Jack-Go-To-Bed-At-Noon and Luna

 

A while back, I happened upon an image that caught my eye. At the time, I was about to start writing a wholesome historical romance set in 1914. 

Suddenly, I knew I'd found the perfect  image for the cover of  Luna.

I recognized the weed she was blowing on from my childhood on our family farm. I'd blown them a few times myself. It had been so many years since I'd seen one, but I recalled the joy of scattering the oversized "wishes" into the air.

My dad called them something like big fuzz, so I had no idea of their proper term, but a quick search brought up details about the plant.

It has bright yellow petals, with long green bracts. Children might mistake it for a super-tall dandelion, but the leaves more closely resemble grass.

The official name is  tragopogon pratensis, commonly referred to as Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, meadow salsify, showy goat's-beard, or meadow goat's-beard.

Wait. What now? 

When I discovered one of the names for the plants was Jack-Go-To-Bed-At-Noon, I absolutely had to use it for my story.  Can't you just envision fairies blowing the little puffs into the air and spreading the seed everywhere?

The Jack-Go-To-Bed-At-Noon name derives from the plant's tendency to close by the time noon arrives. Goat's beard is from the appearance of the seed head, with the little bit of white fluff poking out.

Oddly enough, despite the lack of them in our area in past years, I was about halfway through writing the book when I noticed a plant growing out by our mailbox, then they popped up in the pasture behind our house. It felt like a lovely sign that I'd picked just the right cover for Luna's story.

She’s searching for peace and grace

He’s ready to step into his next big adventure

Haunted by memories of the fateful day that changed her life, Luna Campanelli seeks a fresh start in Pendleton, Oregon. Life in the wild western town is nothing like she imagined, although the rugged beauty of the area soothes her troubled spirit. An unlikely friendship with one of the area ranch hands lifts her hopes, until she discovers the cowboy isn’t who he’s led her to believe.

Hunter Douglas didn’t intend to hide his identity from the woman he met on the train, but when she assumed he was his sister’s hired hand, he didn’t correct her. He never anticipated forming such a deep connection to her, especially when thoughts of her continue to infiltrate his carefully made plans. As a recent college graduate with an inheritance he intends to use to start his own ranch in Pendleton, Hunter must decide if he is willing to open his heart and include Luna in his future.

Will they embrace the unexpected love that has blossomed between them, or let fear tear them apart?

This sweet and wholesome romance is a story of love, healing, and the power of hope in a delightful western setting. Join Luna and Hunter on their journey as they discover what it truly means to love unconditionally.

     Feeling hopeful and full of dreams, Luna spread out the quilt in a splash of sunshine, unpinned her hair and shook it out, and experienced a wave of contentment. Filled with joy she couldn’t contain, she plucked a large flower with a ball of fluff that looked like a dandelion, closed her eyes, and blew, wishing she could have many more afternoons just like this one with Hunter.

“I should have known if I left you alone for five minutes, you’d find a weed and scatter the seeds from here to kingdom come.”

She opened her eyes and grinned as Hunter hunkered down by her.

“A weed?” she asked, holding the stem out to Hunter. “It isn’t a flower?”

“Nope,” he said, taking the stem, then handing it back to her. “It’s got a fancy scientific name Flynn Elliott could tell you, but most folks call it meadow goat’s beard, or even Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, because the yellow flower buds only open in the morning.”

“What a wonderful name, even if it is a weed.” Luna pursed her lips and blew more of the seed heads that looked like spiderwebs of fine white hairs.

“You little weed-spreader,” Hunter groused, making her laugh.

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield is a farm girl who loves to write character-driven romances with relatable heroes and heroines. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances are filled with sarcasm, humor, hope, and hunky heroes.

When Shanna isn’t dreaming up unforgettable characters, twisting plots, or covertly seeking dark, decadent chocolate, she hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.

The Sorosis Club for Women

 

When Captain Cavedweller and I visited Fort Dalles Museum back in August, I kept seeing different signs referring to the Sorosis Club. 

I had no idea what it was, and decided to look into the history of the organization.

Jane Cunningham Croly organized the Sorosis Club in New York City in March 1868 with 12 members. Among its founding members were Josephine Pollard, a children's author, and Fanny Fern. Fern, a popular columnist, had been outraged when women were excluded from the all-male New York Press Club when it had an honorary dinner for the author Charles Dickens the month before.

