Thank you, everyone, for helping us celebrate Prairie Rose Publications’ third birthday! The first three years have been a wild ride, full of laughter, some tears, and lots of fun and love.
Cheryl and Livia bet the ranch on their belief traditional
publishers were wrong.
Cheryl and Livia were right.
Within the first year, disheartened writers of stories in
other genres began submitting manuscripts with a plea: “Just take a look. Please.” Livia and Cheryl had been in
that spot themselves. With a sincere desire to help talented writers realize a dream, they took a risk and expanded Prairie Rose to give debut authors a
chance.
From that rebellion against a system that had locked out too
much blood, sweat, and tears grew a thriving community of authors and readers.
Today, Prairie Rose publishes six imprints:
Prairie Rose Publications
for western historical and medieval romance written by women.
Fire Star Press
for contemporary and all other romance sub-genres.
Painted Pony Books
for middle grade, young adult, and new adult readers of westerns.
Tornado Alley Publications for MG, YA, and NA readers in all genres.
Prayers & Promises Publications for inspirational fiction in all sub-genres.
Sundown Press for
fiction in many genres and non-fiction.
Sundown, the most recent imprint, grew from a barrage of
requests from men who considered Prairie Rose’s practice of publishing books
written by women terribly unfair. Today, most of Sundown’s books are written by
men, almost all of whom are well-known western authors.
In truth, tales written by male authors now compose a
significant—and growing—percentage of PRP’s publications. James G. Griffin was
the first stallion allowed into the corral with the best-selling Lone Star Ranger series
for young adults. The late, beloved western author Frank Roderus followed with
the young-adult western Duster. David L.
Johnston’s contemporary inspirational for adults, Olive U,
came next (pubbed by Prayers and Promises). Then came Sean K. Gabhann’s Civil
War opus Harper’s Donelson: A Novel ofGrant’s First Campaign and Michael E. Gonzales’s adult science fiction
novel Dark Moon Rising: The UnbornGalaxy Vol. 1. Keith Souter was the first to publish non-fiction with
Sundown: the indispensable reference book The Doctor’s Bag: Medicine and Surgery of Yesteryear.
The original imprint, Prairie Rose Publications, now publishes novels, novellas, and quick reads from a number of well-known and best-selling romance authors seeking a new home for their work.
The Prairie Rose family of imprints and authors couldn’t have accomplished what we've accomplished without the support of readers. A hearty “Thank you!” to everyone who took a risk on a Prairie Rose book. We are eternally grateful for your faith and trust.
The Prairie Rose family of imprints and authors couldn’t have accomplished what we've accomplished without the support of readers. A hearty “Thank you!” to everyone who took a risk on a Prairie Rose book. We are eternally grateful for your faith and trust.
Here’s to many, many more years of good reading!
With all our love,
The Prairie Rose family
My favorite gift was an acoustic guitar from my dad. He recognized my crush on Ricky Nelson was what prompted my request, and managed to find a really cheap one, since he also recognized I'd lose interest when I lost interest in Ricky.
ReplyDeleteBirthday gifts, there were so many. One special on, a prayer shawl blessed by the Dalai Lama. The person who gifted it to me was a teacher I worked with. It is the one of the most unique.
ReplyDeleteI thank PRP for taking a chance on this 'closet' author and allowing me to tell the stories floating around in this crazy head of mine. Here's to many many more stories and authors who are and will be fortunate to share with the world because of the determination of these two wonderful people. THANK YOU! Doris
One of the most special gifts I received was from my husband. Some years ago, we were taking part in the Scrapbooking rage. Somehow, without me catching on, he put together a scrapbook that included mementos from our first dates, various anniversary and birthday cards - all in date order.
ReplyDeleteWe'd been together for 21 years at the time. And based on the haphazard way we save cards, this was no small task. But it was a true gift of love.
Happy birthday, PRP. It is such a joy to write for Livia and Cheryl, it's like the gift that keeps on giving--always something new to write! I've had lots of birthdays and presents, hard to pick but one thing that burst in my mi d was an outfit my mom sent fir my birthday my senior year in college. It had a print dress with a solid-color smocky overblouse and I could mix and match both pieces with jeans and sweaters and have bunches of different outfits. Thanks for the memory! Thanks for everything.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all our authors and readers out there for making PRP such a success! And many, many thanks to Kathleen, who keeps us all looking great on the internet and keeps abreast of all the latest developments in the industry as well as letting us know what Yahoo and Google (among others!) are up to!
ReplyDeleteCan't say enough good things about my "partner in crime", Livia Reasoner. No one works harder than Livia and she does more than any 10 people on any given day. I want her energy!
Without our authors, we wouldn't have a company. Thanks to each and every one of you who have published with us. And thanks for supporting EACH OTHER. Livia and I work hard to keep our business friendly and more like family than business. If everyone pitches in, that's what makes it successful--and so far, we have had a wonderful group of authors to do just that!
Our readers are our heart. We could write and publish all the books we wanted, but without someone to read them, what would it matter? Thanks to each and every one of our readers out there who supports us by buying out books, and by spreading the word about our company and our authors!
This has been a wonderful week-long celebration. We look forward to doing it again NEXT YEAR!
