deck in our sleeping bags! I pulled on our experiences and the stories we enjoyed while traveling there.
What surprised you the most about your story?
The wonderful surprising story of how God worked in the prostitutes of Skagway! I incorporated it into my tale.
Would you have made a good pioneer?
While I am the mother of three Eagle scouts and have spent a lot of time camping, I’m a coward. I don’t sleep well on the ground and I don’t like to be dirty. So, no.
Were any of your ancestors pioneers? If so, where and when?
Many. I’m in awe of the strength of character they exhibited. Most were on the north American continent by 1701 and moved west until they reached the Pacific Ocean. I’m thankful for their sacrifices. My first book, a family history, is called Pioneer Stock in their honor.
What spiritual themes did you incorporate into your story? Which ones did you discover later?
I’ve always loved the story of the prophet Nehemiah and the famous line “I am doing a good work and I cannot come down.” I liked the idea of someone going off on an adventure and sacrificing for their family, but being determined to stay in that work even when things became difficult.
In writing the story, I learned much about the fortitude of a young man wanting to prove himself, even when he discovered his own prejudices. I love how even a seminary graduate needed to be reminded, gently, that he sometimes needed to be discomforted to do the job God called him to do. I love the spiritual growth going on in “The Gold Rush Christmas.”
Even a pastor needs to be discomforted in his job. Click to Tweet
For more information about Michelle and her books, visit her website: www.michelleule.com. You can view additional photos about the Alaskan gold rush on her Pinterest page.
Kathleen Fuller is sponsoring a giveway for one copy of A Pioneer Christmas Collection. You just need to comment on her blog by midnight, August 22. Check it out here: http://www.kathleenfuller.com/
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas
Monday, August 19
12 Days of Christmas Introduction
Tuesday, August 20
Cynthia Hickey on cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 21
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Thursday, August 22
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Friday, August 23
Marcia Gruver on Yielded Quill
Saturday, August 24
Shannon McNear on www.shannonmcnear.com
Monday, August 26
Lauraine Snelling on michelleule.com
Tuesday, August 27
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Wednesday, August 28
Vickie McDonough on www.shannonmcnear.com
Thursday, August 29
Anna Urquhart on The Silent Isle
Friday, August 30
Michelle Ule on Colonial Quills
Saturday, August 31
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Sunday, September 1
A Pioneer Christmas Collection Release!!
August 21, 2013
12 Days of Pioneer Christmas: Kathleen Fuller
The author of over twenty-five novels, Kathleen Fuller lives in northeastern Ohio, which is the setting for her new novella, “The Calling,” part of Barbour Publishing’s September 1 release, A Pioneer Christmas Collection.
For Kathleen, the local Unionville Tavern, a currently unused historical spot, provided the germ for her story idea. “Once I found out the tavern was a stagecoach shop [in the early 19th century], I immediately came up with the idea of a traveler stopping at the tavern on a regular basis.”
“I’ve always been fascinated with history, and in researching Unionville Tavern, I realized 
what a rich past it had. I chose the early 19th century primarily because it marked the beginning of the expansion westward. Northeast Ohio and Western PA/NY were popular destinations for New England pioneers.”
The tavern not only hosted a stagecoach, but it also served as a stop for the Underground Railroad during the Civil War.
The hero of “The Calling” is a young man struggling with his destiny. Is he called to be a minister in his home town, or to the burgeoning populations of the then-far west? His father wants him home, but his heart yearns to the frontier and he regularly stops at the tavern on his way west–during basically “short term” mission projects. It’s the tavern keeper’s daughter who recognizes the desires of his heart even as she falls in love with him.
For Kathleen, the spiritual theme of the story includes dealing with doubt. Her hero, like Jonah, questions not only himself, but also God.
“My characters struggle with doubt, something I also struggle with. I also wonder if I’m following God’s lead in the choices I make in my life. I was able to confront some of those issues as I wrote this story.”
She laughed. “I was surprised how the theme is threaded through the story from beginning to end. I rarely know the theme of my books until I’ve finished them, and that was the same with this story. It’s always cool to see how everything comes together.”
All the novellas in A Pioneer Christmas Collection include Christmas celebrations.
Kathleen recognized the celebration at that time period, however, was simple and family oriented, just like that of her own family. “The people who were stranded [at the tavern] on Christmas Eve came together as a family to celebrate Christ’s birth.”
As to the likelihood of Kathleen being a good pioneer during this time period?
