Today the HBS Author's Spotlight is showcasing 2018 Tucson Festival of Books - Amigos and Ladies of the West group. These authors write Western novels and short stories. They will be in the Amigos and Ladies of the West booth.
University of Arizona Campus – March 10 – 11, 2018 – 9:30am to 5:30pm
The Wildest West
An Anthology Of Stories about the Southwest in the 1850s & 60s
Author: Doug Hocking
AVAILABLE at Amazon
An anthology of short fiction and short non-fiction. Showdown at Echo Amphitheatre is an historical fiction concerning an event in Kit Carson's life. In Can We Still Collect the Bounty gunfighter Clay Allison is embarrassed. What do you do when the government won't permit any law enforcement? Find out in the Marshal of Arizona. Wind Wagon Thomas sails all the way to New Mexico in Pirates of the Llano Estacado. A soldier who fought in the bloody battle of Cieneguilla writes home in Letter from Fort Burgwin. In the Power of Fox and Snake an Apache poses as a Spanish Grandee and becomes a riverboat gambler. Seven men escape from advancing Confederate forces at Mesilla in a stolen stagecoach only to encounter Cochise. In the Lady was a Gunfighter a girl raised by Indians is taught to be a lady by a gambling courtesan. Penitent Child is a Christmas story.
Author: Doug Hocking
Author: Doug Hocking
Author Genre:
Westerns, Mystery, Historical fiction
Website:
Doug Hocking
Author's Blog:
Way Out West
Twitter:
@HockingDoug
E-Mail:
doug@doughocking.com
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Author Description:
Doug writes historical fiction bringing the Old West back to life while making another generation proud of the accomplishments and struggle of their ancestors. Each book is a history lesson wrapped in an riveting story.
Doug has led an exciting life. Born near New York City, a fact he very seldom admits, he learned to speak from his Cornish grandmother.
As an adult, he learned he understood Cornish slang and thought it normal speech. He also knew the whole story of Jack the Ripper and the Titanic. Grandmother was 10 and in Plymouth when the Ripper prowled. A uncle was swept away with the Unsinkable Ship. Still very young, Doug was taken West where he grew up on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in the Rio Arriba of New Mexico among piasonos and indios. At 18 he hitchhiked to Albuquerque and enlisted in Army Intelligence.
The next decade was spent in Thailand, Taiwan and at the Pentagon and at bases so secret the Army often wouldn't say where they were. This made it difficult to comply with orders to report, but Doug is a great intel analyst and interpreted the "indicators" to track them down. One soldier almost passed out when Doug asked directions: "That's classified!" "Hey, I'm assigned there, but they won't tell me how to get there." He became an interrogator. Doug stopped in Taiwan for several years and acquired an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland. Returning to the US he studied Ethnography in graduate school and then returned to the Army in Armored Cavalry finding the cavalry more fun than musty tomes of forgotten lore. In Germany, he was eyeball to eyeball with the Soviet beast before it fell. His final tour of duty was the most difficult of all, trying to turn Military Intelligence lieutenants into officers. He also played a role in intelligence gathering and interpretation during the first Gulf War.
Since then Doug has earned honors with a graduate degree in US history and garnered his certificate as a field archaeologist in historical archaeology braving a summer at a wilderness camp with college students in southern Colorado excavating Fort Massachusetts. "Bears only poked their heads into the mess tent a couple of times." Doug has sold real estate, built homes, taught college and worked in the hospitality industry. He spends time exploring lost towns, ruins, old forts and trails, interpreting foundations and trash, ranging far. A trip to Guadalupe Canyon hard by the borders of Arizona-New Mexico-Sonora and Chihuahua found him stopped by Border Patrol who wanted to know his business. "I did the obvious and sold the man a copy of my novel."
At the urging of his mother, Doug began writing. His work appears regularly in Wild West Magazine and Roundup as well as True West. There are more books on the way: The Battle of Cienaguilla, Redwall Canyon, The Mystery of Chaco Canyon and Devil on the Loose.
