Being True to the Character by Paty Jager

Back before there were any buzz words or political correctness, I wrote my first novel. It was a mystery with a Chinese American lawyer as the main character's love interest and a neighbor in a wheelchair who was a computer whiz. At the time I didn't think about writing these characters as having to know everything I could about being a Chinese American or living in a wheelchair.

I wasn't trying to add diversity to my writing. It was just how I see the world. I embrace everyone, no matter their ethnicity, handicap, or gender. The world is made up of many different people. Why shouldn't they all be read about in books?

I have two mystery series with Native American or American Indian, as they prefer to be called, main protagonists. I enjoy learning more about their culture in order to make the characters ring true in the books.

And that is the same reason I used a sensitivity reader for my latest Silver Dollar Saloon historical western romance. Freedom, the heroine in the book is a Black woman. While I understand a good deal about the struggles from reading books, I wanted to make sure that her feelings rang true to her upbringing and the times.

While the sensitivity reader praised some of the reactions and emotions I gave my character, she still had to give me a lesson in how my character would interact with others. The three pages my reader sent me on history and how certain scenes in my book were from my perspective rather than my character's, helped me create a better, true to the character, book.

So far the reviews on the book make me feel good about my decision to pay for a sensitivity reader. And that she also is a writer, helped her to show me where I needed to change things. She understood the story and helped me make it better.

Have you ever used or been a sensitivity reader? Do you think they help enhance a story?

Here is the blurb for Freedom book 3 in the Silver Dollar Saloon series.

Their dreams brought them together. But will violence tear them apart?

Freedom longs to be out of the Silver Dollar Saloon, with a family of her own. When a white man promises marriage and children, she takes the biggest risk of her life, and follows him to the wilds of Montana Territory. Where he shows his true nature.

Water Runs Fast, a Crow off the reservation, comes upon a white man whipping a brown-skinned woman. After stabbing the white man and riding off with the woman, he realizes she is the woman from his visions. The one who pledged to help him and his people survive in the white man’s world.

On the run from the tragedy, the two grow close. Together, they begin a life as husband and wife. But will they have their chance at a life together, or will they hang for murder?


Universal link: https://books2read.com/u/mlawnB

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 40 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

blog / website /  Facebook / Paty's Posse / Goodreads / Twitter / Pinterest / Bookbub

photo source: Deposit photos.

Do I or Don't I... I Do by Paty Jager

It seems ironic that today, May 12th, my 40th wedding anniversary to my hubby, I am coming out about something I've been contemplating for over a year.

Anyone who has heard my writing story knows my first love or reading and writing was mystery. In 2015 I launched my Shandra Higheagle Mystery series. It received accolades from my critique partners, my editor, and my proof reader. With a knot in my stomach, I send the first three books out into the reading world one...two...three.

The reviews had me over the moon. People loved Shandra and the twists I love  to put in my mystery books!

The readers want more. The sales keep climbing.

This year, January 20th to be exact, I released the first book of a new mystery series. Gabriel Hawke Novels. This is not a cozy series. It is a police procedural with the small community feel of a cozy. It's set in the county where I grew up. Again, I released the first three books, January, February, and March/April (I fell behind).

They are a hit! Even more than the Shandra books. The sales keep going up, the rankings keep going up and my head is swimming with more plots for both series.

But I haven't finished the Silver Dollar Saloon historical western romance series or the Tumbling Creek Ranch contemporary western romance series. I slogged through another Silver Dollar Saloon book. It should come out next month. That will make three in that series to date. I have plots figured out for four more. But my heart isn't in writing western romance and the sales have been next to nothing. Even my ads, that I do for both the mystery and romance...the romance tank.

Knowing I want to write mystery more than romance, and my mind is constantly finding new plots and story ideas for both Shandra and Hawke, as of this day and this month, I'm publicly letting readers know that until I get excited about writing westerns or the steamier western romance books start to pick up in sales, I am sticking to writing the mysteries.

It has been a tough decision to make. Historical western romance is what made me a published author, but it had been my fallback when I couldn't find help writing mysteries. I am writing what I've always wanted to write. I'm enjoying every minute of the research, writing, and making sure the stories are engaging and believable.

I feel as if I am finally "home" with my writing and doing what I was always meant to do- write mysteries.