That rejection to the dinner resulted in the formation of the Sorosis Club, where men weren't allowed. The women began a national movement that would save buildings, encourage literacy, establish scholarships, and, in general, make a big difference in the world around them. 

Sorosis was incorporated in January 1869 with Alice Cary serving as the first president. Within a year, Sorosis had 83 members. Along with Boston's New England Woman's Club, Sorosis inspired the formation of women's clubs across the country.

According to an article shared in 1884, the club was founded to promote mental activity and social opportunities for women.

Sorosis was among the 63 clubs that formed the General Federation of Women's Clubs in 1890.

Sorosis is a comes from a Latin word meaning "sister." The club's object was to further the educational and social activities of women by bringing together women of accomplishment in art, literature, science, and kindred pursuits to share their skills and vision.

Early members of Sorosis were participants in various professions as well as political reform movements such as abolitionism, suffrage, prison reform, temperance and peace. Sorosis expanded into local chapters across the country in the early twentieth century. These chapters went on to organize war relief efforts during both World Wars. Peacetime activities included philanthropy, scholarship funds, and social reforms.

 

Due to the efforts of the Sorosis Club in The Dalles, the old Surgeon’s Quarters, all that is left of the original fort, were preserved and saved through an Act of Congress. It opened as a museum in 1905. Today, that building is a key part of the museum complex.

It's wonderful what can happen when people (women especially) work together for a common goal.

USA Today bestselling author Shanna Hatfield grew up on a farm where her childhood brimmed with sunshine, hay fever, and an ongoing supply of learning experiences.

Today, Shanna draws on her rural roots to create sweet romances filled with hope, humor, quirky small-town characters, realistic heroes, and women of strength.

When this award-winning author isn’t writing or testing out new recipes (she loves to bake!), Shanna hangs out at home in the Pacific Northwest with her beloved husband, better known as Captain Cavedweller.

Pulp Fiction Leads to Pink Pistol Magazine

 

Eleven bestselling, award-winning authors, all members of Petticoats & Pistols blog for western romance, combined their talents and efforts to create a sweet romance series that honors the influence Annie Oakley had over women during her reign as “Little Sure Shot.”

In the new series, a one-of-a-kind pink-handled pistol is gifted to Annie Oakley. The pistol comes with a legend, one promising that whoever possesses it will find true love. Annie passes the gun on to one of her students and sets the whimsical journey in motion that starts with In Her Sights by Karen Witemeyer. The pistol travels from woman to woman from 1893 to the modern day until the series concludes with USA Today Bestselling Author Jessie Gussman’s contemporary romance Pistol Perfect.

 I like to say the series is kind of like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. 

When we were talking about ways to promote the book, Pam Crooks and I started discussing creating something like the old pulp fiction novels that were popular in the 1920s-1940s.  How fun would it be to make our own magazine.

So we did. 

You can get the first two issues of Pink Pistol Magazine absolutely free! Each issue includes excerpts from the new series, author interviews, recipes, games, and more! 

Download 

Pink Pistol Magazine Volume 1 here

and

Pink Pistol Magazine Volume 2 here 

My contribution to the series is Love on Target, a sweet romance set in 1894.

 

Will romance hit its mark when true love is the target?

 Desperate for a fresh start, Rena Burke journeys from Texas to Oregon with only her father’s pistol and a plodding old mule for company. She takes a job working with explosives at a mine, spends her free time emulating her hero Annie Oakley, and secretly longs to be loved.

 Saddlemaker Josh Gatlin has one purpose in life and that is his daughter. Gabi is his joy and the sunshine in his days. Then he meets a trouser-wearing woman living life on her own terms. Rena is nothing like his perception of what he wants in a wife and mother for his child, but she might just prove to be everything he needs.

 When tragedy strikes, will the two of them be able to release past wounds and embrace the possibilities tomorrow may bring? 

Also, be sure to enter my giveaway for a Love on Target Prize pack!

USA Today bestselling author Shanna Hatfield grew up on a farm where her childhood brimmed with sunshine, hay fever, and an ongoing supply of learning experiences.

Today, Shanna draws on her rural roots to create sweet romances filled with hope, humor, quirky small-town characters, realistic heroes, and women of strength.

