A Rocky Path.....

Every author has a story of seeing his work published  and on a book store shelf. I've often said if I had known how hard it is (was), I doubt I would have pursued it.

When indie publishing was just getting off the ground, I had no trouble embracing this new and exciting thing in writing and publishing. Consequently, when I wrote my 9th book, THE TYCOON, I didn't even think about pursuing a traditional publisher. I went straight for indie publishing. Little did I know the quagmire I was stepping into. 

After many obstacles and 2 years of work and learning, I got THE TYCOON on the market. This was Book #1 in a trilogy I planned with a story arc that spanned 3 books and came to a conclusion in Book #3. ..... In THE TYCOON, I introduced the dysfunctional Lockhart family, a hundred-year-old Texas dynasty uber-rich in land, cattle and oil and gas. Drake, the oldest son, had dreams of escaping the ranch and making his own fortune in real estate investing. He did not have a plan to meet a sexy redhead and fall head-over-heels in love, but there she was at a charity Christmas ball.

THE CATTLEMAN is the story of the middle son who stayed at home and assumed the responsibility of managing the huge Double-Barrel ranch. He has an uncertain relationship with a woman he has known his whole life.

Book #3, THE HORSEMAN, is the story of Troy Rattigan, the patriarch's bastard son, who has a mystical connection to the healing of abused horses and unintentionally, abused people. He meets a beautiful woman who started life as a homeless waif and product of the welfare system and instantly falls in love.

The story arching over the 3 books is that a mysterious person is harassing the Lockhart family, but nobody knows who it is until the end of Book #3.

I'm happy to say I'm finished with THE HORSEMAN. Yay!!! .....The list of distractions I've had since I started this trilogy is long. Sometimes life just gets in the way. I'm now in the editing process and hope to have this book on the market in another month. .....

Those of you who have read my books know that my heroes are always heroic alpha males and my heroines are always beautiful and desirable. I try to make my stories dramatic and interesting. Hope you'll read THE HORSEMAN and enjoy it and find the end of the trilogy satisfying.

Here's a brief description:

Troy Rattigan devotes most of his time and energy to horses— rescuing them, training them, understanding them. He seems to have a spiritual connection to the equine species. But because of his brutal schedule and an escalating series of attacks on his family, his connections with the opposite sex haven’t gone beyond meaningless hookups. …. Then he comes across Rudy in his current workshop. There’s something about the fractious, blood-bay horse that lures him. And something about the unassuming beauty on the other end of Rudy’s lead rope that ignites his instinct to fix what’s broken—in both horse and woman.

Single mom Brittany Karol is barely back on her feet after almost losing her life and her leg to a rattlesnake bite. The worst step she could make? Accepting the too-rich, too-handsome, too-sweet-talking trainer’s offer to teach her horse-crazy young son to work with her best friend’s problem horse, Rudy. ..... Having seen the worst of life, Brittany is too old and too jaded for her years. Yet, she can’t resist giving her son his wildest dream. But is the deep, instant fit she feels with Troy simply a mutual understanding of loss and grief? Or is it a solid foundation upon which to build a lifetime of happiness? Is becoming connected to the wealthy and dynamic Lockhart family another risk to her own life and happiness as well as her young son’s?

New Old Book.....

Getting the rights to a book back from a large publishing house can be a challenge. I spent at least three years trying to get the rights back on my last traditionally published book, MAN OF THE WEST.

Last year, I finally got that letter returning all rights to me. I'm now currently in the process of making some revisions and will soon be releasing it as an Anna Jeffrey book. It was originally published under the pseudonym Sadie Callahan.

I had to have a new cover designed. First, you aren't allowed to use the publishing house's original cover because they own it. Second, it had Sadie Callahan's name on it, a pen name that I will probably never use again. So I called on the fabulous Kim Killion (as I always do) to design the new cover.

COMING SOON!

This book is a sequel to LONE STAR WOMAN. The hero is the second Strayhorn cousin who is still trying to live down his father's disgrace.

