BONNETS OR BURN by Marisa Masterson

 

Glory trudged behind the wagon. Three days out and the walking hadn’t grown easier. Not like some silly man spouted last night at the company meeting. He’d said day three would be less painful on everyone. Something about muscles being used to the exercise.

Well, hers screamed to turn around and walk east. She wanted the home they’d left, rough though it was, and she longed for her mother. Both, of course, were gone.

Perhaps grief made each step harder than the previous. Lifting her feet one after another felt as if she hauled large, heavy stones. She knew deep inside that she needed to fall into the grass with its dry rattle to one side of the trail and rest. Its waving motion in the slight breeze mesmerized her.

She took one step and then another into it. “Where you goin’, Glory?” The voice surprised her. She pushed back the long-brimmed bonnet to see who spoke.

Alfie Severson ran up to her, his young face eager for excitement. “Are you gonna look for sticks? I’m good at findin’ them.”

Bonnets! That was what my wagon-train romance needed! I’d written a whole novel without adding the one thing that no woman would have been without in the 1850s.

My heroine finds herself on the Santa Fe Trail in the late summer. Historically, I knew that 1858 was a year of terrible drought and hot days. Every decent woman wore a bonnet at this time.

But why? Of course, it made sense that a woman out in the sun would cover her head to avoid heat stroke. Wearing the bonnet went beyond that, though, as I found in my research.

Women covered their hair outside or in public. Modesty and Christian teaching demanded this. Glory, my heroine, would never have left her wagon without something on her head.

Still, on the trail some of society’s rules were forgotten or bent. This one, I don’t think, would have been one of them. The bonnet, while hot, kept a woman’s hair cleaner and helped her avoid a sunburned face.

Some prairie bonnets had even longer brims.

The prairie bonnet, as it is called, had a longer brim. Some of the women who traveled the trails would probably have had a shorter brimmed sun bonnet. Those are what my great-grandmother wore.

My grandmother's bonnet had cardboard compartments

that made the brim stiff so it didn't flop onto her face

 as she worked in the garden. This is an example of that.

My family never threw away things. My great-grandmother’s every day bonnets were kept in a closet at my grandfather’s farmhouse. I remember playing with them, not realizing how old they were. Beautiful, simple cotton with cardboard compartments to make the brim less floppy, I can still see them. Each bonnet actually matched a shirtwaist and skirt that was born for every day wear!

With those old family bonnets in mind, I’ve got some rewriting to do. Yes sir, the ladies in my novel are wearing bonnets!

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! 

Dead set on making Pike’s Peak and its goldfields, Glory’s father leaves her little choice but to go. Will they make it leaving so late in the season?

WHO AM I? A Belated Introduction

Post (c) Angela Raines/Doris McCraw

Pikes Peak at Sunset

 As you can see by the byline, I'm two different people. Both are very private, introverted yet gregarious when necessary. When friends were asked to describe Doris, the offered the following pieces of information:

She is and has been a tremendously talented actress, she is also a very extravagant singer as well!
Started acting at age 2 ½
"Mom" to the young. Doesn't take guff. Tells people to "Just do it!"
Has a dry or sarcastic sense of humor which when one stands back and watches it unfold, it's really funny and entertaining. 
In college was in the “New Frontiers” trio? (We were something of a hit in Denver, IL!)
Played the role of ‘Olive’ in the female version of “The Odd Couple”, and once performed as Helen Hunt Jackson on a moving bus!
Directed a film
Directed a stage productions including  “Inspecting Carol”
Love rock music, Alice Cooper, Rush, etc. along with Western, Classical, Folk and Broadway music
Like to stop in the middle of the road to allow her passengers to take pictures

Both Doris and Angela share the following creative endeavors:

Doris spent over three years writing haiku five days a week and posting on a haiku blog along with sharing the photographs she takes while out and about.

Doris has written three 'scholar' papers for the regional history series in Colorado Springs: 'Still Life to Reel Life, the story of  Karol W. Smith' in the "Film and Photography on the Front Range" book, 'The Cripple Creek Volcano: a 35 million year disaster' in the "Disasters of the Pikes Peak Region", and soon to be published "Myths and Mysteries of the Rocky Mountain West" which should have the chapter 'Doc Susie & Hollywood: Myths of 19th Century Women Doctors in Colorado'.

Both love to hike and take trips to the mountains. Of course research is a passion and Doris is considered an expert on the women doctors in Colorado prior to 1900.

Both have always been storytellers according to relatives. Doris was writing plays as young as six and continued to write 'mysteries' for Red Herring Productions, the murder mystery company she was a part of for 19 years.

Angela was born in 2014 with the publication of her first novella, "Home for His Heart" an Agate Gulch Story. Since that time Angela has published two additional Agate Gulch stories, "Never Had A Chance" and "Gift of Forgiveness."

 Her two other Western Romance stories are: "Angel of Salvation Valley" and "Josie's Dream" part of the amazing 'Grandma's Wedding Quilt' series. 

Angela also has two Medieval Stories available: "Lost Knight" and "North Star", that are part of Christmas anthologies from Prairie Rose Publications.

So what does the future hold for this two in one person? More writing, more research and lots more hikes and photographs. What's in the future for you?

Doris Gardner-McCraw writing as Angela Raines is an Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in Colorado and Women's History

For a list of Angela Raines Books: Here 

Photo and Poem: Click Here 

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

     

Ethnic Valentine’s Day Customs

When I started writing When My Heart Knew aimed for a Valentine’s-themed call for submissions, I knew I wanted to include a holiday custom from the heritage of one of the main characters. So I started in on my research. Because this story would also take place in the setting of two other recent stories I'd created, I wanted the heritage different than what I’d used for those characters. Vevina, my heroine in Wandering Home is Irish, and Kell the hero is Norwegian. My heroine in Storybook Hero is of French descent, and for Trevor the hero, the subject doesn’t come up but I thought of him as a generic mix of Northern European.

I chose Scotland as the home country for hero Dylan MacInnes where he lived for the first twenty years of his life until immigrating to his uncle’s T-south Texas ranch five years earlier. So he was raised around the lore and customs taught by beloved family members from both his Scottish father and his Welsh mother. The tradition from his mother’s family he wishes to carry forward into the budding relationship he has with the heroine, Maisie Treadwell, is that of the lovespoon. The item is tangible evidence of his romantic intent-the wood carving displays his abilities, and the symbols indicate promises he’s making or represent special aspects or events of the couple’s relationship. For example: bells were for marriage, cross for faith, heart for love, horseshoe for luck, lock for security, and wheel for supporting a loved one.

I was quite happy with how I worked this tradition into the storyline.

BLURB:  For When My Heart Knew in Cowboy Kisses anthology from Prairie Rose Publications

Tomboy Maisie Treadwell meets her match in cowboy Dylan MacInnes. From the moment they meet, the sparks and words fly. Of course, if she hadn’t knocked him down and caused an ankle sprain, their relationship might have gone more smoothly. To avoid damaging the reputation of the family’s boarding house, Maisie is ordered to be at the mercy of meeting Dylan’s demands. When they discover a shared interest in adventure stories, a bond is struck. Soon, Maisie can’t wait to spend time reading aloud to the virile man confined to a bed. Until the afternoon she overhears him explaining that his demands were meant to teach her a lesson. Can Dylan find a way to gain her trust again?

 

Other authors with titles in the anthology are:

C. Marie Bowen, Lorrie Farrelly, Tanya Hanson, Gail L. Jenner, Kristy McCaffrey, Gil McDonald, and Beverly Wells

For more information on this and my other titles, go to my website