The Life and Times of Jim Bridger Week Blast #rabtbooktours

US Western History/Jim Bridger, mountain man, fur trade, exploration, American Indians

Date Published: 08-08-2025

Publisher: Farcountry Press

The Life and Times of Jim Bridger, a new biography by Bill Markley, is a well-researched work that brings to life the story of Jim Bridger, the legendary mountain man, fur trapper, and explorer who played a key role in shaping the American West. From guiding scientific expeditions to pioneering vital emigrant routes like the Overland and Bridger Trails, Jim Bridger’s name is etched into the very landscape of the American frontier. Bridger’s contributions helped lead to the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world. His life was filled with encounters with Native American tribes, fur traders, U.S. Army officers, and remarkable adventures across the wild West.

 

Reviews for The Life and Times of Jim Bridger

Bill Markley has established an enviable reputation as a western biographer. His excellent new biography of Jim Bridger will only augment his status. Crisply written and carefully researched this biography of the greatest of the mountain men will both captivate and inform readers for years to come. --Paul Hutton, author of The Undiscovered Country

 

Bill Markley has done it again with THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JIM BRIDGER. The mythic mountain man comes to life in Markley's biography and by the end you will be ready to go West and discover for yourself the West of Jim Bridger. --Stuart Rosebrook, editor-at-large, TRUE WEST magazine

 

Well researched and well told, Markley gives us a fresh look at one of the giants of the American West. I believe he has captured the man and his essence. —Bob Boze Bell, executive editor True West magazine

 

Bill Markley’s The Life and Times of Jim Bridger vividly captures the adventures of a legendary mountain man whose courage, ingenuity, and deep connection to the American West shaped a nation’s frontier. From fur trapping to guiding emigrants, Bridger’s story is a testament to resilience and cultural fluency, brought to life with meticulous research and engaging prose.  -- Jon Nelson, Board Director for the Museum of the Fur Trade, Chadron, Nebraska

 

When the tall, genial Virginian Jim Bridger ventured West as a “green” teenager in the early years of the fur trade, no one predicted that he would become known as the legendary “old man of the mountains."   Packing his life with enough adventure for at least ten mountain men, Bridger led beaver-trapping brigades, hunted buffalo, fought hostile Blackfeet, married a Shoshone woman, mapped trackless wilderness, guided the U.S. Army during Red Cloud’s War, and more.  Although illiterate, he spoke several European—and Indian—languages.  Did Bridger really leave the grizzly-mauled Hugh Glass to die alone?  Markley delves deep into his subject’s extraordinary life. Wonderfully illustrated with period maps and artwork, this book is for anyone who loves true tales of the raucous fur trading era of the early nineteenth century. Bridger once said, “Sir, the grace of God won’t carry a man through these prairies!  It takes powder and ball.”  And how.  –Nancy Plain, four-time Spur Award winner, past president of Western Writers of America.   

 

 

Excerpt

Final Thoughts

During my two-year research of Jim Bridger, my respect for him

has grown. He accepted all people, no matter who they were. Only when

they turned on him would he treat them as enemies. He tried to stay out of

fights, but if one was unavoidable, he was in the forefront.

It’s a shame—and our loss—that he didn’t learn to read and write. He was

intelligent, creating accurate maps from memory. He learned English, French,

Spanish, a variety of Indian languages, and was proficient in sign language.

After people read Shakespeare to him, he would quote passages from memory.

As to the Hugh Glass story, I believe Bridger was not the teenager who

deserted Glass. Historians have pointed to Bridger because of an 1839 article

that gave the young man’s last name as “Bridges,” based on old riverboat pilot

Joseph LaBarge’s recollection, and tradition had it on the Missouri that it was

Bridger. That’s it. When Alfred Jacob Miller sat around a mountaineer fire

and jotted down the Hugh Glass story during the 1837 rendezvous, the first

name of the person Glass confronted was Bill. If Bridger had been the young

man who deserted Glass, I believe other mountaineers would have ribbed him

about it.

As to Bridger selling Fort Bridger to the Mormons, I don’t believe he sold

it. He was an honest man, and to his dying day, he never said he sold it, continuing to

attempt to collect his rental payment from the federal government.

Bridger’s descriptions of the Yellowstone geothermal region to expedition

leaders and scientists led to its eventual exploration in 1871 by one of those scientists,

Ferdinand Hayden. The following year, Congress designated it the

world’s first national park.