“I’d like to think so, but then again, I like my comfort zone. Being a pioneer takes a lot of courage and an adventurous spirit. I do enjoy traveling, so I think I would have been one of those people who went west once it got too crowded in the cities.”
For more information about Kathleen Fuller, visit her website: and find her on Pinterest
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Do people struggle with doubt in every era? Click to Tweet
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas
Monday, August 19
12 Days of Christmas Introduction
Tuesday, August 20
Cynthia Hickey on cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 21
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Thursday, August 22
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Friday, August 23
Marcia Gruver on Yielded Quill
Saturday, August 24
Shannon McNear on www.shannonmcnear.com
Monday, August 26
Lauraine Snelling on michelleule.com
Tuesday, August 27
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Wednesday, August 28
Vickie McDonough on www.shannonmcnear.com
Thursday, August 29
Anna Urquhart on The Silent Isle
Friday, August 30
Michelle Ule on Colonial Quills
Saturday, August 31
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Sunday, September 1
A Pioneer Christmas Collection Release!!
August 20, 2013
12 Days of a Pioneer Christmas: Cynthia Hickey
For a review of the stories, see the intro post here: http://wp.me/p3HcoH-1aY
Cynthia Hickey
Cynthia Hickey pulled off quite a surprise in her novella A Christmas Castle. When Annie, a mail order bride, arrives in Arizona to meet the man she’s married by proxy, the situation turns a little awkward: the man is dead and has left behind an orphaned daughter!
It’s hard to imagine how anyone could turn such a beginning into a romance!
“I was surprised by how much Annie cared for a man she never met,” Cynthia laughed.
The author of numerous romances ranging from historical to contemporary, Cynthia loves the 19th century, “especially anything to do with pioneers and cowboys.”
The idea for her A Christmas Castle came from thinking about dugouts and what it would be like to live in what is basically a hole in the ground. “Thankfully, I’ve never had to live in one,” she said, noting she had to do research on a form of housing frequently used when Arizona was settled.
Library of Congress photo
“The germ of the story was contentment and the reason for the season. Most people today would have a hard time being content and celebrating while living in a hole in the ground.”
Her heroine had obstacles, and it only got more complicated for her hero (a handsome neighbor) who didn’t want to spend any time in such a small, cramped spot underground.
Cynthia has some wonderful photos of dugouts along with insight into the historical writing process on her blog today: http://www.cynthiahickey.blogspot.com/
Annie, however, is determined to celebrate Christmas the right way, with a Christmas tree. Trying to fit it in provides a humorous scene.
Cynthia would like to have been there in the story, however, “especially when the characters discovered that loves makes any home a castle.”
Like them, she’s learned to be content in whatever situation God has placed her.
While Cynthia lives near Phoenix, she needed to do research to authenticate her story. “I’ve been to Tucson, but not far into the desert where the ranches are, so I had to research the Tucson weather. Even that two-hour drive can change things. Who knew it sometimes snowed in Southern Arizona?”
Similarly, she doesn’t think she’d make a particularly good Arizona pioneer, “I like my air conditioning.”
The great-granddaughter of the first white baby born in NebraskaTerritory, Cynthia comes from a family that owned a stagecoach stop. She hopes someday to write a story based on her family’s history.
Meanwhile, she’s making memories at Christmas with her own family which includes seven children and five grandchildren. “On Christmas day, we start off with a prayer and a toast, then put something in Jesus’s stocking that only we can give him. Later that day, we meet everyone for dinner and White Elephant gifts. The season is a big deal for us as we celebrate the birth of Christ.”
Cynthia will be sharing her own thoughts about A Christmas Castle, contentment and A Pioneer Christmas Collection on her website today: www.cynthiahickey.com.
Have you ever had to squeeze a Christmas tree into tight quarters? Click to Tweet
If you’d like a chance to win a copy of the book, check out Anna Urquhart’s contest!
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas
Monday, August 19
12 Days of Christmas Introduction
Tuesday, August 20
Cynthia Hickey on cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 21
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Thursday, August 22
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Friday, August 23
Marcia Gruver on Yielded Quill
Saturday, August 24
Shannon McNear on www.shannonmcnear.com
Monday, August 26
Lauraine Snelling on michelleule.com
Tuesday, August 27
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Wednesday, August 28
Vickie McDonough on www.shannonmcnear.com
Thursday, August 29
Anna Urquhart on The Silent Isle
Friday, August 30
Michelle Ule on Colonial Quills
Saturday, August 31
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Sunday, September 1
A Pioneer Christmas Collection Release!!
