Winners of the Wordcrafter “Sarah” Book Blog Tour Giveaway & a Reminder
Posted: May 12, 2024 Filed under: Blog Tour, Books, Fiction, Giveaways, Historical Fiction, Historical Inspiration, Western, Women in History, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Giveaway, Historical Fiction, Historical Inspiration, Kaye Lynne Booth, Sarah, Western, Women in the West, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 9 CommentsWe had a great tour for Sarah: Book 2 of the Women in the West Adventure Series, although I would have liked to see a bigger turnout. I enjoyed sharing about myself and about the research and inspiration behind the book with all of you, and I may have made new friends along the way. Thanks to everyone who participated for helping me launch this wonderful book.
The Winners Are…
Each comment on the tour earned an entry in the tour giveaway and a chance to receive a free digital copy of Sarah. So without futher ado…
Drumroll Please.
The winners of the WordCrafter Sarah Book Blog Tour are…
- Author Jan Sikes
- Priscilla Bettis
- Thomastigwikman
Congratulations to the winners!
Please contact me at kayebooth@yahoo.com to receive your free digital copy of Sarah.
Reminder
Today is the last day for tour participants to get a signed print copy of Sarah: Book 2 of the Women in the West Adventure Series. This is an exclusive offer for the tour – my way of saying thanks for your support. Tomorrow it will no longer be available, so get ’em while you can!
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Welcome to the WordCrafter “Sarah” Book Blog Tour
Posted: May 6, 2024 Filed under: Book Promotion, Book Release, Books, Fiction, Giveaways, Historical Fiction, Western, Women in History, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Historical Fiction, Kaye Lynne Booth, Sarah, western adventure, Women in History, Women in the West, Women in the West adventure series, Women's Fiction, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 18 CommentsWelcome to the WordCrafter Sarah Book Blog Tour, where we’re celebrating the release of Book 2 in my Women in the West adventure series. We’ve got a five day tour planned and at every stop you can learn more about me, the author, and learn interesting historical facts which inspired my settings and characters through an interview, guest posts, and a review or two, and I’ll be giving away three digital copies of Sarah in the giveaway. You can follow the tour through the schedule below, but the links won’t work until each post goes live.
Tour Schedule
Mon. May 6 – “The Soiled Doves of the American West” – Writing to be Read
Tues. May 7 – “Utes in Glenwood Springs & the Legend of Chapita” – Roberta Writes
Wed. May 8 – Interview & Reading – Book Places
Thurs. May 9 – “‘Modern Medicine’ in the American West” – Writing to be Read
Fri. May 10 – Interview & Review – Patty’s Worlds
Giveaway
Leave a comment at each tour stop for five chances to win a free digital copy of Sarah.
The Soiled Doves of the American West
Prostitution in the Old West
In Colorado, the mining town of Cripple Creek had over 300 prostitutes in 1894, and it was home to one of the most high-end brothels in the mining towns of Colorado. The clients were taken by appointment only and were put through a thorough screening process where their finances were scrutinized, as well as their references. Appointments started at $200 an hour and the gentlemen had to have at least a million dollars in the bank to get one. The Old Homestead House brothel was run by the infamous Pearl DeVere and housed five women who squeezed into their corsets, petticoats and fancy dresses every evening to offer their ‘services’ for sale. The girls entertained in luxury on the ground floor, with music provided by the girls, gambling and alcohol available for their enjoyment, but the real entertainment occured on the second floor, in the girl’s rooms.
Although their profession was illegal, authorities and town founders chose to look the other way and add fees, fines and taxes and taxes collected to the town coiffers. Permits were required ply their trade for both madams and doves, and each girl had to undergo a weekly or monthly exam by the town doctor to be cleared for the permit, all of course, at a cost. There was a designated shopping day when the ‘respectable’ ladies stayed indoors so as not to be offended by their presence, and a ‘dove’ caught on the streets on a different day would bring a fine not only upon herself, but upon her madam, as well. And donations made to local causes such as church and school by the madam kept the ‘respectable’ ladies from complaining too much about the very existence of the houses of ill repute.
Less fortunate women in the profession, who did not work in such a high-end establishment were found up and down the street They received less for their services, with small make-shift shacks in which to entertain their customers. Independent doves who had no madam to offer a place to offer their services and provide protection from unsavory types, might provide services in the shadows of an alley for as little as a dollar gold piece.
Meet Big Nose Kate
Big Nose Kate Horony is one of the historical characters which the Women in the West adventure series is known for. In real life, she was an independent prostitute and one-time Madam, who made her own way in the west and was companion to the infamous John Henry “Doc” Holliday, and her portrayal in Sarah, as ‘the woman behind the man’ is a true and accurate story. Kate was there, and she really did go into the hills of the surrounding canyon and gather firewood to sell in order to keep a roof over Doc’s head as he lay dying of tuberculosis, too weak to practice his trade as a gambler.
One of the fascinating things about the Women in the West adventure series is the fact that there is a true-life historical female character in a supporting role, along with the strong female protagonist in each book. In Sarah, the supporting historical character is Mary Katherine Horony, (Big Nose Kate), who was the consort of the infamous dentist, gambler, and gunfighter, John Henry (Doc) Holliday. In this case, our character was the woman behind the man, and is little known for her own merit.
Born Mary Katherine Horoney on November 7, 1850, who lived in Mexico as a child, she was the daughter of a the personal surgeon to the Emporer Maximillian until her family immigrated to Iowa when she was 10. As the daughter of a prominant surgeon, Kate was educated and it is said that she spoke several languages.
At the age of 15, she and her younger siblings were orphaned when both of their parents died within a few months of each other, and the children were split up and placed into foster care. But Kate ran away within a year, and she and her sister traveled to St. Louis and by 1869, in a time when there were few opportunities for females to earn a living. A self-sufficient woman in the rough and tumble of the American west, Kate worked as a dance hall girl, a prostitute, or just about any way she could to make a buck.
In Texas, she crossed paths with John Henry “Doc” Holliday, a dentist turned gambler, who became a notorious gunfighter, and they were traveling companions, on and off, until his dying days. A strong woman with a hot Hungarian temper, she and Doc had their ups and downs as they frequented saloons and gambling houses in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, living a life of vice and liquor. Even so, Kate was always there to back up Doc’s play, even setting a she on fire to distract his guards and breaking him out of house arrest to avaoid a lynch mob, after he stabbed a man who accused him of cheating at cards. It is said that for a time, Kate even had her own bordello in Tombstone, before she reunited with Doc after one of their many seperations.
When Doc was dying in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, a friend contacted her and she traveled to Glenwood Springs to care for her destitute lifelong companion, gathering firewood in the nearby hills to cover his room and board when he could no longer support himself. And that is where my fictional character of Sarah, or Hair of Fire, meets Kate in my story, after a harrowing ordeal of survival through the mountains of Colorado.
You can learn more about Kate and Doc in my guest post from the tour for Delilah: Book 1 on Kay Castenada’s Book Places blog site.
References
Brinks, Mellissa. 23 September, 2021. “What Life Was Really Like as an Old West Saloon Girl”. Ranker. https://www.ranker.com/list/life-of-a-wild-west-saloon-girl/melissa-brinks
Whitley, Carla Jean. 10 March 2017. “To Doc From Kate – But Who Was Kate?” Post Independent. https://www.postindependent.com/news/local/to-doc-from-kate/
Hughs, Jessica. 11 September 2022. “10 Authentic Old West Towns”. Uncover Colorado. https://www.uncovercolorado.com/wild-west-towns-in-colorado/
Old Homestead House Museum, Cripple Creek, Colorado,
Bowmaster, Patrick A. “A Fresh Look at ‘Big Nose Kate'”. Tombstone History Archives. http://www.tombstonehistoryarchives.com/a-fresh-look-at-big-nose-kate.html
Van Ostrand, Maggie. 2017. “Katie Elder a.k.a. Big Nose Kate, Her True Story”. Goose Flats Graphics & Publishing. Southern Arizona Guide: https://southernarizonaguide.com/katie-elder-her-true-story-by-maggie-van-ostrand/
Williams, Joseph A. “The Real Story of Doc Holliday and Big Nose Kate”. Old West. https://www.oldwest.org/doc-holliday-big-nose-kate/
“Big Nose Kate – Doc Holliday’s Sidekick”. Legends of America. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-bignosekate/
28 February 2022. “Couples with History: Glewood Springs Loves Stories”. Glenwood Springs Blog. https://visitglenwood.com/blog/2022/02/couples-with-history-glenwood-springs-love-stories/
“The True Story of Katie Elder”. Notes from the Frontier. https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/the-true-story-of-katie-elder
Book Trailer
About the Book
Sarah is a young girl trying to make a place for herself in the world.
Sarah is not the young girl who was stolen away from Delilah anymore. Now she is Hair of Fire, mate of Three Hawks, even as she blossoms into a young woman and tries to make a place for herself among the Ute tribe.
