Writing the West

I’m still excited about the release yesterday of my western historical set in 1885, THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE.

In this book, Dallas McClintock is a handsome young man of mixed heritage, half Scottish and half Cherokee. All his life he has faced prejudice because of his mixed heritage. At the death of his parents, he came to live with his aunt and uncle, who treated him like their son. Dallas’ two cousins treated him as their brother. They are a close-knit family, but now Dallas has his own ranch and is gaining a reputation as a talented horse trainer and breeder. He also raises cattle and sheep. Yep, on the same ranch. The house is a large place situated on a hill overlooking the river.

Cenora O’Neill and her family were tossed off their rented farm in Ireland with no more than they could carry. She and her parents and two brothers, Finn and Mac, wandered helplessly for a few weeks until a band of Irish Travelers befriended them. Soon, the Travelers moved from tents to wooden wagons in colorful colors. Never totally a part of the Travelers, but with no where else to go, the O’Neill family played music while Cenora danced and sang for coins whenever they passed through a town. By a chance you have to read the book to discover, the entire band of Travelers, their wagons, and their horses came to the United States to escape the prejudice they’d faced in Ireland. Here they found no more welcome and moved West hoping to find acceptance and—perhaps—free land they could claim.

This story is set in the Central Texas Hill Country near Bandera. I love Texas history and Irish history, and this book combines them. Mostly, it’s about people who struggle for acceptance and for a home. There’s skullduggery in it, of course. I love writing villains that readers can hate and could never write a romance with no crime in it.

THE TEXAN'S IRISH BRIDE ia available from The Wild Rose Press, Digi Books Cafe and other online stores. Print is $14.99 and e-download is $7.00.

Don't forget to comment to be entered in the Saturday drawing for a PDF download of this book.And while you're reading blogs, slip over to the Prairie Chicks blog and see my post there today.