Jim Bridger was loved by many people, from children to generals. He was

well liked by many tribes. Most of his adversaries respected him. He enjoyed

nothing better than to be out in nature, preferring to sleep under the stars than

in a tent. It would have been great fun to sit at a campfire and listen to him tell

of his exploits and tall tales. He was a man in love with the West.

Toward the end of his life, Jim Bridger said, “I wish I was back there among

the mountains again—you can see so much farther in that country.” 
 

About the Author

 

 Bill Markley, member of Western Writers of America and multiple winner of the Will Rogers Medallion award, has written eleven books including biographies and histories of Old West characters and events. He writes for True West and Wild West magazines and is a staff writer for Roundup magazine.

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Room 13 Book Blitz #rabtbooktours

History / War / Biography

Date Published: April 13, 2026

Publisher: MindStir Media

 

What happens when training ends—and real combat begins?

In ROOM 13: A Fighter Pilot’s Story, Colonel Kenneth Gilmore delivers a gripping, firsthand account of life as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam/Laos conflict, where survival was never guaranteed—and every mission could be your last.

This powerful military memoir traces Gilmore’s extraordinary journey from a college football coach to an elite U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, flying some of the most iconic aircraft of the era, including the F-102, F-101, A-1 Skyraider, and F-106.

But nothing could prepare him for the brutal reality of war.

✈️ 220 Combat Missions. One Life-Changing Experience.

Assigned to fly the A-1 Skyraider—an aircraft with one of the highest loss rates of the Vietnam War—Gilmore quickly learned that traditional training fell short in the face of enemy fire.

After being shot down during mission 130, he survived hours on the ground before rescue—an experience that would forever shape his life, leadership, and understanding of war.

🔥 The Seven Rules That Meant Survival

In the chaos of combat, Gilmore and a fellow pilot developed seven essential rules for survival—lessons forged under extreme pressure and life-or-death conditions.

These principles became the foundation of his leadership when he later returned to command and mentor fellow fighter pilots as an Operations Officer.

🎖️ A Story of Courage, Leadership, and Sacrifice

Over the course of his career, Gilmore flew 220 combat missions and earned numerous honors, including three Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism. His rapid rise through the ranks to Colonel reflects both his skill and leadership—but also came at a cost, pulling him away from the cockpit he loved.

 

About the Author

Colonel Kenneth Gilmore (USAF Ret.) is a decorated Vietnam War fighter pilot and author of ROOM 13: A Fighter Pilot’s Story. With over 220 combat missions in the A-1 Skyraider and three Distinguished Flying Crosses for heroism, his experiences in air combat shaped both his military career and Phis life. Today, he shares his story to honor fellow pilots and educate future generations about the realities of war.

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Rathuun King of the Prairie Book Blitz #rabtbooktours

Frontier & Pioneer Western Fiction; US Historical Fiction; Action/Adventure

Date Published: March 20, 2026

 

With all the swagger of a classic western, a legendary buffalo claims his rightful place among the genre's most iconic heroes.

Meet Rathuun. Born in an idyllic canyon, tragedy strikes on his first day. A grizzly bear scatters the herd, devours his twin, and leaves him to shiver and die. But the buffalo calf with a white spot on his chin survives.

The plains are changing fast. Wagons roll west in endless streams. Telegraph wires stretch across the horizon. Locomotives scream down polished rails, slicing through the earth. Extinction

seems imminent when everyone wants to kill the biggest buffalo on the prairie. Native people shoot arrows and drive herds over cliffs. Hide hunters slaughter millions. An obsessed buffalo assassin is determined to wipe them all out and change the world forever. There's an army of barking rifles, and they're all pointed at Rathuun.

Will the hunters take Rathuun's head and leave his carcass to rot on the prairie?

This sweeping epic thunders across the American West, taking listeners to unforgettable western landmarks. If you like classic westerns, thrilling action, and high-stakes historical adventures, grab your copy by the horns.

Welcome to the prairie!

About the Author

David Fitz-Gerald writes frontier and pioneer western fiction from the wilds of western Vermont—about as far west as you can get without slipping into New York.

Though he’s never wrangled beeves to market, Dave was a top hand on his grandfather’s dude ranch in the Adirondack Mountains… before he turned ten. He’s lived most of his life on dirt roads. Whenever he gets the chance, he travels west to recharge his spirit on the windswept prairies.

He’s an Adirondack 46’er which means that he’s hiked to the top of every mountain in the park. In 2018, Dave completed the 1960s fitness craze by hiking 50 miles in one day. That’s one heck of a long walk, but not nearly as grueling as the iconic trails that he chases in his fiction.