The Pinks
The First Women Detectives, Operatives, and Spies with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency
Author: Chris Enss
AVAILABLE at Amazon
The true story of Kate Warne and the other women who served as Pinkertons, fulfilling the adage, “Well-behaved Women Seldom Make History.”
Most students of the Old West and American law enforcement history know the story of the notorious and ruthless Pinkerton Detective Agency and the legends behind their role in establishing the Secret Service and tangling with Old West Outlaws. But the true story of Kate Warne, an operative of the Pinkerton Agency and the first woman detective in America—and the stories of the other women who served their country as part of the storied crew of crime fighters—are not well known. For the first time, the stories of these intrepid women are collected here and richly illustrated throughout with numerous historical photographs. From Kate Warne’s probable affair with Allan Pinkerton, and her part in saving the life of Abraham Lincoln in 1861 to the lives and careers of the other women who broke out of the Cult of True Womanhood in pursuit of justice, these true stories add another dimension to our understanding of American history.
Author: Chris Enss
Author: Chris Enss
Author Genre:
Western History
Website:
Chris Enss
Twitter:
@4par
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Author Description:
Chris Enss is a New York Times Best Selling author, a scriptwriter and comedienne who has written for television and film, and performed on cruise ships and on stage. She has worked with award-winning musicians, writers, directors, producers, and as a screenwriter for Tricor Entertainment, but her passion is for telling the stories of the men and women who shaped the history and mythology of the American West. Some of the most famous names in history, not to mention film and popular culture, populate her books. She reveals the stories behind the many romances of William "Buffalo Bill" Cody who moved on from his career as a scout on the plains to bring the enormously successful performance spectacle of Buffalo Bill's Wild West to audiences throughout the United States and Europe between 1883 and 1916. And she tells the stories of the many talented and daring women performed alongside men in the Wild West shows, who changed the way the world thought about women forever through the demonstration of their skills. Chris brings her sensitive eye and respect for their work to her stories of more contemporary American entertainers, as well. Her books reveal the lives of John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, bringing to light stories gleaned from family interviews and archives. The most famous American couple of the 19th Century, General George Armstrong Custer and Elizabeth Bacon Custer draws her scrutiny as well. None Wounded, None Missing, All Dead reveals the personality of the fiery, lively Libbie and her lifelong effort to burnish her husband's reputation.
Chris takes readers along the trail with the Intrepid Posse as their horses thunder after the murderer of Dodge City dance hall favorite Dora Hand, and she turns her attention to the famous Sam Sixkiller, legendary Cherokee sherriff, but perhaps most extraordinary are the stories of the ordinary men and women who shaped American history when they came west as schoolmarms, gold miners, madams, and mail-order brides.
Ropes, Reins, and Rawhide
All About Rodeo
Author: Melody Groves
AVAILABLE at Amazon
Heart pounding, blood pumping, the cowboy nods, chute gate opens, and his world begins. Eight seconds of adrenaline rush. Eight seconds of gripping, pulling, and holding on. The animal under him bucks and twists attempting to dislodge the cowboy's seat but the rider sticks like glue. The buzzer sounds, the cowboy dismounts, tips his hat to a cheering crowd, and nods at his proud fellow riders. Just another day at the office."--from Ropes, Reins, and Rawhide.
Melody Groves, a native New Mexican and former bull rider, examines the sport of rodeo, from a brief history of the ranch-based competition to the rodeos of today and what each event demands. One of the first topics she addresses is the treatment of the animals. As she points out, without the bulls or horses, there wouldn't be a rodeo. For that reason, the stock contractors, chute workers, cowboys, and all the arena workers respect the animals and take precautions against their injuries.
Groves writes for the rodeo novice, explaining the workings and workers (stock handlers, veterinarians, clowns, "pick up" men, event judges, etc.) seen in the arena and behind the scenes. She then describes the rodeo events: bull riding, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, tie-down roping, and barrel racing. Interviews with rodeo legends in every event round out the "feel" for this breathtaking sport. Over ninety photos depict what is described in the text to more fully explain the rodeo, with its ropes, reins, and rawhide.
