Tag Archives: Historical Fiction

The Brothers Brown, Part 2 – Week Blast

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The Brothers Brown, Part 2 cover

 

for the sake of family

 

Family Saga, Historical Fiction, Native American

 

Date Published: 12-04-2025

 

Based on a true story.

 

Set in the late 1890’s, The Brothers Brown – a family saga, Part 2 – For
the Sake of Family is a sweeping frontier saga of love, guilt, and redemption
– an unflinching portrait of a man’s descent into madness amid the
unforgiving wilds of Indian Territory.

When Matt Brown boards a northbound train, he carries more than a pistol. He
carries the weight of his brother’s death, a marriage strained to its
breaking point, and a conscience at war with itself. A doctor’s brown
vial of medicine offers fleeting relief but soon draws him into a darker world
where pain and guilt blur into something far more dangerous.

His wife, Milla, proud and rooted in her Choctaw heritage, stands as both his
anchor and his judge as the world around them shifts under the weight of
change and loss.

From Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the wooded banks of Bokchito Creek, two families
are bound by tragedy and love, vengeance and mercy. A celebration meant to
heal ignites old resentments. A family gathering ends in bloodshed. And a
winter dance turns deadly, forcing each to face the cost of survival,
forgiveness, and the ties that bind them.

Steeped in the spirit of the Choctaw Nation and the rough mercy of the Old
West, For the Sake of Family is a haunting tale of madness, murder, and the
fragile hope that redemption can be found on the far side of ruin.

About the Author

R.G. Stanford

 

Raised on the beaches of South Texas, R.G. Stanford has always been
drawn to stories that transcend time. That passion was ignited in 1976 with
the discovery of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and deepened
with The Feast of All Saints just a few years later. Though historical fiction
wasn’t an immediate calling, a personal journey into genealogy changed
everything.

With no close relatives nearby, R.G. Stanford turned to online resources in
search of extended family. That search became a twenty-year journey through
genealogy websites, Federal Census records, the National Archives, and old
newspapers. Along the way, R.G. Stanford uncovered incredible stories about
her family and the people who once lived in the Choctaw Nation, Indian
Territory.

Compelled to record the truth of her family in the lore, sprinkled with
imagination, R.G. Stanford is a history lover, a research buff, and a
passionate genealogy enthusiast. She is also a mother, a grandmother, and a
teller of stories, now living near Orlando.

 

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Eliza Waite Week Blast

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Historical Fiction

Date Published: 05-16-2016

Publisher: She Writes
Press

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Celebrating the 10th Anniversary

After the tragic death of her husband and son on a remote island in
Washington’s San Juan Islands, Eliza Waite joins the throng of miners,
fortune hunters, business owners, con men, and prostitutes traveling north to
the Klondike in the spring of 1898. When Eliza arrives in Skagway, Alaska, she
has less than fifty dollars to her name and not a friend in the
world—but with some savvy, and with the help of some unsavory
characters, Eliza opens a successful bakery on Skagway’s main street and
befriends a madam at a neighboring bordello. Occupying this space—a
place somewhere between traditional and nontraditional feminine
roles—Eliza awakens emotionally and sexually. But when an unprincipled
man from her past turns up in Skagway, Eliza is fearful that she will be
unable to conceal her identity and move forward with her new life. Using Gold
Rush history, diary entries, and authentic pioneer recipes, Eliza Waite
transports readers to the sights sounds, smells, and tastes of a raucous and
fleeting era of American history.

Excerpt


September 1, 1896


Cloudy, first fall chill. Deer in garden again. Need to
mend fences.

“Good fences make good neighbors,”
her aunt used to say.

Eliza examines her muddied property and stifles a
snort. There are no neighbors, no cheery hellos or help at harvest time, no
shared secrets or meals offered at the door when grief steals joy clean away.
No, her neighbors are all gone from this windswept island plagued with
relentless autumn rains that close in on the coming darkness.

Eliza
removes her nightclothes and rushes into her undergarments, woolen skirt,
muslin blouse, and thick socks. She gathers up her skirt, and pushes out
through the cabin’s rickety door, inhaling wood smoke and counting her
memories, both blessings and curses.

I do not know if I can endure
another winter here, especially after what happened last year.