August 19, 2013
12 Days of Pioneer Christmas!
Introducing A Pioneer Christmas Collection!
When Barbour Publishing announced they were looking for novellas for A Pioneer Christmas Collection, they had just a few parameters: the story needed to take place between the 1700s to the late 1800s, have a pioneer experience, and celebrate Christmas in a unique dwelling.
The stories that appear in A Pioneer Christmas Collection certainly met that criterion.
Ranging in time slots from Shannon McNear’s lead-off Revolutionary War story, to Michelle Ule’s final tale of the 1897 Alaskan gold rush, the novellas sweep across North American locales both familiar and little known.
Shannon McNear portrays a surprising romance between a Tory militiaman hiding after a battle in which his side lost, and a young woman patriot in charge of her siblings when her father goes to fight in Defending Truth. “People were all just struggling to live their lives, and the politics were as upsetting and confusing as today.”
Celebrating Christmas in the cave where her hero was hiding, seemed a terrific idea, and certainly a unique one.
Kathleen Fuller has often driven past her setting for The Calling: the Unionville Tavern in northeast Ohio. “Once I found out the tavern was a stagecoach shop [in the early 19th century], I immediately came up with the idea of a traveler stopping at the tavern on a regular basis.” In The Calling, the traveler is a young man convinced he’s called to preach to those heading west, rather than the settled east. It’s the tavern keeper’s daughter who catches a vision of who he really is.
Have you ever spent Christmas in a tavern? Click to Tweet
Several writers deliberately sought often over-looked times and places. Anna Urquhart had seldom heard of pioneers traveling by water and examined the opening of the Erie Canal in the 1830’s which led to settlements in Michigan Territory. A Silent Night actually begins in Edinburgh, Scotland and follows the challenges of making a life in the big woods of the upper Midwest.
The drama of a marriage lost and found is played out over Christmas in a barn beside a smoldering cabin.
Pony Express Christmas by Margaret Brownley takes readers to a spot most of us think we know—or do we? When a vigorous young woman goes in search of her long-lost express-riding brother, she saves a man from outlaws and pays him to help her search. Set during the Civil War era, A Pony Express Christmas eventually takes us to Chimney Rock and an unusual holiday setting.
What happened to those Pony Express stopping stations and could they make an abandoned spot a holiday site? Click to Tweet
A Christmas Castle by Cynthia Hickey features a mail order bride who arrives in post-Civil War Arizona to discover her intended dead and a small child needing a mother. With outlaws trying to run her off her “inheritance,” she struggles with the help of a handsome neighbor to keep her land. Somehow she’s able to fashion a Christmas celebration in a virtual hole in the ground.
Who knew it could snow in Arizona in the winter? Have you ever had to cram a too-big Christmas tree into a too-small room? Click to Tweet
Lauraine Snelling returns to an area familiar to her readers in The Cowboy’s Angel, set in 1875 Dakota Territory. With her long-overdue husband miles away seeking supplies, a pregnant woman is forced to give birth with a stranger in attendance. Snow socked them into a half-built claim with the farm animals a thin wall away.
Using meager resources in a rough home, a woman finds cause to be thankful. How often have you had to “make do” for Christmas? Click to Tweet
Marcia Gruver takes us to sophisticated 1885 New York City in A Badlands Christmas, though we don’t stay there long. Inspired by the adventures of Theodore Roosevelt in the town of Medora, A Badlands Christmas shows the contrasts between festive scenes in the city and a Christmas spent in a dilapidated sod house in the middle of a brutal Dakota Territory winter..
While you may have dealt with the weather outside being frightful on December 25, were you half under the ground? Click to Tweet
Buckskin Bride by Vickie McDonough introduces us to a capable but desperate young woman who is more comfortable in buckskin than calico. She and her sisters are squatters on land the hero won in the 1889 Oklahoma land run. The handsome Irish landowner is kind but dare she trust him when her father warned her to avoid all men? With Christmas approaching, her father missing, and young sister injured, will she and her sisters spend Christmas alone in their tipi?
Have you ever spent Christmas in a tent, much less a tipi? Click to Tweet
In The Gold Rush Christmas, Michelle Ule takes a pair of twins and the boy-nextdoor to 1897 Skagway, Alaska where they meant to enjoy the season in the newly-constructed Union Church. Searching for a missionary father, however, lands them in a Tlingit cedar-planked long house for a lesson in how to present the gospel in a unique way anyone could understand.