Author: Melody Groves
Author: Melody Groves
Author Genre:
Historical Fiction, History
Website:
Melody Groves
E-Mail:
melodygroves@comcast.net
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Author Description:
Growing up in southern New Mexico, my mind raced with characters from the Old West--gunfighters were my favorite. My novels reflect my fascination--and ties--with that era. As a New Mexico Gunfighter re-enactor, I entertain visitors at Albuquerque's Old Town, allowing them a glimpse into earlier times. My books reflect my passion for rodeo and appreciation of historic wooden bars. Yes bars--the front and back wooden structures. They are amazing--just like the rodeo performers. I rode bulls a few times and it's not easy. But riding provokes a feeling like no other--adrenalin at its finest. So, come with me on an amazing adventure.
Tuzigoot National Monument
Images of America
Author: Rod Timanus
AVAILABLE at Amazon
The native people, known today as the Sinagua, inhabited the Verde Valley of Arizona for centuries. From around 700 AD to early 1400 AD, they farmed the land and built large pueblo communities throughout the area. They accomplished this task using only primitive stone tools, materials from their environment, and the strength of their intellect and muscle. One of the largest communal dwellings, and later the most extensively excavated, is called Tuzigoot. This sprawling, hilltop complex contained over 100 rooms and was once home to several hundred people before it was mysteriously abandoned. Excavated and partially restored between 1933 and 1934, Tuzigoot is currently administered by the National Park Service after being designated a national monument by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. Today, although off the beaten track, it hosts more than 100,000 visitors a year.
Author: Rod Timanus
Author: Rod Timanus
Author Genre:
History
Website:
Rod Timanus
E-Mail:
RodTimanus@aol.com
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Author Description:
ROD TIMANUS was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, raised in Cutler Ridge, Florida and currently resides in Glendale, Arizona.
He served in the U.S. Army Infantry in Viet Nam and Germany from 1968 to 1971 as a Grenadier, an Operations Sergeant and Mechanized Infantry Squad Leader.
He has an Associates degree in Commercial Art from Middlesex Community College in Middletown, Connecticut, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design from Paier College of Art in Hamden, Connecticut and a Certificate in Illustration from the Comic Art Workshop in Stratford, Connecticut.
His artwork, maps and diagrams have appeared in several books, including Eyewitness to the Alamo, Battlefields of Texas and Death of a Legend by Bill Groneman (Republic of Texas Press) and The Alamo Story by J.R. Edmondson (Republic of Texas Press). His work has also appeared in The Alamo Almanac and Book of Lists and The Davy Crockett Almanac and Book of Lists by William R. Chemerka (Eakin Press). He has contributed cover art, illustrations, and written articles for The Alamo Journal, official publication of The Alamo Society. From that career he began to write and illustrate his own books about the Old West.
He has retraced the last journeys of David Crockett, from Rutherford, Tennessee to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas and Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer from Fort Lincoln, North Dakota to the Little Bighorn valley in Montana. On the Crockett Trail (Pioneer Press) is a history/travel book released in November of 1999, On the Custer Trail (Pioneer Press) was released in 2001, in time to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Also in 2001, An Illustrated History of Texas Forts (Republic of Texas Press) was released. Additionally, On the Lewis and Clark Trail (Pioneer Press), a retracing of the 1804-1806 expedition through the Louisiana Territory, was released in January 2003. He wrote and illustrated The Alamo entry for the 4-volume encyclopedia Americans at War (Macmillan Publishing) released in 2005 and, until his move to Arizona, wrote and illustrated monthly history articles for The Middletown Press newspaper in Middletown, Connecticut.
After relocating to Arizona he contributed sixteen entries to the two-volume The Settlement of America Encyclopedia of Westward Expansion (M.E. Sharpe) released in 2011 and had articles appear in The Wild West Gazette, The Tombstone Times, and The Arizona Republic newspapers. Additionally, he wrote the article I am Doc Holliday for The American Cowboy magazine online edition. In 2014, Creating Texas a Brief History of the Revolution (Lauric Publishing), coauthored by Jeffrey Dane, was published. The same year, Montezuma Castle National Monument (Arcadia Publishing) was released.
