That’s point of view.

We know what we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch, but we can never be sure how someone else senses those same stimuli, if they noticed at all.

Let’s say you’re thirty years old and you see an eighty-year-old arthritic woman take a full minute to get out [...]]]>

That’s point of view.

We know what we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch, but we can never be sure how someone else senses those same stimuli, if they noticed at all.

Let’s say you’re thirty years old and you see an eighty-year-old arthritic woman take a full minute to get out of her chair. You can be compassionate and sympathetic, but until you’re eighty and have arthritis, you have no idea what her pain is like, or how it feels for her to stand.  She can tell you, and you might be able to relate, at least somewhat, based on your own experience, but you don’t really know.

That’s point of view.

On the other hand, you can bet the lady can remember jumping up and running after her young children.  She has fond memories, but you have lots of things to do so you feel a tinge of annoyance when your children need something when you’re busy doing four other things.

That’s point of view.

You and your best friend walk into a candy store.  They’ve just put out fresh orange sticks.  Your mouth waters at the aroma of candied orange and chocolate—oh, the chocolate! and you can’t wait to taste the free sample that the clerk is using to entice you.  But your friend runs out of the store with her hand over her mouth.  Come to find out, she had binged on a box of orange sticks just before her first bout with morning sickness during her pregnancy.  The very smell sickened her.

That’s point of view.

Our characters react differently to stimuli based on their own unique experiences.  Exploring those experiences are what gives our stories depth and makes our characters multi-dimensional.  That’s why it’s so important to not just write a character, but to be that character—to smell what he smells and experience the feelings that the smell would trigger; to see what he sees and react how he would react.

This goes farther than point of view—it also takes you into the strength of your character’s voice.  Now he acts, thinks, and sounds differently than any other character in your book because of his unique perspective on each stimulus he encounters.

And that’s the beauty of it.  If you know your characters well, then you also know what obstacles to throw in their way to prove your story theme.

But that’s a topic for another day.

Have a Magical Monday!

Faery Merry Christmas (a Kindle novella)
Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues (See the Book Video featuring Justin Saragueta)
Jacquie’s website * 1st Turning Point * Myspace * Twitter * Facebook
Faery Special Romances * Royalties go to Children’s Tumor Foundation, ending Neurofibromatosis through Research

Here come the Texty Ladies!  Some of us, anyway.  The rest will be here when they get here.  2009 was a bit busy for us all, but we’re all dedicated to this site and we’ll be hanging around more.

So . . .

Magic Monday is back!

To celebrate, [...]]]>

Here come the Texty Ladies!  Some of us, anyway.  The rest will be here when they get here.  2009 was a bit busy for us all, but we’re all dedicated to this site and we’ll be hanging around more.

So . . .

Magic Monday is back!

To celebrate, we’re having a contest. Yay!  But more about that later.

Each Texty Lady has her own story for our hiatus but here’s mine:

In May, 2009, Ann Charles and I launched a website called 1st Turning Point, dedicated to help authors teach, learn, and share with each other—all about marketing and promotion.  The way we had it set up is that she would write an article on Mondays, I would write one on Fridays, and we’d try to find a guest columnist to contribute something on Wednesdays.

That was the plan.

Now we have almost fifty columnists and reviewers, we post four how-to articles per week, plus a website review every Saturday, and a book video review every Sunday.  We have five deckhands to handle the running of the ship.  And we’re all called Parrots—subscribers, crew, everyone.  So we have a great time but man-oh-man are we ever busy!!!

Meet the Parrots (podcast)

We had no idea how popular 1st Turning Point would be, and in such a hurry, too!  Now we also have a monthly podcast called Meet the Parrots.  If you’re an author, you might want to listen the latest show, Your Website: The Essentials.  I’m the host, and my guests were Library Goddess and event planner Deborah Schneider, 1st Turning Point Co-Captain Ann Charles, website designer and owner of DewPoint Studios April Rickard, and first-time website owner Wendy Delaney.  And of course all these authors have a unique perspective on what comprises a good author’s site.

Plus, there’s the forum, and now we’ve started classes, too.  And just because Ann and I didn’t have enough to do, we also started Platform Coach™ and we’re writing a non-fiction book about platforms.  More on that later (we’re still in the proposal stage).

And then there are the workshops—one with Ann and Wendy Delaney, one with Eilis Flynn, a couple on my own, and probably more that I’m not remembering right now.  I’m booked through the end of the year. :faint:

Plus, there’s the actual story writing—you know, the thing I originally started out to do?  Sheesh.

So yes, I needed a hiatus!

Next week, we have a special guest, Carrie Lofty.  She has some awesome books out and more on the way—one with Anne Aguirre.  You’ll learn more about her next week.  I participate in Carrie’s group blog, Unusual Historicals.  If you’re even the faintest bit interested in history, that’s the place to go.  I love the articles.

Oh wait, I got off track.  Anyway, Carrie has contributed a fantastic guest article that all you writers will enjoy.  She calls it “Window Characters,” and I’m not saying anything more.  My lips are sealed.  But come back next Monday and see what she has to say.

As always, Magical Monday will give you a craft article either from me or a guest, and an occasional author interview.  Okay, maybe a frequent author interview.  In fact, we might have a few returning guests.  If life gets too crazy, I might have to skip a posting occasionally, but I’ll try my best not to.

And now {drum rollllllllll . . . } for the contest!

One commenter who posts a comment on any Texty Ladies article posted between now and May 31st will be the lucky winner of a copy of Justin Saragueta’s latest CD, Gueta, and a print copy of Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues.  I have to limit the contest to USA mailing addresses because of postage costs.  If you’re the winner and you live outside the USA, let me know and I’ll see if I can get a download of Justin’s music, and an ebook to you.  Can’t guarantee that, though.  Winner will be drawn May 31st at 10pm Pacific Time and announced on the comments of Carrie’s article.

Sound good?  Just tell me what’s been going on with you over the first part of this year—truth or lies, I just like to have fun.  Don’t forget to leave your email address.

Have a Magical Monday!

Jacquie

Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues (See the Book Video featuring Justin Saragueta)
Jacquie’s website * 1st Turning Point * Myspace *** Twitter * Facebook
Faery Special Romances * Book Video Royalties go to Children’s Tumor Foundation, ending Neurofibromatosis through Research

Jacquie Rogers, Author

by Jacquie Rogers Copyright © 2009 Jacquie Rogers Reprinted from 1st Turning Point

Your book is out, waiting to be purchased by eager readers, and you’re on the promotion circuit.  In a flash of genius, you signed up for a [...]]]>

Jacquie Rogers, Author

by Jacquie Rogers
Copyright © 2009 Jacquie Rogers
Reprinted from 1st Turning Point

Your book is out, waiting to be purchased by eager readers, and you’re on the promotion circuit.  In a flash of genius, you signed up for a featured-author day on a readers’ email group.  Let’s call it BookLoversWorld on Yahoo Groups.  (I just made that name up-don’t know if there really is a group named that!)  So now there’s a whole day dedicated to you and your book.

Now what?

Make sure your day is a success, that’s what.  Be proactive.  Here are a few pointers.

First, confirm that you’re subscribed to the group and can post.  Send two or three test posts.  I know, this seems obvious, but I’ve seen several authors fall into this trap, and when their time to shine comes . . . nada.  If the list owner isn’t Johnny-on-the-spot and helps rectify the situation, you could miss your own day.  Not good.

Make sure there are at least two other people subscribed to the group who will interact with you, even if you have to drag your critique partners in and subscribe them.  Nothing is more bewildering than posting and not receiving any response at all.  Lots of times, if a few people respond, some of the list lurkers will come out from hiding.  Otherwise, you can end up singing to an empty room, which is not what you want.

Always have plenty of material prepared ahead of time.  What material, you ask?

• An introduction, preferably a bio that relates to your audience. If the list members are more scholarly, then tailor your bio to fit academia. If they are rowdy, tailor for that. Always remember who your audience is and try to give them what they want.
• An outline of what you have planned for the day.
• A listing of all your social networks in one post.
• A couple messages containing excerpts from your featured book. Prepare excerpts from other books you have available, too, just in case someone asks. Make sure you always put the rating (G, PG, etc.) and a buy link in every excerpt post. A cover image is a necessity. Learn how to do it. If you don’t know how, I wrote an article with detailed instructions: Effective Email Promotion.
• Sponsor a contest or five. Give away your friends’ books, or a CD, or a T-shirt. Make it fun. Hint: chocolate is always a hit.

Have a game plan:

• Maintain activity on the list. Yes, a day is a long time and you do have other things to do, but check in frequently. Don’t let questions go unanswered for long; otherwise, that reader will think you don’t deem his/her comment important. Bad juju!!! All readers should feel like they’re important to you.  And of course they are.
• Have a contest schedule and stick to it, whether you get enough entries or not. And speaking of contests, the more you force the readers to do, the less participation you’ll get.
• Post recipes, or funny pictures, or jokes (but make sure they fit your audience, and stay away from politics and religion). Think about what will stir the list members into action.
• If someone is snarky or mean-spirited, ignore them. Policing is the list owner’s job, not yours.
• This is your special day, so take advantage of it.

Create the time to make your day a success.  You’re the star, so don’t give yourself short shrift.  This is not the day to write a 50-page RFP, weed the garden, and make a gourmet dinner for 30 people.  Try not to have anything scheduled.  All too often, there are must-do’s such as picking the kiddos up from school.  You can work around those things, but try to keep them to a minimum.

Most of all . . . Have fun!

Faery Merry Christmas

by Jacquie Rogers
(Kindle only at this time, but did you know you can download a Kindle reader on your PC?)

Romance has gone awry in Faeryshire.

Who would’ve thought Mr. and Mrs. Claus’s daughter would be “on the shelf”?  Yep, Cheshya’s all a’flutter because her 2,000th birthday, the last day she’s eligible to take a mate, is on Christmas, only four days away, but Liam of the Red Clan, the only man she has ever wanted is otherwise occupied . . .

Terra Humanus in 1956: carhops on roller skates, the submarine races, a pink Nash Metropolitan, Lucky Strikes, Little Richard, and the Shoreline Sharks Baseball Club starring ace pitcher Liam Stone.

For the past five years, Liam of the Red Clan has lived in Terra Humanus, pitching for the Shoreline Sharks and obsessed with signing as a major league pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds.   The faery queen sends Cheshya to help him achieve his goal, but in signing with the Reds, will he lose out on his true heart’s desire?

