The view from Whitehorse, Montana

I received a wonderful email from a fan asking about where I live after I posted a fall photograph of the land to the south.

When most people think of Montana, they think of towering mountains and forest. That's why it's hard for some to understand why I love this almost forgotten part of Montana.

I don't live in the mountains or in the forest. The Little Rockies are only a dark outline against the horizon. Between me and them is rolling prairie where thousands of buffalo once thundered.

To the south is the awe-inspiring Missouri Breaks. It is in this part of the country that outlaws used to hide out and rob the steamboats that brought supplies and settlers up the river.

This photograph above is a view of the Breaks. They are as isolated as the prairie the river cuts through. There are few roads into them and those are often impassible when it rains or snows. But that is part of their allure. This is no-man's country -- just as wild as it was when the outlaws hid out there.

And this is why I love this part of Montana -- and write about it. It is so rich with history, so vast and inspiring. Like some of my characters, I wish I could have seen towns like Landusky when Pike Landusky was still around or met Kid Curry and his brothers or passed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on their way to rob the train just outside of town.

The Whitehorse, Montana series lets me share this often unexplored part of Montana and its history.

Big Country

I live in a place that is isolated, the country big. There is less than .03 people per square mile.
I believe it. Even on the main highway in and out of town, you seldom see many other cars.

To some it may look pretty desolate -- especially in the fall like in this photograph. But come spring, everything will green up, as they say here. And it takes on a beauty all its own.

The closer you get the Missouri Breaks (in the distance) the more the land has eroded into deep ravines and long rocky spines. Nearer the Breaks there are juniper and sagebrush and finally ponderosa pines.

Sunsets here are beautiful but nothing like the light that comes with the thunderstorms that move across this wild expanse. It can be both awesome and dangerous. Many roads become impassible if it rains or snows. The chance of getting trapped far from civilization is a common one espcially in the winter when roads drift in quickly -- even the main highway.

Just recently all roads in and out of our town were closed. Not surprisingly, that's when you decide you really would like to leave town for a while. After a huge storm, when the roads finally open, everyone comes into town -- just because they can.

This winter has been what the old timers call "a normal Montana winter." Which means the weather on TV every day calls for "horribly cold" and snow is piled up everywhere all over town. The roads out are bare -- at the moment.

But the other night we went north to visit some friends and found ourselves busting through snowdrifts, the wind blowing snow across the road in blizzard like conditions. At one point, I asked my husband: "Isn't there a turn coming up pretty soon?"

We could see nothing but white.

It often feels like a scene from the movie "Fargo." In fact, that's how I've come to think of the book I'm working on. Set in winter around my fictional town of Whitehorse, Montana, my heroine and hero and I have been driving through the same drifts along deserted highways, freezing our buns off.

One Hot Forty-Five (next December's release) is really one cold winter in an isolated part of Montana where anything can happen. And, of course, does.

If a book is really judged by its cover...

There is always that fear when I see my new book cover. A bad cover can be the kiss of death. At least that's the fear. The cover is what catches a reader's attention. Some covers just draw us. Others don't. So there is probably truth in the bad cover jinx.

Also, it's nice if the cover actually reflects what's inside. It's hard to explain to the art department the feelings you have for your characters and what they look like. Handsome, blue-eyed and tall doesn't really do it. Petite, determined and blond doesn't either.

So I was delighted to see that the cover for my April Whitehorse book is actually from a scene I wrote. It's from the rodeo dance. So that's all good.

Not only that, the hero looks like Shane Corbett, former Texas Ranger and all around good guy. I like how the artist did Maddie Cavanaugh, a reoccurring character in the Whitehorse, Montana series.

The only thing that might be a bit misleading is the book's title. Maddie isn't pregnant. The title came from a pact the five Corbett brothers made about getting married. Which readers will discover only when they actually get past the cover.

I've had some good covers over the years and some I wasn't wild about. I've had two heroes and the heroine on one cover and a lot of big-headed heroes on others. I have some favorites: Shotgun Surrender (I love the sunset), Premeditated Marriage (it has a nice creepy feel to it), Wanted Woman (the art department actually let me have my heroine bathing in the creek!) and of course, Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch (is this guy the sexiest guy you've ever seen?)

There is little a writer has control over except her words. She seldom choses her own titles, doesn't write the back cover copy and can only make suggestions to the art department for the covers.

So it's nice when the book sees daylight and you can breathe a sigh of relief. Then it's back to holding your breath, hoping readers will get past the cover to the real story.

What do you do when the book is due? You sign up for a quilting class!

I know it sounds crazy. It's what every writer I've ever known does at one point or another. Mostly this happens to writers who are afraid of success. They find a way to shoot themselves in the foot by doing anything but writing.

Of course I'm not taking the quilting class just to get out of writing. No, not me. I'm taking it because 1) it's the only class being offered in my small town, 2) I like learning new things 3) it's a creative endeavor and 4) I like sewing. And okay, it's a break from figuring out my latest plot.

But I also have this great fabric my daughter, the designer, helped me find and I'm excited to see how it all goes together.

So far I've learned how little I know about sewing in general and quilting in particular. I had no illusions of becoming one of those quilters who make dozens of king-sized quilts that are too beautiful to use. In the first place I don't have the time or patience and in the second, mine would never be that beautiful trust me. Have you seen how small some of the pieces are in those quilts? What kind of mind thinks those patterns up?

Nope, I just want to learn the basics so I can make small projects. Very small projects with good-sized pieces of fabric.

But I have to admit that after even one class, I'm hooked. I'm excited and can't wait to start cutting and sewing! We're just making a sampler quilt, not too large but with six different pattern blocks for a total of from 25 to 36 blocks, depending on how much fabric we have and how much time and energy. Even after one class, I've learned a lot.

Quilting is tougher than I thought it was going to be. But then most things worth doing are, huh. So wish me luck. I know I'm going to need it.

If it gets too hard, maybe it will make writing seem easier. Now there's a thought.

Escape to warm and green

We just made a trip out to Seattle to see my daughter and son-in-law. We go every January for a late Christmas even though the roads can be bad.

This year the whole Northwest was getting dumped on. The roads were bad most of the way out. Several of the passes had been closed but miraculously opened for us and we made it -- going from 35 degrees below zero to 50 above. 85 degrees difference in just a few days. Shirt-sleeve weather.

I love the trip in January because we leave country covered in snow, dropping into lush green landscapes. It's like a breath of fresh air to see green again for a few days before we return to our piled high snowdrifts.

This year has really been crazy. I called home while in Seattle only to hear that they were getting slammed with more snow. My husband, the optimist, sees all the snow piling up as "good moisture." But even he gets tired of wading through it.

What is nice about the cold and snow is that it makes staying in and writing seem like a good idea. So now that I'm back, it's back to the computer and my latest work in progress.

It's nice to be home. The office is warm and my characters have been waiting patiently. It's time to find out what happens next...