Even after all these years, Dave still has his head in the clouds like Ken from MY FRIEND FLICKA, and a quiet, self-reliant spirit like Sam from THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN. That blend of wonder, heart, and spirit runs through the characters he portrays. His editor states he is “exceptionally good at creating real moments between characters”—and readers seem to agree.

Dave’s breakthrough series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail won Chanticleer’s Grand Prize for Book Series. He’s now the author of nearly twenty novels and counting, and as long as there’s coffee in the kitchen, Dave will be plotting one adventurous story after another.

 

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Eliza Waite Week Blast #rabtbooktours

Historical Fiction

Date Published: 05-16-2016

Publisher: She Writes Press

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary

After the tragic death of her husband and son on a remote island in Washington’s San Juan Islands, Eliza Waite joins the throng of miners, fortune hunters, business owners, con men, and prostitutes traveling north to the Klondike in the spring of 1898. When Eliza arrives in Skagway, Alaska, she has less than fifty dollars to her name and not a friend in the world—but with some savvy, and with the help of some unsavory characters, Eliza opens a successful bakery on Skagway’s main street and befriends a madam at a neighboring bordello. Occupying this space—a place somewhere between traditional and nontraditional feminine roles—Eliza awakens emotionally and sexually. But when an unprincipled man from her past turns up in Skagway, Eliza is fearful that she will be unable to conceal her identity and move forward with her new life. Using Gold Rush history, diary entries, and authentic pioneer recipes, Eliza Waite transports readers to the sights sounds, smells, and tastes of a raucous and fleeting era of American history.

Excerpt

September 1, 1896

Cloudy, first fall chill. Deer in garden again. Need to mend fences.
 

“Good fences make good neighbors,” her aunt used to say.

Eliza examines her muddied property and stifles a snort. There are no neighbors, no cheery hellos or help at harvest time, no shared secrets or meals offered at the door when grief steals joy clean away. No, her neighbors are all gone from this windswept island plagued with relentless autumn rains that close in on the coming darkness.

Eliza removes her nightclothes and rushes into her undergarments, woolen skirt, muslin blouse, and thick socks. She gathers up her skirt, and pushes out through the cabin’s rickety door, inhaling wood smoke and counting her memories, both blessings and curses.

I do not know if I can endure another winter here, especially after what happened last year.

Before the epidemic there had been a store, and a post office, and a cannery, and a school. And—of course—a church. On those long ago Sundays, Eliza had squirmed each time Jacob mounted the stairs to the simple wooden pulpit at First Methodist on tiny Cypress Island, his pompousness preceding him. Eliza sat stiffly in the front pew with Jonathan close beside her. Jonathan’s delicate hands held hers and his small brown leather boots dangled over the front lip of the wooden bench. If she tries hard enough, Eliza can still hear Jonathan’s warbling voice stumbling over the words of the ancient hymns.

        After Sunday services, Eliza and Ida Lawson had poured weak coffee into china cups at opposite ends of the cloth-covered table in the basement of the church. They adjusted the china cups, filling in spaces when others were served. They checked the sugar bowls. They rearranged the teaspoons, and placed them symmetrically. They exchanged glances and shared private conversations in between parishioners.

Did you hear the foreman killed a Chinaman over at Atlas Cannery?

Another parishioner would interrupt. Pleasantries. Then another interruption. More pleasantries.

Did you see Sly Chapman walking Adelaide Winters home from school on Wednesday?

There was always scuttlebutt about the townsfolk, or the trappers, or the fishermen, or the loggers. And always about the Chinamen. In the kitchen, Eliza and Ida would mimic the Chinamen, taking small steps and bowing to each other. They stifled their laughter. Only once had they had an awkward and guarded conversation about the intimacies of marriage.

IDA’S COFFEE CAKE

This is one of the best of plain cakes, and is very easily made.

Take one teacup of strong coffee infusion, one teacup molasses, one teacup sugar, one-half teacup butter, one egg, and one teaspoonful saleratus. Add pinch of salt.

Add spice and raisins to suit the taste, and enough flour to make a reasonably thick batter.

Bake rather slowly in tin pans lined with buttered paper. Tops with cinnamon sugar and serve warm.

But those days are long past. Now all Eliza has is a heap of gravestones to visit.
 

 

About the Author

 

 Multi award-winning author Ashley E. Sweeney’s fourth novel, The Irish Girl, released December 2024. Her previous novels, Eliza Waite, Answer Creek, and Hardland, have won a total of 20 awards, including the Nancy Pearl Book Award, Independent Press Award, WILLA Literary Award, and New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. Sweeney, a native New Yorker and graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, spends winters in Tucson and summers in the Pacific Northwest.

