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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

The Birth of Kasota Springs



I got the story idea for The Troubled Texan from following a horrific mass murder trial in California. Given my experience in the legal field, I wondered how the plaintiff’s attorney handled months, even years, of being in the head of a murderer. And what if she settles in a small town under an alias without knowing that her long-lost classmate and former professional football player was the sheriff? It doesn’t take her long to recognize the sexy, hard-nosed, hunk when he stops her for a traffic violation. But a small town isn’t big enough for the both of them...or is it just right? They both have secrets and deep seeded ones they’re not ready to share...not yet!
When I decided to bring Maressa to Texas, I had to pick a town for her to live. And after I completed The Tycoon and the Texan, I knew I wasn’t finished with Granny Johnson’s and Lola Ruth Hicks’s stories. (It might have been because I had a Granny Johnson, my mother’s name was Ruth and my mother-in-law’s maiden name was Lola Hicks Pennington, all gone to Heaven.)
Granny Johnson and McCall Johnson, the heroine of The Tycoon and the Texan, are co-owners of Jacks Bluff Ranch. Jacks Bluff is just outside of Kasota Springs, which first appeared in an anthology I was in with Jodi Thomas, Linda Broday, and DeWanna Pace—all Texas gals living in the same town—called Give Me a Cowboy. The four of us returned to Kasota Springs for A Texas Christmas, an anthology of four stories that took place on the same snowy night. So what better place to revisit than Kasota Springs and the family lineage we had created?
Give Me a Cowboy is about a four day rodeo in the Texas Panhandle. One major problem we hit was that the first rodeo in Texas was in Pecos and the panhandle didn’t have one until much later. While driving along I-40, I noticed a railroad water-crossing...Kasota. Add Springs and it was the perfect name for a town. So, we wrote two anthologies that took place in Kasota Springs, Texas.
Well, plenty of decisions had to be made to develop this town. Who was the sheriff? Name of the saloon, the weather each day, and many more things that we needed to know to cover four stories taking place over four days!
The thing I had to face was I love the bull riding, but since it was a renegade event and there were only a few regular events, I had to think, so I selected wild cow milking because I thought it’d be easy to write! Wrong! This ended up, with research, a fun event and if you read Give Me a Cowboy you’ll remember it began to rain and my team ended up being my hero and heroine!
Research is really one of my favorite parts of writing, so I found out that the wild cow milking event was added because the ranches had to haul the mama cows with the calves for the calf roping event, so they decided to do something with the bawling mamas who weren’t all that happy being apart from their babies. So, our heroes and heroines won all of their events and of course the cowboy roped the heroine, but I will say the heroines probably didn’t run too fast. In Linda’s and my stories we had a mother and daughter team...the LeDoux women and they were like boot stoops and hardtack. In The Troubled Texan you’ll briefly meet Mesa LeDoux, fifth generation Kasotan and part owner of the Jacks Bluff Ranch. I am working on the next book in the series and more descendants of the founders of the small town of Kasota Springs will appear along with folks from The Troubled Texan. And, of course, you can expect some new characters moving to Kasota Springs, Texas.
Watch for Book #3 of my Kasota Springs Romance Series from Kensington, "Out of the Texas Night."

To one lucky commenter, I will give away a 
Bath and Body Work Gift Certificate.



10 comments:

  1. Phyliss...when do you ever sleep? My gosh, you are a writing machine! I have several of your stories on my kindle, but like you, I've been so busy the past several months that reading for pleasure has become something I can only dream of "one of these days". It sounds like your mind never stops (I have trouble shutting mine down at night when I go to bed.) I loved hearing about how Kasota Springs got its name. Just a side note--the little town where my grandparents lived was later called "Calera" but "back in the day" it was a train watering stop known as Cale Switch. I used Cale Switch in one of my stories. It's funny how we get the names we use for towns, and for our characters, too!
    HUGS!
    Cheryl

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    1. Thanks, Cheryl. Unfortunately, I've been really lazy lately and don't get up as early as I once did. Old age? Hum, probably. Since the railroad that ended up coming through Amarillo from Fort Worth follows Highway 287, many of the towns were switches. Panhandle City, now Panhandle was one of them. If you travel up and down 287, you can count the miles by the towns. Each one is 15 miles apart because they had to stop and take on water. It's very interesting. I love the name Cale Switch. When I first began writing I had a rule that when I was writing a story (by the way, each of my first two were 600 pages each LOL) I always read in the evening because like you and most writers they can't get their story out of their head. I always read a story in the genera I was writing, a how-to and a bio of someone I liked. Now, as you pointed out, if I can get everything read that comes under "professional" I'm too tired and disinterested in reading anything else. Take care and big hugs, Phyliss

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  2. I am a family historian. As such, I love to find old maps which have some very different names for communities. Some of those communities no longer exist, some were actually names of the township and some names have been changed over the years. In my novel, AURORA REDRESS, I refer to a Quirauk Mountain in Maryland that was known on an 1850s map as Carrick's Knob. Smithsburg was known then as Smith Town. I love that Historic Map Works program that I can access down at my local Family History Center. Now, if I can just figure out exactly where my husband's grandmother's birthplace, Polaire, Oklahoma, supposedly in Okmulgee County is, I'll be doing great.

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  3. Hi Robyn. I just wish I'd kept up with more on my family's history. Now that I'm the oldest of my generation, in particular. Years ago, I purchased a digital copy of antique maps. You can't search or find, but I moseyed around a little in a couple of OK ones and couldn't find Polaire. I can give you one tip. Contact the OKOLHA (an OK history association) through Herman Kirkwood srkirkwood@usa.com. I met him this weekend at OWFI in OKC and he's just full of knowledge. Now to be exact we didn't meet at the conference but the racetrack! LOL They seem to have a cool group, very informative about Okla. particularly their outlaws and lawmen. Hope this helps. Good luck. Hugs, Phyliss

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  4. I, too, love the historical research part of writing. My mania right now is revisiting train travel and when the tracks reached certain towns in which years, the timetables, and all that. Some information is easy to find, other...not so much. But such is the nature of research. ;-)

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    1. Hi Kaye, good to hear from you. I love history. It was always my favorite course. I'd love to know more about revisiting train travel. That sounds so great. I love research and totally believe a writer should walk the walk if there is any way. Hope all is well with you. Hugs, Phyliss

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  5. Now ladies, I won't do this for just any ol' body, but if you'll go to my website PhylissMiranda.com and under comments leave me your name, snail mail and email addresss and I'll send each of you a Bath and Body Works gift certificate! Happy Mother's Day! Hugs, Phyliss

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  6. I just love when a town comes together. This sounds like a great follow up to the stories you spoke of earlier. Best of luck, looking forward to the next ones. Doris

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  7. Phyliss, I really like the way you included bits of your personal history into your story. There's a certain satisfaction in that. A rodeo is exciting in a cowboy story. Local rodeos can be filled with drama and fun, especially if you know some of the participants. I really like the way you made the town come together. You have a lovely imagination. I wish you all the best and I'm sorry I'm late getting here.

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  8. Phyliss, I didn't a place for comments on your website. I looked high and low. Dang it! I wanted that gift certificate! LOL

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