TRAVELING WEST ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL

 I'm thrilled to welcome Michelle Shocklee to my blog today! We're the authors, along with seven others, of the stories in The Mail-Order Brides Collection. Michelle has some fascinating facts to share about the type of travel some of these mail-order brides must have endured to reach true love.


To Heal Thy Heart by Michelle Shocklee
1866, New Mexico
When Phoebe Wagner answers a mail-order bride ad that states Confederate widows need not apply, she worries what Dr. Luke Preston will do when he learns her fiancé died wearing gray.

In "To Heal Thy Heart," my novella in The Mail-Order Brides Collection, Phoebe Wagner travels from her home in Kansas City to the rugged New Mexico Territory to meet the stranger she intends to marry. But in 1866, train travel was not yet available in that part of the country, so Phoebe--or any mail-order bride of that day--would have been left with little choice. She must board a dusty, uncomfortable stagecoach for the 700-plus mile journey that would take nearly two weeks, assuming they didn't encounter problems with the coach, the horses, or the weather. Luke, her intended groom, would have paid approximately $250 for her fare, and the route she would have taken is the famous Santa Fe Trail.
From 1821, the Santa Fe Trail served as a trade route between the United States and Mexico. Settlers used it as well, often facing terrifying situations including attacks from various Indian tribes, brutal weather conditions, and swollen rivers. But like Luke and Phoebe, those early settlers were willing to take the risks in order to be part of something new and fresh and exciting.
Growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I often heard stories about the Santa Fe Trail. My family took many drives up the trail, now a highway, passing the same tree-covered hills and grassy fields as those brave pioneers. Even as a child my imagination ran wild, and I'd wonder about the people who traveled in wagons whose wheel ruts are still visible in some places. Who were they and what drove them to leave their homes and loved ones to come to a wild, untamed land?
Although Phoebe and Luke's story is fiction, I would not doubt that many mail-order brides took to the Santa Fe Trail in search of true love. Did they find it?



Purchase from your local bookseller or online at:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mail-Order-Brides-Collection-Historical-Marriage/dp/1683224442/ref=pd_ybh_a_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WT6X9D0B6ETRDGH42MHS
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mail-order-brides-collection-megan-besing/1126627885?ean=9781683224440#/
Books-A-Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Mail-Order-Brides-Collection/Megan-Besing/9781683224440?id=6797742722867#ReviewHeader
Christian Book Distributors: https://www.christianbook.com/brides-collection-historical-stories-marriage-precedes/megan-besing/9781683224440/pd/224442?product_redirect=1&Ntt=224442&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP

Michelle Shocklee is the author of The Planter's Daughter and The Widow of Rose Hill, the first two books in the historical romance series The Women of Rose Hill. She has stories in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books and writes an inspirational blog. With both her sons grown, she and her husband of thirty-plus years enjoy poking around historical sites, museums, and antique stores near their home in Tennessee. Connect with her at www.MichelleShocklee.com

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY, by Donna Schlachter

It's Mail-Order Brides month!
I'm happy to welcome Donna Schlacher to my blog today. Donna is one of the authors in The Mail-Order Brides Collection. Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick, her first-line editor and biggest fan. She writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts. She is a hybrid author who has published a number of books under her pen name and under her own name. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Sisters In Crime; facilitates a local critique group, and teaches writing classes and courses. Donna is also a ghostwriter and editor of fiction and nonfiction, and judges in a number of writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is proud to be represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.

Here's Donna's story and her take on how she chose just the right characters for "Train Ride to Heartbreak"

1895, Train to California
John Stewart needs a wife. Mary Johannson needs a home. On her way west, Mary falls in love with another. Now both must choose between commitment and true love.

October 1895
Mary Johannson has scars on her body that can't compare with the scars on her heart. She is alone in the world, with no family, no prospects, and no home.

John Stewart is at his wit's end. His wife of three years died in childbirth, leaving him with a toddler and an infant, both girls. Theirs was the love of fairy tales, and while he has no illusions about finding another like her, his children need a mother.

     Though separated by thousands of miles, they commit to a mail-order marriage. But on their journey to Heartbreak, they meet another and realize the life they'd planned would be a lie. Can they find their way back from the precipice and into the love of God and each other, or are they destined to keep their word and deny their heart?


Coming up with likeable yet flawed characters is always a struggle. I find my first draft is usually full of perfect people who always get it right, or else they are so flawed, nobody likes them. Then I have to go back in and tell myself that nobody is this good and they need at least one little thing they need to fix, or there's no story. Or I have to temper all their issues with at least one redeeming feature. For Mary Johannson, she had so many good traits--hard worker, thinks of others before herself, obedient, loving--yet the scars on her neck and arm from a fire she survived as a child constantly remind her that nobody could possibly love her. The years in the orphanage fed that lie, as she was passed over time and again for adoption. The opportunity to marry, sight unseen, seems the answer to her problems. And even better, a covenant marriage for twelve years or so, nothing expected except to raise this stranger's children. Then she would be free to go wherever she wanted. Not that she had anywhere to go.

For John Stewart, he's another good person that bad things happened to. His wife died, leaving him with two young daughters to raise. He has so many good traits, too--loving father, loving husband, industrious, loyal--so why did God abandon him? Why didn't the Almighty choose to answer his prayers? And if not his, why not answer his wife's? She loved God right to the end. Convinced he will never love again, yet he knows he needs help with his children. A covenant marriage seems perfect. No love. No intimacy. Just duty. Kind of like his relationship with God.

These characters both believe a lie--Mary's that nobody could see past her scars, and John's that he has had the one love of his life. We all believe a lie about ourselves. It might have to do with our past, with our present, or even with the bleak outlook for our future. What I hope readers will take away about this story is that God is bigger than our past, bigger than our mistakes, and has great plans for us.



Buy link: http://amzn.to/2Cur1I4


Here's more information on how to find Donna online:

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com
www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter
Other Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm
 

WHY WASHINGTON TERRITORY?

            Today is the release date for The Mail-Order Brides Collection!

            My latest novella, titled "Miss-Delivered Mail," is included in this collection. Here's a little background:

            Some of you may know that I've often used my family's history as a source of inspiration in writing my novels. The Edge of Light uses many instances from the life of one of my great-great aunts. In The Promise of Morning I went to my great-great grandparents' lives for the storyline. The rest of my novels all contain tiny bits of family lore as well.

            The takeaway here for new writers goes beyond "write what you know" to "write what you can find out." What I know isn't always a whole lot, but with an inquiring mind and a willingness to dig a little, I've learned that there is a world of story material out there, waiting to be pressed into a manuscript.

            Moving forward to my most recent publication, here’s a bit of background for "Miss-Delivered Mail."

            As far as I know there are no mail-order brides in my family history, so that part is fiction. But in "Miss-Delivered Mail," the main character finds herself in Washington Territory in the 1880's, where she meets the Halliday family. I hope you'll read the story--the "Hallidays" in this novella are my great-grandparents. They are not the main characters, but they play an important supporting role. In real life, they homesteaded in eastern Washington in the 1880's, and many of the descriptions of their lives and surroundings come straight from my grandfather's memoirs. They settled there in the Coulee breaks long before the Grand Coulee Dam was ever imagined. My husband and I visited the area in 1997, and located the site of my family's original homestead. I brought home a rock from the farmland as a memorial. Now they are further memorialized in "Miss-Delivered Mail."

            Now that you’re armed with insider information, I wish you happy reading!