I’m never too far away from the thing that breaks my heart.  In my day to day job I come across items that trigger the deep hurt I thought was dammed up for a few hours at least.  One of the chapters I’m working on for a new book loosed a flood of emotions yesterday.  read more…

It’s known as the old wooden bucket delusion. Pioneers believed the best tasting water came from old wooden buckets. If they had lived as long as they thought they would sipping the swill contained in those wooden buckets they would have been outraged to learn that people are now paying $2 and $3 for bottled read more…

One of the movie posters hanging in my living room is from the western the Long Riders. It has always been one of my favorite westerns. The directing and writing is brilliant and that’s due to Walter Hill. Hill is exceptional at his craft and he knows the west. Hill was born in Long Beach, read more…

I am filled with thoughts about my brother Rick today. In federal prison for a something he did not do, he suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, his eye-sight is failing, and he still has no teeth from when he was beaten several years ago. I know that retribution is sure for his ex-wife and her daughter read more…

When the new book about mail-order brides is released in October of this year, I’ll be ready to roll out the carpet on a new fashion line inspired by the stories in Object Matrimony. The fashion line entitled Prairie Rose Designs is a series of wedding dresses pattered after the early frontier days but with read more…

 According to the lyrics in the Old West song entitled the Wagoneer’s Lad by Charles Neely, the life of a pioneer woman was something to be lamented.  Some of the lyrics were as follows:   “always controlled, they’re always confined.  Controlled by their family until they are wives, then slaves to their husbands the rest of read more…

“No one respects the law…no one respects the courts…the courts don’t respect themselves.”  This sad verdict on justice was handed down by a journalist in the 1880s.  Things haven’t changed much since then.  It was widely believed in the Old West that men such as corrupt railroad mogul Jay Gould controlled the courts.  It was read more…

Recent visit to the site (particularly from New Liberty Hospital in Clay County  Liberty, MO., a high school graduate from Klein High School in Texas, & the District Court in Texas) lead me to believe I need to update the progress on the books due to hit the stands in 2012 and 2013.  Let’s begin read more…

A few of the stories I’ve been working on for the book entitled the Bedside Book of Bad Girls: Outlaw Women of the American Mid-west are a little rough. I spent the bulk of yesterday writing about Elizabeth Reed, the first woman to be hung in the state of Illinois. Her story is desperately sad read more…

My great nephew Daniel Everett Brady was born last night.  It’s hard to keep my focus and write about the Old West with such news.  I have such a wonderful time with my great niece Elizabeth when I return to Missouri, I look forward to having just as much fun with Daniel.  Elizabeth likes to read more…