He is a member of The Western Writers of America, The Alamo Society, and The Arizona Historical Society.
Empowerment of North American Indian Girls
Ritual Expressions at Puberty
Author: Carol Markstrom
Empowerment of North American Indian Girls is an examination of coming-of-age-ceremonies for American Indian girls past and present, featuring an in-depth look at Native ideas about human development and puberty. Many North American Indian cultures regard the transition from childhood to adulthood as a pivotal and potentially vulnerable phase of life and have accordingly devised coming-of-age rituals to affirm traditional values and community support for its members. Such rituals are a positive and enabling social force in many modern Native communities whose younger generations are wrestling with substance abuse, mental health problems, suicide, and school dropout.
Developmental psychologist Carol A. Markstrom reviews indigenous, historical, and anthropological literatures and conveys the results of her fieldwork to provide descriptive accounts of North American Indian coming-of-age rituals. She gives special attention to the female puberty rituals in four communities: Apache, Navajo, Lakota, and Ojibwa. Of particular interest is the distinctive Apache Sunrise Dance, which is described and analyzed in detail. Also included are American Indian feminist interpretations of menstruation and menstrual taboos, the feminine in cosmology, and the significance of puberty customs and rites for the development of young women.
Author: Carol A. Markstrom
Author: Carol A. Markstrom
Author Genre:
Western Writers and
Western Songwriter
Website:
Carol Markstrom
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Author Description:
Tucson-based, Carol Markstrom, sings with the heart of a folk singer with her musical inspirations including Americana, Outlaw and Classic Country, Western Roots, and Rock. She is thrilled to share the news that in March 2016 she received the prestigious 2015 Vocalist of the Year Award from the Academy of Western Artists! Then, she was again Top 5 nominated for the same award for 2016 and is nominated once again for 2017. Her second album, Crossing Borders, was awarded the 2017 Original Classic Western CD of the Year by the Rural Roots Music Commission. Along with Carol's first CD, Vision Across the Range, both have received highly favorable reviews. You can hear Carol’s songs played on radio programs across the U.S. and even internationally including Spain, Portugal, Sweden, New Zealand, and other countries. A third album is underway.
As a songwriter, Carol draws inspiration from many sources, and loves to tell stories about engaging people, places, and events. Some of her original songs draw from her published works and personal experiences among American Indians. Her ballads and love songs range from the whimsical to bittersweet, and she loves to perform crowd favorites delivering them with a fresh approach. Carol’s vocal delivery comes through with clarity and emotion, and listeners are quickly engaged. It might be vocals or style, but Carol has been compared to the likes of Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, and Suzy Bogguss. Some of Carol's favorites artists whose songs you might hear from her include Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, and Patsy Montana.
Carol performs in a wide variety of venues including restaurants, wineries, coffeehouses, and guest ranches and she is equally comfortable in a concert settings such as festivals and house concerts. Once heard, she is invited for return engagements.
Carol is a member of the Western Music Association (WMA) and Secretary of the East Coast Chapter of WMA, the Academy of Western Artists, Folk Alliance International, and the Western Writers of America.