What will it take to make a Faery Merry Christmas?

“What faery fun!  A winsome sprite’s barely still-ticking time clock.  Mayhem in the land of Claus.  And the man who could wave just the right magic wand obsessed with baseball.  A Christmas story to cuddle up with–and keep you really warm.” Stella Cameron, NYT Best-selling Author

Every once in a while, a friend and I go out of the area for a writers’ retreat.  This isn’t sponsored by anyone or anything–it’s just us–Judith Laik and I, and sometimes our two other friends can make it if we’re lucky.  We pack up our clothes, food, and writing materials [...]]]>

Every once in a while, a friend and I go out of the area for a writers’ retreat.  This isn’t sponsored by anyone or anything–it’s just us–Judith Laik and I, and sometimes our two other friends can make it if we’re lucky.  We pack up our clothes, food, and writing materials . . . oh, and an itty bit of wine . . . and off we go.

This time we left Monday morning and came home Friday night.  Believe me, every minute is useful.  The drive to the condo is our planning time.  We decide what books each of us will work on, and how much time we require for actual writing versus brainstorming.

We discuss new techniques for either brainstorming or craft, and we decide which ones we’ll try and how much time we’ll give each to produce results.  After all, we do have tried-and-true methods, but we’re always on the hunt for something new.  We learned a long time ago that every story evolves in its own way, no matter how we try to force it.

Some techniques we used this time:
April Kihlstrom’s BIAW class
Discovering Story Magic
Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation, and Conflict
A deck of cards with story ideas (can’t remember where Judith bought these)

After we arrive, the first item on the agenda is to unpack as quickly as possible and go to the grocery store for fresh foods.  We plan it so we can get everything we need for the week, because we didn’t drive all this way to shop.  We hurry with life’s mundane chores so we can get down to business.  Even during our chores, we’re still discussing our stories.

Yay!  Dinner is done, the dishes are in the dishwasher, the wine is poured, the chips and salsa are on the coffee table, our AlphaSmarts have new batteries–we’re set!  After spending several hours in the car, as well as discussing our stories’ needs during our chorse, we have a good idea what needs to happen.

This time, we both needed the same things: 1) gaining confidence that we could write our stories; and 2) analyzing our stories’ weaknesses and brainstorming how to fix them.

We took turns, working first on my book, then on hers.  We started using April Kihlstrom’s technique for preparing for a Book In A Week challenge.  Wow, she has some great stuff and I highly encourage anyone to take her classes.  I immediately identified the flaw in my story (the conflict wasn’t sustainable), and we proceeded to figure out how to fix the problem, which took a while, but we did it.

Then we had to work on Judith’s book.  Her first priority was to decide what the ending will be so she can plot toward it.  That took a while, but we managed to brainstorm a rather clever ending–clever in its simplicity.  Off to our beds with  only our AlphaSmarts for companionship (Judy has a laptop, too, so not quite true).  We wrote until we were either stuck or asleep.

Each day is pretty much the same: discuss our stories, plot out the next scene, then go our separate ways and write.  We think about our stories in the shower, we discuss our plot problems over meals, and we even try our best to dream stories and remember them when we wake up.

We also take a break mid-afternoon and go for a walk.  A little exercise stimulates the brain and we find we get more done if we schedule a walk.  What do we talk about?  Yep, our books.

These writers’ retreats aren’t holidays–they’re working trips and we get a lot done.  This time, I didn’t burn up the pages with words, but I certainly made significant progress so that now I can burn up the pages with words, which I plan to start doing today.

It’s wonderful to jumpstart my Muse a few times a year, and I wish everyone could plan their own writing retreats.  If you do, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Not every writer needs the same thing.  Some might need actual plot brainstorming, some might want to discuss theme or the philosophy of their story, some might need to go write after minimal discussion.
• Whether a writer takes it or not, each person should be allotted the same amount of discussion time.  It’s vital that everyone leave the retreat knowing they’ve accomplished significant progress.
• Be careful not to get off on tangents or gossip.  It’s too easy to fritter away valuable retreat time.  Believe me, even five days (three full days and two packing/driving days) is too short.
• Decide ahead of time how you’re going to share expenses.

This would have been a great prelude to NaNoWriMo.  Maybe we can schedule it for the last week of October next year.

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, how’s everyone doing?

Faery Merry Christmas

Faery Merry Christmas: A Heartwarming Novella

by Jacquie Rogers
(Kindle only at this time)

Romance has gone awry in Faeryshire.

Who would’ve thought Mr. and Mrs. Claus’s daughter would be “on the shelf”?  Yep, Cheshya’s all a’flutter because her 2,000th birthday, the last day she’s eligible to take a mate, is on Christmas, only four days away, but Liam of the Red Clan, the only man she has ever wanted is otherwise occupied . . .

Terra Humanus in 1956: carhops on roller skates, the submarine races, a pink Nash Metropolitan, Lucky Strikes, Little Richard, and the Shoreline Sharks Baseball Club starring ace pitcher Liam Stone.

For the past five years, Liam of the Red Clan has lived in Terra Humanus, pitching for the Shoreline Sharks and obsessed with signing as a major league pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds.   The faery queen sends Cheshya to help him achieve his goal, but in signing with the Reds, will he lose out on his true heart’s desire?

What will it take to make a Faery Merry Christmas?

