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Caroline Clemmons: The Widows of Wildcat Ridge (Contest–Two Winners!)
Wednesday, January 16th, 2019

Thank you to Delilah for hosting me today.

Do you prefer mountains or the beach? I enjoy both, but I love mountains most. I find them inspiring. I remember one trip, for instance, to Estes Park, Colorado several years ago. This magical trip occurred on the first weekend in October.

While we were there for a conference in which my husband participated, we stayed in a lovely hotel. Our room had a huge plate glass window view of the mountain. I had taken my laptop with the intention of writing while my husband was busy. This beautiful, slow snow came with giant snowflakes that stuck to the pine trees.

How can anyone be expected to work in those conditions? I confess that for the most part, I watched the snow fall. Where we live in the Fort Worth area of North Central Texas, we don’t get much snow—some years none. You can understand how fascinated I was with this lovely sight.

The conference featured a tour for spouses on Saturday afternoon. One of the sites we toured was the Stanley House Hotel, which Steven King supposedly used in THE SHINING. It’s a lovely hotel and not at all frightening. While we were walking through, a Regency reenactment group was holding a dance that looked entertaining.

Our tour guide said she lived in a haunted house that had had a poltergeist when she and her husband first moved there. She reported the poltergeist swept dishes off shelves and was a destructive nuisance . I’ll bet even Stephen King would find that frightening. I certainly would.

One evening, my husband and I strolled to the center of town. The elk that came up to feed and drink are protected and have right of way. I couldn’t help laughing at them as they wandered on and off the street and caused drivers to stop. This was the first time I’d seen an elk that wasn’t in a zoo.

I’ve been to Colorado several times, but this was the most memorable visit. I’ve written numerous books that take place in a mountain setting at different seasons. When I’ve done so, I recall the wonder of that trip. Perhaps to people who are used to a lot of snow, such scenes are annoying instead of awesome. To me, if was wonderful and unforgettable.

I relied on these memories for my latest release, GARNET, book 9 in the sweet western historical series, The Widows of Wildcat Ridge. Though GARNET is set in Utah, I picture the Wildcat Ridge Mountains resembling those on the Colorado trip I so enjoyed. In GARNET, a terrible mining tragedy has left many widows in town.

Here’s the book’s description:

Garnet Chandler is fighting to hold onto her café, her niece and nephew, and her sanity after the deaths of her husband, his brother, and his sister-in-law. A persistent prowler and the threat of losing custody of her niece and nephew spur her to action. She doesn’t need another man, but she needs a husband long enough to convince the children’s grandparents she can offer them a stable home.

Bounty hunter Adam Bennett was ready to settle down when his friend was killed by a horse thief. He set out to capture the man who had also killed a guard when escaping prison. Adam must have let down his defenses because the man he followed and two cohorts waylaid Adam, beating him and stealing all his possessions before kicking him down a steep ravine. Adam is determined to capture the three as soon as he heals from their encounter.

Garnet and Adam join forces to achieve both their goals but will that be enough?

The buy link is http://getbook.at/garnetWOWR . GARNET is available in e-book and will soon be available in print. Of course, it’s free in KU.

Here’s an excerpt…

A loud rap at the back door startled her. She kept the curtains closed unless they were serving food and couldn’t see who had knocked.

Joey grabbed his stick. “Don’t answer it. Might be the robber there.”

She wiped her hands on her apron. “Or a friend who needs something.” Joey didn’t know the Colt .45 was in her apron pocket. After taking a deep, bracing breath, she opened the door.

The dirtiest man she’d ever seen stood there. His beard was as dirty as his clothes. Fresh cuts showed through the mud on his face. He was tall and broad-shouldered but looked as if he could barely stand.

“Ma’am, my name is Adam Bennett. Please don’t be put off by my appearance. I was robbed up the mountain a ways and lost all my gear. I’m mighty hungry. If you need anything done, I like to work for a meal.”

Joey was by her side. “He isn’t the one from last night.” All the same, her nephew kept his pick handle in his hand.