When this award-winning author isn’t writing or testing out new recipes (she loves to bake!), Shanna hangs out at home in the Pacific Northwest with her beloved husband, better known as Captain Cavedweller.

A Valentine's Day Short Story

 

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought you might enjoy an exclusive short story set in 1885 in my fictional town of Holiday, Oregon.

Enjoy!

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Aunt Mae?” Cora Lee Coleman asked as she carefully cut a lacy design in a sheet of white paper.

“The bachelors in town will be so surprised, and grateful,” Mae Colman said, smiling at Cora Lee, then at Anne Milton who had joined them to help with their project to spread a little joy around Holiday, Oregon.

Cora Lee and Anne had both wed recently, and wanted everyone to experience the bliss of marriage. Unfortunately, the number of single men in town far outnumbered the single women. Cora Lee and Anne had both arrived in Holiday as mail-order brides. Anne had married Rand Milton shortly after her arrival, but it had taken Cora Lee a while to find her happily ever after with Jace Coleman.

After all, she’d come not to marry him, but his brother, Jude. But that was a story that belonged to another day.

Today, Cora Lee helped make decorations for a Cupid’s Cake Party they planned to hold Friday evening. Everyone in town was invited for games and a community meal, and several women were baking cakes the bachelor men could bid on with the proceeds going toward the widows and orphans’ fund.

The party was Aunt Mae’s idea, but Cora Lee and Anne had quickly agreed to her plans and jumped in to help get everything ready.

“Did you write that letter to your friend, honey?” Mae asked as she glued a white heart onto a piece of red paper.

“I did, Aunt Mae. If she has any interest at all in becoming a mail-order bride to someone here in Holiday, she’ll let me know.” Cora Lee finished cutting the lacy heart and held it up for inspection.

“That’s lovely,” Anne said, sliding another sheet of paper toward Cora Lee. “Can you make three more just like it?”

“Probably not,” Cora Lee said with a cheeky grin, “but I’ll try.”

They worked in silence for a few minutes, then Anne sighed. “You know who really needs a wife?” she asked as she strung paper hearts on a length of twine.

“Doc Holt,” Mae and Cora Lee said in unison, causing all three of them to laugh.

“Didn’t I hear something about him traveling back East to visit his family in a few weeks?” Anne asked Mae.

The older woman nodded, making the white bun on her head bob. “Yes. He generally makes a trip before spring sets in to visit his folks. Last I heard, he’ll leave on the seventeenth. Too bad he can’t find himself a bride back there and bring her home with him.”

“You never know what might happen,” Cora Lee said, grinning at Mae. “When it comes to love, anything is possible.” 

Read Cora Lee and Jace's sweet romance in Holiday Hope. And stay tuned to find out who Cupid's arrow hits in Holiday! To keep from missing out on the next Holiday book, be sure to sign up for my newsletter to stay informed!

 

Left alone in the world after losing her parents, Cora Lee Schuster travels across the country to the newly-established town of Holiday, Oregon, to become a mail-order bride. She arrives in town to be greeted by her future father-in-law with her betrothed nowhere to be found. When it becomes obvious her reluctant groom-to-be has no intention of showing up at the family ranch where she’s staying, Cora Lee must decide if she’ll follow her head or heart.

 Jace Coleman has loved trains since the first time he rode on one as a boy. Now, he spends his days as an engineer driving the Holiday Express line on a new engine named Hope. When a mail-order bride turns up at his father’s ranch to wed his brother, Jace has an idea his meddling father has tried his hand at matchmaking. The longer Cora Lee stays at the ranch, the harder Jace works to keep from falling for his brother’s intended bride.

 Will Jace and Cora Lee discover the gift of hope? Find out in this sweet holiday romance full of memorable characters, warmth, and Christmas cheer.

 Holiday Hope is the first book in the Holiday Express series, a collection of heartwarming, wholesome, holiday romances brimming with the spirit of the season.  

 Order on Amazon today: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L7DN2F6/

USA Today bestselling author Shanna Hatfield is a farm girl who loves to write. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances are filled with sarcasm, humor, hope, and hunky heroes. When Shanna isn’t dreaming up unforgettable characters, twisting plots, or covertly seeking dark, decadent chocolate, she hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.

Shanna loves to hear from readers. Follow her online at:

ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Newsletter | BookBub | Pinterest | Goodreads | You Tube | Twitter

Romance at Rinehart's Crossing

 

Last year, I shared a blog post about the historic Vale Hotel in Vale, Oregon.

Vale is located on the Malheur River. Back when wagons rolled across the dusty Oregon Trail, it was here that they crossed the river and found a hot springs where many chose to rest a day or two before heading onward. 

A man named Jonathan Keeney (the one Keeney Pass is named after), built a house and barn near the hot springs. Lewis B. Rinehart bought his property in 1870 and built a house made of stone in 1872.  The Stone House (as it was and is still known), became the first post office, served as hotel of sorts, and a place of refuge during an Indian uprising. 

For a while, before it became known as Vale, the town was called Rinehart's Crossing. 

I've been fascinated with the house and the stories behind it for years. 

So, when I the opportunity arose to write another book in the Regional Romance series, I decided it would be the perfect time to use Rinehart's Crossing as a setting.

Romance at Rinehart's Crossing is now available for pre-order and will release September 17!

Life on the Oregon Trail will never be the same . . .

Tenner King is determined to make his own way in the world far from the overbearing presence of his father and the ranch where he was raised in Rinehart’s Crossing, Oregon. Reluctantly, he returns home after his father’s death to find the ranch on its way to ruin, his siblings antsy to leave, and the women in town completely infatuated with a mysterious poet. Prepared to do whatever is necessary to save the ranch, Tenner isn’t about to let a little thing like love get in his way.

♥ Austen – After spending her entire life ruled by her father, Austen Rose King certainly isn’t going to allow her bossy older brother to take on the job. Desperate to leave the hard work and solitude of the Diamond K Ranch, she decides a husband would be the fastest means of escape. If only she could find a man she could tolerate for more than five minutes.

♥ Claire – Two thousand miles of travel. Two thousand miles of listening to her parents bicker about the best place in Oregon to settle. Two thousand miles of dusty trails, bumpy wagons, and things that slither and creep into her bedding at night. Claire Clemons would happily set down roots that very minute if someone would let her. What she needs is her own Prince Charming to give her a place to call home. When a broken wagon wheel strands her family miles from civilization, she wonders if handsome Worth King, the freighter who rescues them, might just be the answer to her prayers.

♥ Kendall – Anxious to escape her mother’s meddling interference, Kendall Arrington leaves her society life behind, intent on experiencing a Wild West adventure. Hired as the school teacher in a growing town on the Oregon Trail, Kendall hopes to bring a degree of civility and a joy of learning to the children of Rinehart’s Crossing. However, the last thing she expects to find is a cowboy with shaggy hair, dusty boots, and incredible green eyes among her eager students.

Will love find the three King siblings as Romance arrives in Rinehart’s Crossing?

Read all the books in the Regional Romance Series featuring historic locations, exciting drama, and sweet (yet swoony) romance!

If you haven't read any books from the series yet, what are you waiting for? 

Kari Trumbo's book Black Hill's Song is on sale for just 99 cents today, and you can get Grass Valley Brides for $2.99!

Happy reading and have a fabulous summer! 

Weaving Songs and Games

 by Shanna Hatfield

Years ago, I was in a museum gift shop and picked up a little booklet that looked interesting.

Weaving Song and Games features exactly what the title implies: games and songs children enjoyed at the end of the 1800s and beginning of the twentieth century. 

The first known loom was developed by primitive man (or woman). Twisted root fibers were stretched between two trees with other fibers interlaced by hand. Later, a flat stick was used to weave under alternate threads and turned on its edge.

In colonial America, pioneers made looms of hand-hewn timbers. They wove the cloth they needed from flax and wool grown in their new country. The material was often dyed with roots, bark, and leaves. 

More complex looms were developed and weaving became widespread. 

Then, as industries grew to make cloth commercially, the need for a loom at home became something of the past, or a hobby. 

But when people were weaving, they often sang songs. And children turned the songs into games. There were games in which the children formed the "thread" of the warp, while the child who was the "weaver" ran in and out among other children with a long ribbon. 

Another game, called "Weaver in the Middle" featured one child as the "weaver" who sits in the center of a circle. The other children stand around the weaver, singing:

 

Weaver in the middle, 

Weaver go free,

Weaver in the middle,

Can't catch me.

The children tease the weaver by coming in close, tapping the weaver on the shoulder, or giving a light shove. If the weaver touches them, they take the weaver's place and the weaver joins the other children in the circle. 

When I was working on my soon-to-release sweet historical romance collection of three stories set in 1884 Grass Valley, Oregon, it seemed like a perfect time to work one of the weaving songs into the story. 

There is a fun scene where Birdie, the heroine from the second story in the collection, is at the school, showing the children how to play "Weaver in the Middle."

~*~

The sound of children laughing drew him in that direction. As he neared the schoolyard, he could see Birdie sitting in a circle of children as they danced around her while singing, “Weaver in the middle, weaver go free, weaver in the middle, can’t catch me.” He remembered the game from his school days. The person sitting in the middle was the weaver, and the other youngsters would try to taunt and tease the weaver, but if they got caught or even touched by the weaver, they had to take the weaver’s place, and the weaver got to join the other players.

Two of the bigger boys crept closer and closer to Birdie as the students all sang the song. Birdie had tied a blue ribbon in her hair that morning. He’d noticed it at breakfast and how well it matched her eyes. Rance watched as one of the boys gave it a tug and pulled it from her hair, waving it like a prize. The other boy gave him a shove, and the two of them tripped over Birdie as she sat on the grass, knocking her backward.

He didn’t stop, didn’t think, just charged into the ring of children, swept Birdie into his arms, and marched away from the startled students.

“Do you want your ribbon back?” the boy who’d captured it shouted in question.

“You can keep it, Thomas,” she called over Rance’s shoulder, then waved to the group before turning her attention to Rance. “Might I inquire as to what you are doing?”

“I could ask the same. Birdie, you’re woman grown. Aren’t you a little old to join in the playground tomfoolery?”

She tipped her head and studied him. “Maybe some tomfoolery would do you good, Rance Barlow.”

~*~

The Regional Romance Series written by Kari Trumbo, Kit Morgan, Peggy L. Henderson, and me, will all release September 14!

What's really neat about the series is that each book is a collection of three stories. If you buy all four books, you actually get twelve stories. 

What’s a matchmaker to do when the husband-to-be rejects the bride? 

Again . . .

Widowed as a young wife, Cara Cargill turned her head for business and love of romance into a successful mail-order bride enterprise. She’s never had a problem matching couples until one mule-headed man continues to refuse to wed the women she sends to meet him in Grass Valley, Oregon. In an effort to make a match he’ll keep and uphold her sterling reputation, Cara is desperate to find the perfect bride.

♥ Daisy – When her fiancé leaves her at the altar, Daisy Bancroft knows it is far past time for a change. Her dearest friend, Cara, offers to send her to a newly established town in Oregon, where possibilities abound and the grass is rumored to be as tall as a man’s head. Daisy arrives with plans to wed Tagg Thompson, only to find the obstinate rancher has foisted her off on his best friend.

♥ Birdie – Tired of waiting for her Mister Right to magically appear and whisk her away to a happily-ever-after, Bridget “Birdie” Byrne convinces her sister, a renowned matchmaker, to send her as the bride to Tagg Thompson. The man who greets her upon her arrival isn’t Tagg, but Birdie is certain she’s finally discovered the man she is meant to marry.  

♥ Cara – Fed up with Tagg Thompson and his refusals of every bride she’s sent to Grass Valley for him to wed, Cara decides to meet the exasperating man in person. Her feet are barely on the ground in the rustic town before she’s nearly bowled over by a herd of stampeding cattle and swept into the brawny arms of a cowboy with the bluest eyes she’s ever seen.

Will true love find its home in the hearts of these Grass Valley Brides?

Get all four books in the Regional Romance Series featuring scenic historic locations, exciting drama, and sweet (yet swoony) romance!

Each book is available for pre-order for only $2.99 on Amazon.

USA Today bestselling author Shanna Hatfield is a farm girl who loves to write. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances are filled with sarcasm, humor, hope, and hunky heroes. When Shanna isn’t dreaming up unforgettable characters, twisting plots, or covertly seeking dark, decadent chocolate, she hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.


Shanna loves to hear from readers. Follow her online at:

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