Sheriff of a small, remote town in the Texas Panhandle, Jake Strayhorn’s calm and uncomplicated life changes when he meets the Circle C Ranch's new cook. He’s drawn instantly to her wholesome beauty, different from any other woman he’s ever known. As a career cop, his honed instincts detect she’s running from something, but she refuses to reveal her past. How can he protect her if he doesn’t know what's making her so skittish?

Escaping an abusive, drug-addicted husband in the dead of night, Jolie Jensen found the perfect hiding place on the Circle C Ranch, working as a cook. This seems to be the safest place she's found in years, yet fear lingers. Billy Jensen’s bound to find her and their daughter, and with no family, the only person she knows she can lean on is the too-attractive sheriff. He’s shown himself willing to be her protector, but can she protect her heart from the quiet, strong Jake Strayhorn?

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 I love writing sagas about big families and all of the drama that can be associated with them. And here's the blurb to LONE STAR WOMAN, a book that was also originally released as a Sadie Callahan book.

Jude Strayhorn, the only child of the vast Circle C Ranch’s CEO, is in constant conflict with her father and grandfather. Her greatest desire is to exert her education and influence on the ranch’s operation, but the two men thwart her at every turn. Giving up, she goes outside the Circle C intending to use her trust fund to buy a small spread from a deceased widow’s estate where she can put her ideas into practice. That is, until she runs headlong into the widow’s heir, Brady Fallon, who has his own plans for the 6-0 Ranch.

Brady Fallon is no stranger to Willard County, though he hasn’t been around since childhood. His inheritance needs a lot of work and he needs money to put it back into shape and revive it as a cattle operation. He hires on as a hand at the Circle C Ranch, a move that leads to unexpected benefits for his future as well as unwanted conflict with his boss’s daughter. Can he set his attraction to her aside for his own good?

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A third book is planned for this series. It will be the third Strayhorn cousin's story. The title is SON OF THE PLAINS.

Snakebit!.....Yikes!

I always try to create interesting situations and circumstances for the characters in my stories. In my newest endeavor, THE HORSEMAN, Book #3 of The Sons of Texas trilogy, I’ve created a situation where a character has been crippled by multiple surgeries after a rattlesnake bite.

Not just any old snake, but a RATTLESNAKE. Thus, I’ve been researching rattlesnake bites. And after researching them, I’m even more scared of them than before. Rattlesnake bites are different from other snake bites.

On the Internet, there are personal stories from victims. One of the most hair-raising is from a 13-year-old boy who was bitten on the hand. http://rattlesnakebite.org/ Another is by a 50-year-old female backpacker in an area where she hikes several times a week. http://www.backpacker.com/survival/out-alive-bitten-by-a-rattlesnake/#bp=0/img1.

Both of these accounts will get your attention and put you on the lookout for venomous creatures.

So what happens if one strikes you? Here is a web site with good information about what to do. http://www.desertusa.com/reptiles/rattlesnake-bites.html.

Rattlesnake venom contains toxins that damage tissue, destroy blood cells, skin tissues and cause internal hemorrhaging. It can also immobilize the nervous system which can affect and even stop breathing. In reality, a snake bite kit isn’t really a good solution. You need to get to an emergency room fast.

The experts tell you that rattlesnakes are solitary creatures. They strike when startled or when they feel threatened. That’s good information, but if one is resting under a bush and you don’t know it and walk past it—as was the case with the 50-year-old woman—I guess that’s enough for it to feel threatened. 

The experts also say rattlesnake bites are rare. I grew up in West Texas, have

lived in Texas most of my life and I’ve never known anyone personally who was bitten. I’ve run across a couple of people who’ve been bitten by copperheads, but apparently those bites aren’t the same as rattlesnake bites.

Those same experts also say that there are very few deaths in the USA from snakebites. But me? If one bit me, I would probably die from a heart attack.

It’s the time of year when everyone wants to be outside working in the yard or the garden. Just be careful out there.

Meanwhile,  I'm  working  away  coming  up  with  a  way  my   heroine  in  THE HORSEMAN, the beautiful Dallas Ann Carol, is going to go on with her life after this trauma. And how our hero, handsome and rich  Troy Rattigan,  is  going  to find her courageous and irresistible.