If you are a western romance reader and haven't read my books, I have 22 novels you can choose from and over a dozen short stories. If you have read all of my romance, you might want to give my mysteries a try. There is romance in the Shandra Higheagle series and poor Hawke while he doesn't want to be tied down, is feeling a pull from two different women and discovering that, just maybe, he doesn't want to be alone.The Creator knows his mother wants him to marry!

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 40 novels, 8 novellas, and numerous anthologies of murder mystery and western romance. All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.

blog / website /  Facebook / Paty's Posse / Goodreads / Twitter / Pinterest   / Bookbub

Themes in life and in books by Paty Jager

Most writers pick a theme for the book or story they write, or they write a story and discover the theme. For me the the theme has always been justice or injustice- depending on the story. All of my stories have a comeuppance for the character who deserves it. But they can also tell of an injustice that was done.

Whether I'm writing a romance or a mystery the justice or triumph theme runs through my books. I believe this comes from the injustices that I have kept inside of me. I use my characters' strength to fight the injustice in their lives as my way of battling my own.

I'm sure there are many writers who use their books and stories as a kind of therapy to overcome the odds that they have been through.

I've heard from many readers who fight chronic pain. They say my books take them to another place that allows them to forget about the pain for several hours. That is all an author can hope for, to help a reader through a troubling time in their life and either lift them up, take them away from their pain, or help them feel they can tackle whatever it is they are dealing with in their life.

I've had several readers tell me they weren't really readers until they picked up one of my books and realized reading could be fun and take them to another place.

Books, in whatever form you read them, can transport the reader to another place and time and free up their minds from their everyday lives and allow them to soar.

With justice being a theme in my books you'll understand the plight of Lottie Mae and her growing interest in the big blacksmith. Here is my latest release in the Silver Dollar Saloon series.

Lottie Mae
She was shunned by society.
He must fit in to survive.
Will their love be enough to battle both their demons?

Book 2 Silver Dollar Saloon series

Lottie Mae Peck believes she isn’t worthy of anything more than being a saloon girl after a brutal attack. However, the school needs another teacher and her heart has taken a liking to a soft-spoken man.

Manfred Albrecht suffered a loss shortly after arriving in America. The voluptuous Lottie Mae catches his eye the first time he walks into the Silver Dollar Saloon. Her intelligence and good humor as she teaches him to read and write English, stirs feelings he thought he’d never have again.

But her happiness may be fleeting. The man who sent her life into a downward spiral years ago arrives in town, destroying her hard-fought battle to believe she deserves more.
universal link: https://www.books2read.com/u/m0gJJ0

Fun project for a great cause! by Paty Jager

My story in the anthology

I believe I've talked about Wild Deadwood Reads here before. It is an author/reader event held in Deadwood South Dakota in June. Last year was the first year. I took my niece (assistant) and her mother. We took our time driving from Oregon to South Dakota, stopping at the Little Bighorn and seeing sights.

Once we arrived there were fun events hosted by authors spread out over the weekend with a booksigning One of the events I sponsored was the PBR rodeo.This year they have taken the whole rodeo event to a higher level of entertainment. The VIP rodeo event package starts on Saturday with a bus picking up the people who purchased the package at the hotel at 4:45 pm.  It takes everyone to the rodeo grounds were they are taken on a behind the chutes tour of running a bull into the chutes and cowboys will show us how they prepare to make the ride. There will be the announcer and the bull fighters to answer our questions. Everyone receives an official Deadwood t-shirt and swag bag. A dinner prepared by Number 10 Saloon will be served in a special VIP tent on the rodeo grounds. After dinner we'll take our VIP seats to watch the action. The bus that brought everyone to the rodeo grounds will take us to Number 10 Saloon to party with the PBR cowboys afterwards.

Most of the authors who are hosting the Rodeo VIP package are also featured authors in the Wild Deadwood Tales Anthology.

