This western book took first place in the Missouri Writer’s Guild contest in 2017. I actually started “Standoff at Apache Butte” in 2002, but set it aside and didn’t pick it back up to work on until 2012. I didn’t finish it for several more years and published it in 2018. Sometimes I lose interest in something and set it aside. Sometimes life gets in the way. But I did finish it, and that’s what counts, right?
I always like to throw a little history into my westerns and I try to make them as authentic as possible. Most books start with a two-word question: “What if…” Certainly that is true with this one. Native Americans fought each other and immigrants fought the Native Americans, but what if there was a situation where it benefitted them to work together? Well, that has happened, but this isn’t a true story.
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As I listened to someone with a strong accent one day, I thought some of the words they used sounded like they were uneducated. In fact, I knew this person was well educated. That made me think of the people who don’t have a good education. We shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, should we?
All that thinking erupted in a book – “Romancing the Tree Hugger.” I’ve had people tell me that the title wouldn’t go over well because the term “Tree Hugger” was negative. That kind of fit in with the story idea, so I decided to stick with it.
Some areas of Arkansas and other states are still pretty remote. Some people live off the land. They have no electricity and must haul water from a nearby water source. They heat with wood and think in a different way. There are people who respect them for their lifestyle and values, and some who take advantage of them, thinking they are ignorant and therefore gullible.
Barrett Monroe is pretending to be something he isn’t, while chastising Mary Jo for sounding like a what she is. Their relationship starts off rocky, but they soon learn to like and respect each other for who they are. Their antics are amusing at times and inspiring at others.
I took the cover picture for this book in White Rock Wildlife Management Area, Arkansas one fall and felt like it was the perfect picture. I recently redesigned it because the title was difficult to read.
Romancing the Tree Hugger is available in eBook, paperback or hard cover. It will be available at the Elkins Library to check out in May of 2024. You can read the first chapter online at: https://www.deartales.com/treehugger to see if you might like it, or purchase through Amazon, D2D digital or Smashwords. Reader comments are also available on this page.
Savage Wilderness is my most popular book in the western/frontier genre, with sales in Europe, Australia and all over the United States. It is a novella set in the 1800’s near Sibley, Missouri. Equal parts adventure and mystery with a pinch of history, it is a page-turner. This is the first book I wrote using multiple viewpoints.
Rachel and Ralph become separated from each other after their homestead is attacked by Indians and burned to the ground. They escape using a tunnel they dug for this possibility, but escape is a relative word. Each must walk, run or crawl the 25 miles to Ft. Osage. Ralph has been injured during the battle and Rachel just gave birth. Their individual struggles are addressed alternately.
I first home-published this book in August of 2000 with a cover picture I designed in MS Paint program using a regular wheel mouse. I published it through Amazon in August of 2014 using a cover I designed with photos I took in White Rock Wildlife Management area. It is available in eBook, paperback and hardcover.
I have often said that reviews don’t have to be long to be effective. I received this review on Savage Wilderness and it made my day.
“Just as good as Ralph Cotton or Louis L’amour.”
For more information about this book, where it can be found, free reads and more reader reviews, visit my website at:
After I lost my job of 30 years due to downsizing, I found a job working with seniors at Home Instead. I would go to their house and help them so that they were able to stay in their homes instead of going to a nursing home. I have always loved older people and I loved that job. I worked there for five years before I quit to take care of my husband in our home. Good training, I guess.
I eventually wrote a book about the tragedy with my husband “Another Mountain,” but tried to stay positive at the time. One way I did that was by writing this humorous booklet about identifying the possible signs that someone might make a good caregiver. I used a lot of humor, but the book does provide some interesting observations.
This entire book can be read free online at my website:
No membership or information is required to read these short stories, poems and articles advertising-free online. Links are provided to places they can be purchased and to more information about the book.
Blanche weaves a tapestry of Victorian homes, small-town culture and sleuthing women in her intriguing murder mystery, “Moonlight Can Be Murder.” Blanche has a writing style that drew me in from the first page. I didn’t get my housework done, but I did complete the book in a day…and half the night. I couldn’t put it down.
Blanche has this to say about her book:
The Ned McNeil moonlight books begin with Nettie Elizabeth McNeil returning to her hometown of Ednalee, looking forward to a reunion with her only living relative, her Uncle Javin. The reunion fails to happen and Ned, as her friends call her, discovers that she is involved in a web of lies and mysteries that have their origin in a murder that happened decades ago. Moonlight Can Be Murder indeed.
In this first book in the series, Ned falls heir to her uncle’s old, two-storied house which is a treasured part of her hometown’s history. Ned discovers that the house and her innocent-appearing hometown hold a few secrets of their own which Ned is determined to reveal.
Who is Blanche Day Manos?
In my previous life, I was a kindergarten teacher, part-time writer of feature stories for a newspaper, and writer of stories and poems for children’s and Christian magazines. Now, I live in Arkansas near my family. In between writing books, I enjoy painting and playing the piano.
What Inspired Blanche to write this book?
When working for my hometown newspaper, I often wrote stories about the old houses in town. Each house had a story to tell. When I see old houses, I always wonder about the family or families who lived in them and I think, “What if…”
I enjoy writing clean mysteries that have middle-aged women protagonists who have a tendency to become involved in strange and mysterious happenings in their hometowns.
Moonlight Can Be Murder is the first book in the Ned McNeil cozy mystery series, with three more to follow.
Where can we discover more about author Blanche Day Manos?
Investigate my cozy mysteries at Amazon and Pen-L Publishing
Linda L. Rigsbee 