Before the
epidemic there had been a store, and a post office, and a cannery, and a
school. And—of course—a church. On those long ago Sundays, Eliza
had squirmed each time Jacob mounted the stairs to the simple wooden pulpit at
First Methodist on tiny Cypress Island, his pompousness preceding him. Eliza
sat stiffly in the front pew with Jonathan close beside her. Jonathan’s
delicate hands held hers and his small brown leather boots dangled over the
front lip of the wooden bench. If she tries hard enough, Eliza can still hear
Jonathan’s warbling voice stumbling over the words of the ancient
hymns.

After Sunday services, Eliza and Ida
Lawson had poured weak coffee into china cups at opposite ends of the
cloth-covered table in the basement of the church. They adjusted the china
cups, filling in spaces when others were served. They checked the sugar bowls.
They rearranged the teaspoons, and placed them symmetrically. They exchanged
glances and shared private conversations in between parishioners.

Did you
hear the foreman killed a Chinaman over at Atlas Cannery?


Another
parishioner would interrupt. Pleasantries. Then another interruption. More
pleasantries.

Did you see Sly Chapman walking Adelaide Winters home from
school on Wednesday?


There was always scuttlebutt about the townsfolk, or
the trappers, or the fishermen, or the loggers. And always about the Chinamen.
In the kitchen, Eliza and Ida would mimic the Chinamen, taking small steps and
bowing to each other. They stifled their laughter. Only once had they had an
awkward and guarded conversation about the intimacies of marriage.

 

IDA’S
COFFEE CAKE
 

 

This is one of the best of plain cakes, and is very easily
made.
 
Take one teacup of strong coffee infusion, one teacup molasses, one
teacup sugar, one-half teacup butter, one egg, and one teaspoonful saleratus.
Add pinch of salt.
 
Add spice and raisins to suit the taste, and enough
flour to make a reasonably thick batter.
 
Bake rather slowly in tin pans
lined with buttered paper. Tops with cinnamon sugar and serve warm.
 

But
those days are long past. Now all Eliza has is a heap of gravestones to
visit.
 

About the Author

Ashley E. Sweeney

 Multi award-winning author Ashley E. Sweeney’s fourth novel, The Irish
Girl, released December 2024. Her previous novels, Eliza Waite, Answer Creek,
and Hardland, have won a total of 20 awards, including the Nancy Pearl Book
Award, Independent Press Award, WILLA Literary Award, and New Mexico-Arizona
Book Award. Sweeney, a native New Yorker and graduate of Wheaton College in
Norton, Massachusetts, spends winters in Tucson and summers in the Pacific
Northwest.

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The Brothers Brown Audiobook Tour

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 The Brothers Brown cover

 

Historical Fiction

Date Published: 03/31/2026

Narrator: Maria McCann

Run Time: 10.5 Hours

 

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From a stagecoach town in Tennessee to the first railroad towns of the Indian Territory, we delve into the lives of the charismatic and flawed brothers, Matt and Robert. Their sibling dynamic shapes the lives of the entire Brown family, steering them down a road of familial struggles and cultural clashes.
Matt always idolized his oldest brother, Robert – a smooth-talking charmer who taught him at a young age to live hard and win big. Following in Robert’s footsteps, Matt is drawn into a life of high-stakes games and deception. Then he meets Milla. Sharp-eyed, brave, and unafraid to speak the truth, Milla is a woman rooted in her Choctaw heritage, carrying both strength and sorrow in equal measure. For the first time, Matt imagines a different future. But the past doesn’t let go easily and buried secrets never stay buried for long, clawing their way back to the surface when you least expect it. Now, Matt must choose between what consumes him and the life he wants to build.

Set against the raw beauty of the Choctaw Nation, this is a powerful story of blood ties and hard choices, of the people we love and the ones we betray. Gritty, tender, and unforgettable—this is where redemption begins.

The Brothers Brown tablet

 

 

 

About the Author

R.G. Stanford
Raised on the beaches of South Texas, R.G. Stanford has always been
drawn to stories that transcend time. That passion was ignited in 1976 with
the discovery of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and deepened
with The Feast of All Saints just a few years later. Though historical fiction
wasn’t an immediate calling, a personal journey into genealogy changed
everything.

