THE WILDINGS
I’ve been writing about
the Wildings for several years. It all started with a time travel western
romance in which Lola Barton inherits a haunted plantation in Virginia from a
mysterious relative who terrified her on the one occasion of their meeting. Lola
falls into an antique trunk that takes her back to 1910 just in time to hear
the words, “I now pronounce you man and wife.” She is immediately accosted by a
horrible man who thinks she’s another woman named Callie. With nowhere else to
turn, Lola goes home with her new husband Joe Wilding. I only intended to write
this one story, HARMONICA JOE’S RELUCTANT BRIDE, but something happened.
Banjo, an intelligent and
courageous, albeit wild teenager raised by whores until he was 10 saved Lola’s
life, almost died in the attempt, and won my heart. I simply could not let go
of him until I wrote his story in a sequel to Harmonica Joe. Joe’s father
adopted Banjo and gave him the last name of Wilding in the novel FOR LOVE OF
BANJO.
My fictional town of
Hazard, Wyoming cast a spell over me (I have to blame it on something so it may
as well be magic) and I decided to write about the second generation of
Wildings: Joe and Lola’s two daughters and one son and Banjo and Maggie’s 3
sons, the last two of whom are twins. I also brought to Hazard Teekonka Red Sky
who has been searching for his nephew, Banjo. He falls in love with the English
immigrant Jane Pierpont who has been raising her son, Robin, on her own after
her husband died on the Titanic.
I have written stories of the
Wilding children now all grown in the 1950’s. The last of Banjo’s twin sons,
Kit Wilding ,a survivor of WWII with battle fatigue now called PTSD has settled
into marriage in the story IT’S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE is about to release on January 15, 2018 with Prairie Rose Publications imprint, Fire Star Press.
My final
story is with Kyle Red Sky and Mia Beckett. Because it is the final book in the
Wilding series I will bring the entire clan together one last time
to say goodbye. I can’t
let them go without some kind of acknowledgement. These characters have been
like my family all this time. I have lived through their adventures,
heartbreak, and triumphs. I have fallen asleep thinking about them and I
confess I will miss them.
You might wonder what I’m
going to do now. I’m starting with my contribution to the SWEET TEXAS CHRISTMAS
anthology for Prairie Rose this year with A Christmas Visitor. The hero of my
story, Sterling Thoroughgood, has one last stop before he leaves Texas to make
his way home to the growing little town of Hazard, Wyoming.
Have you ever written a
series? Was it hard to let go of your characters? How did you write the final
volume in your series?
THE WILDINGS WESTERN ROMANCE SERIES IN ORDER OF PUBLICATION:
HARMONICA
JOE’S RELUCTANT BRIDE (time travel western novel)
This
book is where the Wildings series begins with Joe and Lola in the fictional
town of Hazard, Wyoming 1910
Logline:
A haunted house, a trunk and a date with
destiny.
Harmonica Joe’s Reluctant Bride is
included in a 5 novel collection titled A COWBOY’S BRAND by veteran western
authors.
FOR
LOVE OF BANJO (novel)
Banjo
was the street wise teenager, raised by prostitutes that Joe and Lola took
compassion on and Joe’s father, Ben, adopted. World War I era story in which
Banjo searches for his biological father and attempts to prove he’s worthy of
Maggie, the woman he loves.
Logline: Deceit stands
between Banjo Wilding’s love for Maggie O’Leary and his search for the father
he never knew.
A
HUSBAND FOR CHRISTMAS (year 1919 short story also included in the Christmas
anthology titled WISHING FOR A COWBOY as well as a single)
While
in New York, Banjo saved an English immigrant, Jane Pierpont and her son,
Robin, and brought them to Wyoming. Banjo’s uncle, Teekonka Red Sky, has fallen
for the widow Jane, but his chances of winning her are slim…until one magical
Christmas…
Logline: A night of horror… a wish for a
new life...and a secret love
FLY
AWAY HEART (novella Great Depression era)
Lola
and Joe’s oldest daughter, Lilith, has fallen in love with the English lad,
Robin Pierpont, whom Banjo saved along with Jane, the boy’s mother for a
factory fire. But now they’re grown and Robin, who loves flying airplanes,
finds himself in a desperate flight to save Lilith.
Logline:
The Great Depression…Rum Runners and Old
Fears…Love Against the Odds
FLY AWAY HEART is also in a collection of
sweet western romance novellas titled
LOVE’S FIRST TOUCH (collection
of 5 sweet western romance novels)
HOLLOW HEART (post World War II short story
also included in the Valentine anthology, HEARTS AND SPURS as well as a single)
The grown up orphan, Madeline, was engaged to
marry Sam Wilding, Banjo’s oldest son. But when the War ends, Sam doesn’t
return and now Madeline is faced with a lifetime ahead without him. Now what?
Logline: Lost
love and the hope for possibilities
THE BEAST OF HAZARD (1940’s
short story included in the Halloween anthology, COWBOYS, CREATURES, AND CALICO, Volume 1)
Joe and Lola’s youngest child and only son,
Joey Wilding, has transformed the family ranch into a veterinary clinic where
he treats anything from house cats to cattle. He meets a circus performer who
finds herself in desperate straights.
Logline: A
Terrorized Town…A Killer Beast…And Deliverance
The
Beast of Hazard is available as a single, but if you’re looking for a real
bargain, you can buy a boxed set that includes COWBOYS, CREATURES, AND CALICO
VOLUMES 1&2. Volumes 1&2 Boxed Set
UNEXPECTED
BLESSINGS (1950’s short story also included in the summer anthology,
LASSOING
A BRIDE)
Joe
and Lola Wilding’s youngest daughter, Juliet, has cancelled her wedding to
Harry O’Connor when she learns some devastating news. What happens next may
surprise them both.
Logline:
A broken dream…a cancelled wedding…and an unexpected blessing
Buy
Links for the single: Amazon
WHEN
LOVES COMES KNOCKING (a short story also included in the Christmas anthology, A
PRESENT FOR A COWBOY) Buy Link: AMAZON
This
story takes you back to 1910 before Banjo was adopted by Ben Wilding. Later in
his life, Banjo speaks kindly of the widow, Penelope Thoroughgood. When Love
Comes Knocking is the widow Penelope’s story which takes place at Christmas
time.
Logline:
A lonely widow…an indiscretion…a gift for redemption
HOME
FOR THE HEART (Contemporary Wilding novel)
Logline:
Love
doesn’t come easy…for some, it may never come at all.
Blurb:
Lucille
Thoroughgood is a social worker for orphan children. She is known to the town’s
folk as dependable, logical, determined, and…well…stubborn. But Lucille has a
secret affection for the determined bachelor, Hank Wilding.
Hank
Wilding loved hard and lost. He has sworn to never marry. After Lucille makes a
bargain with him, he agrees to allow troubled and physically challenged
children from the orphanage to ride his horses as equine therapy. One of the
orphans is a half Lakota boy, Chayton, who reminds Hank of his own father’s
painful childhood.
But
a Lakota prophesy holds a shadow over the rejected, embittered teenager,
threatens the happiness of the inhabitants of Hazard, Wyoming, and may end in
tragedy for Lucy.
Excerpt:
Smoothing
her hands over her lavender shirtwaist dress, Lucy took a deep breath. Hank is never going to be interested in a plain
woman like me. She turned from the mirror just as she heard the knock on
the front door downstairs.
Her
mother called up the stairs. “Lucy, honey, Hank is here.”
A
thrill rippled through Lucy’s core. Hank.
Handsome, unattainable, Hank Wilding.
A reminder flashed through her mind. Even if she was beautiful, it wouldn’t
matter. Hank was a self-proclaimed bachelor. Guard your heart, Lucille Thoroughgood. It will only get broken.
The
sight of Hank standing with his hat held politely in his hands at the bottom of
the stairs caused her heart to leap into her throat and beat so fast she could
barely breathe. Her hands shook from the surge of adrenaline. No man should be
that beautiful. A lock of his bronzed hair had an enticing way of falling over
his brow. She wanted so much to touch it and sweep it back just so she could
feel its texture. Hank gazed up the stairs at her with his dark brown eyes and
seemed to hold her in his spell. And if that wasn’t enough, he grinned at her
in that charming, crooked way she found so endearing. It wasn’t often Hank
smiled. He frowned most of the time. It was a good thing, too, because, if he
did smile often, women all over town would be swooning at his feet.
Buy
Links:
Releases January 15, 2018:
IT’S
ONLY MAKE BELIEVE (contemporary Wilding romance)
June
believed Kit loved her…until she married him
June Wingate has just married the man of her dreams only to
overhear a conversation at her wedding reception regarding the truth about why
he married her and that her marriage is a pretense. Her heart and trust are
broken.
The newly elected mayor of Hazard, Kit Wilding, needs a wife
because the town demands that their mayor be a married man. He trusts June, but
now that they’re married, his wife has become distant and secretive. Kit wants
to fix things. He is not the kind of man to give up easily.
Excerpt:
A loud slap echoed
through the house. June’s hand stung as she placed it back in the pocket of her
dressing gown, part of her vast trousseau paid for by her parents.
Kit stepped back and
rubbed his reddened cheek with his left hand while Snort, Kit’s dog, barked.
June couldn’t help but notice the flash of his golden wedding band in the light
of the dressing room. Her heart clenched at the sight of it. They’d been
married only a few hours and now this…
“Hush that barking,
Snort.” The dog quieted, but kept a sharp eye on June just in case. Kit glanced
from the dog to June. “What the hell was that for, June? Did I do something
wrong by trying to kiss my wife?”
“You bet you did. I
thought you loved me and now…” She wasn’t quite sure how to say it to him now
that she knew the truth. Honestly, she could barely believe what she had
overheard at their wedding reception. How could she explain to him what she
heard and express the doubts she had about his love because of it? Well, best
to find a way because it seemed quite evident to her that he wasn’t about to
leave her be until she did.
“You’d best tell me
what this is all about, June, because I’m beginning to have doubts about your
sanity and beginning to wonder about my own.” He cocked his head and narrowed
his blue eyes at her. If this is one of
your cockamamie jokes, it isn’t funny—and please don’t tell me you married me
just to spite your parents. I’m fairly certain your mother doesn’t think I’m
good enough for you. She’s only spoken to me about four times in all the years
I’ve known you. It’s a little late for second thoughts, June.” Snort began to
pace between June and Kit as if to decide whose side he should take.
Preorder Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078S3SK4Q
AMAZON
I
DREAM OF YOU (Coming Soon)
Logline:
A Dream…A Kiss… And Deadly Secrets
Blurb:
Kyle
Red Sky dreamed of the woman with fire in her hair, but when she comes to town,
something dark and dangerous follows her. He wants to help her, but she is
reclusive, secretive, and always wears a scarf around her neck to hide
something that happened in her past.
Mia
Beckett is a survivor. Finally, she has found sanctuary in a small western town
far from danger where no one knows her or her past and she intends to keep it
that way. But she can’t forget the a man she saw once in a dream who told her
the paths they walked were destined to meet and he would be waiting for her. Secretly,
she wished the dream would come true. However, when she meets Kyle Red Sky and
realizes he is the man from her dream, she knows, if the dream becomes a
reality, he may die.
Excerpt:
Kyle
kicked open the door of his mother’s former dress shop regardless of the sign
that read, No Men Allowed. The raging
fire upstairs in the private quarters made this an emergency, certainly enough
to ignore that sign. Smoke began to fill the shop as he raced up the stairs
calling out the name of the new shop owner. “Miss Beckett! Miss Mia Beckett,
where are you?”
As
he reached the landing of the second floor, he heard someone cough nearby. With
the wet blanket wrapped around him he rushed toward the direction of the cough
until he found the woman lying on the floor almost unconscious from smoke
inhalation. As soon as he removed the wet blanket he wore and wrapped her in its
protective layer, he scooped her up in his arms to carry her away from the
flames and smoke. The scarf she wore fell away from her neck and her head
lolled back against his chest to reveal a thin, straight scar that ran all the
way across her throat from her left ear to her right. It wasn’t an old scar, probably
more like just a few months in the past. She attempted to raise a hand as if to
cover her throat and replace the silk scarf. He’d always seen her wear a scarf
of some description or another around her neck since she arrival in town. Now
he knew all those scarves must be intended to hide the scar. She was a woman
attempting to keep a secret.
To learn more about my Wildings series click on my link: The Wildings
Sarah
J. McNeal is a multi-published author of several
genres including time travel, paranormal, western and historical fiction. She
is a retired ER and Critical Care nurse who lives in North Carolina with her
four-legged children, Lily, the Golden Retriever and Liberty, the cat. Besides
her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several
instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and
short stories may be found at Prairie Rose Publications and its imprints
Painted Pony Books, and Fire Star Press. She welcomes you to her website
and social media:
