Suggestion for Christmas gift giving (and the meaning of a mortgage)

 

This is a very special day.  It's for a very special friend.  

If you need a good book to read this Christmas or need a last minute gift, look no further.

Today my good internet friend Sandra Cox is continuing to unveil her latest book and I have offered to spread the word.

 

Old West Factoid: In actuality, fugitives and their bounties were often collected by peacemakers, to supplement their incomes, and by private detectives. But please don’t tell Gwen that😊

Bounty hunter Gwen Slade always gets her man. Until she meets charming outlaw Jordie Kidd.

After Jordie saves her family, she finds she can’t in good conscience turn him in, even if he is worth a thousand dollars dead or alive. Instead she sets her sights on the meanest, most-wanted gang in Kansas. Gwen always works alone until she goes after the gang then finds herself partnering with an unlikely source.

This time around, not only her life, but her heart is on the line.

Excerpt:

The bell over the door rang. Gwen glanced at the cowboy who strode into the store like he owned the place. Lank brown hair hung under his hat and a dirt spot stained his blue vest. She didn’t know him. But that was no surprise, cowpokes were constantly in and out of Dodge. The permanent residents on Boot Hill. No whiskey fumes wafted in the store’s stale air. She turned back to the bolts of cloth and reached for a sunny yellow.

“You take your hands off him or my sister will kick your ass.”

As she whirled, she had a brief moment to wince at Jimmy’s language. He’d been hanging around the Herman kid again.

The cowboy, who’d meandered in, had picked up a pair of scissors and had one arm around Chen’s throat. It was obvious he meant to cut his pigtail.

Jimmy charged.

The brute backhanded him. Jimmy landed on a table of iron skillets. The cookware and her brother fell to the floor with a bang and a clatter.

Gwen leaped away from the narrow confines of the two rows she was trapped between and whipped out her gun, seeing everything through a haze of red as fury washed through her.

“Mister, if you want to see sundown, step away from my friend. And if you’ve hurt my brother even that won’t save you.” She cocked her rifle.

“Am I supposed to be afraid of a woman with a gun?” He sneered at her.

Still stationed behind the counter the store-keep spoke up. “I don’t know too many people dumb enough to mess with Gwen Slade. I hope you’re not one of them, but if you are, I’d appreciate you pay for the damages now.”

The grip on Chen loosened. The hombre took a closer look, his eyes leveled on her rifle. Chen jerked away and jabbed him in the ribs for good measure.

“Now what?” He dropped the scissors, that landed with a clatter on the floor, but his hand stayed close to his side iron.

She motioned with Betsy toward the door. “Now we take a little jaunt to the jail.”

His hand moved a little closer to his gun. “No one got hurt.”

“You slugged my brother and tried to humiliate a friend of mine.” She pushed hard on the fury rising in her gullet all over again.

“And if I don’t want to go?” He splayed his legs, looked her in the eye and shook out his hands.

“Mister, I’m cocked and loaded. Even if you’re fast, you’re not that fast. Drop your gun to the floor with your left hand and please feel free to draw on me when you do it.” She raised the rifle and pointed it at his heart.

 

About Sandra Cox

Sandra is a vegetarian, animal lover and avid gardener. She lives with her husband, their dog and cats in sunny North Carolina.

Her stories consist of all things western and more.

She can be found at http://www.sandracoxwriter.com . If you’d like to stay abreast of what’s going on in her world and any new releases you can send a note in her comment form while you are there. Or simply sign up on the follow by email request form. Her twitter handle is: Sandra_Cox and her Amazon page is http://tinyurl.com/SandraAtAmz

Doesn't Sandra's new book sound exciting?  I know many of you will also want to read it.  And you can tell I love it because of the Kansas connection.

I'm also back with another journal page for Tracey of Hotchpotch Creations our host this month at Art Journal Journey with her theme What is the meaning of? 

I am asking what is the meaning of a mortgage?

If you own a home or condo, at some point, you probably had a mortgage.

In case you can't read it, I ask "What does it mean 

to have a mortgage?"

According to the American Heritage Dictionary a mortgage is:

A loan for the purchase of real property, secured by a lien on the property.

The document specifying the terms and conditions of the repayment of such a loan.

The repayment obligation associated with such a loan. 

For this page, I started by spritzing several colors of my handmade shimmering mists on the page I removed from my new journal.  Then I cut the home from a magazine and colored it using green watercolors.  I was sure I would make a mess of the house if I tried to add color there, too.  These watercolors are incredibly unpredictable.


Thanks so very much for visiting Bleubeard and me today, and we hope to also see you at Art Journal Journey with your own take on The Meaning Of.   And don't forget to order Sandra's latest book, too.  It sounds like a real page turner to me.