Have Wand - Will Travel, by @JacquieRogers #Halloween #Western #Romance

Website | Pickle Barrel Gazette

Have Wand - Will Travel
by Jacquie Rogers
a short story in
Cowboys, Creatures, and Calico: Vol. 2

It’s always fun to just let your hair down and write a fun story without regard to genre expectations and preordained story elements. That’s exactly what happened with Cowboys, Creatures, and Calico—two volumes of stories where the PRP owners (Livia Reasoner and Cheryl Pierson) turned us loose. In retrospect, that was very brave of them.

I’ve wanted to write a story that incorporated Paladin from Have Gun – Will Travel for a long time, but never had the opportunity. Thing of it is, you just can’t improve on the original Paladin played by Richard Boone, so exactly what do you do? My answer was to make him a mage. Only this mage isn’t so handy with his wand as he is with his gun. The first scene is a take-off of the TV show, but everything else, including the hero’s personality, takes a left turn.

His name is Tremaine Ramsey and he rides a horse that is a centaur-unicorn-horse shifter named Abraxus. He and Tremaine have been partners since their school days, and Abraxus is never shy about giving Tremaine a hard time. In fact, Abraxus was pretty sore at me for not making him the hero. See? He’s trying to take over now. Anyway, Tremaine has taken a vow of chastity because he’s convinced that his father’s womanizing ways is what led to his loss of powers and subsequent downfall.

What started out as a take-off of the TV show ended up being a mash-up of Have Gun – Will Travel, Narnia, and The Princess Bride just as soon as Nora Castle came on the scene. I envisioned her as Susan Pevensie from Narnia, but Nora had a different set of tools, including a wu shu iron fan, and lifelong martial arts instruction by the Castle cook, Chan Li. And in the very first scene, some unplanned Beavers of Extraordinary Size showed up. Who knew.

I can’t imagine any other western romance publisher letting me get away with all this, but I have to say Have Wand – Will Travel was one of my very favorite stories to write. Ever. And then it got even more weird when the evil sorcerer showed up with his griffins and a few other scary critters. I also had a good time with Yort Smith (originally named Troy but I already had a T name so reversed it) who is the Castle foreman in the summer and a dime novelist in the winter.

Off we go on an adventure—sometimes scary, sometimes thrilling, and always romantic.

Cowboys, Creatures, and Calico, Vol. 2

Halloween short stories by

Cheryl Pierson, C. Marie Bowman, Jacquie Rogers, 

Kaye Spenser, Kristy McCaffrey, Kathleen Rice Adams

What better way to spend Halloween than with some handsome cowboys and feisty heroines who are determined to fall in love despite their supernatural powers—or lack thereof? Halloween’s a good time to take a chance on love—and to see what these Cowboys, Creatures, and Calico Vol. 2 stories might reveal to the unsuspecting reader—you!

Cheryl Pierson’s Spellbound will have you on the edge of your seat as safecracker Brett Diamond and witch Angie Colton take on a border gang leader who is pure evil. Can Angie’s supernatural powers save them? No matter what, Brett and Angie are hopelessly Spellbound.

C. Marie Bowen’s Hunter and Lily Graham is an unforgettable tale of a beautiful school marm’s love for her children that surpasses all. When a Cajun bounty hunter known only as “Hunter” shows up, Lily Graham knows he, and no one else, can help her save a young girl.

Have Wand — Will Travel 

is Jacquie Rogers’s offering about a handsome young mage, Tremaine Ramsey, who has a wand and knows how to use it…sometimes. Will his magic be strong enough to pull off a daring rescue of his father from the evil Gharth? Or will he need the warrior Nora’s love to help him see his Fate through?

Will Kaye Spencer’s character, Mercy Pontiere, be able to break a centuries-old curse and find true love all at the same time? It all depends on Reid Corvane and what he’ll do For Love of a Brystile Witch.

In Kristy McCaffrey’s story, The Crow and the Coyote, Hannah Dobbin is after an evil Navajo sorcerer who murdered her father, and she’s determined to see him dead. But she’ll need a bounty hunter, The Crow—to help find this vile man. With Hallowtide upon them, more evil is afoot than they can handle; but love will find a way.

A failed bank robber, Tombstone Hawkins, along with a fake gypsy fortune teller, Pansy Gilchrist, set out to make both their deceased fathers proud in one final spectacular heist. Family Tradition is Kathleen Rice Adams’s tale of the discovery of true love amid the commission of a crime—or the failure to commit a crime—while being overseen by the ghosts of the couple’s fathers. How can there be a happy ending? It’s Halloween, and anything can happen!

Available in digital at:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

*Also in Print*

Facebook (again) - Be a Gracious Guest, by @JacquieRogers

Website | Pickle Barrel Gazette

More About Facebook

by Jacquie Rogers

Kathleen Rice Adams gave us a good start on Facebook a few weeks ago (Facebook Knows All, Sees All, Confuses All) so I thought I’d get on the bull and ride for another eight seconds.

She wrote about Facebook basics—what you post and how it’s interpreted, and she explained the various platforms Facebook has to offer. I’m going to write about Facebook etiquette. There are some nuances that aren’t apparent at first, but once you think about it, you’ll slap your forehead and yell, “Of course!”

I think the most important thing to remember as authors is to respect other authors’ spaces. Think of an author page or a group as their home, and think of your author page or your group as your home. Because it is—it’s your own spot to decorate however you like. It’s your personal space to invite whoever you want to visit... and to keep whoever you want out.

When you visit someone’s house—someone who’s a friend of a friend and you don’t know personally—would you hammer a yard sign advertising your book on their front lawn? Would you sweep their decorations off the coffee table and replace them with promo materials featuring your book? Of course not. It’s the same at Facebook.

I have a group called Jacquie Rogers’ Pickle Barrel Bar & Books. The reason I started this group is because Facebook has throttled down the author pages so much that of my 1,112 likes, my posts go to maybe 40 or 50. Mind you, 1,112 people have said they want to see my posts, but Facebook thinks that I should pay for that privilege. This annoys me. So when, during a Facebook launch party, readers made a point of telling me that I should form a group, I did.

The Pickle Barrel is specifically for my readers, but I also include my friends. Most of my friends just happen to be authors (imagine that). I don’t allow anyone in whose timeline doesn’t indicate that they enjoy the type of books I write. My hope is that the Pickle Barrel will be a fun place for my readers to visit anytime they want to. My posts are specific to my author brand—humorous items, animal pictures and videos, hot cowboys, and geek writer cartoons. Occasionally, but not every day or even every week, I also post my books.

The constant barrage of advertising is a real deterrent and I want my readers to always have fun on my page and not have to endure the hard-sell. And readers become blind to these ads anyway. Do you want people to skip your posts because they know you’re just trying to sell them something? No. You want them to read all your posts, whether on your timeline, your group, or your author page.

I’m including blog posts in the “ads” category. I’ve polled my readers several times and you know what? Very few of them read blog articles—posts advertising your blog article are just more ads to them. Writers read blogs. Readers don’t, for the most part. A few will if they have a chance to win a book, but even then, probably not. Your blog post ad is just more noise to them.

So let’s go back to your “house.” You’re having a party. I get out of my car, pound a billboard with my book cover in your front lawn, then I come into your house and give all your guests brochures featuring my books, and no matter what you’re talking about, I steer the conversation back to my books. I might even turn on your TV and play my book trailer at full tilt boogie. Are you going to invite me to your next party? I highly doubt it.

Most of us would never, ever dream of being so rude—yet on Facebook, we do exactly the same thing, except it’s in cyberland and not the real world. But the results are the same.

So, you have a new release and you’re just dying to post it at the Pickle Barrel because you know every single person there reads western historical romance. How do you go about that? Easy—you don’t post it. You message me and say you have a new release, give me the buy link, and ask if I would post it for you. This accomplishes two things—first, you don’t look like a party crasher. Yes, my readers know a party crasher when they see one, and yes, they’ll message me about it. Second, your book will get a lot more attention if another person endorses it rather than you advertising it.

Now, back to what you should post on your own timeline, author page, and various groups. Do you write humor? Don’t post holocaust pictures. Post items that demonstrate the tone of your books such as cartoons and what not. Make your status updates fun. For the most part, don’t post bad news, and of course stay away from anything controversial. Unless controversy is part of your brand. Then go to it.

You’re a fiction writer. Fiction, fiction, fiction. It’s not real. Your author image is not real. If you’re fat and bossy, no one on Facebook needs to know it. Create your own fictional author image and stick with it. My image is (I hope) a fun, rural, animal-lover. Actually all three of those things are part of me, but I leave out the cantankerous, bossy, and stubborn parts. Or try. I’ve lived in the city half my life (yikes!) but I de-emphasize that.

See? Fiction. Your public persona. Figure out what you want to project and post accordingly.

And always be a gracious guest.

♥ ♥ ♥

Jacquie's latest release is the second book Mail-Order Tangle.  Caroline Clemmons wrote the first book, Mail-Order Promise, and Jacquie wrote the second, Mail-Order Ruckus.

Matt Johanssen returned to the ranch he and Kage started in Owyhee County, not knowing he took Laura's heart with him.  Now that Ellie's happily married with a baby on the way, Laura wants a home of her own, and a husband and family to put in it.  She signs a contract with a marriage broker and ends up in Silver City, near Matt's ranch.  Only thing is, he isn't on the roster of eligible grooms.

Her next release is Have Wand - Will Travel in Cowboys, Creatures, and Calico, Volume 2.

A handsome young mage, Tremaine Ramsey, has a wand and knows how to use it…sometimes. Will his magic be strong enough to pull off a daring rescue of his father from the evil Gharth? Or will he need the warrior Nora’s love to help him see his Fate through?