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The
Texas Revolution began with the first shot fired on October 2, 1835, in
Gonzales and ended just six months later with the Texan victory at the
Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. This year Texas celebrates the
175 anniversary of the Texas Revolution, so it’s timely that the first
three books in the Texas Trails: A Morgan Family Series release this
fall.
Why have romance stories set in
Texas remained popular over the years? Maybe because Texas
embodies the American spirit—that underdog-won’t-be-beat mentality. Or
maybe it’s the ever popular cowboy element. Cowboys were true heroes
who lived by a code: work hard, respect women, protect children, and
fight for God and country. But maybe the real reason we love Texas
stories is that America is a country populated by pioneers, from the
early Pilgrims to today’s immigrants. Texas’s early pioneers faced some
of the most difficult hardships. They came to a hot, dry land where
both Indians and Mexicans battled to keep them away. Some died for
their dream, but many survived and prospered—and those are the stories
we love to read.
When my agent, Chip McGregor,
approached me about doing a series with two other fiction authors, I
eagerly agreed. I had worked with award-winning author Susan Page Davis
on several projects before and was excited to work with her again. I
knew fellow Oklahoman Darlene Franklin from ACFW and had worked with
her on a novella collection, but I’d never written a trade fiction
series with other authors before.
Susan, Darlene, and I
brainstormed different ideas and finally settled on a historical series
set in Texas, featuring different members of a fictional family that
also incorporated different aspects of Texas history. Our proposal was
for a six-book series, with each author writing two books.
With the framework established,
we each researched different historical events in Texas and selected
the ones that most interested us. One Website that was especially
informative was www.texasbob.com. It has a timeline
(http://www.texasbob.com/timeline/index.php) that I used to choose the
period I wanted to write about and to find historical tidbits for my
stories.
We went round and round,
discussing different possibilities for our
stories. Once the dust settled and the three of us dialogued about the
topics that most interested us, we selected the following historical
elements to include in our books:
• Lone Star Trail by Darlene Franklin—1845: Prince
Carl of Solms-Braunfels purchases the land that will become New
Braunfels, and Texas enters the union as the twenty-eighth state
• Captive Trail by Susan Page Davis—1857: Congress
authorizes the Butterfield Mail and Stage Line. Also ongoing stories of
white children captured by Indians
• Long Trail Home by Vickie McDonough—1865:
Reconstruction following the War Between the States, together with a
fictional school for blind children set in Waco, which was based on the
Texas Blind Asylum that was located in Austin.
• A Ranger’s Trail by Darlene Franklin—1874: John
B. Jones is commissioned a major in the Texas Rangers’ Frontier
Battalion (reinstituted after the end of the War Between the States);
the “Hoo Doo” War erupts in Mason County (range war and blood feud).
• Cowgirl’s Trail, by Susan Page Davis—1883: The
first cowboy strike in Texas begins in the Panhandle.
• End of the Trail, by Vickie McDonough—1896:
Ranching, cattle, oil, and a stunt to wreck two trains in Crush, Texas
(near Waco), which results in the deaths of two spectators.
All
three writers of this series are award-winning authors with a total of
more than sixty Christian romances written. Susan Page Davis is a
recent immigrant to Kentucky. Darlene moved to Oklahoma several years
ago after living in Colorado for two decades, and Vickie McDonough is
an Oklahoma native and lived there her whole life, except for one year
when she lived on a kibbutz in Israel.
Kudos
go to the Moody Publisher
Art Department for their beautiful cover designs.
Here is a bit more in-depth
information about the first three books in the Texas Trails Series:
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 Lone Star
Trail
by Darlene Franklin—Judson (Jud) Morgan’s father died for Texas’s
freedom during the war for independence. So when the Society for the
Protection of German Immigrants in Texas (the Verein) attempts to
colonize a New Germany in his country, he takes a stand against them.
After
Wande Fleischer’s fiancé
marries someone else, the young fraulein determines to make a new life
for herself in Texas. With the help of Jud’s sister Marion, Wande
learns English and becomes a trusted friend to the Morgan family.
As much as Jud dislikes the
German invasion, he can’t help admiring Wande. She is sweet and
cheerful as she serves the Lord and all those around her. Can the
rancher put aside his prejudice to forge a new future? Through Jud and
Wande, we learn the powerful lessons of forgiveness and reconciliation
among a diverse community of believers.
Captive Trail
by Susan Page Davis—Taabe Waipu has run away from her Comanche
village
and is fleeing south in Texas on a horse she stole from a dowry left
outside her family’s teepee. The horse has an accident and she is left
on foot, injured and exhausted. She staggers onto a road near Fort
Chadbourne and collapses.
On one of the first runs through
Texas, Butterfield Overland Mail Company driver Ned Bright carries two
Ursuline nuns returning to their mission station. They come across a
woman who is nearly dead from exposure and dehydration and take her to
the mission.
With some detective work, Ned
discovers Taabe Waipu’s identity. He plans to unite her with her
family, but the Comanche have other ideas, and the two end up defending
the mission station. Through Taabe and Ned we learn the true meaning of
healing and restoration amid seemingly powerless situations.
 Long Trail Home
by Vickie McDonough—When Riley Morgan returns home after fighting in
the War Between the States, he is excited to see his parents and
fiancée again. But he soon learns that his parents are dead and the
woman he loved is married. He takes a job at the Wilcox School for the
blind just to get by. He keeps his heart closed off, but a pretty blind
woman, Annie, threatens to steal it. When a greedy man tries to close
the school, Riley and Annie band together to fight him, and they fall
in love.
But when Riley learns the truth
about Annie, he prepares to leave the school that has become his home
and the woman who has melted his heart. Will he change his mind and
find the love he craves? Or will stubbornness deprive him from the
woman he needs? Through painful circumstances, Riley and Annie learn
that the loving and sovereign hand of God cannot be thwarted.
Texas Trails is a six-book
series about four generations of the Morgan family living, fighting,
and thriving amid a turbulent Texas history spanning from 1845 to 1896.
Although a series, each book can be read on its own. If you’d like more
information about this exciting series, visit the Texas Trails Website:
www.texastrailsfiction.com.
The first three books are
available for pre-sale online now.
Release Dates:
Lone Star Trail, September 1, 2011
Captive Trial, October 1, 2011
Long Trail Home, November 1, 2011
A Ranger’s Trail, February 1, 2012
Cowgirl Trail, April 1, 2012
End of the Trail, June 1, 2012
I hope you will fall in love
with Texas and the Morgan family as you travel the trail of hardship,
romance, and faith in this exciting and endearing series.
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