“What faery fun!  A winsome sprite’s barely still-ticking time clock.  Mayhem in the land of Claus.  And the man who could wave just the right magic wand obsessed with baseball.  A Christmas story to cuddle up with–and keep you really warm.” Stella Cameron, NYT Best-selling Author

Things happen.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my experience with publishing a novella on the Kindle, called Faery Merry Christmas. Publishing is one thing–selling books is something else altogether.  It requires time, effort, a little (lot of)  money, and a boatload of luck (which [...]]]>

Things happen.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my experience with publishing a novella on the Kindle, called Faery Merry Christmas. Publishing is one thing–selling books is something else altogether.  It requires time, effort, a little (lot of)  money, and a boatload of luck (which you get only if you invest the time, effort and money so luck can come around). That’s how it works.

But sometimes it’s not to be.  I haven’t had any chance at all to publicize this book. There are about three of us who know it exists and only one of us owns a Kindle.

Like I said, things happen. My father-in-law passed away two weeks ago (not unexpected, but death is always a shock), and his funeral was last Monday. My husband and I had to travel out of state, and of course several things needed to be handled before we could return. Why am I mentioning my personal affairs in a writing column? Because we’re writers, and things do happen that sometimes puts the kibosh on our best-laid plans.

Faery Merry Christmas is a Christmas story (of course). When do you sell Christmas stories? You’ve got it–Halloween!!! Yep, all marketing for Christmas publications need to have the reviews done, the web pages finished, the book video done, and probably a contest laid out, ready to roll the first of November.

Faery Merry Christmas

Not going to happen. But since my novella is set in 1956, it can be sold next year just as well. I’ll prepare a marketing campaign for autumn of 2010, but meantime I’ll do what I can this year.

I guess the moral of the story is to not procrastinate — get everything done before you think it’s necessary. In this case, I hadn’t decided to publish the book until a friend urged me to, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Yes, I knew it was late to start publicity,  then Kindle took 3 days to go live so I was late to start with.  So the timing went awry in a major way right from the get-go.

I fully intend to carry on, pretending as if I didn’t lose the prime two weeks of promo and writing time–after all, being with family was time well-spent.  First priority is to get some writing done.  My critique partner and I are heading to her resort condo for a five-day writing retreat.  My AlphaSmart has eight empty files and my goal is to fill all eight of them by the time I return home on Friday evening.

While this article is about promotion and the timing gone south, it’s always good to remember that if you don’t finish new stories, you have nothing else to sell.

Speaking of which, who’s doing NaNoWriMo? Again, the timing is terrible for me, but I can still give it a whirl. November is the month where we can put our heads down and write, write, write!

And you know, things don’t always go the way we wrote it down in our Daily Planners. Sometimes we just have to go with the flow.

Next week, I’ll let you know all about the writers’ retreat I’m attending this week.  I’m really excited to spend five days doing nothing but brainstorming, writing, or drinking wine.  Oh, did I say that?  No wine.  Okay, not much wine.  Or cheese.  I’ll have brie, please.

Jacquie

Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues (See the Book Video featuring Justin Saragueta)
Jacquie’s Website * 1st Turning Point * Myspace * Twitter * Facebook
Faery Special Romances * Book Video Royalties go to Children’s Tumor Foundation, ending Neurofibromatosis through Research

Our modern sensibilities tell us certain aspects of our lives have “always been that way.”  Not so.  When we write historicals, we need to research the attitudes and mores of that particular time period, and incorporate that richness into our stories.

Take drugs, in the 19th Century, for instance.  At one [...]]]>

Our modern sensibilities tell us certain aspects of our lives have “always been that way.”  Not so.  When we write historicals, we need to research the attitudes and mores of that particular time period, and incorporate that richness into our stories.

Take drugs, in the 19th Century, for instance.  At one time, snake oil salesmen had a clear playing field, and their incredible claims went unchallenged.   Our own opinions on drugs and laws that govern them are moot.

The labels carried wild promises but no list of ingredients. Patent medicines were ubiquitous in the 1800s, partly because medical science had made advances and partly because the search for health exceeded medical science’s capabilities.

These elixirs, creams, and compresses were made from any number of ingredients, ranging from vegetable juice to narcotics. Remember, there were no drug laws in the USA until after the turn of the 20th Century. When a patient took a dose of patent medicine, he or she could be taking opium, alcohol, mandrake, belladonna, marijuana, or extracts from hellebore, henbane, datura, and hemlock.

The term “patent medicine” refers to a product with a proprietary list of ingredients and sold directly to the public, not that the medicine was patented. Some of these products originated as old family recipes, but some manufacturers were a bit more mercenary in the development of their tonics. The quest for the almighty dollar soon surpassed any anecdotal or scientific basis for these medicines, and the patent medicine business became a huge economic force.

Tired of Viagra ads? Believe me, these ads certainly aren’t new. Here’s one of my favorite patent medicine ads, taken from The Owyhee Avalanche in the 1880s:

…and it goes on and on!

The patent medicine industry was brought to its knees shortly after the turn of the 20th Century. From the Food and Drug Administration:

A few muckraking journalists helped expose the red clauses, the false testimonials, the nostrums laden with harmful ingredients, the unfounded cures for cancer, tuberculosis, syphilis, narcotic addiction, and a host of other serious as well as self-limited diseases. The most influential work in this genre was the series by Samuel Hopkins Adams that appeared in Collier’s on October 7, 1905, entitled “The Great American Fraud.” Adams published ten articles in the series, which concluded in February 1906; he followed it up with another series on doctors who advertised fake clinics. The shocking stories of the patent medicine menace were accompanied by startling images, such as “Death’s Laboratory.”

Good health to you!

Any day now!!!

Faery Merry Christmas will be released as a Kindle novella.  Here’s the cover:

Faery Merry Christmas

Human World in 1956: carhops on roller skates, the submarine races, a pink Metropolitan, Lucky Strikes, Little Richard, and the Shoreline Sharks Baseball Club, starring ace pitcher Liam Stone.  Elsewhere . . .

Romance has gone awry in Faery Realm.

Who would’ve thought Mr. and Mrs. Claus’s daughter would be “on the shelf”?  Yep, Cheshya’s all a’flutter because her 2,000^th birthday, the last day she’s eligible to take a mate, is on Christmas, only four days away, but the only man she has ever wanted is otherwise occupied . . .

Liam of the Red Clan is obsessed with succeeding as a major league pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds.  He has stayed away from Faery Realm to concentrate on achieving his heart’s desire.  But in signing with the Reds, will he lose out on his true heart’s desire?

What will it take to make a Faery Merry Christmas?

The cover model? I spent two days looking for a redhead with shoulders, then I remembered I’d made one!  So I bribed my son with potatoes au gratin and now he’s on the cover.  Yay!

The winner of Justin Saragueta’s debut CD???

Lisa Alexander-Griffin!!!

Please send your snail mail address to jacquierogers@gmail.com, subject: GUETA CD.

Jacquie
Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues (See the Book Video featuring Justin Saragueta)
Jacquie Rogers * 1st Turning Point * Myspace * Twitter * Facebook

Faery Special Romances * Book Video Royalties go to Children’s Tumor Foundation, ending Neurofibromatosis through Research

The law was a bit sparse in the Old West, often not a lawman around for hundreds of miles. If a criminal knew how to live off the land and he owned a fast horse, he was pretty well guaranteed an escape. What’s a sheriff to do?

In 1872, the Supreme [...]]]>

The law was a bit sparse in the Old West, often not a lawman around for hundreds of miles. If a criminal knew how to live off the land and he owned a fast horse, he was pretty well guaranteed an escape. What’s a sheriff to do?

In 1872, the Supreme Court ruled that bounty hunters were a part of the U.S. law enforcement system with a decision in Taylor vs. Taintor:

When the bail is given, the principal is regarded as delivered to the custody of his sureties. Their domain is a continuance of the original imprisonment. Whenever they choose to do so, they may seize him and deliver him up to his discharge; and if it cannot be done at once, they may imprison him until it can be done. They may exercise their rights in person or by agent. They may pursue him into another state; may arrest him on the Sabbath; and if necessary, may break and enter his house for that purpose. The seizure is not made by virtue of due process. None is needed. It is likened to the arrest by the Sheriff of an escaped prisoner.

As you can see by this decision, bounty hunters didn’t have to adhere to the same rules of due process that lawmen did. (This is still true in some states.)

One of the greatest bounty hunters was Pinkerton Detective, Charlie Siringo. Siringo had a long and distinguished, if not controversial, career. He had steely nerves and his cleverness got him out of more than one jam. But he wrote a book, and the Pinkerton Agency wasn’t too keen about that, so he spent several years at the end of his life arguing with them. Could be that the Pinkertons were the only ones to ever best him.

Lots of town marshals and county sheriffs supplemented their meager incomes with bounties. Of course, they had to follow the rules of due process while a bounty hunter had no such restrictions. Then again, if there’s no one around for a couple hundred miles, who’s to know? This is part of how the West was tamed. Many lawmen straddled the fence between law-enforcing and law-breaking.

Charlene Sands, author of Bodine’s Bounty, blogged about bounty hunters on Pistols and Petticoats. Really good info at this site on lots of Old West topics. Anyway, she points out that in order for a bounty hunter to get his money in British Columbia, he had to bring the criminal in alive. The US had no such compunctions, but the bounty was half if the prisoner died before making it to jail. She also mentions that the bounty hunters didn’t receive payment until later, so when they brought in prisoners, they’d either have to wait, or have the money sent to a bank. (They’d probably wait, considering the state of banking at the time.) But the most important thing that Ms. Sands mentioned was that bounty hunters’ names were never, ever recorded, because their anonymity was their protection. This little item is what makes research difficult.

Much to movie and TV viewers’ delight, popular lore glorifies the Old West bounty hunter. The role of Josh Randall in Wanted: Dead or Alive in the 1950s made Steve McQueen a star.

Josh Randall (Steve McQueen) was a man of few words. A bounty hunter by trade, he tracked his prey all over the West. Randall carried an 1892 44/40 center fire Winchester carbine that he called “Mare’s Laig.” It handled like a revolver by had the punch of a rifle. Unlike other bounty hunters, Randall had scruples. He tried to bring the prisoner in alive and often found himself called upon to protect people in need.

Then there’s my personal favorite, Paladin, played by Richard Boone on “Have Gun-Will Travel.” (Okay, so he was more gunslinger than bounty hunter, but they go together well.) I’m not the only one impressed with that character: Eminem will be starring as Paladin in a contemporary movie remake. Does Eminem have what Richard Boone had? We’ll see.

Remember Justin Saragueta?  He was our guest on Texty Ladies last spring.  Well, his CD is out, and we’re having a contest over at 1st Turning Point.  Any commenter this week is eligible to win.  See his Texty Ladies interviews:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

And he’s written and article on the music business that will be published September 29, Expectations And Realities: Another Brass Horn In The Music Biz

In fact, I bought another CD to contribute, so any commenter to my post or any other post on Texty Ladies this week will be eligible to win.  Be sure to include your email address or some way for me to reach you.  Drawing will be held at 10pm Oct. 3rd.

My announcement: my new novella, Faery Merry Christmas, will be available on the Kindle on October 5.  Stay tuned for more fun!

Jacquie
Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues (See the Book Video featuring Justin Saragueta)
Jacquie’s website * 1st Turning Point * Myspace *** Twitter * Facebook
Faery Special Romances * Book Video Royalties go to Children’s Tumor Foundation, ending Neurofibromatosis through Research

Once upon a time I had a story idea that was set in San Francisco in the 1850s, and it involved a Chinese girl. Knowing little about the Chinese culture in this decade and how it translated to the New World, I spent a considerable amount of time hopping from one [...]]]>

Once upon a time I had a story idea that was set in San Francisco in the 1850s, and it involved a Chinese girl. Knowing little about the Chinese culture in this decade and how it translated to the New World, I spent a considerable amount of time hopping from one topic to another, but all topics led back to the same thing: bound feet and those dinky shoes Chinese women wore.

It’s a fascinating subject, so I decided to blog about it at Unusual Historicals, and I thought the readers here might be interested as well.

The last factory that made shoes for Chinese women with bound feet stopped production of lotus shoes in November of 1999. For nearly a thousand years, bound feet, preferably no more than three inches long, were not only fashionable, but considered the ultimate in feminine beauty.

No one knows when the custom of San tsun gin lian or Golden Lotus began, but it first appears around 900AD in Northern China. Some say it began with the Latter Tang Dynasty (923-936 AD), when the emperor took a liking to a concubine who danced upon a lotus-shaped pedestal. Whatever started the practice is less important than the profound affect this custom had on the entire social fabric of Chinese culture.

A man who could keep a wife with bound feet showed his own financial power and prestige, so men of a certain social order refused to consider women with “clown feet” or unbound feet as brides. Besides, dainty feet covered with beautifully embroidered silk slippers called lotus shoes were considered highly sexually attractive. The smaller the woman’s feet, the more likely she would be to attract a wealthy or well-positioned husband.

As the years passed, the custom filtered down to the lower social orders as well, although in some areas of China, foot-binding was never practiced. Some say foot-binding was a way to keep women subjugated, since a populace of women who could barely walk wouldn’t pose a threat to the body politic. Women stayed close to home, and when they did venture out, they required assistance to stand and walk.

Toward the end, young girls of all classes had their feet bound. Zhang Ru-lian, an elderly Chinese woman with bound feet explains, “You see, when a girl became eligible for marriage a matchmaker would find a man for whom the young girl might be suitable. Then she would arrange a foot viewing. The man would come to the girl’s house just to look at her feet. If he thought they were too large he would turn her down. This was a very embarrassing affair, should it happen, since the whole village would surely hear about it.”

Mothers started their girls’ foot-binding between the ages of two and ten (one lady said she started at 17). The four smaller toes on each foot were broken and turned under the sole. Then long strips of cloth tightly bound the broken toes in place and slowly broke the arch of the foot so the toes bent back to the heel. The initial shaping took about two to three years, but the feet were bound continuously for ten more years to make sure they didn’t grow. It was a mother’s responsibility to make sure the binding was done properly and tightly so her daughter would be considered high quality marriage material.

Infections were commonplace. Sometimes the toenails grew into the foot, often flesh would rot and fall off, and sometimes gangrene set in. One source said nearly 10% of all Chinese girls experienced either serious difficulties or sometimes even death. Then there are the lifelong problem associated with bound feet–pain, fungal infections, and crippling. It has been shown that women with bound feet have increased bone-density loss, as well a difficulties with daily duties because of problems associated with the foot-binding.

So why would the custom endure? Sex is always a strong allure. Jim’s Asian Studies says, “It was believed that the way foot binding made a woman walk strengthened the vagina and made it more narrow. The girls’ buttocks and ‘jade gate’ were believed to develop to such a degree that she could grip her husbands ‘jade spear’ more tightly. . . There was also a large number of pornographic paintings and engravings with scenes of men fondling women’s feet. It’s no wonder that men were so adamant about their wives having bound feet.”

Wikipedia says, “Qing Dynasty sex manuals listed 48 different ways of playing with women’s bound feet.” Hence, an estimated 4 billion women over 1,000 years have suffered the pain of foot-binding.

Back to the factory . . . it was the Zhiqiang Shoe Factory and when did it START making shoes for bound-feet women? No, not a hundred years ago. It was in 1991 when the owners saw a niche market whose needs weren’t being met. An estimated two million Chinese women, most over the age of 70, live with bound feet today.

Sources:
The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco
Minnesota-China Connection
Universität Wien

Coming up: 1st Turning Point is publishing my article: How To Conduct a Featured Author Day on a Email Group. That will be on Wednesday, Sept. 2.

Check out the prizes at 1st Turning Point. All September commenters are entered, so make a comment and you could win! Some of the prizes include: Gueta, Justin Saragueta’s debut CD; an autographed copy of Gerri Russell’s To Tempt a Knight; a 1st Turning Point journal, and more good stuff!

Jacquie Rogers

Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues (See the Book Video featuring Justin Saragueta)

Jacquie’s website * 1st Turning Point * Myspace *** Twitter * Facebook

Faery Special Romances * Book Video * Royalties go to Children’s Tumor Foundation, ending Neurofibromatosis through Research

Every once in a while, something truly joyous reminds us that the world is filled with light and that love will conquer all.

Even neurofibromatosis.

Okay, NF wasn’t quite conquered, but certainly beaten into submission.  No matter how NF ravages Mercedes’ [...]]]>

Every once in a while, something truly joyous reminds us that the world is filled with light and that love will conquer all.

Even neurofibromatosis.

Okay, NF wasn’t quite conquered, but certainly beaten into submission.  No matter how NF ravages Mercedes’ body, she’s bound and determined to live a happy and productive life.  And she is doing just that.  Her boss will tell you that she’s prompt, reliable as the new day, and that her custumoers love her.  She even found a kind-hearted gentleman who treats her like a queen, as she deserves.

Yes, I’m a little prejudiced because she’s my daughter and my publicist.

On August 8, she married that kind-hearted gentleman–a genuinely good man.  We had a down home old-fashioned wedding in a grange hall.  Mercedes and her Lady of Honor wrote the vows–so touching it brought a tear of happiness to many an eye.  A chamber orchestra played beautiful music before and during the ceremony, and my brother’s best friends (Matt Paxton, wife Brenda, and brother Jim Paxton) played everything from “I’m Yours” to “Fulsum Prison Blues” during the reception.  Awesome music.   We had potluck hors d’œuvres from the groom’s family, and the groom’s mom provided the punch.  I hate punch but hers tasted delicious.

So many people helped make this a glorious day.  Mercedes’ friends gave her everything from a manicure to the gorgeous wedding cake.  The florist donated purple rosebuds for the bridal bouquet.  Decorations poured in from several sources.  The Lady of Honor made the bridal gown and decorated the hall.  My sister made my outfit and both of Mercedes’ daughters’ dresses.  My son paid for the tuxes.  Mercedes’ Uncle Jim took the photographs, and his wife brought some food, plus paid for an extra night’s stay at the honeymoon hotel.  We were overwhelmed with people’s generosity.

And get this–most of these people stayed to clean up so she’d get her deposit back!  How often does that happen???

Mercedes is a sunny woman even though tumors grow all over her body and she has to endure stares, gasps, and rude comments every single day.  But she never shrinks from a challenge, and after they talk to her for thirty seconds, she wins them over.  Every time.

And so it happens that a woman who was destined to live a life alone, now has a wonderful husband and a family.

I often wonder if she can do so much with so little, what could I do if I had half the determination and tenaciousness as she does.

I wish the happy couple all the best.

Jacquie Rogers

Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues (See the Book Video featuring Justin Saragueta)
Jacquie Rogers * 1st Turning Point * Myspace * Twitter * Facebook
Faery Special Romances *** Book Video
Royalties go to Children’s Tumor Foundation, ending Neurofibromatosis through Research

Jacquie Rogers Texty Ladies Columnist Copyright © 2009 Jacquie Rogers

If you’re writing western historical romance, are you swayed by the myths promulgated by the movie business in the early 20th Century? I ask because many readers are convinced those myths are true.

Question: should you write the myth? [...]]]>

Myths Dispelled

Jacquie Rogers
Texty Ladies Columnist
Copyright © 2009 Jacquie Rogers

If you’re writing western historical romance, are you swayed by the myths promulgated by the movie business in the early 20th Century? I ask because many readers are convinced those myths are true.

Question: should you write the myth? or the truth? Let’s take a look at a few of the things that make me crazy when I read a book where either the author hasn’t done her research, or the author has chosen to go along with the myth. (Myths sell better than facts, so keep that in mind.)

The Truth About Wagon Trains

Over 300,000 people traveled the Oregon Trail from 1840 to 1860, and of those, between 6% and 10% (depending on the source) died along the way. According to Oregon.com, the four most common causes of death were “cholera, wagon accidents, drownings during river crossings, and accidental gunshots.” Fewer than 350 of the 30,000 casualties died from Indian attacks. In fact, many never would have made it to Oregon without the assistance of Indians.

Frequently, deaths were caused by accidental shooting. Does this surprise you? Remember, most settlers weren’t country people. Most came from eastern cities, and were what today would be considered middle-income families. It was quite expensive to buy and outfit a wagon to emigrate west, taking about three year’s salary. Poor people couldn’t afford to go, and rural people already owned land so they didn’t need to go. These urban people were not a lot different from urban people today in that they’d never needed to learn to shoot a firearm, or kill and dress their own meat. So naturally accidents with firearms occurred, especially when you mixed in a little testosterone with the new gun.

Wagons didn’t travel single-file. Too dusty!!! Anyone who has ever driven on dirt roads, especially in the desert, would understand that traveling over prairie and plain in the dry summer would kick up lots of billowing dust and dirt, and frankly, a person just couldn’t breathe very well, even with a mask. When possible, wagons traveled side-by-side. The oxen were led; therefore, the driver walked. No reins, you see. Besides, the ride was too bumpy.

Pickles were the health food of the day. The emigrants ate lots and lots of pickles, their only source of vitamin C.

You wouldn’t have seen a horse-drawn Conestoga wagon. Not anywhere. Horses couldn’t survive on the prairie grasses and sage, and Conestoga wagons where too heavy and cumbersome. Instead, the travelers bought oxen or mules. While mules traveled faster, oxen had better dispositions so were generally preferred. Emigrants often used farm wagons covered with canvas tarps, but Studebaker made a smaller version of the Conestoga that was quite popular, albeit a bit pricey.

The Truth About Cowboys

First of all, cowboys weren’t called “cowboys.” Still aren’t in a lot of locales, although cowboy is the accepted term on the rodeo circuit. Men who worked with cattle were called cow punchers, cattle drovers, ranch hands, hired hands, and a few more terms–this was regional. If they handled horses primarily, they were called wranglers (in most areas). Ranch owners where I grew up were called “ranchmen.”

Only about a third of the cattle drovers were white. The rest were former slaves, Mexican vaqueros, or Indians. Indians were highly prized on a cattle drive because they could negotiate better deals with the local tribes when it came to crossing territories or helping with river fordings.

Drovers seldom packed iron. Every ounce counts when you’re riding a horse all day long, and firearms plus ammo weigh too much. Weapons were usually kept in the chuckwagon.

What About the Women?

Many women owned property or businesses all over the West and managed them without the aid of or ever having a husband or other man around. The largest horse sale in history was negotiated in 1898 by Kitty Wilkins, whose ranch wasn’t too far from where I grew up in Idaho. She built the most profitable horse ranch west of the Mississippi, and had a huge crew. A few weeks ago, I read a piece in the local paper where an author announced he was writing a book on this lady horse rancher. I can’t wait to read it.

Women in general were, by necessity, more independent than their sisters back East. Wyoming granted suffrage to women in 1869. Idaho did so in 1896, as did Utah. Utah actually tried to pass women’s suffrage sooner but it was struck down by Congress, who used it as an argument against polygamy. Many western states were community property states, and women have held city and county positions from the earliest days.

Goin’ and Comin’

A large percentage of emigrants couldn’t cut it in the West and booked passage back home. According to our family story (unconfirmed), this is how my g-g-grandfather made enough money to buy farms for all his children in Missouri–by bringing people back to the East from the California gold mines.

And for Fun?

Gambling was the main form of entertainment in the west. Everyone, and I mean everyone, gambled. There are two instances of preachers’ wives gambling away the church buildings. Kids, schoolteachers . . . everyone. And not little two-bit bets like you see on TV, either. They literally would bet the farm on how fast an ice statue would melt. Horseracing was extremely popular, and it is confirmed that my g-g-grandfather took race horses to the San Francisco area in the 1850s, held races, raked in the dough from bets, sold the horses for a fortune, and went back home a happy man.

Oh, I see John Wayne!

Gunfight duels: very, very rare. Hickok and Coe, yes. I can’t think of any others right now. There are only a few cases where the facts could be construed as a face-to-face draw at high noon, but even then, most weren’t. A quick draw was considered cool in some circles, though. Think boys and their toys. Even so, decision-making speed was often more imporant than how fast a man could clear leather. For a great resource on gunfighting and gunfighters, take a look at Triggernometry: A Gallery of Gunfighters : With Technical Notes on Leather Slapping As a Fine Art, Gathered from Many a Loose Holstered Expert over the Years

Little House on the Prairie

Sod houses didn’t have to be musty, wormy, dirty affairs. They could be extremely comfortable. My great-grandfather built one that was still in existance in the 1960s, and unless you were told, you’d never know it was a soddy. It’s as square and solid as any wood house. The walls were two feet thick–cool in the summer and warm in the winter. The house was quite large–living room, parlor, kitchen, den, and three bedrooms. Originally, it was whitewashed, but was painted when we were there. It had a double door, and the glass windows were all still intact.

I hope you enjoyed your mini-tour of the Old West today.

That’s about it for this Magical Monday.

I’ll be taking a few weeks off because my daughter is getting married so I’ll be out of state the first half of August. It’ll be a busy time because I’m going to my high school class reunion, too. Should be great fun!

Contests? Of course.

The biggest contest is at 1st Turning Point with fabulous prizes including a critque from Rowena Cherry, a Templar T-shirt from Gerri Russell, and a John Klawitter film short called Extinction. Besides those, Carol North is offering a way cool tote bag, Rebecca J. Vickery contributed her first release (ebook), and I’m throwing in Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues. So become a 1st Turning Point Parrot by subscribing, and you’re automatically entered in the drawing!

Want to wind a Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues T-shirt? All subscribers to Keely’s Contest and News Group are eligible to win!

Good news! Justin Saragueta’s CD is now released. You can buy it at the store on his site.

Have a great week!

Jacquie Rogers

Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues (See the Book Video featuring Justin Saragueta)
Jacquie Rogers * 1st Turning Point * Myspace * Twitter * Facebook
Faery Special Romances * Book Video * Royalties go to Children’s Tumor Foundation, ending Neurofibromatosis through Research