Who can beat salmon for Christmas dinner, even if eaten off a plank? Click to Tweet
Interested in Christmas spent in novel ways, surprising settings, heroes and heroines filled with love and pluck? Why not try the nine stories found in A Pioneer Christmas Collection?
12 Days of A Pioneer Christmas
Monday, August 19
12 Days of Christmas Introduction
Tuesday, August 20
Cynthia Hickey on cynthiahickey.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 21
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Thursday, August 22
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Friday, August 23
Marcia Gruver on Yielded Quill
Saturday, August 24
Shannon McNear on www.shannonmcnear.com
Monday, August 26
Lauraine Snelling on michelleule.com
Tuesday, August 27
Kathleen Fuller on www.kathleenfuller.com
Wednesday, August 28
Vickie McDonough on www.shannonmcnear.com
Thursday, August 29
Anna Urquhart on The Silent Isle
Friday, August 30
Michelle Ule on Colonial Quills
Saturday, August 31
Michelle Ule on michelleule.com
Sunday, September 1
A Pioneer Christmas Collection Release!!
August 17, 2013
First Chapter, The Dogtrot Christmas
The Dogtrot Christmas appears in Barbour Publishing’s A Log Cabin Christmas Collection, which will re-release on September 1, 2013.
Here’s the opening chapter of my novella. If you’re interested in possibly winning the entire book, check out our Goodreads contest starting Monday, August 19 and running through August 26: Log Cabin Christmas Collection Goodreads contest
If you want to know what finally happens and you don’t win a copy, check out the book for pre-sale! It comes with eight other fine stories to get you into the Christmas mood: love, drama, Jesus and celebrating in primitive conditions. Enjoy!
The Dogtrot Christmas
Chapter One
Balanced on top of the sticky pine cabin wall, Molly Faires clung to the end of the log roof beam while Jamie fought to place it.
“Easy now. I think I’ve got it. Get down and out of the way.” Jamie didn’t take his eyes off the log as she scrambled down the unchinked walls to the ground.
Molly tucked a strand of blonde hair back into her sunbonnet as she watched her brother wrestle the log toward the notches.
“Is it lined up?” he called.
“Almost there.” She held her breath. This was the first one. If the two of them could set the beams, they wouldn’t have to bother the neighbors for more help. Once they got the beams secure, Jamie could build a roof covering the two small cabins and the breezeway in between: a Texas “dogtrot” cabin.
When his straw hat blew off in the direction of the flourishing vegetable patch, Jamie stayed on focus, inching the heavy log into place. Then he jerked as a swallow flit too close and he lost his hold. “It’s going. Get out of the way!”
Molly sprinted a dozen yards north to where the young ‘en Andy was tied to a loblolly pine stump already trying to sprout again.
The log shuddered and slipped down the side of the cabin walls. It landed on end and then fell forward with a mighty thud into the stump-studded yard. Belle, the yellow dog who had followed them all the way from Tennessee, high tailed it away, barking as she went.
Molly hugged the toddler to her side while she gauged Jamie’s reaction. All around her the forest seemed to wait, too, the bobwhites in mid-call and the mourning doves worrying softly in the underbrush.
From his perch on the cabin wall, Jamie snickered.
He slapped his thighs, threw back his head and laughed with a crescendo that exploded the world back into action.
Molly’s shoulders relaxed in relief. He hadn’t laughed since his wife Sarah died in childbirth eighteen months ago. Maybe God was answering her prayers?
Andy shouted baby talk and raised his arms.
“I’ve got ye.” Molly untied him and carried the boy to his father.
Jamie jumped down and surveyed the log. “It’s too big for the two of us,” he said, taking the toddler. “I’ll have to ask Clay another favor and get him over to help finish up. Ye may be strong, but setting the roof beams is a man’s job.”
Molly looked around the clearing they had grubbed in the hill country full of piney woods. Most of the logs, fat ones as well as saplings, had gone into building the small cabins. A stack of cedar shingles, carefully honed during the winter, waited the beams and cross poles to go onto the roof.
“Surely we can try again,” Molly said. “I’ll help. I know I can share the burden.”
Jamie shook his head. “The Good Lord’s been a watching out for us, but your tender heart and desire to help could get ye hurt. I don’t feel right about trying again. It’s only another week or so. We’ve got plenty of other work to do.”