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Eliza Waite Week Blast #rabtbooktours

Historical Fiction

Date Published: 05-16-2016

Publisher: She Writes Press

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary

After the tragic death of her husband and son on a remote island in Washington’s San Juan Islands, Eliza Waite joins the throng of miners, fortune hunters, business owners, con men, and prostitutes traveling north to the Klondike in the spring of 1898. When Eliza arrives in Skagway, Alaska, she has less than fifty dollars to her name and not a friend in the world—but with some savvy, and with the help of some unsavory characters, Eliza opens a successful bakery on Skagway’s main street and befriends a madam at a neighboring bordello. Occupying this space—a place somewhere between traditional and nontraditional feminine roles—Eliza awakens emotionally and sexually. But when an unprincipled man from her past turns up in Skagway, Eliza is fearful that she will be unable to conceal her identity and move forward with her new life. Using Gold Rush history, diary entries, and authentic pioneer recipes, Eliza Waite transports readers to the sights sounds, smells, and tastes of a raucous and fleeting era of American history.

Excerpt

September 1, 1896

Cloudy, first fall chill. Deer in garden again. Need to mend fences.
 

“Good fences make good neighbors,” her aunt used to say.

Eliza examines her muddied property and stifles a snort. There are no neighbors, no cheery hellos or help at harvest time, no shared secrets or meals offered at the door when grief steals joy clean away. No, her neighbors are all gone from this windswept island plagued with relentless autumn rains that close in on the coming darkness.

Eliza removes her nightclothes and rushes into her undergarments, woolen skirt, muslin blouse, and thick socks. She gathers up her skirt, and pushes out through the cabin’s rickety door, inhaling wood smoke and counting her memories, both blessings and curses.

I do not know if I can endure another winter here, especially after what happened last year.

Before the epidemic there had been a store, and a post office, and a cannery, and a school. And—of course—a church. On those long ago Sundays, Eliza had squirmed each time Jacob mounted the stairs to the simple wooden pulpit at First Methodist on tiny Cypress Island, his pompousness preceding him. Eliza sat stiffly in the front pew with Jonathan close beside her. Jonathan’s delicate hands held hers and his small brown leather boots dangled over the front lip of the wooden bench. If she tries hard enough, Eliza can still hear Jonathan’s warbling voice stumbling over the words of the ancient hymns.

        After Sunday services, Eliza and Ida Lawson had poured weak coffee into china cups at opposite ends of the cloth-covered table in the basement of the church. They adjusted the china cups, filling in spaces when others were served. They checked the sugar bowls. They rearranged the teaspoons, and placed them symmetrically. They exchanged glances and shared private conversations in between parishioners.

Did you hear the foreman killed a Chinaman over at Atlas Cannery?

Another parishioner would interrupt. Pleasantries. Then another interruption. More pleasantries.

Did you see Sly Chapman walking Adelaide Winters home from school on Wednesday?

There was always scuttlebutt about the townsfolk, or the trappers, or the fishermen, or the loggers. And always about the Chinamen. In the kitchen, Eliza and Ida would mimic the Chinamen, taking small steps and bowing to each other. They stifled their laughter. Only once had they had an awkward and guarded conversation about the intimacies of marriage.

IDA’S COFFEE CAKE

This is one of the best of plain cakes, and is very easily made.

Take one teacup of strong coffee infusion, one teacup molasses, one teacup sugar, one-half teacup butter, one egg, and one teaspoonful saleratus. Add pinch of salt.

Add spice and raisins to suit the taste, and enough flour to make a reasonably thick batter.

Bake rather slowly in tin pans lined with buttered paper. Tops with cinnamon sugar and serve warm.

But those days are long past. Now all Eliza has is a heap of gravestones to visit.
 

 

About the Author

 

 Multi award-winning author Ashley E. Sweeney’s fourth novel, The Irish Girl, released December 2024. Her previous novels, Eliza Waite, Answer Creek, and Hardland, have won a total of 20 awards, including the Nancy Pearl Book Award, Independent Press Award, WILLA Literary Award, and New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. Sweeney, a native New Yorker and graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, spends winters in Tucson and summers in the Pacific Northwest.

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Rathuun King of the Prairie Teaser #rabtbooktours

Frontier & Pioneer Western Fiction; US Historical Fiction; Action/Adventure

Date Published: March 20, 2026

 

With all the swagger of a classic western, a legendary buffalo claims his rightful place among the genre's most iconic heroes.

