April Member News

Here's the monthly round-up of news from Women Writing the West members. Congratulations all!

Shanna Hatfield released The Cowboy's New Heart, Book 5 in her Grass Valley Cowboys Series, March 23rd.

Years after her husband suddenly died, Denni Thompson can’t bear to think of giving her heart to anyone else. With three newly married sons, a grandchild on the way, and a busy life, Denni doesn’t give a thought to romance until she meets the handsome new owner of Grass Valley’s gas station. Former bull-rider Hart Hammond spent the last twenty years building up a business empire while successfully avoiding love. He buried his heart the same day he made his last bull ride, and has vowed to never make the mistake of loving a woman again. Then he meets Denni Thompson, the beautiful mother of the fun-loving Thompson tribe. Can a broken-hearted widow and a heartless cowboy find love?

The Cowboy's New Heart is available on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords.

Karen Kondazian's award-winning novel, The Whip, has been voted #1 on Goodreads.com for "Books that should be turned into a movie". Kondazian says, "Every vote counts and if you have not read The Whip, please take a look at the synopsis and if you feel that the story is worthy of being turned into a film, please vote here!"

The Whip is inspired by the true story of a woman, Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst (1812-1879) who lived most of her extraordinary life as a man in the old west. As a young woman in Rhode Island, she fell in love with a runaway slave and had his child. The destruction of her family drove her west to California, dressed as a man, to track the killer. Charley became a renowned stagecoach driver for Wells Fargo. She killed a famous outlaw, had a secret love affair, and lived with a housekeeper who, unaware of her true sex, fell in love with her. Charley was the first woman to vote in America (as a man).  

Randall Platt's young adult novel, Liberty's Christmas, is a finalist for the 2012 Reading the West Book Awards from the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association.

Can’t see the trees for the forest? Liberty Justice Jones can, but then she’s brilliant— little good it does her in a small town in the throes of Depression that leaves a fatherless family without anything, sometimes even food. Without, except for resourcefulness in the worst of times. This is a transcendent story for all the seasons of life, offering a lesson for here and now.

Platt says, "This is a great way to begin the week! I am honored to be included on this list with such great company!"

WWW member and New York Times bestselling novelist Sandra Dallas' The Quilt Walk is also a finalist for the 2012 Reading the West Book Awards.

Ho for Colorado! It’s 1864, and Thomas Hatchett has just told his family they will move west. He’ll sell the farm, buy a covered wagon, and load it with construction supplies. Pa plans to build a business block in the frontier town of Golden, Colorado. There is no place in the wagon for trunks of clothes, so Ma and their daughter, Emmy Blue, must put on their dresses, one on top of the other, and wear them all the way to Golden.

But what about ten-year-old Emmy Blue? Part of the little girl wants the excitement of going to a new place where the family might become rich. After all, Golden is the Wild West. She’d be busy watching out for Indians and hunting for gold. But the other part of her wants to stay in Illinois, with her friends and grandparents. During her final good-bye, Grand Mouse gives Emmy Blue tiny fabric pieces. Concerned that Colorado is no place for a proper young lady, Grandma Mouse is determined that Emmy Blue learns to sew. Emmy Blue’s journey west becomes a quilt walk.