The animation sagged out of his eyes and his skin seemed to go thin as the bleakness he had worn for so long took hold again. “It’s not like she’ll be here to see it.”
“But ye picked a good site,” Molly said. “Just what Sarah wanted. The living cabin on the right, the cookhouse cabin ten feet away on the north side leaving a space big enough for three dogs to trot between.”
“Aye, this style cabin works best in Texas. We get some neighbors back here, we can put up the roof to join ‘em and this homestead will be done.”
Molly shook her head. “Maybe your part will be done, but I’ll be hauling mud from the stream to chink out those logs all summer.”
Jamie set his son onto wobbly legs and tousled his hair. “This young ‘en can help. He’ll like getting his hands in the mud. ‘Sides, he needs to start earning his keep.”
“You’re starting him to work young like pappy.”
“You don’t know how long you got with ‘em. We be blessed ma and pappy started us working young.”
The clearing sloped down gentle to a trail through the dense underbrush and woods to the watering hole. The green leaves stirred in a scrap of breeze and alerted Molly’s senses. Indians raided this countryside. Growing up, her ma had warned many times, you never saw ‘em until it was too late.
Belle’s barking turned to a gruff bay and Jamie thrust Andy to her. “Hie ye to the cookhouse and bar the door. I don’t know what this is.”
“Hush, Andy.” Molly scurried with him to the cook cabin open to the sky. Jamie grabbed the rifle standing upright beside the open doorway.
She crouched beside Andy and stared through the log gaps toward the trail. Belle streamed from the woods, making enough noise to flush out every bird within miles. The dog paced before the cabins, teeth barred. Jamie waited in the breezeway.
A Mexican man dressed in worn dirty clothing pushed out of the woods, leading a lame satiny black stallion. “Vaya, perro,” he yelled at Belle.
The dog bounced left and right, growling and barking. The man stopped. “Que es esso?”
Jamie walked toward him cradling the rifle in one arm and holding up the other hand in greeting. “Buenos dias.”
“Good day,” the man replied in a deep voice that held just a trace of Spanish lilt. “Call off your dog.”
Jamie slapped the side of his right leg and Belle joined him. The dog quivered but did not take her eyes off the stranger.
“I have been away. You are new here.” The man removed his faded cloth hat and untied the red scarf from around his neck. He wiped his forehead in the June heat and Molly noted his handsome features. His blue black hair shone in the sun light as he glanced around the clearing.
Jamie shifted. “Ye be from around her?”
“I am Juan Ortega Luis Vasco de Carvajal.” He gestured north. “My family has lived on this land for three generations.”
Jamie extended his hand. “Jamie Faires. Ye be our neighbor, then.”
The man’s eyes swept to Molly and he nodded. She picked up the little boy and joined them.
“This be Molly and my boy Andy.”
Juan Ortega Luis Vasco de Carvajal swept his hand into a bow like a Spanish gentleman. “The countryside always welcomes a beautiful young woman.”
“Thank ye,” Molly said. Something about his weariness caught her heart. “Have ye far to go? May I get ye and your horse some water?”
Coal black eyes stared back. “We drank at the stream.”
“Your English is very good.” Molly stepped closer with Andy. “May he pet your horse?”
“Sí.” Carvajal motioned the horse forward. “I had a tutor who came and went over the years. It is important to talk with Anglos in a language they understand.”
The horse’s tongue stretched to explore Andy’s fingers. He giggled. Molly smelled the sweetness of the woods in the horse’s mane and sighed. “Don’t you miss having a horse, Jamie?”
He nodded.
“What’s his name?” Molly asked.
“Maximo, the great.” Carvajal frowned. “How do you hold this land?”
Jamie shifted the rifle to the ground beside his boot. “Bought it. We’ve come with a party from Tennessee and settled up to where Mexican lands begin on the north side of the woods.”
“How much?”
“As head of household they only let me have 4600 acres. I share with Molly.”
Molly watched the Tejano calculate their holdings. She wanted to grab Jamie’s arm and warn him not to say too much. But she was 19 to his 24; surely he knew better.
The man’s jaw tightened and his dark eyes glittered. “This is fine property,” he said. “I have always liked it, especially since my father gave it to me.”
Jamie flushed. “We paid hard cash for this land.”
“Perhaps you paid money,” Carvajal said. “But you are squatters.” He tugged the horse’s bridle, turned on his heel, and headed into the dense undergrowth.
Before they could think of anything to say, he was gone.
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Opening chapter NY Times best selling novella Click to Tweet
