I felt a real affinity with the characters and hope to one day see this book as a motion picture." Harrison Ford, actor Alex Cord novel is ablaze with passion Alex Cord has starred in more than 30 movies and 300 television shows, often portraying men of grit and toughness. As a boy, he was stricken with polio and confined to a hospital. As a young man, he made a living as a professional bull rider on the rodeo circuit, once landing in a pile of broken bones that led to another lengthy stay in a hospital. Nothing, however, could prepare him to deal with the tragic loss of his son Damien Zachary. "I went into a major depression," explains Cord. "Nothing in my life seemed to have any value, any purpose." He says he pulled the covers over his head, both literally and figuratively, unable to deal with the heartache. "I came to understand the weight of the phrase, ...died of a broken heart." He dragged himself out of bed one day, determined to write down his memories of Zach. But what began as a cathartic writing exercise soon blossomed into full-blown novel, A Feather in the Rain. The story begins by telling of Jesse Burrell, a Texas rancher and horseman who had buried his son. Disconsolate, Jesse's love and lust for life went fallow. Determined to never again experience the heartache of loss, this trail-hardened cowboy chose a self-imposed lonely and celibate existence. With great effort, he managed to struggle through the motions of his life, running a ranch and occasionally winning awards in cutting horse competitions (although the ultimate dream of a Futurity championship eluded him.) That was how his life was, and that was how it seemed destined to remain. Then through a chance encounter, he meets a beautiful young woman, her own heart shattered by the death of her brother. They immediately see in each other a kindred spirit. Their explosive love affair will set readers' hearts ablaze with empathy and passion. "Of course, I know where the initial idea for the story came from," confesses Cord, "but a lot of it? Well, the story just took on a life of its own." Cord is a private man, not given to explaining where the line is that divides fiction from fact in his latest book. A Feather in the Rain is Cord's second novel. The first-Sandsong-was published by Warner Books and has been optioned for a feature film production. He has also written and sold three screenplays. Ernest Borgnine, Academy Award-winning actor, says of A Feather in the Rain, "Alex has written one of the finest love stories I’ve ever read."

    THE 1869 POWELL EXPEDITION...deep in a chasm of roaring water and soaring stone and at a deadly stretch of river now named Separation Rapids, three desperate men abandoned the expedition after months of unspeakable hardships and near starvation. But only one of the three could survive high up on the wild, uncharted North Rim. WILLIAM DUNN...a mountain man forever haunted by guilt and driven by the love of extraordinary women will cast his fate across the vast and magnificent Grand Canyon of the Colorado in an epic tale of undying courage. This is a story of fearless river adventurers, brave and beautiful women and the early Mormon pioneers all of whose lives are interwoven with the Navaho, Hopi and the Havasupai...“The People of the Blue Green Water.” GRAND CANYON THUNDER is a never to be forgotten American saga written by multiple award-winning author Gary McCarthy.

    In 1848, only seventeen years old, on the Oregon Trail and suddenly orphaned, Josh begins a journey through the unsettled frontier of a wild continent. Just making first acquaintance with manhood, he quickly finds his future linked to Elizabeth Hampton, a coquette from his old hometown. Together they resolve to venture into an uncertain and dangerous future. Accompanied by Jubilee, an escaped slave, Josh and Elizabeth join a wagon train of Missouri emigrants led by a voyageur scout and a town constable turned captain. The couple commences a lusty exploration of the lands they pass and of each other.The scout is the first to recognize the mettle of Josh Bonner, taking the novitiate under his wing. Others in the party, a missionary couple, an adventurous sawbones, and a clan of farmers, quickly recognize the newcomers as a formidable alliance that drives the expedition across the wild prairie. The land, the weather, and human frailty threaten, but cannot daunt their resolve. Populated with compelling characters, colorful dialog, intriguing subplots, and thrilling encounters The Platte River Waltz explores a period of American history largely bypassed by contemporary historical fiction.Orphans in the Storm introduces the reader to Josh and Elizabeth, their companions and the settings. Tragedy marries their fortunes together as they are adopted by a train of emigrants from Missouri. Josh and Elizabeth remain by the crossing to repair Elizabeth’s wagon. Nature takes its course between the two. A second train joins the Metzger group and several more characters are introduced, chief among them are the scout, Will Lacy, and Jakob DeKop, owner of a boot factory moving his business and employees westward. The first elusive herd of ‘buffle’ appear and the hunt commences. Josh and Elizabeth, their trysting discovered, bend to the will of the combined trains but not before Elizabeth tests her will against the emigrants.The Bonners and their companions venture on from Chimney Rock towards Fort Laramie. Water runs short and forces a change in the proposed route, an arduous trek into the hills. Arriving at the fort, the party rests and recharges. Some unsavory characters are encountered. Shortly after arriving, some of their horses are stolen and the scout leads a party, including Josh, in pursuit. Orphans in the Storm concludes with the departure from Fort Laramie as the emigrants enter the Black Hills

    Will the cowboy find solace in this place or allow his regrets to consume him?RETURN received second place in the Missouri Literary Festival Award for Short Fiction in 2009 under the title For Everything A Time.

    Eighteen-year-old Jenny is under no illusions—it’ll take a miracle to survive, much less thrive, in the unforgiving wilderness, particularly when twelve-year-old David fights her every attempt to prepare. Unexpected help arrives when John Beck—once a close friend of their father’s—arrives at their cabin. The tough-as-nails bounty hunter reluctantly agrees to stay through the winter. He owes it to his murdered friend to help Foster’s children build a working ranch, even if it’s the last thing he wants to do. Their uneasy alliance is fraught with hardships, danger, and back-breaking work that still doesn’t guarantee anyone will survive until spring. Especially with their father’s killer still on the loose.

    Dylan Ryan arrives in Texas just as the Runaway Scrape is in full swing and the Battle at San Jacinto nears. He misses going to war when he comes to the aid of Mort Lems, severely wounded by outlaws who seek information on the location of an old trail used by the Spaniards to transport gold bullion from Texas to New Orleans. It is said gold bars are still buried along that trail. Dylan and Mort escape to the prairie of North Texas and the safety of the Red River Wilderness. But instead of having the land to themselves, they discover peaceful settlements springing up around trading posts all along the river. Peace is fleeting, as Indians grow angry at the homesteaders breaking the soil with their plows on land that was promised to them for hunting grounds. The newly organized Republic of Texas is unable to provide the settlements protection, so it is the trading post owners who hire gunmen to act as ranger forces to repel the hostiles. A new war has begun, this time with an unpredictable enemy. Dylan, Mort and the settlers watch their dreams for a new beginning end as clouds of dark smoke rise into the clear blue sky as homesteads burn. Indians begin to raid every community, burning, stealing horses and taking women and children as slaves. Overnight the promise of a better life in Texas has been replaced with one of a living hell. Blood Trail is the first in a series.

    Excerpt and one of them, Gavin, was reputed to be the strongest man in the neighborhood. The daughter, a long-limbed slip of a girl who rode like a cow-puncher, was about the boy's age. Though Godfrey French had a ranch it was worked scarcely at all. The boys did not like work, and apparently did not have to. Godfrey French was reputed to have money. His ranch was a hang-out for what were known as "remittance men," young Englishmen who received more or less regular allowances from home--or perhaps to keep away from home. There were rumors of gambling and hard drinking at French's ranch. "Well, I'll take you home," the boy said. "You can ride my pony. He's on a rope a mile from here. But I'll have to hang up this buck, or the coyotes will chew him." He found two small saplings close together, bent them down, trimmed them and lashed their tops. Over these he placed the tied legs of the buck. With a little search he found a long dry pole. With this he had a tripod. As he hoisted with the pole the spring

    He can hardly remember his days of wanderlust, and he’s grateful to have left behind the violence of a raw frontier. In a celebratory mood, Steve invites his mother to a meet her new grandchild in a chic resort in Monterey, California. With the delivery of a handwritten note, his world suddenly reverts to the savagery of his bygone days. There will be no peace.

    

    

    Matt Hutchins, the lone survivor of a wagon train massacre Found and raised by the Sioux, Matt not only learns the ways of the Sioux, but his survival skills are keenly honed with his tracking abilities used by both the Army and later by the sheriff of a town named Buffalo Flats Matt lives alone on the open plains with his trusted friend and horse ‘Ole Friend, a gift given to him by the Chief Buffalo Robes, the one who taught him how to survive