Meet Rathuun. Born in an idyllic canyon, tragedy strikes on his first day. A grizzly bear scatters the herd, devours his twin, and leaves him to shiver and die. But the buffalo calf with a white spot on his chin survives.

The plains are changing fast. Wagons roll west in endless streams. Telegraph wires stretch across the horizon. Locomotives scream down polished rails, slicing through the earth. Extinction

seems imminent when everyone wants to kill the biggest buffalo on the prairie. Native people shoot arrows and drive herds over cliffs. Hide hunters slaughter millions. An obsessed buffalo assassin is determined to wipe them all out and change the world forever. There's an army of barking rifles, and they're all pointed at Rathuun.

Will the hunters take Rathuun's head and leave his carcass to rot on the prairie?

This sweeping epic thunders across the American West, taking listeners to unforgettable western landmarks. If you like classic westerns, thrilling action, and high-stakes historical adventures, grab your copy by the horns.

Welcome to the prairie!

Excerpt

Rathuun heard a fierce roar that rattled between his ears.

He had just finished nursing for the first time since he was born a thrum, hours earlier. His mother’s warm breath had tickled his flank just moments ago.

It was a peaceful morning on the prairie, but in a flash, everything had changed.

The thunderous roar boomed again. The entire brum was on the move.

In his haste to lead his followers away from danger, Drumm sounded the alarm and leapt forward. The old bull crashed into Rathuun, sending the thrum sprawling.

Rathuun’s legs wobbled as he tried to stand. It was a miracle that the collision hadn’t broken him. There was an instinctive pull to follow the brum, and it was centered beneath his chin, between his front legs.

He blinked rapidly, whipping his head from side to side, searching for his mother. Moments ago, she had been beside him. “Hathah!” he bleated, searching for the young cow who was his whole world.

But he knew she was gone. Gone with all the others. Why had she left him behind?

He shivered at the realization that he was all alone. His heart throbbed against his ribs. It was a struggle to make sense of what had happened.

Everything turned upside down and sideways. The panicked brum quickly vanished as the plains swallowed the pounding hooves and flashing tails, leaving nothing but a faint echo of their distant bellows.

It was eerily silent in the wake of the wild scatter of the buffalos’ frenzied exodus. Rathuun took a tentative step forward, not knowing what to do or which way to go.

Dust choked the air. His third, translucent eyelid swept sideways across his eye, clearing away the grit kicked up by the fleeing brum. He stood, dazed and completely alone.

Or so he thought. The silence quickly gave way to horrible sounds.

Rathuun turned his head. Twenty feet away, something moved. A dark, hulking monster hunched over something. Rathuun’s blood pounded with fear. There was a heavy thump in his chest. Then he saw the creature.

It was a rumbler.

 

About the Author

David Fitz-Gerald writes frontier and pioneer western fiction from the wilds of western Vermont—about as far west as you can get without slipping into New York.

Though he’s never wrangled beeves to market, Dave was a top hand on his grandfather’s dude ranch in the Adirondack Mountains… before he turned ten. He’s lived most of his life on dirt roads. Whenever he gets the chance, he travels west to recharge his spirit on the windswept prairies.

He’s an Adirondack 46’er which means that he’s hiked to the top of every mountain in the park. In 2018, Dave completed the 1960s fitness craze by hiking 50 miles in one day. That’s one heck of a long walk, but not nearly as grueling as the iconic trails that he chases in his fiction.

Even after all these years, Dave still has his head in the clouds like Ken from MY FRIEND FLICKA, and a quiet, self-reliant spirit like Sam from THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN. That blend of wonder, heart, and spirit runs through the characters he portrays. His editor states he is “exceptionally good at creating real moments between characters”—and readers seem to agree.

Dave’s breakthrough series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail won Chanticleer’s Grand Prize for Book Series. He’s now the author of nearly twenty novels and counting, and as long as there’s coffee in the kitchen, Dave will be plotting one adventurous story after another.

 

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https://mybook.to/RathuunKingofPrairie

 

Voyagers Homeland to Heartland Book Blitz #rabtbooktours

Biographical Fiction

Date Published: March 26, 2026

Voyagers: Homeland to Heartland is a sweeping, multi-generational saga inspired by true family history, tracing a Norwegian immigrant family's journey from the rugged valleys of Norway to the windswept prairies of Nebraska.

