Tuesday, January 8, 2013

CATE MASTERS IS HERE TODAY

I'd like to welcome my friend and prolific author Cate Masters back to my blog. Cate has so many stories out, she makes me jealous. And they are all good reads which makes me more jealous. Oh well, when you have the talent this woman has, how can you fight it?
Today, Cate wants to talk about heros. Go for for it Cate.
 
 

Rounding up heroes

 
So many great Western shows were on TV while I was a girl, young and impressionable and easily susceptible to Little Joe Cartwright’s boyish giggle and warm brown eyes. :) Bonanza, The Rifleman, The Virginian, and my earliest crush, The Lone Ranger. (I’m really looking forward to the movie version with Johnny Depp as Tonto!)

 
These heroes endured harsh conditions and difficult situations nearly every day, sometimes with life-or-death consequences. No matter what, the true heroes faced it all with stoic grace. They were protectors and dare devils, men who played as hard as they worked because who knew what challenges the next day would bring? They made the most of every moment because they didn’t know when death would rob them of another. These characters imprinted on my impressionable brain as true heroes.

 
A few years ago, I read about a mountain man named Jim Bridger. He’s well known out West, but I’d never heard of this remarkable man, who knew several languages, had several wives, and scouted through the Wild West before much of it was settled, the pristine territory in all its wild glory. Wow, I would have loved to have seen it back then.

 

 
Jim Bridger couldn’t read, but that didn’t stop him from loving great writers. Most of all, Shakespeare. He’d travel to mining camps and Native American tribes, reciting passages. Several of the camps were named for Shakespeare’s works because of Bridger.

 
So many books already have been written about this mountain man, I knew I wouldn’t be able to do him justice. But the idea captured my imagination, so Jebediah Greene came to life. A mountain man, multilingual and multitalented, Jeb is one of those true heroes. On his own since his early teens, he’s lived a hard life but enjoys fine books such as Shakespeare.

 
Like the heroine of The Last of the Mohicans, Winona Young comes from a cultured background, but has never felt at home until she finds herself in the wilderness. Jeb’s knowledge of everything about the territory and its people makes her realize education doesn’t always come from books, and she finds her greatest challenge in trying to tame him. When she discovers they share a love of Shakespeare, she finds it’s not so difficult as she imagined.
 
 
 

  Open sky, Shakespeare, solitude. All Jebediah Greene needs. Alone since his teens, he’s never known loneliness, until he leaves Winona Young in California. Worse, he fears she’ll trap herself in a loveless marriage of convenience. After acting as her guide to San Francisco, how far will Jeb go to win her heart?




Reading provides escape for Winona Young. Usually. Fleeing Philadelphia, she learns her distant suitor isn’t who he seemed. Neither is her mountain man guide, in a good way. Intelligent, but mule-headed, Jeb’s impossible to speak to, in any language. Winona falls in love with the stunning beauty of the wilderness, with the simple ways of the Osage people, and with Jeb. But books can’t teach her how to tame a mountain man.
 
A Midwest Summer Night’s Dream is available from Book Strand: http://www.bookstrand.com/a-midwest-summer-nights-dream
 
I’d love for you to check out the book video, Casting Call, reviews, an excerpt and more at: http://catemasters.blogspot.com/2011/04/midwest-summer-nights-dream-western.html
 
Cate Masters loves romance with a dash of magic and mayhem! Multipublished in contemporary to historical, sweet to erotic, fantasy/dark fantasy to speculative, she sometimes mashes genres. Reviewers have described her stories as “so compelling, I did not want to put it down,” and “such romantic tales that really touch your soul.”
When not spending time with her family, she can be found in her lair, concocting a magical brew of contemporary, historical, and fantasy/paranormal stories with her cat Chairman Maiow and dog Lily as company. Look for her at http://catemasters.blogspot.com and in strange nooks and far-flung corners of the web.
Cate loves to hear from readers! If you’re too shy to post here, friend her on Facebook or Goodreads, or email her at: cate.masters AT gmail.com
 
 
Leave a comment for Cate, we'd both like to hear from you. 

 





5 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for hosting me at your beautiful blog, Lorrie! And letting me gush about heroes, one of my favorite subjects. :)

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    1. I'm happy to have you here,Cate. You are welcome back anytime.

      I remember all those TV shows. They were great times. I wish westerns would make a comeback.

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  2. Cate, you're about the most prolific writer I know. You have mad skills with genre hopping.

    The Mountain Men are an interesting part of American history and not often the heroes of a romance. They were a rough bunch of guys.

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  3. As someone with mad skills with genre hopping herself, you gave me the best compliment - thank you!
    Mountain men always intrigued me, but Jim Bridger especially. I couldn't learn how an illiterate mountain man came to recite Shakespeare to miners and Native Americans, but it completely fascinated me.

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  4. I didn't watch those shows but when I was a kid, I really liked Alias Smith and Jones. And movies such as Tombstone, Wyatt Earp and Open Range, I loved. I'm sure there's more but I just can't think of them. I used to belong to a book club that was specifically Westerns. They had some really cute stories.

    I looked on your site for the excerpt and I have to say, I really enjoyed what I read. Jeb sunds like he has his hands full. Will definately be on my TBR list.

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