Category
Western History
The real events, places, and people behind the fiction.
Posts coming soon.
From the writing desk
The Blog
Notes from the research trail, the writing life, and the world of my books. New posts gather here as they're written.
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Writing Updates
So, I did a thing…
I answered a book spammer with the most ridiculous premise I could imagine. Then a friend said, “You know…” So, I did a thing.
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Character Spotlights
Character Spotlight: Shannon McKenzie
Five years ago, Shannon McKenzie left Federal carrying a secret and a broken heart. Now she's running again—and the only man she can trust is the one she never stopped loving.
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Character Spotlights
Joshua Taylor
At nineteen, Joshua Taylor thought he knew exactly what he wanted. Five years later, he has learned that wanting something and being willing to fight for it are two very different things.
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Writing Updates
I Don't Write THAT!
A spam email, a ridiculous premise invented purely to be funny, and a friend who wouldn't let it go. Meet Moonrise, Wyoming Territory.
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Character Spotlights
Joshua Leonard
At five years old, Joshua Leonard—Rachel's son in West of Forgotten—has already learned things no child should have to learn. But he hasn't lost his capacity for trust, happiness, or wonder.
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Character Spotlights
Character Spotlight: Rachel Leonard
Rachel Leonard has spent her entire life at the Lazy L Ranch, and there is nowhere else she wants to be. For six years she has kept the ranch solvent while caring for her injured father and raising her young son, Joshua. She can rope, ride, brand, mend fences, and milk cows—and she has no intention of letting anyone take the land she has fought so hard to preserve.
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Frontier Life
The LeMat “Grape Shot Revolver”: The Strangest Sidearm of the Frontier
JT and Klint both preferred the oddball LeMat revolver — a nine-shot pistol with a hidden shotgun barrel, invented in New Orleans and smuggled through the Union blockade.
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The Inbox Slush Pile
The Email Slush Pile: "I Rarely Reach Out to Authors Directly"
A self-described Goodreads moderator promises 'authentic discovery' and 'high-traffic Goodreads lists' for a book with one five-star review. A teardown of what authors should actually ask before paying for promotion.
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Behind the Scenes
From the Brokken Road to The Grooms of Tonica
The Grooms of Tonica began life as part of a shared-universe series called The Brokken Road. Here's how Klint St. John and the trilogy found their true home.
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Character Spotlights
Harrison Taylor: The Marshal Who Found Home at the Lazy L
Meet Harrison Taylor — federal marshal, reluctant rancher, and the man who rode into Wyoming looking for answers and found something he never expected.
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Frontier Life
JT's Starr Model 1858: The Double-Action Revolver the War Forgot
The Starr Model 1858 could fire faster than a Colt thanks to a true double-action trigger, yet it still became the forgotten revolver of the Civil War.
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Frontier Life
Powder, Ball, and Memory
Many of my heroes came home from the War with a cap-and-ball revolver they had carried through four years of it. Some of them never quite put it down.
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Character Spotlights
Faith Mills
Faith is steel wrapped in quiet grace. Raised under Daniel Judge's cold, calculated distance, she learned early that softness was a liability.
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Frontier Life
The Messenger's Shotgun
Short, ugly, and terrifyingly effective — the coach gun is why the man beside the driver was called 'riding shotgun,' and why so few road agents argued with him.
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Frontier Life
The Webley British Bulldog: A Pocket Monster on the Frontier
Most of my heroines and heroes carried a small derringer for a pocket advantage. The Webley British Bulldog was the little monster they probably should have been carrying instead.
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Character Spotlights
Marcus: The Youngest Brother Who Carried the Weight of the War
Meet Marcus — the youngest of the Original Five Oath Brothers, and the man whose weary honor became the foundation of the Iron Oath Sentinels.
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Frontier Life
Hunter's Whitworth Rifle: Reach Beyond Ordinary
Hunter carried a Whitworth rifle when he enlisted with the Louisiana Infantry—until it was taken from him at the Wilderness. Here's the story of the hexagonal-bored marvel that could strike at a thousand yards.
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Frontier Life
The Rifle They Called the Yellow Boy
Before the Winchester 1873 became "The Gun That Won the West," the 1866 Yellow Boy taught a generation of riders to trust a lever-action rifle under their knee.
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Character Spotlights
Meet Daniel Judge. Cross him at your peril.
Fewer than 15 pages total of actually being on the page, yet Daniel Judge's shadow looms over the whole of the Iron Oath Sentinels series.
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Frontier Life
The Colt That Won the West
The Single Action Army was the revolver most of my heroes would have worn on their hip in 1873 — and the reasons why say a great deal about the men who carried one.
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Frontier Life
Rachel's 1848 Colt Dragoon: A Hand Cannon on Horseback
In West of Forgotten, Rachel carried an 1848 Colt Dragoon—a four-pound horse pistol built for mounted dragoon regiments and powerful enough to stop almost anything in its path.
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Why I Write
I write because the world is messy, painful, feels out of control, and often is unfair. Stories are one of the few places where I can make sense of it all and where I have some control.
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Historical Authenticity: Writing the Truth of the Past
I attempt with every historical romance novel I write to bring historical authenticity to the page. I use common vernacular of the time—within limits.
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The Characters Who Live Rent-Free in My Head
Asking an author to pick a favorite character is like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. I may not have a favorite child, but I do have about four characters I simply adore.
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Wounded Hearts Between the Lines
On the night of July 2, 1863, a Confederate soldier sang old hymns between the battle lines at Gettysburg while wounded men from both armies listened in the moonlight.
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Behind the Scenes
Faith in Something Greater
On second chances, the town called Redemption Bluff, and the sister town where no one thought to look for one.
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Category
Frontier Life
Everyday details of life on the American frontier.
9 posts — read them →
Category
Historical Research
Where I went looking — and what I found.
Posts coming soon.
Category
Behind the Scenes
The making of a book, from first spark to final page.
2 posts — read them →
Category
Character Spotlights
A closer look at the men and women who carry the stories.
8 posts — read them →
Category
Writing Updates
What's on the desk, what's on the way.
2 posts — read them →
Category
The Inbox Slush Pile
Monthly: the worst of the worst unsolicited pitches — screenshots, replies, and follow-ups.
1 post — read them →