With no close relatives nearby, R.G. Stanford turned to online resources in
search of extended family. That search became a twenty-year journey through
genealogy websites, Federal Census records, the National Archives, and old
newspapers. Along the way, R.G. Stanford uncovered incredible stories about
her family and the people who once lived in the Choctaw Nation, Indian
Territory.

Compelled to record the truth of her family in the lore, sprinkled with
imagination, R.G. Stanford is a history lover, a research buff, and a
passionate genealogy enthusiast. She is also a mother, a grandmother, and a
teller of stories, now living near Orlando.

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Purchase Links

https://mybook.to/TheBrothersBrown

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Paperback

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Goodbye Demons Virtual Book Tour

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Historical Fiction

Date Published: 04-24-2026

Publisher: Salty Books Publishing

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When injuries put an end to the figure skating career of Angela
Fernandez Parnell, she joins the Peace Corps.

She is assigned to Tunis where she falls in love with U.S. diplomat James
Whitcomb. At the conclusion of their tours of duty, they marry. Within weeks
of the wedding, he is taken captive in the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979-81.

James, held hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, endures the same demons
that afflicted the real life hostages during the actual crisis 45 years ago.

Angie, biting her nails at home, endures her own demons. How can she support
him? Should she join efforts to force the president into negotiating a
release? Or even a rescue?

When the ordeal finally ends fourteen months later, the couple faces a new set
of demons. Rebuilding their life together as they each recuperate from their
own PTSDs.

Goodbye Demons battle scene

EXCERPT

This was the chance of a lifetime, and Angie swore she wouldn’t blow it. She did elaborate stretching exercises and weight training. She followed a dietician’s meal plan and skated five days a week under the guidance of her coach. Angie concocted a brilliant plan to capture the Gold at Nationals and guarantee her a slot on the Olympic team. 

Her coach objected. “No woman has ever done a triple axel, and you’re not ready.” 

“I did it in practice. You saw me.” 

“You fell. A perfect double axel that you’re capable of doing trumps a triple axel that you screw up.” 

Angie was determined to do the triple without falling. She doubled down on her training regime. Bruising falls came each day. It wasn’t until a week before the competitions that she completed a triple. She grinned triumphantly at her surprised coach. Then on the next try she took a nasty fall that left her limping when she rose from the ice. Her coach sped over to her. After making sure Angie had broken no bones, she again warned her to stop trying the triple axel. 

“You’re not ready. It’s a riverboat gamble.” 

“I have to take the gamble when I’ve got the chance.” 

“You’ll have a chance next year. You’ll be stronger and more experienced. That’ll be the time to do it.” 

“In the meantime, some other girl might do it first, and nobody will ever hear about me. Even if I do one the next day. Can you tell me who was the second woman to fly across the Atlantic?”

 

 

About the Author

JJ Harrigan
Historical thriller author JJ Harrigan is a former US Service Officer
and political science professor. He scribbles his tales of intrigue on the
banks of the St. Croix River in Minnesota, where he lives with his wife,
Sandy.

 

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Facebook

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Purchase Links

https://mybook.to/GoodbyeDemons

Amazon 

 

 

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Goodbye Demons Blitz

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Goodbye Demons cover

 

Historical Fiction

Date Published: 04-24-2026

Publisher: Salty Books Publishing

good reads button

When injuries put an end to the figure skating career of Angela
Fernandez Parnell, she joins the Peace Corps.

She is assigned to Tunis where she falls in love with U.S. diplomat James
Whitcomb. At the conclusion of their tours of duty, they marry. Within weeks
of the wedding, he is taken captive in the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979-81.

James, held hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, endures the same demons
that afflicted the real life hostages during the actual crisis 45 years ago.

Angie, biting her nails at home, endures her own demons. How can she support
him? Should she join efforts to force the president into negotiating a
release? Or even a rescue?

When the ordeal finally ends fourteen months later, the couple faces a new set
of demons. Rebuilding their life together as they each recuperate from their
own PTSDs.

 

 

About the Author

JJ Harrigan
Historical thriller author JJ Harrigan is a former US Service Officer
and political science professor. He scribbles his tales of intrigue on the
banks of the St. Croix River in Minnesota, where he lives with his wife,
Sandy.

 

Contact Links

 

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Purchase Links

https://mybook.to/GoodbyeDemons

Amazon 

 

 

RABT Book Tours & PR

Comments Off on Goodbye Demons Blitz

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