JACQUIE ROGERS RECEIVES MULTIPLE GOLD MEDALS!

What a great past week we’ve had at our house! Our friends Jacquie and Mark Rogers—two of our all-time favorite people—arrived on October 25. Jacquie was nominated for the Will Rogers Medallion Award in Humor for HOT WORK AT FRY PAN GULCH and SIDETRACKED IN SILVER CITY.

Each of these books features Honey Beaulieu—Man Hunter. Honey is a bounty hunter like her father and always gets her man. Defining Honey's genre is impossible as her stories have humor (obviously), adventure, fun animals, some romance, and a ghost. I can only say they’re fun to read!

The wonderful news is that on Saturday, October 28, at Cattleman’s Steak House in the Fort Worth Stockyards, Jacquie won a Gold Medallion for each book! I have to say I was not at all surprised she won a first place—always fun to say “I told you so”. ☺ What did surprise me is that she won two more Gold Medallions as her publisher for the two books. Jacquie said Mark should have received those medallions. He is such a chivalrous and kind man he insisted all the credit should go to Jacquie.

Jacquie wearing her four gold
 Will Rogers Medallions

To make matters even better for Hero and me, Jacquie and Mark provided tickets so we could attend the dinner and witness her triumphs. We had a great steak dinner and met several western authors. Judging from those we met, western authors are a nice group of people.  Seeing Jacquie win made ours a perfect evening!

Jacquie receiving the medallions
from a Southern belle

Jacquie and I set up our lap tops in the dining room with the sincere intention of working. Jacquie is way too much fun for me to concentrate on my story for long.  I laughed a lot and we talked and talked and laughed some more. Jacquie made memes for us, which I appreciate since I don't do well at graphics. Plus, we kept having internet trouble. Luckily, both Mark and Hero are electrical engineers. 

On Tuesday, we met with authors Carra Copelin and Bea Tifton at Red Robin for giant burgers and sweet potato fries and, for me, several glasses of Dr Pepper. I was certain I’d never be hungry again, but my appetite proved me wrong the next morning.

Carra Copelin, Bea Tifton, Caroline
Clemmons, and Jacquie Rogers
That's Sassy snoozing on the table.

Jacquie Rogers has written westerns, western romance, fantasy, and Honey Beaulieu. Jacquie has published five Hearts of Owyhee (Idaho) Series books that include MUCH ADO ABOUT MADAMS, MUCH ADO ABOUT MARSHALS, MUCH ADO ABOUT MUSTANGS, MUCH ADO ABOUT MAVERICKS, and MUCH ADO ABOUT MINERS. Currently, she is writing the sixth in this series. I love these books and highly recommend them.  P.S. You won’t find a more deserving hero than Cole in MUCH ADO ABOUT MARSHALS. 

Sorry I'm missing the image for MINERS

I also love SLEIGHT OF HEART, in which Jacquie used information from her aunt about numbers and gambling. I do NOT mean her aunt was a gambler. She was a brilliant mathematician, but that's a story for another time.

Jacquie's MAIL ORDER RUCKUS appears with my MAIL ORDER PROMISE featuring sisters in the duet MAIL ORDER TANGLE. 

We also wrote about sisters for the American Mail-Order Bride Series: Jacquie wrote MERCY, BRIDE OF IDAHO and I wrote PATIENCE, BRIDE OF WASHINGTON. Since I've never been to Washington, Jacquie had to be one of my research sources. Of  course, Jacquie grew up in Idaho, so she is her own research source for that state.

Her latest release is IDAHO FAIRY TALE BRIDE but she has numerous short stories and novellas available.

Look her up on Amazon. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with a Jacquie Rogers book!

Jacquie and Mark Rogers

On November 1^st Jacquie and Mark packed up and left our home.  Picture me sad. Very sad.
I guess we have to share them with others, but our house seems awfully quiet without them here.

JACQUIE ROGERS SHARES HONEY BEAULIEU -- HER LATEST RELEASE AND NEW SERIES

By Jacquie Rogers

The Birth of Honey Beaulieu

by Jacquie Rogers

I couldn't be happier that Honey Beaulieu's story will finally be told. She's been waiting in the wings for over eighteen years—and not all that patiently, I might add.

Her wait is the story of my writing career, almost. I began writing in 1996 when I dreamed a story. That manuscript wasn't completed until two years later. About three chapters from the end, characters and situations for other books began swirling in my head, which sure didn't help to get that first one finished.

One of my critique partners told me to type them up and put them in an Ideas folder, then finish
the book, which I did. I think of that folder as my own private treasure chest. Many of those ideas developed into books--all the Hearts of Owyhee books came from that, as did Sleight of Heart.

But one of the ideas--my favorite--I knew I'd never write because the large publishers (the only option then) would never in a million years buy a non-traditional Western with a female protagonist that didn't have enough romance to be a Romance, didn't have enough paranormal to be a Paranormal, or enough mystery to be a Mystery, and at that time, there weren't any female action/adventure protagonists.

So this idea stayed in my treasure chest, but every once in a while Honey pounded on the door. I never forgot her, but writing a book takes a very long time and a lot of commitment of resources, so writing an unmarketable book wasn't in the cards.

Then, last year, my critique partner and I were discussing where I should go with my next series. For some reason, Honey banged on the lid of the treasure chest again. Only I have to admit, her name was originally Pansy. She always did hate her name, which is why I changed it in the first reference to her in Much Ado About Marshals, and she hasn't complained since.

So for the first time since 1998, I opened the file and sent it to my friend. She loved Honey right off the bat, almost as much as I did. She pointed out that we don't have to write to someone else's specifications--I can write anything I want! Furthermore, she convinced me that my readers would love it.

I was excited so didn't tell her my misgivings--at least, not many of them. But I worried that my readers wouldn't go for the grittiness or the more bawdy tone. Even so, once I got all the books that I'd committed to writing off my plate, Honey took stage, front and center. She's not wanting to move off, either.

In my initial concept back in 1998, Honey and her two sisters were all pistoleers. Over time, she brought me around to her way of thinking--this series was hers and no one else's. Her sisters' personalities haven't changed but they aren't pistoleers, and the series is definitely all Honey's. You can find it here!

So please enjoy the ride along with Honey Beaulieu. She's quite a gal.  She even has her own blog!

Keep up with Jacquie Rogers' latest news at the
Pickle Barrel Gazette!

Hearts of Owyhee series

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