When she is stolen away from the life she’s made with the Utes, she struggles to survive in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. A streak of stubbornness and determination take this tough, feisty heroine up against wild beasts of the forest and the rugged mountain landscape to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, where she receives a less than welcoming reception by some.
Will this young woman find her way back to the Ute tribe, which she’s come to think of as family, or will she discover a place among the colorful inhabitants of the Colorado hot springs and mining town?
Follow along on her journey to learn who she truly is and where she belongs in this rough, and often hostile frontier.
If you like strong and capable female protagonists, you’ll love Sarah.
Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/Sarah-Women-in-the-West
About the Series
The Women in the West adventure series features strong female protagonists in a setting filled with hardship, which many believed did not fit well with the female constitution. Women on the frontier were few, and most of those were included in a family unit. Single and widowed women did exist on the frontier, as did those whose husbands just never came home for whatever reason, went back to the family unit in most cases. Women who chose to go it alone, defying societal expectations were rare. Those who did, chose a hard life and had to have backbone to survive.
While my protagonists are fictional, they are representative of strong women who did make a way for themselves, out of choice or necessity, and each book introduces a fictionalized version of one such historical female character who plays a supporting role in the story. In Delilah, it was Baby Doe Tabor. In Sarah, it is Big Nose Kate. And Marta will feature Clara Brown.
About the Author
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
That wraps up the first stop on the tour. Thank you all for joining us. Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance at a free digital copy of the book. Join us tomorrow over at [ ], where I’ll be guest posting on how the history of the Ute Indians helped me choose my settings.
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WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures 4” Book Blog Tour Giveaway Winners
Posted: April 15, 2024 Filed under: Giveaways, Poetry, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Giveaway, Giveaway Winners, Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press 16 CommentsWe had a great tour last week with some fabulous poetry readings and guest posts by various contributors to Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature. I have to say that this year’s anthology is filled with some of the most beautiful poetry I have read in a long time. The caliper of the poets in this group is awesome inspiring. And we had a good number of you out there who stopped in to one or more of the stops to join us in sending this anthology off right. Thanks to all of you. Your support is appreciated.
As you know, anyone who visited and left a comment at any stop was entered in our giveaway and a chance to win a free digital copy of the anthology. Now the tour is over, the names were all dropped into a hat, and I have three lucky winner names right here. So, without further ado –
The Winners Are….
Annette Rochelle Aben
D. Wallace Peach
Teagan Riordan Genevieve
Congratulations to the winners.
If I haven’t contacted you yet with your prize, you may contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com.
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Wrapping Up the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures 4” Book Blog Tour
Posted: April 13, 2024 Filed under: Anthology, Book Release, Book Review, Books, Giveaways, Poetry, Poetry Readings, Review, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Book Review, Giveaway, Poetry, Poetry Anthology, Poetry Reading, Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature, Robbie Cheadle, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours Leave a commentIt’s the last stop on the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 4 Book Blog Tour, and we’re over at Carla Loves to Read with Carla’s review and a lovely reading by Robbie Cheadle of her poem, “Long Day (In the Bush)”. The perfect way to wrap up this wonderful tour and send off for this delightful anthology, Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature. Won’t you join us?
Day 2 of the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures 4” Book Blog Tour
Posted: April 9, 2024 Filed under: Anthology, Blog Tour, Book Release, Books, Giveaways, Poetry, Poetry Readings, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours, WordCrafter Press | Tags: Andrew McDowell, Poetry, Poetry Anthology, Poetry Readings, Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours Leave a commentToday were over at Merril’s Historical Musings for Day 2 of the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 4 Book Blog Tour with a lovely reading from contributing poet, Andrew McDowell. Join us in launching this delightful poetry collection and support the contributing poets. And don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance at a free digital copy in the #giveaway!
Wrapping Up the WordCrafter “Northtown Angelus” Book Blog Tour
Posted: March 14, 2024 Filed under: Book Promotion, Book Review, Books, Crime, Fiction, Giveaways, Hard-Boiled Crime Fiction, Review, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours | Tags: Books, Crime Fiction, Hard-boiled fiction, Northtown Angelus, Raimo Jarvi Investigates, Robert White, WordCrafter Book Blog Tours 8 CommentsThis is the last day of the WordCrafter “Northtown Angelus” Book Blog Tour. To wrap-up we have a double stop today, with my review of the book here, on Writing to be Read, and then on to Undawnted for a final guest post from the author, Robert White. But , let before we get started, let me offer a reminder to be sure and leave comments when you visit a stop to be entered in the giveaway below. You can click on the links in the schedule to go back and visit any stop you may have missed along the way. Undawnted does not accept comments, but you can leave your comments for the second stop on today’s tour here.