“We’re the Chandlers. Come in and sit down. Wait, wash your hands and face at the sink first. You can’t handle food while you’re that filthy.”

While the man washed his hands, she filled a plate from leftovers and poured a cup of coffee. “Joey, please get my medicine box from upstairs.”

He leaned close. “I don’t think I should leave you alone while he’s here.”

Joey took being man of the family seriously. “Oh, all right. Hyacinth, would you get the medicine box for me?”

“How come he doesn’t have to and I do?” Usually sweet, Hyacinth was a bit spoiled and definitely jealous of her brother.”

“Because Mr. Bennett is injured and needs our help. Please hurry.”

Her niece stomped up the stairs while muttering under her breath, her golden curls bouncing with each step.

When Garnet glanced at the man, she saw he’d wolfed down his food. “I’ll get you more. How long since you’ve eaten?”

“Not sure how long I was in and out of consciousness up there. They attacked me on Saturday morning. What day is this?”

“Monday. No wonder you’re hungry.” She set another plate of food in front of him and refilled his cup.

Contest

I’ll be giving away an e-book copy of GARNET to two people who comment today. Tell me your most memorable vacation in a comment to enter.

8 comments to “Caroline Clemmons: The Widows of Wildcat Ridge (Contest–Two Winners!)”

  1. Colleen C.
    Comment
    1
    · January 16th, 2019 at 12:22 pm · Link

    My most memorable vacation… on a cruise during my 11th b-day… we ended up at seas during a hurricane… the ship was rocking like crazy… nothing bad happened… after it was over, I had a memory that I would never forget and a little b-day cake they made for me.



  2. Debra Guyette
    Comment
    2
    · January 16th, 2019 at 12:25 pm · Link

    I would like to read this one. Thanks for the chance.



  3. Caroline Clemmons
    Comment
    3
    · January 16th, 2019 at 2:33 pm · Link

    I made a type in the url. It should be
    http://getbook.at/GarnetWOWR but I forgot to capitalize Garnet.



  4. Lori Smanski
    Comment
    4
    · January 16th, 2019 at 2:42 pm · Link

    Oh this cover is lovely. And the excerpt sounds wonderful. The most memorable vacation I think I have had was when I was 8. Every summer we went to Yellowstone Park. This summer dad brought some special sausage along. One night a bear could be heard in our camp area. Mom was holding the dog with one hand and dad with the other. Dad didn’t want the bear to get his sausage. LOL Well next morning we all went out and guess what? Yup that bear got dads sausage. We tracked pieces of the sausage. Finally we found the rest of the sausage. LOL The bear didn’t want it. Dad was hopping furious. “At least he could have done was eat the whole thing” That was a great week.



  5. Renee Peskar
    Comment
    5
    · January 16th, 2019 at 3:13 pm · Link

    My most memorable was our drive to Alaska. 8200 miles in 31 days, driving a 15 yr old car, pulling a 26 ft camper. We were in the car with 2 adults & 3 children, my parents in a pickup truck carring all the supplies. We saw some of the most BEAUTIFUL breathtaking country on tjat trip. 20 yrs later and many more trips it still was the best. Going back next summer….can’t wait.



  6. Betty Sue Payton
    Comment
    6
    · January 17th, 2019 at 4:08 pm · Link

    Camping and fishing with my husband and his brother and wife at Lake Cumberland. We had a blast. Freaked me out when I heard scratching on out tent, come to find out it was a raccoon.



  7. Eileen Airey
    Comment
    7
    · January 17th, 2019 at 6:23 pm · Link

    My most memorable vacation was taking my first born son to the beach. Watching his reactions to the sand,the waves,the birds and especially to how loud the waves are was unforgettable.



  8. Jessie
    Comment
    8
    · January 17th, 2019 at 10:40 pm · Link

    The vacation I remember the most was to a small town in upper Alberta Canada. I met a woman I had chatted with on Yahoo. Her husband had passed and she was running cattle her self. I will never forget how hard she worked. Then take me out on the town at night.It was such a small town everyone knew I was from the US and was her chat buddie. What great, friendly people they were and I felt so welcome.



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