Silver Ranch Series – Coming in 2025
Breakaway – Book 1 –
Did you ever want to start your own ranch? Meet Charlie Silver, formerly a youth barrel racer. Recently divorced with nowhere to go and no one to go there with, except her loyal German Shepherd, Sebastian, Charlie takes on the daunting task of building her own ranch from the ground up. Returning to the 1,000 acres of rock and sparse grass in the Texas Hill Country left to her by her beloved father, she must discover if she has what it takes to face the backbreaking work and loneliness on her own. When success appears to be right around the corner, as well as a tall, handsome neighbor who just happens to be a rancher, she learns her ex has other ideas.
The White Mares of Christmas – Book 2
Snow is a rare and wondrous occasion in the Texas Hill Country, but Charlie Silver may have a white Christmas anyway; a white mare Christmas that is. Charlie finds a lost herd of white mares, just in time for Christmas. She rescues them and begins the search for their owner, soon realizing she has taken on more than she bargained for.
Wildflower Wedding – Book 3
The title says it all. The coming of spring brings the most spectacular wildflower season to the Texas Hill Country and is a favorite with brides-to-be for country weddings. But leave it to fate to throw some obstacles, and horses of course, in Charlie Silver’s path as she tries to plan a wedding.
Coming Home – Book 4
Charlie comes full circle as she finally establishes the ranch of her dreams in the Texas Hill Country. But it’s not what she originally envisioned – it’s much better! With beloved family, friends, pets and horses, Charlie has finally come home.
Awards
THE PROMISE OF SNOW
My historical fiction Short Story “The Promise of Snow” won first place in the Short Story category of the 30th Annual San Antonio Writers’ Guild Contest 2023. Following is an excerpt…
Time passed. Minutes, maybe a half hour. Anika pushed the tip of the rifle between the window and the thick curtain. A large brown and white horse nibbled at the tiny blades of grass dusted with snow. Out in the corral, her mare whinnied, and the horse raised its head and turned toward the sound. She pressed her face close to the slit in the curtain. In the pale light of the moon on the snow, the saddle was visible. Comanche! She fastened the curtain in place and slowly backed away.
GLENDALE NIGHTS
This story won fourth place in the 2023 Writer’s Digest Mainstream Literary category for Short Story. Following is an excerpt…
In early September a new horse arrived. The desert gave up its heat quickly after sundown in the fall, the pungent fragrance of sagebrush more pronounced. Max added a chiminea to our chair circle. It cast long, autumnal shadows on our faces as we kicked back, talking quietly and smoking. We’d been staring into its embers and missed the headlights coming down the long driveway. Everyone spooked when a truck and horse trailer suddenly pulled in.
Published Short Stories and Poems
THE NIGHT RIDE
Click here to read the story about a little girl lost in the snow at Girl Scout camp who is rescued by a magical horse we are all familiar with…
https://blog.reedsy.com/short-story/i2xvfo
This story was created for Reedsy Prompts (learn more here https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts ) using the first lines from a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale — “It was so terribly cold. Snow was falling and it was almost dark….”
Poetry
Click here to read in the literary magazine Blue Villa:
Poem appearing in the Winter 2024 issue of Door is a Jar Literary Magazine:
Forecast
No shelter at the bus stop
on a grey Saturday.
Our faces, stung by snow
gauzy webs of white
sifting into sidewalk cracks.
Our words, stolen by the
gloom as soon as spoken.
Our mouths raw, not just from the cold.
Our eyes tearing, not just from the wind.
We joked, pretended to be cool
afraid we might never see each other
again.
We smoked, feigning nonchalance too
embarrassed to embrace too
wildly disparate.
Your trench coat dorky, too short,
my suede jacket, too thin.
I shivered, not from regret,
your smile, a sneer but
somehow forgiven,
understood.
The bus lumbered, creaked and
stopped with a hiss.
our eyes held but
no kiss.
Inside they made room for me
shared the warmth
not caring about my story
or how it would end.
https://www.doorisajarmagazine.net/issues/winter-2024
Short Stories
Wild Mares
Two friends decide they are not done with horses, or living large. They take a chance and adopt two palomino mares from a Wild Horse and Burro Auction. Click the link below to read in the literary journal Amarillo Bay.
https://amarillobay.net/2024/05/
To Chase a Great Dane
A woman stops her car on a snowy night to clear the ice from the windshield. Her encounter with a spectral Great Dane becomes an unexpected journey.
Read in The Red Volume of Dead Girls Walking
J Fox Bedford Books 