Cheryl,
DeleteRalph Waldo Emerson said (in part):
-'Tis the good reader that makes the good book-
I agree wholeheartedly that our readers make our rockin' writing world go-round. *Hugs and thanks* to each and every reader of PRP books.
And even more *hugs and thanks* to you, Livia, and Kathleen for making PRP such a fabulous place for me as an author.
(Okay...maybe just a high-five to Kathleen. I wouldn't want her to get the crazy idea that I like her.) :-)
This isn't a birthday gift but an anniversary gift so I guess it counts. For our tenth anniversary my husband gave me a dime soldered onto a safety pin in such a way that I could wear the "pin". This was his way of keeping a promise he made when we got married. Instead of a wedding set I got a band and stove, refrigerator and washer that I really wanted for our little house. I also got the promise of a diamond by our tenth anniversary. Fast forward ten years and I had a new house, a new car, two children AND my very own, handmade by my husband, "dime on pin". Get it? Dime on, diamond. What makes it extra special is the fact that my short term memory impaired husband remembered his promise and made good on it.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle once gave me a doll from a second hand shop, because he couldn't afford a fancy, nwq one. I'll never forget that doll.
ReplyDeleteThe pink birthday cake with the ballerina on top.. My dad brought it home & I thought it was the best cake ever!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Happy Birthday PRP!! Such a great accomplishment. Kudos to Cheryl, Livia and Kathleen. You've done a wonderful job with the company in such a short time. I'm honored to be a part of the gang. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite birthday gift was an orange skateboard.
Forgot to add...
ReplyDeleteMy favorite birthday present was the bicycle my grown kids gave to me for my birthday a year ago. It's the first brand new bicycle I've ever had.
Again, happy birthday, PRP! And thanks, Livia & Cheryl, for making PRP a reality.
ReplyDeleteMy fav birthday present? Books, of course.
I too will again say Happy Birthday to all at PRP and a BIG thanks to Cheryl, Livia and Kathleen who have given all of us authors a chance to have our stories be read while guiding us all in the right directions. It's an honor and one wild and exciting ride to be included in this fantastic company. I had no idea when I first submitted to PRP I would find a second family and dear friends. Thank you all. As for the best birthday gift? WOW, I had several special ones, but the one that really was a shocker was a harp. Every few yrs. hubby and I with our two best friends go to Maine for a few days. There's an Irish store there that had Celtic harps and other Irish things. I drooled. I'd taken piano lessons for years and loved the piano but alsways had wanted try the harp, but never had time and of course my parents had purchased the piano and I knew they didn't couldn't afford another instrument. My hubby found that shop sold kits to make a small Celtic harp and sent for it and since he's a woodworker (hobby) he built it. That was about 10 yrs. ago. Complete surprise. I'm still learning and lovin' every minute that I get to play it. He's a very good husband.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite birthday present was a conjuring set when I was 7 years old. They call them magic sets these days. It sparked an interest in prestidigitation, which I have never lost, hence my tricks with Hunter at the WF convention and my bad habit of always starting a talk or lecture with a trick.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite birthday present was a perfume my boyfriend gave me. The first gift from the man who became my husband of so many years.
ReplyDeleteHappy 3rd anniversary again PRP. As for my favorite birthday gift... I have a few. One I'm particularly fond of is a bunch of notebooks with cats on the cover. My youngest daughter bought them for me with one of her first pay when she started working (she was 15 at the time - she's 25 now). She thought I wouldn't like her gift because she bought them at the Dollar Store. I cherish those notebooks.
ReplyDeleteMy doll baby dear...was really sick that year for my birthday as a kid.. just wanted the doll but couldn't be found in the stores...my parents served and found for me...I still collect dolls
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday. May you have many more. My favorite presents have always been the ones the kids made for me.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday PRP!!!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite birthday gift was a train set. I could never have one when I was a kid because girls don't get train sets. I always wanted one, though. So for my first birthday after Mr R and I got together, he gave me one. I still have it and often put it up in my little Christmas village. So fun!
I always wanted the cool things my brothers got. Trains, racing cars, erector sets, and BB guns. I usually got dolls and clothes. Mr R is a wise man.
DeleteIt's been a wonderful 3 years of making a lot of new friends. I wish everyone's job could be like this. Thank you all!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite birthday gift was a hacksaw. This was right after we'd moved into our new home in '78. The well froze and I had nothing to fix the pipe that then broke, so we had to cut off the water until the roads cleared and I could go borrow a saw from my dad to cut the broken pipe and fix it. Since we'd put all our money into the house, we were out of cash. A couple months later James gave me a hacksaw for my birthday. It was the first tool of many he gave me over the years. This anniversary present came early, a cool new clamp on straight edge so I can saw in a straight line now that my eyes aren't what they once were. Oh, and that hacksaw saved us from doing without water on Christmas a couple years later. Another ice storm, and another broken pipe, but I was able to fix it that time. We rebuilt the well house many tools later and haven't had that problem since.
My favorite Birthdays are the ones I celebrated of my children when they were young. I loved to see the joy on their faces and having my family with me. In turn, I remember one year when they learned to sign Happy Birthday to me, loved it!
ReplyDelete