Giveaway
Each stop where you leave a a comment,
you get another chance to win one of five digital copies,
and one signed print copy of Northtown Angelus.
Tour Schedule
Mon. March 11 – Writing to be Read – Author Interview
Tues. March 12 – Robbie’s Inspiration – Guest Post
Wed. March 13 – Patty’s Worlds – Author Interview
Thurs. March 14 – Writing to be Read – Review/Undawnted – Guest Post
About Northtown Angelus
Johnny Dillon took his life. His wife Cora wants to know why. The Northtown cops don’t care; they closed the case as a suicide. The M.E. hasn’t got any answers for the discrepancies Ray Jarvi discovered in the autopsy report and from what Johnny’s wife told him about the days leading up to his decision to take his life.
This is the beginning of an investigation for private investigator Ray Jarvi, who follows a twisting path of corruption and vice in his rust-belt town on the shores of Lake Erie to help her find some resolution to the worst day in her life. Like a medieval play between warring devils and angels battling for a soul, he must deal with a variety of Northtowners who play one part or the other on his journey to find those answers. Getting past one obstacle only leads to another—and another. Before long, Jarvi does not know whom to trust. He realizes nothing in his town is what it appears to be and that there are some dangerous people who like it that way.
Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Northtown-Angelus-Raimo-Jarvi-Investigates/dp/B0CRQ66L4Y
About Author Robert White
Robert T. White writes from Northeastern Ohio. He has published several crime, noir, hardboiled novels and genre stories in various magazines and anthologies. He’s been nominated for a Derringer. “Inside Man,” a crime story, was selected for Best American Mystery Stories 2019. His second hardboiled p.i. series (after the Thomas Haftmann mysteries begun in 2011 with Haftmann’s Rules) features Raimo Jarvi in Northtown Eclipse (Fahrenheit Press, 2018) and Northtown Blitz (2020). British website Murder, Mayhem & More cited When You Run with Wolves (rpt. 2018) as a finalist for Top Ten Crime Books of 2018 and Perfect Killer in 2019. “If I Let You Get Me” was selected for the Bouchercon 2019 anthology and The Russian Heist (Moonshine Cove, 2019), another crime thriller, was selected by Thriller Magazine as winner of its Best Novel category. “Out of Breath” and Other Stories is a mixed collection of mainstream and noir fiction (Red Giant Press, 2013).
My Review
Northtown Angelus, by Robert White, is book 3 in the Raimo Jarvi Investigates series. This story reads like a classic hardboiled crime fiction tale, complete with flawed P.I. protagonist and colorful inner city characters and setting. The writing style and lack of dialog tags was a little off-putting at first. It kind of grew on me though, and once I became emmersed in the story, I hardly noticed unless I got confused about who was speaking.
Dealing with less than desirable people and neighborhoods, is bound to give anyone a grim outlook on life. But for Ray Jarvi, a P.I. with an unfortunate history which left him scarred, inside and out, working those neighborhoods throws low lifes, drug dealers, and other criminal types in his path at every turn, has turned his outlook grim indeed. He’s learned not to expect too much from his fellow man. Ray is on a case to find out what really happened to man the cops wrote off as suicide, for the greiving widow, but finds himself in the middle of something even bigger. Ray doesn’t wait for things to happen, he pushes peoples buttons and makes things happen, always on the offensive. But when a friend and employee is brutally beaten while doing survellience for him, we see a softer side of Ray, as someone who really does give a damn, before donning his social armor once more and going back after the villians who are responsible.
Fast moving and hard hitting, Northtown Angelus is all that a hard-boiled crime novel should be. I give it four quills.
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Don’t forget to visit the second stop on today’s tour to hear more from author Robert White on Northtown Angelus and his Raimo Jarvis Investigates series. You can visit that stop here: Remember you can come back here to leave a comment for today’s entry in the giveaway.
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That wraps up the WordCrafter Northtown Angelus Book Blog Tour. Thank you all for joining us. Be sure to visit each stop through the schedule at the top of this post for more chances to win a copy of this hardboiled crime fiction novel. I hope you enjoyed meeting Robert White and learning more about Northtown Angelus.
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Book your WordCrafter Book Blog Tour today!