 Rodeos and romance, Old West adventure, and even a few ghostly tales. Deadwood's wild past and exciting present come alive in seventeen original short stories written by USA Today and Amazon bestselling authors to benefit the Western Sports Foundation. Contributing authors: E.E. Elisabeth Burke, Zoe Blake, Paty Norman Jager, Teresa Keefer, Megan Kelly, Sylvia McDaniel, Amanda McIntyre, Peggy McKenzie, Angi Morgan, Nancy Naigle, Jacqui Nelson, Terri Osburn, Ginger Ring, Maggie Ryan, Lizbeth Selvig, Tina Susedik and A.C. Wilson

Proceeds from this limited edition collection go to benefit the Western Sports Foundation, an organization providing critical assistance to athletes competing in Western lifestyle sports. Whether they need help recuperating from an injury or planning for the future, WSF is there for them.

website: http://bit.ly/DeadwoodTales

The book is available for preorder now and will be publish May ^st, and you can purchase autographed print copies at the PBR Rodeo in Deadwood, SD on June 8^th and 9^th.

CASH’S CLAIM

Zoe Blake

She was his...and it was past time he staked his claim.

Jessamine Cooper was determined to stay independent and run her late uncle's ranch on her own. When she shows up in Deadwood with an ill-advised plan to win the money she needs playing poker, Cash decides it is past time for him to stake his claim.

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UNEXPECTED CALAMITY

E.E. Burke

A friendship that never died.

Calamity Jane is drawn back to Deadwood by a force more powerful than death, and becomes an unexpected savior in the midst of an epidemic.

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SAVING DALLIE

Paty Jager 

Everyone deserves a chance.

When a miner tosses his daughter into the pot at a poker game and the winner is a brothel owner, Beau Gentry is determined to keep the young woman out of the man’s hands.

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THE GAMBLER AND THE PREACHER’S DAUGHTER

Teresa Keefer

Can a preacher's daughter play poker with a gambler and win?

Leticia Chasteen was always getting dragged into situations she didn't want to be in. Rusty McGraw the gambler was always coming to her rescue. Who will end up with the winning hand?

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A RISKY PROPOSAL

Megan Kelly

He loves her. She loves him. A proposal should be good news, right?

Callie Jones never wanted to date a bull rider. Now she’s fallen in love with Rome Anderson, who’s intent on winning the PBR Championship buckle. When he asks her to marry him, she has to decide: Does she break his heart with a no or doom her future with a yes?

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LOVE ACROSS TIME

Sylvia McDaniel

Is it possible to love someone in another time? Are dreams real?

Sadie Mae Miller is hanging up her barrel racing crown and beginning a new life. But when her grandmother asks her to sleep under a new wedding ring quilt with promises of visions of the love of her life, she doesn’t quite believe her. Until she falls asleep. Only problem is, he lived in 1880. Does time separate the lovers?

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ONCE UPON A DEADWOOD DREAM

Amanda McIntyre

Sometimes to find your future you must face the past.

Past and present meld together in Deadwood when a woman who discovers true love must fight to escape a deadly twist of fate.

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THE BROTHERHOOD

Peggy McKenzie

Sometimes, love is hiding in the most peculiar places.

Major Lucas Hamilton, widower and father of four boys, insists on the disciplined order of a regimented household. But when a bumbling young woman falls at his feet, will he take a chance on her or send her packing before she burns his house down to the ground.

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MAVERICK SEDUCTION

Angi Morgan

Teenage crush or true love. You decide.

Sean Maverick is on a charity auction block until a beautiful woman from his past buys him for the night. Em Stone believed in love at first sight even if she had to lasso and knock Sean off his feet.

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TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Nancy Naigle

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride? Never say never.

Kendra is fine with being a bridesmaid. She hung up her wedding hopes and dreams eight years ago when her cowboy chose the rodeo over her, but when these two cross paths in Deadwood it looks like the timing just might be right for a reconciliation.

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RESCUING RAVEN

Jacqui Nelson

In a gold rush storm, can an unlikely pair rescue each other?

Raven wants to save one person. Charlie wants to save the world. Their warring nations thrust them together but duty pulled them apart—until their paths crossed again in Deadwood for a fight for love.

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AFTER THE FALL

Terri Osburn

When it comes to love, sometimes falling is the easy part.

Aspyn Fielding blames Tucker Stargill for not talking her brother, Colt, out of riding bulls. When Colt is gravely injured during a ride, Aspyn is hopeful Tucker will finally see things her way, but Aspyn is the one who has a change of heart.

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BEST RESULTS

Ginger Ring

Finding the perfect results from one simple test.

Orphaned at a young age, both Adam and River yearn to find a living relative from either of their families. After finally deciding to put down roots in Deadwood, a simple DNA test brings a result that is more than they ever expected.

