Thanks so much for having me today! My first novel, A Place to Call Their Own, has been
released as a Second Edition and is now available from JMS Books.
Kayla: It's a pleasure to have you with me today. As you know, I'm a bit of history geek and I always enjoy learning more.
I will apologize for the white box around your excerpt. I tried several different ways that normally clear it, but no go today. It appears to be part and parcel of the copy and paste. I guess I could have retyped it from scratch, but I was afraid I might change something if I did.
Many people ask me why I write historical. The quickest answer
that comes to my mind is because I love to read them! I grew up reading the
Little House books over the summers. As I grew older, I graduated right to
Roots and, of course, John Jakes. I may be dating myself, but there was no YA
category in the 1980s.
In 2008, after a visit to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Mansfield, Missouri home, I read the
entire Little House series during a period of unemployment. Still searching for
a premise for my first novel, I ran across the quote at the beginning of the
book. Frank and Gregory’s story
unfold in my head and four years later, I finished their story on virtual
paper.
I don’t know
why I’m drawn to stories about the
western expansion. Maybe it was the sheer guts it took to come out into the
middle of nowhere and try to make a life. At the mercy of nature, hundreds of
families came West to claim land and build their lives. Some made it and their
families still farm the land today. Others didn’t.
I hope you enjoy, A Place to Call Their Own. It was my first
novel and a labor of love. It combines all the things I love: history,
adventure, and, of course, what the happily ever should be like.
I am happy to announce that the Second Edition of A Place to Call Their Own is available
from JMS Books, LLC and other online retailers.
Blurb:
Frank Greerson and
Gregory Young have been discharged from the Army and are headed to their
childhood homes. They both defied their parents in 1861 when they joined the
Army. After battling southern rebels and preserving the Union of the United
States of America, the two men set out to battle the Kansas Prairie and build a
life together. Once they find their claim, they encounter common obstacles to
life on the Kansas Prairie in 1866:
Native Americans, tornadoes, wild animals, and weather.
When a prairie fire
destroys their crops and takes their neighbor’s lives, Frank and Gregory are
instructed to find their young son’s aunt. Faced with leaving a destroyed
claim, the railroad coming through their land, and dwindling funds, Frank and
Gregory must decide whether to leave the place they have worked hard to make
their own or fulfill their friends' dying wishes.
Sales Links:
Excerpt:
You two together, or…” Mr. McAvoy asked with a puzzled look on his face.
Mrs. McAvoy raised an eyebrow, also curious about the situation.
Gregory gave Frank a nervous and mischievous look and answered, “Ah, yes, sir. We planned to each get a claim and build one house for now, help each other out.”
The answer seemed to satisfy both Mr. and Mrs. McAvoy. “That sounds like a good idea. It’d be nice to have a few neighbors around to help with things once in a while. And what I wouldn’t give to have had just one other man to help me with some of the house building and stable. You stay around here, and you’ll need a stable. Wolves and coyotes will get your livestock if you don’t.”
“How did you protect yourself before? This stuff doesn’t get built in a day.” Gregory asked.
“It takes ’em a while to figure out you’re here. And of course, it’s worse in the winter than this time of year. They haven’t been quite so bad the last few weeks, have they?” he directed to his wife.
“No, they calmed down. Hopefully they’ve been preying on the deer that are eating my potato plants.” answered Mrs. McAvoy. “You two want to stay for supper? I’ve got a big pot of rabbit stew on the stove.”
“It’ll be good, I promise. She’s done great cooking whatever I can find for us,” Mr. McAvoy added.
Gregory ignored the invitation. “How’s the hunting around here? You do good during the winter months?”
“Yeah, in the fall it’s the best—the animals are all fat and sassy from the summer. You can tell the bucks from the does, and you don’t have to worry about orphaning a young deer like you do now. There are plenty of rabbits and prairie chickens right now. You can find squirrels…”
“And the meadowlarks do fine, too, in a pinch,” piped in Mrs. McAvoy. “Now, what about supper?”
“We appreciate the offer, ma’am,” Frank spoke up. “But we’re just trying to find us our claims and be done with traveling. We’ve been traveling nearly six weeks now. It has been that long since we had a decent home-cooked meal, but we need to keep moving on today.”
They both remembered the last time they joined anyone for dinner. The McAvoys seemed harmless, but Frank and Gregory were both a bit shy about joining anyone else at this point.
“Yeah, we’re getting close to where we want to settle,” Gregory added. “We appreciate the offer and all, but we just want to keep moving.”
Mrs. McAvoy smiled, turned, and ran into the house with her load of laundry. Neither Frank nor Gregory knew if she was hurt because they declined the supper invitation or just needed to get back to her household chores.
“We understand that. Took us nearly six months to get here from New York, where we come from. We stayed with some relatives along the way, but the missus did appreciate it when we finally stopped here.”
“Well, we appreciate your hospitality and all your help. We should probably get going,” Frank said, glancing at Gregory.
“If you happen to end up around here, don’t be strangers. Just let us know where you’re at,” Mr. McAvoy replied.
“It’s a deal, sir,” Frank said and extended his hand.
Mr. McAvoy walked over and took it. After they were done, McAvoy stepped away from the wagon.
Gregory slapped the reins and yelled “giddyap,” and the horses sprang forward.
A frantic Mrs. McAvoy yelled from inside the house, “Wait!”
Frank grabbed Gregory’s arm to stop him. Gregory pulled back on the reins.
Mrs. McAvoy came out of the cabin with a small basket covered with flour sack cloth.
“This here isn’t much, but maybe it will allow you to rest once you stop for the night. I put two crocks of my stew in there and part of the bread I baked for our supper tonight. I don’t know why I did it, but something told me to make extra bread today.”
“We’re mighty obliged, ma’am. This will help. Now we don’t have to worry about hunting anything for our dinner. We’ll just warm this by the fire and be ready to go,” Gregory spoke up.
“Yes, ma’am. We are getting a bit worn out by this trip,” Frank said. He grinned at Gregory and said, “Hopefully, we’ll be finding our home soon.”
Both men tipped their hats once more, and Gregory got the horses going again.
Dove and Daisy lumbered along for the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening. Before they realized it, the wagon climbed a gentle, gradual grade. The early evening sun blinded them as they reached the crest of the ridge. At the top, Frank looked over his shoulder where the wagon had just been. There he saw the trail left by the wagon and horses in the prairie grass. To the west, a line of trees indicated a creek, river, or some sort of waterway. The sun drenched the entire landscape in its golden hue. He looked at Gregory, and they both knew this was their new home. They had arrived on the homestead.
“Welcome home, Frankie!” Gregory yelled at the top of his lungs.
In celebration of the release of A Place to Call Their Own, I am giving
away a copy of my novel, Disappear With
Me.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About Dean Pace-Frech
With inspiration from historical tourism sites, the love of reading, and a desire to write a novel, Dean started crafting his debut novel,
A Place to Call Their Own, in 2008. After four years of writing and polishing the manuscript, it was accepted and originally published in 2013. His second novel,
Disappear With Me, set in Edwardian England was published later that same year. Both novels were re-released in May 2015.
Dean lives in Kansas City, Missouri with his husband, Thomas (legally as of February 14, 2015), and their two cats. They are involved in their church and enjoy watching movies, outdoor activities in the warm weather and spending time together with friends and family. In addition to writing, Dean's hobbies include reading and patio gardening.
Dean is currently working on a standalone title,
Need Your Love, set in 1966, and
The Higher Law, continuation of the story of Frank and Gregory's family set in the 1930s.
Connect
with Dean Pace-Frech