Rooted in the author's own heritage, the story follows Kittil and Marte Dyrebu as they leave behind everything familiar-family, language, and homeland-to chase the promise of opportunity in America. Their passage across the Atlantic is only the beginning. What follows is a lifetime of perseverance: carving a home from raw prairie, enduring devastating storms, profound loss, quiet joys, and the relentless demands of frontier life.

Told through richly detailed vignettes, Voyagers weaves together the lives of parents and children, siblings and spouses, revealing how love, faith, and tradition are carried forward even as circumstances change. From intimate moments around a family table to life altering crossroads shaped by duty, sacrifice, and longing, each generation faces its own tests-yet remains bound by shared memory and resilience.

At its core, Voyagers is a tribute to storytelling itself: the way stories preserve identity, heal grief, and connect past to present. It is a novel for anyone drawn to historical fiction, immigrant journeys, and the enduring power of family legacy.

Both tender and unflinching, Voyagers honors the courage of those who came before-and the stories that continue to shape who we are.

About the Author

Award-winning author and motivational speaker, D. L. Norris is widely recognized for her insightful contributions to literature and personal development. With a prolific career spanning several decades, Norris has explored themes of health, emotional wellness, family dynamics, and cultural history, earning her a devoted readership. Her acclaimed novels, "The Long Way Home," "Where the Heart Is," "Old Books and Faded Dreams: Collector's Edition," "Field of Memories: A Tapestry of Heartwarming Short Stories," The Intercessors: They Walk Among Us," and "Voyagers: Homeland to Heartland"—are celebrated for their vibrant, oft-humorous stories and authentic portrayal of real-life events and mindsets inspired by her beloved Scandinavian heritage.

Norris's writing is characterized by its warmth, wit, and ability to capture the complexities of human relationships, drawing from her own experiences and family traditions. Through her work, she invites readers to reflect on the importance of resilience, hope, and unconditional love, weaving together narratives that resonate across generations.

She and her husband, Quincy, reside in the picturesque city of Hartford, Connecticut, where they continue to inspire others through their commitment to storytelling and community engagement.

 

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Call In the Dogs Teaser #rabtbooktours

Western/Cowboy,  Cherokee, Outlaw

Date Published: 02-26-2026

Publisher: Write the West Press an imprint of Paperback Press, LLC Springfield, Missouri

Levi Kuratowski, better known as “Little Kansas,” only thinks his days of carrying a gun are over. With a trading license approved by the Cherokee Nation he is determined to build a trading post on the banks of Spring Creek. Soon however he must set his hammer aside and take up his colt revolver. Upon receiving word that the outlaw Bill Kirby has escaped custody he prepares to face his old adversary.

Levi’s friend, Cherokee rancher Turon Turtle vows to offer aid and his rifle. Turon’s strong willed sister, Ruth, has a different vow in mind for Levi. Levi soon finds the determined Ruth as challenging as the inevitable showdown that has yet to come.

For the first time since leaving Europe three years earlier his has a sense of home. He finds customers in the neighboring Cherokee and travelers. More importantly he finds friends. Unknown to Levi is the whereabouts of the outlaw Kirby. Can Levi rely on his new friends and community? Will Levi be able to hold on to what he has built and face the man who thinks nothing except for the destruction of Levi and all he holds dear?

 
Excerpt

Queenie is out in front,” Turon Turtle said, reaching over to put a stick on the fire.

“Stump is close behind,” Ounce Pathkiller grunted.

The two Cherokee had been speaking mostly in English for the benefit of the third man, Levi. Known to most in the area as Little Kansas. A nickname he picked up while cowboying out West where he had met the Cherokee Turon Turtle.

Born and raised in a poor family in Poland, fox hunting was foreign to Levi Kuratowski. Only the rich had hounds. Here he sat with two Cherokee, a hemisphere away from home.

“How can you tell which dog is in the lead?” Levi asked while staring at the night sky.

“Each dog sounds different. Has its own voice,. as people do,” Ounce replied.

“Yeah, Queenie has a sharp tone. She’s the boss. Now, Ounce’s dog Stump has a deeper bark, as if he’s in a well. Also, he sounds as though he’s way behind Queenie,” Turon added while grinning and giving Ounce a sidelong glance.

Ounce spoke in Cherokee, too quick for Levi to understand the words, but he understood the gesture.

 “Stump catch that old fox, you’ll see,” Ounce added.

“Better be an old fox if Stump is going to catch it.” Turon pulled a tobacco pouch from a coat pocket and unrolled a small paper between his fingers.

Ounce once again grunted.

“I heard you priced Stump to Ned Foreman for fifty dollars,” Turon said, carefully dumping tobacco on the paper then rolling a cigarette.

“Yeah,” Ounce said while accepting the tobacco pouch and papers from Turon.

Reaching for a burning stick to light his cigarette, Turon asked, “What makes him worth fifty dollars?”

 “I traded two twenty-five-dollar fighting roosters for him.” Ounce built his own cigarette.

 

About the Author

 

 Born and raised on the Ozark Plateau. Charlie Amos grew up in the footsteps of outlaws, cowboys, and woodsmen. He currently lives in Oklahoma with his wife, children, and dog Banjo. When he is not tending cattle and kids he is reading and writing about the American West. Years of working in agriculture, forestry, trucking, and teaching school has laid the foundation of telling our American story through relatable characters. Writing westerns for westerners, and everyone else.

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Goodbye Demons Teaser #rabtbooktours

Historical Fiction

Date Published: 04-24-2026

Publisher: Salty Books Publishing

When injuries put an end to the figure skating career of Angela Fernandez Parnell, she joins the Peace Corps.

She is assigned to Tunis where she falls in love with U.S. diplomat James Whitcomb. At the conclusion of their tours of duty, they marry. Within weeks of the wedding, he is taken captive in the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979-81.

James, held hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, endures the same demons that afflicted the real life hostages during the actual crisis 45 years ago.

Angie, biting her nails at home, endures her own demons. How can she support him? Should she join efforts to force the president into negotiating a release? Or even a rescue?

When the ordeal finally ends fourteen months later, the couple faces a new set of demons. Rebuilding their life together as they each recuperate from their own PTSDs.

Excerpt

This was the chance of a lifetime, and Angie swore she wouldn’t blow it. She did elaborate stretching exercises and weight training. She followed a dietician’s meal plan and skated five days a week under the guidance of her coach. Angie concocted a brilliant plan to capture the Gold at Nationals and guarantee her a slot on the Olympic team.

Her coach objected. “No woman has ever done a triple axel, and you’re not ready.”

“I did it in practice. You saw me.”

“You fell. A perfect double axel that you’re capable of doing trumps a triple axel that you screw up.”

Angie was determined to do the triple without falling. She doubled down on her training regime. Bruising falls came each day. It wasn’t until a week before the competitions that she completed a triple. She grinned triumphantly at her surprised coach. Then on the next try she took a nasty fall that left her limping when she rose from the ice. Her coach sped over to her. After making sure Angie had broken no bones, she again warned her to stop trying the triple axel.

“You’re not ready. It’s a riverboat gamble.”

“I have to take the gamble when I’ve got the chance.”

“You’ll have a chance next year. You’ll be stronger and more experienced. That’ll be the time to do it.”

“In the meantime, some other girl might do it first, and nobody will ever hear about me. Even if I do one the next day. Can you tell me who was the second woman to fly across the Atlantic?”

 

About the Author

Historical thriller author JJ Harrigan is a former US Service Officer and political science professor. He scribbles his tales of intrigue on the banks of the St. Croix River in Minnesota, where he lives with his wife, Sandy.

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The Brothers Brown Part 2 Teaser #rabtbooktours

for the sake of family

Family Saga, Historical Fiction, Native American

Date Published: 12-01-2025

Based on a true story.

Set in the late 1890’s, The Brothers Brown - a family saga, Part 2 - For the Sake of Family is a sweeping frontier saga of love, guilt, and redemption - an unflinching portrait of a man’s descent into madness amid the unforgiving wilds of Indian Territory.

When Matt Brown boards a northbound train, he carries more than a pistol. He carries the weight of his brother’s death, a marriage strained to its breaking point, and a conscience at war with itself. A doctor’s brown vial of medicine offers fleeting relief but soon draws him into a darker world where pain and guilt blur into something far more dangerous.

His wife, Milla, proud and rooted in her Choctaw heritage, stands as both his anchor and his judge as the world around them shifts under the weight of change and loss.

From Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the wooded banks of Bokchito Creek, two families are bound by tragedy and love, vengeance and mercy. A celebration meant to heal ignites old resentments. A family gathering ends in bloodshed. And a winter dance turns deadly, forcing each to face the cost of survival, forgiveness, and the ties that bind them.

Steeped in the spirit of the Choctaw Nation and the rough mercy of the Old West, For the Sake of Family is a haunting tale of madness, murder, and the fragile hope that redemption can be found on the far side of ruin.