Lukas Yates and the Roses
Author: Lowell F. Volk
Book Trailer:
Lukas Yates and the Roses
AVAILABLE at Amazon
Lukas Yates comes to the aid of the families of Herbert and Brandon Rose crossing the plains of Texas. After Brandon Rose is killed by Indians Lukas rescues Shawnee Rose and her daughter Connie. Trying to locate Herbert and Elsa Rose who have Shawnee’s son and wagon, they miss each other on the trail when Herbert and Elsa leave the trail with their sick daughter Abigail. Agreeing to meet at Fort Bascom, New Mexico, they continue to the fort. Lukas, Shawnee and Connie arrive there before Herbert, Elsa and the remaining children. Lukas and Shawnee develop a liking for each other while traveling together. They have the obstacle of the resent loss of her husband and Herbert and Elsa intervention to overcome. Lukas considers leaving the families to go on his own. Having promised that he would stay with them till Colorado, he continues to help Herbert in search of land. While searching Lukas finds a rancher, Erin Roberts who lost his family to Indians and was alone on his ranch. Finding Erin, too sick to stand Lukas does what he can to help him, but needs more help so he fetched Shawnee to Erin’s ranch where she nurses him back to health. After Herbert arrives with the rest of the families and wagons, Erin helps Herbert get some property he holds title to and offers Lukas a partnership in his ranch.
Author: Lowell F. Volk
Author: Lowell F. Volk
Author Genre:
Western, Historical, History, Fiction
Website:
Lowell F. Volk - Tales of the West
Author's Blog:
Tales of the West
Twitter:
@lowellv_
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Author Description:
Lowell F. Volk is a native of Minnesota, where he graduated from Madison Public High School in 1964. Lowell has a BS from California Lutheran in computer science and an MBA from the University of La Verne. Lowell retired from General Dynamics in 2004, where he was a Manager of Software Engineers which required extensive travel both in the USA and overseas. He currently is living in Pleasant View, Colorado, where he is active in several community activities. He is former President of Trinity Lutheran Church in Cortez, former President of the Pleasant View Fire District board of Directors, a former Major of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Posse and currently an active member, and he was a former substitute teacher at the Cortez Middle and High School. Lowell and his wife, Mary Lou, have five children: Terri, Scott, Paula, Lowell Jr., and Kathy. Since his retirement, he has enjoyed horseback riding, deer and elk hunting, and writing historical fiction about early America.
Deadwood Dead Men
Author: Bill Markley
AVAILABLE at Amazon
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In August 1876, Jack Jones, a reporter for a Chicago newspaper, is assigned to write about the doings of Deadwood, Dakota Territory—an illegal gold camp that knows no law. The lure of gold in the Lakota’s Black Hills draws prospectors and many colorful characters, such as Al Swearengen, Calamity Jane, Colorado Charlie Utter, Seth Bullock, Madame Mustache, and Sol Star, and it also lures crime. After the shocking murder of an acquaintance, Jack Jones begins investigating an entire string of murders that begins with Wild Bill Hickok and leads Jack down a treacherous trail that has him wondering if he won’t be next.
Author: Bill Markley
Author: Bill Markley
Author Genre:
Historical Mysteries
Website:
Bill Markley
Twitter:
@BillMarkley
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Author Description:
Bill's latest book, Deadwood Dead Men,released September 2013,is a historical fiction account of Deadwood, Dakota Territory, in August 1876 during the time of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and others.
Western Fictioneers has selected Deadwood Dead Men as a finalist for its 2014 Peacemaker Award in the category Best First Western Novel. History, especially American history, and travel have fascinated Bill Markley since he was a boy growing up on the family farm in Pennsylvania. Moving to Pierre, South Dakota in 1976, to work for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources was a natural fit for Markley, where he immersed himself in local history and participated in Civil War and Western frontier reenacting.
Markley has been in films such as Dances With Wolves, Son of the Morning Star, Far and Away, Gettysburg, and Crazy Horse. He worked in Antarctica, traveled the South Pacific, kayaked and backpacked in Alaska, chaperoned a Boy Scout troop to Japan, and has camped, hiked, and rode horseback through the West. Markley has written two books, Dakota Epic, Experiences of a Reenactor during the filming of Dances With Wolves, and Up the Missouri River with Lewis and Clark. His third book has just been released, American Pilgrim, A Post September 11 Bus Trip and Other Tales of the Road. He writes for South Dakota Magazine, Roundup, True West, and Wild West.
Markley's story "Kenneth McKenzie, King of the Upper Missouri" appears in WWA's anthology, Roundup! Markley and his wife Liz, live in Pierre where they raised two children.
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