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A GIFT OF GOLD

Maggie Ryan

There may be gold in the Black Hills, but Bennett had his eyes on a far more valuable prize.

Not one to be deterred by the dictates of society, Lorelai Samuels had a dream to open a restaurant in the bustling new town of Deadwood and no one was going to stand in her way, especially not the infuriatingly handsome and stubborn Bennett Redding.

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GOTTA HAVE FAITH

Lizbeth Selvig

Win or lose, she’s about to take on the big boys.

Faith “Rabbit” Redmond forms an extreme plan at the Deadwood rodeo to convince a champion bull rider that women can excel at the dangerous sport. If she wins his respect, she might also win his love. .

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THE SCHOOL MARM

Tina Susedik

Can a schoolmarm with dreams of a better life, fall for a disreputable man?

Suzanna Lindstrom travels as a schoolmarm in fledgling Deadwood. Having left her parents’ struggling farm, she dreams of a better life in Deadwood with a man who’s struck it rich in the gold fields. Fresh off the stagecoach, she meets Kingston Winson, whom she disregards as disreputable. Is he who she thinks he is? What lesson will she learn?

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TRICKS

A.C. Wilson

Tricks inspire courage and new love while daring others to dream.

Pushed to choose a direction for her life, Tandi discovers that some crossroads are necessary. Surprisingly, each marker leads her to an arena of spectators with her talented horse and a handsome guy who gives her hope to do the impossible.

Here are the links to the book to prerorder at the various retailers. It is available May 1^st.

Amazon http://bit.ly/WDTales
universal Link https://www.books2read.com/WDTales

Apple  http://bit.ly/WDTApple

Nook  http://bit.ly/WDTBN

Kobo  http://bit.ly/WDTKobo
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/…/sh…/39739914-wild-deadwood-tales

Catching a New Excitement by Paty Jager

There comes a time in everyone's career or life where they feel the need for a change. I believe it also happens to writers. I know in years past I've jumped around writing different genres and have finally settled on historical and contemporary western romance and murder mystery.

I'm comfortable writing western romance, whether historical or contemporary. I hadn't written a contemporary in a few years and when asked to write a novella for a box set, I was excited to pick up an idea I had written down several years ago and now, I'm writing a contemporary western series - Tumbling Creek Ranch. I love the idea of a working dude ranch with so many possibilities of love connections. And I like the families I've connected to the ranch. You'll find the first book of this series coming out in a box set tilted Cowboy Dreamin'.

Here's the blurb for my book:
Eight Seconds to Love
A Tumbling Creek Ranch Novella 
 

 Lacey Wallis has put blood, sweat, and tears into her dream of making it to the National Finals Rodeo and isn’t about to let an injury stop her. However, she didn’t expect the ER nurse to be the man she had a crush on years ago, or to discover that crush hadn’t been one-sided.

Jared McIntyre lived through loving and the death of one thrill-seeking woman, and wasn’t about to let that happen again. Especially not to Lacey. But that would mean he’d have to allow himself to love again.  

Which will it be, a life-long dream, or the love of a lifetime?

I've also started a new historical western series, Silver Dollar Saloon. This is a series about the women of the Silver Dollar Saloon and the men who own the saloon. It has been a fun project, populating the town and coming up with characters. The first book took me longer to get the heroine's dialog right. I was making the southern belle a bit to "Redneck" according to two of my critique partners. I hope readers now find her more refined but with enough twang in her talk to remind the reader she is from Jawja (Georgia).  

Here is the blurb for the first book in this new series:

Savannah

Silver Dollar Saloon

 

Escaping a past full of deceit and larceny, Savannah Gentry goes in search of her only kin, a half-brother she discovered after her father’s death. She hopes Shady Gulch in the Dakota Territory can give her a future. There she stumbles into the arms of Reverend Larkin Webster, finds herself working in the Silver Dollar Saloon, and soon fears she’s gone from the frying pan into the fire.

After dodging death and incarceration, the Topeka Kid decides to turn his life around and takes on a new identity. Reverend Larkin Webster. It works, until he finds a temptation he can’t resist and steals the heart of Savannah Gentry. When her past collides with his, he wonders if this theft could end up with him losing everything, including his life.