Excerpt

Closest to the flames was an old man with long, stringy hair. He wore a blue cotton pullover shirt, collarless and loose, with colorful ribbons sewn to the front and sleeves. The ribbons swayed with his motions as he chanted and stepped in place to the timing of the chant. He held two sticks about a foot and a half long with strands of beads tied to the ends and struck them together in time with the chant.

 With each step, the old man’s ankle rattles shook. The dried tails of rattlesnakes fastened to leather strips grew louder and faster as his steps grew heavier. Many of the men had rattles tied to their ankles as well, while the women’s moccasins tingled with strands of beads hanging from the fringe. 

 Matt watched in awe as the people danced. 

“Way-yak-un-way-yak-a,” the leader sang, striking the sticks in measured rhythm, one-and-a, two-and-a, one-and-a, two-and-a. On the twelfth beat, each pair of dancers turned to one another, their right foot kicked dirt inward as they voiced a loud, “woah.” 

Spellbound, Matt watched, mouthing the chant under his breath along with the dancers. Then his breath caught. Milla stepped into the firelight, dancing beside a woman he had never seen before. 

 He gasped aloud, never having seen his wife like this, dressed in full traditional attire, her body moving gracefully in the fire’s glow. For an instant, she seemed a stranger, and yet more truly herself than he had ever known. 

 She turned her head, eyes lifting toward the trees. Matt stumbled backward, ducking for cover. He had to get out of there. 

 He spun around and nearly collided with John. 

“Shhh.” John pressed a finger to his lips and grabbed Matt’s arm, guiding him quietly away from the gathering. 

 

About the Author

Raised on the beaches of South Texas, R.G. Stanford has always been drawn to stories that transcend time. That passion was ignited in 1976 with the discovery of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and deepened with The Feast of All Saints just a few years later. Though historical fiction wasn’t an immediate calling, a personal journey into genealogy changed everything.

With no close relatives nearby, R.G. Stanford turned to online resources in search of extended family. That search became a twenty-year journey through genealogy websites, Federal Census records, the National Archives, and old newspapers. Along the way, R.G. Stanford uncovered incredible stories about her family and the people who once lived in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory.

Compelled to record the truth of her family in the lore, sprinkled with imagination, R.G. Stanford is a history lover, a research buff, and a passionate genealogy enthusiast. She is also a mother, a grandmother, and a teller of stories, now living near Orlando.

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The Brothers Brown Part 2 Release Blitz #rabtbooktours

for the sake of family

Family Saga, Historical Fiction, Native American

Date Published: 12-01-2025

Based on a true story.

Set in the late 1890’s, The Brothers Brown - a family saga, Part 2 - For the Sake of Family is a sweeping frontier saga of love, guilt, and redemption - an unflinching portrait of a man’s descent into madness amid the unforgiving wilds of Indian Territory.

When Matt Brown boards a northbound train, he carries more than a pistol. He carries the weight of his brother’s death, a marriage strained to its breaking point, and a conscience at war with itself. A doctor’s brown vial of medicine offers fleeting relief but soon draws him into a darker world where pain and guilt blur into something far more dangerous.

His wife, Milla, proud and rooted in her Choctaw heritage, stands as both his anchor and his judge as the world around them shifts under the weight of change and loss.

From Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the wooded banks of Bokchito Creek, two families are bound by tragedy and love, vengeance and mercy. A celebration meant to heal ignites old resentments. A family gathering ends in bloodshed. And a winter dance turns deadly, forcing each to face the cost of survival, forgiveness, and the ties that bind them.

Steeped in the spirit of the Choctaw Nation and the rough mercy of the Old West, For the Sake of Family is a haunting tale of madness, murder, and the fragile hope that redemption can be found on the far side of ruin.

 

 

About the Author

Raised on the beaches of South Texas, R.G. Stanford has always been drawn to stories that transcend time. That passion was ignited in 1976 with the discovery of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and deepened with The Feast of All Saints just a few years later. Though historical fiction wasn’t an immediate calling, a personal journey into genealogy changed everything.

With no close relatives nearby, R.G. Stanford turned to online resources in search of extended family. That search became a twenty-year journey through genealogy websites, Federal Census records, the National Archives, and old newspapers. Along the way, R.G. Stanford uncovered incredible stories about her family and the people who once lived in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory.

Compelled to record the truth of her family in the lore, sprinkled with imagination, R.G. Stanford is a history lover, a research buff, and a passionate genealogy enthusiast. She is also a mother, a grandmother, and a teller of stories, now living near Orlando